In most pyramids, the top gets the attention, but the foundation is most important. In marketing, the base of the pyramid is INTENTION. Intention comes with design thinking.<ul><li>Who is it for/what is it for?</li><li>Have you identified the smallest viable audience and built a product that works wonderfully for this audience?</li><li>Your story is linked with your intention. A story works when it becomes your audience's story.</li></ul>

The base of the pyramid

The parts of the pyramid:<ul><li>Intention is the base of the pyramid and the most important.</li><li>Retention comes next. Existing customers are worth more than new ones.</li><li>Remarkability. The conversations that happen because of your work. People will only talk about your work because they believe it will help their goals.</li><li>Permission. The privilege of delivering personal and relevant messages to the people who want them. This is a future asset.</li><li>Tactics, words, and images. What is your narrative that engages with people? Where is their status? What sort of affiliation do they desire?</li></ul>

Modern marketing pyramid

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The pyramid of modern marketing

This strategy helps to persuade. Use a list of three to convey the main point, such as three words or complex phrases sorted by bullet points: Ways to use this sales technique:<ul><li>Identify three pain points of your prospect.</li><li>List three end-picture benefits of your product.</li><li>Mention three of your top customers.</li></ul> Why it works:People like patterns. Three is a quick pattern any person can find. Anything over three causes scepticism from your prospect.

The 1-2-3 Close

This sales technique takes the skill of storytelling and applies it to a journey similar to yours to show that their challenges are solvable. How to use this technique:<ul><li>Identify your prospect's job title, responsibilities, and industry.</li><li>Consider a customer contact or account similar to the situation.</li><li>Find one pain point the customer had that your prospect can relate to.</li><li>Tell the story in a way that lays out the problem and then the solution.</li></ul> Why it works:Research shows that when our characteristics are similar to a character in a story, we identify with the character, which drives persuasion.

The Similarity Close

Instead of stating what your company can do, show your prospects that your product works for others. Ways to use this technique:<ul><li>Link out to a written or video customer testimonial for your prospect to view.</li><li>Include a customer quote with their company name and job title.</li><li>Tell a story about a customer using the BAB or PAS cold email formulas.</li></ul> Why it works:Research showed that third-party reviews of a product are 12 times more trusted than a company's product descriptions.

The Testimonial Close

Instead of focusing solely on facts and figures, consider thinking about feelings.Applications for this sales technique:<ul><li>Send your congratulations for recent personal or company accomplishments.</li><li>Let them know you're thinking of them by passing along articles they would enjoy.</li><li>Find a commonality, such as having the same birthday, initials, or alma mater.</li></ul>Why it works:People are driven by emotion. A study showed that 95% of our purchase decisions take place unconsciously.

The Emotion Close

Humour breaks out from the stale selling techniques by showing you have a sense of wit.How to use humour in action:<ul><li>Use a funny gif in your email.</li><li>Do research on a social media account to find your prospects unique interest and reference it in a funny way.</li><li>Use self-deprecating humour to show your awareness.</li></ul>Why it works:Funny people are likeable. Humour puts people into a relaxed mood.

The humor close

Either this or that. A simplified process can lessen overwhelming decisions.How to use this sales technique:<ul><li>List two times you could schedule a call.</li><li>Offer a free trial or schedule a demo.</li><li>Ask if you should reach out later or let it be.</li></ul>Why it works:A study suggests that limiting options can lead to more creativity. With fewer options, we can expand our thought processes.

The Alternative Close

It can feel very persuasive when someone shows that they understand your point of view. Ways to use this sales technique:<ul><li>Suggest ways to solve their problems by researching articles they have shared.</li><li>If your competitor has problems, reach out to your prospects to help ease their situation.</li></ul>Why it works:A Harvard Business School report that empathy increases sales persuasion when you show a prospect the use in what you're selling. By going beyond to solve their problems, you'll earn their respect.

The Empathy Close

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Different sales techniques will resonate with various audiences. Trying different techniques can help to see what resonates with your audience.

Sales techniques for email that practice the power of persuasion, backed by science. Includes examples and how-to suggestions.

7 Sales Techniques With Proven Success

Prospects, or potential customers, are the fuel for the sales pipeline. Every prospect represents a possible sale, making it important to grow your base of prospects.
Prospecting is used to expand the size of the potential customer base. Sales reps will reach out to leads and nurture them into opportunities, using techniques such as making calls, direct mail, networking events, and connecting on social platforms.

Sales prospecting

<h4>The sales process moves from cold leads → to warm opportunities → to hot deals. Prospecting is what happens in-between.</h4>
<ul>
<li>Sales and marketing source leads. Leads are unqualified prospects and come from marketing or sales.</li>
<li>Sales qualify leads into prospects. Sales get to know leads and decide if they're a good fit (qualified) to become a prospect.</li>
<li>Sales nurture prospects into opportunities. Sales make prospects more interested in the sale, turning them into "opportunities."</li>
<li>Sales close opportunities into deals.</li>
</ul>

The stages of the sale prospecting process

<ol><li>Follow the prospect before you connect with them.</li><li>Find them in groups. Join and engage in groups where your prospect is active.</li><li>Hype them up. Follow the prospect's activity and help to up engagement.</li></ol>

How to find new sales prospects

We need to study prospects and be relevant when we reach out to them.
Steps to find an authentic common ground that gives traction to the relationship:
<ul>
<li>Lean on customer relationship management (CRM). CRM technology helps to keep all your interactions with your prospects at your fingertips - the email you sent, notes from all your meetings, the pitch deck.</li>
<li>Research your way into their world. If it's a publicly-traded company, read their investor reports.</li>
<li>Find the channel that sticks. If the prospect doesn't answer the phone, try to connect on LinkedIn. Be as relevant as you can.</li>
</ul>

How to approach a new sales prospect

Questions to help you qualify a prospect:
Is this the right person?
<ul>
<li>Does the prospect match your ideal customer profile?</li>
<li>Are they interested in your product?</li>
<li>Can they influence the deal or even decide to purchase?</li>
</ul>
Is this the right company?
<ul>
<li>Is it in your territory?</li>
<li>Is the industry a good fit?</li>
<li>What’s the size of their organisation? </li>
</ul>
Is this the right project?
<ul>
<li>Is the department funded to pay your price?</li>
<li>Will the project be a priority for the company?</li>
<li>Will the team be using the product for the right use case that will create an impact?</li>
</ul>

How to qualify a sales prospect

You won't get far with prospects by repeating the same general information on your company's website. To go deep with them, you'll need to learn their accent and become knowledgeable about their lives at work. Learn about specific industry trends, their companies and their lives.

Moving sales prospects to the next stage in the sales cycle

It's not about closing the deal but about closing every step of the deal. <ul><li>Obsess over the next step. End the conversation with a question. "Can we connect for five minutes after you've taken a look?"</li><li>Advance but qualify. Prospecting is about moving forward. Don't over-focus on a deal that won't be worth it. Ask at every stage if the prospect is still a fit.</li><li>Selling is a team sport. You won't have all the answers and need to lean on those who give you the information you need.</li></ul>

Keep the conversation moving

Grow your customer base by finding and nurturing new prospects with our sales prospecting guide.

How to Do Sales Prospecting the Right Way

Marketing is not a random exercise. Rather, marketing is effective when it is done with intent and planning. Start marketing by answering this question: What is your marketing for? All marketers make change happen. It can be trivial: marketers change non-customers into customers, but it is often much more profound. We help customers become the person they want to be. For example, Harley Davidson turns a specific group of people from disrespected outsiders into beloved insiders.

The purpose of marketing

Marketing is the act of going into the world with the intention to make a change happen. This means you're responsible. You're making the change and bringing it forward. That makes you responsible for the effects and side effects of what you do.

Marketers are responsible

Marketing gives you the leverage and the tools to make a change happen. Marketers can get under people's skin. They tell a story that spreads. They make stuff that people want to engage with. What do you want to change? From what state to what state, from what belief to what belief, from what status to what status?

Finding your true north

“Marketing is the generous act of helping someone solve a problem. Their problem. Marketing helps others become who they seek to become”. Seth makes a distinction between bad marketing and good marketing. My Favourite Software, Books, & Tools: ➤ HubSpot: https://bit.ly/3BvXqcd ➤ SEMrush: https://bit.ly/3y0xFP7 ➤ AppSumo: https://bit.ly/3eQ6O0r ➤ Bluehost: https://bit.ly/3xN36Ml ➤ Supermetrics: https://bit.ly/3gYYivH ➤ Fiverr: https://bit.ly/3hL1mxJ ➤ proprep: https://bit.ly/3B8EGiJ ➤ Get the Principle of Marketing book by Kotler: https://amzn.to/3z6iWCp ➤Try Amazon Prime Student FREE: https://amzn.to/3jv7rOp ➤Create a Free Amazon Business Account: https://amzn.to/3CAS6EW #sethgodin #marketingplan #marketing PS: Some of the links in this description are affiliate links. Affiliate commissions help fund videos like this one.

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A business plan is a guide that helps you outline and achieve your goals. It’s also a management tool that allows you to analyze results, make strategic decisions, and showcase how your business will operate, and grow.

The business plan

<ul><li>Without a business plan as a baseline, it will be far more difficult to track your progress, make adjustments, and have historical information readily available to reference when making difficult decisions. </li><li>Investors and loan providers need to know that you have a solid understanding of the trajectory of your business. You need to prove that there is an attainable and sustainable need for your solution, that you have a strong business strategy, and that your business can be financially stable. </li><li>By having a written business plan that you’re regularly reviewing, you can make confident decisions.</li></ul>

Why write a business plan?

<ul><li>Keep it short. Business plans should be short and concise. You want your business plan to be read. </li><li>Accommodate your investors, and keep explanations of your product simple and direct.</li><li>Test your business idea. Working through your business plan, and starting with a one-page pitch, can help you test the viability of your business idea long before launching.</li><li>Establish goals and objectives. You should know what you want to get out of your business upfront. </li><li>Don’t be intimidated. Did you know that the vast majority of business owners and entrepreneurs aren’t business experts? </li></ul>

5 tips to write a great business plan quickly and easily

<ul><li>Executive summary: An overview of your business and your plans. </li><li>Opportunity: What are you actually selling and how are you solving a problem (or “need”) for your market? </li><li>Execution: How are you going to take your opportunity and turn it into a business? </li><li>Company and management summary: Investors look for great teams in addition to great ideas. </li><li>Financial plan: Your business plan isn’t complete without a financial forecast. </li><li>Appendix: If you need more space for product images or additional information, use the appendix for those details. </li></ul>

Key components of a business plan

The executive summary of your business plan introduces your company, explains what you do, and lays out what you’re looking for from your readers. Structurally, it is the first chapter of your business plan. And while it’s the first thing that people will read, consider writing it last, because once you know the details of your business inside and out, you will be better prepared to write your executive summary. Ideally, the executive summary can act as a stand-alone document that covers the highlights of your detailed plan.

Executive summary

<ul><li>What are your business objectives?</li><li>What is your target market and how will you position yourself?</li><li>Who are the key players on your team?</li><li>What are your expectations for growth and how will you achieve it?</li><li>What are your funding requirements? </li></ul>

Key questions to answer with your executive summary

A good business plan will identify the target market segments and then provide some data to indicate how fast each segment is growing. When identifying target markets, a classic method is to use the TAM, SAM, and SOM breakdown:<ul><li>TAM: Your Total Available or Addressable Market (everyone you wish to reach with your product)</li><li>SAM: Your Segmented Addressable Market or Served Available Market (the portion of TAM you will target)</li><li>SOM: Your Share Of the Market (the subset of your SAM that you will realistically reach—particularly in the first few years of your business).</li></ul>

TAM, SAM, and SOM

Most business plans include market research and compare their features against their competition using a SWOT analysis. The most important thing to illustrate in this section of your business plan is how your solution is different or better than other offerings that a potential customer might consider. Investors will want to know what advantages you have over the competition and how you plan on differentiating yourself.One of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make in their business plans is stating that they don’t have any competition.

Competition

The opportunity section of your business plan should provide enough information and data to prove that there is a need for your business and that you understand how to position yourself in a given market. To help you develop this section, try to answer these questions:<ul><li>Who is my typical customer? Who is my ideal customer? How will I target them?</li><li>What pain points do my customers have? How do they currently alleviate that pain point?</li><li>How does my solution solve their problem? </li><li>Who are my competitors? How does my solution differ from competitors?</li></ul>

Key questions to answer with your opportunity analysis

The marketing and sales plan section of your business plan details how you plan to reach your target market segments (also called target marketing), how you plan on selling to those target markets, what your pricing plan is, and what types of activities and partnerships you need to make your business a success.Before you even think about writing your marketing plan, you must have your target market well-defined and have your buyer persona(s) fleshed out. Without truly understanding who you are marketing to, a marketing plan will have little value.

Marketing and sales plan

A business plan is only a document on paper without a real path to get the work done, complete with a schedule, defined roles, and key responsibilities. Investors will want to see that you understand what needs to happen to make your plans a reality and that you are working on a realistic schedule. Start with a quick review of your milestones. Milestones are planned major goals.

Milestones and metrics

This section covers the functionality of your business. To help you develop this section, try to answer these questions:<ul><li>What marketing and operational channels are best for my business?</li><li>How will my pricing strategy differ from competitors?</li><li>What technology or services will you need to invest in?</li><li>What will my branding look like? What elements do I need to create?</li><li>What metrics do I need to track? What does success look like?</li><li>What milestones do I need to hit? What steps are necessary to reach them?</li></ul>

Key questions to answer with your execution

The company overview will most likely be the shortest section of your business plan. For a plan that you will share with people outside of your company, this section should include:<ul><li>Mission statement</li><li>Intellectual property</li><li>A review of your company’s legal structure and ownership</li><li>The business location</li><li>A brief history of the company if it’s an existing company.</li></ul>

Company overview

The company overview is meant to help you identify how you will operate, as well as what positions, departments, or other structures you need to implement. To help you develop this section, try to answer these questions:<ul><li>Who makes up my current team? What roles need to be filled?</li><li>What is my core mission? How does it affect business operations?</li><li>Do I need a physical location? Where should it be located?</li><li>What is my company structure? How will that change over time?</li></ul>

Key questions to answer with your company overview

Your financial plan is meant to help you understand what your expenses are, what it will take to be profitable, how much cash you need to keep on hand, and what you will be doing with any funding. You don’t need to have actual financial data at this point.To help you develop this section, try to answer these questions:<ul><li>What are your sales expectations for the next year?</li><li>What expenses are necessary to operate?</li><li>When will you become cash flow positive?</li><li>How much cash do you need upfront to fund growth?</li><li>How will you use the loans or investments? What funding is necessary for specific endeavors?</li></ul>

Financial plan

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Without these elements—a full understanding of a problem, new connections, and a vision or direction for a solution—there is no entrepreneurial venture. Whether the problem you’ve identified is global or local, broad or niche, your ability to spot it and conceive new solutions is a core element of entrepreneurship. And passion about the problem you are solving might not be as important as you think.To launch a successful venture, you must also make other people see the merits of your idea and invest in it—whether they are employees, customers, or funders.

Is starting a business right for you?

A business opportunity is primarily a product or service that creates significant value for customers and offers significant profit potential to the entrepreneur. A business opportunity:<ul><li>Solves a real problem for customers</li><li>Offers significant risk-adjusted profit potential</li><li>Fits well with the capabilities of the leadership team</li><li>Is potentially profitable over a reasonable time span</li><li> Is amenable to financing. </li></ul>Evaluate promising opportunities by considering the market, the current and anticipated level of competition, the underlying economics, and the resources you’ll need to be successful

Identifying a problem to solve

A business model describes how an enterprise proposes to make money. A well-conceived and promising business model is only half the equation for success because it doesn’t take into account the market competition. Dealing with competition is the job of strategy. Strategy is a plan to differentiate the enterprise and give it a competitive advantage. A successful business has both a solid business model and a good strategy.

Defining your business model and strategy 

The 5 steps of strategy formulation are:<ul><li>Looking outside the enterprise for threats and opportunities</li><li>Looking inside at resources, capabilities, and practices</li><li>Considering strategies for addressing threats and opportunities</li><li>Building a good fit among strategy supporting activities</li><li>Creating alignment between the organization’s people and activities and its strategy.</li></ul>

Defining your strategy

At the onset of your new venture, you will need to address the legal form your enterprise will adopt. Should it be a sole proprietorship, a partnership, a corporation, or a limited liability company? This decision is driven mainly by your objectives and those of your investors. Taxation and legal liabilities also play a part. The trade-offs built into the law can make the choice difficult; to get the most favorable tax treatment, a business must often give up some protection from liability, some flexibility, or both.

Organizing your company

A business plan is a document that explains a business opportunity, identifies the market to be served, and provides details about how the entrepreneurial organization plans to pursue it. To be effective, a good plan also describes the unique qualifications that you and your management team bring to the effort. It explains the resources you’ll need and forecasts financial results over a reasonable time horizon.Any business that seeks outside funding from banks, angel investors, venture capitalists, must have a solid business plan. Without it, creditors and investors won’t take you seriously.

<ul><li>The executive summary should explain the opportunity, why it is timely, and how your company plans to pursue it. It should also describe your expected results and provide a thumbnail sketch of the company and the management team. </li><li>The business plan should state the company’s goals and explain how investors will eventually cash out. </li><li>Use as few words as necessary to get your points across. Avoid long, complex sentences whenever possible.</li><li> Make your document easy to skim by using simple data visualizations, headings, subheads, white space, and numbered and bulleted lists to break up blocks of text.</li></ul>

Writing your  business plan

<ul><li>Startup-phase financing is initially bootstrapped from personal savings, credit cards, and other personal sources of income, followed by friends and family and, in some cases, by small bank loans. </li><li>Trade credit from suppliers is another low-cost source of financing. </li><li>Other early sources of financing include online banks, accelerators, and crowdfunding.</li></ul>

Startup-phase financing

During the growth stage, your business expands its sales and develops a growing base of customers. As a result, you’ll need more capital—for expanding your operation, hiring and training new employees, etc.Your company may already be generating some positive cash flows that can help finance these initiatives, but you’ll probably need more cash if your growth is strong. Having now proven your business’s credibility, though, you can generally tap external capital more easily than you could in the startup phase. For slow- to moderate-growth firms, much of that capital comes from bank debt.

Growth-stage financing

<ul><li>The most likely source of outside venture funding comes from so-called angel investors. Angels are high-net-worth individuals who provide early-stage capital to startup businesses. Networking is often the best way to connect with angels. </li><li> Venture capital comes from an individual or a firm that seeks large capital gains through early-stage equity or equity-linked financing of high potential entrepreneurial enterprises. Entrepreneurs should not waste their time pursuing venture capital unless they have all the characteristics VCs look for.</li></ul>

Angel investment and venture
capital

Growing firms with exceptional revenue potential have another option to achieve a significant cash infusion: they can seek financing through an IPO. This process presents ownership shares to the world of individual investors and institutional investors such as pension funds and mutual funds and results in a significant exchange of paper ownership shares for the hard cash the company needs for stability and expansion. An IPO marks a major milestone in the life of a company. It signals that your enterprise has earned the confidence of people outside its inner circle of participants.

Going public

<ul><li>Growth forces companies through transitions. Continued growth is usually a function of a sustainable strategy, the ability to expand into other markets, and mechanisms for scaling up the volume of output. </li><li>Companies have several mechanisms for sustaining growth. They include (1) exploiting the learning curve to maintain a cost advantage, (2) not pricing for maximum profit (high profits attract competitors), and (3) continually refreshing the offer to customers.</li><li>To scale up, businesses often have to change their guidelines around processes like hiring to make themselves more nimble. </li></ul>

Sustaining entrepreneurial growth

Possible approaches to leading a startup faced with rapid growth: <ul><li>Managing content: The most direct approach to getting things done is to do them yourself or to directly supervise those who do. </li><li>Managing behaviors: you specify how people should behave; you identify the behaviors that lead to success and codify them as rules that employees are told to follow.</li><li>Managing results:  providing the resources, the training, and the motivation that people need to produce results.</li><li>Managing context:  you approach results more broadly by shaping the culture, values, and structure of the organization.</li></ul>

Leadership for a growing business

Entrepreneurial leaders can keep the spirit alive if they:
<ul>
<li>Preserve an innovation-friendly culture</li>
<li>Establish a strategic direction</li>
<li>Remain personally involved with innovation</li>
<li>Continually improve the idea to-commercialization process</li>
<li>Apply portfolio thinking to their innovative efforts</li>
<li>Hire people with entrepreneurial attitudes</li>
<li>Create an ambidextrous organization that is effective at both getting today’s work done (operations) and anticipating the future.</li>
</ul>

Keeping the entrepreneurial spirit alive

There are probably as many reasons for harvesting an investment as there are entrepreneurs. Retirement is one reason. An offer “too good to refuse” is yet another. Common reasons:<ul><li>A need to diversify wealth: Successful entrepreneurs can easily get into a position in which most of their wealth is dangerously concentrated in one basket. </li><li>The business has reached the end of its line: Some successful entrepreneurs sense where the wind is blowing, and sometimes they sense an ill wind. </li><li>The owner’s urge to begin anew: Some entrepreneurs are motivated by the challenge of creating something from zero. </li></ul>

Why entrepreneurs cash out

The one primer you need to develop your entrepreneurial skills. Whether you're imagining your new business to be the next big thing in Silicon Valley, a pivotal B2B provider, or an anchor in your local community, the HBR Entrepreneur's Handbook is your essential resource for getting your company off the ground. Starting an independent new business is rife with both opportunity and risk. And as an entrepreneur, you're the one in charge: your actions can make or break your business. You need to know the tried-and-true fundamentals--from writing a business plan to getting your first loan. You also need to know the latest thinking on how to create an irresistible pitch deck, mitigate risk through experimentation, and develop unique opportunities through business model innovation. The HBR Entrepreneur's Handbook addresses these challenges and more with practical advice and wisdom from Harvard Business Review's archive. Keep this comprehensive guide with you throughout your startup's life--and increase your business's odds for success. In the HBR Entrepreneur's Handbook you'll find: Step-by-step guidance through the entrepreneurial process Concise explanations of the latest research and thinking on entrepreneurship from Harvard Business Review contributors such as Marc Andreessen and Reid Hoffman Time-honed best practices Stories of real companies, from Airbnb to eBay You'll learn: Which skills and characteristics make for the best entrepreneurs How to gauge potential opportunities The basics of business models and competitive strategy How to test your assumptions--before you build a whole business How to select the right legal structure for your company How to navigate funding options, from venture capital and angel investors to accelerators and crowdfunding How to develop sales and marketing programs for your venture What entrepreneurial leaders must do to build culture and set direction as the business keeps growing HBR Handbooks provide ambitious professionals with the frameworks, advice, and tools they need to excel in their careers. With step-by-step guidance, time-honed best practices, real-life stories, and concise explanations of research published in Harvard Business Review, each comprehensive volume helps you to stand out from the pack--whatever your role.

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startup

Startups

The one primer you need to develop your entrepreneurial skills.Whether you're imagining your new business to be the next big thing in Silicon Valley, a pivotal B2B provider, or an anchor in your local community, the HBR Entrepreneur's Handbook is your essential resource for getting your company off the ground.Starting an independent new business is rife with both opportunity and risk. And as an entrepreneur, you're the one in charge: your actions can make or break your business. You need to know the tried-and-true fundamentals--from writing a business plan to getting your first loan. You also need to know the latest thinking on how to create an irresistible pitch deck, mitigate risk through experimentation, and develop unique opportunities through business model innovation.The HBR Entrepreneur's Handbook addresses these challenges and more with practical advice and wisdom from Harvard Business Review's archive. Keep this comprehensive guide with you throughout your startup's life--and increase your business's odds for success.In the HBR Entrepreneur's Handbook you'll find:<ul><li>Step-by-step guidance through the entrepreneurial process<li>Concise explanations of the latest research and thinking on entrepreneurship from Harvard Business Review contributors such as Marc Andreessen and Reid Hoffman<li>Time-honed best practices<li>Stories of real companies, from Airbnb to eBay</ul>You'll learn:<ul><li>Which skills and characteristics make for the best entrepreneurs<li>How to gauge potential opportunities<li>The basics of business models and competitive strategy<li>How to test your assumptions--before you build a whole business<li>How to select the right legal structure for your company<li>How to navigate funding options, from venture capital and angel investors to accelerators and crowdfunding<li>How to develop sales and marketing programs for your venture<li>What entrepreneurial leaders must do to build culture and set direction as the business keeps growing</ul>HBR Handbooks provide ambitious professionals with the frameworks, advice, and tools they need to excel in their careers. With step-by-step guidance, time-honed best practices, real-life stories, and concise explanations of research published in Harvard Business Review, each comprehensive volume helps you to stand out from the pack--whatever your role.

Harvard Business Review is an accomplished writer whose work has resonated with readers around the world. Harvard Business Review has published several books that explore a range of topics, from fiction to nonfiction, and has received critical acclaim for the ability to weave compelling narratives. Harvard Business Review's writing style is known for its depth and authenticity, and has earned quite a loyal following of readers.

Harvard Business Review

Harvard Business Review Entrepreneur's Handbook

The Harvard Business Review Entrepreneur's Handbook

Throughout 2020 right into 2022 the world saw an abrupt pause on everything that made sense to businesses.The traditional way of doing business was questioned. Digitalization was a new way to do business but no one thought it will be rushed so coon due to a pandemic. Businesses came to a halt and systems shook. Industries even came crashing because the very foundation of their business required people to move from one place to the other.

4 business lessons to adapt in 2022

Companies must adapt to new changes regularly or face business death. this concept can be coined from Darwin’s theory of evolution.We are currently facing such times. and Businesses are faced with one decision to make, Adapt or Die. What does it mean to digitalize your business? It means, moving your customer experience and business process to a more digitized space. allowing for seamless business transactions at the touch of a button.

Digitalization is taking over the business world

Many complain that it is so hard to manage people when they work remotely. however, the key to solving this is to embrace remote work and understand what it takes to deliver results.Training that touches on intricate methodologies, and practical tools, helps teams work remotely without the constant micromanaging that traditional workplaces come with. Besides, workplaces are gearing more towards making employees more accountable by allowing them to work with an owners mindset, making them work with more ownership and less permission seeking.

 The Challenge with embracing remote work

Working offshore happens to be a reliable alternative, once a company gets a grip on managing efficiency from remote work.During the pandemic, Some global expansion strategies helped some companies limit risks. With distributed teams in offshoring locations, some companies have allocated resources and work toward the usual pursuit of business. However, this strategy might not work for every industry. For example, some clients who are based in other cities have opted to ditch physical offices and work remotely while receiving the necessary operational support within the shortest time.

Offshoring could be a reliable risk mitigator

One lesson many outcomes. Many businesses that do not adapt are prone to die. Not because they do not want to change, but operationally, they cannot navigate their way towards the necessary change they need to move to the next level.In the end, businesses that come out strong will be those that stand the test of time. Be flexible, adapt to change, be open to options, see this as an opportunity to rise in the shadows, because truly, after the dust settles, where would your business be? Amongst those standing of strong foundations or will be crumbled to dust.

Be flexible to change

remotework

Remote Work

What businesses should take into 2022

You have to do things other people aren’t going to do. You have to be more than different, because different got you in the door but you have to remain thoughtful. It's the random unexpected acts of kindness, no matter how big or small, that will help you be not only remembered but also talked about and shared.Be curious about people. Show that you're excited to see them and that you care about their needs and interests and details of their lives. They'll notice and they'll love it.

How To Be Someone's Favorite

You don't need to change the entire world to build a successful business; you just need to change someone's world

People don't become superfans the moment they find you. They become superfans because of the magical moments you create for them over time.

Send small, short , unexpected personalised messages. You could send an email, or a direct message on twitter or Instagram. But if you really want to bring out someone’s super fan send a video message. By sending a video you’re making it personal and more likely a person is to <ol><li>open than video </li><li>receive your message </li><li>feel the need to respond positively because you’ve done something unusual </li></ol>﻿

Send Unexpected Messages 

Disney implemented this simple strategy: Hire your fans. They’re the ones who know your brand, who love what you do and who will bring a special energy to their role that an outsider may not be able to capture. Whether it’s as a volunteer for a one time event or a long term paid role in the leadership of the company. If you bring someone on, make sure the relationship is fair and balanced. You don’t want to ask too much of them without giving back in return, so be mindful of their workload and what you’re demanding of them.

Get Them Involved 

It represents the total number of people who know about your brand. Creating superfans is all about executing strategies that will take a person from each stage to the next, from casual to active to connected to the top of the pyramid: superfan.

Pyramid Of Fandom

Go out of your way to provide your most dedicated fans with special access to events and experiences, it will not only forg a special connection to the brand, but also makes them fee compelled and excited to share the experience wide on social media. Sharing happens for 2 reasons <ol><li>because we love to tell stories </li><li>because it elevates our status </li></ol>People crave status almost as much as they crave money. Use this to your advantage by tapping into peoples innate desire to feel special. A good VIP experience is one in which you make sure you're not compromising the integrity of connected community.

Offer Platinum Access 

<ol><li>Search on Facebook or LinkedIn groups, type in keywords that you believe your target audience maybe using to find each other. </li><li>Ask people about their biggest challenge related to a specific topic: Post your question on social media or even in your email in the autoresponder series people receive after they subscribe to your list. </li><li> Find 10 people and ask them to spend 15 minutes with you talking about a problem to your area of expertise. When talking you can hear not only their words but emotion that comes along. Use this to connect with your audience authentically. </li></ol>

Learn The Language Of Your Audience

When speaking with your casual audience, Get comfortable sharing things about yourself and your life, perhaps outside of the realm of your niche but also more personal, in order to bring attention to the person behind the brand and foster meaningful connections with your audience.It's not about B to B or B to C. It's about P to P: person to person relationship.Share stuff about yourself that you'd share with your friends. You want people to get a sense of who you are as a person behind the brand. It's just about being more human.

Breaking The Ice 

When you're helping people to do something, give them a one-stop shop to get started with that thing and then build up with some small quick wins. For eg: let's say your business involves helping people podcast. You can deliver number of quick wins from that one page by packing it with resources and information about what gear to purchase how to find guests for the show and how to figure out what the first episode will be about.Finding all this great info will almost be a quick win for your readers one that will motivate them to continue, knowing that this so much content available.

Quick Wins : Pack Your Getting Started Page

There are two aspects to this strategy: Painting a picture of the future of what life will be like if they DO take action with you and what life will be like if they DON'T. To craft a picture of don't- start with identifying their problem and help them become more aware of it. But be careful to not prey on their fears. Use it wisely and compassionately. For the do- Show them examples of transformation. Do this using testimonials It's one thing to tell people what will happen if they follow you but another to prove that your stuff works by showing people who were just like them not too long ago

Use Time Travel To Take People From Casual To Active 

Every comment on your Facebook page or an email asking you a question is like a handshake offered. Don't leave anyone hanging, follow up with everyone especially in their first interaction with your brand. Humans want to give back to those who give to them and in many cases people just want to receive attention. Have systems and resources in place to respond to people and keep track of your interactions, so you can follow up later. Be the different brand that cares and you're going to stand out among the crowd like no other.

Return Every Handshake 

Humans have a fascination for how things work and opening up your factories to them:<ol><li>Helps them appreciate the quality and care behind the product</li><li>Makes them feel unquie and special</li><li>Connects your audience with the people behind the brand </li><li>It gives your audience something to share. </li></ol>It can be as simple as giving people a glimpse of where your work.Host GigsOpen up your brand and business to your audience. Ask them questions and give them a forum to share their answersGoing live is actually not scary as you think, people don't expect you to have everything nailed down.Tip: call out people's names.

Open The Factory Doors And Stage A Gig

The world has 3 types of people Mavens,connectors and salespersons. Mavens are engineers, creators and salespersons use persuasion to bring a change.If you're a connector you make change happen by connecting people,you're like a hub for others to network.If you want to build a community rich with engagement, then you have to tap into your inner connector. Natural connectors see value in every person yheu mee and like everyone for who they are. The beauty is that once you start to tap into that small piece of yourself and out into action.Then use this to bring people together.

Tap Into Your Inner Connector To Bring People Together

Every once in a while, highlight some of the amazing things community members are doing. While doing this it's always great to feature a range of different people from the audience. This way it's more likely that a person reading listening or watching will find someone just like them. When people see others like them succeding using ideas you teach, they're more likely to see themselves and their own potential in a similar light and they're going to want to stick around and engage.

Bring Them On Court and Pass The Ball

artsandculture

Society, Arts & Culture

Customers, followers, subscribers. It's easy to just look at the numbers. How many likes? How many purchases? How many email subscribers? But as entrepreneurs, we have to remember that there are people behind all that data. People who are looking to us to be a leader, to give advice, and to care. In this dog-eat-dog world, these are the people who are looking for someone who they can trust, and who they know have their best interests in mind. These are the people, if you connect with them in the right way, who will become Superfans. Followers may "like" an Instagram post. Customers may buy a product. But "Superfans" will be your biggest supporters. They will promote you and your products because they know you have made a difference in their lives. They will tell their friends. They will send you encouraging emails. Whether you're a shy YouTuber just starting out, or the leader of a Fortune 500 company, your superfans are out there waiting for you to connect with them. You don't need to change the entire world to build a successful business; you just need to change someone's world. People don't become superfans the moment they find you. They become superfans because of the magical moments you create for them over time.

Pat Flynn

Superfans

Stop complaining about what you don’t have.We only get one life. Who wants it to be mediocre, mundane and lazy? It is always better to work hard and to go after what we want in life, and not stay the way we are. But success in this sense requires a lot of discipline and hard work.

Stop complaining

If you truly want to accomplish anything in life and become the kind of person you admire, then you need to commit yourself to a disciplined program of actions that will help you get where you want to go. You don't just have the power to make vague declarations or have New Year's resolutions. That doesn't change things much.

No Vague New Year's Resolution

Some people feel like they're drowning in their own problems, dreams, wants and desires. They're deeply aggravated and upset about all the things they can't do because of their living situations and/or financial issues. This is to help you get a grip and start living 

It's easy to want something you don't have. It's harder to be grateful for what you do have and then find a way to get what you need.

Get a Grip 

Find 100+ Business Facts, Ideas & Insights - Curated from inspiring sources like Books, Podcasts & Articles - Genuine Insights from like-minded Users like You!

The pyramid of modern marketing

7 Sales Techniques With Proven Success

How to Do Sales Prospecting the Right Way

Seth Godin on Modern Marketing

How to Write a Business Plan

The Harvard Business Review Entrepreneur's Handbook

What businesses should take into 2022

Superfans

Get a Grip

Jeff Toister on a guaranteed customer experience

It's time to
Read like a Pro.

The pyramid of modern marketing

7 Sales Techniques With Proven Success

How to Do Sales Prospecting the Right Way

Seth Godin on Modern Marketing

How to Write a Business Plan

The Harvard Business Review Entrepreneur's Handbook

What businesses should take into 2022

Superfans

Get a Grip

Jeff Toister on a guaranteed customer experience

It's time to Read like a Pro.

It's time to
Read like a Pro.