My Most Helpful Bits Of Advice For Profiting In An Industry
I’ve had my private business since I was 9 years old. I’ve started, bought, sold and helped in several different types of businesses over the 30 odd years since that point.
I’ve tried everything I’ve always needed to do, and I’ve had tons of excitement. A few of the highlights : I worked on Wall Street, I assisted in taking a company public and I ejected one of the biggest VC names in the country right out of my office. I have worked on planning a quality management system for a leading dairy company. I’ve worked with some of the most important names in the offline and online space, and I’ve seen the guts of a lot of the biggest firms in the US.
I made my first million the old fashioned way. I worked my butt off. And I’ve got a lot to show for it, for which I’m both humble and grateful. Understand this, I regard myself as a successful entrpreneur and I’m happy about it.
Why am I sharing all this with you? I’m getting there.
Folks always ask me if I have any recommendation for being successful. They ask if I could name the things I think have gave the most to my success. Id like to share my discoveries from 30 years of business experience. They are applicable both offline and online.
Here are my top 5 recommendations for success :
1. Always ensure all of your mails and telephone calls get returned. I’m making a lot of contacts and requests thru email, telephone or even in the flesh. I am fully startled at the number of folks who do not bother to return the request. It is classless and disrespectful to disregard someones request, and it makes them indignant. Angry people tell other folks how you have wronged them. The less folk out there talking sick about you the better.
When I was an iso 9001 consultant at Modem Media I got between 1000 - 3000 emails a day. I was buried in emails. My assistant went in and cleared out mails when she could, forwarding the ones she was aware that she or one of my underlings could handle. But she left the rest for me. I might spend at least an hour a day returning them. Sometimes all I claimed was Call so-and-so or Thanks for the warning, but many of them got answered. The concern was clients, then chiefs then standard people. If you are not going to answer correspondence from clients or peers, do not give any person your email. Funny thing about the majority of usif you’ve an email and invite us to use it, we think an answer . I’ve written three mails to Darren at ProBlogger.net. He’s not answered a single one. While I believe some of his stuff is good, I find his unresponsiveness disheartening and I do not find him as authoritative as I used to.
I sent an e-mail to the President of Staples on a Saturday afternoon a few years ago. I got a private response from him the day after (Sunday), and we resolved my problem with aid from one of his EVPs. If he will be able to respond to one of my mails, so can Darren.
2. Help anyone that asks. It doesnt matter what it is if someone asks you to help them and you can do it, do it. Whether it comprises rolling up your sleeves, writing a check, giving some time or just answering a question from someone that does not know as much as you, suck it up and do it.
3. Always know more than most people about your industry or business. I’ve always been a technologist, so this has been engrained in me since I was 16. Read about things in your field each day. Go to a seminar or trade show now and then. Take part in discussions or forums, on or off-line. It’ll keep you connected to the people in your industry and make you a guru. The Net is a dazzling tool for getting this done.
4. Treat your people like gold, because they are. In my personal companies my workers get away with a lot. They’re well paid, get surprise advantages all of the time and can come and go as they please. Some take advantage, but they dont last long. Being a jerk to your workers will always come back to bite you. It’ll also mean that you’ll get hosed a couple of times, but you would have anyhow.
Make the office fun, snug and as casual as you can. Show your employees by example how you want them to treat buyers and work mates. They’re going to follow your lead. If they dislike coming to work it’ll show in what you produce, this was a major feature that I noticed while planning the quality management system I discussed earlier.
At Modem Media I organised an annual barbeque in the front car park. We had pork, BBQ sauce from Texas and lots of other stuff Im not going to get into here. It was a little gesture but it went a long way.
5. Acknowledge everyone who helps you advance, particularly people who didn’t gain from it. This is another thing that I am startled more folk haven’t caught on to. I said in an earlier post that I continually brush my log files for folks who have social bookmarks pointing to this blog site and send them a quick email thanking them. I stopped counting the quantity of folks who email me back startled that I would make the effort to thank them. Why shouldn’t I? They took time out to help in promoting my blog, and got nothing in turn. A thank you recognizes their time and effort and firms up them as a supporter. Trust me, you need all the allies you can get.
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