Are you on a mission? Do you have a vision? Are you itching to get your name out and make a difference in the world? If you answered NO to any of these questions–that’s okay.

It’s time to get inspired.

The opportunities to connect with millions of like minded people are limitless through the power of the internet. Social media has made it incredibly easy to meet people who want more out of life than the average person you’d meet walking down the street. It’s not that every person online is inspired or on a mission–it’s the ones that stand out who are. The people who reach out to you, who you seem drawn towards, who are intriguing to talk to, are the ones who are doing the leading. The conversations they are having make them leaders, make them popular and make their businesses grow. They’ve achieved this success online because…

They took the leap.

It’s time to stop thinking and start doing. It’s time to open your mouth or moving your fingers to have real conversations with real people. Want people to know about your brand? Your Twitter search better be streaming at all times, tracking your industry. Get into the trenches and start conversing, answering people’s questions and finding people who have the same passions you do. It’s this network of people who will grow your brand for you.

Don’t know what you stand for?

Start meeting other inspired people. The biggest leaders will shout from the rooftops to get the message out about what they believe in. Reading blogs and surfing Twitter are great ways to get to know people who love what they do. Starting taking notes from these people who are completely lost in their work.

Follow these passionate people:

@SmallBizTrends (Small Business)
@ProBlogger (Blogging)
@JohnnyCupcakes (T-shirts)
@TomZiglar (Personal Development)
@GaryVee (Wine)
@LivestrongCEO (Health)
@Under30CEO (Entrepreneurship)
@BarryMoltz (Customer Service)
@GrowthCoachCorp (Business Coaching)
@Philanthropy411 (Non Profit)

Matt Wilson is co-founder of Under30CEO. Learn to create your rock star online presence at http://RockStarBusinessSeries.com

In my short video review of the book Bootstrapping: Weapons of Mass Reconstruction by Sramana Mitra, I mentioned that she brings up the topic of mental capital. At many points throughout the book, Sramana talks about why entrepreneurs and start-ups should not go looking for venture capital, but instead focus on bootstrapping their business…hence the name of the book.

As a substitute for venture capital, she recommends getting as much mental capital as you can. Mental capital is the idea of utilizing the people around you (friends, family, mentors, and other business people) as your mental investors. It sounds pretty simple though – instead of going after venture capital (real money to surge into your business), bootstrap your business and gather as much mental capital (knowledge from other entrepreneurs, mentors, and business people) as you can. The mental capital that gets invested in your business by other people around you can be so much more beneficial to you and your company that it would worth more than any amount of venture capital.

As a young entrepreneur it’s important to soak up and get as much mental capital as you can. Talk with everyone around you, and more importantly, listen to everyone. Ask questions, discuss your business, get feedback, and then use it! If you’re a student entrepreneur, you even have another huge advantage over other young (recently out of college) entrepreneurs – you have so many more resources on campus: Your professors, library, resource centers, etc. Utilize them all, now.

Don’t let peoples suggestions just glaze over your head or in one ear and out the other. Be thankful for the time that people spend in giving you feedback, ideas, considerations, and sharing their contacts with you.

Now, go out there and get as much mental capital as you can and you will crush it.

I recorded this quick video review of the book “Bootstrapping: Weapons of Mass Reconstruction” by Sramana Mitra to share with you all and posted it on ChrisPund.com. The book is a good one on entrepreneurship, bootstrapping, and has lots of interviews. It is the second in her series entitled Entrepreneur Journeys.

CollegeScholarships.org put together this cool graphic about student loans by the numbers. Check it out!

Young Guns: The Fearless Entrepreneur’s Guide to Chasing Your Dreams and Breaking Out on Your Own

Quick Overview: This book is about Entrepreneurship and what it takes to be an Entrepreneur in this current economic climate.  Robert’s timely advice and guidance given in this book is a good solid base for anyone who is looking at being or wanting to be a future entrepreneur.

The way I would break this book down if I was using this as a text to study from or a learning guide would be like you see below.  I will also pull out some important points for you from the chapters that I think the author did a great job of illustrating in this book.  Please note these are only teasers you will have to read the book to get the full value of these points.

Phase One: (Thinking Phase)

Chapters 1 thru 3

• The Power of making decisions.
• Resilience
• Enthusiasm and Energy
• Persistence
• Commitment
• The Big Idea

Phase Two: (Getting Started and Moving toward your Dreams Phase)

Chapters 4 thru 8

• Keeping an Open Mind
• Mentors
• Partners
• Gut-Check Moments
• Taking Action
• Communicating
• Staying Balanced
• You Are The Company

Phase Three: (Pushing your business forward and Servicing your Customers Phase)

Chapters 9 thru 11

• Communication
• Relationships
• Ongoing Service
• Follow-through
• Service
• Customer First
• Selling Light and Performing Heavy

Phase Four: (Building your Team and Vendor relations Phase)

Chapters 12 thru 14

• Shared Values
• Reward for Improvement
• Empower the Best, Lose the Rest
• Give People Credit
• Celebrate Failure
• Bouncing Back
• Vendor Relations

Phase Five: (Money Phase)

Chapter 15

• Know When to Show a Loss
• Good Accounting Software
• Stay on Top of Your Books

Phase Six: (Review and Wrap up Phase)

Chapter 16 and Online Resources

• Why Not You?
• Online Resources for Book

My Thoughts: I could see this book being used as a text book for Entrepreneur courses in University’s across the country.  This book is very well written and is a very inviting and easy to read.  I found myself wanting to read it from cover to cover without putting it down but as we all know most of us don’t have that luxury.  Robert is very engaging and spaces his writing out with stories that help to illustrate the lessons he is trying to teach the reader.  The lessons in the book are not only current but they do a great job of bringing some people to the fore front that you might not have known about before you read this book.  Also the Online Resources that Robert adds to the end of the book are great and I think it was a great idea to leave the reader with some resources they can use to not only better themselves but that they could also share those resources with others as well.  I loved the use of the “Reality Checks” sections throughout the book it not only helped you draw into the underline lessons being taught by Robert but it also helped to draw the book together as a whole. Robert’s insight is not only timely but is also written from a person’s view that has been on the ground and started running a business from the ground up.  I have read many business and entrepreneur books in the past from some of the greats like Robert Kiyosaki and others, and Robert Tuchman is definitely on the same level as these other great authors.  I look forward to reading his future books.

About the Book Author: Robert Tuchman is the Founder of TSE Sports and Entertainment, a company that he started out of his one-bedroom apartment in Manhattan at the age of 24.  TSE has appeared in such great entrepreneur magazines as INC.  Robert himself has been a frequent guest on CNN, CBS Morning News, and BET.  He has also had numerous articles published about him in newspapers such as USA Today, The New Your Times, and The Wall Street Journal.  He currently lives in New York.  This brief background on the Author was provided by Alice Northover of the Amacom Company.  Alice may be reached at the following phone number and e-mail address if you would like more information about Robert Tuchman.  Alice’s phone number is 1-212-903-7951.  Alice’s e-mail address is (anorthover@amanet.org).

Buy it at Amazon!

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This is a guest book review written by Chris Schenk. Chris is a SVP of Healthcare at 3-D Technology, Inc., a Vice President of the Board at Military Pride USA a (Military Non-Profit focusing on our soldiers and their families), a Healthcare Technology Consultant, and owns and operates his own Artist / MMA Management company. If you would like to know more about Chris Schenk you can either find him on Linkedin at http://www.linkedin.com/in/ccschenk or you can also follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/chrisschenk.

Face to face meetings are incredibly important for growing ANY business, no matter what the industry, no matter what your product is, and even for 100% online businesses. British Airways agrees with this and has been running a contest to help bring more people together face to face to do business. With the economy in the crapper, one of the first major expenses that companies and entrepreneurs were able to cut out was travel and have meetings over teleconferences or over the internet. So, in an effort to bring business owners and entrepreneurs back together, meeting and doing business face to face, BA is running the Business Opportunities Grant contest.

To apply for the grants, you simply need to submit an online form telling them about your company and about your objectives for 2010. They will pick 100 winners and provide the following sweet prizes:

• British Airways airfare for 10 round-trip Club World business class flights.
• 5 free British Airways World Cargo freight shipments of up to 500 kilos to worldwide destinations
• $1000 toward accommodation at Courtyard by Marriott
• 5 Regus Businessworld Gold Cards providing access to business lounges worldwide
• Canon PIXMA MX860 Wireless Office All-In-One Printer

Now, with most of my readers out there being from the US, I’m sure you’re thinking “does British Airways even fly in America?” Well they do.

Check out the contest, submit your entry, and hope you’ve got great ideas to take your business to the next level in 2010! British Airways wants to help you out!

Business Opportunity Grant contest details.

I’m so sorry I didn’t post this earlier but I am just getting to it and now there is REALLY limited time! Check this out everyone! If you haven’t already tried out David Risley’s 3DayMoney video training course and you want to learn how you can make money online and through your website, then you need to take advantage of this offer.

Like I said, the offer is ending soon, so there is only until September 8th at 2 PM EST to get the half off price of $49 versus the regular $97. It’s a one time deal – one payment, no recurring memberships or anything like that.

In Only 3 Days, You Can Have the Internet Strategy Which It Took David 11 Years To Figure Out! The Same Strategy That Made Me $141,011.55 last year while Being My Own Boss, Working From Home, And Wearing Shorts and a T-Shirt All Day.

By signing up and trying out this course, you get the following:

• 14 Multimedia video presentations where I personally guide you through
• A total of over 2.5 hours of video content!
• A full transcript of the presentations for your reference, any time, anywhere. 92 pages total!
• MP3 audio of all presentations for listening on the go
• Full, step-by-step checklist to guide you through the material and ensure your full understanding

Plus, since there is limited time to act, to make it more attractive, David is throwing in even more freebies!

1. Blogging Formula Using Wordpress – a 12 VIDEO course which takes you  from blogging basics through installing Wordpress, customizing your theme, adding plug-in’s, promoting your blog and getting  traffic.
2. Quick Start Guide To Online Profits – With so many others already earning money and touting the praises of their methods, where exactly do you begin? This report will give you a great head start into the world of Internet business .

It has been months since the last promotion David ran for 3DayMoney so there’s no telling when the next time this offer will come around again!

Now that it has basically been two weeks since I got married, I think it’s about time to jump back in the blogging saddle and produce some content for you all. Be on the lookout for new posts and content coming shortly, I’ve got a couple posts in the queue that I’ve been working on and are finishing up.

Pictures from our trip to Colorado and the wedding will also be coming soon, so watch out!

I hope you all have had a productive two weeks and are continuing to grow your businesses!

Thanks for reading and subscribing!

Chris

Well, time sure has flown by since getting engaged in January 2008. Now, we’re just over 48 hours away from tieing the knot and saying the big “I Do’s”.

This is merely just a quick post to give the update that the wedding is on Saturday and Sunday we’re traveling to Colorado for a few days of rest and relaxation – so I wouldn’t expect any posting, except for maybe a short update with some pictures.

While in Colorado (we’re staying outside of Denver), we’re planning on going white water rafting at Cleer Creak, hiking at the Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak, and checking out the other sights, while relaxing and sitting pool side if the weather permits!

Anyway, keep a look out for some tweets on Saturday and throughout the week since I probably won’t be posting! I’m going to attempt to live tweet the wedding and reception if she doesn’t throw my Blackberry against the wall! haha!

Well, since the site is called Dorm Room Biz, I thought it was time that we got back to posting some more student business ideas. So, without further ado, here is a great list of opportunities and businesses that students can start from their dorm room, apartment, or home. Starting a business in school is a great chance to A) learn business skills, B) make some extra money, and C) to just have a great time.

• Garage Sale Marketing and Promotion Service – One of the worst parts of holding a yard sale is getting everything together, pricing items, and advertising the sale. So, why not offer this service to your local community? Now is the time to start up a service like this as the spring season is starting to get rolling, people will start ’spring cleaning’ their houses, and yard sales will pop up all over the place. Check Craigslist in your area for people advertising yard sales and offer them your services.
• Personal Conceiger Service – How hard could it be to get some reservations set up at a restuarant or to get some tickets to a game? Actually, probably pretty difficult starting out. You’d really need to be able to work your personal network and tap into other networks to make it happen. However, starting small is what it’s all about. Since you’ve got the extra time in between classes and studying, it leaves the perfect opportunity to work on getting your name out there, making connections at hotels, restuarants, stadiums, clubs, etc. Offer the service to students and faculty at your school looking to plan an event (say a Valentines Day date or a birthday party) and set everything up for them. Along the lines of a personal assistant, but without all the bitch work.
• Green/Eco Consulting – Into the idea of going green? Read up on it because it is the latest and greatest thing happening. Once you have a solid foundation from books, magazines, industry blogs, and other resources, break out on your own and create your own website promoting green and eco-friendly practicies. As your site grows in popularity, so will your exposure and ability to grow your business into a consulting service. Start working with companies and families providing tips and tricks to help them be more green. Provide home inspections and office inspections to see how green your clients are and what else they can do. The kicker here is to also offer the service of whatever you are promoting they do. So as an example, if you inspect someones house and can tell that their lightbulbs should be replaced with CFL bulbs or their windows could be replaced with more energy efficient ones, offer this service to them. This is where real money can come in because you could then outsource the work to a

What do you think? Have a dorm room business idea that you’d like to share? Leave a comment below!