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Why Entrepreneurs should be active:

To many, entrepreneurs appear to live the dream life. They make their own rules, set their own hours, and appear totally in control of their lives. We all admire their passion, diligence, creativity, and drive. However, what many don’t see is the enormous sacrifices entrepreneurs make. Especially serious is the potential damage they do their physical and mental health. Owning a business means long hours, unrelenting movement, and serious mind-bending stress. It is not surprising that many entrepreneurs usually work themselves into early graves. Depression, anxiety, heart disease, insomnia, and addiction are just some of the ailments that frequently plague entrepreneurs.  We all know that we should take better care of ourselves, but for many, the opportunity cost of a couple hours of exercise is too great. Ambitious business owners believe that every waking hour should be spent tirelessly building the business.

It’s important to remember that adequate exercise and rest will definitely not doom your success. Instead, a healthy and active lifestyle is a necessary and rewarding investment. An entrepreneur’s health is perhaps his greatest asset. If he is unwell, he cannot perform his best and his business will suffer. In just a few hours, you can boost your mood, relieve stress, and ensure better sleep. You will feel and perform so much better. You need to temporarily remove yourself from the constant grind of being an entrepreneur and spend some time on yourself. To be successful, you need to be energetic, alert, and focused. Ultimately the goal is to achieve a better “work/life balance” and live a happier, healthier life.

3 Tips to Overcome Public Speaking Nerves

Snakes, sharks, piranhas, spiders, being buried alive – these are just some of the things people consistently say they fear less than speaking in public. On almost every list or countdown of our greatest fears, public speaking is almost always at the top. The potential for massive embarrassment makes us shutter with fear. Unfortunately for some, public speaking is a vital skill in business. Frequently you will be required to speak in front of meetings, boardrooms, and gatherings. You will not only have to communicate adequately, but eloquently as well. A good public speech could be the key to motivating your employees, frightening your competition, or convincing new customers. To be a successful entrepreneur, you simply need to overcome your fear of public speaking. Hopefully, these tips will help.

1. Find Your Biggest Critic and Get Lots of Feedback

If you are afraid of public speaking, this tip may seem absolutely terrifying. Having someone critique your speaking failures may be as appealing as rubbing salt on an open wound. However, constructive criticism is perhaps your greatest tool for improvement. Critics can point out what isn’t working and can offer you a different perspective. They can call you out on things you would have never noticed. The initial criticism may sting a little, but it will make you stronger. Knowing that you have already faced your biggest critics and survived unscathed will undoubtedly fill you with confidence when it is time to make your next speech.

Don't write down your speech

This tip appears extremely counterintuitive. While preparation is absolutely vital to a good speech, writing it out word for word may not be the best idea. The best speakers are able to effectively utilize the language that people actually speak. Too often, prewritten speeches come off as overly formal and boring. The audience can tell when you are just reciting something prewritten and they quickly lose interest. You rarely use phrases like "In addition," or "In contrast," while having a normal conversation. The language of prewritten speeches can just be awkward when read out loud. In addition, one small slip up in your recital will destroy your flow and, especially if you are already timid, shatter your confidence.  

Don't let your nerves get the best of you

 Everyone gets nervous and no one wants to see you stumble and fail. A small slip up is usually all it takes for a nervous public speaker to totally lose confidence. Relax. Know that you will make mistakes, and that is okay. You do not have to be perfect. If you are really passionate about what you are saying, the words will flow naturally. It may take some getting used to, but public speaking is a vital skill you can learn.

Business Hacks for Better Business Management

3 Traits of a Great CEO

Organized

If you have ever been in the cockpit of an airplane, you know that the many tools a pilot needs are clearly and meticulously arranged. The speedometer, altimeter, and GPS are right in front of him, exactly where they need to be. A pilot knows precisely what he has to do and when he has to do it. If things ever go awry, he can rely on this system of organization.  A CEO, as the “pilot” of his company, needs the employ the same system of organization. If your instruments (financial statements, marketing reports, etc,) are missing or miscalculated, you can’t make the right decisions. In addition, your time, your most precious resource, should be spent on the important stuff, especially when it is getting hectic.  When things inevitably go wrong, you can trust that your system of organization will help you solve the problem.

“CEOs too, like great generals, need to inspire their “troops.””

Walks the Walk, Talks the Talk

One of the reasons George Washington was so revered by his soldiers was because he would fearless lead them into battle. Unlike other generals, he was on the front lines, leading the charge. CEOs too, like great generals, need to inspire their “troops.” They need to model the work ethic, attitude, and passion they hope to see in their employees. If the boss demands his workers should be responsible and diligent, he needs to model that behavior. Nothing inspires people like seeing their leader working just as hard, if not harder, than them. Not only will this yield inspiration, but respect as well. When your employees see how invested you are in the enterprise’s success, they will undoubtedly gain respect for you. When you actually “walk the walk” you become a much more effective leader.

Responds Well to Criticism

As many CEOs know too well, you can never be perfect. You constantly have to make decisions and any decision you make will inevitably be criticized. A big mistake is never listening to complaints and detractions. Too often, we take criticism to personally. John Wooden, the legendary college basketball coach, taught that “You can't let praise or criticism get to you. It's a weakness to get caught up in either one“ The best CEOs listen to their detractors and reanalyze their decisions. You should not bend to the will of anyone, but instead realize you are not infallible. Take criticism, especially constructive criticism, as an opportunity to better yourself and the decisions you make. This way, you will constantly grow and improve.

Business Hacks for Better Business Management: Turn it Up!

Ch. 15 of the Comprehensive Checklist for Growing Your Business: Take time off

You’ve gotten this far into your business - congrats! Let’s take a moment to reflect where it all began. Remember when you thought, “If I start a business, I could avoid the 9 to 5 typical job!” But then, you quickly realized that it was a 24-hour job and you had to stretch your expertise in areas you never thought you needed? During those *precious* moments of scarfing down food in the car, or putting on the same clothes as yesterday because you don’t have time to do laundry, did you ever feel a glimpse of hope that this madness would calm itself down? You can stop the hamster wheel and achieve the freedom you deserve.

Let go of control and put the systems, processes, and people in place that you can trust to run your business without you. Always consider upgrades you can do in your business’ operations that will save time and money. Is it automating your processes? Shifting responsibilities to people with strength in that particular area or perhaps utilizing technology that saves countless labor hours and dollars? These are critical questions and a state of mind that a skilled business owner would always consider. What if something happened to you? Would your business still survive?

Write down your goals for 2016. What do you want your business and more importantly, your life, to look like? Life is short. Do everything you can to make the most out of it now. It may not happen in one night, but take the necessary steps to put your business on autopilot so that you can take a vacation and get paid while you’re not working. You may be burned out, but keep dreaming big and keep taking the steps to move towards your ultimate goal.

By now, if you've read every chapter of the comprehensive checklist, your business should be in a place where you can sit back and watch it run itself. If you’ve signed up to use Handlr, you can have a bird’s eye view of your business in action from anywhere in the world. Book that plane ticket, and experience life that you’ve worked so hard for. And give yourself a pat on the back! It takes guts, will, and fierce determination to be an entrepreneur. Here's to a bigger, better business!

5 Morning Rituals for Increasing Productivity at Work

1. Workout

Does the sound of working out in the morning make you want to burrito wrap yourself up even tighter in your blanket? Don’t fear human burrito, hearing some facts about getting up and going in the morning might persuade you:

• Gyms are much less crowded in the morning so when you’re wandering to find those dumbbells, you’ll actually get them.
• Get your blood going and your mind stimulated in the morning means you’ll come into work (or your next activity) more focused.
• If you find yourself in front of a computer screen all day, squeezing it a good workout in the morning will increase your metabolism and burn more calories.
• Go into work in a better mood. There’s no mistake, working out kicks up your endorphin levels so when that angry customer comes right at you with a complaint, you’ll tackle it like a piece of cake.
• It doesn’t even have to be a full-blown workout routine. If the gym isn’t your happy place, perhaps you’ll find it in a morning power walk, yoga session, or run around your neighborhood.

2. Create to-do Lists

  Here at Handlr Headquarters, we love using Asana. It’s a user-friendly way of organizing all the tasks at hand. Everyone knows what to do and when they’re due, no questions about it. Asana will even send you reminders of upcoming tasks just to make sure you don’t forget. When you check tasks off the list, you might even see a rainbow unicorn -- really.

3. Silence is Golden

Tackling a busy day at work is no easy task when your phone is dinging and emails are incoming. Refer to your Asana list, see your top priorities, focus, and tackle. When you have to turn on the, “heads down and work” mode, it’s not a bad idea to turn your phones and gadgets on “do not disturb” to help focus on the task at hand.

4. Declutter like your mother

Making sure your workspace is clean and organized will not only get you feeling motivated, but it will lessen the amount of distractions in your vision.

5. Don’t answer your phone/emails in the morning

Memory & Speed-Reading Expert, Jim Kwik suggests to not respond to emails first thing after waking up. It sets you in the mindset of tending to others rather than yourself. Don’t worry, those notifications aren’t going anywhere. They’ll still be there after you’ve dedicated some time to yourself.

Let’s Take Customer Relationships Back to the Basics...

Blake Warren

We recently talked about tips for successfully utilizing a CRM (Read it here), something you’re probably already using as a business owner. A CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is typically a software that helps your business keep track of… what exactly? Well, obviously things like phone numbers, addresses, lead status, purchase history, etc. But what do these things embody? It’s in the name; a CRM is a Management tool for Customer Relationships. So let’s discuss Customer Relationships, that you can better understand how to foster and keep those very things you need a CRM for. Google the words “customer relationships” and you’ll be met with a dizzying amount of articles, books, DVD’s, Podcasts and videos promising the newest techniques, software and guides to CRM. It can be daunting to say the least. Let’s take a step back and look at the basics of customer relationships.

Stay Relatable

As a consumer, would you rather do business with a personable company than the corporate machine of a big business? Of course you would. Having personality disarms your customers, they will be more likely to trust your recommendations. Don’t try to deceive your customers, are you a small company trying to get your foot in the door? Show it. Working out of your moms garage? Show it. Customers will be further compelled to give you their business if they can see you as a peer.

Understand what makes your product or service desirable.

It’s impossible to be relatable if you don’t have a true understanding of what drives your customers. It’s easy to think about your business concept from the wrong shoes. As a business owner you may have no problem coming up with reasons for making your product or offering your service. But you need to spend a lot of time looking at it from the perspective of potential customers. What are the real reasons they might be purchasing your product? What real-life circumstances lead them to booking your service? This is an easy exercise to shrug off, “Of course I know why people want what i’m selling”. But the more you explore this practice, the more you discover about your customers and how to serve them.

Take a look at the customer experience from start to finish.

Even if you simply sell an online product, what is the experience of the purchasing process like for your customers? How do you handle inquiries, returns, confirmations, packaging? Everything, no matter how small adds to the customer experience. Obviously this entails much more for a service-based business and should be treated as such. Every aspect of the process should be scrutinized until the customer experience is perfected.

Be Honest

The biggest downside of the countless books, products and techniques that you’ll find when researching this subject is that through all the fluff, we’ve been taught to do anything but be honest with our customers. We’re told to follow a call sheet, distract our customers with special offers, or avoid gripes they may have with our product or service using fancy techniques. The reality is, your customers will appreciate your honesty more than you may know. Calling up a customer and asking for feedback, apologizing for a mistake or simply telling them how much you appreciate their business can take you farther than any call-sheet or internet technique.

Ch. 9 of the Comprehensive Checklist for Growing Your Business: Get #Instafamous

You probably stumbled upon this article through another site like LinkedIn, Reddit or Facebook. That in itself is proof that social media is prevalent and crucial as a source of retrieving information. In the small business world, there’s a stigma around social media marketing that leads business owners to focus their efforts elsewhere. “I can’t gauge how many people are reading this,” and “I pay for ads but don’t see traction from it,” are common frustrations when you’re trying to get your name out there.

In our previous post, we mentioned The Rule of 7, which states that it takes 7 impressions or touches on a customer before they make a purchasing decision. Social media platforms can be a very heavyweight fighter in being one (or more) of those touches. Here are some tips to keep in mind about managing social media for your business.

1. Understand Who Your Audience is.

Before diving into this any further, identify who is looking at your posts. If your business is blindly posting content that isn’t relevant to your audience, your efforts won't yield positive results. Understand their lifestyle, know why they’re interested in you, and cater your verbiage and content around this information. This also differentiates a bit further on different platforms. For instance, LinkedIn followers expect more, “professional” information than let’s say, Instagram followers. That being said, Instagram followers might expect pretty, visual pictures and videos that inspire. This means your content has to get creative in different formats but consistent messaging is key. Which leads me to my next point…

2. Be consistent, everywhere.

Plan a well-defined message that you want your customers to know about your brand and/or business. Then relay that throughout all of your social media platforms. If your business is pushing out a lot of different messages, it’s a guarantee that your content will get lost in the noise, and might just confuse your customers as to what you're trying to say. Instead, hone in on one aspect of your business and drive it through all the way. A great starting point in figuring this out is asking, “What’s my company mission/belief that keeps me in business?”

Although each social media platform looks different in layout, keep your logo consistent, and your branding similar everywhere. This way, your customers can quickly identify your business and it’s a more professional way of representing your brand. It’s a good idea to have a light and dark version of your logo for the instances where the background differs. Consider having a strong accent color for your business and neutral tones to complement it. 

3. Get Viral

When you offer content and information that is relevant to your consumers, they would feel inclined to pass along your marketing message. The impact of creating viral content is explosive in the world wide web and can put your business in the spotlight of many potential new customers and leads. Viral marketing involves more crafted content than normal. When brainstorming for viral content, just remember that it has to be unique, inspiring, and driven with emotion in order to get people to repost it. In a statistic reported on KissMetrics, viral content can get 500-1000 times more of a reach than neutral content.

4. Track and Analyze

We asked LA based Social Media Superhero, Nicholas Mar to share best practices for tracking a business' success online. He says, "using multiple platforms to track analytics help us really figure out how our audience reacts to our content." Using management platforms like Hootsuite or Sprout, in conjunction with Facebook Insights or Twitter Analytics, paints a very detailed picture that guides the content of future posts.  Facebook insights provides helpful information about the demographics of your audience, as well as high-traffic times for when your customers are looking the most. Squarespace lets you check how many people visit your page, where they’re coming from, and what pages they fall off on. Frequent the analytics page of your platforms to find a goldmine of information. Then, craft your page and schedule your posts accordingly to maximize the potential of your content.

To keep it short and sweet, social media marketing can strengthen your brand image and will convert into concrete sales when done right. Keep your messaging and branding consistent, and offer relevant, unique content. Lastly, assess often how well your posts are doing with information offered to you and craft your posts accordingly.

7 Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your CRM Software

““Get closer than ever to your customers. So close that you tell them what they need well before they realize it themselves.””

— Steve Jobs

The late Steve Jobs said it best, knowing your customer better than your competitors is the only way to succeed. Knowing how to actually do that is where it gets tricky. A solid Customer Relation Management system is the first step in that process, so we’ve compiled some solid tips to ensure that you use your CRM to its full potential.

1. Choose a platform you can stick with.

Talk to a few business owners and you’ll undoubtedly hear some horror stories about switching CRM’s. Choosing the wrong form of Customer Management can set you back big time down the line. It’s important to choose a simple, easy-to-use software with enough features to work now, and down the line. This doesn’t mean you need to pay thousands of dollars for SalesForce to manage your ten customers and 2 employees, but don’t just take the easy route and start a messy, half-assed Excel Spreadsheet either. One of the worst experiences in business is realizing 2 years-in that you need to go back and redo all the work you’ve put into your CRM now that business is starting to pick up. We recommend checking out ActiveCampaign or Nimble.

2. Consider CRM training a crucial point in your small business growth.

Take the time to learn every corner & every inch of your new CRM, and make sure your employees do too. Employees often treat training programs as waste of time or a chance to relax. Don’t allow this to happen in your office. You’ve made a considerable investment in your CRM and you should insist that everyone takes the training process seriously.

3. Use it to track sales and new leads.

Your CRM has one main purpose, to keep track of your customers; so use it! Insist that your sales team processes any and all new leads through the new system. It will make keeping track of these potential customers so much easier as they move through the process of cultivation.

4. Use all the features of the system instead of resorting to other ones.

Even the most simple CRM systems out there come packed with features. Explore these early on and try to use them as much as possible. Does your CRM have a group huddle or chat feature to keep everyone on the same page? What about a document manager? Use them instead of an outside program for a better flow of your daily operations.

5. Use in-house feedback as much as customer feedback.

Introduce your new CRM and it’s very likely that a few employees will adapt to it rather quickly. Focus on the feedback they provide about why they like it, what features they use most and where it can improve. Customers are an equal source if this type of information. Send out a quick survey or interview your more trusted customers about their experiences with the new way your business operates.

6. Don’t forget the least active users.

If you have a few employees neglecting your new investment, don’t just slap them on the wrist and push them to use it more. Try to understand what is holding them back and why they don’t like the new system. You’ll find that some simply don’t understand it and need more training, while others have specific gripes that can be fixed with simple solutions. Don’t be afraid to contact your CRM company directly with these complaints as they will often have a work-around or trick to fix the situation.

7. Try a system that engages the customer directly.

You’re CRM is all about the client, so try using one that has tools to get you in touch with them directly. ActiveCampaign for instance, works as both a CRM and email system, so you can track your customers and message them directly from the same software. This ensures that customer management, feedback and things like open-rates and stats are tracked in the same place.

Investing in a CRM is a big step in a small business. Learning to use it properly and introducing it to your staff can be a big commitment. These CRM best practices can help you ensure your effort is rewarded.

Ch. 8 of the Comprehensive Guideline for Growing Your Business: Marketing & CRM

It’s a challenging game of choosing which avenues will work best for your business but as a general rule of thumb, don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Marketing should be an integrated mix of efforts that will eventually increase your brand recognition and customer awareness.

The 7 touch theory states that your consumer should hear or see your marketing efforts at least 7 times before they make a purchasing decision. This means that your marketing message should be consistent and repetitive across all your chosen platforms. Here are 7 suggested touches to keep in touch with your audience.

1. Direct Mail campaigns – make your content engaging and most importantly, relevant to your customer. It’s a complete waste of time to construct an email full of content to have it go straight into spam.

2. Email Campaigns – keep in touch with regular newsletters with what’s going on with your business and news from your industry. Let your customers know that you are knowledgeable and trustworthy. And as a best practice tip, create a simple call-to-action. Do you want your customer to call, sign-up, download, or come in? Don’t be afraid to ask for what you want!

3. Social media – research and find out where your customers are online. It’s also a game of fine-tuning what works best for your business. For example, Facebook and LinkedIn are platforms that are information oriented and article driven. On the other hand, Instagram is all about dreamy pictures and visually strong images that quickly capture your audience’s attention. So, if your business is selling medical equipment, using Instagram is a platform.

4. Telephone follow-up – Cold calling is one hard task to check off. Often times, people don’t answer the phone, you’re mostly spending your time talking to a voicemail, or you’re getting a straight up hang up. Give context to your prospects. They are more than likely to respond to your calls when they know what you’re talking about or can recall your brand! Sending them literature via e-mail, or handing out marketing materials at events are great actions to take before going straight to the phone.

5. Community Outreach – get out there, build connections and get noticed! Sponsor a local baseball game, organize a beach clean up, or host a networking event with other strong and like minded organizations in your area.

6. Speaking engagements – speaking at workshops or industry related events builds credibility and trust with your customers.

7. Print Materials - build on top of your face-to-face contact within your community and leave a stronger impression by giving them take away content. Whether it's a brochure or a simple business card, your prospects can refer to these later on when they need more information. You can hand these out at local fairs, expos, and business/industry events. 

For the full 2016 Comprehensive Checklist, visit here.

10 Inspiring Entrepreneurial Quotes for the Mid-Week Slump

“Your biggest enemy is the unknown and assumptions.”

— Donald Bittar

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“People are definitely a company’s greatest asset. It doesn’t make any difference whether the product is cars or cosmetics. A company is only as good as the people it keeps.”

— Mary Kay Ash

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“Profit in business comes from repeat customers, customers that boast about your project or service, and that bring friends with them.”

— W. Edwards Deming

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“There’s no shortage of remarkable ideas, what’s missing is the will to execute them.”

— Seth Godin

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“Being good in business is the most fascinating kind of art. Making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art.”

— Andy Warhol

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“A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business.”

— Henry Ford

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“Almost all quality improvement comes via simplification of design, manufacturing...layout, processes, and procedures.”

— Tom Peters

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“Time is the scarcest resource and unless it is managed nothing else can be managed.”

— Peter Drucker

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“Do more than is required. What is the distance between someone who achieves their goals consistently and those who spend their lives and careers merely following? The extra mile.”

— Gary Ryan Blair

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“All lasting business is built on friendship.”

— Alfred A. Montapert