Jason Bahamundi, MBA

Social media will always have uncertainty and change. The platforms are in business for themselves and not your business but you can combat that with a healthy email strategy. With social media, you are leasing your audience from the platforms but with email that is an audience you own and has raised their hand to say that they are interested in your product. Manage the list and regardless of how the platforms change you still have front row seats to your audience.

Recently, I added blocks of time to my calendar for myself to do what I want. The title on my calendar is Jason’s Free Time. I can go run, read, nap, watch TV and it is right in the middle of the day. This allows me to reset from the morning and prepare for the afternoon / evening. My favorite time block is Friday from 12p-5p. Nobody can schedule a call from my calendar at that time so if I take a call it has to be very important otherwise I’m free to do what I want which typically includes going for a walk to get a latte.

Knowing your why is vital to success. That why cannot be to make money, that is every company’s why. It needs to be more than that because if you’re not making money right away this becomes a harder task. When I founded my company our why was to prove there is a spot at the starting line for everybody and every body. That vision and mission went into everything we did. It led to the slogan: The Premiere Voice of the Everyday Athlete. That drives us to move forward despite obstacles in the way. Our why is our largest asset and should be for other entrepreneurs.

Failure is a part of life and business. At my company, we have a mantra that says: Failure isn’t terminal, it’s the building block to success. This allows us to take risks and then learns from them, even the successful risks. By taking this perspective, we give ourselves freedom to do things our way versus how another company may do it and we can take the missed and build on them. Failure will happen, how you learn from it determines your growth.

In my experience, doing a detailed dive into your SWOT is the most beneficial when it comes to online marketing training. My partner and I discussed our business around the idea of SWOT. Once we determined where we were strong, weak as well as the opportunities in front of us and the threats coming at us we registered for training to address these scenarios. We addressed our weaknesses and threats first, then went on to learn about subject in our opportunities section as well as enhanced our strengths. A SWOT analysis is an excellent way to determine a path forward.

One thing I've found helpful is to have built a business plan with a goal in mind for growth. This has allowed me to stay within ourselves and build the business without any gimmicks or loud proclamations of something wild. By staying true to our business goals we have been able to convey who we are, what we do, why we are doing it, where you can find us and how to find us. Our readers/followers have made 2 complaints of us in the 2.5 years we have been in business and 90% of our original partners are still with us today. Both customers and partners have grown to know what to expect from us and we deliver on it. This has built trust with the community, allowed us to get testimonials while showing growth publicly and in our financials.