Marketing Strategies - The #1 Mistake in Small Business Marketing

If you’re a small business owner, chances are, you’ve been struck by an idea for a product or service you just know is destined to succeed. You may have dedicated all kinds of time and energy towards developing that product or service, and creating marketing strategies to promote it - only to watch it flop in the marketplace.

What went wrong?
Greetings From Jane

At Jane Out of the Box, we are passionate about helping female entrepreneurs succeed. This doesn't just mean business success - it also means success in life. It means having a business that helps you be the person you want to be and have the life you want to have. It means being successful on your own terms, however you define it.

In order for us to be able to fulfill our mission of helping you, we are continually conducting research. Research with you and research in the world at large. Why?

First, we use research to help us understand what you want from our community. So we’ve been asking, and you’ve been answering. What we’ve heard is you love our content and you’re learning from it. You want us to grow so you have more peers to connect with. And we've learned that the biggest barrier to the growth of our community is the monthly membership fee.

Secondly, we use research to understand what you need to help you manage your life and your business in a way that works for you. Jane Out of the Box joins the voices of women entrepreneurs together through important research that we share with you, such as the article about time freedom in our last Jane-Zine issue. This information not only helps us understand each other, but also helps us influence corporations and government agencies in better meeting your needs. These companies and agencies want to serve you, but they don't always know how. Research is a key way they learn, and that is another reason why we're asking questions.

Here is my belief – women business owners are changing the world. We’re forging new paths. We’re saying, “Business doesn’t have to be done the same old way.”We are proving that we can be mothers and wives and sisters AND successful in business too. We CAN set our own schedules, maximize our flexibility, wear all of our hats, make great money, and serve our customers well. And through this enterprising, confident, determined spirit, we will be able to teach others how they too can live life on their own terms.

At Jane Out of the Box, we’re listening. So effective immediately, basic membership in Jane Out of the Box is free. Tell all of your women friends who own businesses to come and add their voices. Let’s grow this community and pull together as women in business, helping each other learn and grow. Let’s share sisterhood, war stories, knowledge, resources, opportunities, and the truth of what it means to be a female entrepreneur today. Let’s grow 10,000 strong. And let our collective voices be heard.

Michele DeKinder-Smith,
Founder

How to Generate Traffic to Your Website
 New For Members This Week!

One of the questions members frequently ask is how they can drive more traffic to their websites. Take just five minutes today to listen to this issue's featured audio clip -- an "Ask the Expert" interview with Michele PW.

Go here to hear Michele explain the importance of having a traffic building strategy as well as the differences between paid and “free” traffic.
Not a member yet? Click here to join. New items are being added all the time. This weeks’ newest items in the Jane Out of the Box community:


Listen & Learn
  • What to ask when hiring a bookkeeper
  • Should you use Quickbooks or hire a bookkeeper?
  • What financial reports do you need?
Tools & Templates
  • 5 Strategies to Transform Entrepreneur Burnout
  • 5 Data Backup Strategies
  • Simple Formula for ROI from Your Virtual Team
Meet a Jane Member ...

Toby Hamilton is an Information Technology (IT) consultant and owns IT Illumination Concepts, Inc. In working with her clients, Toby helps her clients prepare for IT audits and regulatory reviews, as well as helping them assess and manage their technology risk.

In starting IT Illumination Concepts, Toby wanted to leverage her skills as a developer, systems manager, and IT auditor to provide her clients with excellent service and accurate results in a cost-effective manner.

One of the things Toby finds most rewarding is the freedom to use industry best practices and standards to design her own processes and procedures for providing services to her clients. She says, “In this way, I'm able to ensure these services are performed with integrity, providing right-skilled resources for delivering documented, measurable, reliable results.” And, she particularly enjoys making converts of the IT professionals within her client organizations. Although they can be critical at first, she says when “I’ve earned a company’s IT professionals’ trust and respect through making their procedures compliant – and often more efficient – without the often confrontational nature of an audit process, then that’s my greatest reward.”