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Tips to keep your business from running out of business by @SaabyConsulting

January 25, 2019 by Karen Jensen Leave a Comment

by Karen Jensen | Featured Contributor

In a perfect world, customers and clients would be lined up outside your door, your email Inbox would be overflowing, and your website would consistently be number one in SEO.

Even the most successful entrepreneurs have changes in their business models. No one has represented this better than Oprah. She fearlessly left a successful television show to start her own channel. She has continued that pioneer spirit by diversifying her brand even further with Weight Watchers, movies, etc.

Diversification should be part of every small business strategy. Just because your market is flowing a certain way NOW, that doesn’t mean it will continue.

How to stay on top of your business? As the founder and president of my own company, I’ve learned the importance of benchmarking and measuring how well my strategies are performing.

In marketing and advertising, there are any number of free tools that have been a part of my strategy since early on. I may never get to page one for a search (that really can be ok), but I know exactly how many visitors go to my site, which one of my posts is doing well (and which one’s aren’t) on every social media outlet I have.

Staying connected is critical. Decide what you believe in as a company. I consider every post, every blog and every interview a chance to portray my company in a good (or terrible) way. At networking events, I put aside personal concerns and focus on who I want to connect with and making sure I’m never dismissive of people who come up and speak to me.

What are my financial metrics and how are they performing based on historical data? I know exactly how much I’ve spent on supplies for the last seven years! I think of this as the “Prius Effect”, where having access to data changes how you behave. I’ve watched incidental spending decline as my business has grown. In the beginning, I wasted a lot of money buying things I thought I should have, or things other people told me I absolutely needed.

Stay current in your industry and see how you can expand your business to new industries. Over the last several years, I’ve expanded outside of my core business of technology solutions to smarter city solutions and workforce solutions. Technology is impacting literally every aspect of business, creating opportunities and making some things obsolete.

Become your own subject matter expert – about your industry and your company. People respect knowledge and well thought out ideas. I have an opinion on frontier technologies like blockchain and artificial intelligence that isn’t what most people are talking about. The truth is – implementing blockchain at this point is at best, theoretical, and artificial intelligence doesn’t really exist right now. A more accurate term for today’s artificial intelligence would be data and/or predictive analytics. There aren’t any machines making human decisions – it’s going to take a long time for us to feed all the data into the machines that they would need to know. There are also ethical considerations that aren’t getting the attention they deserve.

You won’t be an entrepreneur until YOU think you are. If you are still searching “how to be an entrepreneur”, you probably aren’t quite there yet. But you can get there.

All the best to small businesses and entrepreneurs everywhere!

Visit my website and follow me on social media.

About my company

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Why Community Matters Now, More Than Ever by @annamcafee

January 24, 2019 by Anna McAfee 2 Comments

by Anna McAfee | Featured Contributor

“What tribes are, is a very simple concept that goes back 50 million years. It’s about leading and connecting people and ideas. And it’s something that people have wanted forever” says Seth Godin.

You’d have to be living under a rock to not have recently heard the words ‘community’ and ‘tribe’. But why does it matter so much, and why does it matters now? We need to take a look at the world, where we are as individuals, and where we are as a collective.

But what is a community? As individuals we are members of multiple groups of people, which are defined by geography, work, study, interests, online social networks, and online group participation.

The lack of real community

As humans we have a basic need for community but modern lifestyles are squeezing this out. Community is more and more absent from the way we live our lives. We have evolved in tribes, always lived and hunted as groups, but we are living more isolated lives online and not interacting with individuals and groups around us. Social change has meant that many of us have moved away from where we grew up, and we don’t have a support network around us. Its alarming that for many its becoming the norm to go for days without seeing another human face to face.

The internet and social media have created unprecedented opportunities for connection across the globe. A hyper-connected world, always online, has provided considerable advantages, with greater opportunities for remote work and flexibility, in particular for women. We have information at our fingertips and the ability to find customers and build business relationships remotely.

At what cost though?

Where there is an upside, there is also a downside. Social media is eating humans. Estimates show that 2.95B people on earth (one third of humanity) will use social media by 2020. It connects us in ways we’ve never before seen or imagined. It disconnects us in ways we take for granted. In a time when social media shapes our world view and drives our daily interactions, we need to define a new balance between online and offline, between global and local, between virtual and reality. Modern life is creating a human connection gap, there is lack of social cohesion around us, and less of a sense of belonging.

What we can and are doing about it

Photo by Slava Bowman on Unsplash

In recent years there has been a shift towards authentic connection in what has become a fast, technologically advanced world. Social media has added so much to our world and our businesses but we have lost something in the process. We have become accustomed to define ourselves by the job we do, who we know, how many likes we get. Yet we are so much more than the superficiality of all those things.

As a result of change we are seeing a shift in consumer demands, a craving for a more human experience. In our DNA there is a desire to be a part of a community, or multiple communities, that support us and help us grow.

Brands and companies are being expected to deliver a more human experience to its customers and followers. We now have #O2O movements (online to offline) and #H2H (human to human) delivery of content, products and services.

Another example of this change is the #letsgethonest campaign in late 2017 and re-run again in 2018. 26 million people shared their failures and weaknesses via content, on the basis that what we share as humans aren’t perfections and successes, but universal flaws and failures.

Online brands such as Fiverr and Asana are now delivering a community experience to customers and contributors. #LinkedInLocal, a campaign to take online connections offline and come together to meet in groups face-to face, has spread to over 85 countries in less than two years. We continually see the rise and growth of Facebook communities for like-minded people, anything from mothers groups to soul-centred entrepreneurs, there is a Facebook group for literally everything.

Bridging the Human Connection Gap

Even in a digital world it is so important to build our own “villages” to support us. Social isolation is damaging to health, education, business and society. As humans we need to find the balance between an increased need for privacy, and shutting ourselves off from the world. Human interaction must be meaningful and when we recognise this we need to picture what our own ideal in-person villages look like, and use technology for good in order to seek them out.

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There’s Something You Should Know Before Becoming an Entrepreneur by @Lilyalexblog

January 23, 2019 by Bianca Oliva 2 Comments

by Bianca Oliva | Featured Contributor

Entrepreneurship is a loaded word. Some make it look easy; flaunting successful businesses, nice cars, and drool-worthy Snapchat stories. Success doesn’t just happen. It takes hard work, never ending hours, and a lot of preparation.

But there’s a few things you need to know before embarking on the journey…

You don’t need to be a jack-of-all-trades

There’s a common misconception about being an entrepreneur; you have to know and do everything. I’m sure its useful to be versed in sales, marketing, bookkeeping and everything in between… but you can only wear so many hats at once. Don’t be afraid to branch out and learn new things. Just remember to focus your energy on what you’re great at, and what you love.

There’s always homework to be done

This may seem to contradict my first point, but hear me out. There’s always something to learn. Being an entrepreneur means being prepared to educate yourself and stay up to date on current trends and developments in your niche. If you thought homework ended in college, you’re in for a surprise. But don’t worry! This time, it’s a lot more fun.

Its not just helpful to network… its necessary

When I began stepping out of freelancing and moving on to start my own business, I wasn’t quite aware of how important it is to network. Not only does networking allow you to get a new perspective on your industry and target audience, but it gives you a chance to learn from the successes and failures of others. I’ve yet to come across a successful entrepreneur who was unwilling to share their story, or at least some good advice.

The road to success is littered with failures

This one of hardest truths to understand and accept, especially if you’re someone with an entrepreneurial mindset. You’ll fail many times before you succeed. Minor failures along the way are guaranteed. Whether you choose to continue on to reach the success waiting for you at the end, is up to you. As Oprah Winfrey once said; “Failure is another stepping stone to greatness.”

Every lesson is an opportunity

Just like every failure is lesson, every lesson is an opportunity to grow and evolve into a stronger and more successful you. Not to be cliche here, but carpe diem! Seize the day and each moment in it. There are

Entrepreneurship is not an easy journey. Its full of blood, sweat, tears, and sleepless nights doing anything and everything we have to do, in order to keep ourselves and our businesses running. But it’s worth it to know that every day we get to live the lives we want to; on our own terms.

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13 Ways Leaders Re-Boot Employee Engagement In Business by @AngeKYoumatter

January 22, 2019 by Angela Kambouris Leave a Comment

by Angela Kambouris | Featured Contributor

Can you remember when you first joined your team, full of enthusiasm, passion, and determination you were going to make a difference? You are pumped with new ideas, strategies and palpable energy that would permeate the walls of any building.

Then as time progressed, days turn into months, your energy plateaued, your enthusiasm waned, and you began to feel disconnected. Frustrations mounted, roadblocks seemed like unachievable peak tops. If this sounds familiar, you are around great company. No one is immune to feeling alone, experiencing the same frustrations or at times the lack of productivity. All levels of the organization, including entrepreneurial leaders have experienced at some point the disconnect. The good news is that many have also risen above to confront and re-engage within their organization.

Here is a list of thirteen actionable ideas to re-boot engagement in your business.

Time is precious

Leaders must spend time with their team member, both formally through training, coaching, performance and informally through conversations, coffee and morning tea. By engaging in conversations that determine skill gaps, what you need to close the gap and the behaviors you want to change and impact with your team creates an opportunity to identify the priorities for the next 30 and 90 days, both individually and as a collective group. The power is in the conversation.

Results, not input

An emphasis must be on outcomes and the end results rather than input. Leaders must shift the responsibility to the employee to determine how individually they can work and fulfill their responsibilities. When leading others, employees must learn to see clearly that their success or lack of, is not determined by managers or circumstances but is in their own hands. Leaders empower people to become experts at leading themselves. When you let people drive their results, they hold themselves accountable.

Can l see you?

Visibility within the organization, speaking at meetings with your people, channeling nervous energy into adding value, presenting information that taps into all representational systems – logical information, using body language, compelling visuals and engaging the audience, creates a space to bring your people along graciously. When you are clear about communication styles, inclusivity breeds.

Future leaders

You want your people to feel more connected and engaged, include employees in company strategy. People feel more empowered, it doesn’t cost anything, respect permeates the culture, people feel heard, different ideas are brought to the table and the identification of future leaders are revealed.

Collective thinking

There is strength in bringing together teams from different areas – internal or external – for a workplace lunch, industry conference or individually to work on a project. The power of collaborating, bringing fresh ideas, problem-solving or sharing best practice knowledge, cultivates strong professional relationships that benefit both people and business.

Walk and talk

Walk and talk meetings or mentoring walks lead to healthy minds and healthy business performance and productivity. When you get and move, immerse yourself in the fresh air you will be amazed at how productive people feel. It starts at the top.

Imagine having time to create what inspires you

Google introduced a 20 percent program where employees spend 20 percent of their time at work doing whatever they like. In a smaller company, a variation may be one week out of every 8 weeks to work on a passion project. By encouraging your people to work on side projects you promote skill development, learning of new technologies and an ability to explore untouched territories in the marketplace. Encouraging creativity makes sound business sense and it helps you attract the best talent.

4-Day week

Given the digital world has had a profound impact on everyday life, including work hours, companies are now looking at cutting their work week to 4 days a week resulting in higher productivity in business, more motivated staff and less burnout. In New Zealand, Perpetual Guardian, a trust company reported that since the pilot of a 32 hour week in 2018, there had been a fall in stress and an increase in staff engagement.

A personal assistant for the week

Giving a little help by hiring a personal assistant for a day or week to recognize the time and effort your people have put in every single day, creates ripples within your organization. A dedicated person to work through administration and menial tasks that must be done so the recognized person can have an opportunity to dedicate time to working on their passion project for the week. Imagine the ROI.

Employee Award ideas

Recognizing and rewarding the efforts of your people can be done in a fun and innovative way. Start with identifying the fundamental values within the workplace that you want your people to be alignment with and identify titles that can be celebrated once a month. For instance, rewarding improving the quality of customer service in the company, a title may be for an award “Customer Whisperer”; awarding a top performer may be “Hall of Fame” award; an appreciation award for making a difference to people within the company “The Master Yoda Award” and “The Marvel team” award that celebrates and appreciates team effort and results.

Meaningful words

Mantras help unite people under a common purpose, supports employees to humanely connect with your brand and product and is a uniquely powerful source of motivation. One way to leverage the mantra is by making it visible throughout the building on posters, t-shirts, or in a workplace manifesto painted on a wall in the building. Make it meaningful and watch how people embody your brand and unleash the power of your team.

Rapid-fire

One way to start the day is to create a sense of team spirit with a rapid-fire catch–up. Fifteen minutes of sharing your wins, roadblocks and focus for the day. Team conversations ensure all members are on the same page and have an awareness of how to best support each other.

Pulse performance

When you create environments where pulse performance practices are embedded that encourage regular feedback, monthly check-ins, ongoing discussions to ensure alignment with objectives, exposing blind spots and amplifying strengths, magic happens. Leadership development in today’s climate is non-negotiable. By coaching managers in providing feedback with an attitude of ‘what needs to be done next’ rather than rating past performance and induces dialogue on a deeper level as people want to be able to grow and be better. The more personal development opportunities within the organization, the more you will retain talent.

When you tap into the genuine commitment of unlocking the human potential within your organization, people re-engage, and success comes to those who dare to be brave.

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How the LinkedIn Algorithm Works by @donnaamos

January 22, 2019 by Donna Amos Leave a Comment

by Donna Amos | Featured Contributor

When you visit LinkedIn or the LinkedIn app, you see your homepage feed. This page acts very much like the Facebook feed, where you see updates from your friends or Pages you follow. However, your LinkedIn feed does not show every post from your entire network. It only shows content that LinkedIn judges to be relevant to you. You can, of course, use the setting at the top right of the page to see posts based on recent activity instead of relevance.

That’s because LinkedIn has implemented a process for content distribution across its network that utilizes four filters, in order to reduce spam and/or inappropriate content. If you include LinkedIn in your content marketing strategy, you need to understand how the LinkedIn algorithm filters your posts and chooses whether to show them or not.

Filter #1 Quality Level

Every time you post any type of content, the LinkedIn algorithm judges it to be spam, low quality, or quality. In a blog post describing the strategies used to keep the newsfeed relevant, Director of Engineering, Rushi Bhatt explained: “Our online and nearline classifiers label every image, text, or long form post as “spam,” “low-quality,” or “clear” in near real time.

Filter #2: Level of Engagement

If your content passed the initial round, it appears in the LinkedIn feed temporarily. This is when the LinkedIn algorithm watches and measures the amount and types of audience engagement your post earns. If your post is gaining likes, comments, and shares, you will likely pass this stage. However, there is no definitive number of likes, shares, or comments that determine a pass or fail.

Filter #3: Your (and your Content’s) Credibility

At this third filter, the LinkedIn algorithm will look beyond the content of your post and more at who you are to determine if your post should keep showing up in user feeds. According to Hootsuite, “This stage is also when the algorithm decides whether to ‘demote’ your content, sending it backwards in the queue for another chance at winning credibility.

If your post looks ‘suspicious,’ but the algorithm doesn’t want to make a definitive call on it (giving you the benefit of the doubt), it will remain in the feed but not show very highly or very frequently.” Basically, LinkedIn looks at you and your network to determine whether or not this is a spam post and whether your network will find it valuable.

Filter #4: Human Editors

It is at this point that human LinkedIn editors take a first look at your content. Up until now, only a small batch of people have been allowed to see and interact with your post. Most of the other determinations are made by LinkedIn algorithm bots that are preprogrammed to search for unpublicized factors.

At this point, editors review your post to determine whether it should keep showing, if it should be included in a particular channel, or whether they can derive any takeaways from it for future algorithm tweaks and product development. As long as it keeps getting engagement, your post stays in the mix, continuing its algorithmic journey through the feed.

Here is a great infographic that details how the LinkedIn algorithm works.

How to Optimize Your Posts for LinkedIn

Follow these three tips to optimize your posts around the LinkedIn algorithm.

Create Great Content– Vary between text, images, videos, tips, opinions, quotes, and simple sharing links to other great content. Be sure all your content is optimized for mobile users, since about 60% of LinkedIn users access the platform on their phones.
Leverage the LinkedIn Bias– Since LinkedIn is a more professional-leaning social network, you should focus your posts around topics that LinkedIn admits a bias toward:
1. Career Helps
1. Industry Relevance
1. Credible and Trustworthy Sources
Grow Your Network– A large network of followers spells credibility on LinkedIn, so use these tips to expand your network in 2019:
Ask all your employees to follow your company and set it as their workplace on their profiles.
Follow influential people in your industry who are prominent on LinkedIn.
Join and participate in relevant groups, sharing your content when appropriate.
Comment on content relevant to your industry.
Set up links to your LinkedIn page on your company website and careers page to encourage more relevant follows.
Mention people when you post something and they’ll like or share if you’ve named them in your post.

What are some other suggestions you have for optimizing your content to take full advantage of the LinkedIn algorithm and get your posts viewed? We’d love to hear your suggestions or ideas in the comments below.

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Warning: This is what is holding you back! by @Mominbusiness_

January 21, 2019 by Vanessa Cast Leave a Comment

“Everything you want is on the other side of fear” – Jack Canfield

Do you really think that what is holding you back is real?

Have you ever heard the story of the brave little tortoise:

Once upon a time, there was a tortoise on a ship, and the ship sank. Sometime later the tortoise made it to a desert land surrounded by water on all sides except for one. The landward side led up to a big, steep, craggy mountain. To avoid starving to death, the tortoise decided to climb to the top of the mountain, hoping that he would be able to cross to the other side.

When he got to the snow-covered summit he was freezing cold, and then a blizzard started. He just managed to make out a small pathway leading down the other side of the mountain. But the path was guarded by a big monster that wouldn’t stop shouting.

“Uuh uuh uuh!”

Such a sight and sound almost killed the tortoise with fright, and all he wanted to do was hide his head inside his shell. But, looking around him, he saw that many other animals were lying frozen to death, and with looks of horror on their faces. So the tortoise didn’t go into his shell.

He summoned up all his courage to move down the path towards the monster. The closer the tortoise got, the more the monster changed its shape. Then, when he was almost upon it, the tortoise realized that what he had thought was a monster, was only a great pile of rocks, which formed a shape just like a monster. As for the “Uuh uuh uuh”, the tortoise realized this was just the sound of the wind blowing through a small cave.

The tortoise carried on, and eventually descended into a beautiful valley, filled with woods, and plenty of food. The tortoise lived very happy here and became known everywhere as the Brave Little Tortoise.

This takes me back to the first question.

Do you really think that what is holding you back is real, or you’re just making things bigger than they’re because you’re afraid of what can happen if you’re brave enough to do it?

Focus on the bright side!

Most of the time the danger is not real, everything is inside your head. In other words, your insecurities and previous experiences can be playing you.

Michelle Poler is the founder of the movement Hello Fears. The question she always asks herself is:

We usually tend to focus on the bad things that can happen, and then we just start thinking that those things are not that bad, this is the common approach.

Why don’t we start thinking on all the good things that can happen, all the things that we’re giving up if we are not brave enough and just let our fear to conquer us?

Sometimes, we are so involved in that pessimistic way of thinking that we need to regain the ability to see the bright side of things.

How can I beat fear?

A nice exercise is to make a list of what you think is holding you back. Writing down our fears make them less powerful. Then read the list and ask yourself these questions:

The danger behind all these things is real? Or I’m just making things bigger than they are? Is it about my fears and insecurities?
If any of the things on the list is a true danger, think about how you can reduce the risk… create a plan and just be brave and determined to make it happen.

Don’t let your fear keep you away from reaching your true potential. Don’t let your fear keep you away from living your life the way you want to live it.

Always believe in yourself and in your ability to make things happen. Self-Confidence is one of the greatest superpowers.

I wish you happiness, love and the courage to live your life according to your priorities ♥

Vanessa Cast

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Finding Your White Space #tiniluxjewelry

January 20, 2019 by Jackie Burke Leave a Comment

What is White Space?

You may have heard the term “white space” in the context of art and design meaning the portions of the painting or other art form that are left blank. It is a very important concept in those fields because often the white space is what makes the piece flow.

When I talk about white space here, I mean white space in business. White space is a catchall term for the portions of the market that are not being catered to, the products and services that don’t exist, the place where needs are not being met. White space is what does not already exist or what does exist but could be better.

Entrepreneurs are set apart from everyone else because they are always looking for white space. Just to be clear, being an entrepreneur does not mean you have to start your own company. There are plenty of opportunities within your current job to find white space and meet an unmet need.

Whether you are a business owner, an aspiring business owner, an employee at a company, or still a student, you can benefit from shifting your mindset towards trying to find white space. You don’t need a revolutionary new invention, all you need to do is find the white space and seize the opportunity. When you start to think like this you will see opportunities everywhere.

Let me give you a couple examples:

Chill House

You may tell yourself, there is already a nail salon in my town so I can’t open one. But consider founder Cyndi Ramirez-Fulton, she wanted not just a place to get her nails done, but also a place where she could grab a nice coffee or tea, shop self care products, and feel completely relaxed. So, she created Chill House, a 360 degree self care haven. There were already thousands of nail salons in New York City, but she saw a white space for people that wanted a full relaxation experience and she made it happen.

Tini Lux

My company, Tini Lux, was born out of an unmet need in my life and the lives of friends. I had stopped wearing earrings in college because I had developed an allergy to the highly reactive metals that are generally used in fashion earrings. Because of that, every pair of earrings I tried on (even the ones labeled “hypoallergenic”) caused a painful reaction. I finally realized that there had to be a solution out there, but when I couldn’t find one, I decided to create my own.

I designed a line of earrings that were made with pure metals that do not cause allergies or reactions in humans. So, I could have told myself that there are thousands of earrings on the market already so I shouldn’t bother. But I understood that there was a white space there because although earrings already exist, there were none that worked for the 20% of the population with metal allergies.

As an Employee:

Before I launched my business, I worked for a very large company as an engineer. As a new engineer I had a lot to learn, but the training process was lacking and I constantly felt confused. For a long time I kept quiet because I thought I was the only one who was struggling. However, a few months later we hired another young engineer and I could see that he was struggling to find the resources he needed too. At the same time, many of the more experienced engineers were getting ready to retire and we feared that a lot of knowledge would leave with them.

At that point I came up with a plan to create a knowledge sharing and training program. My goal was that all the new engineers would have the resources they needed and the more experienced engineers would be able to pass on their knowledge more efficiently. The program has been very successful in bringing engineers up to speed faster. It also resulted in a living training repository that every new employee will benefit from.

In Summary:

White space is unmet and under-served needs.
Ignore the notion that once something exists there is no white space left. There may be room to innovate on the idea and do it better.
Don’t tell yourself that the market is too saturated. There is always room for quality.
If you already own a business, reach out to your customers, what do they want to see? What do they feel is missing?
If you want to start a business, think about the pain points in your life or the things you, your friends, your neighbors regularly complain about or wish for. Is there an opportunity there?
If you are an employee, what is your biggest complaint? What about your coworkers? Your customers? How can you make it better?

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Speaking…is it relationship building or just a numbers game? by @KerryHeaps

January 19, 2019 by Kerry Heaps 1 Comment

by Kerry Heaps | Featured Contributor

The answer is simple, it’s both. To get booked as a speaker, Meeting Planners need to know you, for Meeting Planners to know you, you must get in front of them every chance you get. That’s not to say that you should be calling them or emailing them on a daily or weekly basis. You should be getting in front of them via the media, submissions, and yes, an introductory call. As a former Meeting Planner, choosing the Speaker is less than 5% of what must be done to ensure a successful event. Content is extremely important, who they choose to educate on that content, is another story. The speaking industry has changed so much just in the past 5 years, there are more Speakers now than paid events. It’s about putting out great content, but it’s also about being easy to work with, being negotiable on fees and playing by the rules.

If you want to be a successful Speaker, (someone who is working consistently) you need to address the numbers game first. There are so many ways to find speaking engagements, there’s call for speakers that are abundant and year-round. Then there are the private events such as company trainings and events at colleges and universities which will require you to reach out directly to the corporate Meeting Planner or Director of Education. Although these events are scheduled earlier, there is still a lot of competition. If you can find 5 hours during your work week to dedicate to finding and applying to speaking engagements, you will start to see great success over the next three to six months. Keep in mind for every workshop, keynote or breakout session a Meeting Planner can receive up to 200 submissions from Speakers, so again it’s a numbers game. Working the numbers consistently and applying every week will work in your favor.

If you prefer to reach out to Meeting Planners directly, there are a few simple rules you should follow. First, reach out with a phone call, if you don’t reach them don’t leave a message. Try to call back the next day at a different time. If you try a few times during the week and you can’t reach them directly, then leave a voicemail. Try to talk to them first before sending an email, they may have a different process that you will need to follow such as a form to fill out or a separate website they want you to visit first, so again follow their lead. If you reach their assistant or another person in the office, you can always ask them what their process is, and ask if it is okay to email over your information, always try to obtain permission first. Having a conversation with a Meeting Planner is twofold, it’s an opportunity for you to discuss your speaking topic, then find out about their upcoming events and needs and what their process entails. If a few weeks have gone by and you have not heard back from them, find out if they’re on LinkedIn and send them a connection request. The trick is to not overdo it with contact, as a Meeting Planner has so much on their plate you never want to come across as someone who is going to be difficult to work with, that will take you out of the running much quicker than anything else. Keep in mind, when they receive your information if there is an interest, they usually will place your information in a file for follow up. For example, you may submit your information in January, but they won’t be interviewing speakers until August more than likely you will not hear back prior to that. Again, it’s not that they’re not interested or that they are trying to avoid you, they have other things going on with the event that are much more pressing. In order to start building a good relationship with the Meeting Planner, keep these things in mind.

As a Speaker, I know that the process can be frustrating at times, however it’s important to trust the process and follow it. When I re-entered the speaking arena a few years ago my first instinct was, “This industry has changed… A LOT!” It took about six months before I started to see results, but I kept working the process continuously each week. If you treat your speaking business the same, you will start to see positive results as well.

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The Leadership Mindset by @relaxedmale

January 18, 2019 by Bryan Goodwin Leave a Comment

by Bryan Goodwin | Featured Contributor

Think of a great leader you have had the opportunity to be lead by. Do you know someone who didn’t just lead they inspired greatness? We all know one person who is like that. You can’t help but be drawn to them. They can light a fire under your keyster without even raising their voice.

For me, it is Jim Rogers, he runs a trucking company. He is this type of leader. In fact What caused me to realize that Jim was different was the second day I worked for Jim, he pulled a joke on me. It wasn’t a malicious joke. Jim was just joking around, and I had never had a feeling of being accepted in an organization as I did then.

So what is it that makes Jim’s leadership so different? Why does Jim’s leadership skills differ from the other business owners who I had worked for leading up to him? My belief is his mindset. What kind of mindset does a leader need to effectively lead his family or company? That’s what I want to explore today.

Can Do Attitude

Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash

As you were growing up you ever come across a family member or friend who held you back. Everytime you mentioned a dream or desire you wanted to do to this person they produced the statement of, “I don’t know if that is a good idea”. They made a statement of how hard it was going to be. The difficulty was always their main objection. Though We never need easy we just want worth it. Eventually, it was always suggested that whatever project you wanted to do just wouldn’t work for them, it was a bad idea.

Now that type of mentality is like an anchor to creativity and potential to anybody. It starts to hinder and stop the creative process. Especially when it comes from the leader of an organization.

The reason I see is fear. What if that young motivated employee steals all of my clients? If you don’t say no, it could possibly make you look weak or the team will see you as an ineffectual leader. They won’t respect you.

The fear-based mindset will always manifest the desired results. When you starve peoples creativity with fearful restrictions people become restless. They will see that the leader doesn’t want other people in his spotlight. The employees will see that mindset. They will treat it as ineffectual and they will leave. Paying top dollar to get the best employees is one thing. If you don’t let them grow and work to their fullest potential, it is a waste of cash.

Using a can-do attitude is like a breath of fresh air. Allow your team to use their strengths you will find out that their mindset improves. Their attitude is brighter. When your attitude is one of a Can Do mindset, you won’t be mad at your best employee because started their own business. You helped them understand that they can do it. It doesn’t mean it is just always yes but you get out of your teams way. You give the orders and let them find a solution.

Mentor With a Vision

With the Can Do mindset, Jim also is a mentor. Now he didn’t set me down and we have long in-depth conversations about his business practices and philosophies. Yet, if I had a question I could ask him and Jim didn’t treat his thoughts as a super secret.

A good leader mentors his employees. He helps them to understand directs and interestingly enough leads his team. Mentoring and coaching help the team gain clarity as to what they are working towards.

If they don’t know the “why”, your team can’t achieve the how. You will have to pull that team every step of the way often in the very moral defeating method of micromanaging. Therefor communicate with your team and they will grow.

https://twitter.com/lisadingle5/status/1083166078472278016

Calm

I have heard that Jim can and has blown his top before, but I have never seen it. Everything I have heard, I don’t care to see it either. To me, Jim has always been a calm positive person. I have worked under people who exploded at the slightest hiccup. The perceived conception of an inconvenience and poor leaders will become a raging screaming fit throwing toddler.

People didn’t stay long with the angry dude and in fact, he didn’t stay in business very long. All because he thought that’s what motivated people. People like leaders who are calm and assertive. Yeah, they can get angry at times, yet it isn’t a norm. Often the calm and relaxed leader is also easier to work with.

Find a way to stay calm when something does go according to plan. Your team can find that they will be more productive when they aren’t worrying about your exploding all over their productivity.

A Calm leader can be a port in the storm when it seems like everything is falling apart. Imagine if you had a boss who after a horrible product launch failed he could look and say well I learned something from this did you?

Sense of Humor

One thing all employees and team member like is the ability to relax. Yeah, there are crunch times that are stressful. If you are able to joke with your team it makes those stressful times a lot easier to deal with. The push to complete the launch can be a lot more bearable if people are able to smile from time to time. Now I’m not saying stop and take joke breaks but a good leader can see when things are getting a bit too intense and is able to regulate the pressure with a joke or witty comment.

Leadership is one of those points that can contain a whole lot of philosophical theories. Not everything works for every situation. Yet, a good positive leader will contain several if not all of these mindsets and attitudes. If you find that your leadership style isn’t achieving the results you desire. You might try one of these mentioned here and see how the people in your company react. No one has it all figured out. Yet as long as you are learning and improving then you are an inspiration to us all.

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How to Regain Passion for a Project by @DrRKayGreen

January 16, 2019 by Kay Green Leave a Comment

by Dr. R. Kay Green | Featured Contributor

Every business owner and entrepreneur starts out their project with passion and enthusiasm. But passion alone will not get you to a place that is productive, successful, and fulfilling.

After all, even the best job has parts that are less exciting. If you want to have any hope of success, you will need to do things that you are not passionate about. You will have to do boring paperwork and invoicing. You will have to handle mundane things like taxes. Even some parts of the job itself may be less exciting to you, such as strategizing or research.

Things like this are an inevitable part of daily operations. But if you become too focused on them, you run the risk of letting these mundane tasks steal the passion that made you start in the first place. This risk can happen to any project, big or small. You can lose passion for a single task, a client, or even your business itself.

I highly suspect that lost passion is the cause of most failed businesses. Because when you lose passion for a project, it spreads. It gets harder and harder to do work. Even the things that used to be fun become difficult or even impossible to enjoy as you once did, because you know that it will lead to the more mundane things that suck the drive out of your day.

But these tasks are inevitable, so you cannot just decide not to do them. The question becomes, then, how do you do them without sacrificing your drive and passion?

There are a few things you can do if you notice yourself beginning to dread the thing that used to be your dream.

The first step is to, if at all possible, step away for a brief vacation. To be clear, this is not meant to be an excuse to avoid responsibility or the mundane tasks in question. Do not think of it as getting away or escaping; instead, think of it as pressing the restart button on a computer. By taking a few days away from your project, it clears away all the clutter of day-to-day thoughts, letting you come back to it with a fresh outlook.

When you do come back to the project, see if there is any tangible way to measure the growth that you have already achieved. A great place to begin is to ask this: how has your project affected people? Has it made people’s lives better or easier? Sometimes, recognizing just one thing that your project has done can make it feel worth it, reigniting your passion for it.

Once that is done, take some time to write down all of the reasons that you want to continue. These will often be things that you already know, but seeing them in physical form can help you find the motivation that you lost.

And once you get back to your project with renewed vigor, be prepared to keep that motivation up. Put your list of reasons somewhere that is easily accessible. Also, create a new list of little victories and wins that you accomplish throughout the day. It can be easier to remember our failings than our wins, so writing them down can help put you in a more positive frame of mind. That will help you focus on the things about your job that you actually enjoy.

By following these steps, you will be able to find and keep your passion for any project.

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Dr. R. Kay Green – Marketing Expert from RKG Marketing Solutions Inc. from Atlanta, GA.

Dr. R. Kay Green is the CEO/President of RKG Marketing Solutions Inc. With over 190,000+ Twitter followers, 35,000+ Facebook Likes, and the Top 1% LinkedIn profile designation, Dr. Kay, a self-motivated trailblazer, is the Quintessential “New-Age” Professional Woman, and PhD Marketing Pro. She earned a Doctorate of Business Administration in Marketing, and has completed PhD coursework in Leadership and Organization Change. She also holds a Master of Business Administration in Marketing and Management, a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing, and an Associate of Arts in Marketing Management.

She is affiliated with several prestigious universities and has instructed over 350 courses online. A popular speaker on Marketing and Business topics, Dr. Green is currently featured on Huffington Post, Black Enterprise, Black News, The Network Journal, Business Review USA, Digital Journal, College View, Business New Hampshire Magazine, Bay State Banner, Reader’s Circle, North Dallas Gazette, Harlem News, Top News Today, One News Page, NE Informer, Women in Business PR News, Consumer News Today, Women PR News, San Francisco Chronicle, Houston Chronicle, Chicago Daily Herald, The Miami Herald, and Book News Articles.

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