Entrepreneur, 10-19-2016 -- Everyone fails in life, and failure can be a crushing experience. The only thing that separates successful people from the rest is how they respond after they fail.

When facing obstacles, you have to decide if you’re going to let them be the excuse for your failure or if you’re going to make them the story behind your success.

“There is no failure. Only feedback.”   -- Robert Allen

When you adopt the right attitude, failure is a great teacher. Failure interrupts your routine and gives you an opportunity to explore new solutions, but only if you have the right attitude.

Psychologist Albert Bandura conducted a study that showed just how great a role our attitudes play in the face of failure. In the study, two groups of people were asked to complete an identical management task. The first group was told that the purpose of the task was to measure their management abilities. The other group was told that the skills required to complete the task were improvable and that the task was merely an opportunity to practice and improve. The trick was that the researchers made the task so difficult that all participants were bound to fail, and fail they did. The first group -- feeling like failures because their skills weren’t up to snuff -- made little or no improvement when they were given opportunities to repeat the task. The second group, however, saw each failure as a learning opportunity, and they performed at progressively higher levels each time they attempted the task. The second group even rated themselves as more confident than the first group.

Just like the participants in Bandura’s study, we can either view our failures as reflections of our abilities or as opportunities for growth. The next time you catch yourself wallowing in the self-pity that often accompanies failure, focus on what you can control: your attitude.

Some of the best lessons in life are also the toughest to accept and to adopt the right attitude toward. These are the lessons that challenge your flexibility and willingness to learn. When we don’t embrace them soon enough, the lessons we learn turn out to be harsh ones.

Related: 9 Phrases Smart People Never Use In Conversation

1. The first step is always the hardest. When you want to achieve something important, that first step is inevitably going to be daunting, even frightening. When you dare to make that first move, anxiety and fear dissipate in the name of action. People that dive headfirst into taking that brutal first step aren’t any stronger than the rest of us; they’ve simply learned that it yields great results. They know that the pain of getting started is inevitable and that procrastination only prolongs their suffering.

2. Good things take time. Success, above all, requires time and effort. Author Malcolm Gladwell suggested that mastery of anything requires 10,000 hours of tireless focus. Many successful people would agree. Consider Henry Ford, whose first two automobile businesses failed before he started Ford at the age of 45, or author Harry Bernstein, who dedicated his entire life to writing before he finally landed a best-seller at the age of 96. When you finally do succeed, you realize that the journey was the best part of it.

3. Being busy does not equal being productive. Look at everyone around you. They all seem so busy, running from meeting to meeting and firing off e-mails. Yet how many of them are really producing, really succeeding at a high level? Success doesn’t come from movement and activity; it comes from focus -- from ensuring that your time is used efficiently and productively. You get the same number of hours in the day as everyone else, so use yours wisely. After all, you’re the product of your output not your effort. Make certain your efforts are dedicated to tasks that get results.

4. You will always have less control than you want. There are too many extenuating circumstances in life to control every outcome. You can, however, control how you react to things that are out of your control. Your reaction is what transforms a mistake into a learning experience and ensures that a victory doesn’t send your ego through the roof. You can’t win every battle, but with the right attitude, you can win the war.

5. You're only as good as those you associate with. You should strive to surround yourself with people who inspire you, people who make you want to be better. And you probably do. But what about the people who drag you down? Why do you allow them to be part of your life? Anyone who makes you feel worthless, anxious or uninspired is wasting your time and, quite possibly, making you more like them. Life is too short to associate with people like this. Cut them loose.

Read the rest of the story HERE.

11-27-2017, Entrepreneur.com -- Failure, for entrepreneurs, is inevitable. This might come in the form of small losses, like losing an important deal to a competitor, or in big ones, like being unable to make payroll.

The best entrepreneurs, however, are not defined by these failures but rather by how they deal with them. Navigating difficult situations both externally and internally is crucial to being a successful entrepreneur. When faced with this failure, here are 10 ways to better handle it:

1. Be prepared.

You do not have to come up with full contingency plans for any type of failure. Although, being mentally prepared for failing and difficult times is critically important. If you have expectations that things are going to go perfectly according to plan, then, once they do not, those hard moments will be more difficult than you will expect.

Better understanding yourself and the outlets that you need to deal with difficulty is underrated. People who know what they need to feel better and think clearer are much more equipped for facing hardship head-on. This could be in the form of exercising, spending time with people that you care about, or going to an inspiring and isolating spot.

It is easy to make emotional decisions immediately after something negative happens. Doing so is often detrimental, though. Even if it means taking five minutes to go collect yourself, it is worthwhile. Making rational as opposed to emotional choices prevents your problems from compounding.

Read the rest of the article HERE.

Entrepreneur.com, 8-10-2016 -- Working as a senior vice president for a Fortune 100 company and running IT Services for 48,000 end-users on a global scale was a tough job. It was long hours, lots of pressure and difficult customers. But, even so it was nothing compared to joining the ranks of the entrepreneurs and starting my own business.

Here are 10 things I wish I had known before I started as it would have helped me be better prepared for the important first few years of my entrepreneurial life.

1. Don't create new products, solve problems.

Forty-two percent of product launches fail because there is no need for the product. That's right 42 percent fail because nobody wants the product.

So instead of trying to develop new and wonderful products to look for problems to solve. Where there's a problem, there is a need.

2. Forget about being an overnight success.

Even the companies regarded as the quickest overnight successes, Amazon and Yahoo, took at least three years to get there, and the majority of companies take up to 10 years to really make it. So if you're the goal is to be the next billionaire start-up owner then you need to be prepared for a long haul.

Related: 6 Signs You Are Not Ready for Entrepreneurship

3. Focus on your strengths, not your weaknesses.

Your success is going to come from your strengths so make sure the majority of your time is focused in that area. We all have weaknesses, but either outsources those areas or hire someone to take care of it for you. Focusing on your weaknesses takes you away from what you're best at and is not a good use of your time.

4. Get the right team around you.

We can't do it all on our own; we need help, but we need to make sure we get the right help. Twenty-nine percent of start-ups that fail do so because they had the wrong team in place. So take the necessary time to evaluate the team that you need and then hire the best people you can.

5. If you're going to fail, fail quickly.

Failure is all part of the process, not only should you expect it, but you should plan for it. The best approach for failure is to fail quickly, adapt and try again. One of the worst things we can do is to fail slowly, desperately hoping that things will turn around. You need to learn quickly what's working and what's not that needs to be stopped.

Read the rest of the piece HERE.

Entrepreneur.com, June 24, 2016 -- Too many people succumb to the mistaken belief that being likeable comes from natural, unteachable traits that belong only to a lucky few -- the good looking, the fiercely social and the incredibly talented. It’s easy to fall prey to this misconception. In reality, being likeable is under your control, and it’s a matter of emotional intelligence (EQ).

In a study conducted at UCLA, subjects rated over 500 descriptions of people based on their perceived significance to likeability. The top-rated descriptors had nothing to do with being gregarious, intelligent or attractive (innate characteristics). Instead, the top descriptors were sincerity, transparency and capable of understanding (another person).

These adjectives, and others like them, describe people who are skilled in the social side of emotional intelligence. TalentSmart research data from more than a million people shows that people who possess these skills aren’t just highly likeable; they outperform those who don’t by a large margin.

Likeability is so powerful that it can completely alter your performance. A University of Massachusetts study found that managers were willing to accept an auditor’s argument with no supporting evidence if he or she was likeable, and Jack Zenger found that just 1 in 2,000 unlikeable leaders are considered effective.

I did some digging to uncover the key behaviors that hold people back when it comes to likeability. Make certain these behaviors don’t catch you by surprise.

1. Humble-bragging. We all know those people who like to brag about themselves behind the mask of self-deprecation. For example, the gal who makes fun of herself for being a nerd when she really wants to draw attention to the fact that she’s smart or the guy who makes fun of himself for having a strict diet when he really wants you to know how healthy and fit he is. While many people think that self-deprecation masks their bragging, everyone sees right through it. This makes the bragging all the more frustrating, because it isn’t just bragging; it’s also an attempt to deceive.

2. Being too serious. People gravitate toward those who are passionate. That said, it’s easy for passionate people to come across as too serious or uninterested, because they tend to get absorbed in their work. Likeable people balance their passion for their work with their ability to have fun. At work they are serious, yet friendly. They still get things done because they are socially effective in short amounts of time and they capitalize on valuable social moments. They focus on having meaningful interactions with their coworkers, remembering what people said to them yesterday or last week, which shows people that they are just as important to them as their work is.

3. Not asking enough questions. The biggest mistake people make in conversation is being so focused on what they’re going to say next or how what the other person is saying is going to affect them that they fail to hear what’s being said. The words come through loud and clear, but the meaning is lost. A simple way to avoid this is to ask a lot of questions. People like to know you’re listening, and something as simple as a clarification question shows that not only are you listening but that you also care about what they’re saying. You’ll be surprised how much respect and appreciation you gain just by asking questions.

Read the rest of the story HERE.

Entrepreneur, July 22, 2016 -- T.S. Eliot was clearly onto something when he asked, “If you aren’t in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?” The very act of stepping outside of your comfort zone is critical to your success and well-being.

Our brains are wired such that it’s difficult to take action until we feel at least some stress and discomfort. In fact, performance peaks when we’re well out of our comfort zone. If you’re too comfortable your performance suffers from inaction, and if you move too far outside of your comfort zone you melt down from stress.

Peak performance and discomfort go hand in hand. Stepping outside of your comfort zone makes you better, and it doesn’t have to be something as extreme as climbing Mount Everest. It’s the everyday challenges that push your boundaries the most, none of which require a flight to Nepal. Step out of your comfort zone and embrace these challenges.

1. Get up early. Unless you’re a morning person, getting up earlier than usual can take you way out of your comfort zone. However, if you get up well before you have to start getting ready for work, it’s worth it. It gives you an opportunity to collect your thoughts and mentally prepare yourself for the day ahead, rather than just dashing from one activity to another. It also gives you the opportunity to eat a good breakfast and exercise, both of which have well-known health benefits.

2. Accomplish an “impossible” goal. Few things compare to the exhilaration of accomplishing something that you didn’t think you were capable of. These achievements fall so far outside of your comfort zone that they seem impossible. Maybe it’s running a marathon or giving a keynote speech at a convention. These accomplishments are worth every bit of suffering you endure to achieve them because once you finally do it, you feel invincible and carry that triumph with you forever.

3. Meditate. It’s easy to get stuck in your comfort zone when you’re so busy that you don’t slow down enough to really think about what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. Meditation is a great way to break this cycle and also happens to be very good for your brain. Harvard neuroscientist Sara Lazar found that meditation creates important physical changes in your brain. It increases brain density in areas responsible for self-control, focus, problem-solving, flexibility and resilience. Best of all, these changes are lasting.

Read the rest of the article HERE.

The ability to manage your emotions and remain calm under pressure has a direct link to your performance.

6-1-2017, Entrepreneur.com -- The ability to manage your emotions and remain calm under pressure has a direct link to your performance. TalentSmart has conducted research with more than a million people, and we’ve found that 90 percent of top performers are skilled at managing their emotions in times of stress in order to remain calm and in control.

If you follow my work, you’ve read some startling research summaries that explore the havoc stress can wreak on one’s physical and mental health (such as the Yale study, which found that prolonged stress causes degeneration in the area of the brain responsible for self-control). The tricky thing about stress (and the anxiety that comes with it) is that it’s an absolutely necessary emotion. Our brains are wired such that it’s difficult to take action until we feel at least some level of this emotional state. In fact, performance peaks under the heightened activation that comes with moderate levels of stress. As long as the stress isn’t prolonged, it’s harmless.

Research from the University of California, Berkeley, reveals an upside to experiencing moderate levels of stress. But it also reinforces how important it is to keep stress under control. The study, led by post-doctoral fellow Elizabeth Kirby, found that the onset of stress entices the brain into growing new cells responsible for improved memory. However, this effect is only seen when stress is intermittent. As soon as the stress continues beyond a few moments into a prolonged state, it suppresses the brain’s ability to develop new cells.

“I think intermittent stressful events are probably what keeps the brain more alert, and you perform better when you are alert,” Kirby says. For animals, intermittent stress is the bulk of what they experience, in the form of physical threats in their immediate environment. Long ago, this was also the case for humans. As the human brain evolved and increased in complexity, we’ve developed the ability to worry and perseverate on events, which creates frequent experiences of prolonged stress.

Besides increasing your risk of heart disease, depression and obesity, stress decreases your cognitive performance. Fortunately, though, unless a lion is chasing you, the bulk of your stress is subjective and under your control. Top performers have well-honed coping strategies that they employ under stressful circumstances. This lowers their stress levels regardless of what’s happening in their environment, ensuring that the stress they experience is intermittent and not prolonged.

While I’ve run across numerous effective strategies that smart people employ when faced with stress, what follows are ten of the best. Some of these strategies may seem obvious, but the real challenge lies in recognizing when you need to use them and having the wherewithal to actually do so in spite of your stress.

1. They appreciate what they have

Taking time to contemplate what you’re grateful for isn’t merely the “right” thing to do. It also improves your mood, because it reduces the stress hormone cortisol by 23 percent. Research conducted at the University of California, Davis found that people who worked daily to cultivate an attitude of gratitude experienced improved mood, energy and physical well-being. It’s likely that lower levels of cortisol played a major role in this.

2. They avoid asking “what if?”

“What if?” statements throw fuel on the fire of stress and worry. 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. Calm people know that asking “what if? will only take them to a place they don’t want -- or need -- to go.

3. They stay positive

Positive thoughts help make stress intermittent by focusing your brain’s attention onto 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 things are going poorly, 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 something from the current day, reflect on the previous day or even the previous week. Or perhaps you’re looking forward to an exciting event that you can focus your attention on. The point here is that you must have something positive that you're ready to shift your attention to when your thoughts turn negative.

Read the rest of the story HERE.

Entrepreneur -- Some people, regardless of what they lack—money, looks, or social connections—always radiate with energy and confidence. Even the most skeptical individuals find themselves enamored with these charming personalities.

These people are the life of every party. They’re the ones you turn to for help, advice, and companionship.

You just can’t get enough of them, and they leave you asking yourself, "What do they have that I don’t? What makes them so irresistible?"

The difference? Their sense of self-worth comes from within.

Irresistible people aren’t constantly searching for validation, because they’re confident enough to find it in themselves. There are certain habits they pursue every day to maintain this healthy perspective.

Related: Are You a Leader or a Follower?

Since being irresistible isn’t the result of dumb luck, it’s time to study the habits of irresistible people so that you can use them to your benefit.

Get ready to say “hello” to a new, more irresistible you.

1. They treat everyone with respect.

Whether interacting with their biggest client or a server taking their drink order, irresistible people are unfailingly polite and respectful. They understand that—no matter how nice they are to the person they’re having lunch with—it’s all for naught if that person witnesses them behaving badly toward someone else. Irresistible people treat everyone with respect because they believe they’re no better than anyone else.

2. They follow the platinum rule.

The Golden Rule—treat others as you want to be treated—has a fatal flaw: it assumes that all people want to be treated the same way. It ignores that people are motivated by vastly different things. One person loves public recognition, while another loathes being the center of attention.

The Platinum Rule—treat others as they want to be treated—corrects that flaw. Irresistible people are great at reading other people, and they adjust their behavior and style to make others feel comfortable.

3. They ditch the small talk.

There’s no surer way to prevent an emotional connection from forming during a conversation than by sticking to small talk. When you robotically approach people with small talk this puts their brains on autopilot and prevents them from having any real affinity for you. Irresistible people create connection and find depth even in short, every day conversations. Their genuine interest in other people makes it easy for them to ask good questions and relate what they’re told to other important facets of the speaker’s life.

4. They focus on people more than anything else.

Irresistible people possess an authentic interest in those around them. As a result, they don’t spend much time thinking about themselves. They don’t obsess over how well they’re liked, because they’re too busy focusing on the people they’re with. It’s what makes their irresistibility seem so effortless.

To put this habit to work for you, try putting down the smart phone and focusing on the people you’re with. Focus on what they’re saying, not what your response will be, or how what they’re saying will affect you. When people tell you something about themselves, follow up with open-ended questions to draw them out even more.

5. They don’t try too hard.

Irresistible people don’t dominate the conversation with stories about how smart and successful they are. It’s not that they’re resisting the urge to brag. The thought doesn’t even occur to them because they know how unlikeable people are who try too hard to get others to like them.

Read the rest here: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/248719

Entrepreneur.com, DECEMBER 26, 2016 -- A successful career doesn’t just require great ideas and a good work ethic -- it also takes the right people. In order to work well with others, you’ll need to become a pro at leadership and management.

3/21/2016, Entrepreneur -- Want to have more customers, opt-ins on your website and clicks on your “Buy Now” button? Do what Hollywood does -- use stories to sell your products and services.

This makes sense: At some point, you've probably gone to a meeting featuring a PowerPoint presentation with charts and graphs . . . and wanted to poke your eyes out with a pencil. The reason: Stories, not data, are what inspire people. Stories, not bullet points, create customer loyalty, build social media platforms and increase sales. Stories create an emotional bond between your business and your customers.

And today's technology helps us tell those stories in the many different ways it's given us to offer our message to millions of potential customers -- instantly.

Yet, many businesses are losing customers because their methods of reaching them are outdated. Want to get people to buy your product? Then get them to listen. Here are three essential stories you need on your website to do just that:

1: Your customer’s story

In my book, The Message Of You, I call this your “credibility story.” It goes like this:

• Customer X came to you with a huge mess (describe it).
• Customer X took advantage of your products or services.
• Now, Customer X's life is so much better! He or she can now walk, breathe, save money, and perform like Lady Gaga. (Okay, maybe not exactly like her).

Better yet: Record your customers telling this story. One way I make a living is by coaching speakers. And, after I’m done and my client is (presumably) a happy camper, I use a Skype video recorder to record my client’s "mess-to-success story." These tales are gold! You can view four of them here. 

2. Your company’s story 

Every company also has a "mess-to-success" story. Take Microsoft, for example: “We started with our office in a garage, and now we sell ‘office.’” Isn’t there someone else who started in a garage? Oh yeah, Apple.

Airbnb, meanwhile never tires of telling its story of how its founders went from sleeping on air mattresses at friends' apartments to creating a billion-dollar company providing sleeping accommodations for travellers worldwide.

Your company didn’t launch and become an immediate success, right? And, while you may not have started in a garage, you still have a story. Why, the history of how your company achieved its goals is the greatest story ever told . . . or something close to that. So, identify your company's story, add it to your bio (your “About Us” page) and share it with your customers. 

Read the rest here: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/269881

Forbes -- You know forming meaningful relationships with the right people has a direct impact on the success of your business. And that's great news -- if you were born with an outgoing personality.

Entrepreneur -- How much easier would it be to scale your business if your employees were your number-one ambassadors? Imagine employees that love you and your business so much, they never leave. Not only that, they love you so much, they will do whatever it takes to deliver extreme value to your customers.

I recently sat down with Steve DiFillippo, the entrepreneur and restaurateur behind Davio's Northern Italian Steakhouse, with restaurants throughout Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New York, Atlanta and soon expanding into California. You can typically find DiFillippo cooking it up on popular morning TV shows or demonstrating his 12 minutes to ready spring rolls on QVC.

Related: How a No-Tipping Policy Helped This Restaurant Triple Profits in 2 Months

He's a culinary artist, celebrity business tycoon, author and a fanatical purveyor of unforgettable dining experiences. How can one man do it all? Easy. He's built an army of employees who are passionate about the brand and who are devoted to exceeding the expectations of their guests.

Here are DiFillippo's four savory strategies to building an army of loyal employees:

1. Know your guests.

DiFillippo recently authored a book, It's All About the Guest. In it, he shares an important secret about building an awesome business. Serving up high quality, artistically crafted meals is important, of course. However, DiFillippo says that the guests most restaurants forget about are the ones that come and go from the back door: the employees.

DiFillippo's mission is to go above and beyond to take care of all guests, including the ones who work for him, because they are the front-line army taking care of the guests who come to eat. When your employees feel valued, appreciated and loved, they will create an environment where the dining guests feel that way too.

2. Celebrate birthdays.

DiFillippo never misses an employee's birthday. He always reaches out to each person on his or her special day with a call or text message, which is remarkable considering he has more than 850 people working for his organization. Each employee also receives a card and cash gift on their birthday. It's DiFillippo's way of making sure his people know that their company loves them.

Read the rest here: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/247544

Entrepreneur -- Anyone who’s been to Sonic knows what unmet expectations feel like. If you’re a small business owner, you’ve probably come to hate the verb “expect” more than any other. Customers have a whole lot of dreams about what you can deliver, and it’s all too easy to come up short when someone has their eyes to the sky.

In the tech world, expectations are especially killer. Terms like “the cloud” don’t help. Clouds are huge fluffy things that float and take on a million, ever-changing forms, so you can’t blame people for thinking that anything is possible in this industry. But when you’re operating on a budget, you can’t fulfill every whim, so part of the responsibility—and surely thrill—of owning a business is learning to set and then meet your clients’ expectations.

1. Attract the Right Business

As the voice of your product, you have the power to draw the kind of customers you want, and that starts with your brand. If you spout yourself as a full-service operation that holds the customer’s hand from start to finish, you need to deliver on that immediately to keep your clients around. If you’re more hands-off, you’ll be going after independent clients who are up for DIY. Communicate who you are and stick to it. If people are coming through the door with the wrong idea about you, you’re not being loud enough.

2. Understand Your Clients

Once you gain someone’s business, the expectation game really begins. You’ll get clients who love you (referrals, anyone?) and clients who really… don’t. Treat them as case studies. Let them vent. Learn what went wrong. These people will help you grow more than your biggest fans, even if you end up losing their business. Biting the bullet and asking honestly, “Where did we screw up?” will indulge them and enlighten you. To initiate these conversations, you need a method of taking your clients’ temperature before they’re fuming. Periodic check-ins, whether digital or in-person, give your customers the sense that they’ve been heard, plus provide you with regular insight on how you’re faring.

Read the rest of the story here: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/247040

3-22-2017, Entrepreneur -- Changing leadership is an adjustment process. It’s a period of excitement, growing pains and hope. While earning the trust and loyalty of an entire organization is a challenge, there are five things an incoming leader can do right away to hit the ground running and earn support:

Get to know all levels of staff.

In some situations, new leadership can mean staff changes across the board. But, in most cases, tenured staff are still in place. The new head coach of a sports team can be great, but he has to start with the players the team already has. Focus on earning their trust and respect. 

United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz is a great example of a new leader who came in and got to know people at all levels. He said that “there was a high level of distrust and disengagement with employees” when he came in. That’s not unusual. When new leadership takes over, some people may be skeptics at first. 

Read the rest of the story HERE.

Grasp these four principles in order to develop a business that has a major impact in the online world.

11-7-2016, Entrepreneur -- I'm writing this article from my apartment in Cape Town, South Africa. I'm here because a company hired me to train their staff on what it takes to create a successful digital marketing strategy in today's crowded market. The company found me through my articles here on "Entrepreneur" and some of the other large media publications I write for. They paid for my expenses and have given me a generous training fee. Five years ago, I owned a business in the vendor industry. To say that there are a lot of opportunities online would be an understatement. 

Billions of people use the Internet and social media for life, to shop and for business. Today, you have the opportunity to tell millions of potential customers how your business can help their lives and solve their biggest problems. While the opportunity, tools and access are there, too many online entrepreneurs are making very little to no money in their business. There is a ton of competition, unclear and impractical messaging and a lack of focus. If you want to build a successful online business that makes an impact and income, there are four things you need to realize about online business and money.  

1. Money isn't everything, but it is important.

As soon as there is an article like this, there will be a line of people ready to scream "money isn't everything." You're right, it's not, but you better believe it is an important part of the success of your business. It also allows you a life free of financial stress. When you're living paycheck-to-paycheck or worse, you can't focus the way you should. You are constantly worried about paying the bills or losing your foundation and that causes you to react instead of implementing a focused plan. 

You need money to pay your bills. You need money to support your family and your lifestyle. You need money to do some of the fun things in life -- like travel. It's not everything, but without it, you could end up stuck in a business and life you want to escape from. Don't make money your main motivator to start or grow your business, but respect what it can do for you and learn to use it to in a way that benefits your life and helps you accomplish your goals. 

2. Money is an important component in freedom.

At the end of the day, most of us start businesses and become entrepreneurs to create freedom. We want to live life on our terms and have control of our most important asset: our time. This freedom allows us to do the things we want to do in life like spending more time with family, travel or fun hobbies. 

Having a steady and consistent revenue stream leads to freedom and allows us to do those things that we want to do without worrying. Start or grow a business that leads to you creating freedom. Use the income to help you accomplish your biggest life goals. Don't be afraid or ashamed that you want certain things for your life. 

Read the rest of the story HERE.

4/27/2016, Entrepreneur.com -- You're likely already familiar with optimizing your site for specific keywords. You may have a list of specific keywords and phrases you're targeting, or you may be more in the "add amazing content and see what happens," camp.

However, the idea of optimizing for branded keywords may not have crossed your radar. Branded terms are words or phrases that are specific to your company. They often include your business name, but also may include certain trademarked product names or your website name. For Apple, some examples of branded terms might be:

• Apple
• Apple Computers
• Applecom
• Apple dot com
• Aple (a misspelled version)
• Apple Phone

We want to rank for these branded terms because there are three main types of search queries: informational (e.g., looking for answers to a question), transactional (e.g., looking to make a purchase), and navigational (e.g., looking for a specific company).

People who fall into the third category are specifically looking for your business or website. If your site doesn't show up in the first few spots in the SERPs, your competitors will be benefiting from these branded searches.

Fortunately, ranking for branded keywords isn't fundamentally different than ranking for more generic keywords. Here are four tips for ranking for your own branded terms.

1. Build up citations.

While it's obviously important to build up high-quality links to your site, non-linked mentions ("citations") can be just as important, particularly for locally-based businesses. When Google sees a website with many citations, it recognizes your website is an ongoing concern, active and current, and therefore worth being in the search results.

One of the best ways to build up these citations is to register your business with big data aggregators like Factual and Acxiom. Local search engines (including Google) license data from these aggregators to populate their own index with business-related data. So, if the data they have is inaccurate, your local search listings will also be inaccurate.

Other ways to gather citations include:

• Getting your business listed in local directories
• Getting mentions in local blogs
• Getting listed in Yelp, Yellow Pages and Yahoo Local

If you're currently being outranked for your own branded keywords by other local businesses, try a tool like the Local Citation Finder. After plugging in your keywords, the tool will return a list of all the citation site listings for the top-ranking pages.

Related: Position Yourself as an Authority, and Watch Business Boom

2. Keep your Google My Business listing up to date.

Considering the entire right-hand site of the SERPs is often dominated by Google maps and business listings, you'll definitely want to make sure your business name is listed here. You can enter or update your Google My Business listing here.

When adding or reviewing your listing, make sure the following elements are in place:

• Your business is properly categorized.
• Ensure your NAP (name, address, phone number) are consistent with your other listings and citations.
• Add relevant photos to jazz up your listing.
• Include business hours and methods of payment.
• Encourage customers or clients to leave reviews on your listing.

Read the rest of the story here: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/272791

Entrepreneur, May 25, 2016 -- You're likely already familiar with optimizing your site for specific keywords. You may have a list of specific keywords and phrases you're targeting, or you may be more in the "add amazing content and see what happens," camp.

However, the idea of optimizing for branded keywords may not have crossed your radar. Branded terms are words or phrases that are specific to your company. They often include your business name, but also may include certain trademarked product names or your website name. For Apple, some examples of branded terms might be:

• Apple
• Apple Computers
• Applecom
• Apple dot com
• Aple (a misspelled version)
• Apple Phone

We want to rank for these branded terms because there are three main types of search queries: informational (e.g., looking for answers to a question), transactional (e.g., looking to make a purchase), and navigational (e.g., looking for a specific company).

People who fall into the third category are specifically looking for your business or website. If your site doesn't show up in the first few spots in the SERPs, your competitors will be benefiting from these branded searches.

Fortunately, ranking for branded keywords isn't fundamentally different than ranking for more generic keywords. Here are four tips for ranking for your own branded terms.

1. Build up citations.

While it's obviously important to build up high-quality links to your site, non-linked mentions ("citations") can be just as important, particularly for locally-based businesses. When Google sees a website with many citations, it recognizes your website is an ongoing concern, active and current, and therefore worth being in the search results.

One of the best ways to build up these citations is to register your business with big data aggregators like Factual and Acxiom. Local search engines (including Google) license data from these aggregators to populate their own index with business-related data. So, if the data they have is inaccurate, your local search listings will also be inaccurate.

Other ways to gather citations include:

• Getting your business listed in local directories
• Getting mentions in local blogs
• Getting listed in Yelp, Yellow Pages and Yahoo Local

If you're currently being outranked for your own branded keywords by other local businesses, try a tool like the Local Citation Finder. After plugging in your keywords, the tool will return a list of all the citation site listings for the top-ranking pages.

Related: Position Yourself as an Authority, and Watch Business Boom

2. Keep your Google My Business listing up to date.

Considering the entire right-hand site of the SERPs is often dominated by Google maps and business listings, you'll definitely want to make sure your business name is listed here. You can enter or update your Google My Business listing here.

When adding or reviewing your listing, make sure the following elements are in place:

• Your business is properly categorized.
• Ensure your NAP (name, address, phone number) are consistent with your other listings and citations.
• Add relevant photos to jazz up your listing.
• Include business hours and methods of payment.
• Encourage customers or clients to leave reviews on your listing.

Read the rest of the story HERE.

Entrepreneur -- Fear is natural. In a predator-versus-prey world, heightened awareness is critical to survival. In our world of business, however, most fears have little to do with survival and more to do with personal insecurities.

“Will I meet my deadline?”

“Does my boss like me?”

These doubts do little to help us achieve our goals. In fact, they often impede them. Yes, fear can serve a motivational purpose, but substituting this with confidence will provide better results. A few key strategies can help manage -- and eventually eliminate -- unnecessary fears.

Related: 50 Signs You Might Be an Entrepreneur

1. Realize you’re not alone.

Regardless of what fears you face, someone somewhere has already figured out a way to overcome them. Allow this fact alone to bring you comfort. If they can prevail, you can too.

2. Remove all visions of doubt.

In the book How Champions Think, Dr. Bob Rotella shares a story of the late world-class golfer Sam Snead. “He would get into bed at night after a tournament round and replay every shot in his imagination. But when his replay came to a shot he hadn’t played well, he edited it. He erased the memory of the poor shot and instead visualized himself playing the shot correctly.”

A big part of overcoming fear is to choose the right picture and focus on it. Sam Snead fixated on what he wanted, not on the negative. He understood that the image you allow to carry the greatest weight will be the one that manifests itself.

Read the rest of the story here: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/250069

Entrepreneur -- Technology is changing the business world and unlike previous years, we now have three generations working side by side with each other: the Baby Boomers, Generation X and Millennials.  As digital natives, Millennials understand and use technology in a way that has created a seismic shift in corporate America – and also how we conduct business.

Whether you are a seasoned executive or a young entrepreneur looking for business management advice, you need to know the new rules of the workplace.

Here are five commonly believed business lessons that are now myths:

1. You need to pay your dues.

Historically, new college graduates were tasked with chores like getting coffee for executives and sitting quietly in meetings for the sole purpose of taking notes. Now, with the rapid influx of new technology, young employees are a huge asset. Yes, someone still needs to handle keeping the spreadsheets up to date and preparing conference rooms for big meetings, but don’t overlook these new employees when it comes to idea sharing and out-of-the-box thinking. If they feel that their ideas are taken seriously, they’ll often surprise you with a fresh take on age-old issues and will be motivated to work harder and longer. Many young adults are already starting and running their own businesses; the idea that you can’t be successful without a few years of slaving away at dreadful tasks is no longer true.

Related: The Truth Behind 12 Common Startup Funding Myths

2. Don’t talk money.

The new workforce is not shy when it comes to sharing how much money they make and gender-equality issues are being brought up in the media more than ever. If you pay your employees fairly and explain why each benefit policy is in place, your workforce will have nothing to complain about. Make sure your company is an even playing field that rewards great work and is an open environment where employees feel comfortable chatting with HR.

3. There’s no place for social media at work.

Can you believe that some companies still block Facebook from their office computers? The new workforce is about trust; trust that employees will use Internet access responsibly and will only share what is appropriate in a work setting. In fact, there are many benefits to having social media in the office. For example, encouraging employees to share company successes over social media is great for brand management and recruiting. Social networks are also excellent for professional networking.

Read more here: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/242673 

2/2/2016, Entrepreneur -- Your morning affects your entire day. What you do or don’t do each day will influence how productive you are, how energetic you feel, what you accomplish and, ultimately, how successful you are as an entrepreneur.

If you’re an entrepreneur with a satisfying and motivating morning routine, you’re in good company. If not, don’t despair; take some inspiration from the morning routines of fellow entrepreneurs.

1. Wake up early.

Many world-famous entrepreneurs that you follow on Twitter, read about in Entrepreneur and admire have one thing in common: They wake up early. When you wake up early, you have a greater sense of control over the day. For one thing, you get to decide what to do first, second and third.

By waking early, you also tend to have your greatest burst of energy, creativity and activity right from the start. This is the perfect time to slay some of the day’s bigger and brain-demanding tasks.

“Early” for you could be 9 a.m. or 10 a.m.. That’s okay. We all have our times of peak productivity.

2. Drink water.

It’s really simple. Just drink water.

Adding a chug of water to your morning routine does several important things: It boosts your metabolism, cleans things up, gives you a boost of energy, makes you fully alert and helps your digestive system run smoothly.

Kat Cole of FOCUS (Auntie Anne’s, Carvel and Cinnabon) is religious about her water routine. The first thing she does after hopping out of bed is to drink three cups of the stuff.

Coffee is the morning beverage of choice for most Americans. And certainly, caffeine is extraordinary. You can still have your coffee. But, first, have a drink of water.

3. Think about the most important things in your life.

Many entrepreneurs focus on their goals as the first order of the day. By keeping their goals at the forefront of their minds, they are more likely to work hard toward those goals throughout the day.

Consider Shark Tank investor Kevin O’Leary. He's a financial guy. So, the first thing he does after waking at 5:45 a.m. is to check the overseas bond markets. For O’Leary, the personal impact of those markets is enormous, and he wants to keep the information he gleans there present during his work day.

Entrepreneur.com, 12-7-2016 -- The end of 2016 is fast approaching, and while many of us area already caught up in all of the hustle and bustle that comes with the holiday season, there is actually no better time to regroup, refocus and to start thinking about 2017.

What are your goals for the coming year? For many people, these goals include financial motivations. If you want to finally get wealthy in 2017, here are five ways you can actually do it.

1. Work for your dreams, not someone else’s.

If you really want to start making money and finally be wealthy in 2017 then you need to do something that you are truly passionate about. Without this passion, you are never going to reach your full earning potential. Focus on doing what you love and what you are passionate about, not just something that happens to be in a highly paid field.

2. Dream big but start small.

Everyone wants big success fast but it’s better to go slowly. Optimize your process first before you try to go big. Take my top student, Tim as an example. He started stock trading with just $1,500, grew it to $1 million in three years and then over $3.3 million in four years. He bets bigger now that he is more confident, thanks to his early education. He is one of my favorite examples of starting small and working your way up slowly to something much more.

3. Give to others instead of yourself. 

Most people find this tough to do, but trust me, you can only have so many Lamborghinis and Ferraris and Porsches. Trust me, as someone who has had all three, they are not as fulfilling as giving back to charities, such as my Timothy Sykes Foundation is infinitely more rewarding and fulfilling. Remember that true wealth is not just about having the most money, but the most inner peace too. You will truly feel successful, established and wealthy if you start giving to others.

Read the rest of the story HERE.