The World Business

Posts Tagged ‘takes’

The business world is changing dramatically, even as the economy fluctuates, and Internet income opportunities have taken the lead in the new millennium.  With these changes, there are a variety of new business options that have come about in recent years because of the technological advancements found specifically online.

Altering The Corporate Mindset

These developments have made it possible for entrepreneurs to create enviable levels of success, even through the creation of home-based businesses as opposed to following the traditional, office-based, corporate business model.  

There is nothing inherently wrong with the corporate life, and many people have achieved success through it.  Of course, they have also struggled with long and unyielding work hours, high stress levels, and precious little in the way of family time.

As the economy pitches and rolls in uncertain financial seas, and as most companies become less and less secure, the impressive reality of an Internet opportunity–especially one run from home–takes on special significance!

How The Internet Helps Home Business

An internet-based business takes advantage of the positive traits in an unreliable economy, and removes many of the risks that people naturally want to avoid.  In addition, the things that are the most professional and desirable about real business are all inherent to the growth of an online business plan.

The most important thing for entrepreneurs, whether they have a business pedigree or not, is to learn reliably how to take control of the Internet and shorten the pathway that leads to success.

Using Knowledge And Experience… From Others

The best way to make this success a reality is by finding a trustworthy source with the background to make an Internet business work, and work well.  The best source for this information is not through a book, nor from some sort of weekend class, but from an actual coach or mentor.

An already successful entrepreneur knows how to demonstrate the various steps required to mimic his or her own success.  The person receiving the advice must manage the details, of course, but the road to business success online has been paved and made ready in advance!

If the Internet offers the unprecedented opportunities, then the assistance of a coach dramatically increases the possibilities for fast success.  This is because the marketing trends and plans that are most applicable within the online business environment can be replicated… and a booming home business awaits with all of the freedoms and opportunities that go along with it!

When you are starting a new business, one of your biggest largest expenses may be advertising so that you can bring in the customers. It can be a very expensive for those who are new to the business world but it doesn’t have to be. There are numerous ways to advertise your business on the Internet without spending anything. Here are some ways to advertise and market your business on the Internet. One of the best ways to advertise on the Internet for free is to write articles about a topic that interests you. It isn’t difficult to write an article about your favorite topic. You should use conversational in your language and write as if you are explaining the solution to a friend’s problem. Then find websites on the Internet that may be interested in your information. Most of them will reprint the article in exchange for a short profile of yourself and your website and a live link to your website at the end of the article. In addition, you should submit your articles to article banks to permit other publishers to access and reprint your articles. If you add new articles each week your business on the Internet will get the additional benefit of getting more traffic from search engines. Another way to advertise on the Internet for free is to exchange advertisements with other list owners. There are numerous business websites many on the Internet that have newsletter lists and can’t afford the expense of paid advertising. You should try to exchange advertising with them in order to help each other out. Of course you don’t want to do this with a business who is a close competitor. However, if you have an automobile garage, you might exchange links with a business that sells automobile parts. The result will benefit you both. The last way to advertise your business for free on the Internet is to find message boards and forums that are popular in your area of expertise, and participate in them. Join in on conversations and answer questions, and make sure that you have a one line description of what you do, a link to your website, and signature line below your name after every post. You only need a subtle signature line. Most people will quickly begin to recognize you as a helpful expert and will visit your business in the Internet to find out what you offer. However, you shouldn’t actively promote your business in the message board or forum. When someone asks you about it simply have them send you an email. Most message boards and forums have rules that disallow you from promoting your own website but signature lines are nearly always permitted. Also, you may find someone that has the same interests as you and make some new friends. There are some easy ways to advertise your business on the Internet for free. It only takes a little effort and you can have a steady traffic visiting your website, for free.

You’ve probably heard the famous saying “I know that half of the money I spend on advertising is wasted: if only I could figure out which half it is!” Well, now you can. By eliminating the common mistakes many businesses make with their advertising programs, it’s easy.

Here’s a checklist of mistakes many companies make with their advertising:

1) Not focusing enough time and effort on their advertising

Most business owners spend far more time and effort on mundane things that don’t really affect their bottom line than on advertising. This is the first huge mistake. Without effective advertising, almost all businesses will fail.

If you feel you don’t have the time or desire to handle the advertising for your business, consider hiring a consultant or agency – but with caution. It’s almost more difficult to find an ad agency that knows what is effective than it is to study it yourself. Many agencies are far more focused on winning awards than creating profits for their clients.

If you do feel you need to hire an agency, find one that will work on a results compensation basis vs. a straight commission for all the media they buy. This gives them an incentive to provide results and not pad the budget to justify a larger commission for the agency.

2) Relying on advice from friends and relatives

If business owners do handle their own advertising, many times they let their friends/wives/husbands or other various employees who have no idea whether or not advertising is effective make the decisions about their advertising plan.

Would you ask your dentist for advice about fixing your car engine? Of course not – that’s not their expertise. So why in the world would you base something as important as decisions about your advertising on a relative who has no idea what he’s talking about?

3) Being led by pushy or aggressive media sales people

The reason media companies pay their sales people big bucks is because they can influence you to buy space, air or time (in the newspaper, radio or television) and give you no guarantees if it doesn’t work. Sounds kind of crazy, doesn’t it? Your customers probably wouldn’t buy from you and not expect the product or service to perform the way it should. But ad sales reps do it all the time.

Now sometimes they really mean well, and they have lots of experience and some fluke event or problem comes up. But for the most part, ad sales reps will do virtually anything they can do to get the sale.

If you feel like you’re being bullied by an ad sales rep or that they really aren’t looking out for your best interest, but really feel you want to work with that station/newspaper, etc., then ask for a new rep. They want your business and you’re the one calling the shots, so if they want your business, they need to find someone you’re comfortable working with.

4) Allowing your creative delivery to be ineffective

You can buy the best media schedule in the world that reaches 100% of your market 100 times, but if your message is not well created, it won’t bring you the results you want. Most companies rely on either their ad agency or the media company themselves create the ads for them. This is a very difficult thing because most companies acting on your behalf don’t take the time to learn about your business, your customers and what makes you different in your market.

To be effective, your commercial or ad must give the potential customer a compelling reason to buy your product or service. That means you have to come up with a better slogan than “we have the best service and we’ve been in business for 112 years.”

No one really cares….well they do, but they don’t believe you. If that’s what you want to convey to your market, then give them a story that tells them that you have the best service. Make your company stand out.

You also have to include some sort of call to action. If you have a wonderful warm and fuzzy commercial that makes people 1) notice the ad, 2) actually read or watch it without being distracted by one of a million other things going on in their lives, and 3) become compelled and engaged by the message to have a positive feeling about your company and don’t ask them to do something as a result of that – you’re wasting your time and money. This is something that many ad agency creative types don’t get.

If you don’t ask them to do something specific within a certain time period, there’s no way to measure the response. You may say that you can compare last year’s sales for the same time period with this year’s, etc., but that doesn’t take into account a myriad of other possible reasons that your sales went up or down.

By giving your ad viewers/listeners/readers a specific action to take, you know that the reason they did that is because they were motivated to do so by your ad.

5) Always doing the same old thing because that’s what you’ve always done.

If you’re not growing, you’re dying – and the same goes for your business. If you’re happy with the same old returns on your advertising (assuming that you’re measuring it in some way), then continue to do the same thing. Most business owners aren’t though, so it’s important to try new things.

The way society changes the way it uses media and as quickly as those changes happen, you need to keep up or lose out. Many business owners are afraid to try something new because it takes them out of their comfort zone – especially if no one in their industry has ever tried the new idea. This is a huge mistake and robs them of potentially huge profits.

6) Falling into the price trap.

This is another huge one! Unless you’re Wal-Mart and can guarantee that no other business can sell for a lower price, don’t use that as your main selling point. Once you start down that path, it’s virtually impossible to stop.

If you can’t come up with another reason for your potential customers to choose you instead of your competitor, you really need to find one (or more)!

7) Not using publicity or events in their advertising plan

It’s amazing how few businesses even try to use publicity or special events in their advertising. It’s often the best advertising you can get – not only because it’s free, but because it cuts through the clutter. If the newspaper runs a story or a TV station is covering something during their newscast, it has automatic credibility that you just can’t buy.

Of course you can’t control the message 100%, but if you learn solid techniques of creating your publicity or press event, you can have a great deal of influence about how a story is covered.

If you can eliminate only 1 or 2 of these mistakes (assuming you’re making them all), you’ll wonder why you didn’t do so earlier! In business, if there are enough of the right customers buying your products and services, many of your problems seem to disappear.

Never forget that entrepreneurs are not born – they are created! Within you already lie the essential elements to be successful as an entrepreneur – and in anything in life – because you literally are capable of becoming and accomplishing anything. Remember though that an understanding of the principles below will certainly contribute to the accomplishment of your dreams and goals, but only if they are applied and acted upon continually. Perhaps most importantly, the attribute, characteristic, and action that will contribute most to your success is determining now to never quit. Despite the fears and doubts, the opinions or critiques of others, and the possible failures – success only comes to the individual who never quits.

Understand, however, that success was not achieved by simply knowing or even believing the principles below – it came from actually implementing the principles, taking action, and persisting until their goal or dream was realized.

1) Master-Mind Group: Successful entrepreneurs surround themselves with like-minded as well as more talented and brilliant individuals than themselves. They seek, listen to, and follow the advice, opinions, and experiences of others. They ensure that every idea, venture, and opportunity is critiqued, analyzed, watched over, and improved upon by those close individuals, associates, and friends in the master-mind group. They understand that developing and strengthening relationships and partnerships is absolutely vital to their success.

2) Step Back & Evaluate: They take time – often – to evaluate, think upon, critique, change, and improve what they are doing. Whether individually, or the business as a whole, they ensure that the goals, objectives, processes, business model, daily habits, revenue streams, work ethic, and relationships are adjusted accordingly, changed if necessary, and improved upon always.

3) Declare: Every entrepreneur starts out small, inexperienced, and unknown. Successful entrepreneurs understand this, but they certainly do not communicate it in their thoughts, words, or actions. In every setting and conversation, they declare what they will be (not necessarily what they currently are). They literally believe and practice the cliché: ‘fake it till you make it.’ Before and after they achieve success, they declare and portray themselves as being experienced, knowledgeable, effective, and successful.

4) Moments of Thinking: Every success in life, and especially in entrepreneurialism, starts as a thought or an idea. Because this is true, successful entrepreneurs make time to think. They specifically set time aside, and often, to allow their minds to ponder, reflect, analyze, create, wonder, and think. It is no wonder that during these times that ideas on how to improve their business are thought of, and occasionally new ideas and strokes of genius come.

5) Help to Produce: Similar to the concept of ‘give and receive,’ they take the initiative to help increase the profits for others, grow the business of others, and limit or make easier the work others will need to do. By so doing, these ‘others’ are naturally much more inclined to return the favor and help them do the same. Instead of thinking ‘how can I make money from this relationship or opportunity,’ rather they think, ‘how will they make money?’ This mentality and approach will always be rewarded, because others reciprocate it.

6) Informed Ignorance: Successful entrepreneurs are always staying up to date with the latest information, technology, laws, and developments within their industry. Likewise, they distinctly know and follow what their competition is doing, to ensure their own competitive advantage. At the same time, they ironically develop the ability of selective ignorance. They understand that certain information as well as listening to the news and critiques of others too often will halt their progress. They also are wise enough to realize that obtaining all the knowledge possible and following every new piece of information regarding their industry will never produce any result unless they take action. Being informed, developing selective ignorance abilities, and taking daily action is a large result of their incredible success.

7) Improve vs. Invent: Let’s be honest, the vast majority of inventions are thought of and created by scientists or engineers. Very rarely do successful entrepreneurs actually re-create the wheel – they only make it better. Developing a better but similar product, slightly changing a business model, improving customer service, or even doing what everyone else does with a different company name – this is the reality of most entrepreneurial ventures. Ideas and opportunities are everywhere – successful entrepreneurs look for and take advantage of them. And therein is the secret to their success – that it ultimately is not the business or idea that is all-important – it is the desire, belief, work ethic, and persistence of the entrepreneur that makes the venture a success, not necessarily the product.

8) Pen & Paper: Isn’t it ironic, considering all the essential elements discussed in this Entrepreneurial Success article series, that perhaps one of the greatest indicators of successful entrepreneurs is that they always carry a pen and small notepad with them. They realize that ideas come to their minds at random times, and they believe the Chinese proverb that says: “the faintest ink is more powerful than the greatest memory.” Their dreams, goals, and successes are dependent upon writing down and acting upon these ideas that often come to their mind. And yet, they also understand that having a pen and notepad and writing down the ideas as they come is not enough – they most importantly act upon and implement those ideas.

9) Time is a Friend: In relation to the point above, while they certainly write down and act upon their ideas, they are also wise enough to realize that after the excitement of a good idea dies down, that logic, practicality, and reason always set in. Thus, rather than rushing into anything, they collaborate with their master-mind group, analyze and ask questions before moving forward, test the market before investing time or money, and they allow time to determine whether the idea is good and will work or not. With that said, unlike the majority of people who have great ideas, they never allow the voices of fear and doubt to dictate their actions – because inevitably, during this time, those voices become very persuasive. If the idea, over time, is still good (or gets better), then they will completely commit to their decision to move forward, take action every day, believe in themselves and their idea, and never quit regardless of what temporary failures happen along the path.

10) Employee Assets: Without question, successful entrepreneurs understand that their greatest assets are their employees. Because of this, they treat their employees accordingly. Now don’t get me wrong, these entrepreneurs still demand that their employees work hard and be honest, they ensure relationships are appropriate and even hierarchical, and provide commission and bonus structures to incentivize ultimate performance. But, they also ensure that their employees are highly valued, appreciated, befriended, recognized, feel important, and that they are engaged, committed, informed, and feel as thought they are contributing to something great.

11) There is No Guarantee: Every entrepreneurial venture ever thought of or attempted has had absolutely no guarantee of success. Successful entrepreneurs realize this, but they choose to focus on the fact that there is also no guarantee that that their venture will fail. Perhaps another word for faith is optimism! The revered U.S. founding father, George Washington, had absolutely no guarantee for victory during perhaps the most important war of our modern day, the Revolutionary War. When all odds were against him, he still took a risk, desired freedom and independence, believed it was achievable, and then went to work every day to obtain it. He had faith and hope, but no guarantee. The victory only came after the attempt. When questioning whether now is the ‘right time’ to attempt your entrepreneurial venture, be wise enough to recognize that there never is a ‘right time’ – you just need to do it, in spite of the fact that there is no guarantee for victory.

12) Failures Feed: Successful entrepreneurs understand that failures breed progression, mistakes are lessons learned, weaknesses are potential strengths, and loses precede profits. Every failed attempt should be viewed as a successful step closer to the goal. Ironically, the majority of successes in life are usually accomplished after the individual determines to not give up when they experience failure.

13) It’s Up to You: Successful entrepreneurs never give excuses! While the majority complains that they don’t have the time, knowledge, or money to achieve their goals and dreams, these entrepreneurs make time, acquire the knowledge, and understand that you do not need money to make money. The only limitations in life are the ones we create and nourish in our own minds. In fact, as important as the master-mind group and other relationships are to these entrepreneurs, at the end of the day, they realize that their success is determined by them, and them alone. Their goals, dreams, and potential are determined and achieved not because of talents or brilliance, degrees or awards, race or gender, experience or from others – but because they personally desire success, believe it is possible, think big, take daily action, and do whatever it takes – giving no excuses.

To your entrepreneurial and life success!

This is part three (of three) in the Entrepreneurial Success article series. Contained within part one and two are 25 other essential entrepreneurial success attributes. To view the 40 essential entrepreneurial tips, visit my blog at: http://www.awakeyourpotential.com/