is a 7-part webinar series
where each webinar teaches a basic lesson in imagining, designing, starting and successfully operating a solo business. There is strong emphasis on pricing and marketing, two of the issues most feared by new entrepreneurs.
Solo businesses are THE business model of the 21st century. These webinars will help you find financial success as a solo. The webinars are built on the philosophy of their author, Jackie B Peterson and her popular book, Better Smarter Richer.
Each webinar includes work sheets for you to complete as you work through that lesson. Throughout the series, we use an avatar, Barbara, who is starting her own business as a tutor for high school students who need good scores on their ACT/SAT tests. To help the participant understand how to best use the work sheets, the webinar materials all follow Barbara’s journey of imagining and starting her business, and show how she would complete each work sheets to help her create her own Best Beginning tm.
Best Beginnings – What Should I do?
Lessons in this webinar:
- Take a personal inventory of your skills, passions and look at the “thread of your career.”
- Understand your passions, talents and possible revenue streams
- Learn the costs of starting your new business both in terms of time and of money
- Work sheet: Passion work sheet
- Work sheet: Talent work sheet
- Work sheet: Career work sheet
- Work sheet: Time work sheet
- Work sheet: Money needed to start work sheet
- Work sheet: Will I be able to make money
- Work sheet: Your sweet spot
- Work sheet: Consider your temperament
Best Beginnings- Session Two- How do I begin?
Lessons in this webinar:
- Technical steps to take to form your business
- Naming your business
- Funding your business
- Creating products or packages of services/pricing model
- Creating basic marketing tools
- Work sheet: Marketing work sheet
- Work sheet: Goal work sheet
- Work sheet: Action Plan
Best Beginnings Session Three: How Much Should I Charge?
Lessons in this webinar:
- Four elements to be included in calculating a price.
- How to cost your own labor
- Pricing for sale of time
- Pricing for sale of products
- Importance of A business mind set
- Work sheet: Direct Costs work sheet
- Work sheet: Indirect costs work sheet
- Work sheet; Non-starvation items
- Work sheet; Household budget
- Work sheet: Setting your price
Best Beginnings Session Four: How Will I Get Found?
Lessons in this webinar:
- The crucial importance of a specialty of a niche
- Development of a UVP statement
- How to use your UVP to market and guide your business
- Work sheet: Developing a UVP-first draft
- Work sheet; What makes you unique?
- Work sheet: What I deliver
- Work sheet: Re-work your UVP
Best Beginnings Session Five: Knowing Your Target Customer
Lessons in this webinar
- What is a target customer and why is this important/
- How to find your target customer
- How to identify and avoid mission creep
- Importance of Directed marketing
- Work sheet: Describe your target customer
- Work sheet; Directed marketing; plan how to find your target
Best Beginnings Session Six- How do I speak the language of my customer?
Lessons in this webinar:
- Learn how to get your message to your target; the key to good marketing
- Importance of focused marketing
- Marketing Techniques
- PR, Advertising, Promotions
- SEO
- Offering a diversity of products
- Show yourself as an expert
- Closing
- Focus your marketing; use your time well
- Charging enough money; price is an important part of marketing
- Work sheet: How did my clients find me; use to help you develop some robust marketing channels.
- Work sheet: Marketing analysis- what is working
- Work sheet; Daily marketing diary
Best Beginnings: How Will I Grow- The Waterbug Model
Lessons in this webinar:
- Learn the principles of the Waterbug model as a means of time management and growth
- How solos grow without doing it all
- Growth strategies to consider
- Work sheet; Outsourcing considerations and possibilities
- Work sheet: Product mix
