Successful Blog

Consistency is King

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We moved from Pittsburgh to Raleigh in early Spring 2014. Now we’ve moved back from Raleigh to Pittsburgh this fall. It’s hard to sort through your stuff, pack it up and move it several states over. It’s even harder to leave relationships you’ve started, knowing they won’t be the same when you’re hundreds of miles apart. Moving is hard.

But it’s even harder to stay. It’s hard to maintain relationships come hell or high water (or children or distance). It’s hard to go to the same job year after year and put 100% in each day. It’s easier to quit. It’s easier to walk away. It’s easier to run.

You can do something for a brief moment that is beautiful and valuable. But those who consistently put in the sacrificial work are the ones that make the most sustainable difference.

Consistency is hard. But its rewards are great.

Why consistency is hard:

  1. Rewards aren’t immediate.
  2. New is exciting. Think about a new job, a new house, a new love – they all offer hope of something greater than what we already know. So new is inherently exciting and consistency generally isn’t.
  3. Consistency can mean you’re unseen. When you are consistent, people may take your consistency for granted and you may feel unseen. However, a benefit of your consistency is that random drama likely won’t follow you like a bad penny.

Why consistency is worth it:

  1. Trust is built over time. Healthy relationships are formed through mutual trust. And healthy relationships are rare and valuable. They are mutually life-giving, beneficial and enriching.
  2. We can be improved through consistency. When we deny ourselves and consistently sacrifice for others, we become better people. We find when we give our lives away, we are better for it.
  3. We achieve great feats through consistency. Great achievements are completed by consistent work. A marathon, a skyscraper and a life-well lived are all built through consistent steps. Those who have consistently sacrificed themselves for others are the greats of history.

We might decide to move a mountain in a major life-decision moment. But it’s in our day-to-day consistent work that we actually move the mountain, shovel by shovel. It’s when we are consistent in the seemingly mundane and the boring steps that we actually create major change.

Let’s encourage each other in consistency, in the less-than-glamorous day-to-day. Because we are all changing the landscape, one shovel at a time.

 

 

Image info: Original image by Paul E. Harrer.

About the Author: Lindsey Tolino comes alongside artisans, craftsman and people monetizing their passions to help them create healthy businesses. She shares her heart at ToBusinessOwners.com. Follow her on Twitter @LindseyTolino or connect with her on Google+ .

Beach Notes: Froggy Beach

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By Suzie Cheel & Des Walsh

There’s this little beach where we walk sometimes. We don’t know its official name but the locals call it Froggie Beach, or just Froggie, for short.

Because someone, years ago, painted one of the rocks as a frog. The paint gets mysteriously renewed by a person or persons unknown.

Everyone else saw just rocks. Someone saw a frog.

What will you see differently today?

Painted rock frog

Authors’ Bios: Suzie Cheel is the Heart Whisperer at Suzie Cheel You can find Suzie on Facebook and on Twitter as @suziecheel

Des Walsh is a Digital Disruption Navigator at Des Walsh Dot Com You can find Des at LinkedIn and on Twitter as @deswalsh

Is the Time Right for Your Business Aspirations?

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Multi-ethnic Superhero Businessmen Confidence Concept

If you’re considering starting a business during what’s left of 2015 or anytime in 2016, there are a number of factors to keep in mind.

From the current health of the economy to the type of business itself, starting a successful business oftentimes boils down to timing.

Here are just a few tips for starting a successful business the first time around in the coming year:

Strike While the Startup Iron is Hot

Although many small and large businesses alike are still recovering from the financial crisis of 2008, all signs point to a recovering economy. This means good news for entrepreneurs looking to start a new business in the coming year.

The U.S. has regained close to nine million jobs in the past year and banks are beginning to lend to business startups again.

Likewise, if you’re trying to start a business without relying on a line of credit from a bank, crowd-funding through sites like Indiegogo and Kickstarter is also at an all-time high.

It’s also important to note that a healthy economy means less competition for industries of all kinds.

Whether you’re starting an online brand or a local business, when the business world struggles less, it gives your business a better opportunity to set up shop without competing with other similar businesses hungry for sales.

Ask for Advice

Regardless of whether you’re starting your business tomorrow or in the New Year, it’s always wise to ask for advice and tips from successful business owners.

As the following article looks at, whether you’re looking for 8 tips for starting a massage therapy business or you just need some help in the marketing department, a little advice goes a long way.

You can reach out to other business owners on sites like LinkedIn and Facebook, read up on business blogs, or meet with business owners in person. You’d be surprised at how willing successful entrepreneurs are to share advice on the startup process.

Timing is Everything

Although the economy is currently ripe for new businesses to take shape, that doesn’t mean you should jump right in to starting your business.

Successfully getting your business off the ground takes a ton of planning and perfect timing.

That’s why it’s so important to choose the right time to get the business ball rolling.

For example, if you’re starting a consumer retail business, consider opening your doors closer to the holidays as opposed to after the New Year.

Starting your business at the right time could give you a much-needed sales boost during those critical beginning stages.

Study the Competition

In the weeks and months leading up to your grand opening, be sure to study the competition closely. Keeping an eye on the success rates of industries and local businesses similar to yours will provide you with valuable insights.

Are similar businesses currently struggling or are they experiencing unprecedented sales numbers?

By studying the competition and asking these questions, you’ll know when the best time is to jump in the business arena.

If you’re trying to decide whether to start your business in the coming year, then keep in mind the helpful tips mentioned above.

Photo credit: BigStockPhoto.com

About the Author: Adam Groff is a freelance writer and creator of content. He writes on a variety of topics including business startups and the economy.

Book Review: E.Q. Librium – Unleash the Power of Your Emotional Intelligence

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cover of EQ Librium bookHave you ever had a colleague who was totally brilliant, but had no clue how to handle office politics?

Whenever humans are required to work together in an enclosed space, there is conflict. Those who can manage their emotions effectively become the leaders, and those who can’t, are always grumbling together in the break room.

E.Q. Librium, by Yvette Bethel, provides you with practical tools that can help you achieve balance through your emotions. The book offers a diverse array of case studies, stories, and examples that illustrate how emotional intelligence impacts every aspect of our lives.

The author draws on research as well as her own experiences over 20 years within a Fortune 500 company to offer guidance on how to improve one’s emotional intelligence. That’s the good news–while your IQ is pretty much determined at birth, your EQ can be lifted if you take the time to focus on it.

This book, along with the associated workbook, are no quick-read opinion pieces. You’ll want to take notes, read a chapter at a time, and put the ideas into action immediately. Be forewarned, though, you may catch yourself evaluating the emotional responses of others around you!

Value-Based Characteristics That Will Benefit You and Others

  • Integrity
  • Situational Ethics
  • Ownership
  • If you say you are going to do something, do it
  • Recognize biases
  • Demonstrate courage
  • Weigh as many sides as possible
  • Forgiveness
  • Communication
  • Responsiveness and resourcefulness

Ms. Bethel goes into detail for each of the above characteristics, providing a real-world case study and then research and explanation to go along with it. The chapter on resolving conflict is one I plan to refer back to in the future, as well.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in improving their relationships at work and at home. The principles outlined are applicable whether you’re a solo entrepreneur, a recent graduate, a small business owner, or CEO of a large company.

 

Featured image via Flickr CC: aboutmodafinil.com

Disclosure: I was provided a digital copy of the E.Q. Librium for review purposes. The opinions in this review are my own, unbiased reaction to the book.

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

Make Content Marketing a Leading Strategy

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Child scratching head with question mark on blackboard concept fContent marketing has been around for hundreds of years, but only recently has it been getting a lot of attention.

Essentially, content marketing is the process of advertising without advertising. This is to say that content marketing provides valuable content to consumers without overtly advertising, all while slyly incorporating a brand’s products or services.

A good example of this may be where a pest control service provides 10 essential pest control tips on Facebook with the hook that, if these tips fail, contact XYZ Pest Control.

The objective, getting the brand out there, is achieved by providing real-world tips that are valuable to the potential customer.
What Qualifies as “Valuable Content”?

Before you begin a content marketing campaign, stop and think … what would be valuable to me if I were a consumer?

While it’s easy to get lost in the world of industry jargon and technicalities, the consumer will, by and large, not understand what you mean. Therefore, try to think in simplistic terms.

What does the potential customer hope to get out of your company? What are the fears holding them back from doing business? What makes your company unique from the competition while ensuring that you can provide all that the consumer needs?

Consider all of these questions when crafting your business’ content.
Content Marketing is Great at Generating Leads

One of the biggest advantages to using content marketing is that it generates not only web traffic, which can boost search engine ranking, but it also boosts leads. The more valuable the content, the more likely people are to share this content.

In the article, “How to Generate More Leads Than Ever in 2015 With Content Marketing“, it’s pointed out that leads need to be nurtured through content.

Basically, you need an overarching theme to your brand message that transcends the content at hand.

You’ll want to form a full-force brand message about your new or existing product or service that implements value through your company’s website, social media channels, and traditional advertising in order to gain traction.
Don’t Just Throw It All at the Wall

Finally, one of the worst mistakes you can make is to generate content, throw it at the wall and see what sticks.

While it’s true that you need to monitor metrics in order to see what works and what doesn’t, taking a shotgun approach can prove to be disastrous.

Many business owners try to offer up valuable content from across a very wide spectrum of their offerings, only to find out that they lose business as a result.

Instead, plan out a strategy, determine which content marketing channels are the best bets, and then focus on target audiences in order to achieve success.

Valuable content isn’t valuable if you aren’t reaching the right people.

About the Author: Andrew Rusnak is an author who writes on topics that include content marketing and social media.

What’s the Best Time of Day to Publish a Blog Post?

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Whether you are new to blogging or have been blogging awhile, you might have noticed that your readers comment more frequently on certain days or share more often on others. It is no mystery that there is a science to developing the right time to post to your blog and to social media. There are numerous studies devoted to tracking the frequency of shares, comments, likes and views and they generally don’t have the same answer. In this article, we will go over three different studies from KISSmetrics, Track Maven, and Shareaholic and discuss their findings.

  • Social Shares—Both KISSmetrics and Track Maven suggest posting your blog during non-peak hours between 9pm and midnight or on Saturday or Sunday to get the most social shares. Their reasoning is that there are fewer other posts and, therefore, yours will get more prominence. Shareaholic’s data indicated that posting between 9am and 10am on Thursday is your best bet when it comes to social shares.
  • Website Traffic—KISSmetrics found that the best time to post a blog in order to get the most traffic to your website was Monday at 11am. Shareaholic’s data came to the same conclusion about Monday, but suggested 9am to 10am.
  • Comments—KISSmetrics was the only one to focus on which day showed the most people commenting. Their data suggested Saturday at around 9am. The reason being that people have more time to spend on the website reading the material. KISSmetrics also found that if you are posting more than once per day, you are more likely to get comments and inbound links.

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Overall, the data from each different source showed that people are the most active during the work week. KISSmetrics also studied whether men or women were more likely to read blogs during the day or evening. They found that men were more likely to read blogs in the early evening or at night, while women tended to be more daytime readers.

The truth is, you know your audience best of all and are the best judge of when to post and share. You can import Google Analytics for your website to study your page visits and views. Review the data as you post to the blog at different times and days. This will give you a sense of the best day and time for your company. Also see which topics received the most comments, likes, and shares. When you are putting together your writing calendar, keep this data in mind. If you review it frequently and correctly, it can guide your entire marketing strategy.

Remember also that you can schedule your blog posts to self-publish. Let’s say you review your data and see that you get the most traffic on Monday for your blog posts. Problem is, that is the same time as the weekly staff meeting and your day just gets crazier from there. Write that post when you have some down time during the week or even on the weekend and schedule it. It’s all about working smarter, not harder.

Do you have any other surefire ways to get the most views for a blog? Let us know in the comments.

 

 

 

mickie 2Mickie Kennedy is founder of eReleases and offers free ebooks and whitepapers on how to grow your business’s traffic.