REBLOGGED FROM SHEY.NET:
Tumblr launched one of its first revenue-generating programs today, allowing a select group of blogs (not sure how they’re selected, but the three options it gave me happened to be my three most popular blogs) to feature themselves in the Tumblr directory for a nominal fee — categories range from about $9 to $19 to feature your blog for a week. Here’s the link.
The process is ridiculously easy and fun — I tried it out and featured shey.net in about ten minutes (including Photoshop time) while visiting the Tumblr gang at their office today. The results were almost instant — as soon as the feature went up, I saw new followers start popping up in my timeline (thanks, guys!).
Screen shots of the process below.
1. Enter your info:
2. Get thanked:
3. In your face, Gary and Dens!
HERE’S WHERE I CHIME IN:
This is a great assist for a money-making basket (follow the basketball metaphor please); however, you still have to shoot a three-pointer not a lay-up.
The traffic comes your way, but to pay the rent from your blog you must:
- Maintain their attention.
- Manipulate tumblr to facilitate ads.
Neither can be done by a rookie.
Tim Shey, who blogged this entry, is actually a headof the one of the web’s largest video content distributors, NextNewNetworks (that co-produced TMI and LifeExperiment). That didn’t happen over night. On a MUCH smaller scale, I came into the blogosphere with a built-in audience and guidance from other leaders in the industry.
Your Tumblr blog can be monetized, it’s just not as easy as a click. That’s all I’m saying.
UPDATE from Twitter: @Moth (TimShey) The lovely + intelligent @MaryRambin points out why my last post was titled “Make Me Famous” and not “Make Me Rich.” 
Small banks suck (to put it plainly). I don’t care what you’ve heard or what you think; using a small bank for your business needs is risky and can be detrimental to your success. This is one case where BIGGER is better.
For my businesses, I’ve gone the small bank route and was burned multiple times. You’ve heard it all before:
- “Small banks care more about their customers and provide better service” – FALSE
- “It’s easier to get a loan or line of credit” – Ehhh! Try again…
- “Small banks make less risky investments and are more safe and secure for my money” – Are you kidding me?
The larger banks have so many more tools that can make life easier for an entrepreneur. But most of all, they provide better security for your money. In a time when identity theft is rampant and fraudulent online transactions are growing exponentially, the larger banks are taking huge strides to combat this.
Most large banks are also publicly traded, meaning their books are open to the public. There are many savvy businessmen that won’t use a certain bank until they’ve combed through their balance sheets and investment practices. Good luck trying to get that kind of information from a “Mom and Pop” bank. Considering the recent economic collapse and torrent of bank failures, this type of caution should always be exercised.
Trust me…stick with the big guys on this one.
I use Bank of America. And I always will.
-By Mike Mulhall, The Entrepreneur
Going into business with a partner is a lot like marriage, so treat finding one like dating. The last thing you ever want to do is jump into a financially committed “relationship” with someone you don’t know well. I’ve made that mistake more than once, and it can be devastating financially and emotionally.
Business partners are going to go through a lot together. That’s just the nature of business. The partnership will be tried, tested, stretched, pulled and stressed to the limit. Therefore, compatibility on multiple levels is crucial. Partners should be comparable in reliability, intelligence, financial stability and character. Those are the four big qualities I’d focus on, but there are many more.
Don’t let the excitement of starting a new business cloud your judgment when considering a partner. I’ve seen many people make fatal decisions because of hope and inexperience.
Here are a few pointers for finding and maintaining a good partnership:
- Family members don’t make good business partners. We’ve all heard it, but most of us ignored it until it was too late.
- Make sure the risk is split fairly between partners. Financially lopsided partnerships experience even more pressure.
- Don’t be afraid to run a background check. If I had done that with my very first partner, I would have saved myself a fortune.
- Ask around town. A person’s reputation can tell a lot about them.
- State the goals, duties and expectations of each partner (in writing!) before commencement of the business.
- Hire a lawyer to protect your interests and ensure the partnership is fair. I know this sounds aggressive and expensive, but it will save you should things go sour.
- Create a strategy to maintain high levels of communication and interaction between the partners. Weekly or even daily meetings are a must.
- Maintain non-business interactions as well. Periodic dinners and recreational events are great ways to ease any tension that may be present.
Remember that good partnerships can be beautiful while bad partnerships can be ugly and life altering. So tread carefully, don’t rush into things and always trust your intuition. You wouldn’t marry a stranger (I hope!), nor would you enter into one of the most important business relationships of your life without doing your due diligence. This is probably the most important advice I could ever offer an entrepreneur.
-By Mike Mulhall, The Entrepreneur
People start blogs for a variety reasons. Some start out of personal passion; many businesses create blogs to engage their existing customers; some seek to generate revenue. Blogging is an integral part of any social media marketing strategy for a brick and mortar or virtual business.
However, you can’t simply start a blog and expect a translation to sales overnight. You have to first assess your goals and then compose a plan that entails more than a stream of thought post about the features of your company.
Personal bloggers will love the features of Tumblr or Posterous (a great mobile blogging platform). Simply sign up for an account and you will be blogging in less than two minutes. Seriously! Unfortunatley, if you’re looking to generate revenue, these sites won’t serve you well for several reasons. Due to their lack of flexibility they are difficult to monetize because they fail to:
- Optimize well with search engines
- Allow for design customization
- Feature add-on applications/plug-ins
If you’re serious about blogging as a business, I would suggest checking out Wordpress. Wordpress is a blogging platform that requires more work and effort, but offers a lot more flexibility and potential. Here’s a simple breakdown of what you need to do to create your own self hosted blog:
- Choose a hosting service. I use Godaddy, but there are a lot of these types of services out there. Mary uses BlueHost, for example. Both are reliable one-stop shops.
- Choose a domain name. I think people over emphasize choosing a name for their website sometimes. Create good content and people will find it no matter what. Food for thought: Myspace was actually a furniture website before becoming a social network and Google was supposed to be spelled “Googol.” They messed up the spelling when registering the domain. Oops!
- Install Wordpress. If you don’t use Godaddy, you’ll have to install Wordpress. Go here for simple installation instructions.
- Choose a theme. This is the fun part. Wordpress is incredibly flexible. Check out Themeforest, Rockettheme or Wordpress Themes. You can choose any theme you want for your blog and it requires no programming and little design work on your part.
- Get some plug-ins. Wordpress has thousands of free, easy-to-install add-ons that range from creating a chatroom on your blog to adding a shopping cart to automatically optimizing your site’s SEO.
- Start writing! - And that’s it. Check out Mary’s post, Blogging 101, for great tips on how to successfully engage your readers.
For a great comparison of different blogging platforms, check out this article as well. It’s clear and concise.
Now get out there and start sharing. And if you need any help, don’t forget I’m always just a click away.
–By Mike Mulhall, The Entrepreneur
Making the perfect business card is tough. But here are a few tips that may help:
- Don’t skimp on cards! – Business cards are important. They’re great marketing tools and they’re the usually the first visual item that people see representing your business. So forget the perforated business cards from Office Depot everybody. You need to find a real printer.
- Use quality stock - The thicker and sturdier the card the better. Flimsy cards don’t say anything good about you or your business…trust me on this one.
- Use the back – Depending on the industry you’re in, why not try to fit as much marketing material on your card as possible. As you can see from my card above, I put a map that even points out parking locations for customers.
- Don’t forget the vital info – For god’s sake, don’t forget any vital contact info. If you’re an internet company, don’t forget your website or email. If you’re a lawyer, a fax number would probably be important.
- Be different. Be original. But don’t go crazy – Your card should represent your brand and your ideas. Too plain of a card and it’s just boring. Too much and it’s just annoying. This really depends on the type of business your in. Try not to clutter the card. Sometimes less is more or more is just more…it really depends.
- If all else fails, hire a designer. If you don’t feel confident in your design abilities, there are plenty of services that can create a card for you. I use a service called Logoworks for all of my designing needs. As for printing, I use a company called Printplace.com. They can do everything, from business cards to brochures to stickers and they have the best prices I’ve ever seen. I just ordered 5000 full color double sided business cards for $50! Eat your heart out Kinkos…
I designed this logo a while back and I feel it portrays everything I’m about. I also think it portrays exactly how every entrepreneur should think. I printed this out and taped it on my wall a long time ago. Whenever I’m brainstorming or working on ideas, I like to look at this picture and let my mind drift out of the box.
Most who know me know that I usually think waaayyy out of the box. Is it a gift or is it an ability developed through years of practice? I believe it is the latter. ANYONE can develop this skill! When I look at anything, whether it is an object or business, my mind is constantly deriving ways of how to improve that concept. And this is something I’ve practiced since I could use a pencil and paper.
Funny example of this is when I go out to a bar or club. Many misconstrue my quiet demeanor as not having a good time, when in fact my brain is actually working overtime…analyzing the flow of the business, the behavior of the cocktail servers, the POS systems, how they handle the cash, the layout of the club and how it could be improved, the music selection, the demographic stats of their customers…and so on. It can be quite enlightening when one stops, watches and learns from their surroundings. Of course, it’s nothing a few shots of tequila can’t remedy.
My point of the story is this…don’t go with the crowd…go away from it, go against it, go in circles around it…just don’t go with it! If you’d like to start a new venture similar to an already successful business model, don’t copy it, improve it! EVERYTHING can either be improved or broken down and simplified.
Case in point: Ebay is a monster in its industry. In fact, any auction site that tries to compete directly with Ebay loses. A few entrepreneurs recognized this and started analyzing Ebay. They realized that Ebay did not allow the sale of guns on their site. This spawned the creation of www.gunbroker.com. Within their first year of business, they were already doing $1 million per month in sales. And the site is not even designed that well.
These entrepreneurs recognized a niche that Ebay was ignoring, and they seized it. Find a niche and embrace it! This is the age of niches…the age of personal preferences and individual tastes. (That’s so going on my quote page!)
That is the kind of thinking that you must do if you want to succeed big! It may take a little while to hone your skills, but practice it everyday. Everything you look at, you should analyze and try to improve. Whether it is a business, a gadget or just an ordinary object. If some person out there could look at a fork and spoon and realize that putting them together would make him a millionaire (yes…I’m talking about the spork), just imagine what else could be done!
HireMyMom.com
This website caters to people with marketable skills who are looking for extra cash, but don’t have a lot of extra time.
Obviously they launched with talented stay-at-home moms in mind, but the service and positions are applicable to anyone.
Basically businesses outsource work to people who want to freelance as administrative assistants, sales, writers, graphic designers, marketing, etc.
You must meet a few requirements, and pay a fee to join. It’s $99 for the year or $30 per quarter.
I like the site because it seems easier to navigate than the standard job sites, and it’s also discerning and selective. There are also countless testimonials from women who’ve found not one, but several jobs using their service.
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Little Books for BIG Changes
Lucky or Smart? – Secrets to an Entreprenuerial Life by Bo Peaboy ($19 new – $2 used on Amazon)
Who Moved My Cheese? – An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and Your Life by Spencer Johnson ($7.50 new - $5 used on Amazon)
The Dip – A Little Book That Teaches You When To Quit And When To Stick by Seth Godin ($9.32 new, $2.83 used on Amazon)
Over the last year, I have been directed to read these 3 books to get the wheels in my mind turning to make positive changes in my life.
Each offers a powerful message, unique perspective on harnassing fear of change, and making moves to improve your life and business.
At first you might find them simple, but the authors go on to approach their theory from a few different angles you might not think of. And they don’t pontificate! They get to the heart of the matter without a lot of introductory banter and then support their ideas with deductive reasoning. They don’t tell you what to do, but instead ask you to determine who you are and where YOU want to go.
Whether or not you’re an entreprenuer or feel like you need to make a change in your career, I HIGHLY RECCOMMEND giving each of these books a quick read to probe into what is really going on in your life.
Using the same method for a different audience:
