It's always heartwarming to attend a workshop or seminar and have something you believe right or have even shared be validated and expanded on. I recently attended a workshop by presenter Valerie Gross, the CEO of the Howard County Library in Maryland. Her workshop title was Transforming our Image: no explanation needed. It was all about using words whose intrinsic value and message convey exactly what we want conveyed. The words we use matter. I would highly recommend attending her workshop if you get the opportunity.
The words we use can work for us or make use work harder. I have said in the past that you have to "Speak the Language". The two messages combine for a powerful one-two punch.
Speak the Language - and "Use the best words to say what you want to say" or "use the right words to convey the right message." Working to do that alone will keep us busy for some time to come.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Characteristics of a Successful Entrepreneur - Part 5
5. Ask for the sale.
A home business entrepreneur must always remember that marketing, advertising, or promotional activities are completely worthless, regardless of how clever, expensive, or perfectly targeted they are, unless one simple thing is accomplished--ask for the sale. This is not to say that being a great salesperson, advertising copywriting whiz or a public relations specialist isn't a tremendous asset to your business. However, all of these skills will be for naught if you do not actively ask people to buy what you are selling.
*taken from 25 Common Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs on entrepreneur.com http://www.entrepreneur.com/homebasedbiz/article200730.html
But we're a library,we don't sell anything!
Oh, really? Are you sure about that? Let's take a second look.
Certainly, as a public library we are not in the business of selling products to our customers and taking money for them, but we do sell, and they are not the only people we should "sell" to?
To our customers we are selling an idea, the concept that a library is a resource to use and share and promote. We are asking them to buy this thought and pay for it with their support, their voice to advocate for us. (and a nice donation now and again also helps)
And for our non-customers, we need to ask them for the sale them too. They need to buy the same concept - that the community is a better place with a strong, thriving library. That like a good school or community center, a good library adds to the quality of life for all in the community. We are asking them to pay for this sale with their voice and their consent, to allow public funds to continue to flow or start to flow to the library.
We sell to our local and state officials. We want them to "buy" that they need to support the library and to pay for their sale with the offical treasury, with their presence at events, with their voice, speaking well of the library and it's contributions to the community.
So while we are not in the "retail sales business", there are a number of folks we need to ask for the sale. Have you asked today?
A home business entrepreneur must always remember that marketing, advertising, or promotional activities are completely worthless, regardless of how clever, expensive, or perfectly targeted they are, unless one simple thing is accomplished--ask for the sale. This is not to say that being a great salesperson, advertising copywriting whiz or a public relations specialist isn't a tremendous asset to your business. However, all of these skills will be for naught if you do not actively ask people to buy what you are selling.
*taken from 25 Common Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs on entrepreneur.com http://www.entrepreneur.com/homebasedbiz/article200730.html
But we're a library,we don't sell anything!
Oh, really? Are you sure about that? Let's take a second look.
Certainly, as a public library we are not in the business of selling products to our customers and taking money for them, but we do sell, and they are not the only people we should "sell" to?
To our customers we are selling an idea, the concept that a library is a resource to use and share and promote. We are asking them to buy this thought and pay for it with their support, their voice to advocate for us. (and a nice donation now and again also helps)
And for our non-customers, we need to ask them for the sale them too. They need to buy the same concept - that the community is a better place with a strong, thriving library. That like a good school or community center, a good library adds to the quality of life for all in the community. We are asking them to pay for this sale with their voice and their consent, to allow public funds to continue to flow or start to flow to the library.
We sell to our local and state officials. We want them to "buy" that they need to support the library and to pay for their sale with the offical treasury, with their presence at events, with their voice, speaking well of the library and it's contributions to the community.
So while we are not in the "retail sales business", there are a number of folks we need to ask for the sale. Have you asked today?
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Characteristics of a Successful Entrepreneur - Part 4
4. Manage money wisely.
The lifeblood of any business enterprise is cash flow. You need it to buy inventory, pay for services, promote and market your business, repair and replace tools and equipment, and pay yourself so that you can continue to work. Therefore, all home business owners must become wise money managers to ensure that the cash keeps flowing and the bills get paid. There are two aspects to wise money management.
Oh - I can hear you now, "I've got this one covered!! I mange my money very wisely, since I have so little of it." And perhaps you do, but perhaps you could do better.
Managing your money wisely begins long before you have any money, when you plan to have money. How structured is your budget? Does your fiscal planning show where your priorities are? Or have you thrown up your hands and said "There's no money for anything, so we just spend it until it's gone."
Entrepreneurial thinking business owners and government officials will take a quick look at your programs, your outreach and your customer service to see how you are doing, but they will want to follow the money to see if you are successful. Think Jerry McGuire - "Show me the Money!"
If your plan says that you will have added 5% to the Teen collection by the end of the year - does your budget show that commitment? Have you estimated what 5% growth in the size of that collection will be and what it will cost? This is where our planning usually breaks down. Taking the steps to make sure we implement our plan is work, it can be tiresome and tedious and taxing. (Don't you like my alteration?) It is also necessary.
So if you want to prove that you have made a commitment to your plan, if you want to be Entrepreneurial in your thinking - take the next step in your plan and mange your money, rather than letting it mange you.
The lifeblood of any business enterprise is cash flow. You need it to buy inventory, pay for services, promote and market your business, repair and replace tools and equipment, and pay yourself so that you can continue to work. Therefore, all home business owners must become wise money managers to ensure that the cash keeps flowing and the bills get paid. There are two aspects to wise money management.
- The money you receive from clients in exchange for your goods and services you provide (income)
- The money you spend on inventory, supplies, wages and other items required to keep your business operating. (expenses)
Oh - I can hear you now, "I've got this one covered!! I mange my money very wisely, since I have so little of it." And perhaps you do, but perhaps you could do better.
Managing your money wisely begins long before you have any money, when you plan to have money. How structured is your budget? Does your fiscal planning show where your priorities are? Or have you thrown up your hands and said "There's no money for anything, so we just spend it until it's gone."
Entrepreneurial thinking business owners and government officials will take a quick look at your programs, your outreach and your customer service to see how you are doing, but they will want to follow the money to see if you are successful. Think Jerry McGuire - "Show me the Money!"
If your plan says that you will have added 5% to the Teen collection by the end of the year - does your budget show that commitment? Have you estimated what 5% growth in the size of that collection will be and what it will cost? This is where our planning usually breaks down. Taking the steps to make sure we implement our plan is work, it can be tiresome and tedious and taxing. (Don't you like my alteration?) It is also necessary.
So if you want to prove that you have made a commitment to your plan, if you want to be Entrepreneurial in your thinking - take the next step in your plan and mange your money, rather than letting it mange you.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Characteristics of a Successful Entrepreneur - Part 3
3. Plan everything.
Planning every aspect of your home business is not only a must, but also builds habits that every home business owner should develop, implement, and maintain. The act of business planning is so important because it requires you to analyze each business situation, research and compile data, and make conclusions based mainly on the facts as revealed through the research. Business planning also serves a second function, which is having your goals and how you will achieve them, on paper.
You can use the plan that you create both as map to take you from point A to Z and as a yardstick to measure the success of each individual plan or segment within the plan..
So here is where I make my big pitch for every library to have a written strategic plan. Got it?! Good.
I can hear you know - yea, yea, right old ABintheLibrary. I have 1 staff member - me, and 4 out of 7 board positions filled. Even if I thought we needed a plan (and I a don't) when am I supposed to write this plan?!
and you would be right and wrong. If you don't see a need for a plan, you won't see the necessity of making time for that plan. But let me take a shot at rattling your cage, just a bit. If your library had to cut spending 40% tomorrow - what are the core functions you would work to preserve? Quick - what are your priorities? Books, movies, storytimes? materials, resources, services, programs?? Quick - tell me!! Or if someone came to you and said, I have $100,000 for the library, but I want to know what you will do with it - can you tell me your #1 priority? What would you answer them???
A well written plan does this for you. It keeps you on track, focused and helps to make those tough decisions for you.
And here is the question I ask in my workshops - Is your library a success? (Usually about 3/4 say yes) How do you know that? (silence).
Your plan defines success for your library, which will be different than success in my library or the library in the next county. How can you tell potential shareholders that you run a successful library when you cannot show them a definition of success?
This plan does not have to be 40 pages, cross indexed and all. It does have to be thought out and written by some sort of team - you, a board member, a customer and a member of the Friends. If you are part of a township or county, I would include them too. And it does not have to be done today. It should take a while, for you will need to stew and think and simmer on some sections of this. But start today. Make a time to meet and being the planning process.
*taken from 25 Common Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs on entrepreneur.com http://www.entrepreneur.com/homebasedbiz/article200730.html
Planning every aspect of your home business is not only a must, but also builds habits that every home business owner should develop, implement, and maintain. The act of business planning is so important because it requires you to analyze each business situation, research and compile data, and make conclusions based mainly on the facts as revealed through the research. Business planning also serves a second function, which is having your goals and how you will achieve them, on paper.
You can use the plan that you create both as map to take you from point A to Z and as a yardstick to measure the success of each individual plan or segment within the plan..
So here is where I make my big pitch for every library to have a written strategic plan. Got it?! Good.
I can hear you know - yea, yea, right old ABintheLibrary. I have 1 staff member - me, and 4 out of 7 board positions filled. Even if I thought we needed a plan (and I a don't) when am I supposed to write this plan?!
and you would be right and wrong. If you don't see a need for a plan, you won't see the necessity of making time for that plan. But let me take a shot at rattling your cage, just a bit. If your library had to cut spending 40% tomorrow - what are the core functions you would work to preserve? Quick - what are your priorities? Books, movies, storytimes? materials, resources, services, programs?? Quick - tell me!! Or if someone came to you and said, I have $100,000 for the library, but I want to know what you will do with it - can you tell me your #1 priority? What would you answer them???
A well written plan does this for you. It keeps you on track, focused and helps to make those tough decisions for you.
And here is the question I ask in my workshops - Is your library a success? (Usually about 3/4 say yes) How do you know that? (silence).
Your plan defines success for your library, which will be different than success in my library or the library in the next county. How can you tell potential shareholders that you run a successful library when you cannot show them a definition of success?
This plan does not have to be 40 pages, cross indexed and all. It does have to be thought out and written by some sort of team - you, a board member, a customer and a member of the Friends. If you are part of a township or county, I would include them too. And it does not have to be done today. It should take a while, for you will need to stew and think and simmer on some sections of this. But start today. Make a time to meet and being the planning process.
"The discipline of writing something down is the first step toward making it happen" – Lee Iacocca
*taken from 25 Common Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs on entrepreneur.com http://www.entrepreneur.com/homebasedbiz/article200730.html
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Characteristices of a Successful Entrepreneur - Part 2
Ok - so the second characteristic of a successful entrepreneur is:
"2. Take what you do seriously.
You cannot expect to be effective and successful in business unless you truly believe in your business and in the goods and services that you sell. Far too many home business owners fail to take their own businesses seriously enough, getting easily sidetracked and not staying motivated and keeping their noses to the grindstone. They also fall prey to naysayers who don't take them seriously because they don't work from an office building, office park, storefront, or factory. Little do these skeptics, who rain on the home business owner's parade, know is that the number of people working from home, and making very good annual incomes, has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years." *
Let's take a look at this from the library perspective. Have you ever felt that other businesses, municipal officials or even other librarians don't take you seriously because your library is small, not as up to date as you would like, or even because you don't have an (gasp) MLS? Let me share a little bit of old fashion wisdom with you - having an MLS makes you a good librarian about as well as sleeping in a garage makes you a sports car. (personally, I have always wanted to be a Mustang - fire engine red).
Now do not get me wrong. I encourage and challenge and even demand training and proper education for my staff, but having that does not guarantee that you are good at what you do - just well trained. Being good at what you do is caused by taking what you do seriously.
So do not allow the library naysayers to whisper in your ear that your library is too small, or too rural, or too poor to be a "real" library. Put out a professional apperance, stay up on the best practices and innovative trends and prove them wrong. If you want others to take your seriously - you have to take yourself seriously first.
*taken from 25 Common Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs on entrepreneur.com
http://www.entrepreneur.com/homebasedbiz/article200730.html
"2. Take what you do seriously.
You cannot expect to be effective and successful in business unless you truly believe in your business and in the goods and services that you sell. Far too many home business owners fail to take their own businesses seriously enough, getting easily sidetracked and not staying motivated and keeping their noses to the grindstone. They also fall prey to naysayers who don't take them seriously because they don't work from an office building, office park, storefront, or factory. Little do these skeptics, who rain on the home business owner's parade, know is that the number of people working from home, and making very good annual incomes, has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years." *
Let's take a look at this from the library perspective. Have you ever felt that other businesses, municipal officials or even other librarians don't take you seriously because your library is small, not as up to date as you would like, or even because you don't have an (gasp) MLS? Let me share a little bit of old fashion wisdom with you - having an MLS makes you a good librarian about as well as sleeping in a garage makes you a sports car. (personally, I have always wanted to be a Mustang - fire engine red).
Now do not get me wrong. I encourage and challenge and even demand training and proper education for my staff, but having that does not guarantee that you are good at what you do - just well trained. Being good at what you do is caused by taking what you do seriously.
So do not allow the library naysayers to whisper in your ear that your library is too small, or too rural, or too poor to be a "real" library. Put out a professional apperance, stay up on the best practices and innovative trends and prove them wrong. If you want others to take your seriously - you have to take yourself seriously first.
*taken from 25 Common Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs on entrepreneur.com
http://www.entrepreneur.com/homebasedbiz/article200730.html
Monday, October 25, 2010
PaLA
I just want to thank all the wonderful librarians and staff who came to the workshop on Sunday at PaLA in Lancaster. I appreciated your input and questions and best of all, the answers you shared. Your network of support throughout the state and even the country is the greatest source of ideas and suggestions you can get - so use it.
It was a great time and I am so glad to have been able to be there. Remember - Don't let the good things get you off the track of the BEST things.
It was a great time and I am so glad to have been able to be there. Remember - Don't let the good things get you off the track of the BEST things.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Characteristics of a Successful Entrepreneur - Part 1
While preparing for a presentation at the upcoming Pennsylvania Library Association Convention - I came across this great article at http://www.entrepreneur.com/ on the qualities of a successful entrepreneur. There were 25 listed, so I think that may be a bigger bite than we want to chew on for one blog post - so I broke them up into several . . . 25 to be exact.
I will add one or two a week, and let's see what kind of discussion comes out of it?
If you want to read the whole article - it is found here - http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/200730
"1. Do what you enjoy.
What you get out of your business in the form of personal satisfaction, financial gain, stability and enjoyment will be the sum of what you put into your business. So if you don't enjoy what you're doing, in all likelihood it's safe to assume that will be reflected in the success of your business--or subsequent lack of success. In fact, if you don't enjoy what you're doing, chances are you won't succeed."
From a librarian's viewpoint - we are all pretty much in the business because we enjoy it - at least parts of it. The problem is we can forget to tell our face and our attitude that we are enjoying our job. I know we all have had times when the downward pull of financial constraints, difficult customers and board interactions have made us forget that parts of this job are really FUN!. (Repeat after me - I LOVE my job, I LOVE my job, I LOVE my job...)
Do something today that is a part of your job you love. Whether it is cataloging a new book, reading out loud to a child, making a new suggested reading list or arranging books in an eye-catching display - do it today. The love of your job (or lack thereof) will show through in your quality of customer service, and even come through in your voice over the phone.
Remember the words of the wise and wonderful Mary Poppins " In every task that must be done there is an element of fun, you find the fun and snap! the job's a game." So take sometime today and play!
I will add one or two a week, and let's see what kind of discussion comes out of it?
If you want to read the whole article - it is found here - http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/200730
"1. Do what you enjoy.
What you get out of your business in the form of personal satisfaction, financial gain, stability and enjoyment will be the sum of what you put into your business. So if you don't enjoy what you're doing, in all likelihood it's safe to assume that will be reflected in the success of your business--or subsequent lack of success. In fact, if you don't enjoy what you're doing, chances are you won't succeed."
From a librarian's viewpoint - we are all pretty much in the business because we enjoy it - at least parts of it. The problem is we can forget to tell our face and our attitude that we are enjoying our job. I know we all have had times when the downward pull of financial constraints, difficult customers and board interactions have made us forget that parts of this job are really FUN!. (Repeat after me - I LOVE my job, I LOVE my job, I LOVE my job...)
Do something today that is a part of your job you love. Whether it is cataloging a new book, reading out loud to a child, making a new suggested reading list or arranging books in an eye-catching display - do it today. The love of your job (or lack thereof) will show through in your quality of customer service, and even come through in your voice over the phone.
Remember the words of the wise and wonderful Mary Poppins " In every task that must be done there is an element of fun, you find the fun and snap! the job's a game." So take sometime today and play!
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