How to Start a Business Online

7 tried and true steps for attracting visitors to your site--and getting them to buy.

There is a proven sequence of steps you can follow to guarantee your success when you're starting a small business online. I've seen thousands of people start and grow successful businesses by doing the following:

1. Find a need and fill it.
2. Write copy that sells.
3. Design and build an easy-to-use website.
4. Use search engines to drive traffic to your site.
5. Establish an expert reputation for yourself.
6. Follow up with your customers and subscribers with e-mail.
7. Increase your income through back-end sales and upselling.

Anyone, from newbie to seasoned online entrepreneur, can benefit from this process in learning how to start a business online.

Step 1: Find a need and fill it

Most people who are just starting out make the mistake of looking for a product first, and a market second.

To boost your chances of success, start with a market. The trick is to find a group of people who are searching for a solution to a problem, but not finding many results. The internet makes this kind of market research easy:

• Visit online forums to see what questions people ask and what problems they're trying to solve.
• Do keyword research to find keywords that a lot of people are searching, but for which not many sites are competing.
• Check out your potential competitors by visiting their sites and taking note of what they're doing to fill the demand. Then you can use what you've learned and create a product for a market that already exists--and do it better than the competition.

Step 2: Write copy that sells

There's a proven sales copy formula that takes visitors through the selling process from the moment they arrive to the moment they make a purchase:

1. Arouse interest with a compelling headline.
2. Describe the problem your product solves.
3. Establish your credibility as a solver of this problem.
4. Add testimonials from people who have used your product.
5. Talk about the product and how it benefits the user.
6. Make an offer.
7. Make a strong guarantee.
8. Create urgency.
9. Ask for the sale.

Throughout your copy, you need to focus on how your product or service is uniquely able solve people's problems or make their lives better. Think like a customer and ask "What's in it for me?"

Step 3: Design and build your website

Once you've got your market and product, and you've nailed down your selling process, now you're ready for your small-business web design. Remember to keep it simple. You have fewer than five seconds to grab someone's attention--otherwise they're gone, never to be seen again. Some important tips to keep in mind:

• Choose one or two plain fonts on a white background.
• Make your navigation clear and simple, and the same on every page.
• Only use graphics, audio or video if they enhance your message.
• Include an opt-in offer so you can collect e-mail addresses.
• Make it easy to buy--no more than two clicks between potential customer and checkout.
• Your website is your online storefront, so make it customer-friendly.

Step 4: Use search engines to drive targeted buyers to your site

Pay-per-click advertising is the easiest way to get traffic to a brand-new site. It has two advantages over waiting for the traffic to come to you organically. First, PPC ads show up on the search pages immediately, and second, PPC ads allow you to test different keywords, as well as headlines, prices and selling approaches. Not only do you get immediate traffic, but you can also use PPC ads to discover your best, highest-converting keywords. Then you can distribute the keywords throughout your site in your copy and code, which will help your rankings in the organic search results.

Step 5: Establish an expert reputation for yourself

People use the internet to find information. Provide that information for free to other sites, and you'll see more traffic and better search engine rankings. The secret is to always include a link to your site with each tidbit of information. 

• Give away free, expert content. Create articles, videos or any other content that people will find useful. Distribute that content through online article directories or social media sites.
• Include "send to a friend" links on valuable content on your website.
• Become an active expert in industry forums and social networking sites where your target market hangs out.

You'll reach new readers. But even better, every site that posts your content will link back to yours. Search engines love links from relevant sites and will reward you in the rankings.

Step 6: Use the power of e-mail marketing to turn visitors into buyers.

When you build an opt-in list, you're creating one of the most valuable assets of your online business. Your customers and subscribers have given you permission to send them e-mail. That means:

• You're giving them something they've asked for.
• You're developing lifetime relationships with them.
• The response is 100 percent measurable.
• E-mail marketing is cheaper and more effective than print, TV or radio because it's highly targeted.

Anyone who visits your site and opts in to your list is a very hot lead. And there's no better tool than e-mail for following up with those leads.

Step 7: Increase your income through back-end sales and upselling 

One of the most important internet marketing strategies is to develop every customer's lifetime value. At least 36 percent of people who have purchased from you once will buy from you again if you follow up with them. Closing that first sale is by far the most difficult part--not to mention the most expensive. So use back-end selling and upselling to get them to buy again:

• Offer products that complement their original purchase.
• Send out electronic loyalty coupons they can redeem on their next visit.
• Offer related products on your "Thank You" page after they purchase.

Reward your customers for their loyalty and they'll become even more loyal.

The internet changes so fast that one year online equals about five years in the real world. But the principles of how to start and grow a successful online business haven't changed at all. If you're just starting a small business online, stick to this sequence. If you've been online awhile, do a quick review and see if there's a step you're neglecting, or never got around to doing in the first place. You can't go wrong with the basics.

Sourced from http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/175242

7 Terrible Naming Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make

Your company name will get used more and last longer than any other investment you make in your business. It’s important that you get it right the first time.

Here are some of the biggest naming mistakes I’ve seen entrepreneurs make and why you should avoid them.

1. You believe your domain name has to match your business name.

Tesla doesn’t own the domain name Tesla.com. Do you think someone wanting to buy a Tesla gives up if they go there and don’t find the website? Of course not! They type “Tesla cars” into a search engine and find it in no time flat. And they don’t even notice what the domain name is, which by the way is TeslaMotors.com. If Tesla doesn’t have to have an exact match domain name, neither do you.

Related: How I Finally Snagged My Dream Domain Name

2. You spell your name “creatively.”

This is by far the biggest mistake entrepreneurs make when naming their company. The problem with having a name like Naymz, Takkle, Flickr, or Speesees is that you will forever have to spell it when you say it, because it isn’t spelled how people hear it. (Think about how often you have to spell your own first and last name. Why would you want to have to do this with your brand name, too?)

Plus, Siri and other voice recognition software do not understand names that are not spelled naturally. And if you and your employees have to spell your name out loud for people, you are wasting everyone’s time and apologizing for it, over and over again. Resist the temptation of getting one of these domains just because it’s available for $9.95.

3. You use an obscure domain extension to spell your name.

While it’s tempting to create a domain name using a country code such as .me for Montenegro, .it for Italy, .us for United States, and .io for Indian Ocean Territory, those names are tru.ly troubleso.me. In addition to being difficult to spell, these domain names can be hard to pronounce, especially when unaided by a visual identity. How do you pronounce Copio.us? Is it “Copio dot U-S” or “Copious?” Equally troublesome is that the human eye is trained to stop when it reads a period. So a name like Copio.us causes people to stop reading (for all the wrong reasons).

Related: How to Name Your Startup

4. You business name is too niche.

You don’t want to outgrow your business name. What if Amazon had been named Bookstore.com? They would be limited to selling books.

One name that outgrew itself is Burlington Coat Factory. When they were naming their store, they didn’t think far enough into the future. When they expanded their product offering, they had to change their tagline to, “We’re more than just coats.” (They also always have to have a legal disclaimer in their ads that says, “Not affiliated with Burlington Industries.” Ouch.)

5. Your name pronunciation is not güd.

Your name should be approachable and intuitive to pronounce in your brand’s country of origin. Don’t rely on punctuation marks or letters in different colors to aid in pronunciation. Your name will not appear in color in the press or in search-engine results and people go batty trying to find accent marks and umlauts on their keyboard.

6. You invent a clunky coined name.  

If you invent a new “word” for your name, be careful that it doesn’t sound unnatural. Mashing two words together or mixing up a bunch of letters to form a new word rarely appears or sounds smooth. And be cautious using trendy suffixes to make up a new word. Sprayology, Teaosophy and Perfumania are all train wrecks. 

7. You try to be mysterious.

A sure-fire way to annoy people is to choose a name that’s completely random and seemingly meaningless. One I wonder about a lot is Vungle. I have no idea what this company does, and I don't want to know. Likewise, can you guess what companies Qdoba, Magoosh, Iggli, Kiip, Zippil, or Zumper do?

Blindly following naming trends will lead to nothing but trouble down the road. But don’t just take my word for it. Ask the founders of Xobni, Svbtle, anddel.icio.us.

Article sourced from:- http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/238068

8 Writing Strategies for People Who Say They Can't Write

Image credit: Shutterstock

If you want to launch and grow a business, chances are you're going to have to put words on the page. Probably many words on many pages. Which means there's no room for saying you "hate writing" or "can't write."

In many cases, the more important the writing task, the more the would-be writer freezes up. The result can be something of a Mobius strip of anxiety turned into fear turned into more anxiety, and what you're left with is a blank page.

To help you work through writer's block, consider the strategies below. (These tips were compiled by this reporter through an informal survey of her own writerfriends and colleagues.)

1. Lose the “I'm just not a writer” syndrome.Everyone has the potential to be a writer. Continuing to tell yourself otherwise is nothing more than an empty excuse. Reverse the energy. You can be a writer. Tell yourself, “I am absolutely capable of writing.”

2. Don’t wait for perfect words. If every sentence has to be a flawless work of art, then you will sit in fear. The sweat might pour, but the words won’t come. Just start writing words on the page. Know that once you have started, you can go back and revise what you have. But until you start, you will never know where you are trying to go. If you are writing on a tight deadline, it is even more critical that you let go of the notion of immediate perfection. One writer friend of mine offered the analogy that writing is like cleaning a messy room: the only way a large mess gets cleaned up is to start tidying one small corner at a time.

Related: Most Content Marketing Fails, So Keep These 3 Tactics in Mind

3. Talk to yourself -- out loud. It’s less stressful for most people to chat with a friend over a beer than to write a grant proposal (even if the content of the conversation is the grant proposal in question). In conversation, it’s generally accepted that we might have to stop, correct ourselves and continue speaking. Allow yourself that same freedom in your writing process. If that’s hard to do, talk out loud to yourself to get the thoughts flowing.

4. Move words, sentences, paragraphs around the page like pieces of a puzzle. The beauty of writing on a computer is that you can move words and groups of words effortlessly. Just reminding yourself of that tends to make it easier to find your writing flow. If you get your mind set that the words will be seen by the audience exactly as they flow onto the page, it can be paralyzing.

For those overwhelmed by the amount of ideas banging around in their head, jot the ideas down, one by one, in a loose cross between thought-notes and an organizational outline. Then, you can slowly work your way down your list, flushing out concepts into sentences and paragraphs without worrying that you might forget something critical.

5. Crystallize your point into a few words. When you sit down to write a business pitch, a grant proposal or a speech, be sure that you have done your research and know precisely what you mean to communicate. If you're struggling to write, it may be a sign that you are confused about what you want to say. Condense the main nugget of what you are trying to say into just a short phrase or sentence and you'll have a better shot at composing a tight, organized piece.

Related: How Not to Be a Boring Blogger: Write Like You Eat (Infographic)

6. Rid yourself of the Internet. Scores of very smart people spend all day long every day trying to grab your attention on the Internet. They’re pretty good at it, too. Eliminate distractions by going offline and opening a document that only allows you to write on your computer desktop. One writing friend recommended using the Freedom app when trying to write. When you install the application, it blocks all of your connections to the Internet for an allotted time.

Also, having a very specific physical routine associated with writing helps some people get into the writing groove. Perhaps there is a seat at a particular desk that you associate with writing. Perhaps you write best at a certain time of day. Perhaps you need to have a tall glass of ice water when you write.

7. Don’t get stuck by letting yourself think that you have to start at the beginning. Just because they call it the introduction does not mean that you have to start at the beginning. If you know what you want the middle paragraph to be, then start there. Write the portion that you know best first and then work out from there.

8. Set deadlines for yourself. Even if you don’t need to write on a deadline, set deadlines for yourself. And stick to them. One writing friend I talked to said she has friends and family follow up with her to make sure she's keeping to her time goals.

Related: Turning Content from 'Meh' to Wow With Storytelling

Article sourced from - http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/233264

Richard Branson Says He Writes His Own Blog Posts, And He's Read Your Comments

Image credit: guccio@ | Flickr

Each week, Richard Branson answers Entrepreneur.com readers' questions by drawing from his own business experience. Recent blog posts have discussed multitasking, why entrepreneurs sometimes struggle with formal education and how to increase employee engagement.

Branson is a notoriously busy man (look out for our upcoming print issue, which hits newsstands on September 23, for an update on his most recent exploits), so it's not unsurprising that readers often wonder if he actually writes the numerous columns and blog posts attributed to him.

Related: Richard Branson Gets Into Carpooling

The serial entrepreneur and LinkedIn Influencer took to the platform to address this very question in, appropriately, a blog post. "As tempting as it is to reply to each person with a resounding ‘yes!’, I hope that what my posts actually say is enough to prove it is yours truly behind these words," he wrote. The post was published as part of LinkedIn's Behind the Scenes series, in which more than 60 influential business leaders revealed the details involved in one aspect of their work.

Here are a few of Branson's favorite writing tips.

Use conversations with friends and co-workers as inspiration for potential topics. Writer's block can happen to anyone. If you're truly stuck, Branson recommends simply paying attention to the conversations taking place around you: "What do you talk to your friends about? What was that interesting article you read the other day? What was everyone chatting about in the office at lunch? Could there be a blog in that? More than likely, yes."

Related: Richard Branson on Common Misconceptions About Becoming an Entrepreneur

Write your observations down to use for later. Documentation is key. "I keep a notebook with me at all times, and write down every thought that might come in handy later," Branson writes. "I also note any intriguing links on my iPad. If you don’t write it down, it could soon be gone forever. Lots of the scribbles end up as blogs at some time or another."

Keep it personal. Inauthenticity is easy to sniff out. "If it wasn’t really me writing on LinkedIn or posting my virgin.com blogs, people would spot it a mile off. There are more – how shall I put this – 'corporate' blogs out there, which is all well and good. But if you’re going to do something, it is worth doing it right…I love sharing what is happening in my world, the latest happenings at Virgin, and my views on the wider universe," he writes. "What better way to do it than in real time, online?"

Related: Struggling to Write? Take a Break from Modern Tech, Like These Famous Writers Do (Infographic)

Delegate. "As ever, I wholeheartedly encourage the art of delegation," Branson writes, although delegating isn't the same thing as finding a ghost-writer. Instead, "it means finding people to help you write more efficiently and effectively. I work with Virgin’s head of content and team on ideas for blogs every day, firing ideas back and forth and collaborating on the best angle to take. Then, once a theme is decided upon (like this one, for instance!), we work it up into a blog."

Interact with your audience. Writing is just the beginning. "The whole point is to start a debate and provoke a conversation. While I sometimes struggle for time, I try to read as many replies as possible, and reply to at least a few people every day," Branson writes, noting that he often comes across comments saying 'Richard Branson doesn’t really read this.'

His reaction? "The temptation to jump in and wave a big digital hello is sometimes too much."

Related: 8 Writing Strategies for People Who Say They Can't Write

Article sourced from - http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/237537

One small positive thought in the morning can change your whole day - by Becky Koyle

The great motivational speaker, Zig Ziglar was raised during the depression.  His mother did her best to provide for their needs. She would milk the cows and sell the surplus milk and butter to provide some extra money for the family.  Cows with higher milk production were much more expensive to purchase than a lower producing cow.  Zig’s mother would purchase one of the less expensive cows, and then she tried to figure out a way to increase the milk production out of her little dairy herd.

You might be surprised how Mrs. Ziglar was able to accomplish this amazing feat.  Zig Ziglar recounts that she “loved” it out of them.  She didn’t have the money to buy a lot high quality feed for her animals, which is what most dairy farmers do to increase milk production, though she gave them as much as she could afford.  Then, every single day, as she went out in the early morning to milk them, she would stroke each cow, and praise and compliment them. She would shower each of her five cows with positive words and affirmations.

She would tell them they were the most beautiful, wonderful cows in the world.  She said they had an abundance of milk so rich and creamy that all other cows would be envious.  Every day, without fail, these cows would be loved, stroked, and told how incredible they were.

Amazingly, her method of positive thoughts and words worked.  The cows gradually began to produce more and more milk.  As time passed, some of the cows on the Ziglar family farm increased milk production significantly from a few gallons a day to as much as 7 gallons of milk in a single day.  This was a major benefit to this family who was struggling during such difficult economic times.  Mrs. Ziglar understood a fundamental truth that too many fail to realize.  Positive words and thinking really do create positive energy that can have a major impact and affect on your desired outcome.

 “One small positive thought in the morning can change your whole day.”

 The cows got the message.  Though the animals did not necessarily understand the words she was saying, they could most definitely feel the positive energy that emanated from her through the positive thoughts and words she was delivering to them. Over time, this positive energy resulted in an outcome that would have not been realized otherwise.  The human mind works the same way, and we should take some advice from the late Ziglar who says we should treat people like cows…including ourselves.

Here are three things you can do each morning to ensure that you start your day with positive thoughts and energy.

•   Go to bed at a decent hour so that you can arise early and refreshed  in the morning.

You’ve heard the old adage, “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy and wealthy and wise.”  Harvard biologist Christoph Randler discovered in 2010 that early risers tend to be more proactive.  His study also revealed that early risers are more optimistic and are able to anticipate problems more successfully minimize them.  If at all possible, try to get up early enough in the morning that you can watch the sunrise.  Maybe snap a quick picture of the of it each day and observe how beautiful and unique each sunrise is.  If you are feeling down during the day, look at that picture of the beautiful sunrise to help push out any negative thoughts you may have that day.

•  Focus on the positive and eliminate the negative.

Just as Mrs. Ziglar spent a little time each day nurturing those cows with positive thoughts and strokes of encouragement, you must do the same with yourself. During the early hours of the morning before anyone else is up, close your eyes and visualize your future self as though you have already achieved whatever goal it is you are trying to accomplish. Get that picture in your mind of the person you wish to become, and daily reaffirm to yourself that you are that person, as if it were a reality today.  When a negative thought enters your mind, flush it out quickly. Do NOT allow negative thoughts to poison your powerful mind.  Do whatever you have to do to rid yourself of those toxic thoughts, whether it be to remove yourself from a negative environment, turn on some uplifting music, read some articles on this site (hint, hint), exercise, say a prayer, or call your mom. Whatever method works for you, harbor the positive thoughts and eliminate the negative ones as quickly as you possibly can.

• Make a Daily Checklist.

Studies show that people who utilize checklists for goals and tasks are notably more productive and self-confident. Use whatever method is most comfortable for you. If you are old school, just grab a paper and pen or pencil and write down your daily tasks. Or, there are many phone apps that work great too.  As you complete each task on your list, check it off.  You will be amazed at how good it feels to see all the things you have accomplished in a day.  Once you have started on this path, you must continue this daily habit of positive thinking.  The Abundance Project is here to encourage you along the way.  Please let us know what helps you stay positive.  We’d love to hear from you.

Article sourced from - http://www.theabundanceproject.com/2014/09/one-small-positive-thought-in-the-morning-can-change-your-whole-day/

The Power of Mornings: Why Successful Entrepreneurs Get up Early

When running a business, it may seem like there are never enough hours in the day. Tapping into the power of mornings, a time of day when there are less demands, might be the key to increasing your productivity.

For 15 years, Starbucks President Michelle Gaas has set her alarm for 4:30 a.m. to go running. Gretchen Ruben, popular author of The Happiness Project(Harper Perennial, 2011) wakes up at 6 a.m. and works for an hour before her family rises. Time-management expert Laura Vanderkam highlights what makes mornings special and how we can use them more efficiently in her book What The Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast (Portfolio Trade, 2013). Here are a few benefits to getting out of bed earlier. 

You are less likely to get distracted in the morning.An entrepreneur's day fills up fast. If you wait until the afternoon or evening to do something meaningful for yourself such as exercising or reading, you’re likely to push it off the to-do list altogether. “There are going to be reasons why you can't tackle a personal priority at 4 p.m. -- things have a lot less likelihood of coming up at 6 a.m.," says Vanderkam.

You have more willpower early in the day. Even if you aren't a morning person, you may have more willpower in the early hours than later in the day. "Willpower is like a muscle [that] becomes fatigued with over-use," says Vanderkam. During the course of the day as you're dealing with difficult people, making decisions and battling traffic, you use up your willpower, leaving you feeling depleted toward the end of the day.

Mornings give you the opportunity to set a positive tone for the day. If you've ever slept in past your alarm clock or forgotten your kids' lunches on the counter, you know that starting off the day with a failure can bring down your mood and affect your productivity at work. Vanderkam says waking up earlier allows you to start the day with a victory and set the tone for a happier and more productive day.

Related: What Successful People Eat for Breakfast

If the thought of waking up at sunrise makes you cringe, Vanderkam recommends these four steps to transform even a habitual night owl into a morning person.

1. Keep a time journal. Vanderkam says one of the reasons people say they don't like mornings is that they stay up too late. She recommends keeping a time journal for a week to show where you may be using your time inefficiently. Vanderkam finds when many self-professed night owls look at their time journals, they often find they aren't spending their evening hours productively or doing anything particularly enjoyable.

2. Imagine your perfect morning. Imagine what you would do if you had an extra hour in the day. Would you exercise? Read the newspaper rather than simply skimming the headlines? "[Getting up earlier] isn't about punishing yourself. You will not get out of bed if you don’t have a good reason to do it," says Vanderkam.

3. Plan your morning. Once you have decided what you want to do with your extra time, plan how to execute it, and set as much up as possible the night before. For example, if you want to exercise in the morning, lay out your clothes the night before, or gather the ingredients for your breakfast.

4. Build the habit slowly. Vanderkam says you will likely hit the snooze button and sleep in if you try to switch your habits drastically. So instead of setting your alarm for 5 a.m. when you normally get up at 7:30 a.m. set the alarm for 10 minutes earlier each day. To make sure you don't lose sleep, go to bed 10 minutes earlier each night. If you have trouble hitting the sack on time, set a bedtime alarm.

Related: 4 Habits That Are Keeping You Up at Night

Article written by - Lisa Evans  

Article sourced from - http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/226910

The Secret - You have the power to change anything

You have the power to change anything, because you are the one who chooses your thoughts and you are the one who feels your feelings.

Richard Branson on Decision-Making For Entrepreneurs

Richards latest book, The Virgin Way, can be purchased from Amazon (link on right hand side)

Entrepreneur.com Editor's Note: Entrepreneur Richard Branson regularly shares his business experience and advice with readers. What follows is the latest edited round of insightful responses. Ask him a question and your query might be the inspiration for a future column.

Q: What were your most important managerial decisions -- the ones that changed your business? -- Volodymyr Kravchuk, Kiev, Ukraine

A: Most good chief executives or entrepreneurs only make three or four key decisions every year. Running your business's day-to-day operations and managing your team can take much of your time, so there are usually only a few that stand out -- the game-changing decisions that can make or sometimes break a business.

Looking back over my career, which now spans more than four decades, there were many occasions when I got it right and a few when I did not. A few guiding principles helped; these are the things I would have liked to have known when I was just starting out.

1. Trust your instincts.
There have been many occasions when I have led our team into markets that industry experts told us to avoid because the competition was too fierce or the cost of entry too high.

This was the case when we launched our airlines Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Blue (recently rebranded Virgin Australia), in 1984 and 2000, respectively. On both occasions, my fellow directors were nervous about our chances for survival, given the strengths of our competitors -- namely their market share and fleet sizes and experienced personnel. But I felt that our competitors had become complacent; that passengers wanted something different. With the right energy, focus and flair, we could make our mark.

Virgin Atlantic went from strength to strength, and now carries over 5 million passengers per year. In the case of Virgin Blue, we backed the plans of a former Virgin Express executive and entrepreneur Brett Godfrey, who first presented his ideas to me sketched out on a beer mat. After launching the business with just two Boeing 737s, we have built Australia's second biggest airline, and now have a fleet of nearly 90 planes.

2. Focus on your customers, not your critics.
It wasn't just our team that occasionally worried about our stepping into tough markets. Over the years, our critics fretted about Virgin's expansion into airlines, financial services and mobile phone services. What did our company know about these industries and how would we manage the complex issues?

Related: Richard Branson on Embracing Change

I rarely paid attention (which also drew criticism from some analysts). My answer was always to focus on the customer experience, ensuring that we offered the best service, most innovative products and best value.

This worked especially well in mobile services, where most companies still require customers to sign contracts that are difficult and expensive to exit. We revolutionized the market by offering a pre-paid model. Our position was radical, but we were selling exactly what a number of younger and newer users wanted. Our businesses grew quickly in the U.K., Australia, Canada, France, South Africa, the United States, and more recently in India, expanding our customer base and brand far and wide.

3. Always support your team. 
In previous columns, I have discussed how crucial it was for me to find great managers to run our businesses. Day-to-day management has never been my forte, and my early decision to step back from operations gave me the freedom to focus on our main challenges and opportunities.

This meant that I had to learn to trust the management teams, and to support them when they saw an opportunity. When Matthew Bucknall and Frank Reed came to us in 1999 with the concept of a family friendly health club, we decided to invest. Very quickly, they impressed all of us with their innovative approach to customer service and team building.

Related: 10 Time-Management Tips That Work

Soon after we opened the first few clubs, Nelson Mandela called me, asking if Virgin could rescue a chain of South African gyms. That seemed a stretch, because we had only a handful of locations in Britain, but Bucknall and Reed were confident, and such was our trust in them and their team that we signed onto the deal. And they were right: Virgin Active South Africa is one of the key drivers of that business's growth.

4. Know when to say goodbye.
It can be very difficult to know when to sell, since as a founder and entrepreneur you become very attached to your business and your team. Look into whether selling will be good for the overall health of your company, or if you need objectivity, ask trusted advisers to do this. But brace yourself -- the answer might be yes.

We have sold a number of Virgin companies over the years. Probably the most notable occasion was in 1992, when we sold Virgin Records to EMI and used the cash to expand Virgin Atlantic and other companies in the group. It was a very emotional day for me -- at one point, I broke down in tears. Looking back, it's clear that we sold at the right time and the decision made sense for Virgin as a whole. That secured our group's future and gave us a war chest for investing in new businesses.

Selling is difficult, and you will be tempted to hold on too long. This is one of the biggest mistakes an entrepreneur or chief executive can make.

I held onto Virgin Megastores for too long. Despite the warnings of my management team, I could not bring myself to sell the business until a few years ago. By that time, DVD sales had collapsed and the whole industry had been revolutionized by Apple's iTunes store. You can't get them all right!

Finally, when you are facing a difficult choice or must make an important decision on behalf of your company, keep in mind that the answer might not always be yes or no -- sometimes there are other options. Your job is to lead your team in the search for the best solutions, which are not always the easiest ones.

Article by - 

RICHARD BRANSON

CONTRIBUTOR

Author and Founder of Virgin Group

Article sourced from - http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/222739

The Virgin Way by Richard Branson, book review: "Get your derrière outthere"

Richards latest book, The Virgin Way, can be purchased from Amazon (link on right hand side)

After all these years, it seems that we still can't get enough of Sir Richard Branson's home truths

According to a poll, one in four Britons would choose Sir Richard Branson as their "dream boss". The Virgin founder easily tops surveys of best-known business figures. It's as if we haven't produced anyone worthy of note in commerce over the past few decades apart from him.

Part of the reason for that profile is Branson's genius for self-publicity. A key ingredient in this method is the book. There are no fewer than nine works on Branson by Branson. Then there are the books about Branson by others. There are just as many of those – Tom Bower alone has written three. To this groaning shelf can now be added The Virgin Way.

Like Branson's Losing My Virginity, which has scarcely moved off the business bestseller list since it was published in 1998, this one is guaranteed to fly. We can't get enough, it seems, of the billionaire's tips for success, his homespun philosophy laced with humour, and his constant chiding at the Establishment and corporate behemoths that are too stuffy and slow to give ordinary people what they want and deserve. Wannabe consumer champions will lap up this detailed manual. It's littered with references to real-life experiences and encounters with famous global figures. The book is subtitled "How to Listen, Learn, Laugh and Lead".

Certainly a key facet of the Branson approach is "listening, not hearing". He puts great store by listening intently and, as he says, writing copious notes in notebooks. I can vouch for that, having met him several times – he is attentive, and yes, he does scribble away, taking down whatever is being said.

He does not have an office as such, as he points out, preferring to get around his businesses to see people where they work rather than they go to him. If a more formal one-to-one conversation is required he likes it to be in the living room of his house, with him sitting cross-legged on the sofa, shoes off. Be warned, though: his casual manner belies a sharp brain. Senior representatives of some of the world's biggest, toughest, most security-conscious corporations have come a cropper as what they've said to Branson has come back to haunt them in future litigation.

None of his entreaties amount to rocket science. "Turn off that laptop and iPhone and get your derrière out there", "Delegate and spend more time with your family", and "Have fun and look after your team", would be risible if they came from anyone else. But because Branson enjoys iconic status his outpourings, however simple and even banal, will be treated as profound.

His early run-in with the law is well known and recounted again here, almost with relish, as Branson uses his own example to show that miscreants deserve a second chance. Take risks, relish in being the underdog, find holes in the operations of the "big dogs" and exploit them, change the game, and beat them. These are Branson's directly put rules. If only it was that easy. Branson is not infallible; he does not have an answer for everything: in fact, he has experienced more business failures than he has successes.

The latest may be Little Red, his troubled domestic airline. When he launched the carrier last year, Branson promised: "Little Red will stop British Airways dominating routes and driving higher prices." Virtually unaffected by Little Red – so much for his advice about beating the big dogs – BA has pressed on regardless.

Similarly, a Virgin culture in which employees feel "valued, empowered and trusted" so they can "go out and make amazing things happen" has yet to deliver a start date for Branson's space flights.

Likewise, reading that "giving our customers, both internal and external, a better work environment or service experience than they can find anywhere else" rings hollow for anyone who had to report a fault with Virgin Media before it was bought last year by Liberty or has had to endure a poor experience on Virgin's West Coast trains.

These days, Branson lives on Necker, his Caribbean island. While he says he made the move because he craved the lifestyle, rather than for financial purposes, it does mean he gains considerable UK tax benefits as a non-resident. For years, long before he based himself on Necker, Virgin profits were routed through offshore trusts.

But even his tax status – in an age when tax avoiders are vilified – does not dent his broad appeal. Branson, it seems, long ago acquired a trademark jumper coated in Teflon. He can do no wrong – or if he does, the damage never causes lasting harm.

Plenty of copies of The Virgin Way will be sold, and compared to many business books there's no doubting it's refreshing, easily understood and instructive. Those of a more critical persuasion, however, might not be so impressed. Onward the Branson legend goes.

Article by - 

Chris Blackhurst

Group Content Editor of The Independent, i, The Independent on Sunday and Evening Standard - and former Editor of The Independent.

Article sourced -  http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-virgin-way-by-richard-branson-book-review-get-your-derrire-out-there-9726437.html

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Apple Watch hands-on review: Wearables just got exciting

Designed to complement the iPhone 6 user experience, Apple has taken a slightly different approach to the smartwatch than its Android-based competition.

Unveiled at a special launch event in Cupertino, Digital Spy has managed to get its hands on one of the devices - and here are our first impressions...

First up, let's talk about the design. The Apple Watch is not overly heavy, but feels easily as premium, if not more so, than the competition. It's also not quite as thick in feel as the Motorola 360.

Of the multiple colour schemes on offer, the space grey style dark offering is easily the nicest. The 18-carat gold is fairly bling, but we can see it going down well amongst those who want a flash watch. The standard silver offering is also very premium-feeling.

© Digital Spy / Apple

On the back of the watch is a heart rate sensor, plus an invisible connector, along the lines of the mag-safe setup you get on a MacBook, for charging.

There is a lot of different straps to choose from all attached via a clever clasp system on the side of the Watch itself. We tried on a number of different ones, as well as both the big and small version of the Apple Watch.

They were all extremely well made, similar to your typical Swiss offering. The Apple Watch is going to cost around $349 at launch, but UK pricing is still TBC. At that price, you are getting not only an impressive piece of tech, but a very premium watch. The problem is that it's a lot more expensive than basically all the Android Wear competition.

© Digital Spy

Maps on the Watch

As for the user interface, it's a totally different thing to anything Apple has done before. It's geared around two key things; firstly eliminating the need to use your fingers on the screen apart from for very simple actions. Second, streamlining any smartphone activity down to a watch face-sized offering.

Apple deals with the first issue by using the 'Digital Crown'. Replacing what you would normally set the time with on an analogue watch, you use this to scroll and select through the menus on the device.

© Digital Spy

The home screen of the new Apple Watch

It works well and has a satisfying 'click' to it as you work your way through the Apple Watch's menus.

The device's real trick however is in how it deals with smaller screen sizes. Hitting the key below the Digital Crown for example will open up an icon list of your friends. Tap one and you can draw them a quick message as well as send them customisable emojis and even your heartbeat. Alternatively you can communicate with them via a built-in walkie talkie option.

© Digital Spy

The fitness app

Maps are zoomed in and out of using the Digital Crown, which works its way around the pinch to zoom issue. Any other majorly complex actions are handled via Siri.

Apple had a variety of different Apple Watch prototypes to play with, some of which were at later development stages than others. We aren't really ready to deliver a proper verdict on the operating system yet as our time with the device was just so limited.

They are expected to arrive in early 2015. It's a while to wait, but we have to say, it's by far the most desirable wearable we have seen so far.

Clever user interface tweaks combined with premium design make for a very impressive product. Now we just need one to test proper.

Article by - Hunter Skipworth and Jamie Harris

Article sourced from - http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tech/news/a595441/apple-watch-hands-on-review-wearables-just-got-exciting.html#~oPsBNcqrAUTK3L