Make Your Next Move Your Best Move - Now It's On You

While reading some very informative material recently, I found myself inspired by a concept that enables a person to soar to higher heights.  The concept of adding value to everything you do, when applied to specific areas of a person's life, can bring that person to be highly sought after by those receiving the added value.  The material I was reading focused on business and what this concept will do for the success of a business.  Another way of looking at this concept is in the idea of doing more than is expected, or doing more than that which you are compensated to do.  When doing this a person will be "weighed" against others who do not.  In comparison, the person who adds value to all he/she does will be sought after to the degree that there will be keen competition for his/her service.  As a person becomes more and more recognized for doing more than he/she is compensated to do, he/she will begin receiving more and more compensation for their service...

Grabbing opportunities with open arms is often easier to talk about than to actually do. Most people find themselves dreaming about being rich but never actually doing anything about it. A combination of procrastination and 'what if' syndrome can cripple your creative spirit and might mean your idea will never become a reality. Socrates said "Action equals knowledge". What he meant was that it is through action that we achieve results. For example, you could think about learning Spanish for months, imagining the holidays you will take and the people you will communicate with. You can dream forever but accomplish nothing unless you actually make the effort to start taking lessons. Much like the martial arts approach - the idea is to take action immediately and avoid over analyzing the situation. Do you want to start your own business but are afraid of what kinds of things can go wrong? What if your initial investment doesn't pay off? There are millions of things th...

It’s a great time to be an entrepreneur—in the last decade, technology has leveled the playing field and propelled an entrepreneurial revolution. As an entrepreneur, you now have more access to information that enables you to make more intelligent choices more quickly. You have an advantage over big businesses in that you’re lighter, more flexible, and faster on your feet. You can target new markets more quickly, and you can turn on a dime. But being a successful entrepreneur requires that you look at the big picture and follow a plan through from beginning to end. Rieva Lesonsky, editor-in-chief of Entrepreneur Magazine gives some practical guidelines that can help you when beginning your own enterprise: 1.Don’t Quit Your Day Job. Consider starting your business part-time, especially if it’s online, while you’re working and have a steady income. It usually takes six months to a year to get a business going and you don’t want your ability to make your house payment to hinge upon your c...

What’s a Virtual Assistant? Virtual assistants are independent contractors or entrepreneurs who provide administrative assistance to multiple clients. Unlike regular assistants, they work out of their homes rather than at your business’ physical location. There are numerous advantages to using a virtual assistant: • Location. If you work from home, you don’t have to find a place to put an employee. • No Overhead. They provide their own office supplies, desk, computer, software, and phone lines. • No Benefits. They’re not your employee, so you aren’t responsible for paying social security or income taxes, holidays, insurance, vacation or sick pay. • Lots of Flexibility. It’s significantly easier to find a virtual assistant who can work evening hours or weekends—after all, they’re working from home. And you can give them more or less hours as your needs change. There are virtual staffing companies that match virtual assistants with small and home-based businesses who need help running th...

Sometimes it's good to have a casual day, you know? For that matter, it doesn't hurt to even take a day off once in a while. I work really hard at building my business and keeping it in order. Honestly, I almost never take a day entirely off. But you know what? I don't mind (most of the time) because I love what I do (again, most of the time). Sure, any form of work gets redundant at times or gives a sense of monotony. That's to be expected. I just couldn't imagine choosing a business that I didn't really like. The world is full of J-O-Bs that are just a total disappointment. Trust me; I've had lots of them over the years. But it makes no sense to me at all to invest my time and money building an enterprise unless it's something that I truly, totally, and completely want to do. Maybe you still have a part-time or full-time job, and are just working your business on the side for now. If so, I commend you for having the dedication to come home after a ful...

Nothing happens in business until a sale is made. Marketing is simply about getting new customers and keeping them. If you’re not doing something everyday to market and promote your business, your competitors are. Here are ten easy-to-implement tips to effectively market and grow your business: 1. Partner with large email database list owners and offer to cross promote each other. The list owner will advertise your event, product, or service to their email database and you’ll offer to do the same to your list. 2. Create your own blog which is like an online journal with regularly updated posts to provide key information and continue to add value to existing and potential customers. It’s more personal and immediate than a website and keeps people engaged and hopefully coming back for more. You can even create one for free at http://www.blogger.com. 3. If you want to increase word-of-mouth fast, do something beyond normal industry expectations. For example, Mr. Lube offers fast and affor...

Last year, a customer of mine opened a Mexican restaurant.  The unique aspect of the restaurant is that not only is the  Mexican food authentic, but the employees are all from Mexico as well.  When you walk through the doors, you feel as though you’ve stepped into the culture of Mexico. Six months later, this same gentleman opened up another restaurant on the other side of town.  What was the secret to his immediate and amazing success?  ...he found a natural market.  No one can simulate a natural market.  People who are not Mexican go to get the cultural flavor as well as the good food, customers of Mexican descent go to enjoy the experience of home. What Defines a Natural Market? The most obvious natural markets are cultural, but include a host of other characteristics that you may be familiar with as well.  What about parents who home school?  Who could communicate more clearly, or provide more relevant products than another parent who hom...

There are lots of people out there thinking about starting a small business, and tons of great ideas, but few people go out and do it. So many people think and think about it until suddenly, they’re fifty-something, still with that great idea, but no business. There’s no doubt it takes a special type of person to be an entrepreneur. It’s not for the faint of heart. It takes desire to succeed, courage, perseverance and a great deal of will power to continue to work at it in the face of the setbacks you’ll inevitably have to deal with. But what else does it take to be a successful small business owner? Of course, it takes technical skills. That goes without saying. And, you can’t just be good at what you do. You need to be very good at it before you even think about starting your small business. So, assuming you have those technical skills, what else do successful entrepreneurs have in common? In my experience, being decisive, self-disciplined and a self-starter have ...