Habits of Successful Entrepreneurs - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Habits of Successful Entrepreneurs - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Entrepreneurs are known for their creativity and thinking differently from everyone else. I was relieved to learn in a class that “conventional wisdom” need not apply! Believe in yourself According to conventional wisdom, we are told the first step to building our business is to write out a detailed business plan. But most of us are visionaries thinking into the far off future. So it becomes futile at best case to write out a detailed plan as we deal with continual change. It was reassuring to hear entrepreneurship does not embrace conventional wisdom. Seek Opportunity everywhere Much of the instruction I already knew. But the reason I wanted to attend was that it would enable me to meet other entrepreneurs who were ready to move to the next level. My secondary goal was to meet and speak with the professor and the sponsors of the event. I believed it to be an incredible opportunity. Over the years, I’ve learned when we seek opportunity we usually find it. All of my expectations were met and the networking proved to be well worthwhile. Invite Help Do doubt and hesitation enter your mind when it comes to business? This is the point we need to ask for help. Embarrassment and ego need to be set aside. Finding the people who are successful in the areas where you need help the most are the ones to whom you should reach out. Simply ask what strategies they used to become successful. The answers will pour forth! Serve others Help those coming up behind you such as people who ask questions of you and communities that may benefit from your expertise. Over time, you will get to know some well and quite possibly will need to ask questions of them. The process literally becomes one of ‘Give and Take’ where everyone wins. Collaborate Collaboration is one of the most difficult ideas for entrepreneurs to grasp. It should be simple because the definition is a group of people working to help one another. The drawback is collaboration can only work when everyone adheres to the same principles. I know two entrepreneurs who had brilliant ideas that began to succeed. They generously brought in their friends to assist. Sadly, the friends conspired to take the businesses over and booted out the founding CEO’s. Recognizing the horror, it took a colossal leap of faith for me to give collaboration a try. But the leap of faith into the unknown is also applicable to entrepreneurship. Collaboration is merely a vehicle to success. My experience was we were in need of each other’s services in order to move forward. In the process, we learned a tremendous amount and became lifelong friends. Participate in Supportive Branding Your team will go the extra mile for you letting everyone they know about your new projects and events. This is power branding at its best reaching far larger audiences for a greater return. Your name and company are seen everywhere to become widely recognized. Ask for the Sale The sales cycle includes many components and specific techniques will increase the frequency of hearing Yes! However, when you adapt the habits outlined above, many times your prospect will ask permission to purchase from you. This is the ultimate testament that you are doing everything correctly and have built a trusted personal brand. Adapting these entrepreneurial habits to your style will advance you to the Smooth Sale! Author: Elinor Stutz, CEO of Smooth Sale, LLC, (800) 704-1499, was honored by Open View Labs with inclusion in their international list of “Top 25 Sales Influencers for 2012.” Elinor authored the International Best-Selling book, “Nice Girls DO Get the Sale: Relationship Building That Gets Results”, Sourcebooks and the best selling career book, “HIRED! How to Use Sales Techniques to Sell Yourself On Interviews”, Career Press. She provides team sales training, private coaching and highly acclaimed inspirational keynotes for conferences. Elinor is available for consultation.