4 Basic Tips on How to Improve Your Communication Skills

Effective communication can be difficult for many of us. Too eager and you’ll risk trampling over the other person’s thoughts, too passive and you’ll come away from the conversation frustrated that you hadn’t said what you’d intended. These issues can become even more complex as a creative, where we’re often more comfortable with visual, rather than verbal, communication.

But don’t assume that your “art speaks for itself” and that successful creatives don’t need to be bothered with articulating their creative vision. Actually, it’s just the opposite. As the creator, it’s imperative that you learn how to communicate effectively. Remember, you should always be the biggest advocate for your own work and lacking in communication skills only risks misunderstandings—and missed opportunities.

Many creatives can be introverts by nature—for every gregarious studio photographer, there is someone who takes solace in shooting their street photography alone at night—but don’t let this stop you. Pushing past your fears and understanding how you can still be yourself, yet speak effectively about your work, is the first step in using communication to further your career.

How to begin? A good starting place is to write your artist statement—luckily we have a handy guide—as the questions you’ll answer here will help form the foundation of your verbal communication. Once you have that done, let’s go over some useful tips to help you speak about your creative abilities in order to grab your next big collector or client.

Aren't sure how to effectively communicate your creativity? Here are some tips to help you hone your communication skills.

PRACTICE YOUR ELEVATOR PITCH

Many times, it’s easy to assume that people will understand your artistic vision. But, if you are not able to clearly, succinctly, and quickly clarify what you do and why it matters, you cannot expect other people to always get it.

That’s where an elevator pitch comes in. While this concept comes from the business world, there’s no reason why it doesn’t apply to creatives. This short, 30- to 60-second speech is a sales pitch, essentially selling the how and why of what you do. For a creative, think about the potential client, collector, or gallerist you may meet at an event. As you’re networking, you’ll want to have this pitch down. Sell yourself! Get people hooked and give them a reason to want to see more of what you do.

When developing your own elevator pitch, it will be important to understand your nicheand who your target audience is, as well as how your work fits into that niche. Do you use interesting materials or have you developed a cutting-edge technique? That should be in there.

You’ll also want to think about who you are speaking with. Bump into an important curator? They may be interested to know about your work with museums. Meet the head of a marketing department for a large brand? Let them know about the graphic design work you recently did with a like-minded company.

And make sure you finish by closing the deal, whether it be getting a business card or phone number or setting up a time to meet and discuss your work over coffee. Remember, you only have a minute, so don’t try to cram too much in. Just tease the best points and make them want to come back for more.

EXUDE CONFIDENCE

We’re talking about confidence, not arrogance—there’s a fine line, but important distinction. While arrogance can be off-putting, confidence actually draws people in and makes them want to hear more.

And while everyone has a different way of exuding confidence, here are some things to keep in mind so that even if you are feeling uncomfortable, no one will ever know.

Body language – Throw out the idea of the brooding artist hunched in the corner. That stereotype is exactly the opposite of what you’ll need to effectively communicate about your work. You want to be approachable and this means having open body language. That means standing up straight, keeping your arms uncrossed, and even leaning in slightly to let the other person know you are interested in what they are saying.

Eye contact – Along with your limbs, watch your eyes—and put your phone down. Looking down or away indicates insecurity and lack of knowledge about what you are discussing, or worse—a disinterest in the person you are speaking with. A great communicator will look the person, or people, they are speaking to right in the eye, which gives off the impression that you know what you are talking about and are confident in your words. And when it comes to your art, isn’t that what you want?

Filler words – If “umm” or “like” peppers your speech, pay close attention to this section. While you want to be thoughtful with your words, overly long pauses or peppering your conversion with these filler words makes you come off as unprepared. This is why preparing—either mentally or on paper—ahead of time can help. Of course, you don’t want to come off as scripted, but having a basic preparation will allow you to think without pause even if you are nervous.

KNOW WHEN TO LISTEN

Effective communication is like a tennis match, with the ball being lobbed back and forth. One of the biggest mistakes you can make is monopolizing the conversation. Yes, people may be at the opening of your exhibition or approached you about your portfolio, but that doesn’t mean they don’t want to be heard and be part of the conversation.

Everyone wants to feel important, including fans of your creative work, and by listening to what they have to say, you are forging deeper relationships which could pay dividends down the line. And remember, listening isn’t simply not talking, it’s actually taking in what the other person is saying. Try incorporating what they’ve talked about into your comments and questions, which will show them you have an interest in their perspective as well. Believe us, your top collector will appreciate it when you remember the name of their children or you suggest a book about their favorite sculptor.

EVERYONE IS EQUAL

Everyone can have a bad day, but in general, there’s no excuse not to treat everyone with equal kindness. You never know how the person in front of you can impact your career or who might overhear your conversation. So, it goes without saying that no matter you are speaking with, show respect and use it as an opportunity to improve your communication skills and how you articulate your work.

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Seven Key Steps to Success in Today's Challenging Business World

Succeeding as a business in today’s business world is no small feat, as entrepreneurs need toovercome significant challenges from the start, such as creating a viable business model, building a strong and reliable team, standing out among your competitors, and generating enough revenue tobe sustainable.

While there is no one-size-fits-all recipe for success, having a clear road map and making sure to implement a series of critical st Succeeding as a business in today’s business world is no small feat, as entrepreneurs need to overcome significant challenges from the start, such as creating a viable business model, building a strong and reliable team, standing out among your competitors, and generating enough revenue to be sustainable.

While there is no one-size-fits-all recipe for success, having a clear roadmap and making sure toimplement a series of critical steps toward one’s business goals can have a tremendous impact on an organization’s growth and development.

Below, seven members of Young Entrepreneur Council below share some key steps you should take, including talent retention, knowledge of the market, trust in your team’s capabilities and not being afraid of failure. Here are some details.eps toward one’s business goals can have a tremendous impact on an organization’s growth and development.

Below, seven members of Young Entrepreneur Council below share some key steps you should take, including talent retention, knowledge of the market, trust in your team’s capabilities and not being afraid of failure. Here are some details.

1. Retain Your Talent

Entrepreneurs need to be catering to their employees. Any company can do sales, any company can do marketing and any company can provide quality assurance — but not all companies can maintain their talent. Talent is what separates the lead singers from the rock stars. Catering toemployees is a multi-faceted goal, involving extensive vacation time, freedom to work and earnest involvement in their growth. - Allyson Case, Integro Rehab LLC

2. Give the Market What It Needs

In order for an entrepreneur to remain competitive and achieve success in the modern businesslandscape, they must maintain a high level of curiosity, work ethic, focus and persistence. Many times, people chase what is trending, or what they think will make them rich or famous, for instance. Forget what you want and focus on connecting with something the market needs, that you love and that you can be the best at. - Dan San, Meural Inc.

3. Help Others Shine

Helping others shine leaves a bigger impact on your character than all your efforts to raise yourself up. This type of commitment to the team will not go unnoticed. Look for an opportunity to put other people in the limelight. They will drop their negativity and will look forward to working with you. This is how true leaders are shaped. - Sweta Patel, Silicon Valley Startup Marketing

4. Evolve Constantly

To achieve success in the modern business world, entrepreneurs need to constantly evolve. CDs didn't become irrelevant because the quality suffered, they became irrelevant when MP3s arrived. Blockbuster didn't become yesterday's news because their selection was down, it happened because they didn't evolve quickly enough to our on-demand culture. If you don't evolve, someone else will. - Matt Carpenter, College Funding Services (CFS), LLC

5. Don’t Be Afraid to Fail

Don't get discouraged: Keep your head up and work your butt off. If becoming an entrepreneur was easy, then everyone would do it. Making mistakes is what has made me successful. I had 10-plus businesses fail before I landed a successful one. The lessons I learned from my failures are 10 times more valuable than any book or article. - Jonathan Bast, T3 Marketing, LLC

6. Be Ready to Work With a Remote Team

Entrepreneurs need to set up their business to work in remote environments. The workforce is constantly changing, and more people are becoming location-independent. In the U.S. alone, it's estimated that 50 percent of the workforce will be working remotely by 2020. Entrepreneurs need to be prepared: People no longer desire to be tied down to an office — they want more freedom. The change is inevitable. - Jinny Oh, Wander

7. Let Your Employees Grow

For me, the most important part of any business are the employees. Allowing your employees towear multiple hats, feel engaged in business operations, and make their own decisions is a keyfactor in attracting and retaining talent in the modern world. And always be over-transparent. Remember, the employees are what make your business what it is, so don’t lose sight of this fact. - Mark Grignon, Kognitiv, Inc.

POST WRITTEN BY

Young Entrepreneur Council

  YEC is an invite-only organization comprised of the world's most successful entrepreneurs 40 and younger.  

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9 New Year's Resolutions for Small Business Success

Kimberly de Silva • Guest Writer
This story originally appeared on Bizness Apps

It's a good time to reflect on your business' progress and plan how you want to grow your business in the new year.

When people hear new year’s resolutions, they often think of “exercising more," “spending more time with the family” or “traveling more." Besides these personal resolutions, you can also create impactful resolutions for your small business. A resolution, after all, is a decision to do something differently to bring about positive change. It’s a good time to reflect on your business’ progress and plan how you want to grow your business in the new year. 

1. I will learn how to delegate and do more of it. 

As a small business owner, your to-do list probably doesn’t even fit on one page. There are so many things to do, and it’s easy to delude ourselves that we need to do all of them ourselves. You can only work so many hours in a day. As a result, you’re probably exhausted, stressed and don’t have any free time outside of your business. Delegation is the key to a healthy work-life balance. However, people don’t delegate because it takes a lot of upfront effort and requires a loss of control. So how do you let someone else do certain tasks, while making sure it’s done correctly? The answer is simple: communication and training. Make sure your employees are trained enough, to the point where they can take over some of your tasks. The next step is to clearly communicate the objectives and deadlines, so that you don’t end up micromanaging.

2. I will learn how to manage my cash flow more effectively.

Cash flow is the lifeblood of any small business. In fact, a prominent study from the financial services company U.S. Bank found that 82 percent of startups and small businesses fail due to poor cash flow management. According to The Balance, “This is a great resolution for small business owners who have drastic ebbs and flows in their cash flow, have been unable to create enough capital to invest back into the business or those who don’t really understand the day-to-day finances of the business.”

3. I will take steps to improve my digital presence.

If it’s been more than a year since your site has been updated, if you haven’t taken action to make your online presence mobile-friendly, if you still haven’t created an email marketing list or if digital isn’t part of your marketing strategy at all, it’s time to add this to your new year’s resolutions. You could even take a step further than mobile-friendly and use a mobile-first approach to your digital presence. 

4. I will charge what I’m worth.

Do you feel that your product or service is undervalued? If so, then it might be time to raise your rates to correspond with the value you bring to the table. You might be thinking that raising your prices will alienate certain people from becoming a customer. That could be the case, but you can’t be all things to all people. “Your target market will pay what the marketplace has proved it will pay”, says Entrepreneur. How can you implement this? Depending on your business, you can shift to a “packaged value” approach. This is where you provide tiered packages that give potential customers choices, so they can focus on the value you offer rather than the amount of time you spent. Your prices can then reflect this value

5. I will learn something new.

New year, new skill. Choose something new to learn in 2018 -- it may be directly related to your business or completely unrelated. Learning a new skill will add a dimension of interest to your life that will help to maintain that work-life balance. It will also help you to get out of your comfort zone and meet new people, if you decide to take marketing classes or learn a new language.

6. I will make business strategizing a weekly event. 

Planning is vital if you want to foster a growing business. But running a small business can be chaotic and it’s easy to get sucked into the day-to-day operations. Business strategizing allows you to take a step back and highlight what worked and what didn’t, while adjusting old goals and setting new ones. So why do it just once a quarter or once a year? Set aside time each week to review your strategies. This will help you stay on track and allow you to have a clear hold on your business. 

7. I will drop what’s not working and move on.

After all that business strategizing, you will know exactly what’s not working for your small business. Maybe your sales method isn’t performing well, one of your products isn’t selling or a specific partnership isn’t working out… If this is the case, it’s time to drop it. As The Balance states, “If a technique or a product or a business relationship isn’t working for you, stop using it. Don’t invest a lot of energy into trying to make the unworkable workable. Move on. Something better will turn up.”

8. I will promote my business regularly and consistently.

Since small business owners wear a lot of hats, you might not always have “marketing” at the top of your to-do list. While you should definitely focus on delivering that amazing small business experience, you shouldn’t forget to market that amazing experience to to the outside world. To attract new customers, you have to make promotion a priority. Take the time to create a marketing plan or, even your funds allow it, hire a marketing expert to help you set it up. To get started, try some of these ways to get press coverage for your small business.

9. I will enhance my technology footprint.

Few things frustrate employees -- and customers -- more than working with outdated technology. Slow internet speeds, clunky operating systems and inadequate tools can eat up valuable time. Make an inventory list of all your company supplies to see what needs replacing. Maybe it’s time to implement that online food ordering system, or maybe your employees could use new computers. Start the year off right by upgrading your technology footprint.

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This Book Will Make You Ready To Be An Entrepreneur

Making mistakes as you go into business is a part of every entrepreneur's experience. How you recover from these errors is what matters. The process of getting back on course can make your business stronger, especially if you learn from your mistakes.

Getting distracted or disregarding sage advice, for instance, can leave you in a hole, as can not properly preparing for the bumps in the road. You need confidence in order to keep moving forward, while at the same time cannot be so confident that you blind yourself to problems. As a result, doing research and listening to your market, as well as understanding your niche, is crucial.

To help you avoid trouble, 13 members of Young Entrepreneur Council, below, shared the biggest mistake they made as a new entrepreneur in hopes that they can save you from making the same error. Here is what they said to avoid:

1. Disregarding Other Business People’s Advice

One of the biggest mistakes I've made was minimizing the advice of elder business people because I dismissed it as "outdated" or "irrelevant." Technical knowledge in one’s field is absolutely necessary, and although things may be extremely different today than they were 20-30 years ago, knowledge is knowledge. - Christopher Okada, Okada & Company LLC

 2. Getting Distracted

One of the biggest mistakes I've made as an entrepreneur was spending time on things that were distracting me from moving my business forward. T-shirts and business cards in the early days were fun, but they got me absolutely nowhere closer to finding customers or creating real enterprise value. Focus on what matters: creating products or offering services that people want and actually pay for. - Michael Lisovetsky, Juice Labs, LLC

3. Misallocating Your Funds

Raising money is hard. I spent my first round of funding too quickly. I was overconfident that my app was going to take off right away because I was so blindly optimistic. I believed in what I was doing so much, I didn't foresee failure early on. My advice to entrepreneurs is to plan for unexpected bumps in the road, so you are better prepared for the success that lies ahead. - Steven Fleisher, Two Degrees, Inc.

4. Failing to Truly Understand Your Business

Know your business model from the very start. Establish your price and have a crystal-clear understanding of your unit economics: cost of goods, marketing expenses and margins. It's extremely difficult to increase your product prices without losing customers. It can make or break your business. - Liza Moiseeva, GlobeIn

5. Doing It All by Yourself

The biggest mistake I have ever made is to think I can do it all by myself. We need to delegate, and when possible, we need to hire professionals in each field to help you succeed. - Esteban Kadamani, INFINITE WINDOWS LLC

 6. Letting Others Bring You Down

My biggest mistake was not trusting in my abilities sooner. As a Latina female, I was discouraged to pursue my entrepreneurial endeavors by media, bosses, co-workers and at times, even friends. One boss even went so far to say, “You should focus first on having a family.” If you are a female, and especially if you are a minority, you have to cut out the noise and trust that yes, you’ve got this! - Christina Kelmon, Belle en Argent

 7. Not Being Prepared For Things To Go Wrong

You always have to plan for things to go wrong, because they will! The only thing that stays consistent is your dedication to the end result. But everything else, be prepared for it to go a little — or a lot — differently than expected. Be resilient. - Jacoby Ihejirika, PASS Program, Inc

8. Not Trusting Yourself

The biggest mistake I ever made as an entrepreneur is not trusting myself earlier on in my career. I wish, desperately, that I started my companies in my early 20s. In the modern world, starting a business and validating an idea is easier than ever, so take advantage of it. - Gaurav Valani, CareerSprout

9. Understanding All Aspects of Your Niche

When I left investment banking to launch my first startup, the App Store had only launched two years prior. At this time, I had limited, early-stage company experience, and quickly learned that tech development was a completely different world. My company failed because I didn't understand the app dev process. You need to know all aspects of a business, especially those in which you are weak. - Justin Casale-Savage, Savage Advisory

10. Taking Criticism Personally

A startup feels like a founder's baby. I would take every setback or criticism personally and react poorly. Companies are not babies or people. Most startups die … but from failure comes future success. My advice to a newbie is that they need to strike a balance between their passion and business reality — take criticism and failure in stride, and stay humble. - Amishi Takalkar, NAILBITER Inc

11. Thinking Your Idea Is Perfect

I assumed that my idea and business plan were perfect, and that customers and employees would be banging down my door to work with me. Instead, the market dealt me a big serving of humble pie. I made four major pivots in three years, until we finally got the model and messaging right. The lesson: Be flexible, be open and listen to what the market is telling you. - Daniel Reilly, B2X Global

 12. Doing What Looks Good Instead of What Works

I cold called and followed up with a company for five months until they gave me an opportunity. The day I presented how my services could benefit them, I blew it. How? Because I didn't prepare as I typically do. When you have a major opportunity, keep doing what put you in that position to begin with. Oh yeah, and never blow a six-figure deal like I did, by doing what looked good, instead of what works. - Daniel Griggs, ATX Web Designs, LLC

13. Focusing too Much on Your Team’s Existing Skills

In the early years, I focused too heavily on existing skill sets when building our team. This didn't always work out, as some of our early hires had the skills but didn't have "star potential," they were capped out. I now look more for the skills, but even more so for people who have "star potential" and can develop into the leaders of our company, and even take my job one day. This drives scalability. - Grayson Lafrenz, Power Digital Marketing

POST WRITTEN BY

Young Entrepreneur Council

  YEC is an invite-only organization comprised of the world's most successful entrepreneurs 40 and younger.

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Programming your mind for success | Carrie Green | TEDxManchester

Inspiring words. Great focus on goal setting.

Personal Branding For Modern Women: It's All About Self-Acceptance

It's time to recognize women for who we are, instead of oversexualizing, demoralizing and devaluing women.

Is she beautiful? Is she demure? Inviting of advances, but not too sexual. An object with a mind, but not a mind. As a culture, we’ve been submerged in a place where to be “feminine” we walk on eggshells, much like that of an abusive relationship. Careful, calculated moves mask self-doubt. There's an unbalanced focus on the superficial instead of issues of substance. It’s anxiety- and despair-producing to be disallowed the opportunity to just be.

Look beautiful, but don't be superficial.

Be smart, but don't be smarter than anyone else.

Look sexy, but don't draw attention.

Be gentle, but be aggressive.

Be assertive, but don't be a jerk.

Women's articles and branding topics are quickly turned into articles about what to wear to "ward of unwanted advances" and how to wear your makeup as to draw enough, but not "too much" attention. I'm tired of seeing these articles. There needs to be a place where, as women, we can find self-assurance and self-acceptance. From the water cooler to the boardroom to even our LinkedIn inboxes, unwanted advances and comments on our looks are unacceptable.

Instead of messages such as, "Congratulations on the new business venture!" or "Can you tell me more about this project? What interesting results you've achieved," I frequently receive LinkedIn messages about my smile or my hair. Mixed messages for women about how to dress, behave and build businesses are both underwhelming and overwhelming!

Ladies, I'm here to tell you that personal branding is about so much more than the way you look, it's about the way you make others feel. It is about who you are and how you resonate with yourself. When we look at strong corporate branding, it is all about signage, colors, website, print materials and tone of voice. It even echoes through sales processes and procedures. Strong brands have a strong identity and know their customer well.

I like to think of branding and marketing as best friends, and best friends need to be able to have a conversation. In my business, we work to develop strong, ethical brands that put their clients first — after they've established who they are. This is not theatre. Once you know your true desires, your personal brand will develop into something a lot stronger.

What do you want out of life? Who do you aspire to be? Have you taken the time to search out your own longings? Families, officemates and clients aside, who are you, and do you accept that woman? As cliché as it may sound, you have everything within you that you need to succeed. When it comes to your personal brand, give yourself the support you need to stand behind your experience and present yourself the way you want to be seen. Be your own self-affirmer, your own hero.

It's not about acting like a man. It's not just about acting like a woman. It is about acting like yourself and knowing your audience. When you know and accept yourself, your brand messaging will become more clear. People are marginalized to confidence, and confidence is not something that can be foraged.

In personal branding for women, it is time to shift the conversation away from the image and work on core issues. Do you accept yourself? Major strides have been made toward gender equality, but there are still steps to take. When is the last time that a man had to put on more makeup or spend $60 on a blowout to be taken more seriously? Looks shouldn't play a factor in the words and ideas we have to share.

Ladies, let's rise up and create a better future. If you are trying to satisfy your boss, devouring articles about office makeup, humoring unwanted advances or wishing you were "enough" but not "too much" for society, stop.

Back up the bus and get on the you train. Be yourself.

It is OK to be a bit of a jack-in-the-box. You don’t have to choose one column. Write all over the lines when you are defining yourself. Be the best version of you that you can be. If you’ve been looking for a way out of an identity crisis, I’m here to tell you to stand up, look in the mirror and say yes to the woman looking back at you. You’re worth it, and you’re more than capable.

Heather Pinay Heather Pinay , Forbes Councils

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Eleven skills every 24-year-old should learn before it's too late

The age 24 is a fun time of your life.

You're likely out of college, maybe for a couple of years, meeting new people, and getting your feet wet in the real world. 

But it's also an important time because around age 24, you have unquestionably entered adulthood and your choices could influence the rest of your life.

A bunch of people chimed in on a Quora thread discussing the skills every 24 year old needs to learn before it's too late. We narrowed it down to the following 11 skills:

Become a master salesperson of yourself

Good communication skills have been linked to greater career prospects 

"Sales is the basis of all business success. You are always selling, even if your role does not include sales in the job description. You sell during marketing activities, team meetings, customer service, product management, conferences, business development, engineering, user experience and more. A solid foundation in how to sell can give you a wide advantage over your colleagues and competitors." — Anonymous

Get out of your comfort zone

"Get real world experience. Start businesses, talk to people, ask a pretty girl out, go skydiving, become good at small talk and for the love of god don't take yourself too seriously." — Christian Pretorius

Get very good at one thing

"Your job, photoshop, singing, dancing, whistling, so that if the worst happens, and you get kicked out of your job and house and friends are done using you, you can still earn your livelihood by freelancing... (even whistling will do — you can roam on roads asking couples to dedicate songs to each other and they will pay you – tried and tested)." — Rohit Mishra

Build up your 'advocate network'

"We all need people we can rely on to potentially expose us to new opportunities, people, and ideas that can further our career. Focus on creating value for other people, rather than just meeting them. The golden rule of networking: Measure your networking success not by how many important people you’ve met, but by how many important people you’ve helped." — Christian Bonilla, software designer, author

Learn how to code

"Learning to code is one of the most important skills any 24-year-old should acquire. It goes for people who have nothing to do with technology. In fact, the younger generation is already mastering technology better than us adults and learning coding in days. Kids nowadays have tablets, smartphones and other tech gadgets. Learning to code is an important tool that can be used for future development of a person. Everybody knows how to read and write and so they should know to code as well." — Maria Antsuk

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Fall in love

"Yes, fall in love as love is the purest of all emotion and what is more beautiful than love? If you have not fallen in love, you have undoubtedly missed a vital emotion/feeling in the world." — Karan Jaiswani

Learn how to meditate

Research suggests meditation can improve brain cognition 

"In today's world of distraction, this is the only tool to keep oneself focused. It has been proven by research that twenty minutes of meditation is equivalent to two hours of sleep. It's like homeopathy; takes time to act but is worthy in the long run. But it's a complex process and you really need a very strong determination to practice it." — Sanjay Kadel, Realist

Travel more

"Create a passion to travel around the world. Travelling teaches you different walks of life. Explore Africa if you are in the west. Explore Canada during winters if you are in a temperate climate. You will get a feel of life on earth and develop a loving sense and meet new people." — Anonymous

Invest in personal growth

"Don't watch TV and stop fooling around, read as many books as you can, go to seminars. Always increase your value, because we get paid about our value, what we bring to the marketplace. So if you become more valuable then ... exactly, you get more paid." — Janis Butevics, 23-year-old Entrepreneur & Author, creator of Awake or Be Slaved

Stop worrying all the time

"Worrying is a useless energy sucker. Your life and circumstances will not change by worrying. Only planning and actions will lead you to where you want to be in your life. Experiencing life and the world with a carefree yet organised attitude while at the same time taking care of your health and feeding your mind with knowledge, that could benefit you in the future. Enjoy the present and always keep your eye on progress." — Deme Alexis

Start saving money

"Whether you're working for someone else or for yourself, you need to save your money now. Compound interest can make you a millionaire in 20 years’ time, simply by putting away a really small amount of money consistently every month. With a degree you can earn more, put away more money and become a millionaire sooner." — Stefan Stoman

Read the original article on Business Insider UK. © 2017. Follow Business Insider UK on Twitter.

• Eugene Kim, Business Insider 
• 2 days ago

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8 Essential Startup Tools for Every Entrepreneur

If you’re in the midst of launching or running a startup, you already know there’s no shortage of tools, services and apps available to help you with everything from designing, marketing, operating and even selling your product or company. But those choices and options can be overwhelming and expensive, especially for someone wearing several hats already. With time and resources strapped, it can be extremely valuable to look to an outside source for advice on the best of the best.

That’s one of the many things we’ve heard from the thousands of small-business owners and entrepreneurs who make up the core users of 99designs, the world’s largest online marketplace for graphic design. With that in mind, we polled these users—along with several small-business influencers and advisors—to curate a list of inexpensive or free online services, tools or apps that every entrepreneur should know about.

We uncovered a whopping 68 tools for startups in our 99designs blog. Below are some of our favorites.

For Collaboration and Communication:

1. Slack

Slack is the best way to communicate quickly in groups or one on one, organize discussions by topic, and have everything in one place so it’s easy to find. You won’t believe how much time you save when you don’t have to craft an email for each quick sentence exchanged with your team. And of course, Slack comes with a mobile app and integrates with a bunch of other apps that you’re probably already using. It also just rolled out voice and video calls for its premium users. Slack offers many additional features such as this for paid users, but its free tier will likely meet most of your needs as an early-stage entrepreneur.

2. Google Hangouts

When it comes to video conferencing, this is a no-brainer, particularly if you’re using the Google Suite. It’s free and easy to set up on Gmail. You still have to check with external parties before you schedule a Hangouts session though, as it might not work on computers that don’t have Google Suite enabled.

Project Management:

3. Trello

Trello provides the easiest and most collaborative way to organize, visualize, assign and monitor tasks as a team. It lets you organize projects and tasks into boards (topics), which are made of lists (task-lists), which in turn are made of cards (tasks). Although it’s great for project management, Trello also works for brainstorming, agenda planning and any other list-based activities. Like Slack, Trello operates on a freemium model where the free tier provides all the functionalities a small team would need.

4. Asana

I can personally vouch for the tool as I used it when building my ecommerce website. The interface is highly intuitive and easy for a new user to get acquainted. I found it particularly helpful for working with remote developers in a different time zone.

Presentations:

5. Prezi

Prezi allows you to create truly dynamic, movie-like presentations to help you secure that round of funding and more. The downside is that the Prezi presentation format doesn’t work with every content structure you might have in mind for your presentation. One type of structure where it thrives is one that starts with giving the full picture first, and then going more deeply into each piece of that puzzle.

Make the content of your presentations pop with GIPHY, and replace tired and clichéd stock images with free photos from one of these great public domain image websites.

Scheduling and Calendars:

6. Calendly

This app enables you to skip the annoying email chains to schedule calls and meetings. Calendly allows you to share your calendar link with whomever you choose and allows those people to book time directly in your calendar. It syncs with all your emails and, on top of avoiding conflicts, you can set up rules for what times people can book. When a meeting is booked, it sends out an automatic invite to both people’s calendars. People really like the feature that enables them to create a widget of their calendar and include it on their website, to make scheduling product demos easier. The basic features of Calendly are free.

7. x.ai

With x.ai, your personal assistant, “Amy Ingram,” will take care of all your meeting scheduling. Because Amy is great at sounding human and understanding context in emails, she can pick up the discussion and ask the right questions to the other person in order to set up the meeting details. All you do is CC her on the exchange, and she’ll jump into the email conversation as needed. Free for up to five meetings per month.

Other Administrative Assistance:

8. HelloSign

With HelloSign, you can skip the tedious business of printing and scanning. With this tool, you can fill out, sign and share forms and documents, even legally binding ones. As an entrepreneur, this can be your go-to for signing NDAs, adviser agreements, freelancer work contracts and everything else your lawyer might throw your way. HelloSign is free for up to three documents a month.

Obviously, this list is just the tip of the iceberg. There are great new services and tools debuting every day. What are other apps or tools that, as an entrepreneur, you can’t do without?

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By Pamela Webber