6 Mind Blowing Things That Makes A Mastermind Entrepreneur Stand Out From The Rest

In the entrepreneurship world there are only two types of entrepreneurs and they are the mastermind entrepreneurs and the amateur entrepreneurs.

Who is a mastermind entrepreneur? A mastermind entrepreneur is a person that knows why he or she is being called a mastermind entrepreneur, there are the ones that knows how to drive a complex scheme also they are the successful entrepreneurs in the entrepreneurship world.

Who is an amateur entrepreneur? An amateur entrepreneur is one who doesn't know why they are called entrepreneur. They are the ones who does not know how to drive complex scheme also they are the ones who are not successful.

Now the question I'm going to ask you is, where do you belong? You as an entrepreneur must know where your level fits in because if you don't know, you are just wasting your time in the entrepreneurship world.

An entrepreneur should know why they are in the game also they should always know what they need. Like they say "As you lay your bed, that's how you lie on it" how do you choose to lay your bed, do you choose to lay it in a mastermind entrepreneur way or in an amateur entrepreneur way?

Things that make a mastermind entrepreneur stand out from an amateur entrepreneur are highlighted below:

They are ready to face challenges:
You might be wondering if a mastermind entrepreneur doesn't face any challenges at all, yes they do but what makes them stand out is that they are always ready to face their challenges. They know the step to take in other to tackle their challenges; they see their challenges as success and not as defeat. But amateur entrepreneurs are always scared of challenges, they don't know how to go about it, whenever they face any challenge they prefer to put on the spirit of failure, because they believe that they can't overcome the spirit of challenges.

They take their business serious:
When it comes to the taking of business serious you will always find a mastermind entrepreneur there. A mastermind entrepreneur are always taking their business serious, they are ready to go to any length in other to make their business become successful. They don't joke with the idea of taking their business as their second wife or husband simply because they know what they want and they know why they are in the game. But an amateur entrepreneur will never do that, they believe that they will succeed if they want to succeed and being successful is not by hard work. They just don't want to get out of their comfort zone for once.

They aim high and set achievable goals:
No matter the condition they are, they are always aiming high and setting achievable goals, they don't believe in impossibilities. They believe that nothing is impossible in this world. Nothing is impossible in this world, if you truly believe. Amateur entrepreneurs aim less and they don't set an achievable goals, they just don't have the believe that they can make things happen; I mean they don't believe that things are possible.

They know how to manage risk:
Ability to manage risk is one of the factors that makes a mastermind entrepreneur become successful. A mastermind entrepreneur knows how to manage risk; they know what it means to take risk. While an amateur entrepreneur doesn't know how to manage risk, they don't even want to hear the world risk they are always looking for a way to skip the name called RISK.

They posses the skills:
Mastermind entrepreneurs posses the skills, they are not lame. They know the importance of possessing the skills. For an entrepreneur to be among the mastermind entrepreneurs, he or she must posses the skills, it's only an amateur entrepreneur that don't know the usefulness of the skills and why they should posses it. Skills like time management skill, creativity skill, leadership skill etc.

They are passionate:
Mastermind entrepreneurs are always passionate, they love what they do, and they go into a field that suits their interest that's why they keep dwelling on the mountain top. Amateur entrepreneurs are the ones that are not passionate about what they are doing. They are just doing it due to imitation or just for the sake of doing it, which is not supposed to be.

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Advantages of Being an Entrepreneur

There are many advantages to being an entrepreneur. The primary advantage is the fact that the success of your business is in your own hands. Even though most entrepreneurs fail, that failure is mainly due to a lack of experience and knowledge. I have been an entrepreneur for 13 years now, and in my experience, the pros out way the cons. In this article I will outline some of the advantages I have experienced as an entrepreneur.

One of the most obvious advantages of being an entrepreneur is the ability to be innovative. An entrepreneur has the ability to create new products and ideas to meet the needs of an existing market. This is known as innovation. By being innovative, an entrepreneur can develop new profitable industries. This almost guarantees that people will stand in line to give the entrepreneur his or her money so that they can have their needs satisfied. In addition to making a profit, innovation builds credibility for that entrepreneur as an expert. He or she can continue to create products and ideas for that niche as an expert.

Another advantage of being an entrepreneur is the ability to set one's own price. Since entrepreneurs can develop new products that never existed before, they can also determine their own price. An entrepreneur can invest little time and money and in turn receive a very large return on their investment. Having the ability to determine one's price is one way that can almost guarantee profitability.

This brings me to another advantage. Because entrepreneurs have the ability to set their own price for their goods and services, they can determine the kind of income and lifestyle they wish to maintain. We have seen over the years where many people have gone from being grass root income earners to millionaires in a short span of time. We have seen teenagers who have started their own businesses and became millionaires as teenagers. And let's be honest. How many years of experience can a teenager have in running a business? It is not the experience, but the ability to set one's price that has made the difference for these young entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneurs have the option to diversify. They can create one or many different businesses. This is my favorite reason for being an entrepreneur. I am able to create a business to meet the needs of a particular market. Once I have the business up and running. I move on to creating another business model. This advantage allows entrepreneurs to create as many income streams as possible. Not to mention the ability to constantly create new job opportunities.

Even though they are many advantages of being an entrepreneur, it does not guarantee success. It still takes a great deal of effort and a willingness to learn new things and develop new skills. I can assure you that if you decide to become an entrepreneur and you are committed to being successful at it, the pay off is more than satisfactory.

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28 Things All Entrepreneurs Do and Don't Do

I was once asked just what is the thing that successful entrepreneurs do, or don't do. It got me to thinking real hard about what it is that sets entrepreneurs apart from those who'd like to be. Here are 28 things ALL entrepreneurs DO and DON'T do:

1. Entrepreneurs pay attention to the new opportunities that present themselves everyday.

2. Entrepreneurs don't stop because they don't know how to do something. They delegate tasks to people who are more gifted to perform the things you can't, or learn to do them. They don't re-invent the wheel if its not needed.

3. Entrepreneurs aren't afraid of change or new things, so they try, investigate and willing risk making mistakes.

4. Entrepreneurs set realistic goals daily as well as for the long term.5. Entrepreneurs study the background information of what they're marketing so they can become experts in a filed they wouldn't normally have any expertise in.6. Entrepreneurs study other peoples' mistakes and successes and learn from them.

7. Entrepreneurs realize that they're running a long term business, not a get rich quick venture. They think and plan for he future.

8. Entrepreneurs don't let problems stop them from reaching a goal. They learn new things from road blocks and hurdles.

9. Entrepreneurs are professional, thoughtful in their communication and to the point. They don't give people fluff or false hope.

10. Entrepreneurs are real with who they are and understand their own personality. They know their strengths and weaknesses.

11. Entrepreneurs use their resources and time wisely, while learning to make room for taking risks.12. Entrepreneurs don't get frustrated if something takes longer than expected. They always focus on the goal.

13. Entrepreneurs know that there are many parts of entrepreneurship that WILL NOT be fun, but they do them anyway.

14. Entrepreneurs learn to move on to new projects. They don't get attached to something that isn't working or is using too many resources.

15. Entrepreneurs don't give away their best information upfront. They understand how to pace what they bring to market.

16. Entrepreneurs remove things that distract them or take their mind off the goal.

17. Entrepreneurs don't have pre-determined or fixed ideas about how something will end up. They are flexible and try new things.

18. Entrepreneurs are honest with others and themselves. They earn the trust of their following by being trustworthy.

19. Entrepreneurs don't make decisions on whether or not something is enjoyable. They think about what their target wants.

20. Entrepreneurs are always making new products or ventures. They are constantly exploring new options without get wrapped up in one thing. They can get out of their own box.

21. Entrepreneurs don't take things personally.

22. Entrepreneurs run their business the way they want, while always being open to advice. They can understand that no one person can possibly know everything.

23. Entrepreneurs are proactive with their decision making. They DO what they DREAM.

24. Entrepreneurs are prepared for long hours and lots of work because they know that success does not occur overnight, or on its own.

25. Entrepreneurs incorporate ideas and products that they know already work.

26. Entrepreneurs know how to delegate tasks to other more gifted than themselves. They know how to let go of something and let another person get add their own style, twist or flavor to it.

27. Entrepreneurs learn about who they are marketing to and craft their communication accordingly.

28. Entrepreneurs welcome feedback and criticism from those who matter the most: their customers.

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Online Business Ideas to Start a Business From Home

A home based business is nothing new to the Internet, and people have used the World Wide Web to work at home since the beginning. However, recently, many people who want to start a business from home are struggling with which online business ideas are the best.

A model of business that has consistently worked since the early stages of the Internet is the affiliate marketing concept. This online business idea uses the products and services of other businesses to generate easy quick cash for you when you choose to start a business from home.

The basic concept is that you will place ads, text links, or graphics on your website to promote another business and their products of which you receive a commission from the sale. The reason this online business idea is so successful is that many businesses do not have the capacity to attract the millions of buyers on the Internet and rely on individuals in home based businesses to send them customers.

Your job in your own business is simply to encourage and drive traffic that visits your website to click on the ads and visit the business website. You act as a portal to that business and in return, the business will pay you a commission for each sale.

One of the first Internet Marketers to use this model was Ewen Chia; he started in 1997 as an affiliate for small businesses that needed help in getting customers. Soon, Ewen built a vast empire of businesses and reportedly has made millions of dollars using this same strategy.

The affiliate marketing method is by far the best online business idea for a beginner to start a business from home, as it requires virtually no cash outlay, very little experience and through the methods taught in his book, you can earn quick cash almost immediately.

If you really are looking to start a business from home that will replace your current income and get you the results you need, take this online business idea and put it into action! Consider following the same methods that have produced countless multi-millionaires on the Internet and get a piece of the work at home pie for you. 

Start your own home based business by getting online business ideas from successful Internet business men and women. Read more on the Most successful Internet Marketer in the world at How to Start A Home Business.

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Entrepreneurship - Who Is An Entrepreneur?

I came to realize that entrepreneurship has been there for so many years and that there are many people who cannot define correctly who an entrepreneur is. This is because there is a disagreement of whether entrepreneurs are born or made. By the way, are entrepreneurs born or made? I'm afraid if we start this discussion we might not come to a conclusion.

Why is it that there is no universal agreement whether entrepreneurs are born or made? First, entrepreneurs are born because there are some people who have come up with new business ideas that are currently recognized as successful businesses but these people were never educated on how to become entrepreneurs.
On the other hand entrepreneurs are made because there are some successful entrepreneurs who have studied entrepreneurship courses (diploma and degree programs) offered by colleges and universities.

Is it true that people have not succeeded in defining who a true entrepreneur is?

My own personal experience was that for ten years we ran a research center in entrepreneurial history; for ten years we tried to define the entrepreneur. We never succeeded. Each of us had some notion of it-what he thought was, for his purposes, a useful definition. And I don't think you're going to get farther than that-By Arthur Cole.

According to what I studied in high school under the subject of business, an entrepreneur is "a person who sets up successful businesses and business deals." But this definition does not bring out a clear definition because not everyone who sets up a business and is running it successful is an entrepreneur. There is more of who a true entrepreneur is other than setting up a business and running it successfully.

Economics and business people don't seem also to agree on who is a true entrepreneur. From economist point of view, "The entrepreneur is one who is willing to bear the risk of a new venture if there is a significant chance for profit. Others emphasize the entrepreneur's role as an innovator who markets his innovation. Still other economists say that entrepreneurs develop new goods or processes that the market demands and are not currently being supplied."

Entrepreneurship concept first came into existence in the 1700s. Since then it has evolved to what it is now today. Despite the failure of defining who a true entrepreneur is, we can all agree that entrepreneurs play a major role in enhancing the lives of people in many different ways. They come up with new ideas which have led them to create business organizations.

These organizations apart from creating job opportunities directly or indirectly they also serve people in various ways. Entrepreneurs are viewed as people who either create new products or improve the existing products so as to solve problems facing people.

Trait Approach

We can describe who a true entrepreneur is by using the trait approach. Under this approach, the common traits successful entrepreneurs possess describes if a person is a true entrepreneur. The traits are:

1.) Taking Risks: They take risks after they have discovered viable business opportunities. They already know that business ideas which have got high risks are the ones which yield high profits. Generally speaking, successful entrepreneurs have taken risks to be where they're now.

2.) Passion: Whatever the business idea they come up with, they have passion for it. Passion keeps successful entrepreneurs going by being focused.

3.) Hardworking: Successful entrepreneurs have a common trait of working hard. They work hard in seeing that all the tasks of the business are completed on time and efficiently.

4.) Optimistic: Optimism is the trait that successful entrepreneurs have in common. They believe that in the future their ideas will be successful businesses. They have no room for doubting their business ideas.

5.) Good Leadership: They have the trait of good leadership. Successful entrepreneurs know how to motivate their employees so that they give their best in attaining success. They create policies and goals for their businesses. They oversee that these policies are followed and the goals are accomplished on time.

6.) Determined and Persistent: Successful entrepreneurs are determined and persistent in making their new business ideas successful. They don't give up after experiencing some failures in executing some tasks but they're persistent and determined because they're motivated by success and not money. For them, money is only a reward they get.

7.) Flexible: Entrepreneurs who have succeeded respond to market needs swiftly. Whenever there are changes in market needs they respond to them swiftly so as not to lose their customers. They search for opportunities to exploit when a change occurs. Successful entrepreneurs have a common trait of adjusting their entrepreneurship ventures to fluctuating economic conditions. "The entrepreneur always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity-By Peter Drucker."

8.) Creativity: They research and come up with creative new business ideas. Successful entrepreneurs continuously innovate new ways of satisfying customers.

9.) Organization Ability: Successful entrepreneurs are well organized. They organize factors of production such as labor, land and capital in running their entrepreneurship ventures.

With all the above information, I urge you not to fail to appreciate what a true entrepreneur is still working on. This is because a true entrepreneur never gives up no matter the failures he experiences in executing some tasks. He is optimistic that one day his business idea will be a successful business.

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How to Start Your Online Business From Home?

The economic recession which started in the year 2008 handed pink slips to millions of people worldwide. Many well reputed financial organizations and banks collapsed and declared bankruptcy and many large and small businesses closed down permanently all over the world.

But this devastating and unfortunate event came as a blessing in disguise for many people. People who could not imagine living without their jobs suddenly found themselves looking at other alternative sources of income. Make money from home and work from home opportunities started being considered by the countless jobless individuals.

Nowadays the major reasons which are leading to an exponential rise of home business opportunities internationally are following:

1. If you are a single mom or dad you can operate your online business from home while taking care of kids at the same time.

2. No daily commute to an office is required as you operate from your home office. This saves your precious time and travel/fuel expenses and peak-time traffic chaos/jams(huge energy sappers).

3. Usually an extremely small or no investment at all is needed to start your home business. You may start your online business from home with less than one hundred Dollars. Many people who makes millions of dollars annually now, started with this kind of amount only and gradually grew their home business. So this type of work from home business opportunity is highly suitable for people who are running short of finance.

4. Many times business enterprises fail due to various economic, social and cultural factors. Many bankrupt businessmen with almost no capital have been able to start and grow their online business to great heights.

5. Even if you don't have any prior experience in running a business, you can start your business from home by taking tutorials over the internet and reading home based business articles over the internet.

6. If anyone is partially handicapped physically, he or she can start an online business from home so that he/she can become a productive part of the society.

7. You don't need any kind of expensive furniture, office, office equipment's etc. to start a home business. You only need a computer with an internet connection to start making money online.

8. No particular higher education, skills or knowledge are required to start an online business from home. Only basic knowledge of operating a computer and internet is enough.

There are various kinds work at home opportunities available nowadays to enable people to start earning an income from home. There are paid surveys, data entry jobs, advertisement posting on behalf of companies, affiliate marketing, paid forum posting jobs etc.

You can sign-up for various paid survey opportunities either free or by paying a nominal one time fee. Though you can't become an overnight millionaire but still you could earn a nice part-time income from paid surveys.

Posting advertisements on behalf of companies in various free/paid classifieds and other places on the internet is also an extremely profitable business opportunity. You can earn a nice and substantial commission when a sale is made via your affiliate or website link. This is also known as affiliate marketing. You simple need to place your affiliate link or hop link at the end of your advertisement. When people click on your affiliate link, they are taken to the merchant's website for reviewing and ordering a product or service. When a sale happens you may collect your commission from the payment processor directly and not the advertisement company.

Nowadays there are many online business from home opportunities where you can get your own free professional website fully loaded with multiple income streams and you can start making money immediately. You may even get free training to start your new home business. All the instructions are provided in a step-by-step manner in the training guide in a very simple language.

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The 5 Key Habits You Must Acquire to Make a Million Dollars Working From Home

If you want to make a million dollars working from home, you'll want to acquire five important habits. These habits will not only assist you on your journey to becoming a millionaire, but they will help you sustain your financial status over the long-haul.

#1. Self Starter

You must be a self-starter if you are to become a millionaire, especially when you're working from home. There is typically no one at your home who can keep you on task to ensure you complete your work and reach your goals.

Basically, a self-starter is someone who doesn't need somebody else to tell them what to do in order to accomplish tasks and get the job done. They are someone with drive and ambition.

You can't make millions if you don't have drive and ambition.

What is the habit you need to take away from this? An attitude of independence.

Someone who looks around the world, sees opportunities and seizes them - all without someone else directing them.

#2. Vision

Before you will ever become a millionaire, you need to be able to envision yourself as one. Have you heard of the Law of Attraction? Based on this New Thought principle, you attract what you think. If you think you will achieve something, then you will.

If you think good things about yourself, then you will attract good things. If you envision your success, you will be successful.

You must envision yourself as successful in your work as a habit.

If you're just starting in your quest to achieve great financial gain, then cut out pictures from magazines of items you want to obtain on your financial journey. Is it a big, fancy house with all the bells and whistles? Maybe you want to collect vintage cars, buy a yacht or an island, or retire.

Find pictures that represent what you want to achieve in life and post them around your office. Every time you go into it, you will see what you want to result from your vision of success.

Your vision may need to be adjusted periodically as you see changes in your pursuit to become a millionaire. Regardless, it is a critical habit to acquire, to always have a vision of what you want to become.

#3. Daily Schedule

In order to make a million dollars working from home, you've got to begin a daily schedule of work. Even if your business hasn't developed to the extent that your day is full, you need to act like it is by creating a schedule.

If you don't already have one, buy a Blackberry. Put your daily schedule in it, and make sure you set up a reminder for actual meetings and for actions you have due.

Establish a work day/week, like Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. You don't have to work all that time, but you need to be psychologically prepared for a work schedule that fits your millionaire goals.

In addition to establishing a work day/week, make sure you actually fill up part of your day with work-related activities.

#4. Discipline

Without discipline you will never achieve anything working from home. Once you establish your work day and week, you'll need to discipline yourself to stick to it.

Get up every morning and start work at the same time. Have regular work activities you do every day that help promote your millionaire business.

Discipline will help you focus on your goals and make sure they get accomplished.

#5. Goal-Setting

Goal-setting is one of the most critical habits that you can acquire. You need to get in the habit of setting goals. Initially, you'll want to set one-, five- and 10-year goals. Then, you'll want to set more short-term goals that will help you arrive at your longer term goals.

An example might be that your one-year goal is to become a millionaire working from home. Your five-year goal may be to become a multi-millionaire working from home and your 10-year goal may be to sell your business and retire.

In order to achieve your one-year goal, you'll have to have tasks that will need to be completed in order to arrive at your millionaire status in one year. You'll also want to identify high-level tasks that will enable you to arrive at your other more long-term goals

Incorporate these habits into your lifestyle. Let them become a part of your daily life. As they begin to be part of you in such a way that they are second-nature, you will be amazed at how much more quickly you will arrive at making a million dollars working from home.

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5 Cheap Ways To Build A Million Dollar Business From Home

Home-based businesses are different than other businesses. Since you're not dealing with a lot of money, you can't afford to take a lot of losses. You can get the skill set without spending big money, but your focus must be on learning to communicate properly with your market. You can then get bigger by investing lots of money after you've already made it.

That seems to be the common misconception about starting a business from home and accounts for a major portion of the 95% drop-out rate in network marketing. What you choose to bypass in labor you must replace in dollars, but it's necessary to do the labor first. One reason is to avoid going bankrupt, and another is that the skill set is necessary.

The best place to start, whether you are brand new or you've been around for a while with a stalled business, is to seek proper marketing education. Your company will only go as far as teaching you how to sell and promote their own product to the masses. They don't care if you make millions for yourself because, quite frankly, most people don't have that much patience with building a business. What they want is for you to get as many people on their products as you can before you quit.

Marketing is finding a demand and filling it with supply. The best way to find customers isn't talking to everyone you meet or leaving a paper trail of flyers wherever you go. There are techniques, mainly on the internet using search engines and distribution services, that can get qualified people calling you instead of you calling them. This saves you time and money, which are the two resources most people never seem to ever have enough of.

When you seek proper marketing education, which sometimes comes with a money-back guarantee unlike the trainings your company offers, you will begin to learn that you should never lead from your business. This is the second money-saving technique that will speed up your business toward that million dollars.

People who join your organization without an attachment to your products or services will quit. It happens all the time because it takes time and patience to build a home-based business. If someone isn't serious about helping others with the products they are endorsing, they'll drop out as soon as they realize they won't make a financial killing in the first month after joining you.

Once you have established that the kind of person you are looking for is someone who is product-driven, the next cheap technique to do is acquire leads and start practicing with a script. This is where many people get into financial trouble because they think they need to spend tons of money for "quality" leads. Well, there is no such thing. All leads stink!

You can find lead brokers on the internet offering ten cent leads of people who have a passion for your type of products. You have to dig through all of the people who are uninterested until you find the people with your common interests. Once you get that, you won't have to dig anymore because you'll know where to look and you won't have to convince people they need what you have.

Now that you've found a cheap way to practice speaking with people who have a desire for what you want, what do you say? Becoming a good copywriter is something your education will guide you on, and you won't have to spend any extra money for it. Scripts are essential for success in network marketing, and it's the power of good copywriting that can skyrocket your business.

What you want to avoid is writing a bunch of things that will come across as hype. Simply focus on the needs of the person at the other end of the telephone and how your product or service can benefit them. Be as specific as possible because most people aren't looking to cure every problem they've ever had. They are usually looking for something very specific.

Once you have written compelling copy to get the interest of your prospect, the next cheap technique is to call them on the telephone. Notice how I didn't say to send them an e-mail or text message? The telephone is still the best way to communicate with another person long distance, regardless of how popular the internet and e-mail have become. And it's still cheap!

When you make a connection, be brief. This is a relationship business, but here we don't want to invest much unlike what is commonly taught. The more you practice your script, the easier it will become to get your point across. If your prospect is still on the fence after your presentation, let them call you back. This lets them know you are not desperate.

Network marketing is the only way you can become a millionaire without spending a lot of money to get your business started. Follow these 5 simple techniques and you'll have a good chance at securing what you already have in order to go for what you want.

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5 Important Strategies Big Brands Implement With Influencers

Traditional forms of advertising just aren't cutting it anymore. Commercials and online advertisements are easily overlooked, skipped, and muted, leaving budgets with little to show in regards to customer acquisition and brand awareness.

This is 2018 and people are searching for information from those they trust or see as experts. That's what makes influencer marketing so valuable. It opens the door for authentic stories and experiences to formulate around brands in a way that can't be accomplished through other types of advertising.

If you've been hesitant to take the plunge into influencer marketing, then hopefully these five strategies that big brands implement will change your mind.

1. Celebrities or No Celebrities? That is the Question.

It makes sense to think that if a brand hired a celebrity with millions of followers, their campaign would be more successful because it would reach a larger audience.

But this couldn't be further from the truth.

Recent research has shown that engagement actually starts to decrease as follower counts grow. After evaluating over 800,000 Instagram users, Markerly discovered that those with 1,000 or fewer followers had an 8% engagement rate, while users with over 10 million followers only had a 1.6% engagement rate. The research goes on to show that hiring influencers with 10,000 to 100,000 followers gets you the best results.

One of the biggest reasons for this is because micro-influencers tend to build a following based on what they share on their blog or social channels. If someone consistently posts about being a mom, odds are that other moms are going to follow along and relate to that influencer's content. With each new post, more and more credibility is built, and eventually this influencer may become their audience's go-to expert on the topic.

By the time that influencer publishes a sponsored post about a product they're raving about, they've already built the trust of their audience, and those followers will want to try the product as well. This is a win-win situation because as more followers begin to talk about the product or buy it, the brand should experience a lift in their own follower counts, as well as their sales.

Aside from having better engagement rates and a more targeted audience, micro-influencers also cost significantly less than celebrities. Hopper HQ recently shared that a single Instagram post from Selena Gomez costs $550,000. In contrast, it costs $214 on average to hire a micro-influencer in the United States to post on Instagram. That means a brand could hire approximately 2,570 micro-influencers in exchange for one Selena Gomez post.

Bigelow Tea, in collaboration with Walmart, realized their money was better spent with micro-influencers, so they worked with Collective Bias on their Tea Moments campaign, and the results were stunning. By hiring influencers in the healthy living and wellness verticals, the product fit authentically into their blogs and social channels. The content was so well received by the influencers' audiences that Bigelow Tea experienced an 18.5% sales lift and over 44 million impressions from the campaign.

2. Creative Freedom - What It Means and Why It's Important

A common mistake brands make when first working with influencers is trying to have too much control over the process. If you chat with an influencer, odds are they'll tell you creative freedom is one of the most important things they look for before agreeing to participate in a campaign. They understand what their unique voice is, and if they aren't offered the ability to keep that voice, odds are they'll decline working on the campaign. Or worse, if they participate in the campaign and their followers don't respond well to it because it appears inauthentic, the brand may develop a negative conversation amongst their target audience.

While it may be difficult for brands to give up control of the creative process, it's important for influencers to be trusted to do their best work. This is why hiring influencers who are on-brand with your values and style is so important.

DSW's 12 Days of Converse campaign found five influencers that fit their ideal demo and hired them to design two to three pairs of Chuck Taylors, then announce to their followers that they could win a pair of their own. Those simple details paved the way for influencers to unleash their creativity, and the response from their followers was insane. For less than $15,000, the campaign generated over 3 million impressions and over 100,000 engagements.

DSW continues to be an active participant in influencer marketing campaigns, and their revenue has steadily increased year after year. For the fiscal year 2016, DSW company revenues were at $2.7 billion, and they are now at $2.8 billion for 2017, which is a record high for the company.

3. Exist Where Your Audience Exists

Ten years ago, blogs and websites were some of the only online ways to tell audiences about your product. Today, there are several social platforms available to advertise on, like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube. So how do you know which platform is best to have influencers post on?

With social media constantly changing social, it's difficult to pinpoint exactly where you should have content going live so that your ideal target audience sees it, so an alternate strategy is to have influencers post on multiple platforms.

Bertolli hired nine influencers to publish blog posts, social amplifications, and videos about their olive oil products so that no audience was left out. By doing so, their campaign generated an estimated 6.8 million total views and $14.37 in earned media revenue for each $1 they spent on the campaign.

The blog posts were great for sharing recipes that called for using the product, and those recipes were in turn easy to pin on Pinterest. Instagram was a useful platform for showcasing one of the final recipe images, and to direct readers to get the full recipe on their blog.

Airheads had a similar strategy. In their campaign, the anchor videos lived on YouTube and were amplified on other social platforms to generate more traffic. This strategy resulted in over 1.3 million video views from just three influencers, and over 44,000 social engagements across all channels.

4. Think Numbers Are Everything? Not So Fast!

It's easy to get caught up in the numbers you see from a viewer's perspective. For example, if your campaign goal is to get over 20 million impressions and 10,000 engagements, it may be very tempting to look for influencers who have a high following and lots of comments or likes on their posts.

The unfortunate reality is that numbers don't tell the entire story. In fact, many influencers participate in Instagram pods and Facebook threads where they share their content with their influencer peers, and everyone then likes and comments to help make it seem like that influencer has an engaged following.

On the outside, the numbers look solid, but on a deeper level, the goal of reaching the target audience isn't achieved.

One way brands can avoid this pitfall is by hiring influencers who consistently create quality content and fit the brand's image. According to Jonathan Long, Market Domination Media's founder, small accounts often outperform the larger ones, sometimes up to 300%. That's right - 300%.

When brands stop looking at numbers, they are forced to look at each influencer as an individual instead. What does that person bring to the table? Do they regularly interact with their followers? Are their photos telling a story?

These are all questions brands should ask before launching an influencer marketing campaign.

Subaru understood the importance of quality over quantity and hired influencers to post a total of 58 sponsored posts for their Meet an Owner campaign. Since almost everyone owns a car, Subaru found relevant influencers in a variety of verticals, like fitness and art, to share their story.

1.9 million likes and 9,000 comments later, Subaru not only received increased brand sentiment and awareness, but they also positioned themselves to have another stand out year in the auto industry. In fact, influencer marketing is to partly thank for their 10% sales growth in 2016.

5. Surface Data Doesn't Tell the Entire Story

Once a campaign has wrapped, it can be easy to walk away from it and start on the next big project. But in order to continuously execute a solid influencer marketing strategy, it's important to revisit the data and take a deeper dive into the analytics of each campaign.

For example, knowing how many referrals are being sent your way, how many new leads you've gotten, what sales growth you've seen, and customer acquisition costs are all measurements that should be assessed on a deeper level.

Charmin partnered with Mavrck to to help track clicks to coupons, product reviews, and sign ups for an entire quarter so that they could look for trends in data, like the ones mentioned above. Over the course of that quarter, Charmin was able to see that they received over, 5,300 coupon clicks, 1,800 product reviews, and an average product rating of 4.82 out of 5.

If you aren't sure how or where to look to analyze your results, Social Media Examiner has some great tips for how brands can conduct analysis on their own with a little help from Google Analytics.

It's Time to Take the Plunge!

One final takeaway to consider is that every influencer marketing campaign is different. What worked for one brand might not work for another, and that's why following these five strategies is so important. They help outline the basis for a successful campaign, but avoid getting too far into the weeds.

Anyone who is looking to improve their marketing approach should consider implementing these five strategies the next time they work with influencers. As mentioned previously, influencer marketing continues to grow and be a powerhouse for brands big and small. By putting these five strategies into practice, you can set yourself up for a successful campaign that reaches your ideal audience and builds your brand sentiment.

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How To Practice Guitar

Learning guitar should be fun. Here are some ideas which will be helpful in practicing and mastering guitar.

1. Regular Practice - There is simply no substitute for practice. Even more important is practicing regularly. Half an hour practice every day is more effective than practicing for 2 hours every 4 days. The serious guitar players should keep aside some time every day for practice.

2. Make and Follow a Schedule - It is good idea to prepare a practice schedule and follow it religiously. The attempt should be to make definite progress in small steps. Every day achievable goals should be set and those goals should be achieved before moving on to the next goal. This approach forms a strong foundation and builds confidence.

It is tempting to try difficult pieces before mastering the initial steps. But what happens? The player is not able to play the piece properly, he will feel that guitar playing is difficult and will be discouraged by his failure. Therefore such temptations should be avoided.

3. Assume Correct Posture - Before starting the practice the guitar player should ensure that he is in right posture to play the instrument and both hands are properly positioned.

4. Visualize Finger Position on Fret Board - It is often helpful to the player
if he can visualize the position of his fingers on the fret board. Initially he will look at his fingers while he places them on the strings. Gradually he will start playing by the "feel" of his fingers without looking at them. Particularly during a performance it does not appear proper if the player keeps looking at his fingers. The earlier he starts visualizing and playing without looking at his fingers, the more natural will his action appear.

5. Verify the Tone of Each String - The player should get familiar with the sound of each string when playing a chord. He should play the strings separately to ensure that each string is giving out correct note and tone. There are two mistakes which occur frequently and can be detected by playing each string individually. One mistake is that the finger does not really press the string fully against the fret. This will produce neither correct note nor the tone. In such situations the player should adjust his finger until the correct sound comes out. The second common mistake is that the finger, while pressing on the string, also touches the neighboring string. Again the player will have to adjust his finger position to press on the string "cleanly".

6. Avoid Wounds - Fingers will hurt initially but gradually toughen up. An open wound should not be allowed to develop where the fingers press the strings. The fingers will naturally toughen up by regular practice.

7. Practice Accompaniment - Guitar is mostly played for accompaniment. Therefore the player should start this practice as early as possible. If he is not able to find a group to play with he can himself sing and play along.

8. Don't Get Discouraged - It often appears that progress is not as fast as expected. But practice never goes in vain. Keep practicing and do not get discouraged by apparent lack of success. The body has its own system of conditioning its mind and muscles to develop new skills and habits. This takes time and persistence can speed up the process.

These are some of the ideas for practicing guitar. This is based on common concerns of new students. This list is by no means exhaustive and the students should follow their instructors and the course schedule. The ideas given here can supplement their normal practice schedule.

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YouTube Influencer Marketing Mistakes To Avoid

We can say, YouTube Influencer Marketing is one of the best ways to increase a Brand's reach. But, if and only if we do it the right way.

In 2016, there are up to 75% of marketers are now investing in influencer marketing, 60% of brands will increase the amount they spend on influencer marketing. However, the recent research shows that YouTube has the best ROI than any other social media platform, knowing that YouTube is the second largest search engine and it has the monthly user base of more than 1 Billion users. Impressive, right? It's no surprise that YouTube sponsorships are one of the present's top-ranked customer acquisition tool.

YouTube Marketing could offer you huge rewards. However, the way to reach the success from its uncharted territory can be bumpy. Here are top marketing mistakes that are often encountered and strategies on how to avoid them:

Goals Without Strategy. This is one of the common mistakes a marketer makes when launching YouTube Influencer Campaigns. They only focus on their goals and objectives. Some marketers focus on achieving a goal of a certain amount of views and interactions, specifically likes, comments and shares per video they conduct across several channels.

An ROI positive YouTube Influencer campaign requires a well-analyzed strategy. Aside from numeric campaign goals, a marketer should consider defining KPIs or key metrics which indicates whether a campaign's performance can achieve the set goals. In this case, this will allow for better decisions and strategies not just to meet the ultimate objectives, but to reach the goal higher than the expected.

Discovery. This is a crucial stage that will define the campaign's success. In this stage, marketers often fell into a very common trap which is choosing a talent based on the channel's number of subscribers and latest video views.

YouTube hosts much larger amount of data on video watching. The increase of Big Data analytics could provide online tools to help the marketers dig deeper to find the highest-quality talent for their brand. Several key data-driven aspects should analyze when choosing a talent. These are:

• Relevance. Is determined by keywords and audience overlap. Which also identifies whether a channel's audiences will be authentically interested in your service or product.
• Reach. The average number of view per video. It is calculated as the average number of views during a set period of time.
• Engagement. It is usually computed using total views and interactions. It measures how actively the audience interacts with the channel's content.
• Influence. It is calculated based on how content is shared on the channel and if viewers are turned into subscribers. It also indicated whether a channel stimulates action and audience growth.
• Consistency. It is measured by averaging various channel performance metrics from video to video. It analyzes how often the channel is delivering meaningful content.

If a marketer fails to analyze any of these crucial parameters, the campaign may result in a poorly targeted audience, low conversion rates, and washed budgets.

Popularity. Any industry has its most popular YouTube celebrities with millions of subscribers. It seems like the fastest and easiest solution for a brand, but remember, they only represent 1-5% of all influencers.

Hundreds of new channels are created and published every day and marketers are playing it safe, they activate the largest channels to secure the best results and keep on ignoring smaller channels. This may lead to disappointment, there are more opportunities from smaller channels. This strategy provides only mediocre outcomes. Why?

• Lack of Authentic Admiration. There is a lot of things going on for the most popular influencer. They cover a variety of topics, experimenting with different video ideas, in fact, they often treat brand partnerships as just another business, Isn't it true? They also spend a big amount of time on marketing. The result it: Those brands do not get any special interest or authentic excitement about their product or service. Smaller and niche channels are sincerely interested in the particular topic and products, which could lead to higher quality endorsements.
• Lack of Targeting. For example, when a channel has a large scattered audience, it's difficult to predict which portion of subscribers would actually be interested in the particular brand and/or topic. This may result in subscribers can see videos that are irrelevant to their interests, which could hurt both the influencer and the brand. However, small and mid-sized dedicated channels attract a homogenous audience of highly engaged followers.?

Marketers must explore the small and middle-sized niche channels, which can become the most loyal and dedicated brand ambassadors that open doors to a highly targeted and engaged audience. More or less amount of marketing dollars, brands can reach a greater variety of audiences and produces multiple pieces of content.

Losing Control. Marketers still fall into the trap of treating an influence as an actor and editorial content as video ads. The Brands underestimates how keen their users are, how fragile their trusts are and how shortsighted it is to fake authenticity.

Case Studies prove that the more authentic the content is, the better users react to it. This leads to higher reach, better engagement and ultimately, stronger campaign results.

Agency. As the number of YouTube influencers arise, agencies also rise to help brands with campaigns. Marketers can fully outsource the efforts and simply reap the rewards. But there are a lot of pitfalls hidden in this strategy.

• Limited Access. The agency only has the access to talent in its network, those channels may not always be the best fit for the brand's needs. Marketers should not fail to assess channel's value and not to limit their reach to only one ideal partner.
• Connection. Lack of connection is what marketers often underestimate, especially the level of personal connection which is required for a brand and an influencer. Influencers do seek strong relationships and connection with a brand so they could truly understand its values and speak on its behalf.
• Niche Understanding. The majority of agencies cater to brands within multiple industries and don't fully understand the subtle differences of particular spaces. The brand manager should step in and make sure that both talent and video content choices are taken to consideration industry specific aspects.?

In working with agencies, managers need to carefully evaluate the emerging costs compared to the delivered value, the differences between the overhead associated with launching campaign in-house and the agency fees, the key competencies and resources the team is missing and if they are provided for by the partner. Managers need to find out answers to these variables before hiring an agency.

Lack of Transparency and Standardization in Pricing Models. This is one of the biggest challenges for marketers in YouTube Influencer marketing. Marketers end up getting unreasonably high quotes and overspend. Not realizing the room for negotiation in the market.

• Payment Models. Different channels and agencies work on different payment models like pay per view, pay per action and/or pay per activation. Most of agencies or talents work solely on pay per activation model and often do not tie their fees to guaranteed campaign results.
• Marketplace. YouTube influencer marketing is still in its infancy, with a lack of benchmarks, the market has not determined average rates. Influencers and agencies currently charge anywhere from $0.02 to $0.20 per view so there is a lot of room for negotiation.
• Secret Transactions. Agencies share their pricing structures rarely which lead to partners offering different fees for the same talent or campaign. Marketers are required to compare prices across space and negotiate aggressively to get the best deal, this will secure an ROI positive campaign.

YouTube Influencer Marketing is one of the excellent ways to expand your reach. Execute an authentic campaign with the right YouTube Influencer and you don't make costly mistakes. You can do your own research and likely have much better results.

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