How to make your blog successful.

How to make your blog successful.

Have you ever wondered why some bloggers are popular and have all the traffic while others are lucky to have 10 visitors per day? What really makes a successful blog?

Shane Dallas, a renowned travel blogger shares with us in the attached video on how to make a successful blog.

Content is king. There is a certain content that resonates with the readers more than any other. This happens when you tell a story. Stories are effective because they are memorable. Storytelling is one of the earliest forms of communication we have.

There are many blogs out there. The question is how do you make yours shine above all of them? Readers like something unique. Fresh content is the key to the success of your blog. So, whatever style you adapt, make sure your content is great and unique. Your blogging should detail what you have learned and how you’ve learned it. You need to take the readers through a journey similar to the one you have undertaken.

An effective blog should evoke emotions, and to instill emotions into a blog you have to follow these four steps:
• Pictures – Beautiful images are always beneficial. Always remember the power of pictures.
• It is better to detail a few incidents than to cover many briefly.
• Use all the senses. Write what you feel, hear, taste or touch.
• Add a human connection to your blogs.

You should tell a story that strives to stir and strengthens a person’s pride and emotions. If your blog contains a story that evokes a person’s emotions and pride, then instead of you flogging your blog to the world, then the world will flog your blog for you.

By |2016-11-01T10:20:14+02:00January 12th, 2016|General|0 Comments

The words you should say goodbye to in 2016

banned-wordsLake Superior State University has released its annual list of words and phrases that it says should be banished in the new year.Every year the LSSU publish lists of overused words and phrases that they (their readers according to an online poll) would like to see banned, retired, and avoided. Listed below are some of their selections.

  1. so -“Currently, it is being overused as the first word in the answer to ANY question. For instance, “How did you learn to play the piano?” Answer: “So my dad was in a classical music club…” The word serves no purpose in the sentence.
  2.  conversation – “Over the past five years or so, this word has been increasingly used by talking heads on radio, television and in political circles to describe every form of verbal communication known to mankind. It has replaced ‘discussion,’ ‘debate,’ ‘chat,’ ‘discourse,’ ‘argument,’ ‘lecture,’ ‘talk’….all of which can provide some context to the nature of the communication
  3.  problematic – Somewhere along the line, this word became a trendy replacement for ‘that is a problem.
  4.  stakeholder – A word that has expanded from describing someone who may actually have a stake in a situation or problem, now being over-used in business to describe customers and others.
  5. price point – Another example of using two words when one will do.
  6.  secret sauce – Usually used in a sentence explaining the ‘secret’ in excruciating public detail.
  7.  break the internet – A phrase that is annoying online word-watchers around the world.
  8.  walk it back – It seems as if every politician who makes a statement has to ‘walk it back,’ meaning retract the statement, or explain it in laborious detail to the extent that the statement no longer has any validity or meaning once it has been ‘walked back.
  9.  vape –Vape and vaping are used to describe the act of ‘smoking’ e-cigarettes (another strange word) since the products emit vapor instead of smoke. David Ervin of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., says he hopes the word “goes up in smoke.”
  10.  physicality – Over the last 12-18 months you cannot watch a sporting event, listen to a sports talk show on radio, or anything on ESPN without someone using this term to attempt to describe an athlete or a contest.
  11.  manspreading – A word that is familiar to those in bigger cities, where seats on the bus or subway are sometimes difficult to find.
  12. presser – This shortened form of “press release” and “press conference” is not so impressive.
  13. giving me life – declaring that something positive is “giving me life!”
By |2016-11-01T10:20:14+02:00January 5th, 2016|General|0 Comments

2016 Predictions – The fall of the fake.

Welcome to Bruce on Business’ first episode of the year.  I this video we are predicting what’s going to happen in the next 12 months. It is what we call “The fall of the fake”.

There are so many people that are doing things that they are not doing. In other words, there are so many fake relationships or businesses online that are not what they say they are. They are based on smoke and mirrors. In this year, we are going to see all of that fall away at an alarming rate.  If your business is all about that, you better star sorting that out, because it wont be too long before  you find yourself non-existent in the real world and int he virtual world.

Watch the B.O.B attached for more on 2016 Predictions. Happy New Year!

By |2016-11-01T10:20:14+02:00January 4th, 2016|General|0 Comments

It has been a busy year – goodbye 2015

road01It has been a busy year

Over the last 12 months we have had 196 coaching appointments resulting in just over 400 hours of strategy development with individual entrepreneurs across all sectors.

To add to this we have been privileged to complete 145 hrs of mentoring to groups of Entrepreneurs as well as run 31 different workshops and had the honour of presenting 12 different key note addresses to various groups of people.

Over and above this we have developed curriculum for a School based Entrepreneurship programme with 10 modules, an Idea Generation workshop, a 12 module Supplier Gap Analysis programme for Shanduka Black Umbrellas and a new, yet to  released, Start-Up School programme.

As you can tell it has been a busy year for the whole team. Next year brings a huge work load as we begin a new internal business strategy that will not only increase our business and staff size, but bring a vast new array of service offering to all our current and new clients.

So between now and the start of 2016, we will slow down a bit, rest a little, take time to refocus and then hit the new year road running.

Many blessing to you all our clients, readers and supports for this Christmas season. We will see you on the other side.

By |2016-11-01T10:20:14+02:00December 15th, 2015|General|0 Comments

Looking back to plan forward Part 4

TasksThis week we will take a short journey through a series of exercises that we use to cement the leanings from the past year and prepare for the quantum leap into 2016.

The final part to this planning exercise is to make a list from your outstanding issues that needs and can be addressed in the remaining time this year. So many of us just write off December as down time and spend far too much time playing Angry Birds and not getting the small items off the list.

Take your list from Part 2 of this series and write out all the A items that need to be addressed and sorted before the close of the year. Add to this any items that need to be done. Often small items around the office such as backups, cabling, lights or equipment servicing can be included and done during this time.

Then allocate resources; actual names and dates to each item. Good time for a staff coffee meeting and let everyone have a copy of your list. Communication, feedback and accountability is always a great way to get things done. Celebrate when the list is done and take the afternoon off to do your Christmas shopping. Do not forget to get me something.

By |2016-11-01T10:20:16+02:00November 26th, 2015|General|0 Comments

Do your clients trust you?

Zig ZiglarIn business we all survive by selling a product, service or skill. but we need to build a relationship and trust with the people that we sell those to -our clients. Zig Ziglar said “Every sale has five basic obstacles: no need, no money, no hurry, no desire, no trust.” Now, I  want to focus on trust because trust is the most important factor in every relationship. If trust is lacking in any relationship, forget about everything else.

You may have product, service or competitive pricing, but if you don’t command and deserve trust , you will not enjoy long term success. It is never enough to simply invite trust, trust is earned. that is why successful companies make it their priority to build and maintain trust with their clients. Clients become loyal to a business because they have trust in it.

In a world that changes as quickly as ours, trust becomes a critical factor. Tom Peters – a business consultant calls trust “the issue of the decade”. Trust makes relationships stronger. it makes a lot of things easier. It takes a lot of years to build, but only a minute to destroy.

For each and everyone of us and for every organization, trust remains something to build up, protected, valued and cherished. without it true success is impossible.

By |2016-11-01T10:20:19+02:00October 29th, 2015|General|0 Comments

How to be awesome on video calls

Four ways to optimize your video calls:

1. Prepare yourself

Make sure your video looks good. the good thing about video is that you can control what the other person sees. Use the ABCD method.

The ABCD method means:

A – Ambiance

– Have a nice quiet place and good lighting to record. Lighting is important, so make sure the lighting is nicely bright.

B – Backdrop

– Make sure  your background is professional and neutral, e.g Bookcase, plain wall with a few nice pictures.

C – Clutter

– Remove all clutter from the desk so that you don’t get destructed or find yourself picking up something from the desk when you are nervous.

D – Dress to impress

Put on formal clothes. Do not wear striped, low cut or too tight clothes, they don’t look good on camera. Do not wear clanky  jewelry, they can be so noisy to the camera and cause a destruction.

2. Digital First Impression

It is important to look professional on camera just as you would when you meet in person. Use use professional language. since you cannot actually shake hands with your caller, give them a nice, warm smile, a nod or a wave.

3. Virtual Body Language

Your non-verbal communication is as important as your verbal communication. Be sure to look at the camera and not on the screen at all times, that gives a better eye contact.

4. End on a High

Make sure you end your call with a compliment or a call to action. Make an impressive ending.

By |2016-11-01T10:20:19+02:00October 28th, 2015|General|0 Comments

The 16th Team Member

We have seen a weekend of huge rugby in the World Cup Quarter Final matches. Each team that has played has put their all into the efforts. The players have been out on their feet at the final whistle. Unfortunately it is a competition and one side has to win and the other has to lose.

What has fascinated me during these matches is the involvement of the spectators. The pure passion they display, giving their all as far as support, encouragement and advice to the ref. When the teams have been down and out, the energy they have received from the stands has taken them to new heights and spurred them on to continue in battle.

IT got me to think about what support we have as Entrepreneurs. Where do we go to to feed off new energy when our reserves are down? Who shouts for us when we are at our lowest? Who are our fans?

How important is it to have a fan base, a group of people who believe in us no matter what the result. We need a group of people willing to dance in the streets when we close a deal and make a profit, we also need the same people to be with us when we lose that important clients and bomb out on a deal.

This Support network is not built by accident or just through family ties. It has to be build through a strategic effort. Look for, identify and recruit people who will be your fan base. People who are willing to listen, without the need to fix. People who care more about you than the money you make. People who want to see you win, even when you have just lost, again.

I encourage you to go out today and find those loyal fans. Look for them at home, family and friends. Then look at your suppliers and customers. Who are the loyal ones who believe you will make it? Who are the ones who will stand behind you through thick and thin.

Then you can recruit a Mentor and a Coach to support you. Someone who has the experience to see beyond the short term and help draft a long term plan to success.

The power of the 16th man, your supporter, has to be one of the critical success factors for any team, both on and off the field.

By |2016-11-01T10:20:20+02:00October 19th, 2015|General|0 Comments

Are you afraid of failure? Well, you are not alone.

Most of us have exactly what it takes to start a business, achieve our goals or embark on any important journey in our lives, yet we find it difficult to take the first step simply because of one thing – fear of failure.

We are all afraid of failure, but does it mean we have to stop trying?

Taking action can be the most difficult step and can appear to be paralysing from time to time, but remember there is no success without failure. Everyone who is successful will tell you about the many hurdles they had to jump for them to get to where they are.

Success in life or business doesn’t happen until you take that very first step towards reaching your goal. As Don Shula once stated, “the start is what stops most people”. Well, fear of failure at the starting point contributes largely towards many people not taking off at all when they have the potential to reach for the stars.

Remember that everything you want is on the other side of failure.

It may seem like failure tends to be more public than success, hence we try to avoid it and question ourselves every time we have new ideas. But the simple truth is – no great success was ever achieved without failure.

Instead of seeing failure as a measure of your capability, rather see it as a learning curve. The renowned Mike Lipkin once unpacked the acronym FAIL as standing for ‘First Action In Learning’. So pick up your lesson and have the second attempt in being better equipped.

Go out there and use that knowledge that you have inside of you. That small business idea you have, act on it.  Most of us have exactly what we need to get to our goals, but we make excuses not to even get started.

Living a successful life is all about experimenting and trying new things. The more things you try, the closer you will get to true success.

Just to borrow from Robert F. Kennedy, “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.”

the bridge

 

 

 

 

By |2016-11-01T10:20:20+02:00October 12th, 2015|General|0 Comments

How to live your dream as an entrepreneur and see it pay off

Do you have the energy, passion and attitude to start a business?

When developing a dream as an entrepreneur, having a proper structure and procedure is where to start. Do a thorough research about the business you want to venture into, ask questions from every different angle. Think of the various ways of doing things differently from your competitors – a lot of creativity and innovation might come pouring out of that. Have a long term plan. Just like a house needs a good foundation, starting a business does too – otherwise your business is bound to fall by the wayside and therefore fail to fulfil its mission.

But to know how not to fail in business, it is essential to know what makes start-up businesses to fail.

Some of the things that can make a business to fail are poor planning, lack of financial resources and lack of knowledge.

Every year thousands of people start businesses, but how many of those keep their businesses operational throughout the year? If you cannot endure the stress of running or starting a business then you will surely need to rethink your idea of starting one.  All businesses, no matter the size, need hard work, energy and passion.

Just to borrow from Dr William Arthur Ward: “The gates of opportunity and advancement swing on these four hinges: initiative, industry, insight and integrity.” So, go out there and grab every opportunity that will steer your passion towards fulfilling your dream in business.

By |2015-09-28T13:16:41+02:00September 28th, 2015|General|0 Comments
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