|
| Jo, tell us about what you do and the name of your business and website. I teach, coach and support small business owners to set up their own search engine friendly websites and/or blogs using WordPress through a membership website www.counterpointmatters.com and I have a twelve month coaching programme for small business owners wanting to really harness the power of online marketing for their business. Do you work alone? If not, who works with you? I mainly work on my own but I do have a friend who does a few hours a week for me updating some of my websites and email marketing and my husband helps sometimes when I can persuade him! I also outsource some article writing through www.elance.com to a lovely lady in the Philippines, called Lovely! What made you start the business and why? I originally started a business publishing a community magazine in my local town offering local business advertising. I started that four years ago to escape the corporate world and long daily commute to London so that I could start a family (Little Doddsy is now three!). I expanded the magazine business to eight areas at one point and then sold some of them and decided to go back to just the one, and started investigating the internet and the opportunities were there. As part of that I built my own website using WordPress, and then realised that if I could do it, so could other people, with some help from me. Sadly most web designers design nice looking sites that are virtually useless for marketing small local businesses online as they aren’t search engine friendly (and it is relatively easy to list high in Google for a local business, if you know how). These websites are often expensive to get built and then expensive to maintain and many small business owners don’t have enough knowledge to know whether what they are paying for is worth it anyway. So I’m now on a mission to help small business owners to set up their own much more effective websites, that will really help them to grow their business. Work-life balance is an issue for us all nowadays, whatever our profession. How do you deal with it? Badly! Over the years I have worked ridiculously long hours and eat, breathed and dreamt about my business. I am trying to limit my time now as I think that spurs me on to get more done in the time I have available rather than stretching it out. Having said that I think I have achieved a lot but it often doesn’t feel that way as I still have so much to do! Can you run through a typical day for us? I spend most of it in front of my computer. In company I am very talkative and outgoing so people can never imagine me on my own all day, but I love it! I do network online though so there is some interaction with other people, just not in a noisy way! I spend some time writing blog posts, articles and other content and marketing my businesses; I record videos for my membership site with step by step instructions. I am usually working on one or two websites for other people (I offer a basic set up service to complement the membership site for those time stretched and/or less 'techie' people who don’t want to do it themselves) as well as making updates to one or more of my websites. I read and research a lot online to keep up with the latest developments and I do spend some time doing the more boring things like my accounts (which I really should outsource!). What advice do you have for someone who wants to start a business? Go into it with your eyes wide open. It will be hard work. Your friends and family generally won’t understand, so develop a thick skin! Make sure you’re passionate about whatever it is you are going to be doing. Don’t create yourself another ‘job’. Use the power of the internet to market your business. And make sure you get a dynamic site where you can add your own fresh content on a regular basis, which the search engines love. What's been the highest point for you? A year ago I joined a mentoring programme that has completely changed my business and outlook this year. My Mentor ran a two day live event in Australia this year and I took the plunge and went to it. Everyone (apart from my husband) thought I was mad but it was such a powerful experience and I met someone else going through the same journey, also from England, who is now one of my best friends and a great support to me in my business. I’ve often heard about people investing in themselves and working with a Mentor but I hadn’t realized what a powerful experience it was going to be. I’m so excited about the coming year having achieved so much in the last year. What are your plans for the future - where do you see your business going? I’ve recently launched my membership site, which is my main focus currently. Next year I will be speaking at more live events and growing my membership site and coaching. My aim is to do this whilst working smarter, i.e. growing the business whilst getting some of my life back! |
| Posted: 29/11/2009 13:38:01 Last Updated: 29/11/2009 13:40:47 |
Chick Lit > Business Chicks :: Jo Dodds