Month: July 2013

  • Ambition and Determination Can Help Businesses Succeed

    Ambition and Determination

    Success in business takes determination.  One must be motivated and willing to work hard in order to get a business going strong.  Ambition is one of the key factors in how quickly and how much a business will grow.

    It takes ambition to even consider starting a business.  Those who make their business dreams a reality have already fought and won half of the battle.  So when we have doubts as to whether we have what it takes to make it, we simply need to look inside ourselves.

    Every Business Has Hard Times

    As a coach working with other entrepreneurs I see that all businesses go through growing phases, there will always be times when things look doubtful.  Few businesses are overnight successes.  It takes hard work and lots of marketing to get things started and going strong.

    Growing pains can really take their toll on new business owners or even intermediate ones.  They can make us want to throw in the towel, and some do.  But if we can get back the motivation that made us determined to start our businesses in the first place, we can tough it out and come out on top.

    How Can I Re-kindle My Ambition?

    When we’re caught up in the negative things that are happening, it can be easy to forget why we’re doing what we’re doing.  Stepping back and analyzing our reasons, goals and achievements can help us get in a better state of mind.

    • Think about why you went into business.  We all have different reasons.  Remembering them can give us the incentive we need to make it work.
    • Revisit your goals.  If you’re not achieving them, figure out why.  Did you set them too high, or was there something you could have done differently to meet them?  Once you’ve figured it out, adjust your goals accordingly and move on.
    • Make a list of the positive things you have achieved.  You may not have gotten as far as you would like by now, but if you’re moving forward at all, you’re going in the right direction.
    • Get a Coach or a Mentor to be your personal Cheerleader.
    • Network with other business owners. Maybe form a support network or mastermind group.

    Ambition and Determination

    Don’t Let Adversity Get the Best of You

    When things get in the way of reaching our goals, it can be tempting to give up.  But that’s when we need to reach for our ambition the most.  If we want to badly enough, we can overcome obstacles or find another way to achieve what we want to achieve.

    Once we’ve overcome an obstacle, we can look back on the experience for motivation.  Once you’ve made it through one thing that seemed impossible, you’ll have more confidence to take on the next challenge. Remember the word “IMPOSSIBLE” and think “I’M POSSIBLE”.

    When getting a business off the ground, you may question whether you have the ambition you need to succeed.  Many business owners do.  But if we look inside ourselves, we can find our ambition and do amazing things with it.

    At Strategize Your Success we help entrepreneurs, coaches and small business owners with online strategic goal setting, marketing and planning.  We know what struggles you face and offer solutions to help make your business THRIVE. Contact us today for a FREE 15 minute Discovery Session.

    Read more

  • Marketing Mistakes

    Business is a combination of talent and hard work.  The talent can only take you so far, so begin by doing your homework.  Every business benefits from advertising in some form or another.  The key to becoming a name that people can trust is to let them know who you are and what you stand for.  Here are a few marketing mistakes that, if avoided, will spare you much grief and money.

     

    social media planning1.  Not having a marketing plan.  What is a marketing plan?  It is the way that you will go about promoting your product or service.  Just like you wouldn’t begin to get serious about your business without a definite plan, it is best not to approach the marketing of your product without a plan.  When a product is promoted well, sales increase.

     

    2.  Putting all your eggs in one basket.  This old saying seems to work in a lot of situations and marketing is one of them.  You may find a strategy like email marketing that has been successful for you.  But, don’t base your entire marketing plan on that one strategy.  In order to grow, diversification is the answer.  By not exploring other options, your business will become stunted in no time.

     

    3.  Ignoring the value of networking.  For business, networking is invaluable.  It is the way that entrepreneurs get together to pick each other’s brains.  During these “meetings of the minds”, partnerships are struck.  You can find someone who will complement your business with a new idea.  Joint ventures mean more profits for everyone.

     

    4.  Working as a force of one.  All businesses need support in some form.  There are not enough hours in the day to do it all and still make money.  Outsourcing can be your best friend.  You can outsource for practically anything that you need.  Hire someone to design your web page, answer your emails, and organize your invoices.  When these tasks are taken care of, more time can be devoted to marketing the product in new and creative ways.

     

    5.  Cutting back on your marketing budget.  When business is slow, we can panic unnecessarily.  We want to save as much money as we Successcan until things pick up again.  Since business is down, we might decide that we don’t need to advertise as no one is buying.  That is the worst mistake we can ever make.  This is the time to use our extra minutes in the day to beef up that marketing plan to appeal to a wider net of customers.

     

    Have you already made some of these marketing mistakes?  No worries. In this world most things are fixable.  Begin again, but this time with the knowledge of what not to do.

    Read more