Become an Entrepreneur

Marketing professionals tell us there are typically two types of marketing campaigns: “push marketing” and “pull marketing”.

Push marketing is best represented by the guy who says something like, “If you don’t come see me today I can’t save you any money.” If that conjures up images of used car sakes people and slimy insurance salesman, well it should. Most of us do not have the luxury of pushing too hard, lest we push them away for good. If you are truly the only game in town thus may work, but for most of us this is NOT the kind of marketing in which we can afford to engage.

Pull marketing, on the other hand, can best be portrayed by the ice cream truck that treks it’s way through your neighborhood on a hot sunny day. Can you hear the truck driving down the street blasting that annoying rendition of Joplin’s “The Entertainer?”  Annoying perhaps, but when she stops her customers come running out of the woodwork waving their money.

How would you like to have that happen at your business? Would you like potential employers to seek you out? Of course you would! We would all love to have people come running to us, eager to give us their money! That’s called pull marketing.

Are you tired of pushing people away? Try pull marketing.

What could you do TODAY that will pull people towards you?  What will you do TODAY that will make customers come running to your business?

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“I’m not smart enough to start my own business.”
“I don’t have enough experience to get this job.”
“I don’t deserve to be successful.”

Are you plagued with thoughts like these?  If so, they are probably keeping you from moving forward with your job search, business plans or even the ability to deepen important relationships.  Negative thoughts can be discouraging or even debilitating, but you don’t have to let them rule your actions! You can beat negative thoughts and negative self talk with a few simple steps.

In his recent book, “Change Your Brain, Change Your Life: The Breakthrough Program for Conquering Anxiety, Depression, Obsessiveness, Anger, and Impulsiveness“, Dr. Daniel Amen calls this negative self-talk the “fortune-telling ANT.”  These ANTs (Automatic Negative Thoughts) can cause anxiety, stress, inaction and even problems with our physical health.  If you are a job seeker or an entrepreneur you are, no doubt, intimately familiar with ANTs.  They are the little voice inside your head that tells you that you aren’t smart enough or good enough or experienced enough.

The good news is that these ANTs can be killed quite easily.  Here’s Dr. Amen’s recipe:

Step 1 – write down the event that is causing you stress or anxiety.

Step 2 – Notice and write down the automatic negative thoughts that come to your mind when you think of this event.

Step 3 – Label those thought as a fortune-telling ANT. Amen writes, “Often, just naming the thought can help take away its power.” (Amen, p. 98)

Step 4 – Talk back to the ANT – or squash and kill it. Chances are that the negative thought is only partially true. Squash the ANT by bringing in as many positive responses as possible.  For instance, if the ANT is telling you that you don’t have enough experience, make a list of the experience you DO have.  Counter the ANT with facts.

Dr. Amen offers the above 4 steps to kill ANTs.  To that I add this fifth one:

Step 5 – Make an action list of 2 or 3 things you can do TODAY that will prove the ANT wrong.  Being proactive will help you prove to yourself that the ANT is wrong and you are right.  Thus, the ANT stays dead longer!

You don’t have to be held hostage by your negative thoughts.  You can beat your negative thoughts with these few simple steps.  Now, go and kill those ANTs!

Happy Hunting!

In an article published June 29, 2010, Chris Brogan listed “19 Presence Management Chores You Could Do Every Day” to help increase your online presence. As a career and small business coach I train people how to use both face-to-face networking and social media to enhance their personal brand and find the perfect career or the perfect customer.  Thus, Brogan’s list is of great interest to me.  He’s the king of using the web to build trust and strengthen relationships.

I’ve always known that “if we can measure something, we can improve it.”  Brogan’s list gives us a way to measure something that is a bit intangible — how we use social media.  It is possible to waste an incredible amount of time on social media, thus many people (including job seekers and small business owners) are reluctant to spend any time there for fear of watching the day go by unproductively. But Brogan gives us a model for measuring our activities to get maximum impact.

For my own purposes, I have created a spreadsheet from Brogan’s list and plan to keep track every day.  Every item simply gets 1 point, and my goal is to get 10 points per day. I’ve even added a couple of items of my own (i.e. writing a blog post gets 5 points). This system keeps me on track doing the things that are most important to me.

I encourage you (whether a job seeker or an entrepreneur) to do the same.  Develop your own systems (or borrow them from your friends and colleagues). Systems will help you track, measure and improve your actions so you are doing the right thing at the right time for better results.

Happy Hunting!

Just one more thing — Peter Clayton of Total Picture Radio believes recruiter confidence is picking up.  He writes, “According to the latest ExecuNet Recruiter Confidence Index, a growing number of companies are adding new executive jobs, and fewer are eliminating them, leading executive recruiters to confirm economic recovery is beginning to take hold.” You can listen to the podcast at: Total Picture Radio (with Peter Clayton).

For those of you who are planning on starting your own business, there are some things you should think about ahead of time. For instance, what is your sales model? Your sales cycle? Your business model? Who is your perfect client? What financial tools do you need in order to stay in compliance with the State and IRS?

There are many places you can go to get this information. I recommend that you check out your local SCORE chapter and the Small Business Development Centers in your area.

As we progress through the month of blogging I will have other ideas for starting your own business — commonly called becoming an entrepreneur.  Today I want to share with you a recording from a phone interview I conducted with Lori Hensel of PayChex.  Lori specializes in helping entrepreneurs and small business owners with their payroll and HR needs.  Services are quite affordable, too!  I didn’t realize that you can have someone provide payroll services for under $50 per month.  Talk about taking away headaches and making life easier!

If you are thinking about going into business for yourself, listen to this recording with Lori and then go talk to someone who offers these kinds of services in your area. If you aren’t thinking about going into business for yourself you are still welcome to listen.  Either way, come back tomorrow!

Click here to listen to my interview with Lori Hensel of Paychex

Happy hunting!

30 Day Blogging Challenge – day 3.  Tomorrow’s post: Larque Goodson shares with us stories about her job search.