In the spirit of planning, next week I will be kicking off a week-long series on goal setting, including how to identify and plan for your goals, how to measure your success, how to stick with it when you hit a challenge, and how to celebrate your success.

But before we dig into the goal setting series, and in order to position ourselves to make the most out of the process, we need to open our minds to the possibilities. When we’re doing the same thing, day in and day out, it’s hard to break out of routine thought and encourage our minds to think beyond the immediate.

So in preparation for next week, let’s take some time to open our minds to what’s possible and prepare ourselves to break free from routine as we plan for a new year.

Be Willing to Change

Change is scary for many of us, but growth and advancement is impossible without it. In order to open your mind and prepare yourself to reach a new level, you will have to accept the changes that will happen at the same time.

Get Ready to Be Proactive

Goal setting is about figuring out where you want to be and going for it. Nothing good will happen if you’re stuck in stagnancy, waiting for change to come to you. Be willing to commit to your goals and do what it takes to see them through.

Practice Open Thinking

Start practicing acceptance of new ideas, listening better to those around you, and giving every possibility an equal chance. If you can avoid writing off any one idea or dream as unrealistic or unachievable, your open thinking will bring about more possibilities.

Face Your Fears

Everyone fears something, and your fears could become one of your biggest obstacles in the goal setting process. Instead of ignoring them in an effort to get around them, take time to face them head-on, get an idea of where they’re coming from and come up with a plan for conquering them so they don’t impede your planning process.

Let Go of Control

This is a big one for many of us, myself included, but in order to truly experience an open mind, we need to give up some control. Once we stop trying to mold the world to fit our outlook, we will experience a powerlessness that can lead us to new insights and ideas.

What do you typically do to open you mind and prepare yourself for setting new goals and intentions for your business and your life?

Image credit: Grafix007

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But sometimes when our focus is on the visual, we overlook one of the most important elements of a powerful web site: the copy. If your web site copy is more of an afterthought than a main focus, your site may not be functioning as the marketing tool it can be.

So what do you do if you’re not really into the writing part and struggle with creating copy that draws prospects in and helps to sell your services? Here are some easy-to-implement tips you can use to spruce up your web site copy today.

Know Your Goal

All good marketing copy, web site and otherwise, focuses on moving the reader to a specific action. In many cases, the call to action in your web site copy will be getting prospects to contact you for more information, fill out a form, or something else that will move them from being a prospect to a lead.

As you’re writing your copy, identify what your goal is first and then reiterate it throughout your copy, making it easy for prospects to move to the next level.

Focus on the Staples

There are many different pages and sections you can create for your web site, but don’t forget about the four most important, the staples: Home, About, Services, Contact. Clients look for these pages because they tend to be standard on business web sites; it’s how they compare one professional to another. So make sure your copy on these pages, especially your homepage, is stellar.

Solve a Problem

Your potential clients are visiting your web site because they need you to help them solve a challenge they are unable to solve on their own. Put yourself in your clients’ shoes to try to understand how they think, and then show your expertise by offering an easy-to-understand solution to their problem.

In order to explain how you can solve your clients’ problems effectively, go back to any market and industry research you completed before starting your business to bolster your copy.

Be Conversational

While your web site copy is a marketing tool, it doesn’t have to be salesy. Take a conversational tone, talking directly to each web site visitor from a personal point of view. Ask them questions, address what you believe to be their challenges and make it a one-on-one exchange. This can be especially effective on your homepage and about page, where you can provide some insight into who you are and why you’re a great fit for the client’s needs.

Answer Questions

Prospects who are interested in your services will have specific questions after reading through your site. While you certainly want them to contact you directly, you should try to anticipate some of the most common questions and provide answers, either throughout your copy or in a designated frequently asked questions section. This will help give your site visitors confidence that you understand them and their needs.

Make It Work with Your Design

To avoid a disconnect with your copy and your design, take time to fine-tune each page to make sure it flows and that the copy remains valuable within the shell of your design. Keep your pages short, use graphics to enhance your content (not compete with it) and make your navigation support your copy.

Get Proofing Help

One of the best things you can do when you’re ready to launch your newly improved web site copy is have someone other than yourself read through your content. When you write it yourself, your ability to proof for typos, grammatical errors and other discrepancies is significantly reduced. So having a fresh pair of eyes is essential.

What steps have you taken to make your web site copy work with your site and attract potential clients?

Image credit: ralaenin

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The main benefit that a free conference service provides is the ability to conduct teleconferences with multiple parties, usually anytime you want, without needing any special telephone or bridge line equipment. It’s as easy as giving participants a regular toll number and a time to call.

Hopefully, you’ll be able to fine tune your targeted teleconference selection criteria and find a service that meets your needs so you can make your business communication process a piece of cake.

Common Free Teleconference Service Selection Criteria

Here is a list of some of the most common features you’ll review when analyzing teleconference services.

• Conference Limits: This can be in terms of length of calls, number of calls per period of time, and maximum number of participants per call.
• Reservationless or Scheduled: Can you conduct a teleconference on the fly or does it need to be scheduled in advance?
• Call Recording: Is it available and how do you access the audio file? Is there a charge?
• Moderator Control: What features are available? For example, can you mute participants for presentation-based calls, pause recordings and turn off entry chimes?

Most free services don’t offer many more features than what’s listed above, so usually the number of participants and call duration limits are the most important criteria to consider.

Free Teleconference Services

1. Free Conference Service: Free, unlimited teleconference services available 24-hours a day for up to 50 parties on each call. There are no restrictions on call length.
2. FreeConCall.com: A free conference service for up to 30 participants per call, available 24/7 on a reservationless basis.
3. FreeConference.com: Free web-scheduled or reservationless conference calls with 24-hour automated access, call reporting, conference mute, up to 150 participants and a maximum call length of three hours. They also offer a paid plan, as well as add-ons, such as conference recording.
4. FreeConferenceCall.com: Free, reservationless conference calling that provides a dedicated dial-in number and an access code, 24/7 access, free recording, listen-only mode, call reports, up to 96 callers and maximum of 6-hour conference calls.
5. FreeConferencePro: A free service that provides scheduled or on-demand conference calling for 2 to 200 participants on calls of unlimited duration. The service provides multiple call modes (conversation, Q&A and presentation mode), online account access, reporting and customization options.
6. FreeGreenConferenceCalls.com: A free service that’s available 24/7 365 days a year for reservationless calls including up to 250 participants per call and an unlimited call length. The service provides free call recording and downloading of WAV files for each call, and presentation mode so all callers can be muted by the moderator.
7. No Cost Conference: Free instant, automated conference calls, available 24/7 with no scheduling required. They also provide an unlimited conference time, and free recording and retrieval.

While these services are free, users will incur local toll/long distance telephone charges when dialing in.

Do you use a free conference service? What has your experience been?

Image credit: Sergio Ramirez

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This post will focus on providing tips to help you conduct successful teleconferences, whether you are meeting with a small group or presenting to a larger audience. My next post will provide a list of free teleconference services you can explore to conduct your phone meetings.

Planning the Teleconference

• Create an agenda, call outline or program and make sure all participants have a copy before the teleconference.
• Work in a question and answer session or other participant contribution segment.
• If appropriate, consider sending out a call for questions and feedback prior to the teleconference so participant input can be worked into the agenda.
• Send out support materials prior to the call so participants can print or review them ahead of time.
• Schedule a start and end time for the call and stick to the schedule.
• Consider time zones before scheduling the call to make sure it’s convenient for all participants.
• Provide all of the necessary dial-in information, including various time zone translations, at least one day before the call.
• Consider recording the call for people unable to attend or to help in creating a meeting recap after the call.
• Send out a meeting reminder 2-3 days prior to the call.

Preparing Your Equipment

• Plan to use a landline telephone, if possible, to ensure good quality (and encourage participants to do the same).
• Get a good headset if you plan to use a VoIP connection and test it prior to the call.
• Limit as much background noise as possible.
• Know how to mute your connection and tell participants how to do the same.
• Avoid speaker phone to avoid echoes and clarity challenges.
• Test your connection and call features (such as recording) prior to the live call.
• Have a backup method to connect to the call, just in case.

Conducting the Teleconference

• Appoint a moderator to make introductions, keep on-task and facilitate the call.
• Appoint someone to take notes during the call.
• Set ground rules for the call if there will be more than three participants to avoid talking over each other.
• Start on time, and delay no longer than five minutes if participants are late to dial in.

After the Teleconference

• Provide a recap and overview of next steps with specific responsibilities at the end of the call.
• Touch base with participants after the call to get their feedback on how it went and what can be improved for next time.
• Send a written recap and/or meeting minutes to participants after the call.

What tips would you add to this list for conducting successful teleconferences?

Image credit: Tory Byrne

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AOL Mail: Yes, AOL is still operating, surprising as that may seem to some. As opposed to the old days, the service is now completely free, and you no longer need their proprietary software client to access your mail, so it is a viable solution for Web workers. The interface features integrated AIM chat, unlimited storage, 16 MB file attachments, and supports both IMAP and POP3. It does, however, place ads in the signature area of emails.

FastMail: FastMail.FM offers several different levels of user accounts, but only the Guest level is free. It is very limited in some of its settings in that it only offers IMAP access beyond the Web interface, and 10 MB of storage with only 80 MB of transfer per month. Upgrading runs anywhere from $4.95 to $34.95 annually, depending on the level of account you want. The service offers a wide selection of domain names for you to choose from as your email address.

Gawab: Gawab is based out of Egypt, and its name is a phonetic spelling of the Arabic word for “letter.” The service offers 10 GB of storage, IMAP & POP3, 50 MB email attachments, delivery confirmation and more. The inbox is AJAX-based, and they also offer free SMS text messaging from inside of your account to various countries.

Gmail: Even though Gmail is not the biggest webmail service in terms of subscribers, it is about the only one anyone seems to discuss with any regularity. Google’s mail application offers 7.5 GB of storage, support for 25 MB attachments, support for multiple external mail protocols (IMAP, POP, POP+TLS, Microsoft Exchange), integrated Google Talk and it does filter out .EXEs from attachments including inside of .ZIP files.

GMX: GMX started off as a European mail service, and after acquiring 11 million users they opened up a branch in the United States. The service allows you to have up to 10 email address that all get delivered to the same inbox that has over 5 GB of storage. They also offer IMAP, POP3 and mobile access to your account, attachments up to 50 MB in size, and a service called Mail Collector that will bring all of your emails from various services to one account to make it easy to check your various addresses.

Inbox: Inbox.com offers three plans with the basic free one offering 5 GB of storage, 90 days of inactivity account protection, SMTP and POP3 access, an online photo gallery and more.

Lavabit: Lavabit offers two different levels of free service that offer varying size limits, but both offer a limit of 1,024 incoming messages a day and 256 outgoing. Oddly, neither of the account levels offer statistical spam filtering, so you might have some problems there.

Mail.com: Mail.com offers an unusual twist in that they offer numerous domain names for you to choose from including things like mail.com, email.com, techie.com, lawyer.com, and many, many more. The free version of the account lacks SMTP or POP3 functionality and only two months of account inactivity protection. Storage clocks in at 3 GB.

Windows Live Hotmail: Possibly the winner for the longest name as Microsoft just keeps adding words to it, Hotmail is one of the oldest players in the webmail space. The free basic account includes ads, but an annual subscription of $19.95 will remove those. Hotmail offers an initial storage of 5 GB, attachment limits of 10 MB, and POP3 support. There is the drawback of your account being closed after 270 days of inactivity, as well as having support issues with Safari.

Yahoo! Mail: Yahoo! Mail has been around for a long time, and probably took the most serious hit from Gmail’s arrival. In an attempt to fight off the upstart, Yahoo! now offers unlimited mail for its free accounts, and will remove ads with a $19.99 per year subscription. Attachments are allowed to be up to 25 MB, and the service provides YIM Chat support, POP3 support and numerous applications for the platform that now provide additional functionality to the interface.

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In most cases, we know that if you’re regularly posting quality information and leading people interested in the topic to your blog, people are reading. But, unfortunately, the majority of web users are lurkers, not contributors. This can be compounded when your blog focuses on business topics, a technical focus or other subject matter that typically doesn’t appeal to the masses.

So what can you do? Well, the best thing to do is to continue posting great content as consistently as possible. The content is the most important part of your blog and if it’s interesting and informative, you can start to implement some of these other techniques for getting more blog comments.

• Publicize Your Posts: If you want comments, you need readers. And if you want readers, you need to let people know about your blog and what you’re writing about. Use feed functionality on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook to get your posts some publicity and make sure you plug your blog on your web site and other marketing materials.
• Ask for Comments: There is usually a place in most of your posts where you can ask your readers a specific question, such as how they would handle a certain situation or what they think about your viewpoint. On a more general basis, make it known that comments are always welcomed on your blog and tell people how easy it is to contribute.
• Respond to Comments: When you do get comments, taking time to respond to them will generate conversations, make commenters feel valued and help entice the lurkers to have their say.
• Use Comments for Future Posts: Even if your comments are few and far between, when you get a really good one, capitalize on it. You may be inspired to do a follow up post, addressing the issue raised by the commenter. And linking to the original comment and the commenter by name is a great way to start your follow-up post.
• Create a Poll: Polls are fun, interactive, and easy to do. And they give your readers a chance to weigh in without having to spend the time writing a comment. Then you can use the poll results to start a conversation with your readers.
• Comment on Other Blogs: As a blogger, you probably read other blogs that have similar content to yours. Try being a contributor instead of a lurker and leave regular comments on posts that resonate with you. Just make sure your comments are appropriate and genuine and not just an attempt to generate some backlinks.
• Link to Other Blogs: Scan some of your favorite blogs and link to posts that relate to yours. Not only will this encourage other bloggers to read your posts, but it can also bolster your own posts with additional information.

Do you get a lot of comments on your blog? What do you do to encourage participation?

Image credit: Benjamin Earwicker

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The intrinsic nature of the Web is providing and receiving free information. Anyone with an Internet connection can find a lot of what they want to know online for free with a simple keyword search. Informational web sites, value-packed blogs and free downloads are everywhere and information (some of it good) is abundant.

But this can introduce a unique challenge for professionals who want to participate in the free information world, yet have to make a living at the same time. Should you be giving it away? And what happens if you decide to charge for the information you possess?

Let’s look at why free might make sense. Here are some of the reasons why you may choose to keep information you provide online available for free.

Why Buy the Cow When You Can Get the Milk for Free

How many times have you gotten a freebie that you really didn’t need or want? Because we’re a society of instant gratification and wanting to have it all, all the time, it’s hard to turn down a giveaway, even if it has little immediate value for you.

Plus, if someone can get the information you are trying to sell somewhere else for little effort and no investment, it’s a no-brainer. Free will win almost every time.

The Web Is about Sharing

Sharing is vital in today’s online world. If you have a blog and are active in social networking, a big part of what you may do to build relationships is provide valuable information to help others in your situation. If you’re not willing to impart any of your hard-earned wisdom for the good of others, it may be difficult for you to network effectively online.

If you share what you know and help support the efforts of others, it’s easier to establish yourself as an expert, which can lead to more (paid) opportunities. Many times, the value of the exposure and future prospects is worth giving it away.

Free Can Lead to Paid

A loss leader (when you offer a product or service at a loss in order to attract consumers who you hope will purchase from you again) can build trust in you and your brand and lead to additional sales in the future. For example, if you use the loss leader strategy with information you make available online, you might give away a free report or guide, and then market paid products and services to the people who received your giveaway.

Where to Draw the Line

Once you start giving information away, it can be difficult to work paid products into the mix. You may find that:

• You’re losing potential clients because they no longer need to pay for what they want from you.
• You don’t have a value-added, paid offer to follow what you’re giving away.
• You invest more than makes sense to provide the free information.

If any of these situations come into play, you may need to revisit your approach and try a new strategy.

How do you feel about the free-for-all purpose of the Web? Do you use it to your advantage in your business? If so, how?

Image credit: Jeffrey Collingwood

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Self-paced online training can make the time challenge a little easier because you can participate in the courses whenever you have time available, even if it’s only in small chunks at a time. And because you can do it online, you can skip over all of the obstacles that come from having to travel and schedule a certain slot of time in your schedule.

That leaves budgetary constraints. You can pay to access some phenomenal online training courses, but what if you simply don’t have the budget? I found four exceptional online training resources that provide free self-paced courses in a variety of areas.

HP Learning Center

The HP Learning Center has one of the most comprehensive collections of free self-paced online learning courses. The Center is broken down into “campuses” that include the following focus areas:

• Digital Photography – Focuses on taking and organizing photos, using Adobe Photoshop to optimize photos, scanning and troubleshooting.
• Home Office – Learn how to create marketing materials, networking tips, using technology and other home office topics.
• Microsoft Office and Adobe – Classes focus on how to get the most out of Microsoft Office and Adobe applications.
• PC Security and Maintenance – Focuses on the Windows operating system, protecting your PC and backing up data.

Each campus has a set of classes available that focus on the topic. Each class includes two to six lessons and may also include interactive demos, quizzes and assignments.

One really cool feature of the Center is that you can interact with your fellow students and instructor via the class message board. So while it’s self-paced and individual learning, you are not isolated and can benefit from group collaboration.

The HP Learning Center also has a series of short how-to videos (most 5 minutes or less) and quick lessons (approximately 20 minutes) for even the most time-challenged among us.

Kutztown Small Business Development Center

This development web site, provided by Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, has a growing collection of free online learning programs which focuses on entrepreneurial training. Their programs are a compilation of courses provided by the SBA, IRS, Small Biz U, Virtual Advisor and custom programs from the Pennsylvania SBDC Network.

The programs available fall in the following categories:

• Accounting
• Bilingual (English/Spanish)
• Business Operations and Management
• Business Planning
• Finance
• Government
• International Business
• Legal
• Management Development
• Marketing
• Sales
• Small Business Tax
• Starting and Growing a Business

All of the courses, which also include voice-overs and several videos, are provided free, but the Center asks participants to answer a short survey after each course so they can continue to improve the program.

Microsoft Office Training

Microsoft’s online training portal has extensive tutorials on all of the Office 2007 and Office 2003 applications, from basic usage to more advanced training. The software covered includes:

• Access
• Communicator
• Excel
• Live Meeting
• OneNoteOutlook
• PerformancePoint Server
• PowerPoint
• Project
• Publisher
• SharePoint Server
• Visio
• Word

The site also has downloadable training presentations, interactive guides, workbooks and program demos that can help you get more out of these everyday business applications.

SBA’s Small Business Training Network

The Small Business Administration has a series of short free self-paced courses created just for small business owners. Each course takes about 30 minutes to complete, so it’s easy to fit them into your schedule.  Here is an outline of their current course offerings:

• Finance and Accounting – Focuses on the SBA’s loan programs, accounting, etc.
• Government Contracting – Learn how to take advantage of federal government contracting opportunities.
• Business Planning – What you need to know about business plans.
• Surviving a Slow Economy – Recession-busting lessons.
• Starting a Business – A variety of business basics.
• Marketing and Advertising – Strategic marketing advice and tips.
• Business Management – Focuses on technology, franchising, strategic planning, etc.

Many of the courses also have audio explanations and there are also links to videos and small business podcasts.

These free training resources are a great way to get started with online learning, while you save up for some of the more robust fee-based programs. Do you think you’ll give any of them a try?

Image credit: Ante Vekic

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This type of routine, whether it’s deliberate or not, can help us become more productive and efficient. But, it can also make us more susceptible to falling into a rut. And when we hit that rut, we may become somewhat…well, boring.

Here are some ways to increase your interesting factor and avoid the boring stigma.

Go for the Unpredictable

Spontaneity is a great way to make yourself more interesting, especially if you are usually a slave to your schedule. Try breaking free by doing something unexpected, saying something out of character or acting on impulse.

Focus on Conversations

Taking a conversational tone versus a presentational tone can certainly make you less boring. This means asking more questions, listening closely and focusing on creating an ongoing dialogue.

Be Original

Instead of following the masses – whether it’s through your marketing activities, daily planning process, or networking methods – find your own path. Think outside the box for new ideas and new ways to do the usual things to make yourself more interesting.

Take a Stand

If you’re in the mood for some constructive debate, take a stand on a popular issue and let it be known. You will certainly be able to avoid becoming boring by proclaiming your viewpoint on a well-debated mainstream issue. Just be sure you’re ready to back it up.

Show Your Silly Side

Everyone loves a good laugh. Be the comic relief for the day by being just a bit goofy. Not only will it show how interesting you really are, but it can also make you more endearing and approachable.

Teach Something

You have a lot of know-how in your brain, and it may be time to share it. Provide some little-known tips, advice or tools to help others learn something valuable. If you do this on a regular basis, you’re sure to avoid the boring title.

Get Personal

When was the last time you shared something personal with your clients, colleagues or friends? Tell a story, describe an experience you’ve had, or share something not too many people know about you. This can help you strengthen your relationships and show how interesting you really are.

What do you do to remain interesting and avoid being boring?

Image credit: Maja Lampe

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But although it may be necessary, delegation can be a very difficult step for many business owners. Some of the hurdles we may have to jump in order to delegate effectively include:

• Feeling like we need to do everything ourselves to have it done right.
• Not having the time or desire to transfer the knowledge necessary to have someone else take over.
• Being unable to find people we trust enough to delegate to.

While these are all valid and significant hurdles, you can overcome all of your reservations by taking a well-planned and logical approach to delegation.

Step 1: Know What to Delegate

In every business, there are some things that can be delegated and others that can not. For example, you should probably think twice before delegating tasks that involve sensitive or confidential client information. And you may not want to delegate a task that hasn’t been clearly defined.

Step 2: Be Picky with Who You Choose

This step is one of the most important and the most difficult. It takes a lot of time to find people you can delegate to that meet all of the necessary criteria for a successful relationship:

• Trust and loyalty
• Necessary skills
• Adequate availability
• Work ethic comparable to yours
• Positive performance history

It may take time, but by having thorough discussions about your expectations and the other person’s ability, you can make a good decision about who you choose to bring into the fold.

Step 3: Provide Documentation and Clear Instructions

Just as it is vitally important in business continuity planning, having documentation that clearly outlines the details of the work and provides all of the necessary information is important in delegation.

But don’t leave it at that. Once you have shared all of the necessary information, take time to review the specifics and answer any questions that may arise.

Step 4: Track Work and Provide Feedback

When you’ve found your team and assigned the work, don’t simply write it off and forget about it. It makes sense to follow along with the work being completed to ensure it’s being done correctly and to your specifications.

You certainly don’t want to micromanage work that you delegate, but you should be kept in the loop so you can monitor the work and provide feedback for improvements. And your goal should be to remain available to all parties so you can address and resolve any potential questions or problems.

Step 5: Make it Ongoing

Your business responsibilities change, so your delegation needs will also change. On a regular basis, take a look at what you have coming in and who you are delegating to in order to determine if you need to outsource more work and possibly expand your team. By making this a regular evaluation process in your business, you will be able to anticipate needs and be ready to handle changes as they occur.

Do you frequently delegate? What have you done to make the process easier?

Image credit: Sanja Gjenero

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