I cannot begin to tell you how often I am asked about writing a business plan. It’s true, you do need one. But it is not what you think and you can get wrapped up in writing a plan so much that you forget to build a business. In fact, my general response to the notion of writing a business plan is that one should write an outline and then focus on building a business.

First Contact
Think in terms of military tactics. I like this idea first because I am a former military operator who specialized in guerilla warfare training. Now, before you go to sleep, remember something – every great business strategy employed since the industrial revolution can be traced to military strategy. There are tomes of work on military strategy which is adapted to warfare, most notably The Art of War by Sun Tzu. Read the rest of this entry »

I have always loved Billy Joel’s music starting with the album The Stranger. Nearly every song in the Billy Joel catalogue is great, but I absolutely hated the song “Tell Her About It”. I thought it sounded like a show tune “diddy” that no self respecting rock & roll radio station would ever play. However, as much as I hated the song itself, there is some real truth to the lyrics, which were written during Joel’s marriage to Christie Brinkley. And there is no truer wisdom when it comes to business. Read the rest of this entry »

Interview With John McLeod, Card Game Enthusiast And Internet Business Expert

John McLeod, the owner of www.pagat.com

We recently caught up with a friend of ours to see how he was doing with his hobby/website on card games (www.pagat.com). What he shared with us was quite an elaborate and encouraging story that we wanted to take the time to share with you. His inspiring tale reinforces what we’ve been saying on our site for quite some time – you can turn your hobby or interest into an internet business. This is John’s story:

John decided one day that he needed a place to put all this information so it was available to everyone, and he didn’t have to keep cluttering up his spare room with stuff. The year was 1995, and the internet was still in a fledgling, but John saw the potential, and began loading all of his playing card information onto web pages, and then assembled those pages into a website. Read the rest of this entry »

One of the most difficult aspects of running an online business and blog is remaining completely motivated with your pursuits. The online business world can be a difficult one to make waves in. However, that is not to say that success is in any way unattainable. Newbies to the online business world have to remember that success online is a slow process. With thousands and thousands of blogs and businesses already swarming the web, it takes a significant amount of time and effort to be seen and subsequently profit with an online pursuit. The key to becoming successful Read the rest of this entry »

Throughout my entire adult career, I listened to many of my co-workers express that they could never work with their wives. I always thought that either that person could not separate their personal and professional life, or they simply did not understand business. Perhaps it was both. In any case, I worked with my wife at my side for 20 years and I can tell that if you can treat your wife like any other business partner, you will never find a more loyal partner.

YOUR WIFE AS A LIFE PARTNER AND AS A BUSINESS PARTNER
Your wife is your greatest advocate and there is nobody, not even your mother, that wants you to succeed more than your wife does. Read the rest of this entry »

Your passion is extraordinary.
How you spend your time should be, too!

Do you want more time, or do you want more money? You see, the problem with time and money is that if you want more of one, you must give up more of the other. This is why the best balance between the two is simply having a job. Unfortunately, when you have a job, your compensation is never based on excellence (unless it is heavily incentivized, i.e. sales, trading, etc.). Yes, you read that correctly. Miffed yet? If so, you better stop reading, because you are going to get upset if you go on. Read the rest of this entry »

If you are like me, your parents said to you at some point to be careful about your selection of friends.  The maxims “you are who you are with” and “guilty by association” are more than just words.  They are truisms that are time tested and are revealing of the another fault of human nature: “no book should be judged by its cover”.  The question is, how can you make your association or affiliation pay dividends?  One of the best ways is through affiliate marketing.  It is simple (notice I did not say easy) and can be very rewarding if you use a little common sense in your approach. Read the rest of this entry »