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Recently while doing some research we asked several female entrepreneurs how much personality they show in business.
The answers were varied – some people showed a lot, even in some cases blogging about sexual experiences and other extremely intimate situations, while others not at all, and some said just be yourself and let your personality shine through….to a limit.
The way we conduct ourselves in business is largely a part of our personality in general. But for business, according to Darrell Zahorsky these can be categorized into 9 different personality types:
The 9 Personality Types of Entrepreneurs
1. The Improver: If you operate your business predominately in the improver mode, you are focused on using your company as a means to improve the world. Your overarching motto is: morally correct companies will be rewarded working on a noble cause. Improvers have an unwavering ability to run their business with high integrity and ethics.
Personality Alert: Be aware of your tendency to be a perfectionist and over-critical of employees and customers.
Entrepreneur example: Anita Roddick, Founder of The Body Shop.
2. The Advisor: This business personality type will provide an extremely high level of assistance and advice to customers. The advisor’s motto is: the customer is right and we must do everything to please them. Companies built by advisors become customer focused.
Personality Alert: Advisors can become totally focused on the needs of their business and customers that they may ignore their own needs and ultimately burn out.
Entrepreneur example: John W. Nordstrom, Founder Nordstrom.
3. The Superstar: Here the business is centered around the charisma and high energy of the Superstar CEO. This personality often will cause you to build your business around your own personal brand.
Personality Alert: Can be too competitive and workaholics.
Entrepreneur example: Donald Trump, CEO of Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts.
4. The Artist: This business personality is the reserved but highly creative type. Often found in businesses demanding creativity such as web design and ad agencies. As an artist type you’ll tend to build your business around the unique talents and creativities you have.
Personality Alert: You may be overly sensitive to your customer’s responses even if the feedback is constructive. Let go the negative self-image.
Entrepreneur example: Scott Adams, Creator of Dilbert.
5. The Visionary: A business built by a Visionary will often be based on the future vision and thoughts of the founder. You will have a high degree of curiosity to understand the world around you and will set-up plans to avoid the landmines.
Personality Alert: Visionaries can be too focused on the dream with little focus on reality. Action must proceed vision.
Entrepreneurial example: Bill Gates, Founder of MicroSoft Inc.
6. The Analyst: If you run a business as an Analyst, your company is focus on fixing problems in a systematic way. Often the basis for science, engineering or computer firms, Analyst companies excel at problem solving.
Personality Alert: Be aware of analysis paralysis. Work on trusting others.
Entrepreneurial example: Intel Founder, Gordon Moore.
7. The Fireball: A business owned and operated by a Fireball is full of life, energy and optimism. Your company is life-energizing and makes customers feel the company has a get it done attitude in a fun playful manner.
Personality Alert: You may over commit your teams and act to impulsively. Balance your impulsiveness with business planning.
Entrepreneurial example: Malcolm Forbes, Publisher, Forbes Magazine.
8. The Hero: You have an incredible will and ability to lead the world and your business through any challenge. You are the essence of entrepreneurship and can assemble great companies.
Personality Alert: Over promising and using force full tactics to get your way will not work long term. To be successful, trust your leadership skills to help others find their way.
Entrepreneurial example: Jack Welch, CEO GE.
9. The Healer: If you are a Healer, you provide nurturing and harmony to your business. You have an uncanny ability to survive and persist with an inner calm.
Personality Alert: Because of your caring, healing attitude toward your business, you may avoid outside realities and use wishful thinking. Use scenario planning to prepare for turmoil.
Entrepreneurial example: Ben Cohen, Co-Founder Of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream.
What’s your business personality?
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Most people assume that if you are an entreprenuer you must have loads of confidence…but that’s often quite far from reality.
You know how most of the time you feel pretty good about yourself, but then something little, maybe a comment in a meeting, noticing your clothes look ragged, or something huge like a big project falls through, just throws you way off.
When you are an entrepreneur you have to face these challenges every day! You are always putting yourself out there, trying to get as much attention as possible, and not being shy to tell people what you do, your company name and your 10 second elevator speech.
Confidence in your abilities or your business often intersect with your confidence as a person, and that’s where sometimes you may falter. And it will happen to everyone.
“The first time I did a show out in the field, it took 20 times to get my intro down pat,” says Amber MacArthur, 34, founder of Web agency MGI Media, technology specialist, TV personality and author of Power Friending: Demystifying Social Media to Grow Your Business.
If someone so accomplished can feel so uncomfortable, it’s easy to imagine that it happens to absolutely everyone, and it will happen to you too.
The best remedy is to “fake it till you make it”, but in a very real way, don’t pretend to be a German Sheppard when you’re really a Golden Retriever puppy. Just be yourself, with a great ability to pick yourself, dust yourself off, and go forth and self promote again!
Because, after all, you are your brand! You need to self promote to build your business, no matter what you are selling.
To make your brand building online Amber has these 3 simple suggestions:
No. 1: Make sure you have a website. Tools such as SquareSpace and Wordpress make it really easy to build your own site.
No. 2: Use a lot of social media tools to get out there and network. Integrate tools such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook into your website, so essentially your website is a home base for all of your branding efforts.
No. 3: E-mail really is a social network. The number of people who e-mail you on a regular basis is enormous. So within your e-mail network, turn your signature into something where you link to your personal website, Twitter and Facebook accounts, and really use that to promote yourself
As an example, preview the email signature below
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Ingrid Menninga
Founder
www.cashmereclutch.com
Help Us Get to 150 Friends on this Facebook Page; Click and Like us Please
Cashmere Clutch is a women’s lifestyle site focusing on living a balanced, fulfilling and fabulous life. Visit us at www.cashmereclutch.com
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There’s lots of contact information above, and you can clearly figure out what the business is, how it helps people, and how you can stay connected online. Also, the “Help Us Get 150 Facebook Fans” Tactic is a new one, but seems to help increase the number of fans on the page.
Try it out for your business and let us know how it goes.
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With Jetblue’s Steven Slater famous “jump” from his job after yelling at unappreciative flight passengers and the recently staged “Jenny” video showing her quitting her job after her boss called her a HPOA (hot piece of ass) there’s lots of news about
-what to do when you quit your job
-when to quit
-what “going too far” can do to your career
-how to know when it’s time to quit
But before you get to the point of desperation when you’re ready to light your office on fire, tell your boss where to go and leave with guns a blazin’ make sure you ask yourself these 5 Critical Questions To Ask Before You Ditch Your Job
Photo Credit: from Steven Slater’s Myspace profile
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Every year Canstage puts on a fabulous evening of entertainment with Dream in High Park. This year it’s Romeo and Juliet and that doesn’t mean it’s only for couples; everyone is welcome and it’s a great way to spend a night with friends, family or alone.
You pack a picnic, sneak in a little bit of wine, perch on the viewing ledges, and watch the excitment build as the stage gets its final touches and the sun sets. When the production begins you are treated to a great night of entertainment in a totally unique setting.
If you haven’t been to Dream In High Park time is running out! Make sure you check it out before September 5th. Shows are Tuesday to Sunday and it starts at 8pm, with gates opening at 6pm. There’s a minimum donation of $20, which is a steal, and of course if you are a big fan of supporting the arts they always welcome additional donations.
Here are directions on how to get there
If you liked this post make sure you share it with friends on facebook, twitter or email this link.
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For many professional women managing a career profile on social media sites is extremely important. You’ve come this far, right, so you need to make sure that all that hard work pays off!
Hands down the best social media site for professionals is LinkedIn. But how do you get the most out of it?
Victoria Ipri from www.theconfidentcopywriter.com has these 8 tips:
1. See the future: How much new business can you comfortably handle? Be realistic. One new client a month is 12 for the year. Not bad.
2. Choose a target market and do not stray from this focus
3. Join groups for those markets and actively participate in a meaningful way
4. Educate yourself on effective LI search…there are ways to search and findspecific information about specific people
5. Stand out: Be active! Be proactive! Be visible! Get out there and get involved. Create a highly compelling profile; not a resume rehash.
6. Answer questions to highlight your subject expertise
7. Accept connections and request connections. People want to connect with you!
8. Talk to people. I mean, really talk. Show an interest, look for ways to help each other…seeking connections isn’t only about having lots of connections!
This advice also works if you are an employee and not an entrepreneur. Managing your LinkedIn can be the key to your success. Make sure that your profile is updated regularly with job information, great articles, and get involved in discussion boards related to your area of expertise. Don’t wait until you need to find a new job to refresh your profile. You will have missed a lot of opportunities if you wait until you need something. Recruiters are constantly scrubbling LinkedIn for professionals – make sure you are easy to find!
Have you joined the Cashmere Clutch Women In Business group on Linkedin yet? It’s the network for fulfilled and fabulous women looking to connect with like minded ladies.
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Cashmere Clutch Women In Business Network is a meeting place for positive, motivated and “take life by the horns” type women that have carved out their own concept of success. Featuring everything from interviews with successful female entrepreneurs to investment advice, to fitness challenges, to fashion and travel, Cashmere Clutch Women In Business Network is the network for fulfilled and fabulous women looking to connect with like minded ladies.
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That’s right. What’s better than free stuff in the city in the summer?
According to the Toronto Star Metric is putting on a free show this Wednesday, August 3rd at 7pm at Union Station.
Here’s the full story directly from the Toronto Star Entertainment Reporters Ben Rayner and Bruce DeMara:
Hot Canadian rock band Metric will play a free concert outside Union Station on Wednesday night.
Samsung Mobile announced the show on Tuesday without naming the band.
But a source within the band’s camp confirmed Metric was it. “It’s true. It’s all happening. It’s not really a big secret or anything.”
And details of the event — going down at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Union Square Plaza — were leaked via Twitter and readily available online mere hours after Samsung started dropping hints on its own Twitter feed.
One clue read: “I wonder who this band is going to be? Is it The Beatles or could it be the Rolling Stones?”
That brings to mind Metric’s hit song “Gimme Sympathy,” which includes the lyrics, “After all of this is gone / Who’d you rather be? / The Beatles or the Rolling Stones?”
Apparently, the only reason Metric’s identity was kept secret was to appease city officials worried that a giant crush of people would wind up on Front St.
That will almost certainly be the case now that the cat’s out of the bag. Drivers, you’ve been warned.
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Aceing the interview can be a big part of getting that job you want, so make sure you’ve honed your skills.
Check out the 5 Winning Tips For Your Job Interview here
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Today’s post is from guest editor, Julia Stepanova, a local real estate expert who has done some great investments herself, and is on board to help guide us in our wealth building activities.
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In Toronto the real estate market has not been as affected as it is in the USA. In fact we’ve had a hot market for the past few months. Our 2010 Forecast called for a strong first half in sales and a slower second half due to three factors.
Factor One – the introduction of the HST (which will NOT impact prices in the resale market but will increase the cost of services and new properties over $400,000).
Factor Two – we are expecting a bump in Bank of Canada interest rates in the second half of the year, which will make it harder for some people to afford (and therefore fewer people will buy).
Factor Three – more listings are coming to the market (particularly in the condo segment). Right now the market is still hot but will be softening towards the end of June/2010.
And if you like to take your time looking for a place and multiple offers is not your thing this means it is your time to shine.
If you are looking to get into the real estate market it’s a great time.
But how do you get the most out of it?
First, make sure you’re taking the right steps.
1. Get yourself preapproved by going to your local bank.
2. Decide on the area.
3. Write your wish list.
4. Find an agent specializing in your preferred area.
5. Do not forget to allocate 1.5% of the purchase price towards the closing cost.
If you want a steady return on your money, houses can be a sure bet and it have two strong things going for them as an investment.
First, any capital gains on your principal residence are tax-free. If your house appreciates by 6 per cent, you get to keep every cent of your gains. Now 6 per cent may not sound like much, but in terms of how much you end up with, you’d have to earn as much as 12 per cent on a fixed-income investment such as a GIC to match that return, after tax.
Second, you don’t have to come up with the full purchase price, meaning you’re able to harness leverage. The conventional mortgages require a down payment of 25 per cent of a house’s appraised value. Where as the High Ratio Mortgage, requires only 5% down payment.
For example, if you buy a $200,000 home, you need to come up with around $50,000 for a conventional mortgage. If the home’s value rises to $220,000, that’s an increase of 10 per cent. But what’s really happened is you’ve put up $50,000, and made $20,000. Your real gross return on your invested funds is around 40 per cent. But notice the word “gross”. Don’t forget that your real return will be less.
Buying a home and having a mortgage is also a tremendously powerful forced savings program. You need to pay for housing, whether you are renting, leasing, or paying your mortgage. So why not put your money towards a mortgage, and if you invest wisely when you sell you will get it all back. If you rent, you never get anythign back.
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Julia is a real estate agent with Re/Max Condos Plus and you can find her here.
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Recently we tested out jeans to see if the most expensive option really is the most flattering.
Exhbit A: Gap Jeans, approx $90
Exhibit B: Banana Republic Jeans, approx $145
Exhibit C: Seven For All Mankind, approx $235
Are the most expensive pair the most flattering? They do make the legs look thinner so overall they are the crowd favourite, but the Gap jeans make the buns look pretty good too.
Whatd’ya think? Do expensive jeans really make your butt look better?
