Kelsey is the President of Influence & Co. and the co-creator of Contributor Weekly. Follow her @Kelsey_M_Meyer.
Who is your hero?
My sister. She has always been an inspiration to me in life and business. She’s a real estate entrepreneur, a soon-to-be mother, and an amazing inspiration to me.
What’s the single best piece of business advice that helped shape who you are as an entrepreneur today, and why?
“Tell everyone your idea, because if someone steals it and does it better or faster than you, then you weren’t working hard enough or it wasn’t a good enough idea.” I think this amazing advice because it encouraged me to always be open about new ideas, and gain valuable feedback throughout the process.
What’s the biggest mistake you ever made in your business, and what did you learn from it that others can learn from too?
Underestimating myself. When I first started a marketing company in college, I assumed no one would hire us or pay us a decent amount because we were inexperienced. We completely under-sold our services to the first few clients and then set ourselves up to always be an extremely low-cost option. If we would have had more confidence in what we were able to offer I think the perception of our company would have been better — and we would have been able to charge more and probably keep it going for longer.
What do you do during the first hour of your business day and why?
- Say good morning to everyone on our team and ask what they are up to for the day — because we are a ridiculously close-knit team and I can’t imagine not starting the day with a friendly conversation.
- Check emails: necessity.
- Read five articles: Because we are in the content marketing industry, I need to read what we are publishing for our clients as well as check out which articles are getting a lot of attention and why.
What’s your best financial or cash-flow related tip for entrepreneurs just getting started?
Start small and test everything. I’m obsessed with The Lean Startup methodology and I think all entrepreneurs can learn from the idea of testing. If you’re testing, you aren’t investing large amounts of money on any one thing until you know that it works. Don’t invest big until you have a validated idea — whether that be the product itself, the way that you market it, or anything else related to the company.
Quick: What’s ONE thing you recommend ALL aspiring or current entrepreneurs do right now to take their biz to the next level?
Share your expertise. This can mean mentoring someone else, writing a blog, or guest contributing to someone else’s site. When you start to share your expertise, you refine your message and start building credibility. This will always add value to any business idea you come up with.
