What a great book for any entrepreneur to read!  Richard Branson is considered one of the top entrepreneur’s of our time.  He started small newspaper titled “Student” and has grown Virgin into a billion dollar conglomerate.

The book “Losing My Virginity: How I’ve Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way” tells the story of a young Richard Branson and the family he grew up in and continues in a chronological order through the rest of his life.  It’s really interesting to read about his life, how he thought about business, and the struggles that even he had to overcome to become succesful.

I enjoyed the book because it not only spoke about the successes he had, but about a dozen times throughout the book Branson mentioned that if “he didn’t get the funding by tomorrow” or if “we can’t get this musician signed by tonight” Virgin Records would have folded under in a heartbeat.

Now, Richard Branson is a billionaire with his company Virgin.  It seems like Branson is always finding new adventures to partake in, and he still enjoys it.  Virgin includes many companies from all kinds of industries.  From airplanes and air travel, to musicians and music, to resorts and vacations.  If there’s an industry that Virgin believes can be made better, they are probably in it.  Branson has never been one to back down from competition or conflict and this is why many entrepreneurs respect him.

To anyone out there looking to become an entrepreneur, or even if you already are one, this is a case where you can “Stand on the shoulders of giants” and learn from Richard Branson to make your business become more successful.

Many businesses are using blogging as a tool for communication with their customers and clients. These blogs create customer loyalty and satisfaction and bring more traffic to their website creating more sales. Have you started a blog for you business? If not, here are a couple of reasons for setting up your own blog on your website.

1. New products or services

Blogging allows you to communicate quickly to your client base. Marketing new products or services can costs thousands of dollars from inception, to printing, to mailing or exectution. This method has a vital role in any marketing campaign, but what if you could let all of your clients, and potential clients, know the day that begin selling a new product or service.

Having a blog set up on your website would allow you to notify everyone of your new product or service. You would list your product name, the features, and the benefits it offers. You can receive instant feedback from people who review your offer from the comments section. From there, you are able to evaluate, update, or change your offer.

Businesses are using this strategy to move quickly in front of competitors.

2. Attract new clients

Blogging for your business allows you to reach new customers and clients. In today’s world, potential customers are reviewing products and services online to gather their own research.

They want to make sure they have a comfortable understanding of what your product or services offers. Blogging is a way for you to highlight your product and differentiate yourself from your competitors. The more “value” that you are able to demonstrate in your blog, the more likely customers will call you first.

3. Share knowledge and expertise

A business blog allows you to share your own personal and business knowledge and expertise. This allows potential clients to trust you, and feel confident that you know what you are doing and will be able to solve their problems.

Who doesn’t like to talk about themselves or their business? Blogging allows you to talk about anything you want to about yourself or your business. It’s a time where you can share your personal insights and experiences in the industry. Doing so puts you in the highlight and further exemplifies your expertise and leadership in your business field.

As competition for retaining clients and attracting new ones grow, blogging for you business is a 21st century tool to allow you to keep one step ahead of your competitors.

If you would like help or need more information on setting up your own business blog, please email me at damon@ceoconsultant.com

Does your organiztion have a clear purpose? Do the people
you serve see you as important to their business or to
their lives?  Does every customer and every employee
clearly understand your purpose? The purpose of an
organization is clarified in the mission, vision, and
operating principles. I call this grouping the core message
of an organization. If this core message isn’t clarified
and deeply embedded, then it is likely people in your
organization are operating on their own. This is a recipe
for conflict, confusion, and chaos.

Most organizations have a mission. Do all of your employees
and customers know your mission? Do your employees live it?
Do they see it being carried out in daily decision making,
work processes, and communications? Your mission is about
what you do and who you do it for. This means that every
decision, every work process, and every interaction is
consciously aimed at providing valuable service to
customers.

Every employee needs to understand the organization mission
and the part s/he plays in making it happen. Every employee
should have a personal mission that is congruent with the
organization mission. A mission focuses our thinking and
behavior. It also offers each person a sense of importance.
People are not only coming to work to earn a pay check, but
to do something important that benefits others.

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Is the staff that is keeping your business where it is now,
the same staff that will take you where you want to be?

If you are not reaching your productivity, sales and
revenue goals, it is time to figure out exactly why.

What Have You Done to Grow Your Business this Year?

If you are like most business owners and managers, you have
tried just about everything; from new technology and
software, to modifying your marketing message and efforts,
to hiring teamwork consultants, to reorganization.

There are three things all of these techniques have in
common.  One, they cost you a lot of money.  Two, they eat
up a good amount of your time.  And three, they rarely (if
ever) work. To grow your business, it is imperative to
improve the productivity of your employees.  That is the
reason organizations spend their time, energy and revenues
on the products and services that are written about in
articles, advertised in the media and introduced at
seminars.

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Did you catch the October/November 2006 issue of
“Scientific American Mind”? The cover hailed the following
innards:

“Flashes of insight in a BRAINSTORM”

“Tap Your Creative Powers”

And the feature article…

“AHA! The Eureka Moment” !!!!!!!

As co-owners of Epiphanies, Inc. – a content strategy team
powered by a mission, logo, and tagline that says, “A-Ha
Yourself!” – such innards are priceless.

The article kicks off with Einstein flipping the concept of
time and space with one of his bold flashes. Though we
non-genius types may fall short of such humanity-shaking
breakthroughs, we DO have mega-important insights that rock
our own worlds and businesses.

As authors Buenther Knoblich and Michael Oellinger put it:

“We all know how it feels for a solution to a tough problem
to suddenly appear in our mind. The chips fall into place,
the lightbulb goes on - and the answer seems so obvious
that we are amazed we had not noticed it sooner, which is
what creates the ‘Aha!’ feeling.”

Want more breakthrough moments in your life and business?

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“Greatness” is a goal of every driven leader.  Though
greatness can be defined many different ways.

Here are some examples:
• Becoming your market’s most respected company
• Double (or triple) productivity from one year to the next
• Saturate your geographic sales area with the most
profitable stores/office
• Touch and improve the lives of more clients than your
counterparts
• Dominate the marketplace to the point that competitors
are forced to close their businesses

Whatever your vision of greatness is, here’s how to build a
great company as you accomplish all of your important
professional (& personal) goals.

YOUR Business Success Formula

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To reach your organization’s productivity, sales and
revenue goals, it is vital that you continually grow your
business.

Are you currently meeting your revenue objectives?  If so,
great!  If not, you are not alone.  The majority of
organizations are failing to reach their true revenue
potential and their leaders haven’t yet realized exactly
what is holding them back; or they are in denial.

The underlining cause of poor productivity and sales is not
what you’ve been led to believe in other magazine and
journal articles.  It’s probably also not the issues you
and your executives have spent your time, efforts and
expenses on in attempts to improve revenues in the recent
past.

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“If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy, and inspires your hopes.” Andrew Carnegie

The following techniques when applied consistently, are guaranteed to get results in achieving greater business success, increased sales and personal success. Consistency is key. Be specific and realistic. Practice these techniques daily. These are the same strategies I applied in 1995 when I wanted to enter the speaking business. I was skeptical and wondered if these techniques would really work. By 1996 I was speaking in Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales as an international speaker. My point is not to brag. My point is that if you will diligently practice the following affirmations, visualizations and action steps, you will attract more business success and personal success. These strategies can work for everyone from salespeople, business owners, entrepreneurs and executives, to managers, supervisors and team leaders. The first step is to believe. Believe that you can do it.

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The goal of any business development strategy should be new business or better business.  For those who offer products or services online a business development strategy that works can be invaluable.  Whether you sell B2C or B2B a solid business development strategy can become as common to you as breathing.  However, it isn’t easy to get there.

One thorny task is deciding what to include in your business development strategy from the many methods that are available.  If one is susceptive to sales tactics one can find plenty of people on the Internet willing to separate you from your money and deliver little if anything.  Discerning what is crap from what is genuine also takes work.  There are however, business development strategies that have proven to work over time.

The one thing that appeals to everyone is “free”.  If it is free people will take it, even if they don’t’ really need it.  Just like the samples offered in the grocery store, you may not want a small piece of the latest concoction but you’ll take it because it’s free and offered to you.  The same is true with information or services offered from your web site.  The more applicable your freebie is to what you are selling the more you’ll get in return.  A free “white paper” is a good tool.

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Copyright © 2006 Donna Gunter

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to start all over again in your business and your life, knowing what you know now, but with a completely clean slate? I’ve often fantasized about going back to specific points in my life, armed with my current personal experience, learning and wisdom, and thinking how differently I might handle situations during those crucial life moments if I knew then what I know now.

I’ve been self-employed now for 7 years, and the business I started back in 1999 is no longer the business that I run.  I’ve found that is often the case with many entrepreneurs.  You grow, change, develop, and as your life changes, or as market conditions change, so does your business.  Or, after attaining what you think you wanted, you may find that it no longer suits you.

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