Summer is a great time to take off to explore new destinations, experience new adventures or just enjoy lazy afternoons poolside.
But, I meet business owners all the time who are either too buried in the business to get away at all or they take their work with them on vacation — which doesn’t feel like a real vacation. Growing a successful business does not mean you have to be a workaholic. You can easily work less, so you can play more this summer … all while still growing your business.
This freedom is possible when you learn how to outsource and/or hire effectively. If you have a higher level salaried position that you are struggling to fill, let me say you should first check out some staffing agencies who can provide you with an abundant supply of potential candidates.
But for those times when you’re just trying to fill an hourly job or an entry-level position, here are 9 tips to help you find your next great hire and build more freedom into your business:
Hiring Tip #1: Hire part time freelancers.
I find the biggest obstacle for many small business owners when it comes to hiring is often the fear of taking on a full time employee. If you’re just getting started, start small. You can work with someone virtually either on a one time project basis and/or just 5-10 hours a week.
Here are 3 sites I have used successfully to find and hire affordable, skilled freelancers:
Upwork.com
eLance.com
ContemporaryVA.com
Hiring Tip # 2. Post an ad in your local Craigslist.
If you prefer hiring local workers Craigslist is a cheap and effective way to get the word out online for people who are looking for work locally. Not only do you want to post the ad on Craigslist, you want to take a look at how you’re wording the ad.
Hiring Tip #3. Place an ad in your local print newspaper in the classified section.
If you’re in a hurry to find the right employee consider implementing a multiple prong approach to get the word out both online and offline. You can also post an ad in your industry newspaper or magazine in the classified section. That way your opening is being seen by a niche audience of other professionals who are already in the industry.
Hiring Tip #4. Establish a finder’s fee program.
You can write up a simple handwritten poster to explain your finder’s fee program. Offer a bonus. For example, $50 will be paid to the person who refers an applicant you end up hiring.
I would wait 30 days before you pay their finder’s fee to make sure the person is going to work out for you and doesn’t quit after the first two weeks.
You can also make it even better by making it a $100 finder’s fee with the stipulation that they would be paid $50 after the employee’s first 30 days and then they would be paid another $50 on that person’s six-month anniversary of working with you. That way you’re helping and motivating others to send you candidates who are likely to be more long-term for you.
A simple way to put this information out there is by putting it on a poster where they can tear off the phone number. That would be the guerrilla marketing approach. You can also transfer that same information and have it printed on a postcard, so when you meet people who would have a possible candidate in mind or perhaps even be that potential candidate, you can hand them a postcard that explains the opening and the finder’s fee offer.
Hiring Tip # 5. Promote the Finder’s Fee program at your place of business.
If you have a brick-and-mortar business for customers where they are coming into your building, you can promote the opening to your customers. Have signage where they can see that you are offering a finder’s fee program for your opening.
For example, you can offer your customers $50 in free services as a finder’s fee after 30 days, and $100 or $50 after the first six months. Let your customers, who love you already, help you fill the position that you need.
Hiring Tip # 6. Poster locally.
You can do a simple marketing approach and create posters – the kind with phone numbers you can tear off at the bottom that promote your help-wanted position along with the finder’s fee offer.
You might as well kill two birds with one stone and create a second poster that really describes your business. This one would be addressed to appeal to your customers. Keep a bunch of copies in your car and as you go throughout your day, you can post them at some key places where there’s a lot of traffic. Write down what those key places are so it will help trigger the reminder for you when you are in the car.
Grab an index card and write things like grocery stores, health clubs, coffee shops, churches, YMCA bulletin boards, community college bulletin boards, etc. Of course, your target list of locations will depend on the type of opening that you have and where it makes the most sense where those Ideal applicants may be hanging out.
If you want to boost this passive approach, you can either hire some high school students to go and blanket your town with these posters, or even utilize non-paid high school or college interns to do things like this for you.
Hiring Tip #7. Post your opening as an update in your LinkedIn feed.
Let your connections know that you have an opening and let them know about your finder’s fee program. You can even post the same update several times a week to have that message to catch different people who log on at different times of day.
Another thing you can do, is utilize the specific targeted LinkedIn groups. It doesn’t cost anything when you post in the groups under the job discussions tab. If you wanted to boost visibility, yes, you can pay to purchase under the LinkedIn recruiting program.
Hiring Tip #8. Look for local job boards online.
You can do a search using a variation of keywords like the name of your city, help wanted, and job openings. You can also search the exact position that you offer and see where competitors have posted their ads.
There are many Facebook groups, as well, that may have targeted communities of business owners in your local area. Share your post or your announcement about your finder’s fee program to other business owners who would likely also have past and current applicants that they have in their files.
Hiring Tip #9. Direct recruiting.
You may have a hard time filling a position, particularly if it requires a degree of industry specific experience. In this case, you can go out and meet those types of people directly as a customer.
You can do direct recruiting right in LinkedIn by searching for variations of the job title you are looking to fill. LinkedIn is a great way for you to view people’s resumes for free. You can short list your top picks and then reach out to the ones you’re most interested in to invite them to apply for your position. This is a great practice because statistics have shown that often the best hires are the people who were not actively looking for work, but were recruited.
Utilize these nine steps listed above, you will be well on your way to not only filling your position quickly, but finding a candidate that is a good fit for you and your business. It is possible to easily work less, play more and earn more through your business.
Outsourcing your tasks and hiring other people is your pathway to building a thriving freedom business you love.
QUESTION: What is your biggest challenge when it comes to finding and hiring great help?
I didn’t want you to miss out on this opportunity for you to achieve a breakthrough in your business this month.
I find in working with entrepreneurs one of the biggest causes of stress in your business is MONEY.
When you have financial stability and financial abundance you no longer have the pressure to keep working hard just to “make money”.
When the money flow is there, you can choose to work instead to “make a difference” through your business.
In last week’s email I gave you a sneak peek at the first half of the marketing and mindset topics.
If you have not yet signed up for this free Money Flow Formula Tele-Summit be sure to sign up now. It’s not too late to jump in.
You can listen to the replays of the video interviews until July 31st. Here is the line-up for the second half of the experts:
Day 14: How to Develop a Wealthy Mindset, Charlene Fisher Day 15: Engage, Empower, Earn! How to Use Your Story to Move People & Make Money, Gayle Nowak Day 16: How to Get Out of Your Entrepreneurial Rut, Casey Eberhart Day 17: Money Flows Where Attention Goes – The Real Secret to Creating Money in Your Business While Focusing on Sharing Your Passion, Dre Cleveland Day 18: Attracting Wealth with Hypnosis, Dr. Steve G. Jones Day 19: Rock Your Talks, Ida Shessel Day 20: Unstoppable Foundation, Cynthia Kersey Day 21: The 3 Massive Mistakes that Cost Businesses $$$, Lori Fortuna Day 22: 3 Keys to Financial Freedom, Jay Fiset Day 23: Declutter Your Mind, Money and Marketing to Design the Business and Life of Your Dreams, Sherley Grace Day 24: From Fear to Freedom, Angela Gower Day 25: Right Questions to Shift Money Flow, Jo Ann Hammond-Meiers Day 26: Review of highlights – by Jo Ann Hammond-Meiers
Discover how to short cut your success. This is a great, free resource to helping you do just that.
If you haven’t done so already, SIGN UP here for The Money Flow Tele-Summit.
I talk to a lot of entrepreneurs like you who want to make a greater impact in people’s lives through your business. But, the problem is, it’s hard to help more people if your business is struggling with cash flow, causing you to worry about your finances instead of focusing on helping more people.
That’s why I’m so excited to tell you about a special free Tele-summit my good friend Jo Ann Hammond has put together for you.
In the Money Flow Formula Tele-Summit she interviews 21 experts (including me 🙂 who will show you how to unlock more money to your business to help you achieve greater financial stability, so you can make a bigger difference in more lives.
When you sign up for this complimentary Tele-summit, you will receive a link to one new video interview each day for 26 days (with bonus interviews).
Here is a sneak peek at first half of the critical marketing and mindset topics you don’t want to miss:
Day 1: Partnering with the Cosmos for Prosperity, Marina Ormes Day 2: Mission Money & Mojo Flow, Nicola Grace Day 3: Rewired for Wealth, Melanie Strick Day 4: The Fastest Way to 10X Your Business, Tom Matzen Day 5: How to Tap into Your Inner Business Expert for Profit & Fun Explosion, Jeanna Gabellini Day 6: How to Find Your Tribe to Step Into Your Power (and Income!) with Ryan Harris Day 7: Mass Influence – The Key Habits to Becoming Highly Influential in Your Field, Teresa de Grosbois Day 8: 3 Simple Ways to Triple Your Targeted Traffic for FREE Ronnie Tsunami Day 9: How to Attract 6 Figures Using LinkedIn, (my interview) Day 10: THE SEO FACTOR Content Marketing Strategies to Create the Impact, Influence & Income YOU Desire, Gloria Rand Day 11: From Survival to Significance – How to Transform Your Toughest Challenges into Benefits and Business, Sandra Younger Day 12: Find Your Passion, Gary Gosch Day 13: Learn How to Quit Well; Then Stop Quitting, Darcie Davis
… And 13 more experts!
Oh, and don’t worry if you don’t think you have time to listen to one interview each day. When you sign up here you will have access to the replays until July 31st.
This is your opportunity to make a huge shift in your Money Flow.
Go ahead and take it.
We all know the saying, “It’s not what you know, but who you know.” While this can be argued indefinitely, it’s undeniable that connections do matter.
Whether you’re leading a small business or networking to get more customers, the people you know can make a difference in your business growth. Here are a few tips about why networking is an important piece of your business development strategy having and how to do it with finesse.
Paula Gregorowicz of www.thepaulagcompany.com and Yoon Cannon at Women’s Business Forum summer networking social.
Get Noticed When Networking to Get More Customers
Even in big cities, it’s not uncommon to find yourself circulating among the same set of business people. When you attend a gathering, showing up with a genuine smile, high energy and sharp attire is the first step to getting you noticed.
You should also have up-to-date business cards on hand. If you chat with someone for a little while, be sure to follow up the next day with a quick email saying you enjoyed meeting them and recapping anything business-related you discussed. You don’t want to seem pushy, but you do want to solidify your name in their minds while your face is still fresh in their memory.
If you want to be noticed in your field, there’s perhaps no better type of event to seek out than those in your local business community. Are you interested in learning how to get better at marketing your business? Head out to all the marketing-related get-togethers in your area. You never know whom you’ll meet or (better yet) who will notice you first.
Are you a personal trainer? Look for business meetings centered around the health field. There may just be future referral partners waiting to get to know you. Check out The Business Journals’ calendar to find industry events in your area.
Get Advice
Another upside to networking is the opportunity to ask successful people your most burning questions. In a networking setting, most business leaders are happy to oblige and will think of your Q&A like nothing more than a casual chat. Think about the areas in which you need the most help.
Maybe you’re a budding software entrepreneur who isn’t sure when to take the plunge and commit to his new venture full-time. Look for tech-related events to gain access to some of the top technology leaders in your area.
If you’re in the software industry, most states have some sort of a tech council that hosts numerous classes and events, like this one in Arizona. There are also many organizations that host regular networking events for entrepreneurs from a wide cross section of industries. In the Philadelphia area you can visit https://efgp.org/
In addition to getting advice at networking events, becoming a member in your local networking organizations can also help drive more clicks back to your website as most organizations have member directories published on their website with backlinks to their members.
Get Training
Networking affairs aren’t all about you. Plenty of other savvy businesspeople carve time out of their busy schedules to share their own visions, passions, guidance and knowledge. Seminars are often a great place to go if you want to gain new skills or a deeper understanding of how to grow a successful business. The speakers at these sorts of events usually have exemplary business track records and compelling information to present.
If you want to do more networking, but you are limited on time you should consider networking online. LinkedIn is hands down, the best platform to network for business. When you know how to laser target your strategy on LinkedIn you can turn just a few minutes a day networking online to grow your list and grow your business. Get started with a free training on how to use LinkedIn for business.
Whether you’re networking in person or networking online, when it comes to growing your business we have all heard the saying, “it’s not what you know;
it’s who you know.”
If you’re hesitant about networking, now’s the time to overcome this limiting mindset. Just remember that each individual at these events is a person too, and most of them are also looking for friendly and savvy acquaintances to make. Make sure you’re well-groomed, speak confidently and have plenty of business cards on hand. With some practice, you’ll be getting noticed, receiving advice and soaking up business wisdom in no time.
QUESTION: What is your #1 biggest challenge when it comes to attracting new clients through networking?
“Although I’ve been successfully selling $ 3 Million a year in my company’s services, I have yet to leverage Linkedin. How can I get started with Linkedin to make my selling process quicker and easier?”
— Leonard Schmidt,
Senior Account Rep, Philadelphia.
Leonard, thanks for submitting your question. Even though Linkedin has been out for a long time now, there are still many business owners and sales people who have not integrated this great marketing tool. Here are my tips for you:
How to Get Started Using LinkedIn to Attract New Clients
If you’re not using Linkedin as a part of your sales & marketing strategy, you should be. With the power of social networking like Linkedin, there’s really no need anymore to have to cold call. Your batting ratio will always be depressingly lower by cold calling. Why not instead set yourself up with warm, pre-qualified strategic introductions to your target prospects?
Social networking is a great tool to leverage when you are looking to find new clients for business. But, some social networks are much more effective at helping you find new clients than others — LinkedIn for example. Unlike the odd bunch you find on Facebook, usually there to have fun and interact with their friends, LinkedIn is a business-oriented social network which people join in order to make business connections and find new opportunities in their fields of endeavour.
A brief look at the LinkedIn platform will show you people whose profiles are categorized according to:
Countries;
Industries and companies where they work;
Educational institutions they attended;
Their fields of specialty and if you are registered on the LinkedIn platform:
Who they possibly know that you might know within your network as well.
Here’s 5 quick actions you can take right now to start making Linkedin work for you:
1. Join 20+ interest groups. LinkedIn also has interest groups where people from a particular field or industry or people with common business interests participate in.
Using these details, you easily find out that you have access to the following information:
People with specific positions within a company or industry;
Target market of persons and companies for your products and services;
Related industries which might be interested in products and services you have to offer;
Affinity groups in which you can network to discover new clients.
By skimming through the posts in these interest groups you can also get a good sense of what the hot topics are, so you can make your message relevant to the specific issues your group members care about the most.
2. Consider advertising options. Another useful feature, which LinkedIn offers is the ability to market to members through the use of its in-platform advertising system. With this tool, instead of bothering yourself about making direct contact with other members or sending information, which may end up not being replied to, you can easily set up an add or a series of adds and list the parameters and the demographics you want these ads to target. After this, you can simply watch the new leads and clients come in, based on the effectiveness of your advertising campaign.
3. Look for targeted live events. You can also used LinkedIn to find out which events your connections, or at least people in your industry, are attending and how to attend these events to physically network with potential new clients within your industry. You can even market your products and services at such events. Such events provide you with the direction to know where your industry is headed and potential new developments you would otherwise be unaware of.
4. Search for your ideal customers. One simple tool, which people tend to overlook on the LinkedIn platform, is the search field, where you can search for People, Groups, Companies, Jobs as well as a number of other details. I’ve listed the People, Groups and Companies aspect, because these are the most important when seeking out new clients.
You can easily put in a search term for whatever product or service you’re selling and see the companies, people or groups dedicated to those interested in the product. The number of leads you get from this search activity depends on how creative you get in seeking out search terms which People, Groups or Companies may have included as part of their information on the platform and which would be an indication that they are interested in whatever you have to offer.
5. Build your expertise. The final great tool on LinkedIn, which will help with new client sourcing through the platform, is LinkedIn Answers. It can also be accessed via the search form as well as the “More” category option on the menu bar once logged into LinkedIn. Using LinkedIn Answers requires regular participation on the platform, as it is an area where members get to ask questions and other members get to answer them.
Using this tool, you can find your area of specialty on LinkedIn and answer questions by other members regularly with the aim of becoming an authority in your area of specialty on LinkedIn. This will improve your profile ranking on the website and also introduce you to new clients, who want further information based on the answers you may have provided or your recognized expertise within that industry.
A lot of business owners have made use of this means to attract new business to their companies and profit from it immensely. In fact, I would have never gotten any of my international clients, who would have never heard about my business growth coaching practice in Philadelphia, if it wasn’t for them accessing my expertise through LinkedIn.
LinkedIn is a great tool for business and it goes beyond the simple listing of your personal profile and connections with people you have already done business with. Using the tips and tools offered here, you could leverage this business-oriented social network platform to provide you an ongoing supply of new clients.
About Yoon Cannon: Top business coach Yoon Cannon has helped thousands of small business owners, entrepreneurs, coaches, consultants and sales teams achieve dramatic results in growing your business. Over the past 20 years Yoon has started 4 successful companies and sold 3 of them. She offers fresh insights as a seasoned business growth expert. Yoon delivers proven process for your sales, marketing and management development. Grab free valuable gifts and resources at https://www.ParamountBusinessCoach.com To book Yoon to speak at your next event email: YoonCannon@ParamountBusinessCoach.com To schedule a complimentary business coaching consultation call (215) 292-4947.
