The Ms. CEO Show

The most popular question I’ve gotten lately is, “How do I fund my business since bank loans have dried up?”  Well, there are only two ways to fund your business—with your money or someone else’s.  A combination of both—unless you’re an entrepreneur with a solid track record—is best.

Having some of your own money (or “skin”, as they say) in the game proves right away that you have a vested interest in being successful, that you believe in your ideas and ability to effectively execute them, and that you are not asking others to take a risk when you haven’t risked anything yourself.  So, the first part of funding your business is pulling together all of the personal funding that you can put toward the venture and having it ready to launch and progress your company.  Next up: Finding ways to tap into other peoples’ money.

There are a few options available when it comes to getting money from others to start or grow your business.  Here are three:

1. Microlending Community — Check out an online peer-to-peer or person-to-person microlending community.  This kind of service makes it simple and easy for mass numbers of people to lend a little money individually—and a larger sum collectively—to help people take care of all kinds of financial matters, including starting or growing a business.  The primary concern of people on these sites if you are seeking a loan for business will be whether or not you will earn the income to then re-pay the loan.  Everyone knows the pesky statistics on business failure so you’ll need to make a convincing case for why they should support your loan.  Entrepreneurial enemy number 1 when it comes to this is the tendency to talk about how great your product or service is, how cute your company name is or to talk in general about your brand.  Not convincing.  These things are important and worth mentioning.  But your main spiel should be a general overview of how you plan to make money in your business day in and day out and how your skill set, or your team’s skill set, lend well to your ability to do what you say you plan to do.  Bottom line is, whether it’s a financial institution or a fellow hard working citizen, a lender wants to know how you will make the money to re-pay the loan.  Make that clear in your pitch.  A site where you can get started is www.lendingclub.com.
2. Investment Clubs — When the stock market was flying high there were all kinds of strategies people used to take advantage of initial public offerings (IPO) and stock purchasing, in general.  One way was investment clubs where friends got together, researched companies and pooled money to purchase stock for the club.  This cooperative approach yielded great results for well-organized, goal-oriented, properly managed groups.  With times being the way they are investment clubs are not flooding the stock market with dollars but you could get a few friends together to use the same approach to fund your business.  This isn’t something you can do with strangers because of securities laws and other governmental regulations that require people to be “accredited” (have a certain networth) before they make risky investments but it is certainly something you can do among family and friends.
3. Bootstrapping — If you can muster enough personal finances to get your business off the ground then you could always grow it through boot strapping, which basically means getting the money from your customers by focusing on sales every day or every week.  This focused activity brings money into your business that you can then re-invest to keep the business growing. This isn’t the most desirable, glamorous or easiest way to grow a business but many companies have started and made it to the next level on this concept.  Despise not humble beginnings.  With good old fashioned work ethic and laserlike focus, bootstrapping could be your funding strategy for success!

Be Encouraged,

Felicia Joy

I was on Good Day Atlanta on FOX 5 today to talk about hybrid entrepreneurship, the subject of my new book; and about focus! 

We’re almost to the mid-point of the year and I can’t believe it.  Time for a reality check for us entrepreneurs.  Looking at the business goals we were aiming for when we kicked off the New Year are we on point, ahead of schedule or behind?  Perhaps it’s time for a Mid-Year’s Resolution.

No matter which category you fall into remaining flexibly focused is key.  Flexible because things crop up—they always do and always will.  Focused because even as you navigate choppy and constantly changing entrepreneurial waters, the ultimate destination—your goal—must be the draw that keeps you moving forward.

I live to boost the success of fellow entrepreneurs—especially fellow women entrepreneurs—so no matter who you are, where you are, or what kind of business you have (or no matter what kind you are thinking of starting) use me as a resource to boost your success! I believe in you and the power of your vision and I’m only an email (felicia at msceoshow dot com) or tweet away.  Follow me on Twitter: @feliciajoy and @msceo.

So, check out the Good Day Atlanta video, listen to The Ms. CEO Show this afternoon (we’re discussing how to market your business for free!) and have a wonderful day!

Be Encouraged,

Felicia Joy

Social media is all the rage right now and with good reason. No, it’s not because Ashton Kutcher now has a million friends on Twitter and even Oprah is “twitterfied”.  It’s because these useful tools are FREE and super effective if you find an efficient and measurable way to integrate them into the marketing strategy for your business.

First things first: There are as many social media tools as there are alphabets and it is way too overwhelming, cumbersome and ineffective to try using all of them, most of them or even, in my opinion, more than four of them in your business.  Moreover, even once you settle on just a few of the tools, using them requires a planned approach and the human resources to make your social media strategy work. 

Making it work does pay off, though.  Ruthie Lopp founder and chief designer at Nature Girl Designs has found success with Facebook.  She posts “Friend-of-a-Friend” $50 off gift coupons on her Facebook page and she says these special discount links, which go back to a unique page on her website, quickly become viral within her 600 person network on Facebook.  Once people start to pass the link along Ruthie starts ringing up sales.  Not bad for a free tool that costs her just a little time and creative thinking (and the $50 off).

Here are a few quick tips for employing social media into your marketing mix:

• Use the tools that make sense for your customer base.  If the people you are selling to are not really on Facebook (or another social media platform you are considering), setting up a page and account there and trying to get your customers to sign up will not be that useful.  So select the tools and platforms that the people you sell to are already using.  That way, you simply have to conntec to the existing network and let them know you are there versus trying to build and attract them from scratch.
• Leverage the power of compound marketing by funneling your existing messages through the social media tool but adding another component.  If you give periodic customer appreciation discounts or share information with your customers regularly that helps them in life or business, then also disseminate that information via your social media tool and platform with a deeper discount or extended offer to incent your customers to join your social media network and pass the word along to others in their networks. 
• Be consistent.  Once you have followers, friends, connections or whatever the people in your network are called on your selected social media platforms be in touch with them consistently.  The brands, companies and professionals that people remember most are the ones that connect with them most frequently through as many channels as possible.  Make sure that’s you.  

Be Encouraged,

Felicia Joy

E, energy, equals assets.  Are you aware of your energy?

I started thinking about this much earlier this morning as I was exercising and briefly went into a “zone”.  I love that place.  In a zone, intense purpose, focus and results are as easily achievable as sitting on your duff in front of the television.

I have more “mind” days than “zone” days but it is part of my life’s work right now to figure out how to flip that ratio and share it with other people.  I’ve learned enough to know already that a big part of stepping into the zone is your energy. 

Approaching a goal with “mind” is better than not approaching it at all; but approaching it with “energy” can make all the difference in the world in the level and speed of your outcome.  For instance, when I run with “mind” I still get a great workout, break a sweat and finish with an average of 10 minute miles, which is decent.  But when I run with “energy”, I get an even better work out, am drenched with sweat and shave at least 1 minute off of every mile.  Quite a difference.

Energy is the reason why I — a lover of music and dancing — could be totally tired, worn out and sleepy but dance for 3-4 hours non-stop (literally) if someone were to play upbeat danceable music.  For me, music gives me massive energy — and it delivers me to a zone.

Ideally, as entrepreneurs, we wake up everyday with tons of energy, not just physical energy but a “knowing” energy where you feel deep down inside to your depths that you are going to absolutely achieve what you’ve set out to do in business.  When you believe something so strongly and you can tap into the energy of that belief at will, then you’ve found your “entrepreneurial achievement zone”.

The higher the quality of your energy, the greater the value of your assets. Here are a few quick steps to begin evaluating and calibrating your energy:

1. An easy place to begin is simply being more aware of your energy levels and the substance of your energy everyday. 
2. Notice your daily work (and life) results, or outcomes, in relation to your energy.
3. Begin to pay attention to what drags down, maintains and boosts your energy.
4. Eliminate energy drags, manage energy maintainers, build energy boosters.
5. Post a comment to this blog to share what has worked for you with others.

Be Encouraged,

Felicia Joy

You could make a million dollars in the next 90 days.  Seriously.

It would take complete and utter focus for most hours of your day.  It would take the courage to look foolish, perhaps, while trying out different strategies.  But you could do it.  Or whatever else you’ve been “trying” to do.  You just have to re-train your brain.

In a fascinating video on TED (I love this website!), neuroscientist Michael Merzenich discusses how in response to experiences, knowledge and environments, the brain literally, physically, re-wires itself to adapt new habits, actions and practices in our physical selves to achieve desired outcomes — or to recover lost function.  The technical term used to describe this phenomenon is “brain plasticity.” (Note: The video is a little technical and might be considered boring by some standards but I’m a total nerd; watch at your own risk!) 

Mr. Merzenich discusses a brain plasticity experiment (this part of his talk begins around 8m 50s) whereby a monkey is trained to manipulate a tool that will enable him to perform various functions, such as eating.   

In the beginning, says Mr. Merzenich, the monkey could not correctly use the tool at all, and each of his attempts—or tactics—for doing so was elaborate and vastly different from the last.  Over time, as the monkey continued to focus on mastering the tool, using various strategies and tactics, his success rate adjusted to 1 out of 8, or 12.5% (yes, a total F!).  But gradually the monkey developed a strategy, after 700 or so tries, that enabled him to perform the task.  It took him 700 tries to perfect his tactics! 

In Mr. Merzenich’s words, once the monkey achieved his desired outcome his performance was: Flawless, never failing, and always successful in allowing him to retrieve his food with this tool every time.  In addition, the monkey completed the task in a ”beautifully regulated” and “highly repeated” manner time after time.  He created and relentlessly repeated a system that worked—and it worked 100% of the time!  From 12.5% to 100%.

An examination of the monkey after he had perfected the task showed physical re-wiring of the circuitry of his brain, and—get this—physical adjustments in the regions of his hands!  His body literally adjusted to serve him best to achieve his desired outcome.  And this was no anomaly: Other experiments with various desired outcomes have been conducted with similar results.  

Your success at whatever you want to do is in your willingness to go through the “process of perfection.”  Time and time again the monkey tried his hand at correctly operating the tool.  He was all over the place initially. Couldn’t get it right at all.  But as he worked at it and changed strategies rapidly from one thing to another his physiological and psychological self adapted to the task at hand.  We can learn from this monkey that the old saying, ”Practice makes perfect,” holds true.

Look how many times the monkey had to go through the process — 700!  How many times have you tried what you’ve been attempting in business, or otherwise?  Two, 5, 100?  Have you actually gone through the process physically or just thought about it?  Did you quit too soon or have you slowed down because you’re tired, irritated, frustrated or annoyed?  Have you tried one thing after another and another and another—seeking not necessarily to look perfect or like you know what you’re doing—but instead seeking to find the path to what you really, really want regardless of how you “look” in the process?

Take a note from this monkey’s playbook.  Re-train your brain.  Focus on success and get busy.  You were literally created to be pliable — mentally and physically — to achieve whatsoever you desire.  Challenge and rebuild yourself with new knowledge, new tactics, new people and new experiences, and re-create your reality.  Find what works and DO it.  If a monkey can try and finally succeed — with absolute certainty and perfection after 700 times — then we can too!  Here’s to monkeying around!

Be Encouraged,

Felicia Joy