U.S. Department of Labor Predicts No. 1 Employer By End of 2010 Will Be Self-Employment
October 18th, 2010
The U.S. Department of is Labor predicting that the No. 1 employer by the end of this year will be self-employment. Approximately 10.5 million workers were self-employed in 2007, and that number is expected to jump markedly, according to the DOL. Inflation is still at an all time low, slowing down the growth of our economy and most importantly slowing down the growth of new jobs being created. Entrepreneurship is not as hard as most may think and finding something that you’repassionate about and turning it into a business, is the right step. Controlling your own schedule, planning your own meetings and identifying your own clients are all benefits of becoming an entrepreneur.
In a recent article on MinuteManNewsCenter.com, self-owned businesses now make up about 80 percent of the GDP. Some experts contend that the success of small business owners will play a critical part in leading the country out of this economic crisis. A Merrill Lynch New Retirement Survey conducted in 2005, revealed that Baby Boomers would reinvent retirement and start news businesses in their later years.
10 Networking Questions That Work
October 13th, 2010
Posted By: Andy Willoughby
In a recent post by Ivan Miser on Entrepreneur.com, Miser highlights 10 networking questions from his friend, Bob Burg. He encourages everyone to use these tips when networking with others.
Bob Burg’s 10 Networking Questions That Work Every Time
1. How did you get started in the (______) business?
2. What do you enjoy most about your profession?
3. What separates you and your company from the competition?
4. What advice would you give someone just starting out in the (______) business?
5. What one thing would you do with your business if you knew you could not fail?
6. What do you see as the coming trends in the (______) business?
7. What significant changes have you seen take place in your profession through the years?
8. Describe the strangest or funniest incident you’ve experienced in your business?
9. What ways have you found to be the most effective for promoting your business?
10. What one sentence would you like people to use in describing the way you do business?
Steps To Obtain Your Best Social Media Strategy
October 13th, 2010
Posted By: Andy Willoughby
Today, social media makes it easier for entrepreneurs and business owners to raise awareness about their products, grow businesses and reach out to business prospects. It is a simple tool that is essential in today’s business world.
In a recent article on www.businessinsider.com, nine steps to social media strategy were revealed.
Seattle Entrepreneur Introduces Innovative Hotel
October 6th, 2010
Posted by: Andy Willoughby
I would like to share an article published by Jennifer Wang of Entrepreneur Magazine which reflects on creative new age techniques that one entrepreneur has used to get his business noticed. Alex Calderwood has created a new style of urban hotel which is pitched not as a place to stay while on vacation or business trips, but as a lifestyle.
Calderwood’s visionary ideas, to name a few, incorporate the option for guests to purchase a hotel room that comes with a Brita water filter and a pair of special edition Converse sneakers. ”Ace Hotels reflect Calderwood’s individualistic spirit. Seattle’s Ace–the chain’s first–is like nowhere you’ve stayed before. Located in a bustling downtown bar district, the hotel has unobtrusive double glass doors that open onto a flight of stairs leading up to the front desk and narrow hallways that resemble a modern art installation.
Four Steps to get Entrepreneurs on the Road to Success
October 6th, 2010
Posted by: Andy Willoughby
The road to becoming successful has always been hard, but here are four steps to ensure entrepreneur success by Entrepreneur.com author Kim Kiyosaki titled “The Four Keys to Raising Capitol”. ”The key to raising money, whether it’s to start or expand your business or to purchase and operate a rental property, comes down to four factors:”
The Project
The Partners
The Financing
The Management
“If you can show a prospective lender or investor that you have command over these four pieces of the puzzle, then selling will not be an issue, and you will attract more money than you thought possible.”
Eleven Movies Entrepreneurs Should Watch
October 1st, 2010
Posted by: Andy Willoughby
I would like to share an article from forbes.com by Brett Nelson regarding movies entrepreneurs can watch during leisure time. Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps topped last week’s box office, and The Social Network is expected to be the zeitgeist of the new millennium. Nelson suggests that these comedies, dramas, chillers and documentaries have lasting lessons for aspiring wealth-builders.
Eleven Movies Entrepreneurs Should Watch
Citizen Kane (1941)
Directed by Orson Welles
No list of great films, let alone ones about business, would be complete without this classic, which traces the life and times of Charles Foster Kane, a fictional newspaper tycoon based loosely on William Randolf Hearst. The movie is about the relentless pursuit of wealth and power–and what, in the end, it’s all worth. For those who haven’t seen Citizen Kane, stop reading now and take care of business. For those who have seen but haven’t quite processed its message, dust it off and pop some corn.
And for those who aren’t sure if they’re cut out for serious wealth creation altogether, measure your entrepreneurial instincts by taking our personality test.
Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)
Directed by James Foley
With the unemployment rate stubbornly stuck near 10%, David Mamet’s stinging script about desperate New York real estate salesmen fighting for their jobs cuts almost too close to the bone. The all-star cast includes Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Alan Arkin, Ed Harris, Kevin Spacey, Jonathan Pryce and, of course, Alec Baldwin, who delivers one of the most oft-quoted speeches in business-movie history. Lesson for business owners? Find better ways to motivate your closers than reminding them that third prize in this month’s sales contest is “You’re fired.”
It’s A Wonderful Life (1946)
Directed by Frank Capra
A small business founders and gets no love from its lender. George Bailey’s tale of woe is all too familiar (and not just because it plays like clockwork on TV every Christmas season). Clarence, Bailey’s guardian angel, comes to the rescue, as do other key players in Bailey’s life. Lesson for small business owners: When the going gets tough, a loyal and thoughtful board of advisors comes in handy.