Mike Michalowicz has a great post today on The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur blog:  163 Ways How to Become an Entrepreneur.

This is a great list…and I will add one more:

Develop and strengthen your leadership skills.

As an entrepreneur, you are going to be faced with hundreds of opportunities and challenges to get people to go with you in the direction of your vision, which will require you in one way or another to be a great leader.  People will be much more likely to follow you if you are role model, persuasive and if you live in integrity.  And…as an entrepreneur, you will quickly see from Mike’s list that flying solo is not the approach.  You have to be willing to network and collaborate with others, which again…can be tricky if you are not honing your leadership skills.

So, check out the list today…and work on your leadership skills.  Mike suggests working with a coach…I could not agree more!

I’m almost embarrassed to say that our company is thriving in this down economy. The last three months have been the best ever by more than 10%.  What’s the secret?  One word: TRUST.  In this environment people are looking to trade their hard earned dollars for an experience they trust.  In entertainment, ticket sales for movies are strong.  My wife and I were at the theatre last week and the house was packed. Why?  Because we trust the experience we’re paying for.  In business, this principle works the same way.  So how do you build trust amidst this chaos?

What we’re doing is focusing on articulating our customers core values and then infusing them into the work we are doing for them.  It’s cutting out all the extraneous B.S. in their marketing materials and making them leaner machines that get to the heart of their customer’s needs. When their core values are accurately expressed in their marketing materials (writing AND design), their customers have a subconscious reaction to their materials, an intangible feeling of love or hate. What happens is that they attract the customers who are most perfect for them, while turning others off so they’ll not waste their time!  This leaves our customers with more time to nurture their perfect customers, deliver results to them and increase orders as our results drive more customers to them.

And you don’t need to hire a company like ours to help you to articulate your core values and then infuse them into your materials. Send me an email to corey@writersoftheroundtable.com with Core Values in the subject line and I’ll be happy to send you a step by step approach to help you articulate your core values. The process will take you less than 30 minutes in total!  Then you can take those results and hand them over to your own writers and designers to ensure your marketing materials are built around the values of your organization.

It’s actually really easy once you understand the power of the principle.  I was fortunate to learn about core values when working with Bea Fields on EDGE! A Leadership Story. I truly believe that the power of core values can make the difference between thriving and dying in this economy.

With unemployment on the rise and a recession not looking like an eventuality, but in fact, more like a bed partner, businesses have got to make some decisions to survive and remain competitive. What is imperative in an environment such as this is that communication be more clear, more effective, and more to the heart than ever.  Why? Because this is an environment of fear, and in such a state, people need to feel a sense of confidence with the people they are choosing to do business with.  The takeaway here is three-fold:

1. Communication. In these times, do not isolate yourself. Isolation breeds fear and fear is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Over-Communicate.
2. Persuasive brevity.  Use as few words as possible to get your point across. People’s patience is focused on their own survival, so respect that!
3. Consistency.  Now more than ever, you need to ensure that your message is being demonstrated repeatedly. What is working for Barack Obama can work for you. Be consistent and repetitive.

In times of trouble, there are great opportunities for those who can see above the low hanging smog of crisis. Keep your head on, keep your head up, communicate, respect your audience’s position, and be consistent with your messaging. Do it through articles, blogging, email marketing, press releases, and individual phone calls and emails. If you need a serious partner to guide you through this communication process, give Writers of the Round Table a shout.  Words are our business.

What happens when you get ten top professionals on a call together to discuss the future of business and leadership? You walk away inspired to change the way you think, live and operate in business. Listen in as Bea Fields shares this open call with her partners from EDGE: A Leadership Story. Fields is joined by Michael Gerber, Michael Port, Corey Blake, Dave Buck, Andy Wibbels, Carol Dickson-Carr, Eva Silva-Travers, Kimberly George, and Roger Dewitt. Each professional was asked a question they have never been asked before about the future of business, and you don’t want to miss their answers. This is BIG!

 

 Mega Call [122:20m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download