What Could Your Small Business Learn from a 16 Year Old?

I have to say, although I’ve always been a fan of the Olympics, I’ve never quite seen them the way I’m seeing them now. No I’m not talking about some new high-definition television equipment… although that would be nice too… I’m talking about seeing them with new eyes… seeing the athletes in the light of the pure-perfection that they are.

What they do is amazing! Their ability to perform seemingly incredible feats under pressure is quite impressive. However, for me it’s the person they’ve had to be and are currently being in order to position themselves for this level of greatness that just astounds me. It’s hard to believe that some of these Olympic athletes are only 16 years old. So what’s the secret to their success? How is it that a 16 year old can literally become the best in the world at anything? And what can we all stand to learn from them?

Well here are 7 core characteristics that jump out at me:

1. They Have a Dream -- They know exactly what they want… they’ve got their eye on the prize and they pursue it with unwavering determination.

2. They Set Big, Audacious Goals -- They take that vision and chunk it down into milestones that constantly push the limits of what they know to be possible.

3. They Have a Plan -- I heard one announcer say that some of the Chinese athletes have been being groomed since Kindergarten to be where they are today some 11 or 12 years later… talk about having a plan and sticking to it.

4. They Have a Winning Mentality -- In their minds, there’s simply no room for second best. They practice and practice and practice some more until they can perform their routines without blinking. They master the fundamentals knowing they lie at the core of greatness as well as identify, nurture, and capitalize on their unique talents that separate them from everyone else. They are willing to do whatever it takes to win.

5. They Have a Strong Support Structure -- This level of excellence can not be achieved alone. It’s all about team! A supportive family, great coaches, inspiring mentors, generous sponsors, like-minded peers, as well as so many others play a significant role in making it all possible.

6. They Keep Metrics -- Everything is measured to ensure proper progress is happening at all times. There is nothing left to guesswork. This becomes the measuring stick for greatness.

Lastly and most importantly…

7. They Believe in Themselves -- They honestly and wholeheartedly believe that the only limitations they face are the ones they set for themselves. This makes them powerful and unstoppable. It provides that final bit of edge needed to win.

Wow… just imagine if you as a small business owner could harness just a glimmer of all of these characteristics of greatness. How effective and successful would you and your small business be?

So why settle for mediocrity? Why live day-to-day wondering and worrying where your next meal is coming from? Is this stuff easy? No! If it was every small business would perform like an Olympic athlete. However, the lessons for success do lie all around us… even in a 16 year old… we just have to be willing enough to see it, seize it, and care enough about ourselves and those we touch to go for the gold.

© 2008 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

Want to use this article in your newsletter, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include the following complete blurb with it (including links).

Liked this article? -- Then check out Long Island-based marketing consultant, coach, and entrepreneur Dean Mercado’s highly acclaimed marketing blog 'The Motivational Marketer’s Journal' at http://www.MotivationalMarketer.com. Additionally, for even more small business marketing and success tips, sample the latest edition of his FREE marketing tips newsletter the 'Marketing Minute' at http://www.onlinemarketingmuscle.com/marketingminute/ , -- a weekly multimedia e-zine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes.

Facebook: Gold Mine or Waste of Time?

Social networking is all the rage right now and comes in a multitude of flavors... guaranteed to be something for everyone. There is one however that appears to be on fire right now… and that’s Facebook.

Millions are using it and thousands upon thousands are joining into the craze every day.

So the big question becomes… how about for business… does it make sense to use Facebook as a means to promote your business?

In one word… absolutely! And here are 10 great reasons of why you need to be on Facebook now:

1. Use It to Promote Your Brand
Dunkin Donuts has Facebook users passing out virtual treats from their menu… creating massive top-of-mind and brand awareness. Why not do something similar?

2. Use It to Do Highly Targeted Prospecting
Facebook makes it real easy to both locate and open up conversation with people with specific interests and commonalities.

3. Use It to Connect On a Deeper Level with Your Prospects and Clients
People buy from people, not businesses. Leverage Facebook to become more personable, human, and reachable. Write on your “friends” walls… add some photos of yourself… use Facebook’s “Groups” feature to build your own community within Facebook… the possibilities are endless.

4. Use It to Promote Your Specials and Events
Facebook provides a number of ways to automatically notify your “friends” on Facebook of any time sensitive special or event. For starters try a combination of Facebook’s “Events”, “Status”, and “Wall” features to let others know what you’ve got going on.

5. Use It to Drive Traffic to Your Web Site
Provide some links throughout your personal profile as well as create a page for your business that contains links that drive prospects back to specific areas of your business’s web site.

6. Use It to Improve Your Search Engine Rankings
As far as improving your overall search engine rankings, there is nothing like one-way incoming links from highly popular and trafficked web sites such as Facebook. According to Alexa.com, at the time of this writing, Facebook is ranked as the 8^th most popular site on the web… that means out of all the web sites that exist on the Internet today… and there’s a lot of them… there are only 7 web sites that are more popular than Facebook.

7. Use It to Do Highly Targeted Advertising
Yes this one does cost money however because of the amount of information that Facebook knows about its members, it has the power to pinpoint where your ads are placed... thus giving your ads a greater chance at success than most advertising mediums.

8. Use It to Increase Your Credibility
Position yourself as an expert in your field by sharing some tidbits of wisdom on a regular basis and soon prospects will being seeking you out. Again leveraging features such as “Events” and “Groups” will set you well on your way to accomplishing this.

9. Use It to Obtain Easier, More Direct Access to Mentors
Outside of the Facebook world, what I’ve found is that it has become more and more difficult to reach mentors directly. Typically there is an assistant of some sort playing traffic cop. While in Facebook, at least at the time of this writing, I’ve found it much easier to reach the actual person I wanted to reach. They were actually managing much of the Facebook interaction themselves. Now what you do with that access is up to you.

10. Use It to Aggregate Feeds from Your Other Sources
Whenever I update my blog, a notification gets posted on my “Wall” for all my Facebook friends to see. Whenever I “tweet” using another Social Networking application called Twitter, again my Facebook profile is automatically updated. This stuff is powerful! Talk about working smarter not harder. Facebook, especially with the large assortment of add-in applications, has the capability to integrate some of your key online marketing tactics with your Facebook profile and pages.

So in closing, the name of the game is changing, and that game for right now at least is Facebook. In my opinion, Facebook is the epitome of where the Internet is headed. It provides an environment that fosters community, is experiential, interactive, immediate, unique, and completely addictive. And take it from me… these are all really good things for your business and Facebook.

© 2008 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

Want to use this article in your newsletter, blog or web site? You have my blessing so long as you include the following complete blurb with it (including links).

Liked this article? -- Then check out Long Island-based marketing consultant, coach, and entrepreneur Dean Mercado’s highly acclaimed marketing blog 'The Motivational Marketer’s Journal' at http://www.MotivationalMarketer.com. Additionally, for even more small business marketing and success tips, sample the latest edition of his FREE marketing tips newsletter the 'Marketing Minute' at http://www.onlinemarketingmuscle.com/marketingminute/ , -- a weekly multimedia e-zine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes.