Blogging Thieves Get Total Of 127,169 Years
January 22, 2008
It’s official 10% of bloggers are thieving scumbags. Problogger ran this poll to discover where people prefer to blog and a shocking 10% do it at work.
Now if you do this, you might think you’re being a bit naughty, or you might justify it as filling in time, improving your skills, or whatever you can come up with. But, the truth is, if you’re using your employer’s time to blog - you’re a thief.
With so many blogs on the Internet, it’s difficult to arrive at an accurate figure. But here’s an estimate of how many working hours are stolen by bloggers:
There are 112.8 million blogs on the internet (the number of blogs technorati say they’re tracking).
So, 11 million bloggers are blogging at work. That’s an awful lot of blogging thieves.
If each blogger is blogging 2 hours a week that’s 22 million hours lost each week.
That’s 1114 million hours lost each year.
That’s 127,169 years of time stolen by blogging thieves each year.
Do you blog at work? Why? Do you see it as stealing, or do you try to justify it in some other way?
Do you have a problem with thieving bloggers in your workplace? And what do you think businesses should do to stop people blogging at work?
107 Great Resources To Unleash The Entrepreneur Within You
January 20, 2008
Check out these 107 brilliant tools and resources for entrepreneurs. From articles, to quizzes, videos, free tools and courses and entrepreneur interviews, you’ll find some great resources to unleash the entrepreneur in you and help you build a great business.
1. Struggling to Make A Decision? Try Decisionizer: Entrepreneurs often need to make decisions quickly. If you’re stuck, decisionizer is a great tool which will help you make a logical decision fast.
2. Learn How To Become A Billionaire: Peter Newcombe tells Forbes magazine what it takes to become a billionaire.
3. Buy a Business in Trouble: In an interview with Beermat Radio, Melvin Lusty discusses how he bought a business which was almost £1 million in debt. Then sold it for millions, just over a decade later.
4. So You Want To Make Money From Blogging? Yaro Starak explains the advantages the top bloggers have that you don’t.
5. Do You Need Outside Investors? Guy Kawasaki explains how to attract the attention of Venture Capitalists.
6. Giant Strides From Humble Beginnings: In this video, Dragon’s Den Presenter, Peter Jones explains how he went from sleeping in his office to multi-millionaire entrepreneur.
7. 10 Cheap Ways To Build Your Brand: John Williams explains how to build your brand when you’re strapped for cash.
8. America’s Best Entrepreneurs Aged 25 and Under: Worried that you’re too young to make it? Be inspired by these young entrepreneurs.
9. Awakening The Entrepreneur Within: In this video, at Duct Tape Marketing, E-Myth author, Michael Gerber explains how ordinary people create extraordinary businesses without any experience to guide them.
10. 10 Reasons Why You Should Never Get A Job: Top blogger, Steve Pavlina has only ever had one job, way back in 1992. And in this post he explains why you shouldn’t get a job either.
11. 10 Ways to Make a 6 Figure Income as a Freelance Writer: Do you fancy setting up in business as a freelance writer? Over the past 20 years, Robert Bly has never made less than $100,000 a year through freelance writing. And he shares some of his secrets in this article.
12. Do You Fancy Yourself As The Next JK Rowling? Clare Sambrook’s novels have featured in the New York Times Editor’s Choice and the Daily Mail Book Club Summer Collection. Here, she shares ten great tips for aspiring novelists.
13. Take The Entrepreneur Test: Wondering how you shape up against some of the world’s leading entrepreneurs? Take the entrepreneurs test to find out.
14. Are You Worried That You Might Lose Your Shirt? Read about these famous entrepreneurs who went bankrupt and bounced back again.
15. 20 Great Quotes on Entrepreneurship: Be inspired by these famous quotes on entrepreneurship.
16: Get Into The Technorati Top 100: You could give your business a huge boost by getting your blog into the Technorati Top 100 blogs. And Skellie shows you how to do it in this article.
17: 17 Guerilla Marketing Ideas For Your Website: Stuck for ways to market your website? Check out these free, or cheap ideas.
18. Still Looking For A Business Idea? Check out these brilliantly researched ideas, from Pet Food Bars to Yard Trash Bin Funnels.
19.
Do You Have Great Ideas But No Cash? Tim Ferris shows you how to rent your ideas to fortune 500 companies.
20.
How to Find Your Passion and Make Money: Follow your passion and the money will follow. I bet you’ve heard that heaps of times right? But how do you discover what your passion is? This great article shows you how.
21.
1093 Thomas Edison Inventions: Thomas Edison applied for patents on 1093 inventions. You can check out the full list here.
22.
10 Great Tips For Better Communication: Entrepreneurs need good communication skills. And inspirational speaker, Richard Denny shows you how to improve yours.
23. How To Deal With Difficult Customers: No entrepreneur can escape them. But how do you deal with them? Check out the examples in this BBC business article.
24.
Learn How To Dream Big: Entrepreneurs have big dreams. Check out these brilliant dream quotes.
25. Travel for Free: If you’ve been inspired by the 4 Hour Work Week book and you’re working towards a mini-retirement, check out these 8 tools to help you travel forever and live rent free.
26. Who’s The Most Generous of Them All?: Most entrepreneurs want to give something back. Check out the Generosity Index to find out who’s giving the most and who’s receiving it.
27. Scent Marketing: Does What You Smell Determine What You Buy? Discover how scent marketing works.
28.
5000+ Resources To Do Just About Anything Online: If you need tools and resources for your online business, this is the place to find them.
29.
Do You Want To Study For An MBA? Check out the best school’s for Entrepreneurs.
30. Why Your Business Is Not A Success: Are you struggling to make a success of your business? You could be making one of these fatal mistakes.
31. Do You Understand People?: Successful entrepreneurs understand people. But, you can’t understand others until you understand yourself. Try out this great quiz to psychoanalyze yourself.
32. Plug the Knowlege Gap: 200 Free Online Classes.
33. Richard Branson’s Biggest Business Mistake: Even the most famous entrepreneurs screw up, and Richard Branson is not too proud to admit it. Check out this interview to discover Richard Branson’s biggest mistake, his best business decision and which business deal made him cry.
34. Looking For Freelance Writing Gigs? Check out this list of 23 places where you can find freelance writing jobs and gigs.
35. Build a Website Without Paying a Dime: Are you totally broke and need a website to start your online venture? Check out this great resource for building a website without paying a dime.
36.
How To Get A Free Business Plan: You can’t start a business without a business plan. If you don’t know where to start, try out this free business planning tool.
37.
What The Matrix Can Teach You About Business Success: Are you struggling in business? Discover what the film - “The Matrix” can teach you about business success or failure.
38. The Ten Commandments Of A Genius Franchisor: If you’re considering investing in a franchise, make sure you check out the Ten Commandments Of A Genius Franchisor first.
39. Do You Need To Build Your Self Confidence? Entrepreneurs need the self confidence to pick themselves up when they fall down. Check out these 10 Ways to Build Your Self Confidence.
40. 20 Work-Life Balance Tips For The Overworked Entrepreneur: If you’re struggling to find a balance between business and life, check out these brilliant tips.
41. The Ten Worst Managed Companies In America: Obviously you want your business to be the best than it can be. So, it might be worth taking a look at the worst managed companies in America, then you know what strategies to avoid.
42. Train Your Brain: Entrepreneurs need to be on the ball. So keep your brain in good shape with these interactive brain training exercises from Brainwaves.
43. 10 Ways To Spy On Your Competitors Online: All smart businesses keep an eye on the competition. Here are 10 ways to spy on your competitors online.
44. 10 Killer Sales Letters That Suck Money From Your Business: Not getting the results you want from your sales letters? You might be making one of these killer mistakes.
45. Need to Brush Up Your Sales Skills?: Take a look at these 7 sales skills that you can improve on now.
46. How To Hire The Best People You’ve Ever Worked With: If you’ve ever hired people before, you’ll know what a headache can be. Check out Mark Andreessen’s excellent post on how to hire the best.
47. How To Fire People Effectively: It’s a dirty job, but somebody’s got to do it. Guy Kawasaki shows you how, in The Art Of The Layoff.
48. Do You Feel Like A Fraud?: If so, you may be suffering from Imposter Syndrome. But, don’t let it get in the way of your business success. Mrs Micah explains the symptoms, so that you can get help if you need it.
49. Get Your Business Slammed: Does your business have a blog? Are you struggling to get traffic to it? Ethan, the owner of Slamblogger says he can drive a heap of traffic to your blog if you allow him to slam it. At first glance this seems like a rather bizarre idea. But, he seems responsible enough not to put your business at risk. And it’s a great read, as he also slams blogs that don’t request it and they generally do deserve a good slamming.
50. Would You Eat Your Buddies In A Blizzard?: Business is about survival of the fittest. But are you survival instincts good enough? Take this quiz to discover whether you’d eat your buddies in a blizzard.
51. 7 Great Companies Started For $1000 Or Less: Are you short of start up cash? Don’t worry - check out these 7 great companies that were started for less than $£1000.
52. Ten Steps For Boosting Creativity: Entrepreneurs need to be creative. Check out these tips for boosting your creativity.
53. So You Want To Big A Six Figure Blogger?: Problogger - Darren Rowse shows you how to make money from your blog.
54. The Top 25 Home Based Business Ideas: Want to start a home based business? Check out these top rated home based business ideas.
55. Think You’re Not Smart Enough To Start A Business? Check out this article to discover why IQ testing is a load of old cobblers.
56. Do You Understand Cashflow: Your business could be in deep trouble if you don’t understand cashflow. Here’s a simple to understand guide.
57. 10 Writing Mistakes: If you’re a freelance writer - you can’t afford to make these fatal mistakes.
58. Billionaire Interview - Fear of Failure Is A Great Motivator: Young Money interviews Mark Cuban.
59. If You Give A Damn What Your Neighbours Think - You’ll Never Be Rich: An interview with multi-millionaire entrepreneur - Felix Dennis.
60. Entrepreneur Interview: Working With Your Spouse: A beermat interview with Jonty and Alise Crossick of the English Teddybear Company.
61. Are You Left Brain Or Right Brain Dominant? Are you carefree and creative or structured and organised? Take these tests to find out which side of your brain you use most.
62. Success and Women Entrepreneurs: A Video Interview With Anita Roddick.
63. Top Ten Mistakes In Forming Partnerships: Looking for a business partner? Capforge explains the top ten mistakes in forming partnerships and how to avoid them.
65. How to Float Your Business on The US Stockmarket: Sell a share in your business and raise some cash to grow.
66. How To Sell Using Your Body: It’s important to understand body language in business. Not only will it prevent you from conveying the wrong message, but it will enable you to tell when someone is being dishonest with you.
67. Do You Need A Voice Coach? It is important for entrepreneurs to sound confident and many have voice coaching. Why not check out these great tips for improving your speaking voice.
68. From Bimbo to Businesswoman: From Jordan to Katie Price. A Daily Express feature which explains how Jordan has created a new brand and built a £30 million business around books, haircare products and perfume.
69. 9 Approaches To Stumble Upon Niche Marketing: Social networking can play an important part in boosting search engine traffic to your site. If you’ve never used it, or you’re struggling to grasp it, check out these brilliant tips.
70. Over 200 Free Website Icons: Need icons for your website or blog? These ones can be downloaded free under the Creative Commons Licence.
71. What Apple Can Teach You About Marketing: Many of you would agree that Apple’s marketing is better than it’s products. Check out these tips to discover how you can market like Apple.
72. Why We Do Dumb Or Irrational Things: You’ll probably want to avoid doing dumb or irrational things in business. This article explains why we do them. Understanding this could stop you from screwing up.
73. Not All Liars Are Fraudsters But All Fraudsters Are Liars: From serious fraud, to threatening letters - check out these questions, to discover whether your employee is lying.
74. How to Research Your Business Idea: Before you start a business, it’s important to do your research. This Entrepreneur article explains how to do it.
75. 8 Thing Geeks Need To Work Happy: If you’re in technology, or any other industry which employs geeks, here’s a few things that will keep them happy.
76. A Day With Seth Godin: 18 Things I Learned: Tom Clifford had the opportunity to spend a day with Seth Godin (author of the Purple Cow) and he shares his experience here.
77. Compassion and Business: An interview with the late Anita Roddick - Body Shop Founder.
78. Need Products to Sell?: Chris Malta explains how to source products to sell, without being scammed.
79. Love Money: Ben Yoskovitz shares his ideas on raising start up capital for your business, including boot strapping and love money.
80. Does Taking Business Risks Scare You A Little?: Make yourself feel better by reading these famous quotes on risk.
81. The Greatest Entrepreneurs Of All Time: They’re all dead now - but check out this slide show to discover who they were.
82. Selling Your Invention: So, you’ve invented the best thing since the Wonderbra, but now you need to sell it. Check out this advice guide on what to do and the scams to avoid.
83. Ten Signs Your Small Business Is Heading For Trouble: All of these problems can potentially sink your business. Discover what they are and how to deal with them - before it’s too late.
84. Interview With A Shark Guy: Are you thinking about turning a hobby into a business? Patric Douglas did just that, with his passion for shark Diving. Check out his interview with Cristian Dorobantescu.
85. Business Would Be Boring If We Didn’t Laugh: Have fun reading these hilarious business quotes, including this one: “When I asked my accountant if anything could get me out of this mess I am in now he thought for a long time and said, ‘Yes, death would help’.” Robert Morley.
86. The Worst Small Business Disasters: Think they couldn’t happen to you? View this slide show of small business disasters, then you know how to protect yourself against the worst.
87. Standing Out From The Sea Of Me Too Competitors Online: Are there too many online businesses that are just like yours? Are you struggling to find a way to stand out from the competition? Check out these great tips from Yanik Silver.
88. Thinking Of Buying A Franchise? Make sure you do your homework first. Use this check list to make sure you’re not missing out vital research when investingating a franchise opportunity.
89. 101 Dumbest Moments In Business: They’re all here - From Disney penalising customers for being too fat, then compensating them with food; to Taco Bell’s rats video. A CNN money slideshow of the most stupid business mistakes of 2007.
90. Is Green The New Black? It’s not just the environment that benefits: Robert Craven explains the benefits of running a green business.
91. Pyromarketing: Are your marketing efforts bringing you enough business? If not, you may need to change your strategy. Why not download Greg Stielstra’s free audiobook: Pyromarketing.
92. Become An Angel Today: You don’t need to be rich to help others. VC Cafe explains how a contribution of only $75 dollars can provide 50% of the start up capital needed by entrepreneurs in developing countries.
93. 123 Killer Ways To Make Money Online And Reap The Rewards: You’ll have no trouble coming up with online business ideas after reading this comprehensive list by The Rating Blog.
94. Do You Have A Reservation? Startups interviews Karen Hanton, founder of www.toptable.co.uk, who explains the research she carried out to discover whether there would be a demand for the business.
95. The Forest Gump Guide To Becoming a Gazillionaire: An entertaining guide which shows how you can use the wisdom of Forest Gump to build a successful business.
96. The Seven Deadly Sins Of Website Copy: If you’re website copy sucks, nobody will buy from you. Check out this eye opening article by Michael Fortin to make sure you’re not committing one of these deadly sins.
97. How To Revive An Old Blog Article For SEO: Want more traffic to your blog? Hubspot explains how to effectively revive an old blog post.
98. Are You Exploiting Your Child For The Sake Of Your Business: Most marketers agree that images of children or pets help sell products. But you could be putting your child at risk for the sake of making more sales.
99. What Does Your Handshake Say About You? First impressions count. And most of us know that limp handshakes are a huge no no. But, what is your handshake saying about you, and what can you learn from the handshakes of others? Check out these top 10 handshake types to make sure your handshaking is conveying a good first impression.
100. Building Credibility: 11 Ways To Show You’re a Professional: Are you a freelancer? Do you struggle to maintain a constant stream of work? Mason Hipp explains how to show a potential client that you’re an honest and hardworking freelancer.
101. Stimulate Your Imagination: Entrepreneurs need to think creatively. Check out this vast range of tools and exrecises at Innovation Tools to stimulate your imagination.
102. Do You Need To Boost Your Confidence? Many potential entrepreneurs are held back due to lack of confidence. Try these free BBC online course to boost your confidence now.
103. Get Feedback From Customers Online: Understanding what customers want is essential to your business. This great tool will help you create a free online survey.
104. Ideablob: Share your business idea on Ideablob and you could win you $10,000. A winner is chosen every month.
105: The Top 20 Websites Run By People Under 30: From the obvious to some you may not have heard of. Check out Michael Dunlop’s list, which includes interesting stats such as Annual Turnover and Alexa ranking.
106. How To Strike A Work And Life Balance: If you don’t have a balance between work and life, you risk burning yourself out and ruining your business anyway. So, if you don’t know how to achieve a balance, check out these great article by Stephen R Covey.
107. 23 Benefits of Owning A Business: On the fence? Take a look at Zen Entrepreneur’s 23 benefits of owning a business and discover why you should do it.
Do You Want To Make Millions? The Business Of Writing A Novel
January 19, 2008
From marketing letters, writing web pages, to blogging - a large part of a business owners day is often consumed with writing.
Have you ever wanted to use that skill to do something more creative, such as writing a novel?
Novel writing is big business. After JK Rowling soared to success with her first Harry Potter book, it seemed that every other person I met was writing a children’s book. And publishers were flooded with manuscripts for children’s books.
But, is it really all that easy? And do you have the chance to make millions from writing a novel? Or is there a risk that you could spend the best part of your life on a diet of cabbage soup and hand me down clothes?
Check out the following facts to decide whether novel writing is for you:
Can You Make Money From Writing A Novel?
The average advance for a first novel is $7500 (£3750) - You could easily find yourself working for well below the minimum wage.
Many novels don’t sell enough copies to cover the advance - That means you won’t get any additional cash.
Some authors do make millions - JK Rowling, Danielle Steel, John Grisham etc: But as in any other business, it’s the small percentage at the top that make the biggest percentage of the cash.
How Long Does It Take To Write A Novel?
“Most writers can write books faster than publishers can write checks.”
–Richard Curtis
Alexandre Dumas wrote Le Supplice D’Une Femme in an astonishing 3 days.
Donna Tartt took ten years to write The Little Friend. However, she admits that she is a slow writer. Her first novel, The Secret History took her 8 years to write.
Can I take A Novel Writing Course?
In the UK - the Arvon Foundation runs a wide range of excellent courses. Arvon begin taking bookings early January each year, and the courses sell out quickly.
In New York and Online: WritingClasses.Com
Recommended Reading
The Artists Way by Julia Cameron
Stein On Writing - Sol Stein
Characters and Viewpoint by Orson Scott Card
Movies In The Mind - by Colleen Mariah Rae
Becoming A Writer - Dorothea Brande
Are you Making One Of These 6 Fatal Marketing Mistakes?
January 17, 2008
Are you getting the results you want from your small business marketing? If not, make sure you don’t make one of the six fatal marketing mistakes that some small business owners make:
People Will Remember Your Name - Right?: No matter how catchy your name - it is your corporate identity that people will remember. So make sure you have an eye catching logo and get it in front of customers and prospective customers at all opportunities.
Trying To Market To Everybody: No matter how great your business is, not everybody will be in the market for what you offer. So, you need to define your target market.
What type of person will your product or service appeal to? How old are they? Where do they live? What magazines do they read? Which forums do they hang out in?
The more you can discover about your target market, the easier it will be to reach them.
Lack of Repitition: The average person will need to see your logo at least three times before they notice you at all. So make sure they do see it, at least three times in a row and preferably in different forms or places.
Ignoring Existing Customers: It costs far less to sell more to an existing customer than it does to find a new one. Now I don’t suggest that you try to sell to them constantly. But, you should make existing customers a priority and keep in touch with them. If you don’t, they’ll forget all about you and by the time they need your product or service again, they won’t even remember who you are.
Justifying Marketing That Sucks By Saying You’re Building Brand Awareness: Unless you have a massive amount of cash to play with, you can’t afford to do any marketing that doesn’t give a return on your investment. If you’re not making a profit, or at least breaking even on any advertising or marketing campaign - pull the plug on it.
Not Testing and Measuring: Test and measure every single bit of marketing you do. Record it on a spreadsheet and examine your results to ensure you’re making a profit. Remember to keep a record of A) How much each marketing campaign costs and B) How much profit you made from it (make sure you record your net profit - not just gross sales). And if the figure you wind up with A is more than the one in B - either improve on it until you get it right, or ditch it.
What marketing mistakes have you made? And what would you do differently next time? Do you have any marketing tips you would like to share with small business owners?
-
Build A Successful Site
-
6 Ways To Make Money
-
Awesome Blog
-
Get More Traffic
-
Make Money
-
Free Credit Report
-
Unique Blog Design
-
Alltop
-
Successful And Outstanding Blogger
