12 Tips for Entrepreneurs

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Whatever is your responsibility, get it accomplished as quickly as possible. For instance, if it is on your shoulders to finish
a report, do some paperwork, make a call, or write a letterget it out of your hands as soon as possible. This is the Hot
Potato Principle. This will set you apart as a get-er-done kind of person. Thats the kind of news you want to spread far
and wide.
Think baseball. While home runs are exciting, most games are won with the basicsplayers hitting singles and doubles.
In your business spend 85% - 90% of your time, energy and resources "hitting singles and doubles," which will keep food
on the table, gas in your car and lights burning in your home. Even though many entrepreneurs love the "home run
deals," set aside only 10% - 15% of your time working on the big "home run," million dollar business deals.
Your friends and family will thank you.
Whenever you go to a convention or networking event, promise yourself that you will reach outvia email, handwritten
note or phone callto every person who gave you a business card...within 24 hours. You'd be surprised how many don't
follow up at all.

Be on time wherever you go. In fact arrive a few minutes early for a business luncheon, a conference call or a strategy
meeting. It's common sense. But common sense isn't always common practice.
Write notes of appreciation. Design, develop and print a large quantity of your own "all-occasion" card that will become
your signature "thank you," "congratulations," or "I-was-thinking-of-you" expression of your personal thoughts and
feelings. In this fast-pace age of email, you will stand out as a person of excellence. Writing the notes with a fountain pen
will make an even bigger impact.
Someone once said, "Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers." Read as much and as often as you can, on as
many topics as you can handle. Current events. History. Travel. Science. Technology. Being well-read person may not make
you a Jeopardy champion, but it will help you stand apart as a very interesting conversationalist.
Build international travel into your business schedule, taking a family member with you as often as possible. Travel will
stretch you and make you more marketable than most anything else you can do. It will broaden your horizons, challenge
your prejudices and will open your mind in ways that are hard to put into words.
Do not neglect your family. Being number one in your field, with no one else close to you to celebrate your success is
hollow. Develop small ways to let those who love you know that you love them madly. Those who know you the best
should be the ones who love you the most. This is a great litmus test of your success.

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Develop a list of what you are going to do every night before going to bed. Start doing this tonight. This exercise will help
you focus and be on target the moment you experience consciousness the next morning. It will also relieve you of stress,
knowing that you can put your brain in neutral the next day, checking things off the list as you accomplish them. Do first
what you dread the most!
Be a good listener. Many entrepreneurs are so passionate about what they are doing that they tend to talk too much.
Slow down. Ask open-ended questions of the other person. Be more interested in them than you are in what you are
doing. There will be plenty of time for others to hear from you. Learn the art of active listening. Remember, God gave us
two ears and one mouth. There's a parable there somewhere.
Have a mentor. Be a mentor. We can only physically see about 150 degrees ahead of us, including peripheral vision. It
begs the question: Who have you invited into your lifeboth personally and professionallyto cover the other 210
degrees behind you, comprising your blind spot?
Set time aside every day to dream. Write down your dreams in a journal, along with some immediate thoughts about the
ups and downs of accomplishing that specific idea. Someone once said, "A dream without a deadline is a nightmare."
Place a timeline beside each dream, which will help to keep you grounded in reality.

Copyright 2011 by Joel A. Freeman, Ph.D. All rights reserved.

Work hard. Work smart. Enjoy the journey.

Soft Cover ISBN: 978-1-932805-98-7 4-CD Audio Book ISBN: 978-1-934068-29-8 Workbook ISBN: 978-1-60657-020-3

Joel A. Freeman

Accomplished author. Internationally sought-after conference speaker and workshop facilitator.

Serial Entrepreneur. Professional counselor. Success coach to executives. Behavioral analyst.
Organizational culture change specialist. Corporate trainer. Recipient of numerous awards, citations and honors.
Motivational consultant and mentor to pro athletes. Multiculturally astute, with travels to 50+ countries.
Critical Incident Debriefing coach. Philanthropist. Magazine publisher. Photographer.
Award-winning film maker. Passionate about dynamic, fun-filled excellence.
Experiences an on-going love/hate relationship with technology. Devoted husband and father.
O-key singer and extremely bad dancer. A life motivated by curiosity. No Bull. No Hype.
Do you dream of building your own successful business?
Deep down, are you aching to bring a new idea
to the market place and be rewarded for it?
Have you already started a business venture
and need a boost to get it going?
Are you struggling to figure out how to make
your business grow on a day-to-day basis?
Looking for a book/workbook combination for your Entrepreneur Club?

Website
FreemanInstitute.com
WorkHardWorkSmart.com
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410.729.4011
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410.991.9718
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freemani@comcast.net
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