Lydia G. Miller, MBA: Recent Episodes
Lydia Miller
Thank you so much for 5,000 downloads!
E-mail me at lydia@dacbalance.com for any questions you have about the podcast, my business or how I can help you.
Lydia
Secrets of Six Figure Women by Barbara Stanny is one of my favorite reads so far this year. I had so many takeaways that I want to share so I did an entire podcast episode!
You can connect with me on LinkedIn (Lydia Miller), Instagram (@lydia.miller.mba) or by email (Lydia@dacbalance.com)
Advice from Work from Home Moms: A Baby Changes Everything in Business
Email me Lydia@dacbalance.com and follow me on Instagram @lydia.miller.mba.
I hope you're having a wonderful end to 2019!
I wanted to share with you how we can work together in 2020.
You can get more detailed information on my website, lydiagmiller.com. Email me Lydia@dacbalance.com to get started working together!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! - Lydia
Deciding that Less is Best | What I let go of in 2019
Continue the conversation in our private Facebook group! Join by going to lydiagmiller.com/join.
Moving back to QuickBooks Desktop and WHY I did it.
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Systems I'm using that WORK | PowerSheets | The Simplified Planner | The Sunday Basket
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Profit First Book Review
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What kills your profit.
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What do I do with profit?
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How do I become more profitable? Planning for Profit | Budgeting for Profit
Continue the conversation in our private Facebook group! Join by going to lydiagmiller.com/join.
What is profit? How do I know if I am profitable?
Continue the conversation in our private Facebook group! Join by going to lydiagmiller.com/join.
Join our private Facebook community for accountability on getting your bookkeeping done AND using your number! Join by going to lydiagmiller.com/join.
I’d be honored to work with you. To get started, email me at lydia@dacbalance.com with the problem you’re having and we can discuss the best way to get to a solution.
I would love to connect with you. You can find me on Instagram @lydia.miller.mba and always by email lydia@dacbalance.com.
I got the chance to go to Business Boutique in Nashville, TN last week, and I am so glad that I went! In this episode I am sharing the few things that I would do again, things that I would do differently and my key takeaways from EVERY session!
Did you go? What were your takeaways? Please share those with me! You can find me on Instagram @dac_balance_llc
Lydia
Join our private Facebook community for accountability on getting your bookkeeping done AND using your number! Join by going to lydiagmiller.com/join.
I’d be honored to work with you. To get started, email me at lydia@dacbalance.com with the problem you’re having and we can discuss the best way to get to a solution.
I would love to connect with you. You can find me on Instagram @lydia.miller.mba and always by email lydia@dacbalance.com.
Join our private Facebook community for accountability on getting your bookkeeping done AND using your number! Join by going to lydiagmiller.com/join.
I’d be honored to work with you. To get started, email me at lydia@dacbalance.com with the problem you’re having and we can discuss the best way to get to a solution.
I would love to connect with you. You can find me on Instagram @lydia.miller.mba and always by email lydia@dacbalance.com.
Join our private Facebook community for accountability on getting your bookkeeping done AND using your number! Join by going to lydiagmiller.com/join.
I’d be honored to work with you. To get started, email me at lydia@dacbalance.com with the problem you’re having and we can discuss the best way to get to a solution.
I would love to connect with you. You can find me on Instagram @lydia.miller.mba and always by email lydia@dacbalance.com.
Join our private Facebook community for accountability on getting your bookkeeping done AND using your number! Join by going to lydiagmiller.com/join.
I’d be honored to work with you. To get started, email me at lydia@dacbalance.com with the problem you’re having and we can discuss the best way to get to a solution.
I would love to connect with you. You can find me on Instagram @lydia.miller.mba and always by email lydia@dacbalance.com.
Join our private Facebook community for accountability on getting your bookkeeping done AND using your number! Join by going to lydiagmiller.com/join.
I’d be honored to work with you. To get started, email me at lydia@dacbalance.com with the problem you’re having and we can discuss the best way to get to a solution.
I would love to connect with you. You can find me on Instagram @lydia.miller.mba and always by email lydia@dacbalance.com.
Join our private Facebook community for accountability on getting your bookkeeping done AND using your number! Join by going to lydiagmiller.com/join.
I’d be honored to work with you. To get started, email me at lydia@dacbalance.com with the problem you’re having and we can discuss the best way to get to a solution.
I would love to connect with you. You can find me on Instagram @lydia.miller.mba and always by email lydia@dacbalance.com.
Join our private Facebook community for accountability on getting your bookkeeping done AND using your number! Join by going to lydiagmiller.com/join.
I’d be honored to work with you. To get started, email me at lydia@dacbalance.com with the problem you’re having and we can discuss the best way to get to a solution.
I would love to connect with you. You can find me on Instagram @lydia.miller.mba and always by email lydia@dacbalance.com.
Join our private Facebook community for accountability on getting your bookkeeping done AND using your number! Join by going to lydiagmiller.com/join.
I’d be honored to work with you. To get started, email me at lydia@dacbalance.com with the problem you’re having and we can discuss the best way to get to a solution.
I would love to connect with you. You can find me on Instagram @lydia.miller.mba and always by email lydia@dacbalance.com.
Join our private Facebook community for accountability on getting your bookkeeping done AND using your number! Join by going to lydiagmiller.com/join.
I’d be honored to work with you. To get started, email me at lydia@dacbalance.com with the problem you’re having and we can discuss the best way to get to a solution.
I would love to connect with you. You can find me on Instagram @lydia.miller.mba and always by email lydia@dacbalance.com.
Join our private Facebook community for accountability on getting your bookkeeping done AND using your number! Join by going to lydiagmiller.com/join.
I’d be honored to work with you. To get started, email me at lydia@dacbalance.com with the problem you’re having and we can discuss the best way to get to a solution.
I would love to connect with you. You can find me on Instagram @lydia.miller.mba and always by email lydia@dacbalance.com.
I’d be honored to work with you. To get started, email me at lydia@dacbalance.com with the problem you’re having and we can discuss the best way to get to a solution.
I would love to connect with you. You can find me on Instagram @lydia.miller.mba and always by email lydia@dacbalance.com.
Join our private Facebook community for accountability on getting your bookkeeping done AND using your number! Join by going to lydiagmiller.com/join.
I’d be honored to work with you. To get started, email me at lydia@dacbalance.com with the problem you’re having and we can discuss the best way to get to a solution.
I would love to connect with you. You can find me on Instagram @lydia.miller.mba and always by email lydia@dacbalance.com.
Knowing what to do each month, running short on cash, understanding the different reports, realistic expectations and getting help are 5 areas that I see business owners struggle to bridge the gap between what’s happening right now and what should be happening.
These 5 areas can be resolved and don’t have to always be a stressful aspect of your business.
I’d be honored to work with you. To get started, email me at lydia@dacbalance.com with the problem you’re having and we can discuss the best way to get to a solution.
Bookkeeping Goal Milestones
Like anything new that you are doing in your business, it takes a while for a habit to form. I really envy the people who are excellent at creating habits because they seem to have it all together. I am not one of those people, but I aspire to be.
So when you are creating this new habit of bookkeeping in your business, there is a lot you can do and a lot you probably should be doing.
I want to walk you through some of the baby steps that you can take to get some momentum rolling.
You can email me at Lydia@dacbalance.com to book a strategy session.
Visit my website at lydiagmiller.com and follow me on Instagram @lydia.miller.mba.
This episode is brought to you by my bookkeeping strategy sessions. You’re probably in one of three areas. DIY, outsourcing or understanding. Each of these stages comes with different struggles and questions. I can help with all three.
If you’re stuck and don’t know how to begin tackling your massive bookkeeping problem that’s keeping you up at night, I can help. We can create an actionable, manageable plan for you to catch up with your books and how to not fall behind again. To book one of these limited sessions, email me at lydia@dacbalance.com to be sure we are a good fit to work together.
Is your bookkeeping too far gone? In this episode I'll ask you a few questions to find out if you need to start from scratch, have a bookkeeper help you out or if you need to just catch up.
You can email me at Lydia@dacbalance.com to book a strategy session.
Visit my website at lydiagmiller.com and follow me on Instagram @lydia.miller.mba.
This episode is brought to you by my bookkeeping strategy sessions. You’re probably in one of three areas. DIY, outsourcing or understanding. Each of these stages comes with different struggles and questions. I can help with all three.
If you’re stuck and don’t know how to begin tackling your massive bookkeeping problem that’s keeping you up at night, I can help. We can create an actionable, manageable plan for you to catch up with your books and how to not fall behind again. To book one of these limited sessions, email me at lydia@dacbalance.com to be sure we are a good fit to work together.
In this episode we talk through how to read a Profit and Loss and a Balance Sheet. Be sure to have both of those handy as we walk through the reports!
You can email me at Lydia@dacbalance.com to book a strategy session.
Visit my website at lydiagmiller.com and follow me on Instagram @lydia.miller.mba.
Do you know your financial numbers in your business? Listen to this episode to find out!
If you don't, email me at Lydia@dacbalance.com to schedule a strategy session to learn how to find those numbers AND how to make them useful in your business.
Thanks for listening!
Follow me on Instagram @lydia.miller.mba and email me at Lydia@dacbalance.com to sign up for a bookkeeping strategy session or to learn more about my Bookkeeping DIY Guide coming August 12!
Thanks for listening! Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast and leave a review :)
I would love to connect with you. You can find me on Instagram @lydia.miller.mba and always by email lydia@dacbalance.com.
How to get caught up in different areas of QuickBooks and how to know if you're behind in the first place!
Email me at Lydia@dacbalance.com to work together.
Follow me on Instagram @lydia.miller.mba
This episode is brought to you by my bookkeeping strategy sessions. If you’re stuck and don’t know how to tackle your massive bookkeeping problem that’s keeping you up at night, I can help. We can create an actionable, manageable plan for you to catch up with your books and how to not fall behind again. To book one of these limited sessions, email me at lydia@dacbalance.com to be sure we are a good fit to work together.
I would love to connect with you. You can find me on Instagram @lydia.miller.mba and always by email lydia@dacbalance.com.
You can book your own customized chart of account service at lydiagmiller.com/workwithme.
You can find the show notes at lydiagmiller.com/36.
Follow me on Instagram! @lydia.miller.mba
If you're interested in working with me, head to lydiagmiller.com/workwithme to learn more about bookkeeping strategy sessions, customized charts of accounts and a full customized bookkeeping system.
You can join Shaela's 6 week challenge group by going to https://fsrgcompany.com/challenge-sign-up
Follow Shaela on Instagram! @fsrgco_fitness
As always, please subscribe and rate this podcast in iTunes so you never miss an episode!
Lydia
@lydia.miller.mba
https://lydiagmiller.com
You can find the show notes for this episode at https://lydiagmiller.com/34.
Book your bookkeeping strategy session today by going to https://lydiagmiller.com/workwithme
As always, I would love to connect with you on Instagram! You can follow me @lydia.miller.mba
Why you need systems as a service-based solopreneur
Are you systems minded? Does your brain naturally think ‘there has to be a better way’ or ‘how can I organize this better?’ I can tell you that unfortunately my brain does not naturally think that way. I’ve had to train it over the years to be organized in thought and in what I am doing.
As a service-based solopreneur, we often feel like we’re drowning with how much we could and should be doing and truthfully a lot of it will help our businesses grow and thrive. Email marketing, social media marketing, blog posts, youtube videos, strategy, bookkeeping, administrative work, client retention. Not to mention client work.
Waking up every day feeling like we’re winging it can be exhausting and not profitable. And often, things fall through the cracks if we’re not careful. Important things like deadlines or promises made. Opportunities are missed because we are not managing our time or our actions well.
Thankfully, you can learn systems. You can implement systems. And you can decide enough is enough and that you want to start streamlining and taking action on tasks that are important for your business.
Systems can save you from a lot of headaches and can really give you the peace of mind as you follow a plan that you know everything is getting done. I hear so often from consulting clients that they just don’t know what they don’t know and need a list of things to make sure are happening well.
Systems don’t have to be fancy. What I mean by systems is a list of things that need to happen in a certain order to complete a task. There are four parts to any new system of your business. Creation, customization, maintenance and review. Let’s use email marketing as an example. Creation and customization are things like setting up the tech side, creating a lead magnet, customizing it to your business brand. System maintenance is different than setting up and customizing an email list and is the long-term part of systems. Once your email list is setup with a lead magnet and all the tech side is customized, your maintenance is how often you email. What your templates look like. How you respond week after week and email your list consistently. You want to make it easy to maintain and a no brainer on what you’re supposed to be doing. Review is asking yourself is this working? How can I make it better? And then the cycle starts again.
On a more tactical side, you can keep the lists of tasks in a project management tool like Asana which I what I do. I also am a paper person and I like to write things down in my simplified planner to have a physical reminder of what I’m supposed to be doing each day.
Having systems set up can truly make your life simpler as a solopreneur. I want to invite you to join me on a 15 minute call if you are looking for a bookkeeping system. I have several ways that I can help you create and customize a bookkeeping system so that you can easily main it that I’ll be talking about in the next three podcast episodes and in four episodes I’ll tell you how I’ve fast-tracked success in my business with systems. In the meantime, join me on Instagram @lydia.miller.mba to connect. I’d love to meet you there.
Don’t forget, if you’re struggling with your bookkeeping system, I can point you in the right direction on action to take in a free discovery call. I have several ways that I help service-based solopreneurs and I’d love to support you. You can book a free 15 minute call with me at lydiagmiller.com/workwithme.
I’ll talk to you soon.
You can find the show notes for this episode at lydiagmiller.com/32
lydiagmiller.com/consulting
Thanks for listening!
Be sure to follow me on Instagram @lydia.miller.mba for more tips and behind the scenes looks at my business!
You can download my accounting terms sheet at lydiagmiller.com/terms
Thanks for listening! Be sure to subscribe and follow Lydia at @lydia.miller.mba on Instagram!
Thanks for listening!
If you are also doing the not-so-fun things in January that will bring you JOY the rest of the year, I want to know! Tag me on Instagram @lydia.miller.mba and let's cheer each other on!!
Thanks for listening!
Here are a few links mentioned http://cultivatewhatmatters.com
http://lydiagmiller.com
Maghon Taylor joins me on today's podcast episode as we talk about brand alliances and how to make that happen. Maghon has worked with national and local brands, including West Elm and Pottery Barn!
Be sure to follow her on Instagram @allshewrotenotes and you can find her online at http://www.allshewrotenotes.com.
Running a business is lonely and you can start to focus on too many things at one time. When I first started, I could have really benefited from accountability in my own business. I want to offer that to you.
You can go to http://lydiagmiller.com and book a one hour accountability call where I ask you detailed questions about your business, we can dig into why things didn't happen and what you can change for the next month.
I can't wait to help!
E-mail marketing conversation with Kate Boyd!
Here's where you can connect with Kate ->
https://www.cobblestonecreative.co/
https://www.instagram.com/cobblestonecreative.co/
QuickBooks Questions? I can help!
Visit lydiagmiller.com to learn more.
Thanks for listening today!
Amy Schutte is a StoryBrand Certified Guide and is here giving us all the details on how we can enhance and transform our branding!
I am so grateful that she decided to join us today, and I hope you learn lots and understand more about your story.
If you want to learn more about Amy, her website is https://amyschutte.com/ and her Instagram handle is @amyschutte_
Have you ever thought about what goes on during the buying process?
There are 5 stages and each of them present a unique opportunity to you, business owner!
Make sure that you register for my webinar! Here is the link for the next one > https://zoom.us/webinar/register/7815315123633/WN_xoYs02R7TyiU4AuaNs97tA
Check out my website for future webinars and more of what I am doing. Lydiagmiller.com
If you are interested in one of the few free strategy sessions left, be sure to email me at Lydia@dacbalance.com.
-Lydia
Porter's Analysis
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Threat of new entrants
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Bargaining power of buyers
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Bargaining power of suppliers
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Threat of substitute products
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Intensity of rivalry
Don't forget to register for my webinar! You can register here > https://zoom.us/webinar/register/7815315123633/WN_xoYs02R7TyiU4AuaNs97tA
or you can go to lydiagmiller.com and learn more!
After being in business for myself for a few years, I am looking back and seeing where the success is, and what the biggest lesson that I've learned is.
In this episode, we talk through the 5W's of analyzing your customers.
Be sure to sign up for a strategy session! You can email me at Lydia@dacbalance.com to learn more.
How can we move our customers from thinking that our product is like everyone else's in our industry to something unique and worth spending money on? We answer that question in today's episode!
In this episode, we talk about analyzing your competition and how they can help you find your ideal client!
There are four environment areas you should analyze before jumping into a business and when you own a business.
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Politics
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Social
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Technological.
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Education
Don't forget to follow me on social media! You can find me on Instagram @dac_balance_llc
Welcome to the DAC Podcast! If you are listening, then I know you are an ambitious business owner who wants to grow her business and learn more about how business works. Thank you for joining me today!
DAC Happenings: If you are new around here, I wanted to let you know about a few things. First, if you aren’t following me on social media, please do! I mainly post on Instagram and on insta stories, so you can find me @dac_balance_llc. Also, please come and join our community! It is a group of female business owners who are looking to grow professionally and personally and are there to learn from each other. Feel free to join. You can join by going to my website at lydiagmiller.com and on the right hand side click ‘Join the DAC Community.’ We would love to have you!
Now let’s get into the content.
Today, we are talking about Analysis and how it is NOT the solution to the problems you are having in your business. When you are analyzing, know that analysis is the way that you find a solution, not the solution itself.
Many business owners can find themselves always analyzing, thinking about ‘what if’ but never actually working on something or implementing a solution to a problem. I can get like this. I love to plan and organize and sort through a problem, but I am not the best at implementing. If you know that about yourself, you can be more aware and fix the problem.
Don’t get me wrong, there are also businesses who need to do some analysis and really look at what they’re doing and decide if they are doing well or not instead of just going through the year and never changing anything.
I am hoping to share information that is for both groups today. If you are over analyzing, I hope to tell you what to analyze and when to stop and take action, and for someone who doesn’t analyze or doesn’t know how to analyze, then I hope to share what to analyze and what to do with those results.
First, let’s define analysis. Analysis is simply getting from raw data to information that you can use.
The good thing about living in the time that we are now, is that data is being collected and stored all the time. When you make a purchase, when you click on something, when you download something, it’s all being recorded and as a business owner, this is gold!
The format for data is it is collected, analyzed and then that produces the useful information that we need to focus our marketing and grow our business.
Now that we know what analysis is, let’s talk about what we need to analyze about our business internally. I have 6 things about our business that need to be analyzed. Here are the 6 areas we are going to talk about today. Objectives. Strategies. Company Performance. Resources. Corporate Culture. Mission & Vision.
First, our objectives. What is the goal of your business? Are you trying to, like we talked about in episode 8, be on the cutting edge of your industry, or are you trying to differentiate through one unique position and attract those types of customers? Does your business even have a goal? For those of you who don’t analyze, this is something to decide. What is the goal for your business? Not go under? Create a new special sauce and use that in your restaurant? Be a virtual bookkeeper have all online clients? After you decide this, for you over analyzers, stop! Take action on this and work on fulfilling that goal. You don’t need to come back to it every few days and decide if you still like it. Make a decision and move forward.
Second, we need to analyze our Strategies. A strategy is just a plan on how to reach a goal. This is the plan on how we are going to get something accomplished. If you are a runner and are wanting to run a marathon, there is a plan or a strategy on how you are going to build endurance to do this. If you are wanting to grow a social media following, you need to be on social media, be reaching out to others on social media and be posting content that would attract your ideal client every single day. We’ve already established the goal of our business in the last step, so after you do that, make content that an ideal client would appreciate and find helpful.
Third, we need to analyze our Company Performance. This is where it can get personal. How is your business really doing? Look at your financials (if you need help getting these together, I can help! Email me at lydia@dacbalance.com). Did you make a profit last year? Did our services help somebody? Are we serving more people than we were last year? If your goal is to just keep the clients that you have and make them happy, are they happy with your services or product? I know this can be really hard to look at objectively because our business is so personal to us and an extension of ourselves in a lot of ways. We can think that a business failure is a direct reflection of our worth. It is not. It is not a reflection of our worth or our value as a human being. Looking at this honestly can help us in so many ways. It can help us see if something is working, and it can help us make a plan on how to get something not working to work.
Fourth, we need to analyze our resources. I did this a few months ago, I created a simple word document of all of the things that I had bought for my business. Book, programs, subscriptions, courses, free e-books, everything! An easy way to do this, if your bookkeeping is up to date, is to look at QuickBooks and go through your purchases to see what you purchased to use. This was eye opening! I had signed up for two email marketing programs. If you catch something like this, this would be a great time to un-subscribe to things you don’t need anymore. Since you know what the goal is for your business, let’s say you want to put videos on youtube of a tutorial. Maybe you need Camtasia, which helps capture things on your screen. Look at the goals you have created for your business, and make sure that every resource is helping reach that goal. If not, get rid of it. If you need something else, buy it.
Fifth, Look at your Corporate Culture. In this step, you look at the employees you have and on yourself as a leader. Are you leading well? What kind a culture are you trying to create? Are you trying to have an all work and no play environment? Are you trying to build team unity and friendships beyond the office? I don’t think there is a right or wrong answer here. You just have to know what you are trying to create and look and see if you are putting steps in place to create that culture. This is also where you need to evaluate people on your team. Are you being a good example and leader for them? Is everyone on your team at a place where they are performing their best and using their unique talents and abilities? If not, make some changes. If so, then move on to the next point.
The sixth and final thing you need to analyze is the Mission & Vision of your company. In episode 1 or 2, we talked about mission so I’ll let you go and listen to that when you’re done with this episode and I won’t go into too much detail, but is what you’re doing reflecting the mission and the vision of your company? Have you gotten off the rails and done something completely different? You need to look at this and your actions and make sure that each business decision fits through the mission. If an action isn’t fitting, either cut it or decide to broaden the mission. Neither way is right or wrong, just make a decision and stick with it.
Action Steps: Now for your action steps. Think about these 6 areas. Objectives. Strategies. Company Performance. Resources. Corporate Culture. Mission & Vision. If you are an over-analyzer, look at each area, make a decision and then take some action on what you’ve decided. If you don’t analyze, look at each area, and spend sometime this week evaluating your business. Let us know in the Facebook community what you are going to take action on and how your analysis helped your business.
If you are listening to this when it releases, I am about 1 weeks out from finishing another semester. I am taking economics and finance right now and am ready to move onto my summer classes and graduation in December.
I hope you heard something here today to help you focus in on what you should be doing in your business and have heard something that will help you move forward in your business this week.
Don’t forget, that I would love to work with you. I offer strategy sessions for business owners who are looking to grow, but need a second set of eyes on their business to help them see the big picture. If you are interested, please email me at lydia@dacbalance.com
I hope you have a productive week.
Who are you in your industry? Prospector. Defender. Analyzer. Reactor.
Introduction: Welcome to the DAC Podcast! If you are listening, then I know you are an ambitious business owner who wants to grow her business and learn more about how business works. Thank you for joining me today!
DAC Happenings: If you are new around here, I wanted to let you know about a few things. First, if you aren’t following me on social media, please do! I mainly post on Instagram and on insta stories, so you can find me @dac_balance_llc. Also, please come and join our community! It is a group of female business owners who are looking to grow professionally and personally and are there to learn from each other. Feel free to join. You can join by going to my website at lydiagmiller.com and on the right hand side click ‘Join the DAC Community.’ We would love to have you!
Now let’s get into the content.
Content: In episode 7, we talked about different ways to create a strategy. Those ways were just the generic strategies and some were strategies that we don’t want to have. Today, we are going to answer the question ‘Who are you in your industry?’ I really do think that everyone has a place in their industry and a client to serve, but I think thbat people don’t know what lane they should be in or how to stay there. The comparison game is strong, and that only hurts you in business. I put on the dac Instagram the other day this quote which I think is so true ‘The fastest way to fail in business is to be just like someone else.’ Today we are going to look through 4 different types of business owners and business personalities, and then decide which one that your business is.
The four types are Prospector. Defender. Analyzer. Reactor.
First, the prospect. According to Google, the definition of a prospector is ‘the possibility or likelihood of some future event occurring.” So a prospector is someone who is always looking at the possibility or the likelihood of a future event happening. I’m sure you can think of a company like this. A company that is always changing, they are highly committed to researching and developing new ideas. They are at the cutting edge. You look to them to see where the industry is going. And they spend a whole lot of money on it. Some of the big companies in this industry are pharmeseutical companies. They’re trying to be on the cutting edge of medicine, creating new treatments and putting current technology out of date. You read about them in magazines and online about all the crazy things they are doing.
If you want your business to be a prospector, then hear me out, you don’t always win if this is the role you want to take on. A few of the down sides is that to be on the cutting edge, it takes money and time. Even in my industry, if I want to stay on top of or create new tool for bookkeepers to use, that is going to take time and resources. The payoff isn’t always there, which is the hard reality behind this.
Second, we have the Defender. This company has a mature product or they are in a mature industry. Like the name sounds, they are just trying to defend the market position that they have and their customers that are loyal to them. They will often do this through having a low cost or having something about them that’s different and that no one else can copy. If you are in a mature market or industry, don’t try to copy another company and think that you are going to take enough market share from them to sustain your company. It’s not going to happen, customers are going to see through that and will know if you copied someone else’s idea. Part of the defender strategy is that you might be consolidating other businesses. Bookkeeping would fall into this category. A good strategy for a bookkeeper who is looking for more clients, is to approach a business with an owner looking to retire and see if they are ready to give up any of their current clients. Most businesses won’t change bookkeepers on their own, but their bookkeeper might be ready to retire.
The third type is the Analyzer. This type of company is not going to be the industry leader like the prospector company is. This type of company is looking to differentiate itself by some way. Think about restaurants. You can get a burger at almost any restaurant you go to. It’s how they market and what position they take is the difference. You can go to a fast food place and get a burger, and even among those companies, you can have differences. Wendy’s serves fresh burgers, Mcdonald’s are super fast, Crystal’s has the sliders. Then you can go to a sit down restaurant. We have a place here in Pensacola called The Tin Cow and you can create your own burger, there’s another place we like called Union Public House and you can get a boar’s burger. All different restaurants, and none of them are going to be the industry leader in hamburgers. But, they are all analyzers and they have taken a different angle on creating a burger. They all have a market share because of that. If this is where your business is, think about the strengths and what people buy most from you. That’s your golden egg. Perfect that and you will have your ideal customer flocking to you.
Fourth, is the Reactor. This is just what it sounds like, a company that reacts to what the industry is doing instead of trying to be ahead or different. This company does not want to be number one in their industry, they just want to survive. This company will sit back, relax and let other companies do the research and watch and see what works and what doesn’t work. Then, once they find that out, they will also move into that industry. This would be like most cell phone companies are now. Apple and Samsung are leading the way, and now you can get off brand type phones because Apple and Samsung have already proven that the market wants it and that they can be profitable on it. Store brands typically start out this way and generic items do as well. If you own a retail store, this is a great position to hold. If you see new products coming through that you aren’t sure about, wait and see what the market does with it. If it picks up and sustains, that might be a great opportunity to create a similar product without imposing on their trademarks or patents.
Action Steps: So who are you in your industry? Have you been spending your time on one area that you shouldn’t be spending time on? Have you been spending time being a prospector instead of a defender? Or should you be a reactor and let other companies absorb the high costs of r&d?
If you are in the facebook group, I want to hear from you! Comment on the post and tell me about your business and what position you are taking.
Call to Action-DAC. If you are listening to this when it releases, I am about 3 weeks out from finishing another semester. I am taking economics and finance right now and am ready to move onto my summer classes and graduation in December.
I hope you heard something here today to help you focus in on what you should be doing in your business and have heard something that will help you move forward in your business this week.
Don’t forget, that I would love to work with you. I offer strategy sessions for business owners who are looking to grow, but need a second set of eyes on their business to help them see the big picture. If you are interested, please email me at lydia@dacbalance.com
I hope you have a productive week.
Welcome, business owner! I am thrilled to have you here today as we talk about how to implement strategies in your small business. I think strategy is kind of a buzz word these days, and it seems like a mystery. Hopefully, by the end of this episode, you’ll know how to implement a marketing strategy or at least have a starting point to know which direction you want to take it.
I want to remind you of a few things that’s going on around DAC Balance. If you haven’t already joined our private Facebook community, please do! I would love to have you and continue the conversation around these podcasts and all things business ownership. You can go to my website at lydiagmiller.com and find more information there.
Now, let’s get into the content!
When you think about your small business, do you feel overwhelmed? When I first started, I didn’t have a clue what I was doing. My goal was to just get clients, but I didn’t have a plan on how to do that. I didn’t know much about marketing at the time, so when this content came up in class, I was thrilled to finally know some of the framework of creating a marketing strategy.
In this episode, we are going to talk about just some generic strategies and what people have used to market and grow their business.
Implementing Strategies
Cost Strategy. There are two sides to this strategy. One is horrible and one is fantastic and what I am trying to implement now. This is the worst of them all, but it seems to be really common among businesses that are first starting out. In the cost strategy, you are trying to be the lowest price in your market. This means that you are intentionally pricing yourself below market value, below your competition and below what your services are worth. This often backfires, because when I am looking at who to hire for let’s say photography, I am not going to go with someone just because they are inexpensive. Actually, if I see someone who is inexpensive, I automatically assume they are low quality and not who I am looking for. You can’t win in business if you try to be the lowest price.
The other side of cost strategy is the smart way to do this. You’re not necessarily the cheapest, but you use technology to become more efficient and to provide a higher quality item for less. In this strategy, your goal is to be super efficient, getting more done with fewer resources. You are trying to eliminate waste everywhere. You are trying to cut our unnecessary expenses from your budget to make more room for profits and you are figuring out how to get your raw materials cheaper while still maintaining the quality that you have decided is your target. I am working to do this in my business now by digitalizing everything and creating systems for each unique client. Using apps and things make this a lot easier. Embrace technology, don’t run from it!
Differentiation
The second type of strategy that you can use is differentiating yourself from other companies in your industry. This is crucial if you are in a highly competitive market where customers have lots of options and lots of need for your product or service.
Here are a couple ways that you can differentiate yourself.
Niche down. This is incredibly scary, especially when you don’t have a lot of customers or clients and you are wanting to grow. Excluding people that you’re marketing to or accepting if you are a service based business can seem counter-productive. But! If you want to be seen as an expert or as the thought leader, you have to do this. This also makes it easier to target who you want to get in contact with and when people refer you, they will know exactly what you do. This process takes time. You have to think through your ideal client and the attributes you want them to have as well as the need that they have for your product.
Another way that you can differentiate yourself is to offer unique attributes. I’m thinking about the photography industry here, maybe you offer film photography. Maybe you offer polaroid photography, if that is even a thing. Maybe you create products for those types of photographers.
Another way to differentiate is to position yourself as a luxury good. This means different things for different industries. The day planners that I use run for almost $60 each. That is definitely on the higher end for day planners. I can go to target and get one for $5! But the brand has positioned itself to be a higher-quality good and they provide content year round to use with this.
Focus Strategy
This strategy is one that is really unique and interesting to me. In this strategy, you are so niched down that there is no one else as your competition. You are serving collectors here, or small groups of people who need a certain good. You aren’t going to have a huge market in this strategy, because only a small percentage of the population even wants this item and is willing to spend money on it. You have to dominate the market to make this sustainable.
I’ve have a few book recommendations for you if you want to learn more about what we talked about today. If you are thinking about cost strategy and are needing help leaning out your business, check out the book Profit First by Mike michalowicz. They talk about how you can create a more profitable business and how you can cut down on the unnecessary expenses. If you’re looking for a book on nicheing down, check out Book Yourself solid by Michael port. If you are looking for some specific social media strategies check out Jab Jab Jab right hook by Gary Vaynerchuck.
You can go to the show notes and get a direct link to these books. It will take you to amazon, and if you purchase the book, I will get a small commission at no extra cost to you, which I will really appreciate.
I hope you heard something that you can implement today that will help you with your business.
If you have a business and are wanting someone to help you out in a strategy session, I would love to do that! You can go to my website at lydiagmiller.com to find out more. If you have specific questions on it, feel free to email me at Lydia@dacbalance.com
I hope you join me next week as we answer the question Who are you in your industry?
Have a productive week!
How do you view your business?
Lydia talks through the Portfolio Model to view your business vs the BCG Matrix.
Portfolio Model: Looking at your business as an investment portfolio and marketing strategies based around that.
BCG Matrix: Looking at your business based on the life stages. Introduction, Growth, Mature and Decline.
Want to have someone with you as you analyze this? Book a strategy session with Lydia! Go to lydiagmiller.com and click on 'work with me.'
Join our community to continue the discussion. Go to lydiagmiller.com and on the right click on 'Join the DAC Community'
Episode 5
Growth Strategies
Welcome back to the DAC Podcast, I am thrilled that you are here and that you are wanting to grow your business. In this episode we are talking about growth strategies with our current products and new products. You probably already know this just by running a small business, but I always find if something is broken into pieces and categorized that I understand it better and can see where I am headed next. But before we get into the content, I want to let you know something that I am really excited about. I’ve had a lot of downloads for this podcast, which is amazing, but I feel like I haven’t gotten to connect with you yet. If you go to my website at lydiagmiller.com and on the right is a join our community button. You can sign up there and get access to a private FaceBook group where we can discuss things on the podcast, and a lot more. I have lots of ideas on how I can give more content there. So if you would, please join! I’d love to have you. Now, let’s get into the content!
We are going to break this down into two pools of products or services. Current product and new products and we will start with current products.
Current Products/Services
If you already have something that you’re selling, then you are probably going to have an easier time with this. Creating new products is a lot harder. Don’t give up on your current product if it’s not doing super well. You may just need to tweak it a little for it to be a star product.
If you’re trying to get more sales for your current product you can sell more to your current clients. They already like what you’re doing with your product! I run a bookkeeping business, and the next step for a lot of my clients would be for me to do their tax return or to take over more of their bookkeeping. For me, this is not something that I want to do right now. I don’t have the right credentials to do tax returns, and I am looking to get new bookkeeping clients, because the ones that I have don’t need any more services. Another idea for a bookkeeping client would be to add on payroll services, or do their 1099s if you already aren’t, or also handle their hr. Find another problem that they are having in their business and solve it for them. That could be a way that you sell more to your current clients.
Another way to sell more current products would be to sell your current products to new customers. New customers can be expensive to acquire. There is always a cost to educate, remind, and motivate a client to become a client of yours, but it is something that can be done. You want to see if you can expand the appeal of your product, or maybe find a new place to sell your product. Maybe you have an affiliate program where someone else promotes your product for a commission, or you find someone to co-brand with.
Remember, if the product or service that you have isn’t selling as much as you want it to, the ideal thing is not always to make a new product. That can be really tempting, especially since we have a grass is always greener mindset sometimes. But I want you to try some of those strategies with your current product first before creating something new.
Now we are going to talk about creating new products/services for your business. Any time you make something new, you want to know the investment it will take to get there, what you want your return to be and how it fits into your business model. This podcast is a great example of that! I decided last year that I wanted to do this podcast and share this content. But I was having problems with the technical side of it all. I finally had to make a investment into an online course to walk me through step by step how to create it and get it working seamlessly. I used Pat Flynn’s Power UP Podcasting course if anyone is wondering or interested. I would recommend it 100%. You can also got to the resources page on my website to find the link for it.
So, new products.
First, you could create a new product for the audience that you already have. This seems like the most logical first step. The people who buy from you already know like and trust you and if you are solving a problem for them, they’re more likely to buy from you. This could be a product line extension or a premium version of what you already have.
The second way is through diversification. This is the hardest thing to do. It would be like me going from offering bookkeeping services to offering photography as well. Very, very different fields with different customer bases and different challenges. I wouldn’t recommend doing this. Make sure that the ideas you have don’t fall under this category, because you will probably loose time and money on this and become very frustrated, just my guess. Big corporations have tried this, and unless you hire someone to run that part of their business who has done it before, it’s not going to work.
Two more ways that you can grow using new products are vertical and horizontal integration. So vertical integration is when you own businesses in the chain of what you’re doing. So, let’s say you create hand painted wooden signs. Right now you’re buying paint and wood pre-sanded and having a professional seal your signs. Vertical integration is when you buy what you need to sand the signs, buy wood wholesale and buy the equipment to put a seal on the signs. It can save you money, but may cost you some time if you’re not hiring someone else to do it.
If you use horizontal integration, you would buy out all of the hand painted wooden sign companies. So really, that is expensive. For my bookkeeping business, that would be like me supporting QuickBooks Online, and Xero and FreshBooks. You’d have larger audience to appeal to, but you would have to know a lot more and have more time on your hands.
I want you to think through the new ideas that you having and see where these ideas fit. If you run a business and are looking to expand, try to find something in the current products/services that you can offer to the audience that you already have. At least test it there and see if your target audience is interested in it. I would stay away from entering an entirely new industry and starting completely from scratch. This isn’t like adding a podcast to talk about what you’re already doing, it would be like me adding a jewelry line to my bookkeeping business. Totally different industries!
I’d love to hear what you think about this and to hear what your ideas are on how you can expand your business. Remember, you can join us in the DAC community on Facebook. Go to my website to find the button to join on the right hand side.
Well your action steps this week is to think through your new ideas and see where they fall in each of these categories and to join our community. I can’t wait to hear from you!
Thanks for joining me today! If you would, please subscribe on iTunes. That helps other people find this podcast. Keep it up, you’re doing a great job. Talk to you next week!
Episode 4
People. Products. Price. Promotion.
Welcome back to the DAC Podcast, I am thrilled that you are here and that you are wanting to grow your business. In this episode we are talking about the 4 P’s of marketing and how we can use that to focus our efforts and find solutions to problems. By breaking down our marketing this way, we can tackle the problem in smaller pieces and keep from getting overwhelmed. Let’s get into the content!
Let’s think about the product’s that you are offering. If you can, I want you to create a list of these and be writing notes beside them. Here are 4 things to think through for each product.
Product.
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Does our customer want this? Or is this a dud product? Think objectively. If you don’t know, talk to your customers! Find out what their problem is. Sara Blakely put on Instagram the other day to sell the problem. What problem does this solve?
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Does this product offer value? Does the customer get more benefit than the cost?
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How is this perceived and who are our competitors?
Price.
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What are your sales goals? This goes back to episode 1 and talking about SMART goals. Do you know what price your product should be and what the margin on it is? If you don’t think you’re making money, this may be why. (btw, you can book a numbers strategy session with me if you want to dive deeper into this! Email me at Lydia@dacbalance.com)
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Do you need to raise your prices? If you have a luxury or high-end good, you may need to. Price communicates to your customers value. You get to decide that.
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Think about the prices of your products. Make sure that you have thought through the time it takes you to make it, the raw materials you use, the overhead and know how many products you need to sell to meet your revenue goals.
Place
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Where do you interact with your customers? If this is online, how does your website look? Is the customer able to easily purchase what you are selling? If you are service based, is there an easy way for your customer to know how to contact you and what you are selling? This can be hard, especially if you’re like me and really you’re selling your time and expertise. A lot of fear is behind this especially when you are starting out. I’ve found that anytime that I have fear about a new task or setting prices that if I tackle it head on, it’s not that bad. I’ve had to do this over and over again, and each time I’ve found that actually doing the work makes it less terrifying. Don’t live in fear.
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Think of other ways that customers can get to your product. Offering a digital download, a podcast, offering your products on different sites, starting an affiliate program for others to promote your product on their website. Think through the delivery process as well. If it’s an online delivery, how can you improve that and put your branding and wording in each step? If you are shipping products, how can you give your customers some joy as they open up the packaging?
Promotion
How are we going to tell people about these products? We want them to know about it! This could be an entire podcast, but I want you to think about how you are promoting your products right now. Think of all the ways. Are those ways working? I want you to be brutally honest with yourself here. If you are doing something and it’s creating no results, it might be time to find a different way to get the message out. It might be that you don’t focus on social media for your marketing and you start focusing on your net work and current clients. This was something that I’ve had to focus on in my business recently. I’ve been blogging and doing social media for DAC for a while now, and I have yet to have a new client strictly from that. After all, a bookkeeper is someone that you really have to trust! It’s hard to build that trust online. But what I have found is that I have to network and talk to people in person, which is a lot harder for me to do. But that’s what works for my business. Also, put the blinders on. Don’t look at everyone else’s business and what they are doing. It may be that for their different industry, social media is really important and for yours it is not. Think through the clients or sales that you have and see how you got there and how you can do more of that.
Well your action steps this week is to do just this! Think through your products, price, place and promotion of your business and really be honest with yourself. Are you doing what’s best for your business in each category? If you want to dive deeper into your business with me, I would love to do a strategy session with you! I’ve mentioned this a few times, but I want to really break down that this means.
It is a 45 minute call on zoom that will be recorded for you to play back later. After the call neither of us are required to do anything. Before the call, I will send you a questionnaire so that I can get to know your business. My strength is in bookkeeping and numbers, so any information that you feel comfortable sharing will be helpful! I also want you to think of a few questions of where you are stuck on something and we will talk through a solution. I’ll give you action steps to take at the end and hopefully that will help you grow your business. There is something special about talking with like minded women about something you are passionate about. I’d love to chat with you. I am just starting to offer this and am offering 5 free calls. If you are interested, email me at lydia@dacbalance.com and I will be in touch. If you know a woman who would benefit from this, then please, send this information to her! I will link the information in the show notes so that she can read about it there.
Thank you so much for listening! If you would, please subscribe on iTunes and leave a review, that would mean so much to me! I’ll talk to you next week.
Season 1-Marketing Episode 1
Welcome to my first official episode! If you are listening on launch day, I am really excited that you are here!
This is the second course I took for my master’s degree. The first was statistics and I’m not ready to think about that yet!
The title of the class is Marketing Strategy. Why do we even need a strategy? Here are some of the foundational items.
Creating a SMART goal.
· Specific. Measurable. Attainable. Results-Oriented. Time Specific.
· Doing this, you’ll know what you have to do next and when you’ve achieved success.
· A goal has to have all parts to work.
Core Strategies in Business.
· Is your goal to stay in business or to be the best in your industry? Are you trying not to go out of business, or are you trying to innovate and create new products?
· Nothing is better than the other, but know who you are and what you want for your business.
· Knowing that strategy helps you in your business. This helps you keep a focus on your business.
Mission Statement.
· Your mission statement should revolve around your clients, not around what you want out of life and your business.
· Your mission statement shouldn’t even be about the product.
· Nail down your mission statement in the first year of your business, and run all new opportunities through that framework.
· SHARE your mission statement. This helps to create a connection with your customer.
Remember, no one buys from you because they’re sympathetic towards you.
· Even if you’re running a non-profit, you still have to solve a problem for someone.
· When you’re selling the product, don’t focus on the product, focus on the problem.
· Think about the customers that don’t need your product and find another way to serve them.
· Sell the benefits, not the services.
· Find out what the customer really wants. Maybe they want to remember the emotions of a day, remind them that pictures are a way to get there.
Challenge:
· Look at your website, change the language to reflect the benefits, not the products.
· Look at all of your communication with your customers and help them realize the benefits.
· Create a SMART goal for your business.
· SHARE your mission statement! Tag me on social media @dac_balance_llc
· Create a word document of phrases that you use with your customers. Create consistency with your message this way.
Hit Subscribe! Leave a review!
Links Mentioned/Recommended for this episode
· Pensacola Christian College-where I took this class.
· Well-Loved Brand-Personal Branding and Business Branding.
· Affiliate Marketing-Pat Flynn’s Website
· My Blog-lydiagmiller.com. There are posts there on these topics!
· My Mission Statement. DAC Balance's mission is for small business owners to understand their numbers and make informed decisions based on that information.
· DAC Clients Links
· Strategy Session
Season 1- Marketing Episode 2
Welcome back! I am so glad that you are here today.
Recap of the last episode.
Remember, when you’re creating a goal for your business, keep the customer in mind.
Now, flip the goal around. Instead or wanting to create 20% more revenue for your company.
Find a way to create 20% more value for your customer this year.
Think through the experience your customer has with your business.
What can you do that won’t even cost more money, but provides more value to them.
Show me the results from last week! Send me an email at lydia@dacbalance.com
Marketing Concept.
Market Orientation. Product Orientation. Societal Orientation. Sales Orientation.
Market orientation-fully focused on your customer.
Product Orientation-fully focused on what you’re selling.
Societal Orientation-focused on a mission.
Sales Orientation-sales at any cost.
Think about your business and how your business revolves around these concepts.
Marketing Mix.
People. Products. Promotion. Place. Price. All of these will influence your company. If you haven’t started your business yet, think about these 5 areas and how you can create a great experience for your customer.
You’re trying to market to a smaller group of people who are your target clients. Use the Marketing Mix to find them.
Assignment this week-Take the 5 P’s of marketing. Evaluate your own business and see who or what they are and what you can do to better serve them?
Hit Subscribe!
Links Mentioned
Where I took this class-Pensacola Christian College
My Website-Lydiagmiller.com
Season 1- Marketing Episode 3
Value
· Value and what you can bring to your customers through your marketing.
· Building in value in your customers mind for your business.
· More than just the monetary value, you have to solve a problem.
· Don’t have the lowest prices! That is not value.
· Chick-fil-A builds in value through their customer service.
You want to serve the most needs economically.
· I have a bookkeeping business and I can’t serve every type of business.
· Find a type of client that you can do efficient high-quality work for.
· If you’re just starting out, don’t be discouraged if you only serve a small part of your market. If you’re doing it well, your customers will thank you!
· You still have to make a profit on your business.
· You may need to cut off some customers if you can’t serve them well.
· Don’t feel like you need to be everything to everybody when you first start in your business.
· Does your product last? How long is it supposed to be good for?
· Do your research on the quality so that you can meet the most needs economically.
· Does it satisfy a need that your customer has?
What do your customers value?
· Amazon Prime Example.
· Do your customers want to pay lower prices and don’t mind paying shipping?
· Do your customers value having free shipping and a quality product?
· Is there more value in your brand to have higher prices but free shipping?
What do we market to?
· Marketing to a client’s wants vs needs.
· You will be more profitable to market to a client’s wants instead of their needs.
Utility=usefulness.
· Form utility-usefulness that something provides simply by being present. Is it clutter or is it meaningful?
· Time utility-Can your customer get your items when you want it?
· Place utility-Can your customers get to your products at all? Website? Store? Etsy? How quickly will a customer get their products?
· Possession utility-Can your customer have your product put in their name?
· Psychological utility-Does the donor feel like their donation is bringing usefulness? Is it being spent well?
Think about the value that you bring to your customers and think how we can add more while we are marketing to them and influencing them that our company will help them!
Subscribe! Book a strategy session for free with my beta group! Email me at lydia@dacbalance.com.
Links Mentioned
Christy Wright’s Business Boutique
Chick-fil-A
My email- Lydia@dacbalance.com
iPad
Pensacola Christian College
In this episode, Lydia Miller explains the why behind the podcast.
Links mentioned:
Lydia@dacbalance.com
lydiagmiller.com
MBA Program: pcci.edu