Awful quiet...

So here's a request - right now we're an exceedingly small community (despite the 60 or so members of SPrING on LinkedIn). Where do you folks want this group to go (I know you didn't just join for the flashy LinkedIn badge...)? Where should we take the conversation? How do we grow this to be something meaningful and worth peoples' time to get involved? What do you want out of it? Comments are obviously requested here...

- Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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Keep More of Your Hard Earned Money!

Sure being a small and/or independent service provider has it's share of challenges (actually, more than its fair share), but there are benefits. One of my favorite ones is known as the Individual 401k that's available to certain types of business owners. I'm sure many of you are familiar with the regular "corporate" 401k plan that enables you to defer taxes on up to ~$15,000 of your income. Compared to the Individual K, that's child's play.

One of the main reasons corporate K's are capped is due to anti-discrimination testing that needs to occur. Basically that prevents super-rich folks from exploiting the plan while lower salaried workers end up contributing less. It levels the playing field and keeps things fair.

The Individual K, by contrast, is usually not subject to anti-discrimination testing due to the typically small base of employees many of us have. Because of that, the limits for the individual K can be upwards of $45,000 of income you can shield and defer taxes on. Obviously that's a tremendous benefit in terms of tax savings.

This isn't financial advice. It's advice to go talk to your financial advisor and ask about Individual 401k's and see if you're eligible and how beneficial it could be for you. Get educated. Save money.

- Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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Getting Your Prospective Client's Attention

What's your favorite way to get a prospective client's attention? I have a few favorites and have had many of these tried out on me. In no particular order, here are some of the best (and worst) I've come across:

- mass offline advertising (magazines, direct mail, radio, etc.)
- pure face to face/phone networking
- cold calling
- social networking (LinkedIn, Plaxo, etc.)
- pro bono speaking engagements/conference participation
- simply attending conferences to network
- online advertising (banners, Google ads, etc.)
- establishing subject matter expert status by writing articles, blogs, newsletters, etc.

Please share your comments with ideas, experiences (good and bad), and suggestions. Once again, the community is only as good as your contributions... I can't do this all alone...

- Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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Outlook: The Poor Man's CRM

Have you ever had that uncomfortable conversation with a prospective client that went like this:
"Hi Mrs. Prospect. This is Mike calling to see if you've got some time to catch up and discuss our services."

"Thanks for the fourth follow up. As I mentioned Monday, I need some time to look at the budget. I didn't reply to your voicemails and emails on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday because I'm getting ready for budget reviews next month. Why don't you give me a little time and I'll be in touch."

Oops. Multiple calls and emails in the same week.

Having been on the "buy side" of services before, I can tell you such pestering is infuriating and dramatically decreases the chances I'll purchase services from that individual.

Now you, being entrepreneurial and driven at heart, probably get antsy waiting for return calls from prospects and may have even found yourself in the above conversation (I have).

So what's the solution outside of spending a ton of cash on a CRM solution? Outlook. Simply place a "tickler" appointment on your calendar several weeks (or even months) out as appropriate and then forget the prospect exists. Let Outlook tell you when you need to follow up.

It's easy and cheap. It will also prevent you from becoming that annoying overeager salesperson who calls all the time and never gets the sale because of it. It also demonstrates to your prospects that you're respectful of their time and that you LISTEN to what they're saying. Both of those traits should enhance your chances of landing the deal.

Anyone have any other pipeline management suggestions and tips? Let's hear them!

- Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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Contract Clauses to Beware Of

We small guys and gals don't have the luxury of having a legal department. Sometimes it's even too expensive to have counsel on retainer (aside: hopefully we have some attorneys join this network to help us... Invite your attorney to join today!). Given that, we're left to our own devices to wade through the huge contracts large corporations ask us to sign.

Do yourself and your business a favor: READ THE FINE PRINT! As procurement and legal groups at big companies seek to add value, one way to do so is through the contract. This value is delivered at YOUR EXPENSE.

Two of my favorite hostile clauses I've come across recently:

- Vendor (me) gives Customer worldwide unrestricted license free rights to any and all content delivered by Vendor. These rights include reproduction, redistribution, and having other third parties use such content as Customer in its sole discretion deems appropriate. Such content shall be considered work made for hire and shall become the intellectual property of Customer with no further financial obligation to Vendor. (Translation: we're going to take your intellectual property and use it however we want and not pay you a thing for it). Ummmm no.

- Vendor (me again) shall give Customer "most favored customer status" whereby Vendor shall provide pricing to Customer equal to or better than Vendor's lowest price offered to Vendor's other clients. (Translation: we're going to ride the coattails of another company's procurement group who beat you up on pricing irrespective of how much or little business we've given you in the past). Once again... Ummmm no.

I asked both clauses be stricken. They were.

What are the least friendly clauses you've come across in your contract negotiations? Share and help the rest of us know what to look out for.

- Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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Ideas on Pricing

First off - I don't look good in orange (actually, I do but saying so would defeat the purpose of the previous statement). This post is not about price fixing across companies. It's simply a thought starter on how to think about pricing your services if you're a small service provider. There are three major approaches (and one snarky one) I've come across (and would love to hear your thoughts on others):

1. "What the market bears" - this is simply calling around and getting rates from other providers of services similar to yours. Effective because it will keep you in line with the market. Ineffective because, let's face it, who wants to simply get "market" rates?

2. "You're as good as your last game" - if you've made the jump from corporate America to your own firm, simply take your TOTAL annual comp (base, bonus, benefits, etc.) and divide by 2,000 to get your hourly rate (250 work days/year X 8 hours a day). It's a good starting point but presumes your previous employer was paying you appropriately and/or that you were delivering enough value to warrant said compensation.

3. "The value you add" - do an analysis of how much economic value your services create and take an appropriate cut of that (10-20%).

4. "Spaghetti" - throw spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks. Said differently - chuck out an obscene number and see if the client bites on it. WARNING: THIS IS NOT A RECOMMENDED APPROACH!

I'd love to hear your opinion on other ways to think about pricing as an independent service provider.

- Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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Complement Someone

No, I didn't spell that incorrectly (if you read my "I never want to be sic[k]" post on the thoughtLEADERS blog, you'll understand my maniacal focus on spelling accuracy). Complement someone. You're a service professional. You have a business built on leveraging your particular core competencies. Those skills likely provide you a wonderfully profitable niche. The difficult part comes when you are given the opportunity to work outside that niche.

Ahhhh... what a dilemma.

More work, more revenue but on a topic that's not completely in your wheelhouse. You can either expand your offerings, stretch yourself a little, and keep all the spoils for yourself (while at the same time assuming the risk of delivering a less-than-stellar service since it's a new area for you) or you can let someone complement you. In other words, admit you're not the best person to provide the new service to your client but you know exactly who that right person is. Call someone in your network. Send the work their way. Let them do an outstanding job in their niche. Let them reap the rewards of the service provision. Your client will thank you (they get better service and know you have their interests at heart). Your colleague will thank you. And ultimately, your colleague will create opportunities for you to complement them. It's a great way to grow your business, stay focused on what you do best and ensure the best services are provided by the best providers. Everyone wins. Give it a try.

- Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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