How Wantrepreneurs Become Entrepreneurs

Image credit: NASA on The Commons | Flickr

Over the years I’ve noticed how adept most would-be entrepreneurs are at making sure they never succeed. The problem is they waste precious time drowning themselves in useless content and over-thinking minutiae trying to solve problems they themselves create.

You know what I’m talking about: all the popular content about personal productivity, performance improvement, time management, personal habits, positive thinking, and the like. The irony is, all that nonsense is self-perpetuating. If you don’t waste time on it, you never need it.  

Look, the key to becoming successful at anything – your job, your career, or your own business – is not rocket science, folks. It’s finding what you’re good at – what you love doing – learning how to do it better than anyone else, and then doing it. That’s what separates real entrepreneurs from the pack.

To be more specific, this is what successful business leaders do that wantrepreneurs, for lack of a better term, usually don’t, and vice versa:

They do whatever it takes to get the job done.

Maybe I should back up a bit. For one thing, they have a job. Their work is the most important thing in their lives, or at least a close second to family. They don’t worry about work-life balance. And when it comes to their work, they’re flexible, adaptable, and geographically mobile. Nothing stands in their way.

They don’t wait around for opportunities to just happen.

Maybe it’s a cliché to tell folks to go out and create their own opportunities and make things happen, but that doesn’t make it less true. It’s wonderful to have dreams of making it big someday, but if you don’t actually do anything to make that happen, it won’t. Real entrepreneurs are doers. 

They don’t believe in utopia. 

While it’s definitely good to be driven and optimistic, business success doesn’t come from strength of will alone. Your strengths, weaknesses, circumstances, and behavior all play significant roles in the outcome. The best way to become successful is to genuinely understand what’s holding you back. Successful entrepreneurs are always grounded in reality.

They follow their own path, not someone else’s.

They don’t overthink it by worrying about what others think, say, or do. Truth is, nobody else has a clue about what you should be doing and how you should be doing it. Besides, don’t you think you should be figuring that out for yourself through your own experience in the real world?

They listen to smart, accomplished people they know and trust.

I don’t know exactly how to tell you this, but probably the vast majority of online content – more and more business books, too – come from content mills and wantrepreneurs just making it up as they go to get page views and followers. Don’t drink the Kool-Aid.

They’re disciplined about their goals and priorities.

I’ve always been 100 percent clear on my goals and priorities and my activities reflect that because I have discipline. Granted, we all want to be happy and have fun, but screwing around when you should be working accomplishes neither. On the contrary, it holds you back, big-time.   

They don’t take handouts ... ever.

Sure, we all squeeze our parents when we’re kids, but once we reach adulthood, it’s time to pay the bills with money we earn. All safety nets do is sap our self-reliance and ability to make it on our own. If you need money to start and grow your business, get to work and get investors, not handouts.

They don’t whine and make excuses.

Complaining, making excuses, and blaming others are all victimbehaviors intended to absolve us of responsibility for situations we’re solely responsible for. Nobody can or will make your life better but you. If you act like a victim, you’ll always be one.

They know business is about business.

The problem with the personal-branding fad is that it makes people think they’re more important than they are. It feeds the narcissistic beast so many are becoming. Successful entrepreneurs know that business is about the value proposition their products deliver to customers. It’s not about them.

Granted, it’s a lot easier to pump your head full of nonsense and simply make believe things are going to work out for you someday than it is to be disciplined, focused, and realistic about what it takes to make it in the world. Believe me, I know how hard it is to work your tail off doing the right things, day in and day out. But trust me when I tell you it’s the only way to someday build a business you can be proud of. The choice is yours.

Article by 

STEVE TOBAK

CONTRIBUTOR

Author and Managing Partner, Invisor Consulting

Sourced from http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/246298

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

Top 10 Mistakes in Starting an Online Business

Every week I talk with entrepreneurs. We talk about what’s working and what isn’t. We talk about successes and failures. I spend time with both complete newbies and seasoned veterans, and everything in between.

I have a pretty fantastic job.

One topic that comes up over and over again with both groups is mistakes made in starting businesses.

Newbies love to know which mistakes are common so they can avoid them. Veterans love to talk about things they wish they had known or had done differently.

This weekend I was at the World Domination Summit in Portland with 3,000 ambitious people, and this topic came up dozens of times. “What do you wish you had done differently?” “What mistakes do people make starting out?” “I wish I hadn’t…”

So I put together a summary of the mistakes people shared with me, combined with the mistakes we see being made every week through our work with new entrepreneurs at Fizzle and elsewhere.

Here are the Top 10 biggest mistakes made when starting an online business:

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1. Waiting too long to launch a product/service

When you start blogging or podcasting to build an audience, it’s easy to get stuck on the content “hamster wheel” for months or years without ever offering something for sale.

There are a few reasons this happens.

Some people are waiting for some magic audience size “1,000 subscribers” or maybe “10,000 visitors” or whatever your number might be.

Some people just can’t find the time to blog or podcast or make videos AND to build a product at the same time. It’s tough.

Some people simply talk themselves out of creating a product because they’re afraid no one will buy it. They don’t want to fail after putting in so much time creating content.

Whatever the reason, this is a fatal trap. If you’re building a business, you need to address the biggest risk head-on. The biggest risk you’ll face as a business is in creating something no one will pay for.

Plus, you need practice at building and launching products. Your first one might not be all that good. The sooner you put something out there, the closer you get to sustainable revenue.

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2. Solving an unimportant problem

If the problem your business solves is important enough, you won’t even have to look for customers. Imagine if you had a cure for cancer, for example.

Businesses fail all the time because they try to solve a problem nobody really cares about. If you put your product or idea out there and nobody buys it, there’s a good chance you should look for a more important problem, not a bigger audience.

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3. Not really listening to customers

How do you know if the problem you solve is important enough?

Listen to your customers. Really listen to them.

Don’t just listen to the customers who provide validation. Listen to the ones who ask for refunds or buy your product but don’t use it. Listen to the people who tell you they won’t buy, and find out why.

Don’t just pay lip service to your customers. You don’t have all the answers, they do. There’s a reason why “the customer is always right,” because without customers you don’t have a business.

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4. Not being different

In most markets, customers have different options to choose from. If your business has competition, you have to give your potential customers a reasonto choose your offering over another.

I see this all the time with new bloggers. They jump into a popular topic and essentially mimic or copy what other popular bloggers are already doing. I suppose they think “if it works for them, maybe it will work for me.”

But think about it from the reader or customer perspective. If they find your blog, they’ll be asking themselves “why is this blog worth spending any time on?” You have to answer that question quickly and clearly, before they click the back button.

You can’t expect to grow an audience by being an inferior version of some other better known site. Even if your site or product is arguably better than the competition, “better” is subjective.

Instead of simply trying to be better, you need to be different. Then, when someone asks why your site or product is worth her attention, your answer will be objective and easy to understand.

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5. Choosing a topic you don’t care about

Whatever you choose to focus your business on, you’re going to need deep subject knowledge, fresh creativity, and unwavering stamina.

There will be competition who cares more about the topic than you do. How can you compete if the gap between your love of a topic and your competitors’ is wide?

This doesn’t mean your business has to be your #1 “passion” or life’s work (most of us don’t have one single passion in life), but don’t make things impossible by choosing something you don’t care about.

If you love your topic, stamina won’t be an issue. If you love your topic, creativity will flow, and influence will be easier to build.

Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive. -Howard Thurman

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6. Starting with vastly wrong expectations

This won’t be easy, and it won’t be quick.

Building a successful business is a massive undertaking. You probably can’t do it while traveling the world. If you have a full-time job, it will be much, much harder.

If your plan involves four-hour workweeks, or if your timeline is measured in weeks or months, you will probably fail.

These are the hard truths that people rarely talk about. Overnight successes don’t exist. Your original plan will probably have to be completely re-written, maybe multiple times.

Ask yourself: will building this business still be worth it if it takes years to get there? What if building the business is harder and more stressful than your current job?

Talk to some entrepreneurs who have achieved something close to what you want to achieve. Ask them what it really took. Ask them about stress and timelines and giving up. Ask them not to sugarcoat it. Really listen.Then ask yourself if you’re prepared for your own version of that.

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7. Spending too much time thinking and not enough doing

Not much to say here that isn’t perfectly summed up in this quote:

Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration. 
-Thomas Edison

If your ratio of thinking-to-doing is anything less than 80% doing, think again do more.

As Chase likes to say, entrepreneurs have two modes, CEO mode and worker-bee mode. In a one-person business, you have to be both.

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8. Going it alone

The only reason my business exists today is because other entrepreneur friends wouldn’t let me quit. Seriously, I tried to throw in the towel and start over with something else, but they wouldn’t let me. They talked me out of it.

No one can succeed in business alone. You need people to make it work. Your customers are people, your suppliers are people, your service providers are people.

Most importantly, you need support from other entrepreneurs who are at similar stages as you are, and from others with more experience.

The more connected you become with other entrepreneurs, the more normal your quest becomes. You’ll no longer feel crazy or alone, and you’ll realize that we all face obstacles just like you’re facing.

The entrepreneurs who talked me out of quitting were part of a little group that met weekly to hold each other accountable. It didn’t cost any of us a thing, other than an hour of our time each week, but it turned out to be the most valuable resource I ever used in my business.

Reach out to another entrepreneur or two, and ask them to meet weekly. Share your struggles and goals, and review your progress each week. This simple process is so powerful.

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9. Confusing “blog” with “business”

Repeat after me: a blog isn’t a business. A blog isn’t a business.

A blog is an incredible platform for sharing your ideas, connecting with people and growing an audience. The same is true of podcasting, YouTubing, or any other place you might publish content for free.

Giving away free content isn’t a business. It’s a tool for building influence. Don’t count on turning that influence into sponsorships or advertising dollars. You’ll need a more direct plan for earning an income if you want your blog or podcast to pay off.

See point #1 above about launching a product/service.

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10. What would you add to this list?

This is my list, from what I hear and see in the entrepreneurial world.

Is your list different?

What things do you wish you had done differently?

What mistakes do you see new entrepreneurs making?

Original article can be seen at http://fizzle.co/sparkline/top-10-mistakes-in-starting-an-online-business