Thinking Like an Entrepreneur

The biggest problem in becoming self-employed for most people is the people themselves. In order to BE a self-employed person I had to start thinking like one. I found myself reverting to that nine-to-five mentality.  If I wasn’t accomplishing a task every hour, then I must not really be working. 

Sometimes a self-employed person has to make decisions about her business.  Sometimes she is just thinking about a solution to a problem. Sometimes she just has to quiet her mind so new ideas can come. Just because you’re not pounding away at the typewriter every minute doesn’t mean you’re not working.

I’ve also learned that it’s okay NOT to answer the phone every time it rings.  That’s what voicemail is for, and the same goes for email.  At my nine-to-five job I would leave the email program open all day and answer each one as it arrived.  It took me a while to realize it’s okay to only check email several times a day instead of constantly being interrupted. It’s actually more productive than having to stop your thought process every time “you have mail.” At my other job, I was able to let a phone call roll over into voice mail, but it took me a while to be able to shut down the email too.

You’re going to have days where you feel you didn’t accomplish much.  Then again, you’ll have days where you’ll feel you can conquer the world and you’ll be amazed at how much you got done. Some days you may not finish many tasks, but you’ll make a decision on a problem that needed to be addressed.  Or, you will have learned a valuable lesson about yourself.

And, I had to learn to stop breaking down all my tasks into dollars and cents.  I tended to worry about how much I was or was not earning every day.  The truth is, some days you’re going to make more than other days. If I spent my day on marketing issues, even though I didn’t earn any money from it that day, I would benefit from it some time in the future.

Rather than worry about what benefits I do or don’t have, I realized the benefit I have in my business is that I answer only to me. Everything I do will benefit me sooner or later.  Instead of my income being dependent on somebody else’s budget, I can go as far as I dream.

And because I’m now doing what I truly love and not what someone else tells me to, I’m much happier and more content. I learned if you start THINKING like an entrepreneur, then you’ll actually be one.

Happy marketing!

Tony

Tony Marino
Founder, Executive Publisher
Marketing Antics
http://www.MarketingAntics.com

Tony Marino is not only the CEO of Christian Times Online (ChristianTimesNewsletter.com), he is also Founder of Markteing Antics (MarketingAntics.com), and host of the Marketing Antics LIVE Radio.He is the author of the ePublishing Master’s Course.  Additionally, he holds Email Compliance Officer status for many of today’s leading Network Marketing companies, and business consults for businesses ranging from startup to Fortune 500.

He has also worked with the likes of legendary Direct Marketers Ted Nicholas, Gary Halbert, and Vic Conant (Nightingale-Conant). Best-Selling Authors, Harvey McKay, Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, and Brian Tracy. ABC Television’s,  Jimmy Kimmel and NBC’s, Carson Daly. Online Marketers, Dale Calvert and Jay Abraham just to name a few. His offices are located in Portland and Los Angeles and he’d love to hear from you anytime!

How to Make Meetings Not Suck

Have you ever noticed that most meetings are a waste of time? Not just the idle chatter, or the time spent waiting for attendees who are late, but the fact that they take longer than 20 minutes and fill your day with more noise, little of it relevant to your focus?

Here’s a handy guide for how to cure the Boardroom Blues, especially if you’re the one leading the meeting!

The Assumptions:

Meetings shouldn’t be planned for more than 20 minutes.

Meetings should be used for conversations that advance results, for decision-making, and for relationship-building.

They should not be used for disseminating information that can easily be disseminated in another medium.

They should not be used for report-outs of information that is not relevant to all parties in the room.

The only people invited to a meeting should be those who have some value to add or something to contribute to the agenda and purpose of the meeting.

What to do before, during and after a meeting

Before the meeting, make sure the topics on the agenda are going to be relevant to everyone in the room. Determine the agenda ahead of time and send it to everyone. Invite them to add or clarify something to the agenda so that the attendees have some say in what is going to be talked about. They should be part of the decision making.

During the meeting, engage your audience and stay away from “death by PowerPoint.” I don’t think it’s effectively used the way most use it. It needs to engage the right side of the brain to be more effective. You don’t just want to put up visual data. Maybe add an image with it to back up what you are saying. The key is balancing the left and right side of the brain to keep your audience intrigued.

To make sure there is order in your meeting you can use a Native American tradition which is a “talking stick.” This is a decorative stick and whoever has the stick gets to talk. Sometimes, the introverts get drowned out by the extroverts, so a stick helps balance this out. Some of the best ideas come from the quietest person because they’re integrating everyone’s ideas and making it all come together. Remember the basic rule is to respect everyone in a meeting.

After the meeting there should be action items and timelines of who’s going to do what by when that will help determine the bigger picture. When a meeting is done really well you don’t have to allocate positions. People will start volunteering for jobs as the energy of the room is moved in the direction of what the goal is. It’s a matter of knowing who is going to do what when.

Following up is key after jobs are allocated. If someone signs up to do something it’s up to them to follow through with their assignment and if they haven’t completed their task, what’s their counteroffer?

90 percent of meetings don’t have to happen. But, engaging your audience is easy of they have a compelling reason for being there and have had the opportunity to contribute to the agenda ahead of time. It all goes back to respecting their time and making sure everyone understands the focus of the meeting. Your attendees only check out if they’re accustomed to hour-long meetings and they’ve trained themselves to only listen to what applies to them. Keep the meetings short and to the point to be most effective.

DO’S

1. Stick to the agenda, especially if other people have contributed to your agenda

2. Listen to your people, be more of a listener than a speaker

3. Look for ways to eliminate unnecessary meetings

4. Check to see that you can be respectful of other peoples time

5. Be clear in your communication

6. Be purposeful and thoughtful

7. Acknowledge and recognize people who are doing a good job

8. Honor the time of the meeting if you come plan a 1 hour meeting and you’re finished in 30 minutes, don’t try to fill up time. End the meeting. Don’t expect people to stay late if the meeting is planned for 20 minutes and runs over, honor their time as important.

DON’T'S

1. Don’t hog all the airtime yourself

2. Don’t reprimand anyone in front of the group

3. Don’t use your blackberry or get on twitter

4. Don’t plan a useless meeting, use an e-mail to get the information to everyone instead

5. Don’t do the opposite of any of the do’s listed above

Suzi Pomerantz, MT., MCC., CEO of Innovative Leadership International, LLC is an award-winning executive coach, facilitator, and author with over 17 years experience coaching leaders and teams in over 140 organizations internationally, including seven Fortune 100 companies, seven corporate law departments, and over a dozen law firms. Suzi specializes in the intersection between leadership and business development and helps executives, teams and organizations find clarity in chaos. She was one of the first executive coaches to receive the Master credential 12 years ago and is considered a thought leader in the industry, teaching at several of the top coach training schools. She serves on the IJCO Editorial Boards and the ICCO Advisory Board, and has authored 25 publications about coaching, ethics, and business development, including her book Seal the Deal. She is the founder of the Leading Coaches’ Center and co-founder of the Library of Professional Coaching. Learn More:  http://www.SuziPomerantz.com/about-2

PRO Marketer Video Series: Email Open Rates

Increasing Email Open Rate. Individuals who use email marketing as a cashflow component in their business marketing campaigns, soon discover their ROI (return on investment) is dismal at best. Emails go out; recipients opt out! It’s a nonstop vicious cycle. Most business entrepreneurs don’t realize that with just a few slight tweeks, their email marketing efforts will convert more prospects to buyers in as quickly as today.

Tony Marino hosts this exclusive insight into how you can easily increase your email message open rates. As part of our Marketing Antics’ PRO Marketer Business Video Series, we have made available this proprietary presention using our unique automated video media platform.

In this free marketing installment of our PRO Marketer Business Video Series: Increasing Email Open Rate, you’ll learn the following:

• How long (or short) should your email marketing message be?
• How to make more money using the power of email marketing.
• How NOT to destroy your business and personal reputation.
• How to can effectively and quickly convert readers to buyers.
• How must my email “Subject Line” read in order to grab my intended reader’s full attention?
• How can I draft an email that stands out amongst my targeted audience’s crowded email inbox?
• What email mistake might you make that could get you arrested?
• How to elevate your reader credibility and trust factor.
• Can my emails be personal without looking like I am just “out for their money”?
• Much more!

PRO Marketer Video Series:
Watch and download: Increasing Email Open Rate: Click here

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Questions? Please feel free to call upon us anytime!