Do you know what your competition is doing?  

Now that’s a scary thought, right?

I remember overhearing someone say they don’t have any competition. Her niche is so narrow that she feels she is the only one offering her service. But if no one else is promoting that specific service, how are the people who need it getting it done?

It means someone else is doing it but not talking about it.

Competition is good for us

We have to be good at something, and the only way we’ll know is by challenging ourselves, trying new things and learning from our mistakes.

I know, it’s scary – and yet, it’s liberating.

All people who say they don’t have any competition are kidding themselves and not looking at the advantages of getting to know your competition.

Insights from Your Competitor’s Activities

1. You can come to understand your market through the engagement you see on their social media and blog comments.
2. Their content will give you ideas for marketing.
3. Compare your pricing to theirs.
4.  Identify market gaps, i.e., what is missing in marketing initiatives.

One of the best ways to gather information about your competitors is by signing up for their email list and following their blog and social media accounts. This way, you can see how they interact with their customers online and get an idea of their communication style. 

Check online reviews 

Research your competitors thoroughly by reading social media reviews, comments on their blogs and YouTube channels, and reading case studies on their websites. If they have Google reviews, be sure to read those as well.

It’s essential to understand not only the good things that your competitors may be doing but the bad reviews too. Their negative feedback can help you know what aspects of your product or service might be improved.

Follow their Social Media Accounts and Join their Facebook Groups

Watch the engagement you see on their posts on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Go where your market goes. When appropriate, offer advice (from your personal profile) but don’t promote yourself unless the group’s rules allow for that.

Talk with your Competitors 

You each have a niche, you provide your clients. Some businesses need someone who specializes in what you do and vice versa. For instance, if you specialize in movement for people who experience back pain, other therapists may specialize in weight loss diets or even anti-inflammatory diet practices. You can support each other through a strategic partnership rather than viewing each other as competitors.

Set time aside each quarter to review your competitors’ activities and strategies. Aim for 3 competitors each quarter. Some might be worth repeating and add someone else in the new quarter. Your competitors can teach you a lot, and staying up-to-date with their online activity is essential. Doing so will help you improve your business and provide more customer value.

Creating a PDF “Resource” guide is the easiest type of lead magnet (freebie) that you can do to give people valuable tips and information. To get started. Click here to download “Your Best Freebie Idea.”

Has fear been holding you back? Has it stopped you from growing your business? Is fear keeping the success you envision a dream instead of reality?

You’re not alone.

I struggle with fears, too, the biggest being did I do enough and am I good enough. Other fears pay a visit from time to time; in fact most of them hit all of us at some point or another during our entrepreneurial journeys:

• Fear of not being liked
• Fear of being judged
• Fear of losing control
• Fear of failure
• Fear of having no safety net
• Fear of having no certainty, no plan
• Fear of time, losing time
• Fear of success
• Fear of not knowing what to do or what to do next.

For you, fear might creep in when you’re getting ready for your first discovery call, talking about your services, or submitting a proposal to a new prospect.

When fear taps me on the shoulder, I bring to mind three thoughts that keep me going every day.
Maybe they’ll help you, as well:

I can do this.
I will figure it out.
I believe in myself.

Each time you feel fear rising, let it go by adopting those three thoughts as your mantra. When you sense the fear, say the words to yourself:

I can do this.
I will figure it out.
I believe in myself.

If you continue this practice, you’ll discover that fear isn’t in the driver’s seat anymore. Instead, a bigger part of you is in charge, a part that knows, in the end, that you have nothing to fear other than missing out on the chance to change your life.

You’re not alone. We are here together to support each other even when fear slaps us in the face.
Share your fear so we can help you overcome them, share your wins so we can stand up and cheer!

Check out this short video, click on the image below.

Watch this short 3-minute video where 100 people talk about their greatest fears.
You can learn more about SOULPANCAKE.com on their Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/soulpancake

An Actionable Productivity Tip

Today I want to talk about my favorite program—it helps my business run more efficiently AND has helped me get a lot more clients! 

That program is Acuity Online Scheduling.

By using Acuity Online Scheduling, everything is taken care of for me. 

All You Have to do is Show Up 

Acuity puts appointments directly on your calendar and then sends you (and your clients) reminders when those appointments are approaching. The integration with Google means that you can get desktop and phone reminders—sounds and/or pop-ups—reminding you that you have an appointment in 30 minutes (or time you choose), giving you enough time to clear the deck and put on your game face!

When someone books a specific type of appointment with you, you can also have Acuity give them a built-in questionnaire, right during the booking process. Their responses show up in Acuity, in your email, and right within Google calendar so you can see what the call is about when you get that 30-minute pre-call notification. 

When you get on the phone or your Zoom call, you’re ready to serve!

What’s that? Do You Hear the CaChing of Money Going into Your Account?

Did you know that Acuity can process payments while a client is booking their appointment? It’s a seamless operation. You no longer have to send an invoice because you can get paid in full before you start the appointment!  You’re paid your value ahead of time. Too many business owners bill after the fact, sometimes waiting 30-60 days for payment. 

No more! Set Sale … I mean … Set $ail!

One Simple Step to Send out Post-Appointment Follow-up Emails

For each of your appointment types, you can have Acuity automatically send a follow-up email. (You can send six follow-up emails with the next level up.) Depending on what type of appointment it is, you can send them a digital download that makes you look more professional (and valuable!) in their eyes. You can also ask for an evaluation of their experience or remind them of their next step – anything you want to help them succeed and keep them as a client!

This is only the tip of the iceberg of what Acuity Online Scheduling  can do for your business and your life! 

Click here to receive 7 more tips on raising your $ails with your online scheduling program.

Click HERE for more online scheduler tips

Have you notice I talk about sailing and use nautical terms in my emails and on my website? Even my email sign-off has “Bringing you Fair Winds and Calm Seas?”

It all begin when I was only five years old, I fantasized about living on a tropical island near the ocean. My ex-husband, had a similar dream, and I wanted to make sure this became a reality for both of us. We started looking for a boat in 1987 and upon selling our business in 1993, our years of hard work paid off. We sold the company at a price that allowed us to follow our mutual desire.

This dream was not only for the love of sailing but more to move freely from Point A to Point B and meet new people on our journey. There is a camaraderie in the sailing community that I have never experienced living on-land.

A Dream Realized

We purchased an Alajuela 48’ sailboat in 1991. Knowing I wasn’t ready to cast off, I attended Orange Coast College School of Sailing and Seamanship in Newport Beach, California. The curriculum included Coastal Navigation, Marine Weather, Survival at Sea, Sailmaking, Marlinspike Seamanship, and All about Anchoring. I had the privilege of studying Medicine at Sea with well-known Dr. Don McGillis and learned from two of the best, Lin and Larry Pardey, about Storm Tactics.

Who knew about all of the topics I needed to become an expert to make my dream come true! Similar to what business owners experience as they don all the hats required by entrepreneurs!

My penchant for entrepreneurship became evident while outfitting our sailboat Lachesa. I worked at West Marine as the Department Manager of Safety and Navigation, Nautical Charts, and Marine Books at the Point Loma, Shelter Island location. This education provided me with a wealth of knowledge for my coming adventure.

Cast Off!

We launched Lachesa in June 1993 and sailed from San Diego, California to the Sea of Cortez, Mexico, and on to Central America. What a day that was. I was filled with excitement, joy, and, admittedly, a lot of anxiety.

However, rather than just living life in paradise and having umbrella Pina Coladas drinks, we quickly realized we enjoyed taking people out sailing. We wanted them to experience sailing on a nice sailboat and seeing 20’ mantras and humpback whales. We would head out when we wanted and return when ready. No fixed schedule.

1993 on the Internet

When we cast off our lines in San Diego, I had a laptop computer with an email account with AOL. I had no idea how I would send emails off the boat or what I was doing on the computer; it was a traveling journalist who shared her computer tips and set me up with Hotmail.
There I was in the Sea of Cortez, Mexico learning all about the internet in a remote location. I use to lug my big laptop from the sailboat to the marina office in various ports and hookup to their DSL landline to upload emails and download my newsletter to family, friends, and associates.

Seven Wonderful Years

Seven years of living on a sailboat and traveling the waters along remote coastal communities strengthened my self-reliance and intuitive ability to think three steps ahead, planning and executing ideas from start to finish.

We decided we would have to go “home” to the mainland because it would have cost $35,000 (in 1993 currency) to have our boat imported into the country. The games we had to play to stay in Costa Rica got to be too much.
For instance, Richard had to go to Nicaragua every three months to renew his visa, I was left alone on the boat for four days, and it was not a good idea to leave the vessel without someone on board. I don’t remember being scared, I just accepted this as a standard operating procedure.

Sail On

When we made the hard decision to return to dry land and back to the states, I knew I wanted to use my enthusiastic, energetic, and highly motivated “people person” self to assist others with meaningful work, aka business owners. I want to provide that same feeling of the community I felt onboard with my community of clients.

What I learned from living abroad and coming back to the states is how you have to take the risk to live life to the fullest, experience things in life you never imagine would see. If I had not taken the chance to leave everything that I am familiar with, I would not have experienced the simplicity of living on a sailboat in a faraway place and being one with nature.

So this is why I leave each of my messages to you with “Bringing you Fair Winds and Calm Seas.”

An Actionable Productivity Tip

Lead magnets, opt-ins, freebies; they go by several names but the intent is the same. You try to entice someone in your target market to join your email list. You want to give them the opportunity to get to know, like, and trust you, AND to help those people on your email list with their struggles and challenges.

Recently I asked my business coach for her thoughts on what new resource I could offer you and those not on my email list as a new freebie. She was already familiar with my existing offers, and said that they were too cumbersome. While valuable, she said, they had too much content in them to help people be successful.

I gulped when I heard this.

I had spent so much time on those gifts.

Then she asked me this awesome question: “Janice, in all the work you’ve done with hundreds of entrepreneurs taking their business online, what is the ONE thing that everyone needs to get better at doing?”

My immediate reaction was that people don’t follow up. We don’t follow up with our  warm leads, our former clients, phone calls, and emails. To be honest, I’ve been guilty of this, and so have my clients. In addition to not following up with simple tasks AFTER we have created a new program or webinar, launched it, we then let it drop off our radar because we had no follow-up plan.

The big realization I had is that we’re leaving BIG MONEY on the table.

And that’s why I created a very simple method you can use to avoid subscribing to a costly CRM program, at least right now, while you’re ramping up. I call it the Raise Your $ails system. And you can learn about it in this very consumable freebie (my coach will be proud!)—Raise Your $ails, a DIY Method to Increase Your Sales.

Raise Your $ails, a DIY Method to Increase Your Sales  

There you have it. Now you might be thinking, this method won’t work for you because you want it electronic based, your calendar, or you rather use a spreadsheet. You may certainly re-engineer the method to fit your style. The key elements to keep in mind are:

1. Keep it simple. If it is not something that is easy to follow and you commit to doing everyday, there is no point.
2. Don’t buy some new-fangled app. I can guarantee if you don’t tie it into something you are already doing, it will fail. Again. Trust me, I’ve tried.
3. Start now. Stop leaving money on the table by pulling up the anchor that is dragging you down and take the first step.