Tag Archives: amy diederich

Jack and The Magic Beanstalk


Posted by Amy Diederich

The Beanstalk

Recently I was one of a “select group” to be invited to attend a webinar on starting your own business. I received a barrage of emails about the magic steps to success. I was intrigued and stayed tuned in until it came time to buy. The cost of the webinar? $1495.00.

Why did I not enroll? Not because of the price but because of the promises! The webinar stated if I followed the steps I would get rich quick! This was a giant red flag for me. I know from starting my own business that there is not one magic bean that will grow the giant beanstalk or one magic step to entrepreneurial success. It takes work!

You will notice I did not say hard work. The one thing I learned from my dad and had drilled into my head from early on is.. “What will make you successful is doing what you love with those who you love.”  I say almost the same thing to my three kids, but I say it a bit differently. I say, “Success is doing what you love with those that you love.” I work long hours but I love it! I am always thinking about my business because it is my passion.

I am blessed to be in a business that helps other people. Get Your BIG On helps connect those who have expertise to share with those seeking that expertise. I receive emails, Facebook messages, calls, and twitter messages almost daily from people who want or need help. Sometimes it is someone looking for information other times it is someone wanting to share information. What a great business to be in! What a great life to live!

Next week at www.getyourbigon.com we are featuring a class offered by Tara Alemany and Rick Swartz from Building your Biz called Getting a Rush from Your Follow-up. In this class they talk about the joy of building your business. They use an analogy to working out. In building your business you get up, work out and repeat day after day to see results. Those of us who love our workout routine know that the only way to do this is and keep it up is to do what you love.

So when you get those ads promising you the magic bean that will grow the magic beanstalk be wary! They may have information that helps but unless you find your true passion.. work will be hard work! My steps for success are do what you love and learn all you can to be the best you can!


Building the Buzz


Posted by Amy Diederich

You have decided to start a business, you are excited about the prospect. You are passionate about your business idea. But there is so much to do. How do you make time to execute your business idea and market your idea at the same time. You may have limited financial resources or the resources you have you want to devote to your brick and mortar business.

The reality is you need to make time for building awareness. The good news is you can raise your profile for free! You can do so organically through interviews with news organizations, speaking engagements and building a reputation in social media. There are ways to do it as you are building your business.

Some ways to consider are starting a blogging about your business places like blogspot and wordpress are a great place to begin blogging. This is a free way to start to get the word out. It can work with your development of your business because you can use it capture and shape thoughts about your business idea best of all its only cost is your time. 

Another idea is twitter. You can begin to tweet about your business right away. You may also want to consider writing articles about your business concept, location, expertise, etc.

According to Hubspot “It is exciting to see inbound marketing growing as an industry. As this trends picks up, business owners, marketers and marketing agencies have the tough task of hiring the right people to help with inbound marketing for their business. This process is often further complicated by the fact that the recruiters are still in the process of learning about inbound marketing themselves.”

If time is in short supply check out tools such as Hootsuite. Hootsuite allows you to update several social media outlets at once. Some networking sites such as LinkedIn allow you to update both your LinkedIn network and Twitter friends at the same time.

So jump in and begin sharing your story!


My Formula for Entrepreneurial Success


Posted by Amy Diederich

Right Product + Market Opportunity + Committed Execution = Success

Many people ask me what is the key to my success as a business owner. I look to the formula that my dad passed down to me. He would say you need to have a product that people need. Elaborating that not only do you need a product people need but you need enough people to need it to make a profit. Mix in a passion for what you are doing and learning everything you can about selling, marketing, making and developing the product.

Harvard Business School professor Nitin Nohria along with William Joyce and Bruce Roberson studied 160 companies to look for common management practices that succeed and found a sound business plan is at the core of success. They found a strong grasp of business basics was the key to longevity and growth. My dad never went to college only trade school. He smiles when I share what the Harvard Business School says about success.  My dad is a smart man with a great deal of common sense.

As I explore what makes a person both a success as an inventor and entrepreneur, I think that I have found another key! You must be highly smart but also have common sense. I am not sure the two always go hand in hand.

I look to the great inventor/entrepreneur Colonel Deed. He not only invented things but was called by Quaker Oats to improve functioning of a factory. He is an example of a highly intelligent man with good business common sense.


Mind Mapping


Posted by Amy Diederich

I had lunch with an old friend today. She is changing jobs and is excited by the prospect. We discussed how to sort out what she wants to do. While career transitions are not directly related to starting your own business…they are important to starting big!

My advice- Mind Mapping. Mind mapping is a great way to get clarity about what you want. Here is how I use it for visioning and my career. I put my name in the middle of a blank sheet of paper. I then surround my name with lines. Imagine a sun with rays. Each ray I label with an aspect of what I want in a job. For example one ray might be compensation. Another ray might be work environment.

Why?

I remember attending a class given by Lou Tice, “Investment in Excellence.” In this class he explained that our mind can handle only so much incoming stimulation. If you focus on something your brain will begin looking for stimuli that match that item.

He gave us the homework of looking for red cars. He told us you will be amazed at how many red cars you will see when you are looking.

I did the assignment and he was right! Red cars were everywhere.

Try it!

The mind map of what you want for your job or for your life works much the same way. As you become clear on what you are looking for it your mind will search for opportunities that match what you are seeking!

So here is your challenge try looking for red cars.. If you see them everywhere. .then create your mind map!