4 Ways to Make a Fool of Yourself on Twitter

4 Ways to Make a Fool of Yourself on Twitter

Small Business Internet Marketing: The Entrepreneurial Dichotomy

Stereotyping might be considered in some cases to be unfair and in truth, sometimes it is. You can’t assume any one individual is a certain way because they belong to a group that is known to have certain stereotypical characteristics. Rather, there is often a common characteristic that usually defines a certain group of people – the operative word being “usually”. There are always exceptions. Entrepreneurs tend to share common personality attributes that are often double-edged swords.

It is important to distinguish between entrepreneurs and those who are self-employed. The entrepreneur wants to grow companies and the self-employed want to earn their income working for themselves. Not all small business owners are entrepreneurs but all entrepreneurs start out being small business owners. Here are some common characteristics of entrepreneurs with explanations of how one characteristic can be both positive and negative at the same time.

Strong Sense of Urgency

Entrepreneurs thrive on activity and are enthusiastic to develop and implement their ideas. They are creative. But they can also be inpatient, intolerant, tense and uneasy when others don’t share the same sense of urgency or don’t respond as quickly as the entrepreneur wants them to.

High Level of Intelligence

Entrepreneurs are extremely knowledgeable in their area of expertise – they have to be in order to successfully run their business. But sometimes this high level of intelligence does not correlate with other important aspects of running a successful business like effective communication skills and good customer service

Autonomous

Many entrepreneurs do not function well in structured organizations where there are strict company-specific rules and regulations to follow, including having to answer to an authority figure other than themselves. Most believe they can do the job better than anyone else. They have a strong need to do things their own way with the freedom to choose and act according to their own criteria. They are often creative geniuses who have unique and innovative ideas but aren’t always able to communicate these ideas clearly for anyone to be able to effectively execute them. They know exactly what they want and can become extremely intolerant and impatient if their employees are unable to read their minds.

Self Confidence

Entrepreneurs are self-confident. They have to be in order to think they can make it in the business world. But when that self-confidence steps over the boundary into arrogance, there could be some negative consequences. Arrogant people don’t consider anyone else’s ideas to have value – they know best. They are difficult to work with and inflexible because it is their way or the highway. Entrepreneurs have to be their own biggest fan because they are often working alone or with only a small group of people. Self confidence can actually be a triple-edged sword.

Interpersonal Relationships

“Work - work - work” – that is the entrepreneur’s mantra. They are over achievers who never find enough hours in the day to get their work done. Their strong work ethic oftentimes interferes with their personal relationships and their interpersonal skills. Entrepreneurs are single-minded when it comes to their business – they will do whatever they have to do in order to be successful and they expect everyone who works for them to do the same. Needless-to-say, personal relationships often suffer when all one does is work. In addition, many entrepreneurs have lousy people skills and are more concerned with what their employees accomplish rather than how they are feeling. This insensitivity and lack of empathy is not received well by the entrepreneur’s employees.

Need to Control

This is usually a main reason entrepreneurs become entrepreneurs. They are risk-takers whose primary motivation is growth. Coupled with high intelligence levels, strong work ethic, high level of confidence and strong sense of urgency, the entrepreneur’s need to control can be very effective. But, their lack of empathy, inability to delegate (because no one can do it better than they can) and intolerance may have negative consequences. In all fairness to the entrepreneur, before they feel comfortable enough delegating tasks to an employee, they need to have the confidence in that person’s ability to get the job done. But if their interpersonal skills are inadequate, how will the entrepreneur be able to develop a good enough relationship with an employee to be able to ascertain that employee’s competence?

Goal-Oriented

Success is the goal of the entrepreneur – sometimes success at any price. Success is the only acceptable result. Many entrepreneurs don’t have managerial experience and are unable to mentor subordinates effectively in order to foster a team spirit. This can lead to dissatisfaction and frustration on the part of the employee. The entrepreneur doesn’t understand and won’t accept that employees don’t always share the same drive and aren’t willing to live by the “work - work - work” mantra of the entrepreneur. Why should they? They don’t own the company.

Entrepreneurs are highly motivated, goal-oriented, high-energy, super-focused, visionary, driven, self-confident people who set high standards for themselves and for those who work for them. But they can also be intolerant of minor mistakes, have over-inflated egos, unwilling to consider someone else’s point of view, and unable to develop and maintain solid interpersonal relationships. The very characteristics that can lead to the entrepreneur’s success, might also lead to failure.

Social Media Marketing: Narrow the Gap Between Perception and Reality

Take the Brand Perception Snap Shot quiz now:

• What five words do you use to describe your brand today?
• What five words do your customers use to describe your business today?
• What five words do you WANT your customers to use to describe your brand?

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Top Reasons Why A Small Business Owner Should Consider Outsourcing Their Internet Marketing Initiatives

• Are you a small business owner with limited time?
• Do you have a website? Are you marketing your website? If not, you should read Building A Great Website Isn’t Enough, You Have To Market It and Why do I need to do Internet Marketing?
• Do you wish you had the time to increase your internet presence and overall brand visibility by driving traffic to your website?
• Are you an industry-expert with information to share? Wouldn’t you like to be able to use that knowledge by participating in your industry-specific forums, discussions groups, and other social networking sites in order to increase your internet presence?
• Did you know that article marketing is a valuable branding strategy and will increase your website traffic?
• Have you written articles about your industry niche but don’t know what to do with them or where to submit them for the best SEO?
• Are you overwhelmed by the vast number of social media networking sites and don’t have the time or knowledge to identify which sites would provide the most valuable visibility?
• Do you have a new product or service that you would like to announce to potential customers but don’t have the time to write and distribute a press release for the best visibility and the most impact on your SEO?
• Are you currently blogging but don’t have the time to keep your posts up-to-date?
• Do you wish you had the time to start blogging because you have heard that blogs increase search engine optimization and brand awareness by increasing your website traffic?
• Did you know that blogging can help establish you as an industry-expert and is a powerful form of social media marketing?
• Have you heard that online free directory submissions are a way to increase your internet presence and your search engine optimization?

If your answer to even one of the above questions is "yes", you are not alone. Small business owners have a difficult enough task of trying to find enough hours in the day to take care of the day-to-day running of their businesses. You can’t possibly do “everything” your business requires and do “everything” well. Do an analysis of your current marketing efforts to determine which are working the best. Consider those areas you would like to get involved in but don’t have the time to devote. Create a strategy that will get you the most bang for your buck.

Does outsourcing your Internet marketing needs sound like a viable option?

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What is Your USP?

Mitchel Harper in What's Your USP and Why Should I Care? talks about the same concept that Seth Godin does in Why you, why now? but it is important enough to repeat.

The bottom line for any businesses' potential consumers always boils down to why should they purchase YOUR brand and why should they do it NOW? 

It's All About Relationships

When I first decided to get involved with Internet Marketing I was concerned about my lack of technical knowledge and asked the advice of a former co-worker who was very techno-savvy.  He assured me that I had what it took to succeed by pointing out that Internet marketing and social media marketing are more than 80% about relationships and that is one of my strengths.  He was right. Connecting and interacting with your target market on various levels is paramount. 

Read New Social Media Connections Could Equal New Opportunities for more information about the importance of making and keeping connections.

SEO Pricing Models – Finding the Best Bang for Your Buck!

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Real time search will be a big help to small business owners in their search engine rankings.  Read about it here.

Attention small business owners!  Are you tweeting yet? 

If not, what are you waiting for?  If not, read about what you are missing out on here.

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If it feels like your online business is lagging in last year’s dust, keep in mind that it’s normal to fall behind in the race. With all this talk about Facebook, Twitter and the plethora of other Social Media Marketing tools it sure is easy to be confused if not down right overwhelmed. However, it’s absolutely possible and critical to pick up the pace of your marketing strategies and increase your chances of of bringing in new business with Internet Marketing. Read full article here.

SEO Vs. SMO: Which Is More Important?

Part of Caroline Melberg's marketing strategies Small Business Internet Marketing

You’re a small business owner trying to build yourself an internet presence. Should you focus on SEO or social media? Which is more important?

Well, first, you need to understand the benefits of each. SEO – search engine optimization – offers you free search engine marketing. Today, still today, the search engines are the No. 1 source of website traffic so it’s difficult to ignore them. If you don’t do any SEO on your website then you are going to have a difficult time attracting visitors and converting them to customers. Read full post here.