The Success Center

Meet Tim Tebow . . .

This is Tim Tebow, he’s the starting quarterback for the Denver Broncos. You may have heard of him (who hasn’t?!).

Tim loves the Lord and everybody knows it (Can’t you tell?!). His customers (the football fans) know it and so does his co-workers (teammates).

However, he’s gotten a lot of negative and positive attention because of his faith. I can relate to Tim’s story because just recently, one of my clients asked me why I “only offer my services to Christians.”

My reply was that I don’t offer them only to Christians, but I know what I’m called to do and who I’m called to help. That’s why this blog is dedicated to Christian entrepreneurs, because we have unique entrepreneurial challenges.

Do I advertise my faith to clients?

It depends – it depends on which facet of my company they meet first. If they contacted me through this blog, then yes, I guess I do advertise my faith. However, if I meet them for the first time at a networking event, I wouldn’t start a conversation by reciting my declaration of faith.

So, for me, it depends.

Do I mention to them that I’m a Christian and if they’re uncomfortable working me I’ll understand?

Absolutely not! – that’s just not wise. My faith is personal unless it comes up during the right time (a spiritual question is asked) or in the right forum (like this blog).

I suppose everyone is different and it also depends on what kind of business you operate. So, let me pass the torch to you.

Do YOU as a Christian entrepreneur let customers or clients know that you’re a Christian? Is it the right move to make? If you’ve never told your customers, how do you think it would affect your business and sales? If you’re not a Christian, how would you handle someone you do business with advertising their faith?

Drop your answer in the poll below and be sure to let me know why you chose it in the comments too.

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About The Author

Rod Kirby

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Do You Know Your Way on the Road to Success? Flickr Image by Patxi Izkue

It’s time to rev up your business and your life in 2012.

The beauty of our relationship with God is that He has entrusted us with talents and abilities.

He wants us to use those talents and abilities to bless others and to reflect His glory.  In order to use our talents and abilities to their fullest, we will need to have a good plan which will allow us to execute our vision with hard work.  And that’s where a marketing plan comes in.

Here are a few questions to guide you as you formulate your marketing plan for 2012:

#1  What Is Your Reason For Being in Business?

In other words, why does your business exist?

Here’s an example of my newly formulated purpose for my blog’s existence:

Here’s Rod Kirby’s purpose, which I quote from his “Start Here” page on this site:

If you’d like some help in defining the mission statement for your business, I encourage you to read Michael Holmes’ article, The Importance of ‘Purpose’ for the Christian Entrepeneur .

You will also find Rod Kiby’s article, Vision – Fuel For The Future, to be helpful on this topic.

#2  What Sets Your Business Apart from the Rest?

Is it your focus on God and how you bring that focus into your writing?

Is it your focus on exceptional service to your customers and readers?

What unique skills and talents do you bring to your business?

You may want to consider entering keywords from your business into the search engines to see what your competition is doing.  Now think about how you can do what they’re doing, only differently, and better.

#3  Who Is Your Ideal Customer?

One way you can find out about your ideal customer is to go to Alexa.Com and look up your blog.  Alexa provides many helpful demographics, including age, gender, level of education, and where readers come from.

Once you’ve found out about your readers, you may want to ask yourself whether you want to continue writing for them, or whether there are other groups you want to market and sell to.

Think about who you would most like to help:

What is this customer’s problem(s)?

What does she/he want or need?

Here are some suggestions for finding out what your potential customers want

• Survey Your Readers.  You can use WordPress plugins or you can e-mail your subscribers from your newsletter list.
• Read Your Comments: You can learn a lot from your readers, if you take the time to listen to them!
• Read Other Top Blogs in Your Niche: when you go to Google, type in a keyword for your niche.  Look on the left hand side under “search” and click on “more”.  You will see Blogs in the dropdown menu.
• Use Twitter search to read about your ideal customer.
• This is a tip I learned from Pat Flynn at the Smart Passive Income Blog: Look up books in Amazon under keywords for your topic: what are the key problems and solutions offered in the table of contents in the preview?  These topics can give you ideas of what your ideal customer is looking for.

#4  What Do You Want to Accomplish This Year?

Write down all your ideas!

Maybe, like me, you need to completely re-assess your blog, your business plan, or your methods of carrying out your business plan.

In that case, take advantage of Rod Kirby’s two for one coaching special!  I am personally working with Rod to look at my blog through entrepreneur lenses, and he’s already made a big difference in just one hour of coaching.

Maybe you want to double your subscriber or email count.

Or, do you want to enhance your blog design?

I know I’m mentioning Rod Kirby a lot in this article, but I happen to know that he’s got graphic art and web design skills.  You may also want to consider Fiverr (less expensive, lower quality) and 99 Designs (more expensive, higher quality)

Maybe you want to become more professional in your email marketing

Or you may want to add podcasting or YouTube to your methods of getting your marketing message out to a completely new audience.

Once you’ve written everything down, you will want to select the top 3 goals that will get you to where you want to be.

For example, I have 3 goals in re-working my own blog, Personal Success Factors.

I will

A) Talk to top bloggers I respect regarding their designs, who designed them, and decide who I will hire based on my budget and design needs,
B) Continue my coaching process with Rod Kirby to enhance my blog and sharpen my marketing focus,
C) And, I will learn how to podcast and make videos in order to get my marketing message out to different/new audiences.

#5  How Much Will Each of Your Action Steps Contribute to Your Revenue/Profitability?

Think in terms of percentages.

For example,

• 25% of your revenues might come from your new podcast, along with any affiliate links you soft sell during your podcast.
• Another 25% might come from producing quality video clips that you post on YouTube.
• Another 25% might come from coaching.
• And another 25% might come from an e-book you design.

Once you have your 3 goals, write each goal on a sheet of paper.

Make that goal SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-limited)

Then write a list of 10 ‘next actions’ you will take to reach those goals.

It could be helpful to concentrate the first 3 months of the year to just working on your first goal.  Then take the next goal and work on it for the next 3 months.  And spend the final 3 months on the last goal.  I think you get the idea.

#6 How Much Money Will You Need to Get Your Goals Done?

Make a list of all the materials you will need to get each item done. Then look at your current savings level. It’s a good idea NOT to go into debt in order to finance your goals.

You may want to review Rod’s article, 5 Ways to Start A Business without Going into Debt, as a way to review this subject.

Be creative!

Is there a joint venture you can embark on, where you provide sweat equity in exchange for another entrepreneur putting up some capital.

Or are there sub-goals you can take toward your main goal prior to laying out all the money needed?

I hope you’ve found these six questions helpful to you as you create your marketing plan for 2012.  God wants you to succeed!  So get to work!

Is it time to re-vamp YOUR marketing plan? Did you accomplish everything you set out to do this year? What are YOUR goals for 2012 and what are you doing now to achieve them? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

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Note #2: Yes . . . my microphone magically moves around, lol.

Kiesha Easley

Kiesha Easley is a blogger, mom-preneur,  and head-honcho at We Blog Better.com. Recently, Kiesha, sent me a copy of her new book; Be a Blessing: 77 Ways to Bless Others. And, to be honest, I let it sit on my shelf for a couple of weeks.

Why? I don’t know, I think I assumed it would be about a topic where I didn’t really need any help in. But, once I picked it up, I couldn’t put it down. It’s a genuine page turner and I’ve got to give credit to Kiesha for expanding on the Biblical principles of blessings instead of just going with the Webster definition and moving on.

I love how she breaks down what a blessing is, even going from the old English version of the word to how we know it today. Kiesha pours her life, family, and other personal experiences into this book and it truly paints a picture of a blessed woman.

She writes;

Be a Blessing

The book is comprised of 22 short chapters that set up the frame-work for understanding what a blessing is, how it benefits others, how it benefits you, how to use what you already have to bless others, and more. After that, in true blogger fashion, she offers 77  ways to bless others – which she doesn’t just list, but, actually gives some thought to each action.

She offers a web link, in the book, where you can submit other ways to bless others. I wish she would have gotten suggestions for her list first and then included the final results in the book. I think it would have given it a different perspective/spin on the topic. But, overall, I was satisfied with what was shared.

If you’re a Christian entrepreneur or just someone that needs to read something inspirational, this book is definitely for you. There isn’t a whole lot of “business talk” in the book, but what’s there is the foundation for how God wants us to serve His people. . . so, it’s relevant.

I highly recommend Be a Blessing and would encourage you to buy it today. The paperback version is only $15 on Amazon or you can get the Kindle version for $10. If you can spend $20 on lunch, you can spend $15 to learn how to truly be blessed in your life.

My Review:

The Good

• Excellent read & short too!
• Not just a “definition” of the word blessing,
• goes in-depth with Biblical principles,
• very relate-able for Christian entrepreneurs and others,
• Personal story is very inspirational and drives the theme of “being a blessing” home

The Bad

• Would have been cool if the author included other people’s suggestions for ways to “be a blessing”

My Score: 4 out of 5 Stars

- Rod

P.S. – All the links are my Amazon affiliate links . . . I’d like to be blessed as well!

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About The Author

Rod Kirby

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Just Have Faith and Do What God Tells You to Do!

“… Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shall pour out into all those vessels, and you shall set aside that which is full” –  2 Kings 4:3-4.

Elisha gave these instructions to a widow woman who was deep in debt and needed money immediately.  The widow woman took Elisha’s directions to start her Oil business, and she gave it her maximum effort. She went out and borrowed vessels from everyone she knew (and possibly from kind strangers).  When she had collected enough vessels, she filled those borrowed vessels with oil and stored them in her house.

But here is the thing, the oil she had, in the natural course of events, probably would not have filled up one vessel because the scriptures tell us she had only one pot of oil. God supernaturally kept the oil flowing until she ran out of vessels.

If this widow woman had not given her maximum effort (to seek and collect the vessels), she wouldn’t have received such a great harvest of many, many vessels of oil filled from a single pot. It was her maximum effort following the direction given to her by God (through Elisha) that allowed her to sell all the oil to pay off all of her debts and to be able to live from the income of selling oil.

Are you giving God your maximum effort in what he has called you to do?

God usually starts by giving you a business idea as a high level concept to do something. He could tell you to go and start a car repair business.

To give maximum effort, you should;

• Take this concept and mediate on it until it becomes real to you,
• Act on this concept by researching it out completely,
• Ask other people who have started a car repair business for advice,
• Read up on the laws that may govern this type of business,
• Scout out possible locations and etc.

Once you have faith about an idea and have researched it out completely, the last step to give maximum effort is to go back to God and ask for the low level details required to start. For example, where to locate the business, how to finance the business, what type of cars your business will repair, who you will hire, and so on and so on.

Whatever God has called you to do; you must give it your maximum effort to produce maximum results.

Let me know in the comments what God has called you to do, and how you are giving it your maximum effort …

About Amos

Amos Johnson Jr, PhD helps Christian Entrepreneurs develop God inspired businesses because financial prosperity comes through faith in God & Business. Check out his website for help and resources for your God inspired business.

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About The Author

Rod Kirby

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Should Christian Entrepreneurs Work with Non-Christians?

As your business grows, who you hire or partner with will have a direct impact on your success. It’s important that you’re always in a state of awareness when it comes to the personal or professional lives of those who interact with your business.

Today’s podcast is brought to you by Amos Johnson Jr. of The Christian Entrepreneur. In it, Amos breaks down how Christian entrepreneurs should work with non-Christian business partners, workers, and contractors. It’s a powerful message that I’m sure will bless your life and business.

What are your thoughts on working with non-Christians? How do you approach this in your own business? Share your thoughts below. Enjoy the show!

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Debt = Slavery

The Bible plainly states that the borrower is a servant (or slave) to the lender. How much more proof do you need that all debt is bad, especially when starting a business? If there’s one thing I know, its that, no matter what vision God has given you, He’ll always give you the resources you need to accomplish it!

In today’s success tip, Amos Johnson, Jr. of The Christian Entrepreneur, breaks down debt and how it hinders your business instead of helping it. He also explains God’s way of starting your business, growing it, and becoming successful without loans, borrowing, or debt.

This is an awesome podcast that everyone needs to hear. Trust me, you’re going to be blessed!

Click the play button below to listen to the podcast. Be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments below!

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About the Author

Amos Johnson Jr.

Amos Johnson Jr., Ph.D. is the host of The Christian Entrepreneur, the #1 online talk show with Christian Entrepreneurs discussing business success.  He’s also the founder of various businesses, and has a passion for teaching Christian Entrepreneurs how to start their own God inspired

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Want to Write for the Success Center?

I selfishly started blogging to build a marketing platform, generate income, and to grow my speaking business. I was fascinated by Darren Rowse’s story (Problogger.net) and the success stories of countless other professional bloggers. But, God had other plans for my blog. Instead, he wanted to use this as an online destination to connect, inspire, and empower Christian entrepreneurs.

For over a year and a half, I’ve been doing just that with over 100 articles published, 1300 comments, and more than 30,000 visitors to this site. No, those aren’t Problogger, Chris Brogan, or Copyblogger earthshattering stats . . . and that’s not my goal. What you see in those stats are impact! Impact on people’s lives, spiritual lives, and businesses.

Remember, in business, it doesn’t matter how many come through the door . . . just how many leave impacted. That’s the real key to success.

June of this year will mark the 2 year anniversary for The Success Center and I want YOU to be a part of that. If you’ve got wisdom, knowledge, or understanding in any area of Christian entrepreneurship, small business, marketing, finances, and etc; share it with us!

I’m looking for new guest bloggers and regular contributors to be a part of our editorial team and share their expertise with our community. If this sounds like you, then read this guide to writing for The Success Center.

Its readers like you that bless other readers because you all relate to each other and know what you need to succeed. So, if you want to be blessed and be a blessing to others, please, throw your hat into the ring.

I’m calling all speakers, small business owners, serial entrepreneurs, bloggers, authors, preachers, pastors, kindergarten teachers – EVERYONE! If you’ve got a story to tell, a lesson to teach, and are a decent writer this is for YOU!

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About The Author

Rod Kirby

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Are you a confident Christian entrepreneur?

Without it, your business will fail. With it, your business will thrive. What is it? Confidence.

As an entrepreneur, confidence plays a huge role in your business on several levels. It plays a big role in how you present yourself to prospective clients and partners. It can also influence how people respond to you. A lack of confidence shows up in several ways that can impact the success of your business:

• Charging less than you are worth.
• Fear of marketing and selling.
• Having a hard time closing sales.
• Tolerating bad clients.
• Avoiding networking opportunities.
• Poor first impressions.
• Self-sabotaging behavior.
• Being unprepared for opportunities.

Fortunately, a lack of confidence is something that you can change for the better. Do you sometimes wish you had more confidence as an entrepreneur? Or maybe you are just getting started and need some extra confidence to take the next steps required to build your business.

Here are some tips for building your confidence:

Have a Clear Vision

“A clear vision, backed by definite plans, gives you a tremendous feeling of confidence and personal power.”Brian Tracy

It’s hard to exude confidence without a clear sense of personal and professional direction. Take time to ensure you have a clear vision for your business and how it aligns to your purpose. A clear focus will make it easy to communicate what you do and how you will serve your clients. It will also make it easy for other people to spread the word about what you do.

If you have diverse interests and skills, this can be difficult – but it’s even more necessary. Too many diverse interests can be distracting to your prospects if you don’t focus on one at a time.

Educate Yourself

Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding. Proverbs 4:7

One of the most important confidence-builders is knowing that you know what you know! Invest time and resources in becoming an expert at what you do. In addition to honing your skills, makes sure you learn basic entrepreneurial skills such as marketing, business planning, and sales strategies. It might also be necessary to upgrade your technical skills.  As you begin to have more answers than questions, your confidence will grow.

There are many ways to educate yourself in business. You can hire a business coach to help you one-on-one. You can also download eBooks, sign up with boards and forums where business-savvy people congregate, and ask questions of other entrepreneurs.

Don’t Compare Yourself to Others

“Winners compare their achievements with their goals, while losers compare their achievements with those of other people” - Nido Qubein

We all know that businessman or woman – the one who has written ten books, has a waiting list of clients, made six figures last year and has a seemingly perfect family. While it is okay to admire and even learn from their success, comparing yourself to them will only make you feel less assured about yourself.  Instead, set your own realistic goals and expectations and measure your progress against those.

Comparing yourself to others not only limits how confident you will feel about your own ability. It’s also the quickest way to sow seeds of envy and jealousy.

Remember the Root of Your Confidence

“If the Lord delights in a man’s way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumbles, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.” Psalm 37: 23-24

As Christian entrepreneurs, we have the promise of God’s support if we are walking in the purpose and path that He has called us to. What can be more assuring than knowing that the God of all creation has our back even when we stumble? Talent, education, opportunity, connections – those may be reasons to be confident, but the surest confidence comes from knowing who we belong to and what he promises.

Over the next 30 days, I encourage you to add the following scriptures to your reading list and let them serve as the foundation of your confidence as an entrepreneur:

• “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. – Joshua 1:8-9
• “For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” – Psalms 84:11
• “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.” – 1 John 5:14-15
• “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” – Jeremiah 29:11
• “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. – Psalms 37:4-5

If you lack confidence in your ability to succeed in business, it will be hard for potential customers to feel comfortable paying for your services or products. On the other side: as your confidence builds, you will be much more likely to attract your ideal clients, which in turn will boost your confidence even more. It’s a good cycle to get into.

Share: What tips or scriptures have you used in the past to help build your confidence during transition and challenges?

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Tai Goodwin

About the Author Tai Goodwin is a career and business coach who helps service-based entrepreneurs launch theirbusiness while working full-time. The founder of the Brilliant Network Mastermind, Tai is the co-hostof Small Biz Chat on Twitter and Your Brilliant Success on BlogTalk Radio. She offers business start-upplanning at www.careermakeovercoach.com.

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Do you Wait to Hear from God?

Hey there, boys and girls!

It’s time for another awesome success tip from the master of Biblical success, Amos Johnson Jr.

In today’s tip, Amos is discussing “Hear God or Waste Time.”

Have you ever started a project, business, partnership, or venture without writing a solid business plan? Better yet, have you ever did what you felt you should do [in any given situation] when you knew you haven’t sought God’s wisdom on it first?

We all have done one of these two things at some time or another, but if we truly want to succeed in business and life, we have to learn to hear from God and wait patiently on the Lord.

Sit back, relax, and listen to this awesome message from Amos as he breaks down more Biblical scripture for YOUR business success! Click the play button on the audio player below. If you have troubles playing the podcast, download it to your computer here [right-click and save as].

Once you’re done, let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

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About the Host

Amos Johnson Jr.

Amos Johnson Jr., Ph.D. is the host of The Christian Entrepreneur, the #1 online talk show with Christian Entrepreneurs discussing business success.  He’s also the founder of various businesses, and has a passion for teaching Christian Entrepreneurs how to start their own God inspired

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This creepy image comes from Listverse.com

This podcast comes from Amos Johnson, Jr. host of The Christian Entrepreneur.

Today’s success tip is titled, “Delegate or Stop Growing.” Amos will show you how the power of delegation in your business is tied to your success. If you’re an entrepreneur trying to build a business and you work full-time, this message is for YOU!

Runtime is about 3 minutes so sit back, relax, and enjoy the show!

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Be sure to let us know what you think of this show in the comments below!

About the Host

Amos Johnson Jr., Ph.D. is the host of The Christian Entrepreneur, the #1 online talk show with Christian Entrepreneurs discussing business success.  He’s also the founder of various businesses, and has a passion for teaching Christian Entrepreneurs how to start their own God inspired businesses by using biblical principles.

Disclaimer: We will never share your email address with anyone, period.

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