BusinessHABBecome A Recognized Entrepreneur: How is it that some people always seem to be able to generate new ideas and
think creatively, and others seem to struggle to do so?
Regardless of whether you view yourself as a creative type or not.
You can learn some useful skills and techniques which will enable you to tap into that creative ‘right brain’ thinking and bring a new perspective to innovation, problem-solving and managing change.
Entrepreneur” is an awesome word.
Many people, especially those for whom the corporate world is anathema.
Can’t imagine being anything but an entrepreneur.
Unfortunately, for many aspiring business owners “entrepreneur” is also an intimidating word.
Why? If we play word association and I say, “entrepreneur,” it’s possible the first thing that comes to mind is a success story.
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Depending on your generation, maybe you picture Kroc, Walton, or Knight.
Or maybe you see the smiling faces of Branson, Bezos, Gates, or Dell.
Or maybe Page and Brin, Cuban, Zuckerberg, or Cashmore pop to mind.
Or maybe you just think, “Jobs,” since Steve transcends just about every generational and socio-economic divide.
Then again, instead of flashing on a famous entrepreneur.
Something on the opposite end of the success spectrum could come to mind.
You might picture pulling that endless string of all-nighters while living on Ramen noodles (the stereotypical breakfast, lunch, and dinner of entrepreneurial champions.)
Or you might picture all those lean months and years of hardship and sacrifice as you struggle to create a business no one believes in but you… and sometimes, in your worst moments, not even you.
No matter what the outcome of your particular free association exercise, the word “entrepreneur” can feel like a lot to live up to.
Even successful entrepreneurs feel they don’t.
I know people who have built great businesses.
Huge businesses. Massive businesses.
But however bright their entrepreneurial beacon shines.
In their hearts they still feel their light is lost in the glow of those who made greater sacrifices or who have accomplished even more.
And maybe that’s you.
Maybe you’re afraid to start a business.
Because you feel you could never compare to the brightest stars in the entrepreneurial firmament.
Or maybe you shrink from the thought of having to work and sacrifice and struggle towards a goal you may never accomplish.
Or maybe you think other people have some intangible entrepreneurial something–ideas, talent, drive, skills, creativity, etc.–you just don’t have.
If that’s the way you think, you’re wrong.
Success is only inevitable in hindsight.
It’s easy to look back on another person’s entrepreneurial path to greatness and assume every vision was clear.
Every plan was perfect, every step was executed flawlessly, and tremendous success was a foregone conclusion.
It’s easy to think Steve was always the iconic Steve.
He wasn’t. His success was never assured.
It was often in doubt. Only in hindsight does it appear Steve was destined to succeed.
Plus, not only do you already have what it takes to be an entrepreneur, in many ways you are already an entrepreneur.
“Entrepreneur” is commonly defined as, “a person who organizes and operates a business or businesses, taking on financial risk to do so.”
Let’s see. You already organize your affairs.
You already take on financial risk.
Even if you currently work for someone else you’re still an entrepreneur because you organize and operate the business of you.
So don’t measure yourself against other entrepreneurs and find yourself wanting before you even begin.
Don’t measure yourself against some standard of effort and sacrifice and perseverance you feel you can never achieve.
Pick a goal and measure yourself against that goal.
That’s the only comparison that ever matters.
You don’t have to try to be the next Jobs.
You can try to be something a lot better.
You can be the next you.
Creative thinking is an essential skill.
Unfortunately, many people don’t fully understand what it is and how it can make their lives easier.
For all those people (and those around them); here are Tips to stand out and make a name for yourself..
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Become A Recognized Entrepreneur
1. Everybody is creative
Many people believe they just aren’t creative. A sad misconception.
By believing you are not capable of generating creative ideas, you limit yourself.
The fact is, almost every person in the world is capable of creative thought.
Creative thinking is a skill.
A skill that can be trained and a skill you can improve.
Like any skill, some people will have more talent for it than others, but everyone can learn to be creative.
Become A Recognized Entrepreneur
2. Creative thinking is serious business
Unlike what some people think, creativity is not just for artists and children.
Creativity is incredibly useful and important in any business. Creative thinking is a way to do things more cleverly.
It can help you to do your work faster, with less effort and with more results.
You’d think such a skill would be applauded in any company.
Strangely enough, many people consider themselves too busy to spend any time on creative thinking.
Often, being creative is seen as something you do in your free time.
This means a lot of creative potential in organisations is wasted.
By taking creative thinking seriously, you’ll get to reap the rewards.
Not just in your personal life, but especially in your work.
Practice creative thinking daily, even if it’s just a few minutes.
Do a short exercise to improve your skills.
Or even start a club of like-minded people so you can practice with others.
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Become A Recognized Entrepreneur
3. Creative thinking requires discipline
Creative thinking requires discipline.
Not just because you should train your skills.
By practicing creative thinking often,
But also because if you truly wish to generate unique ideas.
You should generate LOTS of ideas.
Quantity leads to quality. To get the best results you’d be wise to use a structure.
A great way to bring structure to your creative process is by using thinking techniques. http://BusinessHAB.com
By following certain steps, you force yourself to generate creative ideas.
Become A Recognized Entrepreneur
4. There is no right answer
When thinking about a challenge, people often are looking for THE solution.
This is a mistake. It limits your perspective and makes you settle for subpar ideas.
Keep in mind that there is always a better idea.
Few, if any, problems have just one solution.
Even if you found an excellent solution, keep going and see if you can find an even better one.
Challenge assumptions and see if you can bend or break the rules.
What everybody considers obvious might be long obsolete.
A creative thinker looks for different ways to solve a problem.
Become A Recognized Entrepreneur
5. There is no such thing as failure
If you’re looking for creative ideas, you should not be afraid to fail.
In the quest for original ideas, there is no such thing as a failure.
Even ideas that don’t work are valuable.
If you ‘fail’ you learn something.
Even if it’s just that a certain approach doesn’t work.
Failure gets you a step further.
Think about what Edison said to one of his associates.
Who was discouraged after yet another failed experiment.
Edison told him that, despite having conducted thousands of experiments without solving the problem.
They hadn’t failed. “For we had learned for a certainty that the thing couldn’t be done that way, and that we would have to try some other way.”
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Become A Recognized Entrepreneur
6. Making Name for Yourself:Suspending advocacy of your own idea to push for another person’s concept.
It’s helpful to be able to come into a creative situation and demonstrate your willingness to champion another person’s idea.
It can open the way to getting others to support your thinking, as well.
Become A Recognized Entrepreneur
7. Putting your own idea to the same test you apply to an idea from someone else.
When it comes to your own ideas, it’s easy to be a hypocrite and apply all kinds of hurdles to other ideas while letting
your own thinking slide by unchallenged in your own mind.
Just one thing to remember: don’t become somebody known for doing this!
Become A Recognized Entrepreneur
8. Combining two different ideas and making them better (not muddled) as one idea.
Often (maybe “almost always”) compromising on creative ideas leads to something nobody likes, recognizes, or thinks satisfies the original objective.
Being able to dissect ideas to pull out highlights and put them together as something new, however, is entirely different, and a great skill to have.
Become A Recognized Entrepreneur
9. Letting someone else take “ownership” of your idea in order to build support for it.
This skill really tests whether you believe so strongly in an idea you’re willing to let someone else step up and take it
on as their own idea to see it prevail.
The key to seeing your idea win out can be letting somebody else be the vocal proponent for it.
Become A Recognized Entrepreneur
10. Displaying the patience to wait for someone else to say what needs to be said so all you have to do is agree.
It’s tempting to jump in right away and make all the points you feel necessary in a creative discussion before anyone
else talks.
At times though, patience and silence are called for when it becomes clear someone can and will express your
perspective – and can do it more appropriately than you can.
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Become A Recognized Entrepreneur
11. Sticking to your guns amid challenges to a creative idea which makes solid strategic sense.
There are many creative ideas which, while being really cool.
Have nothing to do with what you’re trying to achieve and how you should be achieving it.
When confronted with others who are passionately arguing for highly creative yet hardly strategic concepts.
Make and remake your case if the idea you’re advocating is on the mark strategically.
Become A Recognized Entrepreneur
12. Making Name for Yourself:Always looking for new creative skills to develop in yourself and those around you.
Not only do you want to make yourself stronger creatively at every juncture.
It’s in your best interests to help improve the creative performance of your overall team.
Creative meetings are a great opportunity to spot gaps others labor under as well as seeing your own creative shortcomings.
Inventory what you saw (or didn’t see) after a creative meeting and get to work filling the gaps.
Become A Recognized Entrepreneur
13. Define your audience.
The focus of your blog-and all your content-must be your readers. What are their needs? What are their pains? How can you help?
Of course, you could guess, but you’ll run the risk of being wrong.
An ideal way to remove the guesswork is to conduct a survey.
Ask a few specific questions to uncover demographic and psychographic information.
As a result of your survey, you’ll be able to profile your audience and work toward developing more focused content
with a much greater probability of resonating with your readers.
Become A Recognized Entrepreneur
14. Create a clear value proposition.
What can you offer your audience? What will they get from investing their time in your content? Do you offer
resources to help people work smarter? Do you offer leadership insights? These are just a couple of examples.
Create a succinct and simple answer and you have your value proposition. You may have to experiment with your
value proposition and revise it from time to time.
A clear value proposition will serve as a framework for all your efforts.
Become A Recognized Entrepreneur
15. Write a compelling brand slogan.
Remind yourself of the level of noise in media today and recognize how critical it is to make a strong impression quickly.
A great way to address this challenge is to distill your value proposition into a slogan.
Here are some good ones:
- Lifehacker’s slogan is “Tips, tricks, and downloads for getting things done.”
- Social Media Examiner claims to be “Your guide to the social media jungle.”
- Ramit Sethi promises, “I will teach you to be rich.”
- Feldman Creative promises to “Turn on the power of online marketing.”
How can you summarize your brand promise in a concise slogan?
Become A Recognized Entrepreneur
16. Show yourself.
People want to connect with people, not merely brands.
Presenting a great photo of yourself helps establish credibility and build trust.
It also helps you connect via social media.
Get a great headshot that captures the real, authentic you.
Invest in a professional photo shoot or if you prefer not to part with the money, hit up a friend with a quality camera
and a command of portrait photography.
Go into the session with a plan. Tell the photographer the impression you aim to create, the you you’re looking to capture.
After reviewing the photos, pick one headshot to use on your website and across all your social media networks.
Michael Hyatt offers some ideas for capturing yourself in action:
- Working at your computer
- Analyzing your client’s data
- Coaching one-on-one
- Facilitating a small group meeting
- Recording a podcast
- Shooting a video
- Speaking before a large crowd
- Autographing your book at an event
My opinion is the photo that will serve you best is simply you looking into the lens smiling, looking friendly and
approachable-with no distractions.
Become A Recognized Entrepreneur
17. Establish a look.
Any memorable brand, your personal brand included, should present itself consistently.
Using a variety of logos, colors, and fonts will confuse your audience.
Develop a look for your personal brand with:
- A professionally designed logo
- A pleasing color palette
- A limited menu of fonts
Apply the standards you create to everything-your website, business cards, advertising, etc.
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Become A Recognized Entrepreneur
18. Find your voice.
I think Michael’s 5-pack is a great way to prepare to start putting yourself out there.
There’s no denying this will require establishing your voice.
A goal in the development of your personal brand should be building a tribe, that is, a growing community of
dedicated fans.
You have to discover how to express yourself as the unique individual you are.
This isn’t merely a one-off task like getting a nice looking head shot. It’s a process.
It’s also a topic that we could examine for pages and pages.
Instead, I thought I’d simply offer some insights and words of caution.
Become A Recognized Entrepreneur
19. Don’t copy another writer’s style.
You may have read advice that suggests you should, but it’s to be applied gently.
A better take on the approach is to identify another writer’s style-or several-and learn from them.
Subscribe to their blogs and make a point to read the content.
Don’t write like them. Try to identify why their style appeals to you.
Become A Recognized Entrepreneur
20. Create content.
Your personal brand is reflected in the content you create and share.
Creating content to showcase your expertise must be at the core of your personal branding efforts.
Take these considerations to heart:
- What’s most valuable for the reader?
- What’s the main message you want to get across?
- Where can you publish it to support the growth of your personal brand?
- How can you offer substance and a point of view that’s not commonplace?
- Are you focused on educating the reader, not promoting yourself?
- Will your content inspire some sort of action?
If you’re not a skilled writer or editor, be sure to enlist help.
Focus on sharing your knowledge.
At the same time, don’t fear having a strong point of view. Say what you think. No one values a bland brand.
Remember, we’re taking about a personal brand. You.
If you want to challenge convention, do it.
By taking a stand, you might not appeal to everyone, but that’s not the goal.
You want to ignite the passion in the right people.
You’ll find your status as an expert will grow faster with bold content and opportunities for interviews, speaking gigs,
consulting contracts, and more will come faster and more frequently.
Use a variety of media types to accommodate the different preferences of your target market:
- Blog
- Podcasts
- Webinars
- Presentations
- eBooks
- White Papers
- Videos
Conclusion:
There are two key things to remember when you are engaged in creative thinking skills and techniques.
The first is don’t stop there.
Even when you think you’ve reached a good point, carry on a bit further.
Don’t be satisfied with the first solution you reach.
Instead, as long as you have time, try exploring other ideas, or even push the one that you have a bit further.
Take it right to the point of idiocy, and see where that gets you.
As Oscar Levant said, there is a fine line between genius and insanity.
Try crossing it, giving yourself the option of crossing back to the point of genius again.
The second point is closely related and it is ‘go with the flow’.
Sometimes the most useful outcomes of any creative thinking exercise are the unexpected ones, so don’t squash ideas
just because they don’t seem to fit straight away.
Just let them run for a while and see what happens.
Looking for ways to boost your creative thinking skills? These articles might
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