Hashtags 101

The American Dialect Society Declared “hashtag” (#, or hash) as the 2012 word of the year. Now that’s a social media force! This modest little symbol gives the user the ability to connect their conversations on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumbler, Pinterest and Google+. Hashtags allow social media users to “tag” key words or topics and make them into a searchable link. Hashtags present an extraordinary opportunity for business owners to identify relevant social media conversations and allows their content to be delivered to their desired audience.

What Is A Hashtag And How Do You Use Them?

Hashtags originated on Internet chat networks before they became popular on microblogging sites such as Twitter.

A hashtag contains a word or phrase followed by the “#” symbol. When a social media user uses hashtags to find particular words or topics, they will be able to view all the posts that contain that same word or topic. Creating your own hashtag can be a very powerful marketing tool. Your goal is to create a hashtag that will start trending among your followers and send a reminder of your business. So, how can you utilize hashtags to benefit your brand?

1. Strive for business –specific conversations. Take advantage of Twitters’s news, advice and business variety resources. Look to #smallbiz for small business advice, as this type of hashtag can provide a large number of results and the information it contains could inspire your next marketing tactic.

2. Consistency and Simplicity are best practice. When creating your own hashtags, it is important to consider keeping your tags simple and direct. Do not create long or complex hashtags. They are not search-friendly. You also need to keep in mind that weighing you tweets down with excessive hashtags will only make you look desperate to your followers. Keep it simple by using 1-2 hashtags per tweet.

3. Create your own hashtag. Hashtags are the perfect way to create buzz around your marketing campaign. Events are a great way to create conversation around a hashtag. So, get creative and develop your own business-specific hashtags.

4. Use hashtags to cross social media channels. Connect your different social media outlets and reach more people by using the same hashtag in each of these platforms. Imagine the number of people you can reach by using ALL of these platforms.

Things To Consider

  • Don’t use more than two hashtags per post.
  • Anyone can search and view your hashtag links if you use a public account.
  • Never send spam with hashtags.
  • Use relevant hashtags.
  • Monitor hashtags to see how much activity it receive before you use them in your post.
  • Don’t use spaces, commas, periods, apostrophes, question marks, exclamation points or any other special characters.
  • Create a unique hashtag for your business.
  • Follow trends and make use of them.
  • Generate a buzz by offering a promotion or contest to get people talking about your brand. Users are more likely to retweet hashtags if you offer prizes to do so.

Which Social Media Platforms Support Hashtags?

1. Twitter: Twitter has been called the “birthplace of modern hashtag usage”. Hashtags via Twitter are generally used to represent specific topics of conversation. You can find an item called “Trends” on the Twitter sidebar that generates a list o f suggested hashtags based on your tweets.

2. Facebook: Facebook has supported hashtags for a couple years. Popularity on this site is not as prominent as on Twitter. Clicking on a Facebook hashtag will take you to a list of posts that contain the same hashtag. The results you see come from people you know, as well as those users you do not.

3. Instagram: Instagram hashtags are used to complement photographs. This also helps you to discover new accounts and may lead to you picking up additional followers. Instagram has also created specific hashtags to encourage certain photo posts. #ThrowbackThursday is used to encourage users to post old  or “retro” photos.

4. Tumblr: Hashtags on Tumblr are not links when they are used within the body of the post but, instead posts have a “Tag” section that you enter your tags. Tags will function like those in Twitter and be organized by topic. The “#” will be inserted automatically.

5. Google+: Google gives you an option to search within Facebook and Twitter for specific tags. Clicking on a hashtag in Google+ will generate a list of search results that include the original hashtag and other posts that have related tags and keywords.

6. Pinterest: Pinterest hashtags are placed in a pin’s description allowing users to click on the link and be taken to a list of pins that may contain that hashtag. Keep in mind that not all hashtags are indexed. Pinterest can be a great social media marketing tool if you know how to optimize your pins. Use key words in your pin’s description. The pin should also come from a URL that has the keyword in it. Keywords should also be included in the picture’s file name.

The Hashtag, a once lonely keyboard character, is swiftly becoming the most powerful punctuation mark in human history. Harness the mighty marketing power of a Hashtag and watch your social media base flourish.  You will be hashtagging like a pro in no time!

References

5 Brilliant Ways to Use #Hashtags in Social Media Marketing. by Uri Bar-Joseph. Retrieved October 1, 2015 from: http://searchenginewatch.com/sew/how-to/2327748/5-brilliant-ways-to-use-hashtags-in-social-media-marketing

How to Use Hashtags on Every Social Media Network. Michael Patterson. Retrieved October 1, 2015 from: http://sproutsocial.com/insights/how-to-use-hashtags/

The Beginners Guide to the Hashtag. by Rebecca Hiscott. Retrieved October 1, 2015 from: http://mashable.com/2013/10/08/what-is-hashtag/#HB7807Cbwu

Infusionsoft vs. Ontraport (Office Auto Pilot)

Considering taking your business to the next level with AUTOMATION? Don’t know where to start? Overwhelmed with all the options out there?

Here’s an informative, no-nonsense approach from Wes Schaeffer, The Sales Whisperer©, that compares two popular systems: Ontraport vs. Infusionsoft.

http://thesaleswhisperer.com/office-autopilot-vs-infusionsoft-by-an-infusionsoft-consultant/.

We here at Smart to Finish are knowledgeable and experienced business automation experts, and we can help you make an informed decision on the direction to take your business automation!

10 Things You May Not Know About… Lori Miller, Diva for Smart to Finish

(Q) How big is your family?

(A) I was born in Longview, WA. I’m the youngest of 5 kids. YAY – the baby! The one that was spoiled the most. I moved to Arizona when I was 19 with a couple of friends and could never move back after realizing there are places where it doesn’t rain 10 months out of the year!! I got married when I was 23 and have two adult children who live nearby. Thankfully, my son still stops by weekly to do his laundry and my daughter visits often usually dropping off her dog while she is off on some adventure! I am begging, begging for grandchildren – but doesn’t look like it will be happening anytime soon. So, my daughter’s friend has a 5 year old girl and she visits us and calls and us grandma and grandpa, and we shop, play games, bake cookies – we love her as if she was our granddaughter!

(Q) What is one of the craziest thing to happen to you?

(A) I’ll start with one of the craziest things that ever happened to me – when my husband and I were dating we were at a park playing frisbee and he threw it too far and I ran to catch it and wrapped my entire body around a gigantic saguaro cactus! Had to be taken to ER and they contacted poison control because they had never seen so many needles stuck in a person. I was still pulling out needles weeks later that were embedded in my skin!! (Husband proposed to me shortly after that incidence—I’ve made him pay for it ever since!)

(Q) Do you have pets?

(A) After watching our daughter’s dog a few times, we fell in love with the boxer bread and now have two of our own. One is a boxer mix (not sure what the mix is) her name is Merlot. The other is all boxer—100 .lbs of boxer and his name is Brut. We got him as a puppy and he fits his name! We have learned when we leave them alone to shut all doors and put everything up high so they can’t reach it. Came home too many times to things shredded all over the living room!

(Q) Do you like cooking?

(A) I have never liked to cook. During the time we were raising our kids, my husband did all the cooking. I don’t know exactly why, but suddenly I started watching some cooking shows and wanted to chop things. For the past 3-4 years now I have loved cooking. I find it very relaxing. The hubby is happy to come home to a dinner that’s not chicken nuggets and fries anymore!

(Q) Favorite Television Show?

(A) I am addicted to reality TV. I know – it’s so wrong!! I can’t stop myself from watching any of the Real Housewives shows, Kardashians, Deadliest Catch (my FAV), Southern Charm, the list goes on and on….. I know, I know – my family says I need to seek help!

(Q) Favorite Restaurant?

(A) I love In and Out burger restaurant! Thankfully there is not one too close to me or I’d probably be there everyday and if you’ve seen me that would not be good!!

(Q) Do you like Movies?

(A) I love going to movies (I’ll be honest – it’s for the popcorn w/the white cheddar salt)! Since working at home the past few years – I love a slow afternoon when I can sneak away and go enjoy a good flix when there’s hardly anyone at the theater. Never thought I’d go see a movie alone, but I actually don’t mind (I know you’re thinking probably because you don’t have to share the popcorn … and you’re right!)

(Q) Favorite thing to do on the weekend?

(A) My brother-in-law has about 300 acres about 3 hours north of us and we love going up and camping on the weekends. The dogs love running free and I spend time reading and cooking…. And of course enjoying a little vino!

(Q)What is your favorite food/drink?

(A) Oh, speaking of vino – I have a love (well, maybe I should say major love) for wine that started from many business dinners with a previous manager who insisted that I needed to start drinking red wine. It’s healthy she would say. When I tried it I hated it – had to add ice to get it down. Well, I’m a red wine lover now – maybe too much, lol. Hence the name of my dogs! Even my kitchen is wine theme. My mother is moving from WA to AZ (a couple miles from my house) in the next few months. I have a feeling I’m going to need to start buying wine in BULK!

(Q) Tell us a little about your work history.

(A) I worked for 2 large financial institutions in the past 25 years and held various marketing roles. I have been working for Amber a little over a year and love learning the virtual assistant world and working with such great people. I look forward to many years to come!!

3 Free Tools to Enhance & Uncomplicate Google Analytic Reports

Everyone knows that they need to track their marketing efforts. If you didn’t track your marketing you would not know what’s working and what isn’t. Now I know tracking and analytics isn’t really sexy and exciting, but it is a necessary evil that we have to do to determine if our marketing is paying off.

If you don’t already have Google Analytics set up on your website then that is going to be your first step.  Google Analytics does a great job at tracking your visitors as they move from page to page on your website. But if you don’t know what you are looking at, Google Analytics can be very confusing and overwhelming.

The good news is that there are some free tools that can help simplify Google Analytics so you can understand the data that comes from this form of tracking.

Below are 3 free tools that will help simplify Google Analytics for you.

N2K

Need to know helps you find out what you  need to know when it comes to Google Analytics.

So what does it do?

Need to know is relatively new and is definitely worth checking out.

N2K gives you a one-page overview of your Google Analytics data. This report will highlight your key information over the last month.  It takes all of the complicated Google Analytics and presents it to you in a compressed format.

It is incredibly easy to use while still giving you a very detailed easy to read report.

Quill Engage

What story will your data tell you?

Quill is another fairly new free service that will take the data that is gathered from Google Analytics and transforms it into an easy to read and understand report.  Quill gives you the option to receive a weekly or monthly email that is written in plain English.

Take a look at this example report from Quill Engage

blog-quill

Why is Quill Engage Useful?

Quill Engage will literally take all of the data you get from Google Analytics and convert them to an easy to read, easy to understand report.  This will allow you to take action on the data that is being collected.

PadiTrack

Tracking webpages just got easier.

What does PadiTrack do?

Just like the other two tools shared before, PadiTrack connects directly to your Google Analytics account and displays the data in an easier to understand format.  This tool especially works well when it comes to tracking sales funnels.

How is PadiTrack useful?

One cool thing that Paditrack shows you is the conversions for each and every step of your sales funnel. This allows you to quickly pinpoint “problem areas” in your conversion process.
PadiTrack also allows you to see how well your sales funnels are doing against specific segments.  For example you could create a segment of users from a new email campaign, traffic driven from a specific keyword or from new visitors to your website who found you through Google search.

PadiTrack offers a ton of other great reports and comes with a free version and makes a great “add-on” to your analytics toolbox.

These 3 tools are just a few tools to check out that will assist in making those hard to read Google Analytic reports a breeze to understand and read.  Smart to Finish offers website analytic tracking support that will help give you a leg up on your competition.

E-commerce News You Should Know About…

New Tax Rules for Selling to European Countries

 

If you haven’t heard, the European Union has new rules on value-added tax (VAT), which took effect on January 1.

To put it simply, ANY businesses selling digital goods and delivering them electronically to customers in European Union member countries will be required to collect and pay VAT based on the VAT rates of the country where the customer is located and does apply to businesses based outside the EU who sell to consumers in the EU.

So what does that mean to you? Well, if you are selling digital products to European Countries, it might be something you want to have us setup in your tax settings to collect the tax for those specific countries.

What are the consequences if you don’t? This is a new thing, so we are not sure on that and would probably advise asking your accountant.

If you want help with us setting up your shopping cart so that you are in compliance, contact us at assist@smarttofinish.com, we are happy to help.

10 Things You May Not Know About… Tina Walker, Technology Manager and WordPress & Graphics Diva for Smart to Finish

1. What you wanted to do as a kid?

(A) I grew up in a really small town and I think with most kids from a really small town, you have big dreams to grow up and enter the “big city life”. I always thought I would grow up and be an attorney. I pictured myself living in a eclectic loft overlooking the Plaza. Funny thing is that I live
10 minutes from that small town, which I would never want to leave today. I live on 20 acres with my family and would never want to be an attorney today!

2. Siblings

(A) I have one younger brother, Rick. He lives in Minnesota now, but we go visit him each summer. He is a professional Walleye Angler and placed second in the U.S. a few years back. He was ranked as one of the worlds top Ironmen in his sport 3 years consecutively. I am so happy that he gets to live his dream and he is a great uncle to my boys.

3. Wisest thing anyone ever told me was?

(A) I was once told by a good friend that you have to look at life like you looked at college. You go through life to learn and when you make a mistake, that’s your tuition, pay it, and keep learning.

4. My role model is, because?

(A) My role model was my grandparents. Salt of the Earth people who instilled in me the importance of honesty, treatment of others, love of family, dedication, hard work and always doing what was right, even when it was hard.

5. Where you were born?

(A) I live on the Kansas/Missouri line, on the Kansas side. There is a sort of rivalry on both sides of the state line. Kansans always say that Kansas is the better place and Missourians say Missouri is. My mom had traveled over into Missouri for the day and went into labor with me, called my grandparents to say she had to go to the nearest hospital in which my grandparents thought was a joke as I was born on April Fool’s Day. So, I am officially known in this area as a “Missouri Puke” or a “Missouri Jack***” Yes, it’s true! Feel free to google and you will get a great lesson on Missouri history!

6. Your favorite food?

(A) My favorite food, well, It’s a toss up between Fettucinni Alfredo and Jose Pepper’s (local KC restaurant) Chips and Salsa.

7. Scariest thing to you is?

(A) Scariest thing to me is I am scared to death of any spider of any size. Second runner up is flying. However, I have flown a time or two.

8. Favorite movie or tv show?

(A) As of now I love to watch The Big Bang Theory

9. Favorite Music?

(A) I like a lot of different genres. Country, pop, rock, christian rock, some rap. It does bother me just a little that 80’s music these days is being called “classic”!

10. The best gift I ever got was?

(A) My children. I truly never understood the magnitude in which a child changes a persons life until I had my first child. I realized then if I never earned another thing in my life it was okay, because I truly had all that I needed. Beyond my children I recently received a gift in which a wonderfully sweet girl went and collected old barn wood in which she sanded down herself, glued together, took some small nails and made a heart shape with them, ran red string from nail to nail making a beautiful heart. I was awestruck at her thoughtfulness. The gift is beautiful and sits in the heart of our home.

10 Things You May Not Know About…Amber Miller, CEO and Chief Diva of Smart to Finish Office Solutions

Each month we will share some fun facts about our Team Members!

This month, learn more about our Chief Diva, Amber Miller:

1) I burn everything I cook. My husband says I can burn water.

2) I have a mini horse and a mini donkey as family pets.

3) I hate to be cold and I really hate the snow.

4) My favorite dessert is warm apple pie with vanilla ice cream. I could eat that everyday!

5) I am an only child. Growing up I felt more at ease in a room full of adults than with the other kids.

6) I have permanent eyeliner. It was a pretty blue, now it has faded to turquoise. It hurt so bad I don’t want to go have it darkened.

7) I love to go to antique stores. I love finding unique things or old treasures.

8) My dream vacation would be on an Alaskan cruise. Not sure I could handle the cold weather though…

9) I’m addicted to coffee. Everyone around me knows if I haven’t had enough…

10) The craziest thing I have ever done was to go and get my belly buttoned pierced during my lunch break with my sister-in-law. I don’t think they thought we would do it. That lastest two years until I got pregnant with my 3rd child 🙂

 

The Big “Facebook Slap”

In an effort to cater to Facebook users Facebook has a major change coming that will affect millions of businesses that use Facebook to drive traffic for sales and conversions.

In November Facebook made an announcement that stated that it is going to change how your news feed posts that are used for the purpose of:

1. Posts that solely push people to buy a product or install an app
2. Posts that push people to enter promotions and sweepstakes with no real context.
3. Posts that reuse the same content from ads

A couple examples of the type of ads they are describing:

Facebook Ads

Per Facebook’s changes the problem with this ad is the part directing people to purchase their Season 1 DVD set.

Facebook Ads

Per Facebook’s changes the problem with this ad is the part directing people to purchase and install the app.

These changes are going to force businesses to purchase more ads from Facebook if you want to promote any type of the above ads. This does two things 1) increases revenue for Facebook and their shareholders 2) allows Facebook to have control over what “advertisement” content users are seeing. Basically Facebook is forcing business to “pay to play”.

Per Facebook’s statement the reason behind this is:

“One of the main reasons people come to Facebook is to see what’s happening in their News Feeds. Our goal with News Feed has always been to show people the things they want to see. That’s why we often look to people on Facebook to tell us how we can improve. As part of an ongoing survey we asked hundreds of thousands of people how they feel about the content in their News Feeds. People told us they wanted to see more stories from friends and Pages they care about, and less promotional content.

We dug further into the data to better understand this feedback. What we discovered is that a lot of the content people see as too promotional is posts from Pages they like, rather than ads. This may seem counterintuitive but it actually makes sense: News Feed has controls for the number of ads a person sees and for the quality of those ads (based on engagement, hiding ads, etc.), but those same controls haven’t been as closely monitored for promotional Page posts. Now we’re bringing new volume and content controls for promotional posts, so people see more of what they want from Pages.”

Moving into 2015 Facebook is still the #1 place to go for businesses to advertise their products or services. Even with this major change Facebook still has the most highly targeted advertising capabilities and the largest diverse audience you will find anywhere. In the 3rd quarter of 2014 Facebook had reported that is has 1.35 Billion active users on Facebook and this number continues to climb.

Facebook continues to be a great avenue to market on with a little training or by hiring the right company to assist you; you will be able to use this powerful platform to reach millions of people when promoting your business.

Written by Skye Hawk, Smart To Finish Diva

Customer Service – Is it Just a Department in Your Organization?

We have all heard the cliché “Customers are always right.” While that is not always the case, they ARE always the customer – your most valuable business asset. Without customers, your business wouldn’t exist – it would just be a hobby. So obviously, how you meet, greet, and keep customers is a vital part of your business success. Customer service IS more than a department in your organization. It should be a part of everyone’s job – whether the owner, manager, or the janitor. (If it’s not, then you might want to research and find some customer service training programs available, for you AND your staff )

In today’s market, you need every competitive edge possible to succeed. How you provide customer service is just as important as the actual product or service you provide. You could have the “best” of whatever product or service you offer, but if you don’t have a system in place when issues arise, then you are like a sail boat without a sail, going nowhere fast. (Notice I said WHEN issues arise, not if issues arise.)

Let’s look at some key components (and thought provoking quotes) to providing great customer service.

Courteous treatment will make a customer a walking advertisement. – James Cash Penney

Customers appreciate being treated with courtesy and respect. It gives them a sense that they are important to you, not just for the money they spend, but for the connection they have with you. When you value your customers more than their money, you will cultivate a long-lasting, mutually satisfying relationship that goes far beyond the cash register. They will become the best word-of-mouth advertising for you and what you offer. Customers who are well taken care of and satisfied will be sure to tell everyone they know, and that is far more valuable than the dollars allocated to any advertising budget.

Customers don’t expect you to be perfect. They do expect you to fix things when they go wrong. – Donald Porter, V.P British Airways

Yes, no one is perfect. We all make mistakes. But how we handle those mistakes can make the difference between a happy customer and a lost customer. When a customer is dissatisfied with the product or service they have received, the process to communicate with you should be an easy one, and the customer should feel that you are actually LISTENING to them. If your response to customer complaints is “Sorry, you’re wrong, that’s not our policy,” or “There’s nothing I can do for you,” then you can literally kiss those customers goodbye. A better response would be “I could be wrong, let’s take a look” or “I’m not able to do that, but I can do this….” The goal should always be to resolve the situation to your customer’s satisfaction.

Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning. – Bill Gates

If you believe that fewer complaints mean more money, you are…..WRONG. The majority of customers who are dissatisfied will never complain because they perceive it as too much of a hassle; they will just never come back. For those who DO actually take the time to complain, it is your BEST opportunity to learn, make adjustments, and correct the things that need to be fixed. Remember the old saying “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”? Well, there’s a flip side to that old cliché: “If you don’t know it’s broken, how will you fix it?” If you don’t welcome feedback from your customers, regardless of whether it is positive or negative, you are operating in the dark. And once you DO fix the problem, imagine the benefits of having a customer who has experienced you “fixing” it. You have turned a negative situation into a positive one for them, and they will long remember it the next time they need the type of product or service you offer.

There are no traffic jams along the extra mile. – Roger Staubach

Going “the extra mile” is something that can pay huge dividends in the long run. Of course, it should always be your goal to meet your customers’ expectations. Exceeding those expectations, however, is what can set you apart from your competition and be the deciding factor when a customer chooses to do business with you. Not everyone takes the time to fully “serve” their customers. They offer their product or service, receive the money, thank the customer on their way out the door, and that is all there is to it. The most successful business owners or managers strive to be the best at what they do and offer the most value for what the customer receives. A huge part of that “value” is conveyed to the customer in how they are treated when they receive your product or service. If the standard operating procedure is to just “get the money and run” without any regard for the customer relationship down the road, you may get a lot of customers, but you won’t keep them. Sometimes the little things can mean the most. A simple follow up “thank you for your purchase, please provide feedback” card or email goes a long way to solidifying the connection with your customers. Customer loyalty programs or Bring-A-Friend offers are excellent ways to reward customers for their continued interactions with you and your business.

It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. – Warren Buffet

Reputation. It can be, and very often is, the very thing that makes or breaks a business. If you have a bad reputation, then customers will hesitate to do business with you. Customers are not willing to associate themselves with a business that has a bad reputation for fear that it will “rub off on them” or it will affect how they are perceived (You are doing business with THAT company??) If you have a good reputation, however, customers will flock to you, and they will bring their friends with them. Providing excellent customer service is one way to establish your reputation. When customers know you will “take care of them” no matter what, they will be some of your most loyal advocates. It has been proven time and time again that when customers identify and connect with a business based on more than economics, they are staunch supporters of that business.

Some of the “ingredients” for a successful customer service experience are summed up in this acronym:

Satisfaction
Enthusiasm
Respect
Value
Integrity
Courtesy
Excellence

The nutshell: In order to achieve customer satisfaction, you should greet customers with enthusiasm and respect, and convey their value to you, beyond the money they spend or any issue at hand. When they complain, you should welcome their feedback with integrity and courtesy, and the problem should be dealt with fairly and quickly. When these guidelines are followed, your customers will truly experience the excellence possible when customer service becomes more than a department in your organization – it is a part of everyone’s job description!

Written by – Janet Broer, Smart To Finish Diva

3 Questions to Move Your Message Forward

written by our guest and client Elizabeth Marshall of www.elizabethmarshall.me

Not seeing enough progress with your message?

“It’s complicated!”

You may have used this phrase to describe family dynamics or intimate relationships, but the same can be said for the business of thought leadership. As a thought leader, the relationships you have with your audience, message and market are constantly changing. As a result, there are a lot of moving parts to manage and a seemingly endless number of decisions to make along the path to creating a lasting impact.

Some days, you can feel confident in handling what’s in front of you. On other days, you can feel overwhelmed, frustrated and, yes, even ready to pull your hair out.

It’s All About the Approach

While frustrations and setbacks are part of the journey, you can often make matters worse by how you approach these situations. When you’re facing uncomfortable challenges, it can be tempting to react in one of these two ways:

#1: Deciding To Do It All Yourself
With this approach, it’s easy to get stuck. In some situations, you just need an outside perspective to “see” the solution. In other situations, you may lack the skills and experiences you need to solve the problem.

#2: Hoping Others Will Do It All For You
With this approach, the end product is never what you want. Why? There is a big difference between delegating intentionally and abdicating ownership of a situation or project. To succeed in the thought leadership world, your work has to come from you. No one can just “give” you a ready-made platform, book concept, or network of relationships.

In either case, you lose sight of this important truth: you are the CEO of your book and business.

It’s All About the People

As with successful CEOs, experienced thought leaders know the importance of building a great team around them. They use their network to find experts to augment their skills and experiences. More importantly, they know the value of finding people who will tell them the truth – instead of what they want to hear.

Pick one of the current challenges that’s standing in your way. Ask yourself:

  • Do I need a fresh perspective to solve this problem?
  • Do I have the expertise and skills to create the caliber of results I want?
  • Who do I know that can recommend the expert help I need?

Whether it’s joining a mastermind group, finding an intern or hiring the right expert, the sooner you surround yourself with the right people, the faster you’ll move forward.