Andra's Best Business Advice

If you follow Andra on Twitter (@andrawatkins), you likely noticed that I (Lyn Mettler, @webprgirl on Twitter) was "filling in" for her this week on Twitter. What does that mean exactly? Well, I'm not pretending to be Andra, but I've been "tweeting" Andra-type messages on her behalf to keep her presence alive in Cyberspace. Andra, smart business consultant that she is, decided to take a vacation (with her husband's prodding) Internet free to relax and revive, so she can come back and continue to give us all fab business advice.

So, I also offered to do a guest blog post for her as well, and I thought I would share some of the valuable tips Andra has offered my business that has helped me grow significantly. I hope they help you too:

1) Choose your clients wisely -- In the past, I made a few mistakes in choosing which clients I wanted to work with (sorry, no names :)), but it was mostly because I did not have a good vetting process in place. Andra helped me determine what a "good" client meant to me and showed me how ensure prospective clients fit these requirements. It's so tempting, especially in a slow economy, to take any business you can get, and I was always afraid to turn down any business. But, taking on bad clients is bad for everyone - you're unhappy, they're unhappy, you may not get paid and more. Not worth it. By choosing to surround myself with good clients, I continue to find that more good clients seem to find their way to me all on their own.

2) Network outside your industry -- The Public Relations Society of America and the American Marketing Association were my two most frequented haunts as a PR professional. It's fine to network with others who work in your profession, but you're likely to get more referrals from those outside your profession. Try Rotary, Women@Work, Mt Pleasant Business Association, Business Networking International, etc. that have a mix of professionals or organizations that are related to your industry but not in your industry.

3) Don't do anything for free (or trade) -- Andra's words of wisdom: People don't value a service or product that they don't pay for. Very true when you think about it. Do you value something that's free?

4) Don't underestimate your value -- Spend some time determing an appropriate fee structure and stick to it. If a client doesn't want to pay you what you're worth, they're not a good client (see No. 1) :)

5) Set clear expectations -- Communicate your processes and expectations early with prospective clients. This includes how you update clients, your invoicing procedure, when and how you expect payment, etc. If everyone understands in the beginning, you will have fewer problems down the road.

This is just the tip of the iceburg of the great tips Andra has given me that have made a huge difference to my business. Andra, I hope I didn't give away too much of the good stuff, but I promise there is much more in that brain of hers.

Lyn Mettler
Mettler Public Relations
lmettler@mettlerpr.com