This week, our class had the pleasure of hearing Anna Pelova, CEO of YourInfluence.Agency, share her experiences of being an entrepreneur in the marketing/advertising industry.

A thoughtful and engaging conversation- Anna left my class and I feeling inspired to build and accomplish our goals.

I’ve listed some important points and hope you are just as inspired as we were.

• Wherever you want to go in life- look at the people already in those positions.
• Recognize your weaknesses, improve on them, & reach out.
• When you’re not sure how to start, just build– Don’t wait for perfection or experience; build & be in the market to receive feedback.
• Your MVP is your pitch deck – Build it & gather feedback.
• Be almost ahead of your clients – Always overdeliver, never underdeliver.
• Hire people you are confident in teaching or training, even if they don’t have the skillset. Trust the vibes from your team.
• Be specific, from the perspective of value you are adding.
• Think of yourself as a brand & describe what you do in 7 seconds.
• Design inspires trust.
• Understand your personal risk profile at certain points of your life.
• On writing – Don’t judge, just write. Don’t constantly edit, you can edit the final version once complete.
• On sales – Find a niche service & know which channels will work with your audiences.
• Learn who your audiences are and adjust your language accordingly.
• Brand expectations go up once the fee goes up. Learn how to effectively and efficiently manage these with resource constraints.
• Some companies can over-post, losing people’s interest fast.
• Follow the flow and see where the conversations are…
• On cultural differences – It’s absolutely necessary to learn the styles of other cultures to prevent clients from growing frustrated.
• Prove what you can do for clients with samples, portfolios, studies, etc.
• Constant communication is key & it’s ok to over-communicate.
• Good storytelling is harder to teach versus someone selling.

Anna also recommended a book called, “The Four Agreements” written by Don Miguel Ruiz, which I’ll be adding to my reading list.

I hope this post inspired you to achieve your goals and dreams. I’d love to hear what you think – Add your comments below!

Cover Photo Source: YourInfluence.Agency