Christopher Bell’s dominant win in Phoenix has been branded boring, but that’s only true in comparison to how electrifying NASCAR has been in 2024.
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Debates over judicial reform create an opportunity to reconcile the nation’s identity as the Jewish homeland with its duties to a multicultural population.
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Interest in influencer marketing has skyrocketed 90x since 2013. And I hesitate to pat myself on the back, but I’m recognized as an influencer in the digital marketing space.
But how? Why? In this article, we’ll go over how I became one and how to become an influencer in your own field.
Most great influencers start as a microinfluencer, a person on social media with roughly 10,000-50,000 followers. In a pinch, think of them as having a larger following than your average person, but less than a celebrity or established influencer. This is great because it allows you to start building a dedicated following and see what type of content works for you on a smaller scale.
With this said, though, even if you have a decent size following, you want to always establish credibility with the audience. Micro influencers can extend powerful word of mouth to small groups. As you start out as a micro influencer you’ll develop expertise in your niche. They don’t have the followings of a Kardashian, but they’re more affordable and can still reach enough people to make a difference in product sales.
Research shows they generate double the sales of paid ads and with a 37% higher customer retention rate.
It’s not enough to just pick the field you want to influence.
Take my case for example. Digital marketing is a broad topic, and I didn’t get to the top by focusing solely on a broad keyword.
See How My Agency Can Drive Massive Amounts of Traffic to Your Website
I started in the trenches of SEO before learning content marketing, conversion rate optimization, influencer marketing, social media marketing, and more. I worked hard. to get to nearly 432K Twitter followers.
One day you might get to 400K + followers too; but to become an influencer, you have to start with one.
Start as the expert among your friends and peers.
Work toward being the expert in your city and state.
Then become an influencer from there.
Once you have a niche, it’s time to build your content strategy. Content strategy can be a vague concept, but for the purposes of this post, we mean things like publishing cadence, tone and voice of the author, and content elements (text, graphs, etc.).
Even the Content Marketing Institute concedes there is no template for this, because every person and brand’s needs and goals are different.
The Usability.gov website has a handy chart to get started.
For my content strategy, I have strict goals I set for myself to create a set amount of social posts on each network while maintaining blog quality and working on side projects. I also made sure I use the same conversational tone and voice in my content (can you tell?)
Not terribly hard right?
Once you’re armed with this information, you can select your channels.
There’s no wrong answer for which social channels to be on and avoid.
Besides Twitter, I’m on Facebook.
Facebook is the most popular, with 94% of marketers using Facebook worldwide as of January 2020, followed by LinkedIn with 76%.
Facebook is by far the most popular, with almost 75% market share in 2022. But that dropped from 65% in 2015, and other social channels still have validity.
While I enjoy my time on certain channels more than others, I don’t play favorites when engaging with my audiences.
I do my best to show up everywhere.
My page gets a ton of traffic and has a great conversion rate.
I’m also active on LinkedIn and Pinterest, which I think is even more visually appealing than Instagram. I also think it has more effective content marketing potential than Instagram.
And, last but not least, I have over one million followers on my YouTube channel.
Each channel has a different audience (and audience size) expecting different content.
These are just my social channels. I’m not including my blogging and guest blogging efforts.
You don’t have to stay this active on so many channels, but pick one or two to start building out your influence.
Think of each social channel as another platform for you to reach your customers (and the general public).
In order to become an influencer, you need to make real connections.
Everyone wants to sit at home on their couch and connect with influencers on social media.
That’s simply not an option. Popular tech influencer iJustine, for example, has 1.8 million Twitter followers.
She’s very active with her followers, but can’t possibly engage individually with all 1.8 million in any meaningful way.
Where you can network with Justine Ezarik is at technology trade shows like CES, the Webby Awards, the Streamys, and several other events. You can follow her social accounts to see which events she attends.
Event marketing is a big trend and being able to boast influencer attendance is huge.
Why not make it a priority for marketing yourself?
Get off the couch, get out the house, and get to major events related to your niche. Or, even easier, attend online events, which are becoming more popular in the post-COVID world.
You can start your search at the Trade Show News Network for listings of trade shows around the world in every industry.
Becoming a popular social media influencer does have its advantages. For example, in 2020, the most popular YouTubers earn more than a billion dollars a year from advertisements and sponsorships.
Not all of us can be that lucky. The rest of us have to venture outside social media and participate in forums, comment wells, and other online discussions so we can boost our following.
Every discussion you can be a part of online enhances your reputation, influence, and connections.
Conversations don’t end on social media.
You’ll always have more to say than can fit in a tweet or Instagram post as a social media influencer.
With a website or blog, you have a place to direct your social followers as you gain them.
Personally, I’m a huge fan of blogging.
One of the best content management systems for creating either a website or blog is WordPress.
Be prepared to lead your followers into your well-designed conversion funnel by building out your blogging content strategy. Start with including a link to your blog in your social media posts. A link to your website or blog can actually increase your audience engagement on social media.
And it goes without saying the longer blog content needs to provide even more value than a social post to get clicks.
If you’re not providing value to the conversation, you’ll never reach the ears of anyone influential.
When trying to become an influencer, remember you need to be the person people are talking to each other about.
Word of mouth is the most influential element driving purchase decisions today.
If you can impress people enough with your knowledge and conversational value, they’ll sell everybody else on you.
Then they’ll tell two friends, and so on…until you become an influencer!
There are two types of content, evergreen and topical.
Evergreen content stays forever relevant, such as an article about a historical event.
Topical content is hot right now, but will soon be forgotten. Basically, everything happening today.
When writing a blog post, I’d stay as evergreen as possible since you don’t want to have to update your content constantly. But on social media, staying informed about current events is the key to being shared.
Every year since 2003, Starbucks has been able to rally up customers for their seasonal drink. For example, in 2021 they expanded the offering of the beloved Pumpkin Spice Latte to stores in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. They were able to expand customer reach and created a quiz to strengthen their #PSLlovers community.
Using this seasonal tradition with user-generated content created a brand win for Starbucks by appealing to customer loyalty through a festive time of year.
Staying topical is how you go viral on social media.
You can use tools to stay on top of social media trends. You can also set a Google News alert to monitor the entire Internet for specific keywords and phrases.
Do what you have to do to stay current.
Even if you don’t use a particular social media channel, if you want to become an influencer it’s still important to understand who does.
I’m not a big user of Snapchat, for example, but I understand its 250 million+ (mostly younger) users can’t be ignored.
TikTok may not be for you, but the platform has doubled it’s worldwide users between 2019 and 2021. It’s also the most engaging channel of all the popular platforms today. So, if you’re looking to build a community, the numbers don’t lie – it makes the most sense for you to build a following there. Because the demographics of who uses each channel are so varied, each social network requires a different strategy.
For example, here is a chart showing best practices for posts you can share on each channel during the Holiday season:
While minor, these differences make a world of difference in determining whether you’re a hero or a zero in your industry.
This type of chart helps you prepare posts to schedule in advance.
Going back to the Super Bowl, it’s an interesting event. Why? Because brands have made the commercials as anticipated as the actual game. Many come through with epic TV spots that tell their brand story.
The takeaway: it’s important to be authentic and stick to your brand voice to become an influencer.
Digital ad spend grew 18% in February 2021 compared to a year prior. TV ad spend declined nearly 27% over the same period.
This means an authentic voice on social media is more critical than an expensive Super Bowl commercial.
It’s free to do, and it’ll help you rise through the ranks from nobody to micro-influencer to major influencer.
If you’ve ever visited my blog or social media profiles, you know I actively respond to comments.
Here’s an example from a recent blog post I promoted on Facebook several years ago.
My followers love to ask me questions and comment on things, and I love to respond.
This is how I built a social community that participates and engages with my content.
When responding, be sure to stay consistent and friendly.
Don’t respond to trolls and other haters, unless you have a great zinger that will help your brand image.
It’s not enough to simply respond.
To become a social media influencer, you need to start conversations.
Rather than creating content for social media that promotes your brand, create content that actually helps people in your online community. This could include short-from videos, as Lush does frequently on their Instagram and other social channels:
This type of engagement is what social media was designed for.
It’s easy to do on platforms like Twitter where scaling Twitter engagement is the main function of the channel.
And people remain engaged on these platforms.
The more you engage with the community outside of your feed, the further you spread your influence. Don’t just respond to comments on your Facebook page.
Post in groups, post on friend’s pages, and tag other influencers to engage the community.
Don’t be afraid of starting a Facebook group of your own to draw in even more followers.
I’ve been publishing at least one blog a day on this site for a long time now.
It’s not easy, but I do it. Why? I want to keep fresh content online for my readers.
I also have a content-driven online marketing strategy that’s fueled by my blog.
It’s the heart of my Facebook page content and my Twitter content.
I can also broadcast my blog to my other social channels.
Focusing on my blog gives me a wealth of content to share across all my other channels.
It’s the center of my long-term digital marketing strategy.
My blog is foundation of how I got where I am today!
Being a creator of any kind or in the public eye for any reason involves handling a lot of criticism.
Even the President of the United States or the richest man in the world can’t avoid criticism.
No amount of money or power can eliminate criticism!
Yet so few of us can handle it.
Here’s a Venn diagram of people who need and can handle constructive criticism.
If you become a person who can actually handle constructive criticism, critics will mold you into a more polished influencer.
Being an influencer isn’t about dictating what people do. It’s about creating a movement, and constructive criticism is essential to that.
Nobody wants to be surrounded by yes men.
Which reminds me…
Phil DeFranco is one of the most influential YouTube users with his SXEPhil account.
The reason is somewhat because of production values and length of service.
More importantly, however, Phil remains approachable, despite his success.
Tackling topics as diverse as politics, social media, pop culture, and nuances of the YouTube platform itself, Phil maintains an everyman approach.
Never let yourself get so caught up in social media fame that you become a prima donna, disconnected from reality in your ivory tower. If you do, there could be consequences.
The more approachable you are, the more influential you’ll be.
I can’t stress enough how important it is to constantly generate new topic ideas.
It’s harder than it sounds over the long term. That’s why I use Google Alerts.
I can set alerts to deliver to my email anytime my name is mentioned on any frequency I like.
There are a ton of other customization features.
In addition to setting up Google News alerts, pick a handful of publications to stay informed on.
I check blogs like Moz, Entrepreneur, and Hubspot daily to keep ideas for fresh topics in my head.
The more knowledgeable and well-rounded you are, the easier it’ll be to gain influence.
Automation is the latest marketing trend, and it’s easy to see why.
You gain efficiency and speed, along with valuable data.
There are plenty of free tools to automate social media posts and let you schedule your content in advance using content calendars.
This is how professional publishing and social agencies work.
Also, keep in mind blog posts can automatically be set up through the blog CMS to promote on social media channels.
Whatever you use, be sure to automate posts so you have a steady stream of content.
To be an influencer, you need to know other influencers.
Who you’re following is almost as important as who follows you.
To expand your influence, you need to show people they’re influencing you as well.
On Twitter, there’s a hashtag group called #Teamfollowback that believes in reciprocating every follow.
I don’t go that far, but I do try to follow other influencers to engage their audiences along with mine.
Many social media influencers also love giving shoutouts to followers, fans, and subscribers.
Shoutouts make people feel like they’re personally contributing to the community. They incentivize participation.
And last, but certainly not least, is the data we’ll need to quantify all this work.
Each social media site will show your impressions and audience engagement numbers.
It’s usually on the front page.
This only shows half the picture of your real influence.
However, with a website and Google Analytics, you can see the rest.
We can tell which social channels are getting clickthroughs to our site and how many people are converting from there.
Once you understand how many posts it takes to generate a conversion, you’ll be able to calculate an ROI for your social media efforts.
This isn’t the only benefit of being an influencer.
Like I said at the beginning, you can influence other influencers and drive the conversation.
Just be sure to use your power for good.
Start small; pick a niche topic and become an expert in that. Over time you can expand your influence.
Decide how often you will post, what your tone will be (casual versus professional, for example), and what elements you’ll use in the content you publish.
Decide which social media channels to focus on.
Get to know other experts in your industry by connecting with them on social media and attending industry events.
Expand your reach by participating in forums, comment discussions, and other online discussions.
Create a blog to give followers a place to get to know you better and to show off your industry expertise. A blog can also give you more engagement data to show marketers who want to pay you for ads and endorsements.
It’s not enough to just put out content. You need to provide value to your followers by providing content that is new or offers a unique perspective.
Stay abreast of what’s going on in your field and share about it on your social channels. If people can look to you for breaking news in your industry, it will go a long way towards helping you become an influencer.
Figure out what channels are most relevant to your industry and focus your efforts there.
Tell your brand story often to engage and grow your followers.
When people comment on your social media or blog posts, take the time to respond. People will be more likely to follow and interact with you if they feel like they know you.
Maintain a presence outside of just your own channels. Start conversations, tag other influencers, participate in Facebook groups, etc.
Publishing fresh content keeps and grows your follower list and pleases the algorithm gods.
By listening to and incorporating criticism, you can become a better influencer.
No matter how big you get, stay humble. Arrogance is a turnoff and could cost you followers and sponsorships.
The best way to stay on top of industry trends is to set Google alerts. You should also spend time reading industry blogs. If you subscribe to any industry newsletters, spend some time reading those as well.
Make your life easier by creating your posts in advance and scheduling them to be posted automatically using tools like one of these CRM software platforms.
Get noticed by other influencers by following them and tagging them in your posts. If you can gain their trust, they may be willing to reciprocate. This could make some of their followers follow you in turn.
Use the analytics tool most social media channels provide to track your followers, engagement, and other data. These figures can help you gain sponsorships since they help prove your influencer status.
There isn’t an official set number of followers you need to become an influencer. The number of followers you need varies by industry. For example, startup skincare brands can invest in nano or micro influencers because of their tight-knit audience for brand reach. Known athletic brands like Nike can use athlete or celebrity sponsorships as influencers to help gain more brand loyalists for their products.
The money you make as a social media influencer depends on your industry, how many followers you have, and the terms of your arrangement with the business paying you to promote their product or service.
Most would consider you to be an influencer if you are paid to promote goods or services to your followers.
A couple of ways to get more followers are to research and use popular and trending hashtags on your posts, seek out a mentor who is already an influencer in your field, start by becoming an influencer in a niche community and expand from there, and taking advantage of the full suite of features different social media platforms offer to maximize your exposure and grow your follower list.
Influencer marketing is the latest trend in digital marketing because social media influencers are now able to quantify their audiences.
What started as a hobby for many has become a big business, and influencers like PewDiePie often outearn celebrities, politicians, and other prominent professionals.
I’m an influencer today, but I wasn’t always.
Everyone starts at square one with no followers and nobody knowing who they are.
It’s the steps you take to build a following that ultimately determine how influential you are.
If you’re interested in growing your brand and want help doing so, reach out. I have a team of experts who can help you reach your influencer goals!
Who are the most influential people in your niche?
Glenn Greenwald told “The Ingraham Angle” that Biden’s disinfo board is part of the sustained and systemic attempt on the part of the U.S. government and the Democratic Party to create regimes of censorship.
BEIJING — Adam Rippon delivered one of those quintessential Olympic moments four years ago in Pyeongchang, when his dazzling free skate helped to clinch the bronze medal for the U.S. in the team event to begin the figure skating program.
As one of the largest e-commerce platforms on the internet, Shopify offers budding (and established) entrepreneurs a platform to sell their wares and increase their reach. In fact, Shopify dominates nearly 20 percent of the e-commerce market share. That’s not all. With millions of active buyers on the platform, there is plenty of opportunity for …
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As one of the largest e-commerce platforms on the internet, Shopify offers budding (and established) entrepreneurs a platform to sell their wares and increase their reach.
In fact, Shopify dominates nearly 20 percent of the e-commerce market share.
That’s not all. With millions of active buyers on the platform, there is plenty of opportunity for brands to grow their revenue.
In addition to a massive audience, Shopify offers users a simple, streamlined experience that allows store set up in record time.
When you join the Shopify platform, you have immediate access to functionality that allows you to:
In short, Shopify equips sellers with the tools they need to get their store off the ground.
Shopify benefits don’t only apply to online vendors—through their unique partnership program, individuals can align with Shopify to grow their business and increase revenue through a variety of functions.
Is the Shopify Partner program right for you? Here’s what you need to know.
The Shopify Partner Program is a set of tools and resources Shopify users can leverage to grow their business. This is done through four main categories:
Shopify Partners can also build and sell Shopify apps and themes to generate income.
In addition to the above different kinds of Partners, there are also different levels of partnership, including:
Given that one in three Shopify sellers seek services from Shopify Partners, there’s a real opportunity for you to supplement your income when you join the program. In addition to adding some extra padding to your bank account, Partners can access free training resources and perks, including:
The partnership also comes with access to an unlimited number of stores, so you can experiment to your heart’s content.
As a Shopify Partner, you gain exclusive access to offers on tools that can help you run and grow your business. Once you have your dashboard set up (more on that later), select the “Partner Perks” section and select the “Claim perk” button.
Even better, when you sign up to become a Shopify Partner, you create opportunities to scale your business. Regardless of whether you’re a well-established agency or an individual setting out to grow your skills and client base, enrolling in the Shopify Partner program is a great growth opportunity.
Sound good?
Let’s break down how you actually become a Shopify Partner.
The Shopify partnership comes with plenty of perks we’ve already covered, but there’s one overarching benefit we haven’t covered: Becoming a Shopify Partner is free.
Now that you have a better understanding of the value associated with a Shopify Partnership, follow these five steps to start growing your business today.
This blog explores the surface-level of a Shopify Partnership, however, you’ll want to spend more time on the Shopify partner page to read the blog and learn more about partner perks and features.
This is the easiest step yet! Simply head to the sign-up page and enter your name and email address and wait for your verification.
After creating an account, you’ll receive an email asking you to follow a link to verify your email address. Be sure to do this within 24 hours, as the window for response closes after that timeframe.
After you select the blue button to confirm your account, you’ll land on the Shopify accounts page. From there, choose “Shopify Partners” and then “Create new partner account.”
Now that you’ve successfully set up an account, you must complete a form that asks for the specifics of your business. Complete all the necessary fields.
After this step, scroll down to the “Business goals” section and choose the function that best suits your offering. Here you can select:
After you’ve selected the right category, scroll down the page until you reach the section about platform usage. Here, you’ll identify which platforms you’re currently using, allowing Shopify to equip you with custom tools.
Categories include:
After selecting the relevant category, read the Partner Program Agreement at the bottom of the page and check the corresponding box.
Your dashboard is the hub of your Shopify business. To get started, select the Shopify Partner programs you’d like to apply to from the “Get started” section.
A short form will ask you to explain your interest in each program.
Even if you’re not accepted into a program immediately, you can still use your dashboard to grow and hone your skills. With endless courses available from the Shopify Partner Academy, you can earn certifications in Business Fundamentals, Theme Development, App Development, and Product Fundamentals.
You can take the accompanying test as many times as you like, all while using the resources provided through the Shopify Partner Academy to increase your knowledge base.
After receiving your acceptance to one of the Shopify Programs, you can start earning some cash. Payments occur on a bi-monthly schedule via PayPal.
The Partner Dashboard is also your source for all questions. From the portal, you can contact Shopify support whenever, wherever to get your questions answered.
You’ve set up your dashboard, been accepted into a few programs, have been working for a few months, and now you want to know how successful your Shopify partnership actually is.
While there are countless metrics you can use to track the success of your endeavors, here are six key figures to assess the strength and success of your partnership.
This metric is exactly what it sounds like: a measurement of how many leads converted into customers in a specific period of time, generally within 30-day increments.
Significant due to its ability to highlight how successful your campaigns are at turning attraction into actual leads, your lead conversion rate is a must-track metric.
How do you calculate lead conversion rate? The formula is pretty simple, as long as you have the numbers.
Lead Conversion Rate = (Number of new customers in the last x days ÷ number of leads in the last x days) x 100
This figure is representative of real-time sales performance. Given its predictive nature, the metric is perfect for forecasting revenue growth.
How do you calculate lead velocity rate?
Lead velocity rate = (Number of qualified leads this month – number of qualified leads last month) ÷ number of qualified leads last month x 100
This metric represents revenue, rather than what is actually actively collected. A good indicator of success, MRR lets you know if your leads are converting to actual customers within a finite time span.
How do you calculate MRR?
MRR = Number of customers x average billed amount
This metric refers to the number of customers who stop using your service during a specific time frame. Churn rate is a valuable metric to determine if your marketing strategies and onboarding process is effective.
How do you calculate churn rate? There are two types of churn rate:
User churn = (Cancelled users in the last 30 days ÷ active users 30 days ago) x 100
Revenue churn = (MRR lost to downgrades & cancellations in the last 30 days ÷ MRR 30 days ago) x 100
Use this metric to learn how much revenue you’re creating from each individual user. This statistic is valuable to assess marketing successes and failures and forecast revenue goals.
How do you calculate ARPU?
ARPU = MRR ÷ active users
This metric represents the amount a user will spend on your service throughout the course of your relationship. This figure helps you assess whether it is more valuable to maintain existing customers or pursue new ones.
How do you calculate LTV?
LTV = Average monthly recurring revenue per customer ÷ user churn rate
I recommend monitoring these figures on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis for a comprehensive view of your success. These metrics let you identify patterns and see if improvements succeed so you can adjust your approach as needed.
Shopify’s continuous growth shows no signs of stopping.
For any digital marketers, developers, or graphic designers, becoming a Shopify Partner offers an opportunity to broaden your portfolio, sharpen your skills, and earn some extra cash.
If you’re looking to increase your client base and your revenue, Shopify might be the place for you.
If you’re considering wading into the world of Shopify partnership, be sure to actively monitor the right metrics and ignore vanity metrics that have little impact on overall success.
What part of the Shopify Partner program is most useful to you?
Whether you’re just starting out or are an old pro, who doesn’t want to be a more successful entrepreneur?
Owning a business gives you a sense of freedom and empowerment. You can build things and watch them grow.
Entrepreneurs make decisions for themselves, realize their creative visions, and develop lasting relationships with other entrepreneurs, customers, and vendors.
It’s a great way to live. That’s why I’ve founded so many companies — I can’t get enough.
I’ve put together these tips to help you to become more successful, too.
Grit is perseverance. Grit is the go-get-’em attitude that we expect of entrepreneurs. Grit is the ability to keep working when everyone tells you that you should give up.
If you want to be a successful entrepreneur, you have to be gritty.
Honestly, without hard work and perseverance, you’re not going anywhere in the entrepreneurial world.
If you want to be a successful entrepreneur, you have to challenge yourself. No one else is going to push you, so it’s up to you to do it.
Challenges keep entrepreneurs nimble and on their toes. If you’re constantly looking for the next challenge, you’ll always be prepared for what comes your way.
Consider this example:
You’re going to the gym to build your upper body strength. You start doing bicep curls with a 10-pound weight. It feels pretty heavy at first. As you build up your strength, it gets easier.
Would you stop there? No!
Then it’s time to do bicep curls with a 20-pound weight. Once you’ve done bicep curls with a 20-pound weight, going back to a 10-pound weight will feel easy.
Challenging yourself with new and difficult tasks will make your other tasks seem even simpler. As an entrepreneur, you always have to be looking for the next big challenge.
If you don’t love what you do, don’t do it. I truly believe it’s as simple as that.
As an entrepreneur, you’re going to have to put in long hours and make sacrifices for your business.
When you’re passionate about what you do, putting in the long hours won’t feel like a sacrifice anymore.
If you’re not passionate about what you do, you’re not going to have the motivation to keep going when you’re stressed and tired.
Have you ever noticed those entrepreneurs who never seem to get tired? Those entrepreneurs who get that gleam in their eye when they talk about what they do? That’s passion.
If you’re passionate about what you do, being an entrepreneur gets just a little bit easier.
Humans are generally risk-averse, but part of being an entrepreneur is recognizing the risks that you should take.
Successful entrepreneurs take risks. It’s part of the job.
Successful entrepreneurs also know which risks to take and which they shouldn’t. Learn to recognize the risks that will benefit your business and take them.
Taking risks has a dangerous side, but the opportunities they present often far outweigh the potential dangers.
Learn how to identify which risks are worth taking and you’ll likely become a more successful entrepreneur.
If you don’t believe in yourself, who will?
Being a successful entrepreneur means that you’ve learned to listen to your intuition and rely on your wisdom when making decisions.
Your ability to trust and believe in yourself will show your confidence. People are more likely to follow and trust confident leaders.
Trusting in your own skills will also take some of the pain of uncertainty out of being an entrepreneur.
When you feel uncertain, remember how much experience and knowledge you have. Most entrepreneurs start their business after years of experience working for someone else.
There’s nothing wrong with asking for help when you need it or turning to a mentor for advice, but you also have to learn to trust yourself and your own judgment without input from others.
Learn to trust yourself and you’re already starting down the path of entrepreneurial success.
Fear stops action. Entrepreneurs have to be able to pivot and quickly take action when they see an opportunity or recognize a mistake.
With fear riding on your shoulder, you won’t be a successful entrepreneur.
As an entrepreneur, if you let fear be your guide, you won’t be able to listen to your intuition, you’ll be afraid to take the necessary risks, and your judgment will be clouded by emotion.
If you can find ways to reduce and manage your fear and you’ll be a much more successful entrepreneur.
Keep in mind that fear has to do with your perspective. For example, studies have shown that the more true crime you consume, the more scared you are of crime.
My favorite tip for managing fear as an entrepreneur is to do confidence-building exercises.
For me, I like to take a few moments at night to think of the decisions I made that day that had a successful outcome.
Thinking each day about the decisions that you made that benefited you, others, or your business will help you to quickly build your confidence and reduce fear.
This tip is less abstract than you might think, so bear with me.
When I recommend that entrepreneurs visualize their goals, I don’t intend for them to close their eyes and see the goal in front of them.
What I want you to do to visualize your goal is to define it so clearly that it’s real and tangible.
For example, which of these is a more accomplishable:
The second one, right?
When you can clearly articulate and visualize your goal, it becomes more achievable.
There are many ways to visualize your goal if you aren’t sure how to start. You can write it down or draw it out.
You can tell someone, such as a friend or business partner, or take photographs that represent your goal. Go with your strengths.
When you ask a successful entrepreneur what their goal is, they can tell you in great detail what it is that they’re working to achieve.
I’ll admit that this one might be a little bit obvious.
Successful entrepreneurs aren’t successful within a vacuum. We all have a great team and support network behind us.
When I recommend hiring great partners, I don’t just mean someone who can do the job you’re hiring them for. You should seek partners who have great character and whom you like and respect.
You and your partners will be working long hours together and making stressful decisions. If you don’t respect your partner(s), your team won’t last long.
Fill your team with people who have great character and you’re well on your way to success.
When choosing your partners and team members, always remember that you can teach skills, but you can’t teach character.
Talk only delays action.
Successful entrepreneurs act.
It’s easy to get wrapped up in planning, considering potential failures, discussing funding, and talking in meetings with board members. If all you do is talk, you’ll get nothing done.
At some point, you have to halt the talking and make something happen.
Do you think that there’s such a thing as an overnight success? I recommend that you take a closer look.
Upon examination, the people and businesses that became “overnight sensations and successes” actually worked really hard and long for their achievements.
When you think you’ve found an overnight success, check again and examine closely the hours, days, and years that went into their success.
Take a look at their life, the things they learned, and how many times they failed.
Successful entrepreneurs take the time that’s required to reach success. And many of them have failures along the way.
If you think it’s taking too long to find success, give yourself a break.
Keep plugging along, putting in the hours, and before long, you’ll be a successful entrepreneur.
Just imagine looking back at all the hard work and knowing it paid off. Keep that image in your head to motivate you forward through the long, slogging hours.
Startups and entrepreneurial businesses need money. It’s just a part of the lifestyle.
Many entrepreneurs spend too much time looking for money and not enough acting, but that doesn’t mean that you can leap into the abyss without a plan.
There are a few ways you can fund your business.
Decide which is best for you, and plan out your finances in the beginning. Try to stick to your budget, but know that the plan will have to be adapted along the way.
One of the most common reasons that entrepreneurial businesses fail is that there isn’t a customer.
If you start a business or make a product but don’t know who will buy it, that person might not actually exist.
Before you make a financial plan, raise capital, or even choose a name, make sure that there’s a customer who would buy your product or use your services.
Without a customer, you don’t have a business.
Successful entrepreneurs know who their customers and target market are.
This is one of the tips that I think is the most important for entrepreneurs to learn.
Your customer’s complaints are how you identify your business’s weaknesses.
Similarly to the last tip, without customers, you can’t have a successful business. There’s another possible scenario, though.
You might have customers who are interested in your product or service, but if you don’t listen to their complaints, you soon will have no customers.
Take your customers seriously, treat their complaints with respect, and listen.
You might think you’re giving them value, but they may not agree.
Your customers know what they want, and they’re going to tell you what they think.
A smart and successful entrepreneur listens to those complaints and uses that information to fix the business’s weaknesses.
If you deliver more than you promised, you’re sure to have satisfied customers, investors, and business partners.
Making promises and not delivering is a quick way to lose your business.
In contrast, successful entrepreneurs exceed expectations.
Remember when I said that you should take risks? You should, though you shouldn’t take every risk that presents itself. Instead, manage your risks.
As a successful entrepreneur, you need to learn how to identify which risks to take but also when to take these risks.
Be sure to recognize where you are in the entrepreneurial cycle when calculating which risks to take.
As an entrepreneur, you’ll be inundated with your business, needing to take care of it all the time. When you get home and have some leisure time, you might be tempted to read fiction or books for entertainment.
Instead, I encourage you to read case studies. Read biographies of successful entrepreneurs. Read everything you can get your hands on about those who have already been successful.
There’s always something to learn from those who have already done it.
I especially think it’s important to learn from the mistakes of others. If you learn from their mistakes, you won’t have to make those mistakes yourself.
And if you do make mistakes yourself, definitely learn from those.
The more you learn from their mistakes and successes, the faster you can grow your business and become a successful entrepreneur.
Many people don’t want to self-promote or talk about their business too much for fear of sounding like an egomaniac; but if you don’t promote your business, who will?
Egotistical self-promotion and self-promotion can be differentiated.
Know your business, know some key stats, and have your 15-second elevator pitch polished and ready to go. Then, when someone asks you about your business, you can promote it factually and quickly.
Another way to self-promote without sounding cocky is to know what your customers say about your business. When someone asks how your business is going, you can tell them your customer feedback.
Don’t forget to provide some of the bad as well as the good.
There may have been a time when company culture wasn’t important, but with social media and the 24-hour news cycle, your company and employees are always under scrutiny.
Set a positive company culture from day one and you’ll be more likely to work with people you enjoy and who inspire you as well as attract great customers.
Many entrepreneurs are working with family, from home, and even across borders. It’s important to set and know what you want your company culture to look like.
There is no such thing as too much networking (well unless it’s getting in the way of building your business, of course).
What I mean to say is that you shouldn’t ever stop networking because you never know where your next lead will come from.
Chances are, if you network with enough people, you’ll bump into another entrepreneur who might have the ideas and connections you need.
You might find a new connection while grabbing a beer at the airport bar, you might meet your next business partner in an elevator on your way to a meeting, and you just never know who’s sitting next to you on the bus.
Meet everyone you come into contact with and have a short chat. You never know who you’re sitting next to and what connections or resources they might be able to offer you.
The successful entrepreneur mindset is that of learning and creation. As an entrepreneur, you always want to be taking in new information and creating.
This type of mindset can be draining and tiring, but without it, you’re not going anywhere.
To stay in the learner and creator mindset, stay away from TV, social media, and movies. These types of entertainment cause us to be passive and just take in information.
Pursue everything in moderation, but in general, these activities are time-wasters for entrepreneurs. Limiting your entertainment time is a sacrifice that must be made to become a successful entrepreneur.
Instead of watching TV and movies, read case studies and meditate. Take care of your mind and body in constructive, healing ways.
It may “feel good” to watch TV, but it’s not actually a rejuvenating way to relax.
To be a successful entrepreneur, find relaxing activities that help to restore your learner and creator mindset.
Honestly, no one likes to be sold to. I mean seriously, who enjoys going to the car lot and buying a new car? We all know what we’re getting ourselves into and dread it.
Instead of selling to your potential customers, deliver. Offer them a free trial and deliver a great product.
When your company delivers a great product or service, you’ll build customer loyalty faster than you can say, “successful entrepreneur.”
Building a successful entrepreneurial business can seem daunting, and that’s okay. Building a business from the ground up is a massive undertaking.
Luckily I have a foolproof tactic: break it down.
Any problem that seems insurmountable, break it down into baby steps.
Once you’ve broken it down into baby steps, take them one at a time. Before you know it, just by placing one foot in front of the other, you’ll be halfway up the mountain.
With grit and perseverance, baby steps will get you far toward becoming a successful entrepreneur.
You think I’m kidding, but I’m not. Put every single thing on your calendar.
Think something doesn’t need to be on your calendar? It does.
Put your meetings, quiet work periods, time with friends, happy-hour business meetings, kids’ soccer games, workouts, meal times, and anything else that you do on your calendar.
Once something is on your calendar, then everyone who needs to meet with you knows that time isn’t available.
An additional benefit is that once everything is on your calendar, there aren’t excuses for not getting things done.
I want to also draw your attention to one of the items I included: quiet work time. That is time when you can work, solve problems, or think creatively without being interrupted.
Everyone needs these periods of time. To be a successful entrepreneur, guard your quiet work times with your life. The success of your business may depend upon them.
Did you know that sitting down all day long is bad for your health? It is.
Being a successful entrepreneur doesn’t just mean running a profitable business. Run yourself too ragged managing that business and you might not be around to enjoy its success.
You must take care of yourself as well as your business. One of the many self-care tasks that I recommend is exercise.
Make sure to book time in your calendar to get in some exercise and get out of your chair.
Maybe you go to yoga, walking meetings, climb the stairs instead of taking the elevator, or simply go to the gym.
Build time into your calendar every week (dare I hope for every day?) to be physically active and take care of your body as well as your business.
A sick or unhealthy entrepreneur isn’t a successful entrepreneur.
The life of a successful entrepreneur can feel scattered and disjointed, but it’s important to limit your time spent multitasking.
Research has shown time and time again that multitasking doesn’t work. Humans aren’t capable of it.
And yes, multitasking includes being distracted by your phone and email tabs. Close them and put them away.
Learn to focus and take time to do just one task. Giving one task your full attention will mean that you’re more likely to get it done and do it well.
It’s also important to know that too many tasks on your to-do list can make you ineffective and distracted.
Learn to focus your to-do list on the tasks that you’re capable of finishing in the amount of time you’ve allotted for them.
For example, each night, set the three tasks that you’ll complete the following day. Each month, set the overarching goal for your company that you want to achieve in the next 30 days.
These techniques can help you to learn how to focus and more effectively manage your business.
We finally made it to the tip that I think it the toughest for successful entrepreneurs to put into practice.
I really mean that you need to take time off. Americans don’t do it enough.
You might not need time off every day or every week, but you do need to take time off. If all you do is work, you’ll burn out. Fast.
I think this is the most challenging for entrepreneurs because they often see themselves as invincible or believe that they must be invincible. This just isn’t true; we’re all humans and we need time off.
Time off allows your brain to roam, to rest, and to think. Ever wonder why you think of so many ideas in the shower? It’s because your brain has free range to just think and roam.
Even the most successful entrepreneurs don’t work all the time. Everyone needs time off, so don’t shame yourself for being human and normal.
When you do take time off, notify your staff ahead of time and let them know why it’s important to you.
Teaching your staff the importance of time off will help them to respect your time away and to recognize when they need time off.
By the way, you should allow your staff time off too. They also are human and will occasional breaks.
Take time off before you need it and recognize that it’s important for healing, creating, and becoming a more successful entrepreneur.
You don’t know everything. No one does.
You should ask for help, advice, mentors, and everything else you need as you get your business set up and running. Asking questions is a valuable skill to have as an entrepreneur.
The more information you have, the more you will know and be able to take into consideration.
Asking questions also helps you to remain in a learner mindset, ready to accept advice and information.
Learners and those who ask questions are more likely to become successful entrepreneurs.
Better to accept it now then later. You will fail at some point. It’s how you adjust to these failures that will make or break your business.
Failure is an aspect of becoming a successful entrepreneur, so you’d better get used to it now.
If your first business does fail, keep in mind that you can create another with the lessons you learned from your first.
Being an entrepreneur is a creative pursuit. As an entrepreneur, you have to make connections, solve problems, and create new things that no one has thought of before.
Creators and creatives need to be inspired.
Successful entrepreneurs take time for the things that inspire them.
Maybe your inspiration comes from being in an art museum, maybe it’s reading books, maybe it’s doodling —whatever it is that inspires you, do it. It’s good for your business.
Successful entrepreneurs are inspired. Don’t let that magic slip for too long. Whenever you can, and definitely when you’re feeling burned out, get out there and get inspired.
Inspiration is the spark for ideas. Ideas make successful entrepreneurs.
Entrepreneurs are busy, so this tip sometimes trips them up. It’s easy to think, “I don’t have time to help anyone else! I’m so busy already!”
However, helping others can be inspiring and massively beneficial. It makes you feel good.
Furthermore, as an entrepreneur, you have a network with whom you can share your expertise and jobs you can hire people for. Why wouldn’t you help out when you can?
When you help someone, they will likely find a way to help you. It might not be today or tomorrow, but somewhere in the future, they will be there to help you when you need it.
Helping others is also a great way to build a loyal and supportive network around you.
Succeeding in business doesn’t come overnight. It takes a lot of planning, preparation, creativity, grit, and patience to become a successful entrepreneur.
The 30 tips I provided in this guide will help you with a long-term strategy and build it in baby steps until your business becomes a success.
If you need help defining and implementing a digital strategy as you start to build your business, let us know if we can assist you. We even offer custom packages for businesses on a strict budget!
What makes you a successful entrepreneur?
The post 30 Ways to Become a More Successful Entrepreneur appeared first on Neil Patel.
What can a business credit expert help you do? What do you need to know to sound like or even become a business credit expert? It’s not as simple as a Google search, that’s for sure. You need someone who really knows the secrets to nailing small business funding.
Use terms like tradelines, business credit reporting agencies, starter credit, credit line hybrid, EIN and more and you will have people thinking you are a business credit expert in no time. The problem is, unless you actually have the knowledge to back up how you sound, you can’t really help people, or yourself. Unless you are a business credit expert, you cannot guide people through the process of building business credit and using it properly. What do you need to know? Everything.
First, a business credit expert has a true understanding of what business credit is. Just having a credit card that calls itself a business card is not business credit. Business credit is credit under a company’s EIN. It has no association with the owner’s Social Security number. It is totally separate from personal credit, and therefore the business credit score can differ drastically from your personal credit score.
Check out our best webinar with its trustworthy list of seven vendors to help you build business credit.
This is credit in the business’s name and it is based on the business’s ability to pay, not the business owner’s. When done right, it is possible to get some business funding based on a business credit score without a personal credit check. Also, you, the business owner, aren’t personally liable for the credit the business gets. Business credit is essential to getting the small business funding you need.
The obvious answer is that a business credit score is based on the business’s ability to pay, not the owner’s. However, they are different in a number of other ways as well. Various factors affect your business credit score in ways vastly different from how they affect personal credit. Each of these factors affects business credit and personal credit in different ways.
Most personal accounts do not report late payments to your personal credit report until they are 30 days or more past due. Business credit accounts report to business CRAs when an account is only one day late.
When someone checks your personal credit report, there is a negative impact on your credit score. When a lender checks your business credit score, there is no negative impact.
The only ones who have access to your personal credit report are those to who you give signed authorization. In contrast, anyone can check your business credit score. They do not have to have authorization from you.
Your personal credit report has the name of the company holding each account reporting. Your business credit report only lists the industry of the reporting account, not the company’s name.
Though it varies, most information stays on your personal credit report for the life of the report. The average life of information on your business credit report is 3 years.
The details may vary between CRAs, but this gives a good idea of how long certain information can affect your business credit score.
Exact amounts are shown on your personal credit report. Business credit reports show rounded amounts.
With personal credit, everyone reports your accounts and payment history. Only about 7% of those who check business credit actually report accounts to the business credit CRAs.
The amount of debt you have in relation to the amount of credit available to you makes a real impact on your personal credit score. If your cards are near their limits, you’ll see a decrease in your score. With business credit, being near your limits does not affect your score.
There is much less regulation when it comes to business credit, and there is virtually no regulation when it comes to correcting mistakes on your business credit.
You can get a free copy of your personal credit report each year. In addition, there are a number of free credit monitoring services that let you get a peek at your credit score. These are typically updated at least once a month.
There are business credit monitoring services. However, they are not free. Still, if you choose the right one, it’s worth it to know what is happening with your business credit.
Business credit reporting agencies are agencies that provide business credit reports. There are several, but the main three are Dun & Bradstreet, Equifax, and Experian. A business credit expert needs to understand what the business credit reports issued by these agencies say to lenders about businesses. Then, you can begin to understand the impact on small business lending.
You can’t until your business is set up properly. It has to be set up as a separate fundable entity aside from the owner. Until then, any accounts you have are just reporting to your personal credit, even if they are called business accounts. How do you change that?
Your business has its own phone number, fax number, and address. That doesn’t mean you have to get a separate phone line, or even a separate location. You can even still run your business from your home or on your computer if that is what you want. You don’t even have to have a fax machine.
Check out our best webinar with its trustworthy list of seven vendors to help you build business credit.
You also have to get an EIN. This is an identifying number for your business that works like how your SSN works for you personally. You can get one for free from the IRS.
Incorporating your business as an LLC, S-corp, or corporation is vital. It lends credibility to your business as one that is legitimate. It also offers some protection from liability. The big thing for business credit and fundability however, is that it is the only real way to separate business finances from personal finances.
Which option you choose does not matter as much for fundability as it does for your budget and needs for liability protection. The best thing to do is talk to your attorney or a tax professional. What is going to happen is that you are going to lose the time in business that you have. When you incorporate, you are creating a new entity. You basically have to start over. You’ll also lose any positive payment history you may have accumulated.
This is why you have to incorporate as soon as possible. Not only is it necessary for fundability and for building business credit, but so is time in business. The longer you have been in business the more fundable you appear to be. That starts on the date of incorporation, regardless of when you actually started doing business.
You have to open a separate, dedicated business bank account. First, it will help you keep track of business finances. It will also help you keep them separate from personal finances for tax purposes.
Furthermore, there are several types of funding you cannot get without a business bank account. Many lenders and credit cards want to see one with a minimum average balance. In addition, you cannot get a merchant account without a business account at a bank. That means, you cannot take credit card payments. Studies show consumers tend to spend more when they can pay by credit card.
For a business to be legitimate it has to have all of the necessary licenses it needs to run. If it doesn’t, warnings are going to go up at every turn. Do the research you need to do to make sure you have all of the licenses necessary to legitimately run your business at the federal, state, and local levels.
No, it isn’t. The next thing you have to do is get accounts reporting. First, get a D-U-N-S number. You can apply for a free one on the D&B website. Dun & Bradstreet is the largest and most widely used business credit reporting agency. You cannot have a business credit report with them unless your business is in their system. The D-U-N-S number is how you get in their system.
Once you have this number, you can start to do business with companies that will report your payments to the business credit reporting agencies. You can do this in a few ways. The best bet is to try all three ways. The more positive payment history you have, the better.
Vendors you already have a relationship with may be willing to give you credit without a credit check. Even if not, they may offer net 30 terms on invoices. They don’t have to. So, you will have to ask. If they agree, ask them to report the payments to the business credit agencies.
You pay things like utilities, rent, and the internet each month anyway. Ask those companies to report payments.
This is a little-known secret of business credit experts. Many business owners are unaware of starter vendors. Certain retailers will extend Net 30 terms in your business name without a credit check. Then, after you pay, they will report those payments to the business credit reporting agencies.
This is how you can get started building business credit business credit. They do not check either your business or personal credit score. Of course, they do have other risk reducing guards in place. They vary by vendor. Here are a few to help you start the process.
Crown Office Supplies offers paper and other office supplies. They report to all three of the major business credit reporting agencies, which of course include D & B, Experian, and Equifax. It can be hard to find vendors which report to Equifax, so getting credit with Crown is a good move. They do have a $99 annual membership fee.
Uline sells shipping, packing, and industrial supplies. Also, they report to Dun & Bradstreet and Experian. This means you must have a D-U-N-S number.
In addition, they ask for 2 references and a bank reference. The first few orders might need to be paid in advance to get approval for Net 30 terms.
Grainger sells power tools, pumps, hardware and other things. In addition, they can handle maintenance of your auto fleet. You need a business license and EIN to quality, as well as a D-U-N-S number.
You can apply by fax or over the phone. If you need less than $1,000 in credit, you only need a business license for approval. For over $1,000, you will need trade and bank references.
If you are just starting out and do not have references, the $1,000 is plenty to get you started building your business credit.
Knowledge is definitely what makes you a business credit expert. The best way to become one, and get that knowledge, is to work with an actual business credit expert. They know things that are not widely made known to the public. These are things that a simple Google search will not tell you.
Check out our best webinar with its trustworthy list of seven vendors to help you build business credit.
For example, you need a lot of accounts reporting business credit. You need several of these starter vendor accounts, but it is not easy to find vendors that will work like this. Most vendors do not make it known if they report payments to the business credit reporting agencies, or not. You need expert help to help you find the ones that you qualify with and that will report.
Vendor accounts change their underwriting and reporting practices regularly. It is incredibly difficult to keep up with. It takes alot of time and a lot of effort. An expert has the time and knowledge it takes to stay on top of which vendors are approving accounts, and what they look for. Also, they can keep tabs on who reports accounts and who they report them to.
In addition, it is usually a shot in the dark as to why you were denied business credit. A business credit expert has the knowledge and expertise to help you set yourself and your business up to give you the best chance possible. They know what creditors are looking for, and what gets you denied. It’s likely many of the reasons businesses are denied credit will shock you.
It is not easy to keep up with the ever changing world of business credit. With a business credit expert, you won’t have to guess.
The post How to Sound Like and Become a Business Credit Expert appeared first on Credit Suite.
If I told you that you could become a sucessful vlogger, would you believe me? Or do you think that there is too much competition? YouTube is saturated — 500 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. There are dozens of million-dollar YouTubers creating thousands of hours of video a year. How could you …
The post How to Become a Successful Vlogger first appeared on Online Web Store Site.