Heather Villa, Business Coach and Entrepreneur

Weekend Reading: My fav’s from this week: 8/27/10

Heather Villa, CMA, MBA, MSM — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 19:45:57 +0000

The Ben Franklin School of Persuasion – Benjamin Franklin was a serial entrepreneur, regularly seeing huge success implementing ideas which others thought were impossible or pointless.

Free Information Isn’t Enough Anymore – The next place of growth for service professionals and information marketers is to take all the free information you research and produce for your clients, synthesize it, and give it back to people in a practical, DO-able format.

Brazil ‘Fire Tornado’ Caught On Film (VIDEO) – This video is amazing. A lethal combination of strong dry winds and brush fires created a stunning, if slightly terrifying, ‘fire tornado’ in Brazil.

Finding your rockstars and giving them the stage – Find the people that are already singing your song, and give them the stage, the spotlight, and a microphone. We all want to be rockstars, and we tend to love the companies that make us feel like we are.

Does Twitter’s Fast Follow Mean Fast Fail? – An interview format with Chris Brogan and Shelly Kramer on the pros and cons of this new Twitter feature. You will be surprised at some of the answers.

Golden Business Rules for Social Media Engagement – We can’t be reminded of these enough.

Have a great weekend and check out more of my favorites on HeatherVilla StumbleUpon.

Weekend Reading: My fav’s from this week: 8/20/10

Heather Villa, CMA, MBA, MSM — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 19:45:39 +0000

Do It Right the First Time & Do It With Class – When you don’t give something the proper effort, often the results are not satisfactory. Then you find yourself in the position that you have to do it again. Not doing a task “right the first time” often creates more work.

Having a strategy doesn’t make you social – How do you avoid a social media backlash and better connect with your customers? If you are proactively monitoring your online reputation, and proactively reaching out to customers that have issues, you’ll all but remove any chance of a backlash.

Marketing Checklist: 7 Ways To Prove You Rule – Listed are 7 ways you can offer up the proof needed to close the loop on nearly any sale. From Pedigree to Social Proof this will have you well on your way to being a master of any sale.

Back to School Renewal – As our kids are heading back to school, we finally have time again for ourselves. Stacey offers some great ideas on how to make the most of the extra time and recharge our Mommy batteries.

When Live is Like a Russian Roulette – Vered offers an interesting comparison between Russian Roulette and life. The happiest of all are those who manage to focus not on the past (those tend to be depressed and full of regrets) or on the future (those tend to be worried and stressed) but on the present.

Hand Painting Art – Take the time to click on this one. Totally amazing and worth a few minutes of your day.

Watching TV: Simple Pleasure or Banal Waste of Time? – A very thought provoking article. I’m not giving up TV myself, but I may be re-evaluating my reason for watching.

Who Told You THAT Was a Good Keyword? – Finding keywords is easy. Finding the right keywords, organizing them into optimizable groups, and determining where and how they get optimized into the site is another story all together.

As always, you can see more of my favorites on HeatherVilla StumbleUpon.

Have a super, wonderful weekend!

Weekend Reading: My fav’s from this week: 8/13/10

Heather Villa, CMA, MBA, MSM — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 19:45:53 +0000

Reminding Yourself That You Love What You Do – As creative professionals, it’s easy to get caught up in the business end of things and not actually spending much time doing anything for ourselves. If you are freelancing or working at an agency, it’s important to have something in your pipeline that’s done just for the fun of it.

Why a Six-Figure Income Doesn’t Count – Focusing on making six figures is often a path that leads to financial loss. Surprised? You shouldn’t be. Impressive numbers are nice, but there’s only one number in the business world that counts: It’s not about what you make. It’s about what you keep in your pocket.

5 Ways The Intern Mind Trumps You at Social Media – Interns are mythical creatures. While their judgment makes them a liability and means they shouldn’t be let out without supervision, there’s also a lot to be learned from how they see the world. Interns actually hold many of the secrets for what it takes to craft a soft media voice.

5 Ways Companies Are Using Social Media to Lower Costs – There are two ways that social media can benefit your business: By generating sales, or by lowering costs. This post highlights some ways that companies can lower costs via social media, with some examples of companies that are doing just that.

Knowing When To Hold ‘Em…Or Fold ‘Em – We’re determined. We’re dedicated. We’re focused. Sure, these are all good and necessary traits for the entrepreneurial world. Yet, we’re so often tied to the “never give up” and “keep going at any cost” approaches that we can lose sight of why we are doing what we are still doing in the first place.

Trapped By the Hard/Easy Paradox – Imagine what the world would look like if we each chose to build our businesses around ease and grace and love and harmony and joy and let go of everything that was incongruent with that reality … what would your life look like?

Check out more of my favorites on HeatherVilla StumbleUpon.

Weekend Reading: My fav’s from this week: 8/6/10

Heather Villa, CMA, MBA, MSM — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 19:51:26 +0000

Why Entrepreneurs Need Community- Glen Stansberry shares some killer wisdom on the importance of community. This is a fantastic example of how community is pivotal to the success of an entrepreneur.

Why Are You Scared To Be Outspoken? – The question isn’t why we’re so outspoken and willing to expose ourselves, it’s why you aren’t? When you have a chance to tell customers your story and shape their experiences, why would you ever run from that? Exposing your brand via social media is only scary when you’re trying to hide your flaws. Fix them and then tell the world about it.

Who Cares About Bing? – The days of ignoring Bing are just about over. There are some major changes rolling out now. Here’s what you need to know and what you need to do about it.

How to Open Your Heart in the Mist of Confrontation – Imagine what the world would look like if each one of us made the choice not to react in the face of conflict or confrontation, but instead to take in the experience, stay open-hearted and grow as a result. The choice is yours – react or breathe. React or relax. React or love. Choose well.

5 Free Ways to Never Miss a Twitter @Reply – These services will let you know via e-mail each time you are on the receiving end of a @mention, or get a @reply. Have a read through these picks to see which one might suit your needs.

Kickass Clients and Kicking Ass- This post shares with you what makes clients “great clients”. Stop taking every ounce of business that comes to your door. You know the type of client you want (and frankly, your clients know they type of vendors they want as well).

Be sure the check out HeatherVilla StumbleUpon for a full list of my favorites.

Weekend Reading: My fav’s from this week: 7/30/10

Heather Villa, CMA, MBA, MSM — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:45:34 +0000

Too Smart For Your Business? – When we make every decision from our intellect, we tend to over-complicate. We see all the options, have a million big ideas, and either want to improve upon everything or convince ourselves of what won’t work.

The Myth of the Personal Brand – By all appearances, the discussion of personal branding – and the hoards of people who claim to help us do it – is fueled by the social web. Before everyone had a voice, branding was largely the domain of ad people. Aaron hits the nail on the head here defining who exactly does the branding.

Drawing the Line: 6 Things You Shouldn’t Tolerate in Projects – Being successful is all about creating things you can be proud of and building long-term relationships with clients. From Client-Centered Design to Bad Names these personal do not pledges share some fantastic insight how to run your business better.

Almost invisible mirrored tree house built in Sweden – This was just too cool not to share.

8 New Link Types That Exist On The Web – Some of the link types most commonly used in social media and on blogs.

What’s Your BrandWord? -A business is a long-term plan to wealth. Many people do not track their branding power online – or worse, they don’t push their branding efforts far enough. The accumulative time you spend on building your BrandWord pays off quite nicely.

Looking At Life Through The Eyes Of A Child – Oh, if we could all live like kids again. This personal story hits on the things we can learn from children. – from the constant sense of wonder to the spontaneity of a child’s wisdom.

Favorite video: Your business card is CRAP – People still use business cards???? I found this very hilarious. Like Aaron, I don’t agree with most of it, but it is fun to watch.

Of course there are more. Check them out on HeatherVilla StumbleUpon.

Weekend Reading: My fav’s from this week: 7/23/10

Heather Villa, CMA, MBA, MSM — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 20:32:51 +0000

Four Inspirational Moments in Film – Movies are a great source of inspiration. You can learn valuable lessons from watching how others deal with failure and overcome obstacles, as well as taking note of the perspective they take toward life. Listed are some great inspirational moments in film.

The World’s Best Frozen Margarita Recipe – Movies are a great source of inspiration. You can learn valuable lessons from watching how others deal with failure and overcome obstacles, as well as taking note of the perspective they take toward life. Listed are some great inspirational moments in film.

Know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em: How business is like poker – Poker and business are very similar: They’re studies in money-making through opponent evaluation and risk acceptance. Aaron has a great comparison here between poker and business. By becoming a better poker player you will intern become a better business owner.

I’m Granting Wishes Today – Who has seen an authentic voodoo doll? I sure haven’t nor would I know what to do with one, until I read this. With a little bit of humor this personal story explains what to do with a voodoo doll if you ever come across one.

This is Why You Don’t Bury Your Blog’s Gold- Don’t bury your blog’s best content; find ways to share it with your readers. That can only help grow your readership and bring more exposure to your blogging efforts. Mack talks about quality not quantity when writing you blogs also, linking out to 2-3 of your most popular posts every week on Twitter.

Getting Ahead By Not Being A Cliché – Differentiation is like a bridge which creates the proper context for your work to reach the right target. When instead of being a cliche, you are different; this allows you to stand out. And when you stand out, three essential things happen: You get noticed; You get remembered; People get curious about you. This is the key to getting ahead by not being a cliche.

If you’re looking for more, see the rest of my favorites on HeatherVilla StumbleUpon.

Even Headliners Struggle…

Heather Villa, CMA, MBA, MSM — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 18:18:03 +0000

Before Gary Vaynerchuk (the video/social media guru and all-star author), there was Gary Varynerchuk (the wine guy). Before Chris Brogan (the social media guru), there was Chris Brogan (the aspiring author). Before Biz Stone (co-creator of Twitter), there was Biz Stone (the guy with the weird name). Before Seth Godin (the “he’s-never-wrong” author and marketer), there was just some guy no one had ever heard of.

Yes, entrepreneurs look to these risen stars and aspire to be like them (or like someone like them!), and we forget that everyone started “at zero” with an idea and a willingness to work hard to get there. Sure, we’re willing to work hard but there seems like a huge chasm we have to cross in order to get to THEIR level. Frustrated, we work our butts off at our “mediocre” level (at least that’s how it might feel to us) and wonder what the X factor is that helped Gary, Chris, Seth, Biz (and many others) to cross over to stardom.

I was reminded of this fact recently when I read an interview with the owner of SEOmoz, Rand Fishkin. SEOmoz is a trusted source of quality SEO strategiesr. Chances are, you’ve heard Rand speak, seen one of his videos, scoured SEOmoz.org for search engine optimization info, or relied on some of their many SEO tools.

Just recently, Rand Fishkin posted a synopsis of an interview he gave with Andrew Warner of Mixergy.com. You can read the full transcript of the interview here, or you can get a shorter “Rand-ified” version here.

Now here’s what you’ll notice:

In 2001, Rand dropped out of university to focus on an existing business (that would later transition into SEOmoz). The company went into massive debt (Rand’s own debt was $500,000+) that would last for a few years. In February 2005, Rand went to a conference in Toronto that seems to have helped him get a handle on the SEO work he would later do. In 2006, the company turned around financially, became debt-free by 2007, and acquired investment capital. They hit a few speedbumps along the way but now earn millions of dollars in revenue and have a robust suite of tools and a compelling position in the marketplace.

If you read Rand’s synopsis of the interview you’ll note that even now – in spite of his position in the market and the money he’s earning – his credit history is bad enough that he can’t rent an apartment or lease a car! Rand’s trajectory to stardom isn’t all that old. Although he was a noted authority as far back as 2006 (which wasn’t that long ago), he’s still a regular guy running a regular business. He makes some good decisions; he makes some bad ones.

Here’s what it means for you:

No matter where you are in your business, your success doesn’t start with an X-factor in a few years…it is happening right now. There isn’t a silver bullet. Rather, it’s the work you are doing now that will build on the work you did yesterday (and so on, every day) toward your own position in the marketplace.

Have a great week!

No related posts.

Weekend Reading: My fav’s from this week: 7/16/10

Heather Villa, CMA, MBA, MSM — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 00:58:44 +0000

Think Before You Post – an Open Letter to All Consumers – We as consumers have never had it so good. Today many tools are available for us to express our likes or dislikes about a product or service. The best way to handle a grievance is to talk to the person or company involved privately using the channels they provide. If you do decide to post comments or critique someone online, wait until you are able to objectively view the situation. “I urge you to please think before you act online”.

Spit FAIL – I have had very distressing visits to the dentist, as I’m sure, I’m not alone. As usual, Kathy entertains us with her own personal story which shows that it’s not always to change things up.

Cocktail Lines and True Presence: the Power of Not Relying on Your Past – The past is never as relevant as we might think it is. Stand in your present power. An interesting look at how people introduce themselves and their businesses. What they do wrong and how to correct it.

10 Awesome Caves Of The World – A virtual tour of the most beautiful and astounding caves of the world. These pictures are exquisite beyond imagination.

Old Spice: The Man Your Content Could Smell Like – Why was the Old Spice campaign so remarkable? The genius of Wednesday’s campaign was that users could submit questions to the Old Spice man and, within minutes, watch a video response to their question. Old Spice did something social media experts recommend to brands all the time – they made personal connections with influencers. It’s a brilliant campaign. I can’t wait to see what they do next.

There’s No Idiot Check in MS Word- I’m sure a lot of people can sympathize here. With all the great apps being created some might think an Idiot Check function should be developed and replace the basic grammar check function. My suggestion - we should just develop a mind reader app.!

When to Let Go With My Cat Chibi – With so many people on Twitter following and being followed its hard to keep the good and drop the bad. As Chibi the cat will show you here if you’re following folks that are not benefiting you anymore its OK to drop them.

10 Steps to Creating a Successful Twitter Chat – Twitter chats hold a ton of potential for bringing together people and growing ideas. The steps listed here will have you well on your way to starting your own successful twitter chat.

Check out more of my favorites on HeatherVilla StumbleUpon.

Have a wonderful weekend!

What You Can Learn from this Hit-Maker

Heather Villa, CMA, MBA, MSM — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 13:30:51 +0000

Summer and music. They go together. Good summer music should evoke the hot, sunny days that students enjoy between semesters. For the kids, a summer “anthem” should capture everything great about the months that you spend on the beach with your friends. For grown-ups, a good summer anthem should remind us of those carefree months of yesteryear when we weren’t busy running businesses and paying mortgages.

I recently read an interesting article about a music producer who has produced popular summer hits like “Since U Been Gone,” by Kelly Clarkson, “Girlfriend,” by Avril Lavigne, “Right Round,” by Flo Rida, “Tik Tok,” by Ke$ha, and “I Kissed a Girl” by Katy Perry. Even if these songs are not your kind of thing, you have to admit that enough other people liked these songs enough to make them chart toppers. And the person behind the music is a guy by the name of Dr. Luke. While the artists lend their headline-earning skills to these songs, Dr. Luke is the music producer who writes, rewrites, tests, and then produces songs that become summer anthems.

The article, published on NewYorkMag.com, profiles this music producer and describes the process he goes through to create so many hits. In a moment, I’ll give you a link to the article, but first I want to answer the question you’re asking: “Heather, why are you talking about a music producer and summer anthems?”

Entrepreneurs don’t want to wallow in mediocrity. Most of us want to become successful. Maybe successful enough to ease up a little on the long hours or maybe successful enough to sell our business and relax on the beach. We can look to Dr. Luke as a case study in how to become successful. Even though he’s in the music industry and you might be in a completely different industry, here are some lessons we can learn from him:

He has a process: He tests and experiments with different styles. He tries out different “hooks” on a song before finding the one that works. Likewise, you should always be thinking and innovating and testing in your business.

He has a vision and he relies on skilled people to help him. As the article says on page 3, “He hears a song before it exists, then he figures out who can best help him bring that song into existence.” Likewise, you should cultivate a vision for your business and find the right people to help you.

He becomes an expert, not only in his own songs but in the entire industry. He’s quoted as saying: “I analyze songs, think about what made them work, why they did work. I think about that all the time”. Likewise, you should know your business and your competitors’ businesses inside and out and that will make a huge difference to your business.

Okay, there are plenty of other tips I could draw from Dr. Luke’s success but, with these in mind, check out the article and then apply some of his lessons to your business.

Enjoy!

Focus to Move Forward

Heather Villa, CMA, MBA, MSM — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 23:27:37 +0000

Entrepreneurs are faced with innumerable marketing opportunities to grow their businesses. Speaking from experience, I have so many options when I’m looking to market my business and I’m frequently approached by business owners with a giant list of internet marketing to-do’s that they want to pursue. Blogs, social media, social bookmarking, articles, press releases, AdWords, ebooks, you name it! Being able to market your business in all of these different ways is exciting…but it can also be overwhelming. And I’ve found that when business owners are faced with a lot of choices, they end up trying not to do too much at once and they don’t do any of those choices very well.

So here’s what I would advise:

If you are marketing by yourself…
Let’s say that you are considering some of the standard internet marketing opportunities out there: Social media, blogs, articles, press releases, and reports. It can be tempting to dive into all of these but you’ll just end up doing a sub-par job. Your social media won’t necessarily connect with your readers, your blogs will be few and far between (and will often begin with the sentence “I haven’t blogged in a while…”), your articles and press releases won’t get pushed out as frequently as they need to be, and your reports will just get delayed. I see this happen so often from businesses that try to take on too much at once.

If you are going to do your marketing all by yourself (without any outsourced or delegated help), you should pick just a couple options and become consistent at them before building outwards. For example, start blogging. Once you’ve become consistent with that, add Twitter. Once you’ve become consistent with that, write articles. Once you’ve become consistent with that, add reports.

This system works because you’re developing good marketing habits one at a time, which will help you to succeed far more effectively than if you tried to add a whole bunch of marketing habits at once.

If you are marketing with help from others…
Of course, it’s a little different if you get help from others because you can outsource a lot of your internet marketing and there are less consistency habits you need to manage. However, you’ll still want to build methodically and strategically, adding a few at a time. Otherwise, you could end up with a lot of loose ends that need to be managed.

So, for example, you might manage your own Twitter account but you might pass article writing and blog posting off to an assistant. Later, add reports and press releases. Because you’re paying someone to do this, it’s not a matter of building up good marketing habits for you; rather, it’s a matter of managing someone else to do the work and remembering to follow up with them.

The web offers so many great marketing opportunities and it will continue to do so as new technologies develop. You can take advantage of these opportunities but you should do so in a methodical way to ensure that you do each one with excellence – and make sure it’s entrenched in your schedule – before moving on to the next one.

Happy Marketing!