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I’ve had my very own business since I was nine years old. I’ve started, purchased, sold and helped out in several different types of firms over the thirty odd years since then.

I’ve done everything I’ve always wanted to do, and I’ve had plenty of fun. Some of the highlights : I worked on Wall Street, I assisted in taking a company public and I ejected one of the largest VC names in the country right out of my office. I’ve worked on planning a quality management system for a leading dairy company. I’ve worked with many of the largest names in the online and offline space, and I’ve seen the insides of lots of the largest companies in the USA.

I made my first million the old fashioned way. I worked my butt off. And I’ve got a lot to show for it, for which I am both humble and grateful. Understand this, I am probably a successful entrpreneur and I am proud of it.

Why am I sharing all of this with you? I’m getting there.

People always ask me if I have any advice for being successful. They ask if I could name the things I believe have gave the most to my success. Id like to share my observations from thirty years of business experience. They are applicable both online and offline.

Here are my top 5 tips for success :

1. Always confirm all of your mails and telephone calls get returned. I make a lot of contacts and requests via email, telephone or maybe in real life. I am totally shocked at the quantity of people who dont bother to return the request. It is classless and disrespectful to pay no heed to someones request, and it makes them angry. Angry folk tell other people how you have wronged them. The fewer folk out there talking ill about you the better.

When I was an iso 9001 consultant at Modem Media I got between one thousand – three thousand emails a day. I was buried in emails. My helper went in and cleared out mails when she could, forwarding the ones she knew she or one of my underlings could handle. But she left the rest for me. I might spend at least an hour a day returning them. Sometimes all I claimed was Call so-and-so or Thanks for the heads-up, but most of them got answered. The priority was clients, then executives then normal folk. If you are not going to answer correspondence from clients or peers, dont give any person your email. Funny thing about most of usif you have an email and invite us to use it, we expect a solution. I’ve written 3 mails to Darren at ProBlogger.net. He’s not answered a single one. While I think some of his things is good, I find his unresponsiveness disheartening and I dont find him as authoritative as I used to.

I sent an e-mail to the President of Staples on a Saturday afternoon a couple of years ago. I got a private response from him the next day (Sunday), and we resolved my issue with the help of one of his EVPs. If he can respond to one of my emails, so can Darren.

2. Help anyone that asks. It does not matter what it is if someone asks that you help them and you can do it, do it. Whether it comprises rolling up your sleeves, writing a check, giving some valuable time or simply responding to a question from someone that doesnt know as much as you, suck it up and do it.

3. Always know more than most people about your industry or business. I’ve always been a technologist, so this has been engrained in me since I was 16. Read about things in your field each day. Go to a seminar or trade show every now and then. Participate in discussions or forums, on or off-line. It will keep you attached to the people in your industry and make you a guru. The Net is an extraordinary tool for getting this done.

4. Treat your workers like gold, because they are . In my private companies my workers get away with a lot. They are well paid, get surprise perks all of the time and can pop up and vanish as they please. Some take advantage, but they dont last long. Being a jerk to your employees will always come back to bite you. It will also mean that you’ll get hosed a few times, but you would have anyway.

Make the office fun, cushty and as casual as you can. Show your staff by example how you would like them to treat customers and work-mates. They are going to follow your lead. If they dislike coming to work it will show in what you produce, this was a major feature that I noticed while planning the quality management system I discussed earlier.

At Modem Media I organised an annual barbeque in the front car park. We had pork, BBQ sauce from Texas and plenty of other stuff Im not going to get into here. It was a little gesture nevertheless it went a long way.

5. Acknowledge everybody who helps you advance, especially people who didn’t gain from it. This is another thing I am shocked more folk haven’t caught on to. I revealed in an earlier post that I continually comb my log files for people who’ve social bookmarks pointing to this blog site and send them a fast email thanking them. I stopped counting the amount of people who email me back shocked that I’d make the effort to thank them. Why shouldn’t I? They took time out to help promote my blog, and got nothing in turn. A thank you recognizes their effort and time and solidifies them as a friend. Trust me, you need all of the allies you can get.

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