Anyone claiming otherwise is lying.

No ONE thing is going to save your business or catapult it to success. It’s impossible.

DOES THIS SOUND FAMILIAR?

• IF I COULD JUST AFFORD A NEW WEBSITE BY (INSERT WEB DESIGN COMPANY ALL YOUR COMPETITORS USE) MY SALES WILL BE TRANSFORMED
• IF I JUST HAD A NEW BRAND PEOPLE WILL BUY MY STUFF
• IF I COULD JUST GET INTO (INSERT THE MOST POPULAR MAGAZINE IN YOUR INDUSTRY HERE)
• IF I JUST JOINED THAT COOL AND POPULAR E-COURSE THAT ALL MY IDOLS ARE AFFILIATES FOR, I COULD BE COOL AND POPULAR TOO
• IF OPRAH JUST MENTIONED MY BUSINESS, I’D BE ALL SET!

These things (yes, even the last one) will not save your business.

They will only make a difference if the other components are also working properly.

WHAT DO I MEAN BY COMPONENTS?

The components of your business are the things like; your product and service offerings, pricing, clear target market, marketing strategies, customer service, suppliers, your team, your brand experience, a website that works. All these things work together like a puzzle. If one thing is missing, your business can still work but not as efficiently. Add that one thing to all the rest and boom! Your business will be spectacular. But one of those things on it’s own, is not a business. Just like having great products alone is no guarantee of business success, neither is having a great team or a top of the range website.

SAVE YOUR MONEY UNTIL YOU KNOW WHAT’S WRONG

If you have minimal website views, spending $7000 on a new website should be the last thing to even enter your mind.

The first thing on your list should be understanding why your business isn’t working.

Why aren’t people getting to your website in the first place?

[Tweet “There’s no point spending $7000 on a website if you’re the only one to see it.”]

There are plenty of businesses out there with no websites at all. They sell on Instagram, Facebook, at craft fairs or through word of mouth. There are also many businesses with ugly websites but you know what? They still make money and work just fine.

If you’re getting lots of views and have your other components in place, then and only then will a new website, brand identity or shout out from Oprah, help you get more business.

First I notice a huge gap in the market for a new project. Then I research lots until I have convinced myself to give it a go. I get frustrated when my other work/projects/life gets in the way of me being able to do this new project. Then I shelve project until I have more time/find a way to clone myself. i.e forever.

It sucks.

My time is limited as it is so I need to be focused to get stuff done.
After realising my lack of focus and over-abundance of ideas was sabotaging my attempts to reach my business and personal goals, I made a few changes to help me get back on track.

1. CHECK EMAIL NO MORE THAN 3 TIMES PER DAY.

A while back I cut down on email checking but I found I was creeping back into the habit of checking it all the time again. I now check it around 9am, 2pm and 6pm and I work with the project management app Asana to stay in touch with current clients. This eliminates much of the email back and forth involved in longer term projects as we’ll just message and upload files within the app. I’ve also turned off notifications of email on my phone.

2. LIMIT SOCIAL MEDIA TO 3 TIMES A DAY.

I found this harder to limit because it is so easy to use social media to fill in dead time, like when I’m waiting for the kettle to boil or sitting on the bus. I find too much social media draining though so, limiting my time on it helps keep me sane . If I come across an article I want to share, rather than going into Twitter and getting sucked into to conversations and even more articles, I’ll queue the tweet in Buffer using the browser extension.

3. LIMIT INFORMATION CONSUMPTION

While I do need to read a lot of info for my job, I’m changing how I do it. I now limit myself to scanning news headlines in the morning and after the kids are in bed. If I’m in the research phase of a client project, I’ll reach much, much more but I’ve started tracking my time to make sure I don’t get lost down the rabbit hole of article after article.

4. STICK TO THE PLAN

Last year I readjusted my business model and decided to make some changes. I now work to a six month plan which I will reassess in July. If one of my new ideas doesn’t align with my short or long term goals then I don’t follow it up.

5. SIMPLIFY BUSINESS SYSTEMS

In order to reach my goals for the business I needed to set up business systems that allow for growth. For me, this meant documenting the steps of every process I undertake from client intake, project workflow to packaging systems for Happy Piece. I still have more to do but it’s helping me become more efficient and will help hugely when I take on team members in the future.

So there you go. Hopefully some of these will help you!

Have you limited your distractions lately? Have any tips to share?

A few blogging tips are as follows:

1) Make sure you know why you are blogging. Your heart needs to be in it. Are you starting your blog to show how you create your products, to show your inspiration, behind the scenes of your business. Or are you only blogging because everyone else is? Maybe you don’t know what you are doing and feel like you have nothing to say. If its not for you then stop, you can damage your business more by having an unkempt blog.

2) Make sure your blog ties in with the rest of your brand image. Use a similar aesthetic, colours and fonts to create a unified brand image.

3) Don’t forget to read other people’s blogs, add them to your links and comment on any interesting posts you read.

4) Try to include photos (whoops!) with every post. Most people interested in the handmade community are visual people and like to see lots of photos to drool over.

5) Try to update your blog regularly. I aim for Monday to Friday with the weekend off. Don’t worry if you miss a day here or there but if you want readers to keep coming back then you have to too.

1) Give out your business card
How many of you have business cards but never use them? Be proud and give them out whenever someone asks what you do.

2) Tell people you meet about your business
When asked what you do tell people. Again be proud and shout out about your business. If you are a stay at home mum with your own jewellery business on the side- tell people.

3) Wear your wares
If you make jewellery, wear it. If you make something you can’t wear, use it for its purpose. If you make homewares display and use them in your home or give them for gifts. If you make greeting cards, use them.

4) Keep your mum (or dad) informed of what you do
Your parents (brothers, sisters etc) will be some of your biggest supporters. Keep them informed of what you do and they will no doubt tell their friends. If you have a new product or new offers, let them know.

Most photos feature a cute little dog figure with a quirky expression perched on or near the product. Janell also uses miniature succulent plants to add a natural element. Brilliant.

Why it works

At first glance it might seem random but it’s actually really clever on a few levels. Firstly, from a marketing point of view, the photos stand out. There are lot of organic, handmade soap companies on Etsy, yet with these photos Janell ensures we remember her soap (and the cute little dogs).

Tell a story with your photography

In future, when you see a piece of soap with a miniature dog on or next to it you’ll immediately think of Prunella Soap. It’s distinctive and unique, something we all should be striving for in product photographs.

From a customer point of view the dog and succulents help tell a story. They say Prunella Soap is animal friendly, vegan, organic and kind to nature.

These are not just random miniatures.

The packaging also helps to add to the story and express the brand’s values. Natural and recycled materials are prevalent including muslin bags and kraft paper. Different washi tapes add a splash of colour and pattern.

Such a great job!

Take aways:

* Find your own style to stand out from your competitors

* Look for items you may already have around the house to enhance your photos

* Take a risk and do something different.

* Revisit your brand values to help you decide on photo styling and props

* Ensure your photos and packaging are not just pretty but add to the brand and product story in some way

* Be consistent.

Do you struggle with product photography and photo styling? Would your customers be able to identify your products from a photo?

Yesterday I attended an event at the Houses of Parliament to celebrate small business success in the UK. I was one of a number of business owners invited because we showed what could be achieved in recent hard economic times.

Get Britain Trading 2012

The event was hosted by The Forum Of Private Businesses and was the official launch of their Get Britain Trading campaign 2012. I’ve been supporting this campaign since last year even appearing on their website as a case study!

I’m fully dedicated to helping small businesses with Noisette Marketing and now Noisette Academy so it was fantastic to share what I do with such a diverse range of people.

We heard from some inspiring speakers and the Small Business Minister, Mark Prisk shared what he was doing to help make it easier for businesses to grow.

I was able to share my business story with a number of people, hopefully inspiring them in the process. I’m still a relatively new business owner compared to some of the people I met. There were businesses with turnovers in the millions, and others who have really felt the impact of the recession with business getting harder year on year.

Blogging, Etsy and Social Media still leave people confused

It was eye-opening for me to get out from behind my computer and see my business through the eyes of others! It’s easy to forget that not everyone has heard of Etsy or Twitter. I had to explain what a blog was numerous times and why I write it for free. Within this group, starting a business up with no investment and no money spent on advertising was unusual even though it’s something we come across everyday in the creative community.

I also met the lovely Karen from UK Handmade who I have worked with in the past but never met. It was so nice to catch up and hear their plans for a print magazine!

What about us?

Ultimately, I left the event feeling re-energised about my business and what is possible for the future. I have to be honest though, I also felt a bit sad that the Government still don’t seem to fully understand what help is needed for the micro business owner, especially creatives like us who sell online.

Most of the things the Government are working on include making it easier to get lending from the banks, encouraging international trading and delaying the increase to employers National insurance, to encourage us to take on employees. I found none of these things relevant to me or the majority of creatives I work with.

Most online businesses already sell internationally and lots of businesses like myself are working with freelancers rather than taking on employees. It’s more flexible and means you can build a powerful team of people with the right skills.

The future for creative businesses

Yesterday served to highlight for me how important it is to get creative businesses into the limelight. I’m even more dedicated to helping you get the press and recognition you deserve. I want to change the perception of online businesses and show the world that we can achieve HUGE things.

Here are 5 tips I hope will motivate you to continue striving forward with your business this year wherever you are based in the world!

1) You have it in you to change the course of your business for the better. You do it by taking ACTION.

2) Don’t blame anyone for the circumstances you find yourself in especially the economy. There will always be people with the money to afford your products and services you just need to make sure they know where to find you.

3) Even during the worst times there are positive moments. Cling to these moments and let them inspire you to find a solution to change things for the better.

4) Your business is worthy of attention whether you sell one thing a month or 100. Every product you sell creates a positive impact on the economy.

5) Hold your head up high when you discuss your business. If you don’t believe  in what you do, no-one else will.

I’m excited about the possibilities ahead. It’s harder now sure, but there has never been a better time to be a small  business owner so let’s show the world what we can do!

I’d love to hear what help you need with your business? What would you ask your Government to change?

But, when it comes to business growth, there’s really no one size fits all approach. What works for one expanding brand may not take yours to the next level.  I think many of us creative entrepreneurs have taken a look around, seen how others have grown, and thought, ‘well, I guess those are the next steps I must take as well.’  But, chances are, they’re not.

The freelance graphic designer needs a growth strategy vastly different than the letterpress stationery studio.  The vegan cupcake baker will employ an approach contrary to that of the custom wedding dress designer.  A specialty fabric shop owner needs a strategy greatly varied from that of an artist of fine paintings.

You get the idea.

There’s no magic bullet. No mysterious formula. No single secret waiting to be revealed.

To grow a business, sustainably and successfully, we must look at the business model first and then develop a thoughtful, meaningful approach.

This means that we’ve got to take what we have programmed in our minds as to how a business “should” grow and toss it out the window. Instead, let’s carefully analyze our business – the core concept, the vision, the scalability – and ask ourselves difficult questions.

For example, we may come to realize that wholesale does not, in fact, work for our brand. It may not be the best path for exposure and expansion.  Instead, we may focus on fine-tuning our position in the niche market we’ve targeted by offering custom work (my blog article last month discusses wholesale a little more in depth).  We may see that we don’t necessarily need to make more items to make more profit.  Instead, we might need to improve upon our items and sell at a higher price point (Isa has written a fantastic post on Making Less But Selling More).  We may reconsider our marketing techniques of newsletters and blog ads (that may very well reach many folks) but instead focus on strategies that really connect with those truly interested in our brand.

All in all, we need to find what’s right and true for us, for our own brands. I think that, itself, is a large measurement of growth!

I’d really love to hear your thoughts and experiences on growing your business – difficulties you’ve faced, successes you’ve found.  There is so much to learn from hearing each other’s stories.

What have been your experiences of growing your business?

Allisa is the dreamer and designer behind the Allisa Jacobs line of handbags and accessories. She delights in the process of making- sketch to finish and has just launched a beautiful new bridal collection.  Allisa also enjoys sharing her entrepreneurial insights as a business coach, empowering others with their creative small businesses.

SMART goal setting

Using the acronym SMART you can determine a set of clear goals that you can work towards.

SMART stands for:

Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic
Timebound

So if you wanted to gain more features in the press you might put:

Contact six magazine editors over the next 3 months by email with my press kit.

It is specific because it says exactly what you will do.

It is measurable because you will be able to look back to see if you achieved that number.

It is achievable and realistic because you have given yourself enough time to reach the goal. It works out at contacting two editors a month.

It is timebound because you have given yourself a date to have completed it by. This will help keep you on track and accountable.

Setting goals like this will be much more effective than simply saying- I want to achieve more press.

I’ve designed another worksheet to help build your own personal Creative Business Growth Planner. You can get the rest here.