Enjoyable, successful, profitable businesses don t just happen.

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2 Enjoyable, successful, profitable businesses don t just happen. They re designed that way. And, here s a News Flash if you want to succeed in business, PASSION is not enough. I ve got nothing against following your passion. It s great to love what you do. It s awesome to want to create a more meaningful life and career. It s admirable to want more than to punch a nine-to-five clock working for someone else. But the sad reality is, every day well-meaning people leave their jobs or are downsized and decide to start a business following their passion, and end up worse off than they were in a job. Because they go into business totally unprepared. Getting into business is not something to be taken lightly. Just because it s easy to open your own business, doesn t mean you should as Nike says, Just Do It. You need to educate yourself first. You need to know your responsibilities as a business owner. Business is not a game. It s serious stuff. And if you don t follow some basic guidelines you could end up hurting other people, other businesses, and even yourself and your family. I realize talking this way might scare some people away. After all, wouldn t you rather be reading how easy it is to build a successful six-figure business in seven simple steps? Well, it might be more palatable, but it would be a lie. It takes more than a few simple steps to build a successful business. But let s face it you already know that. Because if it were that easy everyone in business would be successful. And we both know that s not the case. So, if that s what you re looking for, you re not going to find it here. However, if you re serious about creating a successful, fulfilling, and profitable business, keep reading. I will tell you exactly what it does take. Copyright 2012 Debbie LaChusa, The Business Stylist 2

3 As The Business Stylist I help service professionals such as coaches, consultants, and other experts, design, brand, and market their businesses so they can make a great living doing work they enjoy and serving others. You can learn more about how I can help you do this by visiting Business Styling is not just about making your business look good. It s not just about coming up with a great name, catchy tagline, memorable logo, or even a beautiful website. That s surface packaging, and while it certainly has its place, it s NOT what s going to make your business successful or profitable. But, do you know the first thing MOST business owners do when they decide to open their own business? They create a website. A website is important, but it s most definitely NOT the first thing you should do. In fact, the reason many clients come to me is because they started a business, put up a website, and they still don t have any clients, and they don t know what to do to get them. When I look at their website I usually know EXACTLY why they don t have any clients. You see, their website is their storefront. And, I can walk into that store and immediately tell why their business isn t working. And 99% of the time, it s because they designed the website before they designed their business. I don t blame them. It seems like the first logical step. Problem is, there are several more important steps you need to take before you design that website, or do any marketing, if you want your business to work. It s a matter of making sure your business is built on a strong foundation and that foundation has 4 important cornerstones. Let s take a look at those 4 cornerstones So you can determine where you may need to shore-up your business to make it more enjoyable, profitable, and successful. Copyright 2012 Debbie LaChusa, The Business Stylist 3

4 Cornerstone #1: Business Design Taking the time to design your business, instead of just opening up shop, first and foremost involves making sure your business fills a need in the marketplace. That means there must be demand for the products or services you plan to offer. People must need, want, and most importantly be willing to pay for what you re selling. This is where the follow your passion advice falls short. Yes, I think it s great to be passionate about your work. And yes, it is that passion that will keep you going when you encounter obstacles, which every business owner does. But, people will not pay you money just because you re passionate. They will only pay you money if they want or need what you have to offer, and they perceive the value of it as greater than the price you re asking. This means you may have to do some research to find out if people are already spending money on products or services to solve the problem your product or service solves. If they are, that s a good sign. If they re not, proceed with caution. You may still choose to test your idea, but you won t want to invest a lot of time and money into it until you re sure there s a market. I made this mistake in several of my businesses. Copyright 2012 Debbie LaChusa, The Business Stylist 4

5 And despite my passion for the businesses, and the fact I believed that people could really benefit from what I was offering, I learned the hard way they weren t willing to pay for it. Or at least, it wasn t enough of a priority for them to invest money into it. Sometimes you don t know until you get out there and test the idea. But it s important to do some checking around BEFORE you start, so you have an idea if your business can fly. It is well worth any time or effort you invest to make sure there s a market for what you plan to sell. And, it s definitely better than finding out there s no market after you ve invested months or years, or thousands of dollars. And that happens more often than you know. Designing your business also means making sure the business fits you, and your lifestyle and financial goals. It means you take the time to set up a business that enables you to Do work you enjoy Work the number of hours you want to work Reach your financial goals Spend your time doing things you re good at It means you ve deliberately designed your business to accomplish all of this. That means thinking about how much you want to work, what services you will offer, what you will charge, and doing the math to make sure it all pencils out. And if it doesn t, going back to the drawing board to figure out what will work. Far too often, in the excitement of going into business, people don t take the time to determine if they can realistically reach their goals working the number of hours they want to work, and offering the services they plan to offer. By doing the math upfront, you can avoid ending up in a business that isn t profitable, or that you have to spend far too many hours working in, in order to make the income you need or want. Copyright 2012 Debbie LaChusa, The Business Stylist 5

6 As The Business Stylist I help people evaluate their experience, expertise, education, and yes, even their passion, and mold it into a market-driven business that is set-up to succeed and can get them to their goals. You can learn more about how I can help you do this by visiting Cornerstone #2: Brand Design Let s face it, these days it seems like everyone and their mother is running their own business. And a good share of those businesses are coaching or consulting businesses. Both are easy to start and run with little upfront costs or overhead. That makes them very desirable and popular. And, a very important step when starting a business in a crowded marketplace in any marketplace really, but it s even more important in a crowded one is to make sure you set yourself apart. Many people call that branding. In fact, there s been a lot of talk the last few years about branding and personal branding. So much that I believe too many business owners have confused the two. I d like to set the record straight. Copyright 2012 Debbie LaChusa, The Business Stylist 6

7 Personal branding is all about YOU. That may be helpful if you re looking for a job or want to make friends on Facebook, but it s not going to get you clients or grow your business. If I m a prospective client, I want to know how you can help me. If your brand doesn t clearly communicate that, forget it. If it s all about you, it doesn t show me that you understand my problems and ME. And that s what I m interested in when I m looking for a service professional to help me. Brand Development Brand development is about identifying your Platform and your Positioning WHO you are and WHAT you stand for that unique position you and your business hold in the marketplace and in the minds of your ideal clients. A brand strategist will take you through a detailed process to uncover your brand positioning and a name that represents it, and will make sure and this part is REALLY important that you can own it, know how to implement it across your entire business, know how to build equity in it, and know how to protect it. When it comes to personal service businesses such as coaching and consulting and other expertise-based businesses I don t believe a marketing expert can just create and hand your brand to you. I ve seen that happen and the problem is, it very often does not end up resonating with the business owner. It might sound like a great brand. It might even be a unique positioning. But it doesn t authentically represent the business owner. They don t connect with it. As a result, they resist it. They find it difficult to step into it and embody it. And ultimately they don t use it. And that simply doesn t work. In this way, branding a personal service business is very different from branding a corporation. I ve done both in my career, and while the process is similar, the execution is very different. Branding a personal service business Copyright 2012 Debbie LaChusa, The Business Stylist 7

8 is a very collaborative process. It s a process the business owner must participate in, and contribute to. In my experience that is the only way to develop an authentic brand that fits you like a glove, and feels right. And when it fits and feels right, you will naturally embrace it and it s easy to represent in everything you do. Brand Implementation Once you identified your platform and your positioning, and you ve brainstormed a brand name to represent it, you will want to implement your brand across your entire business. This is what most people view as branding, because it s the tangible representation of your brand. But really, it s what I call the creative execution of your brand platform. It might include creating a logo, tagline, website, social media presence, and other marketing materials. The key is you must know what your brand is before you can create any of these materials. And this is where many people miss the boat, because they create these materials first. Hopefully you re starting to see why that might not be effective and why you want to first decide what you want your business to stand for before you start creating marketing materials to represent it. And, hopefully you can also see why it s important to understand that your brand is more than just a name, or a logo. It goes much, much deeper. As The Business Stylist I help business owners uncover a unique and compelling brand that sets them and attracts their ideal clients. You can learn more about how I can help you do this by visiting Copyright 2012 Debbie LaChusa, The Business Stylist 8

9 Cornerstone #3: Marketing Message Design As a business owner, you need to learn how to talk about what you do in a way that attracts and engages your ideal clients. This is all about crafting a marketing message that clearly tells your prospective clients what you can do for them. It s NOT about talking to them about what you do. Did you get that? It s NOT about what you do it s about what you do for your clients. And this is where many service professionals get mixed up. They are so connected with the work they do the services they provide and the processes they take people through that that s what they end up talking about in their marketing. Problem is, your potential clients don t really care about that. They just want to know how you can help them. Designing your marketing message means taking the time to develop a message that CONNECTS and RESONATES with your ideal clients. And to connect and resonate, it must be more about them and their wants and needs, than it is about you or what you do. Are you starting to see that while Business Styling is about designing a business that fits you, it is really about designing a business that serves your ideal clients. Marketing that Persuades and Influences People to Buy. While many marketing coaches and consultants will tell you that marketing is all about persuading or influencing people to buy, I strongly disagree. Copyright 2012 Debbie LaChusa, The Business Stylist 9

10 That the kind of marketing doesn t feel very good to me because, quite frankly, I don t like it when I m on the receiving end of it. I mean who really wants to be persuaded or manipulated into buying something? We want to be empowered to make buying decisions that serve us. I believe marketing should be a vehicle for allowing that to happen. I also really dislike all the hype and overblown promises I see in marketing these days. It doesn t create trust, because far too often when you buy a product or service that is marketed with that much hype, the product or service doesn t live up to your expectations. So while it may have gotten you to buy, it doesn t leave you with a very good taste in your mouth. And it probably doesn t make you want to go back and buy again. Or refer your friends. Not exactly a smart way to market your business if you plan to be in business for the long haul. Plus, I truly believe if your product or service is valuable, all you need to do is help your prospective clients see that value. You don t have to use questionable marketing and sales tactics to persuade them to buy. Unfortunately, I think many people believe that s the game they have to play in order to get clients. I also believe it s the reason many people hate marketing. They don t want to feel like the manipulative used car salesman. They simply want to help others. I get it. I feel the same way! When you learn how to craft a proper marketing message it has the power to totally re-frame how you view marketing, and how you feel about doing it. And, most importantly, it successfully attracts the clients who are a good match for your services. It also helps ensure you end up with ecstatic clients and not disgruntled ones. As The Business Stylist I help business owners translate what they DO, into what they do FOR people, and put it into words that will connect and resonate with their ideal clients. You can learn more about how I can help you do this by visiting Copyright 2012 Debbie LaChusa, The Business Stylist 10

11 Cornerstone #4: Marketing Plan Design To effectively attract clients into your business you need to know WHERE and HOW MUCH to market. It s not enough to know what to say in your marketing, you need to know where to market to reach your ideal clients, and how much to market to reach your goals. You need to give some thought to the best ways to market, based on your skill-set and the clients you re trying to reach. And you need to make sure you re marketing consistently. Unfortunately, too many people have no plan when it comes to marketing. They try tactic after tactic and nothing works. Mostly because the tactics they choose are not strategically focused, or they don t do them consistently enough to generate results. A little bit of forethought and planning can go a long way to make sure the marketing you re spending your time, energy, and money on will actually work for you and your business. Marketing is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. What works for one business may not work for another business. You need to discover what is best for you, your business, your ideal clients, and your goals. Copyright 2012 Debbie LaChusa, The Business Stylist 11

12 There are many ways to market and when you take the time to design your marketing plan, you will discover the best three to four ways for your business. Yes, that s all you need. So if you re feeling overwhelmed trying to keep up with all the latest and greatest marketing trends, or you really dislike or are not comfortable with some forms of marketing, that s OK. You don t need to do it all. All you need to do is find the ways that fit you and your ideal clients best, and do those on a consistent basis. Taking the time to design a marketing plan, even if it s only a 90-day plan (what I recommend all my clients start with) and committing to tracking your results, is the easiest way to find what works for your business. Contrast this to what many business owners do They flit about trying a little bit of this marketing and a little bit of that marketing, and when they don t get immediate results they re off to try something else. The challenges with this approach are many. First, the marketing activities you re doing may not be right for you or your business. Just because everyone is telling you that you need to be on social media, or you need to be blogging or doing video marketing, doesn t make it so. And just because those things are working for others, doesn t necessarily mean they will work for you. Second, there s no strategy behind this sort of hit-or-miss marketing. How can you reach your goals if you don t first sit down and determine what kind or marketing, and how much marketing, will be necessary to reach your goals? Third, there s no consistency with this type of marketing. In most cases you can t do something once, or even twice, and expect it to work. You must commit to a plan and give it time to work. Copyright 2012 Debbie LaChusa, The Business Stylist 12

13 Marketing planning may not sound as sexy as some of the tactics being sold today, but it s the only way to know which of those sexy tactics will work for you. I can tell you from 26 years of experience doing marketing in the real world, for large corporations and all the way down to solo-professionals working out of their homes, it s what works. As The Business Stylist I help business owners design a customized marketing plan, so they know exactly where and how much to market, so they attract their ideal clients and turn their business into a more enjoyable and profitable one. You can learn more about how I can help you so this by visiting What to do next I hope you ve found this information valuable and it s helped you identify where you may need to go back and do a little more work in your business. If you re not sure how to proceed, and you d like a little more help from me, I d like to invite you to register for a Complimentary Consultation, so you and I can get on the phone and discuss your specific situation. We ll discuss where you are in your business, what your goals are, and what your current challenges are in achieving them. I can help you determine what you best next step is. And if I m not the best person to help you, I ll be the first to tell you. I m pretty good at sizing up businesses and marketing quickly. After all, this is what I do and have been doing for more than 25 years. It s a no obligation call, and all I ask is that you be serious about taking action to improve your business. If that s you, I d love to talk with you. You May Register for a Complimentary Telephone Consultation at Copyright 2012 Debbie LaChusa, The Business Stylist 13

14 About Debbie LaChusa, The Business Stylist Debbie LaChusa is a marketing consultant, speaker, and the author of three books, including her latest, Breaking the Spell: The Truth about Money, Success, and the Pursuit of Happiness. She's the creator of the Money Success Happiness Blog where her mission is to explore and redefine attitudes toward money, success, and the pursuit of happiness and the roles they play in our lives. She's also known as The Business Stylist because she teaches service professionals (primarily coaches, consultants, and other experts) how to package, brand, and market their services in a way that best serves their clients and fits them to a "T." To learn more, visit Copyright 2012 Debbie LaChusa, The Business Stylist 14