Posts Tagged ‘Challenge’
Win Big - Wednesday, May 8, 2013 11:00 - 4 Comments
Start Small Win Big Finalists: They Started Small, But They’re on Their Way to Big
For eight weeks, from January to March, approximately 2,000 SUCCESS readers challenged themselves and their small businesses by participating in the 2nd annual Start Small Win Big contest. In April they submitted their results to the judging panel of SUCCESS editors and small-business expert JJ Ramberg, who hosts MSNBC’s Your Business, a weekly show devoted to small-business issues. Now, it’s complete. The judges have handpicked five finalists who are moving one step closer to the grand prize and making their small business go big.
Eight weekly assignments were sent out and posted on the SUCCESS blog—steps designed by Ramberg to help small-business owners recognize and understand what makes their businesses work and grow, and how they can succeed. With step-by-step instructions, tips and SUCCESS expert-driven articles as resources, the weekly assignments ranged from refining an elevator pitch to tapping networks and polishing social media strategy. (Read all the steps on SUCCESS.com).
The Challenge posed, well, challenges to each person and his or her business, but every week, the contestants dedicated themselves to grow, both in their business and in personal development. As in starting a business or running with a big idea, it took motivation and purpose to really carry out the Challenge’s goals.
Now, one of our handpicked list of five finalists will meet two distinguished mentors, Darren Hardy and JJ Ramberg, who have entrepreneurial expertise and know how to reach success, and will be featured prominently in the August 2013 issue. Two runners-up also will be featured in the magazine and each finalist will take home a SUCCESS Personal Development Prize Pack valued at up to $1,000.
Meet the five Start Small Win Big finalists, who we think have unbeatable potential to grow and reach true success—all from starting small. Choose your favorite by “liking” their photo on SUCCESS magazine’s Facebook page.
- Start Small Win Big: Your Week 4 Action Plan
Step 4: Understand your finances. A couple of months ago I spoke to a woman who owned a struggling stationery business and I asked her how much longer she thought she could survive based on how much cash she had available in her company. She looked at me like I had just landed from Mars. [...]
- Start Small Win Big: Your Week 2 Action Plan
Step 2: Keep it simple. A couple of years ago at my company Goodsearch.com, we started asking each other a simple question whenever we’d put together any marketing materials.It was: “Would Michael’s mother understand this?”
It turned out to be a great litmus test. So often, we make things more complicated than they need to be. It’s understandable. As small business owners, we’ve all worked hard on our offerings and are excited about every single feature we’ve developed—whether as part of a product or a service. It’s hard to imagine not including all of this in all of your materials. But, talking about too much gets confusing for an outsider who CONTINUE READING
- Running a Business is Hard. Here’s Help.
By now, I hope you’ve all read about SUCCESS’s 2nd Annual Start Small Win Big Entrepreneurial Challenge in the February 2013 issue. If you haven’t entered, well here’s my strong encouragement that you do.
Why? Well, running a small business is hard work. And, it’s difficult, when you have so much going on — from developing your product or service, to selling it, to dealing with your finances, to figuring out who is going to take out the trash — to find the time to step back and really think about what triggers you need to pull to make your company a success. This eight-week contest gives you an excuse to do just that.
You can find the first article announcing the contest and giving you some tips to get you on your way on SUCCESS.com.
- ‘Start Small, Win Big’ 2012 Winner Shares Lessons
by: Tami Provost Who knew this New Hampshire gal’s first trip to New York City would be an all-expense-paid trip by SUCCESS magazine for me to meet Good Morning America’s Tory Johnson? Having attended Tory’s Spark & Hustle event in Boston, I knew I was in for a treat. Her high energy and “spark” during [...]
- Committing to Great Change
Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to meet and interview many of the world’s top athletes and champions. While their greatness had more to do with their inner characteristics than their ability to touch their toes, I’d be out of touch if I completely overlooked the physical conditioning of the great ones. To this [...]
- Start Small Win Big 2012: Your Wk 7 Action Plan
Your Week 7 Action Plan For Week 7 (Mar. 5), read the March 2012 issue for Step 7: Change Your Environment. Then check your inbox for the Start Small Win Big newsletter. This week’s assignment is about creating your perfect, productive work environment. Take a look at our inspiration wall below and use this to get excited [...]
- Start Small, Win Big 2012: Your Wk 3 Action Plan
Your Week 3 Action Plan For Week 3 (Feb. 6), read the February 2012 issue for Step 3: Know Your Numbers—When You’re Down, by How Much and Why. Then check your inbox for the Feb. 6 Start Small Win Big newsletter. This week’s assignment is to understand and evaluate your small business’ numbers. Roll your sleeves [...]
- Start Small, Win Big 2012: Your Wk 2 Action Plan
Your Week 2 Action Plan For Week 2 (Jan. 30), read the February 2012 issue for Step 2: Take Responsibility. Then check your inbox for the Jan. 30 Start Small Win Big newsletter. This week’s assignment is to answer the three questions put forth by Tory Johnson in this week’s Start Small Win Big newsletter– 1. [...]
- Brogan: Your First Moves in Social Media
Okay, so you’ve decided I’m not crazy, and you’re going to try out some of this social media stuff. Where should you start? I’ve got some advice.
Grow Bigger EarsFirst and foremost, read this post about how to grow bigger ears. By that, I mean, create a free listening station. If you don’t start with listening, you’ll miss all the very best parts of social media: the serendipity and moments of “listening at the point of need,” as Radian6 CEO Marcel Lebrun calls it.
By that, I mean that people are talking about you, your brand, your company, or mentioning something they need help with that you can solve. Set up some listening tools to monitor for certain phrases and terms, and you’re on your way to finding opportunities that your competitors don’t even know exist…
- How Social Media Maps Into Your Marketing
Whether you’re a big company or a solo act, social media has become part of the marketing mix for most organizations. You might be skirting around the edges and wondering what to do. You might have a hunch that your buyers are on Facebook, or LinkedIn, or both, but how do you know? And how should you mix this in with your other marketing? Let’s cover that.
What Social Media Marketing Is NotFirst, realize that social media isn’t just a new channel to stuff old marketing down…
- Brogan: Why Social Media Aids Success
You’re hearing about social media everywhere. First it was blogs. Now, you’re being told that you have to be on Facebook and Twitter and a whole bunch of other services that don’t exactly make immediate sense. Wasn’t LinkedIn supposed to be the one-stop business site of choice? What’s the answer? How can you use social media to improve your success?
- Assaraf: Every Winner Has a Coach… Do You?
Have you ever noticed the incredible influence that a coach has upon the performance of athletes? It’s no different in business.
If you take a close look at any successful business owner, there is a good chance they’ve had a great mentor somewhere along the way. I can attribute a large part of my business success to the many mentors and coaches I have had in my life. My personal journey is one of countless examples of how mentoring is an integral part of the growth and development of any business.
Here are some ways having a mentor or a business coach can help you…
- Assaraf: Determine What Behaviors and Habits Drive Your Results… and Maximize Them!
What drives your results? Could it be how well you market or how great your products or services perform? The answer may surprise you. Watch this next video to find out how to enhance your results by looking behind the scenes at your values, beliefs and habits.
- Assaraf: Make Your Products Stand Out
In the current business environment it is extremely important to stand apart from the crowd. You need to show your prospects why they should choose you… and not your competition.
As I mentioned in my blog post on grabbing your prospects’ attention, your customers and prospects are showered daily with advertisements, brochures, newsletters, websites and other media that ask them to open their wallets. Not to mention that technology and the Internet has made it easier for new competition to enter your marketplace.
- Video: Assaraf on Marketing Messages That Get Responses
Once you’ve crafted the perfect marketing message to reach your ideal client, where do you place the message so the maximum number of potential customers will see it? Watch the video below to learn how to get the best response from your prospects.
- Assaraf: Grabbing Your Prospects’ Attention with the Cut-Through-the-Clutter Formula
As you probably know, your prospects are being pounded with hundreds—maybe even thousands—of advertisements daily. So how do you make sure that your message gets heard through all the noise?
In my previous video blog I shared with you how important it is to position your product or service as the solution to your prospective clients’ fears, concerns, pains and frustrations. Here is OneCoach’s Cut-Through-the-Clutter Marketing Formula for hitting the bull’s-eye on your ideal customer’s hot buttons.
- Video: Assaraf on Crafting Your Marketing Message
The way you communicate with your potential customers—on your website, in your e-mails, on the phone, at events, during meetings, etc.—is critical in converting them from prospects into clients. But what do you say to them to get them to buy? Watch the video below to learn how to craft the perfect marketing message to get the attention of your ideal client.
- Video: Assaraf on finding your ideal client
Do you know…
• Who wants to purchase your products and services?
• Why your customers come to you instead of your competition?
• Which group of people you love to work with and have as clients?Watch this video to learn why it is so important to identify your ideal client.
- John Assaraf Has the Answer
Starting June 28, John Assaraf will team with SUCCESS magazine for the six-week Entrepreneur Challenge to help would-be business owners take the next step and guide existing entrepreneurs in finding renewed inspiration. Assaraf will write twice-weekly blog posts to share the secrets of success as a business owner.
- Freytag: My Fitness Secrets
I don’t have to tell you that if you want to be successful at something, study the habits of experts. That’s what you already do…that’s one of the reasons you tap into SUCCESS magazine…to get firsthand professional counsel. You turn to the skilled and trained for advice in finance, management, leadership and more.
- Freytag: Fitness Myth Busters
“The difference between a myth and a fact is good science.” I love this phrase…. You see, fitness and weight loss don’t need to be complicated, but I often overhear gym-goers discussing fitness advice that just isn’t true. Let me try to shed some light on several urban myths by looking at the science.
- Freytag: How to Work Out On the Go
When you’re working to eat healthy and stay fit with exercise, a business trip or two could derail all of your efforts. After all, finding the time and energy on a daily basis to exercise and eat right can be difficult. Throw in frequent business travel, and the task can seem almost impossible.
- Freytag: The Two Q’s
When it comes to making long-lasting lifestyle changes, I have a few basic, easy-to-remember guidelines. In the May issue of SUCCESS magazine, I spoke of the three C’s as the basic questions to ask yourself when embarking on a new exercise program. In addition, when it comes to eating healthy and weight management, I would like for you to think of the two Q’s: quantity and quality.
- Happy Healthy Monday to You
I LOVE MONDAY. I have been doing a local Monday morning TV segment on NBC KARE 11 in Minneapolis for 6 years and I email my free monthly fit-tips on Monday. Even my coffee shop, Caribou Coffee, started offering a cup of coffee for $1 on Mondays…. So why Monday?
- Freytag: When’s the Best Time to Work Out and Why It’s OK to Break the Rules
One of the most common questions I receive when it comes to an exercise routine is, “Is there a BEST time to work out?” I know many swear by starting their day with exercise and many others use physical activity as a way to wind down from the stress of a hectic workday.
- Freytag: Your 30 Days Starts Today
Over the last 20 years, I have helped thousands of people lose weight and get fit. Thousands more watch me on television giving tips and exercise options and have downloaded my exercise videos and used my DVDs. I am an author, a fitness trainer and a motivator in my professional life, and I [More...] am passionate about helping others lead healthy lifestyles. But I am also a mother of three teenagers, with a full-time career, and a wife, a neighbor, a co-worker… and like you I am trying to lead a healthy and fulfilling life in the midst of a crazy, busy world.
- Sharma: Lead Without Title
When I go into an organization to help develop and grow leaders, the client often asks me to help employees understand what leadership is all about. Leadership has nothing to do with the title on your business card or the size of your office. Leadership is a philosophy.
- Sharma: Grow Leaders Fast
Grow the Leader is based on a simple yet powerful concept: Your enterprise’s ultimate competitive advantage comes down to a single imperative—your ability to grow and develop leaders faster than the competition.
- Sharma: Make a Dent in the Universe
When I met the president of Israel, Shimon Peres, I asked him what he believed the purpose of life to be. He replied without hesitation, “to find a cause that’s larger than yourself and then to give your life to it.”
- Sharma: Avoid the 4 F’s Syndrome
Most training and learning doesn’t last. No stickiness. We attend a seminar and vow to transform our lives. We say we’ll be better parents, more effective leaders and wiser human beings. Two days later, it’s back to business as usual—seeing the negative, playing the victim and being cranky. The learning didn’t work because we didn’t change.
- Sharma: Work Hard, Get Lucky
That old line remains brilliantly true: “The harder I work, the luckier I get.” Life helps those who help themselves. I learned that one from personal experience.
- Sharma: The Time Tactics of Leaders
One of the things the best of the best in business (and life) do staggeringly well is they leverage time to create spectacular results. We all have the same amount of time in a day/month/life. Those who use it poorly live half lives. Those who use it well become superstars.
- Sharma: The 8 Forms of Wealth
In my mind, wealth and leadership aren’t just about making money. There are actually eight elements that you want to make sure are at world-class levels before you call yourself rich (and truly successful).
- Chris Freytag: Call to Action
Starting May 3, 2010, Freytag will share her motivational strategies with SUCCESS readers in her 30-day fitness challenge. “I don’t want people to just read it; I want them to take action and engage in change.”
- The Deeper Your Relationships, The Stronger Your Leadership
Leadership is a people sport. The best of the best understand that people do business with people they like. People do business with people they trust, and people do business with those who make them feel special.
- Sharma: Turbulent Times Build Better Leaders
Victims recite problems. Leaders develop solutions. That might seem like common sense, but common sense is rarely common practice. One of the best moves you can make to “Lead Without a Title” is to train your brain to see every problem as an opportunity. And every setback as a steppingstone to build your skill, access more of your talent and create more exceptional value for your customers.
- Sharma: How to Do World-Class Work
Leadership no longer has to do with the title on your business card. In this age of deep disruption, the new way to lead has everything to do with how powerfully you influence, how brilliantly you work and how superbly you collaborate. Your position matters less than your passion. Your rank matters less than your willingness to go the extra mile in all you do, and to wow each of the stakeholders lucky enough to cross your path.
- Sharma: Leadership 2.0 The New Way to Win
The old model of leadership is obsolete. Businesses that were once admired have crumbled. Leaders who were once revered (in fields ranging from commerce to sports) have lost face. The respect for Wall Street has been replaced by a renewed passion for Main Street. And with it, has come a completely new way to lead.
- Overview: Become the Leader You Want to Be
Welcome to the Robin Sharma leadership blog challenge! Here are the exclusive details for this exciting six-week challenge that’ll take place March 22-April 29.
- Become the Leader You Were Meant to Be
When it came time for Robin Sharma to carve out a life for himself, becoming a lawyer seemed right. Although he had loving parents, there was never abundance during his childhood, and he was determined to find a way to prosper as an adult. His life as a litigation lawyer provided money, status and all the trappings of the success he envisioned. But Sharma felt something was missing—that a vital part of him was silently starving to death.
- To Sell or Not To Sell, That Is the Question
Two of the most important aspects of selling are asking questions and listening. The proper questions will make the prospect tell you everything you need to sell him or her. Effective listening skills will give you the power and self-discipline to uncover facts/needs and then formulate a response that moves the buyer to a decision. [...]
- How to Sell or Why They Buy
People don’t like to be sold, but they love to buy is my #1 (trademarked) rule of selling. It is an undeniable rule that on the surface seems relatively simplistic, but when you dig deeper, you’ll find the complexity lies in uncovering the MOTIVE of why people buy. Uncovering buying motives goes against the strategy [...]
- Epilogue: Share the Strength
Why is it that some people change their bodies and others transform their lives? What is it that ignites life’s brilliance deep within? Your FIT for SUCCESS journey has helped you cultivate your strength. You’ve come to know your greater capacity as you forged your body and mind strong. Now it’s your turn to share [...]
- Finish Strong, Take 7
It’s almost time to step beyond the FIT for SUCCESS Challenge to discover how to stay strong—for the next 12 months and for life. Next Monday I’ll share with you Seasons of Strength, a beyond-the-Challenge secret to creating an annual plan that will have you reaching new levels of fitness year after year, keeping you [...]
- Feed Your Strength
It’s a common misconception that strength training leads to fuller, stronger muscles. While it’s true that training is the stimulus for growth, it’s actually the recovery and proper nourishment immediately following your training that fuel your muscles, energy and strength. Intense training leaves your muscles screaming for vital nutrients necessary for rebuilding your body stronger. [...]
- MOTIVATION: From Discipline to Mastery In Training, In Life
What gets you to do something, let alone stick with it? How do you move beyond discipline to find the joy of being fit and strong, staying engaged for the year ahead and beyond? More so than any other factor, more than knowledge–even more than the perfect plan–your ability to create, sustain and renew motivation [...]
- The Transformation of Cardio Training:
What HIIT Can Do for Your Performance at the Gym, at Work and in Life Whether it’s running the road, spinning in a gym or kicking it up to a rhythmic beat, when doing cardio, the arms and legs are in motion and sweat is pouring, which must mean calories are burning and fat is [...]
- The Space between the Notes: Words of Wisdom for Fitness, Work and Life
Multitasking has become so pervasive in our culture that even when people show up at the gym (or at work or everyday relationships), they bring their mental static with them—their minds are all over the place. Instead of focusing on training (or the task at hand or the conversation taking place), they’re thinking about what [...]
- Start Strong: Eating Breakfast Is a Recipe for Success
What if you went 12, 14 or even 16 hours without eating? You’d be starving, cranky, exhausted and unable to think straight, all while your metabolism slowed to conserve energy. To make matters worse, your body would be stockpiling as much fat as possible. More ready for hibernation than battle, the last thing you’d want [...]
- Why Train With Weights?
The 7 Wonders of Strength 1. Muscle Is the Engine of Youth Biological aging and the loss of functional strength have less to do with your chronological age than they do with time spent training and engaging the body for physical growth and development. Strength training is the most effective way to build muscle, thereby [...]
- How Strict Must You Eat to Lose Weight?
With the Fourth of July holiday almost upon us, many of us will have food on our minds. It’s a great day for sharing delicious—if not necessarily nutritious—food with family and friends. During a radio interview the other day, I received a question that is particularly relevant to this upcoming day of celebration. The question [...]
- FIT Challenge Exercise Photos
You asked for it and Shawn listened! Exercise photos and more at Shawn’s site MyStrengthForLife.com. You will be able to click on a training day, say Monday, and a pop-up will open. Mouse over the images to go forward through the day’s exercises (two pictures for each exercise: start/finish, and midpoint accompanied by a description). [...]
- A Strong Mind for a Strong Body
Can you focus? I mean really focus. Are you able to spend just two minutes without being distracted, free from the noise and constant chatter bouncing around in your head?
For just two minutes sit quietly and clear your mind of all activity—be free from any thought. Go ahead. Close your eyes. I’ll wait. Seriously, give it a try. The clock is ticking.
- THE FAQ POST
I wanted to create a post that will continue to be added to with your questions and our answers! If you don’t see your question answered please check back again! We’re also working to respond individually as well. June 16: Question from Schoenburg Are the nutrition guidelines for the 12 weeks after base camp different [...]
- 5 Circles beats 3 Squares
Americans have, by and large, distorted the golden rule of three square meals a day beyond recognition. We skip breakfast, eat quick lunches, slug down coffee or energy drinks, snack throughout the day to compensate for the poor start, and then consume more than half of our daily calories in one meal: dinner. This is [...]
- The Weekly Training Schedule
This week kick’s-off your Training Camp. For the next 12 weeks you follow the same weekly rhythm.
- Training vs. Exercise
Yet, Americans continue to pack on the pounds, and I believe I may have uncovered the cause. So I have a slightly different message to offer: Stop exercising!
- Forging Your Strength for Life
It’s time to begin the noble climb from out of the ordinary to the heights of extra-ordinary—an elevation few choose to pursue in their lifetimes.
Take the next six days to complete your preparation in Base Camp so that you’ll be rested and ready to enter your 12 weeks—only 84 days—of training.
- Rest, Renew, Reboot
Would you climb Mount Everest without an acclimation period? Of course not. The same way, you shouldn’t start a training program without a period of time to renew, reset and reboot your body to prepare for a rigorous and challenging transformation. Many people get real geared up when I say the worst time to start [...]
- Your Blueprint for Brilliance: Setting Your Vision and Goals
Together, an inspiring vision and clear goals serve as a blueprint for your lasting success—your choice to live a strong life, however you define it. It’s the life you’re most drawn to live, a brilliant future that pulls you forward each day with great force.
- Winning the Race of Life
The new issue of SUCCESS hits newsstand today! This issue features our cover story with Lance Armstrong on Winning the Race of Life. This issue also focuses on health, not in terms of diets, practices or plans that give short-term solutions, but on health as a philosophy, as an outlook on life.
Like your finances, health is one of those easy measures of how you are doing. It’s easy to see if you are continually building your savings, growing your wealth and securing your future, or if you are constantly overdrawn and becoming bankrupt from overindulgences and poor decisions and practices.
Just as you can look at your bank account and get a good measure of your financial health, you can also take a look in the mirror and get a good measure of your physical health. If you look at your physical health, you get a refl ection of what is going on in your head. Your mindset, your philosophy and your attitude are most often the forces behind your current state of physical health. Your philosophy and mindset are also what produce the health of your fi nances, your relationships and your business.
Think about this: Why do 95 percent of people who go on a diet end up gaining all the weight back? Here is why: READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE HERE: http://darrenhardy.success.com/2009/05/winning-the-race-of-life
- FIT for SUCCESS: 90 Days to a New You
The FIT for SUCCESS Challenge is the gateway to transformation—true and lasting change—from the inside out. This is an opportunity to create a powerful transformation have a performance lifestyle, allowing you to effortlessly enjoy more clarity, more energy, more strength, more success and, ultimately, more freedom. In the next 90 days, we’re going to cover [...]
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