Real Entrepreneurs

Don’t Waste Time.

There are those who will undoubtedly be late for their own funerals, but they are not entrepreneurs. True entrepreneurs live to be early for everything. It’s a reflection of their eagerness and enthusiasm. It’s also a function of knowing that they only get one chance at a first impression, and don’t want to risk screwing it up just because of some lame excuse for not being on time.

Ah, but it’s not all that simple.

Most entrepreneurs, it seems, strive to

be early for appointments, presentations,

meetings, sales calls, and other events,

. . . but they don’t know HOW to wait! 

They jitterbug around the lobby; fidget in line; make dumb phone calls; play games or work on puzzles; watch some locked-in, mindless network TV channel in the waiting area; strike up a conversation with the nearest fellow-waiter or the receptionist; prissy-up in the restroom; wait in the car while reading the newspaper; or sink into some nearby seat and watch the world go by.

What’s wrong with this picture? Wasted time. Instead, we can make the most of waiting time by planning for it. Well, that may be easier said than done for some, but the truth is that those who make the most of every spare minute succeed more often –and this is not to suggest being rude or antisocial about it, or not to take advantage of some no-brainer down time opportunity to relax.

It is simply a suggestion that more can be done with the thousands of hours we spend in our lifetimes, waiting. . Lawyers get paid for creating delays. Corporate people get paid for doing only what is exactly defined to be done. Government people get paid no matter what they do or don’t do. But when we run our own business, time is money. Strong productivity leads to rapid success.

And, needless to say for the benefit of those who have recently suffered the unexpected loss of a friend or family member, but worth the reminder for those who’ve been more fortunate: life can end in an instant and we only go around once in life. It’s not myth: life on earth is short indeed.

So, making the most of time because “time flies” and “time is of the essence” and “he who hesitates is lost” as my father often lectured, are all legitimate notions, but –more than that– they represent an unofficial credo for entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial pursuits. It’s all about having a sense of urgency!

Full circle around, now, leads us back to the HOW part. HOW can we make the most of waiting time? What’s that comment up above about “planning”? Let’s answer the questions with questions: How much more successful could you be if you used waiting time to make notes about a new business strategy? A new line extension? A new revenue stream? New sales opportunities?

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Hal@BusinessWorks.US   931.854.0474 

Open Minds Open Doors

When to personalize

your message?

Please. If you’re still asking this question, I hope someone else is doing your marketing for you. The answer of course, is “Always!” When do you NOT personalize a message? When you want no results!

Can any message that you ever receive (except maybe a threat or a summons ;<) be too personalized? Well how do you think your prospects feel when they get your emails and Tweets and direct mail addressed to: Dear Occupant, or Dear Computer User (Duh!), or Dear Follower, or Dear Homeowner, or Dear Friend, or Dear Voter?

You might ask instead:

Why would a business or professional practice

owner throw money out the window?

What’s in a name? It’s the most important thing you have! When a business or professional practice refuses to take the trouble or go to the expense to find out what it is, or refuses to use it in communicating, or won’t take the time and make the effort to spell it or say it correctly, that entity is not worth dealing with. Period. No exceptions.

“Dear Valued Customer”? Finger down throat! Pffffft! That’s BS and you know it! If you can’t be more personalized than that, you’re not serious about being in business. Get a government job! (Not much of anything needs to be personalized there.) If the customer is so “valuable,” prove the point; get it right!

Your prospects and customers are no different than you in how they perceive the integrity and authenticity of a business or professional practice based on the accuracy and diligence of how a communication is addressed. If your name is Smith and a message comes to you addressed to Smythe, are you about to open it or read any further? Of course not.

And if it’s pronounced “Smitt” on the phone

 . . .”CLICK! Buzzzzzz:

If you’d like to make a call, please hang up and . . .”

Making doubly sure of the exact accuracy of the name that you personalize (and address your communications to), no doubt takes longer and probably costs more, but–in the end–odds are it will get through and be noticed instead of being trashed without even being opened. Oh, and the more complicated the name is, the more likely you gain a friend by spelling it right!

This goes for email addresses and phone calls as well. You don”t know how to pronounce a name? Ask! There are enough tools available via Internet search engines today that there’s no longer any excuse for misrepresenting, mispronouncing, misdirecting, or misspelling a prospect or customer name, or title, or company affiliation. Personalizing your message sells!

If you, in other words, are reduced to having to say “Dear Friend,” be assured you are not. Stop wasting your time and money.

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HAL ALPIAR Writer/Consultant 302.933.0911 TheWriterWorks.com, LLC

National Award-Winning Author & Brand Marketer – Record Client Sales

Open Minds Open Doors

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Consider the worst,

 but assume the best!

There’s no longer any excuse for being surprised in business (or life) when you’re able to discipline yourself to practice the thinking: “What’s the worst that could happen?” in every major decision . . . and then proceed to believe that only the best outcome will actually occur to reward your efforts!

Mind over matter? Perhaps. But, more than that, each worst case scenario situation you consider will better prepare you for the reality of what’s possible while it protects your belief in making happen what’s probable.

In other words, you will move forward most effectively when you’ve weighed the risks involved realistically.

Every leader worth her or his salt will attest to this thinking. The difference between it and a proverbial doomsday attitudes is simply that considering bad outcomes need only be a momentary departure from the positive thrust of making something positive happen.

Dwelling on negativity produces negativity.

Well, you say, making negative thoughts be fleeting ones is easy to SAY, you say. Ah, but it’s also easy to DO. Doesn’t it all come down to a matter of choice, after all? We do, by the way, choose our behaviors, yes?

So can we not simply choose to make  negative thoughts be benchmarks with a caution flag?

Who’s to say that considering the worst possible outcome has to be a long, drawn-out, analytical affair? It’s as quick as saying, “If I take this deal, I could lose the farm” and then realize the risk is not a reasonable one. (Contrary to popular opinion, by the way, Entrepreneurs take only reasonable risks.)

If you have trouble stopping your own runaway train when decisions come to the surface, force yourself to close your mouth and take a deep breath through your nose. Get more oxygen into your brain and more blood-flow into your muscles. Then exhale the stress slowly through your mouth.

Every choice you make is a better choice when you have better control of yourself. More deep breathing more often will put you in better control of your self. Is that a no-brainer, or what? All from making the choice to consider the worst that could happen before moving forward? Whew! Look at what you just taught yourself. The lesson is worth repeating:

Make the choice to consider the worst

that could happen before moving forward.

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HAL ALPIAR Writer/Consultant 302.933.0911 TheWriterWorks.com, LLC

National Award-Winning Author & Brand Marketer – Record Client Sales

Boasting your way along 

“the humble leader” line______

Maybe it’s a paradox, but it’s really not always a contradiction.

Being both assertive AND humble can work when personal authenticity is in the driver’s seat.  There’s a terrific website www.BizBrag.com that encourages business boasting because there are times when everyone needs to toot her or his own respective horn, and posting news releases on BizBrag makes it easy.

Of course, any news release content you post or create must be newsworthy and not overtly self-serving if there’s any expectation of actually getting traditional or online media coverage. And it should probably go without saying that the better the writing quality, the more likely a release is to gain exposure. Think about being an editor bombarded with hundreds of PR stories!

But speaking up for yourself is not bragging. And assertiveness is not aggression! Effective leaders are almost universally assertive in their thinking and behavior, and their boasting is usually limited to praising others–the teams they lead, the customers they serve, the competitors they battle with. And, therein (AHA!) lies “leadership humility.”

Anyone who tries to prompt business leaders to associate humility with milquetoast, hat-in-hand, apologetic, goody-two-shoes behavior is missing a lightbulb or two in the world of reality. No, this is not to suggest that those in leadership positions run around patting themselves on the back while giving themselves high-fives (making themselves likely candidates for chiropractic treatment), but it IS to say that taking a strong stand–internally and externally–is both healthy and necessary.

Here’s the bottom line: No one wants to hear about how great you think you are. No one cares. Get rid of the words that haunt braggadocio-minded grandstanders: Stop talking in terms of “I” “Me” “My” “We” “Our” and start addressing what customers and investors want to hear (The answer to “What’s in it for me?”) by talking in “You” and “Your” terms. “You get” beats “We are.”

A smile, a nod, a thank you are more than sufficient responses to a compliment or praise. Leave the leaping chest bumps and running wildly around the arena up to the Olympiads. Business people do not like business people who “talk themselves up.” Should customers and prospects know if you’ve won an award or recognition? Certainly, but don’t wear your medal to work or beat them over the head with your Oscar.

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302.933.0911                      Hal@TheWriterWorks.com

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Open Minds Open Doors