4 Best Practices for Scaling Your Startup

Earlier this year, Wildfire (the Google-owned company that helps businesses create social media apps) announced they were retiring their small business offerings. Wildfire also happens to be one of my company’s competitors, so the news caught my attention. Their decision was baffling to me. It seemed like they were shutting the door on thousands of customers by eliminating their basic plans — which meant only a fraction of small business owners would be able afford to use Wildfire’s product.

This got me thinking about scale. Wildfire’s architecture must require lots of manual attention, which in turn requires a huge staff. If a small business client and a Fortune 500 client require the same amount of effort, I can see why at a certain point, they had to cut the strings.

Here are a few things to consider if you want to scale your product or service:

Grow your company without growing your staff (too much).

Social coupon-sharing companies came out of nowhere and revolutionized the coupon concept. And while I can see how they grew so quickly because of their innovative idea, from what I can tell most of the models still require a traditional sales team to reach out to the local small business owners who are the mostly likely to use their product. Yes, they’re making big profits, but they have a huge payroll; I’m not sure the model can be scaled efficiently.

Automate what can be automated.

If I were building the next coupon-sharing business, I’d make offer a do-it-yourself coupon creation option. This is sort of what I did with ShortStack. Before my team created ShortStack, we had a successful web design agency. The company was doing well, but was labor-intensive (follow leads, pitch clients, put together RFPs, etc.) and required more staffing resources than I could manage to grow in a meaningful way.

Soon, I realized I’d be better off if my team created a DIY version of what we were using in house and offer it to everyone. In essence, we switched from a service model to a product model. Yes, we still have some clients who need hand-holding, but the vast majority of our users can use what we make right out of the proverbial box. The automation model allows us to serve 200,000+ users with a staff of 12, versus 20 clients with a staff of 12.

Shift from outbound to inbound marketing.

Not every company can afford to have a sales team out pounding the pavement. People are expensive! Instead, think about how to pivot so you can bring customers to you rather than having to chase after them. I know this won’t work for every type of business, but I’m finding that having a small but dedicated content-marketing team is turning out to be way more cost-effective than spending money on advertising.

My analogy is that blog posts, infographics, etc. are like solar-powered cars. Advertising is the gas guzzler. We have content that was created last year that still gets shared on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. and leads people to our company website and blog. I’d rather devote resources to my development team who work on making our product better and better and to my content team who gets the word out.

Consider the possibility of franchising.

I’ve focused mostly on technology here, but there is a scaling option for other sorts of businesses: franchising. Let’s say you own a successful cupcake bakery in a big city. You get lots of great press and have loyal customers, but opening shops around town might be too difficult. But if you focus on your idea/model/brand — and on packaging the best parts of what is working for you — and offer them to aspiring bakers in any city, you will make a percentage of the sales of several small businesses without having to manage the staff it takes to run them. (Word to the wise: make sure you have have good legal counsel to prevent spawning your own competition.)

If you think about scaling from the outset, you’ll be more likely to grow your company without huge hiccups. And you’ll be less likely to have to abandon the customers who helped make you successful in the first place.

Jim Belosic is the co-founder and CEO of Pancake Labs, a software company based in Reno, Nev. The company is best known for its flagship product, ShortStack, software that’s designed to help small business owners and designers create custom apps that harness the power of social media (www.shortstack.com). ShortStack recently celebrated its second birthday; Pancake Laboratories has several new software products slated for release in 2013.

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, the YEC recently launched #StartupLab, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses via live video chats, an expert content library and email lessons.

12 Ideas for Spicing Up Your Startup’s Blog

QUESTION: WHAT ARE SOME TIPS FOR CREATING REALLY INTERESTING COMPANY BLOGS EVEN IN MY DRY, BORING OLD INDUSTRY?

TAKE READERS BEHIND-THE-SCENES

“Even in a “dry, boring old industry,” your blog readers will be fascinated to see the hidden, behind-the-scenes vantage point of the company. Incorporate photos or video to enhance plain text blog posts, and use a variety of writers to bring in diverse perspectives from the team. And of course, post regularly to keep your audience engaged.”

– Doreen Bloch | CEO / Founder, Poshly Inc.

GO POP CULTURE

“Using pop culture references can be a great refresher. For example, my company blog focuses on the subject of presentation and video. When Coachella featured a Tupac hologram earlier this year, the web went abuzz with questions asking if this was a new feature of presentations. Of course, we jumped on the discussion, explained some costs, and our opinions on the matter.”

– Kenny Nguyen | Founder/CEO, Big Fish Presentations

WIN WITH VIDEO

“We liven up our blog by periodically creating a video-based post. Just use the webcam on your computer to speak openly about a specific subject that’s relevant to your audience. Our readers feel more connected to us when we create video posts, and the responses have been overwhelmingly positive.”

– Bhavin Parikh | CEO, Magoosh Test Prep

STOCK UP ON CASE STUDIES

“I learned the importance of stories through the book, Made to Stick, by Chip and Dan Heath. Even when a topic is boring, people love to hear about the emotional struggles that people faced when implementing something new. For example, if you are in the concrete industry, talk about the joy your customer had when they got their driveway paved. Think about both the product and the people behind it.”

– Lawrence Watkins | Founder & CEO, Great Black Speakers

SHOWCASE YOUR CLIENTS

“Interview your best clients for their stories about how your company gave them value, and inject some personality into the blog. Ask these clients to explain how their perception changed from boring and stuffy after working together. Even if the process is boring, get them excited about the results and share those with perspective clients on the blog.”

– Kelly Azevedo | Founder, She’s Got Systems

BECOME THE INDUSTRY EXPERT

“My target market for RewardMe was restaurant and franchise owners. We were in a dry and boring industry — the customer loyalty space. Instead of exclusively blogging about customer loyalty, I decided to become an expert in local marketing. We wrote about local social marketing, restaurant hardware, and customer loyalty. We were so good that we now rank very high on search engines.”

– Jun Loayza | President, Ecommerce Rules

SHAKE UP YOUR INDUSTRY!

“If you think your industry is dry and boring, you need to shake things up by coming up with ways to make it worth paying attention to. Why does it matter to you? Get personal, share success stories of people in your industry or your clients, and don’t be afraid to turn what you’re “supposed” to sound like upside down.”

– Nathalie Lussier | Creator, The Website Checkup Tool

CREATE INTERNAL EXCITEMENT

“Get employees to blog about something that excites them. We created the “Prolific Innovation Fund” which allows everyone to purchase a mobile accessory and write a review on it. It is creating team excitement, innovation and a lot of great relevant content for our company blog.”

– Bobby Emamian | CEO, Prolific Interactive

PROVIDE UNIQUE VALUE

“No matter what your company does, there’s information, inspiration, and/or entertainment customers are looking for in the space. Provide something consistently valuable — and something people passionate about this space couldn’t get elsewhere — and you’ll engage your current users while finding new ones.”

– Derek Flanzraich | CEO and Founder, Greatist

ENTERTAIN WITH INFOGRAPHICS

“For the average American, the crowdfunding industry and the JOBS Act may seem like an alien concepts filled with complicated, dry details. We’re currently working on an infographic to feature on our blog that will detail the impact of the JOBS Act and the widespread change the implementation of the act will bring. The visual representation of the change makes it approachable and engaging.”

– Eric Corl | President + Co-Founder, Fundable LLC

MAKE IT TRENDY

“Tie your business into the hottest trends. For example, anyone in any industry can blog about, ‘What Fall TV Previews Teach Us About [your industry]’ since you can take elements of fall TV previews — promotion strategy, engagement, specific show themes — and spin it for your own business. It’s all relative!”

– Melissa Cassera | President and CEO, Cassera Communications

MAKE OTHERS BETTER

“A counter-intuitive approach is to invite the other “dry, boring” players to participate in your fun. Get them excited at what you’re doing in the industry, and encourage them to participate in your blog. Feature your competitors! Be the source. Great players make the players around them better. (At my first company, I had the job of blogging in the vending machine industry. Yes, it can be done.)”

– Luke Burgis | Director, ActivPrayer

4 Must-Read Venture Capitalist Blogs

There’s a lot of noise in the blogosphere, but when it comes to blogging VC’s, founders would do well to pay attention. The great thing about investors who blog is that entrepreneurs can do some initial research before they ever request a meeting. And for those not ready for funding, VC blogs can teach us a lot about the startup atmosphere.

As the content trend grows, more and more VCs blog on a semi-regular basis. Here are some of our favorites:

Brad Feld

Brad Feld is the managing director of the Foundry Group in Boulder, CO. He’s also the author of some of our favorite startup books, including Startup Communities and Do More Faster. As one of the founders of TechStars, he’s a champion of startups and startup ecosystems all over the country. On his blog, Feld talks startup life, startup communities, and the startup scene in Colorado.

Mark Suster

One of the very first articles I read about startups was Entrepreneurshit. The Blog Post on What It’s Really Like. In a world where we often glamorize startups, Suster’s blog is often a refreshing jolt of reality. Startups are hard, but as a 2x founder and partner at Upfront Ventures, he knows it’s not impossible. There’s as much encouragement as tough talk on this blog.

Ben Horowitz

One of the founding partners of Andressen Horowitz, Ben also has plenty of experience as an entrepreneur. His blog is full of wisdom gained from those experiences and discussions of how Andreesen Horowitz operates.

Fred Wilson

As the managing partner at 2 New York VC firms, Flatiron Partners and Union Square Ventures, Fred Wilson has plenty of experience. He’s been in the VC game since 1986, before a lot of current entrepreneurs were out of diapers. His posts are short and sweet, but insightful. My current favorite post is If You Aren’t Technical, Get Technical.

How to Stay Ahead of Startup Trends

technology If you feel like you’re always behind the times in startup trends, you’re not alone. Journalists build their entire careers on being analysts of the industry, trying to become the one who predicted the next Apple or Google. Following those journalists will connect you with greater trends and analysis. Many of them build and maintain lists of prominent industry figures you should follow.

If you’re still feeling stuck, it may be time for a more aggressive strategy on keeping up with the news.

Study the Investors

On the blog of Toby Ruckert, you’re likely to find articles about things like how to secure government funding for your startup. This might sound like an obvious tip at first glance. Who doesn’t want government money if it will help launch and won’t come at a high interest rate? But Toby takes the tip further by discussing how you can shift the work of having to apply for government funding to investors.

Reading investor blogs get you inside the head of people that have been in the game for years. They know what it takes for companies to grow and become successful brands in a crowded market. You might not be able to meet with them personally, but their blogs are full of free knowledge. Seek out lists of investors where you can.

Study Which Startups Succeed

The kind of startups that succeed tell you a lot about the climate that you are competing against. Take Honey as an example. The idea of finding deals for users might sound like a turn off for online retailers, but as the numbers increase the hype behind the small startup is growing too. Co-founder Ryan Hudson says that the company is succeeding based on word of mouth marketing. He claims the majority of traffic is from users typing the URL of Honey directly into their browsers.

Honey might be spreading so virally because of its leak on Reddit, but it could be related to the quality of service that users want. The startup adds value to users, so people are willing to pass it on to friends and family. Not every startup will catch like Honey, but you can take time to evaluate your business model and find its sticky value.

Even simpler than that, read the blogs of successful startups. They will often discuss their process, brag about accomplishments and talk about new partnerships they have acquired.

Study the Tools Startups Use

If you didn’t know, some of the most successful startups around are currently built on Python. Quora, Instagram and Pinterest all use the programming language to render their pages in-browser. Python is one of many popular frameworks currently favored by Web developers worldwide. Ruby on Rails is another simplistic programming language, both are free to learn from manuals on the Web or from Code University.

Knowing which languages are popular helps you hire developers to build the vision you want.

Visit Universities

Robert Scoble claims that he saw a self-driving car debut at Stanford University in 2007. Today, there are several tech companies and car companies seeking to build one and get it on the market. Universities like Stanford and MIT are the best and brightest that American schools have to offer. If you want to know what the next generation will be using, take a peek in on some of the technology these students are playing with.

You can also head over to Boston, where robotics is fairly huge and where some of the brightest minds in the fields are building amazing machines that can carry heavy loads and navigate complicated terrain on their own.

Network Face to Face

Getting out and meeting people is a great method of figuring out what companies might be into. Not every business executive has time to meet with you, but hanging out at local networking events and talking with experts in the field to write a blog post are both great ways to gain knowledge from experienced people.

Follow Trends Online

Google Trends and Twitter are two good places to start if you want to see what’s brewing in the tech scene, but you can find interesting trends all over the Web if you know where to search. Sites like Reddit divide their groups up by interest, making it easy to find a niche and search for the trends that niche thrives on. News sites like NPR and CNN have technology sections that feature stories about new ideas being toyed with, and new procedures that have become standard. NPR has done extensive reporting on the viability of fracking in the wake of a natural gas boom in the United States. Knowing these types of trends, and some of the debates behind them, influences where investor money goes.

Travel

If possible, travel to other countries and discover their startup scenes for more inspiration. You’ll learn things like Africa’s shift toward a society less reliant on physical currency, or how Brazil and South America are experiencing a small tech boom. Take a cue from Hollywood, an industry that routinely borrows from all over the world, there is always profit to be had from good ideas.

Kevin is an account director at Online Rep Management and has been working within internet marketing and public relations for over 8 years. Kevin got his start working online in SEO, link building, and some affiliate marketing. Kevin is most passionate about helping good brands become online entities. Check out ORM or follow Kevin on twitter!

4 Ways To Reevaluate Your Startup Strategy

startupsign It’s never the wrong time to de-clutter and simplify. Just as you should bring fresh air into a stuffy house, you can also breathe life into a company to achieve an improved state of success.

DUST OFF THE COBWEBS

When your marketing goes stale, so does your business. The purpose of cleaning up your online business is to stay relevant to consumers. So, what does it take to be relevant?

Stay up with the times. Take time every few months to read about new marketing tactics that can apply to your business.

Be better! Look at what your competitors are doing online, and see if you can do it better.

Be social. Don’t leave your Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest accounts unattended for long periods of time or consumers will view you as stale, resulting in a loss of fans, followers and connections.

Appeal to the masses. Make sure the content you are posting appeals to the appropriate audience and remains cognizant of what’s trending in your industry.

STRATEGIZE AND ORGANIZE

Have you embraced the social media realm yet? Let’s face it: social media engagement is important for business success. However, you must be mindful of what you are posting and engaging in on social media. Social activity for the sake of activity is a waste of time. You want to eliminate the excess that doesn’t benefit you.

If it’s not relevant, appealing, or creating revenue for your company, it’s not working for you. At the end of the day, your social interactions should bring a return on investment. There should always be a payoff, so there must be a sound strategy behind any social initiative. Here is one strategy you can follow:

Pinpoint the ultimate goal. What do we want from our visitors? What is our call to action? Once you have a goal in mind, you can commit and act to follow through and succeed.

Look at your site’s analytics. What are you doing that’s working? What is not working? What could work better? There is always room for improvement — find out what can and should be improved.

Look at the social analytics. What do Facebook or Twitter have to offer your business that you may not be taking advantage of? Social media continues to grow, so keeping up to stay relevant is critical.

REFINE A FAMILIAR FOCUS: YOUR AUDIENCE

Whether you’re sweeping up dust bunnies or brainstorming new business strategies, you can ask yourself these questions when reviewing your online marketing:

What will people think about these efforts?

How will they make people feel?

What will people do with this information?

Your content should give your audience something to think about, something to feel good about, and something productive to do. It can appeal to urgency with a limited-time offer or appeal to kindness with a charitable campaign.

No matter what you choose to do, you must focus on how the campaign and efforts will affect your audience. Rethinking or refining your marketing plans will give your business a renewed edge.

REFRESH YOUR BRAND

If you are an extreme organizer, you won’t stop at just the kitchen or attic. You’re going to fix up the entire house, top to bottom. Consider adopting this mentality for refreshing your brand as a whole. Remember these tips for improving your online business brand:

Define what your brand currently represents. Apple, Pepsi, and McDonald’s have used a variety of different slogans over the years to tailor their brand messages and stay relevant to consumers. It’s part of what makes them so successful. You can do this, too.

Be consistent in your presentation. Don’t forget what you’ve defined from the beginning. Although your look or slogan may change, the heart of your business should remain the same.

Be willing to grow and evolve based on your vision, your audience, and your image (keeping consistency in mind).

Rinse and repeat.

Adam DeGraide is the CEO and founder of Astonish, which was recently ranked 267th on the Inc. 500 list of fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. DeGraide and his team are the driving forces behind a vision to help the insurance industry across the country grow its businesses by using the Internet. Now currently serving over 800 retail brokers in America, Adam DeGraide and his team at Astonish are encouraging the insurance industry across the country to “join the Internet marketing revolution, or get left behind!”

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, the YEC recently launched #StartupLab, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses via live video chats, an expert content library and email lessons.

5 Tips to Building a Great Startup Team (From Anywhere)

most-effective-team-300x200 It is not easy to be the CEO of an up-and-coming startup, especially when you are frequently out of your office talking to investors and the actual time you spend in contact with your team is limited. It gets even more complicated when you manage multiple teams working in different cities.

Is it really possible to work together without being in a one place? How do you join forces with a distributed team and not much face-to-face interaction?

The key is to create a powerful team that works effectively even when the boss is not available. A startup team is like a basketball team — you will not win if you do not play together.

As CEO, you need to realize that each team member plays a role in your company and each individual is part of the whole. If you want to work effectively your team must be harmonious. Here’s how:

Build trust and respect. Nurture a team-oriented environment based on trust and respect, without which there will only be limited success. A startup is like a ship going through high uncertainty. The captain needs the trust of his team, because people follow trust and integrity, not a person. Trust can balance uncertainty and give the team the ability to work together no matter what. Likewise, if you are not in the office, you have to be sure that team members will cooperate in the atmosphere of open communication. The stronger the trust, the better the team will navigate without the captain on board.
Be true to your word. If you demand high productivity and quality work, you’d better be as good as your word. You get what you give. If you promise to do something, be sure you will fulfill it. When team members notice that you are a reliable person, they will emulate your behavior.
Organize a meeting for all employees. If you want to improve teamwork, help people get to know each other better. Organize in-person meetings for all workers (all teams) at least once a year or more if possible. Informal conversations bring people together and warm up human relationships. One option is to invite your team to play a game, like football or basketball. If players want to win, they have to focus on cooperation. The same principle is present in teamwork. And through teamwork and team sports, individual character and natural talents are expressed. They have to make decisions fast so they don’t have time to prepare their reactions. Those are the situations where pure character is exposed and real relationships are built.
Take advantage of conflict. There are no teams exempt from occasional misunderstandings. Somewhere, somehow, conflict will show up. When confrontation between employees gets out of a hand in a startup, the CEO must face it. Don’t complicate the situation by deciding what is good or bad. Listen to all sides carefully and then talk to other team members who observed the quarrel. Brainstorming solutions favorable for both sides may even result in ideas that would never have come to mind without the conflict. Confrontations make people think about both viewpoints. More points of view means more possibilities.
Make hiring a team effort. If you want to hire a new person, discuss this with your team. Let your team members talk with the candidate. They will work together and it’s important this person fit into the team. Of course, experience and suitable qualifications are important — but the most important qualities to hire for are always personality and compatible social skills. With regards to trust and respect described above, these traits are like glue. They help people communicate. They can bring different people together, whereas qualifications just ensure tasks are completed properly.

Arek Skuza is an entrepreneur born in Poland and working globally (Europe and USA). Made one exit and raised capital for 3 companies. Currently CEO of iTraff Technology. Caroline Golas also contributed to this article.

Founder Spotlight: Phil Laboon of Eyeflow Internet Marketing

Phil Laboon has consulted for everything from startups to Fortune 500’s, Phil Laboon has consulted for everything from startups to Fortune 500’s, developing clients’ online presences and online credibility. Eyeflow Internet Marketing specializes in providing organic SEO, online marketing solutions, social media and PPC by utilizing strategic, ethical and natural techniques. Each campaign is customized based on customers’ unique industries and goals. Follow him @eyeflow

Who is your hero?

I would have to say Ron Paul. A true underdog story! When he was running for the Republican nomination, it literally changed my idea of what is possible. Here you have a guy running under a ticket of a party that hates him, and he did very well. He got hammered by the left, the right, and even the media but he never gave up. He changed the course of that election on both sides of the aisle.

What’s the single best piece of business advice that helped shape who you are as an entrepreneur today, and why?

Be stubborn and be committed to the belief that you’re not going to fail. The people who quit typically never get back on the horse. I knew that if I quit and became an employee, I would have that employee mindset forever.

What’s the biggest mistake you ever made in your business, and what did you learn from it that others can learn from too?

I would have not relied on partners for various business ventures I got involved with early in my career. I had 100 percent confidence in a previous real estate venture, my contract, and my partner. But he ended up funneling the leads into a separate entity to prevent me from getting my share. I think when you are young and eager, you think you need a partner to help with the workload. From my experiences, most of the time partners just hold you back and create more problems than they solve. I’m sure many partnerships are great for some entrepreneurs, but looking back I wish I would have set more legal safety nets and specific tasks for each of us to accomplish.

What do you do during the first hour of your business day and why?

I have a clear plan for what I need to tackle in the morning before other things come up and interrupt my day. I like to start the morning by going through my emails and then move on to any tasks left over from the previous day. It’s important to prioritize tackling emails as they come in while thoughts are fresh. It promotes good customer service and helps ensure that nothing is missed. After that, I move on to items that need accomplishing that day.

What’s your best financial or cash-flow related tip for entrepreneurs just getting started?

Don’t skimp on marketing materials or online design. Strong branding is important online and offline. I’m really into making sure our sales material reflects the quality and value of our services. Success and income are in those details.

Quick: What’s ONE thing you recommend ALL aspiring or current entrepreneurs do right now to take their biz to the next level?

Look for unique opportunities to take advantage of and take educated risks! The only way your company is going to grow is if you take calculated risks with your time and money. Every business was a gamble when it was first created. Businesses only need to discover one profitable strategy to overshadow all the previous failures. You just have to look out for opportunity and give it your best shot. The true challenge is being able to recognize opportunity when it comes your way and take the leap in order to capitalize on it.

What’s your definition of success? How will you know when you’ve finally “succeeded” in your business?

A benchmark of success for me was when I didn’t have to work a side job to “support” my business. I didn’t want investors in my company, so I self-funded everything, which meant working side jobs to keep the lights on during slow months. This milestone helped reassure me that I made the right decision with my career and gave me even more dedication to continue what I was doing.

13 Books to Help Young Entrepreneurs Become Leaders

QUESTION: WHAT ARE THE BEST “LEADERSHIP BOOKS” FOR TWEENS AND TEENS TO READ?

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ENDER’S GAME BY ORSON SCOTT CARD

“Ender’s Game is a classic. Not only does the book make for enjoyable reading at the surface level, but it also is littered with hidden leadership lessons. As a leader, Ender faces many challenges: isolation, confrontation, and more. He must gain the support and reverence of his subordinates who were formerly peers.”

– Bhavin Parikh | CEO, Magoosh Test Prep

GETTING UNSTUCK BY TIMOTHY BUTLER

“Getting Unstuck: A Guide to Discovering your Next Career Path” provides a practical, hands-on road map for moving past your career or personal life impasse, recognize patterns of meaning in your life, and take action for change.”

– Erica Dhawan | CEO, Erica Dhawan, LLC

E-MYTH BY MICHAEL GERBER

“I love the E-Myth because it helps early entrepreneurs understand there is so much more to owning a business than knowing how to do something well. Teach them early that great leaders must also manage and create the vision for the team and you’ll develop a well-rounded young adult.”

– Kelly Azevedo | Founder, She’s Got Systems

LEARN FROM THE COOLEST STARTUPS IN AMERICA

“I made sure “The Coolest Startups in America” was written in a colloquial fun way that is easily accessible for teens and tweens. With over 70 startups profiled from across diverse industries, there’s something for everyone in the book that will resonate to get young adults excited about startups. Furthermore, the book covers important startups trends and terminology too.”

– Doreen Bloch | CEO / Founder, Poshly Inc.

THE SYNERGIST BY LES MCKEOWN

“Learning how other people lead and operate can help young readers understand how other people think. This in turn will help them adapt their communication style. “The Synergist: How to Lead Your Team to Predictable Success” by Les Mckeown is awesome for that.”

– Nathalie Lussier | Creator, The Website Checkup Tool

READ STORIES FROM CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL EXTRAORDINARY TEENS

“Authored by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, and Kent Healy, Chicken Soup for the Soul has a book with personal advice from teens and some well-known folks such as Brenda Song and Donald Trump Jr. Each story is written from an experienced teen with lessons they learned along their journey and each story is unique because of the various jobs and roles each teen has.”

– Lane Sutton | Social Media Coach, Social Media from a Teen

THE OTHER 90% BY ROBERT K. COOPER

“The Other 90%: How to Unlock Your Vast Untapped Potential for Leadership and Life” by Robert K. Cooper is a must-read for all leaders, regardless of age. It grasps the core roots of understanding yourself and others and leading to your fullest potential, as both an entrepreneur and a human being.”

– Richard Lorenzen | CEO, Fifth Avenue Brands

FOUNDERS AT WORK BY JESSICA LIVINGSTON

“The best way to learn about leadership is to read in-depth stories about leaders. Livingston interviewed founders of fascinating companies like Google, Firefox, Yahoo! and PayPal. What’s unique about this book is that Livingston transcribes the conversations –some are 20 pages! Young entrepreneurs will learn how to start a company and see a well-developed perspective of challenges they’ll face.”

– Aaron Schwartz | Founder and CEO, Modify Watches

STEVE JOBS BY WALTER ISAACSON

“I highly recommend Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. It is not necessarily geared towards tweens and teens, but the advice is definitely applicable. Case studies of people who have been extremely successful in their careers are invaluable leadership tools.”

– Caroline Ghosn | Co-Founder and CEO, The Levo League

HOW TO WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE BY DALE CARNEGIE

“When I was a teenager, I thought being a leader meant “being the boss” and telling everyone what to do. It wasn’t until college that I had some true leadership roles and had to learn the hard way what leadership is really about. There is no book better to start your journey of learning true leadership than Dale Carnegie’s. The sooner they start learning those lessons, the better they’ll be.”

– Jason Evanish | Co-Founder, Greenhorn Connect

THE 7 HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE TEENS BY SEAN COVEY

“The book I highly recommend for teens and tweens is “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens.” It was written by Sean Covey, son of world-renowned author Stephen Covey, who wrote the wildly successful book, “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.” This book offers tips and advice on topics such as how to deal with peer pressure, how to become motivated and how to deal with success and failure.”

– Andrew Schrage | Co-Owner, Money Crashers Personal Finance

KIDPRENEURS BY ADAM AND MICHAEL TOREN

“Kidpreneurs: Young Entrepreneurs With Big Ideas!” is a good book by the Toren brothers that inspires teens and younger kids to take steps toward becoming leaders in the entrepreneurial world.”

– John Hall | CEO, Influence & Co.

AWAKEN THE GIANT WITHIN BY ANTHONY ROBBINS

“I recommend “Awaken the Giant Within: How to Take Immediate Control of your Mental, Emotional, Physical and Financial Destiny!” by Anthony Robbins. He started when he was young and inspires others to take control of their lives and break through objections to become successful. It’s a great book by a great author, and anyone can start applying the principles — at any age.”

– Nick Reese | CEO, Elite Health Blends

Is Startup Life Turning You Into a Zombie? Here’s How to Stop It

If you are looking to entice an entrepreneur, just use simple, sweet words like easy, quick, and minimal effort. If you don’t believe that these words ring true, I urge you to check out the number of pizza boxes, soda cans, and Starbucks cups in the trash at any startup. For entrepreneurs, there is never an excess of time, and more importantly, they are always compiling a never-ending to-do list in their minds. While this passion and persistence is important in order to get a startup off the ground, it sometimes comes at the price of personal health and wellness.

From sleepless nights, a weakened immune system, and forgotten lunches, my early days of growing ‘ZinePak turned me into a zombie. Instead of running parallel paths, my success and health ratios seemed to create a big, fat, ironic X: the more successful ‘ZinePak became, the less I maintained my health. Juggling projects, meetings, and pitches left me no time to maintain a healthy diet, work out, or combat the fact that I looked like a shell of my former energetic self. While I will never find a perfect balance (the persistent curse of the entrepreneur), I have found a few key strategies that help keep me from being mistaken for an extra on “The Walking Dead”:

Take your vitamins. Even for on-the-go founders, there is nothing simpler than popping a pill in your mouth before you brush your teeth. While getting balanced meals and a few solid food groups in at every meal is ideal, it’s not always realistic. Grabbing a multivitamin will keep you energized while stabilizing your immune system as you bounce from meeting to meeting or airport to airport. Make it part of your daily routine before you even set foot in the office.
Remember to hydrate. Remember when, in elementary school, you would have water-fountain breaks? Those teachers were on to something! Drinking water rehydrates your body, helps your skin, and can even suppress food cravings (like those 4 p.m. candy-jar trips). Find a large decorative glass or water bottle and keep it at your desk to drink from throughout your day. Not only will you surprise yourself by how much you consume, but you might find yourself skipping that late-afternoon caffeine fix as well!
Get your beauty rest. Ever wonder why Sleeping Beauty was so beautiful? Well, it wasn’t because she was up working until 3 a.m. And beyond physical appearance (contrary to popular entrepreneurial belief, dark eye circles are not in fashion), sleeping can help your mind work faster and problem-solve more efficiently. It will leave you less prone to emotional outbursts with employees or clients. I cannot stress enough that a full seven hours of sleep are important not just for your personal wellness, but also for the wellness of your company. If you are run down, tired, or grumpy, chances are that will leak through into your work, client relations, or company culture.
Go the extra (minimal) mile. I know I said the sweet words to an entrepreneur are easy, quick, and minimal effort—but sometimes you just have to go the extra mile. Whether it is parking at the farthest spot from the mailbox or deciding to walk 10 blocks instead of jumping on the subway, every little bit counts. Many articles preach about the gym or fitness classes, but I know from personal experience that those were the articles I would disregard completely. “Who has time for such luxuries?” I would often vent. If you find yourself echoing that sentiment, there is still hope! Pacing instead of sitting while on a conference call; taking the stairs instead of the elevator; walking over to a colleague’s desk instead of emailing her — there are small, low-effort steps to increasing your physical activity and boosting your mood. Even if that means walking to get that pizza box instead of having it delivered.

Kim Kaupe is the co-founder of ‘ZinePak, a custom publication company that creates engaging fan packages for entertainers, brands, and celebrities. She graduated with a B.A. in marketing from the University of Florida in 2008 and roots loyally for her Gators. Most recently, she and her business partner, Brittany Hodak, were named to Advertising Age’s 40 Under 40 List for 2013.

Top 6 Tips for Crowdfunding Your Startup

If you own or plan on starting your own business, you may have considered crowdfunding to raise additional capital. If you haven’t, you should.

It’s quickly becoming an extremely popular form of project and startup funding, primarily since it frees you from having to pay back the interest that goes along with a business loan. Essentially it allows you to collect funds in the form of donations.

While businesses can offer incentives or (now) equity in exchange for donations, this overhead is usually much smaller than what you would be facing in terms of interest payments to a bank.

Crowdfunding also offers a chance to connect with people who are truly interested in what you’re doing and who believe in you on a personal level– not just in your business model.

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Image courtesy of jannoon028 — FreeDigitalPhotos.net

There’s no question that crowdfunding is a workable and viable financing method; so for entrepreneurs looking to get on board, here are few tips to take note of moving forward:

1. Plan a marketing campaign — Your crowdfunding campaign will only yield returns under an effective marketing campaign. Make sure you sketch out a marketing plan ahead of time and avoid the “build-it-and-they-will-come” mentality.

2. Research and know your target audience — When you do go to market your crowdfunding campaign, you need to know who to market it to. Try and identify those who are most likely to donate and make sure they know about your campaign.

3. Create a pitch video for your project — A pitch video should be a short, 30-second-or-less clip explaining your project, what it’s about and why you’re asking people to donate. While it should be short and to-the-point, it should also be convicting and passionate.

Here are a few helpfulexamples.

4. Leverage your social media following — Businesses that have a substantial social media following have a tremendous opportunity to get their campaign in front of a lot of eyes. Use your social media account as a component of your marketing campaign; though make sure not to put all your eggs in this one basket.

5. Have incentives — Smaller projects can sometimes get away with not having any incentives and just asking for donations. However, incentives are always going to increase the likelihood that people will donate. Whatever those incentives might be, make sure to keep it low-cost so that you’re not needlessly increasing overhead.

6. Have a spending plan in place — Once you start to bring in money, you’ll want to have a plan in place for how you eventually intend to spend it. In fact, it doesn’t hurt to have this information available to potential donors from the beginning, so that they know exactly how their money is being used.

Also be sure to follow up with those who donate to let them know how you’re using their money and what level of success your project is seeing.

Not a Passive Solution

On the surface, crowdfunding might seem like asking for a handout or getting free money; however, that’s not the case at all.

Crowdfunding isn’t a passive solution to your business project; it requires a tremendous amount of work and preparation, both before, during and after you launch the campaign. While it does give you more flexibility and independence than traditional methods of financing, it still requires you to be sharp and well-prepared for the task at hand.

That being said, if you can be proactive and thorough about your approach, a crowdfunding campaign could be ideal for your business needs.

Camille McClane is a freelance writer and online entrepreneur who hopes to have her very own business someday. Working withHostPapa has given her the opportunity to share her knowledge of the online world, including SEO and social media marketing. Entrepreneurs today have so many options, and she highly encourages others to explore all of them!

Trends to Watch: Content 101

Content is King.

This was probably the first thing I heard when I started freelancing a few years ago. Back then, it was said in comparison to SEO or social media strategies. The theory went that if you produced good content, you were going to get traffic.

Well, things change quickly on the Internet. The saying is even more true these days, but not in quite the same ways.

Everywhere you look there is “content.” Videos, podcasts, Tweets, Facebook status updates, and plain old articles. There are “content companies” whose sole purpose is to manage or produce content. But, almost every savvy startup or company knows they have to figure out how to utilize content to bring in customers.

So, in the mess of content creation, curation, and syndication (and any other-tion you can think of), how do you know what’s what? What are the different kinds of content companies, and how do they make money?

Never fear. Here’s your brief, Content 101 rundown:

The Media

These are the companies that look a lot like traditional newspapers, just in the digital realm. They focus on reporting and storytelling, often in one vertical. In the startup space, for example, you have PandoDaily and TechCrunch. Nibletz also falls into this category. There are also some very interesting general journalism startups that are playing around with business models to keep more traditional journalism alive.

These companies deal with content in vastly different ways. Some focus on the quality of articles, often producing fewer, more expensive pieces. Others put out tons of articles that are shorter and quicker to read.

There are a variety of ways in which media companies get content in the first place. Some have a staff of writers who are paid to produce, similar to an old-style newsroom. Others solely publish unknown writers, often for free. Most use some hybrid of the two models.

How do they make money?

Good question. As in social media, ads are a big source of revenue for media companies. However, most are also exploring other streams like sponsorships, events, and subscriptions/paywalls. This is a huge source of disruption at the moment, and my guess is things will look very different in 20 years than they do even now.

The Platforms

As in everything else, lines are blurring between “media companies” and “media platforms,” but in general a platform company does not produce its own content. Medium is one example. Users hop online and write whatever they want. They don’t need to write consistently; no one’s looking for a blog theme or any kind of upkeep.

Longreads is another example of a platform, though it is used for curation. Users of the site post their favorite long-form journalism articles and essays from all over the place for the enjoyment of other users. Flipboard is another platform that takes your personal preferences into account as it curates news and other content.

Platforms are also working out new ways to make money. Longreads is a subscription service; users pay a small fee to read and recommend on the site. Medium, however, doesn’t really have revenue yet, and no one’s quite sure how they plan to produce some. Users rave about the beauty and simplicity of the design, so it’s hard to believe they’ll be stoked about ads appearing.

Besides the media companies and platform companies, content is growing in other sectors as well. Most e-commerce companies also have some kind of content to draw potential customers to their site. Big corporations are hiring editors and social media experts to manage the content they produce.

If content is king, it’s still anyone’s guess as to what his kingdom will ultimately look like. But, we can always be sure there’ll be stuff to read on the Internet.

Oversee Your Business Without Being Chained to a Desk

Guest post, Startup tips, startup monitoring You would think that advances in technology would reduce the amount of hours you spend at work. You’d be wrong, as Technology Digital finds that white collar jobs are sitting at a 60-hour work week, and anyone chasing that elusive 40-hour beast is written off as a part-time dabbler. While it will take quite some time to change the societal and corporate culture, you can put technology to work for you in at least making your time more comfortable. You don’t have to be chained to a desk day in, day out to oversee and manage your business, departments and employees. Instead, put your smartphone to work so you can get a change of scenery.

Bring Your Own Device

BYOD policies bring more benefits than headaches to most corporations, but if you’re a CTO or needing to manage a variety of mobile devices in a secure and safe manner, it takes some time to work out a cross-platform solution. One such solution, Blackberry’s Mobile Device Management, allows you to take advantage of Blackberry’s secure setup. The Blackberry 10 OS allows you to create a virtualized environment that is kept entirely separate from everything else installed on the device, and supplies mailing and calendar functions, among others. MDM is a cross-platform version of that so you can increase the safety and security of every mobile platform accessing your work network.

Productivity Apps

Productivity apps streamline your day-to-day tasks, as well as keeping you on track with employee activities and essential business information. Stocks is a solid, free Blackberry app that keeps you on track with the stock market, an essential bit of information if you’re a publicly traded company. Evernote is an essential bit of software that works well with small or large teams, or for your own personal notes. Since it’s a cross platform app, you can access your notes from any location, whether it’s your phone or computer. When you need to keep your notes on hand when you’re out of the office, this is the perfect choice for you.

Cloud-based Storage

Cloud-based storage is essential to unlocking you from your office. When you can access your files from any location, at any time, there’s no real reason for you to stick around work if you’re not otherwise needed on-site. Instead, you can head down to the beach and work on your tan while you’re getting the profit and loss statements ready for your department. Many cloud services are compatible with Blackberry, such as Google Drive and Dropbox. However, one the most useful apps you can get is one that allows you to access all your files in any of the cloud storage sites supported. This app is called Playcloud, and it also lets you bring up FTP and local files.

New Leadership Book Contradicts The Startup Lifestyle

As I write this I must remind many people to heed what I say not what I do. I’m admittedly one of those startup workaholics that has driven myself to the doctors, and later this week the hospital, because I focused so much on work that I let my health go.

My good friend and bad ass startup chick, Denver Hutt, first drove me to re-examine the 120 hour a week lifestyle when news broke that the She-Ra of the startup community pushed too hard and ignored early onset signs of what is now stage 4 ovarian cancer.

While there are many nights that I work around the clock, there are thankfully equally as many that I don’t.

So what’s the “right” way?

We joke with other startup people all the time that if you’re not coding, writing, developing or working on business development 24 hours a day, you aren’t a real startup founder. We scoff at people that post Facebook updates saying they are having family time while you’re on the grind. Is it jealousy? Are we jealous of the other founders who have work/life balance? Sure sounds like it.

Well a new book called Bankable Leadership by Dr. Tasha Eurich suggests that working around the clock is actually a bad thing. In fact Eurich goes as far as to say, “We actually get stupider when we work too much.”

Dr. Eurich holds an M.S. and a Ph.D. in Industrial Organizational Psychology from Colorado State University. She’s spent her entire career working with organizations big and small to mold more effective leaders, and believe it or not it all starts with better time management.

Dr. Eurich’s approach to leadership is fresh, modern, and fun. Broken down into four easy-to-digest sections, the Bankable Leadership model “can help anyone become bankable-producing results while fostering a healthy work environment that ensures sustainable success,” says Dr. Eurich. “This balance between people and results lies at the heart of Bankable Leadership.” Based on over 70 years of science, Dr. Eurich helps leaders understand current—and sometimes surprising—research on the best ways to lead. “This is not fluff. The science of leadership is strong – and good leadership drives results.”

While most startup founders are going to be interested in what Eurich says about working too many hours, there are other entrepreneurial and startup myths and lessons explored in her book:

70% of leadership is learned and great leaders are made, not born.
Why most companies don’t develop leadership skills effectively.
How anyone can learn the principles of effective leadership, regardless of his or her background.
How organizations can achieve prosperity with the Bankable Leadership model.
Why companies treat employees like children and ways to change it.
The differences between the “Cool Parent” Leader vs. the “Trail of Dead Bodies” Leader.
What “Delusional Development” is and how it is killing many of today’s leaders.

Find out more about Bankable Leadership here at bankableleadership.com

The Role of IT Training in Today’s Startup World

The Role of IT Training in Today’s Startup World

The world of business and startups has changed a great deal over the course of the past decade or so. No longer is it practical to think that a business can be operated without IT, and whether that comes from an employee who is well-versed on the subject or yourself will depend upon both how much interest/time you have in learning more about IT and how much you can afford someone else to take care of things for you. The fact is, every business owner can benefit from increasing his base of knowledge when it comes to IT, especially when it comes to overseeing daily operations.

You don’t have to delegate a huge amount of time if you want to prioritize IT, but putting some effort into the equation will definitely help to push your business in the right direction. Here are just a few reasons why IT training is more important in today’s business world than ever in the past.

Businesses Rely on IT to Keep Moving

Years ago, IT didn’t usually take up a great deal of space in the minds of business owners when it came to day-to-day operations. Today, however, it is essential part of running a company. Without IT, the flow, retrieval and storage of information for businesses of all kinds would come to a screeching halt. Many business owners who simply don’t have the time or interest to handle the IT side of the business, and while this can be an effective tool, it can also be quite costly. Understanding more about how to handle the day-to-day logistics of your business’s IT can be quite freeing and is more than worth your while.

IT Is Crucial to Customer Satisfaction

Your customers need to know that they can get in touch with you no matter what time of day or night they need to. This means that if your website, email or other IT-related services are down, you’ll not only be missing out on the chance to bring in new business, but will also be running the risk of angering current clients and customers. Gaining a better understanding of IT will allow you to take care of any issues that might pop up, which means that any downtime can be cut to an absolute minimum. If you’re in the dark and can’t get in touch with whomever is handling your IT, you’re bound to run into issues that could be costly to your business.

IT Will Only Become More Integrative

Technology is advancing at an alarming rate, and businesses of all kinds rely on it for daily operations. While there are still certain types of businesses that don’t utilize IT as much as others, this is likely to change as the Internet continues to become a central aspect of the professional world. This will be especially important in terms of security. Understanding IT and training your employees to do the same will be a huge part of providing online security for your company in the years to come. It’s safe to assume that years from now, a business that doesn’t have solid integration of IT will have an immensely difficult time finding success and surviving in the marketplace.

There are plenty of resources online and elsewhere that can help teach you about IT issues. Follow the link here to learn more about an education in IT security measures and the technology involved in protecting your IP.

Kelly Jane Brown is an aspiring writer, entrepreneur and student at UCLA.