Struggling Entrepreneur

 

 93- Jason Alba: from job-seeker to successful entrepreneur [44:26m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

In this episode of The Struggling Entrepreneur, we interview Jason Alba, the creator and founder of the JibberJobber web site, tool and small business firm.

However, as you will hear in this audio interview, Jason’s quick success is due to his mantra, which is “Leverage the WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY.”

 Jason’s entrepreneurial venture of JibberJobber.com was created to meet a requirement in his own experience as a job-seeker. Thus, originally developed as a system to manage relationships, follow-up and contacts during the job search environment, he has extended it to be a useful tool for anyone who wanted to manage ALL business relationships, follow-up and networking in any environment. His business model centered around a “freemium” strategy–that is, giving users free use of the tool and job-seeker relationship portal, but then providing premium content for a relatively small fee.

As Jason mentions in his interview, he has leveraged other “windows of opportunity.”  In addition to the JibberJobber.com relationship-management portal, he has also authored or co-authored two books:  (1) I’m on LinkedIN–Now what?  and (2) I’m on facebook–Now what?

These books are available at most book outlets, including www.amazon.com.

In addition, Jason has also developed DVD content which he is providing. This DVD is training content to help the users maximize the tons of all the incredible function in his JibberJobber.com tool, which he really could not cover in his live speaking engagements or in his free overview webinars online.

Moreover, he has also become a speaker that is quite in demand from Public Sector groups involved in helping job-seekers, as well as Private Sector teams that want to learn how to leverage the Social Media tools of LinkedIn and facebook.

What is interesting is that part of the business plan that Jason has created already has target time frames to include an acquisition strategy.  With the focus of Jason’s core business and his successful ability to discover and leverage key windows of opportunity, we now understand his entrepreneurial energy, excitement, ambition and drive when he said that he will NEVER let a single firm or individual be responsible for all of his income–only himself.  His success story is definitely a key case study of a successful entrepreneur.

Copyright (c) 2009, Matrix Solutions Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

 

 92- The Need to change Entrepreneur strategy - Monique Hayward [31:45m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

In this episode of The Struggling Entrepreneur, we have an interview with Monique Hayward, an entrepreneur since 2005 who went into the dining/entertainment business with a cafe for beverages and desserts in the suburbs of Portland, an establishment called Dessert Noir Cafe and Bar. Although Monique still holds a full-time day-job, she admits that running an entrepreneurial venture in a “brick-and-mortar” location (instead of online Internet business) is also a full-time job. However, Monique found the time to write an eBook, as well, which is selling as a paperback at www.amazon.com:

Monique has fame in being the head of the Nouveau Connoisseurs Corporation.

This small business venture is weathering the storm of today’s economic climate–and Monique has had to make adjustments to her Business Plan to adapt to the situation. What is interesting is that she still has her day-job in Corporate High-Tech America.  While other online and internet marketers scoff at those who still hold full time jobs and are “workin’ for the man,” it seems that this has become a favorable situation for survival during the economic downturn and has allowed Monique to continue her business, while making the adjustments.

As for her eBook (above), Monique will give a free copy to the first 10 listeners in our audience who send her an email with a request for the book and a statement that they are subscribers to The Struggling Entrepreneur Podcast (see her blog at www.moniquehayward.com for contact information).

Copyright (c) 2009, Matrix Solutions Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

 

 91- Startup into a niche offering- www.stwittergy.com [52:36m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

In this episode of The Struggling Entrepreneur podcast, our interview with Ricardo Guerrero (the Founder and Principal of www.Stwittergy.com) provides a look at a very niche market, niche offering and a targeted community — the social media community of twitter business users.

Although Ricardo has a day-job as a full-time employee of Dell Computer, he has gained experience in setting up the twitter ids, as well as working on the twitter strategy, for the Computer giant.

However, he is also a part-time entrepreneur who has launched his own firm, www.Stwittergy.com–and, yes, the tag line for the business is based on providing the “Twitter Strategy, Metrics and Consulting for business.”

 As you will hear in this audio podcast, the ability to plan for launching a business and gain a foothold for your brand and your offering ahead of the possible competition can be the determining factor of success. In fact, his solution may be one of the “next big things” for his venture to really take off.

Ricardo mentions key strategies that every entrepreneur should review in the development of the part-time venture into the eventual full-time business. As you will see, he has experience in quite a few environments that have added additional revenue streams to the typical day-job.

Ricardo is available on most of the social media tools:

- his twitter handle is @STWITT3GY;

- he is on Linked in:  Budurl.com/stwittergyLI

- he is on Facebook: Budurl.com/stwittergyFB

and you can reach him at via email at

RG @ Stwittergy.com  [separated to avoid spam]

Copyright (c) 2009, Matrix Solutions Corporation. All rights reserved.

 

 Starting a business is not as crazy as they say - Jason Cohen [13:02m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is a blog post from http://blog.asmartbear.com –which is Jason Cohen’s blog about small business and entrepreneur themes. The title for this post is:

“Starting a Business isn’t as crazy and risky as they say.”

In this blog post, Jason describes the differences between the perceived vs. realistic risks in starting your own small business during this economic downturn.

In the blog post, he also gives us the graphs and the links to the sources and footnotes in which he bases his research and draws his conclusions. For example:

 and

We thank Jason Cohen for his permission in allowing us to narrate in audio format his blog post at http://blog.asmartbear.com.

Copyright (c) 2009, Matrix Solutions Corporation and Smart Bear Software. All Rights Reserved.

 

 90- Quality at a Fair Price- David Post [56:36m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

In this episode of The Struggling Entrepreneur, we interview David Post, a multi-decade entrepreneur who has had several businesses and who is now venturing into new small business endeavors.

His success in the clothing business, construction business, eBay online sales business, and design business have prepared him to venture into his next business–a NATURAL ENVIRONMENTAL venture.

As you will hear in this audio episode, David attributes his success to several items during the years of lessons learned:

- Getting a mentor and listening to the advice of those who have been in the business before your arrival;

- Knowing and targeting your audience, then providing what they will be willing to pay for with Quality at a fair price;

- Seeking a passion first (instead of just focusing purely on the money) and then following that–for the money will follow;

- Knowing yourself to understand what you really want out of life, since the business is a means to obtaining your lifestyle.

David can be reached via email at

dpost @ austin.rr.com   [separation to prevent spamming]

Copyright (c) 2009, Matrix Solutions Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

 

 90B- Jason Cohen- Smart Bear Software- Reaslistic Entrepreneur adapting to market needs [38:58m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

In this episode of The Struggling Entrepreneur, we interview Jason Cohen, the founder of Smart Bear Software. Although we had done a narration of one of Jason’s blog posts (see episode 89A- Why an Entrepreneur has to engage in Social Media, even though he may not want to), we go beyond the blog into Jason’s story as a founder of a firm and the entrepreneurial venture of Smart Bear Software.

 As you will hear in this audio episode, Jason has a successful business that is growing because he was able to adapt and change when he realized that his original business IDEA and product really did not meet the need of his customers. But by asking his clients about their need–and then developing and delivering the software product for allowing collaboration among developers–Jason was able to discover, confirm and then serve that targeted market.

Also, you will hear the recommendations that Jason gives to aspiring entrepreneurs–that is, the tough and realistic questions that you have to ask yourself before you venture into the small business environment. At least, you should have at least reviewed these issues with your “devil’s advocate”–so that you can enhance your chance of success.

What is incredible is that Jason has already reached the pinnacle of success that most entrepreneurs are aiming for–his firm was acquired, and he is now reaping the rewards of what he called “the pain” of building your business and making it successful.  However, a true entrepreneur is driven by the lifestyle of being a “builder,” and this “pain” is worth the end of the road of having built a successful small business.

Jason’s blog for Smart Bear Software also includes many posts that are helpful hints and ideas for the entrepreneurs.

Copyright (c) 2009, Matrix Solutions Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

 

 90A- Hall Martin - Austin Entrepreneur Network [22:56m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

In this episode of The Struggling Entrepreneur, we interview Hall Martin, the founder of the Austin Entrepreneur Network. Hall is providing a blog for the entrepreneurs in the Austin area in which he delivers some of the background and success stories of certain entrepreneurs and their tools. Case in point: In the first quarter of this year, Hall published a blog post about The Struggling Entrepreneur and how it helps other small business owners with its free content about lessons learned and resources for success (post was on 27 March 2009).

However, Hall also delivers fee-based training and education for those who want to create a startup firm from the ground up. However, the value of the course is in the live interaction in this classroom-centered environment.

As you will hear in this audio episode, the central network for those who want to create a startup includes multiple disciplines–from funding sources to structure and other topics relevant to startup entrepreneurs.  What is particularly interesting is that Hall Martin has a full-time day-job where he is working on Intrepreneur projects for his employer firm, and he sees his role as more of a part-time entrepreneur that mentors aspiring small business owners.

His current blog has been updated to include various topics of interest to the aspiring startup entrepreneur, and the network he has started is beginning to grow in the Austin area.

Copyright (c)  2009, Matrix Solutions Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

 

 89B- Content Marketing and Social Content- Social Media Breakfast Austin meeting [36:21m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is a bonus episode of The Struggling Entrepreneur in which we have an edited recording of the meeting for the Austin Social Media Breakfast group, which was held in May, 2009.

The theme of this meeting was Content Marketing — and in particular, Social Content within the Content Marketing initiatives in business– to help a small business to grow its visibility, grow its customer base, grow its trust with its customers, and grow its business by nurturing the relationship with the customers, who will then buy the goods and services from the business and become references and testimonials to others.

The Social Media Breakfast meetings are coordinated by Bryan Person, who is bryan@socialmediabreakfast.com. We would like to thank Bryan and the speakers (from whom we received written permission to publish this discussion).

The theme of this meeting created a very energetic response from the members–most of whom were small business owners.  The topics covered by the three panelists and the panel moderator included:

* How to bootstrap online community with professional content;
* Best practices and case studies from companies that are seeing measurable results;
* Content that spans the brand content continuum: lifestyle, category and product.

As Bryan Person mentioned in his web site:

In an age where more and more consumers are taking a “search and click” approach to buying new products, it’s becoming harder for brands to differentiate themselves from the pack.

As pricing pressures continue to mount, companies are turning to compelling online content as a way to drive ongoing, active engagement around their brands and products. The aim: increased customer loyalty.

Creating user-centric content requires a shift of traditional brand/product messaging and the development of a new communication approach.

The panelists

* Lionel Menchaca (@LionelAtDell), chief blogger at Dell
* Natanya Anderson (@NatanyaP), VP, content at Powered
* Simon Salt (@IncSlinger), CEO and co-founder of IncSlingers

As you will hear in this audio episode, the final request from the Moderator, Aaron Strout, is to formulate a summary of how quality content marketing can increase the beneficial relationship you have with your customers and grow your business.

Copyright (c) 2009, Matrix Solutions Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

 

 89A - Why Entrepreneurs have to engage in Social Media [11:17m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

In this bonus episode of The Struggling Entrepreneur, we narrate a blog post from A Smart Bear. This post goes to the heart of an issue that is still plaguing the Small Business Owners and Entrepreneurs today — Why do we have to engage in Social Media, even if we don’t want to?

 Jason Cohen, the author of the article and the founder of Smart Bear Software, compares in this blog post the environment today to that of the 1990’s, when the Internet was a frontier and the urgency was to publish a web site for the small business owner.

In short: today, you may be able to publish your web site, but you will still be invisible to the world. What you will need is Social Media to give you the presence, exposure and visibility that your business will need.

In this audio episode, Jason Cohen provides several examples of success stories that used Social Media to enhance their business (both in revenue and customer relations)– from Rubbermaid to Zappos.

As you will hear from this podcast episode narration of this blog post, the many tools that are used by different businesses can help them to become the vanguard in success within their industry. And finally, Jason asks:

“Why not join the conversation?”

Copyright (C) 2009, Matrix Solutions Corporation and Smart Bear Software. All Rights Reserved.

 

 89- iPod Concierge leverages a niche market as an Entrepreneur [40:55m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

In this episode of The Struggling Entrepreneur, we have an interview with Jessica O’Connell, who is the “iPod Concierge”–and has started a small business with that same name.

As a starting entrepreneur, Jessica explains  how she visualized a niche market for her skill set from the ecosystem brought about by the success of the Apple iPod(R) , iPhone(R) and iTunes(R). In this audio episode, you will hear how she went from her corporate day-job to becoming a part-time entrepreneur and growing her business with very few obstacles–mainly, because she was starting at a local level and leveraging a niche market that had almost no one to provide the services that she now delivers.

Jessica’s business brand and motto consists of these words:

iPod and iPhone Services

brought to by the iPod Concierge

Jessica is now venturing out to expand her role as an entrepreneur by offering services to bring the “vinyl” world of 45-rpm and 33-rpm LP records into the digital world via transfer and conversion, as well as photo images of “legacy memories” for generations of families.

As you can tell, the brand name of iPod Concierge delivers a meaning of service, quality, attention and customer satisfaction to those who want to exploit the power of their newly-acquired iPods and iPhones via iTunes.

Copyright (c) 2009, Matrix Solutions Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

iPod, iTunes and iPhone are trademarks or registered trademarks of Apple Inc. at www.apple.com.