What makes a great Entrepreneur?

These days it seems that many chose the route of becoming an Entrepreneur. There are countless reasons for it, so many so that I could write another blog article on it. The spirit and character of an Entrepreneur seems to follow a connection with a certain personality type of individual. A drive to become something different, something more independent and a passion for life beyond the daily grind of going into an office on a daily basis and blankly staring at a computer screen for 8 hours. 

The desire to run your own business is a huge thing to possess when you want to become an Entrepreneur. Honestly, it is not for everyone and if you think it is easy, I can tell you from personal experience that it is not. The desire or want is the start of a foundation for your journey into the world of running your own business. Your personality is key as well. You have to look from within and decide if being your own boss is right for you. Do you work well independently? Can you motivate yourself to get out of bed in the morning day after day and focus on your goals? Being an Entrepreneur means you rely on yourself for everything in the business mix. There is no one there to help you (at least to start in most cases) so it is something you need to consider. 

 

What skills do you have and how can you put them to work in your business? Step back and look within. Give yourself a personal SWOT Analysis Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities and Threats. Put them in front of you and really truly consider yourself in the mix. Sometimes we can be our own worst enemies, and the start of something amazing begins with self awareness. As an example of myself, I know that I am not organized. It is a weakness and I know this so I try my best to work at being more organized. Having a cleaner working area was a good start for me. A strength I possess is my social abilities. I have a sales background so talking to others for me is no problem. The sales aspect of business is getting out there and selling, networking and meeting with people. Knowing yourself is part of being an Entrepreneur and you need to understand your limitations.

Put together a plan for your success. It doesn't have to be a 100 page corporate business plan, but it should have the basic criteria covered. Some things you need to plan are 1- what service/product you are going to be offering, 2- where you are going to be offering it, 3- what your costs will be for start-up, 4- Competition Landscape, 5- Marketing/Advertising/promotion of your business, 6- Where will your business operate (at home or an office), and 7- Price Structure.  These are just a few of the components to consider before starting up a new business. 

 

Having Goals is key. Do you have them? Why are you becoming an Entrepreneur and starting you own business? For Freedom, for better working hours, to spend time with you family? Statistics show that only 5% of the population has goals. Most drift around in a fog not really knowing the direction they are heading in, and letting others dictate their destiny. Write down your goals on paper and put them up on the wall somewhere. Look at them every day, 10 times a day,

whatever. They will keep you focused and remind  you of why you are doing this. The fog will be much less. Trust me!

 

Resources to succeed. We all need money to live and to do the things we want to do. For some, it is not an issue, for the masses it is a daily struggle to find enough of it. You need to look at your budgetary restrictions and see if being an entrepreneur is the right thing for you to do. It is about priorities and understanding that if you don't have the money for a start-up, you need to look at other options. A small business bank loan is a good place to start, but maybe you do not qualify for a loan? Family and friends is another good place to look for financing as they are your support network and they believe in you. The best piece of advise I can give you here is doing up a budget and seeing where you stand. I do a monthly running budget and it really helps. 

 

Communication with your family and friends. If your single and not in any committed relationship then hey, you don't need to talk to you significant other. Talking to your friends is always a good idea as they will certainly give you good advise. If you are married or in some committed relationship with someone, then its always a good idea to talk to them first about what your plans are for being an Entrepreneur and running a business. Your in it together, financially, emotionally, physically, so you need there buy in. I can tell you this without any shadow of a doubt that if there are problems on the home front your entrepreneurial journey will not be a smooth one. You're not alone. 

Not Giving Up! Things will be hard to start. It will seem like you are getting nowhere, but trust me the beginning is always the rockiest. Keep positive and focused on what you want to do. You've made the leap of faith to start your own business, and the benefits are many. It is a mindset, and attitude that you must maintain. We all have bad days, but there is no need to focus on them. Leave the past behind, move forward and do not give up!

Are you sure you want to do that? - Think twice about using Social Media!

We have all made the mistake of posting at one time or another when we should not have. After a night of drinking, after breaking up with someone, after having a bad day, whatever the negative means, the end shouldn't be a rant on Facebook or Twitter. The best time to use social media sites is when you are happy and at your best. After a nice dinner, a great day outing with friends and family, or during an amazing and positive experience. Not when you are at your worst or weakest. Here are some states of being that you should wait to pass before you post or tweet anything. 

Intoxication. Don't do it! Your ability to make decisions based on common sense and logic is seriously diminished when you are drunk. Posting that incriminating picture of a friend, or family member may seem funny at the time but you may think twice the next day as your head is throbbing away. Do yourself a big favour and forget about posting during periods of intoxicated debauchery. Remember, the headache is temporary, but postings have a tendency to becoming permanent. 

 

Anger. Similar to emails, you should never post/tweet anything when in a state of anger or towards someone or something. It clouds the mind and you make decisions based on your anger towards someone, not based on objectiveness. The best piece of advise I can give you here is to wait a few hours until you cool down before  posting anything. A good nights sleep or a shower will usually do the trick. Before you do anything, have it proof read before hitting the send button. If you think its too strong or inappropriate, then 9 times out of ten it usually is.

 

Fatigue. For some, working at night is no problem. For me, I perform better and more clearly in the morning. Studies show that your brain functions much more efficiently when you are full of energy and life. Pick the time that works best for you, whether it be the morning or night. If you are tired, best to relax, or even better get some sleep and go at it in the morning. 

 

Vengeance or Spitefulness. So here is the scenario. You just broke up with someone. Maybe you were not the one who initiated the break-up and you feel very hurt and upset by the entire ordeal. You have some pictures that are not so flattering and you want to post them to Instagram or Facebook and get revenge on them. Ask yourself this, what will this accomplish other then revenge? You are certainly not going to get them back by torturing them with this photo, so why do it? Move on, find someone else and forget about revenge. Its not a good state of mind to be in.

 

Jealousy and Envy. These emotions are useless in my opinion. On social media, they have absolutely no place whatsoever. They are based in negative thought and motivation and accomplish nothing but great regret and frustration. Like many of those self help guides and speakers that advise to move on, let the past go and think to the future - they are right. You are your own self, forget about being other people or having what they have.  

During theater or a movie. This one may seem comical, but I just read a story recently about Madonna being banned from a cinema company in Texas for texting during a movie. I can understand if its an emergency or something very pressing, but really do you need to be on Facebook updating your status or on Linkedin during a movie? It costs a considerable amount after concessions to go to a show. Most, if not all people do not appreciate it when you use your mobile devices while they are trying to watch a movie. Honestly, it is disrespectful of others and don't be surprised if you get scolded by another patron, or asked to leave by management.  

At the dinner table. We all like our electronics and being on them. Do we really need to be on Twitter during dinner? The answer is no. It is one of the few times during the day that you and your family have a chance to actually talk to each other and catch up on the day. It is a time to disconnect and to recover a personal connection with our family and friends. Put the devices down and enjoy each others company. The art of conversation is still very important.

 

Being social, upbeat and happy is what being on social media is all about. Check the baggage and the negativity at the door when you want to post something on Facebook and I promise you will feel better about yourself, and about everyone you interact with.

Key Ingrediants to Great Blog Content!

I have been blogging now for over a year, and I have found that you need certain things to have a successful blog. Content is King, that is for sure but what makes great content? What do you need to make your content relevant and engaging? Whether you just like writing and sharing wisdom or you want to drive traffic to your website, the goal is getting people to read your blog. Here are some "Key Ingredients" that you need to spice up your blog and create the interest you need.

Passion. This is number one. Without this, you will most certainly fail to capture the audience you are looking for. Socially speaking, what creates a buzz is passion, or a strong emotional connection to something. People crave that spark and they want to jump on the bandwagon. Be passionate about what you talking about and show some life. If you are just writing a blog for the sake of writing it, like some kind of blog robot, then you are destine to have very few read your posts.

Audience. Who are they? Do you know where your fans are? Do they use Facebook Twitter or LinkedIn? Are they in chat rooms, what sites do they visit, what interests them? You have to first consider where your audience exists. The other thing is what kind of information and content they want? If your knowledge base revolves around hockey, then finding your fans in a chat room that talks about baking cookies is likely not the write place to be. Find and engage your audience in the right places and this will certainly grab the attention you need.

Knowledge. Create what you know and can effectively articulate to your audience. If you are into basket weaving, then writing a blog on Lacrosse is probably going to be as stretch for you. Information and thought leadership is golden, and your audience wants it. There is a lot of BS on the internet, we all know this and the average person can sense it as well.

Originality. On Twitter I see the same thing over and over again spinning around and being ret-tweeted and shared. You need to keep your content new and refreshing. Rehashing the same thing will not get you the audience you need. Don't plagiarize or steal someone else's work. This shows your audience that you cannot come up with your own content. You will lose trust and your following will shrink very quickly to nothing or robots following you just looking for keywords. It is tempting to use someone else's work, this especially if you are experiencing "writers block." Don't do it. Some suggestions to get those creative juices to come out would be reading magazines, books, going for a walk, taking a shower, watching some TV, anything other then sitting blankly in front of your computer screen.


Promotion. Just creating content then leaving it alone to gather reads at least to start, is not going to work for you. You want to promote and entice people to read what you have to say. Unless you have a huge blog followership of thousands, you need to promote your new blog in other ways. Using Twitter and Facebook will help. Post on your FB page, and give it to your Twitter followers to spread the post. Using content sharing sites is definitely a way to get you blog cooking. Guest Blogging is ok, but unless you have a reputation and can easily find someone who will let you, to start promoting your blog off this way will not work. There are other sites that allow people to post their own content and make it a part of their mix. If your blog follows the above mix then it will surely get picked up and spread. Post your blog to your website as well.

Consistency. You need to blog in a consistent manner. Putting out content once every 3 months is not going to gather you a solid following. I have found that you need to blog at least once a week. Monday is the best time to publish your work giving everyone the chance to read and share it. Pick your time of day as well and stick with it. Mornings are good when everyone is commuting to work. Afternoons after lunch work well also. Whatever time you pick, stay with it because your followers will start looking for your work at certain times of day.

Longevity. Don't Give up! Keep blogging and using the above ingredients to do so. I can tell you one thing, it takes a lot of time and efforts to build a following and an audience. Like everything else in life its all about hard work, dedication and commitment to make your blog a success.

5 Reasons Why you should allow Employees to use Social Media at Work

Trends are changing, and it seems as though more and more companies are now allowing employees to utilize Social Media sites on company computers and servers. Banning sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Google+  have seen a reversal and now many are allowing their staff to access these sites. In the past two years alone, usage at the workplace has increased by 20%. More and more, employees are using social media sites as a release at work, much like having a coffee break and the effects are similar. Here are 5 reasons why you should allow your employees to use social media sites.

1- Improved efficiency and productivity. There is no way anyone can work a full 8 hour day straight. As much as companies would like to see their employees work like robots and be productive and happy throughout the day, it is just not realistic. Studies show that employees energy levels and stamina improve by as much as 25% after taking breaks throughout the day. We live in a digital world now whereby people socialize in different ways. Gone are the days where everyone congregated around the water cooler to discuss what happened on the weekend or the score of the football/hockey game. We go to Facebook or Twitter because that is where everyone is and where we can get instant news and information.

2- Increased Loyalty. Banning social media usage at work sends a message to employees that you don't trust them. If they feel you don't trust them, then they certainly will not trust you as a company. Loyalty today is a word I do not hear often, yet retention is an important thing to a business. To recruit, hire, orient, and train a new employee can cost a company upwards of as much as $3500- this for an entry level position. So with that in mind it is should be in the best interest of your HR department to retain and keep your employees happy and loyal.

3- Improved Employee Satisfaction. Your best fans are your employees. This reason is hard to grasp, but if your employees are happy, efficient, and loyal to your company, then it shows when they talk to your prospects and clients. Your employees are on the front lines, and if they seem disgruntled because you don't trust them enough to allow them the freedom of choice when it comes to their break time, it will come across to your clients. A satisfied employee is worth its weight in gold, embrace it and you will reap the awards ten fold.


4- Attracting the right kind of talent. Generation X and Y individuals are very tech savvy. They have handheld devices, tablets, etc. They use their devices to socialize, to communicate, and to find things. These individuals want to work for a company who is modern, upbeat, and one that accepts the digital and technological world that we now live in. If you want to attract the right type of employee to your company, you have to be willing to allow employees to use social media sites at work. If not, then you risk missing out on recruiting talent.

5- Workplace Harmony. I can usually sense what kind of culture exists at a company within about 30 seconds of being at reception. Peace and balance within a company is crucial. Running a company with an iron fist like the Gestapo and threatening punishment to an employee for using Facebook will not create a harmonious workplace. Where does it end? If you ban social media, do you ban fraternizing at work? No talking, no eye contact, no nothing? The average employee is not going to spend all day on Facebook or Twitter. Studies show that at most, people spend maybe 15-20 minutes a day liking, sharing and commenting on social media. That is equivalent to one break.

If a workplace has a pleasant environment built on mutual trust, understanding, and fairness, you will have a happier and more productive workforce. If you do not have a social media policy in place for employees, then it is time for you to seriously consider having one that encompasses allowing your employees to use social media at work.