Archive for January, 2014

How to Determine Your Success

How to Determine Your Success

Athlete StretchingWhen you think about your goals in your professional life, does the word “success” come to mind? If so, what exactly does it mean to you? Success can be defined in countless ways, so it is important for you to determine just how you measure your own success. In doing so, you are creating a true motivational tool for yourself, a super-objective for your business, and the foundation of a plan to achieve that goal. Today’s post will focus on two ways for you to determine your own success; those are perseverance and passion.

Perseverance – Your commitment to staying the course no matter how difficult things become or what obstacles pop up along the way is a good indicator of perseverance. To really assess your level of perseverance, ask yourself this question and answer honestly: at what point will you give up? For many, the answer to that is “never,” others may have a definite breaking point, and still others fall somewhere in between. It is up to you to decide where you fall on that spectrum, what your goal is, and what you are willing to do to reach it. For example, a recently retired small business owner tells his story of how he decided to leave a very secure job as plant manager of a very large photo processing lab to open his own small lab and retail store. He sat down with his wife every night for weeks after the kids were in bed formulating a business plan and crunching the numbers. It became clear that if the business didn’t take off, they would lose their house and have to move to an apartment. Keeping this possibility in mind always helped him make smart decisions and persevere. Not only did he not lose his house, but he was able to buy a much bigger one in which to raise his family, send them all to college without loans, and kept a successful business for nearly thirty years. Without perseverance, none of that would have been possible.

Passion – Without passion and a love for what you are doing, there is no way you will be able to persevere and find long term success. Your passion will be what constantly drives you to make your business the best it can be. Ask yourself how strong your belief is in what you desire. Dig deep to find the answer to this very important question. The retiree from the example above recounts how passion played a large role in his successful small business career. He knew that he was the best in his field and had areas of expertise that could edge out competition. Seeing flaws in how others did things and knowing he could do them better always motivated him to seek improvement and resist shortcuts. His passion for his field of work and his desire to be the best were major contributors to his success.

Taking an honest assessment of your level of perseverance and passion is a critical step in determining your personal definition of success. These two elements go hand in hand, so don’t underestimate their importance.

What roles do perseverance and passion play in your professional life? Do you consider them crucial to success? Please share your ideas in the comments below!

Free eBooks to Grow Your Business

Free eBooks to Grow Your Business

Building a bigger business starts with a decision. It’s the decision to do whatever it takes to grow. Typically this involves stepping out of your comfort zone, seeking the advice of mentors and your upline, and learning and stretching to achieve bigger and better results. As they say, if you do what you’ve always done, you’ll have what you always have. If you want to have more, you have to be more and do more. In short, you have to be willing to grow.

Part of growing involves learning. And that’s why we’ve put together a set of free ebooks designed to help you grow your business. The titles include:

  • RoadMapToSuccess_EbookBusiness Owner’s Roadmap to Success: This e-book is designed to help you learn the skills you need to be a successful small business owner. Whether you are new to entrepreneurship or a seasoned veteran, you will find techniques and ideas here to help you grow your business.
  • Creating Your Success Mindset: How do you stay motivated in your business when you’re reaching for success? How do you encourage yourself to overcome obstacles and keep driving towards your goals? This eBook is designed to help you create a winning mindset for yourself, so you can enjoy the success you’re striving for.
  • Reflections on Success - Free ebook from the Direct Selling Education FoundationReflections on Success: This 30-day journal, Reflections on Success, is designed to help you meditate on areas of your life and business that will help you grow both personally and professionally. We hope that you find this journey to be a powerful one in your growth as a successful business leader.
  • 15 Days to Greater Success: An essential part of reaching your goals is building up the momentum you need to reach the finish line. This workbook lays out a 15-day process to build that momentum and create the environment you need to achieve your goals!

The best part is, these books are all free! They’re created by the direct sales industry to help you grow your business and achieve your goals.

So if you’re ready to do what it takes to grow your business, click here to download these books now.

*NOTE: This download works best on a desktop browser. If you have trouble accessing this page from a mobile device try it from a desktop computer.

Find Your Purpose

Find Your Purpose

MP900444069[1]What is the main purpose of your business? Your answer should not be “to make money.” Of course, turning a profit and supporting yourself should rank pretty high up there, but it shouldn’t be the most important one. Small business expert Susan Solovic writes in her blog for Constant Contact that we should consider the purpose of companies like Apple and Zappos. They have an almost cult-like following because of what they are trying to accomplish with their products other than selling as many as possible. If you are having trouble finding your deeper purpose, take a look at our list of suggestions on where to begin. 

  • Listen to your inner voice and hold off on asking others what they think. Before you start seeking opinions on what your purpose should be, tune into your inner voice for inspiration. You will no doubt be influenced at least partially by what others think, so define your purpose for yourself before asking around. Brainstorm some ideas, read up on the origins of other successful companies, and listen carefully to that inner voice we all have that helps us make decisions and think clearly. Once you have a definitive idea, then it’s time to gather opinions from others. 
  • Follow what is exciting, not what is easy. In business, just as in life, the easy choice may not always be the best one. If you’ve ever read about the history of Apple Inc., you would see that Steve Jobs, on more than one occasion, did just that. He and his team continually spent a great deal of time and resources creating products that excited him. Many times, his investors didn’t believe in the idea or didn’t think it was worthy of pursuing. Keep in mind that because of Jobs’ tenacity and commitment to follow his passion for the exciting, Apple created more instant millionaires when it went public than any other company in history, and helped make Apple the brand it is today. 
  • Tap into your instincts and emotions rather than logic. You obviously don’t want to ignore logic completely, but when finding the purpose for your business, your instincts should take over. Instincts and emotions are powerful enough to guide us to do great things. When faced with a difficult question or decision, listen carefully to your initial gut reaction. This does not mean to act impulsively, but rather to let that gut feeling lead the way on your journey. Keep listening to it as you conduct research, bounce ideas off others, and take any other logical steps toward making the final call. For many hard-working and ambitious people, this is not always the easiest thing to do, but it certainly is important if you want to find your true purpose that drives you toward success. 

When finding your purpose, you don’t have to set out to change the world. You only have to do what makes you passionate, what motivates you, and what excites you. This is one time in business where your emotions should dominate.

What have you done to find your purpose? Would you add to our list? Please share your ideas in the comments section below!

Four Ideas To Take Your Business To The Next Level

Four Ideas To Take Your Business To The Next Level

Four Ideas to Take Your Business to the Next Level from http://dsef.orgAsk any successful small business owner what he or she envisioned when first launching the business. Most of them will tell you that this vision is what helps them to keep moving forward and take their business to the next level. In today’s post, we offer four things you can do to grow your business and achieve your vision.

1. Do what you truly love and find ways to make money from it.  If you aren’t doing something you’re passionate about, it will be very difficult to succeed long term. It’s important to tap into your interests. Ask yourself what drives you, what you care about, and what you’d like to spend every day doing with your time. For example, after spending years as a full-time parent, Jean decides to break back into the work force by using her experience as a competitive dancer to teach dance to local children. She starts out with a small clientele, but through word of mouth, eventually grows enough to purchase her own space and send her students to competitions. Nothing can motivate you more to succeed than doing something you truly enjoy.

2. Find and team up with great people to help you grow your business. When expanding her dance studio, Jean didn’t do it alone. She contacted people from her circle of dance friends from her youth, some of whom were also making a living in the arts. She picked their brains, asked for advice, and even recruited some to come work with her. Use your expertise in conjunction with your passion to identify smart, hard-working people with whom you surround yourself. Your network is essential to the success of your business.

3. Use and leverage your failures to improve. Each business endeavor is sure to come with its fair share of challenges. Instead of letting yourself get bogged down in the disappointment and stress of it all, use these experiences to learn and grow. What went wrong? How did it happen? Could it have been prevented? How could you improve for next time? The better able you are to turn your weaknesses into strengths, the more likely you are to find success and make your vision a reality.

4. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel. Instead, personalize and make it better. It can take a lot of time to come up with strategies that are truly original and, most of the time, there is no need. Put your own spin on existing ideas to improve them and attract others to your business. Part of the reason Jean’s dance studio was so successful was because she personalized her services. It’s easy to find jazz and acrobatics classes for toddlers, but very few places teach tap to such young children. Since that is Jean’s specialty, she promoted that particular class more than the others, gave them a special mid-year recital, and was able to beat her competitors for those students. Identify what you bring to the table, and commit to it. You’ll be amazed at the results.

Remember to keep in mind your vision for the business, and know your strengths to help you get to the next level. Be passionate, ask for help, and learn from your mistakes.

What else would you add to our list? Please share with us in the comments below!

Our Top 10 Posts in 2013

Our Top 10 Posts in 2013

Front view portrait of four business executives jumping with arms raisedHere at DSEF, it’s our goal to provide you with great content you can use right now to build your business. And it’s content you can use any time. So we dug into the archives, to provide you with our Top 10 posts of 2013. These were your favorite posts this past year. Which one is your favorite?

  1. 6 Ideas to Increase Sales
  2. Is the Company a Scam? How to Identify a Pyramid Scheme
  3. 12 Tips for Successful Online Virtual Events
  4. 5 Tips To Attract More People To Your Facebook Page
  5. How to Run a Successful Direct Selling Business (and a Free Gift for You!)
  6. How to Find Customers
  7. Free eBook: 15 Days to Greater Success
  8. Five Ways to Increase Repeat Sales
  9. 6 Strategies to Attract Customers
  10. No Sales? Tips to Make Sales

Thanks for being such a great community! We appreciate your support and look forward to continuing to serve you this year!