Small Business Growth: Find Inspiration!

Growing a small business is downright HARD to do.  Owners are often wearing a variety of "hats", from CEO, to bookkeeper to part-time janitor.  Taking time to stop staring at the 'bark on the

trees' and survey the whole forest (i.e. look at the BIG picture) can be extremely difficult.   The flip side of that is that if you don't step outside of your business and make time to build strategy, develop a SWOT Analysis and chart a path to success, your business is doomed to fail.  Your business NEEDS you to make time for inspiration - and then follow that with a wave of motivation thatproduces your new blueprint for success.

Get Selfish and Avoid Failure

Finding time for inspiration often means being selfish.  Or, at the very least, it FEELS selfish.  Good leaders lead by example and I know plenty of business owners that will get down in the trenches on a regular basis and help their team.  These very same leaders often have a hard time seeing the value to their companies, their employees and most importantly for themselves of stepping out of the day-to-day and finding time for inspiration and simply "reboot" your internal operating system.

Inspiration will help you:

• Develop new products or services
• Create new strategies for capturing market share
• Solve those nagging operation problems
• Discover new pathways to success

How Inspiration has Driven Our Success

Gainesville Marketing inc was launched in mid 2009 and had to overcome many obstacles to success in the past 4 years.  We have worked hard to build trust and credibility in the local community and a big focus has been on giving local business owners loads of free education and training: through our reports, our videos, our email newsletter, and Gainesville Marketing University.  Last but not least, this blog has been a resource for thousands and thousands of visitors over the past 3 years but creating fresh, relevant content is NOT easy.

Two of the biggest questions I get from business owners is:

How do you know what to write about? and

How do you find the time to write?

Here are my top 3 recommendations for finding the inspiration for new ideas and content:

1. LISTEN - have you had a recent conversation with a customer?  A potential client?  Did they voice concern over a specific problem?  What were they frustrated about?  I often times leave meetings with local business owners with a specific area of my notes dedicated to new content ideas - content that will be created around answering those "PAIN" areas that real business owners have.  As a matter of fact, one of our most popular blog posts started on a flats skiff in the mosquito lagoon.

1. UNPLUG - this might sound strange coming from someone who runs an internet marketing agency but my best writing happens when I am completely UNPLUGGED.  No internet, no phone, no distractions.  As a matter of fact, around deadline time for a new book or report you will often times find me tucked away in one of our local library branches.  Or, in the back of a coffee shop with headphones on.
2. TAKE A WALK - not only is sitting all day terrible for your health, it can also stymie the creative juices.  Get outside!  Go enjoy nature or at the very least stretch your legs and lose yourself in thought (just don't wander into traffic).  I frequent Devil's Millhopper state park and Payne's Prarie - both places have inspired creative thinking that has led to major strategic decisions here at Gainesville Marketing

Quick Tips for Inspiration When Time is Short

No time for a long walk or meeting with a client?  Try these quick tips:

1. Mozart Effect - I am a firm believer in the power of binaural beats and audio stimulation.  Baroque music can be a powerful tool for stimulating creative thinking - I listen to Mozart frequently while I write and throughout much of the day while I am planning.
2. Cold Showers - This one might seem a little extreme but we can all suffer from those mid-afternoon blues that seem to kill creative thinking and productivity as a whole.  Fight the lethargy with an ice cold shower (or even better an ice bath) and I promise, you will feel like you just chugged a triple shot of expresso!
3. Office Zen - this tip is extremely helpful when you feel like you've got a million different things rolling around in your head.  Simply take a seat on the floor, cross your legs and place your hands on your knees.  Start by taking 10 deep breaths - try a 4 second inhale and a 4 second exhale pace.  Focus on your breathing.  After breath number 10, stop counting and continue the slow, steady exhale and inhale pace.  4 seconds in, 4 seconds out.  Don't get up until you feel the relaxation and have lost yourself in your breathing.

Got an Inspiration Tip?

We hope this little peek behind the Gainesville Marketing curtain is helpful and most of all, that it inspires new growth in YOUR business.  What are some of the ways that you find inspiration now?  Please share in the comments section below, we would love to hear from you and so would our readers.