As a profession, entrepreneurship breeds anything but balance. The highs can be stratospheric, and the lows can be crushing.
What's your routine after attending a networking event or meal? If your answer is, 'I go home,' you're probably going to miss out on opportunities.
Using social media can often be the fastest and easiest way to connect with online influencers because they are already established platforms for connecting with like-minded individuals.
Online leadership is about leveraging digital platforms such as blogs, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and other networks to build a loyal following of people who want to learn more about and benefit from your experiences and expertise.
We all know a lot about something. We all have a passion about something.
Giving customers and prospects a glimpse into the entrepreneur's life and mindset can allow them to cultivate a deeper relationship with customers separately from the brand.
In my perfect day, I wake up next to the woman of my dreams, and she's crying tears of joy because she's so excited about the life we have together. I'm preparing to compete in the 2016 Olympics with U.S.A. Team Handball, so I head to an intense training session with my coach to increase my physical strength and athleticism.
Poor leaders motivate those following them with false promises of promotions, success, and a great tomorrow but rarely deliver on those promises. Leaders who do this can be manipulative and often hold the goals and aspirations of their followers hostage in order to get them to comply.
Successful people often enjoy telling their story.
It doesn't take a lot of research to realize that the human eye is drawn to attractive things. So the better looking your LinkedIn profile is - meaning professional and complete - the more qualified you'll appear to your audience and the more interested people will be to check out your site.
If something catches your attention, it's probably going to catch the attention of others, too.
Just like football, business is a game of inches, where the smallest advancement or advantage can mean the difference between winning and losing.
As a business owner, what's the sense in having droves of followers and connections if you aren't able to turn them into paying customers?
Staying consistent with positive habits can be a challenge.
People can see themselves in a story much easier than they can see themselves in a hypothetical situation that a brand might present to them. So telling stories to build a relationship with your audience is usually far more effective than other methods of marketing or publicity.
Entrepreneurs spend an inordinate amount of time inside of our own heads - thinking, analyzing, agonizing and obsessing over every little detail of our business. Sometimes, we need a break from ourselves. Meditation is a chance to let the thinking mind rest.
There's no reason to feel embarrassed about presenting your product or service if it solves a problem.
Effective networking isn't a result of luck - it requires hard work and persistence.
The key in telling stories that people relate to is, not surprisingly, vulnerability and authenticity. That means that letting people know the struggle behind your brand - the failures and mistakes - and how you got through them is really important.
There's no way to become great overnight, but in the marathon of success, it takes a lot of intention to see you through each day of the journey.
Recognizing poor leadership is a vital skill to help you achieve greatness.
I was a pain most of my childhood, always mad at the things I didn't have. Things shifted drastically in my 20s when I started putting an emphasis on gratitude. Focus on the good you do have, not the things you lack.
You may confuse a lot of people when going against the grain of conventional thinking, and that's perfectly okay. As an entrepreneur, standing up for your vision to your family and friends might possibly be the best practice you will get for the life that awaits you.
Your clients are critical to your business. Don't lose touch with who they are and why they've chosen to do business with you.
Entrepreneurs typically have an instinct for smelling opportunity, but that same killer instinct can quickly turn to weakness when it becomes a distraction from primary goals.
Every great leader knows that his or her role comes with responsibility for those who follow him or her, and in ensuring they provide value in return for their loyalty.
Instead of telling a story about how great your brand is, try telling a story that shows you completely understand and empathize with your customer and their life.
If you can't be present when the time comes, then you may miss the opportunity.
Instead of fearing the unknown - all the bad that can happen - realize that good things can surprise you as well.
Don't allow people to suck up all your time with their questions or problems. Learn to say 'no' more often.
The road to profits is paved with unfair advantages.
It took a lot of time and constant feedback to realize what wasn't working in my life, and it will be an ongoing journey until the day I die.
Besides having an audience, the most important currency for any leader is his or her reputation. And having a reputation for over-delivering on what's expected of you should give your visitors, subscribers and customers more reason to spend their money with you and refer their friends.
As entrepreneurs, we already know our most valuable asset is time, but not every entrepreneur knows how to properly use that time.
I often speak publicly, and when I do, I also get to listen to other presenters. The most memorable are the ones that hit an emotional chord with a tight story and a punch line. No fluff. Keep it creative and concise. Greatness exists in quality, not quantity.
When you are seen as someone who actively communicates with new connections, it can make other online users want to connect with you.
Among the social networks, LinkedIn can be one of the most useful when it comes to cultivating critical, lucrative business opportunities, since it has a high concentration of business decision makers.
The more confident you are, the less doubt you will have, and the more likely your success will be.
Becoming an authority in your industry can be a great way to promote your business and help you better serve your clients.
When I started my podcast, 'The School of Greatness,' one of the top three people I wanted to get on the show was Tony Robbins.
Everyone can benefit from seeing smart marketing.
Sleep might be the most important aspect of building a great business, and having a high-performing body.
As funny as some photos can be, think twice about allowing yourself to be tagged in questionable photos.
As a business owner who is looking to market his or her company, you should be on the lookout for opportunities to get face time with movers and shakers in your network.
As a business owner, leadership is more than just telling others what to do. Leadership is about the investment we make into others and the responsibilities we accept for being the voice and direction that others count on.
Speaking can be a lot like exercise: The more time you spend getting ready, the more you mentally build the task into something larger than it actually is.
Coming from losing my dream of playing professional football, not having a college degree at the time and looking to jump into the business world at a young age was pretty daunting for me.
Disruption starts with committing to excellence and taking a stand for your customer.
I was in my 20s when I started writing my goals down, assigning each a date that I would achieve them by. I was amazed when I started reaching these goals by the date I had listed on them. It was a daily visualization exercise, and it almost always works.
