A List Of The Worst Business Advice You Can Follow — Ever

There’s plenty of advice out there for how to start and run a business. But not all of it is good. In fact, there are some common sayings that are actually some of the worst business advice out there. The following includes some of the worst business advice you can follow.

The Worst Business Advice

Do What You Love

Although it may seem like a nice notion, this popular saying is widely considered one of the worst pieces of business advice out there. Just because you love doing something doesn’t mean that others will find it helpful or necessary. And if no one buys what you’re selling, then doing what you love won’t really get you anywhere.

If You Build It, They Will Come

Likewise, simply building an offering doesn’t mean that you’ll actually attract any customers. This saying implies that if you put in the work, there are customers out there who will support your business. But if you don’t do the research and find a market for your product or service, you very well could be in for a rude awakening.

The Customer is Always Right

This popular saying is meant to encourage business owners and employees to work hard to accommodate customers. And while customers and their opinions are generally important to the success of businesses, they’re not always right. If you’re constantly giving discounts or changing your offerings every time a customer makes a demand, you could be hurting your brand and your bottom line.

Never Turn Down a Paying Customer

Likewise, you shouldn’t assume that every customer you get will help your business. Especially if you have a consulting business or provide some other service where it can be necessary for you to work with someone over the long-term, it may very well be in your best interest to only take on a few very select clients.

Don’t Quit Your Day Job

This is some of the worst business advice out there because there’s no right path for every entrepreneur. If you’re just starting out, it may very well be in your best interest to keep your full-time job while building a business. But then again you might be better off quitting and putting all your time and effort into your new venture. When it comes to making this decision, each entrepreneur has to decide based on his or her own set of circumstances, and not listen to a single one-size-fits-all recommendation.

Stay Away From Established Markets

Some experts claim that in order to start a successful business, you need to find a brand new niche or a huge gap in the market. But that’s not always true. You can start a business in an established market as long as you have at least one small thing that customers will appreciate to set you apart.

If You Want Something Done Right, You Have to Do It Yourself

Too many business owners try to do everything themselves because they have a hard time trusting anyone else with their business. But the fact is there are experts and great potential employees out there who can help you do things better than you could all by yourself.

It’s All About Who You Know

Personal connections can certainly be helpful when it comes to running a successful business. But putting such a huge emphasis on them can discourage some people who aren’t well connected from starting businesses. You can always build connections as you go.

Stick to Your Plan

A business plan is a helpful tool. But it shouldn’t be the ultimate, unchanging guide for your business. Sometimes things change, and you should be able to adapt your plan to those changes.

Follow an Established Path to Success

Some experts think that there are just one or two ways to make it in the business world. But young, innovative entrepreneurs are forging their own paths every day. So don’t let anyone tell you that there’s one path you HAVE TO take in order to succeed.

Keep Your Business and Personal Life Separate

While there can be some merit to this piece of advice in certain situations, it’s no longer an absolute rule. Some small businesses actually thrive because the owner or the team shares their personality with customers. You don’t need to air all of your personal drama on social media. But being a little bit open and personable with your customers can be a good thing.

All Attention is Good Attention

Drawing attention to your business, especially during the early stages, can be difficult. So when you get any type of attention or press it might seem like a good thing. But if that attention isn’t in line with your brand and the image you want to portray, it could be doing more harm than good.

Hire the Most Experienced People

Experience can be a very good quality when looking to build your team. But it shouldn’t be the only quality you look for. Finding people who are enthusiastic, talented, creative and who share your vision for your business can be just as important — if not more so.

Offer the Lowest Prices

Plenty of new businesses fall into the trap of trying to differentiate themselves from the competition by offering the lowest prices. But that isn’t always sustainable depending upon your costs and your business model. And it could damage your reputation moving forward.

Work Hard and Success Will Come

Hard work is certainly important when it comes to running a successful business. But it is not the only thing that matters. Don’t think that just because you’re putting in long hours and trying your best that success will eventually come. Sometimes it’s more important to “work smart” than to work hard. Ultimately, the results you get are what matter.

Don’t Try New Things

If you’ve found one or two things that work in your business, it can seem like a safe bet to stick with what works. But doing that won’t allow your business to grow as quickly as you might like. Trying new things can be risky, but it can also be rewarding.

Never Say No

Saying no to new clients, partnerships or opportunities may seem like a bad business strategy. But if you say yes to everything, you could be spreading yourself too thin or taking your business in too many different directions. You need to be very intentional when making those decisions so you can be sure that they’re going to benefit your business in the long run.

You Have to Spend Money to Make Money

This can be true in some circumstances. But you shouldn’t fall into the trap of thinking that making big investments in new equipment, employees, training or other resources, will magically make your business better. You need to be smart about how you spend. And besides, many entrepreneurs have built highly successful businesses with very few or almost no resources at all.

Never Stop Working

You have to work hard to run a successful business. But you also need to find a balance, or else you’ll burn yourself out and find yourself too uninspired to run your business successful. The risk of burnout is one reason work-life balance is an absolute must.

Give Up

Not all businesses succeed. In fact, most don’t. But this is still some of the worst business advice you could ever receive. It’s never up to someone else whether you give up or not. If that’s a decision you need to make, it should be based on more than just outside opinions. Never let others decide when it is time for you to throw in the towel.

What are some of the worst pieces of business advice you have ever heard?

Source: http://bit.ly/1okfcbc

Effective Ways to Build Your Social Media Presence

Social media has an extreme appeal to users of all demographics, as 2.1 billion people have accounts. It provides you with the opportunity to hit the largest audience in the world, something that has never before been a possibility. Building up a social media presence isn’t as simple as making an account, throwing out a few status updates, and hoping for the best.

It takes time and effort. This guide is going to introduce you to some of the most effective ways to build your social media presence.

Make Your Content Have a Goal

You should always know what you want to do with your content before you post it. There must be a point beyond you believe that people will like it. Identify your target audience and figure out what your content is going to achieve with them.

Always think about what impact your written content or videos are going to have. Are they going to help you achieve your short and long-term goals?

Get Involved and Interact

Interaction is the essence of being successful on social media. To do this effectively, you must go out of your way to interact. Naturally, any content you post should be designed to foster this interaction. On the other hand, you can use currently ongoing discussions to connect with your target audience.

If you come across an interesting discussion, go out of your way to join in with it. Don’t just advertise your brand. Genuinely help someone. Speak as you would on any personal social media account. People want genuine they don’t want to be sold to.

Choose Your Group with Care

One benefit of social media is that any group you have control of has a closed door policy. In other words, you can kick someone out of the club if you don’t feel that they are contributing anything meaningful. Rather than making impulsive decisions regarding those members, do some research and figure out who is best for your group.

Many social media managers monitor new members with a phantom probationary period. If they are inactive or unhelpful during the specified period of time, they can remove them if they see fit.

Channel Quality Over Quantity

It may be tempting to go wide in order to increase your range. While this can work from time to time, only larger companies have the resources to target a huge number of social media channels. Smaller companies should opt for the ones that are most relevant to them.

For example, a management consulting firm may decide to target Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. A private art gallery may decide that they want to target Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. By spending more time on a small number of channels, you are increasing the quality of those channels.

No channel should be an afterthought.

Review Your Content

If you are determined to get the best content, you need to be willing to review your own content. The worst thing you can do is post anything you think works and then receive lots of public negative feedback. You can control the flow of negative feedback, but you can’t alter the negative impressions left on your customers, as a result.

Go through regular content reviews and ask your most loyal brand ambassadors what they think of the things you are posting. By asking someone impartial, you are guaranteed to get an honest opinion, even if the truth hurts.

Consider the Competition

The competition will always be an important factor in everything you do. You need to pay attention to them without becoming obsessive. This is one of the best ways to maintain that competitive edge because you can continually counter what they are doing.

The competition will give you ideas for what content is working and what isn’t. For example, if a competitor makes a mistake and they receive a negative backlash, you will learn what not to do.

Just beware of getting carried away with this.

Stay Polite

Nothing destroys a social media presence like coming into conflict with people. You will receive negative feedback, but the answer isn’t to fight back; no matter how justified you may or may not be. You will always come off looking worse.

Always stay polite and endeavor to be helpful at all times.

Conclusion

Building a social media presence is mainly about research and perseverance. If you know what you are doing through research and you are willing to invest the time and the effort, you are going to get the results you want.

  Source : http://bit.ly/1plfgYY

Marketing on the move: The 6 principles of engaging mobile consumers

It makes sense when you think about it: Customers are on the move, and in order to reach them, marketers need to be on the move too.

Settling down into a staid, predictable routine seems to be the death knell for any mobile marketing strategy. That was the takeaway from a panel I was part of at VB’s Marketing.FWD summit earlier this week, entitled “How to structure your technology, and your marketing strategy, to win in a mobile world.”

Joined by Kim Feil from Bizhive, Erica Seidal from The Connective Good, and Rishi Dave from Dun & Bradstreet, we discussed challenges and opportunities in mobile marketing — and how marketers can get the most out of their campaigns by being agile, adaptable, and creative. For me, it boiled down to these six essential principles if you’re going to succeed in our mobile-dominant world.

1. Adopt a ‘live for change’ motto

In order to acquire and engage as many quality users as possible, mobile marketers need to be nimble and proficient with a wide variety of sources and formats, to optimize and revise, to respond to changes in inventory and user habits — and, above all, to refine their approach and stay on the move.

One important point we discussed was how creating a marketing campaign is not — and cannot be — a “once and done” proposition. The key to successful mobile marketing is to stay agile and versatile and not become too reliant on one format of ads, or invest too heavily in a single traffic source.

2. Diversify your traffic sources

Regardless of what you may have read, there is no “one” ideal way to source traffic. Social media, programmatic and non-programmatic advertising, and real-time bidding all have their respective advantages and drawbacks. Diversifying your traffic sources is crucial, as is constantly engaging with users you’ve acquired, and measuring engagement is key to discovering what works for you.

Likewise, while it can be tempting to rely entirely on video and display ads, since those are tried-and-true and are chiefly the formats that marketers use, there’s a vast field of other tactics — such as native, playable, and text-based — that provide untapped opportunities for marketers willing to roll up their sleeves and get creative.

3. Monitor, optimize, and monitor again

With all these possibilities available, it is essential to constantly monitor performance and optimize your campaigns. Even in optimization, though, too many companies can get locked into the routines of using familiar creatives and traffic sources without diving deep and taking advantage of a myriad of other ways to improve performance on mobile.

As the mobile marketing landscape evolves, other effective optimization methods will become more useful including whitelisting and blacklisting sub-publishers based on who delivers the best traffic; optimizing to ROI by looking at in-app purchases to calculate ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) and identify the most profitable users; and utilizing real-time optimization to automatically update campaigns based on their performance.

4. Personalize or die

When it comes to engaging users, there can be no one-size-fits-all model. Personalization with laser precision is the name of the game. Mobile usage unlocks untold reams of data about the customer’s habits, preferences, likes, and dislikes. It is incumbent upon marketers to leverage this glut of information to deliver ads at the right times, through the right channels, in the right formats, and at the right frequencies.

5. Know that automation is your friend

Placing such a high emphasis on optimization does not mean that mobile marketing has to become a labor drain. There are several automation tools available to help marketers and app-makers streamline their campaign creation and optimization process, so that they can focus on what counts — and not be bogged down by the distractions of minute-by-minute operations.

Embracing automation allows you to redirect human energy where it needs to be: on constantly learning about the changing marketplaces and applying those lessons to creating new and better strategies. A successful strategist is never satisfied. Marketers must be committed to testing, experimenting, and reiterating elements of their campaign; it’s not a matter of achieving the perfect method, but of finding that frictionless alignment between your marketing practices and your business goals as the two develop in tandem.

6. Hire those with mobile brains

As to that human energy I mentioned, what steps can you take when building your team to make sure that it is prepared to meet the challenges of marketing to consumers on the move? In practice, this might mean keeping an open mind for potential team-members who lack the management experience of more seasoned candidates but have grown up in a mobile environment and are more attuned to its nuances and more open-minded to embracing new ideas and taking things in new directions. It’s far more important that you find that crucial balance between — and combination of — old experience and new savvy, rather than relying on traditional hierarchy structures.

The field is ever changing, and branching out in new creative directions — in other words, it’s pretty mobile.

Source : http://bit.ly/1QGMlEO

8 things successful people do every single morning

How you wake up in the morning could make or break your day. In a new LinkedIn post, psychologist Dr. Travis Bradberry, a coauthor of "Emotional Intelligence 2.0" and president of TalentSmart, has revealed the eight things he believes successful people do before 8 a.m.

Here we go.

1. Drink lemon water

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“Drinking lemon water as soon as you wake up spikes your energy levels physically and mentally,” Bradberry wrote. “By improving nutrient absorption in your stomach, it gives you a steady, natural energy buzz that lasts the length of the day.”

Does lemon actually boost mineral absorption? According to Dr. Mike Roussell, a nutritional consultant at Shape, it could due to its high levels of Vitamin C, but so would any food with Vitamin C like kale or bell peppers.

The more important component here appears to be the water, which many successful people like NextDesk Director Dan Lee start their morning by drinking.

But unless your stomach lining is sensitive to citrus fruits, a squeeze of a lemon certainly couldn’t hurt. 

2. Exercise

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Exercise in general is healthy for you, and getting it out of the way in the morning is a smart way to start the day.

“A study conducted at the Eastern Ontario Research Institute found that people who exercised twice a week for 10 weeks felt more competent socially, academically, and athletically," Bradberry wrote. "A second study conducted by researchers at the University of Bristol found that people who exercised daily had more energy and a more positive outlook, which are both critical for getting things done.”

There are lots of benefits to exercise and famous CEOs who also work out in the morning include Disney's Bob Iger, Virgin Group 's Richard Branson, and Apple's Tim Cook.

3. Disconnect

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"When you wake up and dive straight into e-mails, texts, and Facebook, you are far more likely to lose focus, and your morning succumbs to the wants and needs of other people,” Bradberry wrote.

Instead, read a book like AOL CEO Tim Armstrong, meditate like the CEO of Twitter and Square Jack Dorsey, or spend time with your family and pets like director of NextDesk Dan Lee.

4. Eat a healthy breakfast

Deena Jones/Flickr

Eating a well-balanced breakfast will not only help you stay focused, but also improve your waistline since you’ll most likely eat less throughout the day.

“People who eat breakfast are less likely to be obese, they have more stable blood-sugar levels, and they tend to be less hungry over the course of the day,” Bradberry wrote.

Not sure what to eat? Here are some healthy ideas.

5. Medidate

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Bradberry said practicing “mindfulness meditation” can be good for your productivity and stress levels.

According to Harvard neuroscientist Sara Lazar, it can also increase gray matter concentration in areas of the brain, which can lead to less stress and more awareness of both yourself and outside forces.

CEO of Twitter and Square Jack Dorsey meditates every morning at 5 a.m. — maybe you should, too.

6. Set goals for the day

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Benjamin Franklin was obsessive about planning his days,” Bradberry wrote. “When you plan out your day as carefully as possible, your chances of successfully accomplishing your goals skyrocket.”

Science supports this. Checking off goals is a mini reward and can help you be more productive, according to Kelly McGonigal, a psychologist at Stanford University.

7. But make sure your goals are realistic

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Look no further than studies on New Year’s resolutions to find that we all have a really hard time keeping lofty goals.

Being realistic about your daily goals will help you feel more accomplished and get more done, according to Psychologist Peter Herman, because you won’t be setting yourself up for “false hope syndrome.”

“There’s no point in setting goals if they aren’t realistic,” Bradberry wrote on LinkedIn. “Take the time to ensure that your schedule for the day is doable by assigning times to your to-do list. A good rule of thumb is to make your day as top heavy as possible.”

8. Say "no"

Flickr/Martin Lain

“No is a powerful word, which will protect your precious mornings,” Bradberry wrote, adding that you’ll be less likely to “experience stress, burnout, and even depression.”

Science may support this — researchers at the University of Californina in San Francisco found you’ll be less stressed and less depressed if you say no and don’t over-commit yourself.

     Source : http://bit.ly/1oEXCiD

9 ways social media can set back your addiction recovery

Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter have certainly made the world a much smaller place in the past decade by bringing people across time zones to within a finger's tap of each other.

For many of us, the time we spend online socially is positive. But for others, it can be detrimental to their health and well-being, especially those recovering from addiction. While that's not to say it will have a negative impact on everyone, here are some reasons why social media use should be guarded when in recovery.

1) Social media can be addictive

From a purely clinical perspective, social media is not a true addiction like drugs or alcohol because it doesn't change the structure and function of the brain. But it does share some of the same behavioral aspects of addiction, such as excessive use that might interfere with daily life or interpersonal relationships. For this reason, it's important that it doesn't become an obsession.

2) Sleep deprivation

Speaking of obsession, it's not unheard of for people to lose sleep because they couldn't get off the Internet. Proper sleep is important for everyone, although it's especially true for those in recovery. Getting seven to eight hours of sleep is crucial for mental health and staving off depression and anxiety. Turning off phones and computer screens an hour before bed can help getting to sleep much easier.

3) Information overload

It's no secret that following hundreds of people on your favorite social site produces an endless stream of tweets and posts that quickly multiply with even the slightest bit of engagement. For those with an addictive personality or others with depression or anxiety, it's easy to become overwhelmed. The first step of treatment is often detox, and the same is true of the Internet. Simplifying life, practicing mindfulness, and taking a digital detox might be necessary during recovery.

4) Comparing ourselves with others can be unhealthy

It's human nature to compare ourselves with others, and the feeling of not measuring up can be harmful to recovery. People fresh out of treatment sometimes have a lower than normal level of self-esteem or confidence as they work toward repairing personal relationships. In life, as well as on social media, it's important to surround oneself with positive people and role models while avoiding negative or toxic people. Even then, comparing or competing with how much other people have, or what they've accomplished can be a recipe for failure. And we all know how much people like to show off online.

5) Drugs and alcohol are glamorized

It's common sense that people in recovery avoid bars and parties where alcohol is flowing liberally. Just thinking about partying can ignite dangerous triggers that cause relapse. However, if you're following the same friends you had before recovery, chances are good they're posting pics at their favorite bar or last night's party. Drugs and alcohol photos aren't just available on social media—they're often times glamorized. Until there's a way to filter drug and alcohol pics like there is with porn, understand that you will find it, or rather it will find you.

6) ‘I read it online’

For all the good information available online, there's just as much misinformation that can be destructive if not used correctly. Social media is chock-full of dangerous suggestions for ways to detox at home, or alternatives to drug or alcohol therapy. Addiction is a chronic disease that needs to be treated by doctors and addiction specialists, not the poster with the most “likes.” If something sounds too good to be true, investigate it thoroughly and always speak with somebody that knows before acting on it.

7) FOMO

Not being able to go to the same places or doing the same things as before recovery is almost as bad as seeing drug and alcohol pics online. FOMO, or the fear of missing out, can produce anxiety or depression. Finding new hobbies and cultivating new interests is important for recovery, which might mean finding new people and things to follow on social media. Better yet, get off social media for a while and get out and start living a new life offline.

8) Potential employers are online too

Addiction takes its toll on careers, and many people enter rehab as a result of losing their job, among other things. This may require finding a new job or career after treatment. Because many employers use social media as a screening tool for new hires, it would be wise to delete negative activity from before rehab that might have an impact on your job worthiness. Even posting information about being sober and in recovery might be a turnoff to some possible opportunities.

9) Face-to-face is better

Repairing personal relationships that may have been ruined because of drugs or alcohol is a positive step for those in recovery. It's impossible to undo what's already happened, but it is possible to turn things around again. The best way is to do it up close and in-person instead of trying to mend things over social media. This isn't always possible for those who live far away, but for those close to home, it's always better to meet up face-to-face and get things out in the open.

Social media has changed the way we communicate on both a business and personal level. It has made life easier and quite often more efficient. For some in recovery though, it might be wise to unplug for a while and focus on nurturing personal relationships offline. For those who can't seem to get enough social media, now would be a great time to practice moderation like never before.

Source : http://bit.ly/21kuuin

How to Use Snapchat to Its Full Potential

With over 100 million active daily users, Snapchat is an extremely valuable tool that brands can use to market themselves. However, if your brand does not know how to properly promote, engage or talk to those users, then the popularity the social app has does not matter. By effectively promoting and posting the right content, brands and influencers can utilize Snapchat’s large amount of users.

Send snaps to your Snapchat friends

This may sound like a silly no brainer, but sending snaps to your friends on Snapchat is the most basic, yet effective way to engage consumers. In 2013, Taco Bell caused users to ‘fan-girl’ over the snap of a new burrito and its release date. It was a secret announcement made only to Taco Bell’s Snapchat friends.

Promote on other social media

A simple way to promote your brand on other social sites is to post your Snapcode or make it the accounts’ avatar. QR code-like images that are scanned by the app encourages consumers to follow your Snapchat account. The Huffington Post, Cinnabon and Toys “R” Us are just some of the brands who have changed their profile pictures to their Snapcodes.

Upload posts to other platforms.

Keeping on the idea to use other social media sites as a promotional tool, put Snapchat posts on other platforms. If your brand has a larger following on Instagram, save the clip from Snapchat and upload it onto Insta. "For now, the most efficient way to grow your Snapchat audience is to post your Snapcode on your other social channels,” said Victor Pineiro, vp of social media at Big Spaceship, “Or else tease some of your brand's best Snaps to other channels with a strong call to action and your username."

Utilize Stories

Send snaps to your friends, but don’t forget to post to your story. Stories push your brand through the “one-to-one” limitation sending snaps can create. That “one-to-many broadcast is familiar and your brand can market to thousands of followers at one time.

Post behind the scenes

When you post Stories, give consumers a look behind the scenes. Everyone loves to feel special, and getting a peek behind the scenes gives a sense of exclusivity. Free People uses their Story to give showroom tours and show models during photoshoots. They also personally snap users and ask questions like how their weekend went. All of those elements combine to gives Free People’s Snapchat followers a valued relationship.

Promote your social channel outside of the social space

Last year to try and get more followers on Snapchat, Sprite Brazil printed Snapcodes from 15 social media influencers on its cans. Snapcodes are functional, and allow users to find your account with ease.

Host Giveaways

Free stuff always draws attention. When Groupon first created their Snapchat account, the company gave away stuff for an entire week. Groupon caters to an older audience than Snapchat normally draws in and the contest help get their consumers onto the social site.

Keep ads fresh, short and fun

Consumer do not like to watch ads, therefore when they do see one, especially on Snapchat were it can easily be skipped, it should be fast and fun.

For a recent Dunkin' Donuts and ESPN campaign, with internet celebrity Brandon Armstrong after shooting the duo, “picked the clips that would work best on Snapchat,” reported Ad Age, “which meant the ones that focused "less on specific Dunkin' Donuts products, and more on engaging the audience through fun, playful shorts," said Scott Hudler, VP-global consumer engagement at Dunkin' Brands, in an email.”

 

Source : http://bit.ly/20knoqe