I asked Gary V why he chose to focus on Vaynermedia
Free Consulting for Businesses Hurt by Irene
I am offering two free hours of consulting to the first ten business owners that email me with their story of how they were hurt by hurricane Irene. Email me at [email protected] or call me directly at (508) 468-8538. Additionally, I will get you in touch with my coach, Garry Carlson, who is offering one month of free strategic business coaching to those in the Vermont area hit by Irene (to the first 25 people who get in touch with him).
5 Simple Options for Student Entrepreneurship
Are you a college (or high school) student looking to get into entrepreneurship and take control of your future? Good. Great.
I have some bad news for you. But fortunately, I also have some great news for you.
The bad news is this:
- As a college graduate (especially with a liberal arts degree) you will have some trouble finding meaningful and gainful employment in your area of study.
- If you do find a job, there is a good chance you will be overworked, underpaid, and find it difficult to move up.
- Most high schools and colleges do not teach entrepreneurship. The ones that do often teach it on a level that is impractical for students or recent graduates to immediately apply… they teach about venture capital, high tech industries, high level partnerships, etc. This is all great knowledge, but is often difficult for students broke in contacts, experience, and finances to apply.
The great news is this: you CAN start profitable business as a student. Even if you have few contacts. Even if you have very little experience. Even if you lack any significant finances or investors. More great news: many of your peers, including myself, are out there doing it.
Here are some options for student entrepreneurs to start a business as soon as TODAY:
- Build a service business. This generally has a very low capital requirement and no risk. Either find something you’re good at already, or find something simple to learn that has a proven demand in the marketplace. You can start locally. For example, I have a web design and marketing company. My friend Sumner has a lawn mowing company. Last Winter my friends and I built a small snow removal company. You can provide rug cleaning services, graphic design, computer repair, painting, landscaping, and dozens of other services, all of which require a minimal investment in equipment and education and have a proven demand.
- Build a blog. You can start with a personal blog, like this one, but you will find it more profitable if you write about something that you are passionate about that you know others will find interesting (e.g. tea, skateboarding, technology, fitness, etc). You can write product reviews and link to Amazon affiliate links and other product links where you make a commission when people buy from clicking, or you can put general advertisements on your blog that pay you through an affiliate relationship or through pay-per-click. The more traffic you drive to your blog, the more money you will end up making. Also, as the founder and author of that blog, you will build a personal brand which will help with your career down the road. I know people that make anywhere from $50 per month to a six figure income blogging. If you start this business, make sure you get a self-hosted WordPress blog, NOT a free hosted blog.
- Start a network marketing business. Network marketing is like direct sales, only with multiple levels through which commissions are paid. You generally pay a fee to start or buy some product for your new business, and you work to distribute that product through sharing the products and business opportunity with others. The best thing about network marketing is that you will generally have a number of experienced upline mentors that have a direct financial interest in your success. Additionally, you will be exposed to personal development educational material that will force you to grow as a person and an entrepreneur in skills like leadership, sales, money management, and goal-setting. Network marketing was what got me on the path to freedom as a student entrepreneur.
- Sell on eBay, Amazon, or Craigslist. You can find items all over your house that you may not need anymore, that others will gladly pay for. Once you run out of items, do some market research and see what’s in demand. Learn to buy and sell. Marketplaces like these allow you to start making a profit online without setting up a website at all, and with having minimal technical know-how. In addition to making money, you will learn inventory and money management, negotiation, sales, and more. I have money some money this way through college, but I have friends who have made thousands of dollars per semester selling their own items and books (also video games and other stuff) for friends on Amazon in exchange for a small commission.
- Start your own e-commerce website. If you have a product idea, even as simple as a funny T-shirt, you can start a successful e-commerce business. Aside from the marketplaces described above, you can start a simple WordPress website and add an e-commerce element to it, process payments through PayPal, and ship via your local Post Office! You can market yourself on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and blogging, and build your brand through word of mouth.
I recognize than starting a business through any of these options is a lot more complex that I described in the few sentences I wrote on each, but I promise you that it’s not only possible, it’s practical and achievable for anyone who choose to commit to it! And even if you are still looking for employment after graduation, having this business experience under your belt will go a long way in helping you find the job you’re looking for where you can have more control over your income, your time, and your environment.
If you have any questions, are or getting started in any of these entrepreneurial options, just comment below or message me privately – I’d love to help!
I hope this post inspired you to take a step towards entrepreneurship and take control over your personal and financial future.
Can A Business Coach Change Your Life?
NO!
Let me explain – only you can change your own life for the better with the decision that you make. BUT having a business coach can have a dramatic impact on the direction that you take your life in, and the results that you get from your business and your life.
I was inspired to write this post because I have been working with a business coach, Garry Carlson, since late March, and the past three months for me have been transformational, to say the least.
What you can gain from a business coach:
- Accountability. It is a literally coach’s job to care about your business and ensure that you keep the promises you make to yourself. Having weekly coaching calls helps you stay on top of your goal list. You will report back every week with an overview of what you have and haven’t accomplished based on your long term goals and your action items for the previous week. This alone change dramatically improve your personal productivity.
- Experience and wisdom. A business coach works and has worked with many other business owners, and understands the financial, psychological, and emotional struggles that entrepreneurs face. He or she has dealt with them many times, and has helped many of his or her clients get over them. A coach’s wisdom can also stop you from wasting months or years (or thousands of dollars) working in the wrong direction, and can provide incredible guidance when setting your goals and developing your strategy.
- Bigger and clearer goals. Having a coach by your side will empower you to set bigger and more defined goals for yourself and your business, because you know you will have someone to help guide you towards those goals. Additionally, a coach may often believe in you more than you believe in yourself in the early stages, and will encourage you to set greater goals for yourself.
- A process to the madness. Entrepreneurship can be tough, crazy, and disorganized, especially when you are primarily working solo. Having a coach helps you add a structured, guided process to ensure success in your venture, not to mention overall better organization in your life and business, especially when it comes to time management.
- Balance. I don’t know about other coaches, but my coach Garry has helped me find greater balance in my life, helping me not only grow my business financially, but also develop it in such a way that it helps me attain the lifestyle that I want to create for myself. He encourages the business FUNdamentals, teaching that it is difficult to succeed at something that you can’t have fun at!
- Encouragement. If you struggle with self-doubt, as many entrepreneurs do especially in the early stages (I know I did), a good great will help you replace that self-doubt with a rock solid self-confidence. This confidence will be the result of not only a changed emotional state, but also assurance in the fact that you have a plan, are achieving improved results, and have greater clarity in everything you do.
For me personally, working with Garry has been a significant factor in my ability to start my business on a full-time basis after graduation. Not only is my business profitable now and has incredible prospects for the near future, I have also been able to significantly improve my lifestyle and general happiness. I take more time for what I love, like playing tennis with my friends, spending quality time with my girlfriend Ally, learning new things (currently teaching myself Spanish), and traveling to new places (just came back from Aruba two weeks ago, currently writing this post in Vermont, and have a lot of travel plans in the coming months).
If you are a business owner looking to grow your current business, or an entrepreneur looking to start a business, I strongly encourage you to get in touch with a coach. Some offer a 15 minute free coaching session… I know Garry does so, you can fill out his form here to get your free session.
If you are a business owner (including network marketing or any other home business!), I hope this post gave you insight into growing your business. If you have had any experience with a coach, please comment below!
What am I doing after graduation?
I just graduated yesterday! (B.A. in Business and Sociology). Naturally, I’ve had a lot of people ask me what I’m doing after graduation, so I figured it would be the perfect topic for a blog post. While most of my graduating peers are either attending graduate school, professional school, getting their first real jobs, or on a mission to get hired, I am taking a quite different path. I’ve made it my goal over the last three and a half years of being an undergraduate to not have to get a job after graduation. I stumbled a lot along the way, almost lost faith many times, and made over zealous income predictions about many business opportunities. I’ve had people tell me I was crazy – and rightly so much of the time. While my path after graduation is something I could have never predicted given my plans one year ago, I am achieving my larger goal in not having to go get a job, and in the process I am achieving much more in really starting to build a life of freedom, passion, and purpose.
So after a long intro, here’s what I’m doing after graduation, starting now:
- I am building my primary business, Purpose Inspired Marketing, on a virtually full-time basis. It will take the majority of my time starting out, and it is my primary source of income. It is the platform on which I am building my financial and entrepreneurial future.
- I am a partner in a hosting company, The Better Hosting, with Jonathan Yarbor. I’ve learned a lot about web technology and business so far in this partnership, and look forward to growing a successful hosting company over the years.
- I am taking an equity position in a lucrative and exciting start-up and serving as its Chief Operational Office (COO). I can’t disclose details now, but will dedicate a post to it as soon as I can 🙂 ***Update: I am no longer pursuing this opportunity, but I have added a significant new project.
This is a lot to start out, and I’m certainly going to have a busy schedule. I am putting some new productivity tools in place to get it all done well without overwhelming myself too much. I am learning to be an early riser, which I plan to transition in a polyphasic sleep pattern in a month or so. I have a business coach, which is probably the best business and life decision I’ve made yet (another post for another day). I am improving my diet and exercising more to have a lot more energy, as well as occasionally taking BodyQuick, which has been an incredible productivity booster so far (Tim Ferriss created this product, author of the 4 Hour Work Week and 4 Hour Body).
Obviously, I also plan on enjoying my Summer and enjoying life, especially in the company of my great group of friends and my girlfriend Ally. I expect to travel a lot and work from the road, and explore all that life has to offer in the coming years. I’ll post updates more often, both here and on my company blog (as soon as I launch it!).
I would love to network with other young entrepreneurs as I embark on this rather unique life path. If we don’t know each other yet, or haven’t caught up in a while, shoot me an email, get in touch on Facebook, or give me a call!
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