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6 Steps to Successfully Create Parallel Sources of Income

connoisseurhub — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 07:16:57 +0000

6 Steps to Successfully Create Parallel Sources of Income

For anyone who values financial security and ultimately desires financial freedom, creating at least one additional stream of income is no longer a luxury. It has become a necessity. Diversifying your income stream is crucial to protect yourself and your family against the unavoidable ups and downs of economic and industry cycles. Because of the financial risks that come from relying on one source of income, such as a job or a business, consider creating at least one or more additional streams to generate cash flow.

Your additional income streams can be active, passive or a combination of the two. Some may pay you for doing something that you love (active), while others can provide income for you without your having to do much of anything at all (passive). You can diversify your income streams among different industries to protect you against major losses during downturns in one market and allow you to financially benefit from the upswings in another.

This truly is one of the not-so-obvious secrets of how the wealthy become — and stay — wealthy, which unfortunately isn’t taught to the masses. The good news is that it’s not magic. It’s not even complicated. Creating your next stream of income is a simple, step-by-step process.

1. Define your offering Every person on this planet has unique gifts, abilities, life experiences and value to offer — and be highly compensated for. Figure out the knowledge, experience, ability or solution you have that others will value and might pay you for. Remember, what might be common knowledge to you isn’t for other people.

You and your personality differentiate your value from that of every other person on earth. Many people will resonate with you (and your style) better than they will with someone else offering value that’s similar or even the same. Packaging is how you can differentiate your value.

2. Identify your customers

Determine whom you are best qualified to serve. Based on the value you can add for others or the problems you can help people solve, who will pay you for the value or solution you can provide?

3. Nurture a community Start and grow an email list. I don’t think of my email community as merely a list of names but rather as a group of individuals, each with their own hopes and dreams.

Here’s how you can build your community: Acquire an email-marketing program (good: AWeber, better: Infusionsoft). Get a program to create an opt-in page (good: LeadPages.com, better: Kajabi).

Create an added-value deliverable such as a free report, an ebook, an audio or a video training so that people will happily provide their email address in exchange for the value you provide.

4. Find out what the community needs You can either guess or assume what people desire and need, invest valuable time in creating it, and then hope your guess was correct. But remember: Hope is rarely the best strategy.

Send an email to members of your community with the link to a survey (using a free service like SurveyMonkey), asking what they want or need help with in your area of expertise. Ask open-ended questions to help you later brainstorm or offer multiple choices if you’ve already thought about what you can provide.

5. Formulate a solution After your community members tell you what they need, it’s your golden opportunity to get to work and create it. This could be a physical or digital product (a book, an audio, a video, a written training program or software) or a service (dog grooming, babysitting, coaching, consulting, speaking or training).

6. Build a buzz and launch Think about how Apple rolls out its products. The company doesn’t just throw a product on the shelf or its website. No, the company makes it into an event. Apple builds anticipation months in advance, so much so that people are willing to camp out in front of stores for weeks to be the first in line.

Do that. To learn how, read the definitive book on the topic, Launch by Jeff Walker.

Following Apple’s example, here is: And, one more thing: The best way to cut your learning curve and achieve a specific result is to find people who’ve already achieved what you want and then model their behavior. Rather than try to recreate the wheel, find someone who has already achieved what you want, determine how this person did it, model this behavior and make it your own.

While you might seek a relationship with a face-to-face human mentor, you could also hire a coach, read a book or articles by an expert or do web research. After some consideration, you may decide to make this your first step.

Schedule time to begin implementing these 6 steps, one at a time, and within months you can be enjoying the benefits, the perks and the financial security and freedom that comes from having multiple sources of income.

Originally posted on entrepreneur.com

9 Free and Must Have Business Productivity Tools For Every Startup Entrepreneurs

connoisseurhub — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 07:10:19 +0000

Starting a business can be a daunting endeavor, especially if all you have is a cool product and not enough capital. In the tech world, or in any other niche for that matter, most startuppers fail not because they have bad products but because they are unable to generate enough consumer interest in their products.

Considering overheads and other back-office expenses, this scenario doesn’t come as a surprise. So if you’re still starting out and find yourself strapped for much needed funding to keep your startup afloat, the following free business productivity tools are worth checking out.

1. Bitrix24.com

If you need a collaboration tool your staff are most likely to adopt with relative ease and minimum training, take the social intranet route.

Bitrix24.com is the fastest growing social intranet that’s free for businesses with 12 employees or less. The application comes as a combination of several different work tools like CRM, project management, real-time streaming, activity planner, file sharing, to name just a few. As it is cloud-based, access can be anywhere, whether using your computer or smartphone. An upgrade to unlimited users starts at $99 per month.

2. GotFreeFax.com

In this era of e-mail and instant messaging, you’d think fax machines are no longer relevant. But if aLinkedIn survey as reported by Mashable is to be believed, fax machines are still in until 2017 steps in.

As you might have already guessed from the site’s name, GotFreeFax.com is an online service that allows you to send up to three pages of fax for free (maximum of two faxes per day) to any number in the United States or Canada. The site also offers premium pay-per-fax service should you need to send more.

3. RememberTheMilk.com

RememberTheMilk.com is an online productivity tool that assists in task and time management. Remember The Milk essentially functions as your all-in-one task manager, electronic calendar and to-do list. Aside from allowing you to share and split tasks with other people, the application can be integrated with GMail, too.

The pro account is priced at $25 for one year and comes with exclusive mobile app features and Microsoft Outlook integration.

4. Kolab.org

Kolab.org is an open-source group collaboration server that allows for sharing of notes, e-mail access, calendar organization, task management, address book maintenance, news aggregation, phone sync and journal integration. Kolab is secure, scalable, reliable, mobile and professional, ensuring productivity every step of the way. As a whole, the application requires some getting used to. But once you get the hang of it, the hassle can be all worth it.

5. WaveApps.com

Formerly WaveAccounting.com, WaveApps.com is an accounting software that’s fast, simple and easy to use, offering unlimited invoicing and expense tracking. 100% free for small businesses with nine employees or less, it’s accountant-approved and specifically designed for non-accountants. You can also securely connect your bank and PayPal accounts or other sources of data, and your transactions are automatically imported into the accounting software.

6. PRLog.org

To make your business presence known, one surefire route to take is through the distribution of press releases. PRLog.org is a site where you can dispense press releases for free. And if you feel you don’t have the necessary expertise to create a killer press release, the site provides instructions on how to write one, even how to embed videos where necessary.

7. Weebly.com

One cardinal business rule is that businesses should have their own websites to boost their market presence online. Weebly.com is a free website creator that doesn’t require website creation expertise. Until you’re ready to go for more complex and/or self-hosted sites that would require monthly or yearly payments, Weebly.com is a good alternative.

8. Join.me

For those meetings or web conferences on the fly, Join.me is a simple-to-use teleconferencing application that allows you to review documents and designs, train staff, do product demonstrations – basically to get everyone apprised of company updates. You can do transatlantic web conferences and presentations, too.

9. IFTTT.com

IFTTT.com, which is short for “if this, then that,” functions like a computer program repeatedly uttering if/then logic all day long. With IFTTT, you set up “recipes” to assist you with task automation. For a recipe to work, you have to have a channel, a trigger and an action. Examples of channels are Facebook, e-mail, Evernote, LinkedIn, just to mention a few.

For instance, if you’re tagged in a photo on Facebook, you can create a recipe that would automatically download the image into Dropbox.

SWEET OPPORTUNITIES-Worksheet

connoisseurhub — Sun, 16 Nov 2014 12:10:33 +0000

Do it by Yourself:-Make a recommendation as to what form of “Business Organization” you think is best for each client. State the reasons for your position. There will also be some disadvantages to the business form you choose. Identify at least one negative and suggest how you might minimize it.

Client 1: When I was three years old, I started making candy with my grandmother. I am now 10 and I want to sell chocolate candy with a farm theme to my friends and family. My product ideas include Brown Cows (chocolate cows on a stick), Pigs in Mud (marshmallow dipped in caramel, nuts and chocolate) and Farm Eggs (jelly beans dipped in chocolate). The start-up expenses for my business are pretty small: a few candy molds, candy and chocolate.) My parents have agreed to loan me the money I will need and to let me work in the family kitchen. Schoolwork has to take priority over business so if I have more sales than I can handle, I will probably ask friends or my older brother to help. My brother is also pretty good at math and computers so he could help me with keeping track of my expenses and advertising. I really like the product development and packaging part of the business.

Client 2: After apprenticing for another candy maker, I started my first candy business at age 18. Unfortunately, my first attempt at starting a business (as well as my second) was a failure. After a rocky start, my third try was more successful – I have just received a fortune from the sale of my caramel business. During my world travels, I discovered and decided to buy new equipment that makes chocolate. Today, only the wealthy can afford chocolate. With this new technology, I think I can make a chocolate that everyone can afford. In my mid-thirties, I know very little about making chocolate but I am willing to take the time to learn. I want my life to center on inventing new candies, building this new business, and laying out a new community that will be a wonderful place for the people I hire to live. I prefer to leave day-to-day operations of the company—handling production, sales, marketing and distribution—to someone else.

Client 3: I have substantial experience working in the candy industry. I helped my father introduce a very popular chocolate bar in the U.S. and have worked in the factories of two of the best chocolate makers in the world. Today, I am a thirty-plus year-old businessperson operating a company I started selling candy and pet foods across Europe. While traveling in Spain recently, I saw a candy-coated chocolate that I think will sell well in the U.S. I would like to create a new American business producing this candy. I have at least 80 percent of the money for getting started but I am concerned about getting the chocolate used in production. There is a war going on and it may be difficult to get this important ingredient without taking on a partner who has connections to a chocolate maker. I like the challenge of building businesses and finding ways to make them operate more efficiently. I also prefer making decisions on my own.

Client 4: I am in my late thirties. I have worked myself up from handling mail to being an agent for a well- known entertainment agency. I now represent several famous musicians. People say I am an enthusiastic and tireless promoter. To help my clients get jobs, I use bite-sized chocolate chip cookies as a calling card. My aunt taught me how to bake cookies when I lived with her as a teenager. Before I dropped out of high school and joined the air force, I was getting vocational training in the food trades but I have never run my own business. Some of my friends in the entertainment industry have encouraged me to open a store that would sell my cookies. They have offered to help finance my venture in exchange for partial ownership. My cookies would look and taste very different from the cookies sold in the grocery stores today.

To answer this one doesn’t have to use rocket science; just simple analytical, logical, management, entrepreneurial skills required!!!

The 1 Success Habit Every Entrepreneur Must Master

connoisseurhub — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 13:49:01 +0000

Some entrepreneurs seem to have a knack for finding moneymaking opportunities. Here’s how they do it. It happens all the time. A new technology, idea, or scene emerges. A handful of pioneers jump on it, often purely for fun. Eventually some entrepreneur figures out a way to turn the innovation into a profitable business. A handful of other companies follow suit. Before long, business after business tries to replicate the successes of those that came before them. Inevitably a large percentage of them fail. Then a hot new technology, idea, or scene emerges and the cycle continues anew.

So what is it that separates entrepreneurs that have mastered the trick of finding profitable ideas from those that get there at the wrong time?

Spotting the Hot Spot

One thing that all successful entrepreneurs have in common is that they have the ability to spot the right opportunities. It’s not as easy as it might sound. If you get in too early, there’s a good chance the technology or trend will be too complex or weird for anyone but die-hard enthusiasts. If you get in too late, the amount of competition will simply be too difficult to overcome.

Successful entrepreneurs combat these roadblocks by looking for signals that indicate that an opportunity is in the “hot spot” (not too early, not too late). They do this is by keeping an eye out for a combination of two factors– momentum and imperfection.

Take my industry as an example. In the online marketing world, blogging is now commonly accepted as necessary for anyone that wants to drive attention to his or her business. Blog posts are easy to upload and even easier to access and read. While a company will have a hard time succeeding in 2014 without a powerful blog, it is no longer enough to make you stand out.

Podcasting is a different story. Podcasts have been around for a while and they’re more popular than ever before. However, the technology used to access them isn’t entirely seamless yet. And unlike blogs, podcasting applications are still a bit cumbersome to work with.

However, podcasting apps and broadcasting technology are getting easier to use. Even car manufacturers are beginning to talk about including built-in gear to let people easily listen to their favorite podcasts on their consoles. So, for now at least, an astute entrepreneur has a real opportunity to get into this exploding area before the hordes descend.

What does it take to be able to spot this unique combination of momentum and perfection? Freakish talent? Magical powers? None of the above. It is simply the result of learning what to look for and building the habit of keeping your eyes open.

BY Michael Schein | Columnist | Founder and principal of Michael Schein Communications

How to Use Your Brain to the fullest to Make Your Dreams Come True

connoisseurhub — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 05:23:27 +0000

Left Brain vs. Right Brain

Your brain has two hemispheres, or sides – left and right – and each has different abilities. For example, your ability to be creative, to dream, to have a vision of the future, is on the right side of your brain. Your ability to make logical, practical plans and execute those plans is on the left side.

Entrepreneurs and the Brain

Many would-be entrepreneurs have a wonderful vision of the future but have little or no plan of how to get there. They are right-brain dominant. On the other hand, many others who start their own business possess very practical or technical skills with no real ability to see the “larger picture”. They are left-brain dominant.

Unfortunately, both groups have a high failure rate because they do not fully utilize the natural abilities in both sides of their brains.

Tips for Using Your Whole Brain

So how can you use the natural power of both sides of your brain to not just dream, but to also make those dreams come true? Here are some tips for you:

When creating your vision, stimulate the right side of your brain by putting logic aside for a while and allowing yourself to dream and be creative – unleash the power of your imagination.
Use as many senses as possible to record your vision. For example, write it down, draw it or find pictures that represent what you want and create a vision board. Tell others about it. By the way, because each sense has its own location in your brain, the more senses you involve, the more brainpower you’ll use.
Once you have created and recorded your vision, it is time to simulate the left side of your brain – the practical side. Think of the vision you created as the destination. Now plan concrete and logical steps to reach that destination and make it a reality.
Document the plan and place it and your vision board somewhere where you will see them frequently. Every time you see them, they activate the areas of the brain you used to create them, bringing your dream closer to reality.

Ned Herrmann, a neuroscientist and author of The Whole Brain Business Book, calls this sort of processing, “whole brain functioning”.

Instead of using only the dominant side of your brain, capture the natural power of both sides, and you’ll be wildly more successful.

Everything is Possible!!!

connoisseurhub — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 15:35:39 +0000

Everything is Possible!!!

I’ve Got A Business Idea, But Now What?

connoisseurhub — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 11:27:56 +0000

You’re toiling away at your corporate 9-5 every day. You push paper and hone in on skill sets to make a profit for other people but all the while you secretly have bigger dreams for yourself. But then, a lightning bolt hits! You come up with a business idea with so much potential that it doesn’t make sense not to pursue it. But wait, you’re terrified. Where do you even begin? Should you quit the job that’s providing you with a solid paycheck? How can you be sure that your idea will succeed? What are the inevitable road blocks down the line? Do you even have the necessary skills, capacity and expertise to be an entrepreneur?

But if you decide to follow this genius business idea, know that you WILL grow as an entrepreneur. I’m not saying that it’s going to be a walk in the park but after making mistakes, you’ll learn through trial and error about what you need to do to succeed. Although there’s no straight forward guide to starting a fabulously successful business, I suggest that if you have an idea, get started there (it’s free, so there’s no strings attached) but to start you off, here’s my top tidbits of startup wisdom:

1. Come From the Right Place: “I want to be my own boss”, I hear this all the time, usually accompanied by a smug look. I agree that not having to work for anyone is actually very advantageous but if you’re just starting a business to get out from under the weight of responsibility and a manager then you should double think this decision. Being a founder of a business is actually much more difficult, stressful and energy consuming than having a boss. At the end of the day, you’re the one responsible for making things happen and you manage yourself. Be mindful that you’ll probably be bootstrapping in the initial stages of launching your company so you probably won’t be paying yourself a salary. If you’re looking for a low stress situation, don’t become a business owner.

2. It’s the Execution, Not the Idea That Matters: If you’ve been mum about sharing your business idea with colleagues, friends and family then you might be making a tremendous mistake. Look, we get that you want to protect your idea so that no one else can “steal” it but realize first that a business idea is really just the tip of the iceberg. All that you’ll need to assemble for success lies below the water and it really has nothing to do with the idea. Unless your cousin Steve can put together as awesome of an expert team as you can as well as bring all the years of experience that you have to the table, it’s not likely that he can “steal your idea”. Consider talking to the people around you about your idea, see if you can convince them that’s it’s a viable one. Take notes when they give you constructive criticism. You don’t have to take it all to heart, but you need to learn from both positive and negative comments.

3. No, Money Cannot Solve All of Your Problems: Sorry to say but just because you have a business idea or even a new company doesn’t mean that you should start looking for funding. Investment hunting takes a lot of energy and it will take some time before you’re even ready to start. First thing’s first, prepare yourself and learn how to bootstrap. In the meantime, write up a business plan so you actually know what you’re doing for the next 3-5 years, think of your BP as an active map of goals, direction, milestones etc. to help you get from point A to point B. Funding might be point Z so don’t even worry about it for now. Prep yourself in every way possible, throw yourself into your industry as an intern, apprentice, whatever you can get your hands on to build up experience in your field. Spend your time meeting the right kind of people, whether it’s finding mentors who can give you advice or trusted experts who will be your future board of advisers, build up a network to support yourself. Take care of everything else first and the money will come later.

4. Perseverance Is 98% Of the Equation: You can be the most capable, intelligent, experienced and wealthy individual and still have a failing business. Your idea could be the most brilliant one since the invention of the wheel and still, you could have a failing business. So it’s not these characteristics that amount to success, most of the time it’s about how long you can persevere. Along the way, you’ll encounter a lot of naysayers so learn from the get go to grow a thick skin and believe in your idea enough to carry on. Times will be tough, you’ll be one ramen packet away from giving up and going back to your corporate job but again perseverance is everything. I can’t stress this enough; no one is going to believe in you more than you so it’s your job to keep your business going until your hit success by keeping yourself afloat.

ENTREPRENEURIAL COMPETENCIES IDENTIFIED

connoisseurhub — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 19:16:35 +0000

(i) Initiative- acting out of choice rather than compulsion, taking the lead rather than waiting for others to start.

(ii) Sees and Acts on Opportunities- A mindset where one is trained to look for business opportunities from everyday experiences. Recall ‘oranges’ example.

(iii) Persistence- A ‘never say die’ attitude, not giving up easily, striving Information seeking continuously until success is achieved.

(iv) Knowing- Knowing who knows, consulting experts, reading relevant material and an overall openness to ideas and information.

(v) Concern for High Quality of Work- Attention to details and observance of established standards and norms.

(vi) Commitment to Work Contract- Taking personal pains to complete a task as scheduled.

(vii) Efficiency Orientation- Concern for conservation of time, money and effort.

(viii) Systematic Planning- Breaking up the complex whole into parts, close examination of the parts and inferring about the whole; e.g. simultaneously attending to production, marketing and financial

aspects (parts) of the overall business strategy (the whole).

(ix) Problem solving-Observing the symptoms, diagnosing and curing.

(x) Self-confidence- Not being afraid of the risks associated with business and relying on one’s capabilities to successfully manage these.

(xi) Assertiveness- Conveying emphatically one’s vision and convincing others of its value.

(xii) Persuasion- Eliciting support of others in the venture.

(xiii) Use of Influence Strategies- Providing leadership.

(xiv) Monitoring- Ensuring the progress of the venture as planned.

(xv) Concern for Employee Welfare- Believing in employee well being as the key to competitiveness and success and initiating programmes of employee welfare.