As a freelancer or service provider, you usually have ONE key goal: Increase Revenue. More often than not, that requires one of two things - either work more hours or go the agency model and have a team of people to work for you. When we started our business in 2011, we adopted a hybrid business model that included both digital products and services… but over a period of time, the demand for our services grew rapidly and the product side of our business took a back seat. Here is what we … [Read more...]
The Startlingly Simple Strategy that Converts 70% of Prospects into Paying Clients
What does a service-based business need the most? CLIENTS. Now... Most coaches and consultants will tell you that if you want to convert prospects into clients you need to: 1. Monetize your value or show what you bring to the table to your prospect. 2. Share testimonials or case studies to convince them that you are the right person for the job. 3. Showcase money-based ROI and value-based ROI. For instance, to showcase Money-based ROI, you need to illustrate how your work will … [Read more...]
5 Insanely Easy and Ridiculously Effective Productivity Hacks that Help Us Do More During Holidays without Sacrificing Family Time
Being an entrepreneur has its perks BUT it also has its flip side. Here's the thing... You can carve a schedule that suits you. You can work the days that suit you. You can work more or less depending on your season of life. What you can’t do is not execute well or lose an opportunity to grow. Since we have our own products and services AND also have a fully-packed roster of clients with multiple projects, our time gets divided into client projects, writing assignments, product … [Read more...]
How to Grow Your Business on a Budget: 7 Insanely Simple Things We Do to Spend Less Than 10% of our Income While Growing Successfully
I had the chance of working with some amazing companies like General Electric, Dell Computers and American Express at the start of my corporate career. I was always fascinated with how different teams and functions worked tirelessly to achieve their specific goals but also the overarching goal of the company. If there was one common focus area in all these companies apart from fostering growth through innovation and constant process improvements, it was keeping costs to an absolute … [Read more...]
How We Do It: 11 Ways to Manage Your Money as an Entrepreneur AKA When You Don’t Always Have a Steady Income
One of the biggest challenges that we faced in our early years as entrepreneurs was getting used to the idea of uncertain and irregular cash flow. Before we started Content Bistro, both Prerna and I were working in the corporate world and were used to steady incomes at the end of the month. Everything had a set pattern to it when it came to finances, we knew how much to allocate for tax, household expenses, entertainment, fuel, shopping needs etc. We knew how much time it would take for us … [Read more...]
Learning for Entrepreneurs 101: How to Actually Learn from That eCourse or eBook
Learning for entrepreneur is one of the most important cogs in the wheel of growth and Prerna and I have also found that eCourses, whether free or paid, or in fact, any other medium of learning like eBooks, webinars are a great way to keep us ahead of the curve. At the same time, we often hear from fellow entrepreneurs that a vast majority of information products- courses, eBooks, checklists that they’ve bought have never even been looked at. That’s not unusual. A couple of years ago … [Read more...]
Tweet Smart: 3 Tools to Clean Up Your Twitter Account Right Now!
Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the amount of spam you get on your Twitter account? Are you following people who don't fit your target profile? Is it overwhelming dealing with SO many Twitter-ers who only tweet out links and promo stuff? Yes? Read on. You should be using Twitter to get more sales, to build a community, to drive traffic and NOT to fight spammers and mindless tweets that have little relevance for you or your industry. To get the most out of your Twitter account it is … [Read more...]
Buff Up! 10 Reasons to Use Buffer for Your Small Business
As a small business owner it is difficult to be on social networks all the time. However, I also find so many interesting articles or happenings while browsing the web which I want to share with my friends and followers across social networks. Yeah, difficult situation ,right? I have, in the past, used tools like Hootsuite and Tweetdeck to schedule posts and tweets to reach a wider audience and also people in different time zones. So, when I first heard about Buffer, I wasn't too sure about … [Read more...]
