If Mindset is not “everything” … it is close to it. To paraphrase Jeffery Combs, mindset can keep you in the game, and mindset can take you out of the game. Quite simply, as a business entrepreneur, you have to immerse yourself in the right mindset or you can close your doors now and quickly run back to working for someone else. Learned by experience, here are the top three key elements that I now take very seriously for my business success.

Deliver the Value – Listening to a marketer who has no value to offer is like … You know, it is like … Well, you know; nothing. If you don’t have real value to offer why are you marketing? Better yet, WHAT are you marketing? I would rather a marketer keep his mouth shut and have people wonder if he has any value to offer, than opening his mouth and removing all doubt.

Quickly-emerging social sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are great venues for offering value outside of your back-end product. These no-cost online sites allow you to reach out to people from over 100 English-speaking countries. And if your message is in other languages … well, just think of the potential market. Take full advantage of these resources and actively participate. Deliver value, and value will be delivered back to you.

Separate the Concerns – I know a few entrepreneurs who are victims of their own home marketing business. The key word here (no pun intended) is “home”. Failing to establish boundaries between home life and work life, they are robbed of focus in their entire life. Sound too strong? Fine. Do it the other way and see how well that works for you. And see how long your loved-ones tolerate being robbed of your focus when you are with them. “Be here, or be elsewhere!”

The most successful marketing experts that I know have very carefully established boundaries between business and personal life. And all the others should too. Ever been to an industry conference and seen a marketer who is constantly on the phone/laptop while the spouse/partner is lost/lonely? It is almost too painful to watch. And on the other hand you see a couple who stays tuned into one another though there are 300 phone messages and 3000 emails waiting. Go ahead and guess which marketer has the most sustainable lifestyle…

Maintain the Expertise – Closely related to delivering value is the need to continually increase your value. Trust me; value deteriorates with time. A 25-year stint in the high-tech corporate world taught this marketer that the shifting environment can make you obsolete in a heartbeat. I watched it happen to others and I felt it happen to me. Technology evolves at the speed of Moore’s Law (No, I am not related to Gordon … though at one time in my life I dreamed of finding a genealogical link to his net worth). Teams evolve at the speed of aging, with each team member changing as their personal lives change. And societies change even more quickly. Like Brownian motion.

Adapt or die. Take a lesson from the dinosaurs: those that didn’t adapt to the changing environment contributed to it by becoming either food or fertilizer. The choice is yours.

So there you go – the top three elements of my business that I pay serious attention to: delivering value, maintaining focus and building expertise. Now go do likewise.

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