The world is filled with all kinds of “should.” Most people agree that you should eat breakfast every day, you should attend college and you should find a nice, stable job and settle down in life.
With all the “should,” there is not a lot of wiggle room for personal preferences, passions and growth. So, how exactly do you discover and define your purpose when the rest of the world is so intensely focused on what you should be doing at various stages of your life? Well, it actually comes down to another kind of “should” — what you think you should be doing.
But how do you differentiate between the two?
Admittedly, it can be fairly difficult. To start, create a list of all of the things that you believe you should be doing at 
this point in your life. Go ahead and include those things that are uncertainties to you. Once your list is complete, choose a different color pen, pencil or crayon (hey, I won’t tell you what to write with) and mark each item with the word “them” or “me.” If the “should” comes from them, from other people, maybe it is not something that you necessarily need to be doing with your life.
Your purpose is supposed to help define your life, and no one in this world understands your purpose and passion as intimately as you do. You can do everything that, according to the rest of the world, you “should” be doing until you are blue in the face, but there will likely be little or no fulfilment from it. Instead, focus on what your purpose says you should be doing and follow your heart.
Your website is akin to the storefront of a brick and mortar business. Just like plastering adverts all over the window or having a cluttered, mismatched display window can deter a passersby, a busy website can steer traffic away. So what does an ideal affiliate site look like?
If the last half-dozen of your posts have been geared toward affiliate links, take a break. Ideally, you should include at least 2-3 valuable posts in-between your affiliate pitches. Follow this approach to keep the content interesting and engaging:
Branding is an important step for every business, but it is vital to the success of a small business looking to establish a footing in a crowded online market. Branding provides consistency in all aspects of a marketing strategy. Continuity can be a important aspect of attracting new client connections and maintaining existing relationships.
A business can have a well-managed social media presence, offer practical, useful products and services and still fail to communicate effectively with online customers. For this reason, it is important to have website content that is clear, informative and even entertaining. It is vital to populate a website with content that is both professional and accessible to any consumer. When small businesses have websites with poor content quality, it can have a ripple effect on the overall success of an online marketing strategy.
The late Steve Jobs is a well-known and exceptionally relevant example of just how much you can do with a limited budget. Most people already know that Apple Computer started in a garage, but Jobs also dropped out of college when he could no longer afford the tuition, and he ended up crashing on the floor of a friend’s room. During that time, he stayed fed by the kindness of a local temple that gave him free meals. Jobs certainly did not have the budget on hand to launch a business with the technological influence and success that Apple has now, but his limited financial means still sparked the beginnings of an empire.
A lesser-known, but still admirable, entrepreneur who made her mark in life with a small budget is Anita Roddick. Founder of The Body Shop, she managed to snare a business loan of only $6,800 to get her body care business off the ground. In the early days, she cut costs and corners wherever possible, and repeat customers often returned their empty jars and containers, which she then cleaned and refilled with new products. That was back in the day when Roddick was still mixing her products in her own home with no employees and had only her daughters to help. In 2006, Roddick sold The Body Shop for $1 billion to L’Oreal.
The term “growing wealth” is a popular choice for discussing the various methods and strategies that contribute to the accumulation of real wealth, but it can be somewhat misleading. Growing wealth can imply a somewhat apathetic process, but it does take a considerable amount of resolution and determination to begin this growth process. Just like with a tiny seed, nurturing and caring for one’s wealth through the seedling stages can be the most time-intensive period.
Having wealth is far from being the impossible dream that so many people think it is, but it is a goal that requires the hard work and dedication of a truly impassioned person. Entrepreneurs who already understand the nature of working for a purpose might realize that they are already intimately familiar with the steps toward accumulating wealth.
Allow others to be successful. If you have built your company by hand, putting in long hours and painfully earning every success, it can be hard to hand over certain aspects of operations. As a company grows, it is important to delegate certain tasks and allow others to be successful under the umbrella of your company. Do not be intimidated by the talent and professional growth of team members.
Forming simple daily habits will lead to higher productivity and the ability to focus on the most important matters at hand. The habits and characteristics of some of the most successful people in America can serve as an example for entrepreneurs of all types, illustrating how personal discipline and a particular mental framework can play a direct role in the longevity of a company.
Customers like businesses that are there to help them. When, where and how consumers spend their money matters. They won’t spend their money on a product that doesn’t matter. If a company is only in the business of making profits, consumers are much more likely to turn to an alternate company with a purpose-driven attitude that is reflected in its products.
Purpose-driven entrepreneurs are more determined to keep going. Admittedly, money is a decent motivator for most people, but it lacks the essential driving force behind a purpose. Money can only buy so much, whereas purpose-filled entrepreneurs find fulfillment and joy in tending to and growing their businesses. The profits are nice, of course, but the real meaning is in the work and the products. Sagging profit margins and a rough and tumble economy are not enough to bring these types of business owners to their knees.