Expert Business Growth, Virtual Staffing & Personal Branding
In the wee hours of yesterday I was having an ‘entrepreneurial problem’, of not being able to sleep because of too many ideas rolling around inside my head – ever experienced that?!
One of them was to try out the popular presentation sharing website SlideShare as a way to test out an additional avenue to get traffic to my blog.
14-hours later it was featured on the homepage of the highly popular website, listed in not one, but THREE separate categories.
Today… I’m gonna tell you how I did it.
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About a month ago I posted on our Facebook page that I was wanting to do some free website coaching for subscribers and readers of the blog. What ensued was an onslaught of people wanting to have their sites looked over by me, which was awesome!
That first session highlighted three websites, and we focused on the importance of opt-in integration on a site, amongst other things.
I had so much great feedback from that first session that I decided to do it again. Again, I posted the alert on the Facebook page (if you’ve not liked the page yet – this is one of MANY reasons why you should – now!), and had another bunch of sites to choose from – which I do randomly, by the way.
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I’ve lived here in the Philippines for 12-years. But, being in Asia hasn’t stopped me from doing business with people outside of the country as a professional business consultant and coach.
In fact, over the last few years alone, I’ve worked with close to 100 consultation clients from all around the world – with 95% of my business being done outside of the country that I live in. Amazing, isn’t it?!
I’m pretty up front with the fact that I’m based here. In fact, it’s actually seen as a bonus most of the time, because of the industry that I’m in. Both my call center company and my virtual staffing agency definitely benefit from the fact that I am based here, as I’m seen as a thought leader in the niche and someone with a good reputation to do business with when it comes to working with a startup business consultant directly – instead of just going through one of the many business consultant companies out there – some of which are just not worth their weight at all.
As some of you may know, the biggest inspiration for creating content on this site is YOU, the readers. I get some many great emails, tweets and Facebook messages that I rarely have to scratch around for ideas on content creation (thankfully!). Recently I’ve gotten a handful of questions around the subject of setting yourself up as an international business consultant, or even someone that is more of a marketing consultant for small business owners. Along with some tips on how I work with my own coaching clients, too.
So, I thought I’d focus in on this a little, and let you know how I feel on the subject and pass on a few tips and ideas that work well for me. All good? Cool.
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When it comes to the world of online video, I’ll admit, I’m still learning (even after almost 3-years of flirting with it!) – but, there’s one thing I do know for sure… it works. Plain and simple.
I’ve had a lot of emails and tweets recently from people that have started to get active with their online video production, which is awesome!
Amongst all the questions I’ve gotten, from “Does quality really mater…?” and ‘What’s the best camera to use..?”, to “Who does your cool video intro…?” (It’s the guys over at Splasheo, for your info!) – the one topic that has stood out above and beyond them all is about content.
What type of content is best for video and what kind of content should we be creating to help market and promote our businesses online? Well, I thought I’d shoot this quick video myself, to answer the question, and give you lots of ideas! Enjoy.
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Business growth is one of those terms that is thrown around a lot nowadays. For me, this used to simply mean increasing revenue.
As a business owner myself, I’m focused. My eyes are ‘on the prize’.
However, in my pursuit to continue to grow my own businesses, and start-up new ones – I have come to a realization. Actually a few… And I’d like to share these three quick tips that I hope you seriously consider taking on board, so that you can start growing your business a little faster in today’s market.
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Over the last month or so the importance of innovation in business has become more and more obvious to me.
I’ve come across a handful of people either trying to completely copy one of my business models, duplicate my online content (from this blog), blatantly copy the design of my Facebook branding and even had someone rip footage from one of my YouTube videos, and include it in a video to promote their business elsewhere online!
I’m left thinking “Really? C’mon. Get original, already..!”.
I appreciate that its tough to come up with a ‘truly’ original ‘idea’ nowadays, but knowingly copying, or ripping off someone else’s idea, or business model is not gonna get you anywhere.
Knowing the type of people that read my blog, I’m sure we’re all in agreement on this point!
It’s easy to copy what is seen as working in today’s market. It’s a tough game out there nowadays, and anything you can do to help kick-start your new business, blog, WebTV show, podcast, service, product or digital magazine in a positive manner is understandable.
However, I’m a big believer that the advantages of innovation in business go way beyond just doing well, or making money!
It’s about creating the right kind of persona as an entrepreneur. It’s about moving and shaking in the right circles. It’s about ‘killing it’ live on stage, in the boardroom, over the dining table, or on the golf course.
The benefits of being innovative in the way you startup, grow and develop your business far outweigh the benefits you’ll enjoy by simply copying someone else’s idea, or model.
Why shouldn’t it be? Why is it important that you water indoor plants daily; that you keep the tempreature of your tropical aquarium at the right setting; that you workout regularly?
Since I launched this new site, just 6 weeks ago, I’ve taken the following steps to stand out from the crowd, re-brand myself and generally make a statement:
I feel good about making these moves, and I have a lot more planned in the next few months, too.
It’s easy for me to rant and rave a little about this – and don’t get me wrong, I’ve got this! I’m not all that concerned by any of it – but, I do see this trend of cutting corners, copying, etc. developing more and more nowadays, which is why I decided to create this post on the subject.
As an entrepreneurial network, we need to respect original ideas, business processes, market concepts and so on. If we don’t we leave ourselves wide open to being spanked ourselves – probably when we’re doing well, and it’s really going to sting!
And here’s the thing… Exactly how innovation helps business, depends on your business model.
If you’re running an online business, creating mobile apps or selling informational products via your blog, being seen as an innovative sort will help you immensely, of course.
If you own a pet store, then you might not have to be SEEN as an innovative person, but if you can inject a certain amount of innovation into the way you market and promote your business in the local community, not only will you get more business, but you’ll also be respected as a local entrepreneur.
There are always going to be those that copy and duplicate what you have done, because you’ve done okay for yourself doing it. Get over it. Life goes on.
The big difference between those business owners that continue to crush it, and those that merely taste ‘the crush’ (is there such a term?! well, there is now!), is how you conduct yourself in business. How you promote, market, sell and look after your customers.
Get busy being innovative my friends. Stand out for the right reasons, and the rewards will come to you over and over again…
What do you think about the role of innovation in business? Do you place the right amount of focus on the importance of innovation in business, when it comes to your own activities? I’d love to know your feelings on this important subject. Comment below.
Earlier on in the week, I posted a status update over on our Facebook Community, asking for people to volunteer their websites for a bit of a ‘beat down’!
I was astounded with how many people submitted their sites for public critiquing, but also happy to see so many great site authors following me online – even though they are doing just fine on their own, by the looks of things!
I’d love to have the time to go over every site in detail, however, I don’t. After scanning all of them, I selected these three that I felt were almost there, but needed a few tweaks in place, in order to get to the next level.
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Following a recent video tutorial that I did on How to Update to the New Twitter Profile, which was well received, I thought I’d do another quickie for you, based on a really cool Facebook ‘cheat’ that I discovered recently.
It’s so cool and has the ability to really get people to ‘tune in’ on a specific status you post on your Facebook page – instead of having to roam around your entire page to find something.
I appreciate that some of you might have already discovered this for yourself – if so, please feel free to check out any of the other great articles on the site!
However, I know that a lot of my readers / followers online are really only just getting started with discovering all this ‘online stuff’, hence me getting all excited about bringing this tip to you! Plus, it goes to show you… I’ve been getting more and more active online over the last few years and I only just discovered this myself a few weeks ago (yes, I appreciate that this admission might make me look a little silly – oh, well..!). Check out the short video below for all to be revealed:
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Throughout the course of a normal week, I’ll receive hundreds of questions from small business owners and startup entrepreneurs on the subject of starting and growing companies in today’s incredibly fast moving business world.
A lot of the time they are via our Facebook Community, and I’ll reply there directly. Sometimes its on Twitter, and some times via email. Bottom line: I freakin’ love hearing from you – regardless of how you reach out. So, please don’t stop!
One thing that I really love is the fact that the large majority of these messages come in from people that have already taken and finished my free training course, the ‘New Business’ Bootcamp, giving them a great kickstart in the process!
But, growing a business in today’s market is not just about learning how to blog, podcast, how to utilize online video, or work with virtual assistants (to name a few of the subjects tackled in the bootcamp). It’s also just as important to have the right mindset, than it is to have the skills!
We need to encapsulate EVERYTHING that we should ALL be about, in regards to changing the way we startup, market and build our businesses in today’s economy, so I bring to you, the ‘New Business’ Manifesto!
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Every entrepreneur in their right mind should be working their tail off to be seen as a thought leader – someone who innovates and leads – in their industry.
In the ‘olden days’ of business, this would have meant putting in those 10,000 hours that everyone assumes you need to clock-up to get yourself to ‘expert status’ in a chosen niche. However, as I’ve been saying time and time again recently – things have changed.
We’re no longer in the 80’s, where the thought of small businesses having a client base all around the world was just as far fetched as the idea of being able to converse with those customers using something as ridiculous as ‘electronic mail’ – even though email is now the number one ‘tool’ used in business every minute of every day.
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Chris is a serial entrepreneur and highly regarded as THE authority on the subject of building a profitable personal brand business.