money

Ten Ways to Get Your Funding Request Discarded

by Paul Joseph October 26, 2011 Featured

After struggling to create your business plan for months, every entrepreneur likes to think that their document is inspirational and will reach someone who is smart enough to see the brilliance of the idea, intuitive enough to recognize their business acumen, and enthusiastic enough to offer the money required to make it happen. Every serious investor, on the other hand, has a stack of these in their in-basket (email or real plastic) awaiting review, and is looking for the flaw or less-capable entrepreneur in each that predicts failure, allowing them to discard it like another piece of junk mail.  Many VC firms and investment banks receive as many as ten plans per day, so it’s hard to get them salivating. Thus, I think it’s helpful to know some of the most common turnoffs that investors encounter in plowing through this stack of requests for money.  Here is what I hear from investors that you shouldn’t do, and can attest to from my own meager efforts: Tease or spam the investor. Every investor is annoyed by persistent messages that say “Give me a call to hear about the most disruptive technology since the wheel.”  You can bet that if he ever sees a real business plan from you, it will go to the bottom of the pile.  Asking him to check out your website first and comment is equally bad. Send the plan without a summary. An Executive Summary is a one page elevator pitch of the whole plan (may be separate from the plan), which gives an investor a net perspective on the key business parameters. Too many plans don’t have a summary section, or the summary is all you get.  You lose in either case. No plan in the Business Plan. Many plans investors see are really modified product specifications, which tell you more than you want to know about the internals of the product, but almost nothing about how and when you plan to sell it and make money. Embarrass your English teacher. Obvious draft markings, handwritten, or unprofessional results, like misspellings and grammatical errors in the plan, will only convince investors that your business will be run the same unprofessional way. Remember, investors invest in people before ideas. Fill the text with acronyms. Remember that the people reading your plan are smart, but not intimately steeped in the acronyms of your technology. They assume heavy use of acronyms in inconsiderate, lazy, or maybe an intentional obfuscation of facts. Stick to laymen’s terms. The base plan is a book. Avoid being excessively wordy or redundant in your plan. The base plan should be in the 20-page range. Stick to the facts, state them clearly, and do not repeat them unnecessarily. At best, long plans make your business seem complex and more risky. It’s all in an appendix. Investors don’t mind supporting documents with the base plan, but the base should make sense and be complete without jumping to an appendix.  Making the total plan heavier, with ten appendices, or a hundred pages is not impressive. Being negative. Don’t say things about your competitors or customers that you wouldn’t be able to defend if they were in the room with you.  I see lots of statements about poor usability, poor quality, fat and slow, all without even anecdotal data.  Investors read these as unprofessional and even unethical, unless supported by third-party data. Prototypes and demos attached. Remember that early prototypes and demos usually break or don’t work for unfamiliar users, and we can’t see all the work and love you have already put into them.  Pictures and words leave a much better impression at this stage. Letters from your friends. Introduction letters from friends of the investor are always appreciated, but letters of praise from your friends don’t carry the same weight. Customer testimonials and vendor contracts are much more impressive. When you send a business plan to an investor, remember that the purpose is not to sell your product or service, but to sell you and your business model.  You are looking for scarce investor financial resources, and your competition at this stage is your peers who may have more convincing and credible proposals. You need real brilliance, not turnoffs, to win. Martin Zwilling is the founder and chief executive officer of Startup Professionals, a company that provides products and services to startup founders and small business owners. Check out his daily blog at http://blog.startupprofessionals.com Read more about Marty here .

Tagged as: become an entrepreneur, business, business planning, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, financing, funding, money, startup

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7 Financial Habits of Strong Businesses

by Paul Joseph August 23, 2011 Featured

The road to business success can be a fairly rocky one. But as with most rocky situations, there is a lot to be learned along the way. Unfortunately, one of the lessons many entrepreneurs learn the hard way is the proper way to handle their finances. As financial issues, including lack of funds and financial mismanagement, are among the most common reasons for business failure, this is an area that deserves some thought and planning. Below are 7 financial habits that can help your road to success feel a whole lot smoother: 1. Create Proper Financial Statements: A lot of people have the misconception that financial statements are a simple listing of all business expenses and income. Proper financial statements don’t stop there. In order to get a realistic grasp on your company’s cash flow, value of assets, and any debts you have, generate complete financial statements on a quarterly basis. By doing so, you’ll have the opportunity to see that your checkbook’s balance isn’t always an indication of the financial health of your business or income earned. 2. Engage an Accounting Expert: Put forth the money and effort required to find a good accounting firm to help you with your accounting needs. Although this may seem like an expensive proposition, business failure will be even more costly. By hiring an accounting firm, not only are you saving yourself the hassle and space of having an in-house accounting department, but you’ll also be ensuring that the money end of your business is running as efficiently as possible. 3. Utilize Financial Management Software: Even if you’re using a professional accountant, managing and reporting your business finances will require some sort of financial management software. Using this type of application will provide you with the information required to make informed business decisions. Items such as savings and profits will be outlined clearly so that you can instantly see where any improvements need to be made. 4. Track Sales-to-Expense Ratios: By tracking your sales-to-expense ratios, you’ll have the tools and knowledge required to make any changes where necessary. For example, by tracking advertising expense-to-sales ratios, you can clearly see if your advertising dollars are being spent wisely. If you notice an increase in advertising expense-to-sales ratios, it very well may mean that your current method of advertising is ineffective and needs to be reexamined. 5. Monitor Inventory Levels: A very important aspect of any product-centered business is inventory management. By monitoring inventory levels closely, you’ll be able to protect your business from simple yet destructive issues, like running out of goods or materials. 6. Manage Accounts Properly: By understanding how to properly calculate and manage accounts receivable and accounts payable, and understand their relationship to each other, you’re better able to get a handle on your company’s financial health. Your accountant will help with this, but you need to know it yourself too. It’s your business, and you want your finger on the pulse of your finances at all times. 7. Have a Capitalization Strategy: Business planning and capitalization strategy should go hand-in-hand. By understanding what will be needed in order for you to acquire the resources and amount of capital necessary to accomplish your business goals, you will be able to plan much more effectively for the end result that you desire. By implementing these habits, your business will stand a much better chance to avoid becoming part of the failure statistics. You certainly don’t have to be an accountant in order to be successful with your business, but if your finances aren’t managed properly, your chance of success is greatly diminished.

Tagged as: business, business planning, business savvy, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, finances, money, money management, small-business

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My Top 5 Favorite Passive Income Methods

by Paul Joseph July 29, 2011 Featured

Whether passive income exists is an age old debate, which in my opinion will never be resolved. It all comes down to our individual definitions of the term. Without “duking” out whose definition is more accurate, here are my top 5 favorite passive income avenues . No matter how you define passive income, each of these has some characteristics that I am positive will meet your definition as well. 1. Inheritance Didn’t we all wish we had a rich uncle who loved us so much that he decided to name us the beneficiary of his entire estate? It only happens in movies from my recollection, but this is by far the quickest and easiest way to benefit from a passive cash windfall. All jokes aside, though massive inheritance cases are far and few, inheritances ‘happen’ everyday to all kinds of people in all corners of the world. The beauty of it is that YOU DO NOT have to create the initial capital needed to benefit from the passive income stream. 2. Interest On Certificates Of Deposit / Fixed Deposit I like this avenue because it not only provides a nice passive stream of income, but also protects your hard earned capital over the years, months, weeks, minutes or seconds (if you inherited it I suppose). As long as your money is protected or insured (example: FDIC insurance in the USA for up to $250,000 per account or RBI – Reserve Bank of India insurance up to $1M on foreign deposits), you can sleep well at night knowing your cash is safe and earning interest income. Of course, the historically low rates in the USA are not helping right now, but if you are in a country that pays in the double digit interest rate margin , you may be profiting nicely from this scheme. I just hope your country’s inflation is not as high or higher as well. The challenge in capitalizing from this passive income stream is obvious. You need to build a capital base first on which you can earn the income. 3. Royalties / Franchise Fees This one always intrigues me. I wished I had the genius to come up with an idea / patent and license it out in exchange for royalties. Either that or starting a burger joint like “In and Out” that blows people’s mind with their “secret sauce” so that I can franchise the concept and collect on franchisor fees. Unfortunately, I have neither going on for me, and that is why this one made it to my list of top 5 favorite, but not my list of the top 5 of MY highest passive income earners . 4. Rental Income This is one I currently capitalize on and enjoy a lot. I like the cash flow I receive monthly, the equity I build with each passing month (mortgage balance is reduced over time), the potential long term appreciation of the property and the short term tax benefits from depreciation and what have you. The challenge here is that you must understand real estate investing, and execute it to where you have investment property that generates passive income. Similar to accumulating a capital base on which to earn interest, this endeavor can also initially be capital intensive. 5. Internet Income You can’t deny it, but you GOTTA love this one. Aside from a fat inheritance, what other platform allows you to create something (a lot of things) from nothing? With a mere $10 investment in a domain name and another $20 in hosting, you can be flying with the pigs. There are so many ways to monetize your website or blog online. I currently capitalize from at least seven different income streams from my portfolio of niche websites. I generate profits from private advertisement, public ads such as Google Adsense , sales of my digital products such as e-books, lead generation and referrals, affiliate commissions and a few others. The success of my websites and blog have also led to several one on one coaching and consulting type gigs, with both individuals and small companies. The experience has truly been rewarding and I really enjoy this passive income avenue. But is this avenue truly passive? Not in the beginning, no way. You can toil for years before the fruits of your labor start paying off. From personal experience, once it starts raining, it pours. And the beauty is that it pours harder automatically on its own with each passing day, week, month, year. Concluding Thoughts I am not a trust fund baby. I have not yet and do not anticipate benefiting from an inheritance. That said, I have managed to amass a decent amount of cash on which I am generating a solid passive interest income stream. I don’t think anything can get any more passive than inheriting wealth (maybe finding a stash of cash on the street can be), but aside from that unlikely scenario, interest income on your savings is the epitome of passive income in my humble opinion. If you are wondering why dividend investing is not part of my list, I don’t particularly rank that avenue as high as these five because of the risk / uncertainty component attached to it. That said, a portfolio built carefully to yield dividend income can provide a nice trickle of passive income over time. Anyway, these are five solid passive income avenues, which are my favorite, but not necessarily my 5 top earning passive income streams. Perhaps in my next post I can talk about my personal top 5 earning passive income streams? What about you? What are your favorite passive income avenues? What are your current top passive income earning streams? Sunil Get your bonus copy of my book “How To Start An Internet Business & Make Your First $1,000 Online” Download Here

Tagged as: money, thoughts

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The 17 Rules of Bootstrap Marketing

by Paul Joseph July 28, 2011 Featured

Too many people in the small business world believe in the saying, “It takes money to make money.”  While it would be nice to have a huge ad budget, the truth is that most of us don’t start out with a big startup fund – and in some cases nothing at all. Going without any marketing though, is out of the question. The good news is that marketing can be done effectively on a very low budget. There have always been “guerilla marketing” techniques that any business owner could use, and thanks to the Internet, there are more ways to market for free or almost free than ever. But marketing must, above all, be effective, no matter how much or how little it costs. Below are seventeen characteristics of bootstrap marketing that will help you to grow a successful business without having to spend a fortune. Effective Bootstrap Marketing is marketing that’s… 1. Cost Effective. This is of course the first rule of bootstrap marketing! And as mentioned above, with the internet at our fingertips, there are more low-cost marketing options available to business owners today than there have ever been. It has become easier and easier to grow a successful small business on a very small budget. Think Social Media, comment marketing, blogging, guest blogging, forum posts, email marketing, and the list goes on. 2. Unwavering. If you want your marketing to be truly successful, you will need to be dedicated to seeing it through. Giving up in the early stages of your business is simply not an option when success is the goal. Have patience, because most marketing methods take time to produce results. Stick with it, and you’ll reap the benefits. 3. Branded. Providing your customers with a clear understanding of who you are and how your product or service can assist them is a must. Make sure your brand message is carried through in all your marketing. A post or profile on one site should be recognizable as being tied to your other posts and profiles. 4. Consistent. Your marketing campaign will be the life of your business, and needs to become part of your daily business routine. This is part of sticking with it, but it also means making a commitment to working your marketing every day, and for the long haul. 5. Focused on Customers. Your job will be to recognize any problems that your prospective customers have and offer them clear-cut solutions to these problems. Appealing to potential buyers by solving a problem or easing pain is the best way to make your marketing pay off. 6. Directed at Your Target Market. It’s imperative that you know precisely who is in need of your product or service. There was once a place for mass marketing, but that time has passed. Not only is mass marketing expensive, but it’s also a “shotgun” approach that doesn’t target potential customers in a focused way. Make sure you’re speaking to your niche. 7. Trust- and Confidence-Building. Increase the level of trust and confidence that your customers have in you and your business by creating experiences that will cause them to naturally feel more confident and trust in you. Consumers are much more likely to buy from people they trust and like. So make sure your marketing isn’t salesy or cheesy. Let go of gimmicks and be more direct and upfront. 8. A Boost to Your Visibility. Your prospective customers are bombarded by ads every single day. Utilize as many different marketing tools as possible. The more your prospective customers come across you, the more likely they will be to use your product or service. 9. Repetitious. Statistics prove that an average person will need to encounter a business in some capacity from seven to twelve times before they’ll be willing to purchase from it. With that being said, putting yourself out there as much as possible – in as many venues as possible – will result in real results. 10. Simple. You will easily confuse your prospective customers if any part of your business or marketing seems too complicated. If a person is confused, they won’t take the time to try and figure it out, and they won’t spend their money with you. Keep things as simple and straight forward as possible. 11. All About the Wow Factor. Are you doing everything in your power to get noticed? How do your tactics differ from those of your competitors? The fastest way to fail with your business is to blend in too well with the rest. Build marketing programs that are unique and communicate your brand’s personality in an interesting way. 12. Reassuring. The quality of your products and services is obviously of prime importance. And communicating that quality in your marketing is just as important. Reassure your potential buyers by providing warrantees, guarantees, and testimonials. Let people know it’s safe to go with your company. 13. Educational. Present yourself as an expert and take the time to educate your prospective customers so that they will understand why your business can offer them a solution to their problem. This is especially effective when using comments, forums, and social media for your bootstrap marketing efforts. 14. Personal. Create genuine relationships with your prospective customers. Answer any questions they may have, offer solutions to their problems, and help them if they find themselves in a bind. Showing your prospective customers that there is a real person behind your business will help you to build on your business relationships. And it doesn’t typically cost you anything! 15. Customer Nurturing. Attracting new buyers is important, but marketing to those who have used your company already is essential. Statistically speaking, over twenty percent of your current customers will purchase from you again, because they already know you. This makes the cost of acquisition of an existing customer far less than that of a new customer. Create new and different ways to bring your customers back and keep them happy. 16. Trackable. Knowing what works well and what doesn’t with your marketing campaign is crucial. How else will you know if your time is paying off? It can be difficult to track some forms of bootstrap marketing, but in many cases, link tracking software can be very helpful; especially if you’re sure to include a link in your social media posts. 17. Flexible. You never know when things will change, so you’ve got to be ready to adapt to those changes. Stay on top of the newest marketing methods, and when a new marketing platform pops up give it a try. Don’t jump all over the place, but add and alter marketing methods as soon as it makes sense. The more flexible you are with your marketing, the further ahead you will stay from your competitors. Following the rules above when implementing your bootstrap marketing plan will ensure that whatever you’re doing to get the word out, it’s as effective as possible. What other suggestions do you have for rules of marketing? Share with us in the comments!

Tagged as: business, customers, daily, entrepreneurship, internet marketing, life, marketing, marketing-strategies, money, small-business, time, your-business

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Overlooked Secrets of Successful Entrepreneurs

by Paul Joseph July 25, 2011 Featured

Entrepreneurs are not born successful. They work long and hard to achieve their goals. If you have a plan and are willing to put forth the time and effort needed to see your plan through, you too can be the kind of entrepreneur you desire to be. There are some important, often overlooked secrets to remember as you work your way down the path to success. The first thing you must know is that you need to do what you enjoy. When you start out doing what you love, you’ll be happier right from the beginning. Know your talents and tap into them. Don’t waste your valuable time having a career that you can’t stand. If you focus your business on what you know and love, potential employees and clients will notice and be immediately attracted to it. You’ve heard the adage, “You are what you eat.” You are also what you do. If you want to manage your own interior design business, be the best designer possible, as your success as a designer will define the way you feel about yourself and the way others see you. Don’t forget to project a positive image in both your business and personal lives. Being successful in business starts when you take care of yourself physically and mentally. Get enough exercise. Allow enough time in the day to rest and sleep. If you want to be at your peak when you are promoting your new ideas and business, take time to rejuvenate your personal self. Then, you will project excitement and enthusiasm to everyone you come in contact with. A big part of success in any aspect of life is learning how to find and maintain balance, particularly between work and play. As important as it is to devote the necessary time to getting your business up and going, you must not let work overtake your life. Make time for breaks. If necessary, schedule break time just like you would an appointment and be vigilant about it. Vacations are also a must. Maybe you can’t take the time off or spend the money to go on a seven-day cruise, so try a stay-cation. Don’t go into the office, stay home and work on a hobby or take a nap. Sometimes just a day or two are all that it takes to get the spring back into your step and clear your mind. Also, give your employees time off as well. Every person works better on a fully-charged battery. Another secret is to continue to invest in your education. Look for ongoing classes offered by other successful entrepreneurs and business people. Remember that there is always room for improvement in your business, and if you want to attract success, surround yourself with it. Read books and then read more. There is no such thing as too much knowledge, and every time you learn something new you will become a better business person and a better employer. Above all, be willing to accept advice. You might think this is a tricky concept, but just because you allow someone to give you advice doesn’t mean you have to use it. Be open to new concepts and ideas, but rely on your intellect and instinct. After all, you’re ultimately the only person responsible for your own success. Finally, look everywhere for opportunity. Don’t be afraid to start out small. Know that sometimes seemingly insignificant opportunities can lead to key developments in your business. As stated before, most successful people become successes because of time and effort. Thinking big but starting out realistically will get you where you want to be faster than trying to become a millionaire overnight. About the Author: Kyle Mortensen is a freelance writer for Tektronix. Tektronix is a leading supplier of test and measurement equipment such as a digital multimeter .

Tagged as: become an entrepreneur, education, entrepreneurship, mind, money, office, personal, time

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7 Reasons You Shouldn’t Give Up on the Dream

by Paul Joseph July 1, 2011 Featured

The way of the entrepreneur is fraught with danger. You’ve got to climb mountains of skepticism and cross chasms of underfunding, where beneath you the skeletons of ill-fated startups lie… and there’s only that thin rope of your own determination keeping you up there, alive. Nobody said being an entrepreneur was easy, but I bet some days you didn’t expect it would be quite so hard. You probably didn’t expect you’d be reading words like “fraught” either. Life is just full of little surprises like that. So you’re struggling along; maybe you’re at a low point, believing you really are crazy for dreaming. Maybe that nine-to-fiver is looking really good right about now. Maybe you’re tired of being so dang determined, you’d like to have a real day off, and you’re thinking,  Really, is a normal job that bad? Well, no, it usually isn’t. But you shouldn’t take it anyway. Here’s why: 1. You’re reading this article… this one, about holding on to the dream of entrepreneurship, of success on your own terms, of something besides the job you could be working in right now. You’re looking for a reason to stay in the game, and that’s reason enough. If you didn’t really care, you’d have quit already. 2. You fear failure at this – this venture, this small business, this one-man shop, this entrepreneurial craziness – more than anything else you’ve attempted. You wake up at night afraid you can’t do it…. which just means that you really, really want to be able to do it. Fear is a normal part of risk. Failure is a necessary part of success. You don’t fear failing at what you don’t care about. 3. It’s not about the money. Sure, you’d like the money. Sometimes you think it’s about the money. But you know it’s not. Not for you. 4. A big part of your difficulty is all the new great ideas you keep having while you’re still in the preliminary stages of getting that first great idea off the ground. Ideas are like food for you. You live them, breathe them, love them. They’re also your nemesis, because the fun of ideas can keep you from the imperative of action. If that’s a problem for you, it’s just further proof that your entrepreneurial heart is beating strong. It just needs a little discipline, a little focus, a little bit of you setting boundaries to take one idea  all the way before you jump to the next one. 5. You’re really afraid you’re not qualified for this whole entrepreneurial thing. Maybe you don’t have an MBA, or a business degree, or a degree at all. Maybe business jargon sounds like Klingon to you (or maybe you speak Klingon better than you speak business jargon). You keep thinking someone will figure out that you’re a fraud, that you’re not qualified, that you don’t know exactly, precisely, at all what you’re doing.  But you’re still here doing it, aren’t you? Congratulations; you’ve just met the preliminary requirement for being an entrepreneur. 6. The phrase “work-life balance” is essentially meaningless to you. That doesn’t mean you’re a workaholic, exactly… though that may not be far off. But what it really means is that work is an important part of your real life, not just a separated, specialized segment of it. It’s not just what you do for a living, it’s an essential part of who you are as a person. 7. You keep trying to talk yourself out of this risky business. Freelancing, consulting, or working from home? A start-up? Venture capital? Business plans? Presentations? Risks, and prototypes, and meetings, and marketing, and more presentations; clients, cold calls, sales strategies, late hours, working weekends… Life would be so much simpler, so much easier if you could just let yourself quit. Here’s a secret for you: people who don’t want to be entrepreneurs  aren’t entrepreneurs. They don’t talk themselves out of it, because they never even consider getting into it. But you did, and here you are. Why? Because it’s who you are, and who you want to be. Sometimes you wish you could change that, but here’s another secret you already know: even if you could change that part of yourself, you wouldn’t, because you know you’d die of boredom doing anything else. Stay in the game. You’re a real player, and this game needs real players. Annie Mueller enjoys creating a personal yet professional voice to render complex topics understandable. Her passion is helping home, small, and micro businesses succeed. Read more about Annie here .

Tagged as: become an entrepreneur, business, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, game, money, small-business

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How Google And Groupon REALLY Make Their Millions

by Paul Joseph June 24, 2011 Featured

It’s so interesting that most entrepreneurs use basic online products in their lives every single day, but fail to realize what hooked them into using those products. Even more ironic is the fact that how disconnected we have become in recognizing the commonalities these mega successful products have that make them a “mega success”. Ok, let me be more specific. I am talking about successes such as: Google vs Yahoo Seth Godin’s Blog vs 890 bajillion blogs Groupon “The Random Show” (By Tim Ferriss and Kevin Rose , Founder of Digg ) Google Apps vs Open Office I will show you how they did it and how we can replicate their methodologies in our businesses. But, here is the problem, I can keep giving you examples after examples to convey the point, but still fail because you might define success or “mega success” differently than I do. To eliminate any differences here – when I say “mega success”, I am referring to a business/entity that is successfully generating revenue where others have failed or attracting more audience and fans unlike any other business or entity . This blog is specifically about how the Big Guys monetize the heck out of their products/services easily while the frustrated entrepreneur struggles to even sell ONE HOLY copy/subscription of their product. There are reasons why this happens, and it’s not luck. The number one reason why Google is Google, Seth Godin is Seth Godin, Digg is Digg, Groupon is… well you get the point, is because these entities are not run by marketers, they are run by strategists. You and I both have been exposed to our fair share of scammy online marketing offers, which has conditioned us to suspend our thinking and blindly believe that marketing is the solution to solving world hunger. Don’t get me wrong, I am a marketing whiz and I continue to use marketing to grow businesses, but let’s face it – marketing is a piece of the pie called business, and not the pie itself. In reality, Strategy is a far more powerful lever to create “mega success” than marketing. I know you want to talk about monetization , so do I, but I had to set the stage by explaining to you the importance of strategy to make the following examples much more digestible. Alright, so let’s dive right into it. Google.com What do we do when we first start compiling a list of things our “state-of-the-art” website is going to have? We start off by putting an ABOUT US page, CONTACT US page, COMPANY HISTORY, and 107 other ideas to be implemented that no one else in the world cares about . Now what did Google do? They ditched Google Weather, Google News, Google company history, owner profile and the 987354 other things that no one cares about and put laser focus on their most powerful asset – the Google Search . What is your most powerful asset in terms of service delivery/product feature that needs this kind of highlighting? I hope you have faced the fact that the only thing the users care about is the core product/service, which is user-friendly, risk-free, hassle-free, and convenient – PERIOD. Are you providing that? So the first rule is to give something of massive value to your users in a straightforward and simple fashion. But wait… Google Search does not even sell their service, they make money on ads. Now if you have been in any sort of advertising, you know that sales people just want to create a blunt and shameless advertising spot in their available media and sell it to the advertisers. I am sure a typical ad sales person would recommend Google to sell ads on their home page. I am sure Google is going to make a heck load of money this way, but not for very long. I hope this is making sense. Your business must be designed to give massive value to your users . If you are selling ad space on your website, realize that your users want value from them as well. Those ads must be relevant to their interest. The point is simple, date with your users and not with your advertisers. Monetization follows automatically when you get the core right. Groupon.com Many might not know that Groupon became Groupon after many experiments and tweaks were done to its original concept at a website called thepoint.com ( http://www.groupon.com/about ). ThePoint was the original concept that let users create their own campaign, which could be anything from “Raise Money For Charity”, “Ban Ebay for X days”, to“Get Publishers to Publish magazines without photoshopping the models,” and these campaigns would be promoted to encourage group action. Do you see the point? You can create any campaign your heart desires and create an incentive that is monetary or non-monetary. Hmm! The website encouraged group action, but in a very open, unfocused and confusing way. Great concept, but lack of focus . So one day the founders decided to break-off the Group-buying-discounts part of ThePoint and make it as its own entity now known as Groupon . This is where the magic happened and now we know Groupon as the fastest grown billion dollar company in history. I have given you two examples so far – Google and Groupon. Did they use marketing as their lever to success or strategy? I hope I am giving you a higher perspective here, but I am not done yet. Google Docs Previously you read me say that “focus on the product and the monetization will follow”, but I wish I could say that it is always that simple. If it were, Open Office would be the most used software the world knew. Oh, so you do not know what Open Office is??? Good, that conveys my point more profoundly. Open Office is an application suite that has all the softwares one would need to do word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more. In simple words you can do everything Microsoft Office suite can do in Open Office, the only difference is that Open Office is free . Before MS Office 2007 , Open Office was literally a copy of MS Office – same functionality, user experience and no compatibility issues. Open Office was a failure due to the lack of strategy . MS Office kept on charging for their product, marketing to huge audiences, while Open Office was not able to giveaway their software for free to a small fraction of the market. There are many reasons for that, but let’s talk about this: How to do it right! – the Google way Google introduced its edition of MS Office called Google Docs . Google Docs has a fraction of the functionality MS Office or Open Office has, but they have a really cool (in demand and problem solving) spin to it. A user can share and access his document from anywhere in the world with an Internet connection and a web browser. But hold on! Where is the monetization part? Google is not selling ads here. Remember! I told you that if you get the product part right, the monetization will follow (with some creative thinking). Google introduced a premium edition of their Docs and mail service for businesses, who desperately want central data storage and smart sharing capability. Many corporations have trouble moving and maintaining email servers and hence Google Apps was born. I use Google Apps, the solution is simple to use and hassle free. Once again – Strategy Google Search, Groupon and Google Apps filled the gap they saw in the market, but it is really important to notice that they all communicated their message clearly and focused on their core. For Google Search the core was the Search Functionality ; for Groupon, it was Group Discounts ; and for Google Apps, it was Office Productivity in the Cloud . There are many differences between the big guys and the small guys. One key difference is that the big guys are confident and bluntly say ‘no’ to the mediocre. They both have the same mental capacity but the big guys choose to use that capacity differently. I mean, I am sure Google could introduce 87 different features on top of the core functionality MS Office had, but they didn’t. They introduced basic features and introduced Cloud technology to the Office suite – pretty sweet. Remember, marketing follows strategy and not the other way round. Start hating conventional wisdom and question ideas constantly. Aziz Ali Get your bonus copy of my book “How To Start An Internet Business & Make Your First $1,000 Online” Download Here

Tagged as: book, cloud computing, money, office, product

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Why Keeping It Real Is Your Best Selling Tactic

by Paul Joseph June 20, 2011 Featured

Greetings once more fellow entrepreneur, this week I have something quite unique and extraordinary to share. Yesterday, I interviewed Shaune Clarke , and what began as a 45 minute interview spilled into nearly two hours as we took a free fall into the mind of one of the most uniquely gifted entrepreneurs I’ve encountered. Because Shaune shared such a wealth of information, I’ve had to edit the interview into several parts, so today we’re looking at the first part, in which Shaune shares with us his insights for entrepreneurs about creating your own game , the 1/2 step away market , unwarranted sales resistance , and the art of graceful persuasion as it relates to building trust through authenticity and our unique giftedness. Phew! And all this in under 20 minutes! You can just imagine what we covered in two hours! So, let us begin, come and join me at the edge to take a leap into the farthest reaches of the unique genius of Shaune Clarke Creating Your Own Game One of the comments that  people consistently make about Shaune Clarke, is that he’s not like anyone else they’ve met in the business he’s starring in, whether it’s Speaking Training , Copywriting , Internet Marketing , Interviewing or Natural Health . Shaune explains that most people will often compare themselves to competitors and try to compete with them, when really, there’s no reason to do this. Shaune learned from his experience as an extremely successful copywriter, that having something different equates to having something valuable, providing there is a market for it. Shaune says that 95% of the time, there is a market, and there are already people in that market spending money. After Shaune had hired one of the top gun copywriters to write sales copy for him and it flopped, he thought, “You know what? I didn’t like that style of sales copy, I wouldn’t respond well to it, so there must be others who would feel the same.” So he invested time and money into learning about how others wrote sales copy, then set about writing in his own unique style that was more aligned with his own values and preferences. This turned out to be so successful, that within 6 months , he couldn’t keep up the demand for his work and he was asked to train other copywriters. Shaune realized two things through this experience. One was that bringing his unique gifts to his work was extremely valuable and lucrative , and training others to emulate his style would not work either. For his clients in his trainings, learning to find their own unique style and inner giftedness and bring that to their work was going to be far more valuable and lucrative to them as well. The Half A Step Away Market Shaune explains that the market is always changing and evolving, and doing so rapidly. The established players are often not able or willing to adapt or change to the market as it evolves, so when we come into the market with something new, there are clients already in the market who are going to resonate with what we’re offering. He also speaks about the 1/2 step away market , which is the people who are at the very edges of the market. These clients have a problem that needs solving, but there’s currently no one in the industry that has communicated to them in a way that resonates with them, and therefore draws them from the edges of the market into it. Everyday, someone who has not spent money in an industry will begin to invest their money in it. There are people both in your market and right at the edges who will resonate with your unique style and gifts that you bring to your business. Unwarranted Sales Resistance Shaune explains further that all clients will experience something he calls unwarranted sales resistance . This is because all of us have had an experience of spending money before on products and services and not getting our problem solved. This means someone’s previous bad experience is going to be projected onto us when they are considering buying from us. This is unwarranted sales resistance because it has nothing to do with us , it is related to a previous experience our client has had, and it is being projected onto the current situation. Our role as business people is to just be aware of this, and to maintain our certainty of the value and quality of our products and services and communicate this elegantly to our clients. It doesn’t involve pushing or comparing. It’s a matter of understanding that there is an element of risk involved in spending money, and the biggest thing is not to try to sell somebody on our products or services, but to build trust. The Art Of Graceful Persuasion Shaune goes on to say, “We don’t need a sales formula, we need a formula for imbuing authenticity into our work which inherently builds trust .” Shaune is acutely aware that his speaking training clients experience a far greater degree of competence, confidence and authenticity when their presentation is imbued with their own unique gifts. He says, “Speaker training should adapt to you, you should not have to adapt to speaking training.” The more our unique giftedness is allowed to be present on our work, the more authenticity there is to it, and the greater the level of certainty and trust we can build with our clients. “We’re all very good at persuasion when we’re self motivated, like persuading our partner to go to a particular restaurant or holiday location or getting the kids to do their homework,” Shaune explains. But when it comes to exchanging money for goods and services, we can get tangled in an uncomfortable and encumbered selling process, when it really doesn’t have to be like that. The art of graceful persuasion is being aware the combination of unique skills, insights and information that you bring to your business, and using these to bring authenticity to your work. This inherently builds trust with our clients so that they understand that we are going to give them quality goods and services, and they will have their problem solved. Shaune’s speaker training is really a method for gaining a greater depth of understanding and self awareness of your unique giftedness and learning how to communicate this to your clients. This builds trust and moves clients through unwarranted sales resistance gracefully and with understanding and empathy . When he was considering taking on the task of training others to speak, he told his partner, Clarinda, “the world does not need another speaker training, what the world needs is a training that shows people how to bring their authentic self to their work and demonstrate this value to others. ” Luckily for those clients like myself, who were seeking to bring more awareness to our unique combination of skills, insights and information and then learn how to communicate this value to our clients, Shaune has put together exactly this, and the art of graceful persuasion is no longer an enigma. There is, however, a lot more to learn from Shaune, but we’ll have to wait for another article to find out as this one is has reached critical mass for the quantity of insights I can fit into my head in one go! I would love to hear your comments at the end, thanks for watching or reading. Cheers, Neroli. Get your bonus copy of my book “How To Start An Internet Business & Make Your First $1,000 Online” Download Here

Tagged as: article, business, client, clients, kids, marketing, money, sales, unique

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Ten Quotes from Entrepreneurs Looking to Fail

by Paul Joseph June 20, 2011 Featured

Every entrepreneur needs to be honest about their strengths and weaknesses, and realistic about their reasons for choosing the startup route. For any entrepreneur, even the best business opportunities, if entered for the wrong reasons, will likely fail.  Some of these reasons seem obvious, so forgive me for restating, but I still hear them too often. Statistics show that at least 50% of new startups fail within five years, and many of the survivors eventually fail. If you don’t want to be part of these statistics, consider all the alternatives to starting your own business, especially if you have one of the following perspectives: 1. “I’m tired of working hard and being so stressed all the time.” Starting and growing a business is more work and more stress than any employee role should be.  Perhaps you need to look carefully at the reasons for your weariness and stress at work. Health and personal problems don’t go away when you start a business. 2. “It’s my hobby anyway, so why not make it my business?” The problem here is that most hobbies cost money rather than make money.  Just because you love doing it doesn’t mean anyone will love paying for it. 3. “I’m desperate, since I can’t find a job that suits me.” With the current recession, jobs are indeed hard to find.  But don’t forget that businesses are failing at a higher rate as well. Desperate people don’t make good entrepreneurs, and probably don’t have the resources or fortitude to start a business. 4. “My family has always been in business, so it’s in my genes.” Good entrepreneurs do seem to have certain innate qualities, but it’s not clear that these qualities are automatically passed to offspring. If your passions are elsewhere, don’t try running the family business. 5. “I’ve inherited some money and starting a business should be a good investment.” You can’t start a business without capital, but having capital doesn’t mean you can start one. Learning is expensive and risky. It’s less risky to invest your windfall in someone with a proven business record, or put the money in the bank. 6. “I have some extra time, and I need a second income.” Being an entrepreneur is not a part-time job. A business startup is actually a second expense more than a second income. For supplementary income, you would be better served to take a part-time job with an existing company. 7. “I hate having a boss, and just being an employee.” Don’t start a business for a power trip. When you become a business owner, your customers, suppliers, creditors, partners and a lot of other people will become your new “bosses”. These people may be harder to please than your boss at the office today. 8. “All my friends own hot businesses and seem to be doing well.” You shouldn’t believe all the hype, or all the things said in social circles. Definitely don’t jump into trendy businesses you don’t know just to be popular.  Even good friends tend to forget talking about the years of hard work and sacrifice, in favor of recent success. 9. “I’d like to be rich, so I’ll start a business.” Starting a business with a dream of riches is certain disappointment. There is no evidence that entrepreneurs make more money, on the average, than other professionals. There is much evidence that the risks of failure are higher on the business owner side. 10. “My primary goal is to contribute something to society.” This is laudable, but more effectively addressed after you have built a successful company, not before. If changing the world is your main motivation and money is not a concern, then do it, without allowing the building of a company to slow you down. For anyone with entrepreneurial aspirations, I recommend you start by networking with peer business people and organizations before you commit to a startup of your own.  Ask questions and do everything you can to make sure you are tackling the right business for the right reasons. Your entrepreneurial life depends on it. Martin Zwilling is the founder and chief executive officer of Startup Professionals, a company that provides products and services to start-up founders and small business owners. Read more about Marty here .

Tagged as: business, business savvy, entrepreneur, entrepreneurs, family, friends, money, small-business, time

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Young Entrepreneur Interview: Jason O’Neill of Pencil Bugs

by Paul Joseph June 14, 2011 Featured

If you’re a kid or know a kid who is or wants to be an entrepreneur, you’ll get a lot of inspiration out of today’s interview. If you’re an adult entrepreneur, you’ll be surprised the lessons a 15-year-old can teach you! We recently caught up with Jason O’Neill, entrepreneur, author, and inventor and founder of Pencil Bugs . With all the talk of “today’s youth” not having drive and ambition, we’re always happy to see examples of just the opposite. And we see them all the time in young entrepreneurs like Jason. Like so many who are bitten by the entrepreneurial bug early, Jason didn’t come to entrepreneurship on purpose, but once he had a taste of it, he ran with it – in a big way. Read the interview below and see how a nine-year-old turned an idea into what promises to be a lifetime of entrepreneurial adventure! You started Pencil Bugs at the age of 9. Did you go into the venture with the intention of making a business out of it? How did it progress? I had no intention of starting a business at nine years old. It really happened by accident and by taking one step at a time. In 2005, my mom was making a product to sell at a craft fair. I wanted to help her and I thought that if I did, she would split the money with me. She said “no” and suggested I come up with my own idea. After a few trial and errors and drawing some designs on paper, Pencil Bugs were finally born. Pencil Bugs are colorful, bug-like hand crafted pencil toppers that fit on top of a #2 pencil and come packaged with their own Certificate of Authenticity. I made a small supply for the craft fair and they all sold out quickly. After that event, I knew it was a good idea and that I should keep going with it. What has been the biggest business challenge you’ve had to face, and how did you overcome it? The biggest challenge is that I am a kid. Some people think that I am just some kid making a little craft. They don’t always realize all that it takes or what goes into having a business. Probably the hardest thing is having my peers understand what I do. Has your age ever been an advantage? Aside from the fact, as I mentioned before, about not everyone understanding what you do, there are some legal issues that come with being a minor in business. But for the most part, being young has more advantages than disadvantages. We don’t have to really worry about earning a living yet. We can take things slowly since we have lots of time to be adults. We have the opportunities to learn and experience things that most schools don’t teach kids. Most people are really supportive of kids doing positive things, whatever that may be. And probably the biggest advantage of being a young entrepreneur is that there is less competition, although more and more kids are going this route. My entire business has been a learning experience for me, and everything that has happened is something that I probably wouldn’t have gotten to experience if I were just going to school. As a young entrepreneur, do you feel like you gave up any of what it means to be a kid? Would you do it all again? Having my business has never interfered with being a normal kid, and that is a very important thing for any young entrepreneur to remember. We have a whole lifetime of work ahead of us, so even if we start a business while we are young, it’s important to still be a kid first and have fun and do all the normal things kids get to do. My parents are really supportive of me and make sure I stay balanced. Because of my business though, I have had opportunities that most adults don’t get to experience. I don’t feel I have given up what it means to be a kid, and I am happy I got the chance to experience a whole different side of life. To answer your question of would I do it all again, my answer would have to be “I don’t know” because I don’t like to second guess what I have already done and I also don’t set definite plans for the future. I like to keep my options and opportunities open and see what happens. Last year, you published a book, Bitten by the Business Bug: Common Sense Tips for Business and Life from a Teen Entrepreneur . What has that experience been like? Do you plan to write other books? Publishing a book was a big milestone for my business. It was really exciting that after the book was released I was invited to speak at bigger events. It has opened up even more doors for me. I am working on another book with an environmental theme and have a children’s book about the Pencil Bugs characters that hopefully will be out next year. You are involved with giving back to the community and could even be considered a “social entrepreneur.” Why has that been a focus throughout all you’ve done? I wanted to help out others that may not have the opportunities that I had. People have to remember that there will always be people less fortunate than you. Since the beginning of my business, I donated to various children’s charities such as foster homes and hospitals. In addition to that, I have also had a fundraiser for the past three years for Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego, California raising money to buy teddy bears for the kids. I have had great success with that and in 2009 I raised over $5,000, which all went to buying the bears. Making money is grea,t but it’s what you do with it that really counts. Even if a person can’t give a lot, I always say every little bit can make a big difference in someone else’s life. What three pieces of advice do you have for young entrepreneurs interested in starting their first business? The best advice I can give is: Try your ideas, because doing nothing guarantees nothing. Start out small, because there are lots of ways you can try a business without going into financial debt or taking big risks. Be willing to help others along the way, since you probably haven’t gotten to the place you are all by yourself. What are your plans for the future? Since I just finished my first year of high school, I am looking at a lot of different opportunities. I plan to continue my Pencil Bugs business although I will probably take it in a different direction with the actual products. I also have other books that I am working on as I mentioned before, and I really like the public speaking aspect so plan to do as much of that as possible. Aside from my business plans, I still want to go to college and get a computer science degree, with a focus on video game design. Of course, all that could change since I still have three years left of high school.

Tagged as: book, books, business, california, entrepreneur, entrepreneurial, ideas, money, plans

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