A Goal Without A Plan Is Just A Wish

Do you know what business you’re in?: *Biz Building*

 Do you know what business you’re in? If someone asks you, can you articulate it to them? This is why a Unique Positioning Statement otherwise known as a “UPS”, is vital to your biz success.  

I suggest making your UPS as concise as possible, at least for conversational purposes. On your website and other materials you can feel free to elaborate.

If someone were to ask you “so what do you do?” You’d want to be quick, clear, and exclude confidence. Your response to this question is what your UPS should be.

Most of your prospective customers don’t care HOW you do what you do. They care more about what BENEFITS you give them, so explain your benefits upfront. When creating your UPS, think about what makes your business unique.

For example, one option could be:

“I help businesses increase productivity and improve their bottom line by increasing employee morale through humor, chocolate, and Anime.”

This works for any kind of business you're in. If you bake cakes for friends and family on occassion, if you sell artwork or photography, if...whatever! This one sentence takes effort, but it's absolutely worth it; so put in the time to make it fit and feel just right.

Even if you're in the business of yourself, it works. For example, let's say you've been an IT specialist at a company ABC. The new Head-Honcho is making his or her rounds and has asked to be introduced to everyone in your department. When asked for their name, the person next to you says, "Oh, I'm Luke Lame and I do cyber security. Nice to meet you."

But ooooh no, YOU have a UPS. YOU aren't going to waste this opportunity to make a great first impression to Head Honcho. When it's you're turn, you look Head Honcho in the eyes with confidence and say, "I'm Alisa Awesome and I help this place save money and reduce expenses by making sure the integrity of our network security its upheld."

Wow, that's powerful. And memorable too. Once you write yours down, practice it until you can say it comfortably and confidently. It shouldn't sound fake or too "formal".

Good luck!

O business card, business card, wherefore art thou business card?

By "wherefore?" Juliet means "for what purpose?" So think on this. For what purpose is your business card? Ah-ha! Yes, it's a means to network with others. It's a means to remind that person exactly what you do and how you both can work together for mutual benefit.

I just had to post about business cards this month. This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending Katsucon 15 (an anime convention with over 6,000 people) and being an alternative business person, I was invited to a VIP party. I was amazed about how many of the other like-businessed folks had either run out of business cards or didn't have any on their person whatsoever. Don't make this mistake! Yes, you're going to the party for fun, but you should also be going for business. For networking. For success.

Don't ever run out of business cards. Ever. When you're inebriated, it's easy to spell your website or phone number wrong. At the end of the night, that bunched up napkin you used to scribble your company name and website might look like a bunched up napkin (instead of your impromptu business card) to the person you gave it to. What happens to bunched up napkins? They become nose wipes and then trash. Or just trash. The point is, why take that risk? It's easier to mistake a napkin for trash than a business card. You could have missed out on that one, ultimate, break-through opportunity because of something that could have been prevented.