passionTribe was truly inspired by me reading many of Seth Godin’s books. One video that started it is this one below. Enjoy it! If you love it a lot, then you should also watch this video that will change the way you do business.
Entrepreneur
How Seth Godin's Keynote Changed My Business Thinking at Inbound 2013
In 2013, I decided to attend Hubspot’s Inbound Marketing conference in Boston for the first time.
It was a life changing event for me. Since 2005, I’ve attended and spoken at many eCommerce conferences every single year. I heard amazing speakers and learned lots of valuable content. I was lucky enough to hear Al Gore, Fareed Zakaria, Reed Hastings, Meg Whitman and many other powerful speakers share their insights about business & eCommerce.
My All-Time Favorite Keynote
I truly admire Seth Godin and seeing him speak for the first time at Inbound 2013 was a dream come true. I was expecting him to deliver the best keynote as usual but honestly, I wasn’t expecting him to change my business thinking (which he did). It was my AHA! moment. It woke me up!
Glad to see that Hubspot recorded the event. They keynote is around 1 hour.
Make some tea, sit back and watch it. Trust me, it will be worth it!
3 Reasons Why Following An Expert Can Demotivate You
When I decided to launch my agency, the academy and even my new blog passionTribe, I searched online for the experts within each industry (conversion rate optimization, eCommerce, blogging).
I wanted to follow them and learn as much as possible from everything they’re doing, tried and accomplished. I was convinced by what people usually say, “Follow the footsteps of those who have already done so and you will be successful”. I wanted to get inspired & motivated to accomplish my own personal goals.
Recently, I’ve noticed I’ve been getting somewhat demotivated by following all those experts (I also call them my virtual mentors).
For example:
Gary Vaynerchuck recently launched numerous #AskGaryVee Youtube videos and a podcast within a couple of weeks. He was able to get immediate results, has all the right resources to create professional looking videos and seems somewhat always ahead of everyone else in terms of how he goes about marketing himself.
I’m happy that I launched my podcast before his but I got kind of demotivated when I see how fast he’s able to get results for himself while it might take me a very long time to even get noticed.
I have many similar other experiences following other experts like Michael Hyatt or Pat Flynn but I think you get the point.
Here’ are 3 reasons why I get demotivated from following them all of them:
1. They’re Always Ahead of You
Those experts are established already. They have people helping them. They’re always looking for new opportunities and ready to try new things to drive more revenue or engagement. By the time you decide to do something they did, they already launched something else. It seems you can never catch up to them but I guess you simply need more time.
2. They Have More Resources Available to Them
I wish I had more of me. Someone to write, podcast, create videos, acquire clients and more. When your team is small, you need to push even harder. Those experts not only have the money but also access to all sorts of resources such as virtual assistants, full time employees, professional equipment and software. I mean they didn’t start at that level but you know what I mean. I demotivates you sometimes having to look for help.
3. They Get Instant Results Whenever They Launch Something New
Most of those experts have established a big network or community of followers. They truly leverage that asset whenever they launch something new. Gary did just that when he decided to launch his videos & podcast. It allowed him to boost his results and overall performance by announcing to everyone his latest initiative. For some of us, that isn’t possible since our network is very small but growing.
Don’t get me wrong, I love following those experts or sometimes I refer to them as my mentors. I learned a lot and was able to launch many things after executing what I learned from them. They saved me time & money that’s for sure.
I think the problem is that I follow them way too much and that’s why I get sometimes demotivated.
Tell me, who do you follow and why do you them?
Avoid These 3 Mistakes When You Create A Website for Your Agency
About 2 years ago, I decided to launch my own eCommerce agency. The need came about when I was being asked numerous times after speaking engagements if I’m willing to help businesses improve their online presence.
At first, I was ignoring the whole idea. I honestly felt it was a waste of time since there were already many agencies out there. Why would anyone want to hire me? (I’m sure you’ve told yourself the same thing)
As the years passed and the fact that I was speaking more often at eCommerce conferences, I started considering the idea.
First, Here’s How I Realized I Needed A Website
I really had no idea what I was doing since this was my first attempt at launching a service based company rather than the typical online retailer that I’m used to (similar to what I currently do at iNetVideo.com).
I needed a website simply to showcase myself and my services.
Nonetheless, nothing would stop me from doing what I felt was the right thing to do. I got excited and immediately launched a website under the name of Troolyworks.com (still points to an inactive account on Hubpsot).
I decided to create a simple page where I offered my services in terms of eCommerce consulting, development and online marketing.
I was able to get my first 2 clients (friends of mine) within days. It was a great way to test out what I was planning on offering to businesses. Didn’t charge much since it was a valuable learning experience and obviously, those clients would benefit from my work as well.
From there, I simply started using that site as my hub and sent all new prospects to it. But here was the problem: My agency website sucked big time!
How can I possibly help companies improve their online business if I wasn’t able to do it for myself?
Here are 3 mistakes you should avoid making
1) Never Launch a Website Without An Online Strategy
Yup, I made that mistake and I learned the hard way. I went too fast and made some bad decisions in terms of investing in the wrong software, advertising on the wrong channels and simply not able to target the right clients. You need to sit down and write things down! I’m not talking about a business plan.
2) Stop Jumping & Take One Step at A Time (Don’t Lose Focus)
I decided to stop for a moment and re-evaluate exactly what I was trying to accomplish. I was wasting time, money and most importantly, losing interest in what I was doing. I was skipping crucial steps that would improve my chances of succeeding thinking that it won’t affect me. Your strategy should be implemented and must be followed.
3) Never Stop Getting Inspired
Launching your own business is stressful and requires a lot of patience. I had to continuously get motivated. I started following numerous people that have been successful & read their blogs for inspiration. You will be surprised to see how many people are sharing their experience online.
I also decided to attend events not as a speaker but as an attendee. Something different, something not related to eCommerce, somewhere new & some event where I can meet new people.
That’s when I decided to attend Inbound Conference Hubspot. That was indeed a life changing event in my business career. Also, that’s where I met head of eCommerce at Hubspot Sam Mallikarjunan – what an amazing person!
What happened next?
I plan on blogging about this experience. Stay tuned!
The Worst Thing You Can Do Is Quit Trying
It breaks my heart whenever I hear someone recently or wanting to quit.
Quit what exactly? Anything really. Just about anything.
Quitting is like losing hope. Quitting is like giving up. Quitting is……such a negative action. But sometimes, it can be positive such as quitting smoking.
I just don’t like it. There’s nothing wrong with failing at something but that doesn’t mean you should quit.
Some of you might not agree with me because sometimes, you really have no choice but to quit because what we’re doing is simply not working.
How to Avoid Quitting
In this situation, I would consider the following:
- Re-evaluate your goals & objectives
- Re-evaluate your strategy
- Try getting some guidance from someone who achieved what you’re trying to do
- Hire a professional (advisor, consultant, coach) to help
- Hire an outside company (agency) to help
See! You have a lot options other than simply quitting.
But I do want to be honest with you.
Sometimes, I just feel like quitting myself. But when I do, I take a break from whatever it is I’m doing so that I can think straight. It helps me reflect back and remember why I decided to do whatever it is I’m trying to do in the first place. Try it yourself! It works 🙂
Tell me, what have you quit on recently? Why?