Do You Eve?

Employee or entrepreneur? Which one are YOU?

When you think of the word entrepreneur, one of the words that comes to mind is leader. You might say to yourself, well," I am not a leader. A leader is someone heading a company or enterprise, organizing communities." Well, not exactly.

I love this quote from The 60 Second Leader, Everything You Need to Know About Leadership by Phil Dourado: "Most leadership strategies are doomed to failure from the outset...The first problem with all of the stuff that's out there about leadership is that we haven't got a clue what we're talking about. We use the word "leader" to mean "executive:"  The leader is the person at the top.  That definition says that leadership is synonymous with a position. And if leadership is synonymous with a position, then it doesn't matter what a leader does. All that matters is where the leader sits. If you define a leader as an executive, then you absolutely deny everyone else in an organization the opportunity to be a leader.-Pete Sange."

Does that mean that everyone can be a leader? The answer is everyone already is a leader. You are a leader to your children, friends, co-workers, pets, fellow professionals. You have led someone or something somewhere at some point. There is more to this, however.  I liked very much the clarity with which, Reid Hoffman, founder, CEO & chairman of LinkedIn explained the concept of everyone needing to be an entrepreneur in today's times, in an interview with Charlie Rose, earlier today. In fact he said that today's needs for entrepreneurial spirit led him to launching a service where professionals can network and connect with others and their networks. It's funny how that also reminds me of another concept, network marketing. As a network marketer myself, I see how the concept of marketing via networks is well and alive under many different hospices.

In your career endeavors, you pretty much know by now that twenty-year plus tenures with one company or organization are over. Realistically, as Hoffman pointed out, the average time spent at any job is now four years. What that means that at some point, you must market yourself and your skills to a new potential employer. The difference between the traditional meaning of entrepreneurial spirit and the one of marketing yourselff is that instead of selling a product or service, you are selling yourself and your skills. YOU are the product, my friends. In some job descriptions, you will even see, "entrepreneurial spirit is desirable,"self-starter, "able to work with minimum supervision." Aren't those terms that would normally describe a business owner, leader, organizer? You are the president, and CEO of you. You decide how and where others will find out about you, what your resume and cover letter say, what opportunity you want to turn down and what you want to pursue and why.  You are the leader. You are the entrepreneur. Be brave. Get in the driver's seat and lead yourself to where you need to be. Do yourself a favor and don't rule out a possibility of running a business. What's your passion?

 

You're a twit if you don't tweet. So what's the big deal about Twitter? Here are top 7 reasons. ..

It's simple. "You're a twit if you don't tweet."What's the big deal about Twitter? Oh, it's BIG! Twitter is this new phenomenon. Let's start with that.

 

Do you remember when we could live perfectly well without cell phones? And now what do you do when you accidentally leave it behind? PANIC! right? Basically we cannot live without cell phones anymore. And why is that? What do we need them for the most? Why are we texting to no end and not only when we are under the age of 20 but at any age? What are we saying that the person on the other end cannot miss? We are CONNECTING with people. It is that need for a real connection that makes us perpetually look for better phones, better plans. In these busy times, when we spend so much time away from our loved ones and friends doing "our" thing, this is the quickest way to connect with them and stay in touch.

With texting, we only use short messages to convey our thoughts. We like the instantaneous nature of texting, and the fact that no matter what the other person is doing, we have an instant connection to them and potentially have them read it right then and there.

 

Reason #1 With Twitter, now there is another way to connect. It takes connecting to a whole other level, as you can be connected to anybody, anywhere, anytime, friends, family and radio station, corporations, your veterinarian's office, congressmen, news anchors, reporters, favorite performers, etc. The idea is that you can follow other people's and entities' tweets, as they are able to follow yours. The message size is concise at 140 characters maximum. The most exciting thing is that it is in real time. The person sends it, and you can see it. You send it, and they can see it. You can have your company's Website in your profile and give people tips pertaining to your business, and you can say that you're walking the dog. You also are creating instant and frequent links to your Website that those who work in Internet marketing know are priceless for promoting your site by search engines.

 

Reason #2 Now with many third party applications, you are able to post pictures and twitter messages including videos and pictures to cell phones and from cell phones, as well as computers. When the "Miracle on the Hudson" happened, the first picture documenting this incredible event, was twittered to CNN by someone on Twitter.

 

Reason #3 When I first looked at Twitter several months ago, I thought to myself. . ."What in the world is this." I did not get it. I admit it fully, I was annoyed, but no longer am I annoyed. I am impressed, as now I understand what it is about, and it's priceless. I love it.

 

Reason #4 I am sure you remember when senator McCainwas teased all throughout his last presidential campaign about being behind in the matters of technology and its importance in today's world. He happily announced that he is now on Twitter I believe just this past week. Last night I watched Charlie Rose interviewing, the founder of Twitter himself, explaining the concept and future of Twitter. Charlie, with his masterful handling of the subject re-reiterated it perfectly in easily accessible terms that anyone who had never heard of it would understand and appreciate. He then asked if he could be on Twitter announcing his programs and upcoming interviews. Guess what, as soon as I was done watching the interview, I went on Twitter and there was the Charlie Rose show, who I am now happily following. Try it, it's easy, and you will absolutely love it.

 

Reason #5  And there is more. According to the founder of Twitter, there are now something like three thousand third party innovative applications in how to use Twitter with other technologies and in other contexts. In other words, Twitter started a new revolution of innovation and took a simple social networking concept well beyond its original intentions. Also, according to him, people find new ways on how and for what purpose to use Twitter every day. It is the communication of now.

 

Reason #6  I think the relevancy of Twitter rings true now more than ever, as people are craving a genuine connection to the world and those around them. Ironically, in these times when we can travel the fastest and the farthest to far reaching places, this world of ours is increasingly becoming more impersonal and out of reach. With only a few big banks, one grocery store, one home-improvement warehouse, one coffee shop, one bookstore, everything around us is becoming the cookie cutter and bigger and bigger and making us feel lost, in need of a connection. Think about it for a minute. If someone blindfolded you today and dropped you on any intersection of any major city in the United States, would you have trouble possibly guessing where you were. Unless you had been there before or recognized specific landmarks, you would have no clue where you were because there probably would be a Denny's or McDonald's, Shell station, Starbucks, Safeway, Costco, Home Depot, Wal-Mart and Wells Fargoor Chase on each corner.  Although there is some effort now to make commerce friendlier and more European like in some places, such as my beloved Santana Row in San Jose, California,  beautiful place, where condominiums and Italian-inspired hotel happily coexist with luxury boutiques and more commonly accessible merchants along a stretch of flower filled plant beds and cozy seating. It is simply put a little bit of paradise.

 

Twitter #7 Twitter is changing, in a major way, how we communicate. I, for one, am thankful:)

 

 

 

 

Do you know what the Virgin Empire, Starbucks, Microsoft, and you-the budding entrepreneur have in common?

Well what those guys have in common is . . .they are all multi-million dollar business success stories right? Yes that too. But there is more to it. Why are they successful? According to Steven D. Strauss from Success magazine, here is what they did to ultimately make them successful. And guess what? I say, you as an entrepreneur can do it too.

"1. Richard Branson Started the Virgin empire in 1971, when he opened a record shop above a store in London. The next year, he opened a recording studio. The next year he started Virgin Records, and in the early 1980s he bought a nightclub.

2. In 1995, faced with consistent declines in revenue during the warm summer months, Starbucks introduced the Frappuccino, a blended, iced coffe beverage. It has also added CD sales and snacks.

3. Bill Gates and Microsoft Launched the first edition of its flagship product, Windows, in 1985.  Four years later, the company went in a new direction when it introduced its suite of productivity tools, Office."

The answer, Strauss says, is that each one of these companies and entrepreneurs understood that to thrive they had to have more than one core business, they had to have multiple profit centers. "That's what you need to do, too, if you're going to make it in this turbulent economy," he stresses.

What does that really mean? It means that job security is a rare animal these days, nearing extinction, unless you are in medical, dental, educational, service, or law fields. It also means that you can start a business from home from your personal computer, while you're searching for a job, and while you are looking to advance your education. All of those things will pay off, if you don't give up. Turn off the TV and use the power of your own thinking, network with other entrepreneurs, get out there, open your mind, have faith and hope, and you will be amazed at the new windows and possibilities that are bound to open up. I did it, and I am so glad. You can do that too. In the wise words of the incredible Mohandas K. Gandhi "We need to be the change we wish to see in the world."

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