New to Public and Media Relations? Christina Rowsell Shares Basic Things You Need To Know How do you know how to deal with the public and the media? And why are they important for your business anyway? In this episode of Enlightened Entrepreneur Podcast, Christina Rowsell, a long-time media relations expert, shares a few critical tips and ticks on how to successfully launch yourself in the local, national and international media scene.

Key Questions Asked:

What criteria should business owners use in finding the right person or company to work with when it comes to PR? What area do business owners commonly make mistakes in? What is it that reporters and media are looking for from business owners? Assuming that they have done all these tings, where can business owners find major opportunities when it comes to media? If you she were to do it all over again, knowing what she knows now, what would Christina do differently?

Highlights of Lessons Learned:

Media & Public Relations

A press release has to be three things: be newsworthy, evoke emotion and has to be of value to the readers, viewers and listeners. There’s a big difference between advertising and using earned media. It is important for business owners like you to know what your story is and why do you want to tell your story. When you do your PR, you have to look at your ‘RACE’ formula: Research, Action, Communication, and Evaluation. When you hire a PR Company, make sure that that they have a good rapport with the local media. Christina encourages new and small business owners to start locally, because when you can increase your profile within your own community, it’s going to look better once you start to go nationally. The media is looking for something that’s going to work with the program that they’re producing.

Mistakes & Other Tips

A lot of business owners will not write a proper press release. Following up is another thing that people don’t do but they should do. A lot of people are also afraid that press releases are archaic, however, you got to find a way to tell the media that you exist one way or another. Another mistake business owners make is they write the press release like an advertisement, which makes it less interesting. Another tip: do not make your press release more than two pages, you really have to pull out what is the meat and the heart of your story, and what you think will make an impact to the audience. If you’ve never done an interview, make sure you find somebody who can do media training and will help you how to cope with nerves, how to talk to the camera in different settings, etc.

Hayley Smith Talks About How To Know If Your Business is Ready For PR Are you curious about what PR can do to your business? This episode of Enlightened Entrepreneur Podcast features PR expert Hayley Smith who graciously answers every questions start-up business owners might have regarding public relations. Hayley, who is the founder of Boxed Out PR, has been helping business owners with their public relations for ten years now, successfully achieving their goal to leverage the online world and creating online opportunities for business owners.

Key Questions Asked:

Hayley started her company during a difficult time, what happened that finally triggered her decision to start her own business? For business owners who are thinking to engage in the service of a PR agent, what criteria should they use in finding the right person to work with? What is a PR plan? What sort of changes had to take place as Hayley was transitioning from being an employee to being an employer?

Highlights of Lessons Learned:

Hayley’s advice is to not use a PR company unless you’re absolutely sure that you have all the business elements in place first. This includes having your work site ready, having your follow ins and social media set up. In terms of choosing the PR agencies, choose the one that can answer all of your questions and you feel like is a good for your business. Your marketing plan should consist of social media followings and engagement strategies, campaign ideas, and calendar markings that serve as your day to day guide of the activities that you intend to implement over a certain period of time. What’s so important with being a PR person is that you need to be available when your clients need you. In terms of doing your own PR, it can be extremely time consuming, especially if you’re a business owner, and it’s easier to outsource. It is important to maintain a really personal presence online, let people see your photos, do online video, and live Facebook video. A mentor is someone who you can go to and ask questions and guidance, someone you can invest in that will tell you if you’re doing the right thing.

Improve Your Digital Marketing Game With These Tips From Linda Waterhouse What else can you do to boost your online presence?Linda Waterhouse helps small business owners gain clarity, take action and increase revenue with digital marketing solutions. In this episode of Enlightened Entrepreneur Podcast, she shares important tips business owners need to know and other skills they need to have in order to succeed in today’s market.

Key Questions Asked:

How did Linda get into this world of digital marketing? How is she picking up new clients? What is the attitude or the mindset one has to have in order to succeed with networking events? If she were to start all over again today, what would Linda do differently? In her experience right now, what is something that really works in her business? What skills do business owners need to have in their business in order to succeed in digital marketing? What aspect of digital marketing have higher rate or return in terms of time or money? Where does Linda see a lot of business owners make mistake when it comes to the digital marketing today?

Highlights of Lessons Learned:

Building Online Presence

One of her first tests was to get more leads and get more clients. Linda recommends any business owner to look around and start joining some local business networking. Going in to these networking meetings, a wise business owner can’t go in there just to sell. Instead, you need to come from a place of “How can I help other people?” Digital marketing is only one piece of a pie, you need to have multiple ways of finding clients. Given the chance to do it all over again today, Linda would have focused more on building up her email list, which would have been her primary focus instead of just going out and meeting people and not doing anything about it. There are only two things we really own in the digital marketing space, one is our website and the other is our email list. Building your website is like building a store but then the marketing is what turns out the light on the store.

Skill Set and Strategies

The first digital marketing skill that entrepreneurs need to have is the knowledge of how to make a simple website or a landing page in order to have a home base. You can either do your website through a free website building tool or hire somebody to do it for you. The second skill is figuring out what they want to say and not to be afraid to spread the word, which means if you’re whispering your marketing now, you need to get a megaphone and really get that marketing out there. Business owners also need to know what types of keywords or keyword phrases that their clients are typing to search for people like them and they need to figure out ways how to incorporate that into their websites and a whole list of other activities which is – in general – called search engine optimization. E-mail marketing has the highest return on investment. It was revealed that for every dollar spent on email marketing, there’s an average of $40 to $44 in return on investment. The biggest mistake Linda sees is that business owners don’t do enough with digital marketing, a lot of people would put their website up and then would fail to maintain the site.

Zondra Wilson on How To Build A Business That Actually Adds Value Zondra’s story is a testimony that with faith, (coupled with hard work, of course) one can create something that’s truly wonderful. Zondra is the only female African American owner manufacturer and distributor of a skin care company with USDA certified organic accreditation in the United States.

Key Questions Asked:

How did Zondra end up running a skin care business? What challenges did Zondra face during the early days of building her business? If she were yo start all over again, what would Zondra do differently? How has faith helped Zondra in building and running her business?

Highlights of Lessons Learned:

Zondra tells the story of the major turning points in her career which led her to starting a skin care business. Given the chance to start all over again, Zondra would trust my gut more, and would not try to do too much too soon Another mistake that Zondra wished she had not done when she was starting out in her business was listen to too many people. Ultimately, it was faith, prayers and hard work that brought Zondra’s skin care business to where it is today, claiming that she wouldn’t have made it if it were not for God’s guidance and direction.

Tammy Johnston Talks About 3 Skills That Will Help You Manage Your Finances Better In this episode of Enlightened Entrepreneur Podcast, financial expert Tammy Johnston talks about three critical skills every entrepreneur needs to have and develop if they are going to succeed in their business. As a highly successful financial adviser with 23 years of experience on financial services and insurance, Tammy has graciously shared a few useful tips about finance that a lot of people, both in and outside the business realm, can benefit from in improving how they manage their finances.

Key Questions Asked:

What is the first critical skill that every business owner needs to develop when it comes to their finances? What tools can business owners use to become aware of what’s happening with their finances? For those who have already given the bookkeeping task to somebody, what are the ways around for them to get back to that awareness? What is then the second skill every business owner needs to have? What is the next stage that they need to focus on? What sort of planning tools does Tammy currently use in her business when it comes to finances? What is the right mindset that business owners need to adopt? How does Tammy go about finding like-minded and reliable individuals? What are the challenges that she faced and how was she able to overcome them?

Highlights of Lessons Learned: 

Skills an Other Tips

The first skill every business owner must develop is awareness. Most people are often so busy making money that they have no idea of what is actually going on with their finances. When Tammy starts working with somebody, the first thing she asks them to do is handle their own bookkeeping for a minimum of six months. For those who have already got somebody else doing their bookkeeping, make sure to sit down with your bookkeeper or having a phone conversation at least once a month and having a look at your reports. The second skill that business owners must develop is planning. Plan for where you want to go. Next stage you need to focus on and figure out is what brings in profit to your business and what can you be doing to improve your marketing strategies.

Mindset, Challenges and Tactics

As for the mindset, business owners need to be open minded, they need to find competent and qualified individuals who will help bring out the most in them. The biggest challenge that Tammy had to deal with when she first started out in her business was the stress of not having the steady paycheck and not knowing exactly what’s coming. As a new business owner, you have to find ways of coping and keeping forward and being able to pay your bills. One way Tammy was able to do this was by reading good business books, another thing that helped her was having a circle of friends who knows she’s trying to do acts as her immediate support system.

Donovan Ryckis Answers 7 Financial Services Questions Everyone Needs To Know About In this Episode of Enlightened Entrepreneur Podcast, finance expert, Donovan Ryckis answers seven financial services questions every business owner needs to know the answers to. He emphasizes the importance of how to go about managing your taxes, student debts, and insurance.

Key Questions Asked:

What would be the smarter way for any business owner who are just getting started to pay off outstanding balances that could hold them back from moving forward? How much then do they need to set aside or to start to contribute towards their retirement? What roadblocks did Donovan face throughout his entrepreneurial journey and how does he overcome them? How did Donovan get his first client? What is the role of mentors in his early years of running a business? Knowing what he knows now in terms of running a financial services provision, what would Donovan do different if he were to start all over again? What things would he do more of that resulted to increase in his return on investment?

Highlights of Lessons Learned:

It’s not always the best case scenario to pay off all the student loans all at once just because you have it. A better way to do this is to keep making the minimum or regular payment of your student dept and use your extra money to start a private pension for yourself. Because the industry is so vast, opening a very defined business became the first roadblock that Donovan faced when he was starting out as an entrepreneur. Donovan has tried every marketing technique possible from making cold calls, following up on people, knocking on people’s doors, buying internet leads, to networking and attending seminars, using direct mail, getting client as well as professional referrals. Anybody can be an entrepreneur. It’s not always the smartest person getting it done, it’s usually the person that’s working the hardest, so if you want to do it, just do it. Everything he did and his accumulated experience from when he first started his business all contributed to Donovan’s success that he doesn’t think he will be able to reach his current status otherwise. Donovan would have worked harder to have more clients right from the start, because a lot of times people focus first on making their product or service perfect, but the most 

Katie Christy Talks About Three Easy Skills Every Start-up Business Owner Must Acquire In this episode of Enlightened Entrepreneur Podcast, finance expert, Katie Christy shares important points of her journey as an entrepreneur, particularly how she got started after having to basically put her dreams on the back burner for a couple of years in order to support her husband who is serving in the military. Katie helps businesses, organizations and individuals to make the most out of their natural talents, to make sure that they are activating, finding those talents and leveraging them in a more meaningful way.

Key Questions Asked:

What was it like for Katie to put her dreams aside in order to support her husband? What advice would Katie give to people who are feeling like they are having to put their dreams aside? After leaving her dreams behind for a little bit, what had to happen to finally get to where she is today? What is the number one skill that business owners need to develop in this journey of entrepreneurship? In her experience, what makes people don’t want to be adaptable to a situation and how can they change that? What is the second skill business owners need to develop? Looking back, what has produced so much result in Katie’s experience? What type of mindset do business owners need to cultivate if they’re going to succeed in this journey of entrepreneurship? If she were to do it all over again after knowing what she knows now, what would Katie do differently?

Highlights of Lessons Learned:

Skill Set

There are two ways Katie makes connections, the first one is to take advantage of and maintain her network people in the army which reach across the country and even across the world. The second is by putting herself out there as often as possible by attending local events, joining meetups that she sees on Linkedin and just any organization that she feels drawn to. Number one skill that business owners must have is grit and adaptability. What makes people not adaptable is not having the emotional intelligence or the ability to think outside themselves and put themselves in their client’s shoes. According to Tony Robins, the reason why people don’t change is because they fall so much in love with their product than they do with their customers. In order to change, they will need to open up their mindset from an outward based approach and really look inward. Another skill that Katie believe is really important for business owners to develop is the emotional intelligence or being able to go into a situation and really feel the mood of the room and their customers.

Expert’s Advice

What produced the most result for Katie is putting positivity out in the environment. According to her, when you have a giving mindset it comes back to you a hundredfold. As a business owner, you have to be able to brainstorm and see a better brighter future because of your contributions. In the beginning, Katie felt like she had to have all the answers before starting out on her journey. But looking back, Katie said she wouldn’t have been hesitant to start and to continue learning by experience and by taking more coaching sessions. According to Katie, it’s good to spend time with yourself and remember what it was that you loved to do as a child because those are the clues to the things that we should be doing as adults.

Mariam Diarra Reveals 3 Easy Steps To Getting Started With Public and Media Relations Today In this episode of Enlightened Entrepreneur Podcast, public relations expert, Mariam Diarra talks about the beginner’s guide to getting started with public and media relations. Since moving to the US, Mariam has started working in the PR industry and has managed to put her clients on the top US media outlets such as Forbes, Huffington Post, US Today, and many other media outlets.

Key Questions Asked:

What is the first step that business owners need to take if they want to succeed with their PR? For those who don’t know their audience, what sort of advice does Mariam usually give them so that they can do this first step right? What is the next step that they need to take in order for them to get to where they want to be? How does Mariam go about coming up with this strategy? If individuals get stuck on this stage, how does Mariam help them get unstuck? Assuming that business owners know the audience and they have a clear strategy in place, what is the third step that they will need to take in order for them to get to their goal? How does Mariam differentiate which outlet to use for the story or for the business? What particular tools for public and media relations do business owners need to know about? What is the best mindset for a beginner business owner that would guarantee success when it comes to public and media relations? If she were to do it all over again, what would Mariam do differently?

Highlights of Lessons Learned:

Steps

The first step is to know your audience and the message you want to share with them. You will know this by knowing your product. If you know your product, you know the type of audience you want to reach. The second step is to prepare a strategy for it so you need to know what kind of objective to set. When stuck, Mariam usually them do a reporting to see how they did their first campaign, how many people they reach and why it didn’t work. From there, Mariam helps them readjust their strategy. The third step is just to go for it and do a proper campaign. Aside from that, you need to create an experience that make people feel special and love your product.

 Expert’s Advice

Outstanding services and adding value is the way forward for business owners. You need to love your business, and believe in it. The more you’re confident, the more people will love you. Most business owners don’t know how to communicate and they need to be very careful of their ways of communication whether internal or external because miscommunication can be damaging to your business.

Jason J. Hamilton Reveals The 3 Basic Skills of Highly Effective Financial Planners In this Episode of Enlightened Entrepreneur Podcast, Financial Planning Expert, Jason J. Hamilton, shared three important skills every business owner needs to develop if they’re to succeed with managing their finances. The California-based President and CCO of KIS(Keep It Simple) also shared some advice on the best way to pay off a student loan and how to plan your retirement.

Key Questions Asked:

What are the three skills that every business owner needs to know when it comes to financial planning? Are there any tools or websites that they can use? What suggestion would Jason give for people or business owners who are feeling stuck? How has the role of mentorship played out for him in his business? Is there a smart way to pay off student loans? How much do people need to set aside for retirement?

Highlights of Lessons Learned:

Tips and Advice

He started his business 100% debt free because Jason does not believe it’s good to start a business having too much debt since it adds a lot of risks. Finding mentors is crucial, if you can find a specific mentor in your field, it would be good if you can talk to him for a few minutes every couple of weeks. A huge part of the mindset that business owners need to have is being able to see their goal and their vision when nobody else does.

Skills

The first skill every business owner needs to know about financial planning is to make sure you have a cashflow plan or a big budget because the number one reason for business failure involves cashflow problems. The biggest things you need to avoid are not planning for taxes and not collecting on what may be owed due to a bad receivable system in place. Jason recommends that you set up a completely different business checking account. The second biggest skill that is to make sure that you maintain a schedule at least on a weekly basis when you could actually work on your business. The third skill is not focusing on the money first, but focusing instead on delivering value to your clients. If you focus on being a man of value and a business of value, long term, you’re gonna have a very solid foundation to build from as well as be able to establish trust with clients.

 Paying Off a Student Loan

Become aware and realize that you are in a critical situation, you have to realize however the situation this is and how much it could potentially be holding you back from your long term success. Line up your student loans smallest to largest and then identify your minimum payments. Subtract those payments from your monthly budget and whatever you have left every single month, take that dollar amount and apply it to the smallest student loan first.

Tiffany Sartor Talks About 3 Easy Steps New Entrepreneurs Must Take Before Launching a Business In this episode of Enlightened Entrepreneur entitled ‘The Beginner’s Guide for How to Get Started with an Online Business,’ Tiffany Sartor shares her insights and experiences in building her own business, discussing three major steps to starting on the right track in marketing your business online and getting tremendous results.

 Key Questions Asked:

What is Tiffany’s background and how did she get started with her own business? What were the changes that she had to go through during her transition from being an employee to managing her own business? What were the roadblocks that Tiffany had to overcome prior to taking the leap of owning a business? How did she overcome those roadblocks? What is the first step every start up business owner needs to take and what is the best way to get it done? How long did it take for Tiffany to complete her research before launching her business? What were the key pointers to identifying which model or business to follow? What is the right mindset for a business owner when it comes to getting started with an online business? What was the biggest thing that had to change for Tiffany during the transition process? What advice would Tiffany give to those who are just getting started or thinking about starting a business? How does Tiffany generate belief in herself and in what she is doing? What other biggest challenge that start up business owners deal with when starting their own business?

Highlights of Lessons Learned:

 Starting Up

Conducting research is extremely important for start up and even long-time business owners in all types of industry. Start up business owners must establish and identify their target audience, which group of individuals they want to present their products or services to. It is also important that business owners familiarize themselves with current market trends.

Business Model

In selecting which business to model yours after, use a business or brand that is thriving in terms of what they’re doing in their industry and how they are raising the bar or setting the standard. When starting something that you’ve never done before, you have to believe in your product and in what you’re offering, and you have to be disciplined as well. The best piece of advice Tiffany has gotten is not to tell too many people when you are first starting your business.