Archive for the ‘Entrepreneurs’ Category

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Whether you’re building a website, updating a blog, designing a brochure, or writing a press release, the words you put on that page can have a significant effect on how it benefits your home-based business. So how do you ensure you’re creating quality content?

First of all, if you don’t know how to write well, don’t have the time to do it right, or simply don’t want to, find someone else to do it. There are plenty of freelance writers out there who know what they’re doing and can do it well. Hopefully you’ll be able to establish a long-term relationship with them so you’ll always have quality content whenever you need it.

It’s also important to keep in mind that different communications channels have different purposes; your blog may have a different tone or style than your direct mailer. That being said, you should always have the reader in mind whenever you write anything. Think about their wants, needs, and how they will react to your content.

When writing business-related content, it’s important to be succinct and efficient with your words. Your customers and potential customers likely don’t want to read long-winded articles about what’s going on with your business or a new promotion you’re offering. You may occasionally present long-form content, perhaps covering some industry-related news; but that should be the exception.

Lastly, good content encourages people to share with others – either explicitly or implicitly. While there’s nothing wrong with telling the reader to “share this with your friends” or “pass this along” (and including a link or icon to make it easy for them to do just that), if you don’t want to be so forward just be sure to create content that people will naturally want to share. It’s not easy to do that, but keeping that thought in the back of your mind – the encouragement for people to share this content – will help point you in that direction.

Too often, we associate getting an education with attending a formal school or academy. While many great educational experiences occur in places like this, they are hardly exclusive domain. Well-educated individuals know that there are always daily opportunities to learn. Unlike a rigid classroom experience, where assignments are mandated, these real world lessons are left up to our own initiative. If we don’t choose to seek them, they won’t be forced upon us. 

Many of the top entrepreneurs in the world lack a college degree. Rather, they sought opportunities to learn from established leaders in the business world. By working with mentors, they were able to learn the strategies of success. Other business leaders attended institutions of higher learning, but augmented their classroom studies with real world application. In this way, they learn how to utilize their knowledge in the most efficient way. They also see the occasional errors of business theory and rectify them with hands on immediacy. 

Don’t let a misguided definition of education prevent you from learning. You don’t have to be officially enrolled at a school to learn. You don’t have to be reading from a textbook to study. Rather, seek out opportunities to learn from those around you. Study the success of others. Ask for their advice. The most successful entrepreneurs in the world got where they are because they asked the right people the right questions.

The type of people that start businesses are usually the kind of people that like to be in control. They want to control the quality of their products, how the money is budgeted, the way they market, how they sell, and all of the logistics in between. Not only is all of this work impossible for one person to do, it’s impossible for one person to be good at. And, chances are, it’s impossible for all of them to be enjoyable to any one person.

I, for one, can’t stand selling. I will never hold a job as a cold-calling salesperson, despite the good pay, because I would probably want to jump off a cliff after a week calling strangers on the phone. If you want to keep your business running for a long time, you need to make it enjoyable for yourself. Pick out the tasks that you excel at or enjoy at and delegate or outsource what you don’t.

As an aspiring entrepreneur, you lack neither passion nor motivation. What you lack is experience. One of the most valuable things an aspiring businessperson can do is find a mentor that has succeeded at what they are trying to accomplish. The advice of a mentor that has been in your position and made it work will give you the confidence and savvy you need to have an and edge above the competition.

Finding a mentor is easier than it sounds. Work your network to find people with experience and send them a polite email to let them know what your hopes are and how you think they can help. You’ll be surprised how receptive most people are to your genuine interest in their knowledge.

There are ever-more-increasing ways to make money online. As the Internet expands, so do entrepreneurial opportunities: e-commerce, affiliate marketing, information marketing, and much, much more.

Each has its advantages. Some are lower risk while others have bigger payoffs. Some provide instant feedback while others take a longer time to perfect. So as you’re considering what part of the Internet pie you’ll be diving into, it’s important to do your research.

Think about your financial budget, your time budget, and your goals. Consider any learning curves or initial investments. The proper preparation and education can make a big difference toward your future success.

In everything the ends well defined are the secret of durable success. – Victor Cousins

Another quote reminding us of the importance of goal setting.

Let the success team at PMI help you with your goals.

“The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.”
–Theodore Roosevelt  

Just as the best communicators are usually the best listeners, the most successful individuals are those who know how to get along with others. The road to high success is a bumpy one, so it is essential to have help along the way. Achieving success is not a mutually exclusive endeavor; rather, it is made possible only with the assistance of others. 

Certainly, there are those who would claim they reached their goals all on their own. Like Jimmy Stewart’s character from the film Shenandoah, they emphasize the hardships they’ve overcame by the sweat of their brow, and no one else’s. But when these people are honest with themselves, they’ll come to the same conclusion that Jimmy Stewart does in the film – we are not islands. We are always influenced by those around us. And we can’t get where we want to go without their help.

Make a game of finding something positive in every situation. Ninety-five percent of your emotions are determined by how you interpret events to yourself.
Brian Tracy

Great advice from Brian Tracy. Don’t let negative feelings or interpretations of situations keep you from achieving your dreams.

When most people think of wise individuals, they think of older folks who have lived full lives. It’s no surprise that we associate wisdom with these individuals, because the hallmark of wisdom is application. Knowledge is information gleaned through study and observation, but it doesn’t necessarily denote a direct benefit to the holder. Wisdom, on the other hand, is knowledge wielded by someone who knows how to use it. For this reason, those who have lived long lives and had the opportunity to learn and grow from the use of knowledge are generally considered wise. 

Some people preclude themselves from wisdom, thinking that it’s only something to be attained later in life. After all, when you say “wise,” the next logical word that pops into most peoples’ heads would be “old,” such as “wise, old sage.” But this is not to say that wisdom only comes with age. A wise decision can be made just as prominently by a teenager as an octogenarian. 

The process of converting knowledge to wisdom is not complex…we simply must take action. Wisdom is gleaned as you follow through with your ideas and take risks. And wisdom is not only derived from your successes; some of your most important lessons will come from your failures. This process can be painful, which is why so many people avoid it. The greatest leaders in history, the wisest of the wise, weren’t afraid to take chances. They were defined by their failures just as much as by their successes. If we follow their example, we’ll take some bumps and bruises, no doubt. But we’ll emerge each time wiser and more prepared for the next challenge.

PMI‘s e-learning curriculum is designed to give you the knowledge you need to build a business from square one.  As you’ve probably noticed from looking at the coursework, there’s a lot that goes into building a great business.  Enrolling in PMI’s courses is just like going back to school – there are quizzes, workbooks, and homework.  Learning how to build a future for yourself in real estate or on the internet is exhilarating, but it’s can also be overwhelming.  One of the best ways to help yourself learn and remember the things covered in the coursework is with mnemonic devices.

Mnemonic devices are psychological tools you can use to help yourself remember things you have learned.  You probably already know and use several mnemonics on a regular basis.  If you’ve ever tied a string around your finger to help you remember to run an errand, or made a grocery list to remember what to buy, you’ve used mnemonic devices.  Creating external reminders for yourself is a great way to remember lists of items like to-do’s, keywords to test, or property bidding criteria.  Lists and other physical reminders are the most basic form of mnemonic device, but they are effective and easy to create.

Any child that has taken music courses has learned how to use acrostics and acronyms.  Acrostics are sentences in which each word is indicative of an item to be remembered.  Acronyms are words in which each letter signifies something to be remembered.  The acrostic “every good boy does fine” is one that music students learn to remember the lined notes on the treble clef.  The acronym “FACE” signifies the space notes on the treble clef.  With a little creativity, you can create acronyms and acrostics to remember any series of items you like.

If you need to remember a person’s name that you’ve just met, a great mnemonic device is to create wordplay with their name.  If you meet someone named Courtney Brown, you could imagine her spilling a quart of chocolate (brown) milk on her knee – quart, knee, brown.  It sounds silly, but the sillier the better if you want to really remember something on the fly.  Then, it’s important to review the names and wordplays you’ve made within a few minutes of creating them to make sure they really stick.

Learning new information is always challenging, but mnemonic devices can help you recall and retain information easily.  The brain is like a muscle, the more you use it and challenge it, the stronger it gets.  The more you use mnemonic devices, the easier it will be to create them on the spot and to retain information in the long run.