Monday, August 29, 2016

12 Traits That Separate Entrepreneurs from Everyone Else

advice-entrepreneurs-want-invest-no-idea-start_56730341
12 Traits That Separate Entrepreneurs from Everyone Else
Building a company from the ground up requires a tremendous amount of confidence, creativity, innovation, motivation, self-awareness, focus and persistence. It’s the reason why everyone can’t make it as an entrepreneur.
Here are some of the ways entrepreneurs see the world differently from the average person:
  1. They See Money as a Way to Make More Money
When entrepreneurs receive an influx of money, they search for a smart way to invest it in a business opportunity that can yield an even higher return. They make plans and never think of wasting the money somewhere else.
  1. They Have an Ability to Become Intensely Focused
Time and attention are the only truly finite constraints. Successful entrepreneurs are absurdly conscious of that fact and tend to become highly organized and intolerant of inefficiencies. They’re laser focused and try to maximize their time in the best way possible.
3. They Manage to Be Positive Realists
To make smart gambles– and that’s what becoming rich entails– you need an honest appreciation of odds that few possess. Successful entrepreneurs tend not to be too optimistic or too pessimistic. They know that downs and ups are a part of their journey to success and, hence, always proceed with a backup plan.
They’re able to understand that, for a large number of reasons, their venture can collapse entirely. They adequately prepare for difficulties, but have enough idealism to take on big risks.
  1. They See Obstacles as Opportunities
Average people see difficulty as a chance to give up, but entrepreneurs see unexpected challenges as a way to make their companies even stronger.
Thomas Edison perfectly illustrated this when he used the accidental destruction of his production plant in 1914 as a way to rebuild his business in a streamlined way and get his team to work harder and more efficiently. Within a year, his company had not only recovered, but was bringing in more revenue than ever before.
  1. They Focus on Opportunity Cost
Entrepreneurs make every decision by comparing options and seeing which one will yield the most value. Whatever they do, they make sure the value created is larger than the cost of resources used.
  1. They Understand the Business World and Current Scenario Better
This quality, if not understood better, can prove fatal for a young entrepreneur and the startup world. It hurts to see bright engineers, who have an amazing product but have no idea how a business model works, how they will raise money, or how to market and position themselves in the competitive landscape to succeed.
  1. They Think of Ideas beyond Their Capabilities
True entrepreneurs are always thinking about growth opportunities. Rather than act practically and work within their comfort zones, they push themselves into situations that will require them to stretch their skills or force them to recruit more talent to turn their aspirations into reality.
  1. They Have Vision
Entrepreneurs are driven by the idea that they have the solution to a certain problem, and they need to implement it. And they do it without fear of being mocked or rejected for trying things differently.
Entrepreneurs see something that needs to get done; a product that must be offered, a problem that must be solved, and they feel so deeply about these things that they can face the opposition when starting a business.
  1. They Have Something to Prove
They have high levels of self-confidence, a sense of inner self-belief that drives them and keeps them motivated; it’s extremely important for them to believe they are special. They work hard to prove it and realize their dreams.

10. They Are Self-Aware and Optimistic
A young entrepreneur needs to have a bulletproof mindset and be able to influence others even during the worst times. There are ups and downs in business, and that has to be tackled with confidence. They need to be well aware of their strengths and weaknesses and constantly build up areas where they are lacking.

11. They Are Paranoid, but with Perfect Vision
I believe the best entrepreneurs develop a healthy balance of paranoia and confidence. They’re realistic and vigilant while, at the same time, never lacking the gumption to believe their vision is.

12. They Are Intuitive, Creative, Productive, Persistent, Innovative and Patient
To sum up all the above points, I think the above traits listed are enough for someone to become a successful and good entrepreneur and these traits do make them stand way ahead of other people.

Successful entrepreneurs are absurdly conscious of that fact and tend to become highly organized and intolerant of inefficiencies. Successful entrepreneurs tend not to be too optimistic or too pessimistic. Entrepreneurs make every decision by comparing options and seeing which one will yield the most value. A young entrepreneur needs to have a bulletproof mindset and be able to influence others even during the worst times.

Results Are Your Best Source of Credibility

building-credibility
Results Are Your Best Source of Credibility
In most of business promotions for affiliate programs, they show their highest earners’ results and tell their stories because these are the people who demonstrate the potential of the program. Are their results typical? No, they are not and they are upfront about that: not everyone is going to be as successful as those super-earners. Never tell people how great your offer is. In most of our promotions for our affiliate program, we show our highest earners’ results and tell their stories because these are the people who demonstrate the potential of the program.
Nothing Fails Like …
Hiring manager: “So, Mr. Smith, why should I hire you for this position?”
Mr. Smith: “Because I am the best person for the job.”
I probably don’t have to go any further with this scenario, do I? In your mind, you can see the hiring manager rolling his eyes?
To be fair, no one is really “average.” Regular people– those who are just starting in online marketing– can still achieve remarkable results.It’s sad to say, but the “average” person doesn’t exert a lot of effort. Obviously, to make five, six, and seven-figure commissions, you would have to stick with it and exert significant effort.
This holds true even with pointing to your credibility, as in, “See? So-and-so agency has given us their highest rating.” Those kinds of things certainly won’t hurt a company, but even an “A” rating with the Better Business Bureau (” BBB,” a U.S. non-profit organization which collects reviews of businesses for the purpose of promoting consumer trust) won’t stop a business’ detractors, if they have any.
Show the Best Results.
Some business opportunities offering programs are solution for people who want to have more money and more financial freedom. It’s a solution for people who want to stop working a job, stop commuting, and stop selling away their lives by the hour.
Final Thought.
We don’t go “soft” on the results that are possible, in the hopes of reducing skepticism. And we don’t focus much on, “Hey, look: we’re credible.” At the end of the day, what gets people interested are the big successes, the startling before-and-afters, and the major transformations.

For most offers out there, there is a percentage of people who will insist that it’s too good to be true. Rather than trying to assert an offer or company’s credibility, show its potential, in the form of the best results achieved. Luckily, for marketers throughout history, there is also a percentage that can look at an offer and see its potential.
Again, never tell people how great your offer is. Show them the results that it gets.

4 Steps to Rebuilding Your Motivation

4 Steps to Rebuilding Your Motivation
How do you defeat the self-inflicted agony that each one of us as humans have felt at some point or another? How do you work through the pain that hurts so much to the point that we don’t want to deal with it anymore? How do you not give up?
Here’s how:
Step 1– Understand that you are not alone.
I read about people who have been successful in life; people who seemingly have infinite motivation within them to do everything they set out to do. You and I are no different and we can take lessons from successful, motivated people and implement those strategies in our own lives.
Step 2– Start believing in yourself.
The point of feeling like you want to give up comes from becoming the victim of the negativity of your own internal dialogue. You want to give up because the conversation that takes place in your head tells you aren’t good enough, you’re not competent, you don’t have it in you, and that maybe what you’re doing isn’t worth the reward you’re expecting.
When you believe your negative thoughts and identify with them, you have no power, you feel horrible about yourself and you will lack motivation. Start to understand your own negativity by meditating for just a few minutes a day and you will find that your motivation levels rise instantly.
Step 3– Start changing your life in ways that will reflect a change in your attitude
For me, the way I stay motivated when I’m feeling down is by starting to do daily habits that are difficult, that challenge me and help me grow my willpower. Not only do you feel accomplished when you take on challenging habits, but you are literally strengthening your willpower.
What are these habits?

Waking up early helps me take time to enjoy my life, and focus on the actions I know are necessary to accomplish my goals. When you become a morning person, you begin to feel empowered, accomplished, and you create time for yourself while the rest of the world is still asleep and there are no distractions.
In order to start believing in yourself, you have to stop believing what your mind says. Stop believing the negativity that plays out in your mind and start to laugh at it. You have the power to let go of negative beliefs, and at the same time create positive beliefs that are self-empowering.
It really is about keeping your energy levels high, and challenging yourself with difficult habits. Developing these habits will help you deal with the negativity that drains you physically, mentally and emotionally.
Step 4– Surround yourself with people who exhibit qualities that you want to possess.
The most important thing you need to do in order to keep yourself motivated and positive is surround yourself with people who you want to be like rather than surrounding yourself with people who are just like you. We become the people we hang out with, and I like to say that we’re an average of the 5 people we spend the most time with.
Conclusion
Don’t give up. When you’re about to give up is the point where its most important to show up with strength and not give into the difficulty you’re facing. Just remember, this is temporary, you’re not alone, change is possible, and you have the strength in you to live the life you want.

Create The Hub For Your Business On Facebook

Create The Hub For Your Business On Facebook
Whether you want to sell products, gain subscribers, persuade followers to a point or sway the hearts and minds of readers to your cause- they’ve got to know who you are in the first place. Your ability to encourage any of these actions comes from your brand’s authority. One of the best ways to build that is through the savvy use of social media.

Facebook Competition is Rising

In fact, recent research from Econsultancy shows that 71 percent of brands plan to invest more heavily in social media in the coming year to reach new followers and build brand reputation.
Want to join their ranks and become known in your industry?

Use Social Media!

Facebook is by the far the best platform for promoting brand awareness, as nearly three quarters of Americans adults use the site.

Where to Put Your Social Media Efforts

Each of the social media platforms can be used for different purposes. I’ve found that Facebook is my best bet for reaching my audience. That is not to say that the other platforms are not valuable.
Not sure which social media platform you need to invest your time in? Here’s a few good rules to follow when using a platform to create the hub for your business.
Facebook is a great platform for promoting virtually any brand, due to its very heterogeneous user base.
Instagram is a great option for brands that rely heavily on images, such as clothing companies and retailers. It’s also particularly effective for reaching young adults, Hispanics and African Americans.
Pinterest is an excellent social network to reach women, especially for brands selling jewelry or clothing.
Twitter is perfect if you are trying to spread news and articles. It is also a good way to network with other professionals. While you may not get someone through their email, you can tweet at them to start a relationship.
Finally, if you operate a business-to-business company, LinkedIn is a stronger choice for promoting business-related content and connecting with other corporate influencers.

Learn the Best Times to Post

There are certain times of the day that you should be posting for each social media platform. If you have an internet business, then it is best to post according to the EST time zone. For those that have brick and mortar businesses, you will want to go with the times that your audience is on.
Here are some suggestions to stick with when it comes to posting for best engagement.

Use the Value, Value, Offer Method

When you post, be sure to use the value, value, offer method. This is where you will post at least two value based posts for every offer based post that you share. If you bombard people with your offers, you will turn them off.

You Are a Brand- It’s Time to Share Your Personal Brand With Others

You Are a Brand- It’s Time to Share Your Personal Brand With Others


What is a perfect example of a brand? You, my friend, are a brand.
An artist. A photographer. Life coach. Presentation expert. Alternative energy entrepreneur. Website developer. Skin care clinician.
This is not a trend. This is social media, publishing, marketing, sales, work, play, passion and everything you read about all rolled into one.

1. Define your audience.

Tell yourself this: The focus of your blog—and all of your content—must be your readers. What do they need? What are their pains? How can you help them?
Of course, doing guesswork is possible, but chances are, you’ll run the risk of being wrong. One ideal way to removing the guesswork is to conduct a survey. You can ask a few specific questions to uncover demographic and psychographic information.
From the results of your survey, you’ll be able to profile your audience and work toward developing a more focused content with a higher probability of connecting with your readers.

2. Create a clear value proposition.

What is the unique thing that you can offer to your audience? Are they going to get something from investing their time in your content? What resources do you offer? Do you offer resources to help people work smarter? Leadership insights? These are just some examples of questions you should be asking yourself before proceeding.
What you need to do is to create a succinct and simple answer and you have your value proposition. However, you may have to experiment with your value proposition and revise it from time to time.
What will serve as the framework for all your efforts is your clear value proposition .

3. Write a compelling brand slogan.

Always be aware of the level of noise in media today and then recognize how critical it will be to make a strong impression quickly.
A great way to address this challenge is to put your value proposition into a slogan.
Here are some good examples:
  • Lifehacker’s slogan is “Tips, tricks, and downloads for getting things done.”
  • Social Media Examiner claims to be “Your guide to the social media jungle.”
  • Ramit Sethi promises, “I will teach you to be rich.”
  • Feldman Creative promises to “Turn on the power of online marketing.”
Now, how can you summarize your brand promise in a concise slogan?

4. Show yourself.

Of course, the best thing you should remember is that people want to connect with people, not merely brands.
One way is presenting a great photo of yourself which helps establish credibility and build trust. It also helps you connect via social media.
You can do this by simply getting a great headshot that captures the real, authentic you. You can invest in a professional photo shoot or if you prefer not to part with the money, hit up a friend with a quality camera and a command of portrait photography.
Always go into the session with a plan. You have to tell the photographer the impression that you aim to create, the you you’re looking to capture.
After reviewing the photos, pick one headshot to use on your website and across all your social media networks.
  • Working at your computer
  • Analyzing your client’s data
  • Coaching one-on-one
  • Facilitating a small group meeting
  • Recording a podcast
  • Shooting a video
  • Speaking before a large crowd
  • Autographing your book at an event
  • For the photo that will serve you best is simply you looking into the lens smiling, looking friendly and approachable—with no distractions.

5. Establish a look.

Any brand that is memorable, your personal brand included, should present itself consistently. Using a variety of logos, colors, and fonts will confuse your audience.
Develop a look for your personal brand with simply the following:
A professionally designed logo
A pleasing color palette
A limited menu of fonts
Then you can now apply the standards you created to everything—your website, business cards, advertising, etc.
For now, you’re off to a good start….

TIPS on Customer Service That Make Your Business BOOM


Customer service is the key to keeping your business bubbling along, without this important element supporting your business you will lose customers as quick as your attracting them.
CUSTOMER SERVICE USES
There are many ways that customer service grows your business its the human element of just wanting acceptance and become part of the community in which could be as simple as welcoming the new member, or having the virtual assistant watching your new Facebook group that you have formed and being there to answer simple questions and comments.
AMAZON - SHOPIFY - EBAY STORES
These stores rely heavily on you the owner to have the best customer support possible to help keep people with quick response times to questions, to give login information and be responsive to reviews that they write to know that they are being heard.
These simple steps are the way to have repeat customers that turn into raving fans that bring you more business. Doesn't it make sense to spend advertising dollars once and then to keep them for repeat customers they're after all then costing you absolutely nothing to retain.
Many customers just want to have their questions answered or follow up their orders or how to apply a code to give them the discount off the full price you are offering. To keep the customer happy it all comes down to quick response time to questions in order to avoid frustrations, which leads to refunds and buyers remorse.
Research reveals that customers want human interaction not something that frustrates them like a recorded message or phone prompts they want to speak to a human voice to answer questions quickly.
It may be something as simple as logging on people get stumped and annoyed when they can't get access to products that they have just purchased. This delay in getting back to them with a solution to their problem gets them upset and writes reviews that are sometimes unpleasant and will hurt your future business.
With all the hard work that goes behind a launch of a new product or service with advertising and webinars I have seen personally the numbers of new sign ups drop off dramatically between 25-30% due to no customer service. This is leaving money on the table.
WEBINARS
What about shopping cart abandonment this happens a lot and many businesses just send an email to get lost amongst the many emails that people get sent wouldn't your company stand out from others to pick up the phone and ask them "was there a problem - how can we help you?"
WELCOME CALL
There are some clients who will say nothing and will never take the next step because they are unsure of the next step in your program or service. A follow up call warms the person and shows warmth of your company.
This only takes a few minutes and something like "Hi Mary this is Dan from ABC Company, just giving you a courtesy call to first to welcome you to our company and to see if I can help you with and questions."
How good does that customer feel now, first they are acknowledged and secondly they have an opportunity to say if there is a problem and have someone help them.
We at Need a VA have known the human touch is so important in growing your business we personally help variety of businesses, product launches and services increase their bottom line just by being there to help their customers.
Contact us through the website http://needava.com or email us at info@needava.com today to see how we can help you.

How an Outsourcing Team Can Grow Your Business



Have you thought of an outsourcing team before to grow your business? I wish to share with you the simple steps that you can take to increase the bottom line easily and economically.
Tim Ferriss who wrote the now famous "the 4 hour work week" showed the world how you can work less and earn more. The whole concept intrigued and open people's mind about using virtual assistants in 3rd world countries who are by the way well educated and highly trained.
With the knowledge in hand that there are people who can work for a 3rd of a cost of labor in their own countries then came the challenge of how do you train them and what can they do and I will now show you how you do both of these.
First things first:
Do you provide a service or have you an office based business for your clients?
  • Bookkeeping
  • SEO
  • Website Design for
  • Social Media
  • Article Writing
  • Amazon, Shopify or eBay store
All of these listed services can be outsourced and here is the exciting thing that happens you will be able to expand your business and take on extra clients and then outsource them and this will increase your bottom line.
I have personally seen outsource teams grow from only 1 or 2 virtual assistants to a team of 7-10+ VA's now that tells me the business is expanding. One of our clients came to us with only 1 Shopify store that we helped set up and train the customer service and with in 6 months they opened a further 5 stores!
Need To Train Staff
All businesses run a little differently you would not set a person up in your office and say there you go now you get to work. That would be setting yourself up for failure.
Online there is no limit to the training you can set up effortlessly. For example you could arrange to run a webinar and share and record your training, or you could do a short video and lastly a well written email in dot point.
Spend the time giving the necessary training that you would give any new employee.
What about other businesses?
Small start-up businesses normally start on a shoestring budget and want to do it all themselves and don't get me wrong it is good to have an understanding but I disagree that you need to be able to do yourself. If you look at the following list of "to do" tasks within a business, there is not any creative time in there for you to grow!
If you are doing everything yourself like:
  • Bookkeeping
  • Social media
  • Marketing
  • SEO on your website
  • General admin tasks
  • Video editing
  • Blog promotion
  • Customer Service
Where would you possibly get the time necessary to grow your business? Even if you worked 15-16 hour days how well would you do either of these tasks? You need to outsource, put a dollar value on your time and if you are worth more than $8.50 per hour you should look at getting your own VA.
So there you have it, the only way you can grow your business and increase productivity is to outsource and develop a team within a team.
If you are sick of burning the midnight oil missing family events to work on your business it now time to work less and grow your business by first outsourcing smaller tasks and growing your own virtual assistant team.
Only then will you see the growth in your business contact us at http://needava.com or email me at info@needava.com

How To Communicate With Your Virtual Assistant



Before we start on how to communicate with your virtual assistant lets look at how you find the perfect VA for your task. One of the first things is to do is make a list of all of the daily tasks that you are currently doing within your business and then remove the tasks that only you can do, all of the remaining tasks you can outsourced.
Now you have the list the skills that you will need your virtual assistant to do you may need more than one VA:
· Someone that is technical
· Has video editing experience
· Article writing
· Social media skills
· SEO
It's unreasonable to think that the one virtual assistant would have all of these skills they may have one or two but the only way to see if they can complete their task is always to test them. Have them do a short test with a time frame to have this back to you.
How to communicate with your virtual assistant.
As I see all the emails that come into my company the challenge for most people is how to be understood. English is not the first language of the Filipino VA they can get very confused with clients that want to give a long story in their email about the task which is not necessary at all.
If you have a number of tasks keep the tasks to sharp, succinct and dot point works best in step order so the tasks flows best.
What I love to teach new clients about is the use of Jing software that can either record a 5 minute video where you can talk and show the virtual assistant where to find the information for the task or have them move it to another area.
Also it has screen capture that allows you to take a photo of the screen and then circle or use arrows to point to what you need to happen.
When a task comes back to you please check it thoroughly and give it back to the VA for corrections and or comments.
Further suggestions:
  • On a Sunday I do my to do list for the tasks that need to be done by the following week. This means that all the work will be given for the week to the VA.
  • Keep the work flow to manageable and easy to follow steps
  • This will cut down on the number of emails
Need a VA is a virtual assistant outsourcing company based in the Philippines we have 9 different areas of the business that all have trained and expert staff ready to help you grow your business. Also there is a project manager that will manage all of your tasks. Please contact me here at http://www.needava.com for expert outsourcing.

Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Media & The City Edition of The Bon Bon Magazine

I’ve been working hard with Bonnie Bruderer cooking up a great event for women Freedom-preneurs. A new show is due to come out in the fall called, Brand It. This is a show that is modeled after, Making It.

Media & The City Featured in The Bon Bon Magazine

As part of the promotions for this event and the new show, a new edition of The Bon Bon Magazine will be released featuring a woman from Brand It. This first edition of the magazine has already come out to create buzz about this incredible thing that we are doing.
Be sure to check it out through the link below-

The Bon Bon Magazine

In this edition, they share about the event along with spotlighting one of the ladies that will be on the show. Also, you will find out information about the other shows that are coming out this fall.

The Magazine Will Feature Spectacular Women and Their Brands

It is hard to imagine, but this is going to be HUGE!!! As the weeks have gone on, Bonnie and I have been working to set these ladies up for success. All of these women have powerful brands that they are ready to unleash to the world.
Some of these fabulous ladies include:

Dr. Lesya Anna 

Inge Hart 

Di Downie 

Jodi Harman

Erica Kristene 

Liliana Aguirre 

Darviny D  

Christine Robinson 

Rhonda Swan 

Patty Alfonso 

Kalpna Suthar

Bonnie Bruderer

All of these women have worked hard to develop products and services that are sexy. I’ve been working with each one on one to refine their message so that they are ready to share it with the world.
I know they are ready for the world, but is the world ready for them?

There’s Nothing Like Brand It

What is so incredible about this new show is that there is nothing else like it. We have invited 12 entrepreneurs that are all women, to come and be a part of this show. The synergy is growing day by day as these ladies encourage one another on in their businesses.
I believe that this show is going to be the first of many seasons that will truly bring hope to up and coming Freedom-preneurs. I for one am feeling excited to see where it goes.

Want to Be On The Show?

If you have a brand that you want us to help you sexify and showcase on Brand It, be sure to learn more through the link below. We would love to see your brand on television along with other great women.

Media and The City Event