Business Education

Clever Tips Entrepreneurs Can Use to Master the Art of Self-Promotion – with phone number and email

For new small business owners and emerging entrepreneurs, self-promotion is a crucial skill. It’s about effectively marketing your products or services without coming across as self-centered and/or obnoxious. Mastering this art can help you build brand credibility, grow your customer base, and create lasting relationships with your audience.

Clever Tips Entrepreneurs Can Use to Master the Art of Self-Promotion

In today’s competitive marketplace, it’s more important than ever for entrepreneurs to know how to effectively promote their products and services. However, self-promotion is a delicate art. If you’re too pushy or overly salesy, you’ll likely turn people off.

But, if you don’t promote yourself enough, you’ll never get your business off the ground. In other words, striking a balance is key. So, with this in mind, here are seven clever tips that entrepreneurs can use to master the art of self-promotion:

Be authentic. People can spot a fake a mile away. So be yourself and let your personality shine through in your marketing materials. This will make you more relatable and trustworthy to potential customers.
Focus on the benefits. Don’t just tell people what your product or service is. Tell them what it can do for them. What problems will it solve? How will it make their lives better?
Use storytelling. People love stories. So use them to connect with your audience and make your products and services more memorable. For instance, tell stories about how your product or service has helped other people.
Be social. Get involved in social media and online communities related to your industry. This is a great way to connect with potential customers and build relationships.
Give back. Get involved in charitable causes or volunteer your time to a worthy organization. This will show potential customers that you’re a good person who cares about others.
Be consistent. Don’t just promote yourself once and then disappear. Be consistent with your marketing efforts so that people are constantly reminded of your brand.
Be patient. It takes time to build a successful business. Don’t expect overnight results. Just keep promoting yourself and eventually, you’ll start to see results.

Additionally, you can also offer value through original content. Instead of bombarding your audience with sales pitches, focus on delivering value through content marketing. Create interesting blog posts, videos, podcasts, or infographics that educate, entertain, or solve problems for your target audience. This positions you as an authority in your field.

Following these tips will help you master the art of self-promotion without being annoying or presumptuous. Just remember to be authentic, focus on the benefits, use storytelling, be social, give back, be consistent, and be patient. For even more ideas, here are some additional tips that may be helpful to small business owners:

Use visuals. People are more likely to remember something if they can see it. So use high-quality images and videos in your marketing materials.
Keep it short and sweet. People have short attention spans, so make sure your marketing messages are clear and concise.
Proofread everything. Typos and grammatical errors will make you look unprofessional.
Track your results. So you can see what’s working and what’s not, it’s important to track your results. This will help you optimize your marketing efforts over time.

Effective self-promotion is an art that entrepreneurs can master by building a strong online presence, offering value through content, leveraging social proof, networking strategically, and being authentic and transparent. By following these clever tips, you can promote your products or services while maintaining integrity and authenticity, ultimately building a loyal customer base and achieving long-term success.

Interested in learning more about business? Then just visit Waters Business Consulting Group to learn more about us and the services we offer. You can phone 602-435-5474 or send us an email.

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Tips for Transforming a Companys Culture

May 17, 2017 No Comments

Transforming a company’s culture isn’t for the faint of heart. It takes a lot of courage, dedication, and plenty of humility. While that’s sounds contradictory or confusing, it’s actually the case. You’re going to need to lead in a new direction and be able to take things in stride (at least, to a point). Because changing an organization’s culture will feel much like trying to push a boulder up a steep hill. At any moment, it can roll right over you. But, if you know a few ways to deal with this change, you’ll have a much better shot at success. Tips for Transforming a Company’s Culture It’s very common for a company’s culture to reflect the prevailing management style. Let’s face it, most individuals tend to hire people who reflect their own style, so this isn’t a surprise. That means if a hiring manager or another leader has certain bad habits, chances are excellent others on team will likewise possess those same or like behaviors. It’s also true that culture doesn’t form overnight. It takes time for a company culture to develop. As a [business owner] or as a manager, you may have the power to change your organization’s policies with the stroke of a pen. And you may have the ability to hire, fire, promote and demote people with relatively little effort. But changing an entrenched culture is the toughest task you will face. To do so, you must win the hearts and minds of the people you work with, and that takes both cunning and persuasion. —The Wall Street Journal Once that culture forms, it’s very difficult to change. People become complacent and it takes a significant event to shake that off. It could be a big change in the industry for the worse, losing a lot of money, a sudden shrink in customers, or something else. Great cultures drive productivity and profits. Poor cultures slow productivity and profits. Culture starts with Leadership. So, it’s very important to realize when the culture is toxic and/or when crazy has infiltrated the business. It’s at this juncture you need to take immediate action. Here are some helpful tips for transforming a company’s culture: Team-up with an insider. If you are new to the business, team-up with an insider — someone who can give you the details of what’s happened is a very valuable person. Or, if you’re part of a company that’s just gone awry, you still need someone you can trust. A person who gives you confidence you’re getting the straight story. You’ll learn a lot and probably discover different ways to get back on-track. Get feedback from team members. Aside from your go-to person, you still need to solicit feedback from the entire team. Encourage people to communicate their experiences and expectations. This is a great way to identify who is and isn’t working out. You’ll know by each person’s input and reactions who is an asset and who is a liability. Then, you can work with individuals to help them improve. Define the limits and be extra clear. While getting in-the-loop will provide a lot of valuable information, it’s not going to be a magic bullet. You’ll still need to define boundaries and be very clear on your expectations. Remember the old saying, “To be unclear is to be unkind.” It’s true and will certainly prove as much if you do not define your goals. Be bold and take the lead when necessary. What all of this means is, you’ll have to lead by example. You must set the tone day in and day out so everyone has a chance to adjust. Eventually, a new normal, a better culture, will evolve. Have you taken over an organization and changed its culture? How did you approach the situation? What other tips and tricks do you suggest to change a company’s culture. Please share your thoughts and experiences by leaving a comment. Interested in learning more about business? Then just visit Waters Business Consulting Group. [shareaholic app=”follow_buttons” id=”26833294″]

Business Succession Pros and Cons

April 15, 2021 No Comments

If you are part of a family business, and don’t have anyone related to pass it onto, you might consider a business succession plan as an option. Business secession is the process of transferring the company over to a new group of owners and/or operators. It could be anyone, from a competitor, to a family friend who’d like to take over the business. Regardless, it means turning over the reins to another person or party. So, it’s best to have a fundamental understanding of the process itself and its net effects. Business Succession Advantages Perhaps the biggest benefit of succession planning is knowing who will continue the business, particularly if you’re concerned about maintaining its good reputation. Additionally, it also motivates employees to do their best, because those with key roles who will run the company in the future will most definitely take their responsibilities seriously. If you were a business owner who was considering putting your company on the market but decided not to sell (or at least not anytime soon), what steps should be you taking now? The goals are to ensure preservation of the current business, as well as provide for an orderly and stable future transition when the proper time to sell arrives. —Kiplinger Yet another advantage of business secession is having peace of mind as to what happens to the company after you retire, or in the event you become disabled or die. (This is not only true for you as the current owner, but also, for your customers.) Plus, it helps to put in place processes that are known quantities, and therefore sets the successors up for a successful future. Business Succession Disadvantages Of course, there are drawbacks to everything, including business succession planning and eventual execution. Here are the three most common downsides of business succession you should know about: Turnover. Not everyone inside the business will receive a key role in the future. That can damage company morale once the plan is revealed to the company at-large. Moreover, it could cause good people to leave for other opportunities. No guarantees. Even if every single aspect is outlined and detailed, this does not guarantee the business will continue to be successful. After all, turning over the management means relinquishing leadership, which opens the possibility of failure. At the very least, a risk the business will suffer instead of flourish. Inappropriate strategy. Perhaps the most disconcerting thing about succession planning is the very real possibility of selecting the wrong people to run the company. Sure, the personnel chosen might well be top-notch producers and good with mentoring others, but might not be up to the challenge of actually running an established company. What else would you add to the pros and cons of business succession planning? Please take a moment to share your thoughts and experiences so others can benefit from your unique perspective! Interested in learning more about business? Then just visit Waters Business Consulting Group.

How to Avoid the Prisoner’s Dilemma Business Trap

February 18, 2021 No Comments

The prisoner’s dilemma is a simple principle that explains a very inconvenient paradox. That being, when two or more people are in competition to reach the same goal, instead of working together, they’ll more often make self-serving or sub-optimal choices to their desired end. In other words, they won’t work as a team, attempting to obtain the same result, but rather, as mutual competitors. When this happens, it can easily lead to unhealthy competition, jealousy, infighting, and poor company morale. Fortunately, there are a few effective strategies to cope with such situations. What Causes the Prisoner’s Dilemma in Business Named for a scenario to explain why prisoners do not routinely rise up against the guards of a penitentiary, the prisoner’s dilemma attempts to define why it is that inmates don’t rally together to overtake the facility in order to ultimately escape. (After all, they greatly outnumber the guards and other staff.) …a teaming mindset must be adopted on purpose. Team leaders must paint success in the team as something shared and expansive. Because seeing success this way is rarely spontaneous, leaders have to go out of their way to convey — to sell, really — the upside of collaborative work. The message must be that success can be greater and more exciting when people work together. When this is done well, team members tend to focus more on the work than on themselves. They also focus on what the work means for the company’s value proposition — for their customers. —Harvard Business Review The reason behind it is simple — while everyone might be ostensibly working toward the same goal, that is taking over and breaking out of the prison, each person will act in their own individual best interest — this ultimately leads to chaos and of course, makes the end goal of escaping nearly impossible. Effective Strategies for Dealing with the Prisoner’s Dilemma in Business You might have noticed this dynamic working out among your sales team or any given group of employees. They seem to be in a constant state of competition, even to the point of harming your company’s overall goals. The good news is there are ways to deal with such scenarios, like the following: Encourage healthy discussions. Although some individuals seemingly always do what’s only in their self-interest, very few will continue such behavior if they know that it’s counterproductive to their future. During sales meetings, come up with common strategies that everyone can agree to follow and put everyone on the same path toward your desired goals. Scrutinize potential hires. If someone has a very impressive track record, but hops from one company to another, that’s obviously a red flag. So, listen carefully during the interview process for attitudes that convey job dissatisfaction, unhealthy competition with previous employees/employers, and other negative perspectives and emotions. Such individuals will tell you in not-so-subtle ways that they don’t work well with others. Reward genuine teamwork. Ronald Reagan copied a famous inspirational phrase by repeating this sentiment, “It’s amazing what can be accomplished when nobody cares who gets the credit.” This is very difficult for any group, especially those in a competitive environment. But, if you reward everyone involved for working as a team to reach their goals, you reinforce positive behaviors. What other suggestions do you have? Please take a moment to comment and share your thoughts and experiences so others can benefit from your unique perspective! Interested in learning more about business? Then just visit Waters Business Consulting Group.