Make your small business unforgettable.

How to Make Your Message Stick - AOL Small Business

Making your message unforgettable, whether starting a business or promoting your own personal brand, is so important. As Entrepreneur.com clarifies in this article, memorable marketing leads to sales. Evoking emotions, getting personal recommendations and testimonials, creating ah-hah moments and offering unforgettable value (or savings) can help your small business be memorable and stand out from the rest.

For me, a continual flow of testimonials that I add to my website is what brings me the most clients and helps me rather easily close referrals. Find out what works best for you to make YOUR message stick in the minds of your customers.

There's a great book by Chip Heath and Dan Heath entitled Made to Stick: Why some ideas survive and others die, which is along the same lines. A great read as an addition to the article above.

Gen Y are entrepreneurs, too.

Gen Y Entrepreneurs: Here Are the First Steps to Starting Your Own Business Next Generation Career Advice Fast Company

Exceptional article posted yesterday by Fast Company Expert Blogger, Lindsey Pollak. In the post, she offers some suggestions for first steps to take if you're thinking about starting your own small business or becoming a full-time freelancer.

She says that finding mentors, understanding the essentials and learning how to market yourself are very important to your success. Lindsey also offers up a few classic books to read.

Is the recession the mother of invention?

Tired of Looking for Work, Some Create Their Own - NYTimes.com

Some excellent points in the NYTimes article that are worth sharing:

• Those looking for work often take too long to realize that starting a business of their own is the answer to replacing their income.
• The internet has become an extraordinary tool not just to market ideas but also to find business partners and suppliers and to run a business inexpensively.
• The goal may not be creating a company that will make billions but to have an idea that will produce revenue quickly, serving immediate needs of others.
• Finding new ways to make money is painful but healthy at the same time.
• Instead of spending the energy looking for a job and sending out a gazillion resumes, refocus that energy into work that really interests you, making profitable work for yourself.

If you're struggling with your job search, I hope you'll be inspired by the stories mentioned and reach for the help of others to keep you moving forward. I've worked with many people in the same situation and get them moving quickly toward regaining their confidence, and their income.

Creating a Consultancy Out of What You Practice

As we're keenly aware, many people are out of work in this tough economic situation we find ourselves in. Because there are a limited number of jobs available for the thousands of candidates, it is more important than ever to start a business based on what you do best, utilizing your strengths. While this WSJ article was written a few months ago, it is more timely than ever. Great tips for anyone considering creating a consultancy.