You Want To Be An Entrepreneur?

If you have an inkling of an idea, you might be considering becoming an entrepreneur.

Entrepreneurs have an interesting life, without a doubt.

However, I'll point out several aspects of entrepreneurialism I discovered the old-fashioned way: from the school of hard knocks!

1. Your "Big Idea" is just that. Somewhere between 5 and 500 other people in the world may have had the exact same light bulb moment you did. The only difference is who will ACT on their big idea.

2. Your "Big Idea" is just a beginning. Where do you go from here? How do you create a plan? What ways might you implement your strategy? Who will you hire? Where will you base your headquarters? Who should you hire to help? There are so many questions facing entrepreneurs - start to make a list of ways you think you might need help. Then seek out resources to help you in your journey.

3. Most companies do not fail because their idea stinks. Most companies fail because their execution stinks. What am I talking about? Well, for starters, how well are you managing your money? This is the #1 place businesses fail.

(# Months) Life of business = $ in bank - burn rate per month + new money in.

This is the bottom line. Yep, cash IS king! If you're able to get your ego out of the way, you might look at this first:

a. How much money are you bringing in versus how much money are you spending?

When you can answer that question and the money in is greater than the money out, you're getting somewhere!

What's the next biggest area of execution where people fail? They go it alone. It isn't easy to be an entrepreneur. It's even harder to do it by yourself. This is why my firm, ARRiiVE Business Solutions, has two "i" letters (and why they're emphasized) -- because you no longer have to feel you're launching your product by yourself. I help you and we're now a team! i and i is the Rastafarian way of saying "we" so why not "i" and "i" doing it together?! Anyway, decide what kind of help you want on your team: marketing, legal, financial, operational, managerial, sales, support, HR, etc., and go get it. Most companies need help with either marketing or operations. The positions I've hired or outsourced have been marketing 60%, operations 25% and legal and financial the remainder. Make sure, at the least, that you have a good attorney and a good accountant. Their advice is always handy.

b. Get good help. Most entrepreneurs have a difficult time getting past their ego. If you can't get beyond your own "I think I know the answer" problem most entrepreneurs suffer from, you won't ever lift a finger or write a check to get help from people who can and will help you. I'd start with your operations. Make sure you have a solid product or service to offer FIRST, then you'll have a solid way to make money.

c. While you're getting help, make sure your marketing is in order. Most entrepreneurs skimp on part of their marketing. Perhaps they think that saving money in this area is wise, but it is the wrong place to save (I'll say more on that in a bit) but no -- make sure you spend money where you need to in order to have solid marketing.

Critical Marketing Keys:

1. Poor logo. Your logo represents what you do. When I designed my first logo, I hired a graphic designer to help. (See www.AspireNow.com). My second logo, third, fourth, and fifth, I hired out help, too. Now I design logos for others whenever I want the side work, see www.ARRiiVE.com for an example of a logo I designed.

2. Business card. Hire a professional designer and use proper card stock. You'd be surprised how much more seriously people take you when you make this one simple change. If you're using the avery inkjet printer cards, stop right now, call me. I can help you. The layout on your card is as important as the stock. I've also seen people skimp thinking they know graphic design (artists, especially) and then after I get through with their card, they always thank me for improving their card design.

3. Website. Get your website right. Don't start big (like I did) start small. Keep it simple. Then focus on getting the word out and building traffic. The good news is that today you can start a website far less expensively and with much more power than when I started AspireNow.com. The bad news is that there are MILLIONS of sites you're now competing with. You'll likely need to hire an expert who knows how to get Top 10 position on Google and can teach you tricks how to drive traffic to your site (hint, hint). I have designed many websites. At ARRiiVE Business Solutions, I still offer web design as a service even though I now outsource 98% of this work. This is a good thing, because you gain extra eyeballs on the site design challenge and also gain another expert's opinion in the process, along with someone who's been there and done that and also understands layout AND sales copy. I find this useful to my clients and they're happy with the end-result.

4. Off-line promotions. Are you going to trade shows? Are you going door-to-door? Are you speaking publicly about your services or related topics? (Speaking drives a considerable stream of revenue to my business). Have you created a nice 3-part brochure that showcases your product(s) and service(s) properly? Again, hire it out, do it right. But once you have the material to hand someone, you have to take ACTION and get out there. Go to networking events. Leave them with something but always ASK FOR SOMETHING in return. How can they help? Who do they know? Can THEY use your service?

5. Hone your sales skills. Entrepreneurs must learn to sell or they will fail - period. You must be a good salesperson. Right now, I offer a lot of sales advice at the ARRiiVE: Innovations In Business blog. You can browse around there, although sign-up for the blog on email because in the future I'll be offering video training to help you improve your sales techniques and grow success.

6. Improve Your Marketing Pitch. When you can say what you do in 20 seconds and people get excited and ask you to meet with them, you've got your pitch refined. Seriously, that's the essence of it, right there. Test it, test it, test it, practice saying it BEFORE that important contact at the mixer you attend, so you have it right on target there and capture what you need from those vital interactions.

There's so much more to being an entrepreneur... if I could leave you with one super-valuable piece of advice I learned the hard way: downsize your expenses immediately. Many entrepreneurs only give themselves 6 months worth of money to make it. We all read how it takes entrepreneurs up to 5 - 10 years to succeed, but then why would we only allow our self only six months? This is stupid. It is ego. Take out your ego and downsize immediately if you are serious about making this dream a reality. Sell your house, drive a less-expensive car, get rid of HBO, do whatever it takes, but downsize your bills. Figure out how to give yourself a 5 year money plan and then spend your money wisely.

If I had done this one step of advice I just gave you, I would have incurred zero debt during my first five years of business. Instead, I continued to live in an expensive house, drive a nice truck, and kept the cable bill on. Be smart with your money, and then figure out how to make more money quickly, and build, and improve, and learn, and improve. Notice I said "learn" not fail. I don't view failure as failure unless I failed to learn from it. So, I say learn, build, improve, learn, build, improve... it's a multi-part process. We will take a step back once in a while. But learn and then go two or three steps forward.

Take a deep breath... exciting days are ahead of you!
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Copyright © 2008 AspireNow. All rights reserved. Want more? Subscribe to the A-Blog.

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You Call The Shots: Succeed Your Way

A new book for entrepreneurs just came to my attention. This book was written by a guy who made his first $15,000 by the age of 9 and started an internet site more successful than most internet marketers by the age of 15. Inspiring?

Read it yourself and be the judge: http://astore.amazon.com/aspirenow-20/detail/B000WPMQHI/002-1778283-8772807

You Call the Shots: Succeed Your Way-- And Live the Life You Want-- With the 19 Essential Secrets of Entrepreneurship By Cameron Johnson, John David Mann

One of my friends, Chris Howard, had this to say about the book:

"I really love the full title, though, because it really describes what Cameron is all about: "You Call the Shots: Succeed Your Way - and Live the LifeYou Want - With the 19 Essential Secrets ofEntrepreneurship." That's right, it's all about Living the Life You Want, and that's what Cameron will help you do through reading his book."

Click here to order your copy of You Call The Shots now: http://www.cameronjohnson.com/bookbonus?11"

Note: that link that Chris Howard provides is cool - they give you a bunch of BONUS products AFTER you just provide your Amazon order number. So, if you're like me, you'll keep your Amazon order number, then input it with your other email information in the bonus link at http://www.cameronjohnson.com/bookbonus?11. And, no, I don't get anything from the Bonus Link (maybe they'll throw back some kudos my way? hint, hint!).

I just ordered my own personal copy, so you know I'm intrigued!
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Copyright © 2008 AspireNow. All rights reserved.

Focus On One Thing

A good friend of mine often engages in philosophical conversations with me. Last, night, we were sharing our success stories, as well as commenting on why some things took longer to succeed than we initially expected. Out of that conversation was the spark for this article idea:

It's the basis of why successful people win more often than others:
We often succeed when we are focused on one thing, and do it very well.

An example of this, in action, was Charlie Parker, who in the 1930's and 1940's became known as the greatest saxophone player in the world. As a sax player who plays in the 21st century, I can attest that Parker's styles and influence upon music remains strong, even today. Why did Charlie Parker become great? Well, for one thing, when he was developing his "sound", he practiced 14 hours a day. Not only did he practice a lot, and often, but he also had a way of practicing that created a unique style and sound nobody else played. At first, people didn't like his sound, and he was kicked out of clubs. Later, they loved him and everyone tried to copy him. Towards the end of his career, he became known more as a heroine addict and, sadly, died at the age of 36 with a liver pickled worse than a 60 year-old man. Drugs can do that. But, Charlie is a great example of a guy who focused on one thing and did it very well.

Oprah is someone who has focused on one thing, too. Oprah first became a movie star, then launched her show. Her show gave her more success and consistency than the movie career, so she focused on that. Now, she is established, and expanding her empire. Now, you'll notice that once a person has mastered one area, they have an easy time growing their wealth and winning more often. Once they've established themselves, it is easier to attract talent to their team, it is easier to launch new products, companies, and services (they have cash), and it is easier to get publicity (people already recognize their name).

The challenge of doing one thing and doing it well is you may become "pigeon-holed" as only good at that. I think this happened to John Grey, who wrote the popular "Women Are From Venus, Men Are From Mars" series of books. John later tried to break into the "purpose" series of books and had much less success, as far as I could tell.

However, that doesn't mean it isn't a good idea. With AspireNow, one of the reasons it took longer for my business to make money is because I didn't do one thing. I chose to do many things at once. I'm still guilty of this, to some extent, but the thing I do now is focus better.

For example, I host two radio show on Wednesdays at the following network:
http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/37792
http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/37798

By hosting the show(s) religiously, I build a following and the shows are growing in traffic by 5x.

In addition, I've been posting about 3 - 4 posts to each of my blogs per week:
http://arriive.blogspot.com
http://aspirenow.blogspot.com

By remaining consistent, my blog traffic is growing consistently. I can tell you, though, that if my blogs were more focused, I'd probably lose subscribers less often, and my base would grow quicker. It's a choice I made to offer a variety. As a result, it takes each of my interests longer to grow. I've been streamlining these offerings to really just offer one at a time, and in the process this is starting to show the fruits of my labor.

So, if you're just starting out, I recommend to you that you pick one thing and master it. Once you've become known as the expert in your industry for that topic, then move on to whatever people are asking you for the most as your next interest.

If you are doing multiple ventures, make sure to slice your time in such a way that you can focus 100% on each venture so that you do each project well. At the very least, you must do this to succeed wildly.

See if this formula doesn't impact your own success.
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Copyright © 2008 AspireNow. All rights reserved. Want more? Subscribe to the A-Blog.

Energizing The Earth

There is so much attention around Global Warming, and rightfully so, that there is a concern that other environmental issues are getting swept under the geo-political landscape. People are so focused on Global Warming, and I'm glad this issue has heated up; however, we need to be looking at how the we power the Earth, as a whole.

Earth Day: Only .03% Attention

Earth Day is usually in April, one day out of the year. But this focus is too minuscule to matter. 1/365 is less than .03% of our time! We need EVERY day to be Earth Day. Every day ought to be a day we focus on improving our Earth and creating a better way of life.

It is true that if you're talking about an environmental issue in a group of a dozen people, it is inevitable that the conversation will shift to Global Warming almost every time. I have a group of musician and dancer friends who are very interested in global issues. The last time we gathered, sure enough, someone brought up an environmental rant and within two minutes four of them were in full-fledged Global Warming debate.

Can you relate?

But the bigger concern, from my perspective, isn't just Global Warming. Global Warming, to me, seems like a subset of the bigger picture question facing our future needs: energizing the Earth.

How do we energize the earth?

It is important that we, as people inhabiting our Earth, consider ALL issues that might impact this planet, and try to minimize them. So much attention is focused on carbon dioxide emissions and the effect of greenhouse gases that people are forgetting about equally important issues surrounding mercury, nuclear waste, and other concerns.

I challenge the scientists probing for energy breakthroughs to find a way to power our Earth from the solar system, rather than from natural resources within our Earth. Energizing the Earth from natural, renewable sources ought to be the Earth's primary focus, right now. Why? Because we cannot continue to drill out all the oil, mine all the coal, and build any more nuclear waste sites. After all, how many years does it take for a nuclear site to become non-toxic? We're talking generations.

To me, the water is as important as air we breathe. In fact, water may, in some places, be even more important. If we cannot get pure water to drink, we run the risk of disease, poor health, and many other issues as vital to breathing unpolluted air.

Solutions to help us Energize the Earth:

1. We need to focus on harnessing natural Earth energy as much as possible:

air, solar, water, volcanic, etc.

2. We need to minimize power sources and fuel sources that put waste into our air, water, forests, and earth. By these, I mean coal, natural gas, oil, and nuclear. Is growth, at all costs, worth it? Is it worth risking another Chernobyl-type meltdown? We need to make WISER decisions regarding our planet and stop seeing ourselves, as human beings, as superior beings who can take and use the Earth at our discretion.

Does Global Warming Matter?

This seems to be a question of debate, still, for many people. To me, you only need look at the facts of global warming and you can quickly see that we must reduce gases and pollution in our atmosphere.

Taking a Stand

People need to TAKE A STAND against adding more nuclear and coal-powered plants. One group, Billionaires For Coal, recently took a stand against TXU, a company planning 11 new coal-powered plants in Texas. In an article by Tara Lohan of Alternet.org, the Billionaires For Coal activists sent suitcases filled with coal to Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, and Morgan Stanley, the three firms bankrolling the multi-billion dollar project. The statement to the bankers is simple: stop being stupid over corporate greed!

Legislating Future Plants

The banks need to become more responsible in projects they will finance. If they simply took coal and nuclear off the map (most likely through government regulation), this would force the banks and energy companies to redirect their efforts to Energize the Earth with more natural, sustainable energy production methods.

More Advanced Solar Plants In Deserts

If we know we can create an energy plant that will make our air more healthy, then that is the plant we ought to build. If we know we can build shipping vessels that put less waste into the ocean, then those are the vessels we ought to build. PERIOD. The most logical source of power in the form of renewable energy (at least, in all practical meaning of the word "renewable") is SOLAR. One suggestion is to create a massive solar grid in major desert locations, then redirect this power into the grid that fuels power-consumption across the planet. If we put as much money into the development of renewable solar cell energy and solar plants as we did into making war with other countries, it would seem this alternative would be far more possible far more quickly.

3. We need to rid our dependence upon oil as the fuel for automobiles and convert this to air. We need the oil companies to lead this charge.

Compressed Air?

I'm a believer that compressed air may be a solution. (See http://aspirenow.blogspot.com/2007/11/how-important-is-global-warming.html for more on the importance of this concern.)

Methane from Microbes: Killing Two Birds With One Stone

An article just published today at http://www.physorg.com/ indicates that methane from Microbes could provide a clean, renewable energy source and use up carbon dioxide in the process. More information about clean and renewable energy is coming out all the time. If we could produce clean and renewable energy AND use up carbon dioxide, this would kill two birds with one stone. So, some type of source of energy, either compressed air, or methane from Microbes, needs to be developed and utilized in ALL automobiles as soon as possible.

4. We need to look for natural energy sources within our solar system. Perhaps energy from Jupiter might be a solution? The red spot is supposed to have anti-cyclone energy of some type.

Harnessing Other Galactic Energy?

Perhaps there is a way to harness that energy? I'm not a scientist, just an observer who happens to think "what if" scenarios about the information I learn. I'm curious to learn more about this developing potential source of energy. If you have information regarding harnessing space energy, please comment/forward the URL.

Yes, Global warming matters.

I continue to find evidence of an increase in real, measurable impact that directly results from an increase in human-related activities influencing our planet. I discussed this more in my "How Important Is Global Warming" post in November, 2007.

What are your thoughts on environmental issues? Do these relate to life purpose and living with more love, to you?

1 Billion Points of Light

There is another way we can energize the Earth, that often is not talked about. This is not physical energy, but spiritual energy. The idea put forth by former President George H. W. Bush of "1,000 points of light" is ridiculous, when you consider there are now BILLIONS of people living on Earth! We need to think in terms of "1,000,000,000 points of light!"

As we focus more and more on the aspects of improving our Earth and the life around us what we need is a continual state of prayer, focused on more love, more benefit for the Earth. If 1,000,000,000 people were praying, focusing their thoughts and intentions upon better, natural, renewable energy for the Earth, my feeling is that our scientists would find their solutions quicker. Oil companies would release their death-grip on the planet and start to act responsibly towards the planet's future. Government agencies would take stronger stands. Corporations would be focused on the big picture, rather than short-term greed.

Entrepreneurs: You are called to develop advanced companies with new technology to create a healthier planet. We need you now more than ever. It is with this perspective that we can transform our planet and truly create a sustainable global footprint for the future.

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Resources related to this article:

An Inconvenient Truth
Amazon Price: $17.98 List Price: $29.99

Miracles for the Earth
Amazon Price: $11.49 List Price: $19.95

NOVA - Magnetic Storm
Amazon Price: $11.00 List Price: $19.95

Quatermass (1979)
Amazon Price: $8.40 List Price: $39.95

Saving Earth - Energy from the High Frontier
Amazon Price: $12.95 List Price: $12.95
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This article is written by Scott Andrews, Founder of AspireNow. Copyright 2007. All rights reserved. You may republish this article only AS A COMPLETE WHOLE with ENTIRE LINKS and copyright messages attached.

To read more articles like this, subscribe to the A-Blog.

When Others Lose Faith...What Now?

Have you ever felt like your safety net just dropped out from under you? You know, your husband, wife, parent, child, best friend, or other person close to you just RIDICULED or PUT DOWN or -- worse yet -- WITHDREW SUPPORT in YOUR DREAM!

I'm sorry. That's just not right. But, it happens.

Okay, so you're going along as (a) executive, (b) entrepreneur, (c) employee, or something like that, and for some crazy reason, or a set of reasons, your business or success is taking longer than you thought it would. So, you've drained more money than you thought you would. You have SOME signs of success. Money, customers, web traffic, phone calls. You know, the little signs of success.

But you're not getting rich (yet).

And, they've run out of patience. They think you're crazy. Perhaps, you've been called one of these names:

• Crazy
• Foolish
• Stupid
• Wasteful
• Stubborn

Now what? What can you do?

Do you feel like a failure? (yes/no)

If YES, WHY?

Before we go on. Let me ask you this? ARE THEY RIGHT?

YES? ____ NO? _____.

If the answer is YES, then follow their advice, and stop reading, because you already agree with THEM and don't need this article to help you make up your mind.

HOWEVER, IF the answer to this question is NO, then read on, baby!

Are you determining your success based upon someone else's barometer of success or on your own scale?

Personally, I would really be upset if I missed the answer to the following question:

Scott: "Did you live the life you wanted to live while on Planet Earth?"

Yes? __________ No? __________

There's only one way I want to answer that question: YES.

1. Notice, I didn't give myself a SCALE... on a scale of 1 - 10, to what degree would you say..NOPE. Just Yes, or No.

2. Notice, I also didn't say, "Scott: did you live the life your parents wanted you to live?" or "Did you make your spouse happy with you in your purpose?" or "Did you live the life your brother/sister/friend wanted you to live while on Planet Earth?"

See, because, although these people love us and mean well, sometimes they really don't know what it best for us. Sometimes, only we know that.

If it is an issue that is running between the first question and the latter, I vote in favor of the first. As William Shakespeare said, "to Thine Own Self Be True."

So, what is my advice?

KEEP YOUR FAITH. Have no doubt. BELIEVE in YOU.

Because, apparently, you're the most important person needed right now to believe in you.

How do I know this? Because you already said that the advice was wrong when you answered the first question, above. You already said they DON'T know best for you. In other words, you already know that YOU know best, you just needed me, as a messenger from God or the Universe or just the blogosphere space of the Internet, to remind you of it.

Now, get back focused on what is most important now, and go do it! Remember, as Lou Holtz, former pro coach of Notre Dame said, "to WIN is to do What is Important Now."

Post by Scott Andrews, author of "The Keys To Discovering Your Purpose" e-workbook and audio program. Copyright © 2007 AspireNow. All Rights Reserved.

Start Living Your Dreams!

What's stopping you from living your dreams?

Failure?

I recently spoke with a woman who wrote to me, "You're living the life I dream about."

I asked her, "What's stopping you?"

Her answer? "Money. Fear of failing, I guess."

Wow. Okay. That's honest. Can you blame her for staying in her secure job? It pays for her mortgage, her nice middle-class BMW car, and other necessities of life (shopping, food, etc.). But she isn't getting rich. Are you? And, she really isn't that happy doing her JOB. Are you?

The lesson in this is that what if YOU fail? There are many times you can launch your dream.

You could be considering launching your dream during any combination of the following:

Have a job now. Don't have a job now. Don't like my job now. Like my job now. Have money to last for two or three years. Don't have money to last for two or three years.

Guess what? People have started their company or launched their dream in ANY of the above stages. So, no matter what stage you are in, you can at least START SOMETHING!

David Kelley, the world's most celebrated industrial designer, urges creative people to "fail faster so they can succeed sooner." Amen. You see, when you start your venture, there is a high likelihood you will fail. I know, you don't want to hear that. And, you're smarter than those other fools who try, right? Well, guess what. I'm smart. And I failed. I failed a lot! But, with each failure, I've gone back to the drawing board, and continue to make a small tweak here, an adjustment there, drop this, start that, and continue to develop my programs and services UNTIL THEY SUCCEED. And, it is working. This is how most people make it, I have found out.

They START. They FAIL. They ADJUST. They START AGAIN. They FAIL AGAIN. They LEARN. They ADJUST. They RE-START, THEY WIN. They ADJUST. They FAIL. They ADJUST. They WIN. THEN... ONE DAY... They WIN SOME MORE.... AND MORE... AND MORE. Try it: it will happen for you, too! Who knows? You might even be one of the lucky ones who WINS out of the GATES.

You might be surprised what can happen in your life. Are you tired of living paycheck to paycheck and living other people's dreams? Start living YOUR dreams. The only way to live is to take action on DOING IT!

Don't be afraid of failure. Embrace it. And get it behind you as soon as you can, so that you can start winning.

by Scott Andrews, Author, Entrepreneur, and Founder of AspireNow (http://www.aspirenow.com/). Scott is the CEO and principal business advisor at ARRiiVE Business Solutions, helping executives start a company and launch a new product or service. His expert team helps executives navigate to save time, build interactive marketing, improve sales training with real-world advice, and focuses on helping enterprise leaders build empowered teams with Scott's dynamic SEMANTIC COLLABORATION models and tools. Learn more at http://www.arriive.com/.

What Are You Waiting For?

Got an idea? Does your job suck?

What are you waiting for?

I'm ahead of myself. Good lord. I just got off the phone with someone (name withheld to protect the innocent) who was complaining about their job.

I replied, "remember, J-O-B = just over broke!" to which they replied, "you're right! Oh my God! Why am I doing this?"

While looking in a mirror, the words just mumbled out of my mouth, "why are you doing this?"

He then went off for another five minutes about how he "had" to do his job because he "had" these commitments and he "had" this life he's created and blah, blah, blah. Blah!

I listened. Then, upon completing his JOB thesis, I heard him exclaim that he was going to just wait it out a little longer before doing anything to make a change.

I asked him, "what are you waiting for?"

He didn't have a good answer. Yet, he's still going to procrastinate.

If there is any advice I have for the person with the entrepreneurial itch who knows there's something burning but unable to take ANY action, whatsoever, I can only ask you "What are YOU waiting for?"

Because, frankly, you can do SOMETHING. Right? Any action is probably better than no action.

I'm not saying go rush out and quit your job without a plan to make money. I'm just saying that take SOME sort of positive action towards change TODAY. Better yet, right now.

You're reading this article because you've got an idea. Or, perhaps you're just dissatisfied with the way things are for you right now. But, if you're reading this, you know there's SOMETHING you're supposed to be doing and YOUR JOB isn't it!! Am I right, or not?

And, if it is something other than your job, more than likely you need to take action towards discovering what that is.

First step?

A journal. I started my first company, AspireNow, this way. Just start by keeping a journal of your journey: a journal of your big idea. With AspireNow, I maintained a journal for more than six months before launching the website. I'm glad I did, because then when I launched the website, I at least had a clue what I wanted to do with it.

Second step?

Describe it. If you need help with Life Purpose, you might consider a workbook to help you go through the ruminations of discovering your purpose. I've got a good one at http://www.aspirenow.com/products.htm, if you're struggling with how to do this. What's useful about using a workbook is that you gain exercises that really help you get clear on how to DESCRIBE what you want to do.

After all, if you can't give an elevator pitch (20 - 30 second description of your purpose) you probably don't have it down yet.

So, start with a journal, then start with a workbook to help you get clear.

At least, NOW you know you're taking some sort of action to CHANGE.

It isn't that hard, once you do it, in fact, it gets easier all the time, once you are clear.

So, if you're disgruntled with your job, but know you can do something different, what are you waiting for? Why not take action, today, towards your true calling in life.

20-something workers wasting more time than older workers?

I read a survey today on Salary.com that states 20-something employees are wasting more time at work than older employees. The statistics read as follows:

The 2007 Wasting Time Survey by Salary.com asked 2,000 employees across varying job levels how they spend working hours. The survey reported that out of an 8.5 hour workday, employees waste an average of 1.7 hours.

The age break-down on the wasted time looks like this:
20-29: 2.1 hrs. per day.
30-39: 1.9 hrs. per day.
40-49: 1.4 hrs. per day.

Interesting, that the admitted time waste is higher among people under 40. I think in my own career, when I look back, I may have wasted more time when I was younger. That was because back then I thought time was unending. As I hit 40, I realize now that I only have so much time on this beautiful Earth to live my dreams. It's do or die wondering why I didn't. I'd rather do - how about you?

From my perspective, I think that people in JOBS, per se, waste time because they are not EMPOWERED to fully utilize their skills at most jobs. I remember re-writing a sales presentation at a company because marketing didn't have a clue how to pitch to customers. First of all, they suggested LEADING with the presentation (a mistake: always lead with questions regarding their needs then FOLLOW with the presentation along with the findings and your solution to MEET their NEEDS!). I recall marketing later discovered my presentation and subsequently rolled-out their "new" presentation to the field, coincidentally utilizing 85% of the content from my presentation, and added in more fluff to dumb it down. Nice, huh?

Anyway, if people were really utilized properly, and recognized for what they brought in to the company, the issue of wasting time would become largely irrelevant. Sure, some people spend hours digging the net, spending time joking around with YouTube, and otherwise IMing (instant messaging) each other to waste time. It's part of life that people need a break. However, I don't know that computer/technology related breaks truly give us an escape from our work.

I eliminated IMing because I found that people who IM waste hours and hours of time. So, no IMs for me.

The survey failed to mention that cigarette smoking causes a humongous waste of time. If you figure a smoker averages one cigarette per 30 minutes, and each cigarette takes an average of 4 minutes to smoke (plus extended time talking to other smokers in smoking area I'll round up to 5 minutes), that means a smoker will spend 45 minutes out of every 9 hour day smoking. That's almost an hour less than a non-smoker. So, I suppose Salary.com could look into that.

If you find yourself wasting a lot of time at work, I'd challenge you with the following question:

"ARE YOU REALLY LIVING YOUR DREAM?"

Because people who are passionate about their job (career) don't want to waste time. They want to build success and create time with other people who are building success.

Consider these top-ranked time-wasting activities from the 2006 AOL-Salary.com Wasted Time report:

Top Time-Wasting Activities (%)
1 Surfing Internet (personal use) 52.0%
2 Socializing with co-workers 26.3%
3 Running errands off-premises 7.6%
4 Spacing out 6.6%
5 Making personal phone calls 3.9%
6 Arriving late / Leaving early 2.9%
7 Applying for other jobs .7%

At least the last category was honest about not wanting to be there!

If people are surfing the net for personal use, you gotta wonder why. I surf the net, but 95% of my searches are related to business issues, articles for AspireNow, and other things I'm working towards. Running errands, well, if I work late, those are made up for, and spacing out is just weird.

Organizations creating a culture that does not waste time in meaningless meetings, that encourages spending their daily time efforts wisely, will find that measuring some of these things will become mute IF employees are empowered in a modern way.

I don't personally believe that 20-somethings are wasting that much more time than their older co-workers. It is highly possible that they are faster at processing what they do. They grew up in a faster generation. It is also possible that they are able to balance things and surfing the net is part of that balance. Allowing people the freedom to surf the net is critical to success for business, because something unrelated to your business may be discovered from one of your employees surfing the net. The truly innovative organization encourages that type of thinking, searching, and discovery.

My suggestion is to create a system to empower employees based upon their skills, not based upon their job description or job title. Real contribution, measured in real success, ought to be rewarded. The other riff-raff ought to be cut loose so they can do what they need to do: their true life purpose.

It takes courage!

So many people wonder why others seem to be able to go after their dreams, while they are left pondering and vascillating about what to do or how to get their "dream" off the ground.



I've realized in my coaching that many people are really blocking themselves from their own success.



In fact, many people would like to get started with a business idea, a new relationship, a new lifestyle makeover, a new job, a new company -- but they don't! Why? Perhaps, they don't think they know enough to do it. Or perhaps they are too lazy to take the time. Or, they neg (doubting self-talk) themselves out.



Can I be the voice of reason and inspiration in the desert? Hey - guess what?



There is NO magic pill! There exists no magic formula! No secret of success - other than this:



You will attract and create what you believe you can. You can do what you believe you can do.

That's it. That is the only thing you need to know to know you CAN do your dream.

Notice, I didn't say it would be easy. I didn't say there wouldn't be any frustration or pain. I didn't say you would get it overnight. I just said you can do what you believe you can do.

Real faith -- true faith -- only occurs when you truly BELIEVE you can do something.
Have confidence in your self. Find a way. Learn what you need to learn. Act as soon as possible. Don't delay!

There are four types of people in this world: People living their dreams, people reporting on people living their dreams, and people who are waiting to live their dream, and people who have stopped dreaming or given up on their dream. Be one of the first two, preferably the first. Be someone who lives their dreams. Live is so much more rich and full when we live our life in search of our highest benefit to humanity.

The Job That Won't Get Outsourced

I just finished reading an article on a popular website that was called "Jobs That Won't Get Outsourced." Now, the topic caught my eye, because my company ARRiiVE is focused on helping people create empowered environments (harder to do when you outsource) and because AspireNow's Life Purpose section is focused on helping people with their career.

So, what are the industries that present these downsizing-proof jobs?

Examples given included CONSTRUCTION, EDUCATION, HEALTHCARE, REAL ESTATE, and MILITARY. All I could think was, Hmm. I think the author is WRONG!

That's right, wrong. No offense, but as many comment bloggers noted, each of these industries are being impacted as much as the notorious call centers, customer service, and programming shops in India, China, and Mexico. We're starting to see more of the legal profession, salespeople, architects, and other careers impacted by outsourcing, too.

Outsourcing will happen any time the head of an industry can see a way to lower costs. And, in a world that is now a "global" economy, who do you think will cost less: the job/cost of an American who lives 2.6 people per household with a $39,452.74 per capita? Or the job/cost of an Indian who lives 2.7 per ROOM with a $640.47 per capita? (source: NationMaster) Isn't it obvious to you what is going on in the world? Are way of life in America is threatening the very job we wish to keep secure!

NO JOB IS SAFE FROM OUTSOURCING. I'll say it again: NO JOB is safe from OUTSOURCING. Now, if you're a teacher, once you are tenured, your job is pretty safe. But, on the whole, outsourcing is hitting every industry imaginable.

Outsourcing irritations: why do people get upset about outsourcing?

Well, if you've had your job outsourced to a foreign country and all your friends in your division let go and looking for work, you could probably share first-hand about the frustrations of outsourcing just from the loss of jobs, let alone impact upon hard-working American families, children, and spouses. Perhaps Outsourcing is a popular topic if you manufacture Prozac or Zanax, but otherwise it probably brings up feelings of anger or concern. After all, downsizing is never pretty.

Almost everyone who calls an outsourced customer support line knows that when you're expecting an English-speaking support agent to help you, but then line get frustrated trying to explain your problem you're already upset about with the hard-to-understand foreign accent only adding to confusion, it can be frustrating to deal with outsourced call centers. One of my hosting companies provides support from the Philippines. I had a dickens of a time trying to get the site live, until I complained and threatened to pull my account, then the hosting firm escalated my email to the American headquarters and pronto - problem solved in one email. Amazing how support may not always be the same level with outsourced centers. So, that is another one of the problems. I could go on and complain for quite a while, but there are probably many people who would defend call center outsourcing by saying they've experienced lesser hold time and more satisfaction in some cases, too, to be fair.

My own company, ARRiiVE Business Solutions, offers an outsourced "Acting VP of Sales" program, not to replace your VP of Sales but to give you insights into your selling process that otherwise you could not get from a typical salesperson or manager. I don't know how I can offer that same service only serving as a consultant. So, there are cases where it can be truly helpful to outsource. And, when you're multiplying costs of $20 per event x 80,000 events, you start to get into pretty serious cost savings that make it hard to resisst outsourcing.

Now, let's take construction, for example. Aren't we seeing changes in the labor force in that industry? I've seen changes in this industry in California. Why couldn't someone come here from China or India build a building better than an American labor force? After all, was it not China who had the roadroad chain gangs that laid much of the rail lines across America over 100 years ago? I'd say construction is not a safe industry from outsourcing.

We're utilizing more and more online education as a way of learning. In fact, schools are going to more and more online methods to reduce their costs of teaching. Classrooms are getting bigger, not smaller. And, there's a lack of qualified teachers in many areas, but in others, teaching jobs are hard to come by. Consider that school districts have largely done away with such positions as Vocational Education (my father can talk to you about this - he taught machine shop) and many music programs (sniff - I grew up playing my sax in the schools bands). Today, most of the machine shops are located, guess where: CHINA! That's right. One of my best friends runs a machine shop. Fortunately for him, he has the talent to do the rare jobs that nobody else can do. So, his shop was spared the closings that occurred during the mass outsourcing and shop closures of the early 21st century. But all around him the machine shops shut down and their business, just like Nixon, went to China. In 2000, the Chinese bought up so much of the metal supplied that it became very expensive in America to compete. Welcome to the global economy. So, vocational education has been replaced with courses on computers, graphic design, and programming. But, have those jobs been outsourced? You betcha!

Education will continue to be impacted by outsourcing in the coming years.

Healthcare. I read one post that said a surgical procedure in America costs $72,000. That same procedure costs $12,000 in India. According to Travelocity, I can fly roundtip leaving San Francisco on August 21st and returning August 28th from New Delhi, India right now for: $1,550.00. Add that to the $12,000, and I think I might consider that surgery in India. Insurance or no insurance, I might save a lot of money. So, yes, healthcare is going to be affected by outsourcing, too. I already know travelling nurses are becoming a bigger profession to fill rotating needs at hospitals. More changes in healthcare are surely coming as this overpriced industry is poised, in fact, for a crash, if you ask me.

Next, Real Estate. Wait, did I just say healthcare was poised for a crash? Well, what about Real Estate? With the boom that has gone on the past 5 years, with rates well under 10%, people have boosted real estate into a bubble almost as dangerously speculative as technology stocks in the year 2000. The general rule of thumb on an investment, for fair market value, is 8.5%. Once the rates go above 8.5%, we'll see the market decline. Do you think that's going to happen soon? If and when it does, do you think we might see more real estate positions (brokers, etc.) outsourced? Yeah, I think so, too.

Last, the military. Well, I don't know about you, but if we're not in a war your military job isn't very safe from outsourcing. The military can hire many things to replace people. Technology replaces people. But, more than that, I see robots becoming more and more of a factor in military settings. (Why get human beings killed when we can send a robot to do their dirty work?) Okay, so I'm jumping into the future and pondering a world of Terminators with that comment. But, don't you think ANY industry is vulnerable to outsourcing?

That's my point.

Therefore, the only JOB that isn't vulnerable to outsourcing is that of the ENTREPRENEUR. That's right, the person who starts a business, not self-employed, as a plumber, hair salon, or some other self-employed service job may still be vulnerable, but the entrepreneur who is creating cash-flow through some mechanism is probably the only person safe from outsourcing.

That's why I became an entrepeneur. Well, not exactly. I'm just driven to do things and adverse to risk. But, being an entrepreneur is the only way I can see clear of the problem with outsourcing. It's a crazy world, but there's always been a career that has been impacted by lower prices, change in demand, technological advances, and influence of trade with other countries. Ask a horseshoer, blacksmith, farmer, and machinist how they like their job today. You'll be looking for a while before you find one of these people, yet, not so long ago those were some of the top JOB descriptions in the census. (Source: my mother's geneology work!)

What do you have to say about outsourcing? Do you think it is for real? Think you've got an idea how to protect yourself and your career from outsourcing? Let's discuss!