Entrepreneurs Create Their Own Circumstances

Posted on January 24, 2015 by MarleneMB

Many people dream about starting their own businesses, but they haven’t started planning for theses dreams to become a reality. Others are stuck in the planning stage. They keep waiting for the right situation or hoping for the right person(s) to come along and help them. My son, Tarik, and his friend, Daniel decided not to wait on others or for the perfect situation.

Instead they started from where they are with what they have. Tarik and Daniel met at the University at Miami during freshmen year. They bonded right away. Tarik attended school for acting, but he also loves writing and directing. Daniel went to school for film production and editing. They are now living in LA working hard to get into the entertainment business.

As most of us know, it is a very difficult industry to break into. The competition is very strong. Here is the interesting thing. Daniel and Tarik isn’t waiting to be discovered. They are not sitting around hoping that someone will give them an opportunity to act or to produce movies. They started their own business on a shoestring budget. They enlist the assistance of their friends who are fellow budding actors.

This cuts down on the need to spend large sums of money for actors. This gives the others opportunities to showcase their skills in these mini-videos that Daniel and Tarik create. Working with their small budget, Tarik and Daniel also learned to film in areas such as their apartment, public places, etc. I’m happy to see that these young entrepreneurs are creating their own opportunities. They are not waiting for the right circumstance, they are creating their own.

Do you dream of starting your own business? Learn from my son and his friend. Don’t get stuck on dreaming or planning. Create your own circumstances. Give it a try. Here are some suggestions to get started:

1) Create a Business Plan – Yes. Although it is not a most, it is recommended that you put together a business plan. It doesn’t have to be complicated. The business plan should help you

figure out what it is you will be offering
what are your costs
what will you charge for your product or service
how you want to market your product or service
who is your target audience
who are your competitors

2) Create a name for you business. Purchase the URL for the business name. The fee is low of this. You don’t have to establish a website right away. Yet there are lots of free sights such as WordPress that you can utilize to establish a website.

3) Marketing Materials – You can have someone create marketing materials for you on websites such as fiverr.com or elance.com for relatively low cost.

4) Network with Complementary Businesses – In my speaking business I reach out to event planners or organizers as a part of my networking circles. They are a great lead source for my speaking business. I also provide them with names of speakers for their events. Always work to have it become a win-win relationship. If you are constantly taking and not giving you will lose your contacts.

5) Tell everyone (not necessarily your boss; if you are still working a full-time job) what you are doing. Word of mouth is still one of the greatest way to get the news out about your new endeavor. My friends and family are my biggest advocates. I get referrals from them. They also send me leads and give me great suggestions for making improvements in my business.

Starting a business can be scary and exciting at the same time. Yet as I observe my son and his friend in their pursuit of building their business, I’m proud of their efforts. Although they are both working jobs to fund their business, they continue to work at making their dream a success. My son called me the other day to tell me he is working three jobs. I said: “Great! Now you are a true Jamaican! Your grandmother will be proud of you.”

Both he and Daniel wants to succeed and they are doing the things that will bring them closer to achieving this. Here is the latest video they made. I hope you enjoy it.

The Girl:

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Entrepreneurs: A Major Lesson Learned from the Academy Awards Committee Faux Pax – Diversity

Posted on January 16, 2015 by MarleneMB

OSCARS DIVERSITY.001 — Image from cloudfront.net

The envelops were opened to announce the nominations for the coveted 2015 Academy Awards. Generally, this is a highly visible occasion to help build the excitement leading up to the televised Academy Awards event.

But something seemed amiss. None of the nominees were people of color. Also, a majority of the behind the scenes categories excluded women. The “Twitterverse” exploded with tweets of condemnation. YouTube lit up with videos of people ranting in disbelief. Not has something like this (exclusion of people of color) happened since 1998!

You may think: “What does this have to do with my business? I don’t care about the Academy Awards.” It does have a great lesson to offer you in your business decision making: Make Room for Diversity.

The Academy Awards Committee members are estimated to be close to 6000 people. According to an article in the LA Times 94% of these members are Caucasians and 77% of male. Only 2% are Blacks and 2% Latinos. This does not reflect the audience that view movies in the United States, let alone across the globe. Hence, the greater probability a situation like this will occur.

Here is some of the things you can do to avoid making the same mistake:

attracting-a-diverse-audience — Image from Soapboxsample.com

1) As an entrepreneur, it is critical that you think of the demographics of your target audience. Include folks on your staff (if you have employees) or in your circle of advisers (especially if you are the sole-proprietor) that reflects your target audience. We are told that one should diversify one’s financial portfolio to maximize the gains in the marketplace. The saying is true if you want to maximize your probability of the success of your business.

older-worker-handshake — Image from medreps.com

2) Oftentimes I have witnessed older workers being pushed out of corporations or not hired due to their age. This is not a great practice in my opinion. Some of my best advisers have been older workers, or as I liked to call them “seasoned workers.” They have years of work and world experiences that I can harvest to help me solve problems that I encounter.

Technology changes. Usually, people’s emotions and some behaviors remain the same for generations. Some of my seasoned advisers have helped me avoid bad business decisions that have saved me money. They have also given me great advices that caused me to earn more money.

3) In the same breath, don’t excluded younger workers because you perceive them to have less experience. I would rather take a chance on someone with less experience that have the willingness and the ability to learn quickly; than someone that has the experience but has no enthusiasm for the job.

A friend of mine was being considered to speak before a particular group. The event planner told someone that she (the event planner) thought my friend wasn’t seasoned enough in that particular area. Yet my friend helped her clients take their income from 5-figures to 6-figures in a matter of months! Obviously to me and my friend’s clients, she was doing something that was working well and could offer great information to the event planner’s audience. But the event planner had blinders on that state one has to have certain experience over a length of time to be considered “seasoned.” How unfortunate for this event planner and her audience.

Large group of ethnicity — Image from Mitchcommongroup.com

4) Include women, men, and minorities on your staff and in your circle of advisers. We all have our individual experiences that may limit our views that also limit our marketing reaching. Having a well-rounded source of viewpoints from various backgrounds (regardless of race, creed or sexual orientation) may give your business the spark it needs to attract more clients on a local, national and global level.

I thought my target audience were immigrant women. The more I deliver my keynote speeches or sell by books, I find that my message resonates with a lot of men from various backgrounds. It was a wonderful surprise. Now I include more men on my lists of advisers. This gives me a greater opportunity to spread my message and to earn more income.

globe450 — Image from smallbiztrends.com

5) Include people of many nationalities as you can; if you want a global reach. As you know, the explosion of the internet has allowed entrepreneurs to have access to international markets. It seems wise to include people of different nationalities in your circles.

My circle of associates, advisers, and clients hail from many different countries with different cultural experiences and spoken languages. I revel in this diversity, because it has enriched and enlightened me in so many ways.

Did the Academy Awards committee miss a great opportunity to promote its brand in a golden light? Only time will tell. It seems that the uproar from the lack of diversity of the 2015 nominees has dulled the shine on this body of decision makers, and unfortunately taken some of the spotlight off its nominees.

Avoid the faux pax of the Academy Awards Committee. Include diversity in your staff and circles, professionally and personally. Let the tweets award your business with praises for its inclusions and successes.

Find out how I learned these tips and more from my Diamond Cutters, my mentors and coaches, pick up a copy of Live a Diamond Life, A Life of Purpose: Diamond Cutters today.

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Entrepreneurs – Move Outside the Box to Find the Solution

Posted on January 9, 2015 by MarleneMB

baby_in_cardboard_box — Image from http://3.bp.blogspot.com/

“What about a Diamond Jewelry store?” She said excitedly over the phone. My friend Lydia and I were strategizing where to have my book launch last March 2014. We were discussing possible places to invite folks to share in my special day.

Normally, book launches are conducted at bookstores or libraries. Since my book is titled: Live a Diamond Life, A Life of Purpose: Diamond Cutters, Lydia suggested that I conduct the event in a Diamond Jewelry store. I thought it was a brilliant idea.

After researching online, I immediately reached out to a few local diamond Jewelers. Jewelry Depot Inc., the store I really liked is a family owned business. It was established more than 30 years in the community. When I called and spoke with the store manager, Lillian Sanders, I explained what I wished to do. She said: “You do know this is a Diamond Jewelry store and not a bookstore?” I told her I did, but it would be exciting and an honor to launch my book in that store.

She said she would present my proposal to the owner who was out of town. The next morning as I was walking out of a meeting, she called and told me the owner liked the idea. He wanted to meet with me to discuss it further. He has never done this.

The day I met with Ted, the owner, I brought a bottle of wine and a copy of my book for him. I told him that I wrote the book to help others learn how to live their purpose. I told him this occurred because my dad regretted not living his purpose on his deathbed. I told him I used the Diamond as metaphor to help my audience to understand how valuable each one is.

Ted loved my story and agreed to have me launch the book in his beautiful store. He even allowed me to put up a giant poster board and flyers in the store to announce the event. We agreed to schedule the event the weekend prior to Mother’s Day. Here is a copy of the flyer.

The day of the event was one of the worst downpour of rain. But it didn’t stop the folks from coming to the event. I was humbled by my friends, family and associates that braved the inclement weather to support my launch. It was a wonderful day for both the folks in Jewelry Depot Inc. and me. The attendees purchased my book and also bought jewelry for Mother’s Day gifts. It was a win-win experience.

As an entrepreneur, one has to move outside the conventional box in which we sometimes put ourselves, or society tells us we ought to be in it. Think of different ways to offer your service or deliver your product. Be innovative. If you need help, reach out to a friend or someone you trust his/her judgment. The cliche: two heads are better than one, is so true when you select the right person.

Lydia, Lillian and Ted saw my vision and helped me to experience one of the most memorable occasions of my life. Their inputs help pushed me in a different direction for marketing and selling my books. It proved to be a successful one.

Are you an entrepreneur and want to established you business for success? Are you struggling with a problem that perplexes you? In my experience, sometimes you need to move outside the box to find a great solution.

Find out how I learned these tips and more from my Diamond Cutters, my mentors and coaches, pick up a copy of Live a Diamond Life, A Life of Purpose: Diamond Cutters today.

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Thank you for reading my post. Please hit the “follow” button at the top of the page. This will allow me continue to write and share with you on a variety of topics.