Category: Uncategorized

How To Master Things In Less Than 10,000 Hours

In the last few years, Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 hour rule has been popularized. In this article, I share how to master things in less than 10,000 hours.

 

Achieving greatness can be done on many different levels. One of the most recent methods of mastering a skill is known as the 10,000 hour rule that has been popularized by Malcolm Gladwell.

 

 

10,000 hours is equivalent to just about 417 days, but nobody can spend 24 hours a day mastering a skill. Realistically, it would take you anywhere from 3-4 years to master a skill with the 10,000 hour rule (assuming you spend 8-10 hours a day on it).

 

 

However, 3-4 years seems to be a pretty long time to master something. I might just be saying that since I’m young, but I’d want to master something within 6-12 months.

 

 

While I’ve been able to accomplish quite a bit in my life thus far, I only really dived into entrepreneurship about 3 1/2 years ago. Considering that entrepreneurship is a lifestyle, I can say that I probably spend anywhere from 12-16 hours a day on it.

 

 

However, I started seeing some waves of success after about 1 year. While I was in no way a master nor am I today, I feel like you can achieve quite a bit without the 10,000 hour rule.

 

 

In this article, I’m going to share tips on how to master things in less than 10,000 hours:

 

 

1. Shorten The Learning Curve

 

Before we can master something, we must learn new things along the way. From the foundations to the advanced techniques, we have to be familiar with the way things work before we can execute them.

 

 

A few simple ways to shorten the learning curve can include finding a mentor or surrounding yourself with others who are trying to master the same skills. Regardless of what your skill is, having a mentor (someone who has mastered it) can be extremely helpful in finding your own success.

 

 

Not only that, but creating a group of other like-minded individuals striving to achieve the same things is a great way to shorten your learning curve. You can share the lessons you learn and hear about the discoveries others make helping you with your journey.

 

 

2. Set Stricter Deadlines

 

Ever since the release of Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 hour rule, everyone automatically assumes it will take them that long to master something. In school, my teachers would give me projects or essays that were due 3 weeks later.

 

 

Truthfully, I didn’t need 3 weeks to finish that essay. I could finish it in 1 night (which is what I usually did), but my teachers still didn’t see my paper until the 3rd week. Why? Because my deadline was so far away.

 

 

When you think it will take you 10,000 hours to master a skill, your brain automatically starts to progress and digest it at that pace. If you push yourself to master a skill in 3 months instead, you’ll be surprised how much farther along you will be.

 

 

3. Practice How You Would Perform

 

If you want to master something, you must perfect the way you practice. Something that takes 10,000 hours to learn can take 1,000 hours instead if you maximize your time practicing it.

 

 

I’ve always been a strong believer of working smarter, not harder. Many companies are fixated on keeping their employees in the office for 8 hours a day regardless of what their results are. However, I don’t care how much time you spend in the office.

 

 

I care about the results you provide. I give you a task and expect it done. I could care less if it took the person 8 hours or 30 minutes to finish it as long as it’s done right. Regardless of what your skill is, practice how you would expect to perform it.

 

 

4. Nail Down The Basics

 

Regardless of what you’re trying to master, there are some foundational basics that must be perfected. Whether you’re trying to learn to play a ukelele or race cars, there are some fundamental things you must know.

 

 

Instead of worrying about the product, focus on the process. My basketball coach always told me that I had to learn to shoot the ball right before I could make it. My friends were making more shots, but their form was wrong. Guess who didn’t make the basketball team?

 

 

Form, function and processes are extremely important in the early stages. The more you practice those things, the quicker you’ll be able to master the skills necessary to develop amazing finished products.

 

 

5. Enjoy It

 

Even if I had spent 10,000 hours learning to be a good student, I wouldn’t be one just because I didn’t enjoy it. When it came to starting and running a business, I mastered it a lot faster simply because I was passionate about it.

 

 

Regardless of what you’re trying to master, make sure that you’re passionate to do so. Many studies have shown over the years that the brain is more adaptive to learning new things when it is happy doing something.

 

 

Happiness has a direct correlation with mastering skills. If you enjoy it, you will find yourself mastering it quicker than you would if you didn’t.

 

 

Conclusion

 

Regardless of what you plan to master, try using these tips mentioned above to learn something new in less than 10,000 hours.

 

 

photo credit: Marco Gomes via photopin cc

10 Habits That Lead To Success

In this article, I share my 10 habits that lead to success. By working on these habits, your chances of success dramatically increase.

 

Regardless of whether you’re an entrepreneur, artist, athlete, or something else, success is something most people chase. I found out quickly as an entrepreneur that you had to follow some basic habits to eventually find success.

 

 

While these habits take time to develop, they can be a vital tool that can help you throughout your life. In this article, I’m going to share 10 habits that lead to success:

 

 

1. Fear Nothing

 

It’s okay to be fearful of things, but it’s not okay to let fear run your world. When I started out as an entrepreneur in high school, I was terrified of what people in the business world would think of me.

 

 

I was so scared that I never met with people in real life and tried running my business completely online. I could charge thousands of dollars more, but I let fear stop me. I quickly overcame my fear and tackled the business world head on, which allowed me to grow my business to 15+ employees and sell it years later.

 

 

2. Failure Isn’t Final 

 

Failure stops so many people. It’s a sad, but true fact. I quickly learned that I can only fail when I refuse to get back up. Failure is actually an amazing thing and you should embrace it.

 

 

Learn from your failures and keep trying. You’re only a failure if you refuse to get back up when you fall down. Failure doesn’t define you OR your business, it’s just an event (something that happens).

 

 

3. Accept Positivity & Negativity Equally

 

If you only heard good things about yourself, you wouldn’t know how to potentially improve. In order to be successful, you need to be willing to hear the bad things people have to say about yourself so that you can fix them.

 

 

Don’t get upset when people are critical of you, but rather embrace it just like you would if someone said something positive. Growth is continuous and criticism can help you develop.

 

 

4. Never Say Never

 

Pessimistic people don’t do very well in the world. Regardless of what you’re trying to achieve, never assume it’s impossible.

 

 

I learned early on that impossibilities don’t exist in the real world, but only in our minds. What we believe is what we achieve so you should be careful how you think of things.

 

 

5. Be A Leader, Not A Dictator

 

Dictators command people to do things. Leaders give people reason to do things. If you can lead people, you will be successful.

 

 

Managing people isn’t a skill, it’s an art. The quicker you’re able to master that art, the more successful you will be. Regardless of what you do, communicating and managing people are going to be crucial to your success.

 

 

6. Dumb Questions Don’t Exist

 

The power of asking is unbelievable. The other day I was at one of my favorite restaurants where I was chatting with the manager who knows me very well. After telling me how loyal of a customer I am, I jokingly asked him for a discount on my takeout order.

 

 

Without any hesitation, he gave me my order for FREE. I was completely joking, but it showed me the power of asking. Regardless of what you do, ask everything that comes to mind so that you can learn and enjoy.

 

 

7. Be Weary of Satisfaction

 

99% of people don’t follow this rule and consequently the wealthiest class in the world consists of 1% of the population. Satisfaction is extremely dangerous.

 

 

Many of us have dreams of winning championships or making millions of dollars, but we stop too soon. We get satisfied with winning a few regular season games or making thousands of dollars a month. Never be satisfied with just ‘good enough’.

 

 

8. Don’t Back Down From Challenges

 

I’ve been given the opportunity to do a TED talk which I will be presenting to a live audience on Saturday. This was one of the hardest challenges I have ever taken on.

 

 

Many speakers that were set to speak got cut, but thankfully I wasn’t. This was a challenge for me and everyone knew it, but I wasn’t going to give up until I accomplished it. Being a ‘regular speaker’, it was very hard for me to transition into the rigid rules of TED.

 

 

9. Visualize Your Definition of Success Every Morning

 

What is success to you? We all have our definitions, but it’s very important to have a clear visualization of what success truly means to us.

 

 

Once you have that definition, find a way to visualize it every single morning. The moment I wake up from my bed, I have a white board with my goals and definitions of success right in front of me. This gives me a reminder of what I’m working for while motivating me every morning!

 

 

10. Be The Best You

 

Don’t change to make society happy. Be the best you that you POSSIBLY can be. You’re truly special and by staying true to yourself, you can do tremendous things.

 

 

From someone who wanted to be just like others growing up, I quickly realized that there is no better feeling than knowing that you are different from others. Embrace your uniqueness and be true to who you really are.

 

 

Conclusion

 

In this article, I shared 10 habits that lead to success. By implementing some of these habits into your daily life, you can get one step closer to achieving your dreams.

 

 

photo credit: Paxson Woelber via photopin cc

5 Reasons Why Starting A Business In Your Twenties Is The Best Time

In this article, I share 5 reasons why starting a business in your twenties is the best time. From my own experiences and learning, I have realized that we have the best potential situation in those years.

 

Most people think of me as an entrepreneur who started really early since I was still in high school when I launched my first business. However, I look back and wish I had only started earlier, but who doesn’t?

 

 

However, I have quickly realized that there is a really good time to start a business. That magical time is in your twenties. In this article, I’ll share 5 reasons why starting a business in your twenties is the best time:

 

 

1. You’re In Your Prime

 

Just like athletes are in their prime during their mid 20’s, you are too. You have the most energy and motivation to hustle, which are crucial skills required to succeed as an entrepreneur.

 

 

Twenty somethings are typically finding out their purpose at this age. Best of all, they’re the most willing to take risks and love to act fast on their dreams. Those are some great characteristics for someone trying to start a successful business.

 

 

2. Life Doesn’t Get Any Cheaper

 

Unless you’re drowning in college debt, this is as cheap as life will get. If you’re still lucky enough to be living at home, your expenses are very minimal.

 

 

Starting a business doesn’t necessarily mean you will start getting paychecks early on. It usually means that you’ll be making very little money with hopes of creating something bigger. The great thing about starting young is that you have very little expenses giving you the opportunity to focus solely on your business.

 

 

3. Retirement Feels A Lot Better At 30

 

If you can start a business at an early age, that’s great. If you can make enough money to retire yourself at a young age, that’s ideal. By starting a business in your twenties, you give yourself the opportunity to retire at a young age.

 

 

Ask anyone who is above the age of 30 and they will tell you how envious they are of people who get to retire young. Retirement doesn’t necessarily mean that you don’t work, it just means that you don’t need to make a certain amount of money to survive. Best of all, you can follow your passions upon retirement.

 

 

4. You Can Reset Everything

 

When you’re young, you have the ability to scratch everything and call it a learning experience. However, as you get older it becomes a lot harder to do that.

 

 

If all does go wrong with your business venture and you decide to pursue something else in life, it’s a lot easier to hit the reset button in your twenties. You probably don’t have a family and too much working experience under your belt, which means you can literally pursue just about anything else.

 

 

5. Age Is Just A Number

 

You don’t need a fancy degree, experience or a lot of money to create a successful business. No matter what your passion is, always remember that age is just a number and it doesn’t define who you can become.

 

 

Take it from someone who started at the age of 17, if you have a dream pursue it as soon as you can. There is no better time to start than today. As a twenty something, if you’re having the thoughts of becoming an entrepreneur, you’ll never know how successful you can be without trying.

 

 

Conclusion

 

In this article, I shared 5 reasons why starting a business in your twenties is the best time. If you are younger or older than that, just remember that there is no better time to start than now!
Note: If you’re starting a business and need help, feel free to check out my best-selling course with over 2,800 students on how to start a business.

 

 

photo credit: Stuck in Customs via photopin cc

5 Hacks For Achieving Inbox Zero

Achieving inbox zero is a struggle many entrepreneurs face. It’s something I’ve dealt with for years, but in this article I share 5 hacks for achieving inbox zero.

 

If you’ve ever sent me an email, you probably think I’m some sort of fiend because I typically respond very quickly. The truth is, I have over 15 email boxes that I manage just on my phone.

 

 

On any given morning, I get anywhere from 150 to 500 new emails. This morning was kind to me since I only woke up with 183 unread emails.

 

 

However, as the day goes along, the number of emails I get only seems to increase. On any typical 24 hour period, I can get anywhere from 1,000 to 2,000 new emails. That’s a lot of emails to read and reply to.

 

 

A few months ago, I was having nightmares because I would go to sleep with hundreds of emails. I’m the type of person who would go insane if I had emails unread and somehow it would result in me stressing out.

 

 

After a few stressful nights, I figured out 5 hacks for achieving inbox zero:

 

 

1. Remove Yourself From Unnecessary Mailing Lists

 

When I broke down my email box, I realized 10% of the emails that were coming into my inbox were really spam. I was either on mailing lists I didn’t care about or my spam filter wasn’t doing such a great job.

 

 

I took the time out to remove myself from the mailing lists I really didn’t want to be apart of. I found out that many of those mailing lists actually emailed me every single day. This instantly cut down the number of emails I had to check by over 10%.

 

 

2. Create Reply Templates

 

I found out that I get many emails from people asking the same things. Instead of typing out my responses individually for every email, I started creating templates of email replies. I still read the emails I get and make small adjustments to my template, but I save a ton of time by creating these templates.

 

 

Create pre-written templates for emails and save them on a Word Document. As the need arises, use each one by simply copying & pasting the message in your email client. This has saved me a LOT of time.

 

 

3. Don’t Reply Unless You Must 

 

I’ve always been the type of person that has to end the conversation. I realized I was spending unnecessary time replying to emails that really didn’t need a reply.

 

 

Even though the conversation had essentially ended, I still wanted to close it out with a “Thank you, talk soon” or an “Awesome, sounds good”. However, those replies are really pointless. They waste my time as well as the person who has to spend those 30-60 seconds reading it.

 

 

4. Check Your Emails Throughout The Day

 

This probably goes against conventional wisdom, but it’s worked well for me. I used to check my emails 2 or 3 times throughout the day. However, I started checking my emails almost every 30-60 minutes and found that it was helping me stay sane.

 

 

When I checked my emails 2 or 3 times a day, I was dealing with hundreds of emails at a time. Instead, by checking my emails every 30-60 minutes, I only have to deal with 20-30 emails each time I check my inbox. It might be easier to achieve inbox zero by checking your emails more often.

 

 

5. The 2-Minute Rule

 

I also developed a 2-minute rule I started using vigorously with my emails. I had to read and take action on every email within 2 minutes. After 2 minutes, regardless of what was done, I had to stop and move on to the next email.

 

 

In the beginning, it was very hard. I gave people really shitty replies or ended up not being able to sum up my thoughts. As time went along, I refused to take more than 2 minutes to reply to emails. I started noticing the difference right away. I was adapting to my time crunch while I was getting through way more emails.

 

 

Conclusion

 

Achieving inbox zero is a struggle many entrepreneurs face. It’s something I’ve dealt with for years, but the solutions mentioned above have helped me sleep better at night by going to bed with an empty inbox.

 

Social Media Psychology: How To Create Content People Share

I quickly learned from marketing early on that you can bring more traffic in two ways. You can spend more money or you can find a way to get your existing traffic to tell more of their friends. In this article, I share social media psychology tricks and how to get people share your content.

 

As I’ve learned more and more about marketing, I quickly noted that the quickest way to scale your marketing plan is through your existing users/customers. What if you could bring 1 person to the site who would then bring 3 of his/her friends?

 

 

That would increase the power of your marketing campaign by 3 because you now have the ability to bring 3x as much traffic as you did before. I quickly learned that pouring more money into online marketing wasn’t the answer to getting more traffic.

 

 

Sure you can get more traffic that way, but you pay way more than you should. I learned that you need to create content and material that will prompt others to share, talk about with their friends and eventually refer to their social circles.

 

 

In this article, I’m going to discuss the 5 reasons why people share content so you can learn how to create content people share:

 

 

1. Boost My Ego 

 

Social media has turned into a game these last few years. Your reputation can thrive or die on social media solely based on the things you post on your feed. Thus, more and more people are becoming careful on the types of things they do post.

 

 

If you can help people feel special or gain the respect of their peers by posting something, they will be glad to do it. Not only that, but they will tell all their friends and boast about it to get more of a reputation boost.

 

 

What can you do to your content or material that will promote your brand while simultaneously giving others a boost in their authority? This is one of the best ways to get people to share your content because they get a huge benefit out of it.

 

 

2. Boost My Humor

 

People absolutely love to share things they find funny. Not only that, but they love to share humorous content through social media channels because they hope that their friends will find it funny as well.

 

 

Some of the most popular videos on Vine or images on Instagram have received millions of hits. Why? They were simply so funny that people had to share it with others and it had people talking about them afterwards.

 

 

If you can find a way to create content that is humorous to your audience, they will inevitably share it with others. Give people a laugh and create entertaining content that they will be itching to share.

 

 

3. Boost My Intelligence

 

Another reason why people share is to show others how intelligent they really are. If you can make me feel intelligent, interesting or both, I’m more likely to share your content.

 

 

If you have a stunning fact or some thought provoking material that allows me to provide some insight on, I would love to share that through social media. It will not only make me look intelligent for starting a discussion on this topic, but it will get people talking about your content.

 

 

When the government shut down the other night, there were posts all over my social media feeds about it. Everyone thought that they were the first one to post about it and each person was trying to post unique remarks about it.

 

 

4. Boost My Sweetness

 

Another reason why people share is when they feel like they are a better person for sharing something through social media. A while ago, there was a campaign (where there were many reports of it being fake) known as KONY 2012.

 

 

Millions of people shared this campaign simply because they wanted to feel sweet and that they were making a difference. The campaign went viral in just a few nights and people found out weeks later that it was possibly fake.

 

 

If you can do something with your content or material to make people feel like they’re doing something meaningful, people will share it. You have to make sure that somehow through someone else sharing your content, they will look like they are a better person.

 

 

5. Boost My Wallet

 

The only other proven reason why people are willing to share content through their social media channels is if they are directly rewarded for their effort. Often times, businesses have run sweepstakes, giveaways and other contests to promote sharing.

 

 

If you really want to make your content and materials go viral, you can try incentivizing your audience to share. Give them an entry into a big sweepstakes or give them a small reward for taking the time to share it.

 

 

One of the most successful social media campaigns I ran for a client of mine a few years ago involved incentivizing users. Each time a user shared his products, they received a FREE bottle of cologne with their next purchase on his site. This campaign generated over 1,950 shares in 30 days and quadrupled his sales for the month.

 

 

Conclusion

 

Forcing people to share your content or material will never work. You must understand the social media psychology or the mindset behind the user that prompts them to share. If you can make people feel one of the five benefits mentioned above, you will instantly create content that people will want to share. 

 

 

photo credit: kdonovangaddy via photopin cc

 

5 Sacrifices You Must Make As An Entrepreneur

When I first started out as an entrepreneur, I had no idea how many sacrifices I really had to make if I wanted to be successful. In this article, I’m going to share 5 sacrifices you must make as an entrepreneur.

 

Entrepreneurship is one of the toughest challenges anyone can undertake. Anything worthwhile usually requires great sacrifice and entrepreneurship is definitely one of those things.

 

 

When I started my journey as an entrepreneur, I wasn’t aware of the sacrifices I would soon have to make. However, the sacrifices were well worth it because I found my purpose in life thanks to it.

 

 

In this article, I’m going to share 5 sacrifices you must make as an entrepreneur:

 

 

1. Paychecks

 

For some reason, people assume all entrepreneurs are wealthy and living the life. However, most people only see the stories of successful entrepreneurs but don’t get a glimpse into their journey.

 

 

Entrepreneurs have it tough. You start out by working harder than any ‘typical job’ and often times you don’t get compensated at all for it. As an entrepreneur, your business comes first.

 

 

If you want to be successful as an entrepreneur, you may have to sacrifice a paycheck for months at a time. Even worst, there is no guarantee that you will ever get paid and entrepreneurs must be willing to sacrifice a paycheck with hopes of building something big.

 

 

2. Social Life 

 

Many studies over the years have proven that the people you surround yourself with have the largest impact on who you become and how much money you make. As an entrepreneur, we all have people around us who aren’t necessarily the greatest influences in our lives.

 

 

If you want to be successful as an entrepreneur, you have to sacrifice going out with your friends every night or being with people who don’t have a similar mindset as you.

 

 

Entrepreneurs definitely deserve to party hard, but everything must be rationed. If you want to be more than mediocre, you have to make decisions others aren’t willing to make.

 

 

3. Sleep

 

Do you enjoy sleeping 8-10 hours every night? Well, I do too but as soon as I became an entrepreneur my sleeping schedule became messy.

 

 

I was lucky to be sleeping 8 hours especially since I was balancing school and my businesses when I first started. Nowadays, I get a bit closer to 8 hours but my sleeping schedule is still erratic.

 

 

You have to maintain your health, but starting a business requires a lot of WORK. I am literally glued to my computer all day long and probably spend 12-16 hours a day on it.

 

 

4. Comfort

 

If you love to be comfortable, entrepreneurship is going to be tough. Being an entrepreneur is like jumping on a never-ending roller coaster that is filled with surprises at every corner.

 

 

You must be willing to put yourself into uncomfortable situations to come out with extraordinary solutions. As an entrepreneur, you’re going to have to do a little bit of everything.

 

 

Whether it’s sales, product development, marketing, customer service, or something else, you’re always going to be doing something new. Often times, it’s extremely uncomfortable to be doing something you haven’t done before but it’s a sacrifice you must make to be successful.

 

 

5. Yourself 

 

A lesson I learned a bit later on in my entrepreneurial journey was that my business comes first, even before me. Instead of making the best decision for myself, I quickly realized that I had to make the best decisions for my business.

 

 

If you have a big ego or have a hard time putting other things in front of yourself, entrepreneurship may not be for you. You have to be willing to make the best decision for your business even if it’s not always favorable to your personal needs.

 

 

Conclusion

 

In this article, I shared 5 sacrifices you must make as an entrepreneur. If you truly wish to build a successful business, you have to make these sacrifices at some point.

 

 

 

5 Freelancers Every Startup Business Needs

In this article, I share 5 freelancers every startup business needs and where you can find them easily. Freelancers are an effective way to get things done without spending a ton of money.

 

Freelancers and/or independent contractors have been a lifesaver for my businesses over the last few years. I quickly realized that professionals can help you with a ton of different work, but it’s very costly to keep them on your payroll.

 

 

The next best solution I could find was a freelancer. A freelancer is someone by definition who does projects with many different people, essentially they’re not tied down to any one person or organization.

 

 

Freelancers take projects as they come and are free to go once they’re finished. In this article, I’m going to share the 5 freelancers ever startup business needs and where you can find them:

 

 

1. Designer

 

We’re in the year 2013. Design rules the world. If it looks like shit, people aren’t going to be drawn to your product, service, website, app, or whatever it is that you want people to visit.

 

 

I learned early on that you need a designer literally for everything. I hired freelancers designers to design mobile applications, websites, flyers, press releases, banners, proposals, and just about anything that was important.

 

 

I found my best designers in two ways. I started by reaching out to local art schools in the area and asked the professors in these schools to help me recruit a designer. It turned out that these kids really had an eye for design.

 

 

The second way I found designers was through Elance. The great part about Elance was that I could check out the portfolio of each of the designers so that I would have a really good understanding of the types of design skills each person had.

 

 

No matter what your business does, it’s crucial to have a designer close by that can help you get things done professionally before you push it out to the public.

 

 

2. Writer

 

While most people can write their own stuff, I found that it’s not worth my time or any founders time. If you’re running a business, you want to focus on the most important metrics and duties in your startup.

 

 

Writing blog articles for your startup isn’t necessarily the best use of your time, especially when you can outsource it to freelancers. For all my company blogs, I’ve always outsourced the writing to freelancers since it wasn’t worth my time.

 

 

Don’t worry, I actually write my OWN blog posts. I’m going to share two ways to find great writing freelancers.

 

 

Look at other websites or publications in your space and figure out who’s doing the writing for them. Typically, writers are passionate about a certain genre and are always looking for more gigs.

 

 

Single out these people and ask them if they’d be interested in freelancing for you. The second way I found writers was by posting internships at colleges to journalism majors and I was able to find a ton of amazing writers!

 

 

3. The Busy Bee

 

I look at this freelancer as a really skilled virtual assistant that offers their services only when you need it. When you run a business, tons of different tasks come up that aren’t often worth your time.
Instead of spending time doing it, you should really consider outsourcing it to someone who can do simple tasks. These individuals have probably saved me tons of tedious hours of work thanks to their service.

 

 

I don’t know why, but stay at home moms have been the BEST at these jobs. These jobs don’t necessarily require someone to work in your office, but usually require an eye for detail. From my experience, stay at home moms have been simply amazing at doing data entry, bookkeeping and other simple tasks.

 

 

4. The Consultant

 

Startups are a really long roller coaster that never ends. You have your highs, your lows and everything else in between.

 

 

It’s always great to have a freelance consultant who is experienced and knowledgeable about your business. If you ever hit a roadblock or need someone to help you move your business to the next level, you should call your freelance consultant.

 

 

When trying to find a freelance consultant, I used two ways to find them in the past. I would look for people in my industry who have been able to achieve immense success (people I looked up to) and recruited them to be a consultant for my business.

 

 

I also spent a lot of time networking at meet-ups, conferences and other local events where I had the opportunity to connect with some really intelligent people.

 

 

5. Media Master

 

With technology growing every day, it’s always good to have a media expert who wants to freelance for your business. I’ve had to use media freelancers to take photographs, build out explainer videos, social media campaigns, and other tech-related things.

 

 

In your startup, you’ll be presented with tons of different opportunities. Often times, these opportunities will be worthwhile but will require some sort of technology that you can’t easily access.

 

 

In times like this, a media freelancer is very crucial. I found my go to guy for media related jobs through Fiverr. If you’re looking for videos and virtual things, Fiverr is a great source for finding talent. If you’re looking for something more local, you can try the search engines to find some skilled freelancers in your area.

 

 

Conclusion

 

As you can see, a startup business often requires many different roles to be fulfilled. It’s not often possible to do them all yourself or to hire someone on a salary. Thus, hiring a freelancer is a great way to get things done without committing to anything long-term.

 

 

photo credit: See-ming Lee 李思明 SML via photopin cc

 

Pitch Perfect: 5 Tips For Pitching To Investors

In this article, guest blogger Eric Santos shares 5 tips for pitching to investors. If you want to make your pitch perfect, this article is a must-read to be get raise capital successfully.

 

This is a guest post by Eric Santos. 

 

 

You can say I have a little experience about pitching investors, as I raised a seed round of funding for my first start-up right out of college. I have pitched to a number of different types of investors and groups ranging from local small time angel investors all the way to successful venture capital investors.

 

 

I learned many lessons along the way, including things I did right when raising funding successfully from Angel Investors, and things I did wrong when failing to raise money from Venture Capital Investors. Regardless of the type of investors you are pitching too, or whether you are asking for a hundred dollars or a million dollars, there are some fundamental lessons of pitching that are pretty much universal for any scenario.

 

 

I would like to share with 5 tips for pitching to investors.

 

 

Paint a picture

 

The best way to start a pitch is to begin with the problem your product solves. If done correctly, this is a great way to get the investors interested even before you start speaking about your product, especially if they can relate to the problem.

 

 

When speaking about the problem, it’s best to give a real world example or scenario that the investors can relate too. Paint a picture and tell a story about how a customer is experiencing a certain pain, and then go on to illustrate how your product alleviates this pain. You will have on average about 10 minutes to keep your investor’s attention during your presentation, so it’s very important that you start with a very compelling customer pain that captures their attention.

 

 

Be confident

 

Within the first 30 seconds of your pitch most investors can get a good read of how confident you are in your pitch, your company, and yourself. Investors like investing into confident people.

 

 

Confidence is usually a good indicator of competency and investors want to know the company they are about to invest their money in is ran by competent people. Displaying your confidence during your pitch also shows you have a great understanding of your business and market.

 

 

This lets the investor know not only is your concept great, but that you are the right person to execute it successfully. One of the easiest ways to develop this confidence while presenting is to learn your business inside and out, not necessarily just your presentation.

 

 

Brag when necessary

 

No one likes a bragger, but when you are the CEO of your company, sometimes a little bragging can become necessary. What I mean by bragging is, if you and your team do something exceptionally well, highlight this and bring it to the attention of your investors.

 

 

If you got a team full of bad asses that have 10 years of related experience, brag about it. If some of your users say that your app is the most used app in their phone, brag about it. It’s always better to say too many good things you’re doing than not enough. I learned this lesson first hand from talking to an investor who was judging a startup pitch competition I partook in (I didn’t win).

 

 

We talked casually after the competition and I told telling him about how strong our advisory board was and other things which I failed to mention in my presentation. He let me know I should have bragged about those things during my presentation as it could have strengthened my chances to win.

 

 

Know your technology

 

This tip is more applicable to the non-technical co-founders our there since it’s usually our jobs to deliver these types of presentations. You may not need to know how to write code, but you should definitely learn your product’s stack and technical aspects.

 

 

Become your product’s product manager. The more sophisticated the investor, the most sophisticated their questions. So although they may ask you a business question such as your cost per acquisition, they also make ask what modules you are using and why you choose those specific ones.

 

 

This is also applicable if you are giving a demo of your product during your presentation. Your product may still be rough and in its early stages, but if you know everything about your product, you should be able to know how to deliver a demo that highlights your product’s strengths and smooth out its rough areas.

 

 

Numbers talk

 

The most important advice I can give is that numbers talk, and if you’re lucky enough to be generating revenue, money talks. Investors love metrics. When I am talking about metrics, I am talking about email signups, visitors, active users, growth rates, customers, revenue, numbers of followers on twitter, etc.

 

 

The more metrics you can provide the better. Even if you only have 100 users but the majority of them use your app every day, this metric shows that people find real value in your application. Regardless if you’re product isn’t developed and you have no users, you should already began marketing your product and have an email list of individuals who will sign up once you launch.

 

 

It’s not uncommon for startups to get a couple of hundred to a thousand email signups even before their prototype is finished. When you have metrics and growth rates to reference, it’s much easier creating accurate growth and financial projections for your presentation.

 

 

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Author Biography: Eric Santos is a blogger, social media guru, and entrepreneur. Eric is the co-founder and Business Guy at WishBooklet, a gift crowdfunding web-app that makes getting the gifts you really want easy. Eric is the current CEO of Dwibbles and former founder and CEO of Soshowise Inc. Eric received a B.S in Entrepreneurship from CSUF.

Hustlin’ 101: An Entrepreneur’s Guide To Getting What They Need

The word hustle is used in so many positive and negative situations. In entrepreneurship, it’s all positive. In this article, I share tips and tricks on how to hustle and get what you need as an entrepreneur.

 

The word hustle is used commonly with a negative connotation. If you’ve ever watched television, you must have seen an episode where a nerdy guy enters a pool hall and pretends like he sucks.

 

 

Minutes later, he bets a large amount of money and suddenly has amazing talent. His opponent is furious because he’s been hustled. 

 

 

The word hustle in entrepreneurship doesn’t mean anything along those lines. Have you ever heard the word hustle used in sports? Example: Lebron James hustled to the loose ball as it went out of bounds.

 

 

Hustle in entrepreneurship is defined as doing what is necessary (legally) to get what you need so that your business can be successful. In this article, I’m going to share what hustling means and how entrepreneurs can hustle.

 

 

Outwork Everyone Else

 

If you really want to hustle, you have to outwork everyone else. While others are sleeping, you should be awake working relentlessly ensuring that your business is going to be successful.

 

 

The harder you work, the luckier you will get. If you’re trying to catch up to the competition, you don’t have a choice but to work harder and smarter than everyone else.

 

 

Embrace The Word ‘NO’

 

When I start out as an entrepreneur, I heard the word NO everywhere. I loved every minute of it because each rejection made me hungrier. A true hustler is one who keeps going until they get what they need, it’s real persistence.

 

 

Each time you receive a NO, figure out why you didn’t get what you needed. Go back to the drawing board making changes and try again. Whatever it is that you’re looking for, keep trying until you get it. You cannot let the word NO stop you.

 

 

Knock Down Doors

 

As an entrepreneur, you literally have to leverage every single resource you possibly have. If you need help from a family or friend, don’t shy away from asking them. If you need more business, start cold-calling.

 

 

You cannot be fearful of going into an uncomfortable environment. Entrepreneurship is all about doing the things you don’t to do to get the results you can’t wait to have. Hustlers aren’t scared of cold-calling, walking into an office to sell or to leverage their connections to move their business forward.

 

 

Think Outside The Box

 

If running a million-dollar business or becoming a successful entrepreneur was easy, everyone would be doing it. There’s a reason why only a select few people dare to try and only a small percentage of those people succeed.

 

 

It’s not easy. If you’re traditional methods aren’t working, change them. Growing up, my basketball coach would always tell me, “If your shot is broke, fix it.” In entrepreneurship, it translates to “If your shit is broken, fix it.”

 

 

Don’t be scared of change as an entrepreneur. Hustlers aren’t fearful of doing what it takes to be successful. Set a goal and promise yourself you will do everything possible to get there.

 

 

Get Help

 

Some of the best ideas that I have ever implemented in my businesses have come from talking to other people. Whether it’s someone I look up to in the industry or even my customers, they have a lot of insight to offer.

 

 

If you’re stuck with something in your business, get the opinions of others. I’m not saying that you should jump at the first words of advice you get, but you should keep an open mind to hear what others have to say.

 

 

Take all this feedback and decide whether or not this is something you thought of. If you haven’t, it never hurts to try and see if it solves your problem.

 

 

Drive To Succeed

 

What is your motivation to succeed? Is it just because you saw a beautiful car in a magazine you want or is it because you’re having trouble scraping up money for meals?

 

 

The driving force behind your success is extremely important. Find purpose. The stronger your purpose is, the harder you will be willing to hustle. Hustling as an entrepreneur really consists of three things.

 

 

Working hard, staying persistent and doing things others aren’t willing to do.

 

 

Conclusion

 

In entrepreneurship, you have to hustle. It’s really simple – disregard what others have to say and do whatever it takes to make your business successful.

 

 

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8 Things You Can Do Now To Change The World

Whether you help 1 person or millions, you are still creating value in the world. In this article, I share 8 things you can do now to change the world.

 

Believe it or not, you don’t have to necessarily impact millions of people every day to change the world. You can really do it on a small scale and that’s where you should start.

 

 

We hear more and more stories about how society is in a strong decline. Pollution, war, heinous crime, and other atrocities are always shown around us.

 

 

However, instead of thinking of all the bad that goes on in the world, we should focus on the good. How can we make a difference? What can you do every day to make the world a better place?

 

 

In this article, I’m going to share 8 things you can do now to change the world.

 

 

1. Share Your Passion

 

I didn’t know I was changing the world until someone sent me a very thoughtful email. They said that due to me being so passionate about entrepreneurship and doing everything I do, they were going to change their lives.

 

 

That feeling where I knew I was going to change someones lives just because of my actions was a great feeling. You don’t have to do anything aside from just being you sometimes.

 

 

Share positivity with others and share your passion for why you love life. You don’t know who it will end up resonating well with.

 

 

2. Take Massive Action

 

Visionaries who have changed the world forever were those who took action. Is there something in the world that you don’t like? Is there a problem with no fix to it?

 

 

Speak up and challenge the thoughts in the world that make you unhappy. Take massive action and create a fix to the problem you dread facing. If you can create value or help make peoples lives better in any way, you’re already changing the world.

 

 

3. Help Others

 

I’m extremely blessed to have the ability to help other people every single day. I get people that email me or message me asking me for help and advice. I love helping other people by giving them advice and guidance on things they need help with.

 

 

Everyone is an expert at something. Instead of worrying about sharing your ‘secrets’ with others, be willing to help others. The more you give, the more you receive.

 

 

The reason I spend 5-6 hours a week writing blog articles is because it gives me the ability to genuinely share information with others. I don’t get paid to write these blog articles or produce content that is meaningful for others, I do it because I want to help others.

 

 

4. Teach

 

I may not be the biggest fan of college or learning in a classroom setting, but I do think teachers have a tremendous value to society. Not only have they mastered a certain topic, but they’re willing to share it with others.

 

 

If you reach a point in your life where you have been able to master a certain domain, take the opportunity to share it with others. You can truly change the world by sharing knowledge. Knowledge is powerful because it gives others the ability to do amazing things with it!

 

 

5. Invest

 

If people like Bill Gates made a ton of money and spent it on fancy cars, the world wouldn’t be a better place. Bill Gates has made a ton of money from Microsoft, but he’s such an amazing person because he invests.

 

 

It’s true that he even donates some of it, but the point is that he gives back. You don’t always need to donate your money to give back. You can invest in things like people, companies, cities, and other things to really help change the world.

 

 

You don’t necessarily have to be the one carrying out the grand plan, but you can put the power in someone else’s hands by investing in them. Some of the biggest investors have helped change the world solely through their wise investments.

 

 

6. Ask

 

Sometimes, all you have to do is ask. Ask someone who seems to be troubled what they need help with. You’ll be amazed by everything that they may tell you.

 

 

You don’t always have to impact millions of people instantly to change the world. It all starts with 1. I’m a strong believer of starting small and scaling up with anything you do. Whether it’s a business or solely making a difference in the lives of others, start small and scale up as you make an impact and create value.

 

 

7. Lead

 

Sometimes change-makers are people who are just great leaders. The world has been missing great leaders for quite a while now and mastering your leadership skills is vital.

 

 

Leaders don’t tell you what to do, they do it with you. Great leaders have the uncanny ability to make you feel good about everything you do. Leaders have the ability to change the way you think and great leaders can change the world with their talent.

 

 

8. Do Something

 

If you don’t know what to do or how to do it, just do something. Take the first idea you have to help others and run with it!

 

 

There is no better time to start than now. The longer you wait, the longer the world has to wait. Do you really want to hold back change any longer?

 

 

Conclusion

 

In this article, I shared 8 things you can do now to change the world. Regardless of who you are or what you do, you have the power to change the world right now!

 

 

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