Susan Baroncini-Moe – Entrepreneur, Author, Business Blogger, Business and Marketing Strategist – 2012

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What Mitt Romney Is Teaching Us About Business and Personal Branding…Really.

What Mitt Romney Is Teaching Us About Business and Personal Branding…Really.

I try to keep my personal politics and my faith out of my business. I think these topics are just too… personal, so more often than not, unless there’s something that I simply can’t help speaking out about, you won’t find me talking politics or religion. Make no mistake about it, I love politics. I find it fascinating…but this post is not about politics.

This past Sunday, while watching political commentary, I had a realization: Mitt Romney is teaching us a heck of a lot about business and personal branding right now. In fact, every entrepreneur and small business owner should be watching this guy and looking at exactly what happens when you can’t connect to your target market.

Again, this isn’t about politics. This is about what happens when you, as an entrepreneur, miss the mark with your target audience- when you speak to them in a language they can’t connect with, when […]

By Susan| |Branding, Marketing|0 Comments

Permalink Somaly Mam Foundation The Somaly Mam Foundation is a nonprofit charity committed to ending modern day slavery in North America and around the world. Human trafficking, a multi-billion dollar industry, is the fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world. With over two million women and children sold into sexual slavery each year, it is a global crisis that must be stopped. More resources are critically needed to support the rescue and rehabilitation of these young victims. Kiva.org Kiva is a non-profit that allows you to lend as little as $25 to a specific low-income entrepreneur across the globe. You choose who to lend to - whether a baker in Afghanistan, a goat herder in Uganda, a farmer in Peru, a restaurateur in Cambodia, or a tailor in Iraq - and as they repay their loan, you get your money back. It's a powerful and sustainable way to empower someone right now to lift themselves out of poverty. Breast Cancer Action Founded in 1990, Breast Cancer Action (BCA) was started by women in a San Francisco breast cancer support group who were frustrated by the lack of knowledge about their disease. Led by the late Elenore Pred, they created an organization that would help transform breast cancer from a private medical crisis to a public health emergency. BCA continues this work, and is now a national education and activist organization that challenges assumptions and inspires change to end the breast cancer epidemic. BCA advocates for policy changes in three priority areas: shifting the balance of power at the FDA from the pharmaceutical industry towards the public interest; decreasing involuntary environmental exposures; and creating awareness that it is not just genes, but social injustices that lead to disparities in breast cancer outcomes. The Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. Since our founding in 1951 we have protected more than 119 million acres of land and 5,000 miles of rivers worldwide - and we operate more than 100 marine conservation projects globally. We have more than one million members. We work in all 50 states and more than 30 countries - protecting habitats from grasslands to coral reefs, from Australia to Alaska to Zambia. We address threats to conservation involving climate change, fire, fresh water, forests, invasive species, and marine ecosystems. We use a science-based approach, aided by our more than 700 staff scientists, and we pursue non-confrontational, pragmatic solutions to conservation challenges.
Other charities I believe in and support personally:
The National MS Society American Diabetes Association Dizzy Feet Foundation VH1's Save the Music Foundation">Gallery
Why Artists Are Angry At Pinterest (and what they can do to protect their work)

Why Artists Are Angry At Pinterest (and what they can do to protect their work)

I recently posted a series on Pinterest and how to use it for small business marketing. A couple of days ago, one of my readers, Joan, posted this comment:

Thanks for two great articles on Pinterest Susan. There is a lot of controversy around the re-pinning of third party content from around the web and Pinterest TOS. Photographers and Artists appear to be perturbed about Pinterest taking ownership, and being able to use their works without requiring permission.

Personally I like the ease of use Pinterest has introduced, sharing of information is global. majority online love for their content to be shared. Any idea on copy right for the above mentioned, to protect their work?

I thought this was a great question and as I started writing my response, I realized that I had enough to say on this topic that it warranted a full blog post.

I, too, have followed the controversy on Pinterest, […]

By Susan| |Business, Social Media, The Online World|0 Comments

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The Definitive Guide to Using Pinterest for Small Business Marketing, Part Two

The Definitive Guide to Using Pinterest for Small Business Marketing, Part Two

Welcome back! Last week we covered the basics of Pinterest, a new social media bookmarking site that’s taking the online world by storm. This week, I’ll cover ways to use Pinterest in your marketing, what to pin, and how to get your stuff into Pinterest without being obnoxious about it.

The first thing I want to address is the issue of how to use Pinterest for business marketing. Marketers have gotten a bad reputation on social media. Plain and simple, there are folks out there who get it wrong and blanket social media with advertisements that feel a lot more like demands than the conversation that social media is intended to be. And that group of marketers have given marketing in general a bad name, because their advertisements and “in your face” commercialism have, at least according to some, ruined sites that others found to be pretty enjoyable on a personal level.

So let’s […]

By Susan| |Branding, Business, Marketing, Social Media|4 Comments

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If you feel like your head's about to explode, then you can rest assured: that client is a bad fit.[/caption]
Reasons Why Entrepreneurs Make This Mistake
I've seen entrepreneurs make this business mistake for many reasons:

They're just starting out and need to fill their calendar.

They're in a business slump and need more clients so they can pay the bills.

They think they have to take all clients who want to work with them.

They haven't clearly identified a target market or an ideal client.

They don't know how to qualify and educate clients properly before taking them on.

So how do you alleviate these problems and get rid of all of the reasons for taking on clients who aren't a good fit for you?
Why a Client Might Not Be A Good Fit
The primary reason that you might not have a good fit with a client is because you haven't gotten clear on who your target market is- if you aren't clear about who you want to work with, then you'll most likely end up with a bunch of clients who are a bad fit, simply because you don't know what a good fit for you is. So start by getting a clear sense of who you enjoy working with most and who you can serve best, because the more you get "bad fit clients" the more you'll be frustrated and annoyed at how little you can accomplish for them. But even if you are clear on who your target market is, clients might not be a good fit in several other ways. For example, they might have a temperament that doesn't fit with yours. One of the characteristics of my ideal client is that they're pleasant and friendly to work with. If you're not a generally friendly person and you don't laugh occasionally, then we probably won't work well together. Clients might have a working style that doesn't fit with yours. If you work slowly and methodically, you won't work well with someone who wants to move very quickly. Clients also could be a poor fit if they aren't committed to getting whatever result you can help them get. If you're a coach, for example, you know that your best clients are the ones who are willing to let you help them and who are willing to do the work to get results. If you're a personal trainer, the clients who show up for sessions and put in the sweat are your best ones, right? Sometimes clients just don't know they have a job to do, too. If you're a web designer, you know there's nothing you can do for a client if they don't give you the content for their web site. If you're a chiropractor, you know you can't help your patients if they don't tell you where it hurts. And let's face it, it's not just about who's a bad fit. On rare occasions, you come across a client who is rude or disrespectful of your time.
Qualifying and Educating Your Clients
It is for all of these reasons that I encourage you to qualify and educate your clients, even before you start working with them.
Qualifying
Qualifying your clients requires some forethought on your part. What are the characteristics of your ideal client? What would the best client you can imagine working with be like? What are some red flags that you need to pay attention to, in terms of clients you won't work with? Think back through the history of your business to the clients you didn't enjoy working with. What were some key phrases that they used that you could look out for now? What things that you can see now were red flags that you might have missed? Create these lists and then design your initial consultations to ferret out the red flags and weed out the folks that aren't a good fit for you. When you do this, you'll enjoy your business more and you'll get much better results (and have happier clients!)
Educating
Educate your clients from the first moment you begin talking with them. When I'm talking with a prospective one-on-one client, I let them know what my expectations are for our working relationship and what I will give to them. For example, one of the things I tell them is that I will be on time for our meetings and will be fully present during every meeting, and I expect the same from them. Likewise, you should let your clients know upfront what you need from them to be successful. So make a list of what you need to do your absolute best and then be clear with your clients so that they know they have a job to do as well.
When to Let Go
Sometimes, no matter how well you qualify and educate a client, a bad seed slips through. The first thing to know is that it's not your fault. We've all been fooled. The second thing to know is that, as soon as you know it's a bad fit and it's not going to be a successful relationship, don't wait, don't (as my mom would say) dilly-dally about. Just make the break and get on with your business. That said, if you work on a monthly fee or retainer, you'll find it easiest to let a client go right before the start of a new month, before they've made their payment.
How to Let Go
In my experience, the straightforward, polite approach is to let your client know as soon as you realize that it's not a good fit. Diplomacy and kindness are key here, because the last thing that you want is someone leaving your business with a bad taste in his or her mouth. Sending a client away with an unpleasant feeling is a sure way to get bad word of mouth going. Instead, focus on the positive as much as you can, and never make accusations.
Don't Feel Bad
Don't feel bad. We've all made this mistake: Lesson: i Bottom line: it's super easy to make the big business mistake of taking on clients who are a poor fit, but if you put the time and energy into qualifying and educating your clients upfront, you'll end up with clients that are a great fit, and those are clients that you'll be able to make real difference with. You'll be doing the best job you possibly can, and you'll be much, much happier in your business. Have you made this mistake in your business? Tell us how you realized it, how you handled it, or how you stopped making this mistake again in the comments. Looking forward to your stories!">Gallery
Why Bayer Aspirin Has A Public Relations Headache Today (and what they could do about it)

Why Bayer Aspirin Has A Public Relations Headache Today (and what they could do about it)

Yesterday, on Andrea Mitchell Reports on MSNBC, Rick Santorum’s main supporter, Foster Friess, had this to say about Bayer aspirin:

(if you don’t feel like watching the video, Friess said, “This contraceptive thing, my gosh, it’s so inexpensive. Back in my days, they used Bayer aspirin for contraceptives. The gals put it between their knees, and it wasn’t that costly.”)
Regardless of where you stand politically, one can imagine that Bayer Aspirin can’t be too thrilled with these comments (unless you think “gals” are going to run out to buy Bayer now). Just last May, Time Magazine reported that Bayer is really only well-known among a particular demographic- older Americans with heart conditions. The reason? Due to some pretty outstanding marketing strategies in the late ’80s, Bayer aspirin became known as the go-to preventative for heart attacks and strokes in older adults, and people pretty much forgot that originally, Bayer was […]

By Susan| |Business Profiles, Marketing, Publicity and PR|0 Comments

Permalink Somaly Mam Foundation The Somaly Mam Foundation is a nonprofit charity committed to ending modern day slavery in North America and around the world. Human trafficking, a multi-billion dollar industry, is the fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world. With over two million women and children sold into sexual slavery each year, it is a global crisis that must be stopped. More resources are critically needed to support the rescue and rehabilitation of these young victims. Kiva.org Kiva is a non-profit that allows you to lend as little as $25 to a specific low-income entrepreneur across the globe. You choose who to lend to - whether a baker in Afghanistan, a goat herder in Uganda, a farmer in Peru, a restaurateur in Cambodia, or a tailor in Iraq - and as they repay their loan, you get your money back. It's a powerful and sustainable way to empower someone right now to lift themselves out of poverty. Breast Cancer Action Founded in 1990, Breast Cancer Action (BCA) was started by women in a San Francisco breast cancer support group who were frustrated by the lack of knowledge about their disease. Led by the late Elenore Pred, they created an organization that would help transform breast cancer from a private medical crisis to a public health emergency. BCA continues this work, and is now a national education and activist organization that challenges assumptions and inspires change to end the breast cancer epidemic. BCA advocates for policy changes in three priority areas: shifting the balance of power at the FDA from the pharmaceutical industry towards the public interest; decreasing involuntary environmental exposures; and creating awareness that it is not just genes, but social injustices that lead to disparities in breast cancer outcomes. The Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. Since our founding in 1951 we have protected more than 119 million acres of land and 5,000 miles of rivers worldwide - and we operate more than 100 marine conservation projects globally. We have more than one million members. We work in all 50 states and more than 30 countries - protecting habitats from grasslands to coral reefs, from Australia to Alaska to Zambia. We address threats to conservation involving climate change, fire, fresh water, forests, invasive species, and marine ecosystems. We use a science-based approach, aided by our more than 700 staff scientists, and we pursue non-confrontational, pragmatic solutions to conservation challenges.
Other charities I believe in and support personally:
The National MS Society American Diabetes Association Dizzy Feet Foundation VH1's Save the Music Foundation">Gallery
5 Business Lessons I Learned from Cupid

5 Business Lessons I Learned from Cupid

Happy Valentine’s Day! In honor of today, the day of love, I thought I’d share a few insights into what I’ve learned about business from the one who knows more about love than anyone else: Cupid. Why Cupid? Well, first of all, he’s build an extremely successful personal brand for himself and has been around forever. Second, he’s a cute little baby…and who doesn’t like babies? So here goes…

1. Do what you love, but don’t let passion get the better of you.

Love matters in business, believe it or not. In fact, it’s so important that I made it the first lesson of Mega-Successful Entrepreneurs: Find Your Fervor – find what you love and what you’re really fervent about and that’s the first step to finding success. It’s not the only thing that matters, but if you don’t love what you do, you’ll wake up dreading every day. In contrast, when […]

By Susan| |Branding, Business, Marketing, Mega-Success|0 Comments

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The Definitive Guide to Using Pinterest for Small Business Marketing, Part 1

The Definitive Guide to Using Pinterest for Small Business Marketing, Part 1

Lately there’s been a ton of blog posts, conversations, and more about Pinterest, the social bookmarking site that’s growing crazy fast. I’ve been using Pinterest for several months and knew right away I wanted to leverage Pinterest as a business-building tool…but before I shared my ideas with you, I did what I usually do when I want to come up with a new marketing strategy for you- I studied how big brands re using Pinterest to build and market their brands so I could translate their big business ideas into small business strategies.
As we’ve been working on the new Business in Blue Jeans web site, I’ve given quite a bit of thought to how I can make the site and the blog more Pinterest-friendly. But maybe you’re not yet familiar with Pinterest or maybe you’re still trying to figure out how a site like Pinterest can benefit your business…or […]

By Susan| |Marketing, Social Media|2 Comments

Permalink Qualifying and Educating Your Clients It is for all of these reasons that I encourage you to qualify and educate your clients, even before you start working with them.
Qualifying
Qualifying your clients requires some forethought on your part. What are the characteristics of your ideal client? What would the best client you can imagine working with be like? What are some red flags that you need to pay attention to, in terms of clients you won't work with? Think back through the history of your business to the clients you didn't enjoy working with. What were some key phrases that they used that you could look out for now? What things that you can see now were red flags that you might have missed? Create these lists and then design your initial consultations to ferret out the red flags and weed out the folks that aren't a good fit for you. When you do this, you'll enjoy your business more and you'll get much better results (and have happier clients!)
Educating
Educate your clients from the first moment you begin talking with them. When I'm talking with a prospective one-on-one client, I let them know what my expectations are for our working relationship and what I will give to them. For example, one of the things I tell them is that I will be on time for our meetings and will be fully present during every meeting, and I expect the same from them. Likewise, you should let your clients know upfront what you need from them to be successful. So make a list of what you need to do your absolute best and then be clear with your clients so that they know they have a job to do as well.
When to Let Go
Sometimes, no matter how well you qualify and educate a client, a bad seed slips through. The first thing to know is that it's not your fault. We've all been fooled. The second thing to know is that, as soon as you know it's a bad fit and it's not going to be a successful relationship, don't wait, don't (as my mom would say) dilly-dally about. Just make the break and get on with your business. That said, if you work on a monthly fee or retainer, you'll find it easiest to let a client go right before the start of a new month, before they've made their payment.
How to Let Go
In my experience, the straightforward, polite approach is to let your client know as soon as you realize that it's not a good fit. Diplomacy and kindness are key here, because the last thing that you want is someone leaving your business with a bad taste in his or her mouth. Sending a client away with an unpleasant feeling is a sure way to get bad word of mouth going. Instead, focus on the positive as much as you can, and never make accusations. It's super easy to make the big business mistake of taking on clients who are a poor fit, but if you put the time and energy into qualifying and educating your clients upfront, you'll end up with clients that are a great fit, and those are clients that you'll be able to make real difference with. You'll be doing the best job you possibly can, and you'll be much, much happier in your business.">Gallery
Have You Ever Made This Mistake That I Just Made?

Have You Ever Made This Mistake That I Just Made?

Normally I post blogs on Tuesdays. In fact, I actually like to have quite a few blog posts in the queue…but it just so happens that this week I had no posts scheduled and had planned most of yesterday as a writing day.

Our nephew, Franco, is visiting from Uruguay for the first time, so my hubby, Leo, took him to see the Indy 500 track and museum, and I settled in to catch up on some work and write my blog posts.

A half hour later, I heard our alarm system say, “Fault, back door,” and realized Leo and Franco had returned. I figured they’d forgotten something- a camera, perhaps? – until I discovered that they’d come home because poor Franco had slammed the car door on his thumb, which was quickly turning purple.

A few hours later, after an X-ray showed no fracture and the doctor said Franco was okay, […]

By Susan| |Mindset, Personal Growth, Productivity|0 Comments

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New Site!

New Site!

I’ve been posting at Business in Blue Jeans for a long time, helping small business owners and entrepreneurs with their startups. But you know what? I’ve got other stuff I want to talk about than just the “how tos” of startups. On this site I’m exploring a wider range of topics and, sometimes, getting a little bit philosophical about business as well.

I’m excited to have this new outlet for my thoughts and look forward to sharing them with you. Comment away.