There was a lot of interest in my post on How To Get More Referrals last week that I thought I would continue the discussion today with our Entrepreneur University special.

For help on the topic I turned to marketing expert Donald F. Pooley. Pooley, an internationally recognized authority on the marketing of financial services, has shared his knowledge with audiences of financial consultants in Australia, Chicago, Hong Kong, London, New York, San Francisco, Singapore, and all major (and a few minor) cities in Canada. His articles on the marketing of financial services have been published on three continents.

Pooley shared his 6 steps to building a great referral strategy:

1. Establish a Campaign

Prepare written details of your entire campaign including the next 5 steps, and the scripts and processes that accompany each step. You should know exactly what you are going to do and say each step of the way.

2. Implement Your Campaign

Prepare, or review scripts (the sentences you use to ask for referrals) that you are comfortable with.

Consider alternative places and ways of asking. You don’t have to ask for referrals in client meetings, for example. You can ask for them in your newsletter.

Advisors who have strong relationships with their clients can ask for referrals almost anytime. One industry expert says one of the best times to ask is when you deliver your products, or services to your new client.

3. Provide Marketing Support

Follow up your referral program with such other initiatives as: introducing referrals to your web site, subscribing them to your newsletter, or sending them a pamphlet (or business card CD) about you and your services, with links to other marketing initiatives.

4. Provide Different Ways to Refer

So referrals or referrors don’t feel obligated, provide several options. Then use other ways so they’ll remember you, and give them other opportunities to become your client.

5. Track the Process

Have a defined tracking process so no-one falls through the cracks, and all are treated professionally. Knowing you have a well-defined process, clients are more confident in giving you names. And you are more efficient, and effective in both the process and follow-up with both referrals and referrors.

6. Follow Through

As important as asking for referrals is following through with the referrals, and thanking the referrors. Keep them updated on how the introduction went. This includes letting them know if the referrals became clients, and thanking them for referring you.

People want to know that not only do you appreciate their support, but that you made an effort to help their friend. Do a good job here, and your clients will look good to you, and to their friends or colleagues - the best incentive to keep on referring.

Evan Carmichael

Our 13th Review our Blog entry comes courtesy of Thomas Sinfield from ThomasSinfield.com. You can read what he had to say about us in his blog post: YoungEntrepreneur.com!

Thomas on ThomasSinfield.com:

“It is a blog for those interested in building business’ (mainly internet) and online marketing. In it you will find a in depth look into the business life of Thomas Sinfield, and from that be able to extract key business and marketing principles that may help you with your ventures.”

Thanks for the review Thomas! If you are interested in doing a review, check out our Review Our Blog initiative for instructions.

Evan Carmichael

If you have a website and are trying to drive traffic to it, getting ranked in Google will likely be the most cost efficient and effective way to promote it. Google often ’sandboxes’ new websites which means that they hold your domain in purgatory to see if you will post quality content before allowing you into their index.

I often get emails from webmasters asking what they can do to get indexed so I thought I would put together my top three suggestions for quickly getting ranked in Google. Using these methods you can rapidly rise out of Google purgatory and into their index, speeding past a lot of your competitors.

1) Get a quality link. It is no secret that Google’s ranking system works on links. The more quality links that you build, the faster you will get indexed. It really is a matter of quality over quantity when you have been sandboxed. All the links in the world from Page Rank 1 and 2 websites won’t get you listed. Focus on trying to land a Page Rank 5 or higher page to link to you. Also look for ones without many external links so you can get more link juice to your site. Most new website owners put all their energy into getting as many links as they can from directories, link exchange programs, and forums. Use that time wisely and invest it into trying to land a quality link from a high Page Rank page. It will go a lot further to getting your site in the main Google index where it belongs.

2) Start a blog. Search engines generally treat blogs differently than other websites. Because blogs change so frequently, the search engines need to be more proactive about indexing them. If a search engine waited six months before listing one of your blog posts chances are users would not find that search engine very useful and would turn somewhere else. You can use the free tools that Feedburner provides to get your blog promoted to the various blog search engines (Google Blog search included). Please note though that if you don’t post to your blog you won’t gain the benefits. Try to write once a day to have fresh content and show the search engines that you belong in their index.

3) Create a sitemap. I’ve talked at length in this blog about sitemaps and how to create them so I won’t go into too much detail here but they can be a valuable tool to help you get in the index. Imagine how many new websites are created every day which are all trying to get ranked. How is Google supposed to keep up with the barrage of new sites? If you are a brand new website you can easily be passed over and get lost in the shuffle. The trick to show Google you exist is to create a sitemap. A sitemap is a listing of all the pages you have on your site and Google provides you with a way through its Webmaster Central to tell them you exist. Another simpler technique is to just submit your site through Google’s Add your URL to Google form. Google provides you with the tools to let them know you exist - why make it hard on them?

Getting indexed is always the biggest challenge for a new website owner. The faster you can implement the above three suggestions, the more likely you will gain a rapid entry into Google’s search results.

Evan Carmichael

Growing a business through referrals can be one of the most effective strategies an entrepreneur can embark on. Referred clients are more loyal, buy in greater quantities, buy more frequently, are less price sensitive and cost less to acquire than clients who come through traditional advertising / marketing avenues.

So how do you go about getting more referrals for your business? Here are five quick tips you can follow.

1) Just ask. Most entrepreneurs don’t get more referrals because they don’t bother asking for them. You would be surprised at how frequently an existing client would be willing to give you a referral but they don’t because they either a) don’t know you are looking for more business or b) don’t think about it because they have so much happening already in their lives. Simply by asking for referrals you will dramatically increase the amount of new business from word of mouth connections.

2) Wait for the thank you. When is the right time to ask for a referral? I prefer to wait until a client has had a positive experience with me and thinks highly of my business. What I wait to hear is the words ‘thank you’ come from them. If you have gone beyond the call of duty to help them and they have expressed their gratitude, now is the perfect time to ask them for a referral. They recognize your value, are in a positive frame of mind, and are likely to help return the favor you have just given them if they can. Try to train your mind so that when you hear the words “thank you”, you ask for a referral.

3) Become and introducer. Always try to think outside the box for your clients and help them in ways they don’t expect. I make introductions for them to other people I know who can help them. When reporters contact me for stories I try to involve my clients as well. If I spot an article or read a book I think might help my clients I’ll save it for them and gift it to them the next time we meet. I am always looking for ways to help my clients because by becoming an introducer you are more likely go get more of those ‘thank you’ moments. If you help a client land new business, for example, through one of your introductions, they are likely to thank you for your efforts which brings up a perfect opportunity to ask for a referral.

4) Recognize their efforts. Another important factor is to recognize the people who have given you referrals. This can be in the form of a specific contribution (a percentage of the sale for introducing a new client), but the people I work with typically don’t like to feel like they are being paid to sell their friends. They prefer to feel like they are helping their colleagues as well as helping me. So how do you recognize them? What I do is every quarter assign a certain % of my revenues towards thanking the people who have helped me with my business in the past quarter. I use the money to buy them gift certificates of various kinds and write a handwritten message with each reward. They always enjoy receiving the gifts and it’s another way to encourage them to send you even more referrals. (Note: I also do this for the people who I employ.)

5) Stay Top of Mind. This final element is important for every business owner to follow. If you want people to refer you to their friends they need to be thinking about you. To get them to think about you, you have to find ways to stay top of mind. If a client hasn’t heard from you in a couple of months it’s unlikely that they will have you at the front of their mind - they have busy enough lives to live without having to worry about you. Find ways to keep in touch. You can use a newsletter, host events, call to catch up, suggest a lunch, invite them to a party you are going to, send them information you have found valuable recently. The goal is not to sell them but just to remind them that you are there and that you value the relationship with them.

Referrals are not as scary as you might think. Get into the habit of following these five strategies and you will have new business being sent to you in no time!

Evan Carmichael

“I was really happy being a housewife,” says Debbi Fields, founder of Mrs. Fields Cookies. “I was proud to be there for my husband, but it did not necessarily make me feel great.” Longing for something more out of life than being just a mother and a wife, Fields turned her lifelong passion for baking into a multi-million dollar enterprise that has continued to attract a loyal following throughout the U.S. She did not have a business degree or the support from her family, but what Fields did have was belief in herself.

“[My husband] immediately said, ‘Oh, sweetie, that is such a stupid idea.’ And then my mom and dad pipe up and say, ‘You don’t have any business going into the cookie business. The only thing I had was this recipe, and with that recipe was a dream. And those were the only things that I had to build my business: a recipe and a dream. And there was no way, no way, I wasn’t going to see this dream through. And, so, my journey began. I made the decision, and I was going to see it through. The most important thing is for you to believe in what you are doing. Absolutely know there are people out there who want to say yes.”

As an entrepreneur you have to do something different to succeed. If you sell the same product in a competitive market as everyone and are doing the same marketing and have the same price it will be almost impossible to stand out. Being different goes hand in hand with being an entrepreneur so people are bound to criticize you for your ideas.

You may not have the support of your family or friends. You may not have anyone around you who believes in your ideas. The important thing is to believe in yourself. Here are 3 tips to help you believe in yourself:

1) Focus on the positives. It’s easy to see the negatives around you when starting a business. You will be faced with rejection on a daily basis and have people judging and questioning your decisions. Keep an eye towards the positives that are going on with your business. Try to remember what is going right and how you can expand it instead of bringing yourself down with the negatives.

2) Visualize your success. Here’s a cool tip to try. On a daily basis take 5 minutes to think about what your company will look like. Envision your success and see yourself getting there. If you do this every day for 5 minutes you will gradually see an increase in self-confidence and the belief that you are doing the right thing.

3) Find the market pain. Most businesses are successful because they are solving a big pain that their customers are facing. What is the biggest pain that your potential customers are facing? Many companies have to change their products or services around a couple of times before they hit it big with their business. Have you identified a real market pain or can you alter your offering so you can better serve your customers?

Every entrepreneur will face rejection and have close friends and family who don’t believe in their ideas. The successful ones, like Debbi Fields, are the ones who can overcome the negatives and believe in themselves enough to continue until they break through.

Evan Carmichael

Creating joint ventures can be a great way to shortcut the work needed launch a new business or expand an existing one. For this edition of Entrepreneur University I turned to the joint venture expert, Robin Elliott. For more than 19 years Robin has worked with small business owners helping them attain success through joint ventures. You can learn more about him at his website: JVWisdom.

According to Robin, here are the top 50 benefits of getting involved in joint ventures:
1. You can build long lasting business relationships.

2. You can increase your credibility by teaming up with other reputable, branded businesses.

3. You can get free products and services.

4. You can construct most joint venture deals with little or no money.

5. You can gain new leads and customers.

6. You can get discounts on products and services.

7. You can save money on business operating costs.

8. You can beat your competition.

9. You can gain referrals from other businesses.

10. You can solve your business problems.

11. You can save valuable time.

12. You can get free and low cost advertising.

13. You can offer your customers new products and services.

14. You can survive a depression, recession or a slow economy.

15. You can save money by sharing advertising and marketing costs.

16. You can target other potential markets.

17. You can expand and grow your business quickly.

18. You can gain valuable information or skills.

19. You can increase and protect your cash flow.

20. You can find new profit outlets.

21. You can become rich and wealthy.

22. You can start almost any business at little or no costs.

23. You can get rid of your extra inventory.

24. You can reduce and eliminate your debts and avoid bankruptcy.

25. You can afford to sell your products at a lower price.

26. You can increase your opt in or ezine subscribers for free.

27. You can get your web hosting and design for free.

28. You can save money outsourcing your workload for free.

29. You can find hidden income streams.

30. You can exchange useless products for profitable ones.

31. You can create new business funding and credit lines.

32. You can reduce your taxes.

33. You can find and create new distribution channels for your products.

34. You can give your employees more raises, bonuses and benefits.

35. You can even trade non business stuff to improve your personal life.

36. You can increase your sales and profits.

37. You can send your ad to huge, targeted email lists at no cost.

38. You can eliminate employee hiring costs creating barter outsourcing deals.

39. You can build your customer or opt-in list for free.

40. You can build profitable alliances with other businesses.

41. You can learn insider information from other experts at no cost.

42. You can test your product for free.

43. You can out-sell other businesses, competitors and affiliates much easier.

44. You can increase the number of affiliates /associates you have.

45. You can offer more bonus products and incentives to buy.

46. You can get highly credible endorsements and testimonials from other experts.

47. You can quickly increase your ezine subscribers.

48. You can offer your products at lower prices than your competition.

49. You can easily find new up sell and backend products to sell.

50. You can create products faster and with less effort.

Evan Carmichael

Our 12th Review our Blog entry comes thanks to Linn Raia from Christonium . You can read what she had to say about us in her blog post: Youngentrepreneur.com & PR Leads.

According to Linn:

“Christonium provides anyone (whether individual or business) the ability to create their own free social website. We just went live a little over a month ago, and are working to take our startup to the next level. Right now, we’re mostly trying to market Christonium and get the word out. So as I came by your link exchange today, I thought it presented a good opportunity. Within Christonium, there are many websites, and one which I recently started called “Women in Business” covers business topics and tries to gather women interested in business opportunities.”

Thanks for the review Linn! If you are interested in doing a review, check out our Review Our Blog initiative for instructions.

Evan Carmichael

When Louis Trahan decided he wanted to transition from employee to entrepreneur he wanted to make sure that he ended up with more than just another job.   With that in mind he took three ideas he had,  wrote mini ‘business briefs’ and cash flow projections for each.  Then using these briefs he compared them to a list of criteria he felt was important in a business and made a decision to start Last Minute Training.

Surprisingly enough, most of the criteria had nothing to do with business but rather with the lifestyle he wanted.   

“I didn’t believe that owning my own business had to preclude having a family and social life.  I wanted to make sure that the business I started wouldn’t take all my time away from my family and friends,” says Louis.  Very often entrepreneurs end up working incredible hours and end up finding themselves in their own little bubble.   Taking steps early to prevent that from happening is important.  “You need to be able to rely on your friends and family to help you along the way, sometimes simply as a distraction for an evening, other times for more significant help.”Lifestyle issues were not the only criteria Louis used to make his decision.  He also looked at factors such as scalability, the ability to be active in an international market, innovation and market size.  “It was important for me that whatever business I started wasn’t going to rely on a single economy,  the ability to grow internationally was a necessity.  Second to that was that I knew I wanted a technology based business.”  

And Last Minute Training is all that and more.   Based on the popular “last minute” travel discount model Louis’ company has applied that same last minute discount concept to the world of public training seminars.   Using his service, people and companies can purchase seats in popular training seminars for up to 50% off regular prices.  This is great news for small companies and entrepreneurs who often find it difficult to invest in the training they need to succeed.

The company, originally launched selling training in Toronto, Canada has grown to include training in 6 different markets and is expecting to launch into the USA before the end of this year.

Louis has this to say to young and aspiring entrepreneurs, “Of course there are sacrifices you’ll have to make, and you’ll be working longer hours than most of your friends.  But don’t let your new business take over your life,  instead make it a part of your life and keep it in balance. Business success shouldn’t come at the cost of being able to curl up on the couch with the person you love and watch a movie together.”

Evan Carmichael

If you have an online business then there is nothing worse than finding out that Google has penalized your site. It can happen to websites that are big or small. The classic example is John Chow who violated Google’s guidelines to rank for the popular keyword phrase “make money online”.

Google soon caught on and banned John Chow. Now, now only does he not rank for make money online but he doesn’t even rank for his own name. You can read more about the story here.

So how do you know if you’ve been penalized? Well in 1995 Google initiated a program to email webmasters to tell them when their sites are violated Google’s webmaster guidelines and when they were removed from the index. Earlier in 2007 Google put these emails on hold because people began spamming webmasters pretending to be Google and telling people that their websites were banned. This was mostly happening in Europe.

In July Google launched a new feature in their Webmaster Tools to tell website owners about violations but not everyone is a registered user (Side Note - if you have not yet signed up for Webmaster Tools, get on there today! It’s free and gives you loads of information on how Google treats your website).

So the good news is that last week, Google announced that in addition to the Webmaster Tools notifications they will be resuming their email campaign. If you suspect you have been penalized, keep an eye out for an email and log into your Webmaster Tools. By the same token, if you see an email from Google make sure to double check the legitimacy before assuming you have been penalized.

Evan Carmichael

For this edition of Entrepreneur University I turned to strategic planning consultant Glenn Ebersole. Glenn runs The Renaissance Group, a multi-disciplinary and strategic thinking consultancy firm. There offer a unique approach to a wide range of strategic planning, management, marketing, public relations, and communications assignments through our team of independent professionals.

Glenn’s advice is on how entrepreneurs can better manage their time and focus their efforts on the activities that will generate the most value for your business. If there is anything that most entrepreneurs need more of it’s time! Here are Glenn’s tips to achieving effective time management:

1. Determine the time of day you are most productive and use that time to accomplish difficult tasks.
2. Prepare a TO DO list the night before or each morning with priorities set for you.
3. Do more than one thing at a time. Return a phone call while waiting for a document to be copied, for example.
4. Set deadlines for yourself.
5. Collect articles you want to read in a folder and mark if “Reading.” Take it with you so you can read the materials as you wait for appointments, planes, etc.
6. Be organized. Establish systems and procedures for your job and/or business.
7. Block out specific times for specific tasks such as phone calls, planning, emails, etc.
8. Develop templates of documents you create regularly, and then modify them as needed.
9. Whenever you feel yourself procrastinating, ask yourself what you are avoiding?
10. Hold meetings only when there is a need for one.
11. Break down large projects into smaller tasks.
12. Store your reference materials, manuals, etc. in one convenient place.
13. Always begin meetings on time and don’t wait for latecomers.
14. Keep all project information in one place.
15. Develop and use a “tickler” or “follow-up” system.
16. Use a simple filing system.
17. Set goals.
18. Learn to say “NO.” It is said to be the most powerful word in time management vocabulary.
19. Allocate your time to those who “deserve” it rather than to those who “demand” it.
20. Ask for advice when needed.

Evan Carmichael