7 things that entrepreneurs, business owners, and independent professionals must do every day

Hello, Social Media Boss Lady here, and we're back again for another episode on marketing tactics for entrepreneurs. You are definitely passionate about being an entrepreneur, right? But if you're like me, there are times when you're just not feeling it. I mean, you're not inspired to write another blog post, I mean, I was like that last week. Or share another Instagram caption. Well, I've gone through that this week. Or work on a new product or dive into a client project. Well, we experience that almost every day. When you know you've got to do it, it's a problem. Still, you want to give your customers your absolute best and definitely come from a place of genuine authenticity. But when you have those days where, where or when you're not feeling it, what can you do? So I will share with you 7 things that entrepreneurs, business owners, and independent professionals must do every single day. 1, revisit your goals, your milestones, your metrics for the day, for the week, for the month, the quarter— financials, marketing, sales, operations, etc. The ramifications if you don't do this daily is that you lose sight of the big picture and you get pulled off your game by distractions, trivia, and grunt work. The next thing you do is that you put new prospects on your radar via strategic approach. Now, if you don't do this, the consequences— if you don't do this daily, the consequences are that one, that your sales and marketing start to slip, and then you suffer from the feast or famine small business sales roller coaster. I didn't make that up. I got that from somewhere. So as a business coach, I, I definitely have observed that, um, strategic business owners tend to be focused and successful, which is true, and tactical business owners tend to be scattered and struggling. This is also true. So if you want lasting and profitable business success, the key is to marry a small number of highly focused strategies with a variety of tightly aligned marketing and sales tactics. I'm just coming up with, um, how to put new prospects on your radar. So you need to marry the 2, tactics and strategy. So I'll share with you 7 ways to help you get started, and then we'll continue on with our initial list. So one is that tactics are definitely— they are very easy, and it's tempting to confuse executing tactics with moving your business forward, but it's not always the case, really. 2 is that strategy is the why-to and tactics are the how-to. So if you stop focusing on your why, even for a short while, you will fall into what we call the trap of getting really good at creating and selling projects or services that you don't want to be doing. So ask yourself, so how am I trapping myself with off-strategy successes? Another key thing to help you get started is that, I mean, sometimes it feels good when you, uh, you're executing tactics, and sometimes it feels really hard to create strategies. Now, this is because you have come face to face with what we call the time-space continuum. So basically, you can't— what I mean by this is that basically you can't execute everything you want to do all at once. So, uh, what you probably should do is that, um, you probably would think that— you, you would probably think that I can't try this. So sometimes you need to ask yourself the question, so how am I subconsciously letting myself be overwhelmed with not enough strategy but too many tactics? I have had to ask myself that question almost every day. Another, another thing is that tactics tend to pile up, so there's always more to do, but strategy is sort of like a limiting factor. Strategy actually shows you, um, what you should not be doing, what you should not be building, what you should not be selling, what you should not be offering. Strategy actually serves your business as a filter. Yeah, so when, um, you have no strategy, every tactic actually looks very reasonable. So ask yourself as you're analyzing this, that how have you buried yourself in tactics when while starving yourself of strategy. The next thing you need to do is that, um, business owners are— well, well, as business owners and entrepreneurs, we love talking to each other about tactics, what's worked, what hasn't worked, what's next. We rarely talk strategy, and we really— we rarely talk about things that we want to stop doing. So Thinking time. What questions could you ask your colleagues to find out? I mean, rather, yeah, what questions could you ask your colleagues to find out what— to be able to find out what they have pared down, what they've eliminated to help them increase their strategic focus? We also find out that we're a bit too busy for strategy. Yes, really, it's true. I mean, how about spending a morning in your comfy chair, your rocking chair, with a notebook pad or notebook and a set of colored pencils or colored Sharpies and have a strategic meeting with yourself, what I like to call thinking time. In less than 2 hours, you can do a data dump, a brain dump, a project review, a client review, an ideal business model exercise, and create several lists such as low payoff activities that take too much of your time and also also create high— I mean, list out high-payoff activities that you need to create more time for. And when you review your notes, you summarize it and categorize them and begin to put them in action. So ask yourself, when was the last time you actually had a strategic meeting with yourself? And last but not the least is that, um, when you busy yourself writing emails, it's not a strategy at all. Email is not a tactic. Email is not a high payoff activity. Yes, you might definitely get a few client mails a day, or customer service mails, or a handful of leads. Other than that, sitting on email all day is actually a deadly distraction that sucks up way too much time. So stop. Stop it. Make a sign over your desk where you can see from your computer that says email is not my job. Think entire question is that so? How has email actually stolen your strategies focus today or lately? I mean, if any of this few tactics strategic keys tactics strategy keys hit you definitely and it resonated with you definitely. I would like to give you— I would like to hear you give me an amen or yes, I so totally agree with you. So, but that's it. But I'm not done with the, uh, I'm not done with, um, the 7 top things that entrepreneurs, business owners, and independent professionals must do every single day. But we'll go on a little short break and then we'll be back and then we will continue on. So one thing I just want to let you know before we come back shortly is that tactics before strategy actually leads to suffering. So when you make strategic decisions first, all your marketing and sales choices become easy. So don't be a victim of the all too common entrepreneurial disease of— okay, I borrowed this disease from someone called tacticsitis. Tacticsitis. You're too smart for that. Focus on strategy and the tactics will become obvious. All right. Okay. And now we have some exciting news to share with you. Yes, exciting news! Our podcast, Marketing Tactics for Entrepreneurs, is now available on Spotify. We're available on Apple Podcasts, we're available on Google Podcasts, we're available on Radio Public. Podcast, podcast, and breaker. So we're letting you know so that you can share on Facebook, share on Twitter, share on Instagram, share on LinkedIn. You can always find the links to our podcast available in the episode notes. And so we're going back to the 7 things businesses, entrepreneurs, and, um, marketing professionals, independent professionals must do Every single day. So we talked about the first one, which was revisit your goals and milestones and matrix for the day, the week, the month, the quarter. Put prospects on your radar. And, um, the next thing would be, uh, thank your team, whether it's in-house, outsourced, full-time, virtual, whatever. Always thank them. Now, if you don't do this daily, your team definitely would lose their motivation, their momentum, or mojo. 3 M's. And once that's gone, definitely they are halfway out the door. So you always have to thank your team. Rather, thank your team. Okay, so the next thing is offer value. Now, in terms of offer value, in terms of content, your blog, a video, a resource, a referral, a favor, or gift. Now, if you don't do this every day, you'll become you become just more marketing noise, and customers and prospects will definitely tune you out and see you as a peddler and not a partner. 5, you should invite engagement, whether it's online, whether it's offline, whether it's in person, whether it's by phone or by Zoom. Ask and answer questions, solicit feedback, invite comments, send a survey. If you don't do this every day, your business becomes isolated, and as you talk at your customers and clients rather than talk with them. You just begin to talk at them and you don't— you're not conversing with them, you're not engaging them. Number 6, recharge your batteries. So just like the airlines say, secure your own mask before assisting others. If you don't recharge your batteries on a daily basis, you'd have what we call the entrepreneurial burnout, entrepreneurial stress, drinking, Drugs, divorce if you're married. I mean, don't laugh, you could be next. I mean, it has happened to some people, so you could be next. And last but not the least would be, be gracious and grateful. So take a moment to appreciate what you have, what you've built, and who you get to serve every day. Now, the ramifications if you don't do this every day is that instead of becoming more and more fulfilling, Your business success becomes a trap. It becomes a race and a never-ending contest that you, you, you can never win. So stop. Just simply stop. Smell the air. Smell the coffee. Drink in the freshness. So those are the 7 top things that entrepreneurs, business owners, independent professionals must do every single day. Revisit your goals and milestones, put new prospects on your radar. Next thing is you must always thank your team. And then when you do that, offer value, invite engagement, recharge your batteries, and be gracious and grateful. And last but not the least, recharge your batteries. Yes, I think I did everything. Okay, but don't go yet. I have some exciting news just coming right up, and then we'll see you at the end of the episode. Believe it or not, there is definitely a right way and a wrong way to do social media. I mean, do you know all the benefits of consistently posting? I mean, without spending all day doing it. Here's what the wrong way looks like. You spend hours researching the competition, what they say, how often they post, etc. You spend more hours figuring out what to say. You spend the time and/or money to create articles, graphics, and more content to share. You post on all your social media channels. And after spending so much time on social, you still have to attend to other parts of your business. Not to mention you still have to get clients. What's worse, not being consistent, not having a strong presence, and not having relevant messaging can actually hurt your business. But here's the real problem: too often it's not just practical for small business owners, marketers, and entrepreneurs with limited time and resources to fully maximize their social media because Social media takes consistency and frankly a lot of work. So if you're interested in learning how to master social media and automate it so that you can receive the maximum benefits without sacrificing your time, click here on the link in the episode notes to join me at Marketing Tactics for Entrepreneurs, either the Facebook group or the LinkedIn group. In there you will learn the only social networks that 99.9% of businesses should be caring about to get in front of their best prospects. You also learn the single biggest myth about social media marketing that holds many businesses back. You also learn exactly what you need to be posting on your social profiles to stay relevant with your prospects and to establish you as an authority in your industry. You also learn how often you should be posting to build brand awareness and to stay top of mind with your ideal clients. You'll learn the single most important factor you need to know in order to have success with your social media marketing. And last but not least, you also learn how to automate this entire system so that you barely have to lift a finger. This is extremely helpful for you if you ever find yourself struggling to keep up with social media and stay consistent. See you there. So I just took you through 7 of the things as business owners, entrepreneurs, independent professionals that you need to do on a daily basis Um, revisit your goals, milestones, and metrics. You need to put up— put new prospects on your radar every day. You need to, um, thank your team. You need to offer value. You need to invite engagement. Um, you need to recharge your batteries, and you need to be gracious and grateful. Okay, so here's what I do actually to get fired up and into my zone. One is that I first, I remember, first I remember why I chose to be an entrepreneur. The freedom, the ability to set my own path, to be my own boss, to experience and experiment limitless potential. I mean, to work from anywhere in the world, and most importantly, to make the change I believe I was put on this earth to make. 2, I think about the one person I want to serve. I ground myself into how much I am helping other online entrepreneurs, creatives, other bloggers, and it, it motivates me to roll up my sleeves and just dig in, go into the mud, the muck, and the mire with them. 3, I think about the people I have already helped. I mean, sometimes the lack of motivation stems from negative thoughts and beliefs, with like thoughts like, what I'm doing doesn't matter, I can't do it, I'm not getting there fast enough. I mean, if you have such thoughts, to counteract them, think about all the people you have already helped, even if it's just one. Pretty soon you'll feel pumped up And then you get jazzed up again to like, yes, I can help some more. I can make that 1, 2, make the 2, 4, make the 4, 8, make the 8, 16, make the 16, 32, make the 32, 64, make the 264, 128, and make the 128, 256. Yeah, my math is good. Okay, next thing is that I remember my big vision. So sometimes we tend to overestimate what we can do in a day, and then we sometimes underestimate what we can do in 10 years. I'm pretty sure that sounds like a Tony Robbins quote. Yes, Tony, yes, so I took that from you, and it's so spot on. You basically have to to learn to take tiny steps on a daily basis consistently to make things happen. Next thing is that I'm, I, I'm always grateful for opportunities that I come across that I have. I mean, gratitude doesn't really come naturally to us sometimes as human beings, but we learn. And you find out that you are able to do what you love and help so many people I mean, what else is there? When you're grateful, you feel happy, and when you feel happy, you get to work because heck, I'm a workaholic. So I— it's a positive confession. Yes, I love helping people. That's why I love working. The next is that I get up and I move. I mean, this is gold. It's cheap, it's easy, it's so, so, so effective. I mean, I'll be— you definitely would be amazed at how a simple thing like going for a walk or doing some exercise or just trying to get up out of your chair just to give you a completely different perspective and loads of energy. I mean, find out what works for you. Get up and move. So if you did want help staying motivated, motivated and getting into your zone, let me know. I'm here for you. So this is Social Media Boss Lady, AKA Ruth Kusemiju, on Marketing Tactics for Entrepreneurs. And it's your story, go live it well. I'll see you guys on the next episode. And do not forget to subscribe to our podcast and so that you'll be notified of the next episode coming up on Marketing Tactics for entrepreneurs. Take care, guys, and bye. Bye.