Category: Entrepreneurship

5 Amazing Resources College Students Have When Building A Startup

In this article, I discuss 5 amazing resources that college students have when building a startup. I discuss the various things college students have access to while they’re attending school.

 

If you are even just a bit curious about entrepreneurship, I recommend building a startup while you’re in college. I had started my first business towards the end of my high school career and I ended up launching another startup while I was in college.

 

 

It became evident to me quickly that there were a lot of advantages I had when attending college and building a startup. In this article, I share 5 amazing resources college students have when building a startup:

 

 

1. Other College Students

 

If you’re looking to validate your product through testing or surveying, college is the best place to be at. You have thousands of students who can test and provide valuable feedback for your project.

 

 

Not only that, but other college students can be a great addition to your startup team. Find people who have strengths where your weaknesses lie and use that to your advantage. With so many students roaming around, college gives your business an endless number of opportunities to grow.

 

 

2. Clubs and Classes

 

Another great thing about being on a college campus is that you’re constantly surrounded by people who are studying all kinds of different things. Not only that, but you can connect with club presidents if you need help with something in specific.

 

 

For example, if you’re looking for a developer for your app or website, you can try going to computer science classes or clubs to connect with others. College gives you a plethora of ways to get what you really need to make your business successful.

 

 

3. Local Incubators and Accelerators

 

I was let in on a little secret some time ago. I was told that most incubators or accelerators love having the chance to work with entrepreneurs that are younger. The reason being that feel they have a better chance of being successful since they are starting young and will probably try a couple different businesses.

 

 

If you’re going to college and have a local incubator or accelerator nearby, you should definitely apply. Some Universities even have their own incubators and accelerators for startup ideas on campus. This is a great opportunity to connect with very intelligent advisors and mentors.

 

 

4. Professors

 

You may sometimes even come across a professor or department head that may be able to add value in your startup. I’ve had quite a few friends who have ended up partnering up with their professors on a certain project.

 

 

It sounds crazy, but you’ll be surprised at the knowledge or connections some professors may have. If you have a special connection to a professor who you think can add value to your startup, do not hesitate to reach out to them. They usually love that kind of stuff!

 

 

5. Interns, Interns Everywhere

 

If your startup is established and now has a formal team, you may be looking for outside help to grow your business. Being that you’re a college student running a startup, it’s no surprise that you probably don’t have a lot of cash flow. Luckily for you, you’re surrounded by students who would potentially love to intern for your business.

 

 

Internships are great because you get to work with motivated individuals who are yearning to learn something. Being that you’re in a college, you can easily post flyers or talk to the career center about helping them recruit interns for your startup.

 

 

Conclusion

 

College is a great place to party, but you don’t want to forget about the other valuable amenities that are available to you. In this article, I shared 5 amazing resources college students have when building a startup.

 

5 Beautiful Truths About Starting Your Own Business

In this article, I discuss 5 beautiful truths about starting your own businesses. I use my own experiences to share some of the most rewarding parts of launching your own company.

 

Starting a business has become more and more popularized in recent times. I remember going to India a few years back and talking with people in the country who had big entrepreneurial dreams.

 

 

However, many of these individuals were terrified of creating their own business. After poking around, I found out that the idea of entrepreneurship was extremely frowned upon in India. It was looked at as a sophisticated way of saying that you were jobless.

 

 

Not many of us are us lucky those who live in the United States or England. In these countries,  entrepreneurship is highly promoted and looked at as a very good choice for many. I found all my success thanks to launching my own businesses.

 

 

If you are on the fence about starting your own business, here are 5 beautiful truths about starting your own business that may change your mind:

 

 

1. Freedom Is A Great Feeling

 

When I started my first business, I wasn’t looking for money more than I was looking for a way to escape the 9 to 5 life. Making money in my businesses was obviously a big goal since it gave me the freedom to stay away from jobs.

 

 

When you start your own business, you have complete freedom. This can be good or bad for many people. However, most people love having control on what they want to make, how they want to make it and who they decide to bring on their team.

 

 

2. You Have Endless Potential

 

When you work a job, you’re constricted by the salary and bonuses that your employer dictates. Even if you’re the top performing individual in a certain space, you will still never earn truly what your worth. If you do the math, the company will always be making a profit off of your work.

 

 

When you start your own business, things change. You finally get the opportunity to get compensated for everything you’re worth. It’s a much riskier path, but you aren’t constricted by a yearly salary. The harder you work and the better results you deliver, the more success you will achieve.

 

 

3. There Is No Substitute For Passion

 

Starting your own business is an amazing feeling. The rush and drive you feel when building your company is absolutely exhilarating. There is no greater substitution for career happiness than being passionate about the shit you’re doing.

 

 

It would be damn near foolish to start a business if you weren’t passionate about the ideas, products or sector. Thus, going under the assumption that you build a business that focuses around your passions, you won’t have any problems putting your heart and soul into the business.

 

 

4. Everything Is More Rewarding

 

Before becoming an entrepreneur at 17, nothing really got me truly excited. Everything was cool or sick to me, but it wasn’t something that got my adrenaline pumping. When I had to deal with various challenges in my business, everything changed.

 

 

Each time I overcame a big challenge or scored a juicy deal, I felt like a winner. It was like playing in game 7 of the NBA finals and hitting the game-winning shot. When you start your own business, the successes you have along the way feel a lot better and are far more rewarding.

 

 

5. Success Is In Your Hands

 

When you work a job, you can do the best damn job possible and still get fired. The greatest part about running your own business is knowing that you control your destiny/future.

 

 

The more successful your business is, the more successful you will be. You’re not relying on someone else to write you a paycheck at the end of the month and you sure as hell don’t have to kiss any asses. Being in charge is a great feeling!

 

 

Conclusion

 

For those of you who have been on the fence about starting your own business, I hope this article was some additional motivation to start now. In this post, I shared 5 beautiful truths about starting your own business.

 

 

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My Words Of Commencement To Graduates

In this article, I share my words of commencement to graduates. Just 2 years ago, I was sitting in a classroom next to many of the individuals who are now graduating. I took a very different path than most my age did and I have some words of advice for you from what I have learned through my own journey.

 

I don’t usually do posts like this, but I thought I’d share one today. This is going to be a very personal and transparent post where I share my words of commencement to graduates. I haven’t delivered this to any University so these are just my thoughts assembled within a blog post.

 

 

Just 2 years ago, I was sitting in a classroom with many of you who have or are soon going to be graduating. A whirlwind of thoughts have been running through my mind the last few days. That could have been me standing next to you with a cap and gown waiting to pick up my diploma.

 

 

If I had stayed on that path, my parents would have been so proud. All they kept telling me was, “What will everyone in our family say when they find out that you didn’t get your degree?”

 

 

There are always what if’s in the world. Every day you are faced with hundreds if not thousands of different choices and paths you can take. I quickly snap back to reality and realize that I made the best decision ever in my life.

 

 

I decided to chase happiness over money, reputations and anything else that can be a motive for those seeking a degree. I’m not here today to say college is good or bad, but rather to share some words of wisdom with those who are moving forward in their lives.

 

 

Life as an entrepreneur has its ups and down. Just like anything else in the world, there are the good days and there are the bad days. One thing has never changed since the day I started.

 

 

I have never been happier in my life. You will be presented with so many options as you continue your journey and enter the workforce. I am here to tell you today that life is too short to be doing shit that doesn’t make you happy.

 

 

See, I could have listened to my parents and sacrificed another 2 years and tried graduating from college. However, I knew I wouldn’t be happy through the process and even after.

 

 

It doesn’t matter what you majored in and what your degree says you’re knowledgeable in, there is no greater driving force than passion. I woke up this morning at 4:30 AM excited as ever to start another day in my life.

 

 

We think we know what we really want, but then we quickly realize we were wrong all along. Most of us sacrifice our own beliefs and happiness to continue trudging along a path that we know is full of misery. My question to you is, why?

 

 

Just rewind back to 4 years ago when many of you were starting college, I knew nothing about the world that engulfs me today. I didn’t know what the word entrepreneur meant, I couldn’t tell you who Richard Branson was and I sure as hell didn’t think you could be successful without college.

 

 

After starting numerous businesses, delivering a TEDx talk, writing a best-selling book, speaking at conferences around the world, and so much more, I quickly realized that this was all possible because I had the balls to go after my passions. I encourage you all to do the same.

 

 

Try as many different things as you can. Find something that will stick and give you enjoyment. Pursue it with all your heart. I guarantee you that as long as you love what you do and give it a 110% every single day, the money will come.

 

 

Congratulations are definitely in order for you graduates. While you figure out where you’re headed next in your journey, just remember my small piece of advice. Don’t let your degree box in the possibilities that are available around you.

 

 

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Why I Follow Back And You Should Too

In this article, I discuss why I follow back and you should too on social media platforms. This post mainly highlights my success on Twitter through the use of this system.

 

For any of you who have connected with me through social media platforms such as Twitter, you probably have noticed that I follow back. Within 24-48 hours, I make sure to follow back everyone else who has made a genuine effort to connect with me.

 

 

The results are indicative through my followers and high engagement rate on Twitter. I have seen very good engagement with all of my tweets as well as having my Twitter following grow to 185K+ in about a year and a half.

 

 

Many people don’t believe in the idea of following back. They think it’s much cooler to follow 10 people and have 100,000 people following you back. Some don’t understand why they should follow back while others are simply too lazy for it.

 

 

In this post, I’m going to share with you why I follow back and you should too:

 

 

Be On The Same Level

 

The biggest reason why I follow back people is because I don’t want to put myself on an elevated platform. I don’t want to be that douche bag who never follows back because he thinks he is better than his followers.

 

 

Truth be told, I’m not better than my followers. I see my followers eye to eye. It doesn’t matter how much money they have in their bank account or how successful they are, I treat everyone the same. If you don’t look down upon people, a great way to show them that is by genuinely taking time out of your busy day to follow them back.

 

 

Engagement Shoots Through The Roof

 

As soon as I began following back everyone who followed me, I noticed the engagement on Twitter skyrocketing. I was getting more mentions, retweets and favorites instantly.

 

 

People love to feel some sort of connection with others. I’m not some kind of robot that is just going through the motions on Twitter. I give it a much more personal feel by following people back and taking time to care about who they are.

 

 

Followers Stick

 

One of my buddies was recently complaining to me about how he gets 500 followers but loses 300 of them the next day. I asked him if he was following back and he said no. I told him to run a test on my behalf.

 

 

I had him follow the individuals that unfollowed him to see how many of those individuals would follow him back. Within 3 days, 287 of those people had followed him back.

 

 

Call To Actions Convert Better

 

If you’re reading this blog, there’s a very good chance that you found out about it through my Twitter page. Let me break down some amazing statistics for you that I have to thank Twitter for:

 

 

Time Spent Blogging (Weekly): 5 Hours

 

Traffic Weekly (Uniques To My Blog): 10,000 to 15,000 Visitors

 

Traffic From Twitter: 65-80%

 

 

Okay, now lets put this math into perspective. My call to action on my Twitter profile is my personal website/blog. Before following people back, I was averaging hundreds of uniques a month. After changing up my strategy, I am now averaging around 40,000 to 60,000 unique visitors a month.

 

 

Why? The answer is simple. People are more likely to engage with your content and your posts if they have a deeper connection to you. I never did anything differently aside from following people back to achieve this success.

 

 

You Build Powerful Relationships

 

I have built thousands of amazing relationships just through Twitter. This has all happened because I made sure to follow people back and learn about others through their profiles. By doing so, I’ve opened up tons of opportunities for my businesses.

 

 

By adding a human touch to your social media profiles, you’ll be surprised as to how many people are willing to share cool opportunities with you. Not only do I receive dozens of emails from my followers, I’ve come across new clients, speaking opportunities and more all through Twitter.

 

 

Conclusion

 

Being successful on Twitter doesn’t correlate to just one thing. However, following people back had to be one of the primary factors to my massive success on Twitter. In this article, I share why I follow back and you should too.

 

 

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Non-Traditional Investment Ideas

In this article, I share non-traditional investment ideas that don’t require a ton of capital or time to capitalize on. Find out some of the ways he has been investing his money.

 

As an entrepreneur, we all come to a point where we want to invest our money to create more income and more opportunities. I hit this point about 12 months ago and began looking for creative ways to invest my money.

 

 

When it came to investing, I had a specific motto that I followed. I wanted to invest money, find decent returns, minimize risk, and trade as little time as possible. That was a hard combination to find.

 

 

However, I was able to find a handful of investment opportunities that actually worked really well for me. In this article, I share non-traditional investment ideas:

 

 

Rental Properties

 

There are tons of amazing properties available in various areas. You have to hire a really good real estate agent who understands your motives and goals. From there, you look for properties that require very little capital to purchase, but have a huge upside for generating rent on a monthly basis.

 

 

You can put as little as 10% down on a property and rent it out to others. To cut your time investment even more, you can hire property managers that will be responsible for finding renters and maintaining the place. The best part of this investment is that someone else can help you build equity in your property by paying rent each month.

 

 

Startup Investments

 

I receive dozens of emails from individuals looking for investment capital to start up their own business. Typically, you’re going to find businesses that are pre-mvp. That’s a good thing because you’ll get the best deals and have to risk very little capital.

 

 

If you can find great teams and great ideas, you can invest small amounts of money. I have invested as little as $2,500 to help a team build a startup of its own. These types of investments carry a huge risk, but if you are able to successfully pick the right one, the potential is endless.

 

 

Peer To Peer Lending

 

Sites like Prosper.com make it easy for you to lend money to others in need. You make a nice return on your investment by charging interest. However, these types of investments can garner a huge risk because people can always run with your money.

 

 

However, if you have small amounts of money to invest, this can be a decent way to generate some capital each month. Look for opportunities on peer to peer lending sites and see what you can find!

 

 

Virtual Currencies

 

I put a good amount of money into Doge when the Bitcoin explosion happened a few months ago. While these investments are high-risk, you can obtain a really good reward if you are successful.

 

 

Best of all, these types of investments require very little up-front capital. I was able to get my hands on a lot of doge coin for just under $500. The risk was high, but the time commitment is very low.

 

 

Kiosks & Franchises

 

If you have a bit more capital to invest, you can find various franchises and kiosks that have high growth potential. Instead of investing into Subway’s or McDonald’s, you can look for new franchises that are gaining traction in your area.

 

 

Franchises can typically run you in the 6 figures while mall kiosks can be far cheaper. You can obtain a mall kiosk for $5,000 to $50,000. These can require some time in the beginning, but if you can find good managers, it can be a very passive investment.

 

 

Metals/Hot Commodities

 

There are tons of metals such as gold and silver that people make a lot of money off of each year. Not only that, but you can find other rare commodities to invest your money into.

 

 

The best part about these types of investments is that you can invest as much money or as little money as you wish. You need to spend quite a bit of time understanding the markets and what causes the prices of ores to increase or decrease.

 

 

Conclusion

 

In this article, I shared a variety of non-traditional investment ideas that don’t require a ton of capital or time. Do you have any investment ideas that have worked very well for you? Share them in the comments below.

 

 

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7 Things People Don’t Understand About Entrepreneurs

In this article, I discuss 7 things people don’t understand about entrepreneurs. The media in recent years has put a spotlight on entrepreneurship causing a ton of myths to develop in the public.

 

Entrepreneurship has been portrayed through the media a lot more in the last few years. Shows such as Shark Tank and Silicon Valley have caught the eyes of many people who aren’t entrepreneurs.

 

 

Through these shows, many people think they have a very good idea about what it’s like to be an entrepreneur. However, most people are really wrong about their misconceptions of entrepreneurs.

 

 

In this article, I discuss 7 things people don’t understand about entrepreneurs:

 

 

1. It’s Not All About The Money

 

I’ve talked to many entrepreneurs over the years and I’ve learned that money is important, but it’s usually never the primary reason why people start their own business. More often than not, people start their own business to follow their passions or to gain more freedom in their lives.

 

 

Media and many successful entrepreneurs show off the multimillion dollar mansions and luxury sports cars, but that’s not what all entrepreneurs are about. If I was a multimillionaire, I’d probably treat myself to those luxuries too. However, I am an entrepreneur because I get to do something I love.

 

 

2. They Have A Job & It’s Probably Better Than Yours

 

Many people think ‘entrepreneur’ is a label that others use when they are unemployed. In fact, it’s probably the opposite of what they think. Not only do they have a job, but it’s probably better than the job that you have.

 

 

Entrepreneurs are anything but unemployed. Working for yourself and pursuing a vision that you can only see is probably one of the most rewarding jobs on the planet. Not only do you get self satisfaction, but you have the potential to disrupt an industry forever.

 

 

3. They Create Opportunity Instead of Finding It

 

Many people think that entrepreneurs just find an amazing opportunity and capitalize on it. However, entrepreneurs are doing much more than finding an opportunity. In fact, they are creating an opportunity for themselves.

 

 

Finding an opportunity would be equivalent to finding an amazing job that will increase your salary by 25% yearly. Creating an opportunity is finding a niche, building a product for it and launching it to the market.

 

 

4. They Are More Frugal Than You Think

 

Entrepreneur’s celebrate and blow their money when they have a reason to do so. Most of the other times, they are actually extremely frugal with their money. Most entrepreneurs understand the concept of bootstrapping their business early on and spend as conservatively as they can.

 

 

Most of the entrepreneurs that I have met are extremely conscious about how they spend their money. They believe in a truly frugal lifestyle with a strong focus on investing until they reach a certain financial milestone. After that, they are a lot more loose with their spending especially since they deserve it.

 

 

5. They Are Constantly Feeling A Wave of Emotions

 

Great entrepreneurs look calm, cool and collective on the outside. You wouldn’t know from the face of a great leader if things were ever horribly going wrong. They are well composed and control any situation that is before them.

 

 

Most entrepreneurs will tell you how much of an emotional roller coaster running a business is. One day, you’ll be on the top of the world while the next day you’ll be at the bottom of the emotional hill. Entrepreneurship is tough, it requires a lot of mental courage to survive.

 

 

6. They Worked Their Ass Off To Get Where They Are Today

 

Many people think it’s really easy to get funded. I once went to a networking event and this delusional guy thought that anyone with an idea would get funded. That’s hardly the truth about entrepreneurship.

 

 

Before anyone will cut you a check for a single dollar, you have to put in a lot of hard work. Most investors are extremely disciplined and will ask you to build a minimum viable product and gain traction before investing a penny into your business. Most entrepreneurs have to struggle, sweat and push their way through the first few years to get where they are today.

 

 

7. It’s Not Easy At All

 

Many people from the sidelines think it’s extremely easy to be an entrepreneur. They think that just because you get to make your own hours and be your own boss, it’s a walk in the park. That’s hardly the truth.

 

 

Every time we watch a basketball game on television and we see Kevin Durant miss that jumper, we think we can make it. Remember, it’s always easier said than done. Entrepreneurship is one of the toughest challenges anyone can take on. Only the brave and mentally strong survive.

 

 

Conclusion

 

In this article, I shared 7 things people don’t understand about entrepreneurs. What are some other things you have found that people don’t understand about entrepreneurship?

 

 

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5 Beliefs of People Who Refuse To Quit

In this article, I share 5 beliefs of people who refuse to quit. From my own failures and roadblocks in my entrepreneurial journey, I have learned to stay persistent by focusing on some core beliefs.

 

As an entrepreneur, I’ve learned to develop a thick skin with many different things. I wouldn’t be able to call myself an entrepreneur today if I didn’t develop a thick skin to failure.

 

 

Mistakes, obstacles and failures always come up. It’s part of the ups and downs every entrepreneur has to deal with at some point. Luckily for me, I became really good at dealing with failure.

 

 

The solution was really simple, far too simple actually. I just refused to quit. That’s easier said than done as many people know. I had to develop some really powerful beliefs that enabled me to stay persistent no matter what happened.

 

 

In this article, I share 5 beliefs of people who refuse to quit:

 

 

1. Next Time Will Be Better

 

Each time I failed, I used that experience to learn from it. I wrote down the things I thought I did really well and the negative things I thought caused the downfall. By doing this, I was able to openly reflect on the whole experience.

 

 

After that, I had two choices. I could give up or I could create a new plan that incorporated all this feedback. Successful people always choose the latter option. They create a new plan and have confidence that the next time around will be far better.

 

 

2. You Only Have To Be Right Once 

 

Here’s the beautiful part about being an entrepreneur, you ONLY need to be right once. You can find a thousand ways that don’t work and fail just as many times. People do not remember you for your failures, but for your successes.

 

 

As long as you’re able to get it right once, you can make a lot of money, change the world and disrupt a massive industry. People who refuse to quit understand this belief. They know that it’s nearly impossible to get everything perfect the first time around.

 

 

3. They Believe In Taking Risks

 

Ask any successful person and they’ll tell you that they did something that not many others were willing to do. Often times, this means taking a big risk. If you’re looking to limit risk, chances are you might end up failing.

 

 

Successful individuals understand risks, but they aren’t afraid to fearlessly push through these challenges. You have to take a risk and push yourself to the limits to be successful. It won’t be easy, but it will be worthwhile.

 

 

4. Mind Over Matter

 

This saying might be really cliche or overused, but I still think it is extremely powerful. Successful individuals need to master their minds. If you have the proper mindset, you can truly achieve anything.

 

 

In order to push past failures and stop yourself from quitting, you need to believe in yourself. It doesn’t matter if no one else in the world believes in you as long as you believe in your own dreams. Mental strength and self-confidence are keys to success.

 

 

5. Haters Don’t Phase Them

 

When you fail or stumble upon a nasty roadblock, people will always be there to laugh and criticize your actions. Many people let this outside influence stop them from continuing their dreams.

 

 

That’s a deadly mistake you want to avoid at all costs. Sometimes, you have to embark on a vision that only you can see. If others saw it too, they’d be creating a journey of their own. Always listen to what others have to say, but take it with a grain of salt. Make your own decisions and follow your own path in life.

 

 

Conclusion

 

Finding success in this world requires a lot of determination and grit. In this article, I shared 5 beliefs of people who refuse to quit.

 

 

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10 Tips For Bringing Out The Winner In You

I share 10 tips for bringing out the winner in you in this article. Success in anything requires you to develop specific characteristics, which are shared in this post.

 

No matter what you do in life, you want to win. There is no better feeling in the world knowing that you worked hard and were able to win as a result of your actions.

 

 

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always loved winning. I’ve been competitive at everything I do with the goal of winning. It doesn’t always happen, but when it does, there is no better feeling in the world.

 

 

Many people lack certain characteristics that other winners embrace. In this article, I share 10 tips for bringing out the winner in you:

 

 

1. Conquer Yourself

 

Before you can win, you need to develop a winning mindset. Many people fail to win because they hold themselves back from achieving amazing results. You have to conquer your own thoughts or lack of thoughts. Stop focusing on all the negative outcomes mentally and encourage yourself to achieve.

 

 

2. Eliminate The Negative

 

If you have negative habits or surroundings that are holding you back from winning, you need to put your big boy/girl pants on and remove them from your life. Our surroundings influence our decisions, mindsets and income. By putting yourself around a positive environment, you better your chances of winning.

 

 

3. Play Fearlessly

 

If you have doubts or fears, you will stop yourself from succeeding. Whether you’re playing a sport or running a business, you have to be fearless with your decisions. Do not have regrets and do what is absolutely best for the situation at hand. Sometimes you have to take a risk to win it all.

 

 

4. Face The Fiercest Competition 

 

When I was growing up, I used to play a lot of competitive basketball. I didn’t look forward to playing the teams at the bottom of our divisions, but rather the ones who were at the top. I embrace the challenge of playing the best. To truly improve and consider yourself a winner, you need to take down the best competition.

 

 

5. Take Responsibility 

 

Winners are accountable for their own mistakes. You cannot play the blame game and expect to succeed in life. If you’re trying to be successful, take responsibility when things don’t go as planned. People will respect you and you will be looked at as a winner in the eyes of others.

 

 

6. Get Help

 

Kobe Bryant has won 5 NBA championships and he is one of the greatest examples of a winner I have ever seen. Given all the greatness that he has already achieved, he is always reaching out to other successful people asking for help. If you want to be a winner, keep improving your strengths and getting help from other individuals successful at their craft.

 

 

7. Keep Emotions Out of It 

 

Winners don’t let emotions affect their decisions. Emotions can get in the way and cause you to make rash decisions. To be a true winner, you have to separate your emotions from what is at hand. That is when you can truly achieve the results you desire even when times get tough.

 

 

8. They Don’t Give Up

 

You’ll always be losing if you give up. You have to learn from your mistakes and failures without giving up. Embrace failure, learn your lessons and get back up. Winners push through the bad times until they reach the good times. Life and success is all about persistence.

 

 

9. They Are Courageous

 

You have to be brave and willing to take on the world when nobody else believes in you. Winners are successful because they are extremely courageous. They are fearless and willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish their goals. This is a mindset that takes years to develop, but this is a key to becoming a winner in the long run.

 

 

10. They Play The Game

 

You can’t expect to win or be successful unless you’re willing to play the game. You have to be a part of the action in order to earn or win. The world is filled with too many people who ‘want’ to do something, but very few people actually take the time to do it.

 

 

Conclusion

 

In this article, I shared 10 tips for bringing out the winner in you. What are some characteristics that have helped you become a winner?

 

 

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7 Things That Don’t Come With Your College Degree

From my personal experiences in the classroom and talking to others, I quickly realized that college wasn’t as important as many claimed. ‘t this article, I share 7 things that don’t come with your college degree.

 

I went to college for about 5 semesters before realizing that it wasn’t for me. It quickly became evident that I didn’t need a fancy college degree to be successful in life.

 

 

Turns out, many other massively successful individuals seemed to agree with me. From my discussions with them, they all refer to college degrees as just another educational tool. However, nobody attributes their college degree to massive success.

 

 

In this article, I’m going to share 7 things that don’t come with your college degree:

 

 

1. A Job

 

When we first enter college, many of us have this belief that as long as we get a degree, we will be entitled to any job we want. As the years go by, our hopes and expectations become far more realistic.

 

 

I know many friends who have graduated with amazing degrees from schools such as USC, UCLA and Stanford. However, these people haven’t found a job that even applies to their field of study during college. Instead, they’re working a basic job that pays minimum wage.

 

 

2. The Ability To Sell

 

Far too many people don’t realize how important of a skill selling is when they are in college. Upon graduation, they realize that their whole life is essentially a sales pitch. Whether they want that next job or new client, they have to find a way to sell themselves.

 

 

You’re not going to learn to sell in college. It’s really unfortunate considering that sales is a crucial skill to have. The better you learn to sell, the better your chances of succeeding upon graduation are.

 

 

3. Professional Experience

 

College is almost all about memorization and very little about implementation. The real world on the other hand acts in a very different way. It’s about what you can do more than what you know.

 

 

When you get out of college with your degree, it’s hard to get that job or start that successful business because you’ve been so accustomed to memorizing what you have been told. Applying what you know is a lot harder than most think.

 

 

4. An Education For A Whole Life

 

When I was younger, I always thought that as soon as someone graduates from college, they don’t need to learn anymore. However, I know today that you can never stop learning and adapting to be successful.

 

 

Your college education isn’t a finale of all the learning you need to do in your life. If anything, it’s a starting point. After graduating, you need to continue educating yourself on a regular basis.

 

 

5. Ambition

 

Ambition is something that you just can’t teach. If you’re in an industry or space that you’re truly passionate about, your passion will guide you.

 

 

Colleges don’t teach you how to be motivated or ambitious in your craft. It’s really about finding something you love and using that fire inside of you to carry out your goals. You need to develop a strong sense of ambition to be successful in the real world.

 

 

6. Lots of Wealth

 

Just because the median person with your degree makes $95,000 a year does NOT mean that you will achieve the same results. Numerous variables and factors play into ones success upon graduation from college.

 

 

In order to obtain lots of wealth, you have to be driven and very persistent. You have to do something others in a specific industry aren’t doing and you have to do it really well.

 

 

7. Happiness

 

I hear too many stories from people who thought life would be amazing if they got that college degree who are absolutely miserable afterwards. A college degree doesn’t guarantee happiness.

 

 

Before you pursue a specific concentration or point of study, make sure you actually like it.  Don’t focus on the money. Focus on your passion. If you love what you do, money will not be an object.

 

 

Conclusion

 

In this article, I discussed 7 things that don’t come with your college degree. Feel free to share your thoughts and opinions down in the comments section below.

 

 

photo credit: dr.snitch via photopin cc

 

7 Social Media Mistakes You Don’t Want To Make

From my own experiences and working with other businesses, I quickly realized that a lot of people make silly mistakes through social media on a regular basis. In this article, I discuss 7 social media mistakes you don’t want to make.

 

Social media is an amazing platform that is used by lots of people. However, many people misuse social media because they make silly mistakes. As a result of these mistakes, the conversions tend to suffer.

 

 

Social media was something I always understood. I was just really lucky to have grown up with technology and social media the way I did. The social media boom took place as soon as I really understood using the internet.

 

 

Kids nowadays understand technology even better. A survey recently showed that more kids knew how to use an iPad than they knew how to tie their own shoes. Times are changing.

 

 

In this article, I discuss 7 social media mistakes you don’t want to make:

 

 

1. Doing ‘Social Media’

 

Social media should be used to humanize your brand or services. However, too many people label social media as a marketing job. When you try to ‘do’ social media, you find it hard to get results. However, if you spend that time being social like you would in real life, social media can provide you amazing results.

 

 

2. Trying To Be Active Everywhere

 

Unless you’re a massive corporation, you don’t have any reason to be active on all of the social media platforms. You would rather do really well and convert on a few platforms than do poorly on all the platforms. For me, I found out Twitter, Facebook & Instagram were the best channels. I’ve stuck to those channels for my professional offerings.

 

 

3. Diving In Without A Plan

 

Before you dive into a social network, you really need to understand a few things. Ask yourself who your target audience is, why this is a good platform to find them and how you plan to reach them appropriately. If you’re not able to find a good answer to all three of these questions, your social media campaign will NOT be successful.

 

 

4. Inconsistent Brands From Platform To Platform

 

This was a mistake I made early on as well. Unless you’re trying to run conversion tests, you shouldn’t have different profile pictures, about me’s, links, and other information on different social media platforms. Your brand should NOT be inconsistent through different social networks. Be consistent!

 

 

5. Don’t Abuse Hashtags 

 

Hashtags are useful for two things when sending out posts. You can be funny with it or you can summarize a few topics that your post covers. However, there are too many people that make a post like the one below:

 

“50% off pizza at our store today. #Pizza #Deals #California #Marketing #Corporate #Swag #TBT”

 

Nothing pisses me off more than to see a post like this. What does your pizza deal have to do with corporate, swag, or throwback thursday? Absolutely nothing. These types of posts will quickly cheapen your brand and have you looking foolish. Avoid it at all costs.

 

 

6. Lacking Call To Actions In Post

 

You need to create a funnel out of your social media platforms. Each time a new visitor comes to your profile, you should have some sort of pre-created funnel to convert that user. Mine is pretty simple as shown below:

 

Read biography –> Click website link –> Array of ways to convert through my site

 

Not only that, but you should have a conversion funnel for each of your posts. Many people make great posts, but leave out a call to action causing them to lose out on a lot of potential opportunities.

 

 

7. Ignoring Negativity

 

On social media, people feel like they can say just about anything to you because they’re hiding behind the keys of a message board. However, as an organization, you cannot ignore rude or negative comments. I get negative comments all the time through social media. Instead of hiding or running from it, I tackle it head on. I find a clever way to tackle the comments.

 

 

Conclusion

 

Social media is something that requires a lot of patience, practice and persistence. If you manage to balance those 3 things, you’ll eventually be successful. In this article, I discussed 7 social media mistakes you don’t want to make.

 

 

photo credit: courosa via photopin cc