Tag: Successful

The 3 P’s of Successful Performance

Pressure

We all experience having an enormous amount of obligations, responsibilities & tasks on a daily basis with little time to accomplish them all. Do you ever feel like you are an octopus with skates on, constantly moving but not going anywhere? If that is the case, use pressure to your advantage. Think about it, I bet at some point in your business or career you had a deadline or an unexpected project that needed to be completed yesterday and somehow with all your other obligations you pulled it off! It was completed and you wondered, how did I do it? Have you ever realized that a project can be completed in the time allowed? For example, it is a given that you typically have 12 months to prepare for your taxes and you just have not found time to accumulate, print, file receipts, track mileage or document business expenses in an orderly fashion for your accountant in 12 months; now it is 3 days before “the big tax day” & miraculously you have prepared & sent all documents required to your accountant in just two days to meet the three day deadline. Remember this is a task that had been on your “to-do” list for 12 months!

Why? How?

Because when we are pressured to complete a task, project, or meet a deadline, we become focused, avoid interruptions, use our time wisely, have a clear vision on what needs to be accomplished and prioritize tasks. We kick up our success performance about 10 notches!

Don’t feel overwhelmed or stressed out when pressured, welcome the opportunity to operate from your highest performance level and adopt those traits to your daily routine.

Prioritize

Among the life of numerous tasks, projects, to-do list, family responsibilities & other obligations, take a step out of overwhelm by simply setting priorities. You will never be able to do everything at once, so quit trying! You must decide which task, project or responsibility needs your immediate attention or has the soonest deadline and that is the task that gets worked on first, put the others in a tickler file according to priority. But what if there are projects that share the same deadlines?

Get started with the most difficult ones first. For example: a business owner needs to prepare for an upcoming federal contract audit, a speaking engagement and an advisory board meeting: all scheduled for the same day.

Which is priority? The audit will require the gathering of specific information from the past year, a financial fiscal report with supporting documents and the audit will determine if the business owner will receive additional funding. The speaking engagement speech will be 20 min. in length and can be recycled from a previous speaking engagement or article, just a little rehearsal is needed. The advisory board meeting will require an agenda, previous meeting minutes, and a meeting place to hold a meeting of 10 members.

The audit is the most difficult and will require a little more time than the others, so the business owner should start with the audit and give it the most blocked time during the day, the other projects can be worked on throughout the day as well, but priority is the audit.

Prioritizing brings clarity, gives direction and streamlines your process for completing tasks and projects. When you are juggling multiple tasks, prioritize them from most to least difficult and get the difficult out of the way. Establish a hierarchy for completing tasks and take action.

Present

Be fully present in the moment. Yes, this sounds so simplistic but in an era where multi-tasking is queen, we must remember to capture complete genuine focus, we must give undivided attention to a task. Maximize your performance by avoiding external distractions (TV, telephone, email,) as well as internal distractions (sabotaging thoughts, thinking about the past, and wondering about the future) concentrate only on the task at hand. After you have worked on a particular task, put it aside and remember that you gave it your full attention, don’t fret over it anymore. When you are ready to continue to work on the task, concentrate on it only and you will began to see success. Be present with your clients/customers, don’t worry if they will purchase your product or services, be present with their needs and know that you have produced the best product or service that will meet their needs. Be present in all your endeavors.

Now you know the three P’s of successful performance:

Pressure, Prioritize, Present – incorporate them into your daily routines and your performance level will soar.

© 2007 Bridgette Boudreaux

4 Daily Habits Of the Most Successful Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurship is hard. It needs unswerving discipline, and confidence in yourself and your business. Lots of people lack the opportunity to enjoy it. But for the few who are determined and ready to put in the hard work, entrepreneurship is the most fulfilling job, identity and lifestyle in the world.

Let’s look at 4 daily habits of successful entrepreneurs.

1. They stick to a routine

A day has 24 hours only and as an entrepreneur, time is the most valuable thing in the world. To get the maximum potential out of every day, successful entrepreneurs follow a strict schedule.

For instance, Elon Musk, the founder and CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, schedules his whole day in five-minute blocks and he breaks up his week, where on Mondays and Thursdays he focuses on SpaceX and on Tuesdays and Wednesdays he pays attention to Tesla. He splits Fridays between both companies.

2. They read a lot

Most successful entrepreneurs make learning a regular daily habit. For instance, Bill Gates, Microsoft co-founder, reads 50 books a year. As an entrepreneur, you need to learn as the world is continually changing, and the most impactful entrepreneurs create their profiles by improving their knowledge.

If your background is in design and strategy, as an entrepreneur you must have engineering and computer science knowledge to contribute meaningfully to your ventures. Examine your future goals and establish what skills and capabilities may hinder you, then start learning today to be ready for those roadblocks. For engineers and designers, that obstacle may be management, finance or project planning. Yours may surprise you!

3. They exercise daily

Yes, exercise keeps your body fit and the mind sharp, and it has a great impact on an entrepreneur’s long-term achievement. The reason is that it relieves stress and helps maintain a healthy work-life balance. Many successful entrepreneurs attribute their success to exercising and keeping fit. Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Group, increases his productivity with daily exercise.

Don’t make excuses! Fitness and mental calmness are essential for a happy lifestyle. They’re the building blocks to your productivity for days, weeks and months. Find a sport, activity, or practice suitable for you and make it habitual by being responsible.

4. They stay positive

As an entrepreneur, you’ll face many challenges, but what makes you succeed is a positive and creative mindset. Every day. Being able to see things from a positive dimension means you can see interesting and unique opportunities others can’t see.

If you can’t remain positive, it’s time for a change. For instance, Steve Jobs started his mornings by repeating a simple mantra: “If today was the last day of my life, would I want to do what I’m about to do today?” If he answered this question with a “No,” then he knew it was time to make a change.

Why Building a Successful Business Relies on Consistent Marketing

Keys to Consistency: How to get into a marketing rhythm to boost your business income

Let me ask you a question. How many of you NEVER missed a day sending your newsletter, posting daily social media, or publishing a blog post?

That’s what I thought… Guilty!

What’s funny is that deep down we know the importance of marketing our business consistently, but SO many entrepreneurs and business owners are an epic fail at delivering on that promise.

What keeps us from marketing consistently?

Why is inconsistent marketing so hurtful to our reputation?

How can we put a plan in place to make consistent marketing easy?

This article will provide answers to each of these questions and help you get on track with better consistency for your business marketing.

What’s Not Getting Done in Your Business – A Self Assessment

How many of these inbound marketing tasks are not being consistently done in your business?

  • Daily social media posts
  • Weekly blog articles
  • Weekly or bi-monthly newsletters
  • YouTube Videos
  • Posting and participating in LinkedIn and Facebook groups

Or these other valuable marketing efforts that will build your brand recognition and boost your business?

  • Networking and keeping in touch with connections
  • Commenting on other blog posts
  • Podcast and Webinar booking and promotion
  • Following up with sales leads

If there are items you are not getting done, then you are leaving money on the table. Why is it we do that to ourselves?

The Big Lies We Tell Ourselves About Why We Don’t Market Consistently

  • I don’t know what to write about. True, staring at a blank computer screen is not inspiring. One way to avoid this is to create a marketing calendar. This is one central document that you can use to map out your promotions for the year and ensure your marketing messaging themes align with it.

  • I don’t know what my audience cares about. This is a lame excuse; there are clues all around you. For one you can survey your list and followers to find out their biggest challenges. Secondly you could do keyword research to find out the high-searched topics. Third, see what others in your field are blogging about. What topics caught your attention?

  • I’m too busy. True, it’s easy to be loaded up with client deadlines and appointments. I know this happens to me the most. There are a couple of ways that even busy business owners can market regularly. The first is to get a marketing assistant. If you don’t personally have the time or discipline to get a weekly eZine out for instance, an assistant can post the articles on your blog and preschedule them to go out in your email marketing program. The same is true for your social media. You can delegate some of your social media to a reputable resource who can curate content and preschedule it using a tool like Hootsuite.

  • I am a terrible writer. No problem. If writing is not your thing, you can record short audios or videos instead. You can even record yourself talking out an article and have it transcribed. You can pull your articles from other materials you have written such as your book, workshops, and webinars. Finally, there are many talented writers that can take your concept and turn it into an article written with your voice.

Why Inconsistency Hurts Our Business So Much

It’s easy to think that if you miss a weekly email newsletter it’s no big deal. But when you publish a weekly newsletter, its making a promise to your readers.

When you miss that connection, it breaks your promise. Not only does that weaken your relationship with your list, but it can lead to mistrust.

When you communicate consistently with your readers it builds a trusting rapport and connection. They look forward to seeing your emails rolling into their inbox. Don’t let them down.

Plus, inconsistency can lead to your readers to forgetting about you.

They move onto the next most exciting ‘guru’ in their inbox who connects regularly with them. Then when 2 months later when you finally send out a newsletter, they delete it or mark it as SPAM thinking, “Who is this? I didn’t subscribe to this newsletter.”

How to Reform and Become a Consistent Marketer

  • Schedule time for your marketing. Book an ongoing weekly appointment for you to curate your social media, write articles, publish newsletters, create email blasts, and develop freebies for your list. It could be “My Business Monday”. Promise yourself to keep that time set aside for marketing your business.

  • Create an idea file. Whenever you come across emails, articles, and quotes that inspire you, save it to a folder in your email or make an Evernote list of “article ideas”. Use this as your source of inspiration when stuck on a topic to write about.

  • Develop an editorial calendar. This acts as a roadmap to keep you on track with topics, messages, and promotions. This way your marketing messaging is in perfect alignment with your promotional efforts.

  • Get help. If your business is growing fast and you don’t have time to handle all the marketing yourself, congratulations! Even if you do have time to handle your own marketing, outsourcing it can free up time for you to spend on profit-generating activities. Plus, someone who specializes in social media, blogging, and copywriting etc. can often produce better results in less time.

Imagine how your business could grow if you were organized and consistent with your marketing. Make the commitment today to make marketing your business a top priority and watch your business grow!

And if you are looking for help in online marketing, we can help! Contact us today to discuss your needs and how we can help you get consistent with your marketing.

Are you guilty of not being consistent with your marketing efforts? Tell us why in the comments – do any of the above resonate with you or is it something else?

To your success,

Top Ten Factors in Running a Successful Construction Contractor Business

It is not easy running a construction business. There are many pitfalls and ways to lose money but if you follow some basic steps you can not only make a living but become very wealthy. Many successful construction contractors have learned there are certain things you absolutely must do right all the time and certain skills you must have or acquire in order to make it in this very competitive industry. In this article I will summarize what it takes to be a successful construction contractor in their order of importance.

Most Important Factor: Hands On Experience

Do not even think about starting a construction contractor business unless you have at least five years of broad (meaning general, not specialized) construction experience. The only exception to this is if you intend on specializing in one area and one area only. We call this a niche. Niche’s can be very profitable, but they can also go away, change or be replaced by technology, new products, changes in the industry or societal changes. The best chance for success in the general contractor business is to gain experience doing everything. This general experience has many benefits. It gives you the ability to identify and hire competent individuals, fire incompetent ones, evaluate good work product and identify poor work product. Probably the most important thing it gives you is the ability to transition from being a technician to being a manager. The best experience comes from small to mid-sized construction companies that require you to be a jack of all trades. Larger companies have a tendency to pigeonhole you into niches. That is fine if your business model is a niche, but if you start a general contractor construction business with skills in only a few niche areas, you will fail unless you hire to your weaknesses.

Second Most Important Factor: Outstanding Accounting System

If you do not have a sound accounting system your construction business will eventually fail. This CPA has witnessed this too many times than I care to recount. Sound accounting systems allow you to evaluate whether or not you make a profit on a job by job basis. Going with gut instinct is dangerous and fraught with risk. A sound accounting system helps you identify those things you do right on each job as well as the mistakes you’ve made. Numbers don’t lie. Unfortunately, my experience has shown me that most construction contractors pay little attention to their system of accounting. There is a fear that proper accounting will set the business owner up for higher taxes. Thus, cash received on a job and cash disbursed go unreported in an effort to avoid tax. What a mistake. I don’t care how great your gut feeling is on each job, if you don’t have an accounting of every penny on each job, you can rest assured you are flying blind and losing money on each job. You will go out of business and your family life will suffer. If you decide to start your own business you need to act like a professional business owner and that means creating a sound accounting system. Failed accounting systems lead to litigation, failure and bankruptcy.

Third Most Important Factor: Effective Management

When you have hands on experience in the industry, forged by many years (at least five years) of working in every facet of the construction business, you are better able to make the transition from technician to manager. Effective management requires that you have sound procedures on many aspects of your business. Well-defined work product processes, along with accompanying task-specific checklists, allows you to drill your workers on every aspect of a task within a job. You should have a work product process with accompanying checklists for just about every major task within a job. This eliminates human error and allows you to make corrections before the task is officially completed. It is a construction company owners #1 management tool. You must develop a process for each job and each task. This process must be in writing and stored in a binder for each job, along with the task checklist. The task checklist should be calendarized. Your jobs binder should include the following:

Tab #1 – A copy of the signed contract and any change orders.

Tab #2 – Budget for the job. Budget for each change order.

Tab #3 – Accounting for income and expenses. The income portion would include the contract bid price, monies received either as deposits or as the stages of the project are completed and monies received for change orders.

Tab #4 – Task List Summary.

Tab #5 – Task #1 Process Summary and Checklist.

Tab #6 – Task #2 Process Summary and Checklist.

etc.

Last Tab – Customer sign off letter on completed work along with standard testimonial letter signed by customer, listing customer’s name and contact information along with permission to use the testimonial in marketing and as a reference for prospective customers. You will transfer copies of each testimonial letter to a separate binder that you will take with you to each prospect. This testimonial binder may be the only thing separating you from your competition. It gives assurance to prospects that you take customer satisfaction very seriously and may be the difference maker. It allows prospects an opportunity to reach out to previous customers in order to obtain references. It also shows the prospect your company is very organized and well run. Lastly, have a picture of the before and after on each job in this binder.

Fourth Most Important Factor: Strong Business Partnerships

A stable of competent subcontractors who have many years of experience working together is crucial to the success of a job. Each job is a team effort and having a strong network of competent individuals/businesses available to you for each job, and who understand your businesses processes, will make each job run much more efficiently. Efficiency and competency = profit on each job.

Fifth Most Important Factor: Project Bidding Process

You can be the most skilled, best managed construction company, with a stable of talented subcontractors and still go out of business if you do not have a strong process in place on bidding for each job. You can lose your shirt if you underbid a job. How does this happen? The most common cause of underbidding is not doing your homework and relying on your gut or unverified estimates rather than a fail safe process of checking and double checking each cost within each task. The devil in any construction job is in the details. The bidding process is very much like your business plan for each job. It must identify every task, every cost and each cost must be checked and double checked before bidding on the job. Where many construction contractors go wrong is in estimating the cost of tasks incorrectly. These incorrect estimates are caused by flawed assumptions on the tasks and the associated costs, which is the result of not accurately verifying and then re-verifying every task and every cost. It is a painstaking process but you must get the bid right. Your assumptions on each task must be vetted not once but at least twice. You know the rule: measure twice cut once. This adage is particularly true in the bidding process.

Sixth Most Important Factor: Marketing

Everyone in the construction business understands the importance of referrals. Most of your prospective customers come by way of referral. But referrals are not enough. What should be part of your marketing tool belt?

1. You should have an active web site that includes customer testimonials front and center.

2. You should join a networking group.

3. You should join a civic organization.

4. You should provide valuable assistance to local community non-profit groups (one or two will suffice nicely).

5. You should have a regular process of bidding jobs that are not referral-based

6. You should have a process for direct mailings very week.

7. You should have business cards, stationary, job site signs.

8. You should advertise in the yellow pages or local newspapers.

9. Customer Testimonial Binder (referenced above).

10. You should have brochures.

Seventh Most Important Factor: Stay Current With Technology and Replace Old Equipment/Tools

You must upgrade your equipment and tools to stay current with technological changes. This will not only improve efficiency but also the quality of each job. You must also replace old equipment and tools in order to get each job completed efficiently and on time. You will know when it is time for new equipment and tools when the old equipment and tools begin breaking down at a rate that causes recurring delays. When equipment/tools breakdown it can cause cost overruns and result in late completions. No matter how good the quality of your work is, missing completion dates harms your reputation.

Eighth Most Important Factor: Hire To Your Weaknesses

No matter how much experience you have and how skilled you may be there are certain things each one of us does well and certain things we do badly. More often than not, the things we do well are the things we enjoy doing and the things we do badly are the things we hate doing. A skilled business owner will hire people who do have strengths in areas the business owner has weaknesses. As an example, one of my clients nearly went out of business because he did not like having to make calls to collect receivables. My advise to him? Hire someone who is expert in collections. He took me up on my advise and eventually, his collections expert, became his partner. His business is thriving now. Hire to your weakness and watch your business boom.

Ninth Most Important Factor: Document Mistakes and Failures

This should be incorporated into your Job Process/Task List Binder. You must learn from your mistakes. Mistakes should not be considered anything other than an experience learned. Document those bad experiences and incorporate them into your job process and task list binder so as to never repeat them again.

Tenth Most Important Factor: Change Orders

Most contracts include language regarding change orders. Change orders are caused by many factors, which is beyond the scope of this article, but let me be clear in saying that you must cost out every change order as if you were costing out the job. You must then process the change order (list each task and assign a date of completion for each task) and attach a task checklist for each new task resulting from the change order. Lastly, you must get the customer to understand and sign off on the change order or you will not collect your full price for the job. Many construction contractors unfortunately do a poor job in addressing change orders. They are reluctant to highlight it with the customer and gloss over it in an effort to avoid confrontation. The reason? The reality of change orders are not addressed up front when you are bidding on the job. Customers only see the price you gave them and that is in the contract. You must address the reality of a change order occurring at the outset of the bidding process and before the contract is signed. If a customer understands from the very beginning that change orders do occur often and that a change order will increase the price of the job, you will be less shy about confronting the customer when it does occur.

How to Be a Successful National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Member: How to Be a Professional Corper

The NYSC scheme is an avenue for corps members to acquire useful skills, knowledge and abilities. These skills are acquired through seminar, training, workshops, symposia, colloquium, etc. organized by the NYSC in conjunction with other organizations. These life-changing activities are one of the most profitable aspects of the NYSC scheme.

From the orientation camp, every corper will be given opportunities to acquire skill and information that will be very profitable in life. Speakers, professionals and practitioners from various fields will be invited to educate corps members on how to maximize their service year. Life after service year will also be discussed. Some community development service groups like: Nigerian Road Safety, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Millennium Development Goal, Humanitarian/ Welfare Group, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Crimes Commission. Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Red Cross. Etc, will also be invited to give specialized lectures. Their operations, goals and objectives will be unveiled. Corpers will be persuaded to join any of the CDS groups. It is compulsory that you must be a member of at least one CDS group. At the end of the service year you will be given membership certificates, which are very useful after service.

Apart from the above benefits, there is another silent but celebrated privilege of the NYSC scheme that will make you self-dependent, self-employed or gain employment before the end or after your service year. The NYSC always partner with various professional bodies in the quest to make youth corps members self-reliant. These professional bodies train and equip corpers with necessary skills to make them successful. Through the process of lectures, seminar and examination corps members are fully empowered. These prestigious bodies are nationally and internationally recognized. The importance of these professional trainings and certificates are innumerable.

Although these professional bodies offer world-class services, their fees are very affordable. You may not believe the cost of acquiring these training and certificates. The reason for the reduced fees is that these professional bodies are aware of the allowance of corpers, and they know the importance of corps members to national development. A typical example is the Institute of Strategic Management Nigeria. This Institute is one of the brains behind my successful writing and speaking career. Its courses on entrepreneurship opened my eyes to profitable business opportunities in the Nigerian environment. They offer comprehensive services, and I can testify that their lectures and reading materials are of good standards. The fee was very affordable. Non NYSC members pay a very high fee to acquire this professional certificate.

So many professional bodies exist, take advantage of the reduced, priced and acquire professional skills and certificates. You might never have the opportunity again.

Most uninformed corps members perceive these professional trainings and certificates as waste of time and resources. They believe it is irrelevant. A wise man said that” no knowledge is a waste.” As an engineer you need managerial and administrative skills, even a doctor needs it, in fact, everyone that dreams to be a self-employed must acquire these skills. A social scientist or a management graduate needs technical knowledge because diversification is necessary in the business or employment market. Let’s briefly discuss some of the benefits of becoming a professional corper.

Self-Employment

One of the cardinal goals of these professional bodies is to raise professionals who will take the world economy to the next phase through the establishment of profitable small and medium-scale businesses. Their entrepreneurial and managerial lectures equip corpers to face the challenges of small and medium-scale enterprises and emerge successful. You will learn how to identify business opportunities and how to cheaply tap and execute them. The various means of capital generation and the practical steps to access these funds is one of the lectures I will never forget. These professional bodies offer vibrant and interesting lectures that will lead a young entrepreneur to the top.

Statistics have shown that only 50% of small businesses are still trading after their first three years from the initial set up. Most failure is attributed to lack of administrative, marketing and managerial skills. These skills can be acquired cheaply through professional training. I sold close to seven hundred copies of my books within one month through personal sales. It was possible because I acquired profitable management skills from various professional bodies. They offer practical courses that you can never acquire from any higher institution.

Majority of both national and international organization when recruiting make membership of professional bodies a criterion for employment. In most recruitment forms, there are always provisions to fill the professional bodies you belong to. In some cases, the vacancies are limited to only applicants who possess a certain professional certificate.

Don’t deprive yourself of a lucrative employment opportunity only because you fail to utilize an opportunity to acquire a professional training. Nigeria has millions of unemployed graduates, with just few jobs available. Only graduate with a niche can grab these limited employment opportunities. ‘Go the extra mile’, empower yourself and employers will beg for your service. Your curriculum vitae will even speak for you when you have acquired various training and certificates, they will send for you immediately you possess the skill they want. Professional training gives you an advantage over other applicants.

I secured my first job immediately after service without undergoing any aptitude test or formal interview. The owner of the firm was a Fellow of a professional body in which I am an associate. When I discovered that, I told his assistant that I wanted to see his boss. When I introduced myself the only question he asked was; can you do the job? And I said yes, that was all. I was given the job while other applicants continued the employment process just for formalities.

Knowledge

The training, lectures, seminars and reading materials offered by these professional institutions are sources of uncommon knowledge. As an entrepreneur you need knowledge to outshine your competitors, and a worker must possess special knowledge to attract promotion and increase in earnings.

In addition, acquired knowledge can lead to the establishment of a profitable business enterprise. You can become a consultant with your professional skills and certificate. Immediately, you are inducted and certified, you are permitted to start practicing. You can establish a professional firm where businesses will come to seek professional advice, and you can make good money from consultation.

Currently, I am a management consultant, entrepreneurship expert and professional debt collector. I am qualified to carry out these skilled tasks because I am a member of Nigerian Institute of Management, Institute of Strategic Management of Nigeria and the Institute of Debt Recovery Practitioners of Nigeria.

Information

Information is the only tool for development. Anyone who doesn’t value information will become obsolete. The world is moving, and things are changing every day. Your skills and professional knowledge must be updated constantly to enable you to compete favourably in the business environment and in the corporate circle. Membership of a professional body is a sure means to modernize your skills and knowledge.

Professional bodies always engage in diverse research. This leads to innovative discoveries and mind-blowing inventions. Members also engage in brainstorming sections that always produce solutions to challenges facing their profession. The only means of accessing this information is to be a member. They also organize seminars, workshops, exhibitions, meeting, etc., to acquaint members with the current trend in the profession. You can never be outdated as an active member of a professional body. They also give professional advice to members to enable them to overcome business or corporate challenges.

Association

All you need to succeed in life is meeting the right people at the right time. Your professional body can link you to people that can lead to your advancement in business and other endeavors. During professional body meetings, you will meet successful business executives and professionals. Most of them are very influential in the society; they can connect you to a job, contract, business opportunities and even a political appointment. Nobody is an island, so you must interact with the right minds to succeed.

It is very important to state that the more you associate with successful people, the greater your chance of becoming successful. You can stand on the shoulder of some senior colleague and make giant strides. All you might need to become successful might be a call or a recommendation letter from a prominent citizen.

It is possible to enroll and grab as much as three professional certificates within the one-year service period. Just choose any professional body of your choice regardless of your course of study, because no knowledge is a waste.

Please grab this opportunity now, lest, it may be difficult and expensive to acquire such certificates at the expiration of your service year.

4 Key Factors To Successful Record Label Management

The recipe for a successful record label, no matter how big or how small, involves many ingredients. Too many to mention here but if you had to narrow it down to the most crucial points you will find the following key ingredients to successful record label management.

  1. Having Talented Music Artists On The Roster,
  2. The Resources Available For CD Production,
  3. The Power To Distribute Music Straight Into The Consumers Hands,
  4. The Ability And Resources To Successfully Promote Music Artists.

1. Recording Artists

Number one on the list to running a successful record label is to have a talented roster of music artists. This not only involves finding extremely talented artists with commercial potential but also establishing contracts between the two, where the two party’s involved are both happy with their part of the agreement, thus resulting in an extremely harmonious and rewarding relationship.

The contract between artist and label should cover topics such as album production fees and spending budgets, recoupable revenue from sales of tickets, albums and merchandise etc, distribution of music royalties as well as possession of publishing rights and profits.

2. CD Manufacturing

It is usually the role of the record label to take care of the manufacturing of records and Compact Discs. If you are planning on setting up a record label you should be certain to possess the resources available to create and manufacture your artists’ music. After all this is an important part of making money for your label. If you are only a small-sized label you can find CD manufacturing plants which will meet the needs of smaller sized record labels and even offer pressing discounts that come with product packaging and art work at affordable rates. Now a days this whole process can be avoided due to the popularity of digital downloads.

3. CD Distribution

Distribution will get a label’s music straight into the palms of consumers. Distribution is paramount to earnings for any recording label. With regard to physical goods like CD albums, you must get them straight into retail stores and then directly into the hands of shoppers. With regard to downloadable music, you should make your products there for web sites (such as apple iTunes) which will sell the songs on-line. Direct selling is one other money-making path for a music label in selling their music.

4. Artist Promotion

Promotion is yet another crucial component to generating product sales. The music label utilizes mass media outlets such as music publications, web sites, radio campaigns, live performance tours and private appearances. You should understand the actual demographics for your niche and after that market appropriately. A solid marketing and advertising campaign will enhance ticket and record sales.

Successful Marketing Tips For A Paintball Field

‘Build it and they will come’ is a phrase made popular by the Kevin Costner movie ‘Field of Dreams’. While this phrase is actually speaking of a baseball diamond built in the middle of a remote corn field, for some reason many new small businesses seem to think it applies to them. Too often the excitement for their new venture clouds their viewpoint into thinking the business they’re about to open will be so novel that all they will have to do is open the doors and they will be flooded with new customers. While this situation can happen, it is extremely rare and even more so for a business that appeals to such a limited demographic like a paintball field. The reality of the matter is if you don’t have a meticulous marketing plan set to start at least 8-10 weeks before opening day, you are already planning to fail.

The unfortunate statistic for small businesses is an 80% failure rate in the first 18 months. Forbes magazine will tell you the main reason for this is because they run out of money. While this is the reason they end up closing their doors, the reason behind this is simply from a lack of planning. Many new paintball field entrepreneurs get so caught up in the layout and construction of their business, they either completely forget about marketing or it’s an afterthought at best. Most of the time, the reason new start-up businesses run out of money is because they didn’t start their marketing efforts early enough or misfired their marketing altogether. The bottom line is they weren’t able to generate enough business to keep their operation running. Not starting your marketing efforts early enough will ensure your first few months of business will be slow and stressful. Misguided marketing is even worse as it wastes valuable time and limited start-up money to produce nothing.

Even though paintball may be one of the field owner entrepreneur’s favorite past times, it takes an adult to step out of oneself and realize not everyone has the same interest. In fact, paintball caters to a very small demographic making marketing to a broad spectrum audience useless. Because of this, it’s smart to avoid costly television commercials, radio and newspaper ads designed to ‘keep your field’s name in everyone’s mind’. This type of media should only be used to boost hype for specific events and not to provide the ‘regular exposure’ most sales reps will try to sell you. Since the game of paintball tends to only attract certain types of people, your most cost effective form of advertising is to target these specific groups. This is called niche marketing and if done correctly, can be very effective. The first task is to make a list of all the different niche groups who play paintball at commercial fields. Then target specific campaigns and promotions to only these groups.

Ages of players who participate in paintball is 8-40+, however it is recommended players be at least 18 years old. This is because the sting of being hit is often too intense for younger players. While it will take a little forethought, targeting youth for marketing your paintball field to could be a venture that pays off in the long run. Considering most fields cater to high school and above, youth players are a large demographic that tend to be left out in the commercial world. When making your initial equipment purchase, consider buying .50 caliber paintballs, guns and gear. These are a smaller size ball and do not hurt when they hit you compared to the larger, standard .68 caliber paintballs. This is a big decision because .50 caliber gear is limited on the types of guns available. It will be too costly to buy both .50 cal and .68 cal markers and balls for your field so you will have to decide on one and stick with it. While .50 caliber size gear is fairly limited on the types of markers available they are actually more cost effective than .68 caliber. Offering .50 caliber paintball will also allow you to market ‘pain-free’ paintball to the younger audience and cater to a market that’s virtually untouched.

Paintball is not gender specific however mostly played by males. It is not a sedentary game and it is much more fun for people who are more athletic and can move around quickly. Target specific marketing campaigns to facilities and programs geared toward youth, males and athletics. To do this, make contacts with groups like the local YMCA, athletic centers and even gyms. Meet with owners and/or planning managers to promote your field with informational fliers, special events and/or certain days or games you’ve scheduled just for their group. Most cities and towns have numerous health clubs. Consider setting up a one day paintball war for rival gyms to battle each other for a local title. This can also be done for high school sports teams during the end of their season or in between seasons. Many high school coaches like to keep their team together during down times with activities that are fun, challenging and different from the sport they normally play. It’s a good idea to market your field to these leaders and help them schedule an event that will help their team bond.

It’s quite common for certain groups to use outside activities for bonding exercises to bring a team closer together. Many corporate companies take their employees on white water rafting adventures, ropes courses and even paintball for this valuable experiences. Marketing your paintball field to every corporate company with more than 10 employees is a great idea for this purpose. Target every corporate company of this size within a 120 mile radius, set up a certain day on your field you will hold the event and/or offer them a special corporate rate. Take time to try and meet with HR executives or managers who may be interested and set up an event. Another good niche group to market your paintball field to is police and military personnel. Active duty soldiers/officers may want to rent your field for certain simulation tactical exercises. Inactive personnel often still love the adrenaline and strategy of a good battle and have the potential for being very good repeat customers. Offer these groups military and law enforcement discounts as well as group rates and/or special field times.

Don’t waste your time, energy and money trying to get every tax payer in your zip code to play at your field. The list goes on for specific niche groups to market to and the more creative you get with your promotions the better. Take your time thinking of more groups to communicate with and try to constantly come up with new ideas to get and keep them interested in playing at your field. Keep simple stats on which events/marketing campaigns and niche groups were the most successful so you know which ones to keep doing and which ones to go back to the drawing board on. Once you have a steady flow of new players coming, focus on internal marketing strategies to keep them coming back. For example, frequent player discounts, free tank refills or ammo after a certain number of games they’ve paid for, etc. Set up your paintball field from the beginning so it can be manipulated to host different events and competitions for different niche groups to play there and many players will call your field their home.

How to Build a Successful Business With Pyxism

Pyxism is all about making money from web based marketing network. It is one of the biggest earning money system through which thousands of people have made their fortune. You just need few things to build a successful business for your future, which are Internet, computer, a one time small investment, few hours a week to spend on this work and a desire to achieve success.

Everyone wants to build a successful business, sitting at the comfort of home. If you want to have such successful business, then follow these steps carefully before indulging yourself in this business. First, search for a good team that you would like to join. The quality, you must look out for should be support from the team with in and also to your down line, upon joining the boards. Once, you finalize and select a team which can offer you this facility, join Pyxism with a one time small investment, which is around $325.

Secondly, you need a website to establish your presence for generating the leads. Generation of leads is extremely crucial in terms of earning money through Pyxism. You need at least two personally sponsored people to complete the compass board and at least six for generating leadership compensation. It is not so difficult to start your business with just two referrals. For those who do not want to shell out bucks, the website is included with in the package when you join Pyxism. First priority should be given to owning website, so that you can get all the benefits in generating leads and can promote it better.

Add an auto-responder sequence, once you establish your website for generating leads. This auto responder is helpful in explaining people about your business and how it works. To better emphasize your website presentation and business, you can take the help of video presentation. This can help others to make a decision regarding whether they should join it or not.

Next thing you need to do is to introduce your interested prospects to your associate link and also help them in solving their queries related to it. Once, any two interested candidates join you, make sure to support them throughout, to generate leads for them and also you can generate more leads for your self. It is extremely essential to become their mentor and give them indispensable support because Pyxism works only on team work, not on an individual basis.

You can build a successful business with Pyxism if you possess confidence and diligence. That is why it is said that Pyxism is always excellent opportunity for the serious entrepreneurs.

Marketing Tips For a Successful Home Online Business

Budding entrepreneurs are often seen browsing online for handy tips that they find helpful in their own home online business. Many people are already interested in building their own home-based business enterprise with the use of the Internet. The Internet has spurred countless opportunities which can also be of assistance to those who are unknowledgeable in the field of business.

Through the World Wide Web, any person who yearns to have their own business can be an entrepreneur. There is no stopping the flow of information seen within the massive database of the Internet. Having a home online business necessitates minimal investment and tons of people find that they can easily score considerable profits. But online businesses also require planning, careful consideration, and an amount of marketing strategies. In addition, you have to make an effort to make your business a success, even if you are just clicking away in front of a computer screen.
There are several business opportunities waiting for you online. You can sell products and offer services online by engaging in affiliate marketing and copywriting among others. Find time to do some research and personal coaching so you can learn how to secure high-profit business opportunities.

A home-based online business may be the answer to folks who need some time to juggle their working and personal life. In line with their financial needs, online businesses done at home are convenient and easy. While you can make money online, it takes more than Internet knowledge in running your home online business. Here are some marketing tips for a successful online business.

No one is self-sufficient:

Especially when it comes to businesses, people need some support at one given time or another. While it is true that you will be your own boss in having your home online business, it does not necessarily mean that you will not rely on others for assistance. Having a good, successful business requires efficient management. People who give feedback about your business can also help you learn more about the market that you are aiming for.

Know that you have limitations:

Face it. You do not know everything especially when it comes to the ever-changing market needs and technological innovations. There is always something new out that might keep you on edge. Engage in proper training on how to run your home online business. Familiarize yourself with basic accounting procedures, record keeping, and tax deducting. By understanding such things, you will have a smooth running of your business in no time.

Understand your business:

While you are caught up in the hype of having your own online business, it is important to never start something that you hardly know anything about. Experience and training are keys to your success so continue discovering trends and learning new things on your behalf.

Strive to get better:

As you progress in your business, always keep in mind that you should never settle for mediocre products and services. Customers want quality services and products offered to them. Be patient and work hard so you can get the results that you are actually longing for.

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