Then there is the saying about people who know a little about a lot of things. However, this does not make one an expert by any stretch of the imagination.

Recently, I read an article entitled “Be Careful Who You Listen To” on a blog from James Malinchak, a gentleman and fellow entrepreneur I know from several years ago when we were in a speakers training weekend course. I enjoyed reading his article which he posted in a group I subscribe to on LinkedIn.

I decided to comment on his link with these words:

“Here’s one of my own famous sayings: “You can only take someone else as far as you have gone yourself.” As a best-selling award winning author and an award-winning freelance writer, I take authors and writers to the same level of success I have enjoyed five times… because I’ve experienced it.  Especially with authors: one must have personal experience with the aspects you choose to coach and consult others on because you have to know what it FEELS like to be them in order to truly offer great guidance and support.

If you are just talking theory and concept, you’ll never really be able to connect with the author’s experience. It’s just not available to you unless you’ve done it yourself first.”

Then I added another comment where I said:

“It is a privilege to be an author. It is an even bigger one and a joy to help others become one — especially when you know what it feels like every step of the way.

Every service I offer is because someone asked me to provide it based on my own experience. They said to me: “You know how to do that so well. Why not help other authors and writers so they can do that too?” So I created a service around each one and offer my experience and insight to others with pleasure.

Even my radio show is something that I didn’t pitch. Someone asked me to do it. After I agreed, I crafted the format so industry professionals and authors could cross educate the entire book publishing community through the show alongside me so together we can all learn from one another’s experiences.”

Then James responded by adding:

“You bring up great point Jennifer. I too started out working really hard and learning how to speak and make good money in the college speaking market. Then people starting asking me how I did it. Coaching started not because I wanted to be a coach, instead because people began asking.

The other area I didn’t mention that I feel is also an issue is that sometimes people stop doing what they are coaching about and end up becoming out dated. Thanks for your kind words!”

The true expert and real teacher knows that you can only take another person as far as you have gone yourself.

If you haven’t done it, lived through it, experienced it, skinned your knees a bit and made mistakes along the way, the type of coaching or consulting you’re left with to offer to others is merely theory and a conceptual understanding of what the person who hired you is experiencing.

I choose to provide services that people ask me to offer. They see me do something and then they ask me if I can help them do it too. Of course I can help them – more importantly, I want to. I’m willing to take time away from what I’m working on personally to be paid to bring my time, knowledge, wisdom and experience to someone else so they can get a real person like me who has done exactly what it is they want to do to help them. And I’m happy and excited to do it since I’m doing what I love and making a difference for every life that that one person I helped is going to touch.

That’s meaningful for me as a true teacher and trainer. You see, it’s just as much of an investment for me in you when you hire me to work with you as the investment you make with your time, energy and money to hire me to help you.

If you are someone who is looking to hire someone to help you, take my advice: seek out those who have gone before you and done what it is you want to do. To get hands-on help from someone like that is rare and you’ll probably pay a premium price for it.

But realize that the investment you make could mean a lot less theory and concept and a whole lot more practical and productive guidance.

As the old saying goes: success leaves clues.

Those who are successful entrepreneurs AND are willing to take time out from their own projects are true teachers who understand the value of their own time and energy – and yours.

Seek out the sages who have skinned a knee or two and yet are still standing strong in their success. After all, we can only take you as far as we have gone ourselves.

You Can Do It!

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About the Blogger:

Jennifer S. Wilkov knows what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur and live the life you love in the face of any challenge. She shares the insights, knowledge and wisdom from her vast experience with 5 individual entrepreneurs a month through her Make It Happen Program so participants take action, leap powerfully into their lives and at last run the businesses and live the lives they’ve imagined.  See what Jennifer is making happen in the world here.

We had been working for months on a very large project here in NYC involving revamping its fleet of taxis.  My client had managed to place a bid on the contract, and told us he was one of the top five finalists.  And he was scheduled to present to the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission that week.

I decided to work with him because his designer created the most progressive and greenest taxis I’ve ever seen, and the quality of his team members were strong.  I proceeded to open up my Rolodex to some very senior people in the automobile industry, NYC politics and a public relations firm, among others.

I found myself yelling at him when he told us he had known for several weeks that the presentation was postponed indefinitely.  The presentation that week is what got him in front of all these people I introduced him to.

Soon after my scolding, things got worse.  My client confessed he was NOT one of the top five finalists for the contract for building the new NYC taxi fleet. He was lying!

I immediately shifted into damage control mode with the people I brought into the project.

Dramatic, no doubt.  I reminded myself to learn from the lessons of three companies that most likely will become case studies for years to come on exactly what NOT to do in managing a public crisis:

• BP—for their public finger-pointing, disclosing misinformation, gaffs by the (former) CEO Tony Hayward during the Gulf of Mexico oil spill crisis;
• Toyota—for their slowness to respond and denial of the intensity of the problem with accelerator peddles sticking in some of their models that were killing people
• Goldman Sachs—for demonstrating their first priority is to make money for themselves and second priority for their customers during the economic crisis.

Each lacked authenticity, minimized the extent of their problems, and displayed a lack of understanding of the situation.  As a result all three companies experienced a rapid decline in their once stellar reputations of only a few months before.

Six Parts to Managing a Public Crisis:

1. Take Responsibility—no matter how painful or awkward.
2. React Quickly—delay indicates either your lack of understanding or responsibility… neither of which are good.
3. Over-Communicate—few can fault you for giving them too much information or too frequently.
4. Apologize—as publicly as possible.  Make sure you communicate you understand the implications of what you (or your company) created.
5. Take Action—outline, explain and implement the corrective measures you will be taking and by when.
6. Be Honest—most important is your credibility.  If your stakeholders start questioning your ability to lead, your challenges become exponentially more difficult.

In the case of BP, Toyota, and Goldman, where the challenges are so extreme, one cannot guarantee any of this will fix things immediately.  But most likely in time, and with some very hard work, they will restore confidence from their customers and stakeholders.

In my case, I completely missed the mark on judging the character of my client.  I took action immediately by resigning the next morning, apologized to all the contacts I introduced to him and wished my (now former) client good luck before backing away.

And while it is still possible I’ll experience some backlash, at least I feel good that I have done the best possible, given the situation.

Action Steps for the Week:

When in a crisis, it is easy to lose your focus on what must happen, when and why.  Here are some tips you may find helpful:

• Assess the Facts—of what and how it happened, as best as you can.  Not your interpretation of the facts.  To do this, ask several people you respect that are not emotionally tied in your crisis for feedback.
• Create an Action Plan—contain damage control.  The what, by when and by whom.  Get feedback on this.
• Act Immediately—showing you are on top of the situation.  Remember to communicate, take responsibility, explain actions being taken and to apologize.

And when you are NOT in a crisis, create a simple and solid plan to follow when it happens.  List the principles and rules you will follow, who you will reach out to for advice, and what to always do or not do when managing the crisis.

Remember, when playing an UnReasonable business game you are more likely to be confronted with crisis situations as you break beyond where you and others have gone before.

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About the blogger:

Since 1987, Stefan Doering has been pioneering new approaches to environmental business and sustainability.

After starting one of the first green retail businesses in the country and growing it to one of the largest, Doering has worked with hundreds of green businesses as well as teaches green entrepreneurism for various NYC programs and at Columbia University’s Center for Environmental Research and Conservation.

Stefan has been featured on the CBS Evening News, Good Morning America, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg TV, and dozens more.

I believe being an entrepreneur is one of the greatest professional life experiences a person can have. When you sign up, you may have stars in your eyes and be armed with your dreams, passions and imagination. Good! You’re going to need them all.

Being an entrepreneur is a choice – a GREAT one.

As an entrepreneur, get ready to be turned upside down and inside out as a person. I promise you will learn who you really are and find out what you’re really made of. As the saying goes: “no guts, no glory.”

So I ask you: How willing are you to be an entrepreneur? A great one? Are you willing to:

• make mistakes? And go broke from them while you’re figuring out what to do and what not to do?
• come up against bankruptcy, critics and the judgments from and the fears of your family and friends – along with your own?
• pick up the pieces, even when you feel broken, and keep going?
• admit when something just isn’t working the way you wanted it to? Are you even willing to abandon it, dissolve it and start something new?
• ask others for help, support and things you couldn’t even imagine you’d need? Like food, shelter, money and even a shower?
• lose everything? And after being completely broke and seeing your life turn upside down, could you stand up, brush off your bruises and scrapes and go at it again with even more enthusiasm, energy, effort and joy?
• even willing to ask the creditors you’ve created to support you instead of sue you and help you to dig yourself out of a situation you innocently created with them?

Could you? Would you?

I have been through everything you have just read about. I’m not the first and I certainly won’t be the last. But I’m still here. I’m still standing and I’m still loving every minute of being an entrepreneur.

Yes, being an entrepreneur has its trials and tribulations – personally and professionally – and I won’t shield you from them and these truths about situations and conditions you may find yourself in.

I can also tell you with certainty that there is no greater joy or life learning experience than being an entrepreneur. It truly is a blessing, a challenge, a conundrum, a catastrophe, a phenomenon and one of the most amazing experiences you’ll ever have. It’s going to do its best to break you – your confidence, your clarity, your commitment, your strength, your spirit and your heart.

With the right mindset, spirit, fortitude and friends, you’ll become a great entrepreneur who learns to weather the storms of the learning curve and enjoy chasing your dreams.

You Can Do It!

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About the blogger:

Jennifer S. Wilkov knows what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur and live the life you love in the face of any challenge. She shares the insights, knowledge and wisdom from her vast experience with 5 individual entrepreneurs a month through her Make It Happen Program so participants take action, leap powerfully into their lives and at last run the businesses and live the lives they’ve imagined.  See what Jennifer is making happen in the world.

However, these dinners are often dull and stuffy or sometimes they are nights filled with an overabundance of alcohol. No matter what type of business dinner you may be a part of; here are some great tips that will help you make it through your night of professional dining.

Eat – The purpose of the dinner is to partake of a meal with colleagues of some sort. They are probably hungry, too. Everyone will feel better and more comfortable without empty stomachs.

Mind your manners – This should be obvious, but remember what your parents told you: don’t chew with your mouth open, don’t reach across the table, don’t rock back in your chair and don’t speak with your mouth full.

Order in turn – 
The waiter will either go around the table to take orders, or ask the ladies at the table for their orders first. Unless there is hesitation or confusion over who will order first, there is no need to blurt out your order. Take your turn.

Alcohol is ok – Depending on your dinner guests, alcohol may be inappropriate, appropriate or expected. If it is inappropriate, don’t order it. If it’s appropriate, order one drink with dinner. If heavier drinking is expected, work with your comfort level. Very often it is a good idea to let others order first and drink if they are drinking. It is acceptable to add a drink to your order after you have already ordered if everyone else gets a drink too.

But you don’t have to drink – 
Order a drink and pretend to sip at it or order something nonalcoholic if alcohol is expected and you do not drink.

Keep the conversation going – 
Engage in harmless talk to get people warmed up if conversation is quiet, stilted or difficult to begin. You can discuss the atmosphere of the restaurant, traffic getting to the restaurant, the parking situation or the route to the restaurant.

Order to your budget – Keep your meal choice reasonable if you are not picking up the tab. Don’t order the most expensive item on the menu unless you are at a modestly priced restaurant. A great rule of thumb is order what you would order if you had to pay for your meal.

If you want to push the budget, let everyone know – 
Let your colleagues know that it is okay to order the most expensive thing on the menu if you are paying for the meal by saying something like: “The filet looks wonderful. I think I might have that. Does anyone else like filet? If you do, you should get it. I hear that it’s amazing here.”

Get the check – 
Tell the waiter to bring you the check before the meal is over in the above situation. Do this discreetly.

Know the purpose of the dinner – 
Keep to the topics at hand if the dinner is to discuss business. If it’s for a relaxing evening of camaraderie, ask your colleagues about themselves-where they went to school, their kids, their favorite sports teams, favorite bands, favorite movies, favorite books, their travels or their hobbies and interests. People love to talk about themselves, so let them talk!

Entrepreneurs need to take advantage of every opportunity to create relationships that will take them to the next level, by following these tips and going out to do it in person over dinner, you will create those relationships that will help make you a long-term success.

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About the Blogger:

Aron Schoenfeld is the founder of Do It In Person, a unique media brand focusing on the importance of in person communication skills and face-to-face time for individuals and families.

These articles and blogs often have polarizing titles that range from business plans are essential to business plans are a waste of time.  My take away from reading many of these articles is that the authors mainly agree that business planning should be an integral part of any startup or ongoing concern. Where they disagree is what should be the tangible output of this business planning exercise.  The answer of this question depends upon what you are trying to accomplish.

Common business plan components are the executive summary, company overview, market overview, strategy and implementation, management team and financials.  Each of these components can be broken into sub-components, for example, the market overview includes market sizing, segmentation, competition, trends, etc.  Most people when they think of business plans imagine a 30-50 page document that takes weeks or months to prepare. These types of documents normally are reserved for the due diligence part of professional investor financing or corporate annual planning requirements.  Small businesses normally do not require such formal deliverables.  Their focus should be on business planning activities that make them more efficient and effectiveness in starting and growing their business.

Idea Stage – Before the business ever exists, the entrepreneur needs to see if their idea can be translated into a viable business.  The emphasis at this stage should be on determining the attractiveness of the market, which involves understanding the size, growth and penetration of the market and market segments, the number and strength of competitors and which market segments they serve, etc.  It also requires knowledge of pricing and variable and fixed costs to build basic economic and financial models to assess investment requirements and profitability potential.

Pre-startup Stage – Once the entrepreneur is able to convince herself of the potential of a self sustaining entity, she should focus on creating a path of how to get there.  Marketing, sales, operation and financial plans establish the framework of how the company will operate in the marketplace.  Milestone development provides specific and time based goals to measure progress.   These plans should be written to be used as guide rails and not step by step instructions.  As everyone knows who has started a business, nothing ever goes completely according to plan. The entrepreneur has to be flexible to make changes on the go.

At this stage, the entrepreneur probably will interact with one or more potential stakeholder groups (i.e. investors, lenders, employees, advisors, suppliers, customers, etc.)  The entrepreneur should have an established pitch supported by an executive summary document or presentation to communicate the business opportunity for the specific stakeholder.

Startup Stage – The business now is an official operating entity.  The entrepreneur measures performance to plan on a monthly basis, while making necessary course corrections based on market feedback.  She also begins to establish a track record that increases the credibility and legitimacy to potential stakeholders.

At this stage, the entrepreneur will have better information to refine their pitch and develop a more comprehensive business plan document, especially if she decides to approach professional investors such as angels or venture capitalists.

Ongoing Entity Stage – The entrepreneur now has a profitable, positive cash flow business.  The business plan is revised once per year to make modifications to long terms strategy and to set yearly goals and objectives.  The plan or plan summary is used to communicate a common vision and direction inside the firm.  It also continues to be a basis to market the company to external stakeholders.

Regardless of the stage, business planning should be an activity to help the entrepreneur start and grow their business, not a burdensome rite of passage.  Don’t write a business plan without first understanding the purpose it serves.  Then determine the content and the form required.  There are enough obstacles to starting and operating a business without adding unnecessary work.  Two resources that I would recommend when beginning the process is Guy Kawasaki’s book, “The Art of the Start” and Tim Berry’s book, “The Plan as you go Business Plan”.

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About the blogger:

Jeff Maglin is a partner at vokse, a business consulting firm that specializes in developing business plans for start-ups and early stage ventures.  Jeff has over 10 years of business plan writing development experience, working in a range of industries and across business functions. Prior to his current role, Jeff held management positions in product management, marketing and sales. Jeff also is active in the New York City entrepreneurship community.

Jeff has a BA from the University of Michigan and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University.

You know them.

They even go to the extent of naming their business and maybe even coming up with a great tagline for it. Maybe they even go further to draw, or better yet, have a logo designed for it.

They talk and talk and talk and talk about it. They talk ad nausea about it. But they never seem to take that essential step… of doing it.

What’s holding them back?

I have watched a grown man show me all of the pieces and part of a business he conceived based on his strengths. It is perfect! It is him…all packaged up and ready to go. And I have watched him cry in front of me when I said, “Oh my God! Why aren’t you doing this?! It’s so perfect! It’s You!”

What’s holding him back?

I’ve listened to a woman tell me over and over again about the business she’s conceived. She’s a baby boomer who is ready to ready to “retire” from her profession and who says she is prepared to do something else. She’s crafted and re-crafted her business. She’s named it and renamed it. When she talks about it, her passion for it is evident, much more than for her current profession. But she continues to postpone her “retirement,” putting up with conditions she truly can’t tolerate, she says, in her current profession and condition.

I ask you again: What’s holding her back?!

It’s fear.

Fear postpones her retirement and makes that grown man cry. To really be an entrepreneur, you’ve got to get in the game. Talking about it is one thing. To be one, you’ve got to do it.

All the riches of being an entrepreneur, all the learnings and life lessons, all the highs, lows, big celebrations, small wins, challenges, character building mistakes and life skill set training come from doing it.

You can’t read it in a book. You can’t experience it while watching television. You can’t get it from merely talking about it.

To find out what you’re really made of and who you are, you must ENGAGE in it to truly feel the feelings – the breathtaking, unbelievable, phenomenal experience that doing it brings.

And believe me, breaking through your fear of doing it is only the beginning.

When you finally do engage, you will learn to make fear your friend, harness it and leverage it to break through your next challenge. And I promise you, you will have another one…and yet another one.

And when fear rears its head again, you’ll once again have to dig down deep and rise up and re-engage over and over and over again. You can only learn to do this when you step into the live life classroom of being an entrepreneur and do it over and over and over again.

So I invite you to step up: sign on the dotted line, take the infamous leap of faith, believe in yourself and your talents and dreams and join the ranks of the entrepreneurs.

Hey, we’re all out here alone together. Get in the game…the real game…and welcome to the fray.

You Can Do It!

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About the Blogger:

Jennifer S. Wilkov knows what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur and live the life you love in the face of any challenge. She shares the insights, knowledge and wisdom from her vast experience with 5 individual entrepreneurs a month through her Make It Happen Program so participants take action, leap powerfully into their lives and at last run the businesses and live the lives they’ve imagined.  See what Jennifer is making happen in the world.

35 groups talk about elevator pitches in their description. But as someone who has attended many networking events and heard just about every entrepreneur at New York Entrepreneur Week pitching their idea, I think that the elevator pitch is no longer the key but rather the “pitch to pitch” is.

Lets face it; we no longer have the attention span we did 5 years ago. Twitter has shortened our attention span to 140 characters.

TiVo has taken away our ability to sit through a commercial and all these blackberries, Iphones and Ipad like devices have destroyed our ability to do one thing at a time. Think back to the last networking event you were and think about how many times you were looking for the next person to talk to while someone was pitching you and idea or what else you were doing while you were getting an idea pitched over the phone.

Your first statement to someone can be summed up as your emotional pitch. You need to appeal to the person on some emotional level to get them to want more. Part of it is how you present yourself and look but nothing is as important as those first words out of your mouth.

Here are a few tips that can help you get someone’s attention so that they will want to hear your elevator pitch:

1. Don’t pitch your idea right away – Everyone always says prepare your pitch in a 30 second pitch in case you see someone while you are running between rooms or in an elevator (hence the term elevator pitch), but you will not sell your idea in 30 seconds. Get the person to want to listen to you. Start with something that will make them remember you so you can follow up after. Maybe you like the same sports team or have common friends. If an elevator pitch fails, you have lost your only shot. If you hit them with something that appeals to them on an emotional level, you have opened the door for future and longer conversations.
2. Go bold or go bust – Imagine seeing Sir Richard Branson in Starbucks sitting by himself drinking a coffee. You think to yourself that this is the opportunity of a lifetime to pitch him your new idea. You need to quickly grab his attention. Something like “Mr. Branson, do you have a minute to hear my idea?” just won’t cut it. You need to make an impact and make him want to listen to you. You need to be bold and tell him you mean business. Telling him “I am going to turn your coffee into a million dollars!” is something that will make him say “Sit down.” You only have one chance to pitch your idea so you need to be bold and tell that person that you are confident that what you have to tell them will be the next great idea. That opens the door for whatever pitch you need to make.
3. Lead with a question - Get the person asking why or how. Asking a person “How are you?” or “Are you having a good time?” are great conversation starters, but a pitch is not a conversation; it’s a sale. You need to make them want to hear more. Evaluate what you are selling and lead with the appropriate question such as “Have you ever wanted to…?” or “Do you remember when…?” Once they respond, you have started to engage them and now have got them interested in more information. If they answer it with a closed answer to cut off the conversation, they had no interest in the idea anyhow.
4. Use well-known names/terms – Leverage the big names you know and work with. Use them early in the conversation. There is a significant difference between the following to sentences; “I run a music company that composes original music for television, film and commercials and we did the theme for Good Morning America” and “I wrote the theme for Good Morning America through my company which composes original music for television, film and commercials..” The placement of the big name will keep them interested and excited and want to understand what you do. If you use the name at the end of the sentence, you are just another music company and the big names value disappears.

Without a strong emotional pitch, your elevator pitch will most likely fall flat. You can practice and hire a coach to perfect it but you need to grab the proper attention first. Knowing how to deliver a strong emotional pitch will make you more confident and will help you get your message across to whomever your audience is.

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About the Blogger

Aron Schoenfeld is the founder of Do It In Person, a unique media brand focusing on the importance of in person communication skills and face-to-face time for individuals and families.

When you use an acronym for your phone number in your marketing mediums, you must keep in mind the behavior and resources of your prospects and understand that due to handheld device limitations, not all mobile users will have the ability to respond to your acronym and conveniently initiate a call to your company via a vanity number.

I seldom use my home phone even if I am at home, I often reach for my Blackberry where my minutes are unlimited and my contact information, calendar and email are all just a key stroke away.  I am one of approximately 29 million blackberry users according to a 2009 article on twice.com.  But, one of the drawbacks of my Blackberry is that the keyboard is configured more like a computer keyboard than a phone, therefore the alphabet is not listed on the 8 primary number keys on my device.

This is important information for both small business entrepreneurs and large corporate marketers to know when selecting and implementing the all so popular vanity phone numbers.  When marketing your business effectively, you must consider the consumer’s resources when attempting to drive sales or services.  Instead of inspiring customers to call you, your catchy vanity phone number could be frustrating prospects (who like me use a Blackberry) resulting in missed marketing opportunities and reduced engagement.

I can’t tell you how many times I have found myself in a situation where I was unable to respond to an advertisement for a business using my Blackberry because the ad gave a vanity phone number.  Actually, this article is a result of those many bouts of personal frustration where I was unable to call everyone from my credit card company to the plumber who was in front of me in traffic.  I reason that If I cannot call them using my Blackberry handheld, it stands to reason that there are at least 28,999,999 other people who can’t as well.  And that is a message worth sharing with my fellow entrepreneurs.

One way businesses can maximize their vanity phone numbers for an increasingly diverse mobile society is to offer the numbers in addition to the vanity letters.  For instance 888 555 BUGS should be 888 555 BUGS (2847) underneath or after.  Using this method you provide convenience for non-mobile and mobile users regardless of their device and ensure that your vanity acronym serves its purpose of reinforcing your brand recognition, creating ease of contact and driving customer engagement.

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About the Blogger:

Will Corrente is “The Connection Optimizer™” and Managing Director of Corrente Consulting International Inc. a small business entrepreneur consulting firm and professional connection company based in West Palm Beach, FL.  Feel free to email him questions, comments or suggested stories and follow him on Twitter @willcorrente.

A reference business is any business that in part or as a whole represents the operation and/or economics of the business in which you intend to start.  The reference business can be in the same industry but often is not.  Successful business models in one industry often are copied and implemented by others.  Traditional brick and mortar businesses are responsible for many of the existing successful business models.

• Advertising – provide content for free mixed with advertising paid by vendors interested in reaching the content provider’s audience (i.e. broadcast television and radio, etc.).
• Brokerage – create a market that connects buyers and sellers, receiving a percentage of every transaction (i.e. equity and debt transactions, real estate purchase and rental, etc.).
• Franchising – charge fee or royalty for using an established brand, process and procedures for delivering a specific business product and/or services (i.e. restaurants, convenience stores, cleaning services, etc.)
• Membership/subscription –charge user periodic fee to gain access to product and/or services (i.e. clubs, associations, cable television, etc.)
• Licensing – charge user fee or royalty for permission to use intellectual property (i.e. patent, trademark, copyright) for product or service use or sale (i.e. product merchandising, invention, etc.).
• Multi-level marketing – receive commission for product and/or service individual sells as well as for product and/or service other sell under the individual in the organization’s hierarchy (i.e. cosmetics, vitamins etc.).
• Utility –charge user fee for amount of use of a specific product and/or service (i.e. electricity, gas, water)

The Internet provides another medium to employ and/or enhance the above mentioned business models.  It also has created some of its own, two of which follow:

Freemium – offers basic Web services or a basic downloadable digital product, for free, while charging a premium for advanced or special features. (Source: Wikipedia) Many well known online services use the freemium model; LinkedIn (Business networking), Skype (Real time communication), Pandora (Music), Flickr (Photo sharing), Wall Street Journal Online (News), etc.

Crowdsourcing – takes a job traditionally performed by a designated agent (usually an employee) and outsources it to an undefined, generally large group of people in the form of an open call. (Source: Jeff Howe Blog) Crowdsourcing sites make money in various ways, from direct sales to taking percentage of every transaction to advertising. Some crowdsourcing examples are Threadless (Apparel), Crowdspring (Design), Kickstarter (Funding), IMDB (Media), istockphoto (Media).

If the business model you intend to use is new to your industry, look to other business/es outside your industry that most resembles yours.  Then follow the same recommendations that I outlined in my previous blog on competition to help build and validate your economic model.

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About the Blogger:

Jeff Maglin is a partner at Vokse, a business consulting firm that specializes in developing business plans for start-ups and early stage ventures.  Jeff has over 10 years of business plan writing development experience, working in a range of industries and across business functions. Prior to his current role, Jeff held management positions in product management, marketing and sales. Jeff also is active in the New York City entrepreneurship community.

Jeff has a BA from the University of Michigan and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University.

As entrepreneurs, we are guaranteed to find ourselves amidst massive periods of change from time to time.

The ebb and flow in supply and demand for your products, services or system may find you at times feeling like you are in a freefall with no safe landing place in sight.

What do you do when change strikes?

In the wake of making things happen, be sure you have a grounding statement that is true that you can repeat to yourself. For example, a simple one is: “Everything is going to be okay.”

Whatever is happening is a result and outcome of the choices you made, which means you really can handle it. Reset your mindset so you can move forward quickly and effectively from here. It’s the best way to accelerate change.

Think of a moment from the past when you experienced a great change and challenge in your business – and even in your life. Remember how temporary that situation was? And all you really did was make a new choice and move forward, didn’t you?

Whatever you’re experiencing right now and the challenges you’re facing as an entrepreneur – whether you’ve lost a support team member or are feeling financial pressure and facing your fears; if you don’t feel secure and if you are starting to lose your faith and confidence, remind yourself that … really … everything is going to be okay.

Take a deep breath, exhale, make a new choice and leap forward into your next entrepreneurial adventure.

You’ve done it before. Go do it again. Everything is going to be okay.

You Can Do It!

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About the Blogger:

Jennifer S. Wilkov knows what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur and live the life you love in the face of any challenge. She shares the insights, knowledge and wisdom from her vast experience with 5 individual entrepreneurs a month through her Make It Happen Program so participants take action, leap powerfully into their lives and at last run the business and live the life they’ve imagined.  See what Jennifer is making happen in the world.