Starting a business isn’t easy. If it was, everyone would do it! The problem is, there’s not really a handbook on how to be a successful entrepreneur. It’s a lot of trial and error.
But if you’re a Christchurch NZ entrepreneur there are some tactics that you can develop and learn to improve your business. 13 to be specific!
1. Be Courageous
It takes courage to face doubt, uncertainty and criticism from others who do not like you or believe in what you’re doing.
Unfortunately, haters and doubters are all too common, but you need to remember you’re stronger than they are!
Put them behind you, believe in yourself and your vision and go after your dream!
If you’re committed to using your talents and gifts to help others through your business, there’s nothing that can stop you except your own fear.
Remember, the God of our universe gave you specific skills that are unique to only you! So, don’t be afraid to use your gifts to change the world.
Nobody ever achieved anything big in business or any walk of life without courage. Yes, you’ll be scared sometimes, if you can conquer fear, you’ll discover the hidden hero within you.
2. Find & Solve Problems
As an entrepreneur, it’s very important to find a problem you are passionate about and want to solve.
Remember that nobody is going to hand you a list of problems to choose from. It’s up to you to pay attention, take notice and do your homework so you know what the market wants.
Start by FINDING the problem first, and then you can focus on solving the problem. Not the other way around.
3. Be Clear About Your Purpose
Clarity is the key to your online business success. Here are a few things you should clarify if you haven’t already:
- Who do you serve?
- Who is your ideal customer?
- How do you make money?
- What is your vision for your company?
- What are your short-term and long-term goals?
- How much money do you want to make?
- What are your plans to scale your business?
The list goes on and on. The more specific you are, the better! Clarify your purpose and see how much of a difference it makes!
4. Communicate With Your Customers.
You have to connect and empathise with your customers. To truly be successful it’s important for you to understand their frustrations and aspirations, and then be crystal clear that you are the solution to their problems.
Also, when you focus on communicating with customers, you bring more humanity to your business.
You make your customers feel like you’re standing shoulder to shoulder with them and that you hear them!
When they feel you actually care, you’ll rise above brands and companies that are cold and seemingly don’t care.
5. Create Content That Builds Trust
When it comes to Christchurch digital marketing, content is a cornerstone of your online success and how you build trust with your audience.
Content is your website, your social media updates, articles, blog posts, videos, books, podcasts, and eBooks.
Basically… if it’s something your customers will hear or read, it’s content and you can use it to build trust.
Take the time to think through and articulate your message. Make sure your brand voice is consistent across all channels. Everyone appreciates high-quality content and you’ll be rewarded with sales if you can produce it.
6. Be Consistent
If you want to be successful online, you must be consistent. You can’t publish a blog post and then disappear for four months before you publish again.
You can’t post a video and then say, it’s too hard, I’m done! The biggest secret to getting results in any area of life is consistency.
A favourite author of mine said, “For every disciplined effort there are multiple rewards” – Jim Rohn
Create a routine, get on a schedule and stick to it!
7. Create Content That Sells
This is a big one. And in case you didn’t know, content is the language you use to sell or communicate something online. Here’s why it’s big…
If you write an amazing blog post but your headline is really boring, nobody is going to read it.
The same goes for email. You can write an incredible email but if your subject line is boring, nobody is going to open it and buy your stuff. All of these items fall under copywriting. If you can’t do it yourself, it’s good to find someone who can.
- Blog post title
- Email subject lines
- Headlines for articles
- Content for articles
- Customer service emails
- Email autoresponder sequences
- Social media updates
- Sales page or sales videos
- Your home page, about us page, and all other website pages
- CTA’s (Call to Action)
- Button copy for your website – Buy Now, Add to Cart, Sign Up Now, Etc.)
- Product offer description
- Ads and ads campaigns
- Videos script copy
- Title of videos or podcasts
- Descriptions of videos or podcasts
- Webinars
8. Convert Your Prospects Into Customers
An important thing that many business owners fail to track and manage is how efficient you are at getting people to take the desired action you’re trying to get them to take.
For example,
if you’re trying to get someone to sign up for your newsletter, your opt-in rate is the number of people that sign up compared to the number of actual visitors.
The formula is:
Conversions = number of actions taken / total number of visitors
I.E. 10 % Conversion = 10/100
You need to track the conversion of everything.
Who’s opening your emails?
Are people landing on your site clicking the buttons?
How many people are making a purchase when they get to the product page?
You need to track the conversion of everything you’re doing to make sure it’s working!
Use can use free tools like Google Analytics to track your conversion, so you know the effectiveness of your online business and digital marketing efforts.
9. Be Honest
If you want to be a leader and a successful entrepreneur, you must be honest. Dishonesty may get you ahead in the short-term, but it won’t last long.
Give people quality products and provide awesome customer service then customers will reward you for this with referrals and repeat business.
You can also let people know you’re honest with guarantees behind your products and services.
10. Serve a Higher Purpose
If you have a higher purpose, it will drive you to succeed.
If you can find out what makes you get up every morning and what drives you more than just money, you’ll have a reason to work through the tough times when they come.
If you don’t have a higher purpose, you’ll crumble when the going gets tough.
And when you provide value and goodness to the world… the wealth will naturally follow.
11. Keep Learning
Marketing has changed more over the past five years than it has in the past 15.
The online world is changing fast and you can’t stand still for a second because it’s hard to keep up.
To stay current and on top of your game, you need to continually educate yourself. Go to seminars and take courses.
Always take notes and try to learn from experts around you. Education needs to be a regular part of your life!
12. Get Around The Right People
Being alone is not something you want when you’re an entrepreneur. You need to connect and network with people who can help you and support you through challenges and questions.
If you want to go further and faster. You really need to network with like-minded people.
Always be an optimist. As an entrepreneur, you have to be positive. There are a lot of negative people around, but real entrepreneurs spread positive energy!
13. Work Hard
Last but not least is to work your butt off! This most important key of all.
Remember that starting a business isn’t going to be easy. In fact, it’s going to be one of the hardest things you’ll ever do.
It means YEARS of hard work and long nights. And It will never go as fast as you want it to, or grow as quickly as you imagined.
Forget about getting rich quick schemes. They don’t work, so get them out of your head. True success comes from hard work.
A lot of people out there think they’ll start a side business and within a couple of months, they can quit their job and live in luxury.
No.
You need to be in this for a long haul and committed to delivering massive value and building trust with customers. And that takes a long time!
It won’t happen overnight. It takes dedication and hard work. There’s no substitute!
Take Action!
As I always say information without actions it’s worthless
What is the single biggest insight you got from this blog post and more importantly what action will you take right now to implement it?
Let me know in the comments below and I will be sure to follow up with you.
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