More Than WE Know

  One of the reasons I enjoy working with Women Entrepreneurs is the passion they have for their businesses.  My biggest reward comes from helping people tap into their passion and realize that they can actually make their living doing what they love.

Passion is particularly important for service professionals, because it is what draws their clients to them.  Clients buy the energy and enthusiasm as much as the advice and information.

Robin Matuk, owner of My Digital Coach has passion for empowering women by teaching them to be technologically savvy.  Robin’s passion is so palpable that you can feel it jump off the screen during her interview.

Here is her story.

Robin, tell me about your business.

I founded My Digital Coach to help women reach their true potential by utilizing technology to their full advantage. I love working with women to help them remove the obstacles to whatever is holding them back. I work with clients of all ages and abilities both individually and in groups.
 
I provide them with critical technological tools for taking control of their professional and personal lives.  Technological efficiency is a must. I am passionate about enriching women’s lives through the proactive use of technology. By increasing their digital I.Q., every aspect of their lives will be enhanced.
 
I am committed to making technology non-threatening, fun and inspiring. My tag line is “Using Technology to Make Your Whole Life “Click”!

Do you have a range of services?

Yes, I have a range of services and programs. I provide a Technology Improvement Program for everyone through my customized Digital Makeovers for businesses and individuals, whether they want to start a new venture, grow their business, or expedite personal dreams.

What is your most requested service?

 
Right now my most requested services are for my workshops “Using the Internet to Make Your Life “Click” and “Boost Your Business with Blogs”. I am hoping to market my Blog Design Programs to individual service professionals

What inspired or motivated you to start you own business?

I’ve worked in the corporate world for many years as a Technical Trainer, Business Consultant and Instructional Designer.
 
I’m a creative person who always wanted to start my own business but I lacked the confidence to do so.  After a long-term romantic relationship ended, I had my, “now or never” moment!
 
I had tried to go out on my own in 2001 as a web designer but unfortunately gave up that dream.  I’ve always regretted that decision.

What keeps you motivated?

I am so passionate about helping people realize their true potential via my coaching and technical training. It’s important to do what you love - with passion!

I look forward to helping women “discover their life’s work”. I can help them unleash their own personal power in ways that will transform their lives. I believe technology is the perfect medium for women who want to maximize their personal impact.

How did you fund your business?

My business has been funded exclusively through my own savings. Being a service professional, I work from home, conduct workshops at local adult education and community centers as well as from my home. This keeps my overhead low.   I developed and designed my own website and blog which helped keep costs down.

Who is your target audience?

Many women over forty missed the technology boom and therefore, only learned what they needed to…as they went along. The accelerated pace of technology has intimidated many women from learning more creative ways to use technology to bridge the gap between their professional and personal lives.

Women entrepreneurs will be given a detailed “digital road map” utilizing critical technological tools specifically designed for more effectively managing their business, attracting more clients and for enhancing productivity and profitability.
 
Individuals will be given the digital tools to make their lives “click”…whether it’s finding their soul mate, a new, more fulfilling career, or an online community of like-minded friends.

You mention women using technology to find their soul-mates - can you say more about that? It sounds intriguing!

I show them the most traditional popular online dating sites such as Match.com and YahooPersonals. 

I myself have profiles there and show them how it works using myself as a good example. I offer profile review and writing services as well if they need that.  I give them the benefit of my own experience using online dating sites (I have plenty of stories!).

I give them do’s and don’ts.  I also show them more interest-specific dating sites depending on their interests or age.  I assist them with the uploading of photos, etc.

Mostly, it’s encouragement and support because online dating can be a challenge to say the least.  It’s not for everyone. I also show them how they can use social-networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn and YahooGroups too.

Could you give an example of a woman entrepreneur you’ve helped?

I can think of two since they both had similar issues of “file management“.  As an entrepreneur, organizational skills are key. If you never delete any emails from your inbox or at least create and move them into folders, then you are taking a huge risk of missing out on potential new business or worse, making an existing customer think you’ve forgotten about them because you never responded to their email. Both of these women had the same problem - email inboxes with thousands of messages!
  
In the same vein, their computer hard drive file management techniques were just as bad.  They were constantly looking for documents they had downloaded or received as email attachments.  Folders were improperly named, or worse, there were no sub-folders at all, just hundreds of documents filed in their My Documents folder. 


I showed them some tips and tricks that I use for easy and effective File Management for both their email inboxes and their computer hard drive.  I also emphasize the importance of backing up their work and share with them some web-based services that will allow them to store their documents online. MediaMax provides free online storage.  I also tell them about Google Docs.

In your own journey as an entrepreneur, how have you reached out to others for help? What has been the response?


This is an area I need to work on. Asking for help does not come naturally for me.  I can think of a situation with my Ladies Who Launch Workshop Leader.  I told her I was so inspired by the workshop that I wanted to become a leader myself and could she help me do that.  Her response was positive but I had to continue to remind her about it over and over again.  She was not the most organized person so I did not take it personally. Eventually she did sign me up for the training and she was very supportive of me during that process.  She came with me and attended the four day training in Cleveland as well. The training was a fantastic experience for me.
 
In your blog you’ve made several references to your experience with a branding consultant being painful and lengthy - could you share why and some lessons learned from that experience.

My branding experience involved a lot of hard work and at times was emotionally draining, although I was very pleased with the final product.

Lessons learned: DO YOUR HOMEWORK, understand the branding process, talk with prior clients, and if possible have an attorney or para-legal look over the contract. This may be one of your biggest expenses so make sure you do it right and choose the best consultant for you.

What percentage of your business is online? What is your ideal percentage?

Right now almost all of my business is conducted offline. I plan to offer online webinars in the near future. My ideal percentage would be approximately 25% online.

Where do you get most of your customers?

Word of mouth is where I get most of my customers. I organize a meetup group called THE BIG IDEA – Women Starting a Business. This is the ideal place for me to network and get new customers.

What is the biggest challenge you faced and how did you overcome it?

My biggest challenge is marketing and self-promotion. Being an introverted entrepreneur presents some interesting challenges for me.  When I go to networking events or meetings, I make sure that my role is clearly defined.
 
If I am not the facilitator or the organizer, then I volunteer to help out in some way.  I greet members, assist with raffles, or take minutes, whatever is needed.  When my role is clearly defined, I find it so much easier to network, start conversations, be sociable, and just have a good time (hopefully get some new clients too!).

What was the best unexpected thing that happened to you?

I have two.  The first one:
When I was in the initial development phase of my business, I decided to use my instructional design skills to develop and design workshops.  I sent out new course proposals to about a dozen adult education centers and colleges.  The response was amazing. Today, I am working as an Instructor for five different schools and have nine workshops scheduled for January – May 2008.  It all happened so incredibly fast.

The second one:
I decided to organize a group at Meetup.com for Women Starting a Business.  I wanted a place where women can come to learn about being an entrepreneur without having to pay a huge entrance fee. The cost was zero to join.  I thought I would get about a dozen women to sign up.  Within a few weeks, I had about 75 women signed up, have had three meetings so far and am so impressed and inspired by all these women. It feels so good to be giving of myself and provides an environment for budding women entrepreneurs. As a result of this meetup, I started my first podcast series, called Startup Women

What do you wish you had known when you started?

Coming from corporate America, I had absolutely no background in starting a business. I did not come from a family of entrepreneurs nor did I have any close friends who were entrepreneurial. I wish I had known how important it was (and is) to develop relationships with successful entrepreneurial women and to have positive role models and/or mentors (or better said “femtors”).

Do you have any kids?
 
No, I don’t have any kids just two sweet and adorable cats.
 
Do you work at home?
 
Yes I work at home and love it! I really enjoy having my own space to work any time of the day or night whenever I feel inspired or creative.

What advice do you have for other Women Entrepreneurs or Entrepreneur Wannabes

Network, network, network!
 
Get out of your comfort zone, be persistent, get others to help you (don’t work in a vacuum), establish yourself as an expert, always be learning, get past your fears.  If you’re not afraid, then you’re not doing it right! Failure can be your friend if you look at it as a learning opportunity to do it better next time.

To learn more about Robin’s digital coaching programs visit My Digital Coach.

To get my special report on 7 Steps to Sustainable Success for Women Entrepreneurs -> Click Here.

If you would like your business profiled on More Than WE Know please contact me at Liz (at) Morethanweknow (dot) com.

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