You Need a Support Team to Grow Your Business

You Need a Support Team to Grow Your Business

Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting two very special people in my life and business. For the last 10 years I’ve worn many hats in my business. From trainer to marketer- product developer- copy writer- editor-customer service and everything in between. I outsourced a little bit but mostly handled everything myself.

You see, I thought If I didn’t do it all myself, I wouldn’t be a good business owner or example to my clients or students.

Being a Good Business Owner Doesn’t Mean Doing it All Yourself

Boy was I wrong about the way I was handling my business. The whole reason behind leaving my job and starting my business was to travel and be with my daughter. As I got busier, that freedom started to drift.

The time I wanted to get back from my corporate job was slowly replaced with more “stuff” working in my business, not on it. What good was doing myself, Brian, or Hanalei to allow “stuff” to take all of my attention. That is not the Freedom-preneur life- it’s the corporate life- the one I left behind.

Outsourcing is The Answer to Growing Your Business

As much as I loved the 4 Hour Work Week idea of outsourcing, I still couldn’t give away the control or trust that someone else could do as good of a job as me. That is a misguided thought for sure. No one will do the job the same way I will do it, but that doesn’t mean they won’t do an incredible job.

The Outsourcing Company I Trust

Earlier this year, I was introduced to Jenny Jordan whose company, Need a VAspecializes in creating space for busy entrepreneurs. They offer outsourcing solutions and build teams for organizations to become more efficient.

My world shifted almost immediately.

I now work on my business not IN my business. I now spend my time with my family and my clients and not spend my time on organizing my day but building and growing my business.

I had the pleasure of meeting my assistant Larcie Martinez Tulao for the first time in person, and our “Sexy Blog Artist” Mark Ryan Holanda. These two are the heart and soul of my organization, they keep me organized through the day and take care of our clients needs. There is a huge amazing team behind them that is a full support system that I now cannot live without.

What I’ve Learned From Outsourcing

There are several things that I have learned from outsourcing and the biggest thing is that developing a team has helped me grow in ways I couldn’t have imagined. Now that I allow people that are specialists in their areas handle different aspects of running the Unstoppable Family, I’m able to hone in more on my own specialty.

With the time I’ve regained, I can help more people. I’m even better now at what I do than I have ever been before.

The moment I brought on a team of others to help was the moment I was able to meet the needs of my clients. That is what it is all about- helping others reach their business goals.

Source: What Does A Management Team Do

The Risks and Rewards of Investing and Diversifying

The Risks and Rewards of Investing and Diversifying

I’m a big believer in devoting all of your efforts into a single major business. My advice is to just focus on one big income stream at first, rather than concentrating on other opportunities. You should only consider diversifying when you’re ready, able and have enough experience.

Diversifying your business is not a simple task. There are risks involved that should be minimized as much as possible. Your attention could be compromised when it has to be focused on different divisions of your business.

Focus on One
One of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make is not focusing on their main income stream, or they think they can easily diversify their wealth and investment as soon as their project takes off. Both are very daring approaches to business.

An article in The Economic Times (India) elaborates on this: “Some diversifications turn out to be successful while others don’t. Because diversification comes with its own set of drawbacks and benefits, this is.

It is an enabling tool for companies intending to de-risk their businesses by removing dependency on a single business segment. Since different business segments have varying growth cycles, well-diversified companies are better able to ride out a rough business cycle.”

The Risks of Premature Diversification
If you throw caution to the wind and decide to diversify your business too soon, there a number of problems you might encounter, like:

If your employees– who most likely joined your company to be part of your thriving start-up– begin to question your dedication to the business, they may reconsider the direction you’re taking the company in since you’re no longer giving the same time and creative input as you once did.

Lack of Experience

In order to avoid constant failures, you should try to diversify your business into industries that you’re knowledgeable about. Remember, it can be much more difficult to succeed in diversifying your business when you don’t have the required skills or experience.

Compromising Resources
According to Small Business Chron, “If, through mismanagement, excessive ambition or simple greed, a company’s directors seek to expand in too many directions at once, both new and old sectors of the company may suffer from lack of attention and insufficient resources.” Make sure you do so with caution and always aim to minimize the risks to your company’s resources if you are going to diversify.

Compromising Attention

If you attempt to diversify your business and wealth, it’s likely that you’ll have to dedicate time to making those ventures work. That means you’re most likely taking time away from your current business.

Difficulties in Product Development

Brainstorming new product ideas will require you to sacrifice hours of work, which hinders you from working on high-leverage tasks for your business.

Other Income Stream Opportunities

If you attempt to diversify your business and wealth, it’s likely that you’ll have to dedicate time to making those ventures work. In order to avoid constant failures, you should try to diversify your business into industries that you’re knowledgeable about. Remember, it can be much more difficult to succeed in diversifying your business when you don’t have the required skills or experience.

Don’t ever compromise your productivity, responsibility, creativity and leadership to your current team– they’re the ones that helped you be in the position to succeed and enable you to expand your business ventures.
Conclusion

The main purpose for diversifying your business and assets is to increase your cash flow and grow your wealth. Be sure to do your homework once you’ve become established and have enough capital to invest in other ventures. Research the best industry to diversify into and see how well it performs based on ROIs.
Don’t get sucked into fad opportunities as you’ll risk losing your hard earned money. Invest wisely. The most important thing to focus on is your current business where you get the majority of your income from. The good thing about this is you can invest money without having to put in the time and effort it would otherwise take to make shrewd decisions since you should have an expert doing that for you.

Source: Diversification of Risk

What Are the Best Ways to Get Likes on a Brand’s New Facebook Page?

What Are the Best Ways to Get Likes on a Brand’s New Facebook Page?

The most effective ways of generating fans are:

1. Contests for Fans
Because many businesses struggle to capture quality fans, it’s difficult to recommend contests. It’s an easy trap to fall into, and it’s one that many businesses fall for and waste resources on.

If you’re using a contest to give away an iPad and your brand isn’t related to Apple, there is a good chance these people are only “liking” your page for the contest itself. If there is a direct link between your product and the prize, you have a better chance to capture not only a large quantity but also high-quality fans. You can run a variety of contests.

Sweepstakes
In sweepstakes, the winners are selected through a random draw. In a contest, on the other hand, the winners are selected either by a jury or audience voting or a combination of both, and the entries are evaluated according to the skill of the submission (e.g. a photo contest).

Why running sweepstakes on Facebook will drive fans?

Friend invites: Users can easily invite their friends to join the sweepstakes.<br />
News feeds and ticker: For every person entering the sweepstakes, more people will potentially see this action through their ticker or news feed.
User Generated Content (UGC) Contest
Entrants must submit their original work (e.g. photo, video, essay, recipe, t-shirt design, etc.) and will undergo a voting system via public, company-wide, or a combination of both, to determine the winner.

Why running an UGC on Facebook will drive fans?

News mini-feeds and feeds: Content is generated when people upload submissions or vote. Users’ video or photo submissions are embedded in their news feeds for more compelling and dynamic reach.
Comments: Public can comment on submissions posting of comments generate news feeds and notifications.
Share button: Users can easily share their favorite submissions with friends.
( Contest Ideas & Descriptions sourced from experience working with Wildfire Interactive).

2. Create a Great Product.
There are tons of small to medium-sized businesses who have generated tons of “likes” on Facebook simply by offering great products. People tend to become so passionate about brands and businesses that they search for them, and the businesses receive “likes” because of it.

3. Utilize Existing Channels.
One of the best ways to generate likes is to utilize your other channels and promote your Facebook page. Thus, it’s important to integrate your Facebook page with your website, blog and, if possible, your store.

4. Advertising Campaigns.
Optimizing online ads with clear calls-to-action and specific targeting is key. Facebook Advertising presents you with a great opportunity to connect with consumers of all walks of life. When developing Facebook Ads, however, it’s important to ensure that you’re targeting your advertisements towards the appropriate audience.

You can then develop an advertisement that will best serve your business’s objectives and goals once you have developed this customer profile. Once the demographics and psychographics are complete, you could upload captivating content that will capture the audience’s attention.

To ensure you’re targeting the right audience, I’d suggest you start by creating a customer profile that highlights not only the demographics but also the psychographics associated with your key audience.

There are different types of ads now available on Facebook, ranging from sponsored stories to simple ads. All of them can generate different results depending on (1) your business, and (2) what you’re looking to accomplish.

That said, if you’re looking to increase your number of likes, you’re most certainly going to run an ad that ties back to this desired approach. You should make sure that the users you target are not currently fans of your brand.

Take note: Generating Facebook fans is easy. Keeping them from leaving is tough.

Source: Social Media for Brands

Selling and Value What Do All Small Businesses Have in Common?

Selling and Value What Do All Small Businesses Have in Common?

According to the website Internet Retailer, there are upwards of 24 million businesses online, but only about 650,000 of them generate $1,000 or more annually. Not every small business in the world has a website or e-commerce functionality. The world of small business is much bigger than just what’s online. Regardless, the same strategies and principles apply to all small businesses, online or off.|The world of small business is much bigger than just what’s online. Regardless, the same strategies and principles apply to all small businesses, online or off.

Something Different

Warren Buffett is the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, which is the parent company of numerous insurance, energy, manufacturing, finance, real estate, publishing, and other businesses. A single share of Berkshire stock is currently valued at more than $200,000.

It’s a successful and well-diversified |a well-diversified and successful conglomerate. Yet, when Buffett purchased it in 1964, Berkshire Hathaway was a failing Massachusetts textile mill, known for making the linings for men’s suits. When Buffett purchased it in 1964, Berkshire Hathaway was a failing Massachusetts textile mill, known for making the linings for men’s suits. Buffett maintained that line of business for a few years before moving into other investments and eventually shutting down the textile operation.

Like Berkshire, there are many big companies around today that started out selling one kind of product or service but now do something different.

But there are small businesses too.

Away from Affiliate Marketing

There are many businesses primarily involved in showing people how to make money online. This involved teaching people how to generate traffic and the basic mechanics of getting leads and building a list. Many customers became business affiliates and marketed various products geared toward online success. Others used what they learned to market their own products.Some are just focused on “business education.”

By “business education,” I don’t mean training on how to run an internet marketing business. Rather, it means addressing the challenges that all small businesses– online or off– have in common: how to get more customers, how to increase productivity, or how to hire with confidence, just to name a few.

Final Thought

Small business owners are a much larger audience than affiliate/online marketers. We have the educational and training resources to help anyone start and grow their own business, as well as protect their assets. So, we haven’t quit the affiliate marketing business, but we’ve merely widened our gates to include all small businesses. We have shifted our focus toward education and training products that apply to and will benefit any business owner. Small business owners are a much larger audience than affiliate/online marketers.

Source: What Do Small Businesses Need

Tips, Tricks, Do’s and Don’t’s of Social Media Marketing- Selling the Dream & Living the Nightmare

Tips, Tricks, Do’s and Don’t’s of Social Media Marketing- Selling the Dream & Living the Nightmare

In here, what I want to talk to you about today is selling the dream and living the nightmare.

Being a Freedom-Preneur Means Having Fun!

It can be inferred that there is a huge struggle for those that leave the corporate world. It’s this– we don’t take time to have fun.

Now let me ask you: So you finally did it, right? You left your corporate job so that you could pursue being a Freedom-preneur, only to turn right around and put in the same amount of time and effort to your home based business as you did for someone else.

What is the point of all of that? You left but then you were just going to still spend all of your time working, then why did you not stay in the industry you were in? Don’t ever forget that living the dream means taking the time to live.

In all seriousness and strictly speaking, you have to get away from your desk. You didn’t sign up for that. You signed up to be a Freedom-preneur and determining what your version of the Dream is.

Here are some of the tips I have for you today:

• You need to get out in the world and have fun! This is one of the most important things to remember. Take the time– in fact, a lot of time– to get away from your computer and enjoy life. Furthermore, spend time with your family, do something new, whatever you enjoy, go do it!

• Create a business that you can enjoy- We all know that there is no end to the number of things you can do in the online world. The key to this is to pick something you enjoy. Take note that you aren’t in it just for the paycheck, but for the other benefits of being on online marketer. Namely, those benefits are creating a business that you actually love. You don’t like what you are selling? Then sell something else.

• When you are doing what you love, you can do it longer- When you sell the things you love, then you will not even feel like you are working. You might find that you have been running non-stop 12-15 hours doing the thing you love. It won’t even feel like work, because you are so passionate about it.

Don’t Sell The Dream While You are Living the Nightmare

It’s time to get real people.Always be connected and transparent to your audience. You can’t sell them a dream life while you are living your own worst nightmare because people are going to see right through that.

For a long time, I was selling things that I didn’t like and couldn’t feel passionate about. I woke up and asked myself, “What am I doing this for?”. To me, my realizationwas that, what I was doing at home wasn’t much better than what I had been doing in my corporate career.

So, here is something you need to know about being a Freedom-preneur: the direction of your life is up to you. You don’t have a boss hovering over you dictating to you the exact dimensions of the box that you have to stay in.

It is undeniable that being in the online marketing industry will either energize you, or drain the life out of you. I am encouraging you to make 2016 your best business year yet and get your priorities straight. Last word of advice: Figure out what makes you tick and pursue it.

Source: Social Media Marketing Companies