Tag Archives: Entrepreneur Books

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Why Your Marketing Strategies Suck (And How to Fix Them)

EntrepreneurFinesse.com - Good To Great Marketing Strategies

Who likes to be proven wrong?

Nobody wants to fail, especially not enthusiastic start-up entrepreneurs.

Often the best way to find out what works in marketing is to analyze what does not work.  In my business consulting firm I have helped many successful companies and some failures too. While there are many reasons for business failure, these marketing blunders are an all too common factor in startup demise. A great startup knows how to utilize technology in the best interests of the people in their company and their bottom line. For example, a local chiropractor would do well by positioning themselves on Google search with SEO (Get found online with Hari Menon Digital).

These are the worst marketing tactics I have observed small businesses use most often which result in money loss, weak sales, and most critically the loss of the entrepreneur’s confidence and drive.

Learn from other entrepreneurs’ marketing mistakes and spare yourself a business failure.

EntrepreneurFinesse.com - Good To Great Marketing Strategies

Failing Marketing Strategies and How To Correct

More Is Better

Often called the “spray and pray” marketing program. The premise is that if you make ten sales presentations and nobody buys then you should make a hundred more of the same flawed sales presentation.  The concept is if you work extra hard success will naturally follow. However, doing more of the same failing activities will only bring you more business failure. People fall into this trap because working super hard gives them the perception of progress, but it is only an illusion.

How to Correct

Instead, after those ten bad sales presentations, take a step back, and review the why’s of your failure. Be humble and open to learning the truth. Ask yourself these fact-finding questions:

  • Are these the wrong type of target customers for your product or service?
  • Is your presentation compelling enough demonstrating the benefits of purchase?
  • Do you need additional sales training,? Are you selling in the right manner, i.e., in person or online?

Time spent in this manner will yield valuable information to adjust your marketing strategy for greater success – while ultimately spending less time and energy for better results.

Word-of-Mouth

Some entrepreneurs wrongly think that because they are so excited about their product that the world will be too. Immediately when the world hears about their new product, they will beat a path to their door with money.  You think that if your Facebook followers, friends and family spread the word about your product, your cash register will start ringing. Word-of-Mouth may work in a service-based business like garage door repair, but don’t expect it to work as well for a product launch. Wishful thinking that almost never happens.

Today, everybody is so saturated with information and busy with their lives and activities that they will hardly notice that your new product has arrived in the marketplace. Also, your loving family and friends may not be your target customer, nor are influencers in your industry. Thus their support will generate no buzz.

How to Correct

Before your product launches, spend time creating a community of people, both online and off-line, which are your target customers and industry influencers that have active lines of communication with the public.

Then at launch time hire marketing professionals and graphic artists to create compelling, funny, and share-worthy graphics, videos, and audio about your product. Share those interesting items with your newly-created community, and your influencer contacts to get the buzz started and make sales.

All I Need Are Ads

Many new entrepreneurs take this easy, but expensive, route of advertising online, on Facebook or Google, without any other marketing strategies to launch their products. After they had spent thousands of dollars and got little results, many are so discouraged and broke that they quit and close their company. Don’t let this happen to you.

Because major sites such as Facebook and Google have made it easy to set up ad campaigns, new entrepreneurs are led to believe that they have set it up correctly. That is very far from the truth. Many of the most sophisticated and knowledgeable online entrepreneurs that I know hire dedicated specialists to set up their advertising campaigns on these sites. Unless you are an online advertising professional, you will overspend and underachieve with these types of ad campaigns.

How to Correct

A far more effective marketing strategy is to connect via social media, search engines, forums, and your website with your target customers groups, called “tribes.”  A great way to get started is with PlacementSEO. Your tribe is a group of your target customers with common interests and a desire for your new product. A particularly effective way to tap into your tribe is through Groups on Facebook and Linkedin.com. Make sure you optimize the performance, security, and SEO efficiency of your website by moving to a strong web host such as SiteGround (see video).

Certainly, this process will take more time, legwork, and effort, but less cash than clicking a few buttons and advertising. Beginning entrepreneurs need to conserve their cash as much as possible for those expenses that no amount of legwork will buy. For more information on how to find and connect with your Tribe, read, or listen to the MP3, the marketing guru Seth Godin’s book, Tribes – We need you to lead us.  

Entrepreneurs have some fun and get great startup ideas with this cool Business Idea Generator.

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Books

No Excuses!: The Power Of Self-Discipline

No Excuses!: The Power Of Self-Discipline Header

As a true supporter of self-help books since I was a child, “No Excuses! The Power of Self-Discipline” had me spell-bound and Tracy’s own words “learn what you need to know and do what you need to do, and never give up” truly resonates with me. We are so easy to find excuses and not resolutions. We look and find the quick solutions to get what we want quickly. With self-discipline, we will stick to what we want, and not try to do things quickly and get it over with. It becomes a way of living, not a quick fix.

I also like the idea of “voting yourself off the island of no discipline”. By doing that you surround yourself with people who believe like you and who want to stay with, shall we say “with the program?” In my own experience, I can guarantee you that the quickest way to fail in life is to surround yourself with toxic people. I personally don’t like the use of words like “winners” and “losers” in life to describe people. I truly prefer the term “like – minded” people. He emphasises how important it is to surround yourself with like – minded people and I completely agree with that.No Excuses!: The Power of Self-Discipline

Brian Tracy also says that, “without self-discipline nothing works. With self-discipline everything works”. “You will rise above yourself”. The truth is that most people do what is fun and easy rather than doing what is hard and necessary and this is the main difference between winners and losers. Self -discipline is also known as self-control, and I am sure that you will agree that this is a subject that is as much written about as can be. I suppose the reason why people still become millionaires by writing about this is because we lack self-control and cannot stick to things that take effort. Read this book, and make it part of your life. Then you will succeed, I guarantee you that.

What you will find in this book is how to incorporate self – discipline in 21 easy to read and follow chapters. These chapters are presented in three parts to complete the book.

In the first part, you learn about self-discipline and personal success. It is about courage, persistence, goals and how to master these with self – discipline. In the second part, you read and learn how to apply self-discipline in your sales, business, and finances. In the third part, you read about the quality of life and how to apply self-discipline for ultimate success in fitness, health, and marriage. A fitness membership and a good dental clinic can help you get started on the right track.

With each chapter, you will find a number of exercises to guide you in the right direction. These exercises are really helpful and Tracy truly helps you find the areas in your life that need the most work for ultimate success. If you partake in all the exercises, you will definitely change your life positively.

All of Brian Tracy’s books are excellent and worth reading and I will definitely put this in the top three. He explores self-discipline and the best way to use this, and many aspects of life to ensure that you get where you want to be and stay there.

No Excuses!: The Power of Self-Discipline

No Excuses!: The Power of Self-Discipline

$15.99

Most people think success comes from good luck or enormous talent, but many successful people achieve their accomplishments in a simpler way: through self-discipline. No Excuses! shows you how you can achieve success in all three major areas of your life, including your personal goals, business and money goals, and overall happiness.

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No Excuses!: The Power Of Self-Discipline by Brian Tracy

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Books

Rich Dad, Poor Dad

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There aren’t many authors that are able to motivate you so much as to actually help you gain control over your life and develop a framework for accelerating it. Robert Kiyosaki is definitely one of them – and in ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’, he proves why his words are meant to inspire action.

While most people will categorize this book under ‘Investment and Money’, the first thing you need to understand is that it is really not all about the money. This book is written to trigger our mind out of the comfort zone we are in. The mental models make us aware of a system that teaches us how to think and what actions to take during our lifetime.

The main inspiration which can also be noticed in the name of the book comes to Kiyosaki from the two father figures that were present in his life: his biological and his friend’s father. Categorizing both of them as fathers, Kiyosaki reveals how different their perspectives are when it comes to money and financial decisions – and which perspective is made to prosper.

In a nutshell, both of his fathers looked at money from a different angle. One of them worked 9 to 5 and valued hard work. The other dad relied on passive income and built income streams from real estate, royalties and more. We must view situations in as many possible perspectives as possible. For example, going to real estate school, getting married and raising a family are directions society wants us to accept. Buying expensive stuff to boost our ego and make false impression of ourselves is another one. We must be able to perceive freely and understand things for what they truly are to truly understand how systems work.

Rich Dad, Poor Dad book coverAs Kiyosaki states, we don’t need anything that we haven’t earned to maintain an image. Moreover, he signifies the importance of our motives – and how being motivated by not just money but the world around us can help us succeed. Being educated does not always mean being smart. Lessons can be learned anywhere and at any time, and all we have to do is accept that we are all equal from the start.

When it comes to financial investments and money, Kiyosaki provides well-informed fundamental financial tips. He explains all the concepts in a visual fashion, using diagrams to back up his theories and detail important things accordingly. Unlike many other books on investment and money preaching the ‘do’s and don’ts’ of investing money, ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’ is a smart guide to making money work for you.

Obviously, there is no one-size-fits-all formula to making money and being successful, as it all lies inside each one of us and how we allocate our time and assets. In his blog, Kiyosaki covers this from an entrepreneurial point of view and an outside-the-box thinking.

The true mastery of Kiyosaki is his balanced approach to both of the father figures and the decisions that made (one of) them successful. Through detailed six lessons, he explains how his rich dad taught him to change the normal perspective and always use a different way of thinking.

As per the famous quote from the book,

Know what an asset is, acquire them and become rich”,

The applicable solution to financial despair is through the accumulation of assets and reduction of liabilities. Assets let money flow in and liabilities make money flow out, so in order to achieve financial independence one must accumulate assets and diminish liabilities. For example, investing money in property is adding asset value, which can pay reasonably well in the future to pay off expenses. Remember that a home will come with liabilities such as insurance, taxes, etc which must be accounted for. The important thing is to know the long-term cost in terms of assets and liabilities that must be paid each month before taking on major financial decisions.

In short, the crux of the book is to never depend too much on your job and education as it all can fall apart with downsizing. Instead increase your asset portfolio and find ways to earn more money. Once your assets are successfully generating cash flow, rather than buying things and turning them to liabilities, re-invest the cash into other assets to accelerate your income earning potential. This allocation of assets is how the rich become richer because they know and follow the simple tactics of making money the right way.

What we can learn from this book is that life throws us a lot of opportunities and risks over its course and money, although essential, are a reality only for the people who know how to change their thinking and step out of their comfort zone.

Rich Dad Poor Dad: What The Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!

Rich Dad Poor Dad: What The Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!

Author:
Tag: Recommended Books
Publisher: Plata Publishing
Publication Year: 2011
ASIN: B0175P82RA
ISBN: 1612680011

Rich Dad Poor Dad, the #1 Personal Finance book of all time, tells the story of Robert Kiyosaki and his two dads—his real father and the father of his best friend, his rich dad—and the ways in which both men shaped his thoughts about money and investing. The book explodes the myth that you need ...

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About the Book
Rich Dad Poor Dad, the #1 Personal Finance book of all time, tells the story of Robert Kiyosaki and his two dads—his real father and the father of his best friend, his rich dad—and the ways in which both men shaped his thoughts about money and investing. The book explodes the myth that you need to earn a high income to be rich and explains the difference between working for money and having your money work for you.
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Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki

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