I write this a little over the halfway point of the year. As my closest friends, and some of you readers know, after a disastrous business partnership, I’m re-building my career with a new business.
It has been good. I’ve found a business model that is very promising, and have secured a few clients that –in terms of applied lean startup methodology– are helping me grow past my minimum viable product.
One Of The Most Important Things I’m Doing
One of the most important things I’m doing this time around is to tap on my vast network or, in the words of John Jantsch, my Referral Engine (aff.*). I’m fortunate in that I have met many people from many walks of life. Some are distant, some stay in touch, but all are part of my life. You are part of it.
One Thing I Have Not Been Very Good At
One thing I have not been very good at is helping you understand what it is I do for a living, and most important, what I don’t. The challenge is this: I have many skills, a lot of experience, and the nature of my entrepreneurial career demands I excel in many roles. But that does not mean I offer everything I’m good at as a service. Case in point, my LinkedIn endorsements, while accurate, do not reflect the direction I plan to follow for myself.
For example, I consider myself a competent cyclist. But I’m not about to go pro. And I can work on and repair my bicycle, but it doesn’t make sense for me to become a bicycle mechanic.
One Of The Most Important Lessons
One of the most important lessons I’ve learned recently in terms of career progress is to figure out what you don’t want to do. This probably sounds silly to the employed, but to the self employed this is pretty much the difference between life or death business choices. From identifying the “don’t want to do”s comes clarity.
In the words of Stephen Covey:
You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage – pleasantly, smilingly, non-apologetically – to say ‘no’ to other things. And the way you do that is by having a bigger ‘yes’ burning inside.”
What I Don’t Offer As A Service
To be specific, these are the things I don’t want to do more of:
- Graphic Design (logo, identity, illustration, environmental, print, posters, t-shirts, etc.) – Yes, this is my past. I have a ton of experience here and a sizable portfolio. I even use these skills and experience as an important part of my services, but not as stand alone service. I’m happy to use my experience to direct creative work, but that’s it.
- IT and Technology Stack (email, computers, networks, Windows, Mac OS, iOS, Android, etc.). – For some reason a lot of people think that because I manage my own technology I offer it as a service. No.
- Ongoing Marketing – Say what? That’s what people know me for, right? The challenge with this one is that I find it draining, and everyone loves to talk about it, but few follow through with good execution, even fewer want to pay for it what it’s worth.
Sure, I have an opinion about these matters, and if you’d like to hear it, and how it applies to your business, feel free to hit me for consultation, and get ready to pay. Prices are going up quickly.
Please do not send referrals for this kind of work.
What I Do
I’ve decided to go “all in” on small local businesses. That means I’ve fine-tuned my offer. My commitment is now to help these small business owners with some of the most pressing, overlooked, and troublesome needs they face: the foundation and systems for online marketing.
This foundation if made up of these main parts:
- Strategy
- Website
- Local SEO
- Commerce
Ally Digital Strategy is a program designed to get small and medium businesses on the right path for growth. Most SMB marketing is a disastrous mismatch of improvised tactics and tools. I cut through the noise, and the crap they’ve been sold, and set them up with a custom plan, a playbook, for growing their business.
Ally Digital Business Listings is a suite of local business geo marketing tools and services. It includes Local SEO, and tools for Reputation (Reviews) Management. The listings software updates and keeps consistent the business listings across more than 50 directories, search engines, maps, even mapping apps.
The ongoing service sends email alerts for reviews in any of the directories in the network that support reviews. This is a great way to stay on top of reviews and manage a business reputation.
Ally Sites is a combination of website design, WordPress development, and WP Engine managed hosting.
The main benefits of the offer:
- A strong, marketing-goal-oriented design
- Agency-level website with strong usability and information architecture
- Custom, mobile-responsive website (Google’s preferred method of mobile-friendliness)
- Someone to always take care of all technical aspects of the site, and help with content updates as needed.
Ally Digital eCommerce is an expansion on the Ally Digital Websites product that uses some of the best cloud-based eCommerce solutions to bring worry-free eCommerce to small businesses. Sell anything, any way you need.
This May Not Be For You
Not everyone needs all services. Some businesses have a great website, so it only makes sense to use Business Listings. Others benefit from a well though-out and built website but don’t need the local optimization so badly. Some times we can even implement eCommerce on a client’s existing website. And I know from personal experience most businesses owners benefit from a swift kick in the butt about the way the run their marketing, and compassionate, informed advice on what they need to focus on and, most important, what they can ignore. (That’s the Strategy part, if you wonder).
You may not need any of this, and that’s fine. But if you know someone who might benefit from what I do…
Your Referrals Are Welcome
I don’t say this enough: Thank you. Thank you for reading this. Thank you for taking the time to understand the kind of work I want more of. And thank you for your referrals.
Thank you also for your time,
Image composition by author, photo by Death To Stock
