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Maria Mustapha

Better business systems for more time and money

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I help small businesses and entrepreneurs regain clarity during these challenging times, diversify your services, improve your processes and systems and plan for what next so that your business can thrive!

Recent Answers

Spanish-speaking

Do you think businesses would benefit from an online course that teaches Spanish for business & insight on the Latin American customer in US?


Maria Mustapha

Better business systems for more time and money

I think you are missing the market research step. You need to ask the people that you would be targeting, because at the moment, I'm unsure why someone would use your product, over say using a platform where they can hire an online tutor and learn from them, or use Rosetta for example. I get that you have the learn about Latin Culture component, but are potential clients really falling over themselves to learn more more about this market, that they would pay for it, especially when google is so helpful. Also, freelancers, entrepreneurs, business owners etc is a pretty large group, maybe start with narrowing that down, then asking them directly, if it would be something they want to buy, or you could also test the idea using something like Udemy. If you need any further help with this, feel free to book a call with me!

Press Releases

How do I know when I need to invest in PR?


Maria Mustapha

Better business systems for more time and money

I would say as soon as you've got a business, and should be part of your marketing plan. Remember PR doesn't need to be a feature in Forbes for example, PR also includes being a guest on a podcast or local radio show, and writing guest blogs / articles on sites that your target market reads. Then as you become more successful you can aim for the bigger and more prominent outlets because you would have this portfolio of publicity under your belt already, that you can show. You can also register with HARO which has requests for comments and stories on different topics 3 times a day. And if you are in the UK, there is also #journorequests on Twitter where journalists are looking for people's experiences for their stories - it can include stories from business owners and entrepreneurs. Hope this helps, and if you need help with a plan to do this - I'd be happy to help on a call. Thanks

Managing Creative Teams

What are some products or strategies that can help my remote team work more collaboratively in terms of communication and documenting knowledge?


Maria Mustapha

Better business systems for more time and money

A way that you can help your team is to communicate expectations clearly and early. This includes team meetings, how you work together, and 1-2-1s with managers to see how everything is going. It’s important that managers or team leaders have clearly communicated with their team what project milestones need to be met and when, what roles everyone has, and how everyone is expected to keep in touch both internally and with clients. There are now plenty of tools on the market to communicate and work collaborative together, including Slack and Google hangouts for instant messaging, Zoom for video call, and Asana and Click-up for Task / Project management. I would be happy to talk to you about other ways you can work best with your remote team, and if you wish to talk further, please book a call with me.

Employee Relations

Dealing with a disrespectful employee.


Maria Mustapha

Better business systems for more time and money

Why is your business so dependent on this one person - what if he decides to quit of his own accord, or becomes sick, or has an accident? I think you should plan as if he were to suddenly become sick - e.g: get any passwords, or access that he has made generic, or transfer ownership or admin rights to you, so that you aren't locked out of your systems, any information that he has needs to be made available, whether that's writing it down, or getting him to record his screen using something like Loom - so that you have processes documented, and put on a shared drive? In terms of his behaviour, you could either speak to him about it, maybe things have changed in his personal life and its affecting him at work, or decide that the best course of action is to let him go. Hope that helps, and I'd be happy to chat further on a call if you wish!

Funding

What's the best way to raise funds to pivot my business from a service model (coaching) to a products (books, online classes, planners) model?


Maria Mustapha

Better business systems for more time and money

Hi! I think to answer this question, really I'd want to know why aren't the services that you've been offering (coaching etc), and your self-published book not providing you with enough funds to develop your online products? Also with the products that you are supplying, are you sure that your target market really wants 38 modules? I would suggest that you first develop a shorter course maybe split into parts, then test it to see if they actually want it? And unless there's a reason, you don't need to supply all your products all at once; but instead phase them in, whilst also using the funds for your coaching business to pay for it.

Virtual Teams

What are the advantages of having a virtual assistant?


Maria Mustapha

Better business systems for more time and money

Thats a great question, people can get quite confused as to what a Virtual Assistant (VA) does, and how they can help them in their business. So, firstly, virtual assistants can be a generalists; general admin including email and diary management, travel arrangements etc, or they can be specialists; such as social media management, copywriting, book-keeping, or a VA specialising in particular software(s) etc. So the ways that they can help you with productivity is either by doing the tasks that you aren’t good at; those tasks that takes you a week to do, like setting up email marketing from scratch, or developing a basic website, can take a VA with the right skillset much less time. Another way is by doing the tasks that you don’t like doing, especially if you find them mundane, like data entry for example, so that you can focus your efforts on not just the things you like doing, but also on the tasks that bring you in clients. If you need help in deciding what tasks you want to delegate, or indeed any other tips on delegating to be more productive, then don’t hesitant to give me a call!

Relationship Marketing

What would be the best way to get clients as a relationship coach?


Maria Mustapha

Better business systems for more time and money

I think cold-calling is too impersonal for what you do. I know a few relationship coaches, and they do really well at face-to-face networking events, and speaking opportunities; even if it’s an event like a meet-up event, or a small local event. Particularly if you have case studies, examples of problems that you can solve, or tips that people could use straightaway in their relationship that would help improve communication, for example; funny and/or relatable stories are key for what you do. If you’re brave enough, you can do even do facebook lives, on a particular area that you specialise in. Also, try and look at being a guest on a podcast that is related to what you do, as the listeners are likely to be your target market. I think this is where you would excel! Maybe get your VA to help you research these types of opportunities, and help you put together your pitch, to send out. Good luck, and let me know if you need any other ideas!

Feedback

Would a platform that is similar to LinkedIn that focuses more on interests and personal connections be successful?


Maria Mustapha

Better business systems for more time and money

I think as stated below, its important to do some research on who would use this platform and why? I think there are so many platforms out there, you need to be clear about what you’re offering and why your target market would continue to log on to your platform, and not an established platform like Linkedin, which is evolving more and more, and also how you are going to make money from it (unless it’s a charity thing).

Marketing Automation

Can I create roles for specific team members on social media?


Maria Mustapha

Better business systems for more time and money

Regarding the delegation and automation part of your question. It is possible for you to use a scheduler like Smarterqueue or Hootsuite, which ever suits your need, then get your FB Virtual assistant to upload all your articles, and posts etc (I use Smarterqueue!). You assistant can also determine what articles, and posts did well and which didn’t, and amend accordingly, from the scheduler stats. This would take care of the automation part, but wouldn’t you still want to engage with the people that respond to your posts? Particularly if you’re trying to build up a following, to sell your book and get clients. Maybe consider developing a social media strategy, if you haven't already, so you and you virtual assistant know what the aim is, otherwise you may end up just wasted your time, energy and money.

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StrategyProject ManagementBusiness StrategyBrainstormingProcess ImprovementTeam ManagementGrowing CompaniesWorking RemotelyIncrease Productivity