Successful Blog

It’s Not Your Passion, But Your Purpose

by 2 Comments

Everyone feels lost sometimes.

Everyone feels lost sometimes.

I don’t think I know anyone who hasn’t been lost in their head at one time or another — even those folks overachieving all over the Internet. We all find those moments that we wonder about who we are and what we want. But the question is not whether everyone gets lost, but how we get ourselves back on the road to the life we want.

Ask everyone how to get back to moving forward, and soon enough someone will say, “Follow your passion.” Follow your passion? What if my passion is sitting on the beach, listening to music?

When faced with the questions of who we are and what we want, the road to moving forward follows your purpose. Passion is only half the story. However you define success in business or in life, a critical component is finding your purpose — your unique ability to help others that involves both your mind and your heart.

Purpose is both credibility and passion. Credibility is at the heart of knowing who we are. To find your credibility, ask yourself what you’re already known for, what you’re good at, what you’ve accomplished. Passion is at the heart of knowing what we want. To find your passion, name what you talk about, think about, and do every day — without payment — simply because it makes you feel like you’ve got a contribution to make. In other words, concentrate on combining what you do well with what you really like.

If you’re an ex-lawyer fascinated by marketing. You might find your crossroads showing lawyers how to market their business. If you’re a mother who wants to start a small business, research small businesses for mothers or by show mothers how they might get started in business. Then help others who feel lost find their unique space.

It’s hard to feel lost when you’re helping people find their own way.

Be irresistible,

Liz

Put Your Mind to It

Set your mind to find the crossroads of your credibility and your passion. You’ll find a problem that you have solved for yourself in your own, unique way. Consider how you solved that problem for yourself. Then go solve that problem for everyone else.

More from Liz . . . about Not Passion, But Purpose:

Are You Seeing the Things that Make a Difference to Your Business and Your Life?

Choosing and Deciding: How Do You Sort a Path to Opportunity?

Make It Your Business to Defend You and Your Brand

by Leave a Comment

Personal BrandingIf you have worked many years to establish your brand, imagine how quickly all that work can go down the tube if you are alleged to have committed a sex crime. Think it can’t happen to you? If so, change that line of thinking now.

Whether true or not, many individuals (including those running businesses) get caught up in sex crime allegations at some point and time in their lives.

As a result of such allegations, their professional and personal images take a hit, a hit that some will find difficult to ever recover from.

If you are dealing with such allegations, make it your business to defend you and your brand.

Standing up for Your Reputation

The first thing you need to do if alleged to have committed a sex crime is making sure you have legal representation.

You may think that paying for a criminal defense attorney is out of the question, so you will end up representing yourself.

Stop for a moment and think about your legal experience. Safe to say, it is probably slim to none. As a result, you need to find an attorney who will fight tough cases.

Once you have that attorney in your corner, the next important detail is going to work on the prosecution’s case.

Even though you never want to verbally attack the alleged sex crime victim, you have every right (and need for that matter) to look for holes in their story.

The sex crime allegation against you could be any number of charges. Among some of them:

  • An employee at your business accuses you of inappropriate conduct towards them or another worker;
  • A customer to your business accuses you of inappropriate conduct towards them;
  • Someone outside of your business accuses you of inappropriate conduct towards them.

No matter who is coming forward with the allegations, you need an experience legal professional to nip these charges in the bud before they do both professional and personal damage to your image.

For those business owners thinking that such allegations will just go away, it is important to not get into that mindset.

Even if you are totally cleared of any sex crime allegations, the stigma of them can hover over your business for weeks, months, perhaps even years. This is all the more reason to deal with them immediately and thoroughly.

Don’t Lose Focus on Your Business

As you deal currently with a sex crime charge, make sure that your business does not suffer as a result.

If you are going to be tied up with your legal team and/or in court, it is important that your business still keeps up its day-to-day operations.

In the event you run the business by yourself, consider getting some temporary help in to hold down the fort. If you have employees under you, delegate some of your responsibilities to them. The key is making sure that your business is able to meet the needs of your customers whenever and wherever necessary.

Speaking of customers, do you go public with the allegations you are facing?

Many criminal defense attorneys will tell you to stay quiet on such allegations, fearing that you are just opening up a can of worms if you go public, especially on social media.

The decision ultimately has to be yours, though it certainly would behoove you to listen carefully to anything your attorney tells you.

On the one hand, talking about your case in public to customers, on social media sites etc. does of course open up the possibility of something you say being used against you if your case goes to trial.

On the other hand, you do want to get out in front of the matter and make sure your side of the story is heard.

Since there is a good chance some or many of your customers (current and potential) are likely to have heard of your sex crime allegations, use your best judgment as to what you should and should not say.

In the end, your brand could take quite a hit from such allegations.

Along with your personal freedom, your other big focus should be on keeping your brand alive and healthy.

Photo credit: BigStockPhoto.com

About the Author: Dave Thomas covers business topics on the web.

You’re not “just” anything. Dare to dream.

by Leave a Comment

1200x1200--GeniusShared ReadYou’re not “just a blogger.”

You’re not “just a small business owner.”

You’re not “just a mom.”

You’re not “just a consultant.”

You’re not “just an entrepreneur.”

You’re not “just a marketer.”

You’re not “just a student.”

You’re not “just a struggling artist.”

See how that one qualifying word leaves everything in its wake smaller, less important?

 

The next time someone asks what you do for a living, tell them something fabulous and important about why you wake up in the morning.

“I teach–I fill children’s minds with useful information and possibilities.”

“I write–I share stories that inspire people to act on their dreams.”

“I advise–I help business owners map out their path to success.”

“I invest–I grow the future.”

 

Let’s give the word “just” a nice Viking funeral and find a new way to describe our path. Dare to dream big.

 

Featured image via Flickr CC: aotaro

 

Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for Social Strata — makers of the Hoop.la community platform. Check out the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee

This post has been listed as a suggested resource in a recent GeniusShared newsletter article by Jane Boyd entitled On Stories & Taking Risk.

Are Printed Business Cards Obsolete?

by 2 Comments

The conference was fantastic.

I attended lots of sessions where I learned new things, I got a good sense for where my industry is going, and I had lots of great one-on-one, eyeball-to-eyeball conversations.

In the past, my first activity when I returned home from a conference was to place a giant stack of business cards on my desk, and enter the information into my contacts.

This week, it hit me that I came home with only a small stack of business cards, and most of them were from vendors I spoke with in the exhibition area.

Hmmmm.

What has changed?

  • A shift toward authentic connections, rather than business transactions
  • Social networks now contain the vital contact information
  • The world moves too fast for print; we all have half-full boxes of cards with old titles, phone numbers, and emails
  • People change jobs and companies more often
  • More online networking than offline…no need for thousands of cards

But there is still a place for printed business cards.

 

The Case for Business Cards

They provide a tangible reminder of a moment in time. I know some who jot down a quick note on the back of business cards, either to remind themselves of where they met or some physical characteristic of the person to aid in remembering their name later.

Personality/branding and succinct messaging. Your business card can sometimes give a more precise and quick summary of your business than you can, off the cuff. For situations where an elevator pitch isn’t feasible (in an actual elevator, for example), a quick handing over of the card and “please call/email me when you have a moment to talk” might work.

Stand in for your physical presence. When I bought my last car, the salesperson handed me several of his business cards to give to my friends/family who might be in the market for a car. Handing out business cards can make it easy for your customers to refer people to you, and ensure that your messaging isn’t mangled in the translation.

 

The Case Against Business Cards

Startups can save money. Cards aren’t really that expensive, but if you add up the design time, printing, and reprinting, along with the waste, it might be an expense that a small startup can skip.

You may work harder to make an impression. My friend Lisa Jenkins told me once that, “if I can’t remember you without a business card, you didn’t make a very big impression!” I like the idea that the force of your personality or the strength of your connection will leave a memory stronger than a piece of paper.

Save trees, resources. I probably have a full forest worth of old business cards in my office. The move toward paperless communication is leaving printed business cards, brochures, and other detritus of the old system behind.

 

Where do you stand? Are you still handing out paper business cards? What do you do with the ones you bring home?

 

 

Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for Social Strata — makers of the Hoop.la community platform. Check out the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee

 

Featured image via Flickr CC: Geoffrey Franklin

Build Your Online Portfolio from the Ground Up

by Leave a Comment

White Keyboard with My Story Button.Is your online portfolio ready to impress?

With potential employers checking out new hires online, having an online portfolio makes good business sense, providing a valuable introduction to your skills.

Your choice of information and how you organize it could make the difference between being hired and being overlooked, so just what should you include?

Start with these six things:

Lead Off with an Introduction

Visitors want to get a feel for the person behind the portfolio, so be sure to include an introduction.

Your introduction should inspire confidence, giving a brief background on what you do, and who you are. Keep it short, but relatable. Your visitors are interested in the person you are and what you are like to work with – you don’t need to include your life story.

Industry Awareness

As the article “The Power and Impact of an Online Portfolio” points out, it’s a good idea to start by asking yourself about the expectations within your industry.

What skills, qualifications and personal attributes are employers in your industry looking for?

By cultivating an awareness of what employers want, you can tailor your profile to make sure it answers those needs.

Clear Focus

Avoid confusion by keeping your focus clear.

An overcrowded portfolio will fail to make an impact. Instead, summarize your key skills in one or two sentences that will leave visitors in no doubt as to what they’ll get when they work with you.

Be sure to include a strong introduction, an easy to browse selection of your work, a clear call to action to encourage contact, and visible contact details to facilitate that.

Qualified Statements

The maxim “show, don’t tell” holds true when it comes to your online portfolio. It’s not enough to simply list what you’ve done – details about your achievements are a must.

For example, if you re-designed a website for a restaurant, don’t just show your design. Talk about how many more visitors they got as a result, or how much revenue increased after it went live.

Leave your visitors with a clear impression of what you can achieve for them when they hire you.

Your Best Work

Choose your work for your portfolio carefully.

This is your chance to show your best work. It can be tempting to include everything you’ve done. However, it makes better business sense to take the opportunity to showcase the best of your work.

As well as choosing your best work, be sure to include some background on each project, such as the remit for each one and how you set about completing it.

Provide the Right Layout

Layout matters when it comes to your online portfolio.

The focus should be on your work, not on the layout surrounding it. Aim for a clear, professional look that easily draws attention to what you want to say.

Your portfolio should be easy to browse, leaving your reader free to focus on the quality of your work.

Make sure your portfolio is mobile-friendly too, or you could risk losing mobile visitors.

Your online portfolio gives you an opportunity to make your first impression count.

Take the time to plan and build it with this in mind so potential employers will like what they see when they visit your online home.

Photo credit: BigStockPhoto.com

About the Author: Tristan Anwyn is an author who writes on a range of topics including social media, SEO that works, and careers.

How To Create Work That Is Professional Yet Not Boring

by Leave a Comment

By Lindsey Tolino

Have you ever had an interview or meeting coming up and found yourself staring at your closet trying to create an outfit that is professional, yet not boring?

I have. Sometimes professional can become sterile, cookie-cutter and boring. It takes a little creativity to come up with something professional, yet interesting. And I’’m not talking just about clothes.

Though we may want professional work from people, we don’t want to work with robots. We want to work with people we can rely on to be professional and personable as well. Moreover, we want to be those people. We want to show we are solid at our work, but be memorable as well.

So how can we demonstrate we are professional and not be boring about it?

First, let’s look at what makes something professional. I think these are the minimum:

  • Doing what you said you’d do – You can only be seen as a solid professional if you deliver on your promises.
  • Expertise and an ability to communicate it – If you’’re a pro, you’ve learned the language of your field. Not only should you be able to speak in the esoteric language, but you should be able to easily communicate what you do to an outsider as well.
  • Clear and concise presentation of work – Your work should be organized and easily understandable because mess is the opposite of professional.

You’’re likely a boss at being a professional. But maybe you get hung up, like I do, in the next area – being interesting and memorable in your work.

We want to be solid professionals, but we also want to be personable and interesting to those around us.

So how can we be more personable and interesting? Here are some ideas:

  • Share stories – Being vulnerable through sharing our experiences with others can certainly make us more personable.
  • References to pop culture – This could mean references to movies, TV shows, events, etc. Throw in a “you’re killing me smalls” on an email and I’’ll be sure to pay attention to your next one.
  • Humor – Robotic machines aren’’t funny. Humor is always attractive.
  • Art – This could be images, music, graphic design or even artistic writing. Showing that our work has a human touch through art makes us far more interesting and personable.

But how do you blend professional and interesting seamlessly? It can be really awkward if you just throw a joke at the end of an email or attach a link to music you like. The best way to do it is to know your audience and serve them accordingly. Here are some great real-life examples I’ve seen:

  • The Skimm is an email newsletter that cleanly, concisely and humorously presents the latest news.
  • A friend of mine adds hilariously fitting hashtags to the end of his work emails. He knows his audience well, so it’’s a great fit.
  • These redesigned resumes are beautiful examples of seamlessly marrying professional and interesting.

It can be difficult to present your work as professional, yet not boring. We may have learned to that in order to be “”professional”,” we shouldn’’t be seen through our work.

It’’s time to bring back you to your work. Otherwise, it will be boring. Don’’t edit your creativity out. Let it shine on your polished professional platform.

Author’s Bio: Lindsey Tolino comes alongside artisans, craftsman and people monetizing their passions to help them craft healthy businesses. She shares her business musings at ToBusinessOwners.com. Follow her on Twitter @LindseyTolino or connect with her on Google+.