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The Family Business – For Better or Worse

by Paul Joseph July 27, 2011 Featured

Deciding to go into business with family is an exciting decision that can bring out the best and worst in your collective relationships. There are numerous examples of family businesses that have developed into world-conquering brands: Walmart, Fiat, and the headline-ridden NewsCorp to name but a few. However, what history doesn’t tell us is just how many families have been left in tatters by business partnerships that were never meant to be. To put it simply, a family business raises the stakes and turns simple profit and loss in to a mere afterthought if planned naively. It’s important to be fully prepared before venturing in to any business agreement, especially when you have an informal background with your new partner. What feels like a proposal of mutual benefit today, can rapidly descend in to a personal rift of epic proportions if the ‘terms and conditions’ aren’t as airtight as they would be in any other professional contract. I have one piece of advice for doing business with families and friends: favors do not work. Even if your closest cousin offers you a zero-interest loan with the best of intentions, you probably shouldn’t take it. That is not to dispute the generosity of your loved ones, but to live by a simple truth that businesses fare better where all parties concerned believe that their deal is the best. Everybody should get a fair deal, including those who do you a favor when the banks won’t budge. Especially those people! Banks are notoriously picky about lending money, and angel investors are tough to find on the average street corner, so gaining investment from family and friends is often a convenient road for the entrepreneur. In order to avoid a devastating fall-out with your friendly investors, clarity and transparency are the orders of the day. Draw up exact terms of repayment and systematically dismantle any sense that a favor is owed. Even if you’re taking money from your own mother, be professional and treat the investment as if you’re working with Lord Sugar on The Apprentice. The chances are, if you feel guilty about accepting an investment, the investor is feeling regretful about jumping so eagerly into bed with your business. Make sure that regret is never an issue. What about adding family members to an already successful business? In many situations, once you’ve established a profitable business, you will find that your friends and family come crawling out of the woodwork in search of a job that gets them away from the office cubicle. This is always a tough situation, and I stand firmly by the view that relationships are best kept out of businesses where they haven’t existed since day one. You have to be ruthless. If this means hiring a stranger over your jobless aunty who ‘needs a favor to pay the mortgage’, then unfortunately, so be it. A weak stance will put your own mortgage in danger. There will be instances where the best person for a job genuinely is your friend or relative. In these situations, where applicable, make every attempt to insulate yourself from the management process. If you have a project manager or a senior partner, make the friend or family member report to them rather than yourself. It’s very common, if the relationship isn’t entirely professional, for a worker to start taking liberties based on what he sees as immunity to strict employment guidelines. Your friend may start to enjoy extended weekends, or late arrivals in to the office, or simply the luxury of balancing his own odd-jobs with your designated hours on the clock. These situations are much less likely to arise if you are insulated from the management process, and the friend or relative reports directly to somebody else. If you can’t guarantee such a work structure, be clear that personal favoritism flies out of the window where work is concerned. When the warnings go unheeded, be prepared to fall on your sword by accepting responsibility for damaged relationships if termination is necessary. If this sounds like a scaremongering bid to deter you from going in to business with family, that is not the intention. Family businesses built on the right foundations have proven through the years to be some of the strongest in the world. They comprise loyalty, a sense of shared ambition, and in some cases an invaluable sixth sense. If you instinctively know the strengths and weaknesses of your business partner, and investors, you can concentrate efforts for maximum return. For many entrepreneurs, the actual concept of building a business is deeply rooted to leaving a legacy for future generations. What better legacy than a successful business to pass down to your children? Family is usually a much greater influence than most entrepreneurs give credit to. Even if you don’t consider your business to be family orientated in 2011, your views may well change with time! Martin “Finch” Osborn is a marketing entrepreneur who started his own business at 21, and now works from a laptop while traveling the world. He is a fierce critic of the “get rich quick” online phenomenon. Read more about Finch here .

Tagged as: business, children, entrepreneur, friends, office

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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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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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Where is My Money Going? Into Bad Apples.

by Paul Joseph May 27, 2011 Featured

Maintaining an effective and friendly staff is one of the most complicated challenges I’ve encountered as a young entrepreneur. As Chief Operating Officer of AKT Enterprises, I oversee the coordination and collaboration of over sixty employees spread over five departments and three facilities. With an average employee age of twenty-four years old, the company falls victim to the many drawbacks of workplaces consisting of Generation Y employees. As food for thought, here are a few published common pitfalls of hiring “Millennials,” as they’re called: Heightened sense of entitlement Take credit for good outcomes, point the blame for bad Unrealistic expectations of the common workplace I’m extremely proud of every single employee at AKT and acknowledge that we didn’t get here without making a few “bad hires” along the way. The truth is, sometimes it’s more work to try to teach someone how to be a great employee than it is to take a gamble on bringing in someone new and training them up to speed. Over time, I’ve naturally developed a few common categories for red flag situations.  These red flags, more often than not, indicate the need for an immediate firing.  Note that these are listed in no particular order, someone can possess more than one of these qualities and, please, forgive the names I chose. 1. The Supposedly-Qualified, Busy Body When you interviewed this person, you couldn’t have been more excited– a perfect match, right? This person is constantly working hard, putting in extra hours and bringing up countless ideas without being forced to. Their analysis of problems is accurate and their proposed solutions all make sense to you. This individual is incredible on paper, but you just can’t put your finger on why their magic isn’t working at your company. The reality is that some people are just full of it. They know what you’re looking for and they know how make it appear that they’ve been working hard–just enough to keep you guessing where the problem in your company is. Trust me, this type of employee may be professional and intelligent, but they cause more problems than they fix. 2. The “Yes” Man (or Woman) Through my experience, it takes a little while to figure out that you’ve hired a “Yes” man. Once you spend a few sleepless nights trying to pinpoint why certain things just aren’t getting done around the office and you get completely fed up with someone agreeing with you but never following through, you’ll realize you’ve hired one. There is nothing worse than someone telling you what you want to hear all the time. It accomplishes nothing, unless your goal is to constantly waste time. 3. Captain “Just Enough” It’s difficult to justify letting one of these people go. Why? Well, they do just enough work to fly under the radar. What most people don’t tell you is that there are more of these in your organization than you even realize. I recently read a quote somewhere (most likely retweeted by my director of business development) that said most employees will stretch two hours worth of work into an eight hour day out of fear of–get this–looking like they’re slacking! I am a huge advocate for a positive and effective work culture.  Losing red flag employees does more than just save you money and produce better products, it’s a sigh of relief to your other employees. Of the hundreds of random factoids my father emails me on a regular basis, he sent a gem recently. This one came in at 6AM and said, “Hire slowly, fire quickly.” I forwarded the email to everyone on my executive and admin staff that day. If you happen to realize that you’ve hired an employee that fits one of the types profiled above, I recommend you take that advice. Jared Mendelewicz is the Vice President & Chief Operating Officer of AKT Enterprises, an Orlando, FL based marketing and merchandising powerhouse. Read more about Jared here .

Tagged as: business, director, employees, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, management, office, organization, president, time

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Notes from the Hiring Front

by Paul Joseph May 16, 2011 Featured

Our company is in the fortunate position of growing at a significant rate. We have more than doubled in size in the past year and anticipate the same rate of growth over the next year. Not a day goes by when we don’t have at least one candidate in the office seeking out a job in one of our many departments. For an entrepreneurial company, few decisions are more important than hiring decisions. Every hire is an investment in money, time and effort. A single bad hire can result in a significant setback to a business. A great hire, on the other hand, can be a godsend to a small business. No employer has a perfect record when it comes to hiring. There will always be candidates that seem like a perfect fit and then turn out to be duds… or worse. At Blue Fountain Media, we’ve been fortunate enough to make some tremendous hires, but we’ve also had our share of mistakes. Over the years, though, we’ve gotten much better at identifying individuals both with the talents we are looking for and the personal qualities we seek in our team members. Here’s how we do it: The Job Description Some job descriptions are written like a kid’s list for Santa. They ask for the impossible and hope someone responds who has half the skills listed in the job description. We have found that it is much smarter to take the time to focus on exactly what you’d need from the position and lay it out clearly. If you are an entrepreneurial company where everyone wears many hats, make sure you emphasize that in the job description. A lot of people aren’t cut out for working in small, hectic workplaces and you don’t want to be stuck with someone who can’t handle the pressure. Writing a clear job description also helps you to focus on exactly what skills you need to add to take your team to the next level. Reading the Resume I have found you can learn a lot from a resume. More often than not, a resume will have at least one significant red flag. Make sure you pay attention. Typos, Grammatical Errors, and Terrible Writing Skills: It all goes back to discipline. If you can’t take the time to do things right, then don’t waste my time by sending me your resume. Since I need the members of my department to have excellent writing skills, I always make a major point of this in the job descriptions I write. You’d be amazed how many people who can’t put together two coherent sentences profess to want to be communications or content specialists. The worst instance of this- and I’m not making this up- was a guy who misspelled his own name in his logo ! Ignoring the Job Description: A job description is not a wish list. It is a specific blueprint for the person we feel will be suited to the position. When I say “minimum four years communications experience,” that does not mean four years of texting your friends in college. It means working in the communications field for four years! Self Aggrandizement: When you are applying for a very junior position, don’t call yourself an “expert,” unless you can prove your expertise immediately and convincingly. If you interned at a large company, don’t tell me how you “coordinated the project” you were working on. I really don’t mind that you did grunt work- that’s what interns do . Liars: This may seem like a no-brainer, but misrepresenting your background can come back and bite you in the butt. I routinely do Google searches on job candidates and I can’t tell you how often information on the web contradicts information on a resume or in a cover letter. Social Media Inventory In this day and age, an employer who fails to check out a candidate’s social media presence is making a huge mistake. How a person presents themselves in social media can tell you an enormous amount in relation to what kind of employee they would be. Positives include a network of close friends, creativity, writing ability and humor. The negatives, of course, can range from clear substance issues to a dramatic lack of judgment. Also, social media pages can help verify or put into question information contained on an applicant’s resume. The Interview Don’t waste your time interviewing dozens of candidates for a job. If you’ve reviewed the resumes carefully and done your social media homework, you should be able to narrow the search down to a handful of seemingly qualified applicants. Once I see a candidate face to face, I’m looking for the intangibles. I try to see how quick they are on their feet, how much preparation they’ve done for the interview and how excited they are to be there. You are not looking for your next best friend, but you are looking for someone you will enjoy working with for a long, long time. A candidate who has only the sketchiest idea of what your company does is someone who is either a fool, interviewing at dozens of places or simply has no interest in the job. We have a website that gives great detail on our people, our services and clients. If a candidate can’t take an hour to carefully review our website in anticipation for an interview, then that person is likely to be sloppy or careless in doing Another great “test” of a candidate is to go through the resume and ask about specific results. Anyone can tell you that they are a great marketer or salesperson, but I want to hear them tell me about a project they were involved in, what they contributed to the project and what the specific outcomes were. Even if a candidate is right out of school, I ask them to tell me what you attempted and what the results were: “I wrote an article in the college newspaper about waste in the dining halls and a new program was implemented…” “I organized a fund raising event for my fraternity and due to my efforts (with specifics) we raised $12,000 for…” “While in college I started a web design business and was able to pay my tuition for junior and senior year…” In Conclusion Every hiring decision you make will either advance your business or damage it. Failing to take the hiring process seriously is one of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make. When you hire someone, you are putting a piece of your business into their hands. So do it right! Jon Gelberg is the Chief Content Officer at Blue Fountain Media, where he oversees a wide range of content initiatives including Blue Fountain Media’s “Business Learning Center.” Read more about Jon here .

Tagged as: business, entrepreneur, friends, interview, media, office, people, personal, small-business, time, web-design

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What Every Entrepreneur Needs To Know About Accountability And Leadership

by Paul Joseph May 12, 2011 Featured

Growing up, I could be described as very sensitive and at times even shy and introverted. I always thought that leaders were very loud, extroverted, had great senses of humor and that they had to be very arrogant. I have come to know there is no direct correlation between arrogance or likability and leadership . There will always be those who follow the arrogant, however, they’re so unsure of themselves that these are the types of people that you do not want on your team, and whom you specifically want to play against. There will always be those who follow the likable, but they quickly abandon their post when they see that there is no true monetary gain in sheer popularity . If arrogance and likability are not part of the leadership equation, what is? What Makes The Young Entrepreneur A True Leader Who Successfully Follows His Or Her Dreams 1. Expertise: Know that the right people will only follow you when you become exceedingly effective at what you do. People do follow the self-assured, however merited self-assurance comes with expertise. Since expertise can only be gained with hard work , dedication and passion , we can put to rest any thoughts that leaders are born and not made. My employees can vouch for me (and probably laugh) when I say I am quite flawed, and I’m wrong as much as they are. However, when it comes to business, I have developed and honed my skills, and sometimes I feel that this is my only saving grace. Only on certain days can charm save me, but on any given day, expertise will save my you-know-what. 2. Caring: The overly arrogant rarely win in business because those under them feel that no true loyalty or respect exists within the office. When you begin to take on staff, you can either appreciate them both professionally and personally , or somebody else will. There is one flaw with money: it doesn’t buy employee morale, nor does it buy loyalty. Don’t get me wrong, underpaying is just as bad, but the right formula when it comes to management and leadership is proper pay and proper respect, which mainly comes in the form of listening . I am the oldest in the office at 29, and the only male. Do not think that there is not a lot of bickering and teaming up on me. However, we all do our best to make the arguments only last about three or four minutes, then we go back to work and concentrate as a group, covering one another to achieve a common goal: a better life . 3. The Ability to Make Unpopular Decisions: The reason the arrogant fail here is that they make unpopular decisions just to assert their dominance. The likable fail at the completely opposite end of the spectrum, refusing to make unpopular moves in order to maintain their own popularity. The stomach to make unpopular decisions is something that I’ve had to train myself to develop. As a leader and manager of a team, you must take into account others’ opinions , but at the end of the day the final call if yours. You must do what you feel is best and rely on your expertise , which is the foundation of leadership and management. Jack Welch , who has been a mentor on paper to me, discusses this theory in his books, describing firing GE employees. Welch thought that if you feel that it appeals to the greater good of the team, make the decision whether it be popular or loathed among the group. I agree. 4. The Ability to Make Mistakes…and Be Big Enough to Admit Them: Finger pointing, finger pointing, finger pointing. Nobody finger points all the way to the bank. People finger point all the way to middle management, but not to the bank. If you remember one thing from this article, may it be that leaders are not born . If you remember two things from this article, may it be that real leaders hold themselves as accountable for their actions as they hold their employees for theirs . Weasels look for scapegoats. The Importance Of Accountability In Leadership This is one of the few times you’ll ever get very specific with a work story, but this should help the young entrepreneur fully comprehend how important it is in leadership to hold oneself accountable for their actions (plus it’s entertaining and makes me look witty): We had a client about three months ago who retained us to find them sales employees in three different cities. One day, someone came to me and said that the third candidate of ours in a row (who was interviewing in Texas) reported that during the interview, the manager spoke badly about the company. Every now and again we get a client who has a hiring manager who does not like their job and conveniently tells candidates so. Let’s call this culprit “Joe Middle Manager.” The problem here is that if “Joe Middle Manager” in Texas is telling the candidates his issues with the company, nobody is going to want the job. The second problem in this scenario is that if we anger “Joe Manager,” he is going to be even more miserable to work with. So, I tell “Bob VP” in California, who is a decently reasonable guy, about this. I ask him to take care of the problem without mentioning us because it will hurt the hiring process. Well, “Bob VP” goes and tells “Joe Manager” that I said there was a problem with his interviewing skills and that nobody would want the job if he continued doing what I said he was doing (that is, badmouthing the company). I knew finger-pointing was coming down the pike when there was a conference call set up between Bob, Joe, me, and a fourth (also from the client company). I timed it, and for the first 14 minutes of the call, all these people did was blame one another instead of wanting to improve themselves and learn how to interview and recruit more effectively. At the 14-minute mark, I loudly asked, “Why don’t we just get this project done?” Logic sometimes brings silence . True leaders know when they are wrong, and they say so. Only at that point, can you tell somebody else they are wrong, too. Until then, you’re simply arrogant and ignorant. In the end, leadership and management are very complex traits and actions. Luckily, leadership is not a prerequisite to start the journey that is entrepreneurship. Leadership is just gained along the entrepreneur’s journey. Ken Sundheim Get your bonus copy of my book “How To Start An Internet Business & Make Your First $1,000 Online” Download Here

Tagged as: article, books, interview, management, office, online, project, young-entrepreneur

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5 Steps to Writing a Killer White Paper

by Paul Joseph May 6, 2011 Featured

The purpose of a white paper is to deliver information about your business to your prospect in an educational format. You should pick a topic that will generate awareness to a problem your services are designed to address. At the body of the white paper will educate the reader on the issue, and provide a general overview of how to solve the problem. At the end of the document, you have an opportunity to pitch your services and your company as the solution to these problems. Include as much value as possible. The more value you include, the more value readers will assume your company provides in its own services. For instance, a computer repair company once created a paper called “The 14 Biggest Mistakes Home Computer Users Make that Cost Them Hours of Frustration and Over $3,700 in Computer Damages.” In this paper, the owner explained the biggest mistakes computer users make and the resulting damage that can occur. At the end of the paper, the owner pitched his computer restoration service as a solution to solving all of the problems he revealed earlier in the paper. You can use your general knowledge about problems your clients experience and you can also use online research to capture juicy statistics about whatever topic you’re writing. Writing a Killer White Paper Begins with These 5 Steps: Step 1:  Write Your Title. The title of your white paper is like the thesis of a paper. It sells your paper’s idea to the reader. Take time to make sure that your title is as specific and captivating as possible. Step 2: List Out Things That Will Add Value. You don’t want your report to be a blatant sales letter. If you do this, the reader will catch on to the fact that you are trying to sneak in a sales pitch and they will immediately lose trust in your company and what you are trying to sell them. Instead, take this opportunity to jam-pack your report with your expertise and insight. Showcase your knowledge and talents and give the reader useful tips, strategies, and statistics that they can benefit from. Step 3: Write Your First Draft Without Stopping. Simply open up Word and start spilling your thoughts out about the title you’ve chosen. Do not go back and edit or delete what you’ve typed until you finish creating from the beginning to the end. This will allow you to channel everything you want to put down on paper. You can go back later and make it all connect and read smoothly. Step 4: Edit. After you have typed everything out that you wanted to include in your report, go back and edit. Ask your colleagues, family, and friends to read over it for grammatical and spelling errors. Step 5: Plug A Call-To-Action At The End. Make sure you include an explanation at the end of your report that pitches your service and tells the reader what step you want them to take next (e.g. – call our office, schedule an appointment, visit our website, etc.). If you are offering a service that people may not yet know they need, than you should use a white paper to generate awareness around the problems your services solve.  A well-written paper will “train” potential customers on the standards they should be aware of when shopping for your services or products. Ryan Kristopher is CEO of Windows Renew, the largest network of computer consultants in the world, and an Internet Marketing consultant and social media trainer for businesses of all sizes. Read more about Ryan here .

Tagged as: business, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, internet, internet marketing, office, services, thoughts, windows

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The Ultimate of Ultimate Secrets to Success

by Paul Joseph April 21, 2011 Featured

“Turn up.” – Woody Allen Woody Allen’s simple explanation of the ultimate of ultimate secrets to success rings true with me. However, I want to explore those two powerful words a little deeper, for they are two words that clearly differentiate between those who succeed in this life and those who fail. 1. Turn Up The Volume When I was about to leave my office for a fortnight my eldest daughter’s response was, “Man, it’s going to be quiet around here without you here.” I love life loud. I’m noisy. I’m boisterous. Even my dog has trouble sometimes handling this. I don’t really care who is overhearing my conversation in coffee shops because my life is an explosion of energy and a stew pot of exuberant noise. I have never been a believer in the term “quiet achiever.” How can you be quiet when your daily pursuit is to achieve something significant? The trouble with many is that they try to live a successful life expressed by a quiet whisper. My philosophy has always been to “shout it from the roof tops.” That’s why in business, when I market, I market noisily. I get the word out. I write. I text. I advertise offline as well as online. I blog. I Facebook. I Twitter. I LinkedIn. I conduct interviews. I communicate loud – ever turning up the volume so that the world can know about what I have to share. I speak good things, share great things, and someone along the way who hears my message, just may be inspired to live a life that will positively impact even more people than I can reach. I turn up the volume because I want to make a significant difference in people’s lives. By the way – I even read the AMPLIFIED version of the Bible from time to time. 2. Turn Up The Passion Passion speaks to me of heart – a pulsating heart – a thumping apparatus that sustains life. One thing I want to be known for is my passion. Passion impacts. Passion shakes people from their sleep. Passion permeates the fabric of humanity. Without passion, life is as limp as a soggy noodle. When the sun shines I feel the warmth of its passion. When the wind blows I feel the force of its passion. When I plunge into the surf I feel the passion and the power of the waves against my body. And at night, as I look up to see the moon I sense the glowing passion of its beams upon my face. So I take that passion and I apply it to every task I undertake. Passion lifts you far above mediocrity and passive existence. 3. Turn Up The Enthusiasm This fits hand in hand with passion, and yet I felt it important to highlight it on its own. Enthusiasm comes from the Greek word entheos. En = from and theos = God. So when you express enthusiasm you are expressing the very energy source that was used to create the world you live in and the air you breathe. In the words of Norman Vincent Peale, “Enthusiasm makes the difference.” So turn up the levels of enthusiasm that you demonstrate in every area of your life. Bring your enthusiasm to work, to your relationships, to your sports activities, to your church, to your charity, to your school, to your business, to your college and university and to your dealings with your customers. Enthusiasm will transform your life and the lives that you touch on a daily basis. Answer the phone enthusiastically. Shake hands enthusiastically. Choose to be enthusiastic in everything you do and watch total transformation occur in and around you. It brings with it a divine energy and force that will sustain, energize, and inspire. It will change your life. 4. Turn Up And Participate To turn up means to be truly engaged, entirely immersed and totally involved. Many people show up to work but their minds are somewhere else. Practice the habit of turning up – spirit, soul, and body – and watch what happens. Efficiency and effectiveness will increase a hundredfold. Give it all you’ve got. Apply the 110% rule and discard the paltry 100%. It’s your life – participate! Don’t just simply show up – turn up. Peter G. James Sinclair has made it his mission to pursue ‘uniquity’ in all that he does. A believer in the uniqueness of the individual and the importance of pursuing our passion, he is on a mission to help others to identify their strengths and become the best they can possibly become. Read more about Peter here .

Tagged as: business, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, office, passion, relationships

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