3 Numbers Every Entrepreneur Should Know

A lot of business owners hear the words SEO and their eyes glaze over. They wonder what SEO can really do for them, and if all the effort of creating a digital marketing plan anchored by SEO is worth it. Make no mistake, SEO and content marketing are vital in today's world.

A good SEO campaign can put your website in front of a lot of eyeballs. Here are three numbers that might amaze you if you are thinking of starting a business.

42% 
The website that appears first on Google's search engine results page (SERP) usually gets about 42% of the traffic.

25% 
The website that appears second on Google's SERP gets 25% of the traffic.

10% 
The website that appears third on Google's SERP gets about 10% of the traffic for that search.

And the numbers, of course, only go down from there. So ranking on  the top spot for a certain keyword can bring a lot of traffic to your website. The book How To Make A Website or blog presents this thought experiment:

The exact search item "shoes" is searched for roughly 1,160,000 times per month. If Nike is at rank #1 in Google and getting 42% of that traffic, that is going to translate into almost 500,000 visitors to the Nike website that are interested in the word "shoes". That is going to translate into A LOT of sales.

Now the keywords your business is targeting probably gets less traffic than the keyword shoes. However, they are less competitive and you can rank higher for them. Ranking first and getting 42% of searchers to your website, even for a relatively obscure keyword, can mean a lot of sales.

Apply to the Handshakin Startup Pre-accelerator if you would like to learn some of the free strategies we've used to grow our startup with SEO.

3 Tips For Common Challenges For Entrepreneurs

You've made the decision to start your own business. Good for you! You're already on your way to becoming a successful entrepreneur. Now what? Running your own company can be the most exciting and satisfying thing you've ever done--you're in total control of your career, while providing a unique product or service to your satisfied customers.

Part of every business, however, involves making difficult decisions. No matter how much your company grows, your strategic planning will mean having to change, drop, or add resources. But as a start-up, your decisions are among the most critical you will ever make.

Here are three entrepreneur tips for the tough--but exciting--choices ahead:

1. When to leave your job: You'd love to leave the corporate world behind, but the reality is that you still need the pay and benefits to support your dream. Chris Guillebeau, a young entrepreneur and author of "The $100 Start-up", suggests going part-time rather than making a full leap into your new business. Other considerations before you cut loose: Are you ready to be flat broke for a couple of years? Will your family understand that work comes before play? 
2. Who to hire: At some point early in your new endeavor, you'll need someone to help, so you can focus on the tasks that only you know how to do. It can be tempting to take on a family member or a friend. Think long and hard, before you do. Remember that each team member must have skills that can contribute to your success. You also must have people who respect you and support the culture you're building.
3. How to handle change: While you have a solid business plan, you'll be making adjustments to stay within the budget, build customer loyalty, or take on new projects. Change involves risk, so you need to learn how much risk you can afford, financially and emotionally. You also need to motivate others to embrace change and continue to move forward.
   

You will learn many lessons as an entrepreneur, including how to make quick decisions. Knowing that you have a vision and priorities will help guide your choices, and lead to success. Ready to launch? Apply to our startup pre-accelerator to get your dream business rolling this year!

How to Build Personal Relationships as an Entrepreneur

All business is built on relationships. Working relationships between employees, business relationships between the company and suppliers or manufacturers, and implicit relationships between the company and customers. As an entrepreneur starting or managing a small business, you will likely have to be savvy in maintaining great relationships all around, and doing so on a personal level makes it more real.

Building personal relationships as an entrepreneur can be difficult at first, but with a strong handshake and some practice you can develop the skills you need to be successful. Here are some tips to help you out.

Be authentic. Don't  mislead your clients or customers, even to exaggerate the effectiveness of your products or services. Honesty is one of the most important components to working relationships, and misrepresenting yourself is one of the easiest ways to damage your reputation.  Be honest even when you mess up, your client will appreciate your humanity even if they're disappointed by your delivery.

Treat your customers as people. Your customers have feelings and aren't just numbers on a data sheet, and they appreciate being treated that way. As much as possible, remember information about your clients and keep your customers' emotions in mind. If you treat people with empathy and understanding, they will consider you dependable and reliable.  One of the past Handshakin Guests once said to find their "thing" and remember it and remember to ask about it to show an interest in their personal life.

Be visible. Remind people that you're around and keep them updated on what you're working on. The more you show up on people's radar, the more opportunities you have to build relationships with them.  This played into online presence as well.  Blog about your niche, write a book, put yourself out there to prove to your clients you are serious and that you have a lot to lose if you were to mess up.

Authenticity, empathy, and visibility are three important factors when building relationships as an entrepreneur. If you stick to the guidelines outlined in this article, you will have a very good chance at success.

Is this interesting to you?  See my book, Handshakin Your Way to Entrepreneurial Success, to read more.

The Handshake: A Powerful Networking Tool

June 25 was National Handshake Day...and the opportunity to learn more about this powerful networking tool.

In business, we shake hands everyday. The handshake is such a common gesture that most of us give it little thought. But when we take a moment to understand its history and significance, it becomes much more than a routine way to greet others and finalize an agreement.

There's nothing new about handshaking. Archeological ruins from Ancient Greece show soldiers shaking hands on a piece of 5th-century B.C. pottery. It was meant as a show of peace; neither side carried weapons. Unfortunately, in later history, handshakes were seen as a way to determine if the other person had hidden a knife in his sleeve. Medieval knights--covered in armor--used handshakes as a way to sort a friend from an enemy. An extended open hand was a sign of friendship, while a hand with a weapon was...well, a signal to defend oneself.

The American handshake is simple to do, but important to perform well. Directions from etiquette expert Robin Bickerstaff Glover: "The right hand is extended, thumb up and palm flat. You grasp the other person's hand using a firm grip, with your palm on their palm. Hands are pumped two or three times in a vertical motion and then, you release the grip." The handshake should be firm and friendly; if you squeeze too hard, it seems aggressive. If you leave your hand limp or offer a weak grasp, it can signal anxiety or lack of confidence. Of course, you always look the other person in the eye when shaking hands.

When networking, remember that your handshake is the first impression you will make. Forbes Magazine reports the results of seven studies: "A handshake can improve the quality of an interaction, producing a higher degree of intimacy and trust within a matter of seconds."

And a Fortune 500 CEO once said, "When I have to choose between two candidates with similar qualifications, I give the position to the candidate with the better handshake."

Ready to learn more about ways to be successful through handshakes? Just check us out--entrepreneurs watch our free videos every single day.

Should Entrepreneurs Hassle With Graduate School?

For the average person in their 20s who has an entrepreneurial interest, should a Master's degree be a priority? Many say entrepreneurship cannot be taught. The media is always reporting on successful entrepreneurs who dropped out of college or high school. Is a Master's degree a risk or a smart idea in today's marketplace?

In writing the book, Handshakin Your Way to Entrepreneurial Success, I learned from Colorado's most successful entrepreneurs that aspiring entrepreneurs need to immerse themselves in strategic communities.  This qualifies them to get optimal tools, contacts, and meetings that they need to reach their biggest goals.  Community is the basis to building a sturdy and credible foundation as an aspiring entrepreneur, and a Master's degree will allow you access to more competitive, high-value communities:

• You will be seen as a more credible entrepreneur with a Master's degree--especially if it's in the same industry in which your startup is.  For example, the CEO/Founder of an app that helps with personal finance would increase his or her credibility by having an Master's in Finance.
  
• You will be part of a community of others with similar Master's degrees.  Remember all the friends you made in college?  All you guys have at least Bachelor's degrees--cool!  Remember everyone from high school that at least has a high school degree?  Same concept.  Build personal relationships with fellow graduates in your Master's degree to have a network of wealthier potential angel investors.  After all, it's a well thought out personal relationship strategy that leads to entrepreneurial success.  Only 8% percent of the population now holds Master’s degrees, the same percentage that held bachelor’s degrees (or higher) in the 1960s according to The American Interest.  Obtaining a Master's degree can allow you easier access to elite communities.
  
• You will learn how to meet demanding deadlines & sell an idea effectively.  These two skills are especially taught well at Daniel's College of Business, at the University of Denver, where I received my MBA.  Aside from the University, Denver is the 2nd best city in the nation to launch your startup according to Forbes.  

If you're interested in entrepreneurship, apply for a Master's degree right away.  If you're starting up here in Colorado like all of us at Startup Denver, Daniel's College of Business is the Harvard of the West, and the best business school in Colorado.  As an entrepreneur who relies heavily on shaking hands and networking, the people I met at Daniel's and the credibility of a Master's degree from Daniel's gives me all the credibility I need to reach the huge goals I have as an entrepreneur.  

4 Unique Ways to Think About Networking

Networking. As a small business owner, you will either be excited to hear that word or you will shutter when you hear it. Many love to network. They love to get out and meet new people. They live to socialize. Others see a room full of people and want to run back home. They would rather be by themselves. However, shaking hands is essential to grow your business.

Here are some other ways to help you think about business networking to take some pressure off and allow you to meet new people and grow your business.

• Making new friends. Tell yourself that you are just going to make some new friends. This might help really shy people by taking some of the pressure off about their business. Just go to socialize. Talk about your business but don’t push it.
• How much you can help people. Your business can help people so you should want to help as many people as possible. Spread the word by just wanting to help people.  Worry about the sale later, and focus on personal relationships first.
• New business opportunities. Remind yourself that every person you meet is a new potential business opportunity. You should try to meet as many people as possible.  
• You never know who can help you. Besides being able to help others, you might need help that you didn’t realize. Be sure to listen to others in case you need their help too!

Networking can be very scary for some people. It might help to think about it as if you are just going to make some new friends. Building personal relationships is how all of Colorado's most successful entrepreneurs flew to success on autopilot.  Try to take the pressure off completely. Who knows? You might just end up growing your business anyway. You should also remind yourself that every person you meet is a new business opportunity. You might also meet some people that can help you too!

Join our email list for more networking tips.

Shortcuts to Business Learning Curves

Building a business takes a lot of hard work and dedication. You will also make some mistake along the way. Just because you have bad days does not mean that your business will fail. Instead, entrepreneurs need to use their experiences to learn from them.  Here are some business learning curves that all entrepreneurs struggle with.

• It takes time to find the right way to do things. You might have to try to do things a few different ways before finding the best (and fastest) way to do something. You might ask people for advice but you still have to find out what works best for you.
• It also takes time to figure out your pricing. You might start out charging hourly or by project. You might realize that a project you figured would take you an hour ends up taking you five and you end up working for pennies. You will learn that some things are better charged per project if they are going to be hard to calculate how long it will take you while others that are going to take you a long time may be worth charging per hour.
• You will have to learn what products or services to offer. Some people do better offering a wide variety while others do better if they specialize in a niche. Many people prefer to specialize because they feel like they can ask for a higher rate if they concentrate in more technical tasks. Others prefer to help out however they can.
• Sometimes, you learn that you don't want to offer a service anymore because it is not worth it. If you don't enjoy doing something, don't do it anymore. If certain projects take you too long, then it is not going to be worth offering to clients. You will be spending too long working on them.
• Not everyone is born to be an entrepreneur and that is alright. They need a boss to keep them motivated to work. They will have trouble keeping a business going and there is nothing wrong with that.

Just because you have a good or bad day does not mean your business will fail. Instead, owning a business is a learning process. You will have to try different ways of doing things until you find the best way to do it. Ask yourself about these topics to create shortcuts. You will have to fiddle with your prices and even with your products and services until you are happy with what you offer. It takes time until you will be completely happy with your business.  Be patient and forever anxious, shakers!

Contact us to learn how personal relationship strategy can help you grow and launch your business.