Out of the Mouf!

Funding your first business WITHOUT outside investment

noreply@blogger.com (Think and Grow Chick) — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 17:20:00 +0000

If you follow internet business trends at all, then you've probably heard a lot of talk about "the bubble bursting" in reference to the millions of dollars venture capital firms have been throwing at various social networking/"web 2.0" startups. If there's any silver lining to the current economic condition, it's that the spending free-for-all has stopped as many VC firms are forced to tighten the belt just to survive. Hopefully this will force funders back to the good 'ol days when investment opportunities were researched, analyzed and conservatively chosen without regard to the trends of the moment. If you think I'm crazy for attacking the recent investing habits of well-established VC firms, then check out this article on Why VCs invest in stupid companies.

Luckily, there are still resources out their for those without the california mentality who believe in starting small and building from the ground up. A few weeks ago, I came across Adam McFarland's "Funding Your First Business" which spells out pretty clearly how a young person can get a reasonable business off the ground without much outside financial help. Click below to get the basics...

McFarland writes:

My advice – eliminate all of the uncertainty by using a job to fund yourself. Here’s what I would do if I was graduating today and starting out again from scratch tomorrow:

1. Get a non-career job where you can work 30 – 40 hours/week and make enough money to live off of. It might not impress your parents, but that job bartending or waiting tables or being a barista or bank teller is going to afford you the opportunity to do what you truly want.
2. Pick a potential business idea…then start a related service for under $100. Let’s say you’re like me and want to run lots of successful web apps. Starting a web app from scratch and building it to a point where it brings in solid revenue is very difficult and many times doesn’t work out. Instead, start a web design business first. $100 gets you some business cards, a simple website, and a Skype phone number. Throw and ad on Craigslist, work Twitter and Facebook, go to a few local networking events, and whatever else it takes to get your first clients for free. For more ideas, check out my post How To Do Client Work Right that I wrote just after we got rid of the service side of our business.
3. Use the remaining time to work on your “ideal” business. If you still want to build that web app, take advantage of all of the free time that you have to slowly-but-surely build it without the stress of needing it. Build something that has true value to people, even if it takes a year or two to do it. The more stress, the more you need a web app to succeed, the more likely you are to press and make drastic changes instead of being patient. Great websites take years and years to build.
4. Pump profits from your service into growing your “ideal” business. Since you are living off of your job, you can “reward” yourself by spending some or all of your service profit on growing the web app.

Here’s how your average week likely breaks down: 30 – 40 hours working, 15 – 25 hours on your service, and 5 – 10 hours on your ideal business. ~60 hours is no joke, but it’s also not a bad deal for how much benefit you’re getting.

This is a very low risk, high reward path that gives you TONS of future options:

* If things don’t take off, you can try again or get a career job.
* If the service grows, you can quit your part time job or stop working on the web app.
* If the web app grows, you can stop providing service or quit the part time job.
* If they both grow and you can cover your living expenses, you can definitely quit the part time job!

Are you building a business without outside financing? Do you have experience with starting really small? Share you insight by commenting below.

What's the Brand of You?

noreply@blogger.com (Think and Grow Chick) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 20:11:00 +0000

For those who think Twitter is useless, consider this article that I just came across via famed entrepreneur Guy Kawasaki's Twitter page:

The link in the Kawasaki's tweet refers to the article "How to Build a Powerful Personal Brand", from the American Express OPEN Forum. The article provides wonderfully concise advice on creating a powerful brand for yourself and for your business. Check it out below...

We all have personal brands because we're always being judged based on first impressions and we always have to sell ourselves in various life situations, including pitching to venture capitalists and influencing management to let us take on the next big project. Personal branding can be a major differentiator for you and allow you to gain opportunities that you wouldn't have received otherwise. Here are ten tips for building a powerful personal brand.

Select a niche.
There are thousands of marketing and probably a million social media blogs, which means you'll get lost if you position yourself the same way. The best way to stand out is to choose a niche that isn't saturated and where you have a lot of value to contribute. If you're passionate about that niche, then you'll be willing to work hard enough to become the leading voice or expert on that topic. A niche is how you position your brand in the flooding marketplace known as the Internet. By choosing the right niche, people will find you, you'll get hired for jobs and have many other opportunities.

Be the real you.
The greatest differentiator you have is your own unique personality. If you try and copy someone else, then you won't stand out nor will you have much self-respect. Make sure you present yourself as authentic, natural, and transparent, so people know they are talking with a human, and not a robot. Oprah, Trump, and Madonna are who they are, and people cling to that and appreciate it. If you want to grow your fan base, or simply want to succeed in an interview, be yourself.

Claim your name.
When it comes to online brand building, claiming your domain name has become a necessity. Your goal is to claim the top ten results for your full name in Google and domain names always rank really high (yourname.com). Go to Godaddy.com or another hosting service to get your name before someone else does. If .com isn't available, then try .net, and then .org. If nothing is available, then use your middle initial or brand yourself relative to a topic of your choosing or a nickname.

Network like a rockstar.
You can't succeed without the help of other people. Brand building is supported by a strong network because marketing exists through other people. You should treat your life like one giant networking event and recognize that you're already well networked. You have friends, families, teachers, managers, and acquaintances that you've met throughout your life. If you draw upon these contacts and try and help them out, then they will do the same for you. Over time, this strategy will boost your brand and get you to where you want to be.

Blog with passion.
You're going to need a lot of passion to blog because posting every day is impossible unless you do. You need to be dedicated and for me, that even meant publishing a few posts while on a cruise ship last January. Your readers aren't stupid people. They know if you're just trying to make money and get attention or if you're truly passionate about the content you produce.

Create content and market it.
Even if you built it, they probably won't come. You need to actively market your blog or website, in order to gain new readership and be found. There are several ways to do this including: commenting on other blogs, guest posting on blogs, writing article for online sources, speaking at events, starting an email newsletter, creating a LinkedIn group, joining networking events in your field, etc. Anyone can write a blog entry, but not everyone can take that blog entry and pass it around the world through various marketing channels.

Monitor your reputation.
After getting involved online or if you're already a well known brand, you'll want to constantly see what people are saying about you. Tools, such as Google alerts and Twitter search, will allow you to get a pulse for your brand name online and allow you to intercept both positive and negative results for your name. For negative results, you can prevent 'virtual forest fires' before they spread and for positive results, you can use them as endorsements for your brand.

Link everything together.
After you've signed up for all of your social networks, it's important to link all of them together by playing a link to your accounts (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc). This way, all of your sites will rank higher for your name and people will be able to follow your digital trail to uncover more information about your brand.

Bring your brand offline.
Don't count on becoming best friends with a hundred people you met online. Try and meet people outside of your digital world, so that you can further relationships. Also, your brand online and offline has to be consistent, so if you come off differently offline, you won't be taken seriously. When going for an interview, you can print many of the documents and websites or blogs you have and bring them with you.

Build a community.
If you really want to succeed at building a powerful brand, then creating a community of people that are passionate about what you're doing is vital. You want brand ambassadors to spread positive word-of-mouth messages and to recruit other people to be apart of your community, without you having to work twice as hard. The more you can focus on bringing new people into your world, the better.

What are your thoughts on building a personal brand? Do you have one? Share your comments and tips below.

The power of editing...learn it by watching Bravo TV

noreply@blogger.com (Think and Grow Chick) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 18:50:00 +0000

Watching TV is a dangerous trap that seems to creep up during my strongest bouts of procrastination. What I should have been doing this morning was writing, but instead I was slipping into the vortex that is Bravo TV. While the ideals of entrepreneurship will always be my first passion, I get so easily sucked into anything that relates to fashion because as a concept, it's self-gratifying and liberating...much like entrepreneurship. My love affair with the world of fashion is especially dangerous when Project Runway reruns and the vintage clothing category on eBay are, respectively, a channel change and mouse click away...

Halfway through the end of the season finale of The Fashion Show, my boyfriend called to reprimand me for my fashion-induced lack of focus, given I hadn't updated my blog all weekend (apparently he's an avid reader). Though I knew he was totally right, there was something about today's episode that felt like more than mindless TV. Here I was, in awe of one of the contestant's fashion collection only to watch all of the judges shoot her down for lack of consistency. At first I disagreed with the judges criticisms as I felt the contestant had designed brilliant clothes with lots of interesting patterns and shapes, but it wasn't until the last judge made her comments that I suddenly "got it".

I paraphrase, but the judge said to the contestant, "What you've done with your work is create lots of beautiful, interesting chapters. I worry; however, that with all of these brilliant pieces that you've lost the storyline. You've forgot how to edit."

I never expected to find today's post topic from reality TV, but what that judge said was genius. So often as ambitious, spritely, young adults we dive head first into a lot of truly exceptional projects only to lose the "storyline" of our true goals. I am so, so, SO guilty of this as I am blessed and cursed to be pretty good at a lot of different things. If we want to be truly successful at the things that mean the most to us, we really have to learn what it means to edit and ratchet our efforts down.

A great article on this is The Power of One, from Life Learning Today (via Leo Babauta of Zenhabits.com). This article suggests that you rank all of your goals in order of importance, then work solely on the most important one until it is accomplished, then move down to the next one. Essentially, this method is the debt snowball of goal setting.

While I agree that you have to create a hierarchy for goals if you ever hope to complete any of them, working on one at a time is just too limiting for me as there is a lot that I want to accomplish. My method for editing is to choose one goal per category in your life to accomplish at a time. The trick is then to pick goals that still relate to the other categories. For example, I have a goal of finding an effective workout routine that I can do on a consistent basis. Though this would fall under the "health" category in my life, it's related to my productivity and spirituality goals. In other words, its okay to work on more than one goal at a time as long as you're being incestuous about it; keep it all related. If you're really determined, keeping everything in an excel spreadsheet or a simple notebook can help.

I know all this goal talk may seem geeky some, but it's really important to continuously edit yourself so that you can keep all of your energy focused. Had that contestant learned that, she might have had the winning collection.

Had I learned that, I might have had this post written a whole lot sooner.

Secret Millionaires: A 3 Minute Introduction

noreply@blogger.com (Think and Grow Chick) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 22:26:00 +0000

If you were reading this blog earlier today, then you probably came across my post on Gurbaksh "G" Chahal, the high school dropout who made his millions after selling an internet advertising company at the age of 18. At the end of his Current TV interview, he talks about how he went undercover of a FOX TV show called Secret Millionaire that aired back in December of 2008. The premise of the show is that these millionaires go into underpriviliged neighborhoods unbeknownst to the residents, only to surprise one lucky person at the end of the show with $100,000.

After a little digging, I cam across this video on YouTube which features some of the other "secret" millionaires describing how they made their money. I'm excited to say that they have some women featured in this clip...check it out and let me know what you think. Have you seen this show?

Take Something Basic and Make it Brilliant. Russh Magazine

noreply@blogger.com (Think and Grow Chick) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 19:24:00 +0000

When you start something new—whether it be a blog, a magazine, a clothing line, a party or whatever—it's only normal that you want to make your new thing stand out from all the other things before it. The following video of Australian style magazine Russh Magazine gives us a simple reminder that it's not hard to be different and in fact, difference is key. One of the easiest ways to stand out is to use a basic medium in a new way.

Instead of just posting "Hey, we have a new issue!" on their website, Russh Magazine did a video flip-through of the new issue and made it available for their readers. How clever. Now potential readers can see what they're getting into before...well, they get into it. Have you ever taken something conventional and used it in a new way? Essentially, that's what all successful business ideas are built upon. What do you think of Russh's idea? Give your opinion below.

Thanks Jazzi MG for the heads up.

Gurbaksh Chahal: High School Dropout Zillonaire (Current TV)

noreply@blogger.com (Think and Grow Chick) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 16:41:00 +0000

I came across this video months ago, and I fell in love with this story. Gurbaksh Chahal aka "G" is an Indian immigrant, a high school dropout, and a multimillionaire under the age of 30. I always watch this video when I'm lacking inspiration; he's the very definition of how hard work prevails over circumstance everytime.

He's written a book called "The Dream" and has his own blog at http://gurbaksh-chahal.blogspot.com/ You can also follow him on twitter at @gchahal. Enjoy!

NYT: Teenagers Are Building Their Own Job Engine

noreply@blogger.com (Think and Grow Chick) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 14:31:00 +0000

Here's a clip of an interesting NY Times article I came across a few days ago. I think the most telling discussion in the article was about how high unemployment rates has highly experienced, laid-off adults competing with teenagers for traditionally "teenage" jobs like working at the mall, drugstore, or being a camp counselor. Times are very, very hard, but it's good to see people as young as 15 years old fighting for their financial freedom.

PERIODS of high unemployment tend to be particularly hard on teenagers, who wind up competing for jobs with more experienced, laid-off adults.

When Faith Borden, 16, of Metuchen, N.J., applied for a job in March to be a counselor at a summer day camp, she looked around and saw “all these 30- and 40-year-olds,” she said. “Usually it’s just teenagers.” ...

She also applied at pizza restaurants, drugstores and most of the stores at her local mall, and even attended a job fair in Edison, N.J., but didn’t receive one offer. So she decided to work for herself, selling Avon products.

Also facing a competitive job market, Max O’Dell, 14, of Cary, N.C., started Smiley Inc., a custom T-shirt design business. He paints shirts in his driveway and hangs them in the garage to dry; revenue so far has been $170.

“Business is very steady, and I would much rather work for myself than at a fast-food place or something like that,” he said. “It feels really good to be my own boss.”

Unemployment for 16- to 19-year-olds is at its highest rate since 1992 — at 22.7 percent in May, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That is causing some teenagers to rethink their notion of work and to embrace entrepreneurship.

“This is a generation raised to believe they can do anything, and the first to grow up with entrepreneurial celebrities like Steve Jobs of Apple and Larry Page and Sergey Brin of Google,” said Donna Fenn, who interviewed 150 young entrepreneurs for her forthcoming book, “Upstarts: How Gen Y Entrepreneurs Are Rocking the World of Business and 8 Ways You Can Profit From Their Success.”

Many teenagers have also seen the turmoil in the auto industry and layoffs of parents or other adults. They no longer associate financial security with big corporations, Ms. Fenn said.

In a survey conducted by the Kauffman Foundation for Entrepreneurship in December 2007, 4 out of 10 people from the ages of 8 to 21 said they would like to start their own business in the future.

But that might reflect youths’ aspirations more than reality, said Scott Shane, an economist and a professor of entrepreneurship at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland and a contributor to The New York Times’s small-business blog, “You’re the Boss.” “The percentage of the population becoming entrepreneurs is actually declining,” he said. “It’s true today that people are more likely to say they want to be in business for themselves, but that may reflect their attitude more than their behavior.”

Still, interest in entrepreneurship education among teenagers is rising. The Distributive Education Clubs of America, or DECA, which provide high school and college students with training in marketing, management and entrepreneurship, says it has found a 20 percent increase this year in interest in its entrepreneurship events.

Amy Rosen, chief executive of the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, a nonprofit group that provides entrepreneurship education in low-income communities, says her organization has more inquiries from school districts than it can serve and has been overwhelmed this year with applicants for its spring-break and summer camps.

“These kids are concerned that the world their parents grew up in no longer exists and the notion of taking control and owning your own future is really appealing,” Ms. Rosen said.

The Internet may be the most significant catalyst for teenagers’ entrepreneurship. The ability to start a business online has lowered many barriers to self-employment faced by young people — you need only a domain name and a Web site to set up shop and are largely anonymous to customers, who never have to know your age, said Alan Lysaght, co-author of “The ABCs of Making Money for Teens.”

There is also an abundance of information online about starting a business.

Laura Durst, 18, a recent high school graduate in Woodstock, Conn., in the state’s northeast corner, said that there were so few jobs for teenagers there that two years ago she began setting up a Web-based business, WorkInMyRoom.com. It provides teenagers with information and online resources to find jobs that can be done from home.

Ms. Durst said she was inspired by her mother, who also is an entrepreneur. “Seeing her work from home, where she could be her own boss, I liked the idea of that,” she said.

Ms. Durst’s revenue comes from advertising. She uses Google Ad Sense — which displays relevant Google ads on her site — and earns money when users click on them. She says she is making about $250 a month.

TEENAGERS start a wide range of businesses, Mr. Lysaght said, from selling art, jewelry or collectibles online to Web site creation and design. “They also do non-Web-based things like yard work, house cleaning, dog walking, pool care, tutoring and party planning,” he said.

In addition to the money they are earning, teenagers say entrepreneurship has made them more mature. Max O’Dell said he could now relate when his father talked about his own work, and Ms. Borden said she has learned how to speak to adults as an adult. “I feel like this experience is getting me ready for the real world,” she said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/28/jobs/28teens.html

When I was in highschool, my hustle was cleaning out cars in our driveway with some Armor-all and my mom's vacuum cleaner. What were your teenage gigs? Were any of you "business wiz-kids" back in the day? Share your nostalgia below...

How to Make Money in an Industry You Have No Experience in, in 8 Easy Steps

noreply@blogger.com (Think and Grow Chick) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 22:11:00 +0000

Among my circle of friends, I'm the one everyone seems to go to for advice. The few thing that I take the time to learn really well are the things that I'm most passionate about, and of course, one of those things is starting companies and trying my hand at new business ideas. Entrepreneurship and young entrepreneurs are especially popular right now, and it seems that everywhere I turn, I have someone asking me how to be one. Though I'm flattered that my friends think enough of me to seek my advice when it comes to entrepreneurship (and other things like "how can I get an afro like yours?" but I digress) it can be frustrating as an advice giver when you take the time to detail to someone how they can make their dreams happen, only for them to blow your suggestions off 5 minutes later with, "Oh I could never do that, I don't have enough time/experience/money/[insert excuse here]..." This post is for my friends and family in particular; I'm telling you today that you can be successful in any industry that interest you, even if you have no time, money or experience. Click below to find out how.

The example I'll use today is starting a web design company, though the advice applies to many other types of companies someone might like to start. "Whoa, whoa!" I can hear many of you say. "How am I supposed to start a graphic design company if I don't know the first thing about graphic design!?" Easy-peazy, my friends.

Just subcontract the work out.

Graphic design is always hot because nearly every industry either has products that relies on aesthetic appeal, or a service that needs to be presented a certain way via business cards, logos, and web site designs. All you have to do to get a piece of the action is squeeze yourself between the two ends of the graphic design industry spectrum; graphic designers and people who want to higher them.

Go on Craigslist or any other classifieds and search through all the listings where a graphic designer is needed.
Answer a few of the ads just to get an idea of the type of work they're asking for. Once you've got the job details, go to elance.com or a similar site and get in contact with designers from all over the world who are looking to find work.
Post a job on elance.com with the requirements you just got from steps 1 & 2 and wait for the hits to role in.
Pick someone with a low price, then go back to the craigslist guy (step 2) and quote him 25% higher price than the elance guy quoted you.
When he ask you to provide work sample or experience, give him the work sample/ experience from the elance guy and say he's a part of your "team". This is a perfectly acceptable and standard process when subcontracting. Everyone from Comcast to the U.S. Government engages in this practice when providing certain services to their clients.
Get some of the money upfront, then use it to pay for the elance guy to get started.
When the job is completed, collect the rest of the money, pay the elance guy the price he quoted you, then keep the extra 25% for yourself.
Shake, stir, and repeat until you're satisfied with your bank account balance.

This is such a straight-forward process, I'm not sure why more people don't engage in this when they're first starting out. The above steps can be applied to almost and job and industry, whether it be coding a website or fixing a running toilet. If you think I'm being too lofty, I have two female friends under age 25 who have built successful subcotracting-based businesses in less than two years. I will be sure to post interviews with them in the very near future. To learn more about contracting and subcontracting now, check out this websites:

http://www.answers.com/topic/subcontracting

Do you have any experience subcontracting? Is it something you'd ever try? Share your insight by commenting below.

Mini-Series: Make Your Business Look Professional in 7 Days (Day One)

noreply@blogger.com (Think and Grow Chick) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 11:54:00 +0000

As promised, here is the first tip for day one of the Make Your Business Look Professional in 7 Days Mini Series:

Check it out after the jump...

Setup a Blog. I know we've been over this before with my last post, but if you can't tell by now, I am a huge proponent of using a blog to jump start your business. I actually thought about suggesting setting up a static website using one of those templates from 1&1, GoDaddy, or even Yahoo!, but a blog can provide all of the critical information like a static website while providing your readers/potential customers with extra insight that will make them come back to your site even when they're not looking to buy from you at that moment. Additionally, a blog is generally easier to market online than a regular website because most blogging platforms come with tools to promote yourself on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Blogs by nature are updated with more frequency than regular, static websites, so your page is more likely to remain significant in Google's ranks (more on that in another post).

The biggest reason to set up a blog immediately is that a blog is free. (I know not all blogs are free, but quite frankly, if you are paying for your blogging platform then you need to move your blog ASAP). Both Blogger and Wordpress have great, professional looking templetes available (just google it) and both Blogger and Wordpress can be set to your own domain name (i.e. yourbusiness.com vs yourbusiness.blogspot.com).

So....your homework is:

1. Set up a blog
2. Make it look spiffy with a professional template
3. Add all your company info (i.e. "About" "Contact" etc...)
4. Write a few posts on topics pertaining to your business
5. Comment below and tell everyone about it!!

Don't forget to check back tomorrow to catch "Day Two" of this series. Or better yet...just subscribe.

John Chow: How I Make $40,000 a Month From a Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Think and Grow Chick) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 17:14:00 +0000

I came across this video post after finding out about John Chow via Select Course's "100 Terrific Twitter Feeds for Young Entrepreneurs" article and I must say, this video is the MOST informative video I have run across in at least a month. John Chow is an internet marketing guru who makes over $500,000 per year from just his blog. In the above is his presentation to the Vancouver Business, Marketing and Entrepreneurship Meetup, he details his blog's business model. If you've read my past post on why you should definitely start a blog if you're starting a new business, then you understand how monumental the information Chow provides in his video is. Not only are you going to want to watch this hour long video in its entirety, but you're going to want to take notes. If your too lazy to take notes and just want to watch the video, you can click below to read and download my notes and summary of the video.

Click here to download my notes.

Your welcome, and enjoy.

How did you feel about Chow's video? Think you can add something he missed? Share by commenting below.

Cheap and Easy Marketing Tricks

noreply@blogger.com (Think and Grow Chick) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 23:26:00 +0000

A few weeks ago I picked up Entrepreneur's StartUps Magazine and leafed to an article called "Your Message: From a Whisper to a Scream", which gave 8 great, low-cost marketing ideas for a new business. Click below to read an abbreviated version of the article and check out some great marketing tips.

Get profiled. Start posting profile pages on Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter and develop a following that wants to hear about your company

Make yourself a star. Create your own show via podcast or youtube and be your own PR person.

Pluck from the headlines. Compile a media list on topics related to your line of business, find reporters who cover those topics and send them news releases. Do one better and make yourself news by making yourself relevant to an already popular headline.

Go for the Demo. Find local events and showcase your product or service. If you film the session and post it online, you can simultaneously "make yourself a star"

Find business in your backyard. Take a good look at all the local businesses around you and see if you can offer discounted products or services to those companies' employees (or even their customers) in a relevant, helpful way.

Be a winner. Stay on top of magazine and trade publications to see if their offering awards of hosting a contest. If you win (or even place) then you have instant recognition.

Give it away. "Free stuff is always a hit". 'Nuff said.

Get Sourced. Sign up for websites that puts you in contact with reporters so that you can connect with them as a source or lead to a story.

Speak up. Book yourself as a speaker on a topic related to your business at local chamber of commerce meetings and other events. You'll be deemed an expert and will have instant "fame" in terms of networking with those in attendance. Also, if you record your speaking engagement, you can post it on your website and further facilitate "making yourself a star."

Check out the full article at http://www.entrepreneur.com/magazine/entrepreneursstartupsmagazine/2009/june/202090.html

Do you have a successful cheap marketing tip or story to share? Comment below to share your ideas.

Out of the Mouf! Book Review: Think and Grow Rich

noreply@blogger.com (Think and Grow Chick) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 22:32:00 +0000

I thought I'd start this series out by reviewing an old classic that I happen to be re-reading at the moment, Think and Grow Rich by Dale Carnegie. I'm not sure if I like Think and Grow Rich more for it's early-twentieth century charm (though the anecdote about the "colored" child made me cringe) or for it's actual advice, but either way it's definitely a book every entrepreneur (young, old, would-be, or otherwise) should read at least once. Check out my review after the jump...

The whole book is centered around a supposed "secret" that rich people possess, of which enables them to attain their riches. Carnegie spent his life following the rich men of his heyday in order to document this secret. Carnegie takes great joy in alluding to the "secret" through stories and examples rather than just spelling it out. This can be annoying to some, but figuring out the "secret" can be rewarding to the reader if the advice is something that you truly need in your life at that time. However, most entrepreneurs are impatient (a simultaneously good and bad trait...more on that in a different post) so I've outlined the "secret" below (it can be found in chapter 2 of the book):

Fix in your mind the exact amount of money you desire
Determine what you intend to give for the money you desire
Establish a definite date when you intend to possess the money
Create a definite plan
Write out a statement of the money you want and the time limit for it's acquisition
Read your written statement aloud twice daily

That's it! How do you feel about the book Think And Grow Rich? The first 10 to comment below will receive a FREE e-book download of the original Think and Grow Rich book!

Are you an author of a book or e-book on something that young entrepreneurs may find useful? Contact me at OutOfTheMouf@gmail.com to have your book submitted for a review.

Mini-Series: Make Your Business Look Professional in 7 Days

noreply@blogger.com (Think and Grow Chick) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 22:28:00 +0000

Professionalism is in the eye of the beholder, and as a young entrepreneur with little money, you risk leaving your business image without much to behold. Over the next week, I will be posting a mini-series on how your business can get that shiny coat of professional paint without blowing through your meager startup budget.

While you wait for my installment, check out these interesting links on small business professionalism:

"10 Cheap Ways to Create a Professional Impression with Your Small Business Marketing"

"How to Make Your Business Look Good Online"

"5 Tips To Being Taken Seriously As A Young Entrepreneur"

Do you already have a professional looking business? Have ideas for this installment? Share your tips by commenting below!

Why Starting a Blog is the Best Way to Start a New Business

noreply@blogger.com (Think and Grow Chick) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 19:49:00 +0000

With CNN relying on Twitter to get instant news coverage and Facebook on it's way to beating McDonald's for the amount of "customers served", it should be evident to even the most technologically un-savvy that the internet and social media are more powerful than ever before. Though that power is so obvious, it is amazing to see how many new startups fail to truly harness the internet in order to get their businesses off the ground. This is good news for young entrepreneurs, however, as young people are already used to incorporating the internet and its many tools into their daily lives. In other words, young entrepreneurs have an inherent advantage when it comes to launching a business over the internet. One such internet tool is blogging. If used consistently, blogging just might be the best way for a young entrepreneur to start their new business.

The number one reason to start a blog is that a blog helps you hone in on what you're trying to accomplish. You will never gain the readership you desire if you don't center your blog around a specific niche and purpose. The same can be said for your business—you will never gain the profits you desire if you don't have a specific business purpose. What problem are you solving with you service or product? If you provide a product or service that people legitimately want, then writing about it should attract a significant following. If you find that you're struggling to think of things to write about on your blog or people are not attracted to the things you are writing about, then perhaps that is evidence that your blog and your business model need some tweaking.

Another blatant reason to start a blog is that blogs are a free/cheap way to get your business online. I don't know about you, but I never have a ton of cash to blow on web designers and hosting just to put up a website. Blogs are a perfect solution because in nearly all cases, they are free to start and come with free hosting. If you want your blog to reflect your own domain (i.e. www.yourbusiness.com), many blogs can do that for just the cost of the domain name (generally $10 for a whole year). When bootstrapping a new venture, there's really no reason to have a "standard website" when your first starting out, as many blogging platforms have free, professional templates you can use instead (my company website for Babe&Suckling is an example of this...I used blogger and a free template). Furthermore, a blog can provide all the information a standard website would have if you simply set it up right. Make sure all the info a potential customer would need about your company is easily found on your blog, and voila! You are good to go!

Speaking of customers, a blog is a great way to build your potential customer base. Once you gain a significant readership to your blog, you can begin marketing your business directly to your visitors, as they are likely to already have an interest in your company since they keep coming back to read your blog.

A blog is also a great testing place for potential products or services. Thinking of launching that new t-shirt line? Write a few post about if first and get your readers involved. Read their comments and listen to what they have to say before you spend money on that new project. What you think is a great idea might not be so if you're truly targeting your readers as customers. Take you reader feedback seriously; it can save you from spending thousands on a new but poorly planned idea.

Lastly, a blog can help you generate startup money. I say this with caution, as starting a blog is definitely not a get rich quick scheme, but a successful blog can realistically generate a few thousand dollars in it's first year if you research different monetization strategies and really put in the effort. I recently stumbled on a great list ways to make money with your blog over at InsideCRM called "101 Ways to Monetize Your Blog Without Irritating Your Readers. "

The point is if you have enough moxie to start up a blog a get it to a mildly successful point, then you can probably do the same with your business. Have you had success with blogging and starting a business? Share your comments below!

My Projects

noreply@blogger.com (Think and Grow Chick) — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 15:47:00 +0000

As I mentioned on the About Page I am a young, 20-something urbanite on a quest to be a successful entrepreneur. While this blog is dedicated to providing information for young go-getters like me, this page will always reflect the projects I have my hand in outside of the blog. I'm currently working on:

The YoungLinks—A company I started to (1) help young business get their first contract and (2) help established businesses find new, innovative partners/contractors in a cost effective way. You can learn more by clicking here.

Creative Equals—A non-profit I started to provide space and entrepreneurial resources to artists and creative professionals interested in working for themselves. You can learn more by clicking here.

If any of these projects interest you and you'd like to work with me, drop me a line at outofthemouf@gmail.com

About

noreply@blogger.com (Think and Grow Chick) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 21:55:00 +0000

My name is Courtney, a Howard University student, and I am the author of this blog.

I've been living in DC for the past three years and as any young, new transplant can attest, our nation's capital has given me the most amazing inspiration when it comes to being a young 20-something "go-getter". I've tried my hand with a few businesses over the years, some of which have failed, some of which succeeded, and all of which gave me the knowledge I share with you all on this blog.

Entrepreneurship can be really tricky, and with all the media hype recently surrounding "Gen-Y" and our desire to be our own bosses, it seems like every magazine or blog is trying to cover the "young entrepreneur" topic.

Out of the Mouf! is a personal development blog geared towards young adults interested in lifestyle entrepreneurship.

Lifestyle entrepreneurship is all about building a business to make a living and to satisfy your own personal motivations. What was once about amassing Trump-like riches is now about designing a vehicle that produces enough income to allow one the freedom to live out their life long passions. This is a goal that I, and the majority of my generation, infamously subscribe to and this blog will explore various ways to get there.

While I don't profess to know everything about being an entrepreneur as my own path to self-employment is definitely a work in progress, it is my utmost desire to bring as many young adults to an entrepreneurial lifestyle as I can, even if they don't fit the "internet genius" stereotype permeating so much of the media coverage about young people in business.

Most importantly, this blog is a discussion, so if you have something to say, find a post you like and comment, or follow me on twitter. If you want to talk to me personally, drop me a line at outofthemouf [at] gmail [dot] com.

Thanks and enjoy!

~Courtney