Starting 2014 Right With A Strong Marketing Strategy (That Won’t Break The Bank)
I came across a compilation of 19 shoestring-budget strategies that will help you connect with your target audience without going broke – exactly what a small business needs to expand their presence and stay financially healthy.
Here are my suggestions to move these ideas to implementation.
1: Pick three out of the list and focus on them. If you try to tackle the entire list, you will do a mediocre or poor job for all of them. Then, once those are done, move to the next three. The greatest ideas fail at implementation because we bite off more than we chew.
2: Determine what you can outsource, and what you need to manage yourself. For example, if you decide to join a Chamber, you personally need to cultivate those relationships, so ensure you have enough time to be present in the organization. If you decide to write a blog, you need to build your editorial calendar and write your blogs, but can outsource the mechanics of posting and sharing.
As a small business owner, deciding how and where you will dedicate your very limited time is essential to your success.
3: Finally, if an idea isn’t working for you, pivot quickly. Drop the tactic and move on. It’s all about figuring out what works best for you at this point in time.
Here is the link to the complete presentation.
Here are the tips:
Why Am I Here? Finding Your Path to Authentic Leadership
How do we define our deepest desire? And if we don’t know it, how can we get to where we are supposed to be? How do we reach our destiny? It’s so easy to lose sight of the “why” behind our daily deeds. When we lose connection to the “why,” weariness and hopelessness creeps in. We often work in a reactive mode, answering phone calls, emails, and the needs of others. We envelop ourselves in deadlines. Every day that we go to work, we are slaves to checklists. What is our larger purpose behind it all?
Setting Yourself Up for 2014 Success
What can you do between now and January 1st to ensure your 2014 is your best year yet?
One of my most impactful success strategies is having accountability partners. I have two accountability partners. One keeps me on track with all aspects of my life… My entire to-do list for Information Experts, Successful Culture, my writing, my media strategy, my family, my friendships, and my health & wellness. My whole life is organized according to the spreadsheet I deliver to her in preparation for our weekly Thursday morning calls.
My second accountability partner keeps me on track with my Successful Culture growth strategy. We learn together, build our business plans together, share best practices, put deadlines in place for growth milestones; and we are even planning a series of co-branded live events in 2014. We have all-day monthly planning meetings, as well as twice-monthly phone check-ins.
Embracing the Leadership Legacy of Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela has come to the end of his long walk to freedom. He joins some of the greatest leaders in history – Lincoln, King, Gandhi, Gorbachev, Kennedy, and the Dalai Lama – as a man who dedicated his life to unity, equality, and creating a world that is guided by compassion, tolerance, and justice.
Mandela’s passing provides us the opportunity to examine our own leadership traits. I’ve identified 8 traits that I believe defined Mandela’s life and leadership. These are traits that I have always tried to carry through my 20 years of entrepreneurship, and it’s not been easy. Mandela has inspired me to try harder; I hope he inspires you too.
Monday Mindfulness: Appreciating The Pause
As much of the country is blanketed in snow and ice, this is a perfect time to pause… to take a deep breath, notice the beauty of our surroundings, and slow down. Yes, the snow wreaks havoc on our well-assembled plans. School is canceled, day-care is closed, meetings and appointments are pushed aside, our travel plans are either rescheduled or delayed.
Fortunately for most of us, however, the winter weather is nothing more than an inconvenience.
Two of my favorite things about the snow (besides snow angels) are the way it falls in solitude, and the visual effect it has on our landscape. Both of these gifts are actually deceptive, for beneath the snow lies Spring. While we are in the moment of the winter solstice, we shift focus away from the fact that just beneath our feet, and also just above our heads is growing grass and budding trees & flowers. Even in the stillness and solitude of a snowstorm, Spring life continues to push forward.
Monday Mindfulness: Purposeful Listening for Greater Connection
There is a big difference between “hearing” and “listening.” We often hear the people around us, whether engaged in a group dialogue or one-to-one discussion, but we don’t always “listen.”
Especially in today’s environment where there are so many platforms to speak, we are bombarded with noise and messages that dissolve into useless babble.
Ideally, the art of conversation is an intentional exchange between two like-minded individuals that is mutually beneficial, and creates connection and harmony. In this circumstance, the two participants are equal partners. The speaker is active, and the listener is receptive. A conversation in which someone is speaking but no one is listening – either intentionally or non-intentionally – creates disharmony in the conversation and the relationship.
Making a Partnership Work
Businesses can’t grow without strategic partnerships. When thoughtfully selected, the right partner can enhance a company’s client base, capabilities, market presence, and overall brand. When selected poorly, the wrong partner can result in wasted time, energy, and resources, with nothing to show for your efforts, and can potentially harm your company or reputation.
Want Credibility? Be Your Own Client. Would You Hire Yourself?
No one would buy a luxury home from a builder living in a shack, or trust a wealth manager that was financially irresponsible. When we evaluate the skills of web designers or graphic artists, we ask to see a portfolio of work, and we visit their sites.
Our own actions give us credibility, or they discredit us. There is no in-between.
Would you hire yourself?
Every Day is Independence Day for Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurship is as American as apple pie, baseball, and SpongeBob Squarepants. The essence behind entrepreneurship is the freedom to live a professional life that has the most meaning to you – to not be defined by someone else’s value system, personal vision & goals, and decisions. But with that freedom comes tremendous accountability, responsibility, and risk.
As SpongeBob and Patrick so eloquently discussed, entrepreneurship has unlimited possibilities. With entrepreneurship, we are limited only by our own vision (and money – but we can often find it if we look in the right places). However, entrepreneurship does bring its own pain and suffering with it, so to answer Patrick’s question, yes entrepreneurship can hurt at times.
Eight Lessons for Success (And Some Other Insights) by Barbara Corcoran
I had the privilege of speaking at the National Women Business Owners Corporation (NWBOC – www.nwboc.org) conference last week in Palm Beach, Florida. One of the highlights of the conference (where 200 women business owners came together to learn, share, and connect) was keynote Barbara Corcoran. Barbara is one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the country. She took a $1,000 loan to start her real estate company, The Corcoran Group, which she grew into a $5 billion business. She sold the firm for $66 million in 2001.
Barbara is also a host and investor on ABC’s Shark Tank. During the last three seasons, she has bought 11 new businesses. She is also the author of three best-selling books, and is a regular small business and real estate contributor on all of the major networks.
Like all great entrepreneurs, Barbara’s journey to success has been filled with wonderful lessons. I have summarized them here for you.
