Open for Business – 5 Tips for Starting Your Own Business

Posted on February 4, 2015 by MarleneMB

Have you ever dreamed that you would do something that made a difference? So did I. One of my aspirations was to start and operate my own business. I had a stable 9-5 job but lacked fulfillment and wanted to pursue my DREAM! How about you, do you desire to have your own BUSINESS? If yes, the following are some tips to help you on your way!

The Internet has lots of information about starting your own business. Perhaps too much. As you search you find that the rules vary from state to state, province to province, country to country. It can all be overwhelming.

Here are some basic steps that I find work for me after starting a few businesses or helping others to start theirs:

1) Choose the Right Name: Creating the right name for your business is one of the basic steps for creating a successful Brand Name that others can easily associate your business for its expertise, products and services. If your business is part of an established industry, I suggest that you include something about your offering in the name of your business.

For example, if your target market is small businesses, you may want to include something about small business or some word associated with small business in your company name.

In an episode of the CNBC series “Profit,” one of the companies featured was called “Green Tea.” Most people polled thought the company was selling tea. It was actually an ice cream company. This didn’t cause the business to fail, but it may have slowed the growth because of the lack of name association to the product it was offering.

2) Corporate Structure: Structuring your corporation requires a little more thought and homework; if you are not familiar with setting up a company. Deciding whether your company will be a sole proprietorship, S-Corp, C-Corp, Limited Liability Corp, etc. is very important for not only decision making process, but taxation purposes, liabilities and any future sale of the company.

The rules surrounding these various types of corporate structures are different based upon where the company is established. In Florida, the definition of the Managing Member of a Limited Liability Corporation has been modified with huge implication on who has the authority to make decision in such entities. Do your homework and/or consult with a corporate attorney to help you understand the rules.

3) Virtual Presence: Today, if you are do not have a virtual presence (website, social media page, etc.), most folks, at least in the USA, would question your business validity. If you are reading this article, I presume that you are in an area where people have access to the Internet.

Having a virtual presence will help you reach an audience outside of your local area, if this is one of your goals as an entrepreneur. It gives you the appearance of being an established company just like the larger corporation. It gives you access to a wider marketplace with more buying power.

4) Brand It: When you think about your company name also think about things such as:

What should the company Logo be?
What are the color schemes for the Logo?
How about the company other marketing materials and virtual sites?
What should your tag line be?
What do you want your company to be known as or for?

Create marketing materials that support these aspects of your business. Include them on your business cards, virtual cards, brochures, letterheads, videos, podcasts, etc. You don’t have to do all of these, but even if it is only your business card, make it count. Brand your business to standout from the crowd.

5) Give It A Heart: In your Vision, Mission and Values statements, give your company a heart. I call these three your companies Heart Statements. Put the things that you envision your clients would experience from purchasing your products, services and ultimately you and your employees! Then live this heart. Don’t just state it. Live it.

I find that I am willing to purchase from companies that live their Heart Statements. There are arguments abounding whether a corporation is a person or a thing. I won’t get into them. My views about it is that someone creates a product or offers a service for another person to purchase and use. When a company makes it all about the money and nothing else, I’m not willing to share my hard-earned dollars with this type of business. Many of my friends and colleagues feel the same way. Again, give it a Heart by offering products and services that benefit others.

I hope these tips help to guide you in your steps towards becoming an entrepreneur. There are more to these as you may expect. Take it one step at a time and before you know it, you can hang the “Open for Business” sign literally, figuratively and virtually!

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Webinars Suck – Is That Right? – Part 2

Posted on December 17, 2014 by MarleneMB

Get Organized

Yay! You are back today for part deux. Let’s go back to the nightmarish call at the beginning of this series (See part one). All the chimes binging, banging and clanging as folks got on the call. This is often perceived as lack of organization on the part of the presenter. Perhaps the presenter did not take the time to learn how to use the mute function available on the platform. If you want to conduct a successful Webinar, get organized prior to the session. Address as many potential issues you may encounter as the moderator/presenter prior to the call.

Learn how to use the different features and functionality of the Webinar platform. Here are some popular features/functionality you should master:

Instructions for the participants to connect and utilize participant features
Mute all callers
Make the call private or public
Share your desktop or Screen
Start and Stop Recording
Chat Sessions
Take a poll during Webinar
Hand control to another presenter

Set Up in the Right Environment:

Perhaps you work from home or in a nosy office space. It is best to ensure that you minimize any background noise when moderating/presenting a Webinar.

Nosy kids, adults and pets – It is strongly suggested that you make the arrangement to have the kids, adults and pets away from the area that you will be conducting the Webinar. Let all know that you need to have a quite environment in order to make the best impression on your audience.
Turn of the phone – ringing telephone in the background is also a distraction to you and your participants. Make it a habit to silence all your devices near your presentation area, especially if you are recording the call.
The guy/gal with the lawnmower – if you know the day and time of the lawn service provider, schedule your Webinars when he/she will not be working in the yard. The mowers and leaf blowers often generate a lot of noise, especially when lawn person decides to go right by the window that you are next to while presenting.

Not knowing how to utilize the platform features and background noise may contribute to the appearance that your Webinar is disorganized and unprofessional.

Now you have done yourself and your audience a favor by honing your Webinar skills and creating the right atmosphere. Next it is time for the Webinar. In the third post of this four-part series, I will share a few ways to make your Webinars Interactive.

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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Wisdom Wednesday – Leadership by Fear

Posted on November 12, 2014 by MarleneMB

“The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority.” ~ Kenneth Blanchard

Have you ever had a leader that led by fear? Throughout my career, I encountered a few managers/leaders that led their teams by bullying, screaming and intimidation. What I observed is that the results were not positive ones.

Some of the team members would lie to them. They would say what the leader wanted to hear. Instead of telling the truth, they fabricated stories in order to avoid the backlash from this person. Or the team member would not go above and beyond what was required of him or her. He would simple do just enough to keep his job. This often resulted in poor performance of the team, marginal productivity and sometimes low sales results.

Fortunately for me, these types of supposed leaders were few and far between. A majority of the leaders I had the pleasure of working with allowed their employees/followers to grow. These leaders:

1) Shared the visions and goals of the teams

2) Outlined roles and responsibilities of each team member

3) Encouraged them to think outside the box

4) Showed them respect

5) Empowered them to get the job done

One of my managers/mentors led us in this fashion. The results he got were: team members were willing to work longer if necessary; helped other team members to get the tasks done; were more loyal to the manager and the company.

The managers/leaders that by fear often fell from grace. They were either fired or demoted, because of the bad results they attained from using intimidation instead of positive influence.

Many of us are called to lead. Practice using your power of persuasion, sharing your vision and empowering your followers to reach new heights. This is part of Living a Diamond Life, a Life of Purpose on Wisdom Wednesday.

Get your copy of Live a Diamond Life, Live a Life of Purpose: Diamond Cutters, today. Find out how my mentors and coaches helped me to be a better person, and how to apply these principles to your life.

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Wisdom Wednesday – Take a Hike

Posted on October 23, 2014 by MarleneMB

“The museum or hiking, which do you want to do today?” “ I don’t know. You pick.” “Hiking.” This was the conversation between my son and me this morning. I am visiting with him in California. He wants to ensure I’m having a great experience on my visit, so he has plan different activities for me. He doesn’t realize that I am quite happy just staying at his place. Nevertheless, I agreed to go hiking with him.

He drove us to Runyon Canyon. As he parked the car, I saw people coming down the trail sweaty and some were huffing and puffing. It was approximately 11:15 a.m. and the sun was blazing hot. Didn’t my son know his Jamaican mother was allergic to the sun! Not do damping the mood, I decided to make the best of our hike. I figured I have been running on the beach, running on the treadmill, swimming in the pool and riding my bike. How hard can this hike be? Was I in for it!

As we walked up the “hill” to me it seemed like a huge mountain. All my running, swimming and biking in South Florida was nothing compare to going up that hill in the hot sun! We passed other people coming and gong up the hill. Some with partners and some with dogs. One of the dogs looked just like how I felt…his tongue was hanging out and he was breathing heavily. I said: “I know how you feel!” As I passed him. Pausing a few times up, my son kept asking me if I wanted to turn back. I kept saying let’s see what’s around the corner. As we rounded one corner and I looked up I saw people walking on a level way above us. I asked him how they got up there. He said: “The trail leads that way.” At this I uttered: “Heck no! I’m not going up there. Are you crazy!”

I could tell he was concerned for me when he said we will turn back when we go to the garbage can at the end of the bend. But I didn’t want to disappoint him. Plus, I didn’t want him to think I’m a quitter. I sucked in my breath and said let’s keep going up. My son kept on encouraging me telling me that we are almost at the leveling part. I would stop to take a few pictures and then continued on. Really what I was doing was catching my breath and taking a rest.

When we got to the top I was delighted to see the beautiful view. We could see the famous Hollywood sign on one side and downtown Hollywood on the other. My son asked me: “Aren’t you glad you kept going? Don’t you have a feeling of accomplishment?” I had to agree with him. But l added that I thought he was trying to kill me at my young age!

This is a great lesson about our journey in life. if you want to see the best views, or reach your goals in life, you may have to climb some hills. It won’t always be easy; you may run out of steam. The pressure may seem unbearable. Don’t you quit! Keep climbing. Having someone in your corner to cheer you on, makes that climb easier. When you reach the top you have another person to celebrate your victory with you!

My friends Take A Hike towards your dreams. Live your Diamond Life. Live your Life of Purpose!

Wisdom Wednesday – Consistency

Posted on October 15, 2014 by MarleneMB

“It’s not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives. It’s what we do consistently.” ~ Anthony Robbins

Good or bad what you consistently do or think plays a big part in where you are today. Recognizing that I have to consistently eat the right food and perform the right exercises will would lead to a healthier life, moved me to be consistent about developing these habits.

Knowing that if I wanted to increase my income, I had to make more phone calls, knock on more doors as a sales representative in Corporate America. This resulted in my earning a 6-figure paycheck and awards for my efforts. Anthony Robbins statement above rings true in many situations.

Consistency helps to form our habits. Here is what I recommend:

1. Assess what you are doing that works well for you, keep doing it.

2. Recognize what isn’t working and drop that habit and/or thought.

3. Learn what the successful folks in your field are consistently doing to help them achieve their successes.

4. Determine whether this will work for you also. If it does go for it.

Sometimes you may break being consistent, don’t beat yourself up…just start again.

While developing consistency remember to stay true to yourself and your purpose. Use consistency to take you to the top of Living your Diamond Life…Your life of Purpose.

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