Success in Sweatpants

The fourth pitfall of solo home business ownership is probably the biggest one to avoid: OVERTRAINING. Becoming a solo home business owner, and achieving the goals that made us decide to go that route, can be pretty overwhelming. We question ourselves, wondering if we’re doing the right things, aware that there’s so much that we don’t know. Fear, uncertainty, and doubt – the FUD Factor – pushes many of us to take program after program, each one promising to be “THE ONE” that will break us through to the success we are aiming for. Trish will talk about the most effective approach to training in your business and what you should realistically expect to achieve in your professional development efforts.

The third “O” of four solo home business pitfalls is about OVERCOMPLICATING. When we start our own businesses, we often look to models we are familiar with to design our operations. For many of us, those models come from the corporate world. Even if we think we are “stepping down” in the design of the business, we can make things far more complicated than they need to be. Trish will share her own experiences with this pitfall and offer recommendations for keeping things simple and effective.

The second episode focusing on four of the biggest errors of solo home business ownership focuses on OVERPLANNING. We are told that we need a business plan, five-year goals, and a vision for our businesses. This is all true…sort of. Planning is important, yes. There needs to be a roadmap to follow so that we can get the right results from the time and energy we invest. But we need to stay flexible and responsive to our market, and to ourselves. Trish will talk about the reasons for planning, the reasons for not overplanning, and how getting it right will help your business grow.

This is the first episode covering four of the biggest pitfalls of solo home business ownership. This go around it’s about OVERSPENDING. What do you really need to operate your business? No, really. It can be very easy to spend more than we need to. Trish will talk about some of the reasons why overspending comes so easily, how to cut back on current expenses, and how to guard against overspending in the future.

Does your offering catalog allow different buyers to begin doing business with you at different price points? In other words, does your target market have a low risk (in their perception) way to engage you the first time? Many of us don't. We jump from "free" to "top of the line" in one giant step, and then can't figure out why people aren't beating down our door to get the really valuable stuff we can provide them. Beating down doors doesn't come from giant steps. It comes from having a "buying bubble" that allows a buyer to purchase at whatever "fiscal entry point" they are comfortable with.

When you are a solopreneur, you have a built in brand: YOU. Every aspect of your business that faces and talks to your market is a reflection of you. So how are you doing with being your own brand? We will talk about how you express your brand (whether you know it or not) and how to get better at leveraging YOU in your business marketing.

Twitter can be a brain sprainer for many solo home business owners. Between sharing stupid stuff ("who cares what I had for breakfast?") and ending up being a never ending commercial ("Want more clients? Go to http://is.gd/anotherpitch"), how can we use this completely new tool to grow our businesses? Trish has a lot to say about this topic. Don't miss her angle on Twitter

"Free" has become an essential part of being a solopreneur these days. On the consumer side, we have access to a vast array of free tools and resources that can have a big positive impact on our businesses. On the sales and marketing side, free is usually the first item in our offering catalogs, a way for prospective customers to get to know us by getting something of value to them at zero cost. But when does free NOT work? When is "free" too much of a good thing? We'll look at FREE from several angles in this segment of Success in Sweatpants.

Can't do business without a website these days. But having on online presence is one thing; having an online presence that really works for you is something else entirely. Trish has traveled a bumpy, expensive road when it comes to having a website that works for a solo home business owner. And she has solutions! Tune in to find out how to avoid the pitfalls and get on the right online road.

How appreciative are you of those arouond you? We hear a lot about appreciating our customers, but saying "Thank you!" doesn't stop with the people who buy from us. Where would we be without the various contractors who help us with our businesses, or the fellow home business owners who master mind with us and offer a sympathetic ear when the going gets tough? Or our families, who sometimes get frustrated with us but support us anyway? There are lots of ways and reasons to say thanks, and we'll look at some of those in this segment.