You win at life when you get paid to do something you would do for free. That’s how it can feel when you turn your number one passion into your career. Imagine those things you love to do, those topics you love to talk about, those things you love to learn, all being part of how you serve clients and generate wealth. Plenty of businesses have been born from passions and yours could be next. Angela Gargano is an athlete, coach, fitness model and speaker who has successfully turned her number one passion into an online business. After opening her own gym then making the transition to online, she has competed on American Ninja Warrior four times, won the title of Miss Fitness America and created a fitness empire. Her brand, Strong Feels Good, teaches women to ditch the scales and focus on strength and feeling as a way to measure progress. She has also helped over 500 women get their first pull up with her online program, Pull-up Revolution. From Gargano’s experience turning her passion to her profession and running a successful career she loves, here are four steps to creating an online business from yours. Start saving your dollars and sharing your passion Passion, yes. Stupidity, no. Gargano advises that you keep an eye on the bank account, especially when starting out. “Before I quit my nine-to-five job I made sure I had a five-month buffer,” she explains. “I didn’t want to be so stressed about money that I didn’t have a chance to focus on what I was trying to create.” The money never ran out. She was able to start and scale faster than her savings wore down, something that gave her peace of mind in the early days. Five months might seem far too long or far too short, we’re all different. If you’re in employment right now, work out the buffer that feels right for you. Once you have it, begin. Even before you’re ready to take the leap you can be researching and publishing. You don’t need to wait to lay the groundwork. Having a passion isn’t enough. You have to be willing to share it with anyone who will listen. Gargano prolifically documents across social media, so everyone who has found her online can become familiar with her personality and work. “Every Monday I share a graphic of my week’s schedule, then I share pictures of what I’m doing every few hours throughout the day. I also share the stories and progress of the people my work helps” Gargano thinks a critical element in making your passion your business is “sharing with the world how much you love what you are doing.” Passion and enthusiasm are infectious and magnetic, so make the most of them. Do your research and niche down “I knew I was passionate about fitness,” explained Gargano, “but it’s far too broad an area.” To find your niche, think about who you want to serve and listen to what they are asking for. “As a female Ninja Warrior, the first step is being able to do a pull up. I realized so many women kept saying it was their goal to learn how to do a pull-up.” Those interactions were what led Gargano to her niche: pull-up training for women. “I went all in on this and made it my thing.” Frequency cannot be ignored. The more your audience mention their struggle, the more you are booked for a specific service, the more obvious that this should be your niche. Follow the signs, they guide the way. Before creating and marketing her courses, Gargano researched like crazy. “I subscribed to loads of other people in the fitness space and I looked at how they laid out their funnels. I was quickly able to see that I had to give as much value as possible before asking for a sale, so that’s what I did.” Gargano focuses on helping people reach their goals rather than focusing on making money, but finds this approach works for both customer satisfaction and sales. “I share images and videos authentic to who I am, and I collect data on what works so it continues to hit the mark. Although my social media is all about me, it’s actually about my customer. I’m using my experience to help others achieve their goals.” Even with a growing online business and a loyal customer base, Gargano is still researching. “I interview my clients for spotlight features and I use Instagram Stories to quiz them on their challenges.” These valuable insights can all be turned into more content and products. Take messy action Sometimes you just need to throw spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks. Sometimes you don’t even know that you can turn something you are passionate about into a business. But you will never know unless you try. Gargano has made her fair share of mistakes. “At first I was doing high ticket sales through my Instagram but I quickly realized I hated doing sales calls. Not only that, but my audience didn’t want to spend $3000 on a course, which I totally understood.” Gargano pivoted, focusing instead on helping people who really wanted to make a change without parting with thousands. Even then, her first $100 course flopped and she went back to the drawing board. Trying to work out why no one bought her first course, she realized, “I had not created any kind of trust with my audience.” Gargano set about creating partnerships with large publications and showing up for her existing audience members. After listening to her audience complain about back pain and lack of core strength, she started selling a 30-day core program that she hadn’t yet made. Suddenly, 100 people enrolled and she knew she was onto something. “I saw my audience had a problem, I listened, and I created something to solve it.” More messy action included “sending out cold emails to publications, including a picture of myself photoshopped on the cover of Oxygen Magazine to everyone who worked at the magazine.” Gargano said she had no idea what this might accomplish, she simply took action. Network with intention During her early days in the fitness space, Gargano identified key people whose success she wanted to emulate. Then she set about getting in front of them. It was as simple as “going to the workouts they were attending in New York.” Gargano would, “meet them, introduce myself, then get chatting.” Once she met a few people, she found it easier to meet the next, and soon she had built up a robust contact base of the fitness professionals she aspired to be like. “I helped them out, we talked about our dreams and passions together. I was amazed at how much they were willing to help me, but then I realized they had been where I was once.” Gargano didn’t leave any part of her success to chance. After sharing her passion, niching down, taking messy action and meeting the right people, she learned the art of following up. For her, this came in the form of, “a simple Excel spreadsheet of all the people I met, each of whom I followed up every three weeks.” Gargano knows people are busy and messages can easily get lost in someone’s inbox, but she is convinced following up again and again led to the big breaks that others missed out on. “One example of this is Oxygen magazine. After following up persistently about my photoshopped magazine cover, someone eventually emailed to invite me to a shoot.” Persistence pays off, so keep going. Armed with your number one passion and a laptop, you can achieve anything you put your mind to. Go all in on the thing that makes you excited to wake up. Find a core audience and add insane value, then listen to their problems and create a solution to match. Take every opportunity to be generous, be visible and to meet new people, then follow up and keep following up so you build an impressive network and online business. Source: https://www.forbes.com Image Credit: Getty
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Networking is a tricky word — especially for women in business. For some, networking conjures up images of crowded rooms full of people in suits exchanging business cards. For others, it might feel like asking someone to do something for you, which can be uncomfortable for many women. The best thing to do when something that is necessary and critical to success is uncomfortable, is to reframe it. Networking is nothing more than building relationships with people who can help you and people who you can help. Problem solved, right? Women like to help others…but that asking for help from others part is not so cozy to many women. Why? Because we tend to be social and communicative, but we don’t feel comfortable with defining what comes naturally to us. The solution? Build the relationships before you need to ask for help. By the time you need to make the ask, you have already established trust, reliability and familiarity — all the things needed to ask and receive. When it comes to funding startups and small businesses, why does it seem that the guys play a simple round of golf and come home with a check? Yet, a lot of female founders get turned away by early-stage funders. If you look at the stats, it appears this scenario does play out around the country. For instance, in Small Business Association (SBA) lending, 72 percent of loans go to men, and men in general receive more dollars per loan than women. However, what I believe is happening is that all the relationship building has been going on for our male counterparts for quite a while. When the need arises for help funding that new or growing venture and the ask is made, the relationship originated months or even years ago. Men play golf (or paddle, or tennis, or bowling or 5Ks) frequently. So, when around the nineteenth hole someone asks for a mere half a million dollars or so, the heavy lifting has already been done. And the person being asked already knows they can trust the person making the request. They know a bit about the business venture and know they will be paid back either by loan repayment or through an equity event. The person requesting the funding has already proven they can be an asset to the person investing or doing the lending. They'll do it through making connections or helping support the funder’s business in some other way. Women can do this give-and-take relationship building in our sleep. But as soon as the word networking enters the conversation, our internal radar starts blinking the warning lights. But talk to us about our relationships, and we can dive wholeheartedly into that conversation. So, what is the difference? Nothing really, except the words themselves. Think of people who are not close friends or family with whom you have a relationship. Hair stylists, children’s friends’ parents, schoolteachers, high school friends you notice on social media having successful careers, etc. You think of these as relationships — distant maybe, but relationships, nonetheless. Now, think about asking any of these people to make a referral for you. For instance, what banker did you use when you set up your salon? Once you build your confidence to ask these types of questions, then one thing leads to another and you are meeting with a banker. Once they get to know you and understand your business needs, they will be inclined to help you. And, to be sure that you are ready for funding when you need it. Getting your business noticed early on by people who are connected to the money you may need is what networking is all about. But it isn’t always all about the money. You will need other things to make your business grow. Real estate in an up-and-coming part of town, talent to build out your team, legal support, a great CPA and so on. Networking (aka relationship building) will put you in the position to ask the right people for what you need. Put the shoe on the other foot; a college friend opens a business in your community and reaches out on social media to say, your business looks so fascinating! I just started a business also. Would you have time to get coffee and share your experiences with me? Of course, you’d say yes, and a networking connection has been established. This won’t feel like a preconceived impression of networking. The more you do it, the more it feels like a natural cycle of you help me, I am happy to help you, also. So, reframe this uncomfortable networking thing, get out there and build relationships. When you are the new success story in town, believe me, everyone will want to network with you! Source: Entrepreneur.com Image Credit: Photo by Christina Morillo from Pexels.com
Here's why companies are hiring blog writing services from third parties to craft and frame blogs for their website. It is extremely important to maintain a certain level of expertise in anything you do, and as far as marketing and business is concerned, you must possess immense expertise and experience in your field to even stand a chance in front of competitors. This article is a guide to one such aspect in business — blog writing, and how it is extremely important to always have an expert work on the project. The essence of a blog is very important for a company as it is the narrative of the product and serves as a testament of the quality and reliability of the brand. Blog posts are one of the major elements within the content writing domain, and every company catering to the B2C market releases blog posts on their website at one point or another. The articles serve as an information guide at times and as a medium through which they can target a far more customized and efficient buying experience. Considering that the customers reading the blog have already established a bond with the product, it is essential that the same is maintained through the language, phrases and the content in the blog. Owing to this element, it has turned out that recently, companies are hiring blog writing services from third parties to craft and frame blogs for their website. They have begun to value a soothing consumer experience as it helps in maintaining the brand loyalty that has been created through the successful SEO strategies. In that context, there are various reasons which beg the question, "Why should a company outsource blog writing?" This article intends to provide the answer to that. However, before we begin, we must address the fact that writing itself is an art, and it requires extreme precision and dexterity as it is the medium through which an audience is captured. Once established, we can address the phenomenon ahead. Below are four benefits of outsourcing blog writing. 1. Expert writers As already stated earlier, a blog contains essential information on the product of service that the company provides. Be it the description of their products, the uses and utility of their product, the process in which the product is made, its main components or the essential issue or problem that this product is resolving. Now to address these points, the content written must be top-notch and free from error on phraseology and grammar. Now, it is not convenient to hire content writers solely for this purpose on a full-time basis, so outsourcing writers from various third-party agencies is essential in some cases. The prerequisites are then managed by that team of experienced writers who contribute to the customized and industry-catered content. 2. It reduces business costs Outsourcing trims down the fixed costs of having an in-house writing team and services, as the practice of outsourcing writers costs far less. By hiring a full-time writer, the company will have to provide for a fixed remuneration each month and dedicate an office space for the team to work. Ahead of this, there are several other contingencies of hiring a full-time employee. On the other hand, having an outsourced team not only appeals to a one-time cost for service, but it also involves fewer responsibilities for the company. 3. Multiple skills at disposal Although having blog posts is the primary concern of an employer, it is important to emphasize that through a contractor, there is a plethora of skills at the disposal of the client. It is not just blog posts but also content design, animation, content curation, research and SEO optimization. All this comes within the package of the contractor, and each of these can turn out to be extremely essential for the employer. 4. Boosts flexibility Outsourcing can always be an extensively flexible option for business for the reasons stated earlier. Since the client would not be responsible for the welfare of the writer and the team concerned, but the contractor instead, there is no additional cost involved, so the client can employ the services when they need them, or else not incur the cost at all. Besides, bringing in fresh methods of operation and improvements also presents an opportunity to break the waterfall structure of the client's company. These points successfully establish the essence of outsourcing blog writers. They will bring the business a flair that is necessary for blogs and a narrative style that will keep the reader or user engaged. Additionally, a professional writer always has the sense of how much to write so that the engaging element is maintained. They weave a far more immersive experience through the words that may seem simple but are actually a complex assembly of words carefully structured to make sure that the brand loyalty and brand credibility never breaks. Blogs have turned out to be an important means of communication between a business and its customers, helping to maintain that healthy relationship, and businesses must make sure that the lines of communication are free from error. There are a few drawbacks to this practice of outsourcing blog writing services, such as privacy, quality and the risk of causing a hindrance in the smooth functioning of the company. Therefore, you must do thorough research on the contractor before hiring the services. The promise of quality is made by many, but few are strong on their words. However, it is always a wise decision to hire a blog writer, keeping these red flags in mind. In essence, the streamlined content that reaches the customers will always have that binding element to it that makes the customer feel that they are part of a cause, an emotion or a movement. Source: Entrepreneur.com Image credit: Image from Pixabay.com
From raises to teamwork to hiring and firing, having a sports team mentality helps put running a business in perspective. Here's why. The world of entrepreneurship can be a lonely place. It's easy to get lost in the weeds of running a business, especially when so many other things need to be done every day. But if you want to grow your business into something great, you must ensure that you're doing everything necessary to build a solid foundation for success. One of the most critical factors in building a solid foundation is running your business as though it were a sports franchise. There can never be a successful sport without a strong team behind it. And just like a professional athlete has to train hard and eat right to stay at their peak level of performance, entrepreneurs have to do the same thing to succeed. Running a business isn't about being lucky or having good ideas: It's all about putting in the work and making wise decisions. If you want to create a thriving company, you have to put in the time and effort to ensure that you're always moving forward. What first crosses your mind when thinking of a successful sports franchise like Chicago Bulls? Is it Michael Jordan? Or maybe Scottie Pippen? They both had exceptional skills and talent, but Phil Jackson led them into six NBA championships. He was the coach who built the winning culture and helped them become a dynasty. Here are three reasons you should treat your business like a sports franchise and what we can learn from coaches, with tips on how to do it, too: Teamwork is key to success In sports, teamwork is the key to success. When everyone works together towards a common goal, nothing is impossible. Teams that can come together and find ways to support each other usually win more games and often championships. If you want to build a successful business, you must learn to embrace the idea of working together as a team. That means you need to hire people that buy into the vision of the team and can help you achieve your goals. Having a vision, processes and the right team are the key ingredients for building a dynasty. Think of every great team that had a great sports run, that team bought into the vision of the franchise and became not only the team to beat but the team that all players wanted to join. . As an entrepreneur, every time your team runs a campaign, creates a slogan or concept, you are taking the field. On the field, on the court, or in a stadium your team must operate as a unit for the win. Everyone has a role to play Like a sports team, no single person can take over another's role. Instead, everyone needs to play their part and contribute to the team's overall success. That's true even if you're the CEO of a company. As long as you delegate tasks appropriately, you'll be able to accomplish much more than if you try to do everything yourself. For instance, let's say you're an entrepreneur who wants to start a new business. You might not know everything about marketing, sales or customer service. However, you still have to figure out those roles and assign them to qualified members of your team. Think of this as breaking from a team huddle and assigning a role to each team member to execute the play. As an entrepreneur, you can focus on the vision for the brand while the best team members play their position and handle the day-to-day operations. Do the best players always win? The answer is no, the best players don't always win. The most prepared players have the best chance of winning. The best players learn from their losses and create a pathway to a better season. To equate losses and wins with business, when you have a bad month or quarter, you make adjustments. You pivot your position and become more aware. You learn when to sub in players (team members) and rotate positions. For instance, look at Michael Jordan. No one talks about the over 9,000 shots he missed and 300+ games he lost — all we see is his greatness and the number of titles he won. We see his highlights on the basketball court but not highlights from practice, dedication and studying of the playbook. Michael Jordan was a prepared player, in addition to his tremendous skills he demanded the best from himself and the franchise. Similarly, the best entrepreneurs don't just succeed because they're lucky; they're the ones who consistently execute great strategies, continuously learn, and continue to improve every year. If you want to grow your business, you need to work hard and stay focused. In sports, the best coaches and players continue to watch films and become students of their sport. Now that you understand the benefits of treating your business like a sports team, here are the steps you need to take to make sure you get there:
You'll soon see the results as long as you follow the above rules and tips. Once you do, there will be no going back. Now take your team and win a championship. Source: https://www.entrepreneur.com/ Image credit: Image from Pixabay.com
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