100 Daily Must-Reads for Entrepreneurs

These days, it seems that almost everyone has a blog, so it’s often hard to separate what’s really worth reading from what isn’t. Luckily, we’ve done the work for you and narrowed it down to 100 highly informative sites. Take a look at what they have to say and see how they can help you grow your business.

Raising Capital

1. Go BIG Blog— Written by Go BIG founder Wil Schroter, the Go BIG Blog focuses on giving advice and strategies to help startup businesses gain an edge. The GO BIG Network is also a great place for small businesses to findfunding by putting them in contact with a network of venture capital and angel investors.
2. How to Change the World— This blog by Guy Kawaski gives advice on how to give great presentations, speeches and pitches to attract investors to your business, as well as providing a variety of other helpful tips and advice to entrepreneurs.
3. Entrepreneurship Blog— Here, Untangle product marketing manager Andrew Fife gives advice on raising capital and improving your business.
4. Access to Capital— Access to Capital provides good articles on raising capital to start a new business as well as finding investors to sustain an existing business.
5. All Business Raising Capital Blog— All Business has a variety of business related blogs, all of which can be very useful to the entrepreneur. They have a wide selection of very informative articles on raising capital and improving your business.
6. Instigator Blog— Benjamin Yoskovitz blogs on helping entrepreneurs turn their ideas into successful businesses with a number of good articles on how to make proposals and give presentations to get investors.
7. Plan Magic Blog— Plan Magic Blog gives advice on creating great business and investment plans.
8. WayTooEarly— Howard Lee Morgan gives his personal account of investing in businesses in the very early stages.
9. BootStrapMe — Shawn Hessinger gives advice on how to get your business started, some resources to check out, as well as a variety of helpful tips.

Managing Debt and Risks

10. I Will Teach You to Be Rich— Ramit Sethi gives advice on finance and entrepreneurship.
11. Business Debt Relief— This blog has the goal of educating business owners on how to get out of debt and managing any future debts.
12. Debt Consolidation Lowdown— Frequent host of the Carnival of Debt Management, this blog provides links to numerous blogs on reducing and managing debts, as well as original articles on debt consolidation and elimination.
13. Small Business Finance Blog— Arnold Cortez discusses financial solutions for small businesses through a variety of methods.
14. My Money Forest— My Money Forest gives advice on investments as well as relevant news on the business world.
15. Escape from Cubicle Nation— Pamela Slim provides insight in how to make your passion into a successful business.
16. Operational Risk Management— This blog covers the legal, investment, systems, and personnel risks associated with running a business.
17. Risk Center— Risk Center is home to numerous articles covering the entire spectrum of risk management as well as a collection of finance tutorials.
18. BizzBangBuzz— Written by strategic business lawyer Anthony Cerminaro, this blog focuses on the law aspects of starting a business and how best to take advantage of business opportunities.
19. Business Opportunities Weblog— Dane Carlson provides a list of links to business opportunities and investments for those seeking to start or expand their own business.

Managing Staff

20. Management Issues— If you’re looking for advice on management and workplace issues, this blog will prove to be a great resource. It provides a good selection of articles to get you on the right track.
21. Common Sense Guy— Bud Bilanich gives some pragmatic solutions to everyday workplace issues, many focusing on making your staff more effective.
22. Management Blog— Tom Foster discusses how to manage more effectively and to meet your personal and business goals.
23. Management Craft— Managing employees can sometimes be difficult, but Lisa Haneberg can help. She provides advice on dealing with difficult employees as well as being an effective leader.
24. Agile Management Blog— David Anderson of Microsoft gives his thoughts on management issues. Those in technology related businesses will find them especially insightful.
25. Communication Nation— This blog by David Gray focuses on improving communication and productivity in the workplace.
26. Manager Tools— Manager Tools is home to a weekly podcast focused on helping business owners become better managers and leaders by providing easily implemented tips and tools.
27. Slacker Manager— Don’t let the name of this blog mislead you, it in no way encourages slacking. It does, however, provide advice on how to make your workplace life easier and less stressful.
28. Center for Workplace Excellence— Want to improve your performance as well as that of your employees? This blog gives some helpful advice on motivation and attitude. The center offers classes on a variety of subjects as well.
29. Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog— Focusing on innovation and streamlining the workplace, Curious Cat offers articles on how to make your workplace happier and improve your customer experience.
30. Evolving Excellence— This is an insightful blog with an emphasis on lean management and manufacturing. It will give you some ideas on how to reduce waste in all areas of your business.
31. Bnoopy— Joe Krauss provides insight on how to find great employees. He also has valuable content on tech-based businesses based on his own extensive experience.

Venture Capitalists

32. Venture Blog— Written by David Hornik at August Capital, this blog has articles on issues related to venture capitalism and technology.
33. Bill Gurley of Benchmark Capital— Bill Gurley provides good reading for entrepreneurs interested in cutting edge ideas and information on what’s new in the venture capital community.
34. Geekfishing— Written by employees of Ignition Partners, Geekfishing provides articles and insight on the geekier aspects of investing.
35. Due Diligence— Tim Oren writes about technology and business trends in a way that is relevant to entrepreneurs.
36. A VC— Fred Wilson, a venture capitalist, writes about issues related to venture capitalism and technology as well as a number of his other interests.
37. Charles Hudson— Charles provides insight into the world of technology and business. This blog is an interesting read for those who love gadgets.
38. WiseWords— Sean Wise provides advice on entrepreneurship and venture capital, with a new project focusing on helping new businesses get started.
39. VC Confidential— Written by Matt McCall, VC Confidential discusses venture capitalism as it relates to technology.
40. Feld Thoughts— Ben Feld’s blog on issues related to entrepreneurship, technology, angel investors and venture capitalism.
41. Venture Chronicles— Jeff Nolan gives his thoughts on technology, management and investment in this regularly updated blog.
42. Will Price— Perspectives on the venture capitalism industry and technology written by Will Price of Hummer Winblad Venture Partners.
43. Early Stage VC— Peter Rip gives advice on startups, business technology and investment.
44. Genuine VC— David Beisel provides advice on how to pitch your ideas to venture capitalists as well as numerous other issues important to entrepreneurs.

Productivity

45. Steve Pavlina— Steve Pavlina provides his personal insight in how to manage your time, be more productive and improve personal development to help you be more successful.
46. The Lazy Way to Success— Based on the book of the same name, this blog gives tips on how to do less and accomplish more.
47. Black Belt Productivity— If you want to get organized and get more accomplished in a day, learn how to do it with this blog.
48. Productivity 501— Written by Mark Shead, this site gives regularly updated tips and tricks to help increase your personal productivity.
49. Dumb Little Man— Jay White provides numerous tips and articles designed to help you accomplish more and make your workplace more productive.
50. Chief Happiness Officer— Alexander Kjerulf writes about how to make work happier, more inspiring, energizing and even fun with the goal of helping you accomplish more and feel better about it.
51. The Engaging Brand—Business coach Anna Farmery gives ideas on how to motivate employees, improve leadership, and get more done in a day.
52. Ian’s Messy Desk— Ian McKenzie gives his thoughts on how to increase productivity and avoid procrastination.

Small Business

53. Small Business Trends— Anita Campbell looks at the latest trends affectingsmall businesses and entrepreneurs.
54. Just for Small Business— This blog from Denise O’Berry is full of thought-provoking tips for small business owners, often on unexpected topics.
55. The Entrepreneurial Mind— Jeff Cornwall, Director of the Belmont University Center for Entrepreneurship, looks at trends in small business and entrepreneurship and their impact on individual small business owners.
56. The Freestyle Entrepreneur— This site focuses on providing business information that is relevant to the small business owner with the goal of helping them become more profitable and productive.
57. Small Business Brief— Home to a small business newsletter, this website also provides links to numerous business and entrepreneurial articles all over the web.
58. Business Works— Dedicated to helping small businesses get started, this blog gives advice on the day-to-day issues associated with business ownership as well as news related to the business world at large.
59. Fresh Inc— A blog for the magazine of the same name, Fresh Inc is chock full of informative articles on business and entrepreneurship.
60. Church of the Customer— A valuable read for the small business owner who wants to maintain a high level of customer service and satisfaction.
61. Be Excellent— This blog provides advice on how to make your small business successful and keep it that way.
62. Small Business CEO— Small Business CEO gives information on making your small business grow and how to turn your passion into a profit.

General Interest

63. WorkHappy.net— Carson McComas provides links and reviews for great applications and other resources that help entrepreneurs work smarter, not harder.
64. The Occupational Adventure— Curt Rosengren at Passion Catalyst International gives his advice on how to turn your ideas and passions into viable business ventures.
65. Businesspundit.com—Businesspundit discusses a wide variety of issues related to entrepreneurship and corporate strategy.
66. Ready Fire Aim— Bill D’Alessandro gives his insight into personal entrepreneurship, web design, technology, and even banking.
67. Making Ripples— Making Ripples is written by an ex-corporate employee who ventured into the self-employed arena. It provides his personal experiences as well as some advice for others wishing to start their own business.
68. All Business Blog Center— All Business is home to a number of blogs on business issues including finance, human resources, marketing and management. It’s a great place to find entrepreneurial information and advice.
69. Entrepreneurs Journey— Yaro Starak, an Australian entrepreneur, gives reviews of business seminars and materials as well as original articles on business ownership.
70. Paul Allen— Paul Allen writes about his experience as an internet entrepreneur and gives some valuable advice for those wishing to follow in his footsteps.
71. Canadian Entrepreneur— Rick Spence, former editor and publisher of Profit Magazine, gives tips and strategies to help your business grow.
72. Trizoko— Trizoko is a daily business journal that uses studies and research to give advice on creating a successful business.

Marketing

73. Duct Tape Marketing— John Jantsch delivers small business marketing tips in weekly, easy to read short articles.
74. Buzzoodle Buzz Marketing Blog— Ron McDaniel gives advice on how to create lasting buzz for your business through an effective web presence and networking.
75. George Torok— Bestselling author George Torok offers marketing insights, tips, and strategies on branding, networking and personal marketing for business owners.
76. Decker Marketing— Sam Decker provides insight on how to market your business using the web.
77. Seth Godin— Seth Godin provides great advice on how to effectively market your business and keep customers happy.
78. Ben Rowe’s Blog— This blog provides Ben’s thoughts on the state of marketing and how to use it to your advantage.
79. Marketing for Success— Charlie Cook gives advice on the best ways to market your business both on the web and in traditional media.
80. Paul Geisheker’s Marketing Blog— Marketing consultant Paul Geisheker provides helpful marketing tools and resources to help business owners become more effective.
81. Micro Persuasion— Steve Rubel blogs about the effect of technology on media and marketing.

Young Entrepreneurs

82. Young Entrepreneur Journey— Best selling author Michael Simmons explores the idea of "extreme entrepreneurship".
83. Mind Petals— Home to the Young Entrepreneur’s Network, Mind Petals has a community atmosphere that provides informative, inspiring, and motivating content to young businesspeople.
84. Young Entrepreneur.com— Evan Carmichael gives information and advice to entrepreneurs on marketing, strategy, management and a variety of other topics.
85. Blogtrepreneur— Written by a high school student, Blogtrepreneur provides information and advice on how young entrepreneurs can get started with their first business.
86. Retired at 21— This blog provides resources for young entrepreneurs to learn from experienced web-based business owners.
87. SportsLizard Entrepreneur Blog— Adam McFarland provides his personal experience of quitting his job and following his entrepreneurial dream.
88. Flush the Toilet— Flush the Toilet gives advice to young entrepreneurs about attitude and making a successful business.

Startups

89. reblutionary— Mike Cannon-Brookes talks about startups from a technology perspective and gives his personal experience.
90. Startup Spark— Ben Yoskovitz provides business tips, discusses entrepreneurial passion, social entrepreneurship and dealing with business failure. This site also hosts the Carnival of Entrepreneurs.
91. StartupNation— Startup Nation is an online community for startups, providing resources and support for new businesses.
92. OnStartups.com— On Startups is a great site for software entrepreneurs looking to start a new business or grow an existing one.
93. Texas Startup Blog— Alexander Muse discusses startups from a technology angle with articles on venture capital and entrepreneurship.
94. Startup Princess— Startup Princess offers a female entrepreneur’s perspective, providing mentoring, resources and education for women who want to start a business.
95. BizLaunch Blog— BizLauch gives practical advice on launching a new business as well as advice on improving communication and productivity.
96. Blog.Pmarca.Com— Written by Marc Andreessen, this blog provides invaluable information for starting a business including an extensive guide to startups.
97. Start Up Blog— This blog discusses issues about starting up a business while focusing on marketing aspects.
98. The Startup Ethos— The Startup Ethos is Usha Sekar’s blog about the human side behind startups and embracing the entrepreneurial spirit.
99. The Great Startup Game— This blog has an often humorous perspective on how to make your business profitable.
100. Time to Startup— Time to Startup is a blog providing insight into starting a business. It includes information on the paperwork necessary to become a corporation or an LLC.

How to Start an Online Store

Edited by Hotsaucecollector, Cipher_nemo, Julia Maureen, Travis Derouin and 43 others

17

Article

EditDiscuss

If you want to keep things simple, you can just list items on your blog or website with prices and shipping costs, and have people pay you through PayPal (or by sending you a check or money order). You can also sell items through eBay, Craigslist, Amazon, and other venues. But if you have a lot of products, this can get cumbersome, and expensive. An online store can help "streamline" the process in a variety of ways (saving you time and money). This article will address how you can establish an e-store.

EditSteps

1. 1
   Decide what you're going to sell. This may tremendously affect how you go about setting up your store. Here are the main points to consider:
   
   
   
   • Is it a physical product that needs to be shipped, or is it a digital product that can be sent through the Internet?
   • Are you going to have an inventory (more than one) of each product, or will they be one-of-a-kind (e.g. artwork, vintage items)?
   • Are you going to want to sell a wide variety of products, or do you plan to specialize, like selling just t-shirts or books?
   • Are you passionate about the product? Your passion for and genuine interest in a particular niche market or product will give you a competitive edge over other sellers - your focus will differentiate your store from others that are more general in their product coverage. By choosing a category that you are passionate about, you will have a greater chance of enjoying the journey of creating and managing an online store, which will require patience and the ability to overcome adversity. In a way, opening an online store around one of your hobbies or interests allows you to reallocate time productively that you would have spent on your hobby anyways.
2. 2
   Size up the competition. Don't just jump into selling a certain product line until you've looked at the websites you'll be competing with. Consider the main online marketplaces you plan to advertise your products; and check out the competition within those portals.
   
   
   
3. 3
   Test the waters by selling your items on a small scale. In the real world, it'd be wise to try selling your products through other, low-commitment avenues (consignment, flea markets, craft shows, etc.) before taking the plunge and starting an entire store. The same is true for selling online. Try selling your items individually on eBay, Craigslist, Half.com and the like. Here's what you'll want to look for:
   
   
   
   • Who is buying your product? Offer a discount coupon or free gift if they answer a brief survey. Find out where else they shop online.
   • How much are they willing to pay? Experiment with different prices.
   • How is customer satisfaction? This is a good time to test how well you can get your product to the customer. Are you using good packaging? Is the shipping method reliable? Are they happy with their product? Did you describe it well?
4. 4
   Consider your options. If you've got a big budget, you can hire someone to set up a store for you from scratch. But for the rest of us, there are plenty of services that you can choose from. If your store isn't specialized, compare any general e-commerce service. There are also services geared towards certain kinds of products:
   
   
   
   • General e-commerce services will allow you to setup professional looking online storefronts when you ship your own inventory. Some general eCommerce sites include Flying Cart and Yahoo! Stores.
   • Hosted e-commerce solutions. Such services take care about different problems like storefront design, secure payment, hosting, mailing lists, selling statistics, customers support. It is the best choice (unlike CMS ^[1]) for those who don't like programming stuff. Some examples: Miscake Stores ^[2], Volusion ^[3], Shopify ^[4], Amazon Webstore^[5].
   • Affiliate store services such as Amazon eStores or Zilo. Zilo stores allow you to resell products carried by Buy.com and other merchants by writing reviews of products and focusing on a theme that makes consumers lives easier. Amazon eStores and Zilo stores allow you to get in the game fast, but do not allow you to carry your own physical inventory.
   • eBay - If you've already sold some stuff on eBay, and you're confident that most of your customer base will find you there, then you can "graduate" to an eBay store to save money on listing fees. Your customers will need to be web-savvy enough to feel comfortable using eBay. Note that eBay tends to attract people searching for bargains and one-of-a-kind items (and bargains on one-of-a-kind items).
   • tips - This is an online marketplace where you can post one item or create an entire catalog for free. Just upload some photos, describe the item(s) and price it to sell. It's free to post goods for months without having to update the listing. When the item sells and is $35 or less, it's a 5% fee. If the item is $35 or more, the fee is 3%. On top of putting goods up for sale you can embed videos, blog about your products and services and connect to your twitter account directly from the site for free.
   • Cafepress - This is a service worth considering if you're selling mostly t-shirts, and other stuff you can "stamp" with your unique designs (mugs, stickers, buttons). Customers browse your store, order their stuff, and Cafepress processes the order and the items for you. You can start a basic shop for free, and pay a monthly subscription for more features.
   • Etsy - This is a popular choice for people who make what they sell. There's a 20 cent charge for every item listed, and Etsy keeps 3.5% of your sale price if the item is sold. You get paid directly and are responsible for shipping the item. You're charged fees (depending on what sold) on a monthly basis.^[6]
5. 5
   Promote your store. No matter how good your store is, it won't matter if no one knows it's there. It's not a "build it and they will come" kind of thing. Having an easy-to-use store is important, but not as important as marketing, having good products, and providing quality customer service.
   
   
   
6. 6
   Maximize your profits. Once you've figured out what works, scale up! Simple A-B split testing can help you increase your conversion rate and your bottom line as well!
   
   
   

EditWarnings

• Watch out for any service that involves selling products you don't have. These are often called "dropshipping" service and while some are legitimate, many are scams. Even those that are authentic have a low chance of success because you're selling stuff that someone else is probably already selling. You'll need extraordinary marketing skills to make it work in which case, why not apply it to your own products?

EditRelated wikiHows

• How to Set Up Credit Card Processing for Your Business
• How to Use PayPal to Accept Credit Card Payments
• How to Sell Original Artwork for Profit
• How to Start a Book Store at Home

EditSources and Citations

1. ↑ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_management_system
2. ↑ http://stores.miscake.com
3. ↑ http://www.volusion.com
4. ↑ http://www.shopify.com
5. ↑ http://www.webstore.amazon.co.uk
6. ↑ http://www.etsy.com/how_selling_works.php

FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH FOUND! (NO KIDD'N)

Scientists Discover Protein That Reverses Heart Disease In Older Mice

Scientists at Harvard University think they have found a way to possibly reverse the aging process in human organs.

Dr. Richard Lee, director of regenerative medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Amy Wagers, of the Department of Regenerative Biology at Harvard, made the discovery when they were working with younger and older mice.

They took an older mouse with the most common form of human heart failure and merged the mouse’s blood stream with that of a healthy young mouse using a Siamese twin technique known as parabiosis. They found that the older mouse’s diseased heart was able to reverse to a younger healthier condition.

They later identified a protein in the blood of young mice called GDF-11, which diminishes with age. They injected this protein directly into the older mice and had the same positive results. They are using this protein to restore other aging/diseased tissues and organs. Their results are published online today in the science journal Cell.  Listen to the audio interview click below

http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2013/05/09/protein-heart-disease

Seven Day Start 7 Day Plan for Building a Business.

Check this really helpful step by step guide for starting a business...

www.sevendaystart.com/7Day.html/

PREPARE FOR WAR! – F%@$ the Rules

I am a 28 year old start-up CEO. Last week I read an article titled “the 57 things I learned starting 3 tech companies.” While the list was brilliant, the human brain can only simultaneously hold seven independent thoughts. I am going to assume that two of your seven sockets are already filled with (1) your own great start-up idea, and (2) love and lust or some combination of the two, and I will distill my lessons learned down to five ideas.

Lesson #1 – Do something you are passionate about.

Really. This is so important. My company, Ethical Ocean, is an online social marketplace which brings together the ideas, people and companies needed to drive a new era in ethical consumerism. Think of us as the “Ethical Amazon.com.” I have been obsessed with sustainability for most of my conscious life. And guess what? My team of seven is equally as crazy about positive social change as I am. If you’re going to succeed with your new venture, you will need to live, eat and breathe it for the next five years. If it is something you are not genuinely passionate about, you will puke and you will fail.

Lesson #2 – Recruit your friends and colleagues.

My company started with two founders. Then we become three. Then five. Now seven. And guess what? None of us are being paid. We each put in between 15 and 50 hrs each week. Getting people behind your idea is important. As a CEO, you need to be a resource magnet. You need to be able to attract talent, money and ideas and the best place to start is your friends. If you cannot convince them to contribute your idea, you either do not have a very good idea, or you do not have enough friends. From your friends, pick the ones who are hard working, skilled, ambitious and with whom you love to spend time.

Lesson #3 – Get up Sunday Morning.

If your idea is not exciting enough to get you out of bed on Sunday morning, you did not pay attention to lesson #1. If you’re up Sunday morning, with nobody working with you, you’ve botched lesson #2. The Ethical Ocean team meets every Sunday from 10AM to 7PM in random coffee shops to crank on our project. It is amazing how much you can get done on Sunday before the rest of the world has recovered from their Saturday night hangovers.

Lesson #4 – Put your Money where your mouth is.

When we started Ethical Ocean, I had $40k in student debt. Yet, somehow I convinced my bank to extend my line of credit and I put $20k into the business. Better yet, my equally as impoverished team invested another $40k from their savings, credit cards, and day job salaries. Before this, we worked for a long time building the company without any money – these days were lax. The day we decided to write cheques was the day that things really started moving. Not to mention that investors will not even look at you if you do not have “skin in the game”.

Lesson #5 – F the Rules.

Ethical Ocean is doing it. We have hired our first full-time employee, we have recruited 160 great ethical vendors selling 1,700 products. We’ve recruited the CFO of Google to join our advisory board. Finally, revenue is starting to trickle in! Last week we received a term sheet for a 200k investment.

All this said, you would not believe how many people discouraged us from starting this company. “It’ll never work” or “you’re not going to quit your day job are you?” We are an unconventional company. We have 7 founders. We are all working part-time. We are totally democratic in our decision-making. We had a team sleep-over before our beta launch day (ghost stories included). If you’re going to succeed as CEO, you need to sponge up other people’s advice as much as you can, but you must NEVER get stuck in convention. Stay committed to your idea; be creative and resourceful. Do whatever strange things you need to do to make it work – even if it is against the norm.

Working on Ethical Ocean has been one of the most rewarding and enjoyable experiences of my life –  and it is only just beginning. Here is the formula: find an idea you are passionate about, build a great team around you, get up and work Sunday morning, and put your money where your mouth is. While you’re at it, F the rules.

Chad Hamre is the CEO of EthicalOcean.com and is based in Toronto, Canada. Follow Ethical Ocean on Facebook and Twitter. http://www.ethicalocean.com

AMAZING BREAKTHROUGH HERE ON THE THE SECRET WORKS !

Now I'm not in the habit of pontificating unnecessarily not, unless of course it has merit and, could benefit and impact the lives of the masses in a positive an meaningful way. Tonight I will be announcing a "Breakthrough" unlike anything we you have seen in your lifetime, I'm confirming as we speak and will bring to you if you haven't heard it yet, you'll here right here on The Secret Works, What Would Be Considered The Most Fantastic News Of The 21st Century! Finally millions will benefit from this miraculous discovery.... ! I'm so excited that I want to tell it right this moment but, I'm forced to refrain for just a bit longer until I can fully verify what it is that has been revealed to me, so brace yourselves because this my friends is a game changer and, many many people are, and will be positioning themselves to be the benefactors of this new discovery and others will be left out. So come back and visit me a little later you wont be disappointed especially, if your the type of reader I think you are.

I give a lot of credit to the readers of this blog, more than anything I welcome and encourage criticism   positive or otherwise, please feel free to comment.

How to Become a Better Entrepreneur in the Next 30 Minutes by NEIL PATEL

Do you want to be a better entrepreneur?
Do you want to make more money?
Here’s how you can do it in 6 steps.

1. Take a break

Just for a moment, sit back and relax. Before you dive back into your work you need to figure out where you are financially in life. One of the main reasons you are going into business is because you want to make more money. So the main question that should come to your mind is:
How much money do you want to make?
You don’t need a billion dollars and the odds of you making anywhere near that are slim to none. So what’s your number?
Chances are the amount you want to make is far more than you’ll actually need. Sit down and take a moment to write down everything you want to buy and how much money you’ll need to make to buy it all. Maybe a fancy house, some exotic cars, and enough cash where you don’t have to worry about working. If you add up the total of everything you want, it shouldn’t run you more than a few million dollars and if you break it down into yearly income it probably won’t be more than a few hundred thousand dollars.
If this isn’t the case, then you are smoking crack. You don’t need tons of toys to be happy. If you think you do, you will have a tough time making all of that money because it is really unlikely that you will make a few million dollars a year or sell your company for a hundred million dollars if you haven’t even made a few hundred grand first.
So stop swinging for the fences, especially if you haven’t hit a single yet!

2. Stop innovating and start copying

Now that you know that you don’t have to make millions of dollars a year, you have to come up with a business that will help you make a decent amount of money. It doesn’t have to be an innovative business that solves a pain in the market place; it just has to be a business that can turn a healthy profit every year.
A good way to find one of these businesses is by talking to friends and family. You’ll be amazed on how many basic businesses like plumbing (I am not saying you should be a plumber) make a decent amount of money. Find something that you’ll enjoy and start the business. Just don’t pick something that requires millions of dollars to start.
If you already have a business analyze how you are currently doing and see what tweaks you can make to it, so that it fits your financial objectives.

3. Time isn’t on your side

Nothing has to be perfect. What you may see as faulty might look perfect to your customers. It doesn’t matter what you want, it matters what your customers want.
This is why you don’t want to make any big decisions because if something goes wrong you’ll end up wasting a lot of time. Break that big decision into a few small decisions. Then survey your customers or potential customers to get their opinion; this should help you determine what route to take.
Even after you talk to your customers you are still going to make mistakes. Just make sure you are agile enough to adapt quickly. It is all about testing small things instead of taking months to roll out changes in your business.

4. Work hard, play hard

If you work 12-hour days, you are going to get burned out. It doesn’t matter if you love what you are doing you need to take breaks.

• Don’t work longer than a few hours without taking a break. Taking small breaks throughout your day will make you more efficient and cause you to accomplish more.
• Every week you should do something that is out of the ordinary. It doesn’t have to be expensive, it could be as simple as going to the park and having a picnic with your family. Just do something that will take your mind away from work and reduce your stress level.
• Create a work environment that you want to be in. Small things like having plants in your workspace, putting up motivational posters, and having a window to look out of can do wonders for you. If your work environment is dark and boring you’ll be forcing yourself to work everyday.

5. Stop deviating

New business opportunities are going to come your way and you will want to jump on them. But all of these things are going to be distractions. They’ll cause you to deviate from your path to success and it will take longer for you to reach your ultimate goal.
You to have to resist the temptation.
If you happen to take any of these opportunities you’ll soon find out that you will be increasing your risk intake. The more things you do, especially ones outside of your skill set, the higher the chance that something is going to fail.
Plus, the more things you do, the more spread out you will be. Once you spread yourself too thin you won’t be able to spend enough time on any of your businesses and you’ll notice that they will all suffer.

6. Never stop learning

The most important and last thing you should know is that you should never stop learning. No matter how successful you are, there is going to be someone out there who has accomplished more than you.
So instead of being arrogant, take every opportunity you get to learn new things. Whether it is from an experienced entrepreneur who has been around the block, or a 16-year-old kid, everyone can teach you something. You just have to learn what to take away from a conversation because there are going to be some things that are going to benefit you and others that won’t.

Conclusion

As an entrepreneur you have learned a few other things that I didn’t include in this blog post. Would you mind leaving a comment with some tips that would help others become a better entrepreneur in the next 30 minutes?

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7 Tips to Sell Your Ideas the Steve Jobs Way

By Carmine Gallo, Author of The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience 

Apple’s Steve Jobs returned to a standing ovation at a special music event in San Francisco on Wednesday, September 9th, marking the return of the world’s greatest corporate storyteller. For more than three decades, Steve Jobs has elevated product launches to an art form. His techniques, sharpened over the years, can be used by CEOs, entrepreneurs, small business owners, educators or anyone who wants to inspire an audience. Here are seven ways that Steve Jobs dazzles an audience, and so can you.

1. Create a “holy smokes” moment.
Every Steve Jobs presentation has one moment that leaves everyone in awe—the water cooler moment. These “moments” are scripted ahead of time to compliment his slides, the Apple Web site, press releases and advertisements. In 2008, Jobs pulled the MacBook Air out of a manila, inter-office envelope to show everyone just how thin it was. Bloggers went nuts and it was the most popular photograph of the event. On September 9, 2009, the “water cooler” moment wasn’t a product at all. Instead, it was Steve Jobs himself walking onstage after a long, health related absence. He told the audience he now had the liver of a mid twenties person who died in a car crash and was generous enough to donate their organs. “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for such generosity,” he said.

2. Stick to the rule of three.
The Rule of Three is one of most powerful concepts in writing. The human mind can only retain three or four “chunks” of information and Jobs is well aware of this principle. A Steve Jobs presentation is typically divided into three parts. During the September 9th event, Jobs outlined the presentation into three areas: iPhone, iTunes and iPod. Jobs has even been known to have fun with the principle. At Macworld 2007, he introduced “three revolutionary products;” an mp3 player, a phone, and an internet communicator. After repeating the three products several times, he disclosed the big announcement—all three would be wrapped up in one, the iPhone. The rule of three turned into a water cooler moment. Ask yourself, what are the three things I want my audience to know? Not twenty things, just three. You can get away with more points in written form (like an article) but stick to three in public presentations and verbal conversations.

3. Share the stage.
Jobs rarely gives an entire presentation himself. Instead he surrounds himself with a supporting cast. He had a large supporting cast at the September music event including Apple’s VP of product marketing, Phil Schiller and iTunes software designer, Jeff Robbin. At least four game developers took to the stage as well. Songwriter Norah Jones capped it off. Of course, you’re not going to have Norah Jones wrap up your next presentation, but if you can share the presentation with another team member (or customer) by all means, do so.

4. Introduce heroes and villains. 
Every great drama has a hero and a villain. Steve Jobs is a master at creating drama. We see this technique as far back at 1984 when Apple first introduced the Macintosh. Jobs set up the product launching by painting a picture of IBM “big blue” bent on “world domination.” Apple, he said, would be the only company to stand in its way. The crowd went nuts. One can argue that the “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” ads are hero vs. villain vignettes played out in thirty second ads. Great presentations have an antagonist—a common enemy—so the audience can rally around the hero. Your brand and your product play the role of the hero.

5. Think visually. Apple presentations are strikingly simple and visual. For example, there is very little text on a Steve Jobs slide. While the average PowerPoint slide has 40 words, there were far fewer than forty words in the first dozen slides of the September music event. When Jobs talked about the popularity of iPhone around the world, his slide showed 23 flags of different countries instead of country names. When said the iPhone app store was celebrating its first anniversary, a slide appeared with a birthday cake holding one candle. When he talked about lower iPod prices, the new price was accompanied by photos of the iPods. This is what psychologists call “picture superiority.” It simply means that ideas are more easily recalled when presented in text and images than in text alone.

6. Create Twitter-friendly headlines.
Apple makes it simple for the media to talk about their products—the company writes the headlines for them. Now, reporters will tell you that they like to come up with their own headlines, but why then did hundreds of them use “World’s thinnest notebook” to describe the MacBook Air? Because that’s the way Steve Jobs described it, and frankly, it’s hard to come up with a better way of saying it. Jobs always describes a new product with a concise phrase that fits well within a 140 character Twitter post. What’s an iPod? “One thousand songs in your pocket.” What’s Genuis Mix for iTunes? “It’s like having a DJ mix the songs in your library.” If you can’t describe what you do in one sentence, go back to the drawing board.

7. Sell dreams, not products.
Steve Jobs is passionately committed to changing the world and his passion shows in every presentation. Anyone can learn the specific techniques he uses to create visually creative slides, but those slides will fall flat if delivered without passion and enthusiasm. When Jobs introduce the iPod in 2001, he said that music was a transformative experience and that in its own small way, Apple was changing the world. Where most observers saw a music player, Jobs saw an opportunity to create a better world for his customers. That’s the difference between Jobs and the vast majority of mediocre leaders—Jobs is genuinely committed to changing the world and he’s not afraid to say it.

©2009 Carmine Gallo, author of The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience.

Author Bio
Carmine Gallo, author of The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience, is a presentation, media-training, and communication-skills coach for the world's most admired brands. He is an author and columnist for Businessweek.com and and a keynote speaker and seminar leader who has appeared on CNBC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC.com, BNET, RedBook, Forbes.com, and in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and Investor's Business Daily, as well as many other media outlets. Gallo lives in the San Francisco Bay area and is a former vice president for a global, top-ten public relations firm.For more information please visit http://www.carminegallo.com/

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