Yesterday, I shared about the networking reception portion of Reinvention Weekend 2014. The actual conference (keynotes, panel discussions and mentoring boot camp) was held on Saturday. I am so glad that I attended the conference, because I learned a lot. At the beginning, attendees were encouraged to write down three things that we wanted to take away from the conference. At the end of the conference I checked to see if I had met my goals. I’m happy to report that I left with enough direction to answer my top three questions. There was an abundance of information covered by Melinda Emerson and her lineup of exceptional speakers. I could easily write five more posts about the experience, but I will not. Rather, I’m going to briefly share how my top three areas of interest were covered.
1. Niche Clarity
It has been challenging for me to decide what type of clients RK Responsive Design will serve. (My Mom in the City niche was much easier because it has been a lifestyle business…my audience has always been city moms with kids in the same range as my sons.) I couldn’t decide if I wanted to specialize in designing sites for bloggers, entrepreneurs, small business owners, work at home moms, women or any combination of that list. I actually came away with the answer that I didn’t have to be as narrow as I had thought because great web design really can be translated cross-industry. As such, my niche is small-business owners. More importantly, I learned that the meaning of the term “responsive web design” was not clear to many small business owners. Wayne Kimmel, the venture capitalist who led my breakout mentoring boot camp session, encouraged me to keep it simple regarding explaining what RK Responsive Design offers. “You help business websites look good and function on phones, tablets and computers.” That’s the gist. Now, I just need to condense that down to approximately five words for a tagline…
2. Pricing Clarity
I believe that quality websites should be affordable for small business owners. That is why I convinced my husband to work with me on the web design business in the first place. (A girlfriend of mine had been charged $3,500 for a WordPress website that she didn’t even like and the designer wouldn’t make revisions!) While I still feel great about my basic site pricing, I needed some direction regarding add-ons/customizations. Melinda Emerson actually gave a good equation regarding how to set price costs:
Direct costs + G&A (general and administrative costs) + overhead = Price
I also realized that a lot of the pricing clarity was intertwined with my mindset. Darnyelle A. Jervey, one of the panelists, spoke on the mindset shifts that need to happen in a way that made sense to me. She mentioned that some people have a problem charging what they should because the thing that they offer is their gift. Just because something comes easily or naturally to you doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t charge for it. Ding. Ding. Ding. That is so me. I am of the Matthew 10:8 “freely you have received, freely give” mindset BUT there is a time and place for everything. Usually when it comes to mindset shifts, coaches say things like “People don’t charge what they are worth because they don’t feel worthy or like they’re enough.” That’s not my issue though so it never resonated with me. Thankfully, the gift connection did.
3. Marketing and Sales Funnel Clarity
Basically, I wanted to leave with a plan regarding how to consistently market and sell my web design services. Since this question is very specific to each individual business, it wasn’t directly answered. However, I learned a lot of great marketing and sales tips that are helpful as I formulate my own sales and marketing plan. Being consistent in marketing efforts, getting in front of large audiences and making business websites and blogs work in regards to building an online sales funnel were just a few of the relevant topics that were covered during the day.
Most importantly, it was the little language shifts that helped me. Much like with the networking word, I shy away from the term sales. Che Brown, another panelist, mentioned that we should think of sales as serving. If I can get my clients their desired results, then why wouldn’t I? In fact, I am doing both them and their readers a disservice if I don’t let them know that I can help. (It’s true… there really is no reason to have an unattractive, hard to navigate website!) Lastly, Melinda reminded us to “serve, serve, serve and then sale”. I can definitely do that.
Overall, Reinvention Weekend 2014 was one of the best conferences that I have attended. Usually, I only attend a specific conference once, but Angela and I are already making plans to attend Reinvention 2015. It was that good. I have no affiliation with this conference. I just enjoyed it immensely. If it sounds like something that would help your business too, email me at kcoleman@mominthecity.com and I will keep you posted about next year’s event if and when it happens. Being the ambivert that I am, having as many friends with me as possible makes great experiences even greater!