Is your "elevator speech" nearly as long as Lord of
the Rings?
When people ask for a business card, do you
have to shuffle through your "deck" of business cards to decide which one to
give them?
Is your email signature line like an epic
poem?
If so, you might be suffering from the
"entrepreneur's disease." :)
Many of us wear multiple hats because of our business/volunteer and social involvements. It all starts innocently enough. You
work for a company or launch your own business. So now you have a business
card and an identity to represent yourself to others. But then you see
another possible part time opportunity, business or product line or perhaps even
an MLM. So you add this one as well. Then you volunteer at a worthy
organization. Then you find another opportunity...and so on.
How do I know about the "entrepreneur's
disease?" I am a long time sufferer. E-Business Tutor is actually an
evolution of an earlier company I launched called Common Sense Solutions.
What did Common Sense Solutions do? Almost everything for anybody!
My extensive list of services included training in marketing, time management,
computer software, event planning, public relations, sales, project management,
etc. as well as web site design, marketing consulting and writing business
plans.
So when I had to introduce myself at a
business mixer in 30 seconds or less, I needed to talk like an auctioneer.
Then one day, with the help of other wise
people, I finally realized that adding more services doesn't mean more money.
It just means I have more product lines to market and more audiences to reach in
the same time and marketing budget I had established.
Any one of these services was probably enough
to make a living, but because I was fearful of missing income opportunities, I
really felt I needed them all. So I wasn't taking a single solid product
line to a well targeted audience on a regular basis. Instead I hundreds of
little things started but not fully working. It would be like planting a
whole bunch of seeds and never having time to come back to water them, care for
them until maturity and reap the harvest. The seeds wither and die without
attention.
Success started for me when I let go of
everything else and focused on being "The E-Business Tutor," helping small and
home business owners learn how to market on the Internet.
So how can you do this for yourself?
Here are some key points to follow:
1. Stop acquiring new hats - stop taking
on anything new. Remember that if you say "yes" to something, you have to
say "no" to something else. If you are already overloaded you have to stop
adding more opportunities and volunteering.
2. Find the right hat and wear it!
I'm sorry, but I don't think I want to take my broken arm to Bob's Surgery, Auto
Body, Tattoo, and Hardware Emporium. Choose the right opportunity and
focus on that.
3. Learn to "work less - make more."
Over time, you need to learn to stop trading your time for money and learn how
to develop products/services to sell that don't tie up your time after you sell
them.
4. Set up systems to reach the right
audience with the right message about the right products on a regular basis.
You can easily do this for a single product line and single audience but it is
nearly impossible when you are chasing everyone with everything.
Garland Coulson, "The E-Business Tutor"
Market while you surf!
FREE Traffic and Research Toolbar for FireFox and Internet Explorer
http://www.freetrafficbar.com
Moderator, Internet Marketing Tools
Private Reply to Garland Coulson | 
