Month: July 2020

How to Make Your Business Stand Out from the Competition

How to Make Your Business Stand Out from the Competition

Since the creation of the internet and social media, hundreds of thousands of businesses have emerged. Of course, you want your business to stand out head and shoulders above the rest. How do you achieve that goal? There are several ways to make your business stand apart from the competition but you have to start by evaluating your own business.

Stand Out from the CompetitionStand Out from the Competition, laptop on woman's desk

Evaluate Your Own Company

It is often very easy to compare your company to others. The tendency may be to think that they do something better than you. However, it is most important to start from within. Looking within your own company is the place to begin.

Look at where you have been static – Take a good long look at where you have been static in your own company. Has your company become stale and outdated? Is there room for something new and innovative? Can you improve a product or service?

What can you reuse – Is there a sales letter that you can re-circulate or a product that you can enhance in order to gain new clients and customers?

What needs recreating? – Is there an area of your business such as reorganizing one of your departments? Perhaps management and assistant management need to put better communication policies and procedures into place.

Does your product or service live up to today’s standards? – Look and see if your product or service lives up today’s standards. Once you have evaluated this, take a look and see if your product or service is trending according to today’s standards.

Where do you stand with social media? – If your website does not incorporate social media, then it is time to include this all-important aspect into your business. Many times a customer will immediately leave a web page if he or she does not see social media buttons.

How can you reach more clients? – Investigate how you can reach more clients. Perhaps you need to set up a Facebook fan page if you do not already have one put in place. Check to see if you are responding to comments that visitors leave on your webpage if you have one. Engaging with clients is a sure-fire way to bring them closer to you rather than alienate them. Reach out to other businesses and blogs to create a sharing opportunity on each other’s web sites through guest blogging or blog rolls.

how to stand out from the competition

Today’s business is extremely fast-paced and moves at a rapid speed through change. Keeping up with those changes is the only way to stay ahead of the competition.

Taking a look at all these things in your own company is the foundation of a company that is capable of standing out from the competition.

Stand Out from the Competition

30-Day Blogging Masterclass

The internet has an insatiable appetite for information. Billions of searches are conducted every single day looking for everything from how to bake an apple pie to why zebras have stripes. For anyone who conducts business online, these searches represent a steady flow of potential customers who are looking for what you have to offer.  You just need to be very clear on what you offer, in order to be able to provide that value.

What you need to know:

Your Ideal Reader

Who is your ideal reader? What does she want? What are her questions? What does she find entertaining? What could help her right now?

Your Position

Your blog should position you as an expert and industry leader. Are you using your voice and personality to establish yourself as an expert?

30 blogging for business masterclass, woman working on her laptop with a cup of coffee wearing a pink skirt and high heelsDefine your goals

What will separate your blog from the rest will be your ability to visualize a direct and coherent vision, with long term aims and strategies. So, be sure to establish your goals and have them tie into your blog’s brand and values.

Download the FREE Excercise Worksheet

Remember: Blogging is not a fast business-growth strategy but it is excellent for long-term sustainability. Those posts you write this month will continue to work for you many years from now, bringing in more and more traffic and potential clients.

Also, if you haven’t already, be sure to read 52 Blog Ideas for your business, who couldn’t use 52 blog ideas?

[Tweet “Quick Tip: Listen before you blog. It’s not about how smart you are, it’s about how well you serve.”]

Women working together with their business coach, Blogging Masterclass

P.S. Do you know someone that would benefit from this 30 Day Blogging Masterclass? Send them over to the TVS Classroom to sign up.

Blogging Masterclasslogging Challenge

How to Have a Stress-Free Business Launch

How to Have a Stress-Free Business Launch
Let’s face it, the last thing you want to do, now that you’ve decided to finally leave the 9 to 5 job, is to add more stress to your life. Isn’t that why you decided to build your own business in the first place? You’re looking for freedom from the stress of a fixed schedule, working with those you don’t get along with, and from the limitations of a fixed salary.

But if you’re trading all that in for a different kind of stress, what have you gained? Before you kiss your cubicle goodbye, be sure you first build a solid foundation—and we don’t just mean business-wise.

Build a Financial Safety Net

Nothing stresses us out quite like worrying about money. Whether you’re concerned about those college tuition bills you’ll be facing in a few years, or worse, not sure how you’re going to make the rent or bills, it’s easy to lose your business mojo. As a new business owner, you certainly don’t want money trouble casting a shadow over your entrepreneurial dream.

Before you turn in your resignation, set aside some cash in case of a rainy day. Aim for at least three months of living expenses but more is better. Hopefully, you won’t need it but having some cash on hand will relieve the pressure of having a new business that’s not earning its keep—yet.

how to have a stress-free business launch, woman handing a summer drink on pink background
How to Have a Stress-Free Business Launch

Make Sure Your Family is on Board

Money troubles are bad, but there may be one worse thing: an unsupportive spouse. And as any entrepreneur will tell you, not everyone understands the drive to be a business owner. Most people find it pretty scary to step away from that regular paycheck to chase after a dream.

If that sounds like your partner, don’t take it personally. They’re not making a statement about your ability. More than likely, they’re just worried about what the future holds. Do your best to understand where they’re coming from, and be sure to clearly explain your ideas, why you are confident it will work, and how you plan to cover the start-up expenses and manage the risk.

If he or she is still not on board, consider starting slow, with a part-time business while still working your day job. That will allow you to prove your idea is workable, and might just help your spouse get as excited about it as you are.

Read my article: How to Talk to Your Family About Working From Home – it may be helpful with this topic!

Take Time for YOU

No matter what’s going on with your money, your partner or your business, you need to be sure to schedule some “you” time. No one can work all the time, regardless of how driven you are. I am sure I don’t need to mention that no one can stay healthy while maintaining a nonstop schedule. Go for a walk, hit the gym, get a pedicure or just binge on your favourite brainless television show. The point is simply to take time away from your desk to rest and rejuvenate. Without it, you’ll soon find yourself overwhelmed and stressed, even if you truly love your new business.

Affirmations for Starting a New Business

Affirmations for Starting a New Business
If you didn’t’ already know, I am a huge fan of affirmations and use them as part of my daily morning routine.  They were especially helpful when I first started coaching. Not only did they help make major shifts in my mindset they reminded me that I have started and ran a successful business before, why should this one be any different?

If you are just starting out with affirmations, I recommend you speak the affirmations out loud for about five minutes – three times a day, morning, midday, and evening. An ideal time to do this is when you’re putting on your makeup or doing your hair so that you can look at yourself in the mirror as you repeat the positive statement. Another option that helps to reinforce the new belief and would be easy to do at work is to write out the affirmation several times in a notebook. Notice over time as you write it if your style of writing changes. This could be a clue as to how your mind perceives the new concept.

Here are a few of my favourites to get you started.

Affirmations for Starting a New Business

Affirmations for Starting a New Business