5 People on Twitter Every Entrepreneur Should Follow

July 10, 2009

Spending time on Twitter lately? The site can be addicting, especially to newcomers. I realized pretty quickly that if I were to make the most of my Twitter-time and be as efficient as possible while using it to network, I needed to pick and choose who I followed. No fluff allowed. Did I connect with a good majority of the person’s tweets? Could I see myself retweeting their tweets? Do they post so much that I’d get lost amongst all the noise? And most importantly, would reading their tweets educate and inspire me, support my entrepreneurial goals, and make me a better business person? I know I’ve only just scratched the surface of amazing entrepreneurs on Twitter and that this list will constantly evolve, but here are a handful I would strongly recommend:

@GuyKawasaki : Co-founder of AllTop.com, “an ‘online magazine rack’ of popular topics,” Guy not only tweets links to interesting AllTop articles but entrepreneurial quotes, insightful comments, and sites, too. Plus, he’s incredibly highly regarded in the entrepreneurial community. Definitely a guy (eh eh) to pay attention to.

@GaryVee : Gary Vaynerchuk, a New Jersey wine-shop guy and founder of WineLibraryTV, has quickly become famous on the internet for his passionate talks about social media, personal branding, and business sense. It only takes listening to a few seconds of one of Gary’s talks to inspire. And I’m not talking a run-of-the-mill jolt of inspiration, but a butt-on-fire, lightening bolt, rocket fuel-induced motivation that will leave you wondering what you did to get anything done BEFORE you listened to Gary. He tweets inspirational tidbits, his daily going-ons, updates on his book, Crush It, and details about his business ventures (always varied and increasing in number). Don’t miss out on the entrepreneur everyone else is talking about.

@J_Canfield : Co-author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series and motivational speaker, Jack frequently tweets about personal development topics. Readers will like how he often tweets multiple times on the same topic in succession, eliciting discussional responses. Perfect for self-improvement junkies and business-minded folk of all kinds.

@zappos : Zappos.com CEO Tony Hsieh is the kind of entrepreneur who is using Twitter for all the right reasons – to extend the reach of his brand and make a personal connection to each and every one of his customers. The vast majority of Tony’s tweets are personal observations (which, I might add, are hilarious) about his normal day-to-day. So he’s not a tweep to follow to get advice, but one to pay attention to as an example entrepreneur who’s doing it right. Or at least pretty well. Way before Twitter came along, Zappos had built it’s brand to be known for customer service, connecting with their customer on a personal level, customer service, and did I mention customer service? Tony’s Twitter use is a perfect example of how a CEO can indirectly support his brand by extending a personal voice to a growing company. Well done.

@mashable : Pete Cashmore, CEO of Mashable.com, a blog dedicated entirely to social media and Web 2.0, frequently tweets recently posted articles and the day’s most popular posts. Ensure that you’re up-to-date on everything social media by following Pete and spend some time digging into Mashable. The amount of short, informative articles on everything social media is enough to take care of ANY unanswered SM question. Also, if you’re ever feeling left out because you’re not familiar with the latest buzz-word floating around Twitter, you’ll know where to go. If it’s been flying around the Twitterverse for more than, say, 15 minutes, there’s no doubt Mashable has at least one write-up about the topic. Yes, they’re THAT up-to-date. An entrepreneur today knows the importance of social media and personal branding; keep yourself educated.

Your thoughts – what tweeps do YOU think are most important for entrepreneurs?

Tagged as: , ,

2 comments

CNNMoney: Best Advice I Ever Got

June 29, 2009

Posted on CNNMoney last week, this article contains great tidbits of advice – practical and somewhat humorous – from celebrities and public figures of all makes and models. Without focusing on the details, I like the underlying messages of #8 Jim Rogers, #15 Meredith Whitney, and #20 Miles White. Take a look!

CNN Money’s Best Advice I Ever Got

What about you – what piece of advice from CNN’s list resonates with you the most? Personally, what advice (and from whom!) most influenced where you are today?

Tagged as: , ,

I Want Your Feedback Here -->

Gary Vaynerchuk: Legacy vs. Currency

June 29, 2009

Another fantastic video from personal branding superstar Gary Vaynerchuk. I love how Gary brings up topics that the vast majority of the business world has never specifically stated, yet are so simple. Common sense, even. I guess they are very much like a great personal development book in that sense. Today Gary passionately responded to the “legacy vs. currency” debate and there’s no question on which side of the fence he falls. Do you spend your time and resources on creating short-term profit and “quick-wins?” Or do you selflessly build relationships, network, and perfect the purpose of *your* personal brand? Watch it here.

I’ve thought a lot about what I believe my purpose is – to encourage as many people as I possibly can that yes, they can live a better life – but does every detail of what I do on a daily basis support that legacy? Good question! I hope it does, but will definitely be meditating on the topic in the days and weeks to come.

Exciting stuff.

Tagged as: ,

2 comments

Link Round-Up

June 25, 2009

A few share-worthy sites I’ve spent some time with this week:

Zappos blog & core values Do you really know how cool of a company Zappos, the online customer service company disguised as a discount shoe store, is? Very, very cool. I mean, just look at their core values. Neat, eh? While you’re there, read the story of how Zappos began and where they see themselves going.

Young Entrepreneur I’ve only just begun digging into this site but it has already proven that it has a lot to offer. Discussion forums, blog posts, articles on all types of entrepreneurial topics such as Buying a Business, International Trade, Starting a Business, Sales and Marketing, and more, the site is jam-packed with information and support for business owners. All applicable way beyond a ‘young’ entrepreneur. In their own words, “YoungEntrepreneur.com is an award-winning small business website for entrepreneurs and small businesses and is comprised of entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs who are truly passionate about economic development and enjoy promoting the formation and success of innovative and growth-oriented companies.” Neat.

Darren Rowse A super-blogger with multiple sites, Darren is best known for ProBlogger.net, which helps other bloggers learn how to be the best blogger they can be. This week he launched DarrenRowse.com, his namesake site, to use as a forum to chat about whatever random thoughts cross his mind, topics that don’t neatly fall into the categories of his other domains. Considering Darren’s large following and how knowledgeable he is about so many topics, his new blog surely will not disappoint.

Two Sales Girls Jamie Verkamp and Laura Lake, two marketers by trade, also launched their brand new site this week, TwoSalesGirls.com. A place for support, education, and fun for all female entrepreneurs, TwoSalesGirls is a membership site that includes a strong focus on discussion and support and promises weekly podcasts, monthly mastermind calls, and regular email newsletters. (In the spirit of full disclosure, TwoSalesGirls asked me to be a Charter Member of the site and I excitedly accepted. I will be contributing to the discussion forums and participating in the podcasts and calls over the coming weeks and months.) The site is geared towards those in sales (which is, what…all of us?) but just as easily provides benefit to all kinds of entrepreneurial women. Their launch is blowing away expectations, go check it out.

What cool sites have you run into this week?

Tagged as: , , ,

I Want Your Feedback Here -->

Tend Your Goals

June 25, 2009

Imagine…you probably wouldn’t hop into an airplane if you knew the pilot was going to get up into the air and simply fly around aimlessly until he landed somewhere. Nor would you expect to succeed in college if you didn’t have a set schedule of which class to attend, when, and for how long. Sounds kind of ridiculous, right? Many areas of our life simply wouldn’t make sense if they didn’t have a plan, a roadmap to follow, a purpose. So why do so many entrepreneurs make the grand effort to start a business without writing down a single goal?

The importance of having a plan and setting goals is paramount. Not only long term goals – “I will be in the top 5% of the sales force by December 2010” – and short term, intermediate goals – “I will make 10 sales this quarter” – but daily, actionable goals, too – “I will make 15 calls today to new contacts.”

Work backwards. What’s your long-term goal? Write it down. (And yes, I mean actually taking pen to paper, people, there are studies out there to prove that writing it down is necessary.) Then, take that long term goal and break it down into intermediate goals. If your long term goal was 2 years away, where do you need to be in 6 months, 1 year, and 18 months from now to hit your 2 year goal? Write those down. Break them down as far as necessary. When do you say when? If your goal is detailed enough to generate a daily or weekly to-do list, you’ve gone far enough. Take your earliest goal, say your 6 month, and determine where you will be in 3 months and 1 month to hit the 6 month mark. Take your 1 month goal, what do you need to do every day this month to achieve that milestone? There! You’ve reached to purpose of goal-setting: to generate your daily action plan.

If you know where you’re going and you know how to get there, then achieving your goals becomes less of a wish and more of, well…a sure-thing. You know what else? You’ll have the confidence and clarity that yes, you ARE in fact going in the right direction.

Write down your goals, break them down to help generate your daily plan of action, and watch your aspirations come to life.

(This post based on a recent discussion in a TwoSalesGirls.com forum.)

Tagged as: , ,

1 comment

Bob Burg: Attitude Might Not Be Everything, But It Sure Is Important

June 23, 2009

This post made me smile this morning, a welcomed and simple message on attitude from one of my favorite authors, Bob Burg. (Have you read Bob’s book, The Go-Giver?) Also, I love how short, to-the-point writings like this prove that it doesn’t take reading 10-page articles or brain-achingly complicated books to receive an effective jolt of positivity and encouragement for the day. Go see, be inspired.

Burg.com: Attitude Might Not Be Everything, But It Sure Is Important

Tagged as: , ,

1 comment

3 Things To Do When You Can’t Motivate Yourself To Do Anything

June 19, 2009

Ever have one of those days where you just wake up in a funk? Maybe it’s a lack of a sleep, maybe it’s a spouse/friend/business partner relationship that has you in a tizzy, or maybe you just woke up on the wrong side of the bed. No matter the cause, once in a while you find yourself with a bundle of items on your to-do list and absolutely no motivation to start crossing them off. You’re cranky, annoyed, and not only do you not want to do anything productive but you don’t want to do anything PERIOD. One of the amazing benefits of being a business owner and entrepreneur is that you only have yourself to report to. But therein lies the biggest obstacle of entrepreneurship – you only have yourself to report to. When motivation is lacking there’s no one else to take responsibility. So, if wasting the day away watching a Seinfeld marathon or catching up on those DVR’d episodes of Lost isn’t something you’re willing to resign to, what DO you do when face to face with a lackluster level of get-up-and-go?

First, identify and admit to the problem. Yes, I know entrepreneurs are a fairly self-confident bunch that tends to shy away from ever admitting something’s wrong, but do I need to mention the Lost episodes again? They will be your day’s fate if you don’t admit to needing a jolt in the motivation department. Even before admitting to it, though, is the need to realize that you could even have a problem. This comes from nothing else than previous effort to personally develop yourself to be a confident, perceptive, positive businessperson. Read this on a good day and repeat out loud: I am a confident, positive person overflowing with motivation, drive, and commitment to working towards my goals. Some days making positive progress will be easier than others, and I am ok with that. I realize that on those days it will be up to me to identify, admit, and fix the problem to get myself back on track. My achievements are no one’s responsibility but my own. WAHOO ENTREPRENEURSHIP! Ok, that last bit is optional, but you get the point. Admit on a good day that it could happen, so that when the just-kind-of-so-so day rolls around you’ll be willing and able to get right to work on fixing things.

So, you’ve identified you’re in a funk. You have admitted a need to step back and take a moment to fix it. Now what? A few suggestions:

Remind yourself of your purpose Call your business partner, review the About page on your website, re-read your mission statement. Step back in time to when you first launched your business. Why did you do it? Who inspired you to begin this crazy journey? What is that passion, that purpose, that pushes you forward day after day after day? Reinspire yourself with that core purpose and your list of daily tasks will suddenly seem less of a burden and more of a means to a very important, and very passionate, end.

Trim your to-do list If you’re anything like me, your daily to-do list can often turn into more of an in-my-dreams wish list than a useful display of necessary tasks. On a day you’re struggling this can cause distraction and stress and can easily stall you from completing a single thing in its entirety. Identify three items that, even if you accomplished nothing else all day long, the day would still be declared a success if completed. Get rid of all the mental noise and focus your efforts on those three important tasks.

Go to work on yourself Remind yourself how you got into this entrepreneurial situation in the first place. Most likely it was an inspiring self-improvement book, a motivating audio, an encouraging mentor, or some combination of the three. If nothing else, find a comfy spot and curl up for an hour with a great personal development book. Lean back in your chair, close your eyes, pop in an inspiring cd of your favorite motivational keynote speaker, and soak it all in. Remember how you developed yourself into someone who takes responsibility for their life and goes after what they want. Remember what placed the seed of passion that launched your business in the first place.

Everyone has those days. Let the day slip by if you want; everything will still be there tomorrow, after all. Like most things in life, though, if you want to save your lackluster day you most certainly can. Pause and step back from everything for a moment. Remember your purpose, review your list of tasks, remind yourself of the type of person you’ve become. You’ll know it’s time to stop when your inspiration bubbles up and your brain starts buzzing again.

Tagged as: , , , , ,

I Want Your Feedback Here -->

TwoSalesGirls.com Charter Member

June 17, 2009

I received an invitation today from the founders of (sorry guys) the new sales and entrepreneurial networking/support/empowerment site just for women, TwoSalesGirls.com. They asked little ‘ole me to be one of their charter members. The site has been live now for several months but is really ramping up and going to work this summer. I cannot be more excited about this partnership, as I strongly believe in TwoSalesGirls.com’s mission to empower female entrepreneurs. If the site’s network of support and encouragement inspires just one woman to stop doing something she hates and to start working towards her passion, it’s all worth it. Pretty cool thing to be a part of, huh? I will be participating throughout the site – contributing to discussions in the member-only forums, joining the mastermind calls, and getting to know its members. So many networking and exposure possibilities!

Look for links to TwoSalesGirls in future posts, but in the mean time, go check out what they have to offer. While you’re there, tell the sales girls themselves, Jamie and Laura, I said hello.

Tagged as: , ,

I Want Your Feedback Here -->

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →