entrepreneurs Archives | Page 2 of 3

4 Great Marketing Ideas Your Business Can Use Now

By Cindy Ratzlaff July 31, 2012

Every day thousands of fantastic articles and marketing ideas for entrepreneurs and small business owners come streaming onto the web, and throughout social media. What’s a busy entrepreneur to do. You can’t read everything. You can email yourself great links to articles you want to read later or save the links to a private circle on G+ or even bookmark them for handy reference. I use the G+ strategy most of the time and add sites that regularly deliver to my Google Reader account.

For those who haven’t yet figured out how to scan the headlines and save the best for later, here are a few ideas are so creative and useful that I want to make sure you don’t miss them. I’ve added short introductory paragraph to tell you why they’re worth your time to click through and read and possibly save. But all of these have ideas that you can use, right now, to amp up the action on your marketing.

Personal Branding Tips | How to Start Even Before You Have A Business Idea

By Cindy Ratzlaff July 9, 2012

I received an email from someone recently asking me for ideas on how they can begin developing their personal branding even though they don’t yet have a business plan or a fully imagined business idea. I was impress they were thinking about branding at this stage of their business development and the question got me thinking about how we can all set up foundational brand elements now that will serve us as we grow an idea into a business.

But how can we brand something that doesn’t exists, you ask? We can’t. But I believe that you are always the brand. So you can and should begin to articulate what the brand of “you” includes.

Genius Spot | Entrepreneurs Success Tips

By Cindy Ratzlaff May 15, 2012

Identifying your “genius spot” is an important business asset. Knowing what you’re good at and more importantly, what you’re not good at, will save you time, money and frustration.

Entrepreneurs must learn to play in their Genius spot.

Start up entrepreneurs must often be their own financial advisor, tech expert, sales force, marketing and publicity team, and personal assistant. All responsibilities that a larger company would delegate to a full time employee. Doing these things yourself can leave an entrepreneur with little to no time to do what he or she went into business to do in the first place.

Making the commitment to find your genius spot and put the majority of your energy and time there can accelerate your business growth. Outsource those things that drain your time and energy to make room for your genius spot.

Ask yourself:

Which tasks in my business day absolutely must be done by me and no one else? Most likely the answer to this question includes creating your product concepts and delivering your services.

Which tasks could be done by someone else under my supervision? This could include your bookkeeping, mailings, design work, implementation of your marketing plan, and your legal work.

Which tasks can be completely outsourced with very little supervision by me? Perhaps, computer and software updates and maintenance, travel arrangements, supply ordering, printing.

What is the cost of continuing to do everything myself? The cost of doing it all yourself could be the failure of your business as you burn out or produce less. Compare that to the cost of outsourcing some tasks and the cost comes into perspective.

Virtual assistants, temps, freelancers and other options are used by Fortune 500 companies when needed to supplement their workforce and keep productivity and performance at peak levels. Consider whether you ought to borrow this success tip from the big players and outsource some tasks.

Let’s inspire one another. What could you outsource, right now, to create space for you to play in your genius spot.

Beginner’s Guide to Social Media Marketing

By Cindy Ratzlaff January 5, 2012

Using social media to market your book, brand or business is a relatively low-risk way to dip your toe in marketing waters. Most social networks are free to use, although the time required to use them well will cost you human capital.

I’m an entrepreneur, just like many of you, and I’m my eighth year of owning my own business. Statistically, if I can make it through this year, I’ll have beaten the brutal odds of business that fail in the first five years. In these first seven years, one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that fear of trying something new leads to failure.

Most new businesses fail in the first seven years.

I usually write about more complex tools and strategies, but in speaking to new entrepreneurs or small business owners this past year, the questions I most often get are:

How can I add social media to my marketing without adding additional employees?
How can I do everything you suggest and still have time to work on my products?

Lack of time and money are the #1 and #2 saboteurs of start-ups. So to everyone who has not yet jumped into the social fray to promote their business or service, here’s my simple beginner’s guide to using social media for business.

I believe most businesses can benefit from a simple, straightforward social media strategy that includes:

A Facebook profile for the “face” of the business; the owner or spokesperson
A Facebook fan page for the business itself
A Twitter Account
A YouTube Account
A Blog

With these five social media basics, even the most cash strapped and time deprived entrepreneur can begin to create digital footprints that lead back to their business. Adding additional social networks such as Instagram and Pinterest may be advisable for some businesses, but these five will give you a good basic foundation from which to build a large online following.

Setting up the accounts is easy and entrepreneurs should not become distracted by the bells and whistles and they wish list that comes with fully tricked out Facebook pages or beautifully designed Twitter accounts. When you’re swamped, stick to the basics and don’t let “ideal” stop you from starting with “good enough.”

Here’s a simple beginners guide to a social media marketing strategy map anyone can use.

Blog 2-3 times per week and keep posts to 500-600 words. Make them keyword rich (words you would enter into Google Search to find YOU). Make sure each post gives one interesting or useful piece of information to the reader about your area of expertise.

The same day you blog, post a link to that blog on your Facebook Fan Page, adding an invitation to join you on the blog for more posts on your subject matter.

Allow this post to auto-post to your Twitter account by linking your Twitter account to your Facebook fan page through this Facebook app link: http://Facebook.com/Twitter.

The next day press the share button under your Fan Page post and share it to your personal profile. Your friends are your closest supporters. Ask them to share your post with their friends, leave you comments and let you know if you can help them with your area of expertise.

Two days later, turn your blog post into a simple, how-to video by reading it into your web cam. Put the “script” up on your screen so you can look directly at the camera. Speak as though you’re explaining the concepts in your blog to just one person. Post the video to YouTube and tag the video with your keywords.

This is an over simplified map, designed to get you thinking about sharing content throughout social media. There are many, many subtle and more complicated nuances and strategies to increase your visibility, but this is a start. If you’re a new business owner or entrepreneur who has not yet begun to use social media in your business marketing, begin here and add new strategies as you get comfortable.

There is so much you can do in social media marketing, that sometimes the overwhelming feeling of “I can’t do everything” stops us from doing “something.” Focus on the basics first. Where do the majority of your ideal customers spend time on line? For most of you it will be Facebook. Makes sense, right? It’s the largest social network with the most active monthly users. So start there with a personal profile. Talk about your business, your products, your services and special deals. Next venture into the world of Facebook business pages to create a stand alone page dedicated to your business. Master those two properties before moving forward with the rest of the recommended steps in this article. Don’t let fear of the task ahead stop you from bringing your business to a larger audience through social media.

Business Gifts to Give Yourself | Entrepreneur’s Checklist

By Cindy Ratzlaff December 22, 2011

UPDATE: 2015

I’ve been going through the posts on my website to see if any of them needed updating. I think I’d add updating blog posts to this list of gifts to give yourself. Additionally, I’ve added one more important gift. Develop a library of graphics you can employ throughout your marketing and social media posts. This will save you time, money and a great deal of frustration. Develop a template for your graphics and use it to illustrate your ideas on platforms that require a very visual component.

Many entrepreneurs and business owners are busy closing out the books on 2011 and allocating human and financial resources for 2012, or at least for Q1 2012. At the same time, they are giving gifts to employees and clients. This is NOT the time to forget about yourself. Giving one or more of the gifts below, to yourself and your business, can pay higher dividends in 2012 than the initial gift investment. So, hop to it and play Santa to your business today.

This is the ideal time for entrepreneurs to give themselves a few gifts to start the new fiscal year off right.

Change Your Passwords

Make a new end of year ritual. Change your passwords. As a small business or entrepreneur, you’ve no doubt shared your password with designers, virtual assistants, and others during 2011. Changing your passwords sets up an automatic review of everyone who has access to your accounts. This can momentarily disrupt the flow of work as you review and reassign passwords and access to trusted contacts, but this is an essential end of year security practice. Adopt industry best practices for secure passwords by using a combination of capital and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols. Make sure your new password is at least 10 characters long. Afraid you won’t remember your new passwords. Store all your online passwords in a safe, secure site that only you can access, from wherever you are. Roboform is a terrific online resource for securing storing your passwords for easy access (by you only). This is safer than writing them down and carrying them around with you or entering them into your mobile device. Theft or loss could be a nightmare for your online security.

Training

Entrepreneurs and business owners need to honestly assess where the weaknesses in their knowledge base exist, seek training programs to resolve those weaknesses and then look for challenge or stretch goals for themselves and their teams. Training in new technologies, general knowledge base upgrades and software training do not need to be expensive or time consuming. Many trainings are served up via webinars you can view and absorb on your own schedule.

Concept Inventory

Businesses and entrepreneurs need to be thinking about new products or services to add to their offerings, as well as deleting any products or services suffering from fatigue or obsolescence. Now is the time to take an inventory of your intellectual property offerings such as coaching programs, how-to books or trainings, speeches, proprietary software, apps and other products to make sure they’re up to date. For example, if you teach people how to use Facebook and haven’t including training about the new Facebook Timeline, pull that product off the shelf and update it so future customers aren’t disappointed.

Start Up Strategies from Successful Entrepreneurs | Small Business Tips

By Cindy Ratzlaff December 1, 2011

A sluggish economy continues to drive more workers to consider starting their own businesses. These budding entrepreneurs, consultants and small business owners face enormous hurdles during their start up year and according to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, the trend in entrepreneurial start ups is “lean.” The WSJ article sites a recent Kauffman Foundation study statistic showing start-ups are now being launched with an average of 4.9 employees, down from 7.5 in the 1990s. And, the study concludes, this may be a permanent trend. Our own anecdotal (and highly unscientific) polling of readers leads us to believe that even more single person or solo-preneur businesses are being created each year and a staggeringly high number of those do not succeed.

Start-up financing is harder to obtain than ever before, money is tight, hurdles to qualifying for financing are higher, and consumer confidence is low.

So I asked several successful entrepreneurs and small business owners to share either one tip for first year business start ups or one daily habit they’ve incorporated into their lives to provide entrepreneurs with some guidance and inspiration.

LENA WEST, Keynote Speaker, Social Media Superstar (my words) at Influence Expansion.

“The best advice I can give to anyone in the startup up phase is this: whatever it is that you do, know it inside and out. Live it, breathe it. This breeds confidence. And when you’re confident, you make money.”

MATT MULLERWEG, Keynote Speaker and founder of WordPress.

“The thing I do every day that helps me the most is reading long-form content, anything from a book to a New Yorker article. Whether it has anything to do with my interests or not, good writing clears my mind and expands my horizons.”

CARRIE WILKERSON. Author of The Barefoot Executive: The Ultimate Guide for Being Your Own Boss and Achieving Financial Freedom, Speaker and founder of The Barefoot Executive.

“My most valuable habit is making a list of crucial to-do tasks the night before I ‘close up shop’ so that I’m not overwhelmed when I start my next workday wondering where I Ieft off.”

MARI SMITH, Author, The New Relationship Marketing: How To Build A Large, Loyal, Profitable Network Using The Social Web and Coauthor Facebook Marketing: An Hour A Day and owner of http://MariSmith.com

“In all your business endeavors, do your best to stay true to your “FOCUS,” which I like to define as Follow One Course Until Successful. Identify your deepest passions and greatest strengths; stay focused on those. Then, delegate and outsource as much as possible–even a small investment in the right part time (virtual) support staff can make all the different in the world. And, any time you bump up against limitations and challenges (which you will!), stay focused on your highest vision, your big “why.”

STEVE BORRELLI, Co-Founder of first year start-up http://WeArePetNation.com, a new company that has gathered more than 40,000 friends, fans, followers and subscribers in just six months.

“Keep track of your metrics. You can’t make informed decisions about spending unless you have the data. Make a list of the important metrics for your business, put them in a spreadsheet and track them. Use that information to inform your future spending decisions.”

JUAN FELIX, Executive Editor at Mirror Yourself and founder of his own new media magazine Nieuwemediagids.nl for the Dutch Market.

“Find your niche first and develop the product next. One of the most challenging decisions for any business owner is deciding who your customers are. For what audience can you add value? Review what you have done in recent years. What problems can you solve with your knowledge and experience? Translate these problems into challenges. Identify the target audience that faces these challenges. This will take you directly to your niche. Next, you can think about the products or services to meet these challenges.”

I just celebrated the 4-year anniversary of the launch of my own entrepreneurial enterprise, Brand New Brand You Inc. I have made a ton of mistakes and have written about them before. But here are some of the things I recommend new business owners do without delay.

Consult an accountant and/or lawyer to make sure you’ve selected the best structure for your new company, albeit an LLC or an S-Corp or simply a single owner consultancy. A consultation with a pro is worth every penny in the long run.

Apply for and use a business credit card to help you keep your personal purchases and expenses separate from your business expenditures.

Create a simple, inexpensive blogsite with information about yourself, your business, your product or services and contact information. This is your cyber business card, a place for people to find you and acts as a virtual yellow pages in terms of SEO. Do not wait until you have the money to make it perfect. Get it up and perfect it later.

Please share your advice for first year start-ups and entrepreneurs. Let’s create a virtual check list to help new business owners buck the trend and succeed in building a healthy business.

Time Saving Digital Tips, Tools and Techniques Used by the Pros

By Cindy Ratzlaff November 17, 2011

Entrepreneurs and small businesses know they should add social media marketing and digital tools to their customer acquisition and outreach plan, but time, money and a steep learning curve often hold them back. I asked a group of digital marketing professionals to share one tip, technique or tactic they use to shave time, money and frustration from their marketing plates. Each of these tips come from full-time marketing, PR and/or digital strategy professionals who work on-line and in social media every day.

Time is our most valuable asset as business owners.

Karmen Reed of Kick Off Topic

My password manager: I use Roboform. This awesome tool is not just a security peace of mind, but also a time saving “must have” tool. Roboform manages all your digital, online passwords and you have to remember only one master code, that you set yourself, to access any site or tool on your computer requiring a password. It can be synced between your multiple computers, and Firefox as well as Chrome extensions allow for super easy access. Extra points — Roboform is available on your iPhone as an app too.

Lisa McKenzie* of Red Carpet Strategies

Once a month I religiously use ManageFlitter to ensure that I am connecting with my ideal community and audience on Twitter. ManageFlitter allows me to quickly delete spam and inactive accounts leaving my Twitter steam filled with people I want to stay connected with and tweets I want to read. The “drag” feature across profile avatars is my favorite for quick deletes.

Gail Doby of Design Success U

Google Docs is our baseline tool for communicating with our global team. We are able to maintain a central filing system in the cloud, which is extremely helpful with a team working on projects at different times of the day or night.

Mary Lengle of Madison and Company

I help clients tell their stories through video and I’m able to meet with people via SKYPE to go over our scripts, shot lists and overall video strategies. I use it on my iphone, ipad, desktop and laptop. It’s a great communication tool and time saver.

Nancy Leyes Myrland of Myrland Marketing

I set up search columns in TweetDeck, (or whatever Twitter management tool you are using) for the exact title of my three most recent blog posts, then watch those columns periodically throughout the day to find and thank those who are sharing my blog posts. Your Twitter name isn’t always included when people share your post, so this helps you catch them so you don’t miss the opportunity to nurture a relationship by thanking someone for their kindness. This also saves times because you don’t have to check different sources to find these shares of your blog posts.

Keri Francek Jaehnig of Idea Girl Media

My time-saving tip and everyday lifesaver is Workflowy. It’s up on my computer all day long. I use it to organize note, tasks and collaborate with clients and colleagues through the select sharing feature.

Holly Kolman of Mobile Site Store

Dropbox is a tool you can use on your computer or internet-ready phone. I have sent enormous files like audio and video files, and when I give my clients password access, they can access them at any time. It’s very convenient and makes it a lot easier to keep track of files than email.

Doug McIsaac of CBS Television affiliate, KTVQ

Use a mind mapping tool like Mindomo when you are planning projects

If you have tools, techniques and tips to share with entrepreneurs and small business people, please share them here and we’ll take a look.

*Full disclosure. I am also a partner in Red Carpet Strategies.

How to Price Your Services | Entrepreneur Tips

By Cindy Ratzlaff August 11, 2011

The Entrepreneurial formula goes something like this. Identify a need in the market, conceptualize the product or service to fill that need, price it to move, test the market interest in your product and either go back to the drawing board or launch.

The successful entrepreneur will research, test, price and market according to the results of his or her testing or will go straight to market on a concept that has little or no developmental costs. For example, a business coach who already has a program that he or she does one on one with clients could easily take the program to webinars without much testing by recording it using any number of programs such as Keynote for Mac, Camtasia or ScreenFlow to name a few.

If the entrepreneur has a product or service that delivers value, has identified the likely end user or client and is ready to test the waters, pricing strategies now come into play.

The number one question I get from entrepreneurs is “what should I charge?”

I can’t tell you what to charge for your product or service. That depends on your niche market, the product or service itself, perceived value, quality of delivery, what your competitors charge and many other variables. What I can share with you is that most marketing professionals see a significant drop off in opt-ins or purchases when a consumer is given too many choices. In other words, make your offer simple and increase the chances of consumers taking immediate action and purchasing your product.

There’s a theory that offering more than three choices to people decreases the likelihood of purchase. They become overwhelmed, feel confused and in some cases, suspect that they’ll make the wrong choice and not get the best deal. Here’s the pricing formula I see most often in researching internet marketing guru sites. We’ll use consulting services for our example.

The A, B, and C Concept for Consultants

Package A: This package offers people the chance to consult with you for your highest hourly rate and for the lowest commitment. For example: Two sixty-minute calls per month for $500 with a one month commitment required. In the Package A scenario, people can commit to just one month and pay you $500 to “sample” your services and if your consulting proves valuable, you can convert them to a longer term package. In this scenario, it’s essential that the consultant bring their A game to Package A, and deliver such value and solution based advice that the client can’t image themselves without your assistance going forward. In our example, Package A works out to $250 per hour for a total client commitment of $500.

Package B: This package offers the best value and is the one you really want people to choose because you know that you can make a bigger difference in your client’s business or life if you have more time to do so. So you make it significantly more desirable financially to choose Package B, BUT you require the client to commit to a longer package and thus a larger financial investment. For example: Two sixty-minute calls each month for a three month period would be priced at a discounted $225 per call. Clients save $25 per hour by committing to a three-month package. Package B offers the client a total of 6 consultations at $225 each for contractual agreement of $1,350 and a savings of $150 over your standard hourly consulting fee.

Package C: This package is your high-end offer and requires the longest commitment but gives the highest value. Here you are rewarding clients who are willing to invest in intensive committed work with you by giving them the steepest discount BUT making them commit to the highest out of pocket cost. If clients choose this package, they’ll be saving $3,000 over your regularly hourly consulting rate. This package would offer one 60-minute call per week for a total of three months or 12 calls at $200 for $2,400.

The thinking behind these package strategies is that the clients who choose Package A are exploring. The clients who choose Package B want to invest in their business but are cautious and careful and want experiential proof that you can deliver what they need. The clients who choose Package C are ready to move forward in their business, believe you are the one who can help them and want to take advantage of the maximum financial discount you’re offering.

Whatever package they choose, your job there is to over deliver to the point that they feel they truly desire to have more of your time and they’ll contract for more or if their needs have been met, they’ll give you a great reference you can use to attract other clients.

At the end of any Package contract, always ask the client if their needs were met. If not, work to rectify that. If so, ask if they will give you a testimonial quote that you can use on your website. Most people will say yes. Then you’ll be promoting your services with positive, real life case study quotes.

14 Success Secret of Powerhouse Leaders | Branding

By Cindy Ratzlaff July 15, 2011

Consistency is a commonly referred to metric for social media success. It’s also the secret ingredient behind the personal brands of leaders in industries as diverse as technology, television, journalism and publishing.

Nearly every guru or expert mentions consistent engagement as a routine or habit that contributes to online success.

Ever since the publication of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey, people been fascinated with the notion that there are some common traits, habits, rituals or routines that all successful people embrace. They extrapolate that by adopting these same routines or habits they, too, might be able to tap into their own path to personal and professional success.

In speaking with leaders in a wide variety of fields, I’ve come to realize that this is not entirely true. The habits or routines followed by leaders are as diverse as are their talents.

Still, a recent Twitter conversation about daily habits and successful business leaders, prompted me to ask 14 top performers in a wide variety of fields to share one thing they do, every day, they feel has contributed significantly to their success.

Here’s are the lessons I gleaned from what they shared. The headlines are my interpretation of their routine or habit.

1. Associate with interesting people

Robert Scoble, Robert Scoble, Blogger, Tech Evangelist and Rackspace Executive

“For years now my main habit is to have a different conversation, every day, with someone who is DOING something interesting! I’ve kept doing that for years, and recording almost all of them, and that has enriched my life immeasurably (and my career, too). I make sure I always keep my calendar full with at least one conversation with someone different.”

2. Pay yourself first

Jeremiah Owyang, Industry Analyst, Altimeter Group

“Opening and responding to emails is often the act of paying someone else –instead I ‘pay myself first’ by researching, reading, and writing my thoughts on a blog each morning for about 2 hours before responding to email.”

3. Make technology serve your needs

Ben Parr, Editor-At Large at Mashable

“I have a private wiki that I use to organize my entire life. It has a list of what I want to accomplish, my personal philosophies, important links and even my bucket list.”

4. Clear your head and keep your energy high

Loic Le Meur, founder of Seesmic.com and LeWeb.net Conference.

“I run nearly every day. That makes me relax and take some distance about daily projects. While many think it’s tiring, when you get into it you actually feel an incredible energy kick for the entire day if you run in the morning. It makes me feel happy and nice to my coworkers and makes me forget about annoying things I would otherwise have a tendency to focus on. Otherwise, I could not understand technology the way I do if TechMeme wasn’t there.”

5. Eat your own dog food.

Laura Fitton, CEO/Founder Oneforty.com and co-author of Twitter for @Dummies

“I actually ‘eat my own dog food!’ Every day I use SocialBase (our social media productivity management software) to stay on top of my social media presence. It lets me easily track tasks and bookmark the tools and platforms that I need to keep updated every day. It reminds me of my daily, weekly & monthly recurring tasks, and gives me a jumping off point to execute them in one single spot.”

6. Flex your spiritual muscle

Michael Stelzner, founder of SocialMediaExaminer.com and author of Launch

“I pray! I thank God for working through me, pray for inspiration and ask for encouragement during the difficult moments. The Lord has always taken care of me. This is something I do in my car just before I walk on into the office.”

7. Practice what you teach

Mari Smith, Facebook, Social Media & Relationship Marketing Specialist, Author of Facebook Marketing: An Hour A Day

“Every day, I personally respond to as many messages as I can, whether by email, Facebook, Twitter, etc. I do my best to make time to thank and acknowledge people. As Sir Richard Branson says, “lavish praise on people.” I agree wholeheartedly. People love to be heard and I pride myself on being inclusive and treating others as equals. At the end of each day, I can sleep peacefully knowing I’ve reached out and connected with as many people as possible and it ultimately all helps to build social equity.”

8. Keep an inquisitive mind

Rieva Lesonsky, CEO GrowBiz Media

“One of the keys to my success, is I “explore” every day. I check Twitter, read the newsletters I subscribe to, go to my favorite websites. There’s so much information out there which can inspire or inform something I’m working on. As busy as I may be, I make sure to do this every day.”

9. Replenish your resources

Gretchen Rubin, author of New York Times bestseller, The Happiness Project

“My habit: Getting enough sleep. Research makes it clear that sleep has an enormous influence on our mood, health, energy, athletic performance — lack of sleep may even contribute to weight gain! The top two reasons for people to be in bad moods at work? Tight work deadlines and lack of sleep. As a writer, my mental acuity and energy are critically important. I see a huge difference in my analytical capacity, my creativity, and my productivity based on how wide-awake I feel. It’s hard to turn out the light before I finish that chapter or answer one last email, but now I’m zealous about getting enough sleep.”

10. Plan for success

David Zinczenko, Editor in Chief, Men’s Health

“I get in before the rest of my staff almost every day. It’s the only time that I can concentrate on writing, editing, and other close work. Once the team is here, it’s all about meeting and managing. I’m a nutrition guy, so I stock my office with healthy snacks and drinks like almonds, trail mix, dried fruit and coconut water. It keeps my energy up, and I don’t need to waste time running out to look for something to eat. And, I go to the gym almost every day at lunchtime, and read through emails on a stationary bike. It makes the second half of my day much more energetic, and I take less time—and get more done—during a workout than during most business lunches.”

11. Trust your intuition

Maria Andros, The Video Marketing Queen, creator of The Social Media Traffic Blueprint and The Video Conversion Formula.

“I think that the biggest key to my success has always been strengthening my intuition on a daily basis. I download ideas and get inspiration for the content of all my programs much like an artist does. Often it’s very easy to let our analytical minds take over and keep us stuck. I feel that the more we are in tune with our inner guidance, the more we can make the right decisions to move our businesses forward. For example before I partner with anyone, or create a new product, I listen, for if it’s a hell YES or not. If not, I do not proceed, as that will only have a impact down the road. I have learned the hard way in the past. I practice listening to my inner voice and my gut and it’s almost always accurate. I highly recommend building this muscle as it can make a great difference in your results. I think that some of the most successful people in business are very in tune with their intuition and this helps them to stay on track and moving forward.”

12. Banish the naysayers

Kathy Kinney, Actress and Author and literacy advocate

“I get out of my own way. ”

13. Find your creative zone

Wally Lamb, #1 New York Times bestselling author of She’s Come Undone, and I know this Much is True

“Since I began writing fiction 30 years ago, I have always found the shower to be a place where my creativity is unleashed. I hit the ‘rain room’ each morning before I hit the button on the computer. The earlier the better–5:00 a.m., if possible.”

14. Create space to think

Peggy Rajski, Academy Award Winning Director Of Trevor and co-founder of The Trevor Project

The daily habit that contributes to my success is morning meditation. I’ve done it for over 20 years. I usually sit for 20 minutes or more, but honestly, even 5 minutes does the trick. I feel more resilient, ready to take on the challenges of the day, and less likely to experience ‘I think I’m going to kill you if you don’t do what I want’ versus ‘I think this is kind of funny that I can’t get what I want.’ But more often than not, I do get what I want–or understand that what I’m getting is what I need regardless of what I think I want.

15. Cindy Ratzlaff, Author, Speaker, Consultant

It’s only fair that I share mine as well. I set a success goal every morning, for that day. I write it on a white board in my office and when I find myself being pulled off track, I ask myself “will this action serve today’s goal?” If not, I set it aside until I’ve accomplished the daily goal.

Are there habits or routines you can incorporate in your own life to achieve a higher level of business success? Please share and let’s see if we can enrich one another’s daily practices toward higher levels of achievement.

The Facebook Post Scheduling Tool