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Influencer Marketing for Solopreneurs by @DONNAAMOS

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by Donna Amos | Featured Contributor 

Word of mouth marketing is still a powerful method for a single reason: it works. Consumers trust the word of other authentic consumers about what they have bought and used or services they have enjoyed. Influencer marketing is based on this fact. And because the average online user suffers through approximately 3,000 brand messages each day, people don’t trust brands. They know brands are out to sell them something.

Influencers are not just celebrities, whom people are trusting less and less. They can be anyone who has earned a certain authority in some area. They are open to trying new things relating to their area of expertise, they share an honest appraisal, and they are motivated to serve the public. Because of this, they have earned the right to be heard and believed.

Why Influencer Marketing?

I remember my father driving into town and doing business on a handshake with people he knew. Because they had an established relationship, he knew he could trust them. He also told me of the businesses in town that could not be trusted, and why. I grew up learning an important lesson: only do business with people you can trust.

Trust is still an important factor in marketing and sales, even more now in the realm of digital marketing. I cannot see and shake hands with the person I’m doing business with; I have to take the word of what is printed on his or her website. So, I really don’t know who I’m doing business with; I and most people don’t like that.

But grasp this important statistic: 70% of millennial consumers are influenced to purchase by recommendations of their peers. Enter Influencer Marketing. An influencer is a person who has worked to gain the trust of a large audience. They are viewed by their followers as a trusted peer, and they have tremendous persuasive power. Their word can be trusted.

Is influencer marketing really a thing? Can this method of marketing really work? Absolutely. Imforza reports that “86% of the most-watched videos on YouTube about beauty were made by influencers, compared to a mere 14% from brands.” This is just in a single industry. Where brands focus on promoting why you need their stuff, even if you don’t, a trusted influencer will allegedly tell you the truth about a product or service and leave the decision-making up to you.

The Best Influencers for Solopreneurs

Now as a solopreneur, it is not likely that you can convince a celebrity influencer or popular author to review and recommend your business; nor could you probably afford their fees. Solopreneurs can still benefit from influencer marketing. But we must choose a level of influencer that will reach our target audience and fit our marketing budget.

For example, you may benefit from a local influencer if your business is primarily targeting a local audience. This could even be a popular TV personality, radio personality, or some such person whom the public trusts. Sometimes, the influencer may have a local TV or radio program of their own where your business could be featured if you meet their standards and criteria.

Some authority figures are on a level where they could reach your target audience, but not be so influential as to demand a national audience and a corresponding astronomical fee. Some authors fit this bill, as would hometown sports heroes or favorite sons. These will also usually have a strong social media following, which is an added benefit if your audience is not limited to a certain locale.

Micro-influencers have a social media following around 10,000, which is large enough to have influence, but small enough to be within a solopreneur’s reach. You can do some research on Instagram and/or YouTube for influencers in your particular niche and quickly locate some on this level.

How to Select and Engage the Right Influencer for Your Solopreneur Business

As you research micro-influencers or local influencers, try to determine if they have supported solopreneurs in the past. Some may have a proclivity for solopreneur businesses and this can help you make a connection. Also, some may be against solopreneurs, and so knowing this and steering clear of them will save you time.

Ask yourself some questions when choosing the right influencer to approach:

  • Are their followers the right audience for my business?
  • Is there high engagement between the influencer and their followers?
  • Does the influencer have enough followers to be worth my efforts (minimum 5,000 and maximum 10,000)?
  • What are some other businesses they have endorsed? Do I approve or disapprove?
  • Do I find them honorable, trustworthy, and yet informative and entertaining?
  • Can I trust them to give an honest appraisal and represent my business well?

Here are some suggested actions to engage with influencers:

  1. Start by interacting on social media so they can get to know about you. If they are not responsive to comments on their posts, find another influencer who engages better with his or her audience.
  2. Be genuine with your engagement. Follow them on social media channels, like their posts, and offer intelligent comments. Share their posts, videos, and other content. Look for common ground in their content that you can talk about in your responses.
  3. Give before you take. Share a popular piece of their content on your own media channels or in an article. Drop them a personal email to let them know and express appreciation for the information in their material. Share genuine appreciation for their work and influence. Good influencers that you want to work with will have worked hard to earn their reputation, and they will appreciate you recognizing that fact.
  4. After establishing a relationship of mutual respect in this manner, formally approach them and ask about their influencer relationships and how you might apply. Be sure to express respect for their opinion and efforts.

Solopreneurs can profit from a relationship with the right influencer, or influencers. Just be sure to take the appropriate amount of time establishing a relationship of mutual respect before making an offer or request. A minimum of six months of researching and cultivating an influencer should give you an idea if the time is right.

Are you a solopreneur who already benefits from influencer marketing? How did you get started? How did you choose the right influencer for your business? Share your counsel and suggestions in the comments below!

 

Why Co-Working is Vital to My Business and my Well-Being by @katelynstanis

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by Katelyn Stanis

When I left my corporate 9-6 gig to turn my side-hustle as a wedding vow and toast writer into a full-time business, I felt a surge of excitement and serotonin. But after just three days working alone in my home office, the extrovert in me was pleading to get out—literally. I had to get out of the house.

I forced myself to schedule at least two outings per week. From coffee dates to networking events, I would attend anything that gave me a reason to put on pants and mascara.

Despite my best efforts, I was starting to feel depressed. Many days, the only time I left my apartment was to walk my dog and I felt elated when the doorman wanted to talk for five-minutes.

My lackluster attitude began to slowly eat away at my entrepreneurial spirit and I didn’t feel inspired or motivated. After 10 weeks, I had officially lost my ability to make working from home work for me. It was time to consider a co-working space for my vow writing service.

Being in located in New York City, co-working spaces are about as common and trendy as matcha tea spots. I toured three spaces and chose a women-focused space—The Luminary.

Joining this workspace has been the biggest game changer for me. If you’re considering a space, here are the immediate benefits that I’ve experienced:

  • I have a real routine again. For me, routine equals productivity.
  • I have made new friends. Belonging to a co-working space with a focus on community means forming connections with amazing women who not only help on the social front but are valuable business mentors too.
  • There are a ton of monthly professional development events that happen each month. Investing in myself means investing in my business.
  • I’m inspired! It’s important to surround myself with things that give me fuel. For me, that’s being around people and in a place that reignites that fiery entrepreneurial energy.

Being a solopreneur can feel isolating and uninspiring at times but it does not have to. Consider your options. Explore spaces. And choose a place where when you walk in, you feel ready to rock your business and your life.

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Katelyn Stanis is the owner and creator of Wedding Words, a wedding vow and speech writing service. She helps tongue-tied couples from across the world tie the knot through her one-on-one custom vow writing service and speech writing service.

With a BA in Journalism, Katelyn has always adored asking people the right questions to unearth their own vibrant story. Today, she uses that same passion to discover the details of a couple’s love story and collaborates to put their heart into words.

Katelyn has been featured in The New York Times, Forbes, Brides, The Everygirl, Bridal Musings, and Wedding Chicks.

5 Productivity Tips for Busy Solopreneurs by @DONNAAMOS

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by Donna Amos | Featured Contributor 

First of all, let me correct the title of this article. “Busy solopreneurs” is completely redundant. If you’re a solopreneur who is not busy, the word to better describe you is BANKRUPT. The very word solopreneur means“entrepreneur who does it all.” But we all know that solopreneurs can use help with increasing productivity and efficiency.

The fact is, no one can do it all. Even solopreneurs need help. You may be the solitary person responsible for everything in your business, but that does not mean that must perform every task. In fact, that is a sure prescription for burnout and failure.

So, in your few free moments to read and invest in YOU, here are five tips to help you be more productive without robbing you of even more time for personal needs.

 

Set Priorities

It’s important to take time each day to prioritize tasks. Rate each task by its due date and level of importance. Then, arrange them in descending order of importance for each day. Now you can focus on completing each task one at a time. There is a distinct pleasure in checking completed tasks off your list.

Studies reveal that multitasking reduces your productivity. Besides, multitasking really just means switching your attention between tasks, which increases the risk of making errors and slows you down as you realign your thinking to each task.

Determine when you are the most productive, and schedule important tasks for those blocks of time. During each block, focus on one very specific task and ignore everything else. For example, if you’re most productive in the mornings, use that time for creative work and save responding to emails for the afternoon.

 

Schedule Tasks

Following a schedule makes efficient use of your time. Schedule business hours and work diligently during those hours. Schedule everything, including working times and breaks. Appoint mundane tasks to be completed at the same time each day, and save your best hours for creative client work.

This is different from simply blocking out hours of the day for certain types of work, discussed above. This is setting your regular working schedule for every week. Of course, sometimes projects demand overtime or weekends; that is inevitable. But with a regular schedule in place, if something demands overtime, you can more easily charge overtime costs for the extra time you work outside your normal working schedule.

 

Use Tools

There are tools and apps for everything, and a wise solopreneur will make full use of them. Consider utilizing efficiency and budgeting software to cut down on end-of-the-month tasks. Download a scheduling app to use with your working schedule. Join it to an organization tool and input your daily task list to stay on track throughout the day. Apps like this cut out paper lists that can be lost, and will even provide timers and reminders.

Your particular industry will determine what tools and apps will best help you with productivity. Keep that in mind. Just because everyone loves a certain tool doesn’t mean it’s right for you. Software and apps that help you write better are popular, but if you don’t create copy in your business, why do you need it?

 

Delegate Tasks

As a solopreneur, you’re likely accustomed to doing everything. But there are probably some tasks that you don’t enjoy, perhaps even absolutely loathe. Like bookkeeping, or transcribing interviews, or writing sales emails. Don’t be afraid to delegate those tasks to someone else, even another solopreneur with skills in those areas.

You can increase productivity by focusing on your strengths and delegating other tasks to people who possess strengths in those areas. This doesn’t have to be a paid gig. Sometimes, family or others around you would be happy to help out just to learn about your business or help you out. Besides, you can always review the work (and you should) to ensure it meets your quality and accuracy requirements. There are also options for finding a marketing apprenticeship like GenMwhere you can pay $150 for three months and get help for up to 10 hours per week.

 

Schedule Time for You

Solopreneurs can easily work themselves into the ground. And no one is around to warn them about hitting the brakes. So, this is your warning. Just like you schedule time for working hours and completing certain tasks, schedule time for you. If you don’t schedule it like a business appointment or task, you will allow something else (like a business appointment or task) to bump it from your schedule.

Eat healthy foods and incorporate exercise into your daily activities. Make sure you get adequate sleep. Take the time out to rest and rejuvenate. Schedule exercise, meal, and vision breaks into your daily routine. Scheduling time for yourself (and taking it) is the best way to honor your business and your clients. If you do, you’ll be able to give the business your all and even more when it demands it.

Schedule and invest in a vacation away from work demands, if possible. Pay into a vacation fund as if it were an actual monthly expense. Get away from where you normally work and relax, eat out, have fun, and celebrate your solopreneur freedom and accomplishments. If you plan ahead for a vacation, budgeting finances and time for it in advance, you can do it.

If for some reason you cannot get away from work, at least travel to a relaxing destination and work from there. In your off hours, you can still eat great food, visit beautiful places, and engage in relaxing or fun activities. Even working from an exotic or fun location can be invigorating and refreshing, just the thing a busy solopreneur needs.

What are the best productivity hacks that work for you? Share them with our readers in the comments below!

Top 10 Apps Solopreneurs Need by @DONNAAMOS

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Top 10 Apps Solopreneurs Need

by Donna Amos | Featured Contributor 

Solopreneurs enjoy countless benefits, but one of their struggles is handling every aspect of their business themselves. managing appointments, paying bills, creating proposals, sorting out taxes, following up with leads, and managing stress. Thankfully, there are numerous business apps available, many of them with free versions, to help busy solopreneurs. Here’s a list of 10 that we recommend.

Assistant.to

Just because you are a solopreneur doesn’t mean you want to do every single task for yourself. You may have to, but you sometimes don’t want it that way. Assistant.to is like a personal secretary that sets up your appointments by working with your email recipient, automatically adjusting time zones and even rescheduling meetings if something comes up.

Calm

Calm is the #1 app for meditation and mindfulness. Enjoy 100+ guided meditations to help you manage anxiety, lower stress and sleep better. Have trouble sleeping the try their Sleep Stories. What Solopreneur does not need to learn how to relieve their stress?

G-Suite (Google)

Half of G-Suite revolves around communication—we are talking Gmail, Google Hangouts and Google Calendar. The other half is a set of apps that will help you create and collaborate. This includes Docs (documents. Think: Word), Sheets (Spreadsheets. Think: Excel), Slide (Presentation. Think: PowerPoint), and Forms (surveying tool). All of the tools are stored together on a cloud called Google Drive.

Evernote

Evernote is the ultimate note-taking and archiving tool for collecting information, keeping it organized, and collaborating with others. Evernote is a cloud-based software service designed for creating, organizing and storing various text and media files. Whether a text document, a photo, a video, an audio file or even a web page, Evernote stores everything so you can access it on any device when needed.

Grammarly

Solopreneurs often do everything themselves, including writing their own copy for practically everything. Make sure that your text is free from typos and that you are using commas correctly usually with this handy desktop app. As you type, Grammarly checks your text for hundreds of common and advanced writing issues.

Mailchimp

Bring your audience data, marketing channels, and insights together so you can reach your goals faster. With Mailchimp, you can promote your business across email, social, landing pages, postcards, and more — all from a single platform. Populate different audiences for various uses and message them all from one platform for any reason. A free version is great for solopreneurs just getting started, with paid versions scaling up offerings.

Shake

Shake is a web and mobile app that creates legally binding agreements in seconds, which is an ideal way to create quick contracts for freelance jobs. You can also create loans, leases, sales and non-disclosure agreements, saving you time as you take on new projects.

Sighted

Sighted is an online invoicing app perfect for freelancers and solopreneurs. The free plan is perfect for a small business, offering 20 invoices per month in multiple currencies, for up to 10 clients. As the business scales, paid plans allow for unlimited invoices, expenses and 100 or more clients. All plans feature the ability to accept online payments and include a profit and loss report to make tax chores much less of a hassle.

Square

Square gives you the ability to take secure payments anywhere you are and has zero fees to get set up. The company will send interested individuals the hardware that attaches to a smart device for free and then keeps 2.75 percent of any transaction that is completed. This gives solopreneurs the ability to accept debit and credit cards from wherever they have the opportunity to make a sale.

Trello

Trello is one of the best project management tools. It works with boards and lists, and helps individuals and teams stay on top of a project from start to finish. No matter where you are, Trello stays in sync across all of your devices. Collaborate with your team anywhere, from sitting on the bus to sitting on the beach.

What are your favorite apps to simplify solopreneur tasks? Share your recommendations with our readers in the comments below.

 

6 expenses solopreneurs should track for taxes

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by Paul Koullick

As a solo-entrepeneur, you’re juggling a lot of balls at once — sometimes flaming torches — and so expense tracking often falls between the cracks. It isn’t until April 14th at 11 pm that you really start kicking yourself because “I’m sure I’m forgetting something!”. At Keeper, we’ve helped thousands of freelancers through tax time, and we’ve seen some patterns. Last tax season, Keeper ran a study to discover the most often missed tax write offs.

The resulting list, below, represents the tax write offs that are most often forgotten. The smart thing to do is to keep track of during the year, so that when tax time comes around, you’re not giving Uncle Sam more than he deserves.

 

Rideshare trips

Uber / Lyft rides on the way to a work event are considered tax deductible transportation expenses. Unfortunately, since these services offer no physical receipts, it can be difficult to keep track of them during the year. At tax time, remembering whether a particular ride 8 months ago was work-related is near-impossible. That’s why marking trips down when they happen is critical and will save you a huge headache at the end of the year.

 

Software expenses

Like rideshare trips, digital purchases often don’t leave a paper trail. That means it can be hard to keep track of them. Whether it’s buying a stock photo, paying for a domain hosting software, or other work-related software purchase, it’s important to keep track of it so that you can get a discount at tax time!

 

New phone or computer

With the pace of technology updates, most people buy new electronics every year. Whether it’s a phone upgrade or a new laptop, these are large expenses that are also easy to forget about at tax time. Think about it this way: by remembering to claim it on your taxes, you’re effectively getting a 30% discount. That’s a lot!

 

Home office expenses

Many solo-preneurs work from home but forget to claim the home office deduction. You don’t need a separate room in your home to claim this massive tax deduction. Also, it’s important to record actual home expenses rather than just relying on the “standard” square footage method. The vast majority of solo-entrepreneurs will save more on taxes by claiming actual home expenses.

 

Business meals

You don’t need to be eating filet mignon at a white tablecloth restaurant in order for a meal to be considered a “business” meal. As long as you discuss work and learn something valuable for your work, you can write it off on taxes. Over the course of a year, it really adds up!

 

Miscellaneous car expenses

When it comes to getting money back on your car expenses, there are two options: you can track miles, or you can add up your actual car expenses. If you don’t already have a mileage tracking habit, the easiest thing to do is to just track miscellaneous car expenses and then go back and add in gas expenses at the end of the year. Maintenance, registration, parking, tolls, and so on are all tax deductible expenses!

 

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Paul is the co-founder and CEO of Keeper, a service which automates expense tracking for solopreneurs. In his free time, he loves running marathons, and spending time with his family in San Francisco.

How to Plan for Summer Travel as a Business Owner by @CorpNetNellie

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by Nellie Akalp

Are you planning to take time off this summer to rest, recharge your batteries, or just spend more time with your friends and family? Here are some tips to help you take a family vacation, weekend away or girls’ trip while still staying on top of your business. 

Delegate 

You might be used to keeping a tight leash on all aspects of your business, but if you ever hope to get some “me” time, you need to start building a bench of employees who can take over when you’re out of the office. Make a point to keep your eyes out for employees with the drive and motivation to learn. Self-starters want more experience and ask for more responsibilities. You could even have your staff fill out a survey about what they like and don’t like about their jobs. Then ask what they hope to learn from working at your business and what aspects of the business they would like to know more about. Once you have some feedback, test the waters by delegating some of your daily tasks or the duties related to their interests. The more daily operations you can hand over, the easier it will be to sneak away for a few days and know your business will be fine.

Crosstrain

Your staff may be excellent at their specific job duties, but you’re limiting them (and yourself) on how much more they can contribute to helping your business grow. Cross-training employees to do each other’s jobs (or even part of each other’s jobs) boosts productivity, allowing your business to run smoothly when someone, including you, is out of the office. Again, you can use staff surveys to see which other areas of your business your staff is interested in.

Partner Up

The more alliances you make as a business owner, the more you can offer your customers and the more tasks you can take off your plate, freeing up some time. Strategic partnerships can help you manage projects more efficiently, allowing you to take time off. Customer satisfaction will increaser since they know their business is being taken care of, even when you’re not there. 

Communicate

Make sure you let your employees and customers know the dates you’ll be away far in advance so there are no surprises. If appropriate, introduce clients to the person you’ve designated to be in charge while you’re gone so the client isn’t left feeling neglected. If you must leave in the middle of an important project, set up dates and times you’ll check in to keep everyone on the same page and on track. 

You can also make sure you’re communicating by using some of the helpful apps available on the market. From accounting to messaging to project management, your employees and clients will feel like you’ve never left (if that’s what you want). Don’t make the mistake of downloading the app right before you leave on vacation. Give yourself plenty of time to play around with the app to properly learn all its functions and options and then teach your staff how to use it, too.

Bottomline

You’re never going to get the rewards of a much-need summer vacation unless you can really check out and refuel your brain. Do whatever you can to get away from the business, even if it’s just a long weekend. Time off is important for your health, your business and your staff.

Solo-Entrepreneur? 5 things you should know about your taxes by Paul Koullick of @keepertax

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Solo-Entrepreneur? 5 things you should know about your taxes

by Paul Koullick

Whether you’re earning money in a side hustle, or have your own small business, it comes with some serious tax burdens. Many first-time self-employed don’t realize this and wait until the end of the year only to discover that they owe thousands of dollars to the IRS and forgot to keep expense receipts. In this guide, we’ll cover the basics of what you need to know to avoid getting slammed by taxes as a freelancer.

#1 No, taxes aren’t being withheld from your paychecks

If you’ve previously only worked as an employee (W2), it may come as a shock that the money you earn on a 1099 contract or invoice does NOT have taxes already withheld. That means you’ll need to consciously remember to set money aside throughout the year to avoid needing to take a loan out at the end of the year.

#2 Keep track of work expenses throughout the year

Everything you buy and then use for work, whether it’s a new phone or gas for your car you drive for work errands, is at least partially deductible. Trying to remember expenses from nine months ago at tax time is really difficult, so it’s best to track these expenses throughout the year.

Sometimes, what counts as a tax write off isn’t entirely intuitive but you can use online guides like this one to learn more about what expenses you should be keeping track of during the year.

#3 If you work from home, you can likely claim the home office deduction

Even if you don’t have a separate room dedicated for work, you may be eligible to claim this valuable deduction. As long as you have a workstation located somewhere in your house or apartment where you tend to do work (rather than entertaining guests or watching TV), you get to write off of rent, utilities, wifi and so on.

#4 All of this matters even if you’re only self-employed part-time

Even if The standard deduction does not trade off with itemizing 1099 work expenses. It’s additive – meaning that you can claim both! That means even if you have a full-time W2 job and only do limited part-time 1099 contracting work, neglecting to claim work expense tax deductions is like donating money to the IRS!

#5 If you earn more than $1,000 per year, file quarterly (estimated) taxes

If you earn above the $1,000 threshold from self employment work, you’ll need to file quarterly taxes. Also known as estimated tax payments, this is the IRS’s way of simulating a salary tax withholding so that you aren’t caught off guard with a huge tax bill at the end of the year.

The good news? It takes just 15 minutes. You can use free online tools like Keeper’s quarterly tax calculator to quickly estimate how much you’ll need to pay, and file online. It takes just 15 minutes, and allows you to avoid a nasty penalty from the IRS.

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Paul is the founder and CEO of Keeper, an app that helps freelancers and 1099 contractors save money on taxes. In his free time, he loves jogging, chess, and spending time with his family in San Francisco.

The Energy of Entrepreneurship by @SBSLEducSoltns

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( A flyover of all the glorious forms of creating your own asset )

Just as a strong case can be made that entrepreneurship & education are intertwined, so the same can be said for energy & entrepreneurship. How many business owners do you know who live day to day with boundless determination?  Joy? A skip in their steps?

 

We have a B-i-G opportunity! We should encourage entrepreneurship’s many forms so the energy in our society is always flowing, & many new assets are created to better ourselves, families, communities, nations, & beyond!

 

Describing Our Economy

 

Thought leaders have been using various labels:

 

Conceptual Age

 

Gig economy

 

Youpreneur

 

Multisided platforms ( ‘Matchmaker Economics’ )

 

You might wonder; how do these inform, inspire, & instigate citizens to leave mediocrity behind to embrace these energetic forms of entrepreneurship?

Inform(ation)

 

With conventional classrooms in all 3 tracks very slow to adapt to the modern era, as entrepreneurs, we can share stories, teachable moments, & connections with those in our own, as well as younger, generations.

Welcome any opportunities to be someone’s mentor, advisor, or coach. Focus on paying forward crucial knowledge to others. Serve 1st always!

 

Inspire (-ation)

 

Often, entrepreneurship is not a soft fluffy bed; it’s part of the charm of the day to day journey to struggle at times! Anything that comes ‘easy’ often has more downside than engaging in smart x hard work building a business.

Don’t hide this from those whom you talk with, yet don’t muddy the clear lens of a passionate individual who wants to be a difference maker. Inspire her by adding value, w/ no stated expectation of reward or return.

 

Instigate ( lighting sparks )

 

Those who deeply understand principles such as the ‘Five Laws …’ & ‘Law of Attraction’  should be beacons of inspired instigation in her circles of influence.

The sparks lit in the fire pits of today will lead to the solutions of tomorrow.

So many of our most pressing societal challenges can be solved with entrepreneurial energy; if you flip back through the pages of history, you’ll see this jump off the pages.

 

7 Forms

 

Now, we transition from the most valuable question, why?, to what? +

 

( + we’ll leave out ‘how’; JFK’s 1962 Rice Univ Speech is the model for why not to focus on this Q )

 

Franchisor/franchisee

 

  • Franchise consultants set up shop to help someone who has the liquid capital to purchase a brand & its intellectual property, turnkey system/s, & in many cases, a ‘bricks & mortar’ location. Franchisees are far from cutting edge concept; although if you were talking with your grandparent(s), they would tell you that at 1 point, it was new & barely understood!

 

Solo-preneurial / proprietor

 

  • This is the simplest form. How do you monetize? Choices inc. hour for dollar billing ( ‘self employed’, creating your own job ); using a retainer; or working on a project basis. As with any form, there are pluses & the opposite; yet, if you’re very new to entrepreneurship, keeping things uncomplicated may be your wisest choice.

 

Gig / freelancer / contractor

 

  • Gig based businesses abound in our modern age; do depth based research to find options best for you.  Freelancing is very common in right brained, creative pursuits like social media, content/digital marketing, & writing.  Finally, being a contractor for a larger enterprise where you are offered more flexibility than an old school W-2 employee could very well be a win:win arrangement.

 

Broker / Agent

 

  • Insurance & real estate:  Both have high name recognizance, even by those who have never been entrepreneurial. Many of the agencies & companies operating in these very mature industries are always looking for someone who is servant minded & willing to tailor a solution to the consumer/prospective policyholder or buyer/seller ‘s unique needs.

 

Direct Sales

 

  • This form is newer on the block than its sister ( see below ).  How is it different than Ntwk Mkt/MLM?  It often generates income for the owner through the promotion of events versus growing a team.  For instance, you set up a cooking demo, offer products to those that attend at a % off, & build a relationship with them that goes beyond 1 transaction. Often, social media is used most often by these consultants, hosts, & associates.

 

Network Marketing ( MLM )

 

  • A mature form, when compared to its brother ( scroll up ), they’ve been options for upwards of a century! Yet, there is still much mis-understanding, inaccurate representation of its legality/lawfulness, etc.  This form is absolutely viable, esp. for those with people skills; those who are patient & don’t expect income overnight; or someone who is able to lead another by serving her first, a fundamental for building a team that replaces you.

 

Licensor / licensee

 

  • The licensee model is essentially ‘franchisee lite‘.  It has many elements of the latter, yet it doesn’t necessitate a bricks & mortar storefront;  often, you can be a mobile-preneur ( easily able to work at a coffee shop, coworking facility, or at home ). Licensors offer intellectual capital ( logos, brand awareness, a systems based approach to building revenue & cash flow ) in exchange for a 1 time, or recurring payment(s).

 

Lots of – ‘Preneurs!  Which are you?!

 

Profiles Worth Following

 

Sidepreneur

 

Mompreneurs

 

Teenpreneur Inc

 

Self directed Educational links

 

Employee vs Entrepreneur – Which is Riskier?

Actually, Starting Your Own Company …

Becoming an Entrepreneur …

 

In short …

 

  • Describing today’s economy
  • Inform, inspire, & instigate
  • 7 forms of energy: entrepreneurial options
  • Types of -preneurs
  • Three Twitter handles
  • For further learning …

 

Thank YOU for reading!

The Worst Advice We’ve Been Given as Entrepreneurs by Bianca van der Meulen of @sunbirdcreative

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by Bianca van der Meulen

The worst advice my co-founder and I ever got was to write a formal business plan. We had been business owners for about six weeks and it sounded right—especially to me. I’m the kind of person who creates 10-year plans for achieving my personal goals when I feel stressed. Sticking to the plan is another story. I pivot constantly—like deciding to get married and move back to New York within four months of planning to spend the next decade living a single, quiet life in Virginia.

As more planner than doer, I’m a bit of an exception in the small business world. Except for those who go after funding, the entrepreneurs I’ve met (90% of whom are women) have two things in common when it comes to business plans: they haven’t written one, and they feel guilty about it. Yet their conviction never moves them to action. Why not? Lack of incentive, lack of time. It took us a month of nearly full-time work to write our plan, and we were spurred by a competition that offered cash prizes. (Spoiler alert: we didn’t win.) Resources are extremely precious for small business owners. We need to make every hour and every dollar count—our dreams and savings are at risk. I devoured the business planning textbook, spent days researching at the library, and attended multiple seminars on writing a business plan because I believed that those hours would give us a huge return on investment.

Two and a half years later, I wish we had spent that month another way—and I’m not saying that just because we didn’t win any prizes. While we did learn a lot from creating that 20-page monster of a document, it ultimately encouraged the wrong mindset for a new service-based business. The act of writing a formal business plan implies that you can think your way to success. Rather than give us clarity, the process mired us in details that may be relevant to a large product company but certainly didn’t apply to us.

I’m still a die-hard fan of planning. Planning in itself is absolutely necessary and not at all bad. The question is: what kind of planning actually helps (rather than hinders) a new small business owner?

If I could speak to my younger self, the idealist who’s new to business and trying to get a creative services firm up and running, here’s what I would say:

  • Ignore the well-meaning business expert in the suit. Listen to people who have built the kinds of business you want to build.
  • Don’t aim for perfection; iterate. As the lean/tech startup folks say: fail cheap and fail fast! Before getting fixated on any idea, try out a prototype (“minimum viable product”). Film industry veterans can’t predict which movies will become blockbusters and stock traders never know if they’ll do better than the market average. How would you know if your new service or marketing strategy is going to work?
  • When it comes to services and operations, you can not get too simple. Your energy, time, and headspace is much more limited than you think. Make time to focus on what’s most important by ruthlessly cutting out everything else. That means, among other things, limiting your services to 1-3 revenue streams and using the heck out of spreadsheets until you absolutely must get specialized software.
  • The most important research you’ll do is face-to-face with real people. Forget the stats for now; spend your time finding and talking to as many potential customers as you can. Find out what they care about, what drives them crazy, what they’re looking for in a company like yours. Developing empathy for your target market will make everything else—product development, marketing, sales—infinitely easier and more effective.
  • Every time you hear someone talk about the 4 P’s, run. Every time you hear the word lean, listen closely. Forget writing a business plan; use the 1-page Business Model Canvas instead.

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Bianca van der Meulen is the Co-founder of Sunbird Creative, a boutique branding agency based in Harlem, NY that help solopreneurs and entrepreneurs carve their niche in the world. Bianca graduated summa cum laude from NYU with a literature degree, and then began a 4+ year as a freelance writer. She decided to take her talent for strategic thinking, marry it to her skill as a wordsmith, and then launched Sunbird Creative in 2015.

Tips to Hire the BEST Interns and Contractors for Business Growth. by @luckifit

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by LaKisha Greenwade | Featured Contributor  

Although solopreneurs rely heavily on technology to automate tasks and maintain a lean organization during the forming and growth phase, it’s inevitable that human help will be needed to add value to your business. It’s projected that employment will be highest from 2014-2024 amongst jobs that require higher social and analytical skills: 83 and 77% respectively.

Prevent overwhelm and enhance your productivity by hiring qualified contractors or interns to not only get the job done, but done well. Where do you start? Consider the role or job that if filled, would make your life much easier. Write a description of the duties then consider the qualifications and type of person you want to fill it.

When picturing your ideal candidate, consider soft skillsets that are hard to teach such as emotional intelligence, curiosity, adaptability, and critical thinking. Also, determine if you desire a team player or one who likes to win alone.

Keep in mind the following ten tips and helpful questions that lead towards a successful hire:

  1. Use behavioral interviewing techniques.
  2. Avoid bias- but listen to your gut, otherwise known as your intuition. Don’t dismiss facts presented by the employee during the interviewing process.
  3. Determine if the employee is a fit with your company brand- DO they uphold the same values and work ethic? Does their personality and energy ALIGN (not MATCH) your organization or the one you are trying to create?
  4. Are they self-aware? Do they consider the impact of their actions and words?
  5. Do they DO MORE than what is asked?
  6. Do they embody an entrepreneurial spirit? Do they enjoy partnering, learning, and experimenting?
  7. How well do they communicate? Assess this from the time they apply for a position with their resume or inquiry, ongoing email and phone communication pre and post interview, as well as how they treat all people (if you’re able to assess this in a public space).
  8. Determine YOUR management and communication style- Are you collaborative? A Micromanager? One who trusts employees to get the job done? Determine if your management and communication style is a fit for the respective candidate to achieve success for the project or mission.
  9. In many cases, interns will have limited working experience. Instead assess, their drive, passion, attention to detail, flexibility, and willingness to learn. These characteristics go a long way and will be essential foundational qualities that aid in the perfect employee molding process. Don’t be afraid to hire for a trial basis such as 30-90 days.
  10. Compensation matters when attracting the perfect candidate and managing your business cash flow. Research compensation norms and determine the level of supervision required for the task at hand. This will impact your offer.

Start small. Hire for a specific project and assess if the candidate is a good fit assume other roles in your business. For instance, hire for help with a PowerPoint project, small social media campaign, or event management assistance.  If you still feel uncomfortable with the hiring process, utilize resources and tools form SCORE.

To determine market rate, post a project on LinkedIn where contractors can submit bids for your job. Be mindful of how minimum wage impacts the position you are hiring for as well as the identification of a 1099. Peruse sites such Indeed, Internship posting sites, Craigslist, and local universities with internship opportunities to determine market rate.

Ultimately, the process of on-boarding the right help will enhance your business productivity and allow you to MANAGE your business versus WORKING IN your business. Your confidence as a leader will grow and hopefully you will be on a path to crush financial goals.