I don’t want to!

Wa! Wa! Wa!

Sounds like a small child not getting his or her way, doesn’t it?

Well, believe it or not, I’ve heard plenty of adults saying these exact same things recently and felt the need for a little pep talk via this blog.

Whether it’s a difficult kickboxing class, a small-business meeting or a social event, the buzz out there is negative.

Well, I’ve got news for you “Negative Nancies.” It’s time for an attitude adjustment!

Yes, things are ugly in the news today, and you may be feeling a significant strain on your budget. But you’re not going to get anywhere is you don’t change your thought pattern. And more importantly…

Strong people are feeding off your weakness right now!

That’s right. The more negative you are about your business, physical health, finances… the list goes on… the more your competitors are taking advantage of your weakness.

While you focus on the negative, we’re focusing on how to turn a bad situation into a positive one.

While you’re crying over the stock market, we’re increasing our financial education.

While you’re moping around in front of the television, we’re exercising and taking care of ourselves.

Things Can Get Better.

There are new clients and customers out there with money to spend on your products and services.

There is a way to improve your financial situation even if you are flat broke.

There is a way to feel better emotionally and physically.

But you’ve got to take action right now.

And it doesn’t need to be difficult or expensive. Start with a small step. Conduct some research online to find information about improving your finances, business and health. Hang out with positive role models who can give you good advice and guidance. Change your mindset and think positive thoughts.

This may sound simple, but if you are whining about your current situation and not willing to take any action, your situation is not likely going to change soon now, is it?

And after all, isn’t it time you started to take control of your destiny?

With this in mind, try to stop looking at your negative balance-sheet, turn off that reality television-show, avoid hanging out with naysayers, and put down that bag of potato chips. And more importantly, stop whining and start doing!

It doesn’t take much to go in a positive direction. Take a small action right now to make your dreams a reality. You just may be surprised at how fast your life turns around!

(This concludes my pep talk for this week. I hope you go for it and become the success you are meant to be.)

And if you have questions about SEO copywriting, please write to me below, or check out the free information on my site at www.rembrandtwrites.com. Thanks!

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I’ve been working with the creators of StartUpNation since 2001 when I was hired to shoot Rich Sloan doing yoga on the conference room table in the Birmingham Michigan office of the up and coming StartUpNation.  I was recently offered the opportunity to blog about photography if I thought I could contribute to entrepreneurs and start ups. I think I can so I’ll give it a shot.  I’ll be talking about all things photography, from how to do a shoot in the office, to what’s the best stock agency for what your needs are, to rights and usage contracts.  I’ll be answering questions about any thing relating to the business of photography and photography in your business. If I don’t know the answers I’ll look to the vast knowledge base of my peers and will share what I learn with you, so post your questions and comments about you’re photographic quandaries here, and I’ll help you along the image driven super highway of successful businesses.

I should tell you a bit about me.
I began my career as a photographer early in life.  My brother had a darkroom in a closet at our house when I was a sixth grader.  It didn’t take long for my teachers at school to see an opportunity to recruit the next news paper and yearbook photographer.  That’s when I learned that you can have fun and provide a needed service at the same time.  I could get credits for graduation if I work on the year book and news paper staff!  Life was good.  Then one day I was handed a press pass to cover the cheerleaders for a story for the news paper, that was all the motivation I ever needed to pursue my career.  When I was a senior in High School I was introduced to an advertising photographer in my home town of Detroit named Ameen Howrani.  He let me watch him work one day, he was shooting a news crew for the local ABC affiliate.  It was very glamorous, they had food there!  I was face to face with the local anchor man!  That’s when I decided that advertising was where it’s at.  Fast forward 25 years.  I have photographed some really great people, some incredibly beautiful places, and some of the most interesting stuff you’ll ever see.  I picked up a few professional sports teams along the way as well.  Namely the Detroit Red Wings, Detroit Tigers, Detroit Lions, and currently Tampa Bay Ray’s as well as the NHL, NFL, MLB and other editorial venues related to sports. I’ve had unprecedented access to closed door behind the scenes events in the NFL, NHL, and MLB to name just a few. I was given the opportunity to shoot a book for the Detroit Red Wings called “48 Hours with the Detroit Red Wings”. Its a chronological documentation of what happens in forty eight hours in the world of the Red Wings Hockey team.  I was able to travel with the team to photograph players, coaches, and staff. We took two days to shoot the book so we could show the travel aspect of how the team lives on the road (and above the clouds).  During that shoot I was given access to coaches meetings that had never been photographed before.  One of the best experiences I had with the Red  Wings was Flying on the team jet to Washington DC to the White House to meet President George W Bush.   I was given an assignment by the Detroit Tigers Baseball team to shoot an eighteen page photo essay of Tiger Stadium during the final home stand ever to be played there.  The parting shot was Al Kaline in his nineteen sixty eight world series uniform (it still fit), pondering his days playing in that historic stadium.  The cover shot was of the stadium from the corner of Michigan and Trumble on a Friday night with fireworks lighting the sky.  I was able to get images never before captured, such as the neon Tiger Stadium sign from the roof of the press elevator.  I’m currently team photographer for the Tampa Bay Ray’s Baseball team, and have a nice client list of local and national companies and agencies as well.  I live in the St Petersburg area of Florida where I’ve lived for the past six years.  Before that I lived mostly in the suburbs of Detroit with a few years in New York city.  Please feel free to see some of the photographs I mention here at www.kovich.com

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Do I like my new life? Heck ya!

The real question is: When is it right to make big changes to your life? To jump from mommahood to mompreneur? To leap from a 9-5 job to pursue an entrepreneurial dream? To add extra hours of work to your day while staying in your current job to build a small business at the same time?

Transitions and changes can be difficult for anyone and everyone ….. I especially know this from my early training as a clinical social worker.  The reason for this is that transition is both terrifying and exciting.  So, what makes the change worth it?  What makes it much easier to move from point A to point B and remain optimistic?  How does one know they are truly ready for a change?

The first answer is Readiness.  Are you REALLY ready to make a change? Readiness, preparedness, and acceptance of the decision to change make all the difference.  Some questions to ask yourself in relation to your Readiness are:

• Did you fully think out your decision?
• Have you laid out a course of action?
• Do you have a short term and long range plan?

Right up there with being ready, is Ownership of your choice.  Even if you were let go from a position and decided to build something of your own, that needs to be your choice (rather than seeking new full-time employment).  When evaluating Ownership, think about the following:

• Who’s choice is it for you to break out on your own and pursue a business of your own?
• Are you prepared to sink a HUGE amount of your energy into your new endeavor?
• Have you allowed for “hiccups?”  AND, can you forgive yourself for small mistakes?
• Do you feel in control of your choices?

Lastly, Do you feel a sense of Accomplishment in the project, business, or responsibilities that you currently hold?  Can you close the door with Pride?  When thinking about your current life, ponder these points?

• When you reflect back, do you believe that you will be proud?
• Have you achieved what you set out to do in this chapter?
• Did you tie up loose ends?

All of us have a myriad of experiences behind us that led us to want something of our own.  For me, I “did” the retail thing, worked in a clinical counseling setting, escaped a bad start-up, and I AM a mom.  I look back on all these details with a smile and know what I gained at each step of the way, and I truly was READY for the next stage of my life.  Although, I cannot slam the door shut on being a mom, I know that I successfully finished one stage of parenting and it was TIME.  Time to tackle mommahood and my own thing at the same time….a brand new chapter.

While it is a major balancing act and sometimes I feel like I may need to clone myself, Do I like my new life?  Heck ya!

Are you ready for an electrifying change — to start something of your own?  It is really awesome!

Follow my adventure at http://backngroovemom.com

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I got to thinking about my little adventure, and how far I travelled since last year.  I wish that they made an odometer for this sort of thing (hint: great invention idea).  There needs to be some sort of way to measure how far a person goes as an entrepreneur (I know, that is what profit is for).  If I had to guess, I would say that my growth over the last year spanned from the east coast to the west figuratively.

Now, I am not saying this because I want to give myself a big pat on the back, but rather because I want to make mention of those that helped me from the beginning.  It can be scary to branch out on your own - Right? It was at this point that I realized that this week was about paying it forward…all the way back to the beginning.

There really are a lot of people that assisted me and gave me the confidence that I needed in the early days, but ONE awesome mompreneur sticks out in my mind.  Not only is this mom entrepreneur incredible, but she also has ties to StartupNation……Leslie Haywood, founder of Grill Charms.  I came across Leslie in the Forum Discussions here at SUN, and I knew that I saw her somewhere - oh yeh, on the ABC show - Shark Tank!

If you know me just the tiniest bit, you know that I am not shy.  So, I looked up Leslie’s site for Grill Charms and emailed her. I figured “what could I lose!”  There were some steps in between (more on that below).  I wrote Leslie a little introduction about myself and what I was up to in the start-up/inventing world, and would she ever have time to lend me some wisdom?  Guess what?  Leslie got back to me!

Now, Leslie does business mentoring in her local biz community, but she was willing to chat on the phone for a bit with me and point me in a few directions.  That was ENOUGH, and was all I needed!  We arranged for a time, and Leslie and I had a quick chat by phone…..she recommended some resources, shared some of her ups and downs, and most of all - delivered enthusiasm.

What is the point of all this?  First of all, a big thanks to Leslie!  I only hope that I can do the same for others in the way that Leslie gave me a quick dose of encouragement.

Secondly, when starting a new venture, it is crucial to network and put yourself out there. Except, you cannot just start cold-calling people all over and asking for help and advice.  You need to be studious in your homework when networking, and you will get good results.

Here are some tips for networking and reaching out for advice or help:

1. When looking to connect with someone you do not know, DO your research.  Check out their website, Read up on their business & be able to have a knowledgable conversation.
2. Choose people that have experience in your vertical or your niche that will be honest with you about the market.
3. Note this new person’s style.  Are they formal, casual, or do they love abbreviations?  When you Reach out to this person use their style.
4. Thank you’s go a long, long way.  If you successfully connect with someone who helps you out, make sure to thank them!  Manners still go a long way!
5. When you become successful, remember who did what for you AND pay it forward.

This week is National Small Business Week, and although I did not attend the official meetings, I did follow some of the live feed and news coverage.  It is exciting to see so many successful people in Small Biz.  So, in my own little way, this is my way of celebrating the champions of Small Business, and lending my experience to those starting out.  Rachel

To read more about my experiences and more about networking, check out http://backngroovemom.com

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Recently, a fellow mompreneur-in-training tweeted me and wanted to know what I think makes a successful mompreneur?  I knew that I could not answer her back in a 140 characters or less so I promised her a blog post on the subject.  I immediately thought about the wave of emotions that accompanies being a mompreneur.

My current emotional spectrum ranges from either pure excitement (so much that I am physically nauseous) to absolutely exhausted.  I know this sounds awful, but somehow it surprisingly feels great.  I am not kidding.  Challenging myself as a mompreneur is grueling, but absolutely amazing!  There is no grey area, just vibrant emotions that leave me feeling tingling and exhilarated.  That is the life of a mompreneur.  If it did not feel so good, we mompreneurs would not do it.  I like to think of tackling this up and down of feelings as Emotional Endurance. Being a mom, wife/partner/girlfriend, entrepreneur is a daily marathon, and without Emotional Endurance you cannot finish.

Not only is being a mompreneur a marathon, but one with many hills.  Every day as a mompreneur is different and requires adjustment and quick thinking.  No fancy name for this other than thinking and acting quickly.  You may have your list or plan for the day, and the phone rings from school or daycare with a sick kid.  Now what?  My experience has been to act quickly!  Who can help?  What can you change? What cannot change?  Is there a movie that your kid desperately wants to rent?  Get where I am going? Mompreneurs make fast decisions on how to hold as much of it together as they can for that particular day.

The ability to multi-task is another essential part of a successful mompreneur.  I do not need to tell you that smart phones, laptops, iPads, etc make multi-tasking easier because, by now, most people know that.  Multi-tasking as a mompreneur means listening to a podcast on trademarking while making dinner with your fourth grader sitting next to you finishing his math homework (for you to correct).  I like to think of multi-tasking as a mompreneur more as Sensory Overdrive.  You can look, hear, taste all at the same time without even breaking a sweat.

Another essential is listening, but not just listening, rather what I call Visual Listening.  You probably think that I belong back in the sensory section - nope!  I think that with the internet, the idea of listening has changed.  Yes, we still have to listen with our ears, and there are plenty of opportunities to do that with podcasts, vlogs, interviews, and plain conversations.  Visual Listening is reading expert blogs, forum discussions, ebooks, or twitter, and really listening to what others are saying in their printed words!  If you Visually Listen to what is out there, you will not believe the information you find at your fingertips.

So far that is my take on successful mompreneurism.  I would be lying if I did not include a healthy dose of Fear in the equation. More than anything, fear propels me.  Not so much fear of failing, but fear of not living my potential and striving for my dreams.

To read the real life account of my ups and downs, visit http://backngroovemom.com

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I had just finished reading through Josh Linkner’s brand new book, Disciplined Dreaming: A Proven System to Drive Breakthrough Creativity.

Linkner’s big idea: Breakthrough creativity doesn’t need to be random or something that happens only at the inception stage of your business. Creativity can be–and must be–cultivated systematically on an ongoing basis.

Linkner provides five simple steps to help you become a creative, innovative, dynamic powerhouse - both individually and as a company.

As a long-time friend of mine, I’ve had the privilege of watching Josh perfect this systematic approach to creativity as a successful entrepreneur who rapidly grew a business to over $70 million in sales and as a legit jazz musician where improvisation has been a constant.

He deduced from his experiences that rather than waiting for a-ha! moments to wander through the door, it was possible to establish an environment where breakthrough ideas are farmed and harvested predictably, like crops.

It’s one thing to develop a system that works for yourself, but in Disciplined Dreaming, Linkner successfully packages his ideas into appealing, usable insights in a step-wise process that even at 33,000 feet, are simple and obvious to follow. Totally doable.

His five steps (paraphrased by me) are:

1. Ask - Define your creativity challenge and foster curiosity and awareness of your business opportunity.
2. Prepare - Get into the proverbial “zone” to be creatively productive.
3. Discover - Explore and reveal every avenue to generate ideas and think innovativaly.
4. Ignite - Explode your creative thinking up to the next level to create extraordinary ideas.
5. Launch - Establish a specific framework for transforming ideas into action plans.

And Josh provides specific instructions for each step.

I am so psyched to put these steps to work with my team, and I know they’ll be equally into the process. It will not only bring fresh ideas to light and game-changing strategy, but it will also be A BLAST!

With its creative prescription at just the right moment in my life’s work, I know that this weekend read will have a sweeping, positive impact on what I crank out as a visionary entrepreneur. 

If you want to take your business and personal achievements to the next level, and if you’re wondering what you should be disciplined about today, I’d say, get yourself a copy of Disciplined Dreaming and start creating your future systematically.

Amazon link for Disciplined Dreaming: A Proven System to Drive Breakthrough Creativity

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Let me give you a little background.  I was a Stay At Home Mom, Domestic CEO, Professional Volunteer/Giver of Time, and providing free support and life skills for the last decade!  I had casually looked into what going back to work would look like for me, and I did not like what I found.  Maybe I was not looking in the right place; Maybe I was not presenting myself in the right way; Maybe I was not fully committed; Maybe my creative energies were too strong.  Who knows?

What I did know was on this particular morning in October, I was raring to go! I was creating my own destiny, which I am pretty sure sounded like “blah blah blah” to my family.  I do not have a business background, but rather a post-graduate degree in clinical social work, so I really had no idea where to begin.   I did not let that stop me because I know how to listen and seek out others who can help.  Of course, I found StartupNation which quickly became a valuable resource.

By the end of that week in October, I ran my sliver of an idea by a trusted advisor, drafted a partial business plan, set up my own blog so others could follow my adventure, secured a business attorney who helped with non-disclosures for this idea/product, and Backngroovemom was born.  I began to work at such a rapid fury because I was so intrigued at the idea of creating something of my own.  I discovered many tricks and overcame huge hurdles.  Don’t get me wrong, I made many mistakes, and I am sure that I will continue to make a few more. I will give you a behind the scenes look at those tricks and mistakes…just not now.  I cannot give everything away at once!

If you are a mom who thinks that somewhere deep inside you have just a tiny little ember or a huge flame of curiosity at becoming a mompreneur - here is my first recommendation:

-Sit down with a piece of paper and write down everything you have ever done.  I mean everything.  Even if you do not think it is relevant - write it down.  Include past and current work experience, volunteer experience, neighborhood committees and projects, the style in which you navigate your every day life, even extended family obligations.

-Take a hard look at your list - did you forget volunteering in the reading corner in your child’s class; negotiating your grandfather into a nursing home; managing your household budget? Do NOT leave anything out because these are all valuable skills.

-If you helped grandpa get what he needed in the nursing home, cutting red tape and how to negotiate on many different levels is a skill you hold. If you were in charge of the first grade reading corner, patience is part of your make-up.  How about managing the neighborhood block party? After that, you now know how to negotiate with many different ideas, wants, personalities.

-The point is that you may have a very unique skill set that you have neglected to pay attention to, and this can help you discover your own business in many ways.

-Make your list, consider your ideas, and think about what type of business these qualities lend themselves to……

At the beginning of my pursuit, my oldest son exclaimed “You cannot do this…I am only 9 - I still need you.”  He is now excited by my mission and contributes regularly (really).  My journey has come a very long way since last fall, and now I am so excited  to share on StartupNation an all-access backstage pass to the tour.  Until then, visit my blog http://backngroovemom.com to stay up to date with my “product”-tivity.

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How do you get your product noticed in our current sea of product noise? Obviously, the way to be noticed is to wrap yourself inside a giant egg and be carried somewhere by the entire cast of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, right?

Yep, you’ll be noticed for sure.  Lady Gaga was certainly noticed when she pulled that stunt at last Sunday’s Grammy Awards.  Did you then watch her performance during the show?  Pretty underwhelming, don’t you think?

So, in other words, the Marketing was noticeable, but the Product disappointed.

What’s more important?

Let me ask you another question.  What would happen if you spent all of your energy making the best product possible? What if your sole focus became making a product that was so good it became its’ own category?

Make the best Product - everything else will become elementary.

Ever heard of Esperanza Spalding?  Me either.  On Sunday, she beat the marketing juggernauts that are Justin Bieber, Drake, and Florence + The Machine to win Best New Artist.  Justin Bieber alone has millions of Twitter followers, a hit CD, a hit movie, TV appearances, tons of radio play, and an army of pre-pubescent diehard fans. He was a lock for that award, right? Whoops.

Make the best Product - the rest will follow.

Ever heard of Arcade Fire? Some have - most haven’t. Yet again, they beat out music monsters Eminem, Lady Antebellum, Lady Gaga, and Katy Perry for Album of The Year.  How could a small Canadian relatively unknown band possibly think they could beat these gigantic forces of nature?

Make the best Product - commerce will find YOU.

Kevin Harmon

kevin_harmon@hotmail.com

I live tweeted the ENTIRE Grammys. Who wants to hire me to live tweet YOUR event?

Twitter.com/imadness

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Rather than make one really long post, I decided to break it down into 5 parts. I’ll post one part every Thursday.

Work in the Industry You Want to Take Over

My friend Matt told me this true story.

Acton has one of the top entrepreneurship graduate programs in the US. A few years ago, Acton had this extremely gifted student. He was the best of his class and his teachers knew that he was going to make it big.

A year after his graduation from Acton’s program, some of his old teachers were at Starbucks getting coffee and saw this student working as a cashier. The teachers talked to each other about this and realized that if the best student they’ve ever had was working at a Starbucks after graduating, Acton must be doing something very wrong.

They called the kid and invited him to meet with them and the director of Acton’s entrepreneurship program. They told him that they were very concerned that their best student was working at a Starbucks and asked him what they could do better to avoid this from happening in the future.

The kid laughed and then answered, “I’m about to open a huge coffee store chain in Mexico. I’m working at Starbucks because I want to learn the business. I’ve worked two weeks in each area of the company for the last six months. I’ve done everything from serving coffee to planning marketing strategies. I feel I’m much more prepared now to run my new business.”

This guy is a true genius. If you want to start a business in an industry you don’t know, either work in it for a few months or partner with someone who understands the business very well.

Something Good Done Today is Better than Something Perfect Done Tomorrow

A very successful entrepreneur told me this story once:

“When I was starting my business, I needed to order shelves. They had three sizes: small, medium and large. My partner started doing all the calculations to figure out how many of each we’d need. A week later, he was still working on it. Finally, I said, ‘let’s order 25 small ones, 50 medium ones and 25 large ones’. We placed the order and moved on.”

I asked, “Was what you ordered exactly what you needed?”

“Kind of”, he said. “A month later we had to order two more large shelves and there were four small ones that weren’t completely full.”

“So you made a mistake rushing that decision”, I said. “You should’ve waited for your partner to finish the calculations, right?”

“No, absolutely not”, he responded. “You need to make decisions and move on. You can adjust your decisions later. But, something good done today is better than something perfect done tomorrow. We had a business to start and we needed to focus our energy on getting new clients and growing our company. We had no time to figure out the perfect order for shelves. We had important stuff to do.”

This was one of the most important lessons I’ve learned in my life.

1) Figure out what are the top 2-3 priorities in your business (if you think choosing the right color for your website is a priority, let me tell you: “it’s not!”)

2) Get your top priorities done very well.

3) Everything else should be done as fast as possible and you should move onto the next thing.

I hope you’ve enjoyed these lessons. I’ll share two more lessons next week.

Zeke Camusio is a serial entrepreneur, online marketing expert, author of Google Rocketshipand founder of an Internet Marketing Agency in Portland, OR.

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The “It’s Been Done Before” Myth
Every time someone comes to me and tells me they have an idea for a business that “has never been done before”, I start to worry. There’s a reason some things have never been done before. Let’s say you want to sell a square car. It has never been done before. That doesn’t mean there’s a market for it. Actually, the fact that it has never been done before leads me to think there’s no market for square cars.

But the real problem is when people give up on business ideas because they have been done already. Don’t do this.

Don’t Look for the “Perfect” Idea
Look at McDonalds. They didn’t invent burgers; they came up with a system for delivering food fast at a low cost. Look at Starbucks. They weren’t the first people to open a coffee shop; they created a great way to enhance the coffee drinking experience. Look at Zappos. They weren’t the first online shoe store, but because of their amazing customer service and policy of free return shipping, they became the largest online shoe store.

These businesses didn’t re-invent the wheel. They found something that could be done better and did it. Don’t look for the “perfect” idea. There are hundreds of ways you can create a better world and make a lot of money doing it.

So, How Do You Come Up with Great Business Ideas?
The answer is this: “Keep your eyes open for things that you want and can’t get, or things you can’t get in a convenient way.” I’ll give you a few examples:

• Sara, a woman I know, moved from Costa Rica to the US five years ago. She was craving Costa Rican food and she couldn’t get it anywhere. She then realized that the Latino population in the US is huge and those people missed the food they could get in their countries but wasn’t available in the US. Sara decided to import Latino foods into the US and sell them online. She does over $2M now.
• A friend of mine used to live in an isolated mountain town the US Postal Service, FedEx and UPS wouldn’t deliver to. They dropped all the packages at a central location in town and people had to drive 15 miles to pick up their mail. Everyone was annoyed with this fact and started saying that they’d be willing to pay a little extra to get the packages delivered to their homes. My friend listened to them and started charging each family $10 a month to pick up their packages and deliver them daily to their homes. He had 200 clients and paid for his college working two hours a day.
• Last week I got a grill that I had to assemble myself. It was a pain in the butt and made me waste four valuable hours that I could have spent helping my clients. I would have loved to pay someone $50 to put it together for me. That store also had beautiful furniture that I wanted to buy too, but there’s no way I’ll spend two entire days assembling all those tables, chairs, beds and closets. What if someone approached this store and offered them this service for their clients? The store would increase their sales, the clients would be happier and this person would have a business.

The bottom line is this: Every time you’re frustrated about something, think about how you can make it better. Once you automate this process, I guarantee that you’ll get at least one great business idea per day.

Zeke Camusio is a serial entrepreneur, online marketing expert, author of Google Rocketship and founder of an Internet Marketing Agency in Portland, OR.

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