Let me tell you something: running a business – a legitimate business – is TOUGH. Those who tell you any different are lying.
Are you remarkable?
Question: Are you remarkable? I mean, really remarkable. If so, how do you know you’re remarkable?
…
Answer: You know you’re remarkable when other people are remarking about you. When people are exclaiming and talking about your value, your worth, and your merit – THAT’s how you know you’re remarkable.
Why are you underselling yourself?
A big problem aspiring & starting entrepreneurs have is underselling themselves.
Too often, we give stuff away for free, just to get people interested. Or we price our services really lowly, just to get some cheap attention. But I’m tellin’ ya, once you start giving stuff away for free or severely underpricing yourself, you’re hurting yourself AND your client.
Because, think about it from the client’s shoes: When you get something for free or really cheap, you’re much less likely to value it. But when you pay good money for something, you’re more likely to value it and follow through with it?
So, the lesson here is to price yourself what your worth. Price your services and products what they’re worth because when you’re playing the ‘low price’ game, both sides lose.
Don’t be afraid to ask for the cash
I don’t understand why some people have a problem making sales – more specifically, asking for the cash!
I mean, c’mon.
I’m sure you know someone who (or you yourself) has had trouble asking for fair compensation for your services. It’s easy to sell yourself and sell your services – but sometimes you have trouble ASKING FOR THE CASH. And not just asking for the cash, but asking for it BEFORE you do the work.
But think about it: Have you ever bought a hamburger from McDonald’s and paid for it AFTER you ate it? Have you ever ordered a book from Amazon and paid for it AFTER you read it? Have you ever bought shoes from Under Armour and paid for them AFTER you wore them?
NO!
So, why is it OK for you to get paid for your services AFTER you perform them? Why is it OK for your clients to wait until AFTER you fulfill your service to pay you?
This is NOT OK. Make sense?
Make a change…learn to ask for the cash up front and fulfill on the back – just like every other successful business that exists out there.
What ‘money’ conversation are you having?
You’re either in the occupational – or what I call the “industrial age” – conversation, which is about minimizing, restricting and living within your means. Or you’re in the entrepreneurial conversation, which is about expanding, creating and generating wealth.
If you’re in the occupational conversation, there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s how we were raised. Many of us were raised in the post-Great Depression era where we learned from our parents and teachers that getting a job and working hard would get us the security we needed to survive. This industrial way of thinking made sense back then since it got us out of that first depression…but it’s not a completely outdated and extremely limiting conversation around money that’s no longer serving us.
However, if you’re in the entrepreneurial conversation, your mind is open to wealth-building, it happily accepts new challenges, and seeks opportunities at every corner. You take risks, you’re a self starter, you’re a visionary, you’re not boxed in, you’re flexible, you’re innovative, you’re resourceful…
So…what conversation are you having around money?
Are you another cog in the system designed to produce workers who never challenge the status quo … or is your mindset open to endless possibilities, new opportunities, and limitless creations?
Sunday Funday: Letting you a little more into my life
You all know how serious I like to be about business – I’m known around my circles for being all business, straight to the point, with no fluff.
But, I also have my loose side.
You shouldn’t be surprised when you see me sipping wine during big events, cracking jokes during serious times, or wearing jeans to formal occasions – that’s just who I am and who I’ll be.
So, in the spirit of fun, I want to give you a little more insight on me away from it all. So I’m going to take Sundays to share some funny stories with you that have happened to me (believe me, there’s always a ton). Anything and everything from being high off pain medication, to falling off the sides of mountains while skiing, to spilling wine all over myself at events, to sneezing up water through my nose during a big conference, to tripping on the way out of my private airplane…
Yeah, tons of that stuff LOL.
And I want you to share funny stories with me too! Stay tuned… 😉
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Common delegating mistakes you’re making
Today, I’m known as the queen delegator.
I’m known for saying, “YES!” and figuring out who knows how – essentially, I’ll agree to deals and projects, and find who on my team can get it done.
It’s AWESOME 😉
But this was one of the biggest skills I had to develop as a young entrepreneur – the art of delegation.
One of the keys to being a good leader is knowing when to hand off some of your responsibilities to a team member. This is the art of delegation.
However, while the premise can seem simple enough and it’s certainly an attractive prospect, there are some common mistakes you’ll want to avoid in order to get the most from your delegating.
You simply can’t expect that your delegating efforts will go well if you aren’t positive that you and your employee are on the same page. Even your most competent subordinate isn’t a mind reader, so before you hand over a task to them, be sure they understand not just what it entails, but what a successful outcome will look like.
Delegating often gets a bad name because many people see it as a way to simply shirk responsibility.
Unfortunately, they’re often right.
Other times, you can’t blame them for having that perspective, even though they may be mistaken.
So here’s the key: Successful delegating doesn’t mean handing over a job to someone and then checking in when it’s all over. You need to monitor constantly to ensure progress is headed in the right direction. Even with this added work, delegation will save you substantial time in the long run.
Many people hit the other extreme when it comes to their delegating mistakes. They delegate a task, but never really let it go. In the end, they can actually end up creating more work for themselves because they’re still handling the responsibility as well as micromanaging. No one is better off with this type of arrangement.
Don’t delegate to someone who isn’t ready, either. In a pinch, it can be tempting to do so, but you’ll end up with subpar results and a potentially trying experience altogether.
Other times, you may consider delegating as a way to test an employee’s current abilities. Instead, have them observe a more qualified candidate when you delegate to them and find other ways of testing their competence in the meantime. Delegating is only to be done with those people you know can succeed.
Lastly, one of the biggest mistakes people make where delegating is concerned is simply not doing it. It can be helpful to delegate tasks even when you don’t need to. This way your staff gets the practice they need so they’ll achieve when the chips are down. Plus, the more you do it, the more comfortable you’ll become with the process, as well.
When done right, delegating can be one of your best friends. However, when done wrong (or not at all), you’ll wind up paying for it. So consider the above mistakes people commonly make to get more from your delegating.
Why you should solicit guest bloggers
One of the easiest and quickest ways to pack your website with relevant information and build your SEO is by writing a blog.
That doesn’t mean supplying regular articles for this blog is actually easy, though. In fact, many companies don’t have one because they can’t handle the effort it demands. Fortunately, there’s a simple way to not only include a blog on your website but to keep it up-to-date: solicit guest posts.
The first reason you should solicit guest posts is also the most obvious: it relieves your company of work. Someone else will handle the writing for you. Depending on the circumstances, they may even supply the topic they’ll be writing about. So long as you compensate them, you get a tailor-made blog post that will benefit your company.
Speaking of compensation, it doesn’t always need to take the form of actual money either, which is another reason to consider guest posting. Sometimes, all it takes is providing a backlink to the blogger’s own page. They get extra page views for their website; you get happier visitors. There are a number of other ways to compensate guest bloggers, too, so be creative and you’ll see your overhead shrink considerably.
Guest blogging won’t just result in happier customers, though. It may also result in new ones.
If you pick a blogger who has a substantial following of their own, you can depend on their market potentially becoming yours. Just as you may compensate some bloggers by linking to their website, more established bloggers can benefit you by doing the same. You may need to compensate them more than the average writer, but if you do your due diligence properly, this may turn out to be a very worthwhile investment.
Also, consider the advantages that can be gained from returning the favor. Something as simple as blog posts could actually turn into the strategic partnership you’ve been looking for (or weren’t looking for, but can still benefit from). If you work with someone in your industry who isn’t a competitor, you or your writer can give their website a blog post for doing the same in return.
With the right article and backlink, you can establish yourself as an authority to a whole new market and potentially attract new customers.
Blogs are so easy to start that many companies take them for granted. Some disregard them because they think they’re too difficult to maintain. Thanks to guest posts, blogs can become an effective—and affordable—marketing tool. Just apply the above advice to ensure you solicit the best writers.