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Reading shouldn’t be something that you give up because you’re an entrepreneur on the go. Sometimes we get so busy that we leave behind hobbies that we feel take up too much time, like going to the movies or reading. You may not be able to squeeze in the romance or spy novels that you used to love, but if you don’t want to lose the spark of love for reading, consider opening the pages of these five books about useful and entrepreneurial topics.
“Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers” – Timothy Ferriss
This book is a long read, but it’s well worth setting aside the time. If you want a crash course on how to be insanely productive, buy this book and read it cover to cover again and again. Strategist and podcaster Tim Ferriss shares the productivity secrets he’s learned during his time interviewing entrepreneurs, and this book contains more than 200 different interviewees from “The Tim Ferriss Show.” Ferriss ensures that all of the insider tips have been applied to his own life, and they’re certainly tried and true.
“Disrupted: My Misadventure in the Start-Up Bubble” – Dan Lyons
A delightfully entertaining read, Dan Lyons has written a book about moving from his job as a journalist to a position at software marketing startup — HubSpot. This hilarious and insightful look at entrepreneurship and the inner workings of a startup company can both bring a smile to your face and make you reconsider where your life is going.
“Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World” – Adam Grant
Our world isn’t dictated by those who keep going down the same old roads over and over again. The roads less traveled are the ones that contain the most beauty, and this is true for entrepreneurs who come up with new ideas. Adam Grant takes readers on a trip through how modern leaders can break the mold and truly explore the world as an innovator and creative, not a follower who sticks to the safer methods.
“The Code of the Extraordinary Mind: 10 Unconventional Laws to Redefine Your Life and Succeed On Your Own Terms”
Founder of MindValley, Vishen Lakhiani knows a lot about life and how the mind works. In his book, Lakhiani flips the script on everywhere we know in his world — life, love, work and more. The book explores how our thought processes are are driven by rules, generational thoughts and old concepts of what success really is. This book isn’t just about changing how you think about business, but also how you think about societal constructs in general.
“Thinking, Fast and Slow” – Daniel Kahneman
This is an “oldie but goodie” volume that any and all entrepreneurs should have on their shelves. Daniel Kahneman’s award winning book explores the two systems that make our minds work — one is fast and emotional, the other is slower and more logical. As a psychologist, Kahneman explores how both of these mind center’s shape our everyday judgements and how they apply to our lives in a entrepreneurial context.
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Because branding takes experience to truly get right, new entrepreneurs can easily fall into branding traps and make rookie mistakes. Seasoned entrepreneurs can easily make branding mistakes, so how can newbies avoid these pratfalls?
The key to avoiding mistakes is knowing what they are. While branding holds a lot of mistakes specific to the brand in question, there are a variety of general mistakes that they should know about and avoid.
Going Over the Top
New entrepreneurs and small business owners have a tendency to want to go big or go home. Remember that when you’re first starting out with a business, this is your most vulnerable time — especially financially. It’s a good idea to be willing to invest a generous amount into your branding, but there’s a difference between spending a lot and creatively coming up with a lot.
A brand shouldn’t be complicated. Going all out and creating complicated branding schemas can be very detrimental to brand success, especially when the business in question is newer. Spend money, but spend money on something you think will work.
Non-Digital Integration
Some businesses have a very online presence, and that’s where they perform best. Online marketing and branding are very popular because they reach larger audiences and are often cheaper than non-digital options. However, this doesn’t mean non-digital options should be ignored.
If you have a business that has the potential to exist outside of the Internet, don’t let this possibility pass you by. Even if it’s something as simple as buying business cards with your business URL on them, invest in some sort of tangible, “IRL” branding mechanism.
Taking the Next Step
Many brands start out with a bang but end with a fizzle. Branding isn’t something that’s a one and done operation — it takes maintenance. Many early businesses make the mistake of considering branding to be something they do once and sprinkle throughout their marketing strategies, but this is completely inaccurate. Make sure to keep working with your branding, even after the initial brand launch.
Not Paying Attention to Analytics
Online branding is something that should be paid attention to in the context of analytics. If you send out a tweet that’s relevant to your branding strategy, assess how well that tweet is doing. How many interactions does it have? What’s the retweet to interaction ratio?
Paying attention to branding analytics is one of the easiest ways to tell whether or not what you’re doing is succeeding or failing miserably, or even somewhere in between. Whether you use free analytics resources provided by social media and Google, or you pay for your analytics tools, one thing is for certain — analytic data is necessary for branding success.
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To be an entrepreneur, you must be…? How do you think that sentence should end? “Brave”? “Determined”? “Innovative”?
Truthfully an entrepreneur must be many things; more adjectives than five are required in order to call yourself a true and successful entrepreneur. However, we’ve selected five of the most common and essential traits required to either become or sustain yourself as an entrepreneur.
Risk-Taking
We often think of risk as a dirty word — in fact, isn’t it better to avoid risk altogether? This might be true in some areas of life, but in others the phrase “go big or go home” is one hundred percent true. Just like in gambling, sometimes a big risk results in a massive loss. Other times it means you get a big payday.
Without that risk, no matter the outcome, there would be no chance for that huge success. The risk doesn’t have to be monetary, either. Sometimes taking a chance on the little things can pay off in a big way.
Hungry
No, not in the way that means you want to go out to lunch. This kind of hunger is for success, knowledge and for recognition — maybe you’d prefer to call it “drive.”
A good entrepreneur knows that they have to keep learning, but a great entrepreneur is one that truly wants to. This kind of hunger is one that drives them to better themselves and take those risks.
Adaptable
Not everything will go your way all the time, and that’s not just a lesson for entrepreneurs to learn. However, it might be a lesson that entrepreneurs benefit from more than most. Sometimes plans fall through and an entrepreneur has to adapt to the sudden changes. Not every scheme will be executed perfectly, not every vision will be clearly seen and sometimes a completely foreign scenario works its way into the mix.
A great entrepreneur doesn’t give in to this uncertainty — they embrace it.
Responsible
Gone are the days of laying around on the couch and brainstorming about your big business idea — you’re going to be an entrepreneur, which means your life is going to drastically change if you want to make all of your visions realities.
Even though you’ll be your own boss, you’ll still have all the responsibilities that come with that position. It also means you’ll have to handle money, and hopefully lots of it, in a fiscally responsible way.
Gregarious
Sure there are ways to become a great entrepreneur as an introvert, but the more outgoing and personable you are? The better you’ll be at networking and selling your brand. Creating relationships among your peers and in the business community will be vital to getting your business recognized, and you can’t do that on a concept alone.
Businesspeople are usually outspoken, self-assured, and promoting. They know how to charm and talk to people in a convincing yet personable way. This kind of attitude also lends itself to sales — without being gregarious, the sales funnel becomes a lot more narrow.
It takes a lot to become an entrepreneur. How many of these attributes do you have yourself?
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What exactly is a lifestyle brand? On one hand, a lifestyle brand is a brand identity that focuses on the ideas, rituals, interests and attitudes of a particular culture or hobby, thus the term lifestyle applies. Lifestyle brands market and sell products and services to consumers that focus their lives and interests around a certain topic or activity.
On the other, any brand can market their advertising campaigns around a lifestyle if they choose to do so. Any product can be targeted toward lifestyle-focused consumers, and some products and services can be marketed to many different consumers with many different lifestyles.
One of the benefits of branding focusing on a lifestyle is that the importance and necessity of the product itself is already described and associated with something important in the life of the consumer. Lifestyle-infused products can sometimes market themselves – marketing teams just need to add a selling point and they’re good to go.
But the importance truly lies in brand consistency – a brand based around a lifestyle is one that has to stay consistent with that lifestyle and cater to the needs of its consumer. Developing a lifestyle brand, no matter what that lifestyle may be referring to, is an important step in the branding process, namely for three important reasons:
- Lifestyle, Consistency, Loyalty
Many consumers who use lifestyle brand products commit to one company or one set of products that suit their needs best. Lifestyle branding and marketing is largely centered on convenience and effectiveness – for instance, consider the world of athletics apparel. Active women usually purchase active wear from one company that they trust based on experience. If one pair of jogging pants works very well for them from one particular company, they’re more likely to buy that matching jogging jacket and those athletics shoes made by the same brand.
This can also be applied to the branding itself. When a brand is focused on a lifestyle and consistently shows consumers that it understands that lifestyle, it’s more likely to be successful.
- Lifestyle Branding is Consumer Focused
It’s been mentioned before, but branding focused on a lifestyle puts the consumer in the spotlight. Lifestyle brands are there to help consumers make their life easier or more valuable. Revisit the active wear example. An athletic clothing line can be branded in a way that appeals to a consumer that wants to improve their exercising and athletic activities while looking fashionable.
This branding technique appeals to a consumers need for value. Lifestyle branding puts the consumer first and shows them time and time again that they’re there to help.
- Lifestyle Brands Show Off Experience
There’s also a certain level of expertise to be shown from lifestyle branding. Marketing lifestyle and lifestyle-based products and services is something that requires a specific focus – there’s no room for general marketing here. Lifestyle brands and marketing strategies hone in on a specific group of people and shows them that they understand the lifestyle AND how to improve it.
This requires intimate knowledge of the purpose and lifestyle being targeting, and this kind of understanding and expertise is something that consumers trust. Lifestyle branding allows businesses the opportunity to connect with consumers in a way that shows them they know what they’re doing and they’re willing to share that information wealth with them.
Lifestyle-focused brand development is something that should be considered carefully, but it’s no less important than other branding and marketing forms. In fact, your lifestyle branding can be your ticket to success – when your consumer trusts your brand, you both win in the end.
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There are a lot of traits every entrepreneur must have to be successful. Productive, confident, critical and innovative. All of these character traits make an entrepreneur who they are – a strong businessperson who knows what they’re doing and exudes that quality to everyone they know.
But what if you’re an entrepreneur who isn’t exactly a leader? Not all entrepreneurs automatically come equipped with a strong knack for leadership. This is something fixable, though. Keep these six methods in mind in order to start better honing your leader skills.
Always be willing to listen.
One of the greatest skills an entrepreneur can master is learning to listen. In a boss role, it’s easy for entrepreneurs to get into a “my way or the highway” mentality. Break this habit and hold regular employee, staff and/or team meetings.
When you learn what sort of input those beneath you in the ranks have to give, this helps you in two ways. One, you’ll learn about the inner workings of your business. Two, your employees will respect you more because you’re willing to put them on the same plane as you.
Get on top of your deadlines.
There’s no such thing as a good leader who’s late. It’s not uncommon for office workers to push deadlines or forget an assignment – it’s not a good thing, but it’s certainly not uncommon. Leaders, however, have an example to set. When they miss their deadlines, they show that they aren’t organized or serious about success.
When you fix both of these problems, you show that you’re a good leader because you’re willing to go the extra mile to make sure things get done. Conquer your deadlines and become the leader you want to be.
Communicate constantly.
Good leaders communicate all the time – whether it’s to their team or their partners, they constantly have to be talking about their ideas, their plans and making sure everyone in their business is on the same page.
Just like you need to be able to listen, you have to be able to speak about the things you think, know and hear as an entrepreneur. When you master this skill, you show you have what it takes to lead.
Hone your cooperation and personal skills.
With all this listening and talking going on within your business, you should have developed some good interpersonal skills. However, there have been many leaders who know how to listen and communicate, but they don’t know to actually make connections with people.
A good leader is someone who knows how to cooperate with others, is a personable boss and colleague, and they also have a knack for connecting with others as a person, not just a business associate.
Learn to come second.
You won’t be coming in first every time. As a leader, sometimes your needs aren’t what need to be met at the moment. If you need to take a pay cut in order to pay your employees, so be it. Good leaders are people who understand that they might be the boss, but employees come first.
Have a way with words.
Consider a good leader. They’re confident, right? This confidence comes through in how they speak with people – both in personal and business settings.
Confidence isn’t just about thinking you’re great. It’s about being able to speak to others in any situation and show that you don’t just think you’re great – you ARE great, and it shows.
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