Category Archive : Business

6 Habits That You can Learn From Highly Effective Entrepreneurs

Effectiveness will help you in producing the results that you desire. The most successful entrepreneurs are also the most effective people. They know how to work smarter and how to eliminate wasted time. You can’t become successful if you are lazy. Also, effectiveness can be only achieved by routine and discipline. You can’t achieve it just because you are talented. Successful entrepreneurs try to be organized and detailed. They know how to execute their plans. In this article, we are going to talk about 6 Habits that you can learn from highly effective entrepreneurs. 

1. Visionary 

Most entrepreneurs will spend a lot of their time thinking and visioning. You can become innovative by following a strict routine. The most powerful asset for an entrepreneur is imagination. It will help you in dreaming about new things. You can convert these dreams into reality by acting on them. Successful entrepreneurs don’t limit their creativity and success. They try to have a positive impact on other lives. 

2. Early Risers

Most successful entrepreneurs are early risers. They start their day by visualizing their dreams first. Some entrepreneurs also start their day from physical activity. They use this method for waking themselves up. You can get your blood pumping by doing physical activity. This will ensure that your mind is active and alert. You will get extra time to collect your thoughts and create a schedule. This will help you in organizing your day.

3. Sleep

If you want to be effective, then you should understand the importance of sleep. The more you will sleep the sharper you will become. Sleep will help you in decreasing your stress levels. However, lack of sleep can have a negative impact on your body. It will increase your stress levels which will disturb your entire sleep cycle. You need to manage your poor sleeping patterns for improving your affectivity. 

4. Flexible 

Successful entrepreneurs are also flexible. They can change their routine according to the circumstances. You should be flexible as it will increase the chances of success. It will also help you in enhancing your own growth. You should follow a simple routine as it will ensure that you can easily change it. Effective entrepreneurs are more productive because they only need the essentials. They can do their work from even a simple office.

5. Curious 

Boredom can kill the success of entrepreneurs. Thus, entrepreneurs should make sure that they are never getting bored. They will always spend their time on productivity things. Effective entrepreneurs are curious about everything. This will ensure that they are always asking questions and looking for new ideas. They don’t drain their creative reservoirs because they are always curious about new ideas. Elon Musk is the best example of this thing. If he is curious about a new idea, then he directly starts creating a plan. He has become the most successful entrepreneur just due to his curiosity and hard work. If you are curious, then you will never run out of ideas. 

6. Simplicity

Simplicity will also help you in improving your effectiveness. Most successful entrepreneurs are following simple but practical routines. You can avoid a large workload by creating a simple routine. It is very difficult for entrepreneurs to handle a huge amount of workload. You can only achieve good results if you are not under a lot of stress. Thus, you should set some limits on your schedule. Make sure that you are not working too hard every day. It can affect both your mental and physical health. The only way to become effective is by doing self-care. 

Meet Serial Entrepreneur Jeff Lopes of the Jeff Knows Inc. Podcast Show

The Jeff Knows Inc. is a Entrepreneurial podcast, hosted by Jeff Lopes.  Jeff has over 2 decades experience as a serial entrepreneur.  Building brands like Kimurawear from his home basement to a multi-million dollar global brand that has sold over a quarter million pairs of boxing gloves worldwide.  Jeff’s here to educate, guide and drive you on the process from bringing your ideas and dreams to reality, with the inspiring stories from some of the top business minds.  

Tell us how you got started off: 
 I have always been a hustler, from selling sports cards at a young age, to registering and operating my first business before the age of 17, it has always seemed becoming an entrepreneur was part of my DNA.   My businesses have always been created with as a passion project and that is why I feel, most of my ventures have always succeeded.  Don’t get me wrong, I have had my taste of failure, I take those moments as lessons that fuel me to work even harder.  My passion for branding has allowed me to build brands, that are fueled by what I love doing.  

  Talk to us about your current businesses and stages for each
 I have two main companies I have founded and currently operate.  The first is Kimurawear, which I founded in Jan 2006 as a Boxing and Martial Art Equipment Brand, by creating unique and forward thinking active training and lifestyle products.  The brand grew from a home office start up to now selling in over 1800 gyms across North America and the brand has now sold over a quarter million pairs of boxing gloves.   My second company I have founded and currently operate is True Blue Homes, which is Holding company for Real Estate and has a portfolio of commercial properties and vacation rentals properties.  The vacation rental business is one I am very passionate about. I currently own and operate 4 vacation properties in a four season resort in Blue Mountains and currently working on building a 16 acres resort in Muskoka, which is a gorgeous, popular vacation destination for Canadians.   

What is the most rewarding part for you about what you do?  
Being an entrepreneur has been hands down is the most rewarding thing for me.  The reason is the 3 “F” Bombs – Freedom, Freedom, and Freedom.

1. Freedom to wake up each day and follow your passions by creating and developing things you love.

2. Freedom to spend quality time with your family and loved ones and be able to pick up and make your own schedule.

3. Freedom to make you rich, not stuck at a 9 to 5 job, behind a desk making someone else rich.

What have been some of the biggest lessons about overcoming obstacles and failure that you have learned throughout your business journey?
The two biggest lessons I learned as an entrepreneur are: 1. Always be ready to be the hardest worker in the room, no matter how successful you become the minute you take your foot off the pedal, there is always someone in your rear view mirror trying to pass you.   I learned very early, when you taste a bit of success it’s easy to feel, you have made it.  That feeling changes, quickly when your competitors, start taking a bigger share of the pie in your space.  That feeling forced me to understand, to be on top, and stay on top, you cannot question or fear early morning and late nights and always be the hardest worker in the room, which will motivate your employees to work as hard as they can. 2. Believe in your vision and passion, there will always be doubters and individuals that will question your concepts and goals, you cannot waste energy on those individuals, focus your energy on obtaining your goals you have set.  When I started Kimurawear over 15 years ago, I had plenty of doubters, questioning my new venture, saying it was too small of an industry or too hard of a market to break into.  I find this great pleasure in proving people wrong, and the negativity and questioning, seem to fuel my passion to succeed.  Always understand the individuals that questions and try and stop you from your dreams, are doing that because they are too scared to follow their own dreams and do not want to see other succeed. 

Tell us about any new or upcoming projects you are working on

 I have been doing business consulting, for the past three years, not as a business, but more of passion, giving back to young entrepreneurs and passing on my knowledge I have obtained over the last 24 years.  Recently I turned that passion in to a fun project, The Jeff Knows Inc. Show, an entrepreneurial podcast.  The podcast is driven around; successful entrepreneurs true life stories from around the globe. Never in a million years had I ever thought the podcast would grow so rapidly, it’s quickly turned from a passion project to now a longer term goal of mine, as an outlet to pass on knowledge and lessons to entrepreneurs around the globe.  The amount of quality guests we have had on and have lined up to appear is extraordinary.  Just having down to earth business and life conversations with these guests,  is so awarding, I feel I am constantly learning and growing as an entrepreneur myself.  

  Leave us with some words of advice you can offer to aspiring and current entrepreneurs?

 The three things I tell all entrepreneurs is:
1. Find a passion and turn it into a business, the greatest gift of entrepreneurship is waking up each day and doing what you love.

2.  Set Goals on a personal level and your business and write them down.  I like setting quarterly goals every three months, as that period is short enough not to get bored, but long enough to achieve something special.  Once you have created your goals, now create a process to achieve those goals.   Each goal should have a step by step process to reaching that goal and I truly mean a step by step process.  

How have you used social media to help leverage your brand?
We live in an age of technology, everyone now a day has a smart device around them at all times, and as a business if you do not leverage that, you are going to fail.  Social media is a massive part of our marketing budget and we utilize social media to help continually growing all of the brands, from Kimurawear to all the way to the Jeff Knows Inc. Show. 

What are 3 fun facts most people don’t know about you?
1. I have an obsession over buying watches and sneakers. I currently have over 20 plus watches and seem to buy new sneakers ever few months.  This all stems from years back, I had an entrepreneur I looked up to, that never dressed up, put on a pair of jeans, nice watch and some new sneakers and was able to walk into a room with suited up CEO’s and still control the room.   He always said, as long as you have a nice watch, new clean sneakers and confidence in who you are, that will resonate and others will want to surround themselves around you.

2. I have a passion for fast older American Muscle cars. A few years back I took a 1979 Camaro which was parked in my parent’s garage for over 20 years and did a full bumper to bumper restoration and did ,most of the work myself.

3. I enjoy getting my hands dirty, and building and creating on my own.  I am a strong believer in sweat equity and a big portion of my rental businesses I have personally done most of the full renovations myself.   I love creating and I always start with a vision in my mind and find joy in seeing the step by step process in the creation of my vision.

To learn more about Jeff and listen to the podcast, visit www.JeffKnowsInc.com

How to Create a Unique Brand Identity

Consumers are becoming more powerful in the modern business landscape. The market is already saturated and consumers are bombarded with hundreds of marketing messages. Thus, even small businesses are now working on their brand identity. In this article, we are going to share some simple tips that will help you in creating a unique brand identity. 

Definition of Brand Identity:

Branding is a communication strategy that will help your consumers in identifying your brand. It is the most important thing in competitive markets. If you have created a unique brand identity, then your customers will automatically recognize your brand. It will help you in increasing both your sales and customer retention rate. You should focus on creating a unique brand identity as it will help you in becoming an industry leader.

1. Be Different 

You should look for a key selling point that only you can offer to your customers. Make sure that you are pushing these qualities forward to your ideal customer base. This will help you in convincing your customers. There are thousands of businesses in every sector. You need a unique selling point for attracting customers towards your brand. Coca-cola is the best example of this point. They have become famous due to their unique taste and unique bottle packaging. Coca-cola is branding its drinks as refreshing drinks that you can have after working hard in the office. Thus, they have successfully associated their brand with happiness, freedom, and celebration. 

2. Consistent Visual Expression 

Visual elements can help you in creating a unique brand identity. Your customers can identify your brand by your brand name and logo. The logo is the most important visual element. Your customers will always notice your brand logo first. For example, you can easily recognize the apple brand by its logo. 

3. Give a voice to your brand 

You can make your brand identity unique by personifying your entire brand. The visual elements will help you in creating your brand personality. However, your brand voice is also important for your business. You should first research about your target consumers. Make sure that you are using a specific tone that will help you in attracting these customers. You can associate your brand with various different personalities. For example, deodorant brands mostly associate themselves with a playful personality. Make sure that the voice of your brand is an actual representation of your entire brand. Also, your brand’s visual expression and voice should match. They should always remain consistent. You can’t use colorful visuals with a professional tone. If you want to send a strong brand message, then you should ensure that your brand voice and visual expression are matching with each other.

4. Create an amazing brand experience 

You can’t attract new customers just by relying on aesthetics. It is important to create an amazing brand experience for your consumers. Customers will go for the brands that have similar values. If consumers can associate themselves with your brand, then they will definitely buy your product. This will also help you in building a loyal customer base. The brand experience should help you in creating a unique connection with your customers. You can use visual expressions and your brand voice for creating a unique brand experience. However, make sure that your customers are directly interacting with your brand. You should always try to provide a good customer experience. This will help you in increasing your customer retention rate.

Conclusion 

These are some simple tips that you can use for creating a unique brand identity. Branding has become the most important thing for modern businesses. Even small businesses can succeed by creating a unique brand identity. 

Why Small Businesses Need an Online Presence/Website?

The world is online! The Internet is booming with leaps and bounds, and you can’t deny it. Having a business these days mean being online and giving your clients access to reach you through anywhere in the world. A website in these times is not only a great way to introduce your products and services; it also to acknowledge your customers that you exist. The consumer market now is heavily relying on the Internet from purchasing something to seeing its reviews. The following are some of the reasons why small businesses and start-ups must have an online presence. 

1. It looks professional:

A website will always prove your business to be of credibility. When your clients find you online, they instantly hit with the idea that you are safe to buy from. About 65% percent of businesses choose to have a website because it gave them a vibe of being more credible. It can boost your reputation, give you exposure, and also generate leads from all over the world and not just your town.

2. Give you the spotlight:

You need to be in front of your customer’s sight and reach to make sales. And in this competitive online market, you would easily lose any leads because you don’t exist online. Existing online and having great content to represent your business will boost your sales by letting your content reach your audience. Now Google has algorithms that allow you to appear higher in your local surrounding areas search results.

3. You stay competitive:

Eighty-five percent of customers search anything online before buying it. When you have an online presence, and optimized content on it exists, then you can get the opportunities that your competitive businesses without an online presence won’t. Being online and responding to user queries readily will give your business the boost it needs.

4. Reach out:

Having a local business without an online business means that you are missing out on all of the sales opportunities you have around the world. Your competitors simply will get them because they are online and can easily be reached. You can have all your products listed on your website, have a purchasing option straight from the website, and get the products shipped to customer address and have a win-win business process across the globe right there. Your business needs to reach out to its potential clients and get the sales it needs to become an enterprise.

Conclusion:

These were the top four reasons why you need an online presence. Having it will make your reach out to all of your potential clients across the world. It will make you boost sales. You will be able to win against all your competitors who don’t have an online presence, and you will gain the credibility businesses gets when it has an online presence. Your customers will love to buy from you if you have an active customer service.

Santia Deck Becomes the First Woman Athlete to Own a Sneaker Company

Santia is known for breaking records that are typically reserved for men athletes only. She recently signed a multi-million dollar contract with WFLA or Women’s Football League Association. This is the biggest contract that WFLA has signed with a female athlete. Her talk show, Queen of Abs is also available on iSHE TV, iHolyfield TV, and NPOWERED. Deck is using all the available platforms for inspiring young women. She has overcome many challenges in her life like scoliosis and bullying. Deck is an inspiration for all young women. Aside from that, she just launched her own sneaker company, and is the first women athlete to achieve this feat.

Deck new sneaker company is TRONUS and it has already received an amazing response. WFLA has done years of planning for this moment. Santia has already represented many shoe brands in the past. She has been the brand ambassador of various amazing shoe brands. Santia has finally achieved her goal of owning a sneaker company. Her team has brought on Jamine Sills. Jamine Sills is an amazing footwear designer and he is now working as a creative consultant for Santia Deck. The project got delayed as Santia wanted some non-negotiable things in her shoe. She wanted her shoes to be both fashion-forward and unique. The shoe should have a lightweight feel. She wanted a shoe that her fans can collect and show off. Deck wanted to make sure that her first attempt is successful. Thus, she and her team spent a lot of time learning about the shoe industry. Their project has evolved into a big shoe empire now.

Deck has been teasing TRONUS to her fans. She has already uploaded many original concepts on her social media accounts. The fans were flooding with her requests before even she launched the official website. Thus, her shoes were already hit. TRONUS is now offering free registration to their users.  You can get VIP access on TRONUS. This will ensure that you will get priority. Thus, you can buy the shoes before they are available on the general website. There are also many other perks that TRONUS is offering to the VIP members. TRONUS has gained 10 times the VIP members that they have first anticipated. They had a rough figure in their mind after they saw the response of fans on the Santia Instagram page. However, fans have completely blown away that figure. The team is worried now as they think that their entire first limited edition shoe will be sold to VIP members only. They won’t have enough shoes for the general public. The best thing about this is that they have still advertised their product. Thus, Deck is very happy with these initial numbers. Multiple resellers now want to sell these shoes. One reseller is even ready to buy the entire stock of TRONUS. However, Deck and her team have already declined this offer. They know the value of their brand.

There are many other business-savvy women like Rihanna and Serena Williams that have already collaborated with big brands. They are already working with big brands like Puma and Nike. Santia Deck is also trying to expand their brand in the same direction. They want to build a big brand. Deck also wants to compete with these big players. She wants to create a big brand like Nike and Puma.

This Entrepreneur, Wife and Mother of Nine, is Inspiring The World Spiritually and Financially

Tawanna Worlds is the owner of MWR Financial, a Servant of GOD, a wife, a mother of nine beautiful children, a grandmother of four, a minister of the gospel and a entrepreneur. Tawanna was born and raised in Fresno, CA she moved to Los Angeles, CA in 2006 and lived there until the end of 2016. Her and her family now lives in Dallas, TX as she is on assignment for that region. Her and her husband Marcus Worlds oversee a non profit organization that services underprivileged and impoverished youth and young adults in their local community. She is an evangelist and has a burning desire to see souls saved, delivered, healed and walking in the complete freedom that Christ has called us to.

Tawanna operates in the prophetic ministry of dance and many have been blessed by the anointing of GOD upon her life. Tawanna has overcome many obstacles in life, and a lot of the things she never thought she would achieve, has actually became manifested in her life, and have been stepping stones leading the way into her destiny. Her future plans are to keep writing books, keep leading the saints of GOD behind the veil through prophetic dance, Keep preaching and making disciples of all men, Keep letting her light shine, and keep advancing the KINGDOM here on earth! Tawanna inspires the minds of many to become all that they can truly be, and to forever be humble and grateful for all things that we have been entrusted with.

What inspired you to start with MWR Financial?

The opportunity to make wealth real in my life as well as for my family.

What are some of your goals for the future of MWR Financial?

Leave an inheritance for my children’s children as commanded.

What helped you get where you are today and what steps did you take?

GOD gets all the Glory in my life.  It is by prayer and obedience that has gotten me where I am in life today and where I’m going in life.

What has been the best feedback received after you started with MWR Financial?

That the company has changed many people’s lives and financial forecasts.

What is one thing you think customers should know about your business that they may not be aware of?

That the experts guarantee your success if you follow the plan.

What must be seen or experienced in person to really appreciate it?

When you’ve been poor, in lack or without for so long, you can appreciate with much gratitude just having more then what you’ve ever had.

After refusing to give it a shot, what is something that eventually won you over?

I never refused the opportunity, when I heard what the experts could do and saw proof of that. I was willing to take the risk and I haven’t been disappointed. 

What should every woman try at least once in her life?

Investing in themselves that their future selves will thank them for.

Name one interesting talent you have or something we don’t know about you?

I love to dance.

What is your favorite and most treasured memory?

Getting married and having children.

What is something about life that people don’t appreciate as much as they should?

Life itself and how to be grateful that we still have life when many don’t. 

How can everyone keep in contact with you on social media?

Facebook.com/tjtworlds, and Instagram @thedebtslayers.

Eight Ways Your Business Can Survive the COVID-19 Recession

The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted our lives and left us with much uncertainty in the world. The coronavirus has already thrown the world into a recession. In this article, we are going to share some tips that will help you in preparing your company for the post-coronavirus recession. 

1. Assess your financial situation

If you want your company to survive, then you should use a performance monitoring system for understanding the financial health of your business. Companies should use effective methods for monitoring cash flow, costs, and revenue. This will help you in surviving in the post-coronavirus recession.

2. Assess your data 

You should first focus on understanding the current financial position of your company. After that, you should focus on understanding your market trends, operational challenges, and market trends. This data will contain all the things that you need to do. Every company should work on creating their own data strategy. This data strategy will help you in identifying important data. 

3. Create multiple revenue streams 

The best way to survive a recession is by creating more revenue streams. Your organization will be more resilient if you have multiple revenue streams. Coronavirus has already forced many organizations to look for new channels. For example, schools are using virtual learning for teaching their students. Restaurants are also offering delivery and take-out to their customers. Companies that were already using a digital framework can provide better user experience to their users. You should focus on creating a multichannel sales strategy. If you have a multichannel sales strategy, then your customers can interact with your business in multiple ways. 

4. Review Supply Chains 

The resiliency of your supply chain is the most important thing during the high-uncertainty environment. Every company should try to reinforce their supply chains. This will help you in recovering from the economic damage done by Coronavirus pandemic. Many sectors will go through a structural transformation due to this coronavirus pandemic. This will impact their existing supply partners and they can finally collaborate with new partners.

5. Flexible Workforce 

Companies are using freelancers and temporary workers for scaling up and down according to their needs. This is helping them in withstanding the economic downturn. A flexible workforce will help you in making your company more responsive and agile. Thus, your company can quickly get back on track. 

6. Automation 

Automation can help you in saving a lot of money. Thus, many companies invest in automation during challenging times. The human workforce becomes very expensive during a recession. Companies are now focusing on digitization and automation. You should focus on becoming fully automated as it will help you in preparing for the next pandemic or economic recession. 

7. Review Processes 

This is a perfect time to evaluate your processes and operations. You should try to remove the inefficiencies from your business processes as it will help you in trimming down your costs. Focus your efforts on improving the efficiency of your time-consuming business processes. You should put your time in identifying inefficiencies in your business process. This will ultimately help you in improving your business processes.

8. Build Strong Customer Experience 

According to a report of HBR, more than 1/5th of the companies didn’t survive the last economic recession. Economic recession can hit your company very hard. It is always a good idea to build strong relationships with your customers. You should use multiple online channels for getting closer to your customers. Many companies are using the latest technologies like Big Data for predicting their customer behaviors. You can survive this economic recession by working closely with your customers. Make sure that you are responding to their needs during this tough period. Customer experience will always act as a competitive differentiator for companies. Thus, you should focus on providing a good customer experience. 

Why a Digital Presence Isn’t Enough

Written by William T Batten

An embarrassing story from my early marketing time:

When I started out in the content marketing business, I had… well, I’d bought into the hype. I’d learned that businesses are desperate for good marketers (which is true) and content marketers can make great livings in their spare time.

Also true.

So I built my website, optimised it for search engines and patted myself on the back. Then I wrote a few articles showing off my knowledge and skills.

And… that was about it. I was on Twitter and Facebook a little, but not much.

But even if I’d grinded social media, it wouldn’t have changed much. That’s a common timesink for entrepreneurs, both established and aspiring.

Either way, I wasn’t thinking about it too deeply. The hype was seductive enough that I thought I’d plonk myself on the internet and people would find me.

I know I’m not alone with that. Many entrepreneurs do the same thing.

But as we all learn quickly enough, a digital presence isn’t enough.

You need something more if you want people to find you.

And if you want readers to become clients.

That takes being a digital authority.

Think about it from a potential client’s perspective. They want help with something, and they’re looking for someone to help them.

Could you be the one?

Probably, but so could dozens of others. If you’re a coach with little more than a website, you’re interchangeable with every other coach… plus hypnotherapists, wellness consultants, astrologers, reiki practitioners, performance optimisers and anyone else your client thinks could help them.

If you’re a digital authority, though, those others fade into the background. People choose you because they can see you’re different.

They see you know what you’re talking about and have the power to solve their problems.

Here’s how to cultivate digital authority:

Frequent Contact
Amateurs write whenever they ‘get inspired’.

Professionals show off their knowledge in weekly informative-but-probably-unengaging blog posts.

Digital authorities, though?

They constantly entertain and inform their market.

To the untrained eye, they’re pitching them.

Offering goodies and delights to sell.

Which… well, they are.

But they’re also ensuring they’re never far from their prospect’s minds.

Think about it – you and folks you know have problems. And you’ve met professionals who could help you solve them.

But one of the obstacles that stops you reaching out is… you’ve forgotten them.

Maybe you met the professional at a party two years ago.

Maybe you saw their ad, once, last fortnight.

I’m not saying you’ll never remember some old chance encounter – but it’s far less likely than someone you regularly read and enjoy.

This is how expertise becomes authority – by coming to mind when you look for a solution.

Demonstrations
Anyone can talk a good game.

That’s what experts and snake oil salesfolk have in common.

What separates them – and what authorities do – is the experts can demonstrate their skills.

Demonstrations are the finest form of proof. If you can have your reader experience what you can do – even just a taste – it’s even better than word of mouth.

It’s easy for me to demonstrate my marketing skills – by publishing every day, I prove I can write a lot and write well.

As for my hypnosis skills…

If my writing isn’t enough to inspire even a little change – which, for most folks, it is – I give away eight hypnotic audios to anyone who wants them. All they need to do is sign up to my email list.

Speaking of…

Valuable Gifts for Subscribers
Amateurs give away stuff for free, but professionals know the value of information. That’s why so many sites offer bonuses to anyone who signs up to their email list.

Everything that doesn’t cost money on my websites serves some purpose. The articles promote my offers, while the bonus reports and hypnotic audios get folks on my lists.

The great thing about this is it lets prospects experience you firsthand. If they like what they see, they’ll be back for more. If not, they were never right for you in the first place.

Authorship
Anyone who’s a published author has instant authority. There’s a lot of prestige that comes with that.

Even though these days, it’s absurdly easy.

Take 50-ish pages of useful solutions around a common theme, bundle it into an eBook and sell it – either as a PDF/epub file on your site or through Amazon’s self-publishing platform.

No need to impress publishers these days.

Although publishing a book is easy, it still takes commitment. Apart from the prestige, it shows you know enough to fill a book and are dedicated enough to write it.

High-price Offers
This one is my favourite.

Not just because it immediately builds authority… but it can earn you a lot of money too.

Having some high-end product or service instantly makes you an authority. While everyone else sticks to eBooks and low-ball products, you show you’re elite by charging elite prices.

The only thing to watch for:

Your offer has to be worth what you charge.

You could easily slap a thousand dollar price tag on a whitepaper… just make sure it delivers ten times that in value.

And, of course, your marketing must make that value clear.

Inflating your fees makes you look ridiculous and can destroy your reputation.

But charging a lot and delivering even more?

Why, only the top 5% of any field can do that.

So show that’s where you belong by creating and selling something at the high end.

Some prospects will buy it, while making your more affordable offers look… well, affordable.

Of course, it’s all well and good for me to say all this.

I like writing, so of course my advice involves writing a lot more. Everything from the frequent contact, to creating and selling gifts and elite products…

It takes work.

More than that, it takes time.

But there’s no rule that says it must be your time.

If you’d like to outsource any of this, it pays to go with a freelancer who understands your industry. If you offer hypnosis, meditation, mind training, energy work or anything else that involves going deep inside, then I get you.

And I get your prospective clients.

You can hire me for a range of content marketing services here:

How To Handle Criticism In Business


Written by Jon Allo

When it comes to business and being a success in business, you’ll have to get use to some form of criticism. After all, the right type of criticism can be very helpful and make you better than you thought you could be.

But, sometimes the wrong type of criticism can actually make things worse so it’s important to understand the different types of critics. You need to know who you should listen to and who you should ignore.

  1. Friendly

People who offer friendly criticism are often your supporters. These people care about you and want you to succeed. They often use criticism to build up the person, not tear them down. They want you to make it in the world and sometimes their ideas are good and sometimes not. You’re more likely to listen to this type of criticism since it comes from known supporters, but remember to ensure that the advice given is fact based.

  1. Indifferent

People who offer indifferent criticism typically don’t really so much care about hurting your feelings as much as they care about bringing about the truth and facts surrounding an issue. They may be natural objectors who simply like being a sounding board to bring out the different aspects of a situation. They aren’t personal at all; they’re objective. It’s important to listen to this type of criticism and also pay attention as before to the facts of the situation.

  1. Hostile

Today, these types of critics are referred to as trolls. This type of criticism has no objective reason, or supportive reason. Instead it is designed to demean, attack, control and undermine. You can recognize this type of critic because they are on attack and trying to tear you down. Oddly, you can still benefit from this type of criticism but mostly these are the people you should ignore.

To evaluate criticism, consider the following:

How true is it? – List out the facts of the situation so that you can determine what is really true.

How can I change it? – If some good points have been made, can you make a change?

Do I care? – If it’s something from a hostile source, do you really care at all what they think?

How can I make this a positive? – Now, how can you take the facts of the criticism and turn it around into a positive?

In each case you should always listen to the criticism with open eyes and ears without being defensive. Each has its own good and bad points, and while you can ignore the person giving the hostile advice due to their rudeness, do listen to what they say so that you can determine if there is any level of truth. After all, regardless of the reason for the critic to give you advice, as long as there is truth you can profit from it.

Being a business owner and entrepreneur can be overwhelming and exhausting. So how do some people seem to thrive and achieve their goals and dreams while others struggle? The answer is mindset. To start taking steps today to embrace a success mindset get a copy of my free checklist, Cultivating A Business Mindset at https://jonallo.com/mindset

Five Reasons Why Entrepreneurial Ventures Fail

How new ventures fail while others succeed is not a matter of fate or luck, but it is caused by the very things that can be controlled. Some entrepreneurs have managed to lead several successful ventures while others failed at the first step. You may have a brilliant idea, but that does not guarantee success. Success is not based on big ideas only but how the concepts are executed. If you want to be a successful entrepreneur, avoid these factors that can make your venture brutal.

1. Lack of focus

Any venture minus focus equals failure. Entrepreneurs focus is the steering wheel that directs your goals and objectives. The focus will help you adjust with the dynamics of business and overcome the challenges that come along with entrepreneurship.

2. Improper planning

Most of the new startups fail due to inadequate preparation. Before venturing in any business, you need to plan your venture very well, or else you end up regretting. Draw your short term goals and grid them on your long-term objectives. The fact is that every strong structure is made out of a plan. Visualize on where you want to go and how to reach there. The rule is simple,” failing to plan planning to fail”.

3. Wrong location

Location is a contributing factor when it comes to your ventures market. Locating your business in the wrong place will reduce customer accessibility. For instance, if you venture in a trade involving fast-moving products, you must locate it in a busy area. The right location also reduces costs associated with long-distance travelled by customers to access your products.

4. Wrong partnerships

As much as entrepreneurship requires teamwork, wrong partners may be a source of failure. As an entrepreneur, scrutinize your circle and cut any link that is discouraging, and inhibiting progress. Toxic partners will only mess you up and reduce your brilliant ideas to nothing.

5. Financial mix-up

Entrepreneurship requires well-managed cash flows. Don’t forget that cash flow and profits are two different things that should not be compromised. The season why beginners fail is because they just get excited by the inflow of cash without negative cash flows awareness. Make sure your business records a positive cash flow or else you will soon become bankrupt.