3 Common Habits By Successful Entrepreneurs

I get to meet a lot of successful CEO’s and business owners in my line of work.  They range from CEO’s of Fortune 100 companies to the founders/owners of startup ventures that get acquired by larger companies and of course lot’s of  ”somewhere in between”.  I define successful pretty simply.  They have a business that is growing and thriving, they are having tons of fun (as are their employees if they have any) and they are building (or have built) tremendous abundance for their company and themselves.  In talking to hundreds of successful business owners and entrepreneurs over the years, I’ve noticed 3 key habits that they tend to have in common.

1. They have morning rituals that they consistently follow.  They don’t wake up and react to the day. Rather they create each day exactly as they want to.  They have found that starting the day with a powerful ritual is an easy way to begin a cycle of results.
2. They all read and learn voraciously.  Books, Newspapers, Blogs, Trade Journals, White Papers, TED Talks, etc.  Sometimes this reading, especially of newspapers and blogs, is part of their morning ritual. They read to learn from the experts, to challenge themselves, to improve thinking, to find other perspectives, to cross pollinate ideas.  And of course for pleasure sometimes too.
3. They get mentored and coached.  They use personal business coaches/advisors or are part of organizations where they get get honest feedback from their peers.   Sometimes they have both.  (Examples of organizations: Vistage, Entrepreneurs Organization, YPO.)  They have good support structures from people outside their organization who help challenge them as well as deal with challenges plus hold them accountable for what they say they want.

No matter what you are up to in life,   following some of the same common habits of success will help further you in your personal or professional journey.

Wendy Lieber is the President of Athena Marketing, a strategic marketing company based in Fort Lauderdale and a partner/CMO at the digital media and publishing company, BC Network Media.

Ten Tips for Getting Started in Social Media

Social Media is here to stay and should be an important component of your overall marketing strategy. I recently ran across some of these tips on a blog I follow called www.simplemarketingnow.com and wanted to share it. I know a lot of business owners feel overwhelmed and have no idea where to start, so here is a simple guide that anyone can benefit from:

1. Start small and steady. Commit to 15 minutes per day exploring, learning and getting engaged with social media.
2. Pick a topic you care and know something about. It can be work-related or not.
3. Explore that topic on Google Blog Search, Alltop and Technorati. Check out as many blogs as you can and experience firsthand several valuable resources for discovering blogs.
4. Experience what makes each blog that intrigues you unique. Is it the tone of the article? Is it the images used? What do you notice in the sidebar? Are there interesting links to other resources? What kinds of comments do you notice?
5. Pick five blogs and subscribe to them. You can do so via e-mail updates or RSS (or Really Simple Syndication) in a feed reader, such as Google Reader.
6. Leave a comment. When you receive your updates, click on the title link that takes you back to the source blog and leave a comment. Ideally, your comment should add insight to the blog post (often referred to as the conversation).
7. Explore your topic on YouTube. What do you find? Pay attention to the titles and the descriptions of the videos that come up in search results.
8. Explore your topic on Twitter using http://search.twitter.com. What do you find? Click on the links to evaluate their worth. Click on the pictures to learn more about the person “tweeting.” Which words generate useful results?
9. If you have an account on LinkedIn, see if your topic comes up in LinkedIn Answers and LinkedIn Groups. What do you observe?
10. If you have an account on Facebook, see if your topic comes up in Facebook search. What do you observe?

Rinse and repeat until you feel comfortable.

EBook – Become an Inbound Marketing Expert

EBook – Become an Inbound Marketing ExpertHere is an easy, quick overview of how to become an Inbound Marketing Expert with some bonus material by fellow blogger Ivana Taylor on how to get your blog read.

How to Take Advantage of Group Buying Sites

Group buying sites like Groupon.com and LivingSocial.com are great marketing vehicles for local businesses if used correctly. These sites, with their daily offers, provide businesses access to a wider audience that can result in repeat business if leveraged correctly. Here are the basics of how they work: 

1.    Businesses provide an offer that represents a 40 to 60 percent discount on average (i.e. an $80 massage is available for $40 that day).

2.    You set a minimum and, as importantly, a maximum quantity (i.e. must sell 30 for the deal to be ON and will only sell 100 MAXIMUM).

3.    The group buying site takes 2.5 percent off the top for credit card processing fees and splits the remaining revenue with you based on some percentage. Groupon does a 50/50 split while Living Social takes slightly less. Some of the other sites take a lower percentage but don’t have as big of a following, so it’s all relative. (For example, you sell 100 massages at a discounted rate of $40 for total sales of $4,000. One-hundred dollars comes off the top, leaving $3,900 to split. You get $1,950, which is paid out over a 60-day period: 30 percent within 5 days, 30 percent within 30 days and remaining balance within 60 days.)

If you have a product that does not lend itself to repeat or recurring business, group buying sites might NOT be for you. They are perfect for businesses that want to attract new customers and turn those customers into repeat business. Here are some tips to help you leverage their power: 

1.    Build in incentives to turn the one-time sale into a recurring sale. For example, you are a restaurant offering $100 worth of food for $50. When your customers redeem their offer, ask them if they would like to receive additional exclusive deals. If they say yes (which they will if they had a good experience), get their e-mail address or invite them to be part of your social community, so you can communicate monthly special offers without having to give up any margin to anyone else. 

2.    Give them something right there on the spot that motivate them to buy more immediately. Let’s say you are a spa that sold a massage. See if they want to add on a facial or manicure at the same time or buy a series of massages at a discount if paid up front. Make the sale right there. 

3.    Ask for a testimonial that you can use on your website, social media or other marketing materials. This is a great way to build trust with other clientele. Buy a video camera, so you can record the feedback on the spot when someone agrees to it (which they will if they had a good experience).

4.    Don’t use group buying sites to generate sales. Use them to generate new fans. Make sure you are equipped to handle the additional call, online and on-site traffic volume for the two or three weeks following the offer. 

5.    Above all, make sure you provide an outstanding customer experience. You will be reaching a lot of new customers, as well as reconnecting with some past customers who forgot about you because you weren’t communicating with them on a regular basis. Dazzle them. Remember nothing kills a bad product like good marketing, so if you aren’t sure you can deliver it, work that out before you use a group buying site. Work it out regardless. 

Above all be open-minded. These are great marketing vehicles that work with the right strategy and follow up that can dramatically change your business. One last thing: Group buying sites aren’t just for consumer businesses. More and more B to B’s are getting in the game and figuring out how to leverage these powerful vehicles.

If you are interested in determining whether you have a product or service that makes sense for a group buying site, call or e-mail me to discuss or brainstorm.

5 Steps to Make 2011 a Triumphant Year

By the time you are reading this we will have already entered the 3^rd month of 2011.  That means there only 10 months left in the year.  I bring this up because I’ve noticed increased activity in the business community lately.  When I ask someone how things are going, I’m consistently hearing “Busy”, “Crazy”, “Awesome”, “Overwhelmed”. 

Peter Drucker is quoted as saying “You cannot manage what you don’t measure”.  It seems obvious yet when business get’s busy, we often put measuring and analysis on the back burner until there is time.  Given that 2011 appears to be starting out nicely for most, I want to make sure we don’t lose ourselves in trying to make up for lost time and repeating some bad habits from the past.  So I’ve put together 5 steps to ensure you end up where you want at the end of 2011. 

1)       Identify your company’s Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) – Quantifiable measurements that reflect the critical success factors of your organization.  I like having no more than 5 but depending on your business you may need more.  Examples of some KPI’s include:   # of new customers acquired in the last 30 days, %  increase is Internet marketing conversions, increase in average size of project, etc.  The list is endless so choose the ones that matter most.  If you try to measure too much you’ll end up measuring nothing.

2)      Identify who will be responsible for each KPI  – Make sure one person has ultimate accountability for measuring and reporting the KPI.  Determine the frequency it will be discussed.  Monthly is a good place to start if not weekly.    

3)      Make sure there is a simple process for measurement.  – Don’t just assign someone the responsibility of measuring a KPI without making sure there is a simple process.  If it’s too time consuming either figure out how to simplify it or pick something else.

4)      What does it mean?  – Don’t just report it.  Data means nothing if you don’t learn something from it.  Discuss it, use it to grow from, create action steps as a result.  Even if your KPI reveals something negative, it’s always a positive because now you know and can do something about it.    

5)      Do It Consistently –   Develop the discipline to review, discuss and learn from your KPI’s however frequently you determine is right for your business.  Things will come up that make it easy to skip a week or month, so don’t let that happen.  If you do 1 – 4 correctly, this one will be the easiest to do because you will very quickly determine the value it creates in your business.

It’s very easy to get caught up “being busy” vs. “being impactful”.  Especially when so many companies have had too much quiet time on their hands the past few years.  Don’t let the excitement of growth get in the way of making sure you take advantage of what is shaping up to be a great year. 

Wendy Lieber is the president of Athena Marketing, a trusted marketing advisor and resource to companies interested in the growth and success of their business.  Wendy can be reached at 954.294.6467 or wendy@athena-marketing.com.

8 Key Lessons I Learned in 2010

Happy New Year!  In honor of a New Year and a New Decade, I wanted to share some key learning’s I had this past year that had a dramatic impact on my business results that I hope will inspire you in some way.  I hope you enjoy!

1. Take actions even if you aren’t sure they are the right ones.  Having the results you want all comes down to taking actions.  It’s better to execute the heck out of an imperfect plan than wait until you’ve got it perfect and never execute.  Taking actions every day that support your priorities will generate results!
2. Stick with your commitments.  Sometimes we want to give up right before we have success.  I had this experience with an event I started earlier in the year called BIG Breakfast .  Luckily I have a great partner, Chris Roehm, who is willing to have tough conversations with me (see #5) so we could address what was in our way and make this an amazing event that continues to thrive!
3. Do one thing at a time.  Focus completely and intensely on what you are working on for a set amount of time.  Whether it is for 15 minutes or 2 hours, turn off the phone, stop checking email incessantly and get present to what you are working on.  Amazing things will happen.  My good friend and business colleague Valerie Snow  is a great mentor to me regarding this.   
4. When something or someone hits your hot buttons it’s YOU not them.  When I start making someone else “wrong” I realize that I’m missing an opportunity to have a breakthrough in my performance. This is a fun one to explore and learn from.   
5. Be willing to have tough conversations.  Every time I’ve been brave enough to deal with “what’s in the way” unbelievable outcomes that I never could have predicted occurred.  Stop having the conversations in your head and have them with real people.   
6. Say what you want out loud.  When you let other people know what you are up to, you become accountable and more likely to do what you say you are going to do.   
7. Get comfortable being uncomfortable.  If you aren’t doing something scary or challenging that makes you uncomfortable every so often you are missing an incredible opportunity to grow.  Scott “Nametag Guy” Ginsberg inspired me to pose this question to myself daily and more importantly take actions.  (see #1)  “If you aren’t failing, you aren’t growing.” 
8. Read as many books as you can.  Rob Slee, author and founder of http://www.MidasNation.com shared an impactful story with me recently.  He interviewed author and historian, David McCullough and asked him what characteristic he thought separated our Founding Fathers from our current leadership and David answered, “The Founding Fathers were all prolific readers.”  Cutting out one hour of TV a night and using that time to read will change your life.  Try it. 

 What learnings did you have this past year that made an impact on your results?  Share something!

I was trying to hard to win and not just to cook.

So I admit it.  I’m a bit of a reality TV show junkie. A couple weeks ago, we were flipping between reruns of REHAB: Party at the Hard Rock in which the staff was searching for a snake that had been spotted and the finale of Chopped.  Reality TV could turn my brain to mush, and probably will, but sometimes there are nuggets of brilliance that keep me hooked.  As Chef Rick got chopped in the next to last challenge in the $50K Series Finale of Food Network’s Chopped he said “I was trying to hard to win and not just to cook.”.  It was so obvious once he said it that he had stopped being true to his passion somewhere in the challenge and started focusing on winning.  I thought it was poignant that he was able to identify where he went wrong.  Plus the fact that his statement applies to pretty much everything. So often we get caught up in trying to win (get the contract, sell more, make more money, etc.) that we forget to focus on our product and doing our best.  I think of all the times when an unknown player is leading the charge in a golf game and then he (or she) realizes they can actually win and it all goes to hell. 

The winner of the $50K, Chef Madison, made this statement upon reflection of his win: “It’s not what you say it’s what you do and no matter what you do – Do Your best!”   I think that says it all.

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Last-Chance-to-Register-for-BIG-Breakfast-featuring-author-Scott-Fritz–The-40-Hour-Work-Year.html?soid=1101840983301&aid=Ld56qYAUKDA

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Last-Chance-to-Register-for-BIG-Breakfast-featuring-author-Scott-Fritz–The-40-Hour-Work-Year.html?soid=1101840983301&aid=Ld56qYAUKDA.

Marketing should be fun

Companies usually fall into one of two categories regarding marketing. They either “get it” or they don’t.

Those that “get it” know that marketing is one of the fastest, most effective ways to maximize the value of their business. They know without a doubt that well-known, well-respected brands are worth more in the marketplace. They understand clearly who their target audience is and constantly evaluate their products and services to ensure they beat or exceed their customer’s expectations. They consistently invest in their brand and have the right “tools” to communicate who they are and what they are up to in business in a way that is real and resonates with their target audience. They know where they are going, and they plan their daily, weekly and monthly actions to support their vision. They measure their results and make adjustments to continuously improve their performance. They grow and make a difference with their marketplace. They have fun!

Then there are those companies that don’t “get it.” They use marketing as a Band-Aid to try and fix what’s not working within the organization. They dabble with a lot of different ideas but never follow through on anything. They don’t have a clear vision of why they exist, who their best customers are or what problems they solve for their customers. They don’t have a consistent message that they are delivering to their marketplace. They are extremely busy but have no idea what impact their activity has. They hire outside companies in hopes that they will fix their problems but end up disappointed, frustrated and further convinced marketing doesn’t work. (Hint: They’ve done this a few times.) If they experience any growth, it’s usually not sustainable and accomplished by adding products or services outside of their core offering to distract them from dealing with their real issues and clearly defining who they are and the difference they are out to make. Needless to say, they aren’t having fun.

What category does your company fall into? Don’t feel bad and beat yourself up if you vaguely resemble a company that doesn’t “get it.” The power lies in admitting it and then doing something about it.

There is no better time to re-evaluate and more importantly recreate the future of your business. The economy and the Internet have created one of the most exciting level playing fields in history that anyone can take advantage of. If you aren’t making the kind of difference you want with your business, admit it and create a new future that inspires you and calls you into action.

ACTION ITEM: Carve out some time, either on your own or with a few key people, to discuss the business future you want to live into. Take one hour and let your imagination take over.

Extra Credit: Go off-site somewhere that you find inspiring (for example, a cool café on Hollywood Boulevard or a beachside table on the Broadwalk with a glass of wine).

Become a company that GETS IT and start having fun!

South Florida Manufacturers Have a Message to the Government

I had the opportunity to attend the SFMA Annual Meeting and Manufacturing Expo this past Monday at the Coral Springs Marriott.  It was also the 50th Anniversary for the organization whose mission is to promote the growth and economic well being of the regions manufacturers by acting as a unified force, representing common interests and providing needed benefits and services.

One of the highlights for me was a CEO Forum that included participation by Dr. David Altig from the Federal Reserve in Atlanta along with 4 CEO’s from South Florida companies.  Dr. Altig was interested in hearing the panels feedback on what message he should bring back to the Atlanta FED and the overwhelming response was “Tell the government to stay out of our way and let us innovate.  Stop adding regulatory bureaucracy and instead start focusing on ways to make it easier for us to grow our businesses.  Don’t punish the whole bushel for a few bad apples.”  I think Dr. Altig got it loud and clear. 

The companies represented on the panel  – Tridien Medical, Hollywood Woodwork, MAKO Surgical Corp and Royal Concrete Concepts - were all hopeful and excited about the future.  They all viewed the economic downturn as part of business life that you just need to get through which they all had in their own way.  When asked what one thing they could attribute their success to, here is what they shared:   

1. Optimism and focusing on what you can control not what you can’t 
2. Differentiation  - get clear on what makes you special - know it, live it and promote it
3. Reinvent yourself – change behavior as necessary and stay relevant
4. Passion to succeed

It was a great conversation by an exceptional group of companies.  South Florida is lucky to have an organization like SFMA supporting the manufacturing community here.  Although, South Florida isn’t often cited as an area rich with manufacturing expertise or resources, we have REAL innovative companies founded and based here with amazing leadership, employing our neighbors and making a difference globally in the industries they serve.