Communication is Key for Small Business Owners

Simple Communication Tips for Your Small Business

Stacy sharing his ideas
at a Dani Johnson
Training Seminar

Many people say that communication is more of an art than it is a science. Although it may seem simple to exchange information with business partners or employees, communication is more about verbalizing our ideas while also knowing how to listen, influence, encourage, and have empathy. For some, these aspects of communication are not an automatic thing and knowing how to communicate effectively and clearly with your team is an important part of running a small business.

Use the “Magic” Words

As children we were taught to be respectful when we speak to others. Our parents always reminded us to say “please,” “thank you,” and “you’re welcome.” Just because we are older now and running a business does not mean that these words lose their power. Although we may think saying “thank you” to someone for doing their job is a trivial detail, it is important to remember that being respectful earns you respect and being polite with colleagues and employees will have a profound effect.

Listening is Important

When we think of communication, we often think of how we relay information to others and how they interpret that information. However, another important part of being an effective communicator is listening. It is important to truly take into consideration what other people have to say during an exchange of information. Asking for and listening to the opinions and ideas of others is a great way to see if you are right, they are right, or if both of you are wrong and new ideas need to be discussed.

Stay Positive

Communication can be both a positive or negative experience, but how the conversation ends is your choice. Communication includes both how we speak and what our body language is – even if you are speaking positive things, your body language can be a dead giveaway to how you are truly feeling. By staying positive in your mind, you are able to portray the same feelings with where you place your hands, your arms and what your facial expressions convey. Be conscious of what you say as well as how you say it and what your body language is communicating to the other person in the conversation.

Do Not Be Condescending

No one likes to be “talked down to,” especially when they are trying to communicate their ideas to someone else. Business owners who are arrogant or act superior to others are usually not favored by their employees, colleagues, or customers and will more than likely not be taken seriously. When a boss in condescending, everything will be repelled from them – co-workers, employees, customers, and possibly their business. Make sure to be conscious of how you speak to others and remain positive.

Communication can be simple or hard, effective or ineffective – the choice is up to you. Whether you are speaking with business partners, employees, or customers, it is important to remember these points in order to make sure the idea exchange is a positive and helpful one. Being respectful, listening well, staying positive in the conversation and not “talking down” to those around you is the most effective way to become a great communicator, which is a key aspect to running a healthy, happy business.

To communicate better with his customers and close deals better and more often, Stacy O'Quinn has used Dani Johnson training tools like the Dani Johnson script book. This has enabled him from being deep in debt to creating a very successful work at home business. Today, Stacy helps other entrepreneurs using Dani's techniques and techniques he has perfected over the years. If you would like to learn more about Stacy and find out how he can help you create your financial independence, click here.

In-Person Networking Tips to Improve Your Home or Small Business

The Benefits of Networking In-Person

Stacy Networking at a
Dani Johnson Seminar

With the strong emergence of the internet social media, both in our personal lives and our professional ones, it is no surprise that more and more business owners are relying on digital platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook to help them network with others. With the luxury in which the Internet makes interacting with colleagues simple, it can be easy to forget how important meeting and networking face to face really is. It is important to establish and cultivate relationships to make the most out of your business, and doing so from behind a computer screen can have you missing out on great opportunities.

Make a Good First Impression

It is easy for anyone to write a great email that will impress the person who is reading it, but since everyone has mastered the art of email communication, chances are that message will not make a lasting impression. Since the regularity in which people network in person has diminished in recent years, having a face to face conversation often makes for a better impression than many people realize. The power of a warm smile and firm handshake can be the difference between closing a deal and losing out to a competitor. Not to mention, having a personal interaction with someone will help to further establish the long-lasting relationships that are often needed to make any business successful.

Take Relationships to the Next Level

Chances are there are people within your network that you have only ever communicated with through email or phone conversations. Even though you may think you know these people, the truth is they are still a mystery and a lot gets lost in a conversation when it is not face to face. Networking in-person allows you the unique opportunity to meet people you work with or want to work with and learn more about them. This is key when it comes to meeting and building relationships with others in your industry. Being able to see someone’s reaction to a new product and hearing different inflections in their voice and mannerisms can let you know a lot about what they are thinking. Being able to play to their interests in conversation can help to build a long-lasting relationship, either business or personal.

Make the Time to Take the Time

The excuse that many home or small business owners use for not networking in person is that they do not have the time between running their business and personal life. The truth is that networking within your industry is a huge part of the business’s success, so it is important to make the time to take the time to network. There is no benchmark for the amount of time that should be spent networking, but it is also important to make sure that whatever time you take to do so is meaningful and focused. Even if you only have a half hour to meet a business colleague for lunch, take that time and make it personal with them – if they see that you are focused only on them and the conversation you are having, chances are that 30 minute lunch can turn into a lasting relationship and potential sales boost for your business.

One of the keys to Stacy O'Quinn's success is in using Dani Johnson training to network and meet new people. This helps to build his reputation within the niche and has helped in both business and his online reputation. If you would like to learn more about Stacy and how he can help you using Dani Johnson training techniques, click here.

Basic Marketing Tips for Your Online Business

3 DIY Marketing Tips for Your Small Business

Stacy speaking at Dani Johnson Seminar

When it comes to running an online business, the marketing strategies that are employed and utilized by the business can be vastly different than those business owners who work out of a storefront. The majority of marketing for online businesses is digital, and digital marketing can be very costly in today’s modern world. If you do not have a large marketing budget, it can be easy to get discouraged by the amount of money it could cost to get your business’s name and branding out there into the market and launch campaigns that are meaningful. But, before resigning to doing little to nothing with your business’s marketing, there are some do-it-yourself strategies you can use to help boost sales.

Develop a Plan

One of the first and most important steps in any marketing campaign, especially a digital one on a budget, is to develop a good marketing plan. Planning out what you’re marketing will look like and what the desired outcomes should be is a crucial key to success. In reality, your marketing plan can make or break your overall efforts. Although this is imperative, it does not mean you need to go overboard – the most important thing is to have for your marketing plan is a set of actions and goals that you can stick with, working hard to meet or exceed the campaigns expectations. Sticking to a good marketing plan will also help to keep your efforts on budget and will help to prevent overspending in unnecessary areas.

Establish Your Business on Social Media

A great way to digitally market a business and build a brand is to do so through social media. Social media reaches hundreds of thousands of people every day, on the web and on smartphones, and what makes it even more effective for marketing is it is often free. Setting up a Facebook page or Twitter account for your online business costs nothing, unless you want to splurge on additional advertising or special account features. Although this may seem simple, it is important to keep some key points in mind – most importantly, make sure to keep your marketing and branding the same across all platforms. Consistency is so important in all marketing and branding, digital and social media efforts included.

Take a Hard Look at Your Website

When running an online business, your website is one of the most important assets that your business can have. This is why it is so important to make sure it is fully flushed, fully functional, and useful for your customers. Take a hard look at your website and determine what is working and what is not and where the site may be lacking when compared to your competitors. Additionally, evaluate the usefulness of your Content Management System, or CMS. What are its limitations? Can you easily make changes when needed? It is vitally important to make sure the website’s CMS system is search engine friendly as well – customer use search engines look Google and Bing all the time to find what they are looking for, and if your business does not show up in those searches, you are missing out on  great opportunity.

Do you need more help with your small business or are you looking for opportunities for a legitimate home business? Stacy O'Quinn was like you only a few years ago. What happened to change his life? He found an opportunity and started using Dani Johnson training techniques to create the financial freedom he needed to get out of debt. Stacy would love to help you do the same thing, and all you have to do is click here for more information.

Vacation Tips from Dani Johnson

Saving Money on Groceries to Help Fund Your Next Vacation

With the coming of Labor Day the summer has officially come to a close. Whether you were able to afford a great vacation this year or not, this is usually the time when people being thinking about and pre-planning next summer’s vacation! It is no secret that money is tight for many people these days, so starting to save early is usually the key for them to be able to afford some time off. Dani Johnson understands that vacations are expensive and has some tips about how you can save for your next trip!

What’s in Your Grocery Cart can Lead to Financial Stability

When it comes to saving money, Ms. Johnson suggests that the first place to start is with your grocery cart and your food budget. When we go food shopping for ourselves and for our families, the general thought is making sure we get the items we need for a certain amount of time and, if there is money to spare, get the items we want. But Ms. Johnson believes that a change in approach at the grocery store can help lead to a financial life that has room for great vacations, no debt, and a worry-free retirement.

The key to having an effective shopping list and food budget is all about planning! Before hitting the store each week, sit down and plan meals for all seven days. It is important to consider portion sizes realistically, how much your family should be eating as opposed to how much they want to eat – on average, Americans eat almost double the suggested portion sizes! Also, make to work leftovers into this meal plan as well remember that any leftover food that is thrown away is simply money in the trash.

Make sure to check the pantry and fridge while meal planning every week. It does not make monetary sense to buy items for seven meals every week when you have an entire kitchen full of food to work with! Consider the food items that have already been paid for and work them into the weekly meals. Be creative! If there are leftover vegetables, chicken, and a small amount of rice in the home, mix them together and make a delicious stir-fry. You will be amazed what can be made with leftover food items.

Put Money Aside for Your Vacation

By following Ms. Johnson’s grocery shopping and meal planning tips, it is possible for a family to get by on a grocery budget of $100 a week or less. When compared to the $200 or more dollar grocery bill some families have, this is a huge savings! With your food budget under control, it is time to take all the money that has been saved and put it aside for your vacation. This should be a special fund or account that money goes into but does not come out of and should not go to waste in other frivolous areas.

Carefully monitoring how much we spend on groceries, properly planning weekly meals, and setting money aside often in a special account is the perfect recipe for funding your dream vacation. The beauty of this system, according to Ms. Johnson, is that you can start saving for your trip today! By taking a close look at spending habits and identifying where money is being spent unnecessarily, it is possible for someone to gain financial independence just by changing how they approach everyday tasks.

Stacy O'Quinn helps small business owners become more profitable using Dani Johnson training. Tips like this are just the beginning! Her selling and closing techniques helped Stacy create a legitimate home business, erase his debt, and create a six figure income! To find out how Stacy can help you, click here.

Growing Your Small Business

Important Tips to Making Your Small Business a Success

Many people say that planning and starting a small business is the most difficult part of the process to begin a startup business. Although no one would disagree with this statement, what happens within a business after it has opened and gotten off the ground is often forgotten. Running a small business and working to make it grow and be successful can also be a difficult process, but one that can be met with great reward if done correctly. Once the excitement of beginning the business wears off, and the day-to-day grind of becoming successful begins, there are some tricks to help the business continue to grow.

Be Mindful of Expressing Your Doubts

In order to launch and run a business, an individual needs to have passion and drive. Although these individuals are inspiring in that way, it does not mean that doubts don’t creep up every once and a while. As the leader of a business, there are many people looking to you – employees, partners and consumers all rely on the business owner for reassurance that the company will continue to thrive. When thinking about expressing doubts, be selective of with whom you share –rumors spread like wildfire through an organization and can have a negative effect on the productivity and confidence of employees.

You Cannot Be a One Man Show

Part of the allure of opening a business is for an individual to be their own boss. This is often associated with doing everything within the business that needs to get done and playing many roles such as owner, accountant, marketing manager, and sales representative. Although doing everything alone may work in the beginning, it will become impossible once the business begins to grow. Make sure to recognize when it is time to seek out talented individuals to help manage day-to-day tasks of the business and help you to focus on being the business owner instead of the chief, cook and bottle washer. 

Be OK with Hearing ‘No’

One of the only decisions an individual makes when opening a small business is the decision whether or not to open the business. Only they can decide to embark on the journey to become a business owner. After that, there are going to be other individuals involved in the decision making process and it is best to get used to hearing the work “no” early on. There are going to be lenders who say “no” when applying for funding, investors who say “no” when presented an idea and consumers who say “no” when you try to sell them on your passion. But when these individuals say “no” it should not be discouraging – “no” is an opportunity to revisit, rebuild, rework and try again.

Every aspect of a business will need to grow at one point or another in order for the business to continue to be successful. The space, the personnel, and technology – all of these things will need to be added to and upgraded to make the business run. The decisions that are made from when the business opens to when it begins to expand will all have an effect on the company’s potential. How a business owner handles this growth will directly determine how much success the business will see.

How is your small business doing? Would you like some help from one of the best small business mentors available today? Stacy O'Quinn has helped dozens of work from home professionals earn a six figure income by teaching them Dani Johnson training techniques. If you would like to learn more about Stacy and how he can help you, click here.

*Photo Courtesy of Richard Moross via Creative Commons License