Author: David

  • 1 Reason Bitcoin May Soar (Or Not). Just one.

    NO, this has NOT turned into a bitcoin site, and our focus is still on providing tutorials for business school academic students (11 million Youtube views and counting!).

    CAUTION:  This is not an endorsement to buy, sell, or trade bitcoin. This kind of stuff is extremely risky. For me it’s like trading stock options; the only difference for me is that options expire but bitcoin will never technically expire.

    So WHY might bitcoin classic (BTC) surge over the medium term or long term? Here’s MY THEORY

    After the success (perhaps even short-term quick buck) success of Bitcoin Cash (BCH) where every owner of bitcoin classic (BTC) got a “free” token of bitcoin cash (BCH) and made up to $700 in one DAY for EACH bitcoin BTC they owned, what do you think’s gonna happen?

    This will encourage more “forkers” (like the dudes who “created” bitcoin cash BCH from bitcoin classic BTC) to make their own bitcoin-derived currencies from bitcoin classic; and similarly give one “free” token to every bitcoin owner.

    The Effect:

    1. More bitcoin “forkers” will copy this model of giving free new bitcoin-derived currency to every bitcoin holder.
    2. Every time a new “forker” does this, people will start buying bitcoin classic wanting to get the “free” new bitcoin-derived token, because they want to make a quick buck after the “fork” just like bitcoin BTC owners who got free bitcoin cash BCH… creating a surge in demand. Every. Single. Time.
    3. People who are holding/owning bitcoin classic BTC will not want to sell before the fork either… creating a shortage of supply.
    4. What happens when there’s a surge in demand and shortage of supply? No brainer. And this is every… single… .time.

    Of course, this is still all very risky and nothing is guaranteed. Like, maybe one of the forks in the future could flop, ending a gold rush into bitcoin whenever a new bitcoin-derived currency fork is announced. I don’t know, and I wouldn’t trust anyone who pretends to know.

    I’m not here to argue about whether value of bitcoin is “real” or not and whether it’s only digital value or what not… and that’s not the point of this post. Since arguing about that will just distract from this topic, I’ll delete those comments (I have nothing against that argument, it’s just that it’s irrelevant to this post).

    So, anyway, sticking to the topic of this post; what do you think? Will more “forkers” copy this model? And if yes, what will be the effect on Bitcoin classic and the new forks which come? Let me know in the comments! (And oh, please share this article; thanks in advance!)

     

    #bitcoin #bitcoincash #btc #bch #bcc #hardfork #fork

  • UpCounsel Promo Code & Review: DANGERS of Setting Up a Startup Business Without Talking to a Lawyer or Legal Help

    Hi guys! (My review of UpCounsel.com, and promo code below in case you need it)

    I admit, I started out like many online entrepreneurs without any lawyer or legal help. In fact, I only started with my laptop and a Youtube channel! I later set up a website and integrated it with Paypal so I could accept payments, and also e-junkie so that I could sell e-books. All well and good. Luckily, I had no problems. I didn’t wanna talk to any lawyers because just like you, I imagined going to some snazzy law firm’s office (thanks to shows like “Suits”) and being quoted an expensive price not suitable for tiny entrepreneurs. So I didn’t seek any lawyer’s help early in my biz; and perhaps you might not either.

    However, it’s also good to be pro-active to protect you from future problems. So eventually as I grew, I looked for legal help online and am now delighted that I did; as I found a really cool website which matches high-quality and LOW-PRICED lawyers with small startup entrepreneurs who need help. It’s kinda like an Uber-type thing; but instead of matching drivers with riders, it matches small entrepreneurs with lawyers… and you can read the ratings/reviews of lawyers before you hire any. The website is called UpCounsel.com. They even give you $100 credit if you’re linked by an existing customer. That’s very significant… If your first job is $200 to say, ask a lawyer to draft a very thorough Terms of Use for your website, that’s 50% off right there. So if you’re looking for a “promo code”, “coupon”, or “voucher” for UpCounsel or upcounsel.com, feel free to use my link here: https://www.upcounsel.com/rf/ioJjPetC

    Then you and I will *both* get $100 each.

    I recommend them not “just because” of the credit I’ll get (you can go direct if you wish and we both won’t get anything, and that’s completely fine); but because I personally used them and had a great experience (usual disclaimer applies; I recommend them and had a great experience with them, but I make absolutely no guarantees on their behalf). Hope it helps!

    David

    #upcounsel #upcounsel.com #coupon #voucher #promo #promocode

  • How to Open a U.S.A. Bank Account for Non-Resident Foreigners Not Living in the United States and with No Social Security Number

    There are a few great advantages having a U.S. bank account even if you’re not an American citizen and not living in the U.S., including, but not limited to:

    1) If you have an online business like I do, and receive payments via Paypal, you may have noticed that whenever you withdraw your US$ Paypal earnings to your local bank account in your home country, you are forced to convert the money into your home country’s currency at Paypal’s forex conversion rates which are often not very competitive (Nothing against Paypal; they’re probably just trying to protect themselves from forex fluctuations, which is understandable). Even if you have a US$ account in your home country, Paypal does *not* let you withdraw your US$ earnings into your home country US$ account.

    If you have a US$ account in the United States, however, you can withdraw your US$ Paypal earnings into your US$ bank account in the United States with zero forex conversion. And then, when you need money, you can either (a) use your US bank account’s ATM card and withdraw money in local currency in your home country, or (b) transfer your money from your U.S. bank account to your home country US$ bank account; this transfer can be FREE (I’ll talk about that more below).

    2) If you have clients, customers, or friends in the U.S., it will be very easy to ask them for payment through a direct deposit to your U.S. bank account; and you can then withdraw the money at your home country from most ATMs using your US bank account’s ATM card.

    3) It is much easier and cheaper (less or no transfer fees and forex conversion) to collect money from many online business opportunities and websites (such as Clickbank, and many others) if you have a U.S. bank account.

    … and many other advantages (I can’t name all). So anyway, how to open a bank account in the U.S.A. if you’re a non-resident foreigner?

    Many people find it difficult because many/most banks in the U.S. will require you to have 1) a U.S. address, 2) a U.S. Social Security number, and 3) a U.S. mobile phone number.

    Is there any way around this? YES.

    The easiest way, I discovered during my trip to San Francisco, is to open an account NOT with the usual “small time” banks, but to open an account with those which cater to “higher end” clients such as Standard Chartered or others (you may have to try a few different branches). I just needed:
    (1) my passport,
    (2) English language proof of address from my home country (such as a phone bill, credit card bill, etc.),
    (3) a U.S. mobile number (easily got a prepaid one at T-Mobile branch)
    (4) a minimum deposit of US$1,000 or higher (yup, I know that can be a bit much for a lot of people, but think of it as an investment… and boy it’s a good investment when compared to the advantages of having a U.S. bank account)

    Once you have your bank account open, you’ll have access to the bank’s online banking for your account, from which you can manage your funds; and from what I understand, you can even transfer money for free to your bank account in your home country of the same brand/group (example: Standard Chartered USA to Standard Chartered Malaysia) if you already have one! How can you beat that? *Check with the bank itself about transfer fees and online banking requirements, policies, and procedures.

    One more thing… I earlier said that I used a temporary prepaid mobile number, which the bank required so that they can send me SMS updates, one-time-passwords, etc. and call me up if needed. However, I lose that number once I leave the U.S., right? So how can the bank contact me then?

    Simple!

    1) While you’re in the U.S. and already have a prepaid U.S. number, be sure to get a permanent U.S. phone number via GOOGLE VOICE. Sign up with Google Voice is free, and you will be assigned a U.S. phone number. (Note: those are 2 different USA numbers; one for your prepaid, and one from Google Voice)

    If anyone tries to call you up using your Google Voice USA number, you can have that call redirected to your GOOGLE HANGOUTS app so that your mobile phone will ring; and if anyone sends an SMS to your Google Voice number, you can have the SMS directed to your GMAIL account.

    2) To get a U.S. Google Voice number, you need to physically be in the U.S. *and* you must have a U.S. mobile (even just prepaid) number (which I got at T-Mobile). After successful signup and as you leave the U.S., you can delete U.S. prepaid number from your Google Voice account and still retain your American Google Voice phone number.

    3) Next? Log on to your bank account, and change your phone number from your prepaid number to your Google Voice number (so that you’ll then receive voice calls on your Google Hangouts app and receive bank SMS notices on your Gmail).

    So that’s what happened to me. How about you? Were you able to open a U.S. bank account as a non-resident foreigner? If yes, how?

    DISCLAIMER: I had a good experience doing this, but I make no guarantees as to your success or failure in opening/managing a U.S. bank account like I did. Good luck!

  • You’ve Been Studying Wrong (Here’s what’s right)

    [images style=”0″ image=”http%3A%2F%2Fmbabullshit.com%2Fblog%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2015%2F03%2Fclassroom.jpg” width=”500″ align=”center” top_margin=”0″ full_width=”Y”]

    The fact that you’re here tells me that you found my tutorial videos great.

    If my videos solved your problems, then perhaps that means you’ve been having a hard time studying.
    You’ve heard the over-used cliche “work smarter instead of harder” to get rich and I do believe in that (I’m sure so do you). But why is it then that we apply that philosophy to business but not to studying?
    As I mentioned in my ebook “Tips to Totally Top Grades”, there are some very simple but powerful techniques which allow you to master subjects in the easiest way and shortest possible time.
    1) First thing to remember: When faced with a scary new concept you should NOT rush to understand everything
    from the beginning.  This will just confuse you more.  Instead, relax and read or study everything from beginning to end, even if it feels like you’re not picking up anything.  You’ll be surprised at the results if you do this.
    Sometimes, you need to study or read everything from Part 1 to Part 10 before you can understand Part 1.  Then
    repeat!2) Confusing diagrams,tables, or charts with confusing illustrations or numbers?  I’ll tell you a shocking secret.  Did you know…

    • Many of those confusing horrible diagrams were actually invented to make it easier for you to understand. I know right?! It’s bullshit.  It just confuses us more, right? Well, here’s the secret. If you’re confused, do NOT try to understand the table or diagram as a whole.  Instead, try thinking about what the diagram/table/chart might have looked like from the beginning when it was still almost an empty space.  And then think of what number or illustration went first.  And then what number or illustration went second.  And third, fourth, etc.

    You must understand that the diagram, chart, or table might represent a sequence or movement of things.  Therefore, it would be very easy to understand it if you have a bunch of different diagrams showing different parts of the sequence.  However, to save on your book’s “precious” space, the publisher pushed all these different diagrams from different parts of the sequence into just one diagram, illustration, or table.  The result? Confusion reigns!  The normal idiot (like you and me) cannot easily decipher what in the sequence went first, second, third, etc.

    Also realize: When the second item appears on say, a diagram, maybe the first item is supposed to disappear.  When the third item appears, maybe the second item is supposed to disappear.  But again, you won’t easily realize this if you just look at the chart, which crowds all the different sequences or situations into just one chart. In the end, only the “smart” (geeky!) people in class who realize this end up understanding the illustration.  Now that you realize this too, you can do it yourself.  Of course, it may take a long time, but it’s worth it!

    Keep these tips in mind and you’ll see a big change in understanding what you study. If you seriously want to learn  how to study smarter  instead of harder (to allow you more free time to party while at the same time getting much better grades), you may want to check out the e-book of my affiliate Dr. Marc Dussault, a real study-techniques expert. To check it out, click here (see video).

    As always, happy learning!

    Disclaimer/Disclosure: Although we may have an affiliate arrangement with some of the websites we mention, we make no guarantees on behalf of such affiliates.

  • Earning (losing) a LOT of Money in the Stock Market [Video]

    [images style=”0″ image=”http%3A%2F%2Fmbabullshit.com%2Fblog%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2015%2F03%2FTimeAndMoney.jpg” width=”500″ align=”center” top_margin=”0″ full_width=”Y”]

    If you’re like me, you’ve probably heard one of two things about investing in the stock market. Either (1) it’s super risky and you’ll lose all your money, or (2) you can earn a lot of money quickly.

    Truth is that both those statements above are BOTH true and false. Huh?

    Regarding the “earn money very quickly thing” it CAN ACTUALLY be true which I talk about below.

    First, let me warn you about your stock market expert “friends” who always seem to be winning and never losing. Truth is they probably win sometimes and lose other times, but only talk about the wins. Since they wana be known as stock market “experts,” they lose face if you learn about their losses.

    So back to stocks and earning (or losing) a LOT of money very quickly.

    First, you have to think of the price of the stock.

    If you buy a famous company’s stock at say, $100 per share and it goes up to $100.30, how much did you make? You earn a measly 0.3% (that’s NOT 3%… that’s zero-point-three 0.3%). If you invested $1,000, you will have earned 0.3% of that or a $3 profit. Tiny huh?

    Now what if you buy some cheap company’s stock at say $2 (two dollars!) a share. And then it goes up by just a tiny $0.50 (cents!) in ONE DAY to $2.50 cents. How much did you make? 0.50 is 25% of $2, so you made 25% in ONE DAY. If you invested just $1,000 dollars, you will have earned 25% of that or $250 in *one day*. So compare your $250 by investing in this “micro stock” vs. investing in the famous company stock.  It’s a HUGE difference. This is why for some who want to get rich very quickly, micro stocks are the way to go. Theoretically, just 20 successful trades can turn your $1,000 investment into $62,000. WOW!

    Of course, the opposite is also true. While playing with micro stocks can allow you to earn your $250 in one day, it can also cause you to lose $250 in one day.

    So ask yourself… is it worth risking your $1,000 (and possibly losing ALL of it) in order to earn $60,000 or even millions (only IF you’re successful)? Only you can answer that yourself. But whatever type of investor you are (careful and safe vs. risky and aggressive), micro stocks are still an interesting topic overall.  So to learn more about it, I promised you a video; so here’s a quick and interesting video from my affiliate from which you can learn more about penny stocks: Micro Stocks Video

    Disclaimer/Disclosure: Though I find this affiliate’s video very interesting, I make no guarantees about your performance if ever you do decide to play with stocks because as I said, they are very risky and you can lose all your investment quickly even if you can earn millions quickly (even when guided by an adviser).

    And as promised, here’s your 2nd gift, my Lecture Notes (handouts slides) super sample

    https://mbabullshit.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/FreeSampleLectureNotes.pdf

    *If you were unable to download the free eBook on “Finance Basics,” click here:

    https://mbabullshit.com/bull/e-book-offer-page//

     

     

  • 19 F*cked Up Steps Starting a Business (I’ve Made These Mistakes Before, Don’t Do This)

    19 F*cked Up Steps Starting a Business (I’ve Made These Mistakes Before, Don’t Do This)

    Before starting ANY business, do NOT fall into this trap below:

    1. Watch a TV program hyping up entrepreneurs. How many of us have come across that?
    2. Decide that you want to be an entrepreneur too. How many of us have watched a TV program hyping up entrepreneurs and suddenly decided, “Oh, I want to be entrepreneur as well.”
    3. Look around to see what businesses are already existing and decide which of those businesses you would like to also have.
    4. “Envision” yourself putting up a business just like one of those that you see. (“Envision” is sometimes just a nice word of “daydream.”)
    5. “Envision” your first customers coming to your imaginary business and liking it.
    6. “Envision” your first customers telling all their friends about your business.
    7. Imagine your imaginary growing customers. Yes, “imagine your imaginary.” I know that sounds silly but that’s exactly what people do when they are “planning” their so called businesses.
    8. Imagine the media featuring a story about you and your growing market.
    9. Be inspired by this imaginary vision and withdraw all your money, bet the house, borrow cash and look for investors among friends and family to invest in your dream.
    10. Talk to friends about your business plan and get motivation from the ones who cheer you on… and ignore the ones who tell you its problems and challenges. You may have heard quotes online as well which say that you should stick with positive people and “stay away from negative people;” and you may interpret that to mean that you should only listen to people who tell you what you want to hear. As a result, you may listen to people who say that your screwed up business plan is good and stop listening to people who bring you back to reality and tell you that it is wrong or that it won’t work.
    11. Build and launch your business.
    12. Start wondering why a lot less customers are coming than in your “vision.”
    13. Cling on to your dream. Watch and read more hyped up entrepreneurial media telling stories about entrepreneurs who almost failed but ‘marched on’ until they became billionaires. Now I admit there are some of those people who did exactly that and they became very rich. But guess what? There are also a lot of people who bought the lottery and became very rich. Just because it worked for some people does not mean it is probably going to work for most others in the same way. Later in the book I will talk about how to properly take entrepreneurial risks.
    14. Selectively look for the friends who cheered you to “go for it” and talk to them so that you can hear more motivation from them.
    15. Continue to see your business fail.
    16. Start getting desperate for cash and start cutting costs which often includes cutting quality, as well as start changing your dream business from a vision to a “quick buck” business just to try and keep it afloat.
    17. Watch everything go haywire and get screwed up even more.
    18. Start hiding from the money lenders, relatives, friends and everyone else that invested or lent you money for your dream business.
    19. Lock up yourself somewhere and say “WTF just happened???”

    So what do you think of this common business plan? It is very real, isn’t it? You have seen it happen or possibly it has happened to you already. I wouldn’t be surprised. Well, guess what? A lot of it has happened to me as well. I don’t blame you for it nor do I blame myself because it is really so common. So many people fall into this trap. Why? Because of the media hype and quotes that are thrown around on social media that they believe.

    This is taken from the book Entrepreneurgasm: 33 Realistic Steps Turning $1,700 into $103,000 Online for the Average You which was the #1 BESTSELLER WORLDWIDE for Business Education on Amazon.com for Christmas 2014. You can download the e-book version here.

    CoverSmallImage

  • Finance Shortcut? How fast can you get rich with forex trading? (Free ebook download)

    Finance Shortcut? How fast can you get rich with forex trading? (Free ebook download)

    Hi guys!

    So in one of my earlier posts I talked about many ways to earn money; from little money to big money, and from small risk to big risk. One of the risky ways I talked about is forex trading.

    Simply put, if you buy 1 Euro for $1.30 and then tomorrow, 1 Euro goes up to $1.40, then you’ve made 10 cents. Doesn’t sound big, does it?

    But here’s where it gets a little interesting, if you did this with 1,000 Euros instead of just 1 Euro, then your profit is multiplied 1,000X and you’ll earn 10 cents X 1,000 = $100. Still not satisfied?

    Well here’s where it gets REALLY interesting: If you open an account with any famous online trading broker like IBFX.com or Oanda.com (super easy! even if you’re not located in the U.S.), they allow you up to 200:1 “leverage” or more.

    What does this mean?

    It means that if you deposit just $500 with them, they’ll allow you to trade $500 x 200 “leverage” = $100,000 ! So if you make even just 10 cents for every dollar invested, you can earn 10 cents x $100,000 = $10,000 in one pop … coming from your original $500 investment!

    Wow… amazing huh? Getting back $10,000 from a $500 original investment translates to a 2,000% RETURN… now compare that to the stock market’s 8% average return per year, and you know what I’m talking about.

    Of course, it may not really be practical nor wise to take full advantage of your forex broker’s “allowed” 200:1 leverage; but you see my point.

    How about risk? Does earning $10,000 in one pop also mean that you can lose $10,000 in one pop? Thankfully, there are “automatic” mechanisms in your forex broker’s system to highly prevent that from happening.

    Normally, assuming that the markets are open and liquid, if your account’s net value drops to zero, all your holdings are automatically sold and closed-out, so you end up with a zero balance instead of with a negative balance. So of course, this is your main risk… You may earn the hypothetical $10,000 really quickly, but you stand a chance of losing your $500 really quickly as well. It’s up to you to decide whether it’s worth risking $500 to earn back $10,000 or more.

    How do you know what currencies to buy or sell? More importantly, how do you know WHEN to buy or sell these particular currencies? Well, you could read up on a lot of education and learn by yourself by trial and error (yes, very risky and for sure you will lose a lot of money in the process; but it may be worth it for some people).

    Other people may take advantage of getting forex signals from more experienced forex trading strategists such as ForexTrendy.com (reminder: any type of this kind of trading has high risk… I do not make any guarantees on ForexTrendy.com’s behalf and past results do not guarantee future success.  As I said earlier, you could super quickly lose your hypothetical $500 even if you can super quickly earn your hypothetical $10,000). In the end, it’s important to determine what’s best for you. What works for some may not work for others.

    So anyway, in case this interests you even a little bit, here are today’s ACTION STEPS:

    1) Open a DEMO TRADING ACCOUNT with either IBFX.com or Oanda.com and just play around.
    2) Download the FREE ebook I promised which covers the basics (click on image below or click here)
    3) Immediately have a look at e ForexTrendy.com and if you sign up, test their buy/sell recommendations with your IBFX/Oanda demo account.

    Download:

    Cheers!

     

    Talk soon,

    David

    Disclaimer/Disclosure: Though I find this affiliate’s (ForexTrendy.com) video very interesting, I make no guarantees about your performance if ever you do decide to play with Forex because as I said, it can be very risky (even when guided by a professional adviser). It is best you try any forex trading with a demo account first.

  • 11 Secrets to Viral Marketing

    11 Secrets to Viral Marketing

    Check out my latest infographic 🙂

    Based on the Amazon.com bestseller “Digital Marketing Madness: Social Media Marketing Strategy at Super Low Cost”

    The secret to going viral is to know WHY people share in the first place.  To know this, we just gotta know the 11 to 17 questions people ask themselves subconsciously before clicking  the “share” button.

    Secrets to Viral Marketing
    We should think about these questions every time we create a new video or online poster for our brand. If the viewer subconsciously answers “yes” to any of these questions, he/she will most likely share/reshare this video or poster. Enjoy!

     

  • Success without constant hard work? Yes!

    Success without constant hard work? Yes!

    Okay, so in my earlier blog post here, I talked about the difference between a “real” entrepreneur and a mere “dreamer” with good ideas, and the what separates the two is action.  I also talked about what could be stopping a great dreamer (like you?) from actually taking action.

    One thing which may stop potentially great entrepreneurs is the fear of hard work.

    Well, good news!

    A lot of GREAT entrepreneurs HATE hard work too.  In fact I believe in these two sayings:

    “If you must always work more to earn more, then there’s something wrong with your business model.” -David Michael Ledesma (me)

    “I choose a LAZY person to do a hard job.  Because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it.” -Bill Gates

    You’ve already heard of the old cliche that you should work smarter instead of harder.  Well guess what: in today’s Web 2.0 world, it’s VERY real. Cleverness, ingenuity, originality and (a small but reasonable amount of) action go a looooooong way.  It’s so simple (and I dare say it: quite “easy”) to set up a good business nowadays by starting with something as simple as Youtube (like I did!) or other social media to get followers.  What will you set up?  You can set up a business based on your passion; your passion could be in fashion, beauty, photography, fishing, wine tasting… (whatever!).  I’ll eventually be teaching you how to do this step-by-step (it’s simple AND easy…)

    The great thing is, once you start a business with web 2.0 (Youtube, squidoo, etc.) and you get your followers, you can eventually link this to your website, which can then earn money ON AUTOPILOT (whaaa??). Yes, you’ll only have to update your site every now and then; maybe 45 min. per day at the most, and it will continue to earn money for you… without much work on your part… and your social media content will continue to drive people to your site.

    Anyway, as I’ll be showing my viewers how to do that eventually, back to this post’s topic. Why is there a strong belief that we must “work hard” in order to achieve success?  I think of only 2 reasons:

    1) Your parents or grandparents said so.

    2) Your teachers said so.

    3) You read it from business personalities, authors, and gurus online and elsewhere.

    Let me tackle it one by one.

    “My parents and grandparents said so.”  Well, they come from another time when maybe indeed, hard work was needed.  They certainly couldn’t set up businesses which would earn money on autopilot (read: “website”).

    “My teachers said so.”  I don’t blame them.  To succeed in high school in the past, you definitely needed to work hard.  But there are other ways nowadays when you get to college or masters (they obviously haven’t heard of the super easy videos of MBAbullshit.com, LOL!)

    “Famous entrepreneurs and authors said so.”  You know what?  I think either these are big people who built their success a long time ago… or they indeed worked hard and became successful, but the success could’ve come even without the hard work…. OR they’re simply LYING through their teeth.

    Why would they LIE to you about hard work? Simple, TO PLAY IT SAFE. To protect themselves from being blamed for your failure. Huh?  More often than not, these gurus give you some “magic formula for success”… and then they insert “hard work” as part of the “formula.”  Why? So that if their formula fails and you blame them, they can point the finger back at you and say “Hey! Part of the formula is ‘hard work.’ If you failed, it’s not coz of my formula, it’s coz you didn’t work ‘hard enough.’ ”  Get my drift?  It’s a simple as that; they add in the ‘hard work’ aspect to wash their hands clean if you fail while following their formula.

    I too have a ‘formula’ but I know it can never guarantee success… even then, I do believe that you can VERY GREATLY increase your chances of success using cleverness and ingenuity with social media… without much work (or at least without constantly having much work; as the business should eventually run on almost autopilot).

    So well anyway, I hope you enjoyed this post.  Til next time!

     

     

  • Weakest one-word business plan: “Someday.”

    Weakest one-word business plan: “Someday.”

    Business Plan Example

    Are you a real entrepreneur or just a dreamer? Don’t worry, in this post I’ll tell you how to get your ass out of that “dreamer” mode.

    I know of so many people who either believe they’re kick-ass entrepreneurs or people who are regarded by friends as good entrepreneurs, just because they have “great ideas” or “grand plans.”

    But how many of us have actually take even small steps of action to bring us closer to our success? If you’re still in the “dreamer” mode, I don’t mean to put you down.  Been there, done that.  Before I became a successful entrepreneur in my own small way, I too was just a dreamer; but eventually I took action in the real world (actually social media world) instead of just leaving it “up there” in my dreams.

    Now, I UNDERSTAND why you may not have started yet.

    1) You’re a procrastinator and refuse to change. (I can’t help you with this).

    2) You’re a procrastinator but you’re willing to change. (Read on.)

    3) You don’t have the time right now. (Read on.)

    4) You don’t have the capital needed right now. (Read on.)

    5) You don’t like hard work. (Neither do I, and you DON’T need to; read on!)

    Of course, if you’re a procrastinator, you have to ask yourself WHY?

    Let’s skip #1 (since I can’t help with that) & go to #2:

    Believe it or not, I was a procrastinator and discovered that my reason was that I was/am a PERFECTIONIST.  A big chunk of procrastinators actually aren’t lazy.  They simply can’t start because they can’t stop worrying about the *perfect* way to start.  If this is you (it was me), then the solution is simple; choose to start even if you’re not starting perfectly.  Then you can go into “continuous improvement” mode later on and still achieve perfection.

    #3: I don’t have the time right now.

    Hey, I hear you; and I’m not faulting you for that.  But you gotta ask yourself, is it really that you don’t have the time or are you just using the “no time excuse?”  Will this “don’t have the time” excuse drag on forever or until your retirement?  And will you end up just a retired failure?

    I DO have a solution.  Surely, even if you “don’t have the time” right now, you can spare 5 minutes a day? Or maybe even just ONE minute? Heck, you’re spending around 5 minutes just reading my post right now!

    Well, this is what I want you to do in your precious 5 minutes (or even 1 minute) per day: Do any (and I mean any) TANGIBLE action to bring you closer to your entrepreneurial dream.  It could be as simple as writing down a rough biz plan on a paper napkin.  Or maybe just a rough budget of startup costs.  ANYTHING. But it must be TANGIBLE (like writing it down). If it’s just in your brain, you’re still dangerously close to the “dreamer mode” instead of the action mode.  Eventually, the concrete actions will fire you up enough to take bigger action WITHOUT needing too much “willpower” to get started.  (All the inspirational quotes in the world will not be as motivating as knowing that you’ve already taken and continue to take tangible steps every day, even if tiny.)

    #4: I don’t have the capital right now.

    Okay, fine.  But again, have you done anything TANGIBLE to help you get closer to having the needed capital?  Did you save even a little money TODAY (not SOMEDAY) to bring you closer to the needed capital?  Did you even make a super rough capital budgeting plan on a paper napkin at the coffee shop (speaking of coffee shop; did you give up your expensive black coffee from an expensive shop and instead make it using the office coffee machine?)  It could be any SMALL thing.. but do something tangible TODAY that brings you closer to your capital requirements.

    I’m also writing a book right now which I’ll put on Amazon on how to start an online biz for very small capital, lower than $500 like I did with this website; using Youtube and social media.  But don’t let that be your excuse and say “I’ll wait for David’s book.”  Saving capital, even small, is a good thing. And even if you’re in a tough situation right now and can’t save a penny, you can still draw up your capital budgeting plan on a paper napkin and do other small things like that everyday… which will have a domino effect of its own and make it easier for you to save your capital.

    I’ll stop here for today. “#5: You don’t like hard work” deserves a post of it’s own, I believe.  Don’t worry, I’m not gonna be your high school teacher and blame it on you.  Because you really DON’T need constant hard work to be a successful entrep (note that I said “constant”).

    Watch out for my next post!

    David