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September 1

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The countdown starts. I’ll be going back to school soon while I know others have already started. Although you may not be going to school, changes are you have a lot of things to do during this span (September to June) compared to the summer as well. This is why systematizing your business or at least finding some areas to systematize is essential towards the growth of your business.

Find ways to make things happen automatically. Scheduling tweets isn’t exactly a systematized process because I schedule tweets every day. However, when I’m in school, I don’t have to take out my phone to send out a tweet. HootSuite does that for me.

That’s why I did 52 videos in August for YouTube because I publish 1 video every week. Those videos are scheduled, and now I don’t have to go back to YouTube until next summer. I have the choice of whether or not to use YouTube throughout the entire school year.

I wrote a majority of my books over the summer because I won’t get as much time when school starts. All of the books I mentioned in blog posts were finished in summer. I have from now until June to write an entire book.

I have scheduled blog posts days in advance in the event I got a test that I needed to study for throughout the night. I am scheduling even more blog posts just to make sure nothing happens.

I have only attended business expos in the summer. If I had to attend business expos on a weekly or even a monthly basis, I would be faced with a schedule conflict.

I read books (not given as summer homework) over the summer so I won’t have to worry about them when school starts. I will be reading every night when school starts, and reading 2 books simultaneously never works.

If scheduling pins were free, I would have scheduled pins for a long amount of time. I’ll have enough time to send out 10-30 pins a day despite there not being a free way to schedule pins…yet.

If I didn’t systematize my business at all, having to maintain school, track, and my business would have been difficult. However, I have been able to systematize many aspects of my business. The only things I have to do throughout the school year are tweet, pin, write 1 book, and write blog posts.

Going into summer, I knew some ways of systematizing my business. I knew writing books and scheduling blog posts (only to a certain degree) could be systematized going into the summer.

I didn’t read any books this summer until the middle of July. I didn’t even bother doing YouTube videos until the middle of August (a lot of videos have been done in the process. They’re all done though).

Last year, I had nothing systematized. This blog didn’t even exist last year. I kept on doing the same amount of work day in and day out. I wrote books during the school year, and as a freshman at the time, the school work was the easiest. I got lucky.

When I go back to school, I will know that parts of my business are systematized. Doing a YouTube video doesn’t have to be a part of my schedule until June. I only need to write one book, and if I finish that by the New Year, I won’t have to worry about writing another book for 6 months.

Not all of the parts of my business are systematized, but enough of them are. Next year, I will be able to systematize even more parts of my business. I only started systematizing YouTube less than 15 days ago. Next summer, I’ll have 3 entire months to do that. I may be able to systematize my pins (by then, some kind of Pinterest scheduler will have launched). I may have more days scheduled on this blog. I may read 20 books next summer that weren’t assigned by my teachers (20 books in a summer is setting the bar high, but I would rather set the bar high than set the bar low).

Last year, nothing was systematized. This year, some parts of my business are systematized. Next year, a majority of my business will be systematized. What can you do today, tomorrow, this week, or this month to systematize your business? Start systematizing now!

How To Make A Good Business Card

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Putting your email, phone number, description, picture, and social networks is not enough. In fact, it may be too much to put on a business card. Make sure you know how many words are on your business card. My business card has less than 20 words which doesn’t make it a pain to read. Most people are handing out their business cards at business expos…where people are handing out and getting business cards left and right.

People want to be able to look at a business card, see everything they want to see, and move on to the next business card in a quick process. At a business expo, the process of reading and receiving business cards is a very fast process. When you’re done reading a few words, someone starts a conversation with you, the conversation continues, and you get another business card.

If you have a description on your business card, limit that description to 3 lines. On Twitter, if you can’t use more than 140 characters, you shouldn’t be using more than 140 characters for your business’ description on your business card either.

In addition to the description of you or your business, you have to include some other things as well. In order to have a good business card, you need to include your social networks, email address, phone number, your blog, and other things you want to add.

One recommendation I have is to avoid using the back of the business card. Giving and receiving business cards (not to mention reading the ones you get) is a rapid process at a business expo. If you end up finding someone who’s interested in your business at another place such as a grocery store or somewhere else, you won’t be rapidly exchanging business cards with a bunch of people like you would be at a business expo.

On my business card, my description is simple. My description is only 4 words, “Author, Teenager Entrepreneur, Blogger.” If you do something similar, capitalize all of the letters. I could have done, “Author, teenager entrepreneur, blogger,” but by capitalizing those letters, people are more likely to notice them.

Below that, I tell people to subscribe to my blog for free business and social media tips. I did not mention the word “blog” (I did include the URL though), but they know where to subscribe to in order to get the free tips. Another thing to highlight is that I use the word “Free.” Tell people that it’s free, and they’re more likely to subscribe.

After that, I included an email address and phone number. If people have questions, those are two ways to contact me. Those are at the very bottom of my business card.

That’s all of the text. Now, it’s time for the pictures. Right above my name (which is bigger than all of the other text) is my picture. On the left and right corners are the social networks I use. Instead of writing down which social networks I use, pictures of their icons is better. The method of adding social networks like the way I showed on my business card should only be used if you are displaying an even number of social networks. I am displaying 4 of my social networks (2 on the left and 2 on the right) which makes that part of the business card symmetrical (it does matter).

Another thing to note about your social networks is to put your primarily used ones on the left and the ones you don’t use as much to the right. I use Pinterest and Twitter the most. I come out with a new YouTube video every week, but I am pinning and tweeting every day. In addition to that, I have over a thousand followers on both of those social networks. On YouTube, I don’t have 1,000 subscribers yet which is why YouTube was placed on the right hand corner. Google+ is another social network that I use, but I don’t have thousands of followers on that either.

That’s why the Pinterest and Twitter icons are on the left while the YouTube and Google+ icons are on the right. If you have an odd number of social networks, put them all next to each other on the bottom left hand corner of your business card or do a drop down of your social networks on the left side of the business card.

That’s what makes a good business card. Few words and a few pictures. There’s nothing more than that, or is there?

I have one more tip when it comes to making your business card. Not everyone who gets your business card is going to have really good eye vision. If one person has to squint to see what you wrote on your business card, you have to make the font larger. On my first business card, few people had to squint their eyes to see what I wrote on the card. Few people squinting is enough people to change the font. One person squinting is enough to change the font. In order to get the subscribers, followers, and information that you want the recipient to notice, the recipient also has to be able to see the words.

An Underrated Way To Market Yourself

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When everyone thinks of marketing, they think of social media, blogging, and advertisements. Advertisements aren’t as effective as they used to be, so don’t use those. That narrows down the playing field to social media and blogging, right?

Wrong. There are plenty of other ways to market your business or product. When thinking out of the box, an entrepreneur will end up creating merchandise for their business or product. However, no matter how much people think outside of the box, most people won’t notice the one thing that is essential to marketing.

Business cards are an essential way to market yourself. You strike a conversation with someone, they respond. The conversation continues until it ends. Then, you give the person your business card. They look at all of the things you put on that business card.

Everyone has a business card at a business expo. However, few people actually see business cards as a way of marketing. Most people see business cards as an, “Oh, let’s keep in touch. These are some things about me,” while thinking that not everyone may visit your website, follow you on your social networks, and so on.

When you hand someone your business card, I want you to remember that the person you hand your business card to could become your next top client. If you meet a person, you’re more likely to buy their products. If you met Jeff Bezos at a store and talked with him for 30 minutes, and he gave you his business card, that would make you want to buy from Amazon even more.

There are some people and products that I have never heard of before a business expo. However, the people who give out business cards are also going to be the people who tell you about other products and offer a lot of products. I didn’t know who Mike Michalowicz was before I went to my first business expo. I ended up leaving that business expo with The Pumpkin Plan. He also had a business card.

We only have 2 seconds to grab a person’s attention. Teenagers are really good at getting other people’s attention at a business expo because there are so few of them. My brother and I are always the only teenagers at any of the expos. I run out of business cards, and on the day I went to one of the business expos, I got multiple sales for my books.

However, no matter how much attention anyone gets, all of that attention goes in vain if the person forgets about you. In a business expo, everyone has business cards, everyone is talking, everyone is trying to start another conversation, and everyone exchanges business cards. There’s a lot of activity. If you’re really good, you might get 15 seconds of attention before the other person talks about their business or talks with another person.

When I was new to business expos, I would say that I’m an author, teenager entrepreneur, and blogger. In addition to that, I would mention some of my social networks which also takes up a lot of time. With a good business card, I was able to fix that problem. In my next blog post, I will show you how to make a good business card.

Not Everyone Gets It

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When you approach people with a new idea, some will be amazed. Others won’t get it. The Wright brothers are credited for creating the first functional airplane, but when people heard of their idea, they weren’t ready to believe.

The French called the Wright brothers bluffers while the European press was turned into a anti-Wright brothers stance. To add on, Ernest Archdeacon, founder of Aero Club de France, was publicly scornful of the Wright brother’s efforts to actually take flight in the airplane.

The Wright brothers could have given up right there. The New York Herald basically said that the Wright brothers either took flight or completely lied. With the European press, the French, and Ernest Archdeacon objecting the idea with plenty of other critics as well, why didn’t the Wright brothers give up? The answer is an easy one to give. They got it.

The European press, the French, Ernest Archdeacon, and all of the other critics didn’t get it. They only actually got it when the Wright brothers took flight in their first airplane in France. Archdeacon publicly admitted later that he had done the Wright brothers injustice.

Now, airplanes are common. I’ve boarded an airplane multiple times, and I’m sure you have boarded an airplane yourself or at least know someone who already has. Now that the airplane has been around for a long time, we all get it. We all know that flight is actually possible because we have the proof. We look up in the sky, and sometimes we see an airplane.

The European press, the French, Ernest Archdeacon, and all of the other critics didn’t have the proof they needed and thus didn’t get it. More people want proof and fewer people are faithful that something will ‘just work.’ If you went back to the beginning of the 20th century and told someone about all of the airplanes that fly in the air today, people would look at you as if you lost your mind.

The whole point isn’t about airplanes, or the European press, or all of those other critics. The point is that right now, if you come up with a new idea, you will have some of those critics. The airplane started out as an idea that people criticized. People probably criticized Facebook and Twitter before they became the powerful social networks they are today (some people still criticize those social networks).

When you think of a new idea, few people will actually get it right away. Most people won’t get it no matter how good the idea is. When people don’t get your idea, that is not the time to give up. That is the time to prove everyone wrong.

 

Connections Are More Important Than Ever

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There is no better way to market than to build connections with your clients. TV advertising used to be the way to go, but now building connections with your clients couldn’t be more important than it is now.

When you build a connection with one of your clients, you win their trust. Connections don’t happen in the blink of an eye. They take time. Think of how long it took for you to trust your best friend. That’s how long it takes to build a long lasting connection.

There is a golden rule that surrounds building connections that contrasts against the traditional way of doing business: focus on who you already have instead of trying to find more people. TV advertising was a way to get more clients. TV advertising doesn’t work anymore. Knocking on door after door takes a boatload of time. Why not just focus on who you already have?

People rarely talk about things that they like. How many times did you tell someone about your favorite book? How many times did you tell someone about your favorite shampoo. Chances are the answer is few to none. The reason you don’t tell many people about those products (and we all do this. You’re not alone) is because it’s either boring (shampoo), people won’t want to hear about it (a person who doesn’t read doesn’t want to hear about your favorite book), we forget, or we just don’t feel like saying anything about the product.

If you focus on the people who you already have, one of those people is bound to spread your idea not just to an individual, but to their friends and family. Imagine if you were a coach that charged $200 for a remarkable coaching session. After a couple of $200 coaching sessions, you surprise the client and only charge $50 for the next coaching session.

When the client gets that $150 discount, that client is probably going to tell some friends about it. When the clients tells some friends about it, they won’t be interested in the coaching aspect at first. However, when the clients tell those friends about the $150 discount he/she got, they start paying attention. When those friends start paying attention, that’s when they listen to what the client got out of the coaching session. The result is you getting more clients.

Building connections with the people you already have is more important than ever. Would you rather have 10 clients that only bought one of your products or 1 clients who buys everything you have to offer as well as all of your future products? Connections are essential towards the success of any business.

Want A Giant Pumpkin?

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When farmers plants giant pumpkins, they dream of having the biggest pumpkin around. I’m not talking about the average pumpkin that you can find in you grocery store. I’m talking about the pumpkins that weigh well over a thousand pounds.

There is a magic seed that always results in a giant pumpkin, but only if you nurture it right. Giant pumpkin farmers know how to nurture those seeds well. For those farmers, and of the seeds is guaranteed to turn into a giant pumpkin.

You might be wondering how much one of those seeds is worth. Seeds from one of the best pumpkins (those pumpkins that grow over 1,000 pounds) are worth more than gold, literally. Each seed is over $1,000.

If you want a giant pumpkin, you have to make the investment in your business. You don’t have to put over $1,000 on the table for a small seed that eventually becomes a giant pumpkin. The best way to invest in your business is to invest with time. If you want a giant pumpkin, you have to find time in your day to work on your business.

That’s how you invest in your business, and that’s how the seed grows. When your seed grows enough, that’s when you put some money on the table for business expenses. As you continue nurturing your seed, your seed will grow into a giant 1,000 pound pumpkin.

When a giant pumpkin grows, it doesn’t stop growing for a long time. A 1,000 pound pumpkin can easily become a 1,500 pounder within a week. If you want a giant pumpkin, you start off by investing in the seed. There is no way around it. You need the seed in order to have the giant pumpkin. After you invest some time, you invest more time so you can nurture the seed. You continue this cycle and watch the seed grow.

When you finished growing one giant pumpkin, it’s time for you to grow another one.