The Death of Influencer Marketing

Great Exaggerations: The Death of Influencer Marketing

“The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated” –Mark Twain

Over the last couple of years, as the FTC, FDA, and Google implemented specific guidelines for compensated posts on social media. Some large companies have gone public saying that influencer marketing isn’t giving them the returns they wanted.

This has caused some folks to despair. They have declared that influencer marketing is dead.

I mean, if an influencer promotes you on Twitter but has to use the hashtag #ad, you’ll lose the credibility an influencer is supposed to give, right?

Not quite.

What is Influencer Marketing?

Influencer marketing is the process of having people with strong online followings review or promote your product or service. You focus on using thought leaders or other respected individuals to gain credibility for your offering.

Celebrity endorsements are a long-standing form of influencer marketing. So are sponsored blog posts, sponsored tweets, Instagram posts, and more.

Influencers can be paid or unpaid for their endorsement. Most of the time there is some sort of compensation, which now requires clear disclosure.

What IS Dead About Influencer Marketing

The reason that many organizations are fed up with influencer marketing is because they aren’t using people for their influencer.

They’re using them as a digital billboard.

So a major sports figure on Instagram holds up Gatorade. So a supermodel takes a picture with a specific face cleanser. Is that going to drive major sales of the product?

No.

We’re jaded. We know that Bryce Harper or Kim Kardashian or whoever is a paid spokesperson. We know they don’t use or care about the product. We’re not impressed.

That’s the problem with influencer marketing done wrong. You are obviously paying an advertiser. It doesn’t feel authentic. We keep scrolling.

How to Do Influencer Marketing Right

Well, if influencer marketing isn’t dead, how can you take advantage of it?

There are several tips that are vital. However, the most important aspect is your mindset.

Influencer marketing is about an authentic connection with another person’s audience.

 

If you remember that, you’ll do well. (Click Here for more on Building this!)

Find the Right Influencer

Choosing an influencer based merely on the number of followers they have is a losing proposition. Instead, ask these questions:

• Does this person use my type of product or service in their life?
• Are they the type of person who could genuinely promote or review my offering?
• Is their audience similar to my target market?
• How engaged is their audience?
• Has this person shown the ability to inspire action in their followers in the past?

With the answers to these questions, you’ll have a short-list of influencers who may work well for your marketing outreach.

Build the Relationship

No one likes to be used. While some people are willing to be used for the right amount of money, their reviews or endorsements won’t be as authentic.

Instead, research the people you are considering as influencers. Find out what’s important to them. Investigate their guidelines for promotion, if they have any posted.

Then, reach out authentically. Talk about why your product or service would benefit their audience and share why you chose them as an influencer instead of someone else.

Keep the Conversation Going

Don’t see an influencer relationship as a one-time advertisement. Instead, engage with the new audience and the influencer over time. Find a way to connect that serves both you, the influencer, and the audience.

Can you offer coupons from time to time? Can the influencer ask his or her audience for feedback on your behalf? Can you answer questions?

Whatever you can do to keep the relationship strong over time will pay off in the end. Many times, a consumer has to see or hear about your product or service multiple times before they’re ready to buy. By keeping a conversation going, you’ll increase conversions.

Find Advocates

The best influencer marketing feels like consumer advocacy. It’s something that truly fits the influencer and his or her audience, and it’s beneficial to that target market.

When you find a few great fits and build those relationships over time, you’ll get incredible returns that will far surpass those big-name companies that are paying for a famous person to pose with their product on Instagram.

In short, influencer marketing is alive and well – if you do it right.

Got Skills? Transfer Expertise from Your Job to Your Business

 

Do you feel overwhelmed at the thought of starting your own business? You’re not alone. Many people think that entrepreneurship is very risky – although, in some ways, it’s more secure than a day job.

 

What you may not realize is that you’ve gained tremendous skills from your current job and your daily life that can help you succeed in business. When you think creatively about what’s needed to run a business, you’ll realize you have many more skills than you think.

 

The Easy Step: From Job to Freelancer

In many cases, the job you have now is a service that’s needed by many companies all over the country – or all over the world. With the expertise you’ve gained, you can do work for clients on a freelance basis.

 

This shift is the easiest in terms of skill transfer, but it can be challenging to implement. In some companies taking clients in the same area as your job will be seen as competition and will be disallowed. If you aren’t able to build your business while working, focus on gaining marketing skills and perfecting your craft while saving money to make the leap.

 

When you make the jump to freelancer, you may find that your old company becomes a loyal client!

 

Skills Needed For Entrepreneurship

Maybe you’re not in a job that can become a freelance gig, or you simply hate your job and want to do something else. It’s time to start evaluating the skills you’ve gained and how you can apply them differently.

 

Organization

Keeping all of your paperwork in order and making sure your clients are properly cared for takes a lot of organization. In all likelihood, your current job requires you to stay organized and on top of details as well.

 

To build on this skill while you’re still working, learn to document processes and investigate what organizational tools work best for your personality and style.

 

Leadership

When you start your own business as a solo entrepreneur, you may think leadership isn’t that important. Actually, it is – starting with self-leadership and extending to traditional management and leadership as you grow.

 

Self-leadership includes things like internal motivation, time management, and staying on task. Traditional leadership includes communication skills, giving constructive feedback, and handling difficult conversations. Most jobs give you many opportunities to work on these skills.

 

Marketing

One of the most important skills in business is the ability to let other people know what you do in a way that encourages them to want to learn more. You may think that if you don’t work in the marketing department, you don’t have any marketing skills.

 

In reality, marketing is all about making genuine connections, finding out what people need, and serving them to meet those needs. Practice your listening skills, discover what the people around you need, and find ways to meet those needs. Do this in person, on social media, and through email.

 

Not only will you gain valuable marketing skills, you’ll be building priceless relationships that can help you for years to come.

 

Resilience

Many people don’t realize that mindset and resilience is a key business skill. They’re too focused on getting a degree, becoming a manager, or leading the company in sales. The truth is, without the right mindset you won’t succeed in your job or in business.

 

The right mindset includes believing you can succeed, anticipating problems and how to overcome them, managing your emotions, handling fear of failure, and overcoming imposter syndrome. Often, these mindset changes require outside help from a coach – you simply can’t overcome your blinders without an objective view to help you.

 

Ready to Go From Job to Business?

While I’ve only scratched the surface of the transferable skills that come from a job, you are probably encouraged that you’re more ready for a business than you thought.

 

If you’re ready to make the move from a job to a business, you’ll need someone to help you apply your skills in new ways and work on your mindset challenges. You can join the amazing individuals and businesses that have worked with Plan to Succeed Coaching and started or grown a company. With an average return of multiple four figures can you afford not to start?

Contact me at 910-493-3527 today!

Finding Purpose in Your Work: Social Entrepreneurship

As a millennial, you want to make the world a better place, and many times the company you work for doesn’t give you much opportunity to do so. As a result, many millennials are focused on volunteering, side jobs, or even starting their own company.

 

Starting a company with a social, environmental, or community-focused objective is a great way to step away from greed and ladder-climbing while still earning enough to support yourself. Social entrepreneurship is a growing segment of small business, and it’s easy to see why.

Social Entrepreneurship Melds Purpose with Profit

There’s nothing wrong with making money as long as it’s done right. If the goal of any company is to simply pile up dollars without worrying about the impact they have on the environment, people, and society at large, you don’t want to work for them. Neither would I!

 

Instead, social entrepreneurship allows you to make a responsible profit while doing things that really matter in the world.

 

Toms does this very well. A thriving shoe company, they have a one-for-one philosophy that connects their sales success with making a difference around the globe. They currently help provide shoes, prevent bullying, improve access to clean water, and more.

 

Social entrepreneurship allows business owners to experience a strong connection between their work and their community. One of my favorite things to do as a coach is help a small business or non-profit connect more closely with the city they operate in. I love seeing the renewed focus and determination of business owners when they realize their work really matters.

Social Entrepreneurship Does What the Government Can’t

We all know that we live in a society with many needs. While we’d love to have someone else take care of everything for us, the reality is that we have to take care of each other. It’s what it means to live as a contributing member of society.

 

We want the government to be responsible with its resources and help as much as possible, but there are significant limits to what a government program can accomplish. By running a small business that makes a difference, you can reach in and help where the government can’t.

Yoobi is a great example. This successful company sells colorful notebooks and desk accessories and focuses strongly on giving back. The company’s name means “One for you, one for me.” For every item purchased, Yoobi donates an item to a classroom in need in the United States.

 

Where we might look to local and state governments to help struggling schools, Yoobi steps in and gives what they can themselves.

Are You Making a Difference?

So, how’s it going with your work? Are you making a difference? If you’re ready to show up powerfully by starting up a side-hustle, small business, or non-profit with a close connection to your local community or to provide for a worldwide need, I’d love to help.

 

Let’s talk about how you can start to be the difference you want to see in the world. Contact me today at 910-493-3527!

 

Personal Branding: Its Essential

Answer quickly: What does Gary V have that you probably don’t have?

 

Nope. It’s not hustle, a ridiculous work ethic, or a million dollars.

 

It’s a personal brand.

 

What does Gary V sell? He sells himself, and he does it very, very well.

 

I mean, it’s as simple as the fact that I can say “Gary V” and you instantly know what I mean. So why does it work – and more importantly, how can you create one too?

 

Why a Personal Brand Works

People do business with those they know, like, and trust. A personal brand helps people feel that they know more about who you really are, which helps them develop the “know, like, and trust” factor.

 

When you develop a personal brand, you don’t focus your messaging on what you sell, you focus your messaging on who you are and why you’re driven to serve others. This helps tie into another key marketing principle – people love to shop but they hate to be sold.

 

If you’re focusing on portraying who you are and why you’re serving your audience, you avoid the feeling of “selling” while you are, in fact, boosting the credibility of your products and services.

 

Finally, people buy based on emotions and justify their decisions with logic later. By building an effective personal brand, you’re building a bank of positive emotions with your targeted tribe. When they see that you have a product or service for sale, they’ll be more likely to buy from you.

 

How to Build an Effective Personal Brand

I want to get one misconception out of the way right away – an effective personal brand does not have to mean that everyone likes you and you offend no one. In fact, you may turn off a large group of people.

 

What matters is that you connect deeply with your target customers. You want to build a loyal group of followers – a tribe – and that means you have to take a narrow focus that appeals especially to them.

 

Let’s look at Gary V again. He’s got an incredibly passionate tribe who hangs on his every word. People who want to hustle at the level that Gary does. People will sacrifice everything in order to succeed. To them, Gary is a hero.

 

And then there are detractors. Have you ever had someone write in Inc magazine that your theories could destroy others’ businesses? Gary V just shakes it off. He’s not for them, he is for his own tribe.

 

Some other methods that will help you build your personal brand:

• Have a Clear Message. Know what you’re portraying and to whom. Gary V started with a message based on a single word: Hustle. Your message should have that same focus and clarity.
• Be Consistent. As someone building a personal brand, you have to keep your public persona consistent. Share the same message and focus on LinkedIn as you do on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social media platforms.
• Be Unforgettable. One benefit to being controversial is that people remember you. Love you or hate you, they remember. As someone building a personal brand, you can’t afford to be bland or sound like everyone else.
• Focus on Exposure. In order to build your personal brand, you have to be visible. Be active on the same social media outlets your customers frequent. Create content – videos, and writing – that gets shared.
• Be You. You won’t be successful if you try to be another Gary V or another famous personality. Those folks are taken. Be you, connect with your tribe, and watch your brand grow.

 

What do people think of when they think of you? Not sure? By clarifying your message and focus you can increase the business seeking you out versus chasing people down!

Ask me how you can get results like my average clients ROI of 5 figures. 

I have been a professional coach for almost three years and the value my clients get from coaching with me changes lives. When you are able to become location independent, leave your 9 to 5 or work from the beach, trust me you’ll wonder what took you so long!

Work with me 1 on 1 or I have group programs starting soon!

Visit Plantosucceed.net to get started today.

Your Community is Vital to Your Success

 

Being well-connected to your community is vital to your business’ success. And I’m not just talking about your community of customers and followers – I’m talking about the actual city or town that you live in.

 

In business, it’s not just what you know but who you know. A good friend of mine has invested herself in building a brand behind her name. She has become quite a bit of a digital nomad, however, if you walk into our town everyone knows of her. If they don’t physically know her they can at least recognize her from her presence in the community and social media.

 

Her visibility in the community gains her the social proof to be seen as an authority. People go to her first because they see her and associate her with success for their programs and events. Her name has become synonymous with connectedness.

 

Being known and having her reputation enter the room before she does lowers people’s concern about working with her, it also builds know, like, and trust factors! This is how you draw people to what you are doing authentically and without having to be salesy.

 

Interested in seeing the same results yourself? Here’s how you can build relationships in your community.

 

How to Build Relationships in Your Community

Engaging with your community isn’t just about building your brand and reputation, although it will do that. It’s about having an authentic focus on being involved and caring about the people in your city or town.

 

Be a Partner or a Sponsor

A great way to build community relations is by being a partner or a sponsor in an academic or charity setting.

 

What ways can your business connect with a local school or university to hold events or offer internships? Can your company offer scholarships as part of a community-wide contest? What other organizations can you partner with?

 

You can also look for charity events to sponsor or partner with. If your company has a focus on helping children, for instance, a fun run related to schooling or children’s health would be a great sponsorship.

 

Fun and Games

Consider having your organization put up a team for a local softball, basketball, or bowling league. Or, look for volleyball leagues, billiards leagues, or beanbag tournaments. Not only will your employees enjoy bonding outside of work, but your business will be a participant in community events.

 

Whether your company’s team wins or loses is far less important than the fact that your company is involved in the community in a playful, fun way. You don’t always have to be selling or building your brand – sometimes it pays to just relax!

 

Volunteering

Encouraging individual employees to volunteer in their spare time is great, but why not take the next step and bring together a group from your company to give back to your city? You can even allow people to volunteer for part of their paid hours each month.

 

There are a ton of different ways to volunteer as a group, including Habitat for Humanity, helping at food banks, cleaning up the sides of the road, and more. Get creative and make a difference!

 

Why Your Community Matters to Your Business

Your company doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Being connected to your community has been a fundamental part of the health of a business for decades.

 

Being well-connected to your community not only builds goodwill and brings in customers, it helps you attract the top talent from your area. Your company will be a desirable place to work, and you’ll be able to retain your best workers more easily.

 

Community connections also help you win major business accounts. Why not be the supplier of choice for the industries in your area? Why not show your commitment to relationships and social responsibility, and reap the rewards of being a good neighbor?

 

When you take the time and energy to build real, long-term, valuable relationships within your community, you’ll strengthen more than your market position. You’ll also build morale among your staff, become a desirable place to work and reap the intangible rewards of giving back in ways that matter.

 

Are you ready for valuable relationships in your business? Have you been asking how do I get to the next level, and break through the noise?

 

Join us in person Wednesdays 9:30-11am or you can join the Facebook community here.

 

Now What? Finding Purpose as a Millennial

Now What? Finding Purpose as a Millennial

 

There are certain times in life when we find ourselves at a “Now what?” moment. Right after you graduate high school, right after you graduate college, and right after you find your first job are common times to ask yourself, “What is the point of this?”

 

In order to be successful and thrive, it’s essential to find a sense of purpose for your life. It can be a large, overarching life goal, or it can be a focus for this particular season of your life.

 

To find this sense of purpose and focus, however, you have to know what skills and passions you have. When you work within these strengths, you’ll find the most joy.

What Skills and Passions Matter?

As we move through life we learn how to do a lot of things. We learn to read, we learn to type, we learn – and then forget – how to use quadratic equations.

 

Those are not the skills and talents I’m talking about. I’m talking about identity-based skills and passions, things you are naturally good at that you can develop and leverage into work that makes you both successful and fulfilled.

 

One of my clients, for instance, found that her top strengths were:

• Futuristic Thinking. She loves to plan for the future and big visions and dreams drive her forward.
• She always wants to take action and implement the next step.
• She loves to give praise, smile, and brighten others’ days. She also expects good results in her life.
• Problem Solving. She is an incredible problem-solver. She thinks of every situation in terms of how it can be made better.
• She’s a competitive person and loves knowing that she’s rising to the top of the group.

 

As you can see, these strengths can be used in a variety of ways, but this client will be unhappy if she’s in an inactive role, around negative people, unable to make a difference in her situation, and unable to plan for the future.

How to Discover Your Strengths

There are a lot of tools that help you discover your strengths and passions. Here are some ideas to get you started.

Self-Reflection

Taking some time to journal and reflect on times you’ve felt very happy and fulfilled. What did those situations have in common? What did you do to create them? This will give you a lot of insight into your passions and strengths. Some are near the surface, and some take some digging to find, but it’s worth the effort.

Asking Others

It’s very common for those close to us to be able to see more of our strengths than we do, especially if we’re self-critical. Ask supportive close friends and family what they see ask key strengths in your life. Also take note of what others are always asking your advice about. It’s likely to reveal a key expertise you haven’t thought of.

Strength-Finding Tools

One of my favorite tools to use in helping my clients identify strengths is the CliftonStrengths Finder. It uses a detailed survey to measure your strengths in 34 areas, giving you a top five that you can focus on. If you purchase the extended results, you can also see which areas you are weakest in. Knowing your weaknesses can help you choose business partners, friends, and more that compliment you and help you grow.

Coaching

A good coach can ask you questions and help you explore your life in ways that uncover strengths you never thought you had. Having an impartial outside person help you discover strengths and passions may be just what you need to get on the road to success!

Making the Most of Talents and Passions

Once you have discovered what your talents and passions are, the next step is to apply them in ways that help you live a purposeful and successful life.

 

Because talents and passions are often general and can be applied in many ways, you may need help. A qualified coach can help you find ways to move your life closer to what your talents reveal would make you happiest.

 

It doesn’t matter where you’re starting now, what matters is where your focus is. There are always ways to take steps toward your dreams. Let me help you find them!

 

In my work,  I’ve helped clients change careers, increase their income, make money from passions they assumed would always be hobbies, and more. Contact me today at info@plantosucceed.net for a free consultation to take the first step toward your own dreams!

This Isn’t Working Anymore!

I am exhausted! This isn’t working anymore! I work all the time and can’t catch a break. If only I could land my dream client… If only my family support the hard work that I do… If only I had a chance to slow down a bit. If only I knew exactly what the right answer was, I’d just do that!

Does this sound like something you’ve said lately? Maybe you’ve only thought it? Being an entrepreneur can be one of the most rewarding jobs. And it can be one of the most lonely. Next to money problems; feelings of isolation, burnout, and indecisiveness on where to take the company can be overwhelming. With so many entrepreneurs struggling with direction in their businesses how do you beat the slump?

I took your advice here and what has worked for my personal 1-on-1 coaching clients and here is the top advice I have compiled from you to you!

Real Connection

Overwhelmingly the response was having an authentic connection to a business best friend took some of the pressure off. Get up close and personal with an individual or a mastermind group that will pu8sh you to grow your business and tell you when you need to slow down. Having like-minded individuals around will increase your ability and function in your business because we all know,

“You become like the 5 people you spend the most time with!”

So spend your time well!

Having a business friend or a mastermind group to work with to keep you growing your businesses and not just working in your business carries a value that grows exponentially. As vulnerable as you are the greater the potential for growth.

Mindfulness and Relaxation

The next response I have from your peers was mindfulness and relaxation. Being able to unplug from your business to be fully present with your family and friends increases the personal connection. It allows you to be fully present with the ones you love the most and support you while you take on the market you are a part of.

One of my clients advised that until he took the time to slow down with his family he found it harder and harder to get out of bed in the morning to work in his business. By cutting out the quality time he had with his family he had lost sight of the “why” he had started his business in the first place. He originally wanted the flexibility to go to family events, coach his son’s baseball team and have a regular date night with his wife. While he was building his business he struggled to set the boundaries necessary with clients to protect his why. Until he focused on mindfulness to deal with the stress he had completely lost touch with what originally charged him up to accomplish great things in his business.

He took the time to make the necessary changes and unfortunately lost a couple of clients but the quality of his work grew. Most importantly his family got their husband and father back!

These traits of leaders make all the difference in growing your company in a personally sustainable way. 

Take the opportunity to grow your relationships with peer businesses and share this article! Comment below your favorite Mindfulness technique or relaxation activity!

 

 

 

 

Banish Burnout

With the Holidays behind us and the New Year stretching out seemingly endless, it can be overwhelming to get back into action. Don’t worry if you are feeling burnout, stressed and the struggles of a drained bank account.

I have had several clients reaching out to me asking, “How do I create a plan for 2017 when I’m already so tired? Where do I go from here?”

First, I feel you! I have had many years where I spent in a dead sprint from Nov 1 until it seemed like the end of January. This year was the first year I had the holidays off since high school. (ahem, no comments about my age!)I was in a rut where I wasn’t able to enjoy the holiday season, let alone my family. It took me until the third holiday season in my business to take the time off to be with my family.

How did I banish my holiday burnout?

Mindfulness. Now a lot of people talk about mindfulness but how do you DO THAT? When I’m talking about mindfulness its a combination of focus and intentionality. One way you build mindfulness or stress into your life is the story you have in your head while activities are happening.

One of my clients (really all of them) is brilliant! But she so easily sweeps that aside, especially in her business. We know being an entrepreneur is wonderful, however, it rarely has all peaks without the valleys. One bump happens and she forgets she is a poised, intelligent, capable business woman. Not just her but sometimes as owners we become crisis driven.

Take the time to be mindful each day and as often throughout the day as possible.

When you are in a situation, what you say to yourself in your head around the situation creates a tie in your brain. For instance, when you are looking around and your house is much messier than you would love for it to be day to day think about what you say to yourself.

Do you use phrases like, “I can’t believe I live in this filth! I’m/ this is disgusting. I should be better, more organized…” or any other accusatory speech? These words and phrases build and reinforce the story that you are a failure. You will begin to have an emotional response based on the story you have been hearing in your head.

One way you can be mindful in situations where your house doesn’t look perfect is to practice gratitude.

Look for 3 things for which you are grateful. For example, I’m grateful for the blanket strewn across the couch because it symbolizes quality time with my family.

Being mindful of the benefits and consequences of having a family, love, community or connection often look messy. It can look like dishes, or crumbs on the floor, groceries to put away, laundry that needs to be done.

In a work setting, this is reflected in having new challenges. You can be upset about challenges popping up or having new places to overcome. That is one way to view business flow.

Another way you can spin the story in your head is being grateful to have new challenges, that they symbolize growth, expansion, a healthy company.

I was speaking with a client in one of my mastermind groups and they informed me they were not getting the sales they wanted and couldn’t understand why. They had made a post on Facebook about selling a product in their new business one time.

That’s the equivalent of shouting from your porch, “I started a business!”

and never following up. We spoke a little about managing expectations and the story they had in their head about what people thought.

As humans, we still don’t read minds but we like to make up what others think. Staying open, and vulnerable, to give people the benefit of being personally invited into our story builds a connection to the business. We worked on being open to giving people the benefit of the doubt, that maybe the customers were distracted or hadn’t seen the post.

In that case, it would be a disservice to not repeat the message about the product.

My client was able to move from stressed and overwhelmed to hopeful and open to sharing the product they offered and get back out there!

When we look at these stories we are being intentional with our focus and the conclusions we draw from actions and reactions to ourselves.

We choose every day the connections we make from all of the data streaming into our lives.

When you tell the data where to go and how to connect we respond intentionally. When the data has us running scared, running stressed we are reacting in the moment to a temporary position as a permanent issue.

I challenge you to start paying attention to what you say to yourself about what’s going on!

If you are looking to Up-Level Your Mindset We have a free 5-day challenge to help you Banish burnout, Gain Clarity and Build Momentum to have your best year yet in 2017!

Email info@plantosucceed.net or click on Up-level your Mindset.

 

 

Five Myths of Entrepreneurial Success

 

As Millennials become more and more of the workforce, entrepreneurship is surging in popularity. The millennial generation favors independence and meaning in their work, and don’t see becoming a senior executive as the apex of their careers.

 

It’s no surprise, then, that 67% of millennials have a goal of starting their own business. Being an entrepreneur is hard work, but you get to shape the company and set the vision yourself. That, along with incredible flexibility and purpose, makes entrepreneurship ideal for young adults.

 

There are, however, a lot of unfortunate myths surrounding entrepreneurial success. Believing these myths can hold you back from creating the impact you intended to make. Before you set out on your entrepreneurial adventure, make sure you don’t believe these five myths.

 

Myth #1:  You Can Never Quit

Many entrepreneurs go into business with a “burn the ships” mentality – that is, they cut off all opportunity to change course, and feel like they have to stick with their idea no matter what happens.

 

Unfortunately, this can lead to dismal results. Sticking with an idea that doesn’t have a good fit with the market is one of the primary reasons businesses fail. It’s vital to be willing to pivot or even abandon a product or service if it’s not something that other people want to pay for.

 

If you can’t sell your product or service, you are digging a financial hole and not making any progress, or your business is ruining your personal life, quitting could be the best decision you’ve ever made.

 

Myth #2: You Can Be Prepared for Everything

The Boy Scout motto, “Be prepared”, is also an important mantra among entrepreneurs. Planning for how you will handle challenges (distributor falls through? Less demand than expected? Turned down for financing?) is an important part of being successful as an entrepreneur.

 

You should also have some plans for success – how you’ll handle production for a big jump in demand, making sure your servers are strong enough for a surge in website traffic, and more. However, don’t think for a minute that you can be prepared for everything. Being adaptable and able to adjust to changing circumstances is essential to entrepreneurial success.

 

Trying to be too prepared can be a delay tactic – a way to prevent yourself from taking action on something that scares you. Don’t hold back – over-planning won’t help you, it will just make you more frustrated if things don’t go the way you expect. Instead, take reasonable precautions and be prepared for change. For more information here Read.

 

Myth #3: If You Build It, They Will Come

Having a great idea is the seed of entrepreneurship. But it’s only the seed – there’s a lot you have to do to nurture it and encourage it to grow. Unfortunately, some entrepreneurs assume that if they build their good idea, the world will flock to their door.

 

Many business owners think they can spread their idea simply by posting on Facebook or Instagram. While that’s a start, being active on social media isn’t enough. You have to market yourself in a way that stands out. Consumers have a huge number of options in every category, and all of the information is at their fingertips thanks to the internet.

 

Instead of practicing “random acts of marketing”, create a marketing plan that allows you to systematically build awareness about your company, move people through your sales funnel, and gain customers on a regular basis.

 

Myth #4: Winners Don’t Work

There is a certain segment of entrepreneurs who are looking for a “silver bullet” that will allow them to make large amounts of money without working very hard. I see it all the time in Facebook ads, where gurus claim to be ready to show you how to “earn six figures while working 10 hours a week”.

 

First, let me tell you that the only way they’re earning six figures – if they even are – is by selling the idea of “no work” to others. Secondly, the idea that winners don’t work – or that they only work for a few years and then sit on their laurels – is not the foundation of business success.

 

Instead of looking for a silver bullet that doesn’t exist, take the attitude of the tortoise from the “Tortoise and the Hare”. Slow and steady consistent work wins the race.

 

Myth #5: Mindset Doesn’t Matter

On the other hand, there are entrepreneurs who understand the need to take action but focus on grinding it out every day to the exclusion of working on their mindset and personal and professional growth.

 

Being a successful entrepreneur takes more than long hours. It takes learning and making changes in your internal world as well. Some of the mindsets that are vital to entrepreneurial success include:

• If you don’t have a clear vision for what you want the company to be and what purpose it serves, you won’t be able to be successful over the long term. You also need to learn to communicate that vision effectively to others as your business grows.
• Believe in Yourself and Your Business. Believing in yourself and your business will give you the emotional resilience you need when you encounter setbacks. Buy In
• Willingness to Step Out of Your Comfort Zone. Brandon Burchard said, “Mediocrity begins the precise moment you swap love for challenge with love of comfort.”
• A Bias Toward Action. Learning is vital, but it isn’t true that knowledge is power. Knowledge is only potential power – true power comes from acting on the new understanding.

 

Having the right mindsets will help you take the right actions, which will help you succeed. You can’t overlook the importance of working on yourself from the inside out.

 

If you’re ready to embrace entrepreneurial success in 2017, I’m here to help. I’ll help you identify limiting mindsets, take action to make changes, and break out of any false beliefs you have. Join us today here to connect with a group of Firestarters in the Fired Up! Entrepreneur Community Growth.

Are you Busy But Broke?

Being busy is no excuse to be broke! Everyone knows someone who is always busy but never has any money. Has anyone stopped to ask why?

Why are you broke all the time? It is easy to stay busy with tasks that never affect your bank account. I see this all the time as a Coach. People come in with a list a mile long of tasks that they are working on or have finished and they are so proud of everything on the list, but none of it makes money!

We are going to find 3 ways to know if you have busy but broke syndrome. Then we are going to look at 3 busy but broke breakthroughs.

How Do You Know if You have the “Busy but Broke” Syndrome?

1. Does your bank account reflect a balance on par with the hours you are working?

Since my business is a success-based business most of my clients are excellent planners. One trait planners have is that they try and anticipate and structure their entire business, often spending more time in planning than executing money-making activities.

Some of my clients rearrange and re-plan their schedule because they feel they will have control over all of the details if they are safely in a plan. But if you’ve ever worked with people or technology you know life isn’t like that – some things will just take longer.

If you plan 10 minutes to check your email, it never fails: that’s the day you received 100 new emails to which you need to respond. Now you spend the rest of the day in catch up mode with tasks of low priority so that you can feel like you are accomplishing your to-do list.

This structure looks very important to you, but really it is masking the real things that are stealing your productivity.

2. Do you find yourself searching for every guru’s top tips for productivity?

Every guru has a different but equally awesome way they got to the top – because it fit them. If you spend all of your time reading the latest tips from the latest guru and then re-planning your life around their ideas, you’ll be chasing your tail.

It’s fine to get new ideas, but if you never stick with it long enough to see if anything comes from it, you will simply be busy but broke!

3 Are you always stressed and behind, running from one task to the next without completing anything or making money?

This is also very common. Many people do not have a great way to separate priority in their business put everything in the same box marked “urgent”.

Sometimes this looks like procrastination. Chances are if there is something you are procrastinating you need to look at your mindset around the task, but that’s a topic for another day.

This can also look like Attention Deficit Disorder. If you have A.D.D. you understand the extra time it takes to process your life. Unfortunately, a lot of people claim to struggle with ADD but truthfully they are just poor time managers.

I followed one client through their morning and this is what it looked like for this work at home mom: Boot up computer, remember needing to unload the dishwasher. Unloaded top rack of dishwasher and remembered she needed to return a client email from the previous day. Opened email and noticed a refund not issued properly for a separate client, called to resolve bank issue. Remembered needed to post on social media account and picked up her phone. A friend called and she spoke with that friend for a while. While on the phone realized she needed a specific outfit for the next day and began a load of laundry, then proceeded to put laundry away. While putting laundry away she stepped on the infamous LEGO and set her little one to cleaning his room. While he was cleaning he decided he was hungry so Mom went down to make lunch where she had an email waiting for her from the client from the previous day.

Her morning was running from one crisis to another.

I had her sit down with a Post-It note and every time an item popped into her head she wrote it down. She came up with 32 other items she needed to complete right now. 32! And the one deadline she had that day that was non-negotiable wasn’t even on the list. At the end of her morning, she was busy but hadn’t gotten anything real done.

Now: 3 ways to break the cycle of Busy but Broke!

1. Like the stay-at-home mom I observed, I’d like you to go get a Post-It note pad. Go ahead and create two Post-It notes: one titled “Due Today” and one titled “Do When Time Allows.

As you go about your work, write down each distraction or the new idea on one of the two notes. Only allow tasks or expectations with looming deadlines to make it to the shortlist for today.

Guard this closely! If you need help saying “No”, read my recent post here then come back.

2. If you’re an expert on every guru’s advice ever written, pick one tip and implement only that one! Do it consistently for a period of time.

To know if something is productive you have to be able to isolate the data based on one change. That means you have to stick with it! I mean it too. It takes 21 days to make a habit and you should allow a reasonable amount of time to pass to know if the tip is working.

Hint: It might take longer than 21 days.

Do not change something that was working for you because you now want to achieve the same goal just like your new mentor did for their success. Your success is your journey, not theirs!

I see this all the time as well, clients who read a new book and feel they need to adjust their business plan to this style of leadership, business or success. All depending on the book’s focus, and they can lose hours or even days adjusting and editing what is already working.  Take note if you see yourself doing this!

Often we fix what we feel is easy to adjust, like our schedules in order to avoid changing what is harder to change, like a habit, mindset, or limitation.

One of the ways I help clients overcome this exactly is through mastermind groups. Having someone else who sees your business activity and overcomes the areas in your blindspot. Read more about Masterminds here! Do not waste 5 years going in circles when you could be part of a group that builds you and keeps you accountable to your greatness!

3. This is the most brutal but the most effective tip, and the shortest. Do what makes you money first then fill in the rest of your schedule.

If you’re struggling with being busy but broke, you’re not alone! I see it all the time in my coaching practice. Fortunately, there are actionable ways to solve the problem.

Know yourself. If you like to follow everyone’s advice limit the amount of advice you are ingesting. Make sure you are being strategic that the advice you are following is aligned with where your business is headed and it makes you money. Do not take your advice from broke and busted individuals.

Seek out situations where you have authentic, transparent relationships with other business people who are committed to growing their business and making money. If you are leaving excuses and time wasters behind get involved with a mastermind group to amplify your growth.

We have Masterminds starting soon. Email info@plantosucceed.net for more information!