Posts Tagged ‘Budget’
How I use Twitter: A Conversation on Skype
Rick Says: When you get time I need help with twitter Dave Charbonneau says: I'm here. Rick Says: I am now but are you still there? Dave Charbonneau says: Hi. Rick Says: How are things Dave Charbonneau says: I'm good. Feel a bit like hurling; but I'm good. How're you?' Rick Says: well Rick Says: so how do I get a lot more followers on twitter Dave Charbonneau says: Um... Dave Charbonneau says: There's a cupla ways. Dave Charbonneau says: First, get a foundation to build upon. What are you using it for. What info are you wanting to get out there. Grab hold of a twitter philosophy. Dave Charbonneau says: I recommend NOT to think of Twitter as an outlet for spreading the word about something; and instead to see it as a conduit for CONNECTING with ppl who have similar interests. Dave Charbonneau says: Everybody hates spam and holds disdain for spammers. Good thing abt spammers = if you provide great value, you look intelligent and get LOYAL followers; these are ppl who share your stuff with others. Dave Charbonneau says: Have you read that Crush It book? Rick Says: NO Rick Says: did Dave Charbonneau says: Okay. That's a great place to gain that philosophy (everything begins w/philosophy). Rick Says: Then I shall read it Dave Charbonneau says: Next, hang on and I'll get you...
Do Your Own Talk Show
As SelfEnterpriser.com is about to launch its new talk show, Up In Your Business! Real People: 7 Questions in 7 Minutes, now seems a great time to suggest a similar approach for anyone who has an itch to gab. Here are the basic of using a talk show to increase exposure and (more importantly) relationships: Start your own talk show. Invite people you think you would enjoy having a conversation with to be a guest on your show. These might be folks who you'd like to do business with (great ice-breaker) or perhaps individuals who exemplify whatever it is you blog about (that's what I look for). Post the conversations at your site. Why do a talk show? Having your own show gets you "out there" talking with people in your industry. What a fantastic way to "network". You're offering a relationship of value from the start. Instead of a lame, "Hey, let's connect on Facebook too", you're offering to give extra exposure to those who accept your invitation. Even if you have just a few people visiting your site each day, it's STILL extra exposure for just a few minutes of a person's time. Next, it gives you something to talk about other than yourself as a method for bringing traffic to your website. It's hard to be the hero of your story when you have to tell everyone else how great you are all the time. Let's face it: Sooner or later (hint: sooner), folks get tired of hearing a person tell them how they're the "answer" to they're prayers. It's simply poor form. But, with your own show, you can shout from your virtual rooftop all day long about the wonderful people you're getting to meet each week. Finally, it establishes YOU as the expert of whatever it is you do. The magic of The Business of Being Yourself is that you have the opportunity to provide value for others in your chosen industry WHILE you're actually in the process of learning more about it (which should read, as long as you're in business). Sounds great, Dave, but VIDEO is king. Don't be so sure. I enjoy video. I'm planning to do a LOT of cool stuff with video, both inside of SelfEnterpriser.com and outside. Yet while everyone is focused on video, it makes it easier to be heard (ha! get it?) to run some audio programs. Even more relevant to our topic, video is more expensive, more difficult to provide quality content, and greatly decreases the amount of individuals you can meet with (audio can be done over the phone with folks all over the world). Tools and other helpful thing-ies: Something that amazes me is the amount of tools and services that are available to you and me that allows us to create and exchange value with others for FREE, or close to it. This includes everything you need to run and publish your own talk show. There are plenty of blogs and articles out there regarding equipment, editing, or whatever. Some stuff I've found helpful: Audacity.comn (recording/editing) About.com (explore how others do [...]
First Impressions: Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad Poor Dad’s Conspiracy of the Rich
It's been a long time since I've delved into a Kiyosaki book; tho I still would be quick to recommend Rich Dad / Poor Dad to anyone looking for a philosophical foundation for money. I've not read the entire book (um... that's why I entitled this "First Impressions"). My first impression (see, there's the title in action) is that it should be a pretty good read. While it's clear in calling today's financial disasters the result of conspiring men and women, it doesn't seem to be a book that's overly focused on the "Oh my gosh, how can men be so evil" downer side of things. Sure, mean people suck; but let's focus on what good people with good intentions can do to improve their own circumstances. That's the direction I feel this book is heading. Most people leave school not knowing even the basic differences between a stock and a bond, betweent debt and equity. Few know why preferred stocks are labeled preferred and why mutual funds are mutual... Many people think debt is bad, yet debt can make you rich. Debt can increase your return on investment, but only if you know what you're doing. Only a few know the difference between capital gains and cash flow and which is less risky. Most people blindly accept the idea of going to school to get a good job and never know why employees pay higher tax rates than the entrepreneur who owns the business. Many people are in trouble today because they believed their home was an asset, when it was really a liability. These are basic and simple financial concepts. Yet for some reason, our schools conveniently omit a subject required for a successful life-the subject of money. +++ Okay, so there we have one of the problems. Again, I feel the problems are introduced only as a stage to introduce solutions. He later states: +++ Smart investors understand that owning a business that adjusts to the ups and downs of the economy or investing in cash-flowing assets is much better than owning a diversified portfolio of stocks, bonds, and mutual funds- investments that crash when the market crashes. +++ This is how I see the book might appeal to Self-Enterprisers. We want our business to reflect who we are as a person; but we also want to be smart and not end up broke because we're, well... to put it in Kiyosaki's words, *playing by the wrong set of rules*. Do I recommend the book? I'm still undecided. I mean, if you just need to read something, and you've already read and understand the books on my Good-Enuff-To-Get-Going list, sure. Or, if you're finding yourself in paralasis by the bad news that's being presented daily (hint, turn off the news), then perhaps the book could be a booster shot of Vitamin B (B, meaning *Business*, of course). I believe it's a great time to start and build up a business. Perhaps better than any other time in history. To be able to take the things you care about the most and use these to create value for others makes for a great life, in my opinion. And the [...]
Blog Building Tools: PicApp.com and Creative Commons
Earlier, I wrote about LazyFeed.com, a site to keep you informed on just about any subject in real-time. A great tool for bringing ideas to your readers quickly. Oh-so Useful LINK: View article here: http://selfenterpriser.com/?p=559 Today, I suggest you also check out PicApp.com - especially if you're writing about current events such as new-stories or entertainment. PicApp is a site that allows you to access and use select GettyImages (and perhaps others?). It's easy to use: simply do a search for your topic, select the size of image you'd like to use, copy and paste the embed code onto your blogsite's HTML editor. Oh, did I mention it's FREE. Free is good (wait, it's 2010, is free still good? Ok. Just checking). These are photos that news-papers might pay $70 per image, per week (citation requested). That gets really expensive really quickly; as, perhaps, could a lawsuit for using others' photos without permission. Oh-so Useful LINK: http://PicApp.com One other source that I use often at SelfEnterpriser.com is Creative Commons Search. This site allows you to search for content that others have made available for commercial or artistic repurposing. Be sure to give credit where credit is due, as that's part of the deal. Also, I like to leave a "Thank You" in the comments section where the original photo is found (when using Flickr, anyway). In addition to being nice, you may also gain a visitor or three to your website. For a sample of the 'thank you' I post, check out the photo I borrowed for the panel cartoon entitled, Speed Reading. Oh-so Useful LINKS: http://search.creativecommons.org/ Original photo with my 'Thank You' posted in the comment section Speed Reading Panel Cartoon SelfEnterpriser.com is committed to getting ideas from Mind To Market on the cheap. No need to spend like a government bureaucrat - just be yourself, be honest in your dealings, and you'll naturally attract those who want to connect with you. Using such principles, business seems to flow simply and predictably. May your 2010 be your best year yet! "Have A Nice Dave." :) --Dave C.
Many Happy Returns
I'm about to describe a mistake I've made plenty of times, and judging by the deals you can find on Craigslist.org and Ebay.com, there are plenty of other entrepreneurs making it too. First of all, when do we buy stuff for our business? The good philosophical answer is, It depends. The best answer I can offer is, Never- if you can possibly do without, then do without. I'm tempted to write, especially when we're getting started, but hey, if it's a principle at the beginning of a project, it will serve us well throughout the course of all our projects. Remember, we're in a beautiful time in history for micro-business owners and Self-Enterprisers; small is cool, independence rocks, and resourcefulness is respected. It is impressive to be viewed as not trying to impress. Even still, whatever times we live in, the principle of frugality remains solid. I've fallen many-a-time for temptation that's found me buying stuff I really didn't require. This is money that could have gone toward capitalizing on opportunity as it presents itself (check out Mark Cuban's blog on this topic, here). Hey, I know... it always seems like a good idea at the time. Through enough wasted expenditures, we (hopefully) learn that we need only what we require, and require only what we absolutely need (you can always tell if a statement is wise because it repeats itself in reverse order). Once you realize that your business requires something, how you buy that something is also important. You can almost always find better prices online. You can buy used, direct from China, through auctions, locally (Craigslist.org), etc. These "better deals" are sometimes just that. You get great products for great prices (side note: I don't buy from anyone with an approval rating below 98% on Ebay). Of course, cheaper is not always better. How long does the item need to serve you? If something goes wrong with the product (like, say... you discovered you didn't need it), the convenience of running into your local Wal-Mart, Costco, or BestBuy might be a definite plus. The extra $ spent could be seen as an insurance premium for the convenience factor. However, I've also found that buying stuff online acts as yet another litmus test as to whether I really NEED a product; am I willing to wait for it to be delivered? If not, it may be more of an emotional decision than a logical one. For me, Amazon.com is a good compromise between buying from rock-bottom online prices and the convenience of a local purchase. Their customer service has been good to me, typically easy to make returns if you need to, and free shipping on a lot of their stuff. It's a consistent way to shop online. To bring this message full-circle: Let's make certain that we're making purchases that are offset by the value we create for others - and not so we can feel cool or have the latest gadget. As a Self-Enterpriser, you're doing what you love. Recognize this and we see we''ll be [...]
