When you start seeking business advice online, it’s likely that you will take whatever information you gain as gospel. However, the more you read, the more likely it will become that you realize the same old spiel is being given time and time again.
Here are some pieces of controversial business advice that you might have already heard:
- Don’t be afraid to fail. Failure is a normal part of the business journey, and it can help you learn and grow.
- Don’t listen to the naysayers. There will always be people who tell you that you can’t do something. Don’t let them discourage you from pursuing your dreams.
- Be willing to take risks. If you want to be successful, you need to be willing to step outside of your comfort zone and take some risks.
- Don’t be afraid to ask for help. There are many people who are willing to help you succeed. Don’t be afraid to reach out to them for support.
- Don’t give up. The road to success is not always easy, but if you keep going, you will eventually reach your goals.
These are just a few examples, and whether or not you choose to follow this advice is up to you. However, it is important to remember that there is no one right way to run a business. The most important thing is to find what works for you and your business.
Sure, there are firm pieces of sage advice that can help you to make a success of your business. But did you ever consider that if everyone is taking the same advice and doing exactly the same thing, it might become dull and less effective? Sometimes it could actually prove better to go against the grain. In some cases, the advice you’ve previously received will be inaccurate and thus going against it will actually help you to achieve better results.
In other words, taking a new angle or approach will help your business and its wares to stand out from the crowd and gather positive attention in alternative ways. So, to help you make the best success of your business possible, here are a few pieces of controversial advice that you might like to bear in mind.
Stop Targeting Your SEO Keywords
The Step-by-Step Guide to Improving Your Google Rankings Without Getting Penalized
You’ve probably heard of “SEO”. It’s an acronym for “search engine optimization” which has been flung about pretty frivolously over the past few years. E-commerce has rapidly risen in popularity, so it can be pretty difficult to make your brand and products to stand out from the crowd, no matter how much time and money you might invest in product development and advertising. SEO is essentially the practice of getting your site featured as highly in search engine results as possible. The higher your site appears in the results, the more likely people are to click the link and be directed to your site. The more traffic that makes its way to your site, the more people will be browsing your products and being exposed to your brand. Hopefully, this will consequently mean that you make more sales, make more profit, and make a greater success of your entire company! However, the majority of articles that you read on the subject of SEO will be pretty similar to one another. They all push forward one concept: target your keywords. They advise that you use as many keywords as possible on your homepage. However, this isn’t always necessarily effective. After all, everyone’s doing it!
So, you could keep on hammering away at targeting your keywords and wondering why you actually turn out with few anchor texts, or you could just focus on your brand name instead. When it comes down to it, Google trusts big brands. They get links naturally. Bloggers around the world link to big brands naturally as part of whatever it may be that they are discussing in their articles. Publications link to big brands when they are comparing products, recommending products, or simply crafting a narrative and the brands naturally fit into the scheme of things. So, you need to copy the big brands and become one of Google’s trust brands. Get your brand name featured on as many different blogs and websites as possible and get your backlinks to your homepage on as many blogs and websites as possible. The more people speak about you, the more power you will wield and the more highly you will ultimately feature in search engine results!
Admit Your Mistakes
Be a Leader Who Can Admit Mistakes
Generally, businesses will avoid taking responsibility for mistakes that are a result of their own misconduct or actions. Blame is often passed on to third parties, middlemen, or even the customer themselves. Why? Well, many business owners believe that admitting a fault will reduce their customers’ trust in them and reduce their chances of returning. Others simply have too much pride and don’t want to admit that they’ve slipped up or are in the wrong. However, a lot of the time, the reverse could actually prove true. Customers can generally tell when you’re bluffing or lying and they don’t tend to have much tolerance for excuses. Generally speaking, honesty is the best policy. Instead of trying to excuse yourself or sweep the problem under the carpet, consider holding your hands up to your errors and offering them some form of compensation. Your customers are likely to appreciate this much more. Acknowledging hiccups will also force you to improve your business practice and reduce the likelihood of something similar happening again in the future. This can be used to reassure wronged customers and give them a good reason to return again. Hopefully, when they next spend with you, the wrongs will have been put to rights and they can enjoy brilliant service once more!
Take Your Time
How to Use Your Time Wisely by Prioritizing Your Goals
Most business owners believe that you have to hit fast after one success in order to guarantee another. If one product has taken off in a big way, most companies will attempt to develop something to follow it up relatively quickly. This makes sense. After all, it’s often best to strike while the iron is still hot and people are still interested in your brand and what it’s doing. However, sometimes it really can prove beneficial to take your time.
Procrastinate a little. Experiment.
This is much more likely to produce a great second product or launch than if you rush into things and push things through too quickly.
Why?
Well, the extra time that you take can be put to extremely good use. It gives you time to truly think things over. To come up with something that serves as a good step up from what’s come before it. It also allows you to iron out any creases and problems, giving you the opportunity to rectify flaws or errors.
As you can see, it can actually prove productive and profitable to be a little different with your business practice every once in a while. So don’t be afraid to go against the grain! These are just a few areas that you could consider and focus your efforts on. Use them as a starting block to head off in the right direction! Ultimately, you need to trust your gut and do what you think is best for your business.