December 20, 2024

Secrets to Success – What Are Yours?

Posted by: of BSETC on 05/12/08

Everyone has secrets to their success. It’s what makes them tick and it’s what makes them get things done. I’d love to share with you the secrets to success that I have found and would love to hear about yours.

I think that regardless of what we do in business, be it blogging, administration, bookkeeping, etc., we still need to have that secret in order to push forward.

1. The Speed of Implementation.

I can’t take full credit for this. I mean, I’ve always done it but I didn’t come up with that line. I don’t really know who originally said it but I saw it on an Eben Pagan video and it resonated so well with me. To be successful, you must take your ideas and implement them – FAST. Don’t hold back and don’t dilly-dally with details and with trying to be perfect. Get it up there and out there and tweak as you go.

2. Using Your Strengths & Delegating the Rest.

Don’t try to do everything yourself. Let’s face it – we all know you’re brilliant but to be successful, you need to learn that you aren’t the best person to do everything in your business. Read the E-Myth Revisited for a great take on what it means to wear many hats as an entrepreneur. It’ll make you realize that you should focus on what you’re good at and then delegate out the rest. Find the right people and they’ll pay for themselves.

3. Surround Yourself with a Good Support System.

This is essential. I’ve always been blessed with a great support system. My family has always supported my dreams and has never held me back (even if some of them – like wanting to be a millionaire before I turn 30 – seems far-fetched) and my husband is numero uno in terms of providing me with space and time to grow and build my business. Learn to surround yourself with positive people and rid yourself of the toxic people.

4. Only Do What You Love to Do.

I try to implement this daily. I don’t do anything I don’t love to do. Why? If I do things I don’t like to do, I run the risk (the high risk) of doing a poor job at or taking light years to turn it around to my client. We’re not meant to do everything. We’re just not. It’s the same with clients – we’re not meant to work with everyone. We’re meant to do the work where our passion lies and where our heart is because THAT makes us successful.

5. Only Work With People Who Energize & Inspire You.

This is really important. While it sounds similar to the support system, this refers more directly to your clients and/or customers. I’ve had an interesting entrepreneurial life thus far and I’ve met both really amazing clients and other clients whose styles did not mesh well with mine. I’ve come to learn that I’ve got certain characteristics that not everyone can get used to – for example, I only do scheduled calls due to my busy work schedule – and if the people I work with can’t come to terms with that, we won’t work over the long-term. So, find people that you are inspired and energized by and who embrace your talents and understand the way you work.

6. Limit Your Overhead.

Don’t do things in a complicated way. I swear to you, for everything you want to do in your business, you can usually do it on the cheap AND get a really professional result. I’ve hardly spent any money on marketing or advertising for my business. Aside from my website, I have very little marketing overhead. My websites are done inexpensively too because I do them myself. I understand that not everyone has that talent but do your research, stay in the green and you’ll become more successful. Think of how much less stress you’ll have when money is not an issue!

7. Be Aware of Your Human-ness.

I love this one. I often find that in the land of the entrepreneur, too many people forget that they are human (or that those they are talking to are also human). What I mean is that often times, things are done or said that would never be done or said if both parties were standing in the same room. Treat your fellow entrepreneurs with respect and you’ll go a lot farther. This too is something I’ve learned as I’ve grown as a business owner and moved out of that ‘corporate’ mindset.

8. Be Generous.

Don’t be afraid to give away information or help out your fellow business person for nothing in return. I don’t mean start giving away your services for free but sometimes, provide advice or give away an ebook and do it for free. Don’t ask for a favor in return and don’t ask for payment. Just do it. It feels great and people will remember you. Michael Port, a past client of mine, used to quote often “Long after you’re gone, people won’t remember what you said but how you made them feel.�

What are your keys to success?

12 comments for Secrets to Success – What Are Yours?

  1. wow, great post!
    my secret?
    mind over matter. i always think that i’m bigger than the situation and that i’m the one who can do something more. 🙂

    Comment by randiss — May 12, 2008 @ 12:21 pm


  2. Hey, I love this post. So very to the point and issues so many entrepreneurs forget. Can I use this in my newsletter?

    Comment by Adrian Miller — May 13, 2008 @ 5:26 am


  3. […] quickly and then is easily tweaked.  Erin Blaskie over at the Business Consulting Blog writes in Secrets to Success: “To be successful, you must take your ideas and implement them – FAST. Don’t hold back and […]

    Pingback by Blogs: A Powerful Marketing Tool | EZ Marketing Tool — May 13, 2008 @ 11:02 am


  4. for the keeping the overhead small tip– think it might not be so well as to complying with reality- often it troubles us enough just to figure out how to minimise the budget-as opposed to what you’re implying when you said we’re so tied down and upset by a big budget.

    Comment by kuma — May 15, 2008 @ 6:18 am


  5. exactly, maybe not only work with those who inspire and econcourage, but be the one who inspire and encourage too, loads of employees are much more willing to work for you and deliver their best work performance given the support of the employer

    Comment by pat — May 17, 2008 @ 2:12 pm


  6. And one more idea for success : be adventurous. Always speare a few moments for new areas and explore new things. It’s very effective to know you strengths and limits only if you keep putting yourself in different contexts. It’s easier to know new people and get inspired that way as well.

    Comment by Pat — May 18, 2008 @ 4:00 am


  7. Excellent post! Also you may want to watch a 3 minutes clip on ted.com (search within the site using keyword “success”)… Number 4 from your post is the only one common to that condensed presentation study done on over 500 most successful people 🙂

    Comment by Secara — May 22, 2008 @ 10:23 pm


  8. Hi,
    I work for a large corporate retailer and we are looking to revamp our blog. Do you know of specific agencies who have the capabilties to help us out? Thanks!

    Comment by Lisa — June 3, 2008 @ 3:11 pm


  9. Erin,

    Great article!

    I just updated my “Speed of Implementation” article from last year, linked in this comment header.

    Comment by Dave Doolin — January 23, 2009 @ 5:45 pm


  10. Nice principles indeed. The speed of the implementation will depend on when the customer needs to golive and the amount of work required.

    If the project is too big then, it can boost team spirit if it is broken into smaller phases. That way, you do not have to stare at the project as a whole but focus on easy wins.

    Speaking as a consultant, and not a customer, I would also cover my back with a clearly defined scope of work so that the customer does not constantly add new requirements.

    You also need the full customer support, since you do not own their data or processes. If they do not have knowledge of their process flow, then this might delay the golive date.

    As good practice it is highly recomended that customers have mapped and cleansed their internal procedures before addressing software suppliers for ERP implementations (Or CRM in that matter).

    Keep up the good work

    Whiterabbit

    Comment by Whiterabbit — July 21, 2009 @ 3:55 am


  11. Great post!

    Speed of implementation is where many of us – at least me – often fall short. I’m really good at planning, and at times jump right on the task, but then somehow I find myself again back at the drawing board planning again…

    I promisse I’ll do better 🙂

    Comment by E.G. Sebastian — June 11, 2010 @ 8:28 am


  12. When it comes to Business Consulting, there are few things more important than going to the source of the best information. I’d like to compliment the author of this post on providing great information to the reader.

    Comment by Business Consulting Pro — November 4, 2010 @ 1:23 am


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