We have lived through Swine Flu, Ebola, SARS, and now Corona Virus. What makes Corona Virus unique is the fact that it is officially a pandemic. The point of this article is not to spread fear (there is enough of that) or tell you what you already know. The point of this article is to talk about what this means for the advertising and marketing community.
We see that the stock market is down. This is a reflection of the significantly reduced economic activity. People are stocking up on essentials and trying to stay home as much as possible. Restaurants are offering take-out and delivery only, if not closing doors completely. Major metropolitan cities are implementing city-wide lock downs, closing bars and other places where large groups of people are gathering. Many large companies are having their employees work from home until further notice. Students are transitioning to online classes.
The question that marketers are constantly asking is, “Where is my audience?” This question is relevant now more than ever. Audiences are shifting and the way the general population is operating has changed almost overnight. So, what does an increase in remote workers mean for advertisers? It just means that our audience is in a different place!
Nielsen Scarborough USA+ reports 90% of Americans working from home listen to AM/FM radio. People are clinging to any sense of normalcy they can find nowadays. Listening to radio can provide this sense of comfort, that things aren’t completely upside down.
“AM/FM radio is the soundtrack of the American worker regardless of where they sit,” Chief Insights Officer at Cumulus Media & Westwood One, Pierre Bouvard, states. Share of listening studies see at work listening at 68%. This number jumps up to 75% at home. This study was conducted on people 18 and up in age during 2019.
An interesting insight seen in this table is the drop in engagement on other platforms at home. This can be attributed to people having other services on in the background.
A recent MARU/Matchbox report shows “…only half of at-home Pandora and Spotify listeners can actually hear the ads.” On the other hand, AM/FM radio ads are heard 83% of the time from at home listeners.
Data from smart speakers shows the prominence of radio listening. AM/FM radio is the number one activity in terms of share of time spent, holding 24% of the share. This is 60% larger than Amazon Music’s 15% share.
NuVoodoo came out with a very recent study showing the consumption trend for radio as Americans tune in for more updates on the pandemic. The study shows 27% of those surveyed claim they are listening to radio more during the pandemic and 37% say they are using it for local market updates.
So, what’s the take away? The take away is that your audience is still there! Engaged now more than ever!
Communicate how your product/services will be augmented in accordance with the pandemic where your audience is actually listening. The key here will be to frame how your brand can help.
Call us for great deals on remnant so we can help you realign your brand get back in touch with the world during these turbulent times. 562-439-3900
Mobile messaging is not a new technology or practice. We’ve all been doing it for years now. However, recent applications of its use in commerce has shown compelling reasons to think about implementing messenger marketing in your mix.
1. Popularity
Messaging used in business is becoming more common everyday. Why? Well, 87% of the global population engages in chat messaging of some sort. Over 100 billion messages pass through Facebook products everyday. To capture this huge volume of conversation, more than 40 million companies across the world leverage Messenger on Facebook. Click-to-Messenger ads on Facebook are one of the fastest growing advertising products that Facebook offers.
2. Intuitiveness
It just feels natural. Messaging is how people communicate with almost everyone. Friends, family, coworkers, etc. Why wouldn’t they want to communicate with businesses in the same way? Messaging is quick and flexible. 64% of people would rather message than call a company. 60% claim to be open to receiving personalized messages from companies.
What’s more is people already have the apps necessary to receive and send messages! There is additional friction regarding app download, new interface, or extra notifications. This convenience and familiarity makes it easy for brands to talk to their market through messaging apps. Canadian airline, WestJet, implemented a new chat bot for Messenger which resulted in a 24% positive sentiment lift as well as increased WestJet’s message capacity by five times.
3. Immediacy
One of the biggest advantages is that the communication is in real time. This is particularly powerful for industries like travel and hospitality. People can get flight notifications, hotel check-in updates, ask urgent questions, and make changes. All on the go. KLM airlines leveraged WhatsApp by sending booking confirmations, flight updates, and gate details to their thousands of passengers and their friends and family.
4. Scale-able Communication
Advances in natural language programming and artificial intelligence have made bots more intelligent and user-centric. This leads to companies being able to cater to many different customer needs simultaneously. GlobeAir, a private jet chartering company, used WhatsApp to improve its customers’ experience with the brand and smooth out peak business period demand which customer query fulfillment time by 33%.
5. Personalized Engagement
When artificial intelligence meets chat, companies can deliver information and promotions to individuals at scale. Studies cite that 91% of consumers are more likely to buy from companies who remember them and provide personalized offers. The other side of the coin is the sheer amount of time savings. Automated chat allows brands to do more with that freed up time. Singapore based resort, Marina Bay, harnesses the power of chat to accommodate basic requests and give recommendations. This allows the staff to tend to more complex issues or provide a more personal touch to others.
To wrap up, the popularity, ease, speed, scale, and personalization of messaging is great for companies that provide a service such as hospitality and travel. However, having a personal messaging mechanism set up does not guarantee automatic success. A Spectrm study of 242 brands revealed that 45% did not respond within 5 days of being messaged. Similarly, many brands are not providing bots with support staff for complex queries they cannot handle. For chat to be effective, it must be smart and responsive. With proper execution, chat can be one of the most powerful tools that brands leverage.
Give us a call to talk about what chat marketing could mean for your brand! 562-439-3900
When advertisers are preparing a new spot for an audio advertisement, a lot of time is spent on deciding how long the spot should be. Westwood One wanted to see if spending a significant amount of time on deciding spot length had a strong enough impact to justify the time spent on this otherwise simple decision. What they found was that longer ads do perform better, but they do not always lead to a significant difference in creative scores.
Now that advertisement length is known to not drive a significant impact on the performance of the spot, attention can be turned to finding other ways to optimize audio advertisement performance. Three best practices were identified.
1. Less messages leads to better recall!
Millward Brown, a global leader in brand strategy consulting, advertising development and optimization, media effectiveness, and brand equity research, reports that more messages in an ad leads to a lower likelihood of a single message being recalled. Powerful numbers are provided to prove this point. The first message of an ad with four total messages only has a 43% recall rate compared to an ad with a single message.
This makes sense once you think about it. Cramming a bunch of messages into an ad makes it harder to remember anything that was in the ad. A 15 second ad with one message will likely perform far better than a 30 second ad with three messages.
Instead of taking a 30 or 60 second ad as an opportunity to say everything you can about the brand, take that time to communicate one central idea in an entertaining & memorable way. Think about Snickers’ advertisements. “You’re not you when you’re hungry.” One central idea that is communicated in a consistently entertaining & attention grabbing way. Time is not wasted talking about taste, size, packaging, price, or the myriad of messages they could communicate. Instead, the message is just to eat a Snickers when you’re hungry. Now that’s memorable.
2. Prioritize brand building, not sales activation
The Head of Effectiveness at adam&eveDDB, Les Binet, and Peter Field, a Marketing Consultant, studied the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) database of case studies to prove this point. They explain that sales activation campaigns focus on customers who are likely to buy in the very near future which is accomplished by leveraging existing brand equity to drive sales.
They make the analogy that sales campaigns are like carbs; they produce a sugar rush-like short term sales boost followed by a crash. Sales campaigns are easy to measure because results tend to be immediate and direct.
Similarly, branding campaigns are compared to protein; a sustainable and long lasting source of energy. Brand building is more difficult and requires greater investment, however, it is critical. This involves the process of creating mental associations and beliefs that ultimately leads to the preference of one brand compared to the next. To build a brand, mass media like television and radio are necessary. This is because the objective is to communicate to everyone in the category, not just people in the market right now.
The difference compared to sales campaigns is that brand building sales effects grow and compound, becoming a main driver of long term growth. The ideal mix of sales and branding campaigns should be 60% branding and 40% sales. This makes sense because that means more brand equity is being built than being spent on sales activation.
3. Focus Creative on Emotional Claims Instead of Rational
This may sound backwards, but let’s stop and think about it. Becoming top of mind for consumers is an issue of reach. Creating brand likability and understanding is the product of good advertising. Does this sound like a feat that is accomplished through dumping facts or telling a captivating story that touches the heart?
The Binet & Field analysis reveals that emotional branding performs more strongly across all metrics, including: awareness, commitment, trust, differentiation, fame, and image. Emotional advertising and storytelling creates bonds and associations more efficiently than throwing a bunch of facts about the brand or product at the audience. Naturally, these efficiencies translate to an increase in the bottom line. Creating emotional bonds with the target market yields higher long-term sales, share, pricing power, and loyalty.
To sum up, it’s not the spot length that matters. Focus on the number of messages, branding and sales mix, and emotional claims in your audio creative.
Give us a call 562-439-3900 so that we can create high quality audio creative for you and get you great deals on media placement!
Finding a job is a journey, full of obstacles and mental taxations. Between researching opportunities, fine tuning your resume and writing the perfect cover letter, job searching can fell like a full-time job in itself.
But eventually, all your hard work will pay off, your resume will get noticed and a face-to-face interview will be scheduled.
In order to shine during the interview, careful preparation beforehand is essential. Here are some tips to help you nail the interview and land the job!
Do Your Research
You should thoroughly research the company you are interviewing with, as you want to make sure you understand the business and anticipate the kinds of questions the interviewer may ask. Do a Google search of the company or review the company’s website, including their “About Us” or “Product” pages. If the company has a blog or press articles, be sure to read a few posts. Check their LinkedIn and social media post as well.
You should walk into the interview confident that you have a collective amount of knowledge on the company and your future position.
Ask the Right Questions
The questions you ask are just as important as the answers you give to the interviewer. Here are some examples of questions to ask that will make you come across as intelligent and prepared:
What qualities are you looking for in an ideal candidate?
Can you describe the team I’d be working with?
What would my typical work day be like?’
How does this job fit into the overall mission of the company?
How would you define success in this position?
What would like to see accomplished in the first (month, 6 months, year)?
These question will highlight your enthusiasm, curiosity and leadership skills while showing your potential employer that you are qualified for the position.
Presentation
You want to dress appropriately and professionally for the job interview. It usually won’t hurt to dress more formally for your interview than you would on the job. Show up neat, groomed and on time!
Download directions in advance and leave time for delays like traffic. It is best to show up early, about 5 to 10 minutes before you interview starts. Not only will this show your potential employer that you can arrive on time, but it will also give you time to take a deep breath and relax before the interview starts. You don’t want to appear flustered or out of breath for your first impression.
Give Your Self a Pep Talk
Remember to build yourself up before heading into the interview. Know your self-worth by believing that you are walking into the company to bring value to it with your skill set.
Recite affirmations to yourself on the drive to the interview like “This company could really use someone like me. They would be very lucky to have me.” As much as you want to impress the interviewer, remember that you need to be impressed too. You are not just another people looking for a job…you are you! And there is no one else like you.
Women’s History Month is a big deal for us at Media Partners. As a women-owned business, we want to see the triumph of female entrepreneurs and businesswomen everywhere. In honor of this historical month, we are spending the entirety of March posting blogs, articles, motivational posts and information centered around women in business and entrepreneurs.
Women’s History Month had its origins as a national celebration in 1981 to recognize the successful and impactful history of women in business in the United States of America. Congress passed Pub. L. 97-28 which authorized and requested the President to proclaim the week of March 7, 1982, as “Women’s History Week.” Later, in 1987, Congress designated March the month to celebrate Women’s History for the entire country, after being petitioned by the National Women’s History Project.
To show how far women in business have come, here is a historical look provided by National Women’s History Museum’s online exhibit. To see their exhibit visit slideshow.
History of Women in Business
This exhibit defines the term “entrepreneur” to refer to a woman who had an idea for a service or product and started a business of her own. American women have owned businesses as far back as colonial settlements.
Women did not historically use the word “entrepreneur” to describe their businesses until the late 1970s; before that, they called them “sidelines” or part-time projects and understood entrepreneurship to describe what men did.
But looking back, it is clear that the history of women in business ownership deserves a place in the broader history of entrepreneurship; hence the use of the term in this exhibit.
1910-1939
Up through the nineteenth century, women-owned businesses primarily included taverns and alehouses, millinery and retail shops, hotels, and brothels, and were often operated as a way to provide an income for women who found themselves without a breadwinning man. Business, then, was a way for a woman in potentially dire circumstances to provide for herself rather than become a social burden.
From 1900 through 1929, Progressivism, feminism, consumerism and immigration all gave rise to a climate that was not only conducive to women’s entrepreneurship but also highly accepting of them. Like many women’s ventures at this time, their primary markets were typically other women, but New Women entrepreneurs often tinged their businesses with a sense of purpose beyond simple economics.
1940-1959
World War II was an important expansion period for the history of women in business as it brought many women into the workforce, filling jobs so men could go off and fight. That same patriotic fervor also inspired many women to consider starting businesses of their own. The Boston Globe’s “women’s pages,” for example, featured Polly Webster’s column, “War Time Wife”, packed with tips for weathering the hardships of the war years—including how to generate income from home-based businesses.
When World War II ended, women were pushed from wartime jobs for returning soldiers, and many went straight into entrepreneurial women owned businesses of their own.
The Federation of Business and Professional Women’s Clubs and state officials—first in New York and then nationwide—ran workshops for aspiring female entrepreneurs with advice from trailblazers such as Elizabeth Arden and male business leaders. There were advice books and free pamphlets. Reader’s Digest included women entrepreneurs among the winners of its 1946 competition for best business ideas. The press hailed women entrepreneurs for helping to rebuild the economy by increasing the number of women-owned businesses from 600,000 in 1945 to nearly 1 million by 1950.
By the 1950s—the age of celebrated domesticity—the home became the new site of, and justification for, starting a business. Everywhere women turned, they received messages that home and family were their primary roles. But the baby boom and an assortment of new consumer goods—from cars to clothes to appliances—also meant that even middle-class families needed more cash. Women stepped up, often capitalizing on homemaking skills to build businesses. They defined their home-based businesses as part of being a good mother.
1960-1979
By the early 1960s, the changing social and cultural landscape provided new incentives for would-be women business owners. Divorce rates escalated during the 1960s and single mothers struggling to balance child-rearing and their new roles as providers saw in business a possible solution. Women, like beauty maven Mary Kay Ash and advertising executive Mary Wells, started women owned companies of their own as a way to assert their independence in the male world of business.
The Civil Rights and women’s movements of the 1960s and 1970s brought a new sense of purpose and a language of rights and empowerment to women entrepreneurs. Nonetheless, the result was a change in the way women understood themselves and their ventures, seeking not just to start businesses but to be seen as equals in the world of enterprise.
Feminists founded businesses along movement principles, such as publishing ventures that would give voice to women’s words and perspectives, including the Boston Women’s Health Book Collective, the Feminist Press, and Ms. Magazine. Women entrepreneurs also began to move beyond traditionally female categories and into previously male bastions of technology, metals, and finance.
1980-1999
By the 1980s, the hard work of the previous decades was paying off: women entrepreneurs like Martha Stewart and Vera Bradley…owned 25 percent of all US firms. What’s more, the public and politicians widely acknowledged that women entrepreneurs were a vital component of the nation’s economy. New initiatives, including how-to seminars and government programs, sought to ensure that women had the resources necessary to start and grow their businesses.
In 1988, urged on by the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO), Congress passed The Women’s Business Ownership Act, which ended discrimination in lending, eliminated state laws that required married women to have a husband’s signature for all loans and gave women-owned businesses a chance to compete for lucrative government contracts.
2000-Present Day
This look at the history of women in business shows it’s been a bumpy ride for women entrepreneurs in the 20th and early 21st century: on the upside, their numbers continue to grow, and Key Bank, Goldman Sachs, and other institutions have increasingly launched financing initiatives targeted solely at would-be women entrepreneurs.
Technological innovation ramped up fast as the 1990s became the 2000s. That not only enabled women entrepreneurs to break into technology-based businesses in record numbers but also to use technology to start, run, promote and accelerate all types of companies. With faster and cheaper Internet, cloud and mobile technologies, women can manage a business from anywhere, with far less startup capital.
But small and big, women’s ventures came to comprise 30 percent of all U.S. businesses—many of them today in categories that were once men’s alone. The lesson they teach is the power of possibilities and passion for transforming lives.
The next century promises to be an even brighter chapter for the history of women’s entrepreneurship in business.
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Call our woman-owned business for great deals on remnant media buying. We can help your company reach its desired audience on radio, in print, and online. 562-439-3900
Cold calling is challenging, but it doesn’t need to be something that’s feared. Even in a world of ever-evolving technology and multiple ways to contact potential clients, cold calling still remains one of the most cost-effective ways to reach new customers. Like any skill, cold calling takes some time to master.
It involves a lot of preparation, research and evaluating your approach. Thanks to social media and online databases, salespeople have the power to conduct pre-call research and learn important details about a lead before picking up the phone. This is extremely helpful, however, it isn’t the only step to mastering a cold call.
Here are some tips and helpful hints to keep in mind when making contact with potential customers:
Attitude is Everything
Your attitude affects all areas of your life. Even sales. Before you pick up the phone, you need to have the right attitude. Give yourself a pep talk. Stand up tall and make the call.
Be Persistent
You’ve got to be willing to keep calling people back again and again until you reach them and they are willing to speak with you. Adopt a mentality that won’t quit. The prospect will see (or hear rather) your dedication and commitment and could be more receptive to your call.
Believe in Your Product
At the risk of sounding robotic or unconvincing, you need to believe in the product you are selling. Your passion will come through in your voice and can be contagious to whomever you are speaking to. You also have to believe that your product has the best value. Convince yourself that even if your price tag is higher than the competitors, it is still the best value. If you convince yourself and tailor your pitch accordingly, you can convince your prospect as well.
Respect Your Prospects
Treat everyone with respect. After multiple calls in a row and a number of rejects, it can be difficult to keep your morale up. However, you need to start fresh with every call and treat each new prospect with respect and as if it is your first call of the day. Respect goes a long way!
Diversify
Never depend on one call. As Grant Cardone says from InsideSales.com, “Disappointment and rejection are not emotions, they’re indications that your model is broken and you don’t have enough business going on.” So don’t put all your eggs in one basket. You need a lot of calls to be successful. Don’t give up!
25% efficiency. While most people agree that listening is a very important skill, most don’t take the time to improve their own skill set. We might focus on the mechanics such as nodding or eye contact, but a truly good listener goes beyond that.
Since the purpose of marketing and advertising is to influence peoples’ perceptions and behavior, good listening should be at the forefront of business skills to master.
Why Listening is Important
Most companies try to listen to their customers as they are invested in their customer’s satisfaction. But are they understanding their customers?
Listening is more than the ability to hear what people say. It’s about being curious and contemplating someone’s desires and motivations. Empathy plays a huge role here. In order to truly get a grasp of what your customers want, you need to able to put yourself in their shoes and be able to narrow down their incentives. Recognize that your customer has human feeling and emotions.
This capability is essential for marketing professionals who want to create messages people will notice, like, care about and remember when making a purchasing decision.
You can notice the ones that miss the mark. The ads feel strained or fake or the message fails to engage the audience.
Don’t let an ad fail due to simple miscommunication. Listen with full attention and implement your ability to understand.
Listening contributes to a personal connection between you and your customer. It also creates openness. If you are focused on listening to your customer instead of speaking as much as you can, there will be room for new ideas and brainstorming. Their authentic brand or ideas will be able to shine through.
So what is your next step?
Here is a list of 10 Tips for Being a Better Listener by Gianfanga Marketing Strategy that we found particularly helpful, and hopefully you will too:
1. Take the time. Marketing is a fast-paced business and there’s huge pressure to create campaigns and strategies quickly. But if you really want to succeed, you need to build in the time and budget up front to gather input from the client, customer, and prospect
2. Listen to the right people. Talk with the people you’re actually targeting with marketing – customers and prospects – not just your marketing colleagues or people like you.
3. Learn the lingo. If you want prospects to relate to your marketing messages, you need to know the terms and phrases they use when talking about their needs and your product.
4. Delve deeper. Go beyond the obvious questions (“Are you satisfied with our product or service?”) to more probing queries that help you understand the motivations that drive behavior. Make questions open-ended so people can use their own words.
5. Feel the emotion. How do people feel about your company and themselves when they use the products or services you provide? Do they feel confident, happy, pretty, smart, safe? Listen for the emotions underlying the purchasing decision.
6. Listen with your eyes and ears. People reveal a great deal with their body language when they talk. They lean in, make direct eye contact, and use their hands to emphasize their points. Watch carefully and notice the details; see what makes their eyes light up.
7. Don’t be judgmental. Be impartial and neutral when listening. Remove your own biases. It’s not about what you think – it’s about what they think.
8. Avoid stereotypes. Don’t assume you know what someone is thinking because they are young, old, male, female, married, single, a high school dropout, or a Ph.D. Making assumptions based on stereotypes or demographics is a common mistake.
9. Take careful notes. Relying on your memory can be dangerous, even if you’re under 30. It’s too easy to remember what you think someone said, not what they actually said. Record and transcribe the discussions. Focus groups always should be recorded for the marketing team.
10. Reflect on what you’ve heard. Think about the totality of the discussion afterward. What was the customer or prospect really telling you? What stands out most in your mind? What do they truly care about? This is what you need to know to create marketing campaigns and content that engage people on a human level.]]>
1. Harry Truman
After serving in World War I, Turman opened a men’s clothing store with friend Eddie Johnson upon returning home to Kansas City. It is said that the saying “clothes make the man” could have been coined by Truman. The store was open from 1919 to 1922 but eventually fell victim to the post-war recession. Truman found himself just barely escaping bankruptcy, however, he managed to eventually pay off all his debts.
2. Franklin D. Roosevelt
Roosevelt founded the Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute for Rehabilitation in 1927. As a sufferer of polio, he raised funds to turn a spa into a for-profit healing center for victims of polio. Still operating today, the Warm Springs, the Georgia-based institute serves about 4,000 people with all types of disabilities each year.
3. Abraham Lincoln
The only U.S. president to receive a patent, Lincoln invented a device to lift riverboats over sandbars. In 1833, he opened a general store with partner William, Berry. Even though the business folded within a year and Lincoln’s possessions seized by the sheriff, Lincoln didn’t quit. He went on to own a law practice, becoming a symbol of perseverance, for his resilience even in hard times.
4. Warren G. Harding
In 1884, when Harding was 19, he and several partners purchased a small, struggling newspaper in Ohio called The Marion Star. The newspaper became quite profitable, thanks to his wife Florence who helped manage the business operations of the newspaper. The newspaper eventually provided Harding with the income needed to fund his campaigns for public office.
5. Herbert Hoover
Hoover launched his own mine engineering business in 1908. His company employed 175,000 workers and specialized in reorganizing failing companies, as well as sought new mining prospects and finding investors to pay for developing the best mines.
6. Jimmy Carter
After Carter’s father died in 1953, the family farm was in danger of being lost. Carter ended up leaving the Navy that same year and returned to Plains, GA to run the peanut farm. With hard work and dedication, he eventually expanded the Golden Peanut Company by 1959, into an international business with multiple warehouses and a peanut-shelling plant.
7. George Bush
In 1951, Bush started the Bush-Overby Oil Development company with his neighbor John Overby, after graduating Yale. By 1953, Bush-Overby had merged with another independent oil company to form Zapata Petroleum, which would later make him a millionaire. By 1959, Bush moved to Houston to become the president of Zapata Offshore.
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The city of Long Beach is one of the most diverse large cities in the United States!
Green community
There are an incredible number of parks, hiking paths, greenways, community gardens, skate parks and bike paths. The LBC Parks, Rec & Marine department covers a wide range of activities and clubs available in the city.
There is also a Farmer’s Markets running pretty much every day somewhere in Long Beach. I live only a short walk from the Tuesday and Saturday market in Bixby Park (also famous for its skate park). As an East Coast native and newcomer to Long Beach, I found the accessibility to fresh fruits and vegetables on a regular basis to be a welcomed surprise!
Entertainment
Our CEO, Natalie Hale, loves the many different restaurants Long Beach has to offer. “I love all the variety…from Tantalums to Brix, Panama Joe’s to Gladstones.”
Long Beach also houses a beautiful Aquarium of the Pacific, as well as many museums and historic landmarks. The Pike, conveniently located next to the Long Beach Convention Center, is full of restaurants, shops and more activities like a Ferris wheel, arcade and comedy club.
And since Long Beach is so walk and bike friendly, it is easy to get around and see all the beautiful beaches throughout the city. “The beach area has so much to offer from family fun time to a great place for fitness activities, to a great variety of foods and drinks. You can even just relax listening to the waves and watching the birds fly around,” said one of media strategist.
Many people live without a car with ease, including myself. Between the various bike paths and bike-friendly street lanes, I find getting around fun and easy. I actually ride my bike to and from work daily.
Dog-Friendly
Long Beach is extremely dog-friendly. Dog are allowed on many restaurant patios and you will often find water bowls for dogs outside of many storefronts. There are several dog parks and a dog beach, including popular Rosie’s Dog Park. LBC also has dog parades and fashion shows throughout the year.
Home
Many of us here at Media Partners, not only work in Long Beach, but we call it home too. “It’s close to the water, yet still affordable and growing more beautiful each year,” said Natalie Hale.
Betty Long in Accounting says she loves the Long Beach Transit System. “I can get all around town without a car. No fuss …take the bus!”
We are fortunate that we love the city that we work in! From all of us at Media Partners, have a Happy Valentines Day!
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While we are not all born geniuses or extroverts or overachievers, that does not mean we are doomed to mediocrity. Some of the most famous of entrepreneurs, like Bill Gates, didn’t even make it through college. So while there is no foolproof guide to entrepreneurial greatness, here are six common personality traits that entrepreneurs possess.
1. Passion
First things first, entrepreneurs have a clear visual of what they want. Not just a fainted hearted wish, but an unshakable sense of purpose. They are driven by their heart, not by the chase for the dollar. No matter how bad it gets, it’s their passion that motivates them between ups and downs and all the times when everyone else tells them to quit. Envision your end goal, see yourself in the position you want to be and do it with passion.
“Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it.” - Buddha
2. Self-Confidence
There are going to many, many moments in your journey where not a single person will believe in you or your mission. Therefore, you have to believe in yourself. Self-confidence is key if you want to achieve success. Entrepreneurs don’t think that their idea could be good. They know it’s good. While they also understand that they can’t do everything on their own, they realize that they are the only ones to make their idea a reality.
“It is only necessary to have courage, for strength without self-confidence is useless.” – Giacomo Casanova
3. Resilience
As an entrepreneur, there are going to be many failures. That is inevitable. While most people give up, an entrepreneur has the extraordinary ability to bounce back. Instead of giving up, an entrepreneur will learn from their failures. They will as themselves what went wrong, or how can they learn from their mistakes. If you understand that failure is part of being an entrepreneur, you will take those failures and use them as learning experiences. Entrepreneurs don’t stay down for long. They’re resilient and thrive off the chance to do better.
“Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill
4. An Appetite for Knowledge
In the world of business, there will always be competition. Entrepreneurs know they need to say ahead and constantly be learning about what is new in their field. You will always have competitors breathing down your neck trying to surpass you. There will always be someone claiming to be the next greatest thing. Staying up to date and sharp, through constant learning, enable them to stay ahead and avoid getting passed. Do everything you can to keep learning and absorb new information, whether it be getting up early to read industry news or making a point to read in your spare time. Remember, knowledge is power!
“Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself”. -John Dewy
5. Vision
In a way, entrepreneurs can see the future before it happens. They have the vision, clear as day, in their mind. They see opportunity everywhere and are constantly on the look out to develop or improve new or existing ideas. This is what makes them leaders of their industry. Chances are they started their business because they noticed something that could be better and formed their ideas into action. Have a clear image of what you want to achieve and make it happen.
“In order to carry a positive action, we must develop here a positive vision.” -Dalai Lama
6. Adaptability/Flexibility
There are surprises at every corner in business, and in everyday life. Even with a well-thought out plan or strategy, things don’t always go according to plan. Entrepreneurs are adaptable, giving them the ability to respond quickly in any situation. This allows them to make decisions that can navigate them out of potential trouble.
Having this level of flexibility is crucial for any business. In fact, most entrepreneurs will tell you that their idea or business plan is drastically different than when it began. Sometimes the reality of a great idea isn’t effective. Entrepreneurs are flexible enough to understand this. They are prepared to make changes to their plan when necessary.
“You must always be able to predict what’s next and then have the flexibility to evolve.” – Marc Benioff
While we are not all born geniuses or extroverts or overachievers, that does not mean we are doomed to mediocrity. Some of the most famous of entrepreneurs, like Bill Gates, didn’t even make it through college. So while there is no foolproof guide to entrepreneurial greatness, here are six common personality traits that entrepreneurs possess.