THE MODERN ENTREPRENEUR

HOW TO BUILD A
SUCCESSFUL STARTUP:
FROM BEGINNING
TO END

Jayson DeMers, Founder & CEO, AudienceBloom

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1: Preparing for the Entrepreneurial Journey

Chapter 6: Developing the Business

50 Reasons to Start Your Own Business

Got a Business Idea? Heres How to See If Its

The Scientific Method for Entrepreneurs: 6 Steps to

Long-Term Success

Sustainable

5 Ways to Build Your Brand in Short Chunks of Time

5 Signs Youre Ready to Start Your Own Business

A Startups Guide to Professional Networking

5 Fears Youll Need to Conquer Before Starting a

5 Common Pitfalls That Ruin Businesses -- and How to

Business

Avoid Them

Chapter 2: Developing Yourself as an Entrepreneur

Chapter 7: Marketing and Building a Reputation

5 Characteristics That Define Successful Entrepreneurs

Your Guide to Marketing an Online Business

5 Things Youre Doing Wrong Every Morning

39 Quick Ways to Increase Your Websites Conversion

5 Things Only Entrepreneurs Can Truly Understand

10 Ways Entrepreneurs Think Differently

7 Communication Skills Every Entrepreneur Must

Rate

The Key Ingredients to a Winning Mobile ContentMarketing Strategy

Master
Chapter 3: Seeking Funding and Mentors

Why SEO Is Much Easier Than You Think

Why Every Entrepreneur Should Focus on Local SEO

5 PR Strategies for the Busy Entrepreneur

6 Reasons Why Your Elevator Pitch Isnt Working

6 Tips for Overcoming a No When Seeking Funding

Chapter 8: Risks, Growth, and the Thrill of Change

7 Key Qualities of an Effective Mentor

7 Risks Every Entrepreneur Must Take

7 Failures Every Entrepreneur Must Eventually Face

Successful Entrepreneurs Thrive in Failure, So Embrace

Chapter 4: Building a Team

7 Habits of Good Bosses

5 Employees You Need on Your Team

7 Signs Youve Found an Employee Worth Keeping

How to Survive Losing Your Star Employee or Partner

It When Its Inevitable

Chapter 9: The Dark Side of Entrepreneurship

Chapter 5: Becoming a Leader

5 Management Mistakes Almost Every New

Entrepreneur Makes

Productive
5 Ways to Reward Your Employees Without a Raise

This Essential Leadership Trait Can Push Employees to

7 Dark Truths About Entrepreneurship

5 Tough Choices Youll Face as an Entrepreneur

5 Sacrifices Every Entrepreneur Must Make

Chapter 10: How to Stay Happy and Remain Successful

5 Strategies to Build a Fun Work Culture Thats Also

Do Their Best

6 Stories of Super Successes Who Overcame Failure

5 Ways to Overcome Entrepreneurship Burnout

6 Secrets of Happy Entrepreneurs

INTRODUCTION

Hey there! Im Jayson DeMers. If youre reading this, youre either a new entrepreneur in the middle of getting
your startup together or youre a professional looking to get started in the world of entrepreneurship. Either way,
Im glad you picked this up. Entrepreneurship is an exciting, unpredictable, rewarding, and sometimes terrifying
journey, and whether you succeed or fail, the experience is unlike any other. Still, succeeding typically feels better
than failing, and the more startups succeed, the better our regional and broader economies fareso its in my best
interest to make sure as many entrepreneurs succeed as possible.
Ive been an entrepreneur myself for a long time, heading the content marketing company AudienceBloom for
many years and supporting other entrepreneurs with business planning, marketing, and overall development.
Ive been involved at every stage of business development, from ideation to strategy to execution, and Ive made
enough mistakes and learned enough lessons along the way to write 10 of these books.
To make it easier for both the novice entrepreneur and the experienced entrepreneur looking for just a bit of
advice in one key area, Ive broken this book down into 10 chapters, each of which focuses on a different phase
or area of business ownership and development. If you read straight through, youll learn how to prepare for
entrepreneurship, develop yourself as an entrepreneur, find funding and mentors, build a team, become a leader,
develop the business, market your company, change and adapt, understand the dark side of entrepreneurship, and
ultimately remain happy and successful in your role. Or, if youre only interested in one of those key areas, feel free
to jump right to it.
Without further ado, please venture forth and start learning how to become a betteror simply becomean
entrepreneur in the modern world.

CHAPTER 1

PREPARING FOR THE ENTREPRENEURIAL JOURNEY

Quitting your job on a whim based on a fleeting idea that popped into your mind probably isnt the best course of
action, no matter how cool that idea seems at the time. Before delving into the world of entrepreneurship, first you
need to prepare yourself for the sometimes-harsh realities of business ownership.

50 REASONS TO START YOUR OWN BUSINESS

Some people are destined to be entrepreneurs. From the time they get through school, or maybe even before that,
theyre hungry to start a business and lead it to success, and theyll stop at nothing to make that dream a reality.
For others, starting a business is a scary, intimidating notion. There are too many unknowns to take the plunge.
But if youre considering becoming an entrepreneur, dont forget all the benefits that go along with it:
1. Flexibility in hours. Take half-days and off days whenever you feel like it.
2. More spare time. Spend more time with your family and friends.
3. Calling the shots. Nobody else is going to set the rules. You are.
4. Setting your own deadlines. No more last-minute rushing unless you want to do it.
5. Selling how you want to sell. Online? In person? Inbound? Outbound? Its your call.

6. Creating your own environment. You can set

the formality and culture of your organization.
7. Pursuing your passion. You can do what
makes you happy.
8. Creating something from scratch. Watch your
organization grow from start to finish.
9. Meeting new people. Network with other
entrepreneurs and professionals.
10. Building a team. You decide who to hire and
bring into your company.
11. Creating jobs. Improve the economy with new
job opportunities.
12. Helping people. Use products and services to
improve peoples lives.
13. Becoming your own expert. Learn the ropes of your industry through first-hand experience.
14. Investing in yourself. You take the risk, and youll gain the rewards.
15. Making more money. If you want a pay raise, you can give yourself one.
16. Financial independence. No one else is signing your paychecks.
17. Tax benefits. Write off your biggest expenses.
18. New challenges every day. Find new ways to stimulate your mind.
19. Getting exposed to new cultures. Discover new perspectives and approaches.
20. Discovering new fields. Delve deeper into your industry.
21. Creating an asset. Give yourself something sellable to hedge your bets.
22. Connecting with your clients. Forge real, personal connections.
23. Delegating the boring tasks. Dont do anything you dont want to.
24. You can stop working. Work you enjoy doing cant be described as work.
25. The power to give. Have the power and flexibility to donate time or money to worthy causes.
26. Getting involved in the community. Participate actively in your neighborhood and region.
27. Improving your industry. Push your industry forward with new innovations and ideas.

28. Mentoring. Meet valuable, insightful mentors and learn from them.
29. Being a mentor. Take your own knowledge and experience, and mentor someone else.
30. Learning new skills. Learn new skills in new departments.
31. Attending new classes and seminars. Constantly refine your skillset and stay updated.
32. Having a big office. If you want the biggest office in your workplace, its yours.
33. Working from anywhere. Work from home if you so choose.
34. Having the option for multiple ventures. Start another business when youre done with this one.
35. Gaining entrepreneurial experience. Being an entrepreneur makes you a better professional in almost any position.
36. Getting recognized. Start earning name recognition and build a reputation.
37. Getting things done faster. Set your own efficiency rates.
38. Personal branding. Take the time to develop your personal brand, and tie it into your businesss.
39. Being creative. Create your own opportunities and your own solutions.
40. Inspiring others. Serve as an example for other people to follow their dreams.
41. Reducing your commute. Find an office space closer to your home.
42. Having more job stability. Never worry about being laid off or fired.
43. Finding pride and fulfillment. Finally start taking pride in the work youre doing.
44. Reaching your dreams. If youve ever dreamed of being wildly successful, this is your chance.
45. Failing isnt so bad. Even if you fail, youll walk away with new skills and more experience you never had before.
46. Having a great story to tell. It will be a fun story for your grandchildren one day, win or lose.
47. Leaving something behind. Pass the business down to your children and grandchildren.
48. Changing the world. It may seem like too lofty a goal for you right now, but your business really could change
the world.
49. Resources are plentiful. With the dominance of the Internet, its easier than ever to find resources you need,
including startup capital, loans, grants, and even mentors.
50. Theres nothing stopping you. Whats really keeping you from being an entrepreneur? Of course there are risks,
but theres nothing forcing you not to take them.
If you want to become an entrepreneur, theres nothing really holding you back. Take the leap, and lead the
company youve always wanted.
6

GOT A BUSINESS IDEA? HERES HOW TO SEE IF ITS SUSTAINABLE

Chances are, youve already come up with a business idea at some point in your life, whether you realize it or not.
Some people come up with a possible idea for a solution to a common problem and dismiss it, never to address
the subject seriously again. Others generate an idea for a business and fixate on it, trying to take action but never
getting off the ground.
Ideas come in many shapes and sizes, and while most bad ideas are recognizable as bad ideas immediately, not
all good ideas are created equal. A good idea, in theory, is one that solves a problem adeptly, with no major
drawbacks. But not every good idea can sustain a good business.
For example, your idea, while good, might not be cost effective, therefore preventing you from generating a
worthwhile profit. If you have a good idea, but you arent sure whether the idea is sustainable as the foundation for
a real business, ask yourself these questions:

SOLVING A COMMON PROBLEM?

HAS ANYONE BEATEN YOU TO IT?

PEOPLE WILLING TO PAY FOR SOLUTION?

COULD ANYONE DO IT?

SCALABLE

WILL IT LAST?

1. ARE YOU SOLVING A COMMON PROBLEM?

The first question to ask is an easy one. Think about your idea. Does it solve some kind of problem
that an average person would face? The first key here is that youre actually solving a problem and not
introducing some new function that nobody ever needed. The second key is that the problem youre solving
is widespreadfor example, if you invent a device that allows someone to play accordion and perform
automotive repairs at the same time, you probably arent going to reach a wide audience. You can do some
market research to back up your idea here, but for now, a common sense thought experiment should let you
know whether your idea is solid.
2. ARE PEOPLE GOING TO PAY FOR YOUR SOLUTION?
Following the same rules as the question above, you can conduct some market research to get a surefire
answer, but just think about this question in a practical setting. Imagine you didnt come up with this idea,
and that instead, someone was coming to you with it. Would you be willing to pay that person for this product
or service? How much would you be willing to pay? These two questions should immediately let you know
whether this idea has the potential to make real money.
3. IS YOUR IDEA SCALABLE?
Making money, believe it or not, is only the first step of the process. In order to thrive as a business, your idea
needs to have room to growthe term for this is scalability. Can your idea gradually expand to new markets?
Can you come up with new, improved models? Can you expand your business into other areas to make more
money? If your idea isnt scalable, and it can only exist in its current form, it may not be worth pursuing as a
business.

4. HAS SOMEONE ELSE BEATEN YOU TO IT?

This is a highly important question to ask, and one quick Google search should provide you with a succinct,
direct answer. See if there are any other companies that are already using your idea. If its a great idea, theres
a good chance that someone else already thought of it. If you see at least one competitor with a version of
your idea thats as good as or better than yours, your idea probably isnt sustainable.
5. COULD ANYONE DO THIS?
Imagine for a moment that nobody else has jumped on this idea yet. If you introduce it to the world and start
shopping around a prototype or preliminary service, how easy would it be for someone else to replicate your
idea? How easy would it be for them to make a subtle improvement? If your idea isnt unique, or if it can be
easily copied, it has a high chance of being taken advantage of by copycats and idea thieves working well
within the confines of the law.
6. CAN IT LAST FOR MORE THAN A YEAR?
This may seem like an obvious question of sustainability, but think critically about the nature of your idea.
Does it take advantage of a current fad or trend? If so, remember that fads dont usually last long. Business
ideas that take advantage of a fleeting interest do not succeedinstead, you need something that solves a
long-term problem with a long-term solution.
If you can answer all of these questions confidently, and backed with ample research, youll have a good chance
at turning your idea into a successful enterprise. Just remember the ideation phase is only the first step of the
process. From here, youll need to do exhaustive research, write a business plan and start shopping your idea
around to investors. Its a long, trying process, but with confidence in your idea, youll be off to a great start.

5 SIGNS YOURE READY TO START YOUR OWN BUSINESS

Starting a new business is exhilarating. A world of possibility awaits, including the possibilities of incredible
success or catastrophic failure. The dichotomy between those two extremes leads many to a purgatory of
indecision, making them apprehensive in making the final push to become an entrepreneur.
Unfortunately, there is never a perfect time to start a business. No matter how long you wait, youll never be
experienced enough, youll never have enough capital, and youll never have zero risk. Theres always a chance that
your business will fail, but theres also always a chance that it will succeed.
That being said, while there are no perfect times to start a business, there are good times to start a business. And
if youve experienced one of these five signs, it could be time for you to finally begin your entrepreneurial journey:
1. YOUR JOB IS NO LONGER FULFILLING. In every job, youre going to have good days and bad days. Just
because you have a few bad days in a row, that doesnt necessarily mean the only way out is to start your own
business. But if, through both good days and bad days, you feel like your job truly isnt fulfilling, it may be time
to consider owning your own business.
Typically, people stop feeling fulfilled when they arent able to do the work they want to do. Oftentimes,
this is because someone else is calling all the shots. If youre thrilled at the idea of setting your own
schedule, delegating your own tasks, and tackling the work you want to tackle, it may be time to pursue
entrepreneurship.

2. YOU UNDERSTAND THE RISKS OF BUSINESS

OWNERSHIP. Of course, its not a good idea to
simply jump into business ownership. There
are serious risks involved, and only when you
understand those risks fully should you consider
yourself ready to take the next step.

IT IS IMPORTANT
FOR YOUNG
ENTREPRENEURS TO
BE ADEQUATELY SELFAWARE TO KNOW
WHAT THEY DO NOT
KNOW.

Before you make any major decisions, do some

research. You may already be aware of some of
the more obvious risks (such as losing your capital
investment, losing your current job, running into
legal problems, etc.), but you may find more than
you thought existed. Its also helpful to talk to other
entrepreneurs in your areaespecially the ones
who have started a business and failed.

-MARK ZUCKERBERG

3. YOU HAVE AN IDEA YOURE PASSIONATE ABOUT.

If youre thinking about entrepreneurship, you
probably already have an idea for a business. Is it
one that you arent very interested in, but you think
it could make a lot of money? Is it one that youre passionate about, but you arent sure of all the details?
Believe it or not, the second option is a better sign that youre ready to start a business. Even if you have
a great idea on paper, if you arent passionate about it, you arent going to be driven to make that idea
successful. The most successful entrepreneurs are ones who begin with passion in their hearts, and if youve
already found yours, you could be ready to begin.
4. YOU HAVE A SUPPORT SYSTEM. Very few entrepreneurs are able to go it alone. While you might be the only
person making decisions at the top, youre going to need friends, family members, and mentors who can guide
you through the toughest decisions and be there to pick you up when you inevitably fall.
Your spouse, your children, and your friends need to know your desire for entrepreneurship, and even if theyre
not sure about it, they need to support you through the process. In some cases, that may mean being ready
to pick up additional income should the business not turn out as you expected. In others, that simply means
being someone to run decisions by. In any case, having a support system is an important step before you
officially pursue the startup life.
5. YOU KNOW WHATS IMPORTANT TO YOU. Some people go their whole lives without realizing whats actually
important to them. They may think that being their own boss is what matters to them, but feel unfulfilled when
they actually attain that position. Take a critical look at your motivations for becoming an entrepreneur. Are
they rooted in perceptions you have about how great entrepreneurship is? Or are they more focused on what
you truly want out of life? Only you can make this distinction.
Dont be discouraged if the first few phases of starting your own business dont turn out to be what you expected.
Entrepreneurship is a volatile world, but as long as you stay committed to improving your ideas and continue to
work hard, youll always have a chance to succeed.
Trust yourself. Otherwise, you run the risk of failing before your business even gets off the ground.

5 FEARS YOULL NEED TO CONQUER BEFORE STARTING A BUSINESS

At this point, Ive properly warned you that entrepreneurship is treacherous ground. Youll face great risks, from
the inception of your company through the growth stage, and even as you stabilize and gain momentum. If youre
going to be successful as a business owner, you need to be prepared for those risks, and address your fears
proactively.
While each entrepreneur and each business is unique, there are five common fears that almost every entrepreneur
will need to face before starting a business:
1. RUNNING OUT OF MONEY. Capital is one of
the biggest concerns most entrepreneurs
have, and with good reason. Starting a
business takes a lot of money, which usually
comes directly from the entrepreneurs
savings, or the pockets of independent
investors. If you cant secure a reliable
revenue stream by the time that initial startup
capital runs out, the businessand all that
moneyis in jeopardy of being lost for good.
Disappointing investors is one thing, but
losing your lifes savings is another.
If personal investment loss is whats keeping
you from moving forward, consider other
means of fundraising. Use crowdfunding
to collect small amounts from thousands
of people, or seek business grants from the
government to help get you started. Most of
all, you need to have faith in your business
modelif you dont, then you shouldnt go into
business.
2. NOT BEING GOOD ENOUGH. Whether youre worried that you arent good enough as an entrepreneur or that
your product isnt good enough to be competitive, the fear of not being good enough can be debilitating for
new entrepreneurs.
Remember a simple concept that applies to all businesses: launching with a minimum viable product. Your
product doesnt have to be perfect when it first launches, and it doesnt have to be the best. It just has to be
acceptable. From there, youll have plenty of room to make improvements to it over time. No product ever
starts out perfectsome of the greatest businesses in the world probably started with a product of a similar
quality to yours.
As an entrepreneur, you too can be a minimum viable product. You dont have to make all the right decisions,
and you dont need to be a perfect leader. You just have to be passable until you have the time and experience
to improve yourself.
3. FAILING. The fear of failure gets the better of all of us occasionally. There are small failureslike a botched
email marketing campaign or a major bug you discover post-launch, and massive failureslike your company
going under.
10

Failure will set you back no matter what, but you cant let the fear of failure stop you from making a decision.
Failure is only the end of the road if you let it be. Otherwise, its just a temporary stopping point in a long path
to a final destination. More importantly, failures are learning opportunities; every failure you experience yields a
lesson you can incorporate into your business or into your life.
4. BEING OVERWHELMED. The entrepreneurial life isnt chosen because its easy. Its chosen because its a
challenge with many rewards along the way. If youre getting into entrepreneurship because it seems like an
easy way to get rich quick, someone has lied to you. Entrepreneurship is riddled with obstacles, stress, and
hard work.
But the flip side of entrepreneurship is control. Yes, you will inevitably feel overwhelmed at times, but its all
completely within your power to change. If youre dealing with too many financial problems, you can hire a
financial advisor. If you arent getting the results you want out of your developer, you can let him/her go and
seek new help.
You will experience a greater workload than youve ever faced before, but remember that youll be in full control
of your own destiny.
5. THE UNKNOWN. The unknown is indescribable, and impossible to prepare for. When you first get started, with
a business plan, a bit of money, and maybe a partner or a mentor by your side, youll have no idea what to
expect in your first year. For many, its a thrilling thought, but its also terrifying.
Entrepreneurship isnt a job. It becomes a lifestyle. Youre choosing to be in this role because youre a risktaker, youre passionate, you work hard, and you believe in your idea. Those four qualities are more than
enough to conquer any obstacle that gets in your wayeven the unknown ones. So put those fears to rest, and
believe in yourself.
Entrepreneurship isnt for the fearless. Its for the individuals who are prepared enough and strong enough to
learn from their fears and work past them. Instead of avoiding your fears, embrace them, and use them as a
motivation to improve yourself as an entrepreneur, which Im about to explore in the next chapter.

11

CHAPTER 2

DEVELOPING YOURSELF AS AN ENTREPRENEUR

Now that youve decided to become an entrepreneur, you can start preparing yourself for the role. Its a demanding
position, and youll need more than a few key characteristics, skills, and abilities if youre going to survive.

5 CHARACTERISTICS THAT DEFINE SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEURS

When you look at startups that eventually made it big, either by growing into a big corporation or by getting sold
for a substantial sum of money, you notice similarities about the businesses: for example, their approach, team, or
timing. But even the greatest ideas can struggle to gain momentum without a resilient and capable leader at their
helm. Similarly, a great entrepreneur can take an idea with moderate potential and transform it into something
legendary.
There are too many environmental variables in play to reduce the propensity for success down to a handful of
factors, but there are certain traits that great entrepreneurs share.
1. RESILIENCE. Entrepreneurship is going to dole out constant challenges, some of which youve already
considered but many of which youll never see coming. And its about more than just business opportunities
and obstaclesyour personal life will be challenged as well. Youll face complex financial problems, decisionbased dilemmas, long hours, sudden changes, and predictions that egregiously fail.
You must remember that all these challenges, while difficult to face, are a natural part of being an entrepreneur.
Success in business ownership is rarely a matter of how many challenges you face so much as it is a matter of
how you face those challenges. Triumphant entrepreneurs have a level of resilience, which allows them to face
an almost constant slew of challenges without ever weakening their resolve.
12

2. AGILITY. Startups have one critical weapon that distinguishes them from their
larger, better-established counterparts: theyre nimble. As the leader of your
startup, you must be nimble as well. Agile entrepreneurs are able to treat every
problem they encounter quickly and adeptly, without taking too long to address
them. This agility allows entrepreneurs to remain proactive and vigilant, preventing
small problems from becoming major ones.
On a larger scale, this ability also allows entrepreneurs to constantly change, and
therefore improve, their businesses. With new technologies, new resources, and
new trends emerging daily, the most successful businesses are ones who are
able to adapt and grow with the times. Remaining agile in a position of leadership
enables this course of growth.

3. PATIENCE. Too many entrepreneurs get started with a business based on dreams
of becoming an overnight millionaire. Several leaders in the tech sector with some
great new idea have been able to seemingly rise to success out of nowhere, but the reality is this level of success
can only come after years of hard, committed effort. Successful entrepreneurs realize that all great things take time,
and arent impeded when their great ideas dont take off immediately.
Patience also goes a long way when building the infrastructure of your company. Great entrepreneurs want to build
the best team, not one pieced together with the first candidates that cross their paths. Theyre also willing to make
mistakes and go through temporary hardships if its en route to a more stable, successful long-term vision.

4. TRUST. Mutual trust is a necessity when working in a position of leadership, especially in the context of a small
team that typically defines startups. For example, entrepreneurs need to trust their team leaders to accomplish their
primary objectives without interference. If that trust isnt there, team leaders will not be able to execute their work
effectively. Its also a symptom of a hire that isnt the best fit for the organization.
Of course, workers, partners, and investors all need to trust you as an entrepreneur as well. You can cultivate this
trust by maintaining constant, transparent lines of communication, which will also facilitate greater productivity and
a tighter sense of collaboration within the team.

5. PASSION. Finally, its impossible to be a successful entrepreneur if you arent passionate about your work. Passion
can be defined subjectively, but whats important is that youre excited to come to work every day. You may not like
every task you have to perform or every person you have to work with, but at the end of the day, you must be both
satisfied and exhilarated to be the leader of your own enterprise.
Without passion, your productivity will suffer, but more importantly, youll never be happy with where you are. Only
when youre truly passionate about your work will you be able to find the success you yearn for.
While you should rely on your own personality and instincts in your style of entrepreneurship, attempt to embody these
qualities in your own unique approach. Youll find that with these characteristics backing your actions and leadership
style, youll have a much easier time making measurable steps toward progress. With time and experience, you could
easily push your company to the next level, matching or exceeding the successful startups that came before you. Just
stay consistent, and continue to refine your approach.

13

5 THINGS YOURE DOING WRONG EVERY MORNING

When youve gotten used to a professional setting, the morning doesnt seem like its anything important. The time
between your initial wakeup and your arrival to the office is usually a blur, and your routine has become so secondnature that you never think to change it.

Unfortunately, our morning tasks are much more significant than wed like to admit, and our bad habits tend to
accumulate over time. The morning sets a tone for how the rest of the day is going to go, and even a handful of small
mistakes can take its toll on your productivity in the afternoon and beyond. For entrepreneurs, this is especially
important.
Take a look at these five common morning routine mistakes, and think critically about how you can change your
mornings for the better:
1. WAKING UP TO UNPLEASANTNESS. Sometimes, waking up to an unpleasant noise or an unpleasant situation is
unavoidable. But for those other times, you simply have to exert a little bit more control. Choosing the most annoying
alarm noise on your phone isnt the best decisionits going to make your first feeling of the day one of irritation
or annoyance. Similarly, dont let yourself fall into a cycle of hitting the snooze for five minutes only to hear the
grating sound again. When you wake up, wake up for goodeven if its hardand try to gently bring yourself out of
sleep. Using some of your favorite music or going to bed early to nab some extra sleep are good tactics to make the
wakeup process easier.
2. RUSHING THROUGH YOUR ROUTINE. Youre always going to have off days when youre running late and you need
to rush through your entire routine to make it to the office on time, but when that morning rush becomes a habit,
it starts to have damaging consequences. Flying through your routine gives your brain no time to decompress or
prepare for the day; instead, youre stressing out over all the mini tasks you have to accomplish and how long its
going to take you to get them done. If this sounds like you, try waking up a half hour earlier so you have more time to
finish things in a reasonable timeframe.
3. SKIPPING BREAKFAST. This is sometimes the result of rushing through your routine, but many people have given up
on breakfast altogether. They view it as an unnecessary meal, or prefer to start the day with something non-nutritive,
like a cup of coffee or tea. While coffee can perk you up, its not going to provide the nutrition you need for long-term
energy. Eat a hearty breakfast of fruit, complex carbohydrates, and protein to keep yourself focused for a longer
portion of the day. All it takes is an extra 15 minutes of preparation, and if your routine cant spare those 15 minutes,
you probably have bigger problems than breakfast.
4. THROWING YOURSELF INTO WORK. You wake up and one of the first things you do is check your email, or you make
a call to one of your clients, or you start tackling a big problem from the day before. Does this sound like you? It
may seem like throwing yourself into work immediately is one of the most productive choices you can makeafter
all, youre eliminating down time in favor of more direct working time. But doing so can actually harm your longterm productivity because you have no warm-up or cool down period. Take some time in the morning to meditate,
exercise, or do something you enjoy doing. This will reset your brain and allow you to better focus on your work
when its time to actually start.
5. PROCRASTINATING YOUR DIFFICULT TASKS. Theres always a major challenge on the docket, whether its a
last-minute rush or a huge project that isnt due for months. Whatever it is, you probably dread doing it, and
when you get things started in the morning, the last thing you want to do is something challenging. But tackling
your most challenging tasks early on in the day is actually beneficial. It leaves you feeling a sense of motivating
accomplishment, and all your other tasks will seem easier by comparison.

14

Your mornings will never be perfect. You arent going to

nail down a perfect routine that always goes right and
always sets your day up for success, but you can mitigate
the detrimental habits that tend to creep into your routine
after years of repetition.

ITS NOT ABOUT

IDEAS. ITS ABOUT
MAKING IDEAS
HAPPEN.

Dont be discouraged if you encounter difficulty at first.

Routines take consistency, discipline and time to change
effectively, and introducing a sudden change to your
routine may throw you off for the first few days. Stay
committed to your target changes, and eventually, theyre
going to pay off with greater productivity and a better
mental attitude to start the day.

-SCOTT BELSKY

5 THINGS ONLY ENTREPRENEURS CAN TRULY UNDERSTAND

Entrepreneurship isnt a job -- its a lifestyle.
But even the word lifestyle doesnt quite capture the full experience. When you first delve into entrepreneurship, its
likely youll have no idea what youre doing. Youll mess up, youll become disheartened when your plans dont work out,
and youll become tired after pouring all your effort into an idea that may or may not pay off.
However, pushing through the experience, whether it ends in success or failure, will change your perspective for the
better and give you experience that you can use in your next adventure -- even if it isnt an entrepreneurial one.
Any job can give you the opportunity to learn hard lessons and find new ideas about the world, but only through
entrepreneurship can you deeply understand the following truths:
1. YOUR PLANS WILL NEVER WORK. This sounds abrasive and cynical to the average person, but to the entrepreneur
whos experienced this firsthand, its a solid truth. No matter how well you plan things out, and no matter how
extensively youve thought everything through, your plans will never work out the way you expect them to. In the
entrepreneurial world, there are too many unknowns and too many unpredictable factors to account for, and no plan
can adequately respond to all of them.
However, that doesnt mean you cant be successful. All that means is that your plans will have to evolve over time,
and as a leader, youll need to avoid growing too attached to any one path forward. It comes down to being flexible,
and accepting that your plans will eventually have to change.
2. THERES NEVER A PERFECT TIME. Conservative risk-takers often try to wait for the perfect momentwhether
that means buying a stock at the perfect price, launching a new product at the perfect time, or quitting your job to
become an entrepreneur at the perfect point in your career. For those conservative risk-takers, that means waiting
and waiting for all the stars to align and for everything to be perfect before they take action.
Entrepreneurs know theres no such thing as a perfect moment. Just like stock prices will always fluctuate, your
product will never be perfect, and youll never see a perfect set of circumstances that allow you to leave your job
comfortably. As an entrepreneur, you have to take bigger risks and jump in even if its uncomfortable to do so. Youll
soon learn that action is always better than inaction, and waiting around for the perfect time is a waste.

15

3. PEOPLE COME FIRST. Entrepreneurs often start out possessed with the importance of their ideas, their products, and
a vision of personal wealth, but all entrepreneurs eventually learn that people are more important than any of those.
Even if you have a great idea, its going to mean nothing without the right people supporting it.
People are going to help you throughout your entrepreneurial journey; theyre your team, your clients, your investors,
your friends, and your family. Without them supporting your idea and contributing their own insights, your idea could
fall totally flat. Entrepreneurs understand this, and do everything they can to keep the people around them motivated
and inspired.
4. FAILURE IS OKAY. Eventually, every entrepreneur will taste failure. Even massively successful entrepreneurs, like
Bill Gates or Richard Branson, have experienced devastating failures along the way. Some choose to let failure
get the better of them and abandon their hopes or ideas, but the truly entrepreneurial minds out there accept and
understand that failure is perfectly okay, and sometimes unavoidable.
Failure isnt the end of the road; instead, its an opportunity to learn from your mistakes and grow as a business
owner. With this understanding, its easier to accept small and big failures alike and move on with more experience
and a clearer vision for the future.
5. PERSISTENCE IS EVERYTHING. Millions of people come up with great ideas every day, but only a handful of them
have the gumption to follow through with them. Similarly, many people start a business only to throw in the towel
when things start to get tough.
Entrepreneurs realize that persistence makes the difference between success and failure. Even when youre doubtful,
even when youre hesitant, and even when youve lost momentum, persisting is the only way to see your ideas
through to fruition.
Whether you make it through your first entrepreneurial experience with your business still intact, these five lessons will
eventually lead you to success. Understanding how ideas live and die, and having faith in your own abilities and those
of the people around you are invaluable traits that can keep you moving forward even when you face massive obstacles
along the way. This is what it means to be an entrepreneur.

10 WAYS ENTREPRENEURS THINK DIFFERENTLY

Entrepreneurs are a unique breed of people. While some people sit and fantasize
about the glamor of being their own boss and creating their own business, those in
the thick of business ownership understand that even considering all its rewards,
entrepreneurship is a difficult and complicated path.
The worlds most successful entrepreneurs arent the ones who impulsively quit their
jobs to chase a get-rich-quick idea. They are the ones with an entrepreneurial mindset
-- a set of perspectives and values that allow them to achieve greatness.
These 10 perspectives are differentiators youll need to have or develop if youre going
to be a successful business owner:
1. CHALLENGES ARE OPPORTUNITIES. Setbacks, obstacles and challenges are
painfully common elements of entrepreneurship. Most people react to these
hurdles with stress and pessimism, with an attitude that obstacles are negative

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experiences that only hinder progress. As an entrepreneur, you encounter so many challenges you simply cant
afford to react this way.
Instead, successful entrepreneurs view challenges as opportunities. Each challenge or setback reveals a key
opportunity to grow -- either to improve upon an existing weakness or take measures to avoid experiencing a similar
setback in the future.
2. COMPETITORS ARE RESEARCH SUBJECTS. Rather than viewing competitors as a threat, like most people would,
entrepreneurs see competitors as enriching opportunities to learn more about their industry and target market.
By looking at your competitors business models, you can learn what makes yours unique and embellish that
uniqueness in your branding and marketing efforts. Studying your competitors emphasis on customer experience
can teach you how to make yours better.
Your competitors are doing you a favor -- theyve already gathered tons of valuable information. Entrepreneurs
realize that its up to them to take advantage of it.
3. EVERYTHING REQUIRES EFFORT. Entrepreneurship is multifaceted and constantly demanding, and theres no
shortage of pitfalls that could disrupt or destroy your business. Successful entrepreneurs are aware of this, and
theyre aware that everything -- from product development, sales and marketing -- requires significant effort to
achieve success. Instead of looking for shortcuts, theyre pouring effort into their business at every opportunity, and
when they reach one goal, theyre already busy planning another.
4. PERFECTION IS THE ENEMY OF PROGRESS. Its a familiar aphorism that nobody understands better than
entrepreneurs. Young or inexperienced entrepreneurs might get caught up in chasing their original vision, because
original visions are almost invariably perfect. But perfection isnt necessary to run a successful, profitable
business.
In fact, perfection is often what stalls progress. The time you spend trying to hammer down those last few details is
likely going to end up as time wasted. Instead, spend your efforts on the big picture, and make sure its solid.
5. BIG THINGS ARE MADE FROM SMALL COMPONENTS. This works for problems as well as solutions. For example,
instead of seeing a content-marketing campaign as a quick way to get traffic and new business, entrepreneurs see
content marketing in terms of its individual components (blogging, social-media marketing, link building, etc.), each
of which has its own advantages and disadvantages. Successful entrepreneurs can break down massive projects,
problems and campaigns into smaller, more manageable pieces.
6. MISTAKES ARE HEALTHY. The popular vision of massively successful entrepreneurs such as Steve Jobs or Jeff
Bezos illustrates them as infallible leaders. This couldnt be further from the truth. Successful entrepreneurs, even
the rock stars among them, make mistakes often. Furthermore, they arent afraid to make mistakes, and they know
how to learn from them.
Making mistakes is healthy and normal, and the sooner entrepreneurs realize that, the better. Dont waste time doing
everything you can to avoid mistakes or beat yourself up after making one. Acknowledge your mistakes, figure out
what you can do to make up for them, and move on.
7. THERE IS NO MAGIC. The super-rich entrepreneurs you read about in the news usually didnt get there because they
randomly stumbled upon a great idea. They got there because they poured years of effort and passion into a good
idea, and eventually their efforts paid off.

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You cant become an entrepreneur expecting there to be a miracle, or some kind of instant, magical rise to the top
because your idea was revolutionary. Even the best ideas in the world require patience, skill and endless effort to
earn that level of success. The worlds best entrepreneurs realize this. Waiting for your idea to do the work on its
own, or waiting for some unseen element to carry you to success can only result in disaster.
8. OUTSIDE PERSPECTIVE IS INVALUABLE. Entrepreneurs need to be good communicators, and that means actively
listening to those with different ideas and opinions. Its easy for us to get trapped in one mode of thinking.
Many business owners keep their business models and directives too rigid, ultimately restricting their ability to grow
and leading to failure. Successful entrepreneurs, on the other hand, are constantly searching for individuals and
experiences that will challenge their way of thinking and lead them to see things from a new perspective.
9. DISCIPLINE IS A PREREQUISITE. To most people, discipline is something extra. It takes extra thought and effort to
exercise, wake up on time or do anything other than spend leisure time. To successful entrepreneurs, discipline is
normal. Its a prerequisite that carries into all aspects of their lives.
You dont have to be a regimented military-style leader to be disciplined, but you do have to know what you want and
be prepared to do whatever it takes to get it.
10. ENTREPRENEURSHIP IS A LIFESTYLE. Entrepreneurs wake up as entrepreneurs, go to work as entrepreneurs, come
home as entrepreneurs and go to bed as entrepreneurs. There is no nine to five. There is no work life and home
life.
The advantage of this is that you have total control over your business and your professional choices, including
what you do for it. The (possible) disadvantage of this is that you carry your business with you everywhere you go.
Entrepreneurship becomes your work and your life, and you need to be prepared for that if youre going to survive the
lifestyle.
Being a successful entrepreneur isnt about being born with a specific mindset, its about being prepared for the
challenges that await you.

7 COMMUNICATION SKILLS EVERY ENTREPRENEUR MUST

MASTER

There are many different ways to look at communication in the small-business world
-- from the individual formats such as writing and speaking, to different contexts
such as client communication and employee management. But Id like to take a
closer look at a handful of overarching themes that transcend specific situations.
Mastery of these different communications skills ensures that youll be effective at
every level.

wr
itin

Your success as an entrepreneur is determined in large part by your ability to

communicate. You can be the best at what you do, but if youre not communicating
effectively with clients, staff and the market, then youre missing opportunities.

listening

reading
speaking

1. LISTEN DEEPLY. Are you a good listener? Studies suggest that our daily
communication breakdown is as following: 9 percent writing, 16 percent reading, 30 percent speaking, 45 percent
listening

18

Yet, most of us are terrible listeners. The reasons vary, from being distracted by our own internal monologues to
superimposing meaning on whats being said before we allow others to finish. Instead, try this: focus on the person
speaking, and verbally play back a summary of what was said to make sure you understand, before proceeding to
build on the conversation with additional points.

Solid listening skills help you more effectively serve clients, make sales and manage employees because youre
picking up on and connecting to peoples most urgent concerns.
2. INTERPRET NON-VERBAL CUES. Youve heard the refrains on the importance of body language. Sit up straight, think
about your facial expressions and remember to lean forward when listening to show interest. But how good is your
ability to interpret others non-verbal cues? It turns out that its essential.
One study from UCLA suggests that as much as 55 percent of the meaning in face-to-face interactions is conveyed
non-verbally. Dont just practice awareness of your own body language. Analyze specific cues -- such as posture,
expressions and gestures -- being made by others when theyre speaking.

3. MANAGE EXPECTATIONS. Under-promise and over-deliver might be the most on-point summary of managing
expectations ever devised. As an entrepreneur, you have many people asking for significant accomplishments from
you in short time periods with limited resources (or so it often feels!). The easiest way to alleviate pressure as an
entrepreneur is to manage expectations.
Be clear about deliverables, timeframes and results. If issues arise, communicate clearly and frequently. Its always
better to commit to less than raise peoples expectations and fail to follow through.

4. PRODUCTIVE PUSHBACK. Conflict management is an essential part of being an entrepreneur. The Washington
Business Journal reported that managers spend between 25 to 40 percent of their days resolving conflicts. A major
component of successfully resolving conflicts is your ability to productively push back.
Whether youre dealing with scope creep in a client case or dealing with management challenges, the ability to
communicate under pressure is a key entrepreneurial skill. Pushback should always be polite, productive and nonpersonal. Focus on clarity and resolution.
5. BE CONCISE. Whether its statistics on how little time people spend focused on a single issue (according to one
source, eight seconds) or simply the need to get more done in less time, concise communication wins out. Even the
technological context supports this. As screens get smaller, we have to say more in fewer words.
Develop the ability to get to the point in a sharp and focused manner and communicate that across mediums. Find
ways to cut the fat off your verbal and written communications and notice whether it gets you better results.

6. CONFIDENTLY STATE YOUR VALUE AND DIFFERENTIATION. Branding and selling are all about being able to
confidently communicate both your points of value and what makes you different than anyone else on the market.
The same skills are essential to helping you motivate yourself on a daily basis, hire the right employees, and
ultimately even connect with friends and partners.
Spend time getting clear about the value you bring to the table and your unique selling points, and build your ability
to confidently share that in different contexts. Practice boiling that proposition down to no more than two to three
sentences.

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7. KNOW YOUR WHY. Most people focus on what to say and how to say it. How can I sound smart? How can I deliver
this speech for maximum impact? But its more important to know why youre communicating. What do you want
people to take away? What action should they take after you interact?
Every communication should have a call to action, even if that call to action is to leave with a positive feeling about
your or your brand. Ask yourself why youre communicating before you write, pick up the phone or step into your
next meeting and make sure your tone, word choice and delivery are in service to that goal.
Developing the soft skills needed to succeed as an entrepreneur takes time. Focusing on your communication skills -from reading body language to summing up your value in a few sentences -- is one of the most powerful things you can
do to advance your career and success.
Work to find the gaps in your communications arsenal and then mindfully practice until each of your skills is up to par.
Once ready, you can use those communication skills to start attracting more funding and building relationships with
mentorsthe subjects of my next chapter.

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CHAPTER 3

SEEKING FUNDING AND MENTORS

Unless youre already sitting on a pile of cash and a wealth of entrepreneurial experience, youll need some help
getting started. Working with mentors can help you iron out the kinks in your business approach, and seeking
funding can get you all the capital you need for your first few years of operations.

6 REASONS WHY YOUR ELEVATOR PITCH ISNT WORKING

Whether youre a hopeful entrepreneur trying to find investors to help you start your business or a seasoned
business leader introducing your enterprise for the first time, youve only got about 30 seconds to land a great first
impression, and your elevator pitch is the best tool to get the job done. If it doesnt impress, its going to lose you a
lot of opportunities.
If youve already got an elevator pitch sketched out and youve tried it in a live environment, only to find yourself
struggling to get beyond the introduction stage, there are several reasons why your approach might be betraying
you:
1. ITS TOO FORMAL. This isnt an essay contest. Its a conversation, and it should sound like a natural
conversation to anyone whos hearing it. It is a good idea to write out what you plan to saythis gives you a
key opportunity to visualize your intended speech and make adjustments on paper. However, if you start your
elevator speech like its a written document, people will take notice right away. For example, if you lead in with,
Our company is a technical enterprise with over 15 years of combined experience at the helm, you can bet
your audience will stop listening immediately.

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2. YOU RAMBLE. This is a key symptom of someone who has spent zero time thinking about what, exactly, they want to
say about their company. Your elevator pitch might say everything about your company, and convey that information
accurately, but it isnt organized, it isnt to the point, and it sounds like youre making it up off the top of your head.
Whats even worse is that you probably spend too much time rattling these details off. Its good to be excited about
your company, and its good to be able to improvise, but if that excitement or that improvisation leads you to ramble,
youll only succeed in sabotaging yourself.
3. ITS TOO REHEARSED. Practice makes perfect, and elevator pitches are no exception to the rule. When you practice,
you can prepare exactly what you want to say, get your pacing down, and learn to avoid the potential pitfalls that
come up during your speech. However, theres such a thing as too much practice. People can tell the difference
between someone whos speaking genuinely and someone whos just regurgitating a few overly rehearsed linesif
youre the latter, youll immediately lose the opportunity. Feel free to practice, but be sure to change up your specific
wording and pacing to keep things casual and conversational.
4. IT FOCUSES ON YOUR IDEA. Your idea is important, and your elevator pitch is a good chance to show it off, but if
thats the exclusive focus of your pitch, youre going to fall victim to the so what? factor. Instead of focusing on
what you are, focus on what problem youre trying to solve. Introduce your business as a solution for a specific
problem, and wherever possible, introduce the problem first. This will keep your audience more interested in what
you have to say and give real significance to your business.
5. IT NEGLECTS THE MARKET. Lets say youve introduced the problem and the solution, but have you introduced the
current landscape you operate in? Investors especially want to know what type of people youre seeking to serve,
what type of competition youre currently facing, and what your market research says about your potential to grow.
These questions are critically important to answer, which means you need to do your homework up front. Without
data to back up your approach, many listeners simply wont take your pitch seriously.
6. THERES NO CONCISE SETUP. Even your elevator pitch needs an elevator pitch. Despite the fact that your pitch is
already shortened to a measly 30 to 60 seconds, many people will opt to stop listening to you as soon as the first
sentence leaves your lips. If that first sentence isnt concise or direct, or if it doesnt grab your listeners attention
immediately, you may have lost your audience before youre even done with the pitch. Work to boil your company
down to a single-sentence description, and cut out everything that isnt absolutely necessary. Once that singlesentence setup is perfected, you can spend the rest of your minute elaborating on the core problem your business
solves, and how you intend to go about solving it.
Your elevator pitch, like your business, should be flexible enough to evolve over time. Dont be afraid to make tweaks and
changes, and try it out in a real environment to test how your changes effect the impression you make. If you commit
yourself to ongoing self-improvement, eventually youll settle on a variation of your pitch that never ceases to grab your
audiences attention.

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6 TIPS FOR OVERCOMING A NO WHEN SEEKING FUNDING

ACT PROFESSIONALLY

CONTEMPLATE YOUR OPTIONS

ACHIEVING FUNDING IS A LONG-TERM GOAL

LOOK AT YOUR BUSINESS MODEL

EVERYBODY GETS A NO EVENTUALLY

LEARN AND IMPROVE YOUR PITCH

As a new entrepreneur, unless youre dipping into your own private fortune, youll probably have to spend some time
fundraising to collect enough capital to start your project.
For most founders, the process is difficult and time-consuming but necessary for the potential life of their business. If
you havent been through the process before, the experience can be even more harrowing, since you wont be familiar
with the customs and conventions of fundraising.
Encountering a no from an angel investor, friend or even a possible crowdfunder can be disheartening. But dont let it get
the best of you.
Consider these steps to increase your chances of being reconsidered, improve your potential for obtaining financing in
the future and in general relieve the stress of securing funding:
1. ACT PROFESSIONALLY. This goes without saying, but as youre going through the steps of fundraising, keep your
behavior and actions as professional as possible. Its not disrespectful to follow up with a possible investor, even
if theyve said no to you before, but if you hound them constantly with no new information, you can rule out any
possibility that they might reconsider you.
On the other hand, if you thank the possible investor politely for his/her time, and follow up in a few weeks when
youve gathered more information or adjusted your business model, youll have a much better chance of getting that
funding after all.
2. REMEMBER THAT ACHIEVING FUNDING IS A LONG-TERM GOAL. You arent going to get your business funded
overnight unless youre incredibly lucky. If youre passionate about your business idea, youll likely want to get
started as quickly as possible, excitedly counting down the moments until your business can launch. However,
fundraising is a long-term process that is going to keep your project at a standstill for longer than youd probably
like to believe.
Even after getting a commitment for funding, it can take months before the deal is closed and the capital is ready to
be used. Fundraising is a long-term goal and a long-term process, so dont let a short-term obstacle get in your way.
3. EVERYBODY GETS A NO EVENTUALLY. Great business ideas arent explosive hits immediately. They are tempered
with obstacles, failures, and of course, rejections. Remember that some of the greatest business ideas of our
generation were rejected multiple times before they were finally propelled to a stable platform. Most successful
entrepreneurs will happily recount for you the countless times theyve been rejected over the course of their careers.
Take solace in the fact that anyone whos ever accomplished anything has done so only after getting rejected first.

23

4. CONTEMPLATE YOUR OPTIONS. Theres no right or wrong way to pursue funding. If one channel seems to be
generating more obstacles than opportunities for progress, it might be time to change up your strategy. When most
people think of raising capital for a business, they think of angel investors or private lenders, but there are several
other options available. For example, you can apply for loans and grants through both federal and local government
programs for small businesses such as those offered at sba.gov, or you could pursue crowdfunding through sites
like Kickstarter or GoFundMe. Increasing your chances of getting a yes could be a simple matter of choosing the
right channel (or group of channels) to use to cultivate funding.
5. LOOK AT YOUR BUSINESS MODEL. Use this initial rejection as a learning opportunity. Take a look at your business
model for any major flaws or weaknesses, or flat-out ask your rejecter why he/she chose to pass on your project. It
could be that your research does not support your assumptions as closely as you thought, or it could be that your
profitability is unpredictable over the course of an extended period of time. Fixing these gaps will make your overall
business idea more attractive to other potential investors, and could be enough to change your initial rejecters
minds.
6. LEARN AND IMPROVE YOUR PITCH . Your pitch is the consolidated version of your business model, and it needs
to be strong in order to capture the attention of your potential investorsthis is especially true if youre involved in
crowdfunding. Over the course of a minute, or a couple of sentences, you should be able to explain your business
concept and exactly why its a valuable investment opportunity for your intended prospect. If you cant do that, your
pitch needs refinement.
If youre fundraising and already encountered a no, then congratulations. Youve successfully completed the first step of
the journey toward funding your business. There are dozens of routes to successful fundraising and none are straight.
So when you encounter a major obstacle, take a minute to breathe, re-evaluate things and then keep working toward
your ultimate goal.

7 KEY QUALITIES OF AN EFFECTIVE MENTOR

The desire to succeed can be overwhelming. It keeps people awake at night; it drives
them to arrive at the office early and stay late on Fridays. However, there is one
common, major problem that derails many entrepreneurs and professionals with high
aspirations: dealing with new, major obstacles. Despite the most earnest effort and
best intentions, most people need help when faced with such challenges.
As an entrepreneur, youll need a mentor to help you through the rigors of
entrepreneurship.
But where do you start?
Mentoring often begins in an educational environment, with a fellow student who is further along in the same program (a
peer advocate), or between an instructor and a student. Mentorships can also be community-based, part of a church
group or other organization designed to offer professional advice and guidance to those whove expressed an interest.
Equally effective may be a managerial-subordinate pairing in either the same or different departments. But, depending
on the goals of the mentoring relationship, the mentor and mentee dont have to be in the same industry.
Mentor pairings can be sought out through an established program or independently, and one-on-one meetings should
take place on a consistent basis.

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A mentor-mentee pairing requires work, commitment, and follow-through on both sides if its going to succeed. So, what
aptitudes should you demonstrate to make sure that the mentoring you offer is effective and has lasting value?
Consider these seven key qualities that can help you find an effective mentor:
1. ABILITY AND WILLINGNESS TO COMMUNICATE WHAT THEY KNOW. It goes without saying that mentors are regarded
as experts in their field or area of responsibility. But its one thing to know what youre doing; its entirely another to
be able to clearly explain what you know--and to be willing to take the time to do it. Forget the jargon, the acronyms,
and the buzzwords. Being clear when they communicate the lessons theyve learned, or the strategies or guidance
theyre offering, is essential, as is their level of desire to communicate the intricate details in a way that makes sense
and that you can understand and learn from.
2. PREPAREDNESS. Being a mentor means making an important, serious commitment to someone. This isnt a
stream-of-consciousness deal or a go-ahead-and-pick-my-brain process. Yes, its important for you to actively
participate and even take the lead in these sessions, but you should mention what topics or subjects you want to
talk about beforehand, and once your mentor knows, they should outline the key points they want to focus on ahead
of time, and have a plan ready for imparting details in an effective and expedient way.
3. APPROACHABILITY, AVAILABILITY, AND THE ABILITY TO LISTEN. You must feel comfortable approaching your mentor
for advice or consultation; however, you must keep schedules in mind. So, its good policy to establish a set day and
time for regular sessions or meetings. In this hurry-up-and-make-it-happen world, its important to be prepared and
make the most of the time youve got with your mentee. You owe that to him or her, to the process, and to yourself.
And once these time parameters are established, you must keep your commitments wholeheartedly and be ready to
listen well and with an open mind, along with taking counsel and advice.
4. HONESTY WITH DIPLOMACY. Any questions that arent addressed can lead to concerns and problems, so your mentor
owes it to you to be candid and straightforward with you. Dispense with formalities and really help facilitate an open,
even lively dialogue--a give-and-take--and dont beat around the bush in offering your constructive feedback, good
and bad. Be willing to debate and discuss in a tactful way. Provide useful, honest guidance while ensuring that your
mentee takes the reins and makes his or her own decisions as to next steps or the best course of action.
5. INQUISITIVENESS. Mentors should also continue learning about whats going on in your industry or business, your
school, your community, or the world at large. Remember: What worked a decade ago may not be optimal today, and
what works today may not work as well one, two, five, or more years from now. So, continual learning is essential if a
mentor is to be effective. Always keep an alert eye on trends, topics, and developments that may impact you or your
role, both now and in the future.
6. OBJECTIVITY AND FAIRNESS. Remember that a mentoring relationship differs from a friendship. Yes, you like your
mentor and care about seeing him or her succeed, but that doesnt mean you have to socialize with your mentor or
follow or friend him or her on social websites like Twitter and Facebook. LinkedIn, specifically designed for business
networking, may be a more appropriate connection to establish with your mentor. Also, ensure that theres no hidden
agenda or ulterior motives involved in this relationship. Outside of the mentor-mentee relationship, you dont owe
your mentor any favors, and he or she doesnt owe you anything either.
7. COMPASSION AND GENUINENESS. Just because you must maintain your objectivity and fairness doesnt mean you
cant express compassion. In fact, your mentoring relationship probably wont work if your mentor doesnt show an
interest and desire to provide one-on-one help and guidance. They must also be selfless about sharing what they
know. Keeping the purpose of a mentor in mind--to remain worthy of someones trust, model positive behavior and
successful performance, and offer guidance and advice toward reaching a specific goal--should be the compass
that guides all their actions as a mentor.

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CHAPTER 4

BUILDING A TEAM

You cant do everything by yourself, no matter how much you think youd like to. To build a business effectively,
youll need specialists in a number of different areas, and youll need them all to work well together during
potentially tumultuous times. Easier said than done.

7 HABITS OF GOOD BOSSES

Being a good boss isnt easy. On top of your own workload, youre responsible for motivating, directing, and
rewarding a subset of employees who all have unique approaches, unique mentalities, and unique needs. For
most, becoming a great boss cant be reduced to a handful of simple lessons; instead, it is an ongoing process of
refinement that can only come about as a direct result of experience. Still, there are some habits you can adopt in
the short-term to improve your capabilities as a supervisor and leader:
1. ENCOURAGE OPEN COMMUNICATION. At all levels, both between you and your employees and between
your employees themselves, take effort to establish and preserve and open channel of communication.
Dont restrict your employees conversations or make any subject taboo. Instead, show appreciation when
your employees actively talk with one another, and show appreciation when they come to you. Keeping an
environment where your employees can freely communicate is the first step to establishing a highly productive
and appreciative work environment; your workers will respect you for allowing them to speak their minds, and
youll prevent potential disasters or halts to productivity by encouraging people to proactively bring up their
problems.

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2. LISTEN TO YOUR EMPLOYEES. Once youve

established an open line of communication
between you and your employees, youll
have to get in the habit of actively listening
to them. That doesnt mean just being
available to listen to your workers vent or
talk about their new ideas; it also means
critically thinking about what theyre
bringing up, and forming a plan to take
action. Showing that you listen to your
workers, and that youre willing to take
action to address their concerns, shows
that you truly value your workforce and will
be met with appreciation and respect.
3. LOOK FOR YOUR EMPLOYEES STRENGTHS.
When youre trying to manage the dayto-day execution of tasks, its easy for
your attention to fall on processes or
actions. Instead, make it a habit to put your
attention on individuals abilities and strengths. Identifying those strengths is a key to helping your team function
most effectively; for example, if you find that one of your workers is in a position where his/her strength is going to
waste, you can reallocate your team assets and play to their individual strengths. Furthermore, you can institute new
ways to improve those strengths even further, including offering training or education opportunities to your most
promising internal candidates.
4. REWARD YOUR EMPLOYEES FOR JOBS WELL DONE. Its easy to fall out of this habit, so dont let yourself do it.
Reward your employees whenever theyve gone above and beyond the call of duty, or whenever theyve shown
exceptional results. Monetary rewards, such as raises and bonuses, are always options for this, but it can be just
as effective to reward your employees in a more cost-effective way. Acknowledging someones hard work with
a compliment or a free lunch can mean just as much as a more objective reward. The key is to make sure your
employees know that their work is both noticed and appreciated. It will cultivate an atmosphere of satisfaction and
motivation.
5. GET ON THE FLOOR. As a boss, its always a bad idea to isolate yourself. Trying to build authority by separating
yourself from the pack will only result in resentment and difficulty in maintaining open communication. Instead, get
in the habit of working with your employees on a ground level, personally interacting with your staff and making
rounds to get involved with the day-to-day operations of your company. This will help to solidify the idea that
you are all working together as part of the same team, even though you are the boss, and it will encourage more
teamwork and make you more approachable as a leader.
6. STAY POSITIVE. Positivity is a key habit for any boss, and maintaining an optimistic company culture is the end
goal. Positivity is a contagious state of mind, meaning whenever you exhibit your positive attitude, your employees
will be more likely to adopt that same positive attitude. Staying positive, even in the face of harsh challenges,
allows employees to remain confident and work productively toward an ultimate accomplishment. Feed into your
employees optimism and nourish that positive company culture by transforming negativity whenever you see it.
Once your entire workforce is in the habit, youll have a much easier time maintaining it.
7. WORK HARD. This should go without saying, but youre going to have to work hard as a boss. Your employees are
going to look up to you as a mentor and as an example, and if you work hard, your employees will want to work hard

27

as well. Dont hide your efforts; make yourself transparent and openly disclose all the projects and goals you are
working on. If youre working to improve conditions and productivity in your own workforce, that disclosure can have
a secondary effect of letting your employees know youre working on their behalf.
These seven habits can improve your disposition as a leader and increase the amount of respect your employees have
for you. Furthermore, it can enhance the productivity of your workforce and lead to benefits all around. You might find
some of these strategies more helpful than others; only through experience will you be able to hash out which ones work
for your style of leadership and which ones dont.

5 EMPLOYEES YOU NEED ON YOUR TEAM

Most of us have a good idea, or at least a personal conception of what constitutes a good employee. These are
employees youve hired who show up to work, every day, on time, and do their job to the best of their ability. They dont
waste time, they dont complain, and they contribute positively to your work environment.
Unfortunately, the perfect employee doesnt exist. There are hundreds of types of employees, each with their own
strengths and weaknesses, and even in the context of those categories, individual differences make it impossible to find
a real employee who fits the model exactly. Still, there are certain types of employees that perform better than others
improving the productivity of the entire organization instead of merely performing their own responsibilities as efficiently
as possible. These are employees who, either directly or indirectly, facilitate a stronger environment, which makes your
entire team just a little bit better:
1. THE INITIATOR. The initiator is an employee who
believes in the company and is passionate about what
he/she does. This type of employee doesnt show up
because a paycheck demands it. Instead, this employee
is motivated by his/her own desires and interests.
The initiator isnt tied to a system of assignment and
execution like most employeesinstead of needing
constant direction or suggestion, the initiator will invent
his/her own projects, and take initiative to present new
ideas for possible execution.
This employee is especially beneficial for a team
environment, because his/her disposition for starting
unique one-off initiatives will set a tone of independence
for the rest of the organization to follow.

THE SECRET TO
SUCCESSFUL HIRING
IS THIS: LOOK FOR
THE PEOPLE WHO
WANT TO CHANGE
THE WORLD.
-MARC BENIOFF

2. THE POSITIVE AGENT. The positive agent doesnt work

much differently from any other employee, but he/she
carries a positive attitude no matter what happens. The positive agent shows up with a wide smile, gets to work
quickly and doesnt sweat it when little things go wrong. Even during catastrophic failures or moments of crisis, the
positive agents remains calm and optimistic, never letting negativity get the better of him/her.
In work environments, negativity is a toxin that can easily spread from person to person and ruin the morale and
attitudes of your workers. Fortunately, positivity can be spread in much the same way. A handful of positive agents
on your team can cultivate and maintain a positive attitude for all your employees.

28

3. THE BACKUP. The backup doesnt feel confined to his/her own workspace, and isnt afraid to get his/her hands dirty.
In fact, the backup will actually go out of his/her way to help other people in your organization, even if they work in
another department. This is because the backup has a strong sense of teamwork and camaraderie, and would rather
take on a few extra tasks from another team member than to see that team member overloaded.
While in an ideal world, workloads would always be balanced between departments, in reality, thats never the case.
The backup will inspire your employees to help one another when in need, even when doing so requires them to step
out of their comfort zone.
4. THE GOAL-GETTER. The goal-getter is a highly motivated individual who thrives on challenges, and loves the chance
to achieve an individual or collective goal. They often thrive in sales or marketing environments, where high-stakes
sales quotas or deadlines can motivate them to do their best. Rather than feeling intimidated by a lofty goal, the
goal-getter is enthralled by it, and will often rally his/her other team members to get similarly excited.
The goal-getter doesnt always meet goals more often than his/her counterparts, but he/she always drives more
encouragement, more ambition, and more excitement in the workplaceand thats always a good thing.
5. THE VOICE. The voice is the employee who isnt afraid to express his/her opinion. Sometimes these opinions are
positive and sometimes these opinions are negative, but theyre always honest and theyre always expressed.
The voice is an essential player on your team because you can always count on him/her to give you honest, direct
feedback and ideas from an outside perspective.
Even more importantly, if the voice is consistently open about his/her opinion and rewarded for it, that habit will
encourage others within your organization to be similarly open, cultivating an environment of open collaboration and
discussion.
If you dont already have employees who embody these traits on your team, get some as soon as possible. These teaminspiring traits are indispensable, as they not only improve performance on an individual level, they also build a sense of
camaraderie and positivity as a group. Reward your employees for exhibiting these traits, and try to embody these traits
yourself, wherever you can. Cultivating a positive, productive work environment takes time, but its much easier when
you have the right employees on your team.

7 SIGNS YOUVE FOUND AN EMPLOYEE WORTH KEEPING

One of the biggest challenges entrepreneurs face is building a team great enough to sustain their vision. In order to
execute an idea successfullyand come up with new ideas to support and enhance itany business is ultimately
doomed to fail.
Finding an ideal employee is a challenge in and of itself, but no screening process can fully predict how well an
employee fits with the team or how motivated theyll be in a real work environment. Your employees need to be skilled,
experienced, passionate, and motivated, and above all, they need to fit with your company values.
Determining whether an employee fits your criteria can be difficult, but if you notice these seven qualities, its a sign you
have an employee truly worth keeping:
1. THEY GET EXCITED WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THE COMPANY. Its easy to find an employee who will
fulfill the baseline responsibilities of a given position, but its much more difficult to find someone who is passionate

29

about your company. For the average worker, a company is simply an establishment that generates income; even
high-performing workers can get trapped in this limited view. For the dedicated worker, a company is more like a
family.
You can tell whether an employee is passionate about your company by their expressions when you talk about
the companys future. For example, if youre discussing the option of opening a new product line, are they excited
about the possibilities or do they seem concerned about the new workload? Invested employees are worth keeping
because youll never have to question their loyalty, and you know theyre working for more than just a paycheck.
2. THEY COME UP WITH NEW IDEAS WITHOUT DIRECTION. Companies live and
die by their ideas. They need a strong idea to get things moving, and they need
strong ideasboth internally and externallyin order to stay ahead in their
competitive landscape. And as any business owner or creative mind knows,
strong ideas are almost impossible to generate consistently. Thats why you
need a full team of people ready to come up with the new ideas that will help
sustain your company.
But you need more than regular brainstorming sessions. If you mandate that
each employee come up with two new ideas for a specific purpose, youll
definitely get plenty of ideas. However, the best ideas are the ones that arise in
response to a real situation, and for that you need employees who are constantly thinking of new ways to improve
the company. If you can find an employee who comes up with these ideas independently and without directionkeep
him/her.
3. THEY ARENT AFRAID TO EXPRESS THEIR OPINIONS. In that same vein, you need to find employees who arent
afraid to openly discuss their opinions. There are workers who complain about everything, seeing the negative no
matter what. There are also workers who only speak positive, never letting a hint of criticism slip out of their mouths.
Neither one of these are good for the long-term health of the company. The latter type might seem more valuable,
since those types of employees make little fuss, but they never give you any information you can use to improve the
company.
Openly opinionated employees give you insights into areas you might not get to examine on a day-to-day basis.
They also give you complementary perspectives on multifaceted problems no one person could understand by him/
herself. They are vital to achieve a well-rounded view of your company.
4. THEY SEE THEMSELVES AS PART OF A TEAM. Employees who fit neatly into a role are easy to find. Most employees
swear themselves to the confines of a single job title, executing only the tasks within their field of expertise. The truly
great employeesthe ones worth keepingare the ones who see themselves only as part of a team. Theyll see to
their individual responsibilities, of course, but theyre not afraid to go above and beyond the scope of their job titles
in order to make sure the team achieves success.
Youll see these types of workers asking around to see if others need help with anything. Youll never catch them
complaining about tasks that fall outside of their usual responsibilities. Theyre adaptable, and theyre focused on
achieving the greatest possible good.
5. THEY WORK PROACTIVELY. Quick reactivity can seem like a great characteristic. When a problem arises and your
employee responds quickly to resolve it, you see that as a job well done. It is a job well done in many regards, but it
isnt the best of all scenarios. The best situation is one in which a problem never arises to begin with.
Proactive employees work differently than reactive employees. Some problems are unpreventable, of course, and

30

proactive employees will handle them quickly and appropriately just like great reactive employeesbut proactive
employees take the extra effort to look for potential problems before they ever become problems. It can be difficult
to tell when an employee is doing great proactive work since you never see the problems arise, but look out for
employees who take great care and diligence in their work to ensure no mistakes slip through.
6. THEY COMMUNICATE WHEN THERES A PROBLEM. Things never go perfectly in a company, no matter how refined
or established that company seems. Never hearing about problems might seem, in the moment, like a good thing.
But sometimes, that means the problems that do exist are going unrecognized and unsolved.
The greatest employees are the ones who arent shy about spotting and addressing problems immediately. They
will arise, no matter what, so it pays to address them. Take, for example, an employee whose workload is too great.
A non-communicative employee wont say anything, taking on the excessive workload until the damage is already
done, possibly quitting or neglecting responsibilities. A communicative employee will acknowledge the problem
(along with a handful of possible solutions to solve it).
7. THEY ARE EAGER TO LEARN MORE AND IMPROVE THEMSELVES. Companies grow stagnant when their employees
grow stagnant. If all of your employees work continuously to expand their knowledge and the range of their
expertise, your company will never stop growingand youll never have to worry about hiring replacement talent.
Notice when employees go out of their way to take a new course, learn a new skill, or just expand their range of
capabilities within your infrastructure.
Of course, employee improvement is a two-way street. As an employer, you should offer incentives for your
employees to improve themselves, and point out key learning opportunities whenever you can. Look for the
employees who respond positively to this, and go out of their way to find their own opportunities to learn.
Experienced entrepreneurs seem to have the same advice about employees who arent doing whats best for your
company: get rid of them as soon as possible. You cannot be afraid to let someone go if they have radically different
values or if they arent executing their share of the workload. But the opposite is also true; if you can find an employee
who demonstrates all the qualities of an amazing candidate, do everything you can to keep that employee there and
keep him/her happy.

HOW TO SURVIVE LOSING YOUR STAR EMPLOYEE OR PARTNER

New businesses are full of dependencies. You rely on your small team of workers, your narrow pool of resources, and
your limited understanding of the market to carry you through until you can establish yourself as a bigger, more stable
presence. If youre like most new entrepreneurs, you have at least one star employee or partner, with whom your
business could not exist. For example, you could have a partner who knows everything about the operations side of your
business while you know everything about the marketing and sales side, or you could be running a tech enterprise and
know nothing about coding, leaving it all in the hands of your star developer.
Obviously, the people you choose for these keystone positions must be trustworthy and dependablebut these qualities
can only guarantee you loyalty for so long. What happens if your star employee decides to leave?
It can be a scary thought. Some of you out there may believe such an event would mean the destruction of your
business. Fortunately, there are ways to surviveno matter how devastating a blow the departure might seem at the
time.

31

STEP ONE: REALIZE THAT EVERY POSITION IS REPLACEABLE

You dont want to think of your team as replaceable. After all, you spent months building your bench and youre as
invested in your workers as they are in your company. Because you have so few team members and theyre all working
so closely together, its hard to imagine replacing them with anyone else. But when someone does leave, the first truth
you must remember is that every position is replaceable. You may not get someone with the exact skillset or the exact
culture fit, but you can find someone or multiple people to close that gap if you look hard enough. This will help get you
through any initial fears that might be overwhelming you.
STEP TWO: EVALUATE THE DAMAGE
Not all exits are clean and pretty. Your next step is to objectively evaluate the damage thats been left behind, and
consider all the immediate consequences to your star employees departure. Did this person cause any immediate
destruction on his/her way out that might sabotage the company? This is rare, but it has been known to happen. Did this
person give two weeks notice or storm out, never to be seen again? How many of your current projects are dependent
on this person for successful completion? Obviously, the range of potential damage here is wide, but you need to have a
firm understanding of its full scope before you move on.
STEP THREE: STOP THE BLEEDING
This middle step is perhaps the most important, because its the first step where youll be taking action and it deals
with short-term consequences. Make a list of everything that has been damaged or compromised by your partners
departure that either is or will be important in the next month. Separate these into A, B, and C level priorities based
on both importance and immediacy, then start addressing them one by one. Dont try to do everything at once or youll
get overwhelmed. Instead, stop the bleeding one step at a time, and get the rest of your team involved to help lighten the
load.
STEP FOUR: CONSIDER YOUR OPTIONS
Once youve addressed the short-term fixes, you can start thinking up long-term solutions to your new situation. Is it
worth trying to find someone to replace your missing team member, or should the original position be broken up into
multiple smaller positions? Should you keep the same business model, or adjust your companys mission to adjust to
the new circumstances? Operationally, how does your business need to change? You have tons of options here, and how
you go forward is completely up to you.
STEP FIVE: BUILD A NEW MODEL WITH REDUNDANCIES
Your final step is to make sure youre never taken aback again. No matter how you choose to change or update your
business, youll need to ensure that your business model is complete with redundancies. Consider employment
contracts that protect your interests. Consider building a bench of freelancers and independent contractors to step in
should your full-time employee leave. Consider creating thorough SOPs to ensure your employee can be replaced if/
when he/she ever chooses to leave. The more failsafe conditions you have, the better.
No matter how much youve invested in them, no single person can ever destroy your business. You may suffer a serious
blow and be forced to deal with a plethora of hard decisions, but if you stay agile and adapt to the new circumstances,
your business will invariably survive. The nature of entrepreneurship is growth and adaptation, so dont consider any
major departure to be a lossconsider it a test of your abilities as a leader. In my next chapter, Ill dig deeper into the role
of leadership and how to improve your abilities as a leader.

32

CHAPTER 5

BECOMING A LEADER

As an entrepreneur, youll be the idea person, the decider, and the face of the company. But perhaps more
importantly, youll be the leader setting the example for the rest of your crew. Leadership is a skill like any other,
and youll have to hone yours if you want to be effective in your position.

5 MANAGEMENT MISTAKES ALMOST EVERY NEW ENTREPRENEUR MAKES

Most people seek entrepreneurship because it allows them to be the boss. You get to make all the business
decisions, from general company strategy and positioning to the management of your human resources. Its
an appealing position on paper, but in practice, managing people is far more challenging than most aspiring
entrepreneurs realize.
Prices, laws, and markets can all be itemized, quantified, and predicted, but human beings cannot be analyzed
the same way. This makes it almost impossible to come up with a universally successful management strategy.
While many new entrepreneurs convince themselves that their business will be different and their people will all be
thrilled to work there, the reality is most business owners are unprepared for the rigors of successful management,
and end up making critical mistakes.
These are some of the most common management mistakes Ive seen in new entrepreneurs:
1. CREATING AN IMBALANCED CULTURE. When you start out, you might be tempted to create the ultimate
stress-free work culture. You might create an office with no set hours or unlimited vacation days, or you might
go out of your way to make sure every person you hire becomes friends with everyone else. These down-

33

to-earth, modern approaches to work culture are effective in improving job satisfaction and motivation, but only if
theyre well-balanced with structured rules and professional expectations. Remember, your work culture needs to be
balanced.
2. HIRING TOO QUICKLY. A large multinational business with 100,000 employees can afford to make a handful of bad
hiring decisions. As a startup with an initial team of five cannot afford the same luxury. As a new entrepreneur,
youre understandably and appropriately excited to get things moving as fast as possible, but you cannot rush your
initial hiring decisions. Your first-round team members will be the ones carrying you through the early stages of
your businesss development, and their skills, motivations, and personalities will ultimately determine whether your
course succeeds or fails. Take your time, vet your candidates carefully, and only make a decision once youve spent
serious time considering your options.
3. FAILING TO GIVE FEEDBACK. Ive seen many entrepreneurs fail to give feedback to their workers, but the reasons
seem to vary. Some are uncomfortable with the idea of giving criticism. Some dont know how to give feedback
effectively. Others just want their employees to handle everything independently. None of these reasons are good.
Feedback is what keeps your workers going, and what helps keep them pointed in the right direction. Feedback helps
you reinforce positive work habits, gradually eliminate bad work habits, and keep your employees motivated all at
the same time. Without that feedback, your problems will escalate, your workers could go off-course, and morale will
inevitably drop.
4. NEGLECTING THE INDIVIDUAL. Its easy to think of your staff as your staff, or as your team, because they are
you hired each of them and you expect them to work together under the identity of your brand. But each of those
people you hired is an individual, and is wholly unique from the other individuals you hired. Each one has unique
strengths, unique weaknesses, and a unique style of work that demands an individualized management approach.
Trying to use the same management strategy for all your workerssuch as motivating them the same way or
providing feedback in the same wayis an egregious mistake, and its unfortunately one I see often in the world of
entrepreneurship. Give your workers individual attention, and transform your strategies to serve them.
5. NOT LETTING PEOPLE DO WHAT THEY DO BEST. Hopefully, you hired these team members for a reason. Its because
you trust them to carry out the work they know how to do best, whether thats making financial projections or
writing code. If youre going to be successful, you need to learn to let those people do their own work in their own
way, and not distract them from those tasks. That means you cannot step in and do their work for them (even if
your intentions are good), you cannot bog them down with work unrelated to their area of expertise, and you cannot
micromanage them when they already have a plan of attack. Its your job to set direction and assign tasks, but for
the most part, you need to trust your team to handle their own responsibilities and focus on the big picture.
These mistakes are painfully common, but that doesnt mean theyre unavoidable. Its impossible to predict how every
person will act in every situation, but you can prepare yourself and your business for the inevitable human resource
challenges that will arise. Learn from the mistakes of others, and dont underestimate the responsibilities you have as
the de facto human resource manager in your new business.

5 STRATEGIES TO BUILD A FUN WORK CULTURE THATS ALSO PRODUCTIVE

Everyone wants to work somewhere fun. Ask anybody in the world what type of place they want their office to be, and
only a tiny percentage will reply someplace boring, where nobody enjoys himself and everyone only pays attention to
the work in front of him. Yet, many workers find themselves in such an environment.
Thats because theres a dissonance for business owners thats difficult to resolve. Yes, fun workplaces get more

34

attention and seem to have happier workers, but at the end of the day, youre
running a business, and you need to make sure your workers are productive if you
have any chance of remaining profitable. And unfortunately, many business owners
assume that the best way to encourage productivity is to discourage fun and
enforce as many tight-laced structures as possible in the overall work culture.
This isnt the only way to go about this, nor is it the best way. In fact, there are
several strategies you can use to keep your productivity high while simultaneously
injecting an atmosphere of fun into your office environment:
1. ORGANIZE CHALLENGES. Friendly competition is always a good thing. You can
do this with professional itemsfor example, you can split your marketing force
into two teams and have them compete to see who can generate the most leads in a given period. But you can also
do this with non-work-related gamesfor example, you can sponsor a ping pong tournament or something similar
for your workers to blow off steam. Either way, the competition will get your workers blood pumping, and will inspire
them to work harder in all the other areas of their jobs. Plus, it can be a nice distraction from the rigors of a daily
routine.
2. ENCOURAGE BREAKS. Too many offices have either intentionally or unintentionally developed a culture that
encourages workers to work as long and as hard as possible. The thought process is that putting in 12-hour days
without breaks makes you more productive than someone putting in only 8 or 9 hours with breaks. In actuality,
breaks are a great opportunity to decompress. Breaks lead to fresher minds, greater problem solving, greater focus,
and more creative thinking. Encourage your workers to take breaks whenever they see fit (within reason of course).
Set up a dedicated break room, and fill it with things that will take your workers minds off their work for a few
minutescomplementary coffee, light snacks, and even a game or two will work wonders.
3. SOCIALIZE OFFSITE. Workplaces where coworkers and collaborators get along as friends tend to succeed more
than places where employees keeps their distance and function as wholly independent automatons. The best way
to facilitate collaboration, team building, and generally improved inter-office relationships is to hold opportunities
for offsite socialization. If you can, treat your team to an offsite lunch occasionally to just eat, talk, and hang
out together. Sponsor an offsite event that rewards your employees, or hold a backyard barbecue as an informal
gathering. Your employees dont all have to be best friends with each other, but if you can get away from the office
and see each other a little more personally, the team will work better together and have more fun doing it.
4. CELEBRATE ACHIEVEMENTS. Most offices have some way of recognizing achievements, such as raises, bonuses,
promotions, or just nods of recognition. Few offices take the time or effort to celebrate achievements, even major
ones. Whenever a team or individual hits a major goal, or when the company reaches a major milestone, treat your
team to a real celebration. You dont have to spend a lot of money or take a lot of time, but hosting a mini gathering
makes a big impact. It helps people reap the rewards of their hard work, spend time together, and feel good about the
progress your business has made.
5. FOCUS ON PRODUCTIVITY, NOT SCHEDULES. Finally, one of the best ways to facilitate productivity is to directly
encourage it. Rather than setting strict schedules, timetables, and rules, give your employees more flexibility to do
their work as they see fit, with one caveat: the work has to get done, no matter what. Accommodating work-fromhome days, flex time, long breaks, and strange working environment requests can actually enable your workers to
work better and get more doneeven if theyre working fewer regular hours.
Implement these work culture institutions in your own business, whether youre just starting up or youve been around for
a few years. Youll notice a near-immediate difference in the attitudes and behaviors of your workers. Theyll feel more
appreciated, more relaxed, and best of alltheyll be better equipped to do their jobs well, and theyll feel happier doing it.

35

5 WAYS TO REWARD YOUR EMPLOYEES WITHOUT A RAISE

Your employees are your lifeblood. They are the workforce that creates new opportunities, overcomes unanticipated
problems, and manages the day-to-day activities that allow your company to maintain a consistent direction over time.
Keeping your employees happy and motivated is the key to your businesss success; without satisfied employees, your
productivity can erode away and the team-based elements of your company can collapse.
To keep positive morale flowing in the office, you need to reward your employees regularly, or at least when theyve done
something exemplary. It not only reinforces a positive behavior
for the individual, it also sets an example for the whole group
and demonstrates your appreciation for the team. The problem
is that rewarding your employees through monetary means
such as raises or bonusesis not always economically
feasible, especially for new and developing businesses.
Fortunately, there are a number of strategies you can use to
reward your employees without monetary compensation.
1. BUY LUNCH. Buying lunch for your team, or for an
individual whos performed outstanding work can be
a small gesture that goes a long way. Its relatively
inexpensive compared to a raise or a bonus, but
provides something tangible and nice for the employee
or employees being rewarded. Whats more, youll get
a chance to get them out of the office, which can be a
reward in and of itself. Youll also have the opportunity to
talk over lunchgiving you a casual, personal means of
congratulating the team, and going over the factors that
made the accomplishments possible.

THERES LOTS OF
BAD REASONS TO
START A COMPANY.
BUT THERES
ONLY ONE GOOD,
LEGITIMATE REASON,
AND I THINK YOU
KNOW WHAT IT IS:
ITS TO CHANGE THE
WORLD.
-PHIL LIBIN

2. OFFER FLEXIBLE HOURS. For the most valuable members

of your team, consider offering alternative work schedules.
If your sales team hits a monthly goal with a few days to
spare, let them go home early the last few days. If your
marketing team finishes work on a big campaign with no hiccups, let them come in late for a half day later in the
week. You can also let your most valuable employees work from home occasionally, or offer other types of flexible
scheduling. Just be sure to tie the benefits to a real-world accomplishment so it proves your appreciation.
3. OFFER MORE AMENITIES AT WORK. This type of reward is best saved for your entire workforce, rather than one
specific team. Create a challenge for your company that every individual can contribute to, and if that challenge is
met, reward your employees with a new amenity at work. For example, if your company earns a specific amount of
revenue for the year, you can put a pool table in the break room. If you increase your total site traffic by 25 percent
over the course of six months, you can offer free snacks on a daily basis. These amenities will likely cost less than
distributing raises on an individual basis, and theyll do their job of making your employees feel rewarded and
satisfied with their work.
4. ADD MORE BENEFITS. Increasing healthcare coverage or increasing the match for your 401(k) will both cost
money, so if you cant afford to give a raise, you may not be able to expand your employee benefits. However, most
employee benefits are a tax deductible expense for businesses, meaning theyre going to cost you less in the longterm even if they require a bit of money up front. Rewarding your employees across the board with greater benefits

36

can also function as a sign of good faiththat

you appreciate all your employees, and that the
company is doing well enough to afford the extra
coverage.
5. RECOGNIZE INDIVIDUAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS
AND ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO DO THE SAME. A
kind word can sometimes do more than any amount
of money you invest in a person. When one of your
workers accomplishes something significant, take a
moment to congratulate him/her and express your
appreciation. It even goes beyond accomplishments
and triumphs; if you see one of your employees
working hard and struggling, take him/her aside
and let him/her know that you appreciate his/
her efforts. In many cases, those words are all the
motivation and appreciation theyll need to keep
working diligently and happily.
As an extension, its important to create an environment where people congratulate and appreciate each other. Tell your
supervisors to offer praise whenever its appropriate, and foster good relations between your workers. Eventually, youll
cultivate an environment of positivity, and the rewards will perpetuate themselves.
Money doesnt buy happiness, and it cant buy employee satisfaction, either. Even if you can afford to give a raise or a
bonus as a reward for a job well done, it may be worth your while to consider at least one of these alternative rewarding
strategies. The more appreciated your employees feel, the more committed theyll be to your company, the harder theyll
work, and the more benefits your entire team will be able to collectively enjoy.

THIS ESSENTIAL LEADERSHIP TRAIT CAN PUSH EMPLOYEES TO DO THEIR BEST

Theres a misconception that great leaders are born, or that talented professionals can decide to be leaders and,
overnight, step into the role with grace and excellence. Of course, the tenets of great leadership can occasionally be
stumbled upon, but for the rest of us, leadership demands hard work and constant refinement.
Some of the characteristics of great leaders are easy to identify, and most emerging leaders are aware of them enough
to actively work toward them -- traits such as respect and authority. But theres one particular characteristic that
commonly gets overlooked, and its critically important if you want to build trust and camaraderie within your team:
transparency.
There are a few possible definitions of transparency, so before I go any further, Ill clarify what I mean by transparency
as it relates to leadership. In this context, transparency is a degree of honesty and openness, executed so consistently
that your workers trust in your candor. To a further application, that commitment to transparency often spreads to the
wider company culture, promoting more honesty and candid expression among your team members.
While the ethics of transparency are generally positive and transparency can be argued as an ethically superior quality,
ultimately, its use in leadership is geared toward achieving certain benefits for the entire team.

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RELATIONSHIPS CAN FORM

Allowing more transparency in your style of leadership opens yourself to more meaningful relationships -- both with
the team as a whole and with the individuals of that team. Forming friendships with your employees isnt typically a
productive course of action since it can distort your working relationship, but that doesnt mean you cant have healthy,
mutually respectful, sociable relationships with each individual on your team.
Being transparent makes you more approachable, and makes you seem more like a human than a robotic boss. The end
result is an environment where positive working relationships form easier and last longer.
PEOPLE TRUST YOU MORE EASILY
Consistent transparency is the easiest way to build trust -- though it still takes a long time. Being completely open and
honest will eventually give your employees a powerful sense of trust, which leads to a more unified team and a healthier
work environment. Furthermore, youll be able to assign tasks, give criticism and provide direction to your team, and
employees will respect and unanimously follow you.
PROBLEMS REACH A RESOLUTION FASTER
Transparent leadership allows employees to be more honest about their individual viewpoints and more open about
expressing them in a public dialogue. The more openness and honesty you facilitate in the context of your team, the
faster youll be able to work together to achieve a common end goal.
PEOPLE ARE MORE WILLING TO WORK TOGETHER
Its easier to assign teams cohesively when youre honest about your motivations for the assignment. If paired with a
more seasoned employee, a lower-ranking employee may feel that you dont acknowledge his/her ability to complete the
job independently. Simply being honest and acknowledging your motivations for the pairing -- such as strengths and
complementary weaknesses that will allow the job to go smoothly -- will push both workers to contently engage in the
mutual effort.
Encouraging an atmosphere of transparency will also promote transparency at all levels. Employees will feel more
comfortable expressing their opinions, submitting their work and openly engaging in progressive dialogue.
PEOPLE WORK HARDER
Under a transparent leader, people will be more satisfied, and theyre going to work harder for you as a result. Even if they
dont work any harder, theyll at least work more productively. This is the bottom line of effective, transparent leadership
that you cannot afford to ignore.
BECOMING MORE TRANSPARENT
Its easy to talk about the benefits of transparency. Achieving that level of transparency is more challenging. Fortunately,
there are a handful of strategies you can use to improve your own transparency as a leader, and cultivate a working
environment that rewards equally transparent employees:

Express your opinions openly. You may find this difficult, especially when expressing dissatisfaction, but honesty is
crucial.

Keep your messaging consistent. Expressing two different ideas on the same topic to two different employees can
damage your credibility as a transparent leader.

Keep all your commitments. If you cant promise something, dont promise it.

Listen to the feedback of others. Even if you disagree with it, show your appreciation and respect for it.

Simply engaging in these strategies on an occasional basis isnt enough. The key to building long-lasting trust is consistency,
and only through consistent execution will you be able to see the benefits of transparency amongst your team.

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CHAPTER 6

DEVELOPING THE BUSINESS

Nobody wants to stay in a startup forever. Eventually, you want to scale your business to a larger, stable place, and
start reaping the benefits of recurring revenue and ongoing profits. Scaling properly, and at the correct pace, is
crucial.

THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD FOR ENTREPRENEURS: 6 STEPS TO LONG-TERM

SUCCESS
Entrepreneurship is a business. It is also an art. It is also a science. The reason there are so few successful
entrepreneurs is because there is no single factor for success: it takes a great idea, a tight network of resources,
and a ton of hard work to create a lasting profitable business.
That being said, the scientific element of entrepreneurship is the one that can make or break the logical foundation
of your company. You need to know who your customers are, what they want, and how to give it to them if you
want to have a shot at success, and the best way to figure that out is to use the same structured method that
scientists use to explore the vast mysteries of the universe:
STEP 1: ASK A QUESTION.
Before you start looking for answers, you need to know what your question is. For scientists, this is usually
a question in response to some observable phenomenon or natural curiosity. For business owners, its an
exploration of possibilities for product development and marketing.
If youre trying to build a product, ask what exactly your customers need. The core aspect of your business will be

39

solving a problem for your customers. Even if you already have an idea, you need to know exactly what problem youre
solving. Write this down. If you cant form it in words, you might not have a question strong enough to drive your process
forward.
If youre trying to market your product, ask why your customers would be interested in buying your product or engaging
with your brand. Youll have multiple questions to ask here: what will make someone interested in engaging with you?
What elements of your brand are most important to display? What mediums are used by your target audience?
STEP 2: RESEARCH YOUR SUBJECT
Once you know the most important questions for your brand, you need to find as much information as you can on the
subject. For scientists, this usually means gathering past research from other scientists and using it as a foundation to
build on. For entrepreneurs, there are two main sources for research: potential customers and competitors.
Take your research seriously. Find a selection of people from within your target audience, and find out what makes them
tick. Hold a focus group meeting, or use existing market research to build a full perspective of your main users.
Your competitors will provide even more valuable information to you. Figure out what theyre doing, how theyre doing
it, and most importantly, how you can differentiate yourself from them. You need a unique value proposition that
distinguishes you from all the other companies in your space, but you also need to know what marketing and branding
conventions have worked for similar companies in the past.
STEP 3: CREATE A HYPOTHESIS
Scientists create a hypothesis to summarize what they expect to find when experimenting, or how they think a particular
system functions. For most business owners, this hypothesis is, on a broad scale, the business plan. But on a much
smaller and regular level, business owners form micro-hypotheses on a daily basis.
Hypotheses are important because they formalize the assumptions you hold. If you never take the time to acknowledge
that your assumptions are, in fact, assumptions, you could potentially continue along an inefficient or incorrect path and
never realize your expectations are based on your own preconceived notions. On the other hand, if you take the time to
constantly test, challenge, and refine your assumptions, youll end up with an accurate and functional model for your
business.
STEP 4: EXPERIMENT TO TEST YOUR HYPOTHESIS
This is one of the most important steps. Its not enough to merely establish an idea; you have to put that idea to the test,
both in business and in science.
After youve developed a hypothesis about your business, such as women 18-35 will prefer this product to have X
feature, you need to test that notion. You could begin with a simple survey, or depending on feasibility, develop the idea
and present it to a group of beta testers.
In the world of marketing, you could run multiple campaigns simultaneously to find the best message and medium for
your audience. For example, you could hypothesize that a content marketing program will net you the highest ROI, but
invest in Pay-per-click advertising and social media marketing as complementary strategies to examine which is truly
the best.
STEP 5: REVIEW YOUR DATA AND FORM A CONCLUSION
Your experiments wont mean anything unless you have a way to concretely and objectively measure their results. It can
be difficult to measure qualitative data, such as customer opinions on new features of your products, but if you can find
a way to quantify your findings, youll be able to form a solid conclusion about your hypothesis.

40

For marketing strategies, the bottom line is always ROI, your return on investment. You need to be able to calculate
exactly how much money you spent on a specific campaign, and exactly how much new business that campaign
generated. In The Definitive Guide to Google Analytics for SEO Professionals, I detail how Google Analytics is a perfect
tool for measuring campaign effectivenessbut its still only one tool in your toolbox. Youll need to measure everything
you can and review that data objectively in order to form a definitive conclusion that answers your original question.
STEP 6: PUBLISH YOUR RESULTS AND INVITE OTHERS TO EXPAND
Theories arent born overnight. When a finding is first published, it is immediately met with public scrutiny, with peers
reviewing the material and finding ways to improve upon it or disprove the notion entirely. As an entrepreneur, you wont
necessarily want to publish all the fruits of your labor for your competition to study, but at the same time its important
to get feedback on what youve done.
For example, if youve just developed a new mobile app, roll it out to your core customers. Invite them to try it out and let
you know what they think. Take their feedback as the peer review phase of scientific progress, and use their criticism
to make your product better. You will never have a perfect product or service, but you can get asymptotically closer to
perfection by constantly revising and refining your business.
The scientific method is valuable because it is designed for a specific purpose: to gain objective knowledge and refine
that knowledge by continually testing it in real environments. To get started with sufficient momentum, youre going
to need a solid idea, and to support your execution of that idea, youre going to need a great team. Beyond those
fundamental pillars of success, the scientific method is the greatest tool you have to create and maintain a lasting
business model.
Science is always changing, incorporating new information into existing models or adding new models to a greater body
of knowledge. Similarly, its up to you as an entrepreneur to constantly challenge your assumptions, build on what you
already know, and make adjustments to stay relevant in your environment.

5 WAYS TO BUILD YOUR BRAND IN SHORT

CHUNKS OF TIME
Your brand embodies everything that you do and stand for as
a business. At a tangible level, your business name, tagline, the
colors you use and the content you publish encode your brand
and present it visually and conceptually.
Building a solid brand requires a big investment of time. Yet its
important not to overlook the power of small steps and single
interactions that can solidify and share your brand with others.
Heres a closer look at five ways you can spend small chunks of
free time to help build your brand.
1. ALIGN YOUR VISUALS. The visual elements of your brand are
a powerful reinforcement of what youre trying to achieve.
Customers recognize your logo. Fans know your brands
colors.
Are you using your logo in all the places you should? Is it

41

part of your social-media profiles, in your email signature and on your presentations? Do your Twitter and Facebook
presences reflect your companys color scheme? If the answer is no, take a moment to change one thing thatll bring
you closer to a unified visual brand presence such as adding your logo to your email or changing the background
color of your Twitter account.
2. RESPOND TO YOUR FANS, FOLLOWERS AND FRIENDS. An accessible brand is one that people want to do business
with. One way to help cultivate this image is by being responsive to questions, comments and customer reviews.
Spend a minute replying to the latest messages left on your social-media pages, customer reviews on sites such as
Yelp and Google, and touching base with new connections on major networking sites.
Youll strengthen your relationship to a specific customer, while also enhancing your image as a conscientious and
responsive business owner.
3. USE A SOCIAL MONITORING TOOL TO LISTEN TO SOCIAL TRENDS. Tools such as Hootsuite and Tweetdeck let
you follow brand mentions and hashtags in one place, and are a great way to focus your social-listening efforts.
Measure sentiment about your brand, spot and deal with any problems being discussed publically about your
business, and track discussion around high-value keywords to keep your pulse on your industry.
Monitor the conversation, learn more about whats happening and strategically jump into the discussion when you
have something to add.
4. STRATEGICALLY CURATE BRAND-BUILDING CONTENT. Each day, we consume a vast amount of information from
industry news, how-to posts about topics we love and posts that are geared for pure humor or entertainment. When
we fail to share those posts, we miss two key opportunities to distribute that information in a highly leveraging way.
When you share posts or content from colleagues or competitors, they see your support and are more likely to do the
same thing for you in the future. Also, each time a reader discovers something great to read or listen to through you,
this adds to your brand.
5. PRACTICE YOUR ELEVATOR PITCH. Your elevator pitch is critical today in a wide variety of contexts. Its the short bio
you use each time you guest post. Its the pitch you use when meeting a prospective client at a networking event. Its
how you describe what you do at an investor pitch panel.
Theres a lot to be said for having an elevator pitch that captures your business and is concise, compelling and on
brand. Work on your brand message, strategically test refinements and experiment with it in different environments
to get helpful feedback. This kind of approach yields a short pitch or bio that can be used anywhere to open doors,
attract customers and drive positive recognition.
Building your brand is an essential component of a thriving business. But its an easy thing to fall by the wayside as you
do the harder work thats associated with being an entrepreneur. Make the most of small bursts of time to improve your
brands messaging and visuals, increase engagement, find great content and keep an eye on the market.
Your brand will grow fast, in a way thats inversely correlated to the tiny amounts you have to invest to keep it moving!

42

A STARTUPS GUIDE TO PROFESSIONAL NETWORKING

KNOW YOUR PLATFORMS

HAVE YOUR ELEVATOR PITCH FAMILIAR - NOT MEMORIZED

CONVERSATIONS ARE GATEWAY OPPORTUNITIES

BE OPEN TO ANY OPPORTUNITY

KEEP IN TOUCH REGULARLY -- BUT NOT OFTEN

BE YOURSELF

REACH BEYOND YOUR SCREEN

GO OUT AND INTRODUCE YOURSELF

Startup companies are stressful, yet exciting places to work, and whether youre the star entrepreneur, a partner or
a sales professional trying to generate an initial stream of revenue, professional networking can play a key role in
achieving your first-phase goals. The bigger your network, the more access youll have to funding, customers, partners,
and perhaps most importantly -- advice.
Almost everybody in the business world uses social media to some extent, and it makes for a great opportunity to
connect with new people. However, there are a few principles to keep in mind while networking on social platforms.
1. KNOW YOUR PLATFORMS. The rules of etiquette and the types of people youll find will vary from platform to
platform, so its important to keep your messaging and approach appropriate while you find new connections. For
example, reaching out to strangers on Twitter is more socially acceptable than it is on Facebook, since most people
try to restrict their Facebook visibility to close friends and family.
On LinkedIn, almost every member is a professional seeking professional connections. For most startups, LinkedIn
is the best place to meet new contacts and exchange information.
2. CONVERSATIONS ARE GATEWAY OPPORTUNITIES. Look for active conversations on social media, and start some
of your own. These are perfect opportunities to uncover new connections. For example, if theres a running public
conversation on Twitter about touchpad technology and your startup is releasing a new iteration of software
relevant to the conversation, jump in! Introduce yourself briefly, but more importantly, make a real contribution to the
conversation and follow it as it develops.
After the conversation ends, reach out to anybody you engaged with directly and ask for more information about
who they are and what they do. You may also find conversation participants reaching out to you because of your
expertise. LinkedIn Groups are an ideal place to look for these conversations.
3. KEEP IN TOUCH REGULARLY -- BUT NOT OFTEN. Once youve found a connection and introduced yourself online,
follow up with that person so you stay on top of their mind. This is especially important for a connection who
is considering investment, or a connection who has a future -- but not present -- need for you. Your follow-up
messages can be short and to the point, though flattery and personal consideration sometimes help, but dont follow
up too often or youll end up annoying your new connection.

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4. REACH BEYOND THE SCREEN. Dont let your connections stay confined to the digital world. Once youve interacted a
handful of times, take the next step with a phone call or, even better, an in-person meeting. Nothing can replace the
personal feel of direct interaction.
Whether youre meeting your social-media contacts or engaging in regular networking events, its also important to
establish your in-person networking techniques.
5. HAVE YOUR ELEVATOR PITCH FAMILIAR -- BUT NOT MEMORIZED. Your elevator pitch is the first chance youll
have to make an impression on someone unfamiliar with your startup, so practice it often to make sure you have it
down. However, I advise you not to memorize it word for word. If you do, your pitch will sound over-rehearsed and
regurgitated in a real-world application. Instead, go over the highlights, focusing on a few key phrases so you can
come off sounding natural.
6. BE OPEN TO ANY OPPORTUNITY. Even if someone doesnt seem like a good fit for your needs at the moment,
they could still present a great opportunity later on. Be open to meeting almost anybody, and try to make a great
impression every time. Collect contact information whenever you can get it, and listen to people when they talk
about their business. You never know when an interesting partnership opportunity could arise.
7. BE YOURSELF. Dont try to ham up your personality or put on a fake sales persona. People will notice. Instead, be
yourself. Show your true personality, and show your enthusiasm for your startup. Personality definitely counts in the
networking world, and yours needs to be sincere.
8. GO OUT AND INTRODUCE YOURSELF. If you want to meet people, you have to go where people meet. Sign up for
networking events around your city, and try to sniff out group activities where professionals or potential investors
might be lurking. Go out of your way for opportunities, and never be shy about introducing yourself.
Networking is both an art and a science, so no matter how much you try to learn about it on paper, the best way to
improve yourself is to get out there and do it. Take note of which strategies work, which ones dont, and any changes
you can make to expand your network and improve your reputation in the field.

5 COMMON PITFALLS THAT RUIN BUSINESSES -- AND HOW TO AVOID THEM

If youre trying to picture all the events and factors that can possibly ruin a business, stop. It would be virtually
impossible to list out every conceivable piece that could ultimately lead your company to a disaster, and some of the
most dangerous problems are the ones you never see coming.
That being said, many businesses do collapse as a result of common, preventable issuesand understanding those
issues, before they do any real damage, can put you in a position to prevent or mitigate them. Startups are especially
vulnerable, with limited resources and a weak, volatile structure, but startup entrepreneurs can prevent disaster simply
by taking measures to look for these all-too-common pitfalls:
1. INSUFFICIENT CAPITAL. In order to function, businesses need money, and a good share of it. Startups usually have
trouble finding the resources to starteither finding funding, attaining credit, or pooling personal financial resources
to try and make ends meet. More experienced companies usually suffer from insufficient capital when their spending
starts to outweigh their revenue.
Keep a handle on your capital situation by monitoring your cash flow. Closely monitor your expenses, and dont

44

be afraid to make cuts if you need to. The earliest stages of your companys growth are the most vulnerable to
insufficient capital, but that doesnt mean youre out of the woods once youve been around a few years. Watch your
numbers closely.
2. POOR GROWTH SPEED. Another key reason for business failure is an inappropriate growth rate. For most
entrepreneurs, that reads as not growing fast enough, but growing too fast can be a problem too. Not growing fast
enough means youll be expending lots of money, but you wont have the customers or the revenue to exceed it.
Growing too fast comes with a different set of problemsdemand becomes too high, resources become overworked
or poorly trained, and your customers have inconsistent experiences.
Work closely with all your departments, especially your marketing team and human resources department, to make
sure your company achieves a reasonable, steady pace of growth.
3. COMPETITION WOES. Never underestimate your competition. Competition can crush your business totally if you
arent careful, especially if you havent taken the time to fully understand it. Startups based around a new idea
sometimes get too sure of themselves, neglecting to keep a watch on the marketscompetition isnt necessarily
a bad thing, but you need to make sure you differentiate yourself in a way that makes your company seem like the
more appealing service.
Bigger companies also struggle with competition, but usually in the form of more nimble startups. For example, giant
tech firms often struggle to keep up with the ingenious pace of new tech startupssome find a solution in acquiring
the agile business, rather than trying to compete directly. There are many strategies to deal with the competition, but
you need at least one.
4. INTERNAL STRIFE. Internal strife can tear a company apart, especially during the early stages of development.
In many startups, entire departments are reliant on a small group of workers, and if all those workers leavethe
department is, in effect, crushed immediately. If there is a disagreement between department heads over the
direction of the company, the entire enterprise could be thrown in turmoil, and customers could suffer as a result.
Even bigger, more tenured enterprises can fall apart due to internal strifejust at a higher level. If the CEO and the
board of directors cannot reach agreements, or if partners cannot resolve a dispute, that tension trickles down, and
eventually, the whole company suffers the consequences.
5. DEPENDENCE. Too many companies fail because they were overly dependent on one thing. Maybe thats a highly
valuable customer. Maybe its a very talented and experienced worker. Maybe its just an environmental condition
that allows for the company to be successful.
Customers can opt out. Workers can quit. Environmental conditions canand will-change. If you allow any part
of your business to be dependent on anything, youre setting yourself up for disaster (or at least a huge gamble).
Instead, hedge your bets by investing in multiple variations and multiple, complementary dependencies.
By no means are these five pitfalls intended to cover every possible disaster that could befall your company. There are
plenty of other dangers out there that could weaken your brand or compromise your internal structurebut these are
some of the most common and some of the most preventable. As the leader of your company, your sight needs to be
focused on the distant horizon, not on the small day-to-day problems that almost always work themselves out naturally.
Keep watch for these encroaching hazards, and take immediate actions to thwart them before they become irreversible.

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CHAPTER 7

MARKETING AND BUILDING A REPUTATION

As you expand your business to new demographics and work to increase your bottom line revenues, marketing is going
to become absolutely essential. Marketing and reputation building allow you to get in front of new customers, new
markets, and new territories, and strengthen the relationships you already have in the process.

YOUR GUIDE TO MARKETING AN ONLINE BUSINESS

The promise of setting your own hours, being your own boss and working in your pajamas is almost too much to resist
for many aspiring entrepreneurs. Add to this the low startup costs and overhead, and its no wonder that so many people
choose to start an online business.
But according to some estimates, as many as 90% of Internet startups fail in the first 120 days. And I believe that this
is largely because many new business owners dont understand how to effectively market and promote their business
online.
Traditional methods of advertising like newspaper ads and Yellow Pages listings can be costly, and only reach a very
small, local audience. With most online businesses targeting customers on a national or even international scale, online
marketing has become the only real option for reaching their target market.
Following is a simple guide to help you figure out where to spend your valuable time and resources to get the word out
about your business and to start driving sales and revenues as soon as possible.

46

1. MAINTAIN A BLOG WITH VALUABLE, QUALITY INFORMATION. While blogging is important for all types of
businesses, its particularly important for online businesses. Regularly writing blog posts that provide relevant
information to your target market not only helps to establish trust and authority with your audience, it drives muchneeded traffic to your site.
In fact, according to Hubspots Marketing Benchmarks report, companies that blog 15 or more times each month
receive 5 times more traffic than companies that dont blog. And this traffic ultimately translates into important
leads: companies that increase their blogging from 3-5x per month to just 6-8 per month almost double their leads.
Thats a significant increase in leads for just a few extra blog posts each month.
One of the main challenges I hear from business owners when it comes to blogging is knowing what to write about.
They assume they need to write about their products or business, and wonder how much they can really write on
these topics. This is exactly the wrong strategy!
Instead, focus on providing solutions to your target markets problems. What are the challenges and issues they
face? What do they need help with? How can you help them with these problems? As you continue to provide
relevant and valuable information, youll become a trusted source of information. And when your audience comes to
trust you, theyll be more likely to buy from you.
2. MAKE SURE YOUR WEBSITE AND CONTENT ARE PROPERLY OPTIMIZED FOR SEO. You dont have to be an SEO
expert to understand and implement the fundamentals of SEO. One of the most important ways to get your site
ranking in the search engines is to make sure youre using the keywords your target market will be looking for. Once
youve decided which keywords to target, youll want to make sure you use these (where appropriate and relevant)
throughout your site, in your:
URLs

Title tags

Heading tags (H1, H2, etc.)

Alt image tags

Content
Another factor thats important for SEO is
regularly adding new blog posts, and focusing
on long-form (1000 word+), meaty content that
covers every angle of a topic. Posts that do a
great job of being a complete resource on a topic
are likely to be popular with your audience, and
to receive inbound links from other sites. And
getting inbound links is great both for SEO and
for driving referral traffic back to your site.
3. BE ACTIVE ON SOCIAL MEDIA. Maintaining an
active presence on social media will be one of the
most important ways you reach and connect with
your target market and drive traffic to your blog.
As you share interesting content on networking
sites like Facebook and Twitter, you experience

47

increased brand recognition and authority and provide a richer customer experience. Interacting on social media
also humanizes your brand, and decreases the risks your audience will feel when deciding whether or not to buy
from you.
Without social media, your inbound traffic is limited to people already familiar with your brand, or those searching
for keywords you currently rank for. Every social media profile you add is another path leading back to your site, and
every piece of content you share on those sites is another opportunity for a new visitor. The more quality content
you share on social media, the more inbound traffic youll generate, and more traffic means more leads and more
conversions.
4. DRIVE NEW SUBSCRIBERS TO YOUR EMAIL LIST. While Google and social media can be great sources of traffic, the
problem is youre always reliant on changes and algorithm updates outside your control. For instance, you could be
generating thousands of visitors per month to your site through your Facebook Page, then Facebook could change
their timeline algorithm and suddenly none of your fans will see your posts.
For this reason, ensuring you drive your social media followers and website visitors to your email list is imperative.
Your email list is the one online asset you truly own, as no one can limit your access to your subscribers.
The best way to convince your audience to join your list is to come up with a compelling offer or asset. This could
be a free eBook, webinar, or the promise of discounts or coupons. Whatever you decide to offer, just make sure its
something that your audience will recognize as holding real value.
5. BECOME A GUEST ON POPULAR SITES IN YOUR INDUSTRY. When you blog on your own site, you connect with your
current audience. But when you guest blog, you have the opportunity to reach a new audience who otherwise may
never have found out about you.
There are other distinct advantages to guest blogging:

Driving referral traffic to your site

Aligning your brand with industry leaders

Building your personal brand

Establishing yourself as a thought leader in your field

Generating new leads

A strategy I often recommend before you jump into guest blogging is making sure you have at least 10 amazing
pieces of content on your site. This way, when you contact big-name publishers to ask about guest blogging
opportunities, they can see what youre capable of providing. Some publishers will also allow you to link to your own
content within your guest posts, so having these 10 articles will also give you something valuable to link to.
By understanding and implementing the 5 strategies above, youll be head and shoulders above most online
business owners. Recognizing that offering true value to your audience via blog posts, email and social media
content will help you reach and connect with your prospects and generate new leads.

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39 QUICK WAYS TO INCREASE YOUR WEBSITES CONVERSION RATE

Getting traffic to your website is great, but if that traffic doesnt convert, its almost useless. This article will outline
39 proven strategies for getting your visitors to take action, whether thats filling out a form, handing over their email
address or making a purchase.
1. Include as few fields as possible. When asking for
information in an email opt-in form, ask for as little
information as necessary. Heres an example of how using
one additional form field decreased conversions by 11
percent.
2. Add a guarantee. Include a no-questions-asked refund
policy on all purchases. This reduces risk, and increased
sales will usually more than make up for any returns.
3. Use tangible action verbs. When testing out different calls
to action, try using action language that spurs visitors to
take action (for example, grab yours, reserve your seat)

YOU MAY BE
DISAPPOINTED IF
YOU FAIL, BUT YOU
ARE DOOMED IF YOU
DONT TRY.
-BEVERLY SILLS

4. Use testimonials. Testimonials reduce risk and provide

social proof. Use them on product landing pages as well as
on your email opt-in landing page.
5. Clearly state the benefits of your product or service. Listing the features of your product is important, but its even
more important to tell potential customers exactly how your product will help them or solve their problem.
6. Pay careful attention to your headline. Your headline is perhaps the single most important element of your landing
page. Brainstorm at least 10 possibilities before choosing the strongest one.
7. Keep conversion elements above the fold. Opt-in boxes and other conversion elements should be above the fold for
optimal results.
8. Use video to humanize your brand. Include a simple video on landing pages to show theres a real person behind
your brand.
9. Create dedicated landing pages for pay-per-click ads. If youre using AdWords or another form of PPC ads, be sure
to send these visitors to a dedicated landing page (not your home page!).
10. Include subscriber or social-media follower counts. Just like testimonials, including social proof helps reduce risk
and increase conversions.
11. Incorporate strong calls to action (CTAs) into every piece of content on your site. Let your readers know exactly what
you want them to do next, whether thats click a button, read a blog post or fill out a form.
12. Recommend related products. Include links to related content or products to keep visitors engaged and on your site.
13. Include stock numbers. If you have a tangible product, include the number of remaining stock with your product
descriptions (for example: Order now only 3 left in stock).

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14. Lose the hype. Most consumers are too savvy to fall for hype-based copywriting. Lose the hype, and focus instead
on writing clear, compelling copy that helps your visitors make a purchase decision.
15. Test variations of your CTA button. Your buy now or order now button may perform quite differently depending on
where its placed, what color it is and how big it is. Test out several variations to see which ones perform best.
16. Tell visitors exactly what theyre going to get. Provide visitors with absolutely everything they need to know about
your product: What are the features and benefits? What does it look like? What are the possible uses? Who will
benefit most from it? How will it be delivered?
17. Include a clear value proposition. Tell potential buyers whats special about your product. How is it different and
better than every other, similar product on the market?
18. Give your visitors tunnel vision. When creating a landing page, remove anything that could potentially distract your
visitors, such as a navigation bar and other CTAs. Your landing page should be 100 percent about getting your
visitors to take one, specific action.
19. Include a privacy statement on opt-in forms.Your privacy policy can have a huge impact on your email conversions.
In one experiment, changing the wording just slightly resulted in a 19 percent increase in conversions.
20. Get your visitors excited. Use emotionally-charged language and amazing storytelling to get your visitors eager and
excited to try your product.
21. Keep input fields optional. If you must ask for numerous fields of information, keep as many as possible optional to
increase the likelihood that visitors will complete the form. You can always ask for additional information later.
22. Meet the expectations of your PPC visitors. If visitors are coming to your landing page via a PPC ad, make sure your
ad copy is consistent with your landing page copy. Your ad should tell them exactly what theyll find once they click
through to your site.
23. Offer various payment options. Believe it or not, not everyone wants to use Paypal. Consider offering a variety of
payment methods to satisfy the preferences of all your potential customers.
24. Include consumer reviews. Theres no doubt that consumer reviews are extremely influential in helping people make
purchase decisions. In fact, according to a study by Zendesk, 88 percent of respondents said their buying decisions
were influenced by positive and negative reviews.
25. Test out various color combinations on your landing pages. Different colors can signify different things to different
people (for example, light blue can be calming, while red can evoke feelings of stress or even anger). Test a variety of
palettes to see which ones result in optimal conversion rates.
26. Use high-quality images. Using generic, tacky stock photos can send the wrong message about your brand. Use
professional-quality photos where possible.
27. Use CTA buttons rather than links. Buttons are more obvious and more clickable, particularly when viewed on mobile
devices.
28. Use a chat tool. Offer live chat to help answer questions and alleviate any concerns potential customers may have.

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29. Use directional cues. Move your visitors attention to your most important on-page element through the use of
arrows or other visual cues. Just be careful to stay tasteful -- flashy red arrows generally dont work like they used
to!
30. Try a single column layout. One experiment showed a 681 percent increase in conversions when changing from a
double column layout.
31. Include a headshot. Dont be afraid to include a personal photo in your sidebar or near your CTAs. It can reduce the
sense of risk by showing that theres a real person behind the brand.
32. Offer a price-match guarantee. While most people wont take you up on the offer, it helps convey that youre
concerned about keeping your prices competitive.
33. Test out various content lengths. Depending on your niche, product and audience, short copy may outperform long
copy (or vice versa). Be sure to test various lengths to see what works best with your audience.
34. Use pictures of happy, smiling people. Its commonly believed that these types of images result in the highest
conversion rates.
35. Make sure you include contact info. Give your customers confidence in buying from you by including complete
contact info in an easily accessible location.
36. Offer bonus discounts at checkout. Offer free shipping or a percent-off discount to customers on their next
purchase.
37. Dont require registration in order to buy. Some sites require users to complete a registration form in order to make a
purchase. Be sure to offer a one-time, express checkout to minimize potential roadblocks.
38. Match your copys reading level to your audience. Using difficult or obscure language -- or language thats too
simplistic, for that matter -- can alienate some of your visitors. Use a tool such as Readability Score to make sure
youre matching your copy to your audiences preferences.
39. Dont offer too many options. When faced with too many choices, people may actually become paralyzed and
completely avoid a particular task or decision. When possible, be very clear about who your product is for, or suggest
which product is best for the majority of people (Most popular choice).
Bonus tip: Remember that the key to a highly converting website is to test, test, test. What works for one website,
audience or niche may not work for another, making it difficult to offer a one-size-fits-all strategy for achieving optimal
conversions. Figure out what works best for your business, and then run with it.

THE KEY INGREDIENTS TO A WINNING MOBILE CONTENT-MARKETING STRATEGY

When you think about the different ways customers land on your companys website, mobile is most likely a growing
driver of traffic. According to the latest statistics from Pew Research, 56 percent of Americans own a smartphone and 34
percent own a tablet. Then consider that 63 percent of smartphone owners use their devices to go online.
Does your content-marketing strategy take these trends into account? Plugging new channels or technologies into your

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existing content strategy isnt enough. As a business owner, you need to consider how your site and your marketing
are being delivered over the devices people are using. If youre not delivering your marketing messages in a way thats
tailored specifically to the experience of a smartphone or tablet user, chances are youre turning customers away.
Heres a closer look at some critical points to consider about your
companys mobile content-marketing strategy:
MOBILE ISNT JUST ABOUT THE DEVICE. Dont just look at the
mobile channel as a series of devices. Its true that your content
needs to be optimized and look great across different brands of
tablets and smartphones. But mobile is also about the context and
behaviors of your customers while theyre on those devices.
What are they doing on that smartphone? Are they accessing
content relaxing at home, or glancing quickly during their commute?
Your content strategy needs to represent a deeper understanding
of your users mobile context and what that means for both your
content and experience creation.
For example, I recently bought a new home theater system. As I was
setting it up in the living room, I realized that I lacked a particular
part to enable the wireless rear speakers. I needed to figure out how
to buy that part while I was next to my speaker system so I could
examine their part numbers and other information printed on the speakers. I pulled out my iPhone and began searching
the web. Plenty of suppliers had the part available, but I made my purchase based on what I needed at that moment:
Assurance that it was the right part, trustworthiness of the supplier and a reasonable price. I purchased from the
supplier that was able to convey each of those things in the easiest, most efficient manner on my smartphone.
Base your strategy on how your audience really uses mobile. An effective mobile content strategy demands an
understanding of your audiences mobile usage. Marketers like to imagine they know their customers. But the reality of
mobile usage may differ from your perception.
Part of your audience profile should focus on how mobile fits into your customers lives. What devices are they on? What
kind of an experience are they looking for from you? Data from your existing website analytics program can give you
mobile insights, as can targeted surveys, to form the foundation of your mobile content strategy.
THINK BEFORE YOU SHRINK. The old model of content creation was to adapt content from other formats, usually the
web, to a small screen. Text was chunked differently, visuals updated and overall layouts simplified and made more
tappable for touchscreens.
Instead, look at all of your content through a mobile lens at the point of creation. Copywriting and visuals should be as
short and minimalistic as possible, while effectively conveying your message. Then adapt your ideas from there to the
bigger screen. Scale content creation up, rather than down.
RETHINK YOUR USER EXPERIENCE THROUGH DESIGN. Every business needs a website that looks great and functions
well on mobile devices. If information is hard to find or your site is impossible to navigate, youll lose customers. But
mobile design goes beyond basic functionality. Ask yourself if youre providing the right experience in terms of content,
look, feel, functionality and tools to help your customers achieve their end goal.

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Going back to my example about buying the part for the home theater system, during my search for suppliers I found
several that had awful mobile design. One in particular wouldnt even let me add my item to the cart. Needless to say, I
didnt make my purchase from that supplier.
Focus first on the experience, and then optimize the visuals.
EXPAND YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF CONVERSIONS. In the mobile universe, conversions go way beyond the sale.
Signing up for a newsletter, sharing your content or downloading a white paper may be valuable customer touch points.
Think about the range of mobile conversions with value for your business and develop mobile content to support that
funnel.
TAKE ADVANTAGE OF LOCATION. Geolocation technologies are giving businesses creative ways to engage customers,
from sending market research surveys to customers nearby to offering discount codes to drive sales. Examples of these
technologies include Apples Siri, Google Now and GPS-enabled apps for iOS and Android.
Mobile devices are the lever these campaigns hinge on. Consider how location-based technologies could increase
immediate engagement with your customers.
LEVERAGE THE RISE OF MICRO-VIDEO. As visual content such as videos and infographics become the preferred form of
content, specific opportunities are appearing for mobile. Short videos on Vine and Instagram have provided marketers
another way to reach their audience. What part of your story can you tell in a micro-video? For some interesting takes on
Vine campaigns check out Oreos campaign and Lowes six-second home improvement tips.
MAKE SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT EASY. Is your content easy to share and easy to engage with? Simple like and share
buttons encourage social engagement. If youre requesting information, avoid long essay questions and forms that are
awkward to navigate.
With more opportunities to reach customers and prospects by mobile, companies can stay relevant by creating mobilefocused content marketing strategies. This can help you to concentrate on high-return mobile activities that drive
website traffic, engagement, leads and sales.

WHY SEO IS MUCH EASIER THAN YOU THINK

Search engine optimization (SEO) has gone through a series of evolutions over the years. Older strategies, which
focused on keyword-based optimization and black hat practices, have become obsolete, and modern strategies,
which focus on user experience, have come to replace them. Throughout its history, SEO has been a cost-efficient and
incredibly valuable strategy for business owners of all industries.
But despite the strategys simplified development, many business owners are still too intimidated by the perceived
difficulty of the strategy to follow through with it. SEO is a time-intensive strategy, and it does demand significant
attention, but to consider it too difficult to attempt is simply an error in judgment. With the right mentality and a sound
commitment, any business owner can start building an SEO campaignand reaping the many benefits.
THE ROOTS OF THE MISCONCEPTION
To business owners unfamiliar with the technical side of web development, the idea of Googles algorithm is
extraordinarily complexand truly, the algorithm itself is extraordinarily complex, but that doesnt mean you need an
extraordinarily complex strategy to take advantage of it. These business owners typically think about the advanced

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engineering and coding that go into the maintenance of this algorithm and the development of complex websites, and
think how impossible it would be to construct something of that scale with limited knowledge.
The misconception here is that sophisticated structures require sophisticated strategies if theyre going to be harnessed
to their full potential. However, despite a sophisticated backing, the tenets behind Googles search algorithm are quite
simple, and simple strategies are sufficient to achieve a higher rank. Googles goal is to give users the best possible
online experience, which means giving them the most appropriate results and featuring sites that are the easiest to use.
THE BASICS THAT ANYONE CAN MASTER
The process Google uses to calculate search ranks is extraordinarily complicatedand search experts dont even
understand it fully because Google has never published the inner workings of the algorithm. But we do know that you
have to fulfill two requirements in order to rank high for a given query: you have to be seen as an authority, and you have
to feature what people are looking for. The sites that fulfill these requirements the best will rank the highest.
Fortunately, fulfilling these requirements can be done with basic strategies that are implemented consistently over time.
The more you implement them, and the more consistently you implement them, the more your authority and online
presence will grow.
Onsite Content
Onsite content comes in two main sections. First, youll need to optimize the body copy throughout your website to
ensure that Google can recognize the purpose of your site and the industry niche of your business. To do that, youll
want to make sure your site pages are in order. Youll want to feature the most important pages (such as Home,
Products, and Contact Us) with strong headlines and several paragraphs of compelling copy. Include words and
phrases that describe your business accurately, but dont try and stuff your content full of them. Focus on writing
naturally. Optimizing your title tags and meta tags (which can usually be done simply through your sites content
management system) is also extremely helpful, especially at the start of your campaign.
Next, youll want to implement an ongoing blogging strategy. Write at least one 400 word (or more) blog post every week,
scaling up as you gain more traction. Write about topics your audience wants to learn about, answering their potential
questions in as much detail as possible. This will help you become the resource your searchers want to find, and youll
rank higher as a result. The more questions you answer, the more potential queries youll have the answer for.
Offsite Links
Building authority means having a strong online presence, and that means having several offsite links pointing to your
site. Building these links is relatively easyyou can put links pointing back to your site in the body of an external guest
blog post, a forum comment, or as a post in an industry-related directory. Just be sure to diversify your strategy; use
many sources, use many different links to internal pages of your site, and always ensure your links are relevant to the
conversation.
Social and Local Integrations
If you dont already have a social media presence, its time to get one. Claim your
profiles for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and any other channels you think would be
appropriate. Post regularly, engage with your audience, and your credibility as an
online business will greatly improve. Youll also want to claim your business profiles
on local directory and review sites like Yelp, and ensure that all your information
(especially your name, address, and phone number) is accurate. The more positive
reviews you get on these sites, the higher youll rank for local search queries.

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THE TRUE CHALLENGES OF SEO

While these basic strategies are easy to adopt and consistently execute, SEO is not without its true challenges. As you
get started with your basic strategy, youll likely encounter these obstacles.
Finding Appropriate Targets
You might be lost on what types of questions to write blogs for, or what type of keywords to include on your website. The
best way to address this problem is to find honest answers. Summarize your business as simply as you can, and use
that summary to describe your business in your onsite content. Ask your customers directly what theyd like to read on
your blog, and write about it.
Investing Time
The time factor is a major hurdle to overcome, especially for entrepreneurs of small or new businesses. Its tough to
manage an SEO strategy on top of all your other responsibilities, but remember, you can always hire an outside expert
to help you shoulder the load. There are ways to measure your ROI so you can ensure you dont lose money on your
campaign efforts.
Adjusting Your Strategy
Knowing what to adjust and when can be a major problem, even if you accurately measure the initial results of your
campaign. Overcoming this problem is difficult, even for industry experts, but the only way to move forward is to do
some research, make an educated guess at the root of your problem, make an adjustment to your campaign, and see
what the result is.
STRATEGIES TO KEEP SEO ON EASY MODE
If youre trying to keep SEO as easy as possible for as long as possible, try these strategies to avoid overcomplicating
the work.
Read SEO News
Subscribe yourself to multiple SEO-based news feeds and forums. Read up on developments as often as you can,
preferably daily. While some of it might be over your head to begin with, eventually it will start to make more sense. The
only way to make SEO culture easier to understand is to immerse yourself in it.
Watch Your Competitors
Keep a close eye on your competition. You can monitor their blogs to see what topics theyre writing about, or use a site
like Open Site Explorer to see what kinds of links theyre building. Doing so can help point your own campaign in the right
direction, or provide new insights for you to develop in your ongoing strategy.
Perform Monthly Reviews
Take a look at your metrics on a monthly basis. Any more frequently, and you might drive yourself crazy looking at
random fluctuations. Any less frequently, and you wont have a good read on the health of your campaign. Use Google
Analytics and other free online tools to measure metrics like your keyword ranks, organic traffic, and visitor behavior.
While SEO is likely easier than you think, dont underestimate the amount of time and effort it will take. Youll get out
what you put into it, so if you only spend a few minutes a day, dont expect to climb the ranks on a national scale at any
noticeable pace.
If youre concerned about the ROI of the strategy, or if youre still nervous about the steps of its execution, start out
small. Implement your strategy at a small scale, measure the results, and gradually scale up until youve reached
an ideal balance of cost, risk, and reward. After a few weeks of implementation, youll likely find a perfect pace for
development.

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WHY EVERY ENTREPRENEUR SHOULD FOCUS ON LOCAL SEO

Search engine optimization (SEO) is so ubiquitous and so unanimously useful that almost every major business or
organization with an online presence has incorporated it into their marketing strategy to at least some degree. For most
entrepreneurs, that means writing lots of content and posting lots of backlinks in order to build authority and rank higher
for keywords that are relevant to the business.
But theres a different side of SEO that a minority of businesses are using. Local SEO, the process of optimizing your
business for a specific location in addition to a specific category or range of service offerings, isnt taken advantage
of as often as it should be. Its a highly targeted, niche strategy that every entrepreneur canand shouldbe thinking
about.
LOCAL SEO IS ON THE RISE
Local SEO is becoming more valuable and therefore, more popular. The landscape of search is changing due to the
onset of new technologies and the massive influx of brands and businesses looking to get a slice of that first search
engine results page (SERP). If youre looking to position yourself for the greatest possible flow of traffic, its important to
understand why local SEO is so increasingly important, and how to take advantage of it.
The Mobile Experience
Mobile technology is finding its way into pockets everywhere, and people are becoming more comfortable with it as a
means of searching. For example, 46 percent of searchers now use mobile exclusively to do product research, and the
majority of mobile searches are local-specific. Since users can search on the fly, theyre far more likely to make local
searches.
Plus, Google and other search engines are doing more to respond to this trend. Theyre collecting more information
about their users locations and search histories, and doing everything they can to give them local-specific results. That
means, even if you have a huge national authority, you could easily get outranked by a similar company simply because
of their proximity to the searcher.
Less Competition
Driving local SEO also means dealing with less competition. When you try to compete for a keyword family related to
your products on a national scale, youll be fighting every similar company in the country. For example, there are far
fewer gear manufacturers in Atlanta, Georgia than there are in the entirety of the United States. Narrowing your focus
might lead you to fewer potential searchers, but its better to have 200 real searchers than 2,000 theoretical someday
searchers. Optimizing your site for local searches will make you far more valuable to a slightly smaller population.
More Opportunities for Positive PR
Getting involved in the local scene will also give you more opportunities for local visibility. If you post often about your
city, neighborhood, or region, your fellow entrepreneurs and local news reporters will take notice. Its an easy way to get
the citizens of your region on your side, and get more public visibility at the same time. If you attend local events as a
way of generating a local-optimized press release, youll get ground-level local exposure. Couple that with a strong and
engaged social media presence, and youll be in a prime position to build a highly loyal local audience.
WHY EVEN NATIONAL BRANDS NEED LOCAL SEO
For companies with an exclusive online presence or other businesses who believe they have no advantage in doing
anything on a scale smaller than national, local SEO might seem like its not worth it. Their potential audience is
humongous, so reducing it seems like an unwise move.
However, local SEO is valuable because it gives you a targeted, relevant focus on a nearby audienceand that makes

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it valuable to any company, even national ones. You can still go after a national audience by maintaining your previous
strategies, but incorporating local techniques will give you the best of both worlds.
BEST PRACTICES
Optimizing for local is simpler than you might think. First, make sure all your local profiles are claimedget on every
social media platform you can find as well as local directories like Google Places, Yelp, and TripAdvisor. Make sure your
name, address, and phone number are all consistent and on every medium.
Then, follow up with a long-term strategy that focuses on your local position. Attend local events and get involved with
your local community to write blog posts and press releases that celebrate your companys attendance. Post backlinks
on local news sites or community sites, and mention your region or citys name whenever you get a chance online. A
strong social presence never hurts, either.
Whether youre a small-time local shop or a major national player, you need to start thinking about your local SEO
strategy. Local is already huge, and its only getting bigger.

5 PR STRATEGIES FOR THE BUSY ENTREPRENEUR

Public relations is a demanding business, mostly because
of the conditions of digital media. Consumers access
multiple online channels on an almost constant basis, so
keeping your brand both visible and positively received by
the masses can be troublesome for the busy entrepreneur.
Many entrepreneurs, especially those helming startups
or small businesses, simply neglect their public relations
development strategy, believing it to be a secondary
priority. But no matter how busy you are, you can make
time for these simple, yet effective, PR strategies:

CULTIVATE TESTIMONIALS
MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR PRESS RELEASES

SET ASIDE 10 MINUTES A DAY

FOCUS YOUR STRATEGY

1. CULTIVATE TESTIMONIALS. Testimonials are your best

friend as an entrepreneur. Depending on the medium
LEVERAGE THE POWER OF INFLUENCERS
you use for your inbound testimonials, you could enjoy
the benefit of increased brand visibility, increased
user trust, increased SEO authority from external
links, and an increased propensity to go viral with a
product or campaign. Encourage your users to post written and video testimonials on their social media profiles and
external sites. You can offer them a small reward in exchange for their honest opinions, or sponsor a competition
that recognizes a random participant. Initiating a steady flow of user testimonials is a way to let your customers do
your PR work for you. Consumers trust other consumers more than brands anyway, so youll be able to build your
reputation naturally without doing all the work yourself.
2. MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR PRESS RELEASES. Hopefully, you already have a plan in place to submit regular press
releases whenever your company does something newsworthy. Press releases are a great source of external links
for SEO, since theyre usually posted on high-authority news sites, plus youll get a boost in brand visibility from the
shared readership of each publication. But press releases dont have to be one-use-only. If youre already creating
and distributing your press releases on a regular basis, you can tap them for additional PR value without spending
much additional time. For example, you can post a variation of the press release on your own site as a blog entry,
possibly adding an extra feature like an interview with your CEO. You could also transform it into a whitepaper, or

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include it as part of an informational packet. Its a form of recycling, which will let you take advantage of the press
releases full value.
3. SET ASIDE TEN MINUTES A DAY. If youre having trouble keeping up with the nonstop social media posts and
constantly evolving news landscape, youre not alone. Its almost impossible to keep up with everything. But instead
of giving up and no longer trying to get involved, try setting aside ten minutes a dayan amount of time that almost
anyone can afford to allot. Ten minutes a day will give you an opportunity to scan your news feed, figure out the gist
of whats been happening, and reach out to at least a handful of followers. You may not get time to answer every
query or post lots of messages, but it will establish your brand as one that cares enough to make a daily effort.
4. FOCUS YOUR STRATEGY. It can be tempting to pursue every possible channel and target every possible
demographic, but for the busy entrepreneur, thats an inefficient strategy. Instead of trying to do twenty things with
an average success rate, narrow your strategy to do one or two things with an incredible success rate. For example,
if youre trying to build a following on five different social media profiles, instead focus on building an audience for
one (with the other four on the back burner). Youll have a smaller potential audience, but the audience you end up
with will be more passionate, more loyal, and more enthusiastic about your brand.
5. LEVERAGE THE POWER OF INFLUENCERS. This is another way of letting others do your PR work for you. Instead
of spending hours a day trying to force your way into new markets, make friends with a handful of influencers and
ask them to do the work for you. For example, if theres an industry leader with a huge following, you could ask him/
her to post a link to your latest press releaseor if youre on good terms already, you could ask him/her to create a
testimonial for you. If they honor your request, youll gain almost-instant access to their massive following, adding
their range of visibility to your own without a significant extra effort.
If you dont have the resources to hire a dedicated PR manager, and youre too busy to get the job done yourself, these
strategies are a suitable solution. The rewards you get from your PR strategy correspond with the amount of time and
effort you put into it, but if youre pressed for resources, these tactics serve as an appropriate, effective substitute for a
full-blown campaign.

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CHAPTER 8

RISKS, GROWTH, AND THE THRILL OF CHANGE

Nothing stays the same for very long in a startup, and nothing is ever fully predictable. As you grow, youll be taking
on new risks, setting new directions, and facing new challenges you never expected. Understanding this level of
unpredictability will help you respond more appropriately to significant events.

7 RISKS EVERY ENTREPRENEUR MUST TAKE

Risk-taking is almost synonymous with entrepreneurship. In order to start and support your own business, youll have
to put your career, personal finances, and even your mental health at stake. For most, the prospect of making your own
decisions and being in charge of your own destiny is worth it. But if youre going to be successful as an entrepreneur,
you have to be prepared for the risks and challenges that come with it.
These are seven risks that every entrepreneur must take, from the ideation phase to ongoing development:
1. ABANDONING THE STEADY PAYCHECK. Before you venture into the world of business ownership, youll first have
to say goodbye to your current job, and in some cases, your career. Some people have the luxury of a backup plan
an option to resume your career in case things dont go well in your independent business. But for most starting
entrepreneurs, the choice is a risky plunge. There is no guarantee of your personal income, especially in the first few
months and years of your companys existence, and youll probably be too busy to secure or sustain an alternative
line of income.
2. SACRIFICING PERSONAL CAPITAL. Some entrepreneurs are able to start their ventures relying solely on external
funding. That usually means a collection of angel investor contributions, government grants and loans, and results

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from crowdfunding campaigns. But most entrepreneurs also have to dive into their own bank accounts and personal
savings in order to get things started. You may not need to completely liquidate your nest egg, but you will have to
front at least some personal moneyand that means abandoning, or at least diminishing, your safety net.
3. RELYING ON CASH FLOW. Even if you have a line of credit,
securing a regular cash flow is difficult and stressful.
You can position yourself for a profitable year, but still
struggle with the day-to-day necessities if your revenue
doesnt match or exceed your costs in a timely manner.
Bills can add up quickly, and if you dont have enough
revenue to support your outgoing cash flow, you could
run short of money for paychecks or be forced to dip into
emergency funds. Be prepared to address it daily, or at
least weekly.
4. ESTIMATING POPULAR INTEREST. No matter how
much research you do or how many tests you complete,
youll never be able to estimate popular interest in your
business with perfect accuracy. People are somewhat
unpredictable, which could put a giant hole in your
otherwise sound plans. Even when all the data appears to
be in your favor, there is a chance you are overestimating
the interest in your company, and if your projections are
off, your entire financial model could implode.

IVE MISSED MORE

THAN 9,000 SHOTS
IN MY CAREER. IVE
LOST ALMOST 300
GAMES. 26 TIMES IVE
BEEN TRUSTED TO
TAKE THE GAMES
WINNING SHOT AND
MISSED. IVE FAILED
OVER AND OVER
AND OVER AGAIN IN
MY LIFE AND THATS
WHY I SUCCEED.

5. TRUSTING A KEY EMPLOYEE. When you first start a

business, you wont have a full team of employees
working for you. Instead, youll probably have a small,
tight-knit group of people working tirelessly together
in an effort to get things up and running. Youll have to
put an overwhelming amount of trust in them, especially
if they have special skills that are hard to find and are
willing to start work at a lower salary than the industry
standard. For example, if you hire a single, experienced lead developer to work on your product over the course of
a few months, youll need to have absolute trust in their ability to get the job done in time. Otherwise, your timeline
(and your product) could be fatally compromised.

-MICHAEL JORDAN

6. BETTING ON A CRUCIAL DEADLINE. Speaking of deadlines, startups are, by nature, forced into strict timelines for
their product launches and milestone goals. Their finances are fragile, and their investors are eager to start seeing
the wheels turning. As a result, most entrepreneurs are forced to make multiple goals contingent on a handful of
deadlines, and those deadlines become absolutely critical. Be prepared to stay up at night worried about your ability
to hit those deadlines, and coming up with contingencies if you cannot.
7. DONATING PERSONAL TIME (AND HEALTH). Entrepreneurship takes a toll on the average person. Youll spend
countless hours doing work to make your company successful, and your remaining hours worrying about what you
have or have not done thus far. You will lose sleep, you will miss out on personal time, and you will experience much
more stress than usual. The rewards of entrepreneurship often outweigh these personal risks, but you have to be
prepared to live this type of lifestyle.

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Risks shouldnt steer you away from pursuing entrepreneurship. Instead, see them for what they are: necessary
obstacles on a greater path. Theres no way to avoid the risks youll face as an entrepreneur, but by recognizing them,
you can prepare for them and mitigate them.

7 FAILURES EVERY ENTREPRENEUR MUST EVENTUALLY FACE

Failure is a part of life, especially for entrepreneurs. Most new businesses fail within the
first few years, and even if your business is one that survives that harsh initial trial, youll
experience plenty of smaller failures along the way.
Seasoned entrepreneurs know that no single failure could ever be enough to compromise
the success of a dedicated mind. Instead, failures are merely temporary obstacles in a long
journey. They are experiences to be learned from, and mistakes that improve our abilities.
As you develop yourself as a business owner and work to achieve your goals, youll
inevitably experience these seven failures:
1. NEGLECTING A PORTION OF YOUR RESEARCH. Research is going to form the foundation of your expectations,
plans, and goals. Market research, competitive research, and pricing research are just some of the in-depth forms
of research youll performand they all have vulnerabilities. Whether you misestimate the strength of a potential
market sector or completely neglect a factor in your initial research, that failure is going to affect your business
negatively. Fortunately, even the most egregious research mistakes can be corrected through reevaluation and
subsequent adjustment.
2. MISSING A DEADLINE. Many deadlines are arbitrary, but there are some that cannot be missed. For example, if your
investors are expecting your technology to launch by a certain date, or if your clients depend on you hitting a certain
production volume, a missed deadline could mean the collapse of an entire segment of your business. When you
miss a deadline, and inevitably, you will, dont dwell on the failure. Determine what went wrong, make up for what you
can, and correct your procedures to prevent it from happening again.
3. LOSING AN OPPORTUNITY. Whether its a major client leaving due to unmet expectations or a major PR opportunity
that slipped past you, at some point youre going to lose a major opportunity, and its going to feel terrible.
Depending on how youve structured your business, the loss could be relatively minor or devastating. If youre going
to recover in the short term, youll need to look for a replacement to serve as a bandage for the wound. If youre
going to recover in the long term, youll need to diversify your opportunity pool with more clients or a wider outlook,
to hedge your bets against such a loss.
4. HIRING THE WRONG PERSON. Finding good help is hard, and eventually youre going to hire someone who isnt a
good fit for your organization. A lack of productivity, motivation, or the presence of a negative attitude could ruin
what would otherwise be an outstanding working relationship. Dont let negative employees compromise your
workforce; acknowledge your failure in hiring them, and either correct the problem or move on.
5. FORGETTING OR OVERLOOKING A KEY DISRUPTION. It might be an old competitor who has a greater reputation
than you expected, or a new technology thats making waves in ways you hadnt anticipated. When disruptors in
your industry start to make their moves, its easy to lose ground quickly. No matter how prepared you are or how
much you try to anticipate the patterns of the future, there will always be something to confound your expectations
and interrupt your business flow. All you can do is mitigate the immediate consequences and implement new
strategies to accommodate your new challenges.

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6. MISMANAGING YOUR OPERATIONS. There are hundreds of ways that your operating process can go wrong. You
could have a flawed sales flow, an inefficient production schedule, an unsupervised segment of operations, or just a
bad model, and you might not realize it until its too late. At some point throughout your entrepreneurship, youll look
back and realize how much ground youve lost because of a critical failure in your plan for operations. Take heart
that there is always time to turn things aroundlook for opportunities to make positive changes, and make those
changes a priority.
7. MISSING YOUR FINANCIAL PROJECTIONS. There are two big reasons for missing your financial projections;
overestimating the amount of sales and revenue your company was going to bring in, or underperforming compared
to your goals. Either one can leave you with a sense of dread and a fear for the future of the business. Keep in mind
that projections are only projections, and as long as youre stable enough to keep moving forward, youll have more
chances to adjust your expectations, and improve your companys performance.
Dont ever let failure hold you back. Some of the most successful companies in the world, including Microsoft, Apple,
and Virgin Group, were founded and guided by entrepreneurs who encountered a crushing failure and kept working hard
to achieve their dreams. Learn from your mistakes, lead without regrets, and keep moving forward toward your ultimate
goals.

SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEURS THRIVE IN FAILURE, SO EMBRACE IT WHEN ITS

INEVITABLE
Most people assume that once a business fails, thats it -- its time for the owner to apply for a gig at someone elses
company and give up their entrepreneurial dreams. But those who think about giving up arent true entrepreneurs.
In fact, people who have the gumption to start a company are often those the least deterred by failure -- they tend to
view a lack of success as a temporary downward trend necessary to reach the next upswing.
While this kind of outlook might seem delusional to many on the outside, its actually this very mindset that makes the
best entrepreneurs successful. Here, well explore how failure can actually increase your likelihood of future success.
SELECTIVE MEMORY AND ETERNAL OPTIMISM. Entrepreneurs that tackle one business venture after another actually
forget about their failures faster than other people. Its a sort of selective memory, to only remember the good things in
life, but it can help serial entrepreneurs approach their next project with as much gusto as the last.
And if you need anything to get a business off the ground, its gusto.
A study published in the Journal of Business Venturing of 576 entrepreneurs in Great Britain found that serial
entrepreneurs whove experience some level of failure in the past have the same amount of optimism as they did before
the failure. This is a marked difference from the one-time entrepreneurs, who are more likely to be less optimistic after a
failure.
Learning from ones mistakes is always a good idea, but it shouldnt affect your level of optimism for what the future
holds. Not if you want to succeed, that is. Take Oprah Winfrey. If shed quit after being fired from her first TV anchor gig
in Baltimore, shed never have gone on to build a media empire or to build a net worth of $2.9 billion.
What if Henry J. Heinz had let his initial venture as a purveyor of horseradish spoil his dreams? Hed never have built a
ketchup empire. You get the idea. Sometimes (a lot of the time) failure breeds success, and it shouldnt be viewed with

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fear. Rather, the prospect of failure should be viewed with a determined resolve to do better next time.
SELF-CONFIDENCE. The value of confidence in the business world cant be overstated. To borrow a phrase from RuPaul,
If you cant love yourself, how in the hell are you going to love somebody else?
This notion of believing in yourself is so vital for entrepreneurial success, I dont know how a company can survive
without it. Can you even think of a successful entrepreneur who seems unsure of himself, who doesnt exude confidence
-- perhaps even overconfidence -- from every pore?
SELF-CONFIDENCE IS AN OUTWARD EFFECT OF OPTIMISM. If entrepreneurs arent optimistic about what the future
holds, they arent likely to be very confident, either. After all, this would mean they dont feel that they can see a business
venture through to a point of success. That doesnt just spell a lack of belief in your business, it also points to a lack of
belief in yourself.
When Steve Jobs walked out on the stage to present the iPhone, he was calm, relaxed and obviously jazzed about his
product. He was definitely confident, too, and that showed how sure he was the audience was going to be impressed by
what he was announcing.
Confidence is often a missing ingredient in the entrepreneurial package. Many have a solid vision and the drive to get
there, but if they dont believe in their projects and themselves, success becomes very difficult to attain.
EMBRACING FAILURE. For entrepreneurs, the ability to embrace failure -- or at least the prospect of it -- is essential for
success. This doesnt mean you shouldnt try to avoid failure, but you should embrace it when it becomes inevitable.
Without a willingness to fail, youll always hold back. And most of the time, the biggest successes require the biggest
risks.

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CHAPTER 9

THE DARK SIDE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Entrepreneurship isnt all about having fun, getting creative, then striking it rich at the end. There are real risks,
challenges, and difficulties youre going to face throughout the course of your enterprise, and you need to be prepared
for them.

7 DARK TRUTHS ABOUT ENTREPRENEURSHIP

When youre thinking about taking the plunge and becoming and entrepreneur, and for the first few weeks and months
of your entrepreneurial journey, the prospect of being your own boss and investing in your own enterprise is exhilarating.
You read stories about overnight successes and other business leaders finally feeling fulfilled in their work and think that
youll experience the same level of success or fulfillment as soon as you get started.
While these positive and exciting elements of entrepreneurship are certainly true and make the job worthwhile, you have
to remember theres also a dark side to entrepreneurship. It isnt all fun and games, and those overnight successes are
almost invariably the product of exhausting behind-the-scenes work and years of practice and failure.
Before you get too excited about being an entrepreneur, temper your expectations with these seven dark truths:
1. YOU WONT MAKE MONEY RIGHT AWAY. Raising capital for your business is tough, and usually serves as a financial
eye-opener to hopeful young entrepreneurs who think business ownership leads to quick profits. The truth is, for
most businesses, the first few years of operations are spent getting your infrastructure up and running. Youll spend
more than youll generate in revenue, and as a result, you probably wont receive a paycheck for several months.
Youll have to rely on your personal savings or reserves for basic living expenses and hope things pan out in the
future.
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2. YOUR FAMILY AND PERSONAL LIVES WILL SUFFER. No matter how optimistically you charge into the role or how
committed you are to prioritizing your personal relationships, they are going to suffer as you continue leading
your own business. Youll be working long hours, sometimes at home, and youll be on call for resolving business
problems on nights, weekends, and holidays. Youll be distracted almost constantly, thinking about the problems
your business is facing, and the financial stress youll bear will take its toll on your relationships.
3. TRYING TO JUGGLE EVERYTHING WILL TAKE ITS TOLL ON YOU. As CEO of your own business, youll wear many
hats. Youll do some of the work you love to do, but youll also be an administrator, a supervisor, a technician, an HR
manager, and a marketer all at the same time. No matter how excited you are to take on these responsibilities at the
beginning of your time as an entrepreneur, this constant gear shifting will inevitably wear you down.
4. YOUR EMOTIONS WILL GET THE BETTER OF YOU. There will be times where your emotions well up and get the
better of you, even if you try to suppress them or find a healthy outlet for them. Youre too invested in your own
enterprise for this not to happen. You may feel depressed and discouraged about your progress, or fearful that you
wont make a profit in a reasonable amount of time. When your emotions get the better of you, youll feel miserable
and youll make worse decisions.
5. NOTHING WILL HAPPEN THE WAY YOU THINK IT WILL. Your business plan might carefully detail out every step you
envision for the first few years of your company, but no matter how much research youve done, you wont be able
to predict everything. Even the things you can predict wont happen exactly how you envisioned. As an entrepreneur,
youll be forced to adapt, sometimes in ways you dont want to adapt.
6. YOULL MAKE DECISIONS THAT WILL HAUNT YOU. As an entrepreneur, youll serve as the primary decision maker
for your company and youll have to make hard, stress-inducing decisions throughout your tenure. Some of those
decisions will stick with you, even if you make the logically correct one. Youll have to change company direction.
Youll have to part ways with partners. Youll have to sacrifice part of your vision for the company. Youll have to fire
people. These decisions are never easy, but must be made, and they will haunt you.
7. YOU ARE GOING TO FAIL. YOUR ENTIRE COMPANY MIGHT GO UNDER. If it doesnt, there will be some other failure,
massive or minor, that will interfere with your plans and compromise your vision. Failure is an inevitable, and
essential, part of entrepreneurship, though realizing this rarely makes it easier to accept. The obstacle of failure is
ever present and always daunting when youre leading a business, and working through that failure is too much for
some.
Im not trying to talk you out of becoming an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship is, and should be, an exciting and rewarding
endeavor for anyone who chooses to pursue it. Instead, my intention is to help a new generation of self-starters prepare
for the sometimes harsh realities of business ownership so they can better understand the obstacles ahead of them and
realistically prepare for the journey.

5 TOUGH CHOICES YOULL FACE AS AN ENTREPRENEUR

One of the most appealing benefits of becoming an entrepreneur is gaining control over your professional life. As an
entrepreneur, you are singularly responsible for making all decisions about the business, and while others might be able
to give you advice and point you in a certain direction, ultimately you have the final say.
Unfortunately, theres a major downside to this benefit. Being responsible for so many decisions is stressful, especially
when those decisions can determine the eventual success or failure of your business. Some decisions will come to you

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naturally, but there are five incredibly hard decisions youll

inevitably have to face as an entrepreneur:

QUITTING YOUR JOB

1. QUITTING YOUR JOB. Deciding to start your business

is always the first major decision youll make as an
entrepreneur, and that usually means youll have
to quit whatever employment you currently have.
Every business starts with an idea, and then typically
evolves into a business plan -- or at least an outline
that fleshes out your original inspiration. From there,
youll have to carefully consider the feasibility of your
business as well as what sacrifices youll have to
make when you pull the trigger.

FUNDING YOUR BUSINESS

DECIDING WHEN AND WHO TO HIRE

CHOOSING WHEN AND HOW TO EXPAND

FIGURING OUT WHEN AND HOW TO EXIT

Whether its quitting your job, cashing in your nest

egg or calling on friends and family members to pitch
in and help you start up, youll make sacrifices and need help along the way. Deciding to move forward with your
business is a courageous and tough moment, and it often starts with telling your boss that youre quitting your
current job.
2. FUNDING YOUR BUSINESS. Once youve decided to move forward with your business, youll need some money to
get things going. There are tons of ways to fund your business, but all of them have advantages and drawbacks
youll need to consider. Choosing which way to go is tough, and can dictate your potential success.
For example, funding your business yourself can give you complete autonomy, but can also put you in severe
personal financial stress. Seeking a venture capitalist or angel investor can ease that stress but could also force you
to relinquish some degree of control over your company. Crowdfunding is another option, but it can be unpredictable
and difficult to manage.
3. DECIDING WHEN AND WHO TO HIRE. As the owner of your business, youre going to be the decision-maker, the
visionary and the figurehead, but its the team you hire who will ultimately execute your directives and carry your
business to success. Choosing the right people for your team is an excruciatingly hard series of decisions, and youll
need to be prepared for that difficulty.
Among other factors, youll have to carefully evaluate each candidate in terms of talent, experience, cost, and
perhaps most important, culture fit. Without a strong company culture tying your workers together, you might as well
give up any notion of teamwork. Youll also have to be prepared for the tough decision of firing an employee in the
event that the relationship doesnt pan out as you intended.
4. CHOOSING WHEN AND HOW TO EXPAND. Expansion, for any company, is an exciting notion, but it can also make
your business extremely vulnerable. Expanding too quickly or too soon can put so much strain on your resources
that the company can no longer stand. Slow or postponed expansion can prevent your company from scaling, and
limit the amount of revenue you achieve.
Finding the perfect balance between the two is your job as an entrepreneur, and youll have to babysit your
companys growth over time if you want any chance of expanding successfully.
5. FIGURING OUT WHEN AND HOW TO EXIT. Everything that has a beginning has an end, and eventually, youll need
to find an exit strategy for your business. For some entrepreneurs, that will mean selling the business. For others, it
will mean handing it off to a family member. For some unfortunate business owners, it will mean filing bankruptcy or

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closing down, and for others it will mean retiring with millions of dollars.
Determining the right time and right way to exit your company is the last business decision youll make, and it might
have the greatest lasting impact on your future.
Making these decisions wont be easy, but once youve settled on a choice, try not to look back. Your goal should be to
make the most educated, confident decision you can, with the understanding that some of those decisions wont work
out the way you thought they would.
As long as youve done your research and spent ample time weighing your options, theres no reason to regret any
decision you make throughout your course as an entrepreneur. Enjoy your successes when they come, and take your
failures as a learning experience.

5 SACRIFICES EVERY ENTREPRENEUR MUST MAKE

Every entrepreneur starts out with big dreams and excitement. As an entrepreneur, you control your own destiny, and
with the right ideas, the right skillset and unflinching dedication, you can build wealth or establish an enterprise to serve
as your legacy.
This is the bright side of entrepreneurship, but unfortunately, theres also a darker side. The rigors of entrepreneurship
demand sacrifices, and if you dont make those sacrifices youll never be able to succeed. Business is, at its core, a giveand-take process. The more you invest, and the more youre willing to part with, the more youll reap in rewards in kind.
These are the five sacrifices that every entrepreneur needs to make:
1. STABILITY. Youre starting a new venture, and theres no guarantee youre going to succeed. The foundation of your
company, even if your idea and plans are solid, is rocky at best, and theres no telling which direction your business
is headed until youre several months, or often much longer, into running things. If you havent already sacrificed a
comfortable, well-paying, stable job to follow this route, odds are youll have to sacrifice some other kind of stability
before you can move forward.
Entrepreneurship is, by nature, an unstable path to follow. Dont be surprised if you encounter multiple, unpredictable
shifts in your fortune as your work progresses. Its natural and part of the process. Eventually, if you work hard with a
clear vision, things will stabilize.
2. WORK/LIFE SPLIT. When you become an entrepreneur, the lines between your working life and your personal life will
blur. Youll start thinking about business even when youre away from the office, sometimes because you want to
and sometimes because you cant help it. Youll also get calls and emails urgently needing your attention because
youre the boss and theres nobody else to answer them.
Your downtime will become light business time, but the flip side is that your time in the office will feel more like
personal time because youll want to be there. Remember, its still important for you to balance your work priorities
and your personal ones -- always make time for your family and your mental health -- but the firm split between
personal and professional time is going to go away no matter how you try to handle it.
3. INCOME. This goes along with the stability sacrifice, but for the first few years of your business, youre probably not
going to be making much money. In most businesses, entrepreneurs and their families end up investing heaps of

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their own money to get the business going. If this is the case for you,
youll be making even more of a sacrifice since your potential safety net
will be gone.
Since youll be deciding where the money goes, you can set your own
salary, but many entrepreneurs dont even take a salary during their
first several months of operations, at least not until theres a steady line
of revenue backing them up. Be prepared for this. Youll need a strong
marketing plan to overcome barriers to entry and gain a share of the
market in your industry.
4. SLEEP. Sleep is vitally important, but no matter how hard you try to
preserve healthy sleeping habits, youre going to sacrifice some sleep in
order to run your business. In some cases, youll be pulling all-nighters
to get that last proposal together. In other cases, youll be getting up
super early to make a meeting or get all your tasks in order. In still other
cases, youll be lying awake at night, restless and wondering about the
future of your company.
Whatever the case may be, your sleeping habits are going to change when you become an entrepreneur, and youll
have to make the best of them no matter how they end up.
5. COMFORT . Being the boss of your own company means the buck stops with you. Youre going to have to wear
dozens of hats, make decisions youve never made before and delve into subjects youve never before considered.
Part of being an entrepreneur means stepping out of your comfort zone, often multiple times every day.
The most successful entrepreneurs are the ones who approach uncomfortable situations with confidence and a
degree of excitement. Learn to thrive in uncomfortable environments, and youll find yourself much more at peace
with your job.
Dont think of these sacrifices as literal sacrifices. Youll be giving something up, sure, but try to think of it as a type of
investment. Youre giving up intangible luxuries in exchange for something better down the road. Youre paying for the
opportunity to find success in your own enterprise, and your sacrifices will be rewarded many times over so long as you
stay committed in your chosen path.
Remember, as an unidentified student of Warren G. Tracy said, Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like
most people wont so you can spend the rest of your life like most people cant.

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CHAPTER 10

HOW TO STAY HAPPY AND REMAIN SUCCESSFUL

If you arent happy in your role, you shouldnt be in that role. This chapter will help you understand whats most
important for keeping your business sustainable, and whats most important for keeping yourself sane and content in
the process.

6 STORIES OF SUPER SUCCESSES WHO OVERCAME FAILURE

Failure is not the alternative to success. It is something to be avoided, but it is only a temporary setback on a bigger,
more significant course. Everybody encounters failure at one point or another; what truly matters is how you react to and
learn from that failure.
Take the stories of these six entrepreneurs. Their stories end in massive success, but all of them are rooted in failure.
Theyre perfect examples of why failure should never stop you from following your vision:
1. ARIANNA HUFFINGTON GOT REJECTED BY 36 PUBLISHERS. Its hard to believe that one of the most recognizable
names in online publications was once rejected by three dozen major publishers. Huffingtons second book, which
she tried to publish long before she created the now ubiquitously recognizable Huffington Post empire, was rejected
36 times before it was eventually accepted for publication. Even Huffington Post itself wasnt a success right away
in fact, when it launched, there were dozens of highly negative reviews about its quality and its potential. Obviously,
Huffington overcame those initial bouts of failure and has cemented her name as one of the most successful
publication outlets on the web.
2. BILL GATES WATCHED HIS FIRST COMPANY CRUMBLE. Bill Gates is now one of the worlds wealthiest individuals,

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but he didnt earn his fortune in a straight line to success.

Gates entered the entrepreneurial scene with a company
called Traf-O-Data, whose purpose was to process and
analyze the data from traffic tapes (think of it like an early
version of big data). He tried to sell the idea alongside
his business partner, Paul Allen, but the product barely
even worked. It was a complete disaster. However, the
failure did not hold Gates back from exploring new
opportunities, and a few years later, he created his first
Microsoft product, and forged a new path to success.
3. GEORGE STEINBRENNER BANKRUPTED A TEAM. Before
Steinbrenner made a name for himself when he acquired
ownership of the New York Yankees, he owned a small
basketball team called the Cleveland Pipers back in
1960. By 1962, as a result of Steinbrenners direction, the
entire franchise went bankrupt. That stretch of failure
seemed to follow Steinbrenner when he took over the
Yankees in the 1970s, as the team struggled with a
number of setbacks and losses throughout the 1980s
and 1990s. However, despite public fear and criticism of
Steinbrenners controversial decisions, eventually he led
the team to an amazing comeback, with six World Series
entries between 1996 and 2003, and a record as one of
the most profitable teams in Major League Baseball.

NEVER GIVE IN
NEVER, NEVER,
NEVER, NEVER, IN
NOTHING GREAT
OR SMALL, LARGE
OR PETTY, NEVER
GIVE IN EXCEPT
TO CONVICTIONS
OF HONOUR AND
GOOD SENSE. NEVER
YIELD TO FORCE;
NEVER YIELD TO
THE APPARENTLY
OVERWHELMING
MIGHT OF THE
ENEMY.

4. WALT DISNEY WAS TOLD HE LACKED CREATIVITY. One

of the most creative geniuses of the 20th century was
once fired from a newspaper because he was told he
lacked creativity. Trying to persevere, Disney formed
his first animation company, which was called LaughO-Gram Films. He raised $15,000 for the company but
eventually was forced to close Laugh-O-Gram, following
the close of an important distributor partner. Desperate
and out of money, Disney found his way to Hollywood and faced even more criticism and failure until finally, his first
few classic films started to skyrocket in popularity.

-WINSTON CHURCHILL

5. STEVE JOBS WAS BOOTED FROM HIS OWN COMPANY. Steve Jobs is an impressive entrepreneur because of his
boundless innovations, but also because of his emphatic comeback from an almost obliterating failure. Jobs found
success in his 20s when Apple became a massive empire, but when he was 30, Apples Board of Directors decided
to fire him from the company. Undaunted by the failure, Jobs founded a new company, NeXT, which was eventually
acquired by Apple. Once back at Apple, Jobs proved his capacity for greatness by reinventing the companys image
and taking the Apple brand to new heights.
6. MILTON HERSHEY STARTED THREE CANDY COMPANIES BEFORE HERSHEY. Everyone knows Hersheys chocolate,
but when Milton Hershey first started his candy production career, he was a nobody. After being fired from an
apprenticeship with a printer, Hershey started three separate candy-related ventures, and was forced to watch all
of them fail. In one last attempt, Hershey founded the Lancaster Caramel Company, and started seeing enormous
results. Believing in his vision for milk chocolate for the masses, he eventually founded the Hershey Company and
became one of the most well-known names in the industry.

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Draw inspiration from these stories the next time you experience failure, no matter the scale. In the moment, some
failure might seem like the end of the road, but remember, there are countless successful men and women in the world
today who are only enjoying success because they decided to push past the inevitable bleakness of failure. Learn from
your mistakes, reflect and accept the failure, but revisit your passion and keep pursuing your goals no matter what.

5 WAYS TO OVERCOME ENTREPRENEURSHIP BURNOUT

Entrepreneurship is a rich and rewarding experience that leads many business owners to real
career satisfaction for the first time in their lives. You get to set your own schedule, make
your own rules, and become a master of your own destinybut those perks are not without
an associated cost. Entrepreneurship demands sacrifice and commitment, and even if you
go into it with a sparkling optimistic attitude and a great support system, the daily rigors and
stresses of business ownership will begin to take their toll on you.
Burnout is unfortunately common among entrepreneurs. After months or years of constant
effort, its only natural that youd start feeling exhausted or frustrated in your business. But if
you want to avoid or mitigate that burnout, and remain interested in your work, try these longterm strategies:
1. SET REALISTIC EXPECTATIONS. Burnout is a product of fatigue and/or disappointment.
Fatigue tends to happen when working for too long without satisfactory results, and
disappointment tends to happen when reality falls short of your hopes. Both are
products of setting lofty or unrealistic expectations for yourself. For example, if you tell
yourself your product must launch by the end of the month (when three months is more
reasonable), you could burn yourself out rushing to get things done. If you tell yourself
youll be wildly successful within the first year (when three years is more reasonable),
youll feel burned out when your goal isnt met despite your hard work. The solution is to set more conservative
expectations for yourself and your business, in terms of your goals, your hopes, your daily tasks, and everything in
between.
2. ESTABLISH BOUNDARIES. Being an entrepreneur is a lifestyle choice as much as it is a professional one. For most
entrepreneurs, your professional responsibilities will regularly bleed into your personal life, and your personal
emotions and situations will bleed into how you handle yourself at the office. Theres nothing inherently wrong with
this, and some people actually work better in this setup, but if you want to avoid burnout over the long term, youll
need to establish real boundaries for yourself. The specifics of those boundaries are up to youit might be not
taking any work-related calls after 7 on weekdays, or only doing work for a set number of hours during the weekend.
Whatever boundaries you set, make them firm and make them known.
3. CHANGE UP YOUR ROUTINE. Like with any job, burnout can set in as a product of a predictable routine. Generally,
entrepreneurs wear so many hats and handle portions of so many responsibilities that a repetitive, predictable
routine is not a problemstill, facing the same runaround or dealing with the same people on a regular basis can
take its toll on you. Fortunately, you have lots of freedom as an entrepreneur. If you find yourself hating a certain type
of task, try delegating it to someone else. If you need a change of scenery, try working in a public place or working
from home instead of the office. Include variety in your daily work however you can find it, and dont be afraid to
recruit your other partners and employees to help you split up the work.
4. REMIND YOURSELF WHY YOU GOT STARTED. Its easy to lose sight of your original motivations when burnout
begins to set in, but remembering those reasons can be just what you need to push through the more difficult times

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youll face throughout your journey. For example, if you became an entrepreneur for the flexible schedule, take a few
days to experiment with your hours and experience the luxury of an open schedule. If you became an entrepreneur
because you wanted to make your own decisions, make small, yet significant decisions you wouldnt be able to make
elsewherelike redecorating your office or letting everyone go home early for the day.
5. TAKE REAL TIME OFF. This is the most powerful way to avoid burnout, and its the one that most entrepreneurs miss.
Because youre so passionate about your work, or so committed to your goals, you get sucked into a culture that
forces you to work far too many hours a day and too many days a week. Take real weekends away from work. Take
full vacations. You have no excuseif you dont take real breaks, your burnout is inevitable.
If you can employ these strategies consistently throughout your course as an entrepreneur, you should be able to stave
off burnoutor at least the worst effects of burnout. All entrepreneurs will face near-constant trials and challenges, but
successful entrepreneurs will weather the storm and emerge victorious. Stay strong in the face of adversity, be flexible
enough to adapt to new circumstances, and theres nothing that will stop you from becoming successful.

6 SECRETS OF HAPPY ENTREPRENEURS

Most people choose to be entrepreneurs at least in part
because they seek more fulfilling work. They might be
unhappy with the traditional daily grind of office work and
desperate for more control over their own daily tasks, or
driven to create something with meaning. Whatever the
case, entrepreneurs generally go into business with the
expectation that entrepreneurship is going to make them
happier.

CREATE YOUR IDEAL ENVIRONMENT

TAKE BREAKS

PRIORITIZE YOUR FAMILY

While new entrepreneurs generally do find it fulfilling,

theres also an unfortunate opportunity for disillusionment.
The rigors and challenges of entrepreneurship can wear
on you over time, compromising your relationships and
getting in the way of your happiness. Thankfully, it doesnt
have to be that way. There are several environmental
and behavioral changes you can make to stave off
dissatisfaction and stay happy as an entrepreneur:

HIRE PEOPLE YOU CAN COUNT ON

ACCEPT FAILURES

DONT BE AFRAID TO SAY NO

1. CREATE YOUR IDEAL ENVIRONMENT. This is your

chance to forge your own position within the company.
You are the boss. You make the rules. You set the hours. Take care to construct an environment thats going to make
you happy, and if you find that environment isnt cutting it, dont be afraid to change it. You might find that having an
open office with no walls or cubicles is what you need to feel happy at work. You might find that working from home
three days a week is what you need to be happy. Experiment with different environments and atmospheres until you
find one that really works, and stick with it.
2. TAKE BREAKS. As an entrepreneur, youre in charge of how much or how little you work. That sounds appealing, but
theres a drawback: most entrepreneurs are so driven to see their ideas come to fruition that they never want to stop
working. At the risk of their physical and mental health, theyll work 100 hour weeks, sleep overnight at the office,
and generally do whatever it takes to get more and more tasks completed. Wanting to work hard is an admirable and
necessary mentality for entrepreneurs, but everyone has a limit. Dont be afraid to take breakswhether thats a ten

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minute breather during the workday or a week-long vacation in the summer.

3. PRIORITIZE YOUR FAMILY. No matter how much you want your business to succeed, your family has to come first.
These are the people who love you unconditionally. They are the people who were there for you long before you
started this business, and theyll be there for you long after youre done with it. Time is a precious commodity, and
you dont want to spend so much time working that you forget about the people most important to you. Rearrange
your working schedule, take a day off, and do whatever else it takes to spend quality time with your family during the
course of your entrepreneurship. You wont regret it.
4. HIRE PEOPLE YOU CAN COUNT ON. In your business, youll be the one calling the shots but your people will be
the ones doing the actual work. Make sure you fill your business with people you can trust to do great work, and
people you genuinely enjoy being around. If your office is filled with enjoyable, hardworking people, youll be far less
stressed about whether your business has the potential to make itand it will be easier for you to take breaks as
necessary.
5. ACCEPT FAILURES . Failure is a part of doing business, and when you experience it, it sucks. Theres nothing that
can make it better in that moment. But once you experience a failure, no matter how big or how small, you have a key
opportunity; you can choose to dwell in that failure and let it overcome you or you can accept it and move on. If you
want to stay happy for as long as possible in the world of entrepreneurship, youll need to learn how to accept failure
and move past it.
6. DONT BE AFRAID TO SAY NO. Saying no is much harder than it seems, especially when youre in a position of power
for the first time in your career. When a client demands a near-impossible deadline, you may feel obliged to say yes
in order to keep their all-too-important revenue. When a worker asks for a raise, you may say yes for fear of losing
them. Think carefully about each situation, and how it will affect you as well as your business. Dont be afraid to say
no if it doesnt make sense to say yes.
Remember, entrepreneurship is not a destination; it is a journey. If you want to be happy throughout your course of
business ownership, youll have to work to achieve that happiness. You are in control, so dont be afraid to make the
changes you need to make to be satisfied. The only thing that can get in the way of your satisfaction is your willingness
to change or lack thereof.

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CONCLUSION
I hope youve found this information helpful, and have found the inspiration, guidance, or resources necessary to forge
your path as an entrepreneur. Youre on an exciting journey, and this is only the beginning. If youre interested in further
guidance, or help in your content marketing, social media marketing, SEO, or general online marketing, you can reach out
to me directly at audiencebloom.com.

Good luck, and thank you for reading!

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