Tag: #marketingwednesday

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The Journey: Top 10 learnings from starting a small business.

Starting this journey a few months ago has been a roller coaster – fun, challenging, had its up and downs and a little scary. I’ve enjoyed the flexibility and the ability to carve out my own path. In this short amount of time, I’ve learned a lot on this journey, including:

Crazy hard. 

I have always been impressed and admired those who have had the courage, confidence, and determination to go out on their own. Especially those whose hard work pays off and can create something successful and impactful. 

Unlike large organizations, it’s all on you to create success. Given this, it’s a ton of work. The amount of foundational work at the point of creating is high. and includes LLC creation, tax info, branding, templates, and platforms like your site, etc.

Three paths.

A key is being able to multitask – juggling building a brand, working on initial client business, and prospecting for new business to continue to grow. Each one is critically important. If fortunate, you have to do in parallel.

It’s always important to have each touchpoint be strong but crucial when starting out. Each one is setting a tone for things to come.

People business.

I have always had the opinion that relationships matter. Your network. Understanding who is great already so you know who to leverage when you need help. And you’ll need help. 

But I’ve never really invested the time for connections as much as I should have. Networking, conferences, etc. Something that I’ve learned matters and focused on doing in the future.

Smile more. 

Studies show the power of smiling. People want to interact and spend time with people that smile. Yea. Ha. I’m a pretty even keel person and don’t show emotions. This serves as a nice reminder to pump up the energy and emotions. 

Continuously learning.

Starting something brand new there are a ton of unknowns. Leverage online tools, networks, and LinkedIn to continuously learn.

LinkedIn has some great training in their LinkedIn Learning series. They are easy to do and pretty quick. I recommend downloading the app and carving a little time throughout the week to continue to improve yourself. Here’s an example that ties into smiling…https://www.linkedin.com/learning/creating-great-first-impressions/your-first-impression-challenge

Financial game plan.

Not a ton of fun, but having a financial game plan is crucial. Work with an account and financial advisor that you trust to make sure the foundation is strong. Also, make sure you have contracts with those that you pull in. I’ve learned this one the hard way.

The small things.

Don’t let being “busy” be an excuse to not do the little things. The term busy is I think a trap. It’s an out to not do things you should do. Send a note back to someone who reaches out of the blue. Go to coffee with an old acquaintance. Reply to an email, even if just a couple of words. Help someone that could use it. Carve out time to make these things happen. I was pretty bad at this.

Templates

Don’t reinvent the wheel. Leverage the templates/content sources that are out there that you can customize. And wow, are there a ton. Test them out and see what you like best. Then document which ones you like. Here are a few of my favorites:

Envato: templates for designing everything from presentations in keynote to designing communications.

Graphic River: more templates and can purchase one-off.

Unsplash: stock photography that you don’t have image issues and is free.

Are you a Tiger or a Roger?

There’s a great book called Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World. Everyone knows Tiger Woods’ story. Child golf prodigy when most kids are learning how to talk and walk. But did you know that arguably the greatest tennis player that ever lived grew up playing multiple sports, focusing much later on tennis?

Most think the best route in life is to specialize in something. This book contradicts this opinion and outlines why being a generalist/hybrid is a better path. So the question is, which one are you? I’ve figured out that I’m a hybrid.

Determined.

So it’s early. Still learning and enjoying the journey. The key is staying determined and focused. For those out there doing the same, congrats and best of luck.

If you want any advice or need any marketing support that leverage this learning, visit: https://brianphelpsconsulting.com/contact/

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Leadership: The Power of “We”

“The ratio of We’s to I’s is the best indicator of the development of a team.” – Lewis B. Ergen

The smallest words can have a huge impact on a team, both directly and indirectly. This includes using “we” as a replacement to the term “I” in your daily vocabulary. Harvard Business Journal published a great article about the power of “we”. It cites research from Journal of Language and Social Psychology and finds:

  • When people feel insecure, self-aware, or diminished, they are more likely to focus their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors inward.
  • By contrast, the researchers theorized that individuals using first-person plural and second-person (such as “we,” “us,” or “you”) ought to demonstrate an outward focus, considering the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of others.
  • Individuals with lower status overwhelmingly tended to use first-person singular pronouns (“I”).
  •  Likewise, higher status individuals used significantly more first-person plural (“we”) pronouns. 
  • While switching from singular “I” to the plural “we” it might help shift your perspective from self-focused to others-focused, make you more aware of the needs of others and, as you work to meet those needs, might just make you a better leader.

It’s hard to get used to doing because it sounds a little strange but has a lot of collective benefits:

  • Communicates that you understand that you’re a part of team
  • Gives credit to the broader team
  • Reinforces that you are not more important than the team
  • Shows that you are secure with your role in the team

For all leaders, I recommend the use of we in your daily vinocular. This is especially true for account team leads as you are tasked to be the voice of the collective team, both internally and with clients. Below are a few examples of singular-focused uses and suggestions for you to use moving forward:

  • “my client” vs. “our client”
  • “my POV” vs. “our POV”
  • “my account” vs. “our account”
  • “I did” vs. “we did”
  • “I need” vs. “we need”
  • “if you have questions, let me know” vs. “if you have questions, let us know”
  • “my opinion” vs. “our opinion”

Side note: you can never have enough good quotes in advertising, especially as you build presentations. Below are a few other teamwork quotes that I like:

  • “Great things in business are never done by one person; they’re done by a team of people.” – Steve Jobs
  • “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” – Helen Keller
  • “A group becomes a team when each member is sure enough of himself and his contribution to praise the skills of others.” – Norman Shidle 
  • “No matter how brilliant your mind or strategy, if you’re playing a solo game, you’ll always lose out to a team.” – Reid Hoffman
  • “It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.” – Harry Truman

For more leadership advice or formal training for your team, feel free to reach out to: brianphelpsconsulting.com.

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