Tips for Incorporating Value Sustainability and Growth for the minority business community

1. Stay relevant – your business must provide the goods and services that are needed by your customers. Your focus should be to meet the needs of the customer. Are you staying current with their mission, objectives, strategies, buying process. How do you incorporate the current trends into your business model? Are you aware of the current trends?

2. Traditional marketing methods are now enhanced by the use of new online communication technologies. Are you in the mix? Are you sharing your expertise through email marketing or informing prospects and customers/clients about your firm’s new initiatives, services, products or even sales? Perhaps blogging is a better solution for your type of business. Do you have a Facebook Fan page; are you using your brand on your fan page? There are small businesses that don’t have a web page; however, they are maximizing the use of fan pages on Facebook. Are you tweeting – a great way to expose your knowledge and expertise to the public.

3. Have a listening campaign – find out what your competitors are doing; find them online. Not only can you check their websites but now you can look them up on LinkedIn; check to see what others are saying about them on Yelp; watch their tweets on Twitter or see if they have a YouTube site. There are a vast amount of social websites today; to narrow it down; check the competitor’s websites to see where they are posting.

4. Follow your clients and prospects - Are your clients/prospects using social media? If so, be sure to follow them; it’s a great way to keep current with their new initiatives and direction; they’re priorities; any changes taking place. Get to know more about the companies you are selling to and those you wish to sell to. Learn how they want you to do business with them. The federal government has a heavy online presence; be sure to follow them; oh by the way, their websites are chock full of information on how to do business with them, what they are buying and their contracting process.

5. Take advantage of the various preference contracting programs that corporations and the federal government sector have in place; e.g. 8A Business Development; HUB Zone; MBE/WBE/DBE/SBE programs; WOSB; EDWOSB and more. Okay what does all of that mean – need help; that’s where I come in. There’s plenty of help available to you – look up your local Small Business Development Centers - go to http://www.asbdc-us.org/index.html ; or contact economic development corporation in your state. Reach out the local Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (PTAC):

http://www.aptac-us.org/new/Govt_Contracting/find.php?what=search&State=NJ .

6. Networking - Be sure to join your trade associations; become certified by Minority Supplier Development Council in your state; join the Chamber of Commerce. Do the homework first to be sure it is a good fit for you; and once you’ve joined – be active. Learn how to effectively network; create, build, maintain and sustain relationships; it is the crux to sustainable businesses. Remember networking is about what you give; the receiving will come from when and where you least expect it.

“Your Business Begins in Spirit” so stay connected to it. Stephanie D. Burroughs | StephanieSpeaking LLC| http://stephaniespeaking.com/ | https://profiles.google.com/StephanieSpeakingLLC#StephanieSpeakingLLC/about

Hear the interview with Stephanie Burroughs on Diverse Business Show:
"How to Deliver Value Create Sustainability and Exp..." hosted by Diverse Business on #BlogTalkRadio http://tobtr.com/s/1619643

You Ought to Know Inbound Marketing

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HubSpot, Inc. provides Internet marketing software that helps businesses get found online, generate more inbound leads and convert a higher percentage of those leads into paying customers. HubSpot's software platform includes tools that allow professional marketers and small business owners to manage search engine optimization, blogging and social media, as well as landing pages, lead intelligence and marketing analytics. Based in Cambridge, MA, HubSpot can be found at http://www.hubspot.com.

HubSpot offers free marketing tools at http://www.grader.com and hosts a free marketing community at http://inboundmarketing.com

How to Take Advantage of National Small Business Week & Tips for Time Management

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It's PAST time to leverage the internet to build and brand your business. We can show you how!




Most entrepreneurs know what to do, they just need more time to do it! Here's an article I found that can help everyone struggling with "too much to do" syndrome.

Top 7 Time Management Tips

Manage your time and use it wisely, it is a journey and not something that can be easily mastered overnight. Implementing a plan will help, but it is not going to be a definite cure. Time management requires a significant amount of self-discipline.

Here are some tips to assist you with time management.

1. Set Goals

Set both short-term and long-term goals for your work per day, work per week, and work per year. It may seem to take the time to make a difference by written list of your goals, which will allow you to refer back to the list when you need some guidance. Keep in mind that it is good to adjust the goals as your business needs or your role changes. use them as tools to guide you.

2. Mini-Rewards

All work and no play is a difficult concept to sustain for very long. Build rewards into your schedule. If there is a task you really dislike, follow it with a task that you greatly enjoy. Build "mini-rewards" into your schedule to increase your productivity.

3. Keep Lists

Keep a running "To Do" list. The To Do list should contain both daily tasks as well as longer-term tasks. Having a To do list will help keep your attention on the projects that require attention, and prevent some items from slipping through the cracks and being forgotten.

4. Be Realistic

Keep your expectations realistic. No one can do everything, Keep that it mind, try to set realistic expectations of what you can hope to accomplish.

5. Prioritize

Prioritize the list of things to do. Some items might require immediate attention, while others may be necessary but not that urgent. After prioritizing, try not to become a "firefighter" and only react to the urgent items. Be sure to still give proper attention to non-urgent items as well, as they are important too.

6. Use Time Wisely

If there are blocks of time that you spend waiting or commuting, figure out ways to use that time being productive! Listening to podcasts, reading, writing, proof-reading, reviewing your schedule, planning for your next activity, etc, are all things that can usually be done remotely to fill in some of the unavoidable "dead" time in your schedule. Try to find interesting and unusual productive things to do during those periods of downtime.

7. Set limits

Set reasonable time limits for tasks. When working on those tasks, monitor the time that each task is taking.

Habilis (http://www.ihabilis.com/) provide Lifestyle Management and Virtual Assistants to help you stay shipshape at all times. Making appointments, booking flights, even sending out flowers - we do all this and more. Or, you could use us for your work side of things (think presentations, competitor analysis, web research).

Source: http://Top7Business.com/?expert=Janice_Taylor

Getting Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable

By Sherese Duncan, www.shereseduncan.biz

How are you doing with your transmogrification? Are you moving forward at a rewarding rate? Or have things slowed down recently? Is your life visibly changing the way you want it to? Or are you still stuck with the same problems?

I woke up this morning thinking about the economy and two people I’m training -- two well established business owners. It's been a little over six months since they started their respective programs -- and although they are very happy with their results and progress, they are now stuck.

Don’t worry, they won’t know who they are but a lot of business owners can relate to what’s going on with them. First, let me say it's very frustrating for me, because I can see the benefits: a much larger income, money in the bank, a much more satisfying business, and the possibility of having everything they’ve always wanted -- and earning a great living from it.

When I say frustrating, it’s not a negative, it’s more of “I wish they could see what I see,” feeling. Because though I can see the finish line, they are standing still. They have each put in many of hours of work, and if you know me you know I put you to work, and they have followed my advice about organizing an income-focused strategy. They were doing sooo well even in a tough economy.

So why have they stopped? Why are they stuck?

There could be many reasons. But here’s the reason we discovered and it was a major breakthrough for moving beyond the barriers:

They have done everything they could do comfortably and have arrived at a place where they've never been before…

It was time for them to move into the “Discomfort Zone…”

Any new step forward now is a step out of their comfort zone which is very scary and uncomfortable. Believe me, I know.

My clients had a very hard time getting out of their comfort zone; I recommended starting with baby steps. I told them, “don’t tackle anything that will completely turn your world upside down, instead maybe try turning left to go to the store vs. turning right. You never know what you might find.”

If you can identify with my clients, you can now say you’re not alone; a lot of people have this stumbling block. You have to realize when you get in your little place where you are comfortable but unhappy. Inside you know that it’s not going to grow your business or expand your growth as a person, so you have to want to succeed, you have to be open to new things and you have to take the initiative and get transmogrified!

As of today, both clients are transmogrifying step by step and getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. Now is NOT the time to be comfortable – you might miss some great opportunities to move beyond any barriers you’re facing today.

You have to let go of that comfort zone which is really a fear zone.

Get the heck out of your comfort zone!

Hear the interview with Louis Green here:

Listen to internet radio with Diverse Business on Blog Talk Radio

About the Author:

Small Business Strategist Sherese Duncan has been working with small business owners for over 12 years. In 2001, she launched Effició, Inc., a business education and consulting firm, to help business owners build, grow, sustain, and maintain profitable business enterprises. However, do not confuse her with (just) being a business coach; instead, Duncan is a “trusted, confident strategic partner,” who helps her clients “create the wealth and a complete, whole and balanced life that they want through entrepreneurship.” Duncan and her company are all about execution and results. Duncan received her bachelor’s degree from Kansas State University and her MBA from Keller Graduate School of Management. She is involved in a variety of industry-related organizations, and recently celebrated the one year anniversary of her premier online school, The School of Business for Entrepreneurs. Most importantly, Duncan is known for her fun, motivating, highly interactive style that focuses on real-world solutions you can put to use immediately.

Simply put, her business approach works.

Learn with Sherese:

• Get your FREE Transmogrification Newsletter (free ebook included)
• Get your FREE SBE eLearning 7-Day Briefcase (free products included
• Take strategic business courses in the School of Business for Entrepreneurs

© SD Global

Make YOUR Business a Super Success: Commit to Resolve Throughout the Year

Statistics show that 7 out of 10 businesses chronically under perform and are not fulfilling the owner’s strategic plan or vision.

According to the US Small Business Administration, 50% of businesses actually fail within the first 12-18 months.

So, what ARE YOU GOING TO DO DIFFERENT?

Commit to Resolve Throughout the Year


Make your resolutions today and throughout the year to become a better you. January 1st is when most people sit down and assess their goals and recommit to the goals that they didn’t accomplished from the past year. It is great to have goals and to recommit, but why wait? We should recommit to the goals in our lives on a more periodic basis rather than once a year.

Think about it. We set goals we want to reach then after about three weeks of committing to them we stop following through with the commitment. Why is that?

Look at it this way... you charge your cell phone everyday in order to maximize performance and battery life the next day, right? Why not take the same approach to living a better life? Recharge your battery often so that you are producing at the point of maximum performance.

When setting resolutions for life or business set realistic goals, don’t set goals that are truly unattainable. When setting goals you need to become self aware so that you are creating goals that are within your reach. So I challenge you to resolve to make a change today – right now – to resolve throughout the year in order to achieve your maximum performance.

Are you with me?

About the Author: DeLores Pressley, Motivational Speaker and Personal Power Expert, is one of the most respected and sought-after experts on success, motivation, confidence and personal power.

She is an international keynote speaker, author, life coach and the Founder of the Born Successful Institute and DeLores Pressley Worldwide. Her story has been touted in Glamour, Washington Post, Black Enterprise, First for Women, Essence, New York Daily News, Ebony and Marie Claire. She is a frequent media guest and has been interviewed on every major network: (ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX) including America ’s top rated shows; OPRAH and Entertainment Tonight.

DeLores’ client list range from Fortune 500 companies to government agencies, including Procter and Gamble, Roche Pharmaceutical, Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), Caribbean Association of Administrative Professionals (CAAP) and the FirstEnergy Corporation. She has authored Clean Out the Closet of Your Life, Believe in the Power of You and It Ain’t Over. She has received many awards and recognitions for her work.

Hear her on the Diverse Business show