Entering The Business World As A Novice

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article |Starting your own Business |Entering The Business World As A NoviceAt one time or another, everybody has thought about the wonderful idea of owning their own business. The notion of being in charge, having no boss, making a lot of money, and travelling around the world seemingly effortlessly – it’s glorious.

As a kid, you have your favorite hobbies and wonder if you can do an extraordinary job like an astronaut or a sportsman/sportswoman. Into your – teens you begin to get a little more realistic and think about different ways you can perhaps take a passion of yours and make it into something to make money from. You’re now a fully-fledged adult with a working life, and you want to leave your current situation for greener pastures. However, you’re slightly unsure as to how to make the step and what avenues to take.

There are a lot of facets to the business world, grasshopper, and there are many ways in which you can access it. Let’s take a look at a few things you can do to learn about and get stuck into the world of business.

Constantly Think Up Ideas

If you want to create your own firm, it’s probably not going to be handed to you on a silver platter. If you don’t already have the kind of idea you wish to pursue, then you’ll want to spend a fair bit on time in, say, the evenings to jot down different thoughts. Perhaps there’s something you’ve always needed in your house, or maybe there’s something you’ve always needed to make your day more convenient. It could be anything. They say if you chuck enough mud at the wall, some of it will eventually stick – so get thinking!

StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article |Starting your own Business |Entering The Business World As A NoviceRead Books

There are thousands of books scattered around the world that you can purchase that will teach you the ways of business. Whatever the field or sector you wish to enter, there will be something for you. They can be motivating, educating and inspiring. Experts around the world are dropping knowledge bombs for you to take on and work with. If you’re a bookworm, you’d love this thought.

Watch Videos

Watching videos and learning this way could be for you if you’re not exactly a fan of reading lots. They also give you a different angle that perhaps a book cannot, as the person talking may be able to articulate certain parts better verbally as opposed to a rigid text form. You can also sense the passion of someone’s words as you hear them – something you can’t quite do as well when you look at written sentences.

Listen To Podcasts

Most podcasts are free and easy to access, so if you’re working away and wish to get some advice or education, you can load up a business show and listen on the job.

Look Up To Others

The internet has also given us the ability to learn about others who have been in our footsteps and managed to carve out fantastic careers. For example, if you want to learn from the likes of experienced business people like Jos Opdeweegh, you have the ability to do so. You could take some aspects of their journey and apply it to yourself as you go through your enterprise adventure.

Go Back To School

Not everyone can just start up a business and go with it. If you feel you want to learn in a classroom or lecture hall environment and have genuine face-to-face tutoring, then there’s no problem with going to college or going back to university and giving the courses a go. It may be the missing piece of the puzzle you need to get going.

Look For An Internship

Finally, if you’re in the position to be able to work as an intern, then it might be the right way to go. Starting from the bottom as an eager go-getter, learning everything there is to know directly from your boss’s mouth might prove beneficial as you’re right in the middle of it all while taking information in like a sponge.

StrategyDriven Podcast Episode 32 – Making Change Work: What is Change? and Why is Change so Hard?

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StrategyDriven PodcastStrategyDriven Podcasts focus on the tools and techniques executives and managers can use to improve their organization’s alignment and accountability to ultimately achieve superior results. These podcasts elaborate on the best practice and warning flag articles on the StrategyDriven website.

Episode 32 – Making Change Work: What is Change? and Why is Change so Hard? explores what change is, its relationship to business systems, and why business changes are so difficult to effectively implement. During our discussion, Sharon Drew Morgen, the New York Times bestselling author of Dirty Little Secrets, shares with us her insights and illustrative examples regarding:

  • what change is and why its fundamentally the same regardless of industry or organization type
  • what systems are and their role in the change management process
  • what leaders do to make change so hard

Additional Information

In addition to the invaluable insights Sharon Drew shares in Dirty Little Secrets and this edition of the StrategyDriven Podcast are the resources accessible from her websites, www.NewSalesParadigm.com and www.BuyingFacilitation.com. Sharon Drew’s book, Dirty Little Secrets, can be purchased by clicking here.

Making Change Work!

This podcast is the first in a series that teaches leaders how to make change work. Coming editions of the Making Change Work series will explore the steps to gaining the buy-in and committed effort needed to implement change successfully. We’ll cover topics including:

  • What are systems, and how do they influence change?
  • The Problems of Change Management: bias, resistance, and push
  • If decisions are always rational, why are changees resisting?
  • Why is buy-in necessary and how to achieve it?
  • Putting it all together, a radical approach to change management: real leadership

About the Author

Sharon Drew Morgen is a New York Times bestselling author and developer of a change management model based on buy-in that she’s written about in her latest book Dirty Little Secrets. She is the visionary thought leader behind Buying Facilitation®, a decision facilitation model that focuses on helping buyers and those who would be impacted by the accompanying change manage their internal, unconscious, and behind-the-scenes issues that must be addressed before they purchase anything or buy-in to the requested change. She has served many well known companies including: KPMG, Unisys, IBM, Wachovia, and Bose. To read Sharon Drew’s complete biography, click here.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 30:01 — 41.3MB)

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Super Easy Ways to Increase your Website Traffic

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StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article |Website Traffic| Super Easy Ways to Increase your Website TrafficIf you want to boost your website traffic, then this is very easy to do. It won’t take long and when you are able to understand the mechanics behind getting more website visitors, you will soon be able to benefit not only your site but your customer experience as well.

SEO

SEO, or Search Engine Optimisation helps you to really increase the visibility of your site. It also helps you to attract more visitors too. You should note that 75% of visitors don’t look past the first page of Google, so if you are not ranked there then you really are missing out. If you want to increase your traffic, then you can start by filling out the meta tags on all of your pages. You also need to do your keyword research as well, as this will help your customers to come across your site when they type in a specific keyword.

Domain Authority

Domain authority is a rating that helps to measure the strength of your domain name. You can really increase your domain authority by getting more and more people to visit your site. You can also add more content, or age your domain. A lot of this can be done naturally, and over time, so you really don’t have to do much here. If you do want to help yourself then it is a good idea for you to get rid of any bad links, or spam sites that are bringing your site down.

Linking

Getting websites that have a very high domain authority to link to your site is one of the best things that you can do if you want to get a lot of website traffic. If you aren’t sure how to do this then you need to invest in guest posting. You can also chat with other site owners to see if you can mutually benefit one another. When you do this, you can really help yourself to get more visitors on a day to day basis.

Advertising

Advertising helps you to attract visitors to your site by creating clickable ads. These will direct people right to you. If you can, you should always invest in PPC. When you do this, you only pay for the clicks you get, and this can be very good for your budget. If you want to make things even easier for yourself then it is a good idea for you to look into Adwords campaign automation.

Social Media

If your company is not on social media right now then this is a huge mistake. Social media can bring your site a ton of traffic and you would be surprised at how great it can be for your ranking. If you have never used social media before then you need to set up a business page. When you do this, you can then link your other website pages to your profile. This will really encourage people to click on the links and it will also help you to gain a much higher level of control over your investment.

Business Politics Players – Influential Strength of Each Personal Power

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StrategyDriven Business Politics Players Article | Influential Strength of Each Personal Power | Business PoliticsSome personal power is organizationally bestowed. Others are self-earned. Each is effective when wielded in the proper place and time. Yet the absolute degree of influence each power differs greatly, dependent on the value offered which is further influenced by the circumstances surrounding the power’s use.

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3 Most Common Leadership Mistakes and How to Avoid Them in 2019

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StrategyDriven Management and Leadership Article | 3 Most Common Leadership Mistakes and How to Avoid Them in 2019 | business leadershipIt is no news that being a leader requires quite a lot of perseverance and personal strength. For some people becoming a leader has been a meticulous decision and a result of many years of hard work, whereas some others might have got a leadership position without ever striving for it. The luck of the draw!

In both cases, the expectations are high and the stress is unavoidable. Not only should a leader outperform themselves and make sure all the objectives are met but they should also ensure their entire team feels happy and satisfied with work. Not an easy task to do!

Regardless of how many years of professional experience and personal training leaders possess, all of them tend to commit certain mistakes because they are all human beings. But what distinguishes a good leader from the rest is their ability to be able to recognize their mistakes and find solutions to avoid them when they get a second bite at the cherry.

For those leaders looking to improve their leadership qualities, we have compiled a list of 3 most common leadership mistakes and ways to avoid them in 2019.

Let’s take a closer look at each mistake.

#1. Not communicating the vision and the goals

Having a vision and setting clear goals is one thing, being able to communicate those to your employees is a completely different thing. Many leaders think that if they have a clear vision, that is more than enough for employees to succeed. While there is some truth to that, constantly communicating the vision and the goals is more than essential to guarantee a successful team work.

Leaders should remember that their employees have different personality types and they do not necessarily function in the same way. In order to ensure that the whole team is on the same page, leaders should remind them about the significance of the vision and how it translates into everyday tasks for each employee.

Sharing the vision, sticking to it and showing how every employee can contribute to that vision every day is key to creating a successful working environment based on common goals.

Top Tip: constant communication of the vision can be executed through monthly email reminders, oral reminders during meetings or via audiovisual support materials like TV screens around the office. Make sure every employee knows the vision and knows how to contribute to it.

#2. Poor delegating of tasks

Poor delegating of tasks is equally harmful as not delegating at all. Recent research has shown that leaders who skillfully delegate tasks achieve three-year growth rates that are 112% higher than those who don’t delegate at all or who do so poorly.

Delegating tasks will not only let a leader concentrate on more important tasks of strategic value to the company but will also empower employees because by doing even the smallest task employees feel like a valued member of a team, especially when those tasks correspond to their strengths.

Here is how to delegate tasks successfully:

  • Identify the tasks to delegate
  • Choose who to delegate the tasks to, based on their strengths
  • Be clear about the tasks to implement
  • Monitor progress and give continuous feedback for improvement
  • Be able to redelegate when something goes wrong
  • Show constant appreciation

It has been proven that employees who have a chance to use their strengths and character traits are on average 74% more engaged at work. Moreover, the mere fact of knowing each other’s strengths makes the team 12% more effective.

Top Tip: delegating tasks based on strength finder results will help leaders achieve maximum efficiency. Sharing each other’s strengths can be of huge help to team members who work together as well as for leaders who manage those teams.

#3. Failing to adjust to changes

In today’s ever-changing world the ability to adjust to changes is crucial to successful leadership: continuous tech developments, new customer relationship management practices, employee motivation roller-coasters, and much more.

One of the main differences between a leader and a manager is the aptitude to embrace change. Real leaders know that change leads to new ways of growth and accomplishment. While there is no perfect formula for managing change, the secret of succeeding is realizing that change is inevitable and that growth happens when things change.

Top Tip: learn to be flexible as a leader: listen to your employees, constantly follow the trends and keep an open eye on market developments. Remember to surround yourself with people who can complement you in areas where your strengths are not enough to help you with your weaknesses.

There is no special school for leadership that teaches how to be a true leader. It takes a lot of everyday practice and a great deal of flexibility to be able to adjust to people, places and different developments.

“The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails.”
John Maxwell

About the Author

StrategyDriven Expert Contributor | Anatoli ChernyaevAnatoli Chernyaev is a content marketing manager born in Armenia and currently residing in France. He writes about various topics such as self-awareness, positive thinking, personal development, and career advice.