Tuesday, May 27, 2008

The remaining 10 common startup mistakes are:

* Not hiring right away
* Getting to year 1, past year 2
* Not getting involved in the community
* Working in your business instead of on it
* Going wide instead of deep into a niche
* Not using email marketing
* Having a lack of ambition
* Failing to network with others
* Growing too quickly

Monday, May 26, 2008

#10: Not Thinking Survival

Too many people think that so long as everything is done “textbook” and they have the proper set up, and plans down on paper, that they will succeed. Also, many people have the idea that it is easy to keep it up after they get an initial consumer base. Not true. small businesses are small fish in a big pond, constantly competing against emerging and growing bigger competitors that have the backing, both monetarily and resourcefully, to push them out of the picture.”

Sunday, May 25, 2008

#9: Being Overly Enthusiastic and Not Having Realistic Goals

“A few mistakes that I personally made was the lack of focus on a targeted marketing plan, and the miscalculation on future expected growth.”

Saturday, May 24, 2008

#8: Not Looking At Your Competition

“I think it is a big mistake to start a business without really understand the market.”

Friday, May 23, 2008

#7: Not Marketing Your Business / Expecting People To Come To You

“A few mistakes that I personally made was the lack of focus on a targeted marketing plan, and the miscalculation on future expected growth.”

Thursday, May 22, 2008

#6: Losing Momentum

“Being satisfied and content with functioning can lead to “big headedness” and false hope that it will always be this way. You need to constantly improve your product/service, research your around-the-clock changing market and competition, and promote innovation and forward progress amongst your management and team.”

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

#5: Not Seeking Mentors

“I think having a mentor - a much more experienced entrepreneur that can give you some valuable advice is so IMPORTANT…especially when you are a young and overly ambitious… and with so many challenges to meet on the way to success.”

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

#4: Doing It All Alone

“Lots of CEO personalities think they have to be the answer to all problems, and this is not the case. Their pride and mindset of “I must live up to this role” is skewed and they may fail to tap the most important and valuable resources that surround them in their management team and affiliates.”

Monday, May 19, 2008

#3: Not Having Enough Money

“I think this is big for those businesses that have the incentive to only reap the benefits and not focus on the longevity of your venture. Taking out $10k now may prevent making $100k in a few months. Mindsets should not be “Yeah I own a buiness I make this much” but rather “Yeah I own a business, we invested in XYZ and were able to afford this new service/expand here/etc” Also, too many people plan on the basic expenses of starting up, and don’t think about the increased expense that come with a more successful, growing, developing business.”

Sunday, May 18, 2008

#2: Surrounding Yourself With People Who Don’t Believe In Your Idea

“Another mistake would be surrounding yourselves with people (whether by accident or because they’re family, etc) who don’t believe in your idea. You need to be around positive feedback all the time.”

Saturday, May 17, 2008

#1: Not Having a Clear Plan or Vision

“The biggest mistake people make is not looking far enough ahead in your market. So many businesses are losing ground to new technologies as example, so think ahead on how to better utilize these new technologies. With the current recession, how many planned for it? Every business will go through cycles of growth and market demize, just as we are all now seeing, so again, think ahead, have vision beyond today is one of the keys to success.”

Friday, May 16, 2008

Top 20 Entrepreneurs Mistakes

I read this on GetEntrepreneurial.com So for the next 20 day I will give you one a day.

Young Entrepreneur: After polling our Young Entrepreneur readers, here is our list of the top 20 mistakes that startups make when creating a new business. I’ve also included a few of the comments that were left for some of the top points.

Monday, May 12, 2008

4) Punish Yourself For Not Sticking With It.

This may seem a little weird, but it will work if you give it a chance to. For example, let's say that you need to get something done by a certain date and you don't. To make things more productive for you, punish yourself for not getting it done! I personally love those Little Debbie "Star Crunch" cakes. I usually have one every day. One time I told myself, I said, "Self, if I can't eat a Star Crunch unless I get these webpages uploaded by 5:20 today!". And when 5:20 came, I didn't have it done. So I punished myself for not completing the task by the time I set. I didn't eat one that day. Let's say you have a favorite TV show you absolutely love watching. You must complete 3 things on your list before you can watch it. And stick with it! Believe it or not, it actually works! But only if you stick with it.
Having many distractions can make things a bit more difficult with productivity when spending your time online. The first things to do to solve the time management problem is to identify what things are keeping you from being productive in your online business. The next step is to avoid these things at all costs. The hardest part is identifing these distractions. But after you do, more than half the battle is already over! I wish you much success with your businss and all your on and offline goals!

Sunday, May 11, 2008

3) Give Yourself A Break!

This may sound a little contradictory, but it's very true. If you have been working consistently for a few hours online, and find yourself to be slipping into the "dull glare" mode, give yourself a break. Step away from your computer for 30 mintues, and move around. Go to the fridge and grab a nice cold drink, and relax a bit. When you get done, you will feel more fresh and will be more focused on your list that you've already made to complete your daily business tasks.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

2) Set a time Limit

Let's say you spend on average 2 hours browsing forums and discussion boards on a daily basis. Is this really necessary? I mean, there are alot of good resources out the on forums, and you get to interact with like-minded individuals.. but is this helping your business?

The best way to stick to a plan is by giving yourself a specific amount of elotted time for each activity you conduct online. If you normally spend 2 hours in forums, and think this is simply taking too much away from your business, set a limit on how much you do it. Say to yourself, "Ok Jason, I will participate in forums for no more than 45 minutes. From exactly 12:15 to 1:00 today, I will spend this time browsing forums and being an active member." And stick with it!

Friday, May 9, 2008

1) Make A List:

You've probably heard this before and with good reason! Write the things you need to do with your business down on a piece of paper. List in order the things by two factors. One is the importance, and the second is which of the things you least would like to do.

Once you have your list, put them in order of the things most important and are you're least favorite at the very top of the list. This way, the more important things that need to be done will get done first, and you won't procrastinate because it's written down. As you progress with your list, you'll find that the last things you need to do will go by very quickly because you'll enjoy doing it.

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Time Management For Home Business Owners

As each day passes, and more and more things need to get done with your business, you may find yourself alittle overwhelmed with how much is left to be done. This is nothing new, and a problem that almost every home business owner encounters.

There are too many things to do, and such little time! So how does one get all of these things done without interfering with family and friends time? The answer is simple enough, but not very easy to do. It's called Time Management. Managing your time to make your time spent during "business hours" the most productive it can be.

There are many distractions when running an online business that many people easily become victims of. Some at home examples are things that consist of your everyday. Things like the chores that need tending to, eager kids simply wanting your attention, the television blaring, dogs barking, errands that need to be ran, and on down the line.

Some classic examples of distractions that occur online are not as easy to identify, but can consume many hours if you're not aware of this. A good example includes just "surfing" for something, and you get sidetracked and end up reading something that you weren't even looking for to begin with! Another classic example is how many times you check your email a day, or how much time has passed before you last checked it. How much time do you spend visiting discussion boards or online communities? What about the emails you respond to? How much of your time is consumed by that? These are all examples of distractions that can get in the way of your businesses productivity.

Friday, May 2, 2008

Google Me Baby

If it a sign that you have actually “made it” when your name is incorporated into a song, then I would say that Google is there…not that there was really any doubt. I heard Teyana Taylor’s new song “Google Me Baby” on MTV Hits today, and thought it would be fun to share…

Attention Local Business Owners

Hello Gerald Franklin Here.

“Question”



Do you Know what this is?

This called Google Places, and if it is correctly

Optimized it can drive lots of customers

in you door.

Local Internet Marketing

Now more than ever, people are turning to the Internet for the things they want to buy locally. In fact, 31% of consumers turn to a search engine first when they’re on the hunt for local products and services. And 43% of Internet searches today include a local identifier, indicating that people would rather type a few keywords into a search engine than go shuffling through the phone book.

Recent studies have shown that 86% of consumers who use Internet search engines to find a local product or service follow up with a phone call or in-store visit. And 61% of those end up making their purchase offline. As a small business owner, that means you can no longer afford to take your chances with mailers or phone book ads that may or may not be working.

With Johnson City Consultants, local Internet marketing is a breeze! Our team of local-search experts will help you create an effective online marketing campaign to target your local customers. And local Internet marketing gives you ROI and tracking information that mailers and phone book ads can only dream of.

Take the first step in building your own customized local Internet marketing campaign today! With Johnson City Consultants learn more about our local Internet market.

Local Search Maps Optimization

92% of potential clients contact a business immediately after searching, and most of them make a purchase. Maps Optimization puts your business right under the noses of customers looking to buy. It gives your contact info to local searchers, because they’re ready to buy, and they’ll buy from you if they can find you.

What is Maps Optimization?

Because the Google Map is visual and covers about 30% of the first page of search engine results, it draws potential clients and makes it easy for them to connect with local businesses.

When buyers look for services on Google, the 3—7 most relevant local businesses are displayed on a map with the company and phone number. East Tennessee Marketing Solutions can get you into these displayed spots.

Your first step is to create a business listing. The East Tennessee Marketing Solutions team will then look at search data and current trends related to your services and revise the content of your listing to maximize its relevancy to local and mobile searchers.

Each month, East Tennessee Marketing Solutions will build citations to your contact information on other sites and directories. Citations help your business rank higher in local search maps results, boosting you into the top listings, and attracting customers.

East Tennessee Marketing Solutions is the most aggressive at getting you on the local search results page. Call us today, and increase your business through Maps Optimization.