If you’re eager to polish your professional skills, improve your daily attitude, or learn superior business tactics, consider a tried-and-true method: looking to other successful people for inspiration. Though the term “influencer” is often associated with recreation or branding, there is another subset for the more career oriented. Professional-development influencers offer freely accessible business advice you can apply to your everyday actions, no matter which sphere or industry you occupy. Take a deep dive into five popular accounts that may spur some revolutionary changes in your career.
This professional resume writer, staffing agent, and career coach has several years of experience advising job-hunting professionals, including veterans and transitioning service members pursuing new careers. Barkley-Head boasts an 87 percent success rate helping these individuals land offers, promotions, or lucrative pay raises, which can be chalked up to her incredibly perceptive knowledge of both the application and hiring processes. You can sample her expertise on her steadily growing Instagram page; read her posts about “7 Common Mistakes to Avoid as a Job Seeker” and frequent resume pitfalls, for example, and you may just boost your chances of landing a rewarding new role.
However, the advice on Barkley-Head’s socials may resound with just about all businesspeople, not only job seekers. She provides excellent tips to help you to identify your key professional strengths and develop skills you can leverage in pitch meetings, sales conversations, client interviews, team meetings, and many other situations. Because the ability to self-promote is central to business, applying Barkley-Head’s wisdom can impact how you approach daily tasks, enabling you to reap numerous benefits.
With millions of followers across multiple platforms, Forleo has undoubtedly made an impact in the business world as the owner of Marie Forleo International, a “socially conscious digital empire” that Inc. ranked among its five hundred fastest-growing companies. She has also authored a #1 New York Times best-selling book, Everything Is Figureoutable, and hosts a self-titled podcast that has amassed over twenty-nine million downloads. Oprah has even dubbed her a “thought leader for the next generation.”
To get a glimpse of Forleo’s international appeal, check out her popular Instagram Reels dedicated to advice on topics such as shaping a new business model around your passions, gaining your first round of clients, and balancing your workweek to prevent burnout. Just as impactful are her tips for maintaining positive mental health in business, including thought exercises that can help you identify your core motivation to succeed.
This ultrasuccessful entrepreneur has many remarkable credits under his belt, including owner of the global marketing agency NP Digital, which was named Adweek’s top fastest-growing large international agency in 2022; New York Times best-selling author; and face of a YouTube channel with over one million subscribers. These achievements make Patel a valuable motivating force to which just about any professional should lend an ear.
One of Patel’s many roles is as professional-development speaker, and he frequently posts free, insightful clips of these highly venerated talks to his profiles. Follow him on multiple platforms to learn about the basics and key benefits of omnichannel marketing, discover why you should frame your customer-service strategies around the “peak-end rule,” and get insight into the potential pitfalls of TikTok marketing. When you’ve hit a client-engagement wall and need to restrategize your marketing, Patel’s firsthand tips could inspire some solutions.
As a salesman-turned-CEO, Stupar founded his own highly successful training program, where he guides salespeople on how to confidently converse with more leads, successfully obtain more deals, and overcome numerous other challenges. He certainly has the chops to back up this advising position, having propelled his own sales-software-program company, Sales Domination System, to a six-figure revenue between 2018 and 2020—at which point he successfully sold it to move on to his next project.
Stupar’s rapidly growing socials offer teasers of some of his most impactful sales advice, including a “formula” for addressing customer objections head-on and retaining their interest. He also shares how sending personalized notes to clients can be a game changer for improving back-end customer support and recommends lifestyle habits for boosting morning productivity. Overall, his compelling counsel is meaningful not only for sales professionals but also for anyone who leads a sales team or seeks better client-retention strategies.
Welsh is a self-professed “solopreneur” whose most impressive career achievements include building two companies into billion-dollar valuations and raising over $300 million in venture capital. Now a mentor by trade, he guides other solopreneurs through their own endeavors via his popular digital courses, which are comprised of step-by-step advice for progressing from innovation to business ideation and, eventually, to goal realization.
Subscribe to Welsh’s Instagram for incisive professional wisdom such as “Most successful entrepreneurs I know . . . are just regular ol’ people with a lot of confidence and a heavy bias for action.” Or join the over 150K folks who have subscribed to his Saturday Solopreneur newsletter, which offers readers this lofty promise: “Launch, grow, and monetize your internet business in less than four minutes.” If you’re on the precipice of founding a new venture, Welsh may be one of the best mentors to help direct your strategies.
Often, the greatest limit to professional advancement is adhering to the same daily routine and mindset. If you want to propel your personal ambitions and organization to new heights, take inspiration from these influential businesspeople, each of whom may provide a fresh perspective, profound insights, and proven tips to succeed.
TAKE ACTION:
Follow each of these influencers today, and reflect on how you can apply their seasoned advice to your workday.
Corporate life has changed in a few key ways in recent years, not the least of which is an increase in remote work. Many companies now have at least some mix of in-office and at-home employees, which can lead to the unfortunate consequence of team members feeling increasingly disconnected. A popular solution? Holding fun company events.
As the person running the show, the burden is likely on you (or your events committee) to iron out all the details. When planning your corporate calendar for the year, determine the scope of each event by asking yourself the classic five W questions.
The guests are the most important part of any event, so knowing your audience is paramount. Will you be inviting the entire company, or will it be a departmental gig? And then there’s the inevitable follow-up question—can they bring guests? If the event calls for a special performer or speaker, you should also brainstorm who would be ideal for your group. Furthermore, will someone from HR or the executive team serve as the point person, host, or emcee? Much like with any form of entertaining, settling on who will be involved can serve as a springboard for all other aspects of your planning.
Once you have a general idea of the guest count, you can determine your “what” answers. The first is what type of event it will be, whether a full-scale party in the company cafeteria, a virtual escape room challenge, or a night of bowling. Decide if the shindig will have a theme (as is often the case for holiday parties in particular) and what the expectations should be regarding etiquette and dress.
When it comes to the budget, take into consideration the usual costs, such as food, drinks, and party favors, along with items that may not necessarily be top of mind, like special event insurance. (If a team member breaks a leg on the dance floor—or the dance floor itself—at your event, you don’t want to be left scrambling after the fact wondering if the company is liable.)
This is the perfect time of year to contemplate the frequency of your fun events. Would it work best to have them quarterly or, because of logistics, put all your eggs in one basket for an annual event? As you make your decisions, don’t forget to also consider the season; during summer or the holidays, your event might have a smaller turnout if it’s not held during the week. And, yes, you can plan a company get-together during the week—shutting down work early on the Friday before Memorial Day weekend for a company picnic, for instance, would likely engender employee appreciation.
One of your key decisions will be whether to hold your event on company grounds or offsite. Planning your locale can get a bit tricky if you have a hybrid staff, especially if some employees live out of state. While those who work in the building would appreciate gathering off-site and local remote employees might like an opportunity to see the office again, any team members living outside the area may not find it feasible to travel to the event. It’s all about knowing your team’s makeup and planning around it.
Whether it’s on the macro level (your company’s overarching mission statement) or the micro level (internal events), you never want to forget your “why”—the most essential element of any business’s success. When planning an event, always remember why you’re holding it in the first place. A handy and fun technique to use is mind mapping, where you write your event in a circle and branch out other related ideas around it. Whichever way you go about it, though, keep your primary objectives top of mind, whether it’s team building, culture improvement, or just a great big thank-you for a successful year. Any event should be beneficial to both the company and its employees.
Additionally, you may want to consider answering the frequent add-on to the W questions: How? Determine how your employees will work around their schedules and, if it’s an off-site shindig, how they will get there. Also falling under this category would be the invitations: how to announce the event, either via email or formal invite, and whether you want to make a big surprise announcement about it.
It’s been said that you can’t please everyone, but with internal corporate get-togethers, you’d ideally like to get as close as possible. By answering these basic questions, you’ll equip yourself with effective planning ideas that are sure to make your events the talk of the office.
TAKE ACTION:
Brainstorm for ten minutes to answer these vital questions and hone the details for your first company event of 2024.
In business, who you know can be just as important as what you know, especially when it comes to boosting your brand and accelerating growth. You likely already know the value of tapping into your professional network, but you may be overlooking another excellent avenue for new opportunities: your alumni network.
Fellow grads from your college can be great resources for all sorts of business needs, from hiring qualified staff to identifying potential customers, and they may be more willing to help you thanks to your shared connection. Use this guide to discover how to get the most out of your alumni association membership.
Through their alumni organizations, colleges offer their grads access to thousands of people interested in linking with and supporting one another. For instance, Penn State’s association counts more than 775,000 members, making it one of the largest in the country. But you can’t take advantage of your alma mater’s network if you aren’t connected. What this entails can vary from college to college. Some associations may require registration and a membership fee, while others automatically add you once you graduate—or even after you attend a single semester of classes. (Remember, you don’t necessarily need to graduate from a college to be an alumnus of it.)
Upon joining or verifying your status, ensure that the association’s administrators have all your current information, such as your job title and profession, email address, and phone number. Also join related social media groups on platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn, and read and contribute to your alumni magazine, perhaps by writing a column or sending updates for the class notes section. These actions can open the door to potentially lucrative networking opportunities.
Alumni organizations often cultivate specialized groups based on factors like location, profession, and industry. These subsections can lead to particularly valuable connections since their members’ needs and interests may align even more closely with yours. To find and join such groups, visit your organization’s website, where they may be listed, or reach out to its administrators. Additionally, you could search for them on Facebook and other social media platforms, where you may come across unofficial groups you can participate in to meet fellow grads, such as ones for fitness enthusiasts, gardeners, and parents.
Events held for alumni, including reunions, local chapter meetings, dinners, and career fairs, can be networking gold mines. At these get-togethers, you can converse with a wide array of entrepreneurs and business owners already inclined to trust, like, and be open to working with you because of your shared connection. Pick a few functions to attend this year, then prepare a short but compelling elevator pitch to use at them when mingling with other grads. Just make sure to ask for their contact information so you can follow up afterward with a quick text or email to continue building your new relationships.
If you have a specific person you’d like to contact, a need or goal you could use some help with, or simply a desire to actively grow your professional network, you don’t have to wait for an excuse or an event. Alumni networks often have directories with members’ contact information, giving you a way to reach out to individuals personally. You could also peruse the discussions or lists of members on your association’s social media pages to find and chat with people, either by replying to their posts or messaging them. Or go to your alma mater’s LinkedIn page and click its Alumni button to get lists of fellow grads; the site will even sort the results for you, including by year graduated, geographical location, and profession.
Offering your services to your alumni network can produce many meaningful ties. For instance, you could put yourself at the heart of the action by working at an associated event, making it easy to converse with numerous attendees over the course of it. Mentoring current students or fellow alums would also allow you to both support your alma mater and recruit future hires. For greater exposure, consider earmarking a portion of your marketing and advertising budget for sponsoring an alumni event, which could bring in more clients, recognition, and visibility for your brand.
It’s never too late to connect with fellow alumni—stepping back into the past can support your business for years to come.
TAKE ACTION:
Plan to attend an upcoming alumni event to make the most of your college ties.
For so many industries, client relationships are the foundation of business success. Forming strong bonds ensures repeat business and customer loyalty, and the people you build a rapport with will often become brand advocates, recommending you to their own networks and bolstering your client base. The following are insights from five business leaders about what it means to connect with clients through empathy and communication.
“In working with clients, I have seen that they have a very different perspective of the construction process than we do. Since my project managers have worked in the industry for years and years and understand the process inside out, it is easy for them to get frustrated when clients question things that seem straightforward. That’s why I coach my employees to have empathy for the clients during remodeling. There is usually a valid reason for their concern, which can be discovered when we take the time to communicate and to understand their perspective.
“I rarely use emails for relationship-building purposes. Face-to-face meetings and phone calls are so much more effective at conveying the emotion necessary to establish bonds with most clients. Emails are great for transferring information, but for forging genuine connections, talking is critical.”
“I run a statewide nonprofit that partners with school districts to place qualified, trained staff in school buildings, who then identify and work with the students most at risk of not graduating. So those districts are our clients.
“Empathy is important in building trusting relationships with our clients because school districts are stretched so thin. They’re trying to do everything—teach kids, counsel them, and provide them with basic needs like food. We must demonstrate to them that we understand the challenges they’re facing and that we’re on the same team.
“My approach is to be transparent and supportive—display empathy to gain trust but in an authentic way. Regardless of the method of communication, it’s always possible to be kind, empathetic, and collaborative.”
“My wife and I own a regenerative agriculture farm in Spicewood, Texas. We are a face-to-face organization because we sell directly to customers and clients through a farmers market. Our philosophy when it comes to these client relationships is ‘If you make a commitment or promise or give the customer an expectation, you better follow through.’
“We once had someone complain that the quality of one of our products had changed. We felt terrible and told her we would give her a refund and replace it. She was so overwhelmed by how seriously we took her complaint that she not only paid for the original product but also made a donation to the farm. When you listen with empathy, you can more readily understand the motivation behind a customer’s requests or feedback.”
“I’m the managing director of a firm that performs strategy consulting and due-diligence work in the energy-transition space with a focus on solar, hydrogen, and specialty contractors. Through my interactions with clients, I’ve learned that empathy is critical for building and maintaining relationships with them. By employing this tool, you will gain better insights into your clients’ goals as well as their challenges. Otherwise, you will probably never understand the potential roadblocks to closing the sale. Furthermore, even if you are unsuccessful in your first sale attempt, a good relationship might allow you to understand where you fell short. This is true whether you are selling a product or a service.
“There are many ways to build a client relationship. However, my mentors have emphasized the importance of in-person conversation. Whether it is a more formal discussion at the client’s office or a more casual chat over a meal, being there in person is valuable to forming a connection. You can learn more about an individual by seeing how they respond to comments and questions and through the conversations that happen after the ‘official’ meeting. These gestures also demonstrate a commitment to the client.
“I worked on a project for a European firm that was developing an American-market entry strategy and was naturally only considering US-based advisors. Part of the reason we won the project was that we were the only firm that went to visit them at their headquarters in Europe.”
“I work in mergers and acquisitions and offer management and business consulting services. To initiate relationships, I usually start with some form of text message, such as through Facebook, ads, or text-based media. But to build those relationships, I prefer phone calls, video calls, or in-person meetups. There is too much nuance that can get lost in a text message or an email. Voice inflections, sincerity, facial expressions, posture—these are things I need to see and hear to gauge what the client is conveying and vice versa.
“More importantly, I know that whatever connection I want to build with someone else, I need to take the initiative in creating it and giving a space for it to flourish. I do this by being vulnerable and genuine, offering safety, and showing elation or concern. I want my customers to feel seen, heard, and valued, and meeting in person is the best way I can do that.”
Nurturing client relationships is an ongoing process that demands empathy, a willingness to listen and understand, and an open channel of communication. It may take some work, but putting in the effort can help your business thrive in the long term.
