Posts with tips, tools, resources related to helping other solopreneurs, info entrepreneurs and small business owners. Primary focus is on building, organizing, running your business.
Solopreneurs – Find What Works for YOU for Productivity and Run Your Business, Don’t Let it Run You!
There are soooo many tips out there all saying they have the secrets, magic, or right way for people, especially entrepreneurs, to be oh so very productive in their business. Maybe you’ve heard of or tried: miracle mornings, journaling, “leveling up” (what is this, a Nintendo game?!), color coding your calendars to your chakra levels, freezing cold showers to wake up, getting up at 4:30 am to get it all done in the quiet before mere mortals rise. No wonder people then need cold showers, they’ve fallen back asleep by 8am! 😁 I’m a night owl, and 4:30 am is literally the middle of my night – that tip is never ever going to work for me. But it might for you. The point is you need to find the productivity tips and tools that work for YOU and your business.
That said, while researching and preparing for a presentation to give to a meeting of awesome solopreneurs (my pals at AIIP), I came across some tips that could be almost universal, or at least up the odds that you’ll find some here that are your productivity sweet spot.
And of course in my presentation I talk tools – the apps, software, or gear I’ve checked out (maybe reviewed in other publications and presentations) and what I am personally using. People ask me why I keep researching apps and tools…
1) because I search for the holy grail of the perfect solopreneur tool(s)
2) because what appeals and works best for me might not be best for YOU.
Find your productivity sweet spot and focus on what moves your business forward profitably and with more ease.
A few tips and my presentation will be shared here too:
I love when someone calls B.S. on a thing that everyone else seems afraid to go against! We keep trying tips and hacks to do more in less time, and keep cramming ever more into each day. Stop!
“We actually put ourselves in a very precarious situation. One problem, one unexpected roadblock in the day, and the whole day is ruined. And sadly that’s the case of many entrepreneurs. “
Focus on the money tasks first – do you know what your most valuable tasks are?
Can this task be done by someone else – or just you? Be honest here! If you were a NY Times best-selling author, writing is clearly a valuable task only you could do. If you’re a coach, then coaching your clients is your highest value task.
Does this task make you money? Will it lead to income in the short or long term? Fussing over logos and colors on your website are not money tasks. Changing out your social media headers – not a money task. A lot of social media is not an immediate, money-making task. Sending emails to your list – money task.
Are you energized by the task? Does it use creativity and brainpower? Is it strategic?
More basic productivity ideas – suggestions since they may not be your sweet spot:
Two-minute rule – if a task will take less than 2 min to do, just DO IT right now already! Whether it’s refilling Rx, shooting off quick email answer, calling to make an appointment – don’t put it off.
Don’t neglect self-care. You need sleep, exercise, getting outside, saying hydrated. And you need to actually plan it. Try a set break time during the day – not just lunch! Maybe you go get a tea or latte at 2:30, or walk around the block at 3pm. Schedule it in your calendar.
Try a productivity ‘cheat day’ – like some diets offer. Productivity ‘cheat days’ give yourself permission for one day (maybe 1 per month, on what would ordinarily be a work day) to do ‘all the things you aren’t “supposed” to do if you’re trying to be really productive.’ Most Americans are seriously overworked [2017 Enterprise Rent-a-Car study of 1,000 people, 7 in 10 said they worked at least 1 weekend/month, equivalent to a full work day] and we aren’t actually productive at paces like that! This is kind of like diet/eating ‘cheat days’ – you’re great and on-target 6 days, 1 day you do whatever you want. Cheat days give us fuel and motivation for rest of the time
Set goals – SMART goals – for your business, for marketing your business – breaking up into quarters, by month.
Go with your natural rhythms – if you’re a morning or night person. I’m a night owl, do doubt. This NBC News article spoke to me – about when we try routines and they fail because they go against our nature.
“setting routines and bedtimes … I fail when I try it myself. Daytime me says “Go to bed earlier! Try exercising in the morning!” But when the time comes, inevitably nighttime me says “Oooh, there’s something to read on the internet!” And when I wake up, morning me says, forcefully: “Go back to sleep.”
Some of the tools recommended in my presentation – tools/apps I use:
The whole GSuite of tools – Gmail, Google Calendar, Docs, Forms, etc
Pocket, Feedly, Flipboard – where my news gets aggregated to read in one place, and easy to share to social media from
LastPass – my secure password manager – love that now it lets me share my passwords no matter where I log in from – phone, tablet, laptop.
Noord VPN – secure, fits all the parameters for security and no-tracking for a VPN, and I got a good deal via StackSocial.
my travel charger kit – I keep a roll-up kit in my backpack with spare charger cords for everything – no hunting the house last minute before travel
[UPDATED– folks wanted pictures and links to the physical. essential gear I showed off during my talk]
SanDisk SSD – after failures of backup drives that spin, need power (and these all WILL fail at some point), I started keeping everything on an external, 480GB Solid State Drive, connected to my computer by inexpensive USB adapter. It goes wherever I go. Light, silent, nothing to break or fail. (and since prices have fallen by HALF since I bought mine – there’s no reason you can’t go grab one, including the SanDisk SDSSDA-480G-G26 model I own plus its USB 3.0 to SSD cable from Sabrent)
My beloved Logitech C920 external webcam (there are newer versions, I prefer my older one as it has a superior Zeiss lens) with crisp 1080 HD pics and a universal tripod screw-mount. I keep it on my old Joby Gorillapod tripod 95% of the time.
When I talked traveling with backup cords and plugs, someone asked me about for international travel. For an overseas trip last year I picked up this Pac2Go Universal Travel Adapter – and described it like a swiss-army knife of travel plugs. It was awesome – including ability to plug in to the USB port for direct charging, no wasting key plug spot for mobile devices(there were questions if it could handle odd, non-standard plugs/outlets from Africa and Asia – according to this quote it can “at home in cities like London, Paris, Singapore or Dubai as well as the European, African, American or Asia back roads.“)
I literally do not leave home without my travel cord kit – it rolls up and has elastic bands, slots, and 2 zipper pouches to keep snug my extra cords, USB connectors, memory cards, and assorted travel goodies. I was tired of rounding up cables and charger from around the home and office before every trip – leaving something at home, not being able to charge some device (like my camera, or Fitbit). So I got the roll-up kit and a back-up copy of all essential charging devices. I keep a dual port USB charger (like this one from Aukey – have an Aukey, iClever and Anker ones at home) plus a spare single charger that came with some Apple device. The roll-up cord kit lives in my backup – ALWAYS. [I’ve given away a version of my travel kit at 3 different events + 2 to family members – if you can’t find the one I linked to, I found one under $10 at Staples that I gave away at AIIP19; Target sometimes carries one <$10, especially at the holidays. just search for ‘travel cord organizer’]
By now you know I get geeky and excited when sharing about cool tools and apps that can make work or life easier. If you want more recommendations like this on a regular basis – get my Mighty Marketing Mojo emails and my Social Tools Guide gift.
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I’m So Glad You Asked “What’s a Bundle Sale or a Giveaway event?”
TL;DR– this became an epic post when I wrote down all the things I wish I’d known years ago before I first encountered what I now know is a “bundle sale,” and its companion, the “giveaway event.” In quick summary: Bundle sales offer multiple, frequently digital, paid products from a collection of contributors, all hosted by a bundle seller and offered for a low price. You get to choose from any or all of the ebooks, apps, planners, webinars, live trainings, or e-courses offered for a single payment. It’s common to see a collection of products whose combined value is thousands of dollars, sold for less than $50. Giveaway events are similar but you get ‘entry’ to the event for free by handing over your email address to the host, then selecting which free gifts you’d like to opt-in for.
Read on for Everything You Wanted to Know About Bundle Sales and Giveaways But Didn’t Know to Ask!
While the concept of a “bundle sale” has become very popular among online business owners, and those identifying as ‘internet marketers’, I know not every solopreneur or small biz owner in my circles are familiar with these offers. It’s ok to have some questions!
(I can’t believe I read a post that said ‘you had to have been living under a rock to not know what a bundle sale is’ – hellooooooo, not every business owner is the same or lives in the same online circles 24/7! And to be honest, while buffets, samples, and bundles may exist offline, these online digital bundle sales are really only common in small portions of the whole web. Many small business owners, professional service providers, consultants and freelancers will not be intimately familiar with this concept. I don’t like the assumptions that blog writer made. Sheesh. So I’m here to bust myths and assumptions!)
In the offline, retail, world – stores, manufacturers or sellers have put together collections of products to sell at a combined lower price than if you bought each item individually. And sometimes you may even see products from different manufacturers ‘bundled’ by a store or 3rd party seller. Think about places like Ulta and Sephora that may bundle small, nice cosmetics products so you can try them before you buy. Doesn’t it make sense to get a taste of several high-end products before committing to a pricey new makeup or facial care routine? Nintendo and game makers often bundle popular games with ones that haven’t sold as well to help those move. Bundles have been around for some time and can give really good deals for all involved.
But they’ve really taken off among e-commerce, software and app sellers, and business owners who mostly create and sell digital products and courses. It’s these bundles of digital products and online courses that I see questions about from solopreneurs I know. Those are the kind of bundle sales that this explanation focuses on.
So, a bundle sale is an online sale where you get a collection, or “bundle”, of products for a single (usually low) price for a limited amount of time.
Online product bundle sales include real, full-size items that are normally sold by their creators. These are products, books, courses, coaching or services that are already for sale, or soon-to-be-sold. Good bundle sales should not include freebies or items that a provider regularly gives away to build their lists. Bundle sales typically last 10 days or less – the most common is a week. Urgency is a real thing in marketing and it works on all of us! Sellers and contributors need enough time to tell people and promote, but short enough that people are encouraged to buy now and not wait.
Ok, So What’s a Giveaway Event?
Giveaway events are more like all the sampling booths at Costco or BJs – lots of folks giving away easy-to-consume tastes of their products. A giveaway host will often have one main signup or opt-in (to get you to join the host’s list) and that takes you to a page with a ton of free offers for you to choose from. Choose one, two, three, or all of them. You opt-in to the list of each provider in the giveaway and get their useful freebie – no cost.
Example: December Stuffed Stocking Giveaway – aimed at virtual assistants, freelancers and service business owners; from Tawnya Sutherland at VANetworking.com This is a giveway – you sign up for free, you get access to all the offers or gifts and then make your choice top claim/opt-in to free gifts from any or all of the contributors. [I don’t know if this was a one-time event in 2018 or if it will return]
Collaboration. And to grow your list and/or business at an exponentially faster rate than waiting to be found organically, by chance.
Because business owners figured out ways to collaborate to offer more and grow faster. It’s the power of many, folks pulling together, borrowing audiences, or however you’d like to think of cooperation and collaboration to advertise and sell. Everyone participating and contributing something to the bundle grows, they promote the bundle to their own communities, and all the buyers get to see business owners and products they may not have found on their own while experiencing tremendous discounts.
I like this quote …
“the ability to collaborate and bring together content creators and well-crafted digital products, like e-books and e-courses, and package them into something so big, so thorough, and yet so affordable, it sort of blows people’s minds”
If you’ve not encountered many bundle sales, I get that they could seem really salesy, or questionable, and maybe there are some out there that aren’t built with the customer’s needs in mind, or that have products of questionable value. But if the host follows good practice, gets high value contributions, and really keeps the customer in mind, they are GREAT.
I’ll share some sample bundles – including screenshots inside ones I’ve purchased and talk about how everyone involved benefits from a good bundle. At the end of this post I answer some common questions I’ve been asked by solopreneur pals or seen in communities with small biz owners.
I scroll through a recent bundle I purchased
Examples of bundle sales I’ve seen (maybe even purchased from) include:
Humble Bundle – sells games, ebooks, software, and digital content with proceeds benefiting charities. A little bit different from other bundles as they have a ‘pay what you want’ version and a ‘pay this much more and get these other items too’ kind of levels. (they have a cool cookbook bundle going on as I’m writing this post “eat like a geek”)
Example of a Humble Bundle – featuring cookbooks
Courses/training on software often offered from Stack Social – e.g. Ultimate UX/UI Designer Bundle includes 8 courses (each normally valued at $199) for $29; the Essential Coding for Beginners Bundle ($1740 value for $19), the Complete Adobe CC Training bundle ($673 for $29), a Copywriting Mastery Bundle ($24) and so many more.
Stack Social Bundles section
Design sites like Creative Fabrica, Design Cuts, Mighty Deals, Creative Market often sell bundles of images, patterns, fonts, or clip art – they handle the backend differently from solopreneur or small businesses running a bundle, because everything in those design-marts is centralized in one big site or marketplace.
I have seen, or am aware of, bundle sales for nearly every niche living, working, or buying things online. Bundles for:
bundles all about boosting business productivity (I definitely bought Cindy + Lynette’s bundle!)
bundles offered at certain times of year (Black Friday, Christmas or start of the new year – like Your Best Year Yet Giveaway for coaches and solopreneurs from Kathryn Calhoun and Jennifer Dunham)
bundles offered every year that have grown beyond their name (looking at you BC -Blogging Concentrated- Stack with much more than just blogging! I’ve bought 3-4 BC Stacks I think!)
BC Stack 2018 – yeah purchased this one too. Some of included products shown above
Some bundles and giveaways (they are slightly different – one for sale, the other offered free) include a charitable component as well (the 5DayDeal for photo/video did, the Calhoun + Dunham gave to Kiva, Melissa Brown ran a bundle with all proceeds to charity BlinkNow).
Melissa Brown ran a bundle to benefit charity Blink Now in 2018
Naturally I’m fond of the two bundles I’ve participated in – The Great Big Life and Biz Bundle from Kelly McCausey and the Laptop Lifestyle Business Bundle from Angela Wills. [Angela no longer runs events such as this – but hers were built for her membership – all the contributed products come only from those who are paid members of her membership/training program and she gives most of the bundle sale profits back to the members through increased affiliate commissions. ]
I love creating and testing new workshops or products for bundle sales like Kelly’s. It’s a great way to get both new and existing members of my community excited, into a training, get their feedback and testimonials, and then make the paid version of that training even better.
For example in fall of 2021 I listened to what my community was talking about and saying they needed help with in being able to do effective email marketing, to sell easy workshops of their own, or participate in giveaways and bundles – they needed to know how to create a landing page. So my Mighty Easy Landing Pages training was born! The live round of training went first into the Great Big Life + Biz Bundle sale.
Full disclosure – I’ve bought more than bundles than I can probably count over the last 5 years, but in the past 12 months I have also begun to participate in bundles by contributing items to the sale. Here’s my advice as both a buyer and a contributor.
When a digital products bundle is carefully thought out and executed well, they can be winners for the buyers, sellers, and those contributing the products in the bundle. They are a win/win/win. Keep reading and I’ll show you how everyone wins.
How you win with a bundle as a buyer:
You get products, downloads, e-books, licensed content, or live or recorded trainings generally worth hundreds more dollars than you are paying. It’s common for a bundle to have more than $1000 worth of items and sell for less than $100. You find out about thought leaders, content creators, and service providers you may never have encountered otherwise.
How the product creator/contributor to a bundle sale wins:
The product creator gets to reach a large audience of those interested in their products or services than they might if just selling something on their own site. They have tapped in to the community, audience, or list of the bundle seller as well as all the affiliate partners of the bundle seller.
The product contributor increases their customer and email list via all those who download or claim their product in the bundle. They may also be affiliates of the bundle seller and by using their affiliate links when promoting the bundle they could earn affiliate commissions. This is how the product creator/contributor makes money on a sale, as they are not paid to contribute the product to the sale.
**Note – for me and where the Mighty Marketing Mojo side of my business is, I participate as a way to be seen by more of my ideal audience and to build my email list. I hope that those claiming my products or offers in a bundle will become engaged members of my email community and be interested in the other services, training and offers I can send them long after the bundle sale is over.
Good piece of advice from my biz coach, and a host of great bundle sale ( the Great Big Life & Biz Bundle – coming back in October – join the list to learn more) – Kelly McCausey:
“You CAN overdo Bundle Marketing is you’re not reaching out into new neighborhoods on the web, so do be aware of the opportunities available and choose what you can leverage into the most opt-ins.”
How the bundle host/seller wins:
The seller handles the technical, back-end, e-commerce part, they get traffic, they build credibility as a leader in their niche, they build their list, they engage with their affiliates, and they can of course make a nice profit from purchases of the bundle.
Most of the bundles that involve digital products (or info products), e-books, courses, or webinars include a significant affiliate marketing and sales component. People who have signed up as affiliates of the bundle seller go out and promote the bundle sale, encouraging their lists and communities to purchase via a special, link that tells the bundle seller that a sale came from a particular affiliate, and the bundle host/seller then pays out commissions to their affiliates – i.e. a portion of the total sales of the bundle. Affiliates must disclose that they are using affiliate links in their emails, blog posts, or other promotions.
I’ll note that for many of us solopreneurs who have service businesses, work with clients 1:1 or in small groups, or who are earlier in their business building – participating as a contributor is great, but we aren’t necessarily prepared to be a bundle host. And that’s ok. But I thought you might like to see the wins from all three perspectives.
Crissy Herron of Indie Biz Chicks Love Your Biz Bundle in 2018
Why would solopreneurs want to buy from an online bundle sale?
Generally because you are getting a ton of value on useful products or courses for a really low price, especially relative to the value of everything in the bundle. You may want to buy because there are several courses included so you can boost your skills or learn something totally new. You may buy because there are products that can save you time, which saves you money.
Don’t ignore that buying a bundle can introduce to you new communities, new service providers you may need for yourself or your business, new authors, thought leaders, and coaches. I’m pretty sure I got on the mailing list for the person who has become my business coach, Kelly McCausey, because she offered something in a giveaway or event years ago. I know that’s how I found Angela Wills years ago when she was primarily teaching WordPress courses. You never know who you might meet via bundle and how they could help your business even years down the road!
WorkLessDoMore 2019 Bundle – products to help business owners with productivity (redemption for these products via email opt-in vs. coupon)
Bundles are like all-you-can-eat buffets – do not overload your plate or belly!
Well done bundles include a LOT of great products and offers around their niche. Those ebooks, planners, journals, webinars, or courses all look so tempting! If you’ve never bought a bundle before, I guarantee you will be tempted by the buffet to over eat, or over-download. You will think you want to, or need to, claim every offer, download all the products, or grab every freebie in a giveaway event.
PLEASE DON’T DO THIS! As your mentor, advisor, person who has ‘been there, done that, got the t-shirt’, I can say no matter how tempting, don’t grab everything. Just like you can’t eat everything at the buffet without getting sick, you can’t claim everything in a bundle sale without losing all your productivity and having a ton of stuff collect digital dust. Don’t over eat and don’t over download.
I get it, FOMO is real. So is being overwhelmed by too many choices. There WILL be other sales and ways to invest in your training, your life, your business. Maybe not these exact products or courses, but there will be other opportunities. Be selective right now.
I’ve learned these lessons so you don’t have to. 😉 What I recommend in approaching a bundle sale:
Know your business goals for the next 90 days
Know what’s on your calendar for those 90 days – how much time do you have to complete a training, attend live sessions, or really digest new materials
Go through the list of awesome items in the bundle and make note of the 3-5, max of 7, items that will help you get to those 90 day goals AND fit your calendar.
Only choose those items you can USE and implement right NOW.
Not a course you think would be cool to know and you could maybe use someday.
Not a topic you already feel pretty confident about, nor necessarily the one you know nothing about and aren’t sure how it fits to your business right NOW. E.g. do I think I should learn about Facebook Ads? Yeah, I do. Do I have time to focus on a course on FB ads AND will implement that and start running FB ads in the next 90 days? Nope. So I wouldn’t claim a training on that – I would feel pressure to do something that’s going to sidetrack me. Just say no!
Choose something if it has a live, time-sensitive component and if it helps you meet your goals right now. E.g. I created a 30 day challenge to help my fellow solopreneurs narrow their marketing focus – and I offered it in bundle sale AND it ran live right after the sale. So naturally I encourage someone to grab it and participate LIVE if focusing on setting and following through on marketing goals is a top priority right now. If your focus is on something else, skip the live events you can’t take advantage of and maybe only focus on recorded trainings you can do at your own pace.
Even with being selective, you will get your money’s worth! Using just one or two on-target products from a bundle that let you go out and serve your clients easier/faster, find more clients, bring in more sales – you know , boost your business – means you got a great ROI from your purchase.
BC Stack 2017 – sneak peek at download page with offers to claim
Ok, but how do bundles work for those doing the buying of the awesome stuff?
I.e. What happens after someone enters credit card or PayPal info on the main bundle sales page and pays their $27.
After your purchase of the bundle you’ll get an email(s) from the seller with information and links to a download or details page.
On the download or details page you will see descriptions of each offer in the bundle, sometimes a product picture and/or picture of the product contributor. There will be a button or link to claim each product.
Clicking the button/link will do 1 of 2 things depending on how each product contributor has things set up in their business and handles things on their own back-end.
1) You will go through a simple email opt-in form on the contributor’s website (usually at a landing page specific to the product you are claiming) You enter your name and email and the contributor sends you the product information.
2) You will go through the contributor’s e-commerce shopping cart and enter a coupon code to receive your claimed product for free.
No matter which way you get to your product, you are claiming a paid product with monetary value; generally as a rule, bundle products are not offered free anywhere.
[Giveaway events have free registration and may include smaller value products or ones usually given away free. Online biz owners need to use the right term for each event they may host or participate in – Bundle/Stack vs. Giveaway]
Work Less Do More bundle 2018 – page to claim purchase (showing product with coupon redemption)
Why you will often need to claim each product/offer from a bundle (or freebie in a giveaway) separately?
Logistics– Participants – including the host/seller – are small businesses too and we don’t have centralized marketplaces or digital warehouses and systems that make it super easy to run the backend. We’re not Amazon. 😊
Privacy– it is uncool, unethical – and quite illegal – for a bundle seller to take a buyer’s money and then say, “oh hey, I’m now gonna give your email and contact info over to 25, 35, or up to 50 other businesses, all at once, so you can get your stuff. Hope you don’t mind.” Well of course someone would mind! You might have only wanted 3 items in the bundle (wise choice, still getting good value) but your info would now be with 25+ different other people’s mailing lists. I don’t ever want that to happen to me, you don’t want that, and the bundle host doesn’t either. So you only give your info directly to those contributors whose product you want and want to keep hearing from because they have other cool products like the one in the bundle.
Avoiding overwhelm – even if it were easy for the bundle seller to give you immediate download access to dozens of products from dozens of contributors – you might not want or need all of them. It would be a waste of your time to have you go through a giant zip file with dozens upon dozens of files to find the ones you really want and can use right now.
Courtesy– the bundle host/seller reached out to a lot of people to ask for contributions. Many contributors took time out to create something brand new just for that bundle – it hasn’t even gone on sale to their regular customers yet. Bundle buyers may be getting something exclusive, offered to them first. Some bundles have first-time contributors, giving over their first product to the bundle, thrilled to have something they believe will help bundle buyers. And unless someone buys the bundle through a contributor’s affiliate link and they get a commission, they aren’t making any money from these new or exclusively offered products. So it’s the courteous thing for you to give your email and info to the contributors whose product was offered to you with your success in mind.
That’s how many bundle sales work. You pay a low price and get hundreds of dollars worth of products, assets, or training to use to improve your life or boost your business. You claim (via coupon codes) or opt-in to each of the ones you want. If that’s too much trouble, then don’t buy bundles. 😀
Great quote from a kindergarten that can apply to online sales too … “you get what you get and you don’t get upset” LOL! But seriously, what it means is that for nearly all bundles, there are no refunds. You buy as-is.
More Common Questions on Online Bundles …
Ugh, I waited until last day to buy the darn thing and now I won’t have time to go through and download everything I want before tonight’s deadline!
No no no no! You only have to BUY the bundle before its deadline ends. (and those deadlines mean business – don’t wait til 11pm on the last day to check out the sales page for a bundle. You may not be done reading and checking things out in time before it closes – says someone with experience 😄) There will be a separate deadline, usually at least a month or more out (often up to 90 days), for when you must choose and download or opt-in to get the items you want from inside the bundle. Pop a note into your calendar for the next week to spend some time on the download page and make your choices like I advised above.
Also, not every thing offered in a bundle will be a download. Sometimes you are getting credits or coupons to claim items for free in the contributors e-store (common for coupons letting you choose licensed content/PLR). Sometimes the product is a webinar (or series of webinars) and you will register to attend those. You may be getting a plugin to download and install on your website. Maybe it’s a free registration for software or an app (e.g. a recent bundle I purchased offered extended free trials of Acuity, a calendar/appoint scheduling app). An offer may even be a course delivered through a platform like Udemy or Thinkific – you’re getting access to the that class for free as part of your bundle purchase. An offer could even be a service, such as creating a simple logo, animating your logo (I’ve offered that), editing a podcast episode, or 30 days of website maintenance. Follow the instructions from each contributor.
Can I purchase just part of the bundle or stack?
Nope, doesn’t work that way. You purchase access to everything inside. But you don’t have to claim everything. Claim what resonates most with you and your situation right now. Ignore what doesn’t fit your business or needs. Really! Products inside bundles or stacks are worth more than the low price charged for the entire bundle so you should easily be able to get your money’s worth.
I HAVE seen a lot of bundle sales lately. I’m wondering if they aren’t really the same.
They do seem to be increasing in popularity! But no, they aren’t all the same. See the long list earlier in this post about the different types of bundles I’ve seen or purchased. There seem to be bundles for every niche or interest! Homeschooling, paleo cooking, software coding, printable journal or planners, social media, you name it and there are bundles dedicated to those topics or including items for biz owners specializing in those areas.
Now, there are many bundles aimed at small business owners and solopreneurs, for sure! And I’ve seen many by hosts/sellers who know each other and have overlap in their audiences, communities served, and email lists. They may have similar products in each of their bundles or even the same contributors. But hosts strive to give good value and access to things you might not have any other way. Hopefully there’s not tremendous overlap between bundles in the same niche. Definitely check the offers – you may see a few that are the same if bundles are being sold near each other on the calendar – but I hope not. And there will be more that’s different in each bundle than the same. You should also know it’s not uncommon for you to receive multiple emails from different people promoting the same bundle. That bundle must be a popular topic!
If I buy from the same bundle seller again will I get repeats of products?
Well done bundles bring you fresh ideas and products for each collection and offer. Some sellers may bring back a very popular or high quality product, but it doesn’t happen often. I mentioned earlier that I’ve purchased at least 3 BC Stacks over the years, including the last two – and they did not contain any of the same offers. That’s something that bundle hosts/sellers who do annual or frequent sales make a priority.
Bundle sales don’t offer refunds?
No. I’ve not seen any refunds offered by a bundle seller. Once you’ve purchased a bundle you will have access to many digital products that you could download (if that’s how they’re delivered). There would be no way for the contributors and the bundle host to get those back from you if the seller had to issue a refund. To protect the experts who have graciously, generously contributed their paid products to the bundle, the bundle seller won’t issue refunds. But they will work with you make sure you’re satisfied. If you have questions, reach out the bundle host/seller.
Can I share my bundle purchase with friends?
No, that’s not cool. 😛 These are copyrighted, protected, paid products offered by small business owners just for the education and use of those directly purchasing the bundle. Your purchase doesn’t entitle you to share files, upload them anywhere else, or give away access to others. If you love the items in a bundle and think friends or colleagues would get a lot of value from it too, by all means share the link to purchase the bundle! You could even ask the bundle seller for an affiliate link and you could earn a commission (or % of sales) from anyone who buys through the link you share with them.
One more tip – back up, offsite (away from your computer’s hard drive) any digital materials you receive through a bundle. Good advice for ALL digital purchases! After the deadlines for claiming and downloading offers from a bundle, those pages will go away. Bundle sellers will not be able to send you copies of any lost digital purchases.
Evaluate each bundle and buy if it makes sense for your budget and business right now
It will be up to you to evaluate each bundle sale you come across, just like you evaluate other offers and ways to invest in yourself and your business. Not every sale will have overwhelming value for you at that particular time. Resist shiny object syndrome and the urge to grab all the new things! Don’t eat everything at the buffet. 😄 Think about if offers in the bundle can help you right now and will return more than the cost of the bundle. Often it only takes 1-2 well-implemented items from a bundle to more than make up for the low bundle price. Well done bundles, with products implemented well by you, can create a big win for your solopreneur biz!
Yep, some of the links you’ll find here may be affiliate links. That means that if you click on a link and make a purchase, I might earn a small commission. Here’s what you need to know: (1) you will never pay more for a product or service because I am promoting it, and sometimes you’ll pay less, and (2) I don’t promote a product or service I do not believe in. If I don’t know the producer or business or haven’t tested or tried a product, I don’t use an affiliate link.
Real Influence Comes from Listening, Deeper Connections and More Impactful Conversations – Learn How to Do It Better by Reading V.I.B.E.S.
How can we have more meaningful conversations in and around our businesses?
You might be sick of seeing the marketing term “influencer”, or maybe just tired of all the people all over social media and the web who claim to be some kind of “influencer.” What does that term even really mean?!
Checking out some favorite resources lately and I came across this post and video interview that starts by saying …
“Influencers don’t just beam out proclamations from mountaintops. They’re on the ground with their people and their customers every day, learning what makes them work, what they value and what the need most.”
YES! That’s the kind of influence I could actually get behind and who I think some of you want to be with your business, for your clients. I’m not very interested in who wears what brand, or how they love this particular type of makeup, and that I would know all this from pictures thrown out from Instagram. That doesn’t really influence me.
Being ‘on the ground’ and learning what a potential client really values, what makes them tick? THAT I can get behind. I know it’s the kind of listening, participating, and modeling good leadership that I see in one of my favorite online business communities, Love People & Make Money from my coach, Kelly McCausey.
What is the VIBES technique and how can it help our next client interaction?
In this post and 22-minute video on observation techniques to boost our communication skills, guest writer at Entrepreneur.com, Natalie MacNeil, interviewed speaking coach Sharí Alexander, and learned Alexander’s “V.I.B.E.S.” technique. Alexander uses this technique for improving how we read and analyze those around us, learning what they really need, so that we can have more meaningful interactions.
One of the first things Alexander says in the casual interview is that we spend too much time in meetings, calls, negotiations or sales talk worrying about what we’re going to say. But what is important is that we learn what we need to KNOW and what’s the right thing to say for THAT person (and I’d add, ‘at THAT time’). We have to get out of our heads and think more about the other person. But she also cautions that we don’t take the first bit of info we see and jump to conclusions – it’s just a bit of data in the larger picture of better understanding, empathy, and connections.
Another tip Sharí offers, which I’ve seen in many other communications tips, is to match or mirror the style and tone of the person you’re communicating with. But she’s quick to remind us that while we may mirror or match, we are staying authentically us. If they start out serious, we reflect that. If they lean in, we may lean in too. The idea is each person is put at ease and trusts the other, so that later you might shift the tone or style and they’re ok with that. There are good tips here for how to listen, mirror, and find your influencer in a group setting. I love how she calls groups and live meetings “death-defying acts of influence!”
I like the idea given of practicing the V.I.B.E.S technique while watching TV – rather than starting out with your partner, local barista, or your next client!
V.I.B.E.S. stands for:
Values – “our human operating system”
Identifiers – “when the other person tells you who they are” – like the Maya Angelo quote!
Beliefs – “stories we tell about the world around us”
Emotional triggers – “what influences whether we are in a negative or positive mood”
Secret goals or desires – “what are they striving for, envisioning themselves as”
Generally speaking, I think we can all do a better job of listening and paying attention to others. Listen not just for the chance to say what you came to that meeting to get across, but to really learn and understand. Good reminders and tips in this interview!
How might you use the V.I.B.E.S technique in your next meeting with a prospective customer? How can we adapt it to use online when we can’t read someone in-person? (a good reason to practice using the TV characters!) Should we participate in the VIBES challenge they mention and talk about how we’re doing over in the Mighty Marketing Mojo Facebook Group? 🙂
Every Business Owner Faces Imposter Syndrome at Times – How Do We Handle It?
I haven’t met a solopreneur, consultant, coach, author, photographer, marketer or researcher who has NOT had moments dealing with feelings of Imposter Syndrome. Shoot, some of us feel and battle it on such a regular basis we’ve given our Imposter a name and picture.
So relax, you’re in good company if you’ve had moments where you ask ‘who am I to be creating this?‘ or ‘why would anyone hire me to do that?‘ Been there, done that, got the t-shirt.
But how do we tell that Imposter Monster to go away so we can get on with the work we KNOW we’re meant to be doing right now? You know, that reason we went out solo, hung our shingle, started our own business and are working to find more of our ideal clients. And how do we get back to that reason when the doubts inevitably come again?
I love the posts from Copyblogger because they go so far beyond writing or blogging. They live out their mantras on content marketing, they educate and give value, and help all of us as business owners – not matter what kind of business. So that’s why although this recent post mentions ‘creative business’ in the title – the tips and wisdom for handling imposter syndrome apply to all of us.
This simple post on getting real about imposter syndrome really resonated with me:
You have to be comfortable getting paid for work someone will inevitably dislike.
Just like we can NOT market our business to everyone, or even all busy moms, or all authors, or any other super huge group of possible clients. We must get used to the fact that not every person in even our ideal target client group will be the right fit, find value in what we do, or join our community. It’s ok. The services we provide, the products we create, what we write – it won’t resonate with all the people we hope it might, but we still want – and deserve – to sell our work, to be paid for our skills and expertise.
The two key tips offered in the article, that I believe are helpful no matter whether our solo work involves traditionally ‘creative’ work:
Step #1: Trust that the people who don’t like your work don’t matter – easier said than done, but something we strive for all the time.
Step #2: Embrace the value you produce – get clear on our ‘why’, and how our values drive our work [hey, if you want to work more on getting clear about your values, I highly recommend the “My Values” training from my coach, Kelly McCausey]
Do you have an Imposter Monster? Would naming him/her help in shoving them aside so you can get back to your important work? What else has helped you in handling these feelings when they creep up? Leave your thoughts in the comments or come talk about your tips in my MMM Facebook Group.
Choosing to Use a Coach Has Been One of Smartest Business Decisions I’ve Made
Sometimes we solopreneurs can be stubborn. Many of us think we have to do everything, well, solo! We might scoff at hiring a VA (virtual assistant) to help us with creating graphics, scheduling social media, setting up shopping carts or payment systems, or creating content. We try to do everything ourselves. We think we can’t ‘afford’ to have a team. We might think that investing in coaching is too luxurious. Or maybe we’re skeptical of all the people out there selling their services as coaches – not knowing who to trust if we DO decide to make that smart investment in coaching.
I’ve been there. I still do most of the work in my business myself. And I have the late nights and foggy head to prove it! But I KNOW that hiring help can really HELP me and lead to growth. I have goals to get there in terms of hiring a VA to do routine tasks so I can spend more time with clients. But one thing I jumped on pretty early in my solo career – hiring a coach.
In fact, it was hiring a coach that led me to starting my solopreneur business in the first place.
I had finally made the decision (a complicated and bit painful one) to leave the path I’d been on to becoming a professor and teaching at the graduate school level. I’d spent a lot of years grinding away on that path. It was very hard for me to clearly see what my other options were or where my passion really lay. My husband suggested I work with a former colleague of his who had become a coach, and Lauren helped me work through what I was great at, what I wanted, and where to go next. And voila, more than 6 years ago my LLC was formed and I was officially a business owner and my own boss. I’m still grateful for Lauren’s help – a big part of it being showing me the power of coaching.
I could tell you my new solo path was smooth, straight, and led right to happiness, joyful clients, and plenty of income.
But nope.
That’s not how life, or business, works most of the time. And certainly not for me. There were downs, and twists, and ups and successes too. But I hit a point where what I had first created my business to do, wasn’t serving me, or making the impact I wanted.
At first, I tried to learn my way out.
I joke that my MLS means I have a graduate degree in ‘finding stuff’. As an info pro and researcher at heart, I kept researching, studying, and reading. That always worked in the past. I was a pro at being a student and life-long learner (remember, I had spent YEARS working to be a teacher/professor and to basically stay in school forever).
I bet you read a lot too. Blog posts, emails, magazines, internet news articles. You’ve probably taken some online courses or a few webinars. Maybe a LOT of webinars. Maybe shelled out more than your wallet wanted for some fancy courses that promised the moon.
I know I did. Ouch.
Did that work for me?
Well … sort of.
I DID learn a heckuva lot about how marketing works today vs. my long ago days in advertising.
I learned what’s different for small business and B2B vs B2C (it’s all really H2H—pssst ask me what that means!), about marketing services vs. products, online businesses vs. bricks-n-mortar, marketing automation, how email marketing isn’t dead, content is king, and don’t build your business on the shifting sands of social media. whew.
And that there is NO magic bullet, NO one-size-fits all solution, NO single right marketing solution. I DO believe that, whole-heartedly.
I saw a lot of ‘gurus’ that contradicted each other and operated in ways I didn’t like.
I spent A LOT of time on this. Heck, I’ve spent the last 6 YEARS listening, learning, observing, testing, practicing (and now teaching) marketing. I should have another degree by now. 🙂 You don’t have that kind of time, nor do any of us need any more degrees or formal coursework.
You know what REALLY helped?
What got me unstuck when things weren’t clear or the ideas jumbled together?
Getting help. Asking for assistance.
Investing in a coach again was what cleared my confusion and reset my business.
Coaching refreshed my marketing mindset. And got my marketing mojo back!
Sure, I got tips from mentors, from my professional association memberships, and from those zillion webinars over the years. But sometimes we need more. We need a more personal touch and support. We need that cheerleader or wise guide on our side. We need info that’s more current than a book.
I choose coaching.
Coaching combined learning, seeing skills in action, being in a supportive environment, and often a hefty dose of accountability to get me to take ACTION.
Coaching guides me out of thinking and studying and into TRYING and DOING.
I’ve had several business coaches over the years and learned a lot from each. Different coaches for different stages of my career and my business. I had different questions and needs. You do too.
My current coach helps me evaluate which options make sense for me RIGHT NOW and we always ask, “what if it were easy?”
I even bought the What If It Were Easy coffee mug!
Right now, you’re here reading this blog, visiting my site, and joining my community because you have questions about marketing. Cool! Welcome!
What’s next for you in marketing YOUR solopreneur business? Could you choose coaching too? Coaching with me? I hope so!
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July 4th – Time to Celebrate Your Entrepreneurial Freedom
Even if you aren’t an entrepreneur – yet – you still enjoy many similar freedoms. Or you likely want to. This is a great time to reflect on the independent mindset and how we can all nurture it in ourselves and others.
We’re more than ever a nation of independent workers, entrepreneurial in spirit if not in action. Some of that by choice, some by forces out of our control. But . . . we can choose whether we stay on our own Freedom Trails or not.
We have been given the freedom to choose – whether we stay in a employer-controlled job, to work for a nonprofit, to volunteer, to moonlight, to freelance, to consult, or to wholly own our own businesses. We can choose to go back to j-o-b-s, to retire, to teach, to work part-time, to work multiple jobs or gigs to make it and stay afloat. None of those or all of those. Never forget that you have more choice than you think. What paths to take, what the trail and winding journey looks like for each of us.
And we are not alone
More than 50+ million Americans are out on their own (updated – Statista says as of 2020 nearly 60 million freelancers in US) in some way – freelancing, consulting, work-for-hire, running their own business and own lives. Gigs, side hustles, consulting, freelancing – it’s all been on the rise for years. Small businesses (with <49 employees, so truly ‘small’) have contributed to most to overall job growth in the US lately (BLS, SBA). America has 3.7 Million ‘microbusinesses’ (<9 employees) and they make up 75% of ALL private-sector employers. Wow. Are you one of those? Do you want to be?
There are a lot of other solos to be out ‘alone’ alongside.
What might work independence look and feel like for you? For your work with clients, your community, your family, your fellow entrepreneurs? What small and big freedoms will you celebrate?
This Freedom Fourth maybe you will celebrate:
Freedom to work wherever you choose
Freedom to believe in yourself, your abilities, your skills, your gifts
Freedom from working with sabotaging bosses or co-workers, time- and soul-sucking tasks
Freedom to choose your own projects, your own clients, your own boss
Freedom to work on projects you really, truly love – with people that respect and love you back
Freedom to pursue your dreams in all their forms
Freedom to break rules and create your own
Freedom of flexibility
Freedom from trying to please everyone, and never being quite happy with yourself
Freedom to be who you are, play to your strengths, and love what you do
Take time this 4th of July, Independence Day holiday weekend to celebrate your own freedoms. Claim your Freedom – now and every day going forward. What has led you to take a different path, or just begin to contemplate it, and the happiness that independence brings you.
Image courtesy of [FrameAngel] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
It’s that time of year … a new year equals new starts. We all resolve to do things differently.
Again.
How about really doing something different in 2013? Instead of the same old resolutions, how about some Un-Resolutions?
Un-Resolutions? What are those?
Instead of focusing on a list of things ‘to do’ – do better, differently, more of – in our personal and professional lives – let’s think about the things that we know have NEVER worked for us and vow to stop wasting time doing them. That’s an Un-Resolution. Free yourself personally, professionally or both.
What might you STOP doing?
stop eating chocolate?
No, no, no. That’s not realistic, it’s not achievable and it’s not terribly smart. [You know about SMART goals, right?] How about telling yourself to stop feeling guilty about that piece of really good chocolate you might have once or twice a week? Or try telling yourself to stop bingeing on chocolate? More reasonable, right?
But what about in business? If you are a small business owner, a freelancer, consultant, or an entrepreneur (or just think like one) – What will you stopdoing this year?
Un-Resolutions for you and your business:
Stop thinking it’s about ‘you’.
It’s not. The truth that most won’t tell you is our customers and clients do not care about us. They care about themselves – they care what we can do for them. We’re there to help them solve a problem and that’s what they care about. So stop focusing on you – what degrees you have, what experience you have, what you did lately, and put the language and emphasis on ‘them’. How you are best positioned to be the one to help them.
Stop making things more complicated than they need to be.
Sometimes that old mantra of KISS (Keep it simple, stupid) is really the best. So think about what aspects of your business are draining you, taking too much energy and time to do – what can you simplify? What can you delegate? Can you hire a virtual assistant for some things? Is a task really essential? Is it truly moving you forward to a specific goal and can you measure what you are getting out of it? It’s a bit like that closet organizer’s trick – if you haven’t worn it in 18 months, get rid of it. Same principles.
Stop talking just to ourselves.
If you’re a small business owner you can often spend your time just talking to others in your niche. Or perhaps if you’re a really small business owner just starting out you might be taking the ‘talk to yourself’ thing a little too literally!It’s too insulating. Get outside! (metaphorically and literally) Talk to your customers or clients. Talk to friends and colleagues in other fields. Ask them what they’re doing, what’s working and what isn’t. Listen. Talk to people in roles different from your own. Talk to the information tech folks, the marketers, the accountants. Talk to people in fields or interests you don’t know much about – and listen. You’ll likely learn something that can change what you are doing or bring new insights. There are more points of commonality than we all think.
And by all means get out and talk in person as much as possible! And if that’s really, really not your style – then do some research. “Talk” to your customers via surveys, polls, emails and more. Dig up some tidbits from other fields, join a different group on LinkedIn, read a new blog, watch a webinar.
Stop undervaluing yourself.
Stop under charging. Take yourself and your business seriously, so others will too. [This may be one of the hardest un-resolutions for all small business owners, freelancers or solopreneurs – TheInfoHound included!]. But do the research among your peers and similar businesses and know what you are worth in the market. Know what your time is worth. Stop taking the first offer that comes especially if it’s a lowball one. Target clients who respect what you can do for them – and will pay you appropriately to do it.
Stop holding on to the past.
Business is different now. Have you changed with the times? Customers are more informed than ever before. Buyers know more before purchasing and a sales person is likely not the first place they turn for information about your product or service. They are studying you. So give them the information they want while they are studying and deciding. They are also talking about you. So go out on the social platforms and listen.
Stop trying to do it all alone.
Go collaborate with like minds. Partner up, trade services, share recommendations and referrals with synergistic partners. Connect with other small businesses or solopreneurs – some might be in your field, some might be in connected fields who have similar client targets. Figure out ways to mutually benefit each other. Ask what you can do for them. That’s right, it’s not about you (remember Un-Resolution #1?). By offering first to see what you can do to help another business grow, you gain in reputation, credibility and general positive goodwill. And goodwill can be good business.So, what will you be NOT doing in 2013?
SanDisk SSD – after failures of backup drives that spin, need power (and these all WILL fail at some point), I started keeping everything on an external, 480GB Solid State Drive, connected to my computer by inexpensive USB adapter. It goes wherever I go. Light, silent, nothing to break or fail. (and since prices have fallen by HALF since I bought mine – there’s no reason you can’t go grab one, including the SanDisk SDSSDA-480G-G26 model I own plus its USB 3.0 to SSD cable from Sabrent)
