Glide Design

A Thought Exercise on Success

Travis McAshan — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 05:25:33 +0000

In a nutshell, I spent some time concentrating on what it would take for me to be successful in my profession.

At some point, I got subscribed to a newsletter called Genius Sparks, after purchasing a course on photo-reading (similar to speed reading, but faster). While I never really figured out the photo-reading techniques, I did continue to receive these insightful emails. One such email challenged me to try out something called “Focal Point Thinking”. It suggested seven key areas (i.e. career, family, community, health, financial security, personal growth and spiritual development) of my life to consider, so I took the time to focus only on career. Although I didn’t have any plans on publishing this as an article, I figured it may inspire someone, so why not share?

Questions To Ask:

Values: What are the values, virtues, qualities and traits?
Vision: If it was perfect, what would it look like?
Goals: What specific goals must you achieve to fulfill your vision?
Knowledge and Skills: In what areas will you have to excel?
Habits: What specific habits of thought and action do you need?
Daily Activities: What do you have to engage in each day?
Actions: What are you going to do immediately?

1) Values:

passionate, determined, hopeful, visionary, goal and task oriented, driven, effective, efficient, focused, resolute, emboldened, self-confident, peaceful, clear-minded, excited, honest, integrity-filled, constant, leader by example, encouraging, focused on simplicity, committed, expertise, knowledgeable, wisdom-filled, get things done, make things happen, motivated, creative, self-reliant, burning desire, ambitious, courageous, competent, competitive, rise to the challenge, self-learning, solution-focused, inquisitive, responsible, productive, innovative, optimistic, realistic, problem-solver, balanced, self-controlled, disciplined, generous, adaptable, resilient, faithful, obedient to God, thankful, loyal, trustworthy

2) Vision:

I would have a job that I love that allows me the flexibility to spend time with my wife, family and friends. I would be making great money working the hours I want to work. I would love my job and be fulfilled each and every day I work. My work would bring benefit to ALL parties involved including myself, business partners, contractors and the clients and/or customers. I would handle all financial dealings and partnerships with the utmost professionalism and have all proper systems and practices in place for worry free financial management including taxes, salary, incorporation, partner equity, contractor payments and client and vendor invoicing. Everything I would be doing would be building a long-lasting intrinsic value in a business that would grow in value over time to present a long-term and lasting source of financial stability for myself, my family and all parties involved.

3) Goals:

I need to create a solid plan, a fully-researched business plan that will help me to achieve my vision. The business plan MUST take into account all pertinent aspects of my vision, including potential income, flexible work hours, business partners, potential services and product offerings, potential markets, sustainability and long-term viability. Once I have the business plan, it will be critical to implement the plan in a way that relates to my values described above. If I have created an efficient business plan and execute using the values, qualities and traits above, success will be a forgone conclusion that WILL occur.

4) Knowledge and Skills:

In order to become the most effective professional in my industry, it will be necessary to saturate myself with the absolute best techniques for my industry, including self-development through reading or listening to books, taking online courses, attending conferences and seminars, listening to webinars and ALWAYS consciously looking for opportunities to expand my knowledge and understanding of my industry. I will need to be an EXPERT in online marketing as it relates to brand strategy for custom website design, traffic development through search engine marketing and social marketing and conversion strategies through website optimization assessment. I will also need to hone my skills in general marketing subjects, sales, leadership and running a company as an entrepreneur. These skills will be critical and pivotal in the holistic success of our company, and I will need to associate with and gain expertise and wisdom from the best people that I can find who are willing to listen to me and return valuable advice.

5) Habits:

The most important thought habits will be to create crystal clarity of the overall goals that need to be achieved. Secondly, after maintaining a grasp of the larger picture, it will be important to simplify my life, business, thoughts and required actions to create a clear path to achieving the vision. After accomplishing these two critical components, the last part is to create a very sharp focus to accomplish the tasks required. In terms of action, the single most important habit to form is to move along the path created by my thought habits with an unshakeable determination to succeed. All of my other action habits, like waking up early and getting the most important tasks of the day finished first, will result from this first habit of doing whatever it takes to accomplish my goals and “making things happen”.

6) Daily Activities:

It is highly important to approach each day with zeal, enthusiasm and passion. From here, it will be important to focus on the goal and ultimate vision using my passion as fuel to power me through any obstacles in the way. Making sure I have a great plan for the day will be vital to accomplishing all the goals on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. By preparing a daily routine and planning ahead of time, time management will be much easier, resulting in more productive work time and higher output of productive effort. It will be critical to stay committed to the tasks until completion, depending on circumstances, and never give up, despite the obstacles or problems encountered.

7) Actions:

I will have to get organized and motivated. I will make sure that my vision is crystal clear, and that my goals required to acheive my vision are time-based and quantifiable, in order to measure my progress. Once these things are set, all actions are going to be applied based on the principles employed in my values, knowledge and skills, habits and daily activities until my vision is REALIZED. Even then, this entire process will be processed, ever-changing and re-applied.

5 Key Principles to Results Driven Web Marketing

Travis McAshan — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 19:53:27 +0000

We find it takes as much or even more time and money for companies to create poor designs – and thus poor user experiences – as it would take to create good designs and good user experiences. We hate seeing all that money being left on the table. Here’s our take:

1. Know what you want

What you trying to accomplish with your web site?
How satisfied are you with the design and usability of your current site?

The first question you need to ask about any website is, “how can we use our site to achieve organizational objectives?” Some common answers:

Increase sales
Generate leads
Reduce support costs
Foster loyalty among customers
Generate increased credibility

Because your website is likely among many in your industry another questions to ask is, “what opportunities are we missing because we have a poor or mediocre website compared to our competitors?” Answers to this question highlight the real cost with settling for a below average website… the opportunity cost.

2. Know your Audience

Why are people coming to our site?
What are they expecting to find?
How can we make our site easier for them to use?

Organizations that “get it” start by asking these types of questions. They focus on looking at things from the visitors perspective, which is actually NOT an easy process.

3. Create a website strategy

To optimize a website investment, we believe every organization should create a website strategy. A website strategy spells out the game plan for your site much like a business plan does for your entire business. The absence of a site strategy is a critical omission. To put it another way, if you don’t know where you’re going any road will get you there. The most important elements include:

Objectives (primary organizational objectives for the site)
Audience Profile (characteristics of target audience for site)
Audience Questions (most important list of questions for target audience)
Competitive Assessment (list of 3-5 major online competitors for site)
Traffic Sources (brief summary of how site will be marketed)
Strategies (strategies that will be used to achieve your objectives)
Metrics (detailed metrics that will be used to measure your success)

4. Measure the right metrics

How does your website contribute measurably to your organizations objectives? Like many important tasks, measuring web site success is an art and a science unique to each organization. The best advice we can give regarding the general principles for tracking success relate to the following:

Conversion rate
Most visited pages
Time on site
Traffic

Overall, the best metrics are usually a combination of business metrics (revenue,transactions,profit,gross margin), site metrics (the list above), and user metrics (user testing, satisfaction, focus group).

5. Test, learn and repeat

Websites are never done. Except for a few exceptions, web sites should be viewed as a long-term strategic initiative. Technology is always changing, your competitive environment is changing, and most importantly, user expectations evolve. The potential upside for most organizations using this sort of process is tremendous. Yes, it takes serious discipline to adopt this approach to web design and testing, but the benefits are substantial. If it were easy, everyone would be doing it.

Having a partner like GLIDE to help you through this entire process is what we’re here for. We truly want to become your profit-focused web guys who just happen to design really great looking websites. I’ll look forward to your thoughts and please expect the site review by tomorrow morning.

10 Reasons Favicons Deliver Results

Are you a Pin-head?

Autumn Morgan — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 19:49:00 +0000

Pinterest may seem like a passing fad, just another social network to take up time. It has a reputation of being a site where countless women spend countless hours pinning images of wedding plans, projects for the home, baby room ideas, recipes, dreamy travel destinations and even more dreamy Hollywood actors.

But besides this, Pinterest has a purpose. It is a fresh break from the meaningless chatter on other social networks. It is based on the idea of “look at this!” instead of “look at me!” People find inspiration here, and can often find new hobbies, work out routines, motivation, new ways to make and do things, and really creative tips in any area you find interesting.

If you are unfamiliar with Pinterest, basically there are images linked to websites that are referred to as “pins”. Each user has a collection of “Boards” that they use to organize pins, such as “books to read”, “My Style”, “For the Home” “Heath and Wellness”, “Craft Ideas”, etc. Users can create any board to organize any group of images they want to collect. When you find something you like, you can either click the “like” button, “Comment” or “Repin” it to one of your boards. You can even pin an image onto several boards. Users have followers, who can either follow one of your boards or all of them. Your followers’ pins will come up first in the default filter on Pinterest’s main page. But you can also view pins by “Everything”, the most recently pinned, by categories, videos, popular pins or even by price.

Now, of course, you are wondering how a business can utilize this platform for its benefit. One way is by having contests. You can host a “Best Board” or “Best Pin Theme” contest and create a buzz just like you can on Facebook and Twitter. But because Pinterest is more visual, using images, rather than links, it boosts interaction among followers.

Businesses can also display various aspects of their company, which creates a means to reach various people within its target audience. For instance, a company can create a board that showcases only their logo or design work. It can create another board to exhibit its involvement in the community. I have also seen boards of employees’ stellar clothing and accessory styles- all of these can capture the attention of various people, creating interest in your business or products (as long as you link all the images back to your website, of course).

The basic idea of any social network is to capture attention, drive traffic and increase business sales. By utilizing social networking platforms creatively, by offering quality images and content, you are more likely to drive traffic to your site. Let us know which social media platform you prefer and how it works for you!

10 Things to know about Google+

Travis McAshan — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:51:17 +0000

While Google+ pages continue to thrive, here is a list of 10 things you should know when considering whether to create a Google+ page for your brand or business.

1. There are already about 100 million users, so since its launch just a few short months ago, it is already ⅙ the size of Facebook, which has 600 million users.

2. The default privacy settings are set to public, so keep this in mind when creating your profile or business page.

3. Pages have the option to show your business’s location on Google maps.

4. If you are going to set up a business page, link it to an email address that can be accessed by all of your team members because you do not have the option to “add admins” as you do on Facebook. You will most likely not want several admins or team members signing in to your personal Gmail account.

5. Googles Direct Connect Feature allows you to enter a “+” before a search query and be taken to a company’s Google+ page.

6. Google intelligence is pretty skilled in finding and stopping spammers by watching how they try to influence search results.

7. Websites using Google’s +1 button get 3.5 times more traffic

8. At the moment, a Google+ page’s circles are defined as ‘following’, ‘customers’, ‘VIPs’, and ‘team members’. This allows you to target specific groups and create posts that will capture their attention specifically.

9. The primary age group of Google+ users among males and females is between the ages of 25 and 34 with 13% female users and 22% male users. This number drops dramatically in other age brackets, around 5-8%.

10. “Hangouts” is a feature that allows you to start live group video chats with anyone, up to 10 people at once. This is a unique feature not offered on Facebook or Twitter and could definitely be useful for businesses (small webinars, conference calls, etc.).

I have already found Google+ pages to be very beneficial, as there is only relevant, useful information in the posts. It’s a refreshing way to avoid the meaningless chatter on other social networks. Let us know if you have created a Google+ page and what you think of it!

What about this Google+ Thing?

Autumn Morgan — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:36:07 +0000

Staying on top of the most recent trends and marketing techniques in the social media world is becoming more than a full-time job! This is why so many businesses are finding the need for social media managers who can implement marketing plans and campaigns while business owners can continue running other aspects of their business.

While Facebook has been the leader in social media, with 800 million users, Google+ is already breaking records and soaring in their first few months. With Google+ already boasting 90 million users, one marketing analyst predicts that there will be over 100 million users by midnight February 4, 2012. That is astounding!

So what is the benefit of using Google+? Why implement one more social media platform? Why start all over learning how the ins and outs of something else to take up our time?

Google+ offers many benefits to individuals as well as businesses. For one, Google+ makes it much easier to switch back and forth from personal profile to business page, allowing you to post wherever you choose. This is a bit more difficult on Facebook, as you can only either post as yourself or as your business. You also have the option to share certain information with specific groups of people or “Circles”, such as a “Family Circle”, “Friend Circle”, “Business Circle” or “Only Post Things That Make Me Look Innocent Circle” so that your sweet aunt doesn’t see the crazy things you did last weekend. Unless she was with you, and that is a different story.

But while Google+ may be a temporary break from all the meaningless posts on Facebook newsfeeds, there is a much more valuable purpose behind it. Spammers are easily found out and eliminated, making for a much more worry-free social media experience. Google watches how users interacts with other profiles. If a user is only promoting, sharing or voting for things on one website, he will be targeted as a spammer. Also, if one user is +1-happy (that’s my own phrase) then he raises suspicion with Google. Finally, if one user seems to only be following hundreds of other profiles and not generating any followers itself, it will be targeted as spam. This particular practice is also seen on Twitter, where one person follows hundreds of others, while never posting valuable information or generating any followers of its own.

Google+ intelligence also pulls stats from your circles (or friends) and analyzes how you interact with them. If you or your business interacts with one group over another in your circles, this will be reflected in your Google search results. This is beneficial because it weeds out a lot of “fluff” or information that doesn’t pertain to your actual search and it also gives you information from credible sources.

For example, I have several “recommended links” on my business’s Google+ page. These are all websites that pertain to social media, entrepreneurship, small businesses, etc. If I go to Google’s home page and search “How to implement Google+ Business” then links from my credible websites that I have already linked to come up first. These results are shown at the very top of the search results page under “personal results”. I will most likely check their articles or information before I go elsewhere.

These are just a couple of the benefits of using Google+. Stay tuned for more blogs on how to implement Google+ for your business, how to use it to benefit your business and important facts you should know before starting your own page.

Make Your Content More Engaging Using Emotions

Travis McAshan — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 21:48:36 +0000

This isn’t exactly manipulation, but it is taking a principle that is fairly consistent among consumers and using it to your advantage.

There are 3 common ways people process information given to them. This is known as the Trifect Neuro-Affective Principle, and it’s a fancy way to say that people often make judgments based on an emotion. As a copywriter or marketer, it is your job to understand this principle and use one or all three to reach your target audience and make a sale.

Resonance

How does a consumer relate to you and your products? Resonance, in marketing, means to relate to consumers and their needs or situations. When you find a way to connect on a personal level with people, they are able to find similarities between themselves and you, the seller of a product or service. If you are selling, say, a coffee maker, create an image of a simple, perfect morning, pouring coffee while reading a book next to a fresh vase of flowers- you get the idea. Once they begin to view you as more than an intangible vapor in the Internet World, they can identify themselves with you. This is where you begin to explore the extent to which you can understand and create a solution for their problems, pains or needs. The more engaging your copy is, the easier it will be to install a belief for a need for your company.

Redefinition

How strongly is a consumer committed to their beliefs? Consumers are often committed to their existing beliefs. If they think a product will not work or a problem is unable to be solved, they may just learn to live with it. They may believe there is nothing wrong with their coffee maker’s a dirty filter that has to be changed every day. You have to show them that a coffee maker can be designed without the need of a filter, and not only that, they need to have one! This is part of your job as a marketer- to be a game changer. Redefine what your consumers have already defined. Show them there is something better and why they must have the product you sell. Make your business significant.

Resistance

How unwilling is a consumer to listen to you? You can explain through page after page of provable quantifiable evidence that your product is the best of the best. Going back to our coffee filter example, you could give your consumer all the reasons you feel your machine could improve his morning routine, his clean up time or his quality of life! Ok maybe that is a stretch, but some people meet all change with resistance. Your consumer may be unwilling to change his opinion about his coffee filters that he has used for 20 years. He may be comfortable with his routine and see no need to give up a habit or a product that he has had for so long. It is and always will be your job to change his mind if you want the sale. However, this consumer may need to sit on this new overwhelmingly amazing product of yours and think about it for awhile. But if you presented your facts and your products well, he will be back.

25 Great New Year Quotes

Travis McAshan — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 18:21:09 +0000

In a nutshell… here’s a collection of classic New Year’s quotes.

While these are mostly floating around on the net in other places I wanted to collect them all and have them for reference. There’s some great wisdom, humor, and wry wit in the quotes below, enjoy!

I made no resolutions for the New Year. The habit of making plans, of criticizing, sanctioning and molding my life, is too much of a daily event for me.”
– Anaïs Nin,
French-Cuban Author

Good resolutions are simply checks that men draw on a bank where they have no account.”
– Oscar Wilde,
Irish Writer & Poet

From New Year’s on the outlook brightens; good humor lost in a mood of failure returns. I resolve to stop complaining.”
– Leonard Bernstein,
American Conductor, Composer, Author

An optimist stays up until midnight to see the New Year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.”
– Bill Vaughn,
American Columnist & Author

New Year’s Day… now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual.”
– Mark Twain,
American Author & Humorist

Drop the last year into the silent limbo of the past. Let it go, for it was imperfect, and thank God that it can go.”
– Brooks Atkinson,
American Theatre Critic

For last year’s words belong to last year’s language and next year’s words await another voice.”
– T.S. Eliot,
American Playwright & Literary Critic

The object of a new year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul.”
– G.K. Chesterton,
English Writer

Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man.”
– Benjamin Franklin,
Author, Inventor & Diplomat

Many years ago I resolved never to bother with New Year’s resolutions, and I’ve stuck with it ever since.”
– Dave Beard,
Baseball Player

Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.”
– Albert Einstein,
Theoretical Physicist

Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.”
– Oprah Winfrey,
American Media Proprietor

It is difficult to live in the present, ridiculous to live in the future, and impossible to live in the past. Nothing is as far away as one minute ago.”
– Jim Bishop,
American Journalist & Author

One resolution I have made, and try always to keep, is this — To rise above the little things.”
– John Burroughs,
American Naturalist & Essayist

Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson,
American Essayist, Lecturer & Poet

The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.”
– Michael Altshuler,
Speaker & Trainer

Never tell your resolution beforehand, or it’s twice as onerous a duty.”
– John Selden,
English Jurist

Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us.”
– Hal Borland,
American Author & Journalist

He who breaks a resolution is a weakling; He who makes one is a fool.”
– F.M. Knowles,
American Artist

I think in terms of the day’s resolutions, not the year’s.”
– Henry Moore,
English Sculptor & Artist

May all your troubles last as long as your New Year’s resolutions!”
– Joey Adams,
American Comedian

This bright new year is given me
To live each day with zest
To daily grow and try to be
My highest and my best!
– William Arthur Ward,
American Writer & Author

The proper behavior all through the holiday season is to be drunk. This drunkenness culminates on New Year’s Eve, when you get so drunk you kiss the person you’re married to.
– P.J. O’Rourke,
American Political Satirist

We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.”
– Edith Lovejoy Pierce,
American Poet & Pacifist

We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives…not looking for flaws, but for potential.”
– Ellen Goodman,
American Journalist

3 Steps to Amp Your Website Content

Autumn Morgan — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 19:56:21 +0000

If you have 60-120 seconds to catch a visitor’s attention and leave them wanting to know more, here are three tips.

Writing content for a website requires very calculated methods of grabbing others’ attention. People who visit your site are on the fast track to finding out exactly what they need to know in the shortest amount of time as possible. Unless you happen to be Facebook, for which people will waste countless hours scouring information that is less than necessary.

#1. Set quantifiable goals.

Before you begin to create web content, it is important to identify your goals. This not only gives you something to aim for, but it also helps you in determining what steps need to follow. For example, if you set a goal to increase your organic baby food website traffic by 25%, you can either add more product, increase your SEO, find out what page of your site is the most visited and increase its visual appeal, etc. Shape a plan to help you achieve your goal.

#2. Identify and study target audience

You may notice a recurring theme in most articles you read, regarding target audience: we are always encouraged to identify ours and we are always prompted to study it deeper! Find out what your target audience likes, what they are talking about, where they are spending their time and money, what products they are buzzing about, what they are looking for as a solution to a problem and what questions they are seeking answers to. Then go back to your content ideas and update any key messages you may have. Subtly incorporate them into your content without sounding like a car salesman (unless you are a car salesman!). Create trust with your visitors though educating them and giving them what they want- not by using traditional sales strategies.

#3. Determine if it works!

There may be a testing period when you first incorporate your web content. Though, to be honest, you should always be evaluating the effectiveness of your content. By measuring its value, you can determine whether or not your plan needs to be changed, reevaluated, tweaked, etc. Pay attention to the number of hits your overall site receives, and how many hits you receive per page. Track shares, tags, pingbacks, orders and time spent on each page. If something isn’t working, or getting the time or attention you want, change it up. Pay attention to results, and then use them to your advantage.

Doing these three things will help you build connections with your target audience and improve their product loyalty.

Make Your Content More Engaging Using Emotions

Importance of Testimonials

Autumn Morgan — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 17:53:27 +0000

Who Needs approval?

I would like to think that I don’t need other people’s seal of approval before making my decisions. I would like to think that I can choose a product or service that will be perfect for me without hearing other people’s opinions on the subject. But in all reality, it is a psychological fact that we all rely on other people’s opinions to make our at least some of our choices, especially in choosing goods and services.

When it comes to areas in which we do not have a lot of experience or knowledge, we tend to approach someone who does. That’s why there are specialists in so many areas. Think about this. If you want to build a house, you hire a builder. The builder may know a lot about building houses, but even he won’t complete the job alone- he will hire electricians, framers, plumbers, painters, etc. He trusts people who are more experienced in specialized areas than he is. He probably even hires his contractors based on recommendations and referrals. (I used to work for a builder, so I know!)

Does it really work?

Let’s apply this principle to selling online. Words are very powerful. When someone is marketing their own product or service, it is easy for them to “talk it up” or make it sounds like it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread (which we can all agree is a pretty convenient product). It is often more important to consumers to find out what their peers or previous consumers think of a product- how did it work? How pleased are they? Did it solve the problem it promised to solve? Did it achieve its intended goal?

Combined Insurance Company of America founder, W. Clement Stone, very successfully sold life insurance, an intangible product, to his customers by using this simple technique: He sent his salesmen out to speak to potential customers with only a binder of over 200 testimonials from previous satisfied customers. Salesmen would flip through the binder, read a few testimonials, and attempt to close the sale. If a customer was not sold, the salesman would flip through a few more testimonials, and attempt to close the sale once more. The rate at which customers signed up for his insurance was astounding! Usually before 25 testimonials, a sale was made.

Here is another example. A software developer created software and during its test phase, he gave it away to his target audience for free in exchange for their feedback. He received dozens of responses to his new program. Before he had content for his website, and while the website was under construction, he simply posted the feedback responses and testimonials. The only other information he gave was his email address, so prospective customers could contact him for more information. Needless to say, his tactic was proven to be quite successful, receiving hundreds of pre-orders!

What can I do?

In the internet world, where online marketing techniques are highly questionable, consumers often refer to forums, blogs, reviews and networking sites to find out whether a product or service is worth spending money on. It is always interesting to me that websites insert testimonials as an afterthought or an additional “content filler” if you will. But placed strategically, a testimonial within web copy or as a headline can help sell a product or service faster than a marketer selling his own product.

Now how can you get consumers to write a testimonial? This is actually pretty simple. Send clients or customers a brief request with a few short questions and ask them to complete this at their earliest convenience. These should be specific and quantifiable, such as “I received 5X more traffic after using this software,” or “I lost 10 pounds after using this product”, etc. If you cannot coax your customers to respond, then consider giving your product or services away for free in exchange for feedback. Never underestimate the power of social proof, acceptance and satisfaction.

50 Great Entrepreneurial Quotes

Travis McAshan — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 16:46:35 +0000

In a nutshell… here’s a collection of quotes on entrepreneurship for those times when you need some inspiration.

If you’re anything like me, you need to remember why you’re working so hard every day. Sometimes if you haven’t looked up from the grindstone long enough, your vision can get cloudy. These quotes are to remind you that there’s a purpose and a reason for your dedication, discipline and hard work. While there are hundreds, if not thousands of great quotes, these are some of my all time favorites.

I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work”
– Thomas Edison,
Inventor and Scientist

Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won’t, so that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t.”
– Anonymous

The best reason to start an organization is to make meaning – to create a product or service to make the world a better place.”
– Guy Kawasaki,
Entrepreneur, Investor, Author

Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
– Mark Twain,
Author

Genius is 1% inspiration, and 99% perspiration.”
– Thomas Edison,
Inventor and Scientist

What would you attempt to do if you knew you would not fail?”
– Robert Schuller,
Televangelist and Pastor

You must fall in love with what you do, because being an entrepreneur is a lot of hard work, and overcoming a lot of adversity. From that love will come the dedication that will get you out of bed at 4 a.m. because of a great idea you just had and get you to work till 11 p.m. and not feel tired.”
– Ken Field,
Real Estate Magnate

Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.” – Theodore Roosevelt,
26th President of the United States

The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.”
– Albert Einstein,
Theoretical Physicist

Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.”
– Albert Schweitzer,
Theologian, Organist, Philosopher

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”
– Winston Churchill,
British Politician

Whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re right.”
– Henry Ford,
American Industrialist

What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”
– Napoleon Hill,
Author

The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.”
– Vince Lombardi,
NFL Coach

Sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny.”
– Chinese Proverb

If I had eight hours to chop down a tree I would spend six hours sharpening my axe.”
– Abraham Lincoln,
16th President of the United States

Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.”
– Yoda,
Jedi Master

Always treat your employees exactly as you want them to treat your best customers.”
– Stephen R. Covey,
Author

Choose a job that you like, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”
– Confucius ,
Thinker and Philosopher

An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson,
Writer and Poet

Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.”
– Jim Rohn,
Entrepreneur, Author, Speaker

Business opportunities are like buses, there’s always another one coming.”
– Richard Branson,
British Industrialist

Action is the foundational key to all success.”
– Pablo Picasso,
Spanish Painter

Every worthwhile accomplishment, big or little, has its stages of drudgery and triumph: a beginning, a struggle and a victory.”
– Mahatma Gandhi,
Political and Spiritual Leader

Once you say you’re going to settle for second, that’s what happens to you in life.”
– John F. Kennedy,
35th President of the United States

Some people dream of great accomplishments, while others stay awake and do them.”
– Anonymous

Experience taught me a few things. One is to listen to your gut, no matter how good something sounds on paper. The second is that you’re generally better off sticking with what you know. And the third is that sometimes your best investments are the ones you don’t make.”
– Donald Trump,
Real Estate and Entertainment Mogul

The entrepreneur in us sees opportunities everywhere we look, but many people see only problems everywhere they look. The entrepreneur in us is more concerned with discriminating between opportunities than he or she is with failing to see the opportunities.”
– Michael Gerber,
Author and Entrepreneur

An entrepreneur tends to bite off a little more than he can chew hoping he’ll quickly learn how to chew it.”
– Roy Ash,
California State Senator

The most valuable thing you can make is a mistake – you can’t learn anything from being perfect.”
– Adam Osborne,
American Author

A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them.”
– John C. Maxwell,
Author and Speaker

Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.”
– Albert Einstein,
Theoretical Physicist

As long as you’re going to be thinking anyway, think big.”
– Donald Trump,
Real Estate and Entertainment Mogul

Don’t make friends who are comfortable to be with. Make friends who will force you to lever yourself up.”
– Thomas J. Watson,
President of IBM

Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.”
– Winston Churchill,
British Politician

In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.”
– Bill Cosby,
Comedian, Actor, Author

A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.”
– John C. Maxwell,
Author and Speaker

You were born to win, but to be a winner, you must plan to win, prepare to win, and expect to win.”
– Zig Ziglar,
Author and Speaker

Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.”
– Jim Rohn,
Entrepreneur, Author, Speaker

A goal is a dream with a deadline.”
– Napoleon Hill,
Author

Vision without action is daydreaming and action without vision is a nightmare.”
– Chinese Proverb

The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.”
– Walt Disney,
Director, Writer, Producer, Animator, Entrepreneur

Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.”
– Bill Gates,
American Business Magnate and Philanthropist

I’ve always worked very, very hard, and the harder I worked, the luckier I got.”
– Alan Bond,
Australian Businessman

Success is how high you bounce after you hit bottom.”
– General George Patton,
US War Commander

I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.”
– Michael Jordan,
Professional Basketball Player

Money won’t make you happy… but everybody wants to find out for themselves.”
– Zig Ziglar,
Author and Speaker

I studied the lives of great men and famous women, and I found that the men and women who got to the top were those who did the jobs they had in hand, with everything they had of energy and enthusiasm and hard work.”
– Harry Truman,
33rd President of the United States

If you think you are beaten, you are. If you think you dare not, you don’t! If you want to win, but think you can’t, It’s almost a cinch you won’t. If you think you’ll lose, you’re lost; For out in the world, we find success begins with a fellow’s will; it’s all in the state of the mind. Life’s battles don’t always go to the stronger and faster man, but sooner or later, the man who wins is the man who thinks he can.”
– Walter D. Wintle,
American Poet