Why Marketing Matters

Why Marketing Matters

At a recent speaking engagement filled with entrepreneurs, I talked about the importance of marketing and how it is essential to the life and growth of your business. After the event, I was in a session with one of the attendees and she shared with me how a colleague of hers was doing so well in her business with tons of customers and how she was not. The attendee also shared that her colleague was using Facebook ads to market her business, which was helping it to grow tremendously.
 

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She then went on to ask me if there was any hope for her business, or if she was just at a dead-end? I chuckled before responding then said, “Tell me what you think? Do you think you are at a dead-end in your business?”

The reason I posed the question back to her was because she had just described to me what her colleague was doing, which was the complete opposite of what she was doing, but then wondered if there was hope for her to grow her business. The answer was of course she could grow her business!

Businesses are only at dead-ends because their owners are at a dead-end and they didn’t evolve or grow themselves enough to grow their businesses. She spends absolutely no time nor money into marketing her business, but expects and desires the results of someone who does. That is completely illogical. And unfortunately, this is what the majority of entrepreneurs do. They expect tremendous results with little to no marketing efforts at all.

There are nearly 500,000 new businesses started each month in the US. If you do not emerge from the millions of other businesses out there, no one, including potential clients and customers, will even know that you exist.
 

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I am always amazed by how entrepreneurs believe that they’re supposed to get tremendous results without any of the necessary work to get them there. Business does not work like that. It is essential that you market your business so that people know who you are, what you have to offer and the value your business offers to those who need to solve the problem your business was created to solve.

It is most important to market your business before your bank account hits zero. You have to market before your revenue is low. You have to create a system that allows you to have ongoing marketing strategies and systems in place that are working in your business consistently so that your cash flow is never jeopardized.

All marketing options are not costly, some are actually free. But you must first learn the strategies and systems that are necessary to market your business to bring in new clients and customers in your business and to produce the revenue you desire to see in your business.


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Top 5 Ways to Know if You’re Cut Out to Be an Entrepreneur – Part 2

Top 5 Ways to Know if You’re Cut Out to Be an Entrepreneur – Part 2

This is a continuation of Part 1.

There will be seasons in owning a business where you’ll have a lot of wins and there will be certainly seasons when you’ll have a lot of losses. But whichever way the seasons blow, you must be ready and willing to do whatever is necessary to adjust with the times.

What is extremely important and connected to the characteristic of malleability is resilience. You have to be able to adjust and maneuver to whatever is happening in your business and you have to be equally able to recover from setbacks that occur as well.

You will undoubtedly hit obstacles and adversity along the way. So, you must be able to recover quickly from those trials and struggles to land back on your feet and be able to live in your business another day.
 

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3. Are You a Problem Solver?

One of the top things that you will do as an entrepreneur is solve problems. Each day will offer you the opportunity to discover new ways of solving new challenges that face your business. Doing so will grow you in ways you can’t even imagine. So, problem-solving, and the ability to do so is a quality that is necessary and essential as a business owner.

4. Are You Open to Growth and Learning?

Entrepreneurship is all about learning and growing. If you are not interested in either, the world of entrepreneurship is not for you. Most entrepreneurs go into business without ever having any business experience or knowledge. Although not the best way to go into business, most of these entrepreneurs end up learning on the job. You have to be willing to adjust your thinking, adjust your doing and be open to ideas and concepts you never imagined before.

If learning and growing is not on your list of ambitions or if it’s something you’re resistant to doing, entrepreneurship is definitely not the right option for you. However, if you are open to learning different ways of thinking, different ways of being to improve all levels of your business and of yourself, then entrepreneurship very well may be a great opportunity for you.

5. Do You Have Faith and Belief in Yourself?

Entrepreneurship is not the career to go into if you have low self-esteem. Why? Because the challenges you will inevitably face as an entrepreneur will create more insecurity and uncertainty in the belief of yourself than you had prior to going down this road.

Although you may have the support of staff, employees and team members, at the end of the day, when all the dust settles, if you do not believe in yourself and your ability to hurdle the challenges and move forward, you will not succeed.
 

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A big part of the entrepreneurial game is the mental development and processing that has to occur long before you see successes in your bottom line. If you do not believe in your ability to weather the storms, you too, as many that were discussed at the beginning of Part 1 of this article, can very easily find yourself in a depressive state of mind.

All the preparation in the world will not prevent you from having to endure some trials and challenges in running a business. Even with them, it does not mean it is not doable – what it does mean is that you have to put yourself in the best position possible to make the best choices that will put your business in the most optimum position to succeed.

It also means that before you throw your hat in the entrepreneurial ring, you should work on developing some of the characteristics that will be essential to keep you in the game. I’m a believer that it can be done. But you have to be willing to stay on your grind, persevere and do all that is necessary to keep your business and yourself in the game.

Affirmations can help you break through fears, challenges, self-doubt and all sorts of things that block us.

The 7 tips I offer in this free report have the amazing power to help you break through these blocks so you can soar! Access the free report here.


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Top 5 Ways to Know If You’re Cut Out to Be an Entrepreneur – Part 1

Top 5 Ways to Know If You’re Cut Out to Be an Entrepreneur – Part 1

Many people see entrepreneurship as a sexy alternative to a 9-to-5. The problem with that view is that it is so far more than that and so far more difficult than the perception of what it appears to be.

Often times people see entrepreneurship as a means of creating freedom, flexibility, and great wealth. What they normally don’t see are the trials, hardships, lack of funding and uncertainty which can be a significant part of the journey as well.
 

entrepreneur-man
 

A recent study showed that entrepreneurs have a high rate of depression. It is connected to the life of uncertainty, often lack of stability and ongoing hardships that entrepreneurs face at times. Obviously, that’s not all of what entrepreneurship is but you better know before you go into it that these factors certainly amount for some of it.

So, these are the top 5 ways to know if you are cut out to be an entrepreneur.

1. Are You Able to Deal with Uncertainties?

At some point in your business, or your career of entrepreneurship, you will face uncertainty. No matter who you are or what type of business you open, uncertainty is most certainly to be a part of your path. It doesn’t mean you can’t create certain pieces to put you in the best position, but what it does mean is that even with that being the case, uncertainty is guaranteed to be an element you face along the way.

There can be uncertainty around staffing, finances and reaching goals among other things. But it is crucial to be able to handle the uncertainties and not allow them to slow you down or stop you from moving forward in your business venture.
 

entrepreneur-woman-worried
 

2. Are You Able to be Malleable?

The reason you need to be malleable is because you are going to have to take some hits and curveballs along the way. There will be times when what you expected to occur doesn’t happen and what you hadn’t expected will. So, you must know how to move with the flow of things and to be adaptable to the differing circumstances you will face on your path.

Check out Part 2 of this article here.


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The Importance of Making Boundaries Part of Your Business Life – Part 2

The Importance of Making Boundaries Part of Your Business Life – Part 2

This is a continuation of Part 1.

When I started to rebuild my businesses during the Great Recession, it was my goal to be able to create a core business that I could run part-time, from anywhere in the world, but not have its revenue suffer. I had colleagues who had done it successfully and I was determined to do it as well. I wanted to only have to work three days a week for a max of 20 hours and not have to work on weekends.
 

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I am very grateful to say that I have created that life for myself. I built my personal development company so that I could live that life I had only dreamed of. But it could only be done by creating definite boundaries and restrictions in my business.

Many people ask me how I get so much done. It’s quite simple. I schedule all the things I need to do and those are the only things I focus on. When it’s time for me to do something else, I turn my attention to that. I don’t waste time answering phones, replying to emails or surfing social media when I’m suppose to be doing something else.

I schedule downtime for myself regularly, because that will allow me to be the most creative and allow me to work at my highest level. I studied what works best for me and I work and stay within those parameters.
 

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You can create whatever type of business it is you desire. You are the captain of your own ship. You are the decider. You are the rule maker. It is up to you to determine what that life looks like for yourself, create a roadmap to get you there, get whatever support you need to make it happen and then just do it.

We are rapidly approaching a new year. Make 2019 the entrance of the life and business you have always dreamed of. You only have yourself to make it happen and if I can assist you along the way, please just reach out to me. Your new life and your new business awaits you as soon as you take the leap of faith to make it happen. All of your dreams are waiting on the other side.


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The Importance of Making Boundaries Part of Your Business Life – Part 1

The Importance of Making Boundaries Part of Your Business Life – Part 1

Entrepreneurs and business owners know that owning and running a business is usually a full-time job. Many times, it flows over into your off hours, weekends, holidays and everything in between. However, I am a hardcore believer in creating boundaries, especially with your business.

If your boundaries are not managed appropriately, your business will very soon take over your entire world. It will take over your private life. It will consume and affect your relationships if left unchecked. And although it may be good for your business, ultimately you can be left devastated by the effects personally.
 

stressed-entrepeneur
 

I had a client who attributed the lack of boundaries in her business to the separation of her marriage. She had allowed her business to consume her life. She shared with me that she no longer focused or spent time with her husband, because she was too consumed with everything at work. She was very honest in sharing that it was the single cause in the downfall of her relationship. But I’m happy to share that after a year of being separated, they came back together and are now so much happier, because she made the necessary changes in her work life to support a healthy personal life and marriage.

One way to counter such potential devastation is to create specific, useful boundaries that you stick to in your business. Separate work time from private time. Schedule your days – specify specific days and hours for working, meetings, dinners and events. But you must stick to it. Make sure you are designating free time for yourself, your family and your intimate relationship if you have one.
 

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Before the real estate market collapsed, a decade ago, I use to be one of those entrepreneurs who was overtaken with work. My businesses totally consumed me. Almost all of my work was quite enjoyable for me, so I didn’t initially see the harm. I also didn’t have any real boundaries designated around my work. It was just work, work, work all of the time.

I come from a family of entrepreneurs. Both of my parents are entrepreneurs and they come from the school of working all the time and talking about business anytime, anywhere for anything. For me, after the market collapse and having to deal with all of the fallout and cleanup from it, I knew that when I rebuilt my business life, I had to do it very differently. No more late nights regularly, working on the weekend and non-existing vacations. I had to start creating new business structures for my businesses and create some serious, significant boundaries.

Check out Part 2 of this article on Friday.


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