Don’t you hate it when people give you advice that’s confusing and complicated? I have found that the best advice is typically the simplest. So I decided to take a page out of Dharmesh Shah’s book and give you business advice in 3 words.
- Time is money [tweet]
- Learn from mistakes [tweet]
- Don’t act cocky [tweet]
- Learn from others [tweet]
- Nothing is perfect [tweet]
- Stop thinking big [tweet]
- Hire hungry employees [tweet]
- Hire employees slowly [tweet]
- Fire bad employees [tweet]
- Talent isn’t everything [tweet]
- Emotions are bad [tweet]
- Focus your efforts [tweet]
- You’re not smart [tweet]
- Don’t waste money [tweet]
- Listen to customers [tweet]
- Business plans suck [tweet]
- Scrappiness is good [tweet]
- Never stop networking [tweet]
- Don’t be shy [tweet]
- Ask for help [tweet]
- Failure is acceptable [tweet]
- Money isn’t everything [tweet]
- Solve a problem [tweet]
- Be open minded [tweet]
- Motivate your employees [tweet]
- Set realistic goals [tweet]
- Take big risks [tweet]
- Leverage your competitors [tweet]
- Use social media [tweet]
- Business isn’t easy [tweet]
- Work hard everyday [tweet]
- Revenue isn’t profit [tweet]
- Give a lot [tweet]
- Coolness is overrated [tweet]
- Leverage the blogosphere [tweet]
- Press doesn’t matter [tweet]
- Your idea sucks [tweet]
- Attend good conferences [tweet]
- Entrepreneurs aren’t born [tweet]
- Market your company [tweet]
- Agility is important [tweet]
- Don’t be afraid [tweet]
- Diversify your income [tweet]
- Sex always sells [tweet]
- Always use metrics [tweet]
- Don’t give up [tweet]
- Aggressiveness can backfire [tweet]
- Friend rich people [tweet]
- Create a blog [tweet]
- Have smart friends [tweet]
- Hogs get slaughtered [tweet]
- Take a break [tweet]
- Copying is bad [tweet]
- Innovation is good [tweet]
If you have any 3-worded business advice, feel free and leave a comment.
Look over my shoulder while I share: 
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Be your self
I think that’s two words: Be yourself. But hey, that’s even more impressive – great advice in two words:)
you’re right, but it’s still a good one to add
Make it three words: “Just be yourself.”
That’s huge, most people forget that.
hirer smarter people
keep it simple
keep it simple is my favorite… it makes a world of difference.
Take small steps
Don’t try to be a millionaire over night. Do it in small but safe steps.
Not even necessarily safe, but take small steps at a time to make it happen.
Maybe:
20% is 80%, and 80% is 20%
(80/20 principle or Pareto principle. It can be applied on many other things but I think it works in business too.)
Btw how much “escape from web2.0 poverty” packages left?
send me and email neil @neilpatel.com
Fun post Neil. Here’s a few more you might add:
-Never underestimate connections
-Don’t talk. Act!
-Determination is powerful.
-Lead by example.
-Invest in yourself.
Those are great!! lead by example is very powerful!
read Neil’s blog
This one win’s as my favorite
Dammit Neil, that’s already too many things to digest!
Let’s just take #1, 14 and 22. We are often told time is money and it’s not to be wasted, but then we are told it’s (money) not everything. In my experience, when you don’t have it (money) it is everything. As you get older you hopefully acquire more of it, but you also lose time. This leaves me stuck in a self created seesaw of accomplishing both #31 and #52.
It’s really a combination of all them, but how you’re able to integrate it in your life.
Yes, it’s true that simple advice is best. But when a newbie comes and starts learning, he doesn’t get it. It’s even TOO simple (meaning too vague, no concrete action plan, possibilities, too abstract). They look for complex plans, step-by-step examples and read tons of stuff.. then process it for long time or just procrastinate and then after a year or a few years even, they come fur circle and start seeing how the simple advice was right! Then they start valuing it! T
This is the paradox for me which I had went through also, whether learning about business, gaining muscle, self-improvement.. I say this not to say this post sucks, it doesn’t! I wonder if you had the same experience?
Cheers,
Adrijus
Just don’t over analyze it…. for a newbie, it’s important to take action and make it happen, else they’ll just be twiddling their thumbs all day.
Think it through
Ever been done?
Plan, Plan, Plan!
Plan for change
Find a market
Product, Plan, Promote!
Sell a dream
Exploit a weakness
Expand with patience
Work for love
Dettach from success!
detach from success or … don’t be attached to the outcome is what I find extremely important for everyone to know.
Have a Vision!
Good point, having a vision is important because you need to know what you want.
get comfortable chair
ok, this seems a little selfish but considering most entrepreneurs sit in front of a desk/computer for many many hours a day, i think it’s good advice.
it may seem silly to think of such a luxury when you’re being super-scrappy trying to launch a business – ok maybe you shouldn’t drop a lot of quan on a chair if you have absolutely no money – but getting a nice chair is a good investment. i would consider it one of the first luxury purchases you should make for yourself and your employees. what is more important than your health? you don’t want back problems when you’re 60.
i’ve also found it to be very conducive to lucubration. i guess this came to mind b/c i recently ordered a herman miller embody chair… it’s arriving next week and i’m so excited! i’m going to be doing an unboxing and full review of it when it comes, so if anyone’s interested in the review, search my blog for “embody.” i’ve already put up a preview/review.
I don’t disagree with you with having one, but just don’t get one sooo comfortable you become unproductive or fall asleep. The herman miller chair is awesome and congrats!
Live Your Passion!
Very true, do what you’re passionate about.
Always Be Closing
Sell the Sizzle
Beat Head Here
Lead Out Front
Features, Schedule, Budget
ABC – crucial to sales mastery
- Ready, Fire Aim
- Always Look Left
- Or Look Right
- Shit Rolls Downhill
- Watch Your Back
- No Free Lunch
- Scotch, Neat, Please
- Learn From Mistakes
- Success Was Yesterday
- What Goes Up
- Results May Vary
- duck… Duck… DUCK!
Ready fire aim……. sometimes we get carried away by doing that.
NFL – no free lunch! Very good thought to remember.
duck..duck…duck? shouldn’t it be duck, duck, GOOSE!
Keep moving forward
Do what matters
Stand on values
Eat at Joe’s
Word of mouth
Build your list
Clapton is God
eat at joes… lol !
learning from others is important
more than 3 words, but still important… unless you mean “learn from others”
Never Hire Friends
Clients Aren’t Friends
Those statements are only applicable in minor situations, and only if they do not conform to other standards. Hire friends if they are the right person for the job. Many of the most successful business around today have a corporate circle of college friends/family.
So how are clients not friends. In most lines of business they need to be your best friends. You need to know their wants, desires, and needs. The only way you can provide your portion of your relationship with a client/customer is by being what is classically termed as friend.
Sounds like you got burned at some point. The key to remember is that they would have done it whether or not they were your friend. Good workers make good workers, just because they are a friend does not make them a good worker.
clients aren’t friends is a VERY valuable thought.
Just do it.
make sure you cite Nike
Never Being Satisfied
That’s exactly how you’ll keep going forward
That’s What SheSaid
close… but no cigar
Take Action Now!
Kick Everyones Butt!
Always Go Big!
Just some I thought of now.
Great 3 words phrase. can i know your email address ? feel free to add me to your messager : kevin0808@live.com
Take action now is HUGE!
How about “mummy knows best”?
Unfortunately this is true
Make yourself uncomfortable.
Don’t be conventional.
be comfortable being uncomfortable…
Do your taxes
yeah, always a good thing to do!
Don’t follow advice
(Make your own)
I can’t say I would agree with this one.. don’t follow everyone’s advice
Don’t tell, show
Showing will help your clients be more engaged.
Always Think Ahead
It’s best to be prepared or you’re prepared to fail.
Lets do it!
Make it happen Rahul!
ha ha.
I like number 16. Business plans suck!
It’s one of the most controversial ones
Never underestimate the web
4 words… you were close thought!
Yes you are right. The best advice is the simplest. It’s the one that doesn’t stress you up. All these advice you’ve given up there are just class. Thanks a lot.
People tend to over complicate things… that’s why 3 word advice is so powerful
Thanks for the reply. When things become over complicated you then tend to have less interest, unless that very thing used to amaze you in the past. Indeed the 3 words advice are very powerful.
It is indeed because over complicating something is what unfortunately happens to most who just quit and fail. KISS…. a rule that one most always follow to earn the finer things in life.
Be The Best
That’s the goal!
Though these are just three words advice, there is lot of depth in each of these. All the entreprenuers would be successful if they could just follow all these statements. But they are not and it is not easy to follow all of them.
As many people say, it is easy to give advices on the basis of the past experiences, but for the other person since he did not himself experiences it, it is difficult for him to follow though he knows that it might be beneficial for him however simple it is.
Three words Business Advice:
Dont follow blindly
Keep yourself updated
Never quit networking
Express yourself brilliantly
Solve problem step-wise
Rectify your weaknesses
Cheers
Great advice! Thanks for sharing. If you don’t over analyze of complicate this advice, it can take you far.
Those selling skills that I learned in those sales careers have helped me dramatically in my own business, and I preach to new business owners all the time that if they truly want to be successful, then they must learn sales.
Sales is the name of the game…. whether you’re selling yourself or selling products/services, you need to understand what to do and what to say.
“Outinnovate” your competitors
outinnovate => you heard it here , from me .
keep it simple
make some money
yes, good point, think outside of your realm.
Very nice post, following are my favorites:
Time is money
Learn from mistakes
Learn from others
Nothing is perfect
Focus your efforts
Listen to customers
Set realistic goals
” Make more money ” is all our goal.
Yes, those are some of the best ones.
Haha! This is great. I’m gonna print this and put it up in my workspace for motivation. My three word advice is “Never stop learning”. I should also add “Follow Neil Patel”.
Yeah, all our life should be never stop learning. I am agree with you to follow Neil Patel to learn all the things from him.
lol, I like that one
I love all the 3 -word phrase to motivate my goal and mission. All i like the bes r is
Time is Money and Don’t give up. Think it Through.
What do you like, neil ? How about your 3 words phrase to motivate us ?
That list of 54 is my list of “3 words of motivation”
Never give up
Everyone sells something
Don’t be intimidated
Don’t listen to others
Don’t follow, lead
Greatness requires persistence
Goals are important
Keep taking action
Take advice carefully
Learn from mistakes
Keep money moving
Funny quote (I thought I will add here) – Borrow money from pessimists – they don’t expect it back.
lol!! I love it, that’s hilarious!
It’s always personal.
you shouldn’t take things personal
Stop Reading Blogs!
thats like saying… stop learning
Time exceeds money. Time is life. Time is everything.
Treat people right. Perserverance pays off.
Treating people right is a very good quality to have as it just creates more contribution from your end.
Time is everything and very important… make use of every moment.
It’s just business.
Lol… yeah you can say that just before you screw some friend over
Sounds like a line from a movie.
My other one didn’t post. Oops.
Communicate – concisely, effectively.
Act don’t react.
Act don’t react is huge… events always occur in your life… it’s how you can actively respond to them.
Treat people right. Perserverance pays off.
It’s always good to treat people right and contribute positively.
Keep on learning
Open your mind
keep on learning because if you’re not growing… you’re just dying.
3 is simple. But 54 3 is not simple.
lol… it’s a combination of all of them which makes the difference.
Create some buzz!
Never look back
Have some fun!
Create some buzz is always a smart thing to do… and having fun is definitely important since most people forget to.
Never look back, I disagree with.
You should look back and learn from your past, but you shouldn’t stare back (at the past), learn from your past, but focus on the future.
You are where you are today because of what you’ve done, where you will be in the future depends on what you do now.
Friend Rich People
Yes, and learn from like a sponge.
Read James Allen.
If he’s that good, sure that might be a good idea.
My favorites ones are:
You’re not smart.
Friend Rich People.
Friend Smart People.
This is one thing a lot of politicians could stand to learn. Drop the ego, find the ability for funding and have really really smart people surrounding you to help you make the best decisions possible. Never underestimate the power of intelligent friends!
Dropping the ego is super hard to do for most people because in order to do it, you have to drop your ego. It’s kind of like a catch 22.
All business is founded on the simple principle of giving someone what they are looking for at a price that they can afford otherwise known as :-
–Helping Someone Out.–
This applies to all inventions, great ideas and ultimately how much you sell.
Good list!
Contributing your time energy and effort is huge… I agree with that.
Play the changes. Attend to detail. Check your path. Check it again.
Act. Learn. React.
Well I wouldn’t say that you should react then I would say actively respond.
Destroy them all.
lol.. yeah probably not a good idea.
My three words—–
“I loved this”
I’m glad you found it useful
Be Your Best!
That’s all you can do right?
Nice sharing Neil
Everything is possible !
nothing is impossible
Love Your Self
great add on… loving oneself should also come first.
Well said… everything is possible… anyone can make it big.
god is great
do your self
believe in best
“do your self”… that may not be the right phrase we’re looking for.
Lead The Field.
Get to Work.
Get to work!!!!! I love it.
Never Stop Hustling.
Life is all about hustling until you plan on just getting in a coffin and waiting. You need to keep on at it out there as long as you’re hungry for more.
I like the:
ABC = Always Be Closing
Mine would be:
GTD = Get Things Done
I wrote a bigger comment on my blog post:
http://michaelnozbe.com/friday-readership-apple-mac-by-microsoft-guy
GTD, is something that one can definitely find useful… especially considering that most people put stuff off!
Interesting
I want yo put few points
-Never loose hope
-Never miss opportunities
-Time is precious
-Plan Dedication Patience
Never loose hope is my favorite from your bunch. There will always be a chance… you just need to grab it.
-Walk by Faith
-Do no Evil
-Trust God always
-Pay your Taxes
-Give to Charity
-Provide good benefits
Paying your taxes is always a good thing
Innovate don’t imitate
Great words.. you’ll find that the true leaders do it that way.
Dude, seriously this is a good list! Im amazed how Im not qualified for most of these three letter words. Anyways some of them are contrasting though..
Great list and I bookmarked it cause I know Im gonna need to refer back to it..
There a lot to take all in at once, just try and implement as many as you can though.
Do It Now!
Exactly… take action!!
“Gym. Tan. Laundry.”
-Mike, The Situation, from Jersey Shores
Those kids make $10K+ per nightclub appearance and now $10K per episode. They’re on to something.
lol… its interesting to see how society functions sometimes… That should tell you that anything’s possible.
Skills are cheap.
Passion is priceless.
Skills are very cheap… that’s a great point. You only need to invest time, energy, and focus!
Great post, Neil! I decided to add a post on my blog with the advice I came up with and directing readers here. This is what I’ve come up with so far…
Love your job
Respect the competition
Write that down
Volunteer your time
Always give credit
Make hard decisions
Accept a challenge
Don’t over commit
Don’t under estimate
Control the controllables
Always be changing
Don’t get comfortable
Use Plan B
Don’t get comfortable is huge… in fact you should get comfortable with feeling uncomfortable. Being uncomfortable is what will help you grow.
-Maximize your potential
-Seize the moment
Maximizing your potential is something most people don’t do… unfortunately they find themselves a bit short.
Few more to add:
Read blog: quicksprout.com
Make yourself known
Increase your knowledge
Always listen carefully
Think before talking
Thanks, I appreciate the first one! Always listen carefully is HUGE! Most people focus on what they’re going to say next and forget about the fact that they have to simply listen.
Guard your reputation.
Conceal your intentions.
Crush your enemies.
Despise free lunches.
Respect your customers.
Appreciate your luck.
I think the most important out of the ones you posted is to appreciate your luck. The harder you work, the more luck you’ll come across. This is exactly why you must appreciate your luck.
Mistakes are okay.
Yesterday is over.
Tomorrow is today.
It’s all good.
Breathe, breathe breathe.
Take a walk.
Eat your lunch.
Don’t be late.
Don’t leave early.
Don’t be late is the most powerful out of the ones you posted. Being 30 minutes early is 100x better than being 3 minutes late.
That is good stuff, I will write down each of those affirmations and rehearse them everyday to promote the success I want to achieve.
What was your trick to push yourself when you were younger Neil?
No trick… good old fashion hard work and networking
Focus on intentions.
I think that’s amazing… you intention is where it’s at because your physical body, facial expressions and tone of voice will naturally correspond with your intentions.
Another Great post neil and I love the way you organized and made it easy to tweet. Keeping it simple is great, I’ve always love “what’s important now” and “fail forward fast” these have helped me to stay on track when I had no clue where the track had gone, know what I mean?
Have a Great Day!
Joe @ Home Business Ideas
Exactly… those are the few words that you need to kind of get back on track so to speak.
Simple isn’t Easy
Life’s a Marathon
Love thy neighbor
life is a marathon… its about baby steps consistently not giant leaps occasionally.
“Entrepreneurs aren’t born”
I dont know if i belive this one. Why because becoming an entrepreneur usualy is the way you were raised. If you grew up poor your going to want to become rich. And you were born poor so if you born rich you will most likely be lazy, and spoiled.
You should believe this one because most entrepreneurs (most of them) develop over the course of several years to become who they are today… they aren’t just automatically born that way.
Thanks for the Great Advice.
My Three Words is Fame is Money.
If we become popularity, we get money automatically rolling to us.
Not necessarily… fame isn’t always money. There are plenty of famous people in this world that are dead broke. Even though you may want money and fame know, if you get both, you’ll end up just wanting the money with no fame. Fame isn’t all it’s made up to be.
create a blog , I think blog is great tool of networking . We can make friend with blog. It’s about quality and relevant friend
Very good…clever. Blogs are important and can really take you to the next level.
In my experience, when you don’t have it (money) it is everything.
lol, it kind of sucks, but it really is important isn’t it.
How about:
Small things matter.
Plan your work.
Work your plan.
Risks are calculated. (Gambles are not.)
risks are calculated….. gambles are not… Very good. It’s interesting advice if you really think about it. Thanks for your input.
Telling isn’t selling!
That’s the golden rule in selling… ask questions!!
Not three words but one of the best quotes I have ever seen.
If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right.
Henry Ford
I believe the quote is… Whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re right.
Thanks for the condescending response Neil!
Hey Joe, I wasn’t trying to be condescending, so I’m sorry if it came across that way.
44. Sex always sells
What’s up with this?
What are you trying to imply? 
I’m implying exactly what I said
You want more sales… you know what to do.
I am little bit confused to hear something like this from you but you are right in some way
Don’t be confused… that’s just the way it works.
What do you mean “Copying is bad”?
Steal some idea?
Innovation is not good, it’s great.
Awesome post, thank you! Here’s my two cents (words) x nine plus one.
Exude enthusiasm.
Ooze authenticity.
Radiate sincerity.
Speak truthfully.
Emply humor.
Smile more.
Stress less.
Have fun.
Be real.
Care.
Thanks Marianne, those are all great pieces of advice to give. Good job on organizing it to that shape too
I can’t stop myself!
Edit yourself.
Reply promptly.
Listen earnestly.
Praise profusely.
Practice humility.
Criticize thoughtfully.
Those are great, but they’re all 2 words…
wow, you mentioned some very interested points NeIL, one i like is dont be shy. thats true.
Yes because shy people will experience less opportunities and just naturally have lessor luck.
Work hard and hard, then you will succeed, you cant dream that on a day you will wake up and you will become millionaire. Hard work is important in every aspect of business
Hard work is a process that takes time… years and years not overnight and unfortunately most people don’t realize it.
Best Teacher: Failure.
Be Always Learning.
Failure is one of the greatest teachers you can have, it’s true.
Dream Big, Realistically.
Hope requires action.
Humility isn’t humiliation.
Hope requires action is great!! I think it’s powerful to understand that since most people can’t do it.
Seize the day
I must add that I do not agree that “Copying is bad”
Carpe diem.. a classic quote that never gets old!
Oh wait! there’s more on my mind, hehe.
- Always think positive.
- Love your employees.
- What is next?
by the way, “copying is bad” is wrong. It’s good to copy but make some changes out of it for the better.
What is next…. that’s powerful… it basically means to keep pushing forward and on to the next one. Good for you on seeing that.
For me,
*Set your step by step goal
*Make a move to achieve every goal
*Be a role model to your employees
*Be patient
you will see all hard work and efforts when time goes by. . .
Always remember, “Patience is a Virtue”.
Exactly! It’s very important to add that success takes time!
I liked when quadzilla said do it f’in now, and rationalized it.
you could take all these triplets and plug them into a motivational art generator! Or some with graph jam lol.
haha, you’re probably right, it would have definitely look a lot better that way.
100 percent feedback
If you only ask 10% of your customers ‘how are we doing’ and only 10% of them reply you end up with a 1% response rate. Offer 100% of your customers the opportunity to feedback and wahey you get a lot more customer knowledge and as we all know what does customer knowledge make….
You just need to play around with what you got until you maximize it for efficiency.
Good point Chris. Listen to all your customers not only to some of them. More opinions offer more solutions.
Yes, but sometimes listening to each and every comment and taking action may not be the best thing.
Awesome, makes sense! Thanks for sharing that.
Maybe you just want to make a little extra cash on the side. Becoming a ticket broker is fun and exciting, and the best part is, you can do it from the comfort of your own home!
This guide will teach you how you can become a ticket broker so you can buy and sell concert tickets and make money doing it.
Learning this business it´s easy, because exist a guide to show her how buy and sell tickets successfully… Source: The Ticket Broker Guide
It can but it’s definitely far from easy… especially now a days. There is just too much competition to make a good enough profit. It’s great for fun… but not necessarily a business.
Smile its contagious!
I like that! I completely agree with you.
Thanks. One of the first things i learned at my first job is to answer the phone with a smile and you will sound pleasant. Your tone and demeanor can affect people more than you think.
Your smile is VERY important for it shines way over the phone.
The Kiss Method……..
This is huge I feel when doing a task. I am currently working about a deal with mom and pops hair cutting place and I am going to take over their marketing.
So I was going to try flyer marketing… Well I talk to one of my designers and she was like….. ok so we will have it black with white print… blah blah and I was like we have to do the KISS method…
Now I see why you call your products KISS lol.
The KISS method is just like in the name, simple and sweet. It’s too the point and people usually appreciate that.
Hire hungry employees is a great thing to do as well. they will put more effort into doing their job directly and strive to do better at the same time.
Yes, just stay away from employs that literally get hungry too fast
The KISS method is just like in the name, simple and sweet. It’s too the point and people usually appreciate that.
I think so too, hence the name of our company
“You’re not smart”…. I used to be arrogant and think I knew everything, looking back at it. I was an idiot. If one can get over themselves, they can finally start the journey toward knowledge. LOL
The ego gets in the way for almost everyone… what’s great is when you’re able to put yourself in check.
This is absolutely true. I have had one raise, and my husband has had two significant raises in the last two years. I really think that it’s due to the face that successful companies will always be the positive and forward moving ones.
It’s really not about what you know, but who you know.
Never Stop Hustling!
Exactly!!! My favorite.
54 tips are very useful for focusing the right path for the business
I’m glad you see that, let me know what you apply and how it works out.
This was very helpful – I will surely recommend this to my friends.
Thanks, glad you found it helpful. I appreciate it
1. Compete with yourself.
2. Never neglect family.
3. Forgive yourself often.
4. Never make excuses.
5. Kill procrastination NOW.
6. Write it down.
7. Never miss commitments.
8. Blog about it.
9. Share your knowledge.
10. Always give credit.