25 TED Talks that will change how you see the world Mahatma Gandhi once said, “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” If this sounds like a philosophy you can relate to, then you’ll love TED talks. These informational 17 minute presentations are given at annual conferences by some of the world’s greatest thinkers. Their aim is simple: To inspire ideas and change attitudes around the world. 1. Hailed as the greatest pickpocket in the world, Apollo Robbins studies the quirks of human behavior as he steals your watch. 2. Body language affects how others see us, but it may also change how we see ourselves. 3. Jill Bolte Taylor got a research opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: She had a massive stroke, and watched as her brain functions — motion, speech, self-awareness — shut down one by one. 4. In this fun, 3-min performance from the World Science Festival, musician Bobby McFerrin uses the pentatonic scale to reveal one surprising result of the way our brains are wired. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
How a Simple Business Plan can Get you from A to Z, and Navigate all Things In-Between How a Simple Business Plan can Get you from A to Z, and Navigate all Things In-Between It's doubtful that no two words in an entrepreneur's vocabulary are procrastinated over more than these two: Business Planning This simple phrase can conjure up visions of being hunkered down over a desk trying to justify, forecast, number-crunch and ultimately wrestle with the current state of your business compared with where you want it to be five or ten years down the line. But the business planning process does't have to start and end this way. If you really want to succeed in business, as in life, planning should be part of everything you do, and, it never stops. Just think about the simple act of hitting the road to attend a business meeting across state. For many business owners, start-ups and entrepreneurs - the business planning process isn't actually a whole lot different. Keep it Simple Break Up Your Plan into Mini-Plans All business owners need a marketing plan, which should be updated often.
75 Startup Tools And Apps So you have a new business or startup idea and based on your analysis and research you have conducted, your confident that there is a market for it. Ok, now what? You need to possibly find a cofounder and team to start planning, seek funding and successfully execute the plan for a pilot or full launch. There are so many resources and tools out there that can assist you in managing and excuting your startup or new business idea more eficiently and effectively. As a result, I have produced a list of my favourite tools and applications covering the various disciplines you will need to undertake in order to successfully execute and launch your startup or new business. Here are just a few tools and applications that I have used over the years in managing and delivering small to large projects. Brainstorming Ideas | Bubbl.us Simple online application that helps you create colorful mind maps that you can print and share with others and it's FREE. MindManager Creately Springpad Evernote Branding | Notebox
Startup Therapy: Ten questions to ask yourself every month by In the last post I beat you to death about ditching your business plan but failed to provide an alternative. Okay okay, “Planning == Bad,” but the supposed benefits of planning are still important: designing for profitability, understanding your customers and competitors, focusing your attention, deciding what’s worth doing next, changing directions, and ensuring the founders agree on important issues. To help you, I’m stealing a trick from therapists. Cartoon by Andertoons Therapists don’t tell you what to do. You’re smart. That’s where this article comes in: To splash cold water on your face, forcing you to face reality and continue to defend or change the important choices inside your business. What follows is your startup therapy session. In one sentence, what does your product do and who buys it? Cartoon by AndertoonsThe first thing this does is force you to nail down your monthly expenses and accounts payable. What tips do you have? To help you, I’m stealing a trick from therapists.
100 Websites You Should Know and Use In the spring of 2007, Julius Wiedemann, editor in charge at Taschen GmbH, gave a legendary TED University talk: an ultra-fast-moving ride through the “100 websites you should know and use.” Six years later, it remains one of the most viewed TED blog posts ever. Time for an update? To see the original list, click here. And now, the original list from 2007, created by Julius Wiedemann, editor in charge at Taschen GmbH.
business planning 101: goals, strategy, tactics 37 Free Resources to Establish Your Brand There’s so much information available to help online entrepreneurs become successful, I’m surprised more of us haven’t gone cross-eyed. What I’m not surprised by is the number of online entrepreneurs who are still struggling, who are reading blogs and soliciting advice, waiting for someone to throw them a frickin bone. When I first started out, I was stuck in that place, and it usually happened for one of two reasons: I didn’t know enough about the technical side of building a brand, so my creative voice became lost within the learning.I took advice I read too literally and didn’t make it my own. And sometimes, the advice was just too vague: Be authentic. Since there’s no “right” or “wrong” way to do this, how do you know if you’ve found your right way? What helped me move from amateur (or rather, completely lost) blogger to seasoned, was getting to know each and every step of the process. Below are 37 amazing articles that will help you get to know each crucial aspect of building a brand.
» Blog Archive » Calculate This! 100 Financial Calculators Every Entrepreneur Needs Calculate This! 100 Financial Calculators Every Entrepreneur Needs Thursday, July 14, 2011 at 1:27pm by Site Administrator By Eliza Morgan Many entrepreneurs don’t have the luxury of having a separate accounting department, instead doing their own number crunching. It’s not always easy, but you can make it less difficult by making use of the huge number of free financial tools for businesses that are available on the Internet. Business Operations Don’t get caught off guard by the unexpected financial pitfalls of owning a business. Loans Unless you’re bootstrapping it, or you’ve come into quite a financial windfall, it’s likely that your business will need a few loans to get up and running. Debt Management Don’t let your loans get out of hand. Business Debt Consolidation: Have multiple business credit cards or loans holding debt for your company? Investment Make your business and personal investment tracking easy with these investment calculators. Taxes Personnel Personal Finance
business plan and other advice 10 Secrets of Becoming a Successful Entrepreneur I've been an entrepreneur most of my adult life. Recently, on a long business flight, I began thinking about what it takes to become successful as an entrepreneur--and how I would even define the meaning of success. The two ideas became more intertwined in my thinking: success as an entrepreneur, entrepreneurial success. I've given a lot of talks over the years on the subject of entrepreneurship. But what else does it take to succeed as an entrepreneur, and how should an entrepreneur define success? Here's what I came up with, a Top 10 List: 10. That means you’re willing to sacrifice a large part of your waking hours to the idea you’ve come up with. 9. This focus and intensity help eliminate wasted effort and distractions. 8. We all know that there is no such thing as overnight success. 7. Everyone will teach you to focus on goals, but successful people focus on the journey and celebrate the milestones along the way. 6. 5. 4. Everyone needs people who have complementary sets of skills.
101 Useful Resources for Online Entrepreneurs Every day more and more entrepreneurs are building successful businesses using the internet. There is an abundance of opportunity online and depending on the venture, there is often less cost and risk involved when compared with traditional businesses. There is also a wealth of resources available to help the online entrepreneur to run a business more effectively and more profitably, and we list many of those resources here. Feel free to leave a comment with your feedback and your recommendations of other resources. Communications / VoIP The internet brings great opportunities to do business all with people from all around the world, and fortunately there are also a number of resources to help with the communication that is necessary. 1. Data Backup Anyone that has important of sensitive information on their computer needs to have a system in place for backing up the data. 1. Invoicing 1. Financial Management and Accounting 1. Time Management and Project Management 1. Contact Manager 1. 1.
200 Words That Make Money Since the initial writing of my post 14 Words That Lose Money, I’ve had a number of requests for a post on words that make money. So, here is a list of 200 Words that make money. I’ve put in bold those words that you might want to consider using in various areas of your e-commerce store to persuade buyers (although product descriptions could also benefit from many of the others as well.) Benefits Advantages Simple Proven Want Right Best Own Fun Deserver Unique Value Happy Invest Investment Powerful Easy Discovery Involved Profit LoveGuarantee Vital Understand Understanding Good Health NaturalSave Dynamic Results Trust ReasonsFREE NowGift Silver Diamond Platinum Deluxe Top Great Greatest Fantastic AwesomeOnlyEffectiveRush Genuine Luxury Breakthrough TreatQuality Service Integrity Training TrainedLifetime Experience Truth Superior Latest Organic Prize Win First Future Related articles other people have read:
5 Lessons from 150 startup pitches by I just reviewed several hundred startup pitches for Capital Factory. Most were on paper and video; 20 were invited to pitch in person. Interesting patterns emerged: Everyone makes the same classes of error.Those who avoided just one of those errors stood out in the crowd.These are problems with the business concept or the founder’s attitude, not specific to raising angel money. You’re probably making a lot of these errors too. Not that I blame you! So for the next few weeks I’m doing a series on these mistakes and what to do about them. Here’s the list: Invalid competitive advantages “Superior SEO” and “unique features” are not competitive advantages.Lacking an unfair advantage You need one killer advantage that no one on Earth can beat you on. There’s also this list, equally common but I didn’t feel the urge to write an entire blog post on each one: Unable to describe the company in 60 seconds.