11 Ways Successful People Overcome Uncertainty

Our brains are hardwired to make much of modern life difficult. This is especially true when it comes to dealing with uncertainty. On the bright side, if you know the right tricks, you can override your brain's irrational tendencies and handle uncertainty effectively.

Our brains give us fits when facing uncertainty because they're wired to react to it with fear. In a recent study, a Caltech neuroeconomist imaged subjects' brains as they were forced to make increasingly uncertain bets--the same kind of bets we're forced to make on a regular basis in business.

The less information the subjects had to go on, the more irrational and erratic their decisions became. You might think the opposite would be true--the less information we have, the more careful and rational we are in evaluating the validity of that information. Not so. As the uncertainty of the scenarios increased, the subjects' brains shifted control over to the limbic system, the place where emotions, such as anxiety and fear, are generated.

This brain quirk worked great eons ago, when cavemen entered an unfamiliar area and didn't know who or what might be lurking behind the bushes. Overwhelming caution and fear ensured survival. But that's not the case today. This mechanism, which hasn't evolved, is a hindrance in the world of business, where uncertainty rules and important decisions must be made every day with minimal information.

As we face uncertainty, our brains push us to overreact. Successful people are able to override this mechanism and shift their thinking in a rational direction. This requires emotional intelligence (EQ), and it's no wonder that--among the 1 million-plus people that TalentSmart has tested--90% of top performers have high EQs. They earn an average of $28,000 more per year than their low-EQ counterparts do.

To boost your EQ, you have to get good at making sound decisions in the face of uncertainty, even when your brain fights against this. Fear not! There are proven strategies that you can use to improve the quality of your decisions when your emotions are clouding your judgment. What follows are eleven of the best strategies that successful people use in these moments.

They quiet their limbic systems

The limbic system responds to uncertainty with a knee-jerk fear reaction, and fear inhibits good decision-making. People who are good at dealing with uncertainty are wary of this fear and spot it as soon as it begins to surface. In this way, they can contain it before it gets out of control. Once they are aware of the fear, they label all the irrational thoughts that try to intensify it as irrational fears--not reality--and the fear subsides. Then they can focus more accurately and rationally on the information they have to go on. Throughout the process, they remind themselves that a primitive part of their brain is trying to take over and that the logical part needs to be the one in charge. In other words, they tell their limbic system to settle down and be quiet until a hungry tiger shows up.

They stay positive

Positive thoughts quiet fear and irrational thinking by focusing your brain's attention on something that is completely stress-free. You have to give your wandering brain a little help by consciously selecting something positive to think about. Any positive thought will do to refocus your attention. When things are going well and your mood is good, this is relatively easy. When you're stressing over a tough decision and your mind is flooded with negative thoughts, this can be a challenge. In these moments, think about your day, and identify one positive thing that happened, no matter how small. If you can't think of anything from the current day, reflect on the previous day or days or even the previous week, or perhaps you're looking forward to an exciting event. The point here is that you must have something positive that you're ready to shift your attention to when your thoughts turn negative due to the stress of uncertainty.

They know what they know--and what they don't

When uncertainty makes a decision difficult, it's easy to feel as if everything is uncertain, but that's hardly ever the case. People who excel at managing uncertainty start by taking stock of what they know and what they don't know and assigning a factor of importance to each. They gather all the facts they have, and they take their best shot at compiling a list of things they don't know, for example, what a country's currency is going to do or what strategy a competitor will employ. They actually try to identify as many of these things as possible because this takes away their power.

They embrace that which they can't control

We all like to be in control. After all, people who feel like they're at the mercy of their surroundings never get anywhere in life. But this desire for control can backfire when you see everything that you can't control or don't know as a personal failure. People who excel at managing uncertainty aren't afraid to acknowledge what's causing it. In other words, successful people live in the real world. They don't paint any situation as better or worse than it actually is, and they analyze the facts for what they are. They know that the only thing they really control is the process through which they reach their decisions. That's the only rational way to handle the unknown, and the best way to keep your head on level ground. Don't be afraid to step up and say, "Here's what we don't know, but we're going forward based on what we do know. We may make mistakes, but that's a lot better than standing still."

They focus only on what matters

Some decisions can make or break your company. Most just aren't that important. The people who are the best at making decisions in the face of uncertainty don't waste their time getting stuck on decisions where the biggest risk is looking foolish in front of their co-workers. When it comes down to it, almost every decision contains at least a small factor of uncertainty--it's an inevitable part of doing business. Learning to properly balance the many decisions on your plate, however, allows you to focus your energy on the things that matter and to make more informed choices. It also removes the unnecessary pressure and distraction caused by a flurry of small worries.

They don't seek perfection

Emotionally intelligent people don't set perfection as their target because they know there's no such thing as a perfect decision in an uncertain situation. Think about it: human beings, by our very nature, are fallible. When perfection is your goal, you're always left with a nagging sense of failure, and you end up spending your time lamenting what you failed to accomplish and what you should have done differently, instead of enjoying what you were able to achieve.

They don't dwell on problems

Where you focus your attention determines your emotional state. When you fixate on the problems that you're facing, you create and prolong negative emotions and stress, which hinders performance. When you focus on actions to better yourself and your circumstances, you create a sense of personal efficacy that produces positive emotions and improves performance. Emotionally intelligent people don't allow themselves to become preoccupied with the uncertainties they face. Instead, they focus all their attention and effort on what they can do, in spite of the uncertainty, to better their situation.

They know when to trust their gut

Our ancestors relied on their intuition--their gut instinct--for survival. Since most of us don't face life-or-death decisions every day, we have to learn how to use this instinct to our benefit. Often we make the mistake of talking ourselves out of listening to our gut instinct, or we go too far in the other direction and impulsively dive into a situation, mistaking our assumptions for instincts. People who successfully deal with uncertainty recognize and embrace the power of their gut instincts, and they rely on some tried-and-true strategies to do so successfully:

They recognize their own filters. They're able to identify when they're being overly influenced by their assumptions and emotions or by another person's opinion, for example. Their ability to filter out the feelings that aren't coming from their intuition helps them focus on what is.

They give their intuition some space. Gut instincts can't be forced. Our intuition works best when we're not pressuring it to come up with a solution. Albert Einstein said he got his best ideas while sailing, and when Steve Jobs was faced with a tough problem, he'd head out for a walk.

They build a track record. People who deal well with uncertainty take the time to practice their intuition. They start by listening to their gut on small things and seeing how it goes so that they'll know whether they can trust it when something big comes around.

They have contingency plans . . .

Staying on top of uncertainty is as much about planning for failure as it is about hoping for the best. Experts at handling uncertainty aren't afraid to admit that they could be wrong, and that frees them up to make detailed, rational, and transparent contingency plans before taking action. Successful people know they aren't always going to make the right decision. They know how to absorb and understand mistakes so that they can make better decisions in the future. And they never let mistakes get them down for too long.

. . . but they don't ask, "What if?"

"What if?" statements throw fuel on the fire of stress and worry, and there's no place for them in your thinking once you have good contingency plans in place. Things can go in a million different directions, and the more time you spend worrying about the possibilities, the less time you'll spend focusing on taking action that will calm you down and keep your stress under control. Successful people know that asking "what if?" will only take them to a place they don't want, or need, to go to.

When all else fails, they breatheYou have to remain calm to make good decisions in the face of uncertainty. An easy way to do this lies in something that you have to do every day anyway--breathing. The practice of being in the moment with your breathing trains your brain to focus solely on the task at hand and quiets distracting thoughts. When you're feeling overwhelmed, take a couple of minutes to focus on your breathing. Close the door, put away all other distractions, and just sit in a chair and breathe. The goal is to spend the entire time focused only on your breathing, which will prevent your mind from wandering. Think about how it feels to breathe in and out. This sounds simple, but it's hard to do for more than a minute or two. It's all right if you get sidetracked by another thought--this is sure to happen at the beginning--and you just need to bring your focus back to your breathing. If staying focused on your breathing proves to be a real struggle, try counting each breath in and out until you get to twenty, and then start again from one. Don't worry if you lose count; you can always just start over. This task may seem too easy or even a little silly, but you'll be surprised by how calm you feel afterward and how much easier it is to let go of distracting thoughts that otherwise seem to lodge permanently inside your brain.

Bringing It All Together

The ability to strategically manage ambiguity is one of the most important skills you can cultivate in an increasingly uncertain business environment. Try the strategies above, and your ability to handle uncertainty will take a huge step in the right direction.

7 Secrets Self-Motivated Entrepreneurs Know

How do some entrepreneurs overcome obstacles, maintain intense focus, exemplify ironclad discipline and create companies out of thin air? Genius? Luck? Some secret sauce of success?

Much of the answer lies in motivation. How do we define that? Psychology Today defines motivation as “the desire to do things.” An even more detailed definition explains that motivation is “the process that initiates, guides and maintains goal-oriented behaviors.”

When you see a rising entrepreneur star, what you’re watching is an incredible amount of motivation -- of goal-oriented behavior. Motivation is like jet power propulsion. It transforms individuals from passive participants into active leaders, maybe because they know what's in the secret sauce." Here are seven of those ingredients of motivation that the most successful entrepreneurs know.

1. They know what they are meant to do in life.

The motivation literature is vast and varied -- and it gets complicated. Yet, as diverse as motivational theories are, there’s a single thing that unites them all: Motivation answers the why.

Every human grapples with that enormous question of existence -- Why am I here? What’s my purpose? Although a definitive and data-backed answer to that existential question has hardly been forthcoming in the last few millennia, we can at least choose an answer for ourselves.

And, one answer, as esoteric as it may sound, is that the purpose of one’s existence is a fundamental principle of life. You’ve got to know why you’re living in order to truly live.

Choose a destiny, then. Define your purpose. Chart your course. Once you answer the why, you will have unlocked the first door on the path to constant motivation.

2. They know what they’re supposed to do each day.

Motivation starts infinitely broad, but gets infinitesimally detailed. When you know what you’re supposed to do in life, you can determine what you’re supposed to do each day.

That defines successful entrepreneurs. They enter each day with a defined set of tasks, goals and objectives. Leo Babauta, who writes the blog Zen Habits, calls these “big rocks.” He describes that special knowledge like this: "The big rocks are the major things you want to get done this week."

If you have several big rocks staring you in the face each week, then your goal each day is to chip away at them. Knowing that they are there and knowing you must conquer them creates a sense of motivation that won’t quit all day long.

3. They prepare mentally for each day.

Mere knowledge of the day’s plans isn’t quite enough. There must be another level of motivational power -- a psychological trick, as it were. The motivational Instagram account, before5am, explains that mental preparation is key. The author uses four hacks to boost his own motivation:

• Music is going to be the quickest way to snap your mind into a powerful state.
• On your phone you can create an album of the things you want in life.
• I look at my goals that are next to my bed straight away.
• Plenty of great motivational material is on YouTube.

Techniques vary, but the principle holds true: Mentally prepping before your day begins is the key to dominating during the day.

4. They refuse to rely on self-discipline alone.

There’s an aura of respect and esteem that surrounds self-disciplined people. The truth is, however, that self-discipline -- willpower -- is like a muscle. And, like all muscles, willpower can be fatigued through overuse.

Self-discipline, moreover, is limited. Benjamin Franklin was famous for his pursuit of moral perfection. At the conclusion of his perfection experiment, he wrote this: "I never arrived at the perfection I had been so ambitious of obtaining, but fell far short of it."

Self-discipline will fail you, but a deep and underlying motivation will sustain you. You can use self-discipline to enhance your efforts, but don’t rely on it.5. They are the authors of their own rule book.

A self-motivated person has the courage to create his or her own rules for life. At the same time, all members of the human race are surrounded by other people, groups, subcultures and external forces. These groups will, quite naturally, exert an influence on one’s self perception, goals, vision, and dreams.

Yet someone who is able to rise above those external pressures and create his or her own guidebook for living will create enormous personal motivation.

Another way of saying this is that self-motivated people set their own standards. And, invariably, these standards are high:

• I will wake up at 5 a.m. daily.
• I will not eat sugar.
• I will not watch TV.
• I will work every weekend.
• I will eliminate toxic people from my life.

High standards can be hard to maintain. Yet they produce massive amounts of motivation, which in turn helps to fuel high achievement.

6. They develop insane goals.

Another way that self-motivated entrepreneurs push forward is by using the power of goals. Goal-setting does something to the mind. LifeHack’s Dustin Wax explains it like this: ""According to the research of psychologists, neurologists, and other scientists, setting a goal invests ourselves into the target as if we’d already accomplished it. That is, by setting something as a goal, however small or large, however near or far in the future, a part of our brain believes that desired outcome is an essential part of who we are -- setting up the conditions that drive us to work towards the goals to fulfill the brain’s self-image."

The science of setting goals basically says that the simple act of creating the goal helps to drive the accomplishment.

Meanwhile, some laugh at others' big goals. Some scoff at those goals. But other people set such goals. And they achieve great things. One of today’s most notable entrepreneurs is a great example of someone possessing “insane” goals: He is, of course, Elon Musk. Business Insider has said that, “Elon Musk sets nearly impossible goals for SpaceX employees" and that "SpaceX has a seemingly impossible objective -- the ultimate goal of enabling people to live on other planets."

But you can’t deny that such goals have thus far pushed Elon Musk and his SpaceX employees to achieve remarkable things.

7. They never lose sight of the goal.

Merely setting a goal does not by itself propel you to an unbreakable stream of a self-motivated existence. You have to keep those goals in mind all the time.

Every day. Stuck on the mirror. Dinging on your phone. Taped to your computer. Hanging on the wall. Running through your mind. Everywhere. Always.

Keep your goals at the forefront of your mind, and you’ll never lose motivation.

Conclusion

Self-motivation is one of the underlying forces that distinguish successful entrepreneurs from those who stagger from one neglected startup to another.

Self-motivation despises the role of luck, dismisses the component of self-discipline and looks to the power of goals for ultimate achievement in life.

6 Signs You Are Not Ready for Entrepreneurship

Despite all the beautiful pictures on Instagram, not everyone is meant to be an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship can lead to a life of freedom, and benefit the people a business serves. Or, it can be a nightmare if someone isn’t cut out for entrepreneurship. It’s not a one-size-fits-all choice for everyone.

I took the opportunity to become an entrepreneur at 19 years old. No one in my life at that point was an entrepreneur, so I took the leap without any firsthand knowledge or mentors to guide me. The business grew to half-a-million dollars a year, but I ran it into the ground. I didn’t know what I was doing and wasn’t ready. I’m now 35. My second business -- a lifestyle business -- allowed me to clear up the debt from the first business so I was able to sell it.

Today, I have a business that allows me to write, speak all over the world, consult and coach. I love what I do because I was ready for this business. Before you make the leap into entrepreneurship, you need some certainty. Life isn’t a movie where things magically work out. You can’t be 100 percent certain of anything in life, but there are six signs important signs that you may not be ready or cut out for entrepreneurship.

1. You aren’t self-motivated.

Entrepreneurship is lonely at times but you only get out of it what you put in. The ability get things done working alone is important. You have to be self-motivated to complete tasks, especially when you don't feel like it.

If you are the type of person who needs a boss telling you what’s next, you are not ready.

2. Your haven't established the foundation.

Before you consider leaving that steady paycheck, you should have a foundation established. This foundation includes a generous emergency fund—you never know when things won’t work out as planned. It should also include a strong financial base. Your debt shouldn’t be out of control and you should have enough currently to pay your bills comfortable. Income from entrepreneurship can be sporadic and you want to prepare the best you can.

3. You get flustered under pressure.

The stress of a business will be overwhelming at times. You have to juggle running the business while dealing with pressure from many angles. If you crumble under pressure and stress, think twice about entrepreneurship.

4. You haven’t done enough research.

Whatever business you want to start will require research. Before you take the first steps you should become an expert on what it will take to be profitable. The Internet and social media provide an opportunity to do some efficient research on building a profitable business. Take advantage.

5. You have no passion for the business you want to start.

Passion isn’t enough to build a business but you better believe it’s an important part of the equation. There are times when a business feels like a job. Your passion is what reminds you of what you have. It helps you continue to move forward. If you don’t have a passion for any one thing, you are not ready for entrepreneurship.

6. Your growth strategy is what somebody else did.

Growing a business can be fun, or it can frustrate you into quitting. When there’s a lack of growth or research, people turn to copying a successful entrepreneur. What worked for someone else probably won’t work for you. Each of us is different and so are our businesses. We have to find what works for us where we are in the process. If you are relying on copying someone else, you are not ready for entrepreneurship.

Don’t leave your day job if you’re not ready for the uncertainty that comes with entrepreneurship. I love having a business and the freedom entrepreneurship provides, but I recognize how hard this life can be.  

Get honest with yourself about what you want from life. Get honest about whether entrepreneurship is right for you, and if you’re ready. It takes some time to get ready. That’s fine. It’s better to build your dream on the side with a plan than to turn a dream into a nightmare.

7 Smart Financial Steps to Take in 2016

Is this the year you want your financial picture to shine? We’ve got some good news: There are no tax increases looming, and the banking, housing and labor markets are solid. That means this is the perfect time to shore up your personal finances and prepare for the long haul.

Here are some steps you can implement when opportunity, cash flow, existing debt and mental fortitude allow. Barring a sudden global economic or personal meltdown, you could wake up next January with a satisfied smile on your face.

1. Lower your income; secure your future.

If you’re over 50, consider setting up a defined-benefit plan to reduce your company’s taxable income -- and ultimately yours. As earnings rise, you may be able to contribute more than with a defined-contribution plan, such as a SEP (simplified employee pension). Defined-benefit plans provide a fixed, preestablished benefit for employees at retirement. There is also an age-weighted profit-sharing plan you can set up for you and your employees that follows a similar structure. If that sounds too complex for you, then make sure to take these tax deductions (which many people overlook): sales taxes, healthcare premiums and expenses for charitable work and education.

2. Wake up -- retirement will cost more than you think.

Ego makes a bad rudder for retirement planning. Even if your business is thriving, you should maximize what you can set aside in SEP IRA accounts -- regardless of your age. The old rule that you’ll need 70 to 80 percent of your current income for retirement ignores unexpected business costs and reversals that will eat into your assumed nest egg; long-term healthcare costs not covered by Medicare; and the possibility that your children might not be as financially independent as you’d like them to be.

3. Dump bad debt for good debt.

Your credit cards are killing you. “Bad debt is anything that is not being used to build your net worth: clothes, furniture, vacations or dinners out,” explains Steph Wagner, Entrepreneur’s personal finance columnist. “Beyond avoiding wasteful spending, it is important to be strategic with interest rates. While today’s average APR [annual percentage rate] is 15 percent, you might be surprised to learn that you have a card in your wallet that charges significantly less. Personally, I have one at 5.1 percent.”

Wagner’s advice: consolidate. However, don’t be duped into other seemingly cheap sources of credit. “I am not a fan of borrowing against retirement accounts [IRA or 401(k)]; it should be your absolute last resort.”

Given current rates, a home equity line of credit may be your cheapest source of capital. If that isn’t an option, consider borrowing against your permanent life insurance policy (assuming it is whole or universal). This type of policy builds up cash over time, which can be borrowed against tax-free. Another benefit is that you don’t have to pay back the loan (instead, your death benefit is reduced by the borrowed amount) -- but if you do it pay it back, the interest rate is generally 7 to 8 percent, much less than the average credit card.

4. Go ahead, touch the principal.

Unless you’ve socked away millions in stocks and cash, it’s not realistic to live off interest and dividends alone. So plan now, not later, to use stock-price growth as part of your total investment picture. “I know it’s scary for most people to think about drawing down principal,” says Rob Williams, director of income planning at the Schwab Center for Financial Research. “A better way to think about it is that you’re tapping capital gains and reallocating them into something more secure [like bonds].”

Williams is quick to remind that capital gains are “a source of returns as much as interest and dividend payments. A portfolio balanced between equities, bonds and cash can deliver all three.” Over time, they should beat the average 2 percent yield on bonds, as well as inflation.

So how do you begin putting this to work in the next 12 months? “Consider dividend-paying stocks for up to 60 percent of your portfolio’s allocation. Blue-chip dividend payers are a good place to start,” Williams advises. “Then 40 percent in cash investments and bonds or bond funds for stability and income. Intermediate-term bonds or bond funds provide just such an anchor.”

5. Crowdsource your kids’ college education.

If you haven’t done so, set up a 529 (college savings) plan and ask friends and relatives to contribute money. Surveys show that most grandparents would contribute to a 529 plan if asked. Another tip: Don’t stop contributing once your kid is enrolled. Paying tuition through the 529 ensures the tax break.

6. Ease up on rebalancing.

You already know to periodically rebalance your holdings, cashing in star performers to buy more of the laggards. But how often? The old wisdom—every quarter—has given way to the new: once a year. “There is no one optimal rebalancing strategy,” says Colleen M. Jaconetti, a senior investment analyst in Vanguard’s investment strategy group. “Having said that, we believe that for most investors, implementing a rebalancing strategy based on reasonable monitoring frequency, such as annual or semi- annual, and rebalancing only when the portfolio has drifted beyond an allocation threshold of 5 percent (e.g., your holdings in, say, international growth funds have dropped from 20 percent of your portfolio’s value to 15 percent) is likely to produce a balance between risk control and cost minimization.”

Jaconetti acknowledges that rebalancing can be tedious but says, “What some investors don’t realize is that they may not have to do many actual transactions in order to rebalance their portfolio. In practice, portfolios can be rebalanced using the existing cash flows.” These cash flows include using dividends, interest payments, realized capital gains and any contributions or withdrawals in the portfolio. 

7. Hire an honest accountant.

The Internal Revenue Service is cracking down on unscrupulous tax preparers. Hiring the wrong person can trigger audits, costs for revising statements and other headaches. “The tax code is huge,” says Kay Bell, author of The Truth About Paying Fewer Taxes. “The key here is credentials. You want someone who stays on top of tax-law changes.”

Seek recommendations from people who share your specific tax situation. “If you have a small manufacturing business, you want a tax professional who works with small manufacturing businesses and knows the intricacies of the tax code in this area. Plus, having a preparer who is familiar with your business needs is particularly important now, with all the Affordable Care Act tax ramifications,” Bell explains.

07 Ways to Bootstrap Your Business to Success

Most first-time entrepreneurs seem to believe the myth that they need a minimum of a half a million dollars to start a business. At least that is usually the lowest number I see requested from our local angel investment group. In reality, over 80 percent of successful new businesses are self-funded for much less -- often as little as $10,000. I’m convinced this also reduces risk.

Starting a new business on a limited budget without investor involvement is called bootstrapping, and it’s the only way to go if you don’t want to spend months on the investment pitch preparation and delivery circuit. Also, with bootstrapping, you won’t have the added pressure and risk of an investor boss hanging over your shoulder and second-guessing your every move.

Over the years, I’ve accumulated a list of common startup practices from entrepreneurs who have managed to avoid the ironic pain and suffering of comfortably starting a business with a large cash stash from a rich uncle or a vulnerable investor.

1. Stick to a business domain you know and love.

Starting a new business in an area where you have no experience, just because it appears to have great potential, is a recipe for failure. There are unwritten rules in every business, and your lack of insider’s knowledge will cost you dearly. Good connections can get things done for very little cash.

2. Find team members to work for equity rather than cash.

People working with you need to understand their failure means startup failure, rather than expect money up front. Managing employees and contracts is difficult and expensive, and new entrepreneurs aren’t very good at it anyway. Equity is your best assurance of commitment and focus.

3. Build a plan around your budget, rather than around your wishes.

Entrepreneurs who start without a plan spend more money. Likewise, those who feel compelled to keep up with the popular media will spend most of their time courting investors. Most investors agree that too much money leads to poor spending decisions and lack of controls.

4. Defer your urge to find office space until you have customers.

Remote startup team members are the norm today and can be very productive with smartphones, video and the high-speed Internet. Office space costs money up front, requires equipment, staffing and travel expenses. With a website, your business can look as big as any competitor.

5. Ask for advance on royalties and vendor deferred payments.

If you solution has real value, future partners will jump on discounted future royalties, and many vendors and existing partners will understand your cash flow challenges. You may also be able to barter your services to offset theirs. It never hurts to ask. Practice your sales skills early.

6. Negotiate inventory management with suppliers and distributors.

For many products, suppliers or distributors will direct ship your product to eliminate your inventory. For services, don’t be afraid to ask for a retainer up front to offset your costs. Business terms are negotiable, but new entrepreneurs with plenty of cash don’t bother to ask.

7. Choose a business model to optimize your revenue flow and timing.

Popular examples include monthly subscription fees and optional service fees, versus one-time product sales. Another is the use of an ecommerce site, rather than retail, to facilitate product sales seven days a week, around the clock and around the world.

One of the biggest ways to reduce your budget and your risk is to use social media, which essentially is free, to find our whether you have an attractive solution, before you invest your time and limited resources in creating the product or service. Social media is also an invaluable and inexpensive marketing approach, since no one buys a solution they can’t find or don’t know anything about.

A limited budget can be viewed as your biggest constraint, or as an incentive to do things more creatively. With startups, there is a big premium on creativity and innovation. Big competitors are quick to copy a conventional solution with minimal risk. Let a limited budget be your driver to winning, rather than a curse.

09 Networking Blunders That Undermine Your Reputation

1. You don't get buy-in.

One of the linchpins of networking is the ability to create value-add relationships for others, which begins with an introduction. That intention is pure and necessary. Where the error begins is when you blindly send a three-way email introduction (or worse, just give someone the third party’s contact info) so that you and your original conversation partner know the introduction is coming, but the third party is in-the-dark.

I much prefer to take the extra step of calling or emailing before making an introduction to get the buy-in from the third party. This preps everyone and makes the introduction seamless and more importantly, invited by all parties.

Of course, there are circumstances where this isn’t necessary because you are certain it’s a value-add to both parties and/or you have such a trusted relationship with the third party that you know it will be a warranted introduction. When deciding how to proceed, put yourself in the shoes of the third party and ask yourself, “If I got a blind email connecting me to this person by this person, how would I feel?”

2. You don't follow up.

Follow up is critical both to keep the momentum going once an introduction is made and to close-the-loop afterward. The biggest problem is when someone makes an introduction for you and you never let that person know what happened as a result. This is a fast way to inadvertently signal to that person that you don’t value their time or that they leveraged their reputation with the other party. Do a quick follow up and share what occurred (as well as to say thank you).

3. You keep bad company.

It’s no wonder that when we were kids, our parents were so concerned about whether or not we were hanging out with the ‘bad kids’. You are the company you keep, both by osmosis and by the perception of others. The good news is, if you keep great company, you get to ride on their reputational equity as well as glean great traits from them. But when we keep poor company, they bring us down and lessen the way others perceive us.  Consider doing some housekeeping.

4. You take too long.

I believe that 24 business hours is the maximum amount of time you have to follow up with someone before you begin to look like you don’t care or think you are too important. We are all busy and pulled in a lot of directions. But your reply can be as simple as, “I’m back-logged on email right now and wanted you to know that I saw your note. I will get back with you as soon as possible, and look forward to connecting soon!”.

5. You only look out for yourself.

One of the primary reasons networking has a sullied reputation is so many people who claim to be "networking" are simply out for their own advantage. It’s best to shift your mentality to being curious when you meet or connect with people. Ask them meaningful questions and really listen. See what you can learn and how you can find connection points. Always ask how you can help them in some way, not with an expectation of what you can get in return.

6. You only think up.

It’s not uncommon to think that the only way to advance is to buoy yourself to people with higher titles or more perceived power. While it’s fine to connect with people who are further along in their careers, don’t forget that there’s also value in meeting people in every direction of where you are in your career trajectory: down, laterally and up.

7. You underestimate the power of someone’s Rolodex.

When you meet someone, you’re not meeting just them, you’re meeting hundreds of people.  As we can see from social media, people have hundreds (if not thousands) of contacts. While some are naturally stronger than others, keep in mind that they are a gatekeeper to the people they know and to whom they could introduce you. Don’t write someone off because you don’t see immediate value.

8. You don’t do what you say you’re going to do.

This is a quick way to chip away at trust and lessen your credibility. If you say you’ll follow up with an email today, do it. If you say you’ll be at the dinner, be there and be on time.

9. You think you don’t need to network.

As someone who hosts monthly networking events in three cities for hundreds of people at each event, I often hear this when I extend invitations. When you say you “don’t need to network”you’re saying you will never be in need of the help of others nor do you want to meet anyone new to help them.

Networking is a fancy word for relationship building, so you’re basically saying that you are happy to live with the circle you’ve created and have put up a wall to anyone else. What you may mean is that you’re not currently looking for something you think you can gain from meeting new people (refer back to point 5) or that you don’t like big events, in which case, express that.

If you see yourself in any of these networking faux-pas, consider working on them in the New Year to expand your circle!

06 Lessons Every Entrepreneur Can Learn From Santa

When you think of history's greatest entrepreneurs your probably includes Andrew Carnegie, Thomas Edison, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs but if you stop there you’re leaving out a big name: Santa Claus.

Since the third century BC the man, myth and legend known variously as Saint Nicholas, Kris Kringle, La Befana, Yule Tomten and Christkindli has been an amazing entrepreneur each and every startup founder can learn from.

1. Nobody tops Santa for customer loyalty.

Mr. Claus certainly picked on large market when be decided to embark on his annual journey. There are approximately 2.2 billion customers in the world. And even though not every child believes in Santa, one estimate was at 1 in 5, that’s still a large market that any entrepreneur would love to have.

But, a large market isn’t just enough to justify Santa’s entrepreneurial spirit. He effectively segments his customers between who's naughty and nice. What makes this segmentation so successful is it’s simplicity. If you want to be bad, Santa isn’t going to waste his time on bringing you the toy that you’ve dreamt about all year.

As for the children who made the "nice'' list, Santa takes the time to listen to them. Whether it’s a bicycle, game system or puppy, Santa listens to each and every one of his customers and delivers what each one wants every December 24th. 

Why your business needs to do this: To become a successful entrepreneur you too need to have a large, targeted market that can support your business. Additionally, you should segment your customers so that you can make your loyal customers your first priority. Finally, and most importantly, you should always listen to the wants and needs of your customers.

As CD Baby founder Derek Sivers once said, “The single most important thing is to make people happy. If you are making people happy, as a side effect, they will be happy to open up their wallets and pay you.” And, Santa, has certainly made his customers happy over the years.

2. He knows the value of diversification.

One of my favorite holiday films is the “The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus.” The movie documents Santa’s humble start with just one simple toy -- a replica of his pet cat. When the children enjoy the figure, they want other presents. Santa makes good on this suggestion. He begins to diversify his operation so that he can offer children across the world a wide range of presents.

Why your business needs to do this: Don’t paint yourself into a corner by only offering one product or service. You don’t want to suffer the same fate as Blockbuster. Instead, look for ways to diversify your business by offering related products, opening up an ecommerce site, or tapping into overseas markets.

3. He takes breaks.

After spending much of the year preparing and delivering presents to children all over the world in just one night, Claus takes a much deserved break to recoup and recharge. Don’t be surprised if you spot Santa surfing or relaxing on the beach and spending some quality time with Mrs. Claus following the holidays. The man works hard. He deserves a much-needed break from his workshop at the North Pole.

Why your business needs to do this: Entrepreneurs are notorious for working excessive hours and rarely taking any time off. In fact, according to a 2013 survey, 43 percent of small business owners are taking less vacation time than five years ago. It's gotten so bad that even I had to make a New Years resolution to take a vacation.

Taking a break from work should become a priority for entrepreneur. Without taking some take off, you aren’t giving your body and brain to recharge. Stepping away from the business can also help you become more inspired and discover new perspectives on problems that have been blocking you from success.

4. He's recession proof.

Even turbulent economic times can’t stop Santa Claus - not even the Great Depression. While children may not receive as many gifts as they would like, Santa is still able to give them a present when they wake-up in the morning. It’s the magic of Santa that “keeps them from imagining the worst.” Santa is a necessary part of the holidays, who doesn’t have to rely on huge marketing budgets and is willingly to cutback on the number of presents he delivers when times get tough.

Why your business needs to do this: Recession proofing your business is a challenge, but if you want to prevent the economy from impacting your business, you should focus on selling an essential product or service and tighten your budget so that you don’t spend money on items that aren’t needed. You can also embark on a creative guerrilla marketing campaign - just like Jolly St. Nick who doesn’t have to pay for all the free advertising that he is given during the holidays.

5. He's been indispensable for a long time.

Why has Santa been able to remain relevant after all of these centuries? It’s because Santa makes children happy and inspires them to become better people. Furthermore, children need to believe in Santa if they want to use their imaginations to be creative and solve problems. Jacqueline Woolley, professor and chair of the Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, conducted research that discovered believing in Santa “exercises children's deductive reasoning abilities and their use of evidence.”

When it comes to a child’s happiness and imagination, Santa has definitely cornered the market. That will continue to make him indispensable for generations to come.

Why your business needs to do this: How is your business inspiring its customers? What are you offering that makes you a part of their lives? What sets you apart from your competitors? Answering these questions will your business indispensable for its customers. Just like Santa has become one of the most important components of the holidays, your business should make it’s way into becoming a part of your customers everyday lives.

6. Santa built a solid team that stays with him for the long run.

Santa Claus didn’t become such a legend on his own. He has a skilled and talented team to backing him. There are the elves making the toys. There are the reindeer pulling his sleigh. Santa, like all successful entrepreneurs, surrounds himself with the right individuals to make his operation run smoothly. Additionally, he has a knack for using the unique talents of specific team members -- we all know the story of Rudolph. Without his helpers, there’s no way that Santa could create and manage such an efficient business.

And, he also shows appreciation for his team members. He’s known to share his milk, cookies, and carrots with reindeer while making his legendary global trek.

Why your business needs to do this: As a business owner, it may feel like the weight or the world rests solely on your shoulders because working alone has several drawbacks, such as decreasing productivity and morale. Having the right team in place ensures that you produce quality content and products, as well as reducing the pressure of meeting deadlines and goal projections.

Happy Holidays!

10 Skills Online Marketing Teams Must Have to Succeed

Whether the goal is leads, sales or brand awareness, the task of every online marketing team is to significantly scale up results. Over the past couple of years, I have worked with over 6000 businesses and some of the best online marketing teams in the world. There is a pattern of how those teams are put together and one of the most important aspects is the variety of skill sets.

Online marketing teams need a number of different skills to be able to grow campaigns effectively and this article lists ten of the most important skills every online marketing team should have.

1. Web designing.

The designer of online marketing campaigns has to create visuals that sell and represent the brand at the same time. Web design is frequently outsourced but even then, the person who manages the outsourced design tasks has to judge the quality of the design and have a general overview of what to look for.

2. Managing social media.

Integrating the organic presence of the brand with paid campaigns is essential. Potential customers frequently visit Facebook pages, Twitter profiles and other social media pages before making a purchasing decision.

3. Knowing Google AdWords and Bing.

Paid search is still top priority for businesses that serve an existing demand. People actively searching for a product or service are much more likely to purchase than people who are passively exposed to an ad.

Serving existing demand in real-time is the very basis of digital marketing and a must know for online marketers.

4. Effectively analyzing data.

Tracking what websites people visited before coming to their website and how they behave once there allows marketers to know customers and scale up campaigns quickly. Whether it is knowing advanced Google Analytics or data retrieval from other third party tools, data analysis is always needed to measure performance and optimize campaigns.

5. Being familiar with SEO.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is widely believed to support paid search, in particular when it comes to Google AdWords. One part of SEO is to strategically insert relevant keywords on website pages. The price of Google AdWords is influenced by something called the "quality score,'' so the higher the score, the cheaper the ad. How relevant the ad is for the search query people type in and the page of the website people land on is influenced by keywords. Well done SEO will result in cheaper ads.

6. Competent project management.

I have found that the size of online marketing teams has significantly increased since 2011. I now often see teams of 125 people per account, working on campaigns for just one platform. This is good for the marketing industry. Marketers who have gathered experience in campaign creation have one more way to take their career to the next step by keeping large specialized teams on track.

7. Know the many facets of content marketing.

We have all heard the phrase "content is king." In the past, content marketers were frequently confused with professional copy writers. Content marketing nowadays involves much more than writing. It includes infographics, infomercials, videos, and podcasts.

Additionally, content marketers are expected to be familiar with best practices to distribute the content. That touches upon the field of online PR.

8. Programming.

A minimum of basic programming skills is essential, especially for companies with multiple physical locations and ecommerce businesses. One examples of a situation where programmers are needed is to automatically insert the name of the closest city on the landing page based on the IP address of the website visitor.

Additionally, making landing pages load faster typically increases conversion rates. While some ads are more likely to lead to conversions than others, the landing page is what converts in the end. There are very few exceptions to this such as Facebook lead ads where the ad converts but even then web developers come in handy to customize fields.

9. Seeing the vision.

Whether I work with small businesses or the largest advertising platforms in the world such as Bing Ads, everything we do has to fit into the bigger picture of the company. 

Seeing beyond short term goals and understanding the long term repercussions of marketing activities and decisions is an important aspect of scaling a business.

10. Being proactive.

Proactive online marketers experiment with ad strategies, jump on trends, develop fresh ideas and explore new sales funnels. Many online advertising platforms boost traffic during private beta phases and shortly after the launch of new tools. By staying on top of updates, businesses can beat competitors by getting the first mover advantage as soon as tools become available.

06 Ways to Stand Out in a World That Won't Shut Up

There are tactics to self-branding, content marketing and entrepreneurship that the general public just isn't aware of. It’s true. I learn more and more every day when I network, read, write and test. There are super creative tactics some entrepreneurs use to get their brands and companies ahead.

Check out these stats from ACI, which explain every minute online:

• Nearly 2.5 million pieces of content are shared on Facebook.
• There are nearly 300,000 tweets
• Nearly 220,000 new photos are posted on Instagram.
• Users upload 72 hours of new video content on YouTube.
• Nearly 50,000 apps are downloaded by Apple users.
• More than 200 million emails are sent.
• Amazon generates more than $80,000 in online sales.

Richard Branson used stunts to build his brand. Ryan Holiday manipulates the media. Gary Vaynerchuk uses YouTube to get his message out, and continues to be an outspoken figure. How are you supposed to stand out with all of that happening?

1. Be creative.  

Jason Fried of Basecamp is constantly on the lookout for the opportunity to create a publicity stunt. With all of the tech bubble and runaway valuation talk, he recently put out a press release showing off his company’s billion-dollar valuation. But it was a total spoof (he did the same stunt in 2009) showing an “investor” giving him $1 for .00000001 percent of his company. Check out the release here. It was an awesome stunt then and now, and helps him stand out even more.

2. Use your story.

My column, “6 Life Hacks Learned in Prison That Will Maximize Your Productivity,” enabled me to get picked up by TIME, Fox News and SF Gate. I was asked to be on numerous podcasts, speak to students at a local college and saw my personal website traffic explode. Everyone has a story. Figuring out how to use my story to my advantage has provided endless benefit.

3. Create a community.  

Sujan Patel is killing it right now. His influence has grown tenfold, and his community has quadrupled “overnight.” Here’s his secret: he’s been hosting dinners all over the world for the past few months. He meets with different marketers and entrepreneurs, and has started amassing a new following. Hands down, this has been the most effective strategy to build his community, and his efforts are paying off. His content is shared more, and has been regularly contributing to high-level media outlets.

I spoke to Ryan Hoover at Product Hunt recently, and his secret to Product Hunt’s success was his community. The moral of the story is that community will help push your stuff forward and rise to the top. It’s the bottom-up approach to standing out, and it’s probably one of the most effective strategies.

4. Take a stand online.

I’m big on prison reform. I volunteer with The Last Mile (I also designed its site!), and am working on a project that will help inmates get jobs. I’m pro entrepreneurship, and take a stand for entrepreneurs wherever I am online. I talk about both topics on LinkedIn, Quora, Facebook, Instagram, Medium and in my content online, podcasts, my personal website and blog.

5. Be everywhere.

Truth be told, I’m not a huge fan of Tai Lopez, but he’s everywhere. I see him when I’m scrolling through Facebook or Instagram. I see him on YouTube. I see him doing guest blog posts and on high-level media outlets. He’s everywhere.

Or, take the Fat Jewish. I saw him on the side of a freakin’ bus for crying out loud. Same principle. If you do some of these other tasks effectively, being everywhere will help to increase your exposure tenfold.

6. Be consistent.

The other day, I met with Noah Kagan, founder of App Sumo and Sumo Me, to play chess, when I “let” him beat me. I was talking to him about creating a stronger community, and developing my platform. He told me, “Dude, just do it. Send out a short little email talking about things you like. And do them consistently. Choose a day. And commit yourself to that day, every week. People will start to expect it.”

It’s a busy, congested, saturated world online. Figuring out how to amplify your voice is not just important, but vital to creating a strong brand. I recommend starting with figuring out how you’re unique, building your community and staying consistent. Good luck.

5 Steps to Becoming the 'Face' of Your Company

Being the “face” of a company is an intimidating role, and as a result, many CEOs and founders shy away from the spotlight. They consider their move either a sign of humility, or as personal protection against possible future embarrassments for the company.

Either way, the company is forced to exist without a personal brand at the head of the organization. And that's not wise.

In today’s world, having a strong personal brand leading your company is radically important -- some would even say essential. Consumers are becoming more and more distrustful of corporate brands and advertising, yet always inherently trust people to a higher degree.

Case studies show that just the presence of a human face can increase conversion rates, and people's personal brands on social media always have an easier time attracting and communicating with followers.

In fact, if executed properly, your personal brand can provide a secondary means of traffic to your site, increase the influence and authority of your brand and improve your consumer-brand relationships, all at the same time.

Still, becoming the “face” of your company isn’t a straightforward or easy process, and it’s going to take a lot of time. When you’re ready, get started with these five steps and move your company toward a more personalized future:

1. Feature yourself on your company website.

The first step is also the simplest. Create a miniature profile for yourself on your company website. Include your name and a brief biography on your About or Team page, and include links out to your social media profiles (Twitter and LinkedIn are musts, as is a professional Facebook page for your personality -- don’t just accept friend requests on your personal page).

You can (and should) also set yourself up as an author on your company blog if you aren’t there already, and be sure to include your headshot. People prefer seeing faces to bland descriptions.

2. Publish content -- as yourself.

Next, start publishing content regularly, under your own name -- not your brand’s. Stick to industry topics, and always write in the first-person perspective. Reveal bits of your personality throughout your writing process, so people get to know you through your material. Aim for at least one new post every week, either on your company’s blog page or on a separate personal blog that you’ve set up.

A separate personal blog will be more effective in the long run, serving as an additional opportunity for conversions, but if you’re not ready for that step, stick with what you have.

3. Become active on social media -- as yourself.

Next, start posting more frequently on social media. Be sure to syndicate all your new posts, and work your old posts into a recurring rotation. Respond to anyone who reaches out to you, and thank people when they "like" or share your posts. You should also get involved in your industry by jumping into existing conversations and engaging with other influencers.

The more you post on social media, the more visibility you’ll earn -- but,again, stay within the industry you want to be known for.

4. Network frequently and take advantage of PR opportunities.

Whether in-person at professional networking events, or online through LinkedIn groups and one-off webinars, work to increase your network of contacts. Attract more followers to your personal social media profiles, and keep a running list of contacts handy for when you want to market a webinar or seminar or your own.

Take advantage of any PR opportunities you can find, too -- submit press releases, speak at events or host free workshops to people in your area. Activities like these will attract a great deal of attention to your personal profiles.

5. Casually layer-in references to your company.

When you start building a reputation, start making more references to your company. List it on all your social profiles for sure, and mention your company whenever you network or attend speaking events. You can even use your company as a major point of reference for examples and case studies as you start writing more content.

Your goal here isn’t to advertise your company, but to make the association clear -- remember, people trust you, and they’ll naturally trust whatever you’re associated with as long as you don’t try to jam it down their throats.

Building and managing a personal brand is an ongoing process that demands continued upkeep and dedication. The more time and effort you invest in this strategy, the more it’s going to pay off for you in the long run. As long as you maintain the quality of your content, respond appropriately to your followers and keep reaching out to new people, you should be able to accumulate tens of thousands of followers and earn a line of new, relevant traffic to your corporate site.

Your new role may come with a bit of extra pressure, and one more thing you'll have to manage, but you’ll likely find that it’s well worth the effort. 

08 Tips to Find Inner Peace

When things go bad, we have a tendency to focus on all the negative thoughts racing through our minds. It’s just easier to let that negativity take control as opposed to fighting back with positive thoughts. The problem with the idea of fighting back with positive thoughts is that you’re going to make yourself even more anxious and stressed out, which definitely is not good for your overall health.

But, how can you find a sense of harmony, emotional well-being, and replace those negative thoughts with positive ones? You can start by practicing these eight tips that can lead you to inner peace.

1. Practice acceptance.

This may sound difficult, but it’s one of the most effective ways for a person to began achieving inner peace. But, what exactly does practicing acceptance entail?

It simply means letting go of the things that you have absolutely no control over. Freeing yourself from this fact can relieve a ton of anxiety and stress that are building up in your everyday life. To get started, here are a couple of suggestions:

• Stop complaining about the situation that you’re in and try to focus on finding a solution. Instead of yelling at your computer because it’s too slow, accept that it’s outdated and either find a way to improve its speed or purchase a new computer.
• Bite the bullet -- the proverbial bullet. Accept the fact that things aren’t always perfect. Start by letting go of the small annoyances in your life and build your way up to bigger scenarios.

2. Listen to soothing sounds.

As Maya Angelou once said, “Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.” It turns out that this legendary writer / poet was on to something. Research has found that music has the power to reduce anxiety, stress and decrease depression. It’s also been found to be a powerful aid when mediating.

If you don’t have access to music, however, there are soothing sounds all around you that you can listen to. Open your window and listen to birds chirping or even the wind blowing. These soothing sounds can help relax you when you’re feeling overwhelmed. Remember, you can pull up music and sounds on your computer and on your cell phone.

Sometimes it helps to pull up a motivational speaker like Tony Robbins, Les Brown, Zig Ziggler and Jim Rohn. If you are suffering, you will have to keep mixing it up to keep yourself in the safe zone -- or pull yourself up.

3. Get outside.

Speaking of nature, getting outside and enjoying the great outdoors is another way to find inner peace. One study featuring college students “found that students sent into the forest for two nights had lower levels of cortisol -- a hormone often used as a marker for stress -- than those who spent that time in the city.” There was also another study where “researchers found a decrease in both heart rate and levels of cortisol in subjects in the forest when compared to those in the city.”

Related: 5 Surefire Ways to Manage Entrepreneur Stress

4. Smile.

Have you ever been out and about and are greeted by a sincere smile? I bet that made your day. How do you feel when your child smiles at you? You can’t help but smile back. That’s because, smiling stimulates our brain’s reward mechanisms. Much like when we purchase something or eat something delicious. It's the same type of stimulation to our brain.

Whenever you’re looking for inner peace, just smile and laugh at your current situation. It will make you feel better and calm. If you can’t force yourself to smile, you know you can fake a smile, and research has shown that even if you put a fake smile on your face -- it still lifts you up a little. And that may save you. Surround yourself with those who are cheerful -- those who do smile a lot, because smiling also happens to be contagious.

5. Volunteer.

When you take the time to care for others and show compassion, you’re replacing all negative thoughts and anxiety, because you’re no longer consumed with your own problems. And, there’s no better option for caring for others than volunteering. If you can manage to find a way to volunteer on a regular basis, it can help you not get so far down, where it's hard to pull out of it.

In fact, according to a study commissioned by UnitedHealth Group, it was discovered that:

• 94 percent of people who volunteered in the last twelve months said that volunteering improved their mood.
• 96 percent reported that volunteering enriched their sense of purpose in life.
• 78 percent of them said that volunteering lowered their stress levels.

Additionally, volunteering has been found to reduce chronic pain and make the volunteer feel healthier.

6. Affirmations.

Originating from the Latin word affirmare, meaning "to make steady, strengthen,” affirmations “are proven methods of self-improvement because of their ability to rewire our brains.” Repeating phrases like, “My body is healthy; my mind is brilliant; my soul is tranquil” have the power to redirect negative thoughts into positive and calm thoughts.

Dr. Carmen Harra shared 35 affirmations on the Huffington Post to get you started, but you can use any combination of soothing words of phrases that feel right for you.

7. Show your gratitude.

Realizing what you're grateful for is another way for you to find inner peace. 

I personally like to take a moment out of everyday and ask questions to myself like, “What can I be grateful for today?” and, “Who should I call today to tell them I care about them?" This helps me feel better about myself.

8. Keep breathing.

This could possibly be the easiest way to uncover inner peace. Science has proven that breathing can manage stress and anxiety, along with lowering blood pressure and heart rate. By taking five deep breaths, holding it in for a second, and exhaling through the mouth slowly, you’ll feel an instant wave of calmness come over you. Breathing is also a major work in meditation, but you don't need to be meditating to say to yourself in a time of anxiety or stress, "Breathe," or. "You are okay."

It's important to keep a hold on your emotional health and to do the actions required to keep you at your best. Do it for yourself. Do it for your friends. Do it for your loved ones.

06 Invaluable Lessons from My Clients

It’s hard to believe that 2015 is almost over. I had so many incredible opportunities to help companies large and small build more "bankable" leaders and therefore more bankable businesses. As is always the case, my clients taught me some powerful lessons that haven’t just informed how I work: Some have actually shaped how I live.

When I codified last year’s learnings, I got such a positive response that I thought I’d make this an annual thing. So, read on!

1. Put your money where your mouth is.

Of late, my consulting practice has focused on larger, longer-term projects. The reason is simple: I want to help my clients make a tangible impact on their business. If a company needs to grow its leadership capability, for example,coaching one manager may be helpful, but to see dramatic returns, the company needs to invest in leaders across the board.

This is true for any strategic investment. In the early 2000s, Blockbuster committed only partially to funding Blockbuster Online despite the belief that this vertical would help the company remain viable. Had Blockbuster gone “all in,” however, it might have averted bankruptcy.

Along these lines, something I hear from potential clients is, “It’s a bad time to invest in our leaders, because [our business is struggling, we’re really busy, etc.].”

But much like having children or going on vacation, there’s never "a good time." I’m not suggesting blindly spending money just because something is important (as Mark Zuckerberg learned when he invested $100 million in the Newark Public Schools). But, if a solution to a big problem has a powerful ROI, I've seen my smartest clients reap the rewards by putting their money where mouths are.

2. Safety matters, now more than ever.

You’ve probably heard of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. The hierarchy argues that we must have our basic human needs (like sustenance and safety) met before even thinking about needs like belonging, achievement or meaning. This year’s attacks in Paris, the United States, Lebanon, Kenya and elsewhere have fueled our fear to seemingly unprecedented levels. And, if we don’t feel safe, we find it hard to focus on much else.

For leaders, the term “safety” as applied to the workplace carries an even broader definition. One manager I know said it perfectly: “My responsibility doesn’t end with physical safety -- I also have to make sure my team feels psychologically safe.” And that means reducing anxiety through clear expectations, job security and a trusting environment. 

3. Humble leaders beat arrogant leaders every time.

In recent years, research has shown that, individually and collectively, we are becoming more narcissistic -- and I'm not just talking about millennials. Though only 6 percent of the population is diagnosable, powerful societal influences are tempting the rest of us to join the cult of self. For instance, one study randomly assigned participants to one of two groups: One group's members spent time on their social media pages, and the other group simply surfed the Internet. The social media group showed immediate increases in narcissism!

Not surprisingly, narcissism hurts organizational performance. Self-aggrandizing CEOs, for example, tend to make riskier investments, and their organizations tend to exhibit an extreme and volatile performance. Our society’s trend towards narcissism presents a challenge for leaders to fight the cult of self at all costs.

My most successful clients understand their limitations, listen to others and don’t have to be the smartest person in the room. Balancing humility and confidence is essential -- not just to succeed at work, but to sustain our relationships with our families and friends.

4. Self-awareness isn’t our default state, but choosing to get there is worth the effort.

Self-awareness means understanding yourself and how others see you. As I’ve argued before, self-awareness is also the meta-skill of the 21st century: Among other benefits, self-aware people are happier with their careers and relationships, are better students, perform better at work and run more profitable companies.

Unfortunately, self-awareness rarely comes naturally. We are generally motivated to see ourselves in a positive light, even if that view is inconsistent with reality. And even when we want to know the truth, we often can’t see it. For example, one recent study showed that almost 60 percent of people surveyed said they wanted to change jobs, but of that number, almost half didn’t know what their next chapter should be!

Currently, I’m studying people who have made dramatic improvements in their self-awareness -- our “special unicorns” as our team affectionately calls them. They describe self-awareness as more of a state than a trait -- something we can prioritize and hone throughout our lives.

Carl Sagan once observed, “It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.” My most esteemed clients regularly make the brave choice to grasp the universe, and themselves, as they really are.

5. Other people’s opinions about us are more important than we realize.

I was recently talking to a friend who wanted to change the direction of his business but didn’t know where to take it. The advice I gave him wasn’t what he expected. “Trying to find the answer within yourself probably won’t help much,” I observed. “In fact, introspection has a surprisingly limited value in building self-knowledge.”

Instead, I suggested he ask the people who knew him best what they thought he could do to play his passions. Then he should compare their feedback to his self-observations and see if he gained any new insight.

When it comes to our skills, passions and patterns, we can sometimes be the last to know. But are our self-views totally worthless? Of course not. True self-awareness is a complex interweaving of both our views and others’ views of us. The problem is that most people prefer to ponder their own perspective.

My clients who regularly seek feedback (and really listen to it) have far more control over their destiny than those who don’t. After hearing the results of her 360 leadership degree assessment, one client recently observed, “I hate doing stuff like this -- but it’s the bad news that’s good to hear.” Truer words were never spoken, and it’s not a coincidence that she is a highly successful leader.

6. Remember what matters the most.

For many of us, alongside the joy of engagements, marriages and the birth of children and grandchildren, 2015 has brought death, divorce and illness. In spite of those life events, quite often we still prioritize work -- oftentimes far too much, given the circumstances.

Earlier this year, a family member was nearing the end of a heartbreaking battle with cancer. One day at the hospital, I took a client call. I dialed in, but within the first minute started to tear up -- it was mortifying. I was surprised when, with equal parts forgiveness and firmness, my client ordered: “Get off the phone. We can reschedule. At the end of the day, this call doesn’t matter.”

His words were a poignant reminder: The money, significance and meaning we get from work really don't matter when the real issue concerns our loved ones and our health.

Melinda Gates, whose job quite literally entails saving the world, said it well: “On the day I die, I want people to think that I was a great mom and a great family member and a great friend. I care more about that than I care about anything else.” That really puts things in perspective, doesn’t it?

06 Reasons You Can't Go Wrong With the Pet Industry

While there are many reasons why some businesses succeed and others do not, one of the most important factors is choosing the right industry at the right point in time. One of the industries that many investors are currently betting on is the pet industry, and here are six reasons why.

1. It’s recession-proof.

A while ago, I asked Alexis Perakis-Valat, former CEO of L'Oréal Germany and now part of the global management committee, why he chose the cosmetics industry. He said that while there were many reasons, one of the most important things to him was to choose an industry that is recession-proof.

Ever since then, I have analyzed certain industries in which to open my businesses to see just how recession proof they are. The pet industry seems to defy all odds during recessions and has been very little affected by economic crisis so far.

Here is an excerpt of Google Trends for the search terms “dog toys” and “cat toys”:

2. It’s predictable.

The nightmare of every entrepreneur and investor is to have a seasonal business. Seasonal demand limits the cash-flow to a couple of weeks per year, which means you need to stack up on inventory based on an estimate of future demand. Needless to say, that this is not ideal. However, there is a difference between a seasonal product and a relatively well-predictable demand that has seasonal peaks.

Predictability is worth more than high demand during Halloween (e.g. for a costume shop) or Christmas (e.g. for a Christmas tree manufacturer), because it reduces the risk of having too much inventory and allows for long-term planning. As seen on the Google Trends traffic, the pet industry has peaks in December but maintains a steady level of base demand throughout the year.

3. There is no need to educate the customer.

If you are a fan of Shark Tank or Dragon’s Den, you know that some of the most innovative products and services do not get funding. The reason being that the biggest expense would be to educate the customer on what the product does and why it is so important. 

The vast majority of new pet products need no explanation whatsoever. Pet owners already know that health, training and the entertainment of their furry family members is important and are happy to give new products a shot in the hope that it will benefit their pets.

4. The industry benefits from the Kinderschema.

Ethologist and biologist Konrad Lorenz studied what set of traits makes things appear cute to us. This set of traits is now known as the so-called Kinderschema which describes the head-to-body ratio, the position of the eyes (below the midline of the head), and size of the eyes relative to the size of the head and more. The idea behind the Kinderschema is that we are hardwired to find things cute whether we want it or not.

One of the reasons products for children and pets are attractive to many entrepreneurs and investors is that these industries benefit enormously from the Kinderschema. We are attracted by puppies, kittens or any young animal for that matter because they have the perfect Kinderschema. Big eyes, a large head, the right head to body ratio and other traits that our subconscious perceives as adorable. 

5. Good margins

For retail businesses, you are looking to have an average margin anywhere north of 60 percent. While dog and cat food margins are mostly around fifty percent, the most popular items such as chewing toys and bones have 70 percent margins. Food for pets accounts for slightly more than a third of the entire market, with 23.04 billion spent in pet food annually. Designer collars, luxury clothes and other high-end accessories for dogs also have great margins, which helps to keep the average margin high.

6. Growing market

The pet industry is not only attractive for retailers but also for service businesses. There was a steep increase in demand over the recent years as the number of pets has grown to 312.1 million. Since 1994, the market has more than tripled in size and grown from 17 billion to over 60 billion in 2015 in the U.S. alone. This means that not only are there more pets who need to be fed, walked, entertained, groomed and boarded, but pet owners continue to spend money on them as well.

Dog owners spend an average of around $1,641 and cat owners approximately $1,125 per year. Less than two thirds of the costs are spent on vet visits, leaving the remaining two-thirds up to retailers and service businesses.

7 Social Media Power Techniques that Build Your Brand and Business

It was 2007 and my business was in trouble. For the previous 20 years, Unique Photo had been one of the largest distributors of photographic supplies, including film (35mm, 120/220, Polaroid, Kodak, Fujifilm, etc.), cameras, photo paper, chemistry, and accessories. At one time, we even represented 5 percent of all rolls of film sold in the U.S. Our customers were primarily small retail outlets, such as camera stores, photo labs, tourist shops, pharmacies, and professional photographers. They relied on us for low prices, quick delivery, and stellar customer service.

As we entered the early and mid-2000’s, we were plagued with many seemingly insurmountable attacks on our business:

• Film cameras (and film) were replaced by digital cameras at a much faster pace, which no one had anticipated
• Digital cameras became available everywhere, no longer just at small stores - but at places such as Walmart, Target, and Best Buy
• Product became easily accessible via the Internet, aided by the emergence of the big gorilla -- Amazon
• Lifespan of the digital-camera model decreased, making inventory management extremely difficult
• Margin on film was 20 percent, while on digital product it was closer to 10 percent
• Small stores, and in particular local drug stores, were being bought up by large chains – such as CVS and Walgreens
• Digital imaging led the one-hour photo lab to go out of business because customers were no longer forced to develop and print their pictures
• The number of camera stores decreased significantly, from more than 10,000  to a few thousand...and then to a few hundred

Simply put: all our customers were going out of business, our product was losing margin, and our competition was growing in number, capability, and size. New Jersey was our home turf and we watched much of its camera business go to the biggest electronics store in the world, B&H Photo of New York City. I had to do something or my family’s 60-year-old business would also be done.

My solution was to open the Unique Photo camera superstore. Yes, I opened a store when most other stores had gone under. I wanted to reinvent the camera-store concept and build something unique, no pun intended. The problem was, how was I going to execute this new concept with limited time and budget? We were so far behind the competition; we couldn't outspend Best Buy in advertising dollars or surpass Amazon in technological prowess and presence. Unique was a B2B business, new to the retail business, which meant that consumers had never heard of our brand.

I decided to give social media a try. It was inexpensive, had a low entry barrier, and I could do it myself. I learned the techniques of using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and email. I even invented a few tricks of my own, including a two-brand strategy for enhancing the power of the company’s and my personal brands.

Within five years we became a highly recognized brand (more than 50 percent of residents and 80 percent of photographers) in New Jersey for camera equipment and photography supplies, and we became one of the largest, single-location camera stores in the country. In 2013, we were picked as the best camera store in the country by DIR Magazine.

Using social media to build my brand and business worked, and even better than I had even imagined.

Here are 7 social-media power techniques that I used to great success:

1. Up-To-Date Social Sites

Make sure the information on your company pages and on social-media platforms (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest) are up-to-date and accurate. Nothing screams small-time more than those pages having old or inaccurate information. Make sure your logo, background image, etc., are sharp, professional, and consistent across all platforms.

2. Quality Posts Every Day

Post at least once per day on each platform. If you can’t personally do it, hire someone who can. This will build followers. The most common way to lose them is to not have new content there. Furthermore, your posts should be interesting and valuable to your customers. Posting a sale special gets only 10 percent of the views that something informative or humorous would. Customers will keep coming back if there is something there for them.

3. Follow Your Competition

This works best on Twitter and Instagram. Not only should you follow your competitors' accounts, but you should also follow their followers -- many will follow you back! I would sometimes look at their followers and try to identify potential high-value targets and tweet at them myself.

4. Always Answer Your Customers

Only a few hours should lapse before every customer is responded to -- with no exceptions. If the discussion needs to be private, post something like, “Personal message sent” Or “Call/email me at…”. Complaints should be addressed, as well as a “thank you” sent for compliments. Once you interact with customers on social media, you deepen your relationship with them and they never forget you. Many customers will re-post and tell others, so make sure the conversation ends well. Both good and bad comments last forever on the Internet.

5. Be a Customer-Service Leader

As the owner, principal or executive at your company, the best use of your time and position is to interact with customers directly on social media. I would monitor the company’s Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook and respond to customers quickly -- sometimes in the middle of the night. Getting a tweet response to a customer’s problem at midnight always impresses and makes him or her feel special. It can turn an unhappy customer into an advocate for your company. For example, a tweet that says, “Sorry you had that problem (be specific), I will look into it first thing in the morning” changes a customer’s entire experience.

6. Show Your Face on Facebook

Make comments on your company’s Facebook page via your personal account. Customers love seeing a top executive give some inside ball. It attracts them to you and your company and demonstrates that the company is led by someone who is authentic. For example, when my company would post information on a hot upcoming product, I would post additional information about exactly when it should be available or a feature not mentioned in the company’s post.

7. Don’t Forget LinkedIn

Connect with your customers on LinkedIn. This personal connection makes the customers feel that you care about them, and that they are more than just revenue to you. I have gotten orders, complaints, compliments, and suggestions from many of the several hundred customers I have connected with on LinkedIn. And 99.9 percent of these connections are still customers.

Whether you have a large, medium, or small company, a retail store, or are an independent contractor, photographer, lawyer, doctor, plumber, shoemaker or florist, you can employ these power techniques today. They will immediately bring you new clients or customers and sales.

To be successful today, you need the attitude that social media is not something you do. It’s a lifestyle.

7 Steps to Crafting Your Strategic Vision

So you came up with an idea, got yourself some funding, devel­oped a product, gained customer traction, found a market niche, and generated some revenue. Maybe even a lot of revenue. That’s great. You’ve gone farther than the vast majority of your peers.

The problem is, you can’t just keep putting one foot in front of the other forever. Sooner or later you’ll reach a point where that no longer works. You have to have an overarching vision or strategy for your company. If you don’t, you simply can’t make smart decisions to help you get there. You won’t be able to answer the questions that come up from time to time, such as: Where do we go from here? How do we grow? What’s the most effective way to scale? Will processes make us more effective or more bureaucratic? Should we focus or diversify? How do we know whether to stick with the plan or pivot?

In my experience, these are the seven steps to crafting a strategic plan:

Step 1: Define your team. If you have a leadership team, that’s the core team throughout the entire process. The CEO is still the boss, but you might want to have an impartial facilitator to keep things moving and keep folks from killing each other (this stuff can get pretty heated). Everyone stays focused at every meeting. Everyone commits to being all in.

Step 2: Be transparent. Everyone is completely open and brutally honest. Everything is on the table. There are no preconceived notions, sacred cows, pet projects, or personal agendas. You’re not there to play politics. You’re there for one reason only: to come up with the right overall vision and strategy for the company.

Step 3: Take stock. Someone should present an objective snapshot of how the company and its products stack up next to the competition within their respective markets. A SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis is a very good idea. Consider interviewing or surveying key stakeholders (board directors, employees, customers) and present notable findings.

Step 4: Hash it out. Within that context, first a) brainstorm, then b) debate, and finally c) come to a consensus on the overall vision and strategy until you can’t stand to be in the same room anymIore. That may take several sessions depending on the specific process you choose to employ. You may need time in between meetings to explore various market opportunities and report back.

Step 5: Call someone's BS if necessary. Whatever plan you come up with has to comply with the laws of physics and economics. You don’t live in Utopia, and nothing happens in the real world simply because you want it that way. That’s the reason for brutal honesty: so at least one person is there to call bullshit when he hears it.

Step 6: Get feedback. Once you have a proposed vision and strategy, it’s a good idea to try it out on those who will ultimately have to embrace and execute it to see if it makes sense for your situation. Bounce it off some key employees, outside consultants, or even trusted customers and partners to see what they think.

Step 7: Finalize and communicate. Consider the feedback, iterate if necessary, finalize, and communicate. Restructure to align current products, organization, and plans to the new vision and strategy. Everything must align. You can also put together an externalized and sanitized version, formulate it into a brand platform, and incorporate as needed into external marketing, communication, sales, and investor material.

You can scale this process up for a big company and down for a small one. But whatever you do, make sure you do it. If you don’t have an overall vision and strategy, it’s hard to make effective decisions and answer critical questions like how do we grow, should we diversify, and how do we know whether to stick with the plan or pivot?

Here is a very public example. Twitter filed its S-1 prospectus to the SEC on October 3, 2013, and went public about a month later. At that time, the company wrote, “We aim to become an indispensable daily companion to live human experiences.” It went on to provide a number of strategies for accomplishing that goal and growing its business, all of which hinged on substantially growing the number and engagement of its users.

Unfortunately, the growth rate and engagement of the company’s users has slowed dramatically and seems to be flattening out way short of its goals. And while its revenues are growing, expenses are growing almost proportionately. Meanwhile, its advertising market share continues to be very small relative to market leaders Google and Facebook. To make a long story short, at present, Twitter doesn’t appear to be on the right track. And since it’s a public company and a highly visible one, CEO Dick Costolo came under fire by analysts, pundits, and the media.

As a result, Costolo was on a bit of a roller-coaster ride, turning over the majority of his leadership team and coming up with various strategies du jour and new forms of metrics that might present the company in a more positive light, seemingly on the fly. Meanwhile, the stock has plummeted by roughly 50 percent since its post-IPO peak about a year ago. Finally, the embattled CEO was forced to step down. The point is, trying to come up with a company’s business strategy in real time under the excruciatingly bright lights of the public markets is brutal, to say the least. Moreover, that sort of flip-flopping around on top-line strategy can be tumultuous for a company. It can be distracting for the leadership team, demotivating for employees, and particularly hard on decision making.

Not that any of this is easy. But no matter how big or small your company is, having a reasonably coherent overall vision and strategy is the best way to find the right answers and make good decisions.