Entrepreneur aha! moments: 3 things I learned from surveying my readers
Thursday, January 21, 2010 at 8:56AM 
What I know for sure: Becoming a successful entrepreneur will be the hardest and most rewarding thing you’ve ever pursued in your life. Very similar to raising children and keeping your marriage together! ~Misty Gibbs
I am excited to launch "Entrepreneur Aha! Moments", a weekly column where myself and other awesome, inspiring entrepreneurs like you (men too!) share our entrepreneur tips, tricks and secrets that have made a big impact on us personally and/or our business.
But here's the deal. There are no rules. Let's make this our outlet to kick-back, be candid and real. Here we go!
3 things I learned from surveying my readers:
- I should have conducted this survey 6-months ago. I now see the power of having useful ideas, criticism and feedback straight from you, my fans and customers. This wealth of information has become my new roadmap and inspiration for the next 6-months. Bottom-line: You can't afford to sit on the sidelines assuming what your fans want. Conduct a survey now!
- 38% of you didn't know I launched the Inspiraton Lounge store. Houston, I think we have a problem! My takeaway: promote, promote, promote everywhere and consistently! If you think everyone read the one newsletter, press release, tweet or blog post about your new product or promotion - you're wrong. Most likely they didn't see it. Actually, I bet you 38% of them probably did not see it!
- Embrace constructive criticism. Accepting criticism is not my forte but since becoming an entrepreneur, I'm much better about how I respond to it. I think we quickly realize (at least I hope so!) that the truth can hurt but imperative for growing personally or taking our business to places we never imagined. In my survey I asked, "what would you change if MyInspirationLounge was your site?" A lot of people responded with, "I love it how it is!" but others gracefully came back with: it can be overwhelming, feature contributors who are experts in their field, add more of you, provide quick summaries so I know where to dive in. Amazing feedback that was received and for most ideas, easy to implement or change!
For survey resources, I used Emma, the vendor I use for my newsletter InspireMail. They provide surveys for free and easy to create! I've also seen well-designed surveys by Survey Monkey. If you've conducted a survey and happy with the vendor's service and usability, please share!
I look forward to sharing more and hearing from you!
Make sure to visit MyInspirationLounge: a one-stop shop to find the best inspiration on the web, to help you create change in minutes!
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Reader Comments (3)
Oh this is awesome Misty! Thanks so much for inspiring our business development.
Hey Cassandra! TY! I look forward to you sharing your aha! moments soon! Hugs, Misty
Taking a class with Lorrie Thomas and was referred to this site. Nice layout, design for your webpage and I am looking forward to being inspired and learning.