Migrated. Originally posted June 8, 2009

To say that the internet, and the Information Age have forever changed the landscape of business is the most obvious statement on the planet. The real question though, is not how companies transition to new Information Age models, but what does this information revolution mean to the entrepreneur?

There is this commonly held belief that the most important skill of an entrepreneur is his or her ability to raise capital. In the Information Age, this is absolutely dead wrong. The internet has seriously changed that. There are so many sites out there that will allow you to put up and host a website for free. They come with easy to use tools and pre-configured designs and layouts. Are they the greatest in the world? Not really, but they are absolutely the right price– free. Add a domain, that’s a whopping 15 bucks a year. Would capital help, absolutely, but it is not necessary. 

With the internet, massive amounts of capital can be replaced by massive amounts of sweat equity.

This leads to what lots of people think may be the other most important skill on an entrepreneur; reading the market, and predicting where trends are going and how to capitalize on them.

The internet, and the massive amounts of information available, make it easier for individuals to do proper research, analyze a situation, and make a significantly more informed decision than before. What I am getting at is that what used to take a team of people doing research in a particular niche, or a market, can now be done by someone who knows how to beat on Google hard enough to get the information, and is willing to put in the time to do the analysis. Surveys, focus groups, and all that other stuff companies used have to do in order to figure out customer to their products can all be done through Google’s blog search and search.twitter.com.

The really big question then arises, which is not what the internet and Information Age has changed  for entrepreneurs, but how can it empower ordinary people to do extraordinary things?

I had dinner last night with my friend, Sean last night and we were talking about how people are making large amounts of money off eBooks. The fairly ironic thing, is that many of the people profiting from those sales, were not at all involved in writing them– they are just affiliates acting like a regular book distributor/store, but they have next to no overhead. The really crazy thing is that no one involved in that sale made a physical product.

I’m not even going to get into all of the other things that individuals are doing to make extra money. The reality is this, there is absolutely no reason why someone who is reading this post should be slaving their lives away at a job if they don’t want to. Just as the internet can destroy businesses that don’t adapt, it can absolutely empower people to do something great with their lives.

Migrated. Originally posted on June 11, 2009

I read an blog post the other night on what a lot of people think the future of employee compensation is, and it rang a bit close to home. I’ve been talking to some more people online about it and it looks like some companies have started implementing it, and with very mixed reactions from their employees.

The change is from the standard annual salary broken down into an hourly rate, to a base salary with monthly and/or annual performance bonuses. Basically, companies are starting to move more towards a situation where you have to perform to make good money. Personally, I have absolutely no problem with that. That’s the way it should be.

I think that this economy has revealed that loads of companies have tons of dead weight dragging them down. I remember when they first started admitting that we were in a recession, employee productivity jumped. People facing the reality that if they did not perform, they would get the axe started doing what they were being paid to do- work! It makes total sense for companies to move to this model, and I personally think that over the next decade the vast majority of institutions will start doing this. Just think about it, if you perform, you bonus. If you don’t perform, you’ll probably end up getting sacked, but at least the company does not have to pay you the bonuses, which under the old structure they would. Can the system be abused by the employer? Absolutely, but so could the other one. There are plenty of people out there that were underpaid before the recession hit, so don’t compare apples to oranges.

The company I used to work for was in the midst of implementing it as I was cut. Your base salary would be determined by title, not necessarily skill level. Some companies claim that skill level and title match. Bullshit. Then there would be monthly and/or annual performance bonuses. The idea is that they would make up the salary gap between market or whatever. Im not going to get into it, because I think that whatever a company does as far as salaries, if it continues to work for them, more power to them- figuratively and literally.

What does this mean for the Tom Smykowski’s (Office Space) of the work place? With technology, you job may be completely done by a computer that is more friendly than you, works all the time, rarely calls in sick, and does not need your benefits package. 

What does this mean for people that are top performers? Now that the scope of your compensation structure is based around your performance, the ceiling to your income will be clearly visible and defined. Personally, I think people like this will make a transition to the business world as entrepreneurs, and develop internet businesses. In the business world, if you have the chops and you hustle, you get paid. The reality is that in the business world, there is potentially no lid whatsoever to your income.

Migrated. Originally posted June 6, 2009

Best Buy and CVS have both introduced programs designed to retain, and attract customer loyalty. One offers cash back, and the other gift certificates. Personally, I think that the companies that introduce these kinds of programs, and pay their customer cash back will be the most successful.

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You can check out their programs here:

CVS – Double my bucks!

Best Buy – Rewards Zone

Migrated. Originally posted June 1, 2009

The whole point of a franchise is to create income on purpose. Meaning that everything about how they operate, are supplied, and run is specifically designed to create a business that is very stable, profitable and has a massive success rate. I think that McDonald’s, the most well known franchise, and the one that I will use to illustrate how they work has something like a 2% failure rate. On average 40 cents of every Dollar spent in the United States is spent through a franchise.

So here’s the deal. Every franchise has 2 components to it. It has a suppor component, and a supply component.

The whole point of the support component is to teach the franchisee exactly how to run their business. In the case of McDonald’s whenever someone has the privilege of paying the million plus Dollars it costs to buy one, the owner gets sent to Hamburger University. At Hamburger U, the business owner is taught every aspect of how to run their business. From how to fill a soda, all the way to firing and hiring. They are also given access to a support database, so if they would ever need to look something up or get a question answered, they have a location to go. The whole point of the support system is to aid the business owner in successfully running their business.

Once they know how to run their business, the supply side kicks in. The supply side gives the franchise owner access to a single vendor that will supply them with every product that they will need to run their business. Basically with one phone call the business owner can have his entire restaurant resupplied with everything from napkins to hamburger meat. The support side teaches them everything about when they need to resupply, the amounts and everything like that.

In the franchise realm, the support side is the most important one of the two. The access to a single supplier just makes everything that much more convenient. The reason the support side is most important is because that is the component of the franchise that teaches the Franchisee exactly how to run their business.

The really cool thing, is that an individual can literally do something extremely similar through an internet connection, and some coaching, training, and an affiliate partner to act as the supply side. A personal franchise of sorts. The only real big difference is that these don’t come with a seven figure price tag, or all the other overhead costs associated with running a brick and mortar business. Their supply side (affiliate) partner handles all of the shipping and e-commerce on their website.

I love the internet. It’s not even 15 years old and it’s already changed the entire landscape of business, and allowed individuals to do amazing things for very cheap that used to require insane amounts of capital that it would take to do it 20 years ago.

Migrated. Originally posted May 31, 2009

I think that this is by far one of my favorite topics in business to talk to people about. I think some of it has to do with how much my affiliate marketing business interacts with this model, but mostly because of the immense amounts of opportunity that are out there for anyone looking to capitalize on how the internet allows the average person to become a player in the middleman game.

I think that this is a fairly simplified model of the standard distribution channel. If it’s a national company, 

there may be an extra layer or two, and if it’s an imported product, there are definitely more middlemen layers. 

So a producer makes something, and then that product enters the distribution channel. As the product goes through each of those layers in the middle, the price of the product goes up because everyone makes a profit. At the end, we the consumers, get the product at a steep markup form the original cost of manufacturing. 

The internet has given these producers a convenient way of getting their products directly in the hands of the consumers. In the process they cut lots of the middle men costs, and profit more on the sale of the product. Other companies have opted into affiliate programs, where they pay people to use their products and build a community of loyal customers for them. The profit that would normally go to the middle men gets thrown into a pool, and everyone involved in that community gets paid out of it.

Migrated. Posted May 24, 2009

It is extremely sad when I talk to someone and they tell me that they can’t succeed at something or other because they don’t have the right talents or circumstances. I think too many people hide behind talent and circumstances because it a convenient excuse for their lack of courage or fear to dive into something new. Success is totally a function of choice and attitude.

I think that the biggest problem people have in developing their entrepreneurial genius, is that they look at something, whether it be this affiliate program, or some other business venture, and say to themselves, I have no idea how that works and I could never do that. If you’ve never done it, or learnt anything about it, chances are that you can’t do that. This is where attitude and choice come in. If you have a can do attitude, and make the choice to learn about that business, seek out a mentor or a coach, then you have a better chance of success. Too many people believe that failure is the opposite of success. Failure is part of success. Ever heard of try, fail, adjust? Your barriers are imaginary, push past them and you will realize just how great you can become. I believe that there is a giant sleeping inside of each and every one of us, and when we wake it up, miracles will start to happen.

This one is a personal pet peeve of mine. I hate it when people ask me what their chances are at succeeding in something. I was talking to a poet that wants to figure out how to develop his blog in such a way that he can monetize it and work solely on writing. He had a vision of what he wanted, and I told him that he needed to work on getting 1,000 people to visit his site on a regular basis. I gave him ideas on how to do it, and then I told him that if he could put together a community of 1,000 readers, he would have some leverage to use with businesses and publishers. He then asked me the what his chances of doing this would be. ZERO. With that attitude, he’s going to have better chances of winning the lottery.

At the end of the day, talent and circumstances just means that you either have to work more or less hard to achieve success. I’ll leave you with this one last thought. Thomas Edison failed 10,000 times in his attempt to create the light bulb. When they asked him how he dealt with all the failure, he simply told them that he did not fail, he just found 10,000 ways how not to create a lightbulb. Determination, choice, attitude are everything.

This post has been a bit more of a rant, and I truly hope that you got a nugget or two of good information out of it. It breaks my heart when I talk to people who are just getting hammered by this economy, and they have the blinders on and can’t see past the limits they set for themselves.

Sometimes though, I come across someone who completely understands that everything in life is choice and attitude. Those people are rays of sunshine for me.

Migrated. Originally posted on May 23, 2009

The Traveler’s Gift by Andy Andrews is the only book I’ve ever read twice in one day, and each time in a single sitting. This book has been absolutely enlightening for me. It has shown me a new perspective of who I am, and what I am doing.

I am not going to do a book review, or even talk about it in detail. The book lays out the 7 decisions that people must make to achieve personal success. I am going to focus on a pair of quotes from the book, and just leave it at that. This is a must read book, so just go buy it.

The first quote that really hit home for me, and which, in my opinion is broadly applicable to everyone comes from David’s run in with Christopher Columbus: 

Columbus’ officers come to him, and tell him that the men have reached their limits, and they they must turn back. Columbus calmly tells them that sees a “group of men who do not know their limits.”

There have been so many times I have sat down with someone to share the principles of i-Commerce, and they tell me that they can’t do it. So many times, I just want to tell them the truth; that they absolutely can do it, all they need is support and some peer-to-peer coaching and mentorship, and that’s what the team is all about. They have no idea what their limits are. Anyone can do anything. For some of us, it just takes some more work.

I went from being a Mechanical Engineering major in college, knowing that I would become an engineer of sorts, to a BA in English Literature planning to get a PhD and become a professor, to Python programmer extraordinaire, to entrepreneur in the Affiliate Marketing world. That is a ridiculous non sequitur. One does not naturally follow from the other, but I can still perform well in each field. Limits are imaginary. Push them, and you will begin to understand just what you are truly capable of.

The other quote from the book that resonated very loudly for me, just strikes at the core of what I am all about:

“You will share the gift of the [seven] decisions with others. Those who absorb and apply the wisdom will rise to greatness and inspire others to the same heights. Those who ignore the power of these scrolls might seem to prosper for a time , but do not be deceived. Their lives will be only brief illusions, and when their time is finished, they will be chained to the Mirror of Regret. There, they will spend eternity examining a reflection of the person they could have become.”

I am on a mission to help as many people as I possible. There are too many college students out there getting hit with tuition increases. Too many people out there looking for a job and can’t find one. Too many people working a job that they hate, only because it pays the bills. Too many people looking to do life just a little bit better. And I have a solution for them. Shame on me if I don’t do my damnedest to share it with as many people as possible. I am the traveler.

Migrated. Originally posted May 6, 2009

Can you imagine what it would be like to wake up in the morning and not have to worry about going to work. What would it feel like to not have a boss, or anyone telling you what to do with your day. What would you do to buy back the rest of your life? To know that everyday belongs to you?

I spent 2 hours hanging out at the beach today, and I caught the most amazing feeling. It felt just like when school ends and summer vacation starts. You know what it’s like, right? It feels like you just became a little more free: Sleep in more often, everyday is the weekend, and everyone else you know is free too.

I wonder what it would be like to have that feeling be permanent?. Never have to set the alarm clock, unless you want to, and have every day of your life belong to you. To have the ability to decide what you are going to do with your day, not to schedule your life around a work. I am so thankful for my i-commerce business, and more importantly for the mentorship and support program that I have available in TEAM-ONE.

A couple nights ago someone told me that these days 95% of all people die at 25, but are not buried until later in their life. He went on to say that it all had to do with our dreams. We all have them, whether they be big or small, near or far, realistic or not, but regardless of scope by the time we are 25 our life cycle slowly and steadily starts killings them off. It is our dreams that keep us young, it’s the only thing that we really have that keeps us going, pushing harder and farther. Think back to your youth, think of all the things that you wanted to do, and look at what your life has become. Have you managed to accomplish none, some, or most of your dreams? What stopped you?

Yes, I have some dreams; some enormous, some absolutely ridiculous, others more reasonable. I’m 24 so you can imagine how I felt when I heard this. The statement hit home. I’ve seen young people who are full of life reduced to zombies by the monotony of they daily lives. Why? College loans, poor pay, mounting bills, children, rent, parents, health care, retirement– you name it, most of us have to deal with it. They are being told they have their entire lives ahead of them, so why worry about it. They are told that it will only get better. They are told that this is just a rough spot and that they will get through it. How many times have you been told to take it one day at a time, just like an addict? These people lead lives of quiet desperation.

As I write this, all I can think of is whether or not I would die in the next few years. Whether this terrible economy, or all the cynics in the world would get to me. How many of my dreams I would give up by grinding it out for the rest of my life? What would that do to my health?

Keep your dreams alive, and they’ll return the favor.