June 17 – Sharpening Our Business Savvy
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Grab a cup ‘o Joe and share what’s on your mind for an hour on this TUESDAY, JUNE 17.
Before you jump into any conclusion in any matter in your life, it is safe – yes, safe – to explore other options and points of view.
Same with your small business that you want to pursue: Before you build, it is beneficial and eye-opening to explore many different ways other people are thinking about the same concept, question, situation.
Today, we’ll explore a few more things we could and need improve continuously to make our initiated businesses thrive and grow with us.
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We are continuing our conversation about empowering each other in daily and business life.
Share your high moments when you accomplished something and it felt like Cloud Nine!
Good morning ladies, happy to be here once again! A couple of my “high moments” were doing my internship for college in NYC. I got to work on a film and a theatre production and the experience was amazing. Another moment I remember distinctly was getting my current job. I was working part time for $8.00 an hour at a local tv station and after my first interview at the college, finding out the benefits, pay, etc., I smiled and bobbed up and down the whole drive home!
Good morning all 🙂
Good morning Constance. 🙂
good morning!! When I had my first repeat customer. It was an endorsement and the best feedback I could possibly get…
Great job Menu and that is a big high. 🙂
Good morning all. When I got through boot camp was the high light of my life literally.
Good morning everyone ! I haven’t been feeling very accomplished lately 😉 Ive been on cloud nine though for the past 6 1/2 weeks that my baby has been here
good morning I want to wish you all a great day I was on cloud nine when I was working at the golf course as a gardner and moved my way up to mow the greens and not just any one was allowed to mow the greens
Karen I have to say Great Job. 🙂
That is sweet Jessica. I so miss that high of the new baby.
that should be reason enough to feel accomplished Jessica!
Good Morning, I feel have made some great accomplishments in life, with my family, my finishing college, and also in my business growth, and is a wonderful feeling!! 🙂
Virginia it is an awesome accomplishment to finish one goals. Great Job. 🙂
Virginia you go girl and get you dreams
good for you!
God morning! My high was giving birth to my kids and getting through the police academy!
Good morning, my kids are my accomplishments. I can not have children, and we were able to adopt 2 wonderful children. They are my high.
Good afternoon, I had to go to the grocery store this morning, so Im late as always,lol.
Good morning!!
Good morning! It’s not business related, but I have 2 major accomplishments.. I have 2 children that made it through very tough pregnancies and premature birth.
Retweet, Repin, Shout-Out!
RETWEET
RETWEET #1
RETWEET #2
REpin #3
REpin #4
REpin #5
@JenniferHiles Pinterest name: Jennifer Hiles
tweeted!!
@conralph and constance ralph
Re-tweeted and pinned. @beclewis and RebeccaSwenor13. I love the dresses but the red one speaks to me. 🙂
Loving that lace dress
@buttmonkee8
All done -the Italian wedding dress (white) is absolutely stunning ….actually they both are but I love white for weddings
got them all
@vrogers769 pinterest.com/vrogersangelmom/ 🙂
Did the pins! Dolphin4176
Reweeted and repins, Those dresses are beautiful.
Tweeted all 3. @lelu_lolly
@dubuque_cynthia and pinned
Step by step, we are learning many things about ourselves. It brings power to any decision-making in our lives.
Here’s a new feature on weight loss motivation —> Lose the Weight Loss Battle. Do You Want the Top 5 Reasons?
Go and leave a comment there of what you think when you read it. Thank you.
You have to begin in peace if you want to be in touch with what your body is saying about your weight loss efforts. In peace, you can hear the difference between truth and B.S. When you really want to energize your weight loss efforts, peace in the weight loss wars is the only way you will know the difference between what will help you lose weight, and what will not. But, after years in those wars, fighting, winning, and losing your weight loss battles, you get disconnected from your body. It’s difficult to know when you are really hungry
Great analogy. As I said there, I’m quite competitive and this is war I’m bound and determined to win!
It’s a personal health struggle, not a fashion issue, as it’s more often made to be. That’s I think often the core of the problem – that most dieting fads are built around just that – fads.
I can really relate. I stopped chasing the next thing and started to exercise and eat healthier and I felt much better and happier
me to Constance I just walk more and eat better and I feel better to
I said same thing Jennifer did about the analogy. When I wash my hands of something it all works out in the end.
Commented, great comparisons and advice, thank you!! 🙂
Commented! I have never actually dieted so it’s hard for me to relate to this!
Commented, diets are just fads is so true.
When I dieted it did feel like a war- but over the years I have decided I do not wanna fight that war anymore so I don’t….sometimes theres a little more of me to love but I feel like in the end Im winning w/o the battle
As we discussed yesterday at our #AMCoffee, the most important thing you can do for your business is to define its DIFFERENTIATION.
WHAT IS DIFFERENTIATION?
It is a compelling reason that you would give people to buy from you.
Many of us say that what makes them different is their service. Great. But then you gotta drill a bit deeper and answer the next consecutive Question: Wham makes my service to my customers unique?
Everybody, especially in small business, is striving to give the best service, the best attitude to win customers. What would give you a competitive edge is to answer that above question, if you consider your Service your Differentiation.
I don’t have a business but I do work for one. I think my creativity is what differentiates me from others in my field. Using the camera in unique ways and especially when it comes to video editing, photoshop and Adobe After Effects, you can really show off your creativity with those programs.
I don’t consider my service my differentiation – more my product. but I do believe in a strong attitude toward customer service – I worked many years in sales and have myself had some great customer service experiences and I can see how I felt afterward about coming back to those companies. I offer a lifetime guarantee (dependent on my ability to fulfill it of course) meaning that if anything needs repair, the customer can send it back at any time and i’ll do it. I also am very easygoing with returns and so far have not been burnt. On almost every bracelet I sell, I tell customers to tell me their size. I had one who didn’t and the bracelet was too small. I let him send it back, fixed it, and reimbursed his shipping (even though he did not request that).
I dont have a business but I enjoy helping other
I believe you have to get your creative mind juices going to get your differentiation to flow right. Hope that makes sense.
I fell that you have to give 100 % to your customer and make them feel they are the only person who matters treat them as you would want to be treated
I agree, I know when I get 100% effort/attention as a customer it makes me feel good and makes me want to come back.
It’s true also they feel connected when as you say “make them feel they are the only person who matters” which makes them feel loyal.
I don’t have a business but I think my attitude is what has gotten me where I am and I hope it gets me further!
My strong beliefs in what I sell definitely make a difference on how I present and gain customer service! 🙂
I don’t have a business. I think you should believe in what you sell.
MY husband owns a small business and its all about how you inter act with the customers.
I’m not selling anything but am definitely talked into buying by a good salesperson that can make me relate to and want their product (even if I don’t need it)
I don’t have my own business but I like to buy from small business owners. It feels a lot more personal.
What Is It that you DON’T KNOW, but desperately need to learn about + How are you going to do it?
The key is Asking the Right Questions.
Most information you need when you begin your business adventure can be accessed online. Millions of searches. You just need to tune your ability to ask the right questions from those search engines.
This process will train you how to think through many things, it’ll point out what you don’t know and where to go to fetch it.
Business, no matter how big or small, demands your attention, and you gotta have a good idea about Accounting, Taxes, SEO, Marketing, Design and a million other things like that. Don’t be frustrated or even consider to be lost. It’s easy to be lost.
What you need is FOCUS and what your business needs Now. It’ll prompt you about its priorities.
Here are some helping points to keep you focused and cool:
– Key to learning is to Ask Good Questions
Online, you’ll figure out what long-tail keywords to put into the search engine to get what you need.
– Get opinion on the same subjects from several sources!
Don’t be satisfied with just one source, thinking you got 100% of your questions covered. Go and find several more sources that speak on the same subject, but have their point of view.
Having this abundance of opinions would point to the consensus that works for YOUR business and situation.
– Challenge opinions of others
Ask more questions when you are not clear on the subject. It’s easy to “trust” opinions, as they do not require our active thinking. Challenge and see if it works for your business and situation.
I’m an expert at challenging opinions 😛
me too! Lol
Again, not a business owner but when I started my job, there were sooo many things I didn’t know. I have learned so much just by doing it. I don’t know how to make a shared folder and and share a file, I look it up. I had never sent equipment out for repair before, just get online and try it. There is always customer support to help! I really can’t believe the knowledge I’ve gain just by trying to figure it out on my own. Youtube is a great source for my profession. Especially when it comes to learning how to do a certain effect in Adobe. Odds are, someone else has had the same problem. What did people do before the internet? lol
I agree! I do occasional freelance graphic design jobs and whenever someone asks if I know how to do it I always say I do because I know how to do the research to figure it out (I obviously don’t bill that time) and I have the foundation to start with. It’s so easy to find someone experienced who has shared and the best way to learn is on the job…
Good advice
If I may add something like remember there is no dumb questions either. Don’t be afraid to ask for help if you don’t know something.
if you ask a question its is right there is never a dumb question I have to agree with that and that is great advice to
Amen!
I’ve been in my field almost 15 years and there are still things I am learning! I have no problems asking questions if I need something clarified.
That is so true especially in business the more you ask, knowledge is everything!! 🙂
There are no dumb questions, always ask questions.
Your right, knowledge is the key. Think back about 20 or 30 years ago when we didn’t have computers, things where a lot harder back then.
I don’t have my own business but desperately could use a typing class just for day to day living (I still look at my keyboard and only use a few fingers to type-failed typing 20 yrs ago in high school-lol)
I’m not afraid to ask questions when I don’t understand something. I like to learn new things and asking questions is a key part of learning.
Look what Ariane Laezza, one of our #HookedOnLife participants shared about her Business and How she does it.
Again, Ariane is one of many women who challenges her knowledge and skill level in everything she does. She considers it to be one of the best things Life Offers to all of us.
The point here is: Go to this post and see what she does to keep her business going. She never stopped to finally pursue her Passion, her new baby-enterprise that she has now time and skill to take off the ground.
One more learning experience from Ariane. One more opinion that would be added to your Critical Mass of your good customized-to-your business situation of opinions!
Very inspiring lady. I love the her quote from the top of the page. It seems a lot of her success is attributed to gaining knowledge and embracing her passion.
wow, that is so inspiring. good for her for being able to stay true to herself!
Yes very inspiring ladies. Love her quote about being youself. And that she surrounds her with with ppl who are good at things she isn’t quit yet you gain more knowledge that way
This is very inspiring. I love the fact that she has back up plans for everything she does. That is where her knowledge comes in.
I to agree with what she is doing surrounding her self with powerful ppl great mindset we all can learn a lot from her
That is so true in anything in life, you have to believe and love yourself to become successful at anything!! Thank you for sharing!!! 🙂
I love that she educated herself while being a model! She is an inspiration!
Good for here. She didn’t give up, she works hard. A great role model.
You go girl!! Women Like Ariane are very inspiring and make me realize even when dreams don’t come true we can take control of our lives and always better them and ourselves
Very inspiring! She has a great attitude!
You gotta have a clear sense of What you think you know!
Always do research on what you think you know. Challenge your own skill, knowledge, practice! Do it non-stop.
Keep what you know Current. And that can be 1 week, or 1 hour (well, you’re not on stock exchange! But exaggeration is to make the point!)
It’s probably a good rule of thumb to update your skill and knowledge base on the regular basis and keep up with the trends of your industry by receiving newsletters, participating in discussion groups, connecting with others in your niche to discuss and brain storm what you do and how you do it. All these steps help you to stay Sharp and On Target.
I don’t remember who said it, but I remember it well —>
It’s Not What You Know That Hurts You.
It’s What You Know That Is Not So.
It may take a few moments to sink into the meaning of the phrase. But it’s exactly what we may be doing, or rather what we may not be doing and thinking that we’re at the top of the game.
The information flow is so Fast these days, our skill and knowledge become obsolete the moment we learned it!
Lesson here –> Keep those learning juices churning inside of you. They are the only guarantee you’ll stay afloat.
i can really relate to this. Working under the ITS department (in Media Services) everything is constantly changing. You just master Windows 7 and up comes Windows 8! And working for a college, we have to be on top of it and learn it asap. Constant updates to the multitude of software programs I use. Change is big! The quote is very interesting “It’s What You Know That Is Not So” Never thought about that before. I do believe that Knowledge is Power.
Thanks goodness for the internet!! I spend hours weekly doing research on both blogging resources and etsy shop success. I plan to continue…
Good advice. I have figured out that if I dont use the information I have learned regularly then I forget it
This is so true and I love the quote. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
I love that quote to and you all are right we get something and as soon as we get it they up and change it then we go threw the process again we are always having to learn new things I to love the internet you can find so much in no time at all my grandson 6 now knows more about my computer then me lol
You always have to stay on top of learning new things in case of my business I know have to keep up with knowledge of many new products as they come out so am always ready for any questions!! 🙂
Research is my friend. I do research on everything, especially before making any decisions.
I so agree! Lucky for me, laws only change once a year! LOL
I always thought I’d like to own a higher -in thrift store. I wish lived in a bigger community. I live in rural WV in a very small community.
Maybe do it online? you can start on etsy, with vintage items
I love to learn new things and research things that interest me fairly often…I LOVE google! I look up things I hear or want to learn about and follow up with movies and books from the library occasionally too
I love doing research. I’ll spend hours on quests for knowledge. I like to know at least a little bit about everything.
We are all winners when we learn and keep our minds and hearts open to new information, new practices, and new connections.
Winners will be announced on Saturday, June 21, 2014.
We will have over a dozen winners for gift cards, and I will be drawing winners from each day!
• Fill out the form below by 10pm EST today.
• Add to the form: Hooked on Life 6/16-6/21, 2014
• If you’re a Winner, PLEASE FILL OUT THE WINNER’S FORM
Good luck all
Good Luck to all winners and I do believe we are all winners here. We always learn new things. Thanks Laura. 🙂
so true we are all winners here with this amcoffee I just love it feel bad if I miss one then I have missed a new learning expriance and don’t want that good luck
You are so right Rebecca we are all winners, I love the am coffee, inspires and lean so much from them. Thank you so much Laura for all you give to us!!! 🙂
Good luck
Good luck !
Good Luck Every1
Look what the highest form of Inspiration and Skill can take you to!
These creations by the top designers haven’t happened overnight.
Their way to the top of the podium was with effort and perseverance.
YOU can do it, too. Start and/or continue on your efforts Today, without Procrastination!
Your Final Product could be changing Lives for the better!
Go Here to Get INSPIRED!
Oh so true. Thanks 🙂 The words above by them self are inspiring. 🙂
yes that is so true and them dresses so beautiful I liked them all great
Is inspiring and so true, beautiful!!! 🙂
True, inspiring words.
I couldn’t agree more!
This was added later in the day, no? I did not see it in the morning…Those dresses are beautiful. I used to sit and sketch wedding dresses. I had notebooks full.
Such a beautiful dress.
The very first dress is my favorite but they all Dazzle! I wish I could create such beautiful clothes…I couldn’t even draw them so pretty let alone make them 😉
Good Morning Al