In This Issue...

- FEATURE ARTICLE: Who Ya Gonna Call?

- CONTEST
- TELECLASSES
- RESOURCE LOUNGE
- VIRTUAL CONNECTIONS

The year is quickly coming to an end. Last year at this time I was winding down and tying up lose ends. But this year is different. This year, I’m entirely restructuring the way I do business. Why? I’ve discovered that the old model of coaching, with its scheduled appointments, doesn’t work for many of my clients or for me.

If you’ve worked with a coach, you’ve probably experienced a time when you really didn’t have much to say on Thursday at 10am. You’ve probably also had a huge success or challenge that you wanted to run by your coach right away, but felt like you were bothering your coach to call in between sessions. So, you waited until next Thursday at 10am by which time you’d completely forgotten what you wanted to talk about.

I’ve decided to create a new model for my business. I wanted to be able to serve more Solopreneurs, offer them tons of business tools and resources, and do it in a way that actually fits comfortably into their start-up budgets. If you were to hire all the business experts you need to create a successful business (coach, marketing/PR expert, copywriter, web designer, virtual assistant, etc) it would cost you $1000-$2000 per month. That’s more than many new Solopreneurs make in several months! No wonder we have so much trouble getting our businesses up and running!

With my new Membership Program, you’ll have access to me during my open coaching hours, access to a growing group of business advisors (marketing/PR, web design, virtual assistance, etc), hours of recorded and live teleclasses and group coaching opportunities.

To make sure the program gets off to an incredible start, I’m launching it in January with a core group of 20 members. If you’d like to be one of the Founding Members and the first to join, I’m offering the membership at only $150 per month (there are currently 17 spots remaining).

After the first 20 members have joined, the membership will go to a budget-friendly $225 per month. However, the Founding Members’ monthly fee will never go up. Ever. I’m offering these spots to clients, members of my R & D Team and readers of the Solo Flyer first. No one else will hear about the program until December 22. Here’s a private link to the details about the program that cannot be accessed from anywhere else on my website http://www.solopreneurzone.com/Membership.htm

Sound intriguing? Don’t sign up yet! I want you to attend a 45-minute informational session about the program to make sure it’s for you. See the Teleclasses section below for dates and times.

Dawn

Feature Article: Who Ya Gonna Call?

Just a Quick Question

Have you ever had just one simple business question and had no one to ask? Maybe you created and manage your own website, but periodically get stumped on something. Or maybe you want to submit articles for publication and want some quick tips on where to start. It can be frustrating to have a simple question, but no one to ask.

There aren’t a lot of Question Hotlines Out There

If you were to call a web designer or a marketing expert to get your simple question answered, they’d probably offer to work with you-- for a cost. They don’t really have a system for answering quick questions. On the flip side, you probably feel like you are bothering them or taking advantage of them to ask a question “for free”. So, you don’t get your question answered and they don’t get to demonstrate their expertise. Lose-Lose.

Cocktail Parties aren’t the Place for Quick Questions

Have you ever bumped into a Real Estate agent or a Doctor and accidentally caught yourself asking them how “hot” the market is for sellers or what to do about that annoying rash? Or, more likely, you overheard someone else asking a question like that. Some professionals don’t mind talking business during their personal time, but others, like doctors, get overwhelmed with well-meaning information seekers. (I actually had a doctor ask for coaching on how to politely bow out of these situations because she wasn’t able to escape all those well-meaning question askers!)

What’s the Answer When You Need an Answer?

So, what’s the solution? I’ve been thinking a lot about this problem (especially when it’s me that has the question)!

I’ve also been talking to a lot of subject matter experts and they too would love a way to connect with folks who need their services. They love the idea of being able to share their expertise and demonstrate their skills so that if a client ever has a need to hire them for their services, they’ve established a relationship. Serving as a subject matter expert also establishes their credibility in general, which is a great way to encourage referrals.

Going for the Win-Win

The idea of having business experts available to my clients has been on my mind for quite some time. When I decided to change the way I provide my services to Solopreneurs, I realized I could create a full business-support package for clients-- a complete Business Advisory Team “in a box”.

The program basically works like a time-share. The experts I am bringing on are offering a couple hours of their time each week to answer quick questions the members might have. Most likely, members call each expert only periodically, but they get the peace of mind of knowing they have someone “on call” when they need them. It’s like having an expert on retainer, without paying the retainer fee each month-- because it is built into the membership program.

How Could I do this Myself?

If you love this idea, but don’t think the Solopreneur Zone membership is for you at this time, how could you still take advantage of this concept? For years, people have been pooling their resources to buy services (think of how group health insurance works-- it is less expensive the larger the group is).

You might want to join forces with other Solopreneurs and purchase retainer time with various experts and share the time as needed. Many coaches have formed coaching groups because several clients wanted to have coaching at a lower price point-- they wanted to create a time-share for one coaching slot. You might be able to do this with a web designer or marketing consultant too.

Most importantly, don’t short-change your business just because of your budget-- there’s always a way to make things work…and get those questions answered!

Contest: Help Me Name the Membership Program

The Solopreneur Zone’s membership program is ready to launch! However, I’ve been stumped on one thing: what to name the program?

I want the name to reflect the fact that clients will be able to get nearly as much coaching as what they would have paid $300-$500 for, they’ll have access to tons of teleclasses and tools on all aspects of business and they will have a team of business experts ready to answer their business questions for no additional cost.

Can you think of a name that reflects all this great value in the program? If so, I want to hear it! If your name is chosen, you will win 4 Free Months in the membership program (a $900 value!)

How to submit your entries:

Simply email me dawn@solopreneurzone.com with as many ideas as you’d like by December 15 at 5pm ET. The winning name will be announced in my next newsletter on December 17. Good luck!

__________________________________________

Open for Business: Now What?!
How to Succeed in Business in Spite of Yourself
Perfect Niche, Ideal Clients
The Secret to Finding Clients
Marketing Strategies that Suit Your Personality
The Effortless Marketing Plan
Interviewing Prospective Clients

Buy a class now and be listening to it in the next 5 minutes! http://www.solopreneurzone.com/Teleclasses_Purchase_RA.htm

Eclectic Academy www.eclecticacademy.com
Want to learn a little about Dreamweaver, graphic design or even journaling? The Eclectic Academy is an online school with six week courses that cost only $20 each. You can even interact with the other students and instructor using their message board. Classes begin again on January 4, 2004.

AbleStock www.ablestock.com
This is the service I use for the pictures you see on The Solopreneur Zone website. You can buy just a few images, or buy a membership and download as many pictures as you’d like. The images come in web or print-ready quality. Even if you are just looking around, you can browse the photos and create a lightbox to store and view the ones you like. You can even email the lightbox to someone else for viewing.

For a complete list of resources we love (growing weekly), visit the Resource Lounge at http://www.solopreneurzone.com/Resource_Lounge.htm

NEW: Have you signed up for The Solopreneur Zone's Yahoo Discussion Group?

This discussion group was created to support you in trading questions, ideas and tips with other Solopreneurs. Why go it alone, when you can build your business more easily with the support of others? Questions, thoughts and ideas should be directed to the entire membership. I will read the messages regularly and contribute my thoughts to the discussion when appropriate.

The group will be moderated by Angee Robertson, Administrative Consultant for The Solopreneur Zone, to make sure you only receive messages from members who want to be an active part of this community.

Join Today, by visiting our home page at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/solozone

*Have you checked out The Virtual Water Cooler? It's a free monthly community teleconference call where you can share ideas and questions with peers from around the globe. Join our next call on Thursday, December 11 from 4-5pm ET. For details visit http://www.solopreneurzone.com/WaterCooler.htm

DID YOU LIKE THIS PUBLICATION? Please forward it to your friends and associates and anyone else who you think might appreciate it. Thanks for your feedback and encouragement.

PRIVACY POLICY: The Solopreneur Zone never sells or gives out subscriber names or email addresses.

SUGGESTIONS? Want to CONTRIBUTE to future issues? Send an email to info@solopreneurzone.com

Copyright 2003 Dawn Nichol, All rights reserved. You are free to use material from the Solo Flyer publication as long as you keep the entire publication intact.