Few social networks sum up public discourse more effectively than Twitter. Thanks to its short-form nature and enormous audience, a single topic of discussion can often evolve into a completely natural case study for marketers. Be it immense disapproval or the immense success of a single principle, Twitter offers a unique look into conversation. But [...]

Life on both a personal and professional level is going to throw you plenty of lemons. How you handle those situations will make or break your business. As we discussed earlier, if you look at each challenge you are faced with, in both your personal and professional lives, as an opportunity to grow and learn, all your [...]

This to me is HUGE. So many of the VAs I work with who don’t stay in business, or whose business stagnates, are those with low self-esteem, or negative attitudes. Remember earlier when we discussed surrounding yourself with positive and supportive people? You have to be positive and supportive, too. When I started, I didn’t have extremely low [...]

This is a biggie! The definition of entrepreneur is: “One who organizes and assumes the risk of a business or enterprise.” – and the buck stops there. You are totally responsible for every facet of your business. It’s all on your shoulders. Any mistakes that are made – your mistakes. Any successes or achievement, yours. But having a true entrepreneur’s mindset is [...]

Many small businesses start by offering to be the ‘lowest priced’ service provider. What could possibly be wrong with this thinking? Won’t you get all the clients you ever want or need? Won’t they be loyal to you as long as you keep your prices low? This methodology can be extremely damaging to the long-term health and wealth [...]

We’ve already discussed the risks of starting your own business, but another thing that many times may hold you back from true success are your beliefs. If you believe that you can only make a meager living in this business, then you most likely will. When I first started my business it was meant to be [...]

The most successful entrepreneurs know that their success is in no small way a result of being able to solve the problems of their clientele. I remember a sales manager a long ago telling me that every discontented client created two opportunities for me. It created an opportunity for me to solve a problem that could benefit [...]

I think I may have heard or said them all, those nagging excuses we come up with to avoid what’s really going on. The economy’s too bad, my dad liked my sister better, I didn’t go to college, or I’m just not able to sell myself. Whatever encompasses your list of excuses, get over it! There’s no [...]

Starting your own business is taking a big risk. The easiest way to manage your risk is by seeking information and looking at the business by analyzing the pros and cons. Keep your expectations high while putting systems in place to guard against the cons.  If you come up with more cons than pros and can’t [...]

Starting and growing a successful business isn’t easy. You need to surround yourself with like-minded people. And that means people who encourage and support you in starting and maintaining a business. As hard as this is to say, you may have to minimize connections with family and friends who are not supportive of you in a positive [...]