4 Ways To Cut Through The Noise As A Business Owner

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Do you ever feel frayed at the edges while running a business? With the intention of doing the best you can, it sure feels too easy to fall into the advice of people who instruct you, as opposed to warmly recommend you, to make one decision over another.

That in itself can be dizzying. Go online, and you’ll be exposed to people all over the world trying to sell you on courses, on routes of action, of philosophies, and more insight than you could ever absorb in ten lifetimes.

Worse still – some of this advice is good! That means you can’t just ignore it all for fear of missing something good that perfectly applies to you. So, perhaps you don’t have to tune it out. But what if you could cut through the noise? What if you could curate a better approach? In this post, we’ll discuss some measures for achieving exactly that:

Set Your Priorities

If you’re not careful, it’s easy for a constant influx of information to be something you take in recreationally. But if you think about it, do you really need a constant flow of business podcasts or insights making their way to you? Perhaps if the news is relevant to your industry, but perhaps not if it just confuses you.

For example, learning about how to integrate email DLP is an effective approach if you want to secure your operational conduct, and that’s where you should focus your attention. For that reason, set priorities before consuming advice, so you don’t need to process so much extra noise on top of that.

Personally, Consider Those You Trust

Building a network of trusted advisors can be incredibly valuable for any business owner, for example, a mentor who has treated you well for some time and led you through some difficult professional challenges.

These are individuals whose opinions you respect and who have a proven track record in your field like that, and they’re worth listening to, especially in your local area. Does that mean you have to adopt everything they say? Not at all, but their advice is more likely to be relevant and beneficial and help you cut through the myriad of voices vying for your attention.

Curate Your Information Sources

Ultimately, instead of trying to absorb everything from everywhere, limit the number of sources you rely on. You might not really need to listen to NYT business, five more broadsheets, two podcasts, and a show that runs in your office all day.

Choose a few high-quality blogs, podcasts, or industry reports and stick to them if you can, because writers you enjoy can phrase things in ways that make more sense to you. Better yet, opt for conflicting opinions if needed because it will help you clarify your own thoughts. Again, make this topic-based, so you don’t absorb all of this too recreationally, wasting your time and filling up your reflection periods with unnecessary bluster.

Don’t Get Addicted To Reading About Your Firm

If you’re starting to make a splash, it can be easy to see what people are saying online in your free time. Of course, it’s not hard to see why. It can feel exciting, interesting and unnerving to figure out what the social media noise is around your business. However, constantly checking for updates and comments can become a distraction. You might even take certain criticisms personally or worse, feel compelled to fight your case.

Instead of focusing on what others are saying, prioritize your time and energy on improving your business. When you do respond, do it through a hired communications professional, or on the clock with a very clear idea of how to improve a customer impression. By doing so, you ensure that your actions speak louder than words and that your business continues to grow and thrive based on its own merits, instead of whatever battle you have online.

Better yet, avoid reading the comments and serve those who actually contact support, because those are the people who matter. You can, of course, decide to be more focused on bad reviews to correct issues and clean up your online profile, but at least it won’t be something that takes up too much of your free time headspace.

With this advice, you’ll be certain to cut through the noise as a business owner and curate a more appropriate, worthwhile, confident outcome as part of that. Note that this can also help define yourself anew as the best possible professional you could be.