The power of the crowd (Photo: Anirudh Koul)
Whether deciding on a company name, logo, or web page design, we all want some outside feedback. Unfortunately, sending out sample logos and keeping track of everyone’s feedback can be extremely time consuming and quite frankly, a pain in the ass. I found a great method that streamlines the external feedback process and therefore your decision making.
Make an online survey!
This post explains, step by step, how to make a quick (and free) online survey (see example here). With this survey you can simply send your email contacts or Facebook friends a link, and you’ll get easy-to-read feedback (I’m talking graphs) on the questions you ask. It’s now easier than ever to turn your friends and colleagues into a virtual focus group!
That’s right! Write yourself a $1,000,000 check. No joke.
If you want to be successful, you need to know that you are worth it. Success starts with a belief in yourself, the knowledge that you are “making it”. To quote the philosopher Goethe:
I challenge you to write yourself a one million dollar check. Post it on your wall where you will see it every day. If you are traveling, tape it to the inside of your journal or save a picture of it as your desktop background. I am looking at mine right now.
There are many techniques for manifesting your dreams. Each of them require a true shift on a subconscious level. If you look at a check with your name on it that reads: “$1,000,000″, at some point, subconsciously, you are going to believe that you deserve that money. Try it!
(source: !borghetti and szeke)
I value socializing and meeting new people on the weekends. In San Francisco (my current city) this can get expensive. A round of drinks for 4 people can cost upwards of $40. If you buy 3 rounds of drinks during a given weekend, you are spending a minimum of $120.
I also value traveling. Like most travel-addicts, I know that traveling often costs much less than expected.
I decided to do a little comparison. For one month (4 weekends), I would try different money-saving techniques that would help cut my “entertainment costs” drastically. I would then compare my savings to the estimated living expenses in a country that I am dying to visit, Bolivia. Here is what I found:
“What does success mean to you? How do you achieve it?” We asked over 30 talented bloggers from around the globe these 2 questions. The result was a SUCCESS, literally. The SUCCESS ebook was created with the intention of inspiring others. It is a collaboration of wisdom from many of the world’s up and coming bloggers. It is one of those books you want to read when you feel doubt creeping in.
I personally feel honored to be part of this project and I hope you find it inspirational! If you would like to see how I and several other entrepreneurs and bloggers achieve SUCCESS, download the ebook for FREE here.
Now for the important part:
How do YOU measure success? And how do YOU achieve it? Please leave your experiences and insight in the comments section below. It will be great to hear from you!
The key? External Incentives. (Photo: Ric e Ette)
Let’s face it, when you don’t have a “reason” to automate your daily business tasks, it’s not easy to do.
I recently bought a one way ticket to South America. I intend to travel through South (and Central) America for several months. However, I do not intend to terminate my current projects/businesses.
The knowledge that I am leaving soon is forcing me to come up with solutions for automating my necessary tasks.
Some Tips:
Switch to technologies that allow for automation ~
And how you can too. (Source: TimFerriss)
“Austin built two profitable companies while traveling abroad and having the experiences of a lifetime.”
-Tim Ferriss, New York Times Best Seller, The 4-Hour Workweek
On December 31st, 2009 I was featured on Tim Ferriss’ blog. Tim Ferriss, the author of The 4-Hour Workweek, is practically a legend among entrepreneurs. His blog has 1,000,000+ readers. The exposure I’ve gained for myself and my companies from being featured on Tim’s blog has been astounding. Here is how I did it:
Read the rest of this entry »
[Above is the video of my story that I made using Animoto.]
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.”
- Mark Twain
Last year I took two months to travel during two seemingly “critical” stages in startup creation.
Startup #1: My Local Mountain
My Location: Backpacking through Thailand
In November of 2008, I went backpacking through Thailand. During the same period, I was also responsible for the launch of a Startup company; My Local Mountain.
A first of its kind Facebook application, My Local Mountain was to connect skiers and snowboarders to each other based on their local ski areas. With winter quickly approaching, November was THE month to launch our application and get our first users.
Being somewhat of a “travel addict”, canceling my trek through Thailand was not going to be easy. In the weeks leading up to my trip, I began devising a plan to have my cake and eat it too.
Enter Elance.
Photo: Alphabet Soup by cdw9
As a blogger, one of the easiest ways to lose credibility online is by using poor English. It’s hard for people to trust you if you can’t put a proper sentence together.
I was not an English major, so needless to say, I’m often appalled when I look back over the simple grammatical/spelling errors I’ve made. When I read over my own writing, I rarely catch all of my mistakes. My friends and family have grown tired of proofreading my stuff. Not to mention, their turn around time is way too slow.
That’s when I came up with the perfect solution: “Crowdsource it!”
Using a service called Mechanical Turk, I was able to get 2 people to proofread a blog post in 1 HOUR for ONLY $0.50. Here is how I did it:
The recent news of Google and Bing putting realtime Tweets into their search results should set off some SEO alarms.
As an entrepreneur and self-proclaimed “online marketer”, I dabble a bit in SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
The simple change to the SEO world is this:
SEO for Realtime Search becomes more about frequency than actual content!