Today’s guest post is written by Micah Smith. 

It’s pretty safe to say no one likes a crappy economy. Salaries and jobs have been cut, people have lost their homes and livelihoods, gas prices have gone through the roof, and many people are starting from scratch.

The good news is incredible things tend to rise from the ashes. Because of that, in the midst of the economic confusion, entrepreneurship is flourishing.

As it turns out, most people didn’t love the job they lost; they just worked there because it offered security and a paycheck. And when security becomes insecure, it gives us more reason to trust ourselves and start something new.

With so many going out on their own, the process has been well-documented and articulated from a business perspective, but it’s easy to overlook these three basic elements that will show off your expertise to consumers from day one. Continue Reading »

Is anyone else concerned we’re very close to another tech bubble burst? It’s normal that history repeats itself, but it usually happens with generations who don’t remember the first time around.

In Chicago, we don’t have to look far to begin this conversation. A little more than a year ago Groupon was offered $6 billion from Google (an offer they turned down in order to go public, which they did less than a year later). At the time, I predicted they would falter and never see that kind of money again.

I didn’t make this prediction because I have some crystal ball that tells me what’s going to happen and gives me winning lottery numbers. I made it because I was reminded of what happened during the dot com bubble. Continue Reading »

This blog post is for all of the women in the Spin Sucks community.

Guys, you can read it too, but I’m not sure it’ll mean much to you. I hate to lose half our audience on a Monday morning, but it’s going to be worth it to the girls.

There is a new social network worth checking out…and it’s for women entrepreneurs and business owners.

Project Eve , launched just a month ago by two recovering investment bankers, is dedicated to furthering women’s understanding about business and overcoming hindrances to action.

Sorry, guys. Of the nearly 1,000 members only a couple are men (who I’m convinced are trolling for dates). Co-founder Kim Oksenberg says the reason for this is to allow women to communicate, collaborate,and share actionable solutions minus the “sharp elbows.” Continue Reading »

Today’s guest post is written by Steve Kaplan.

As I motor around today’s social media and mobile outlets, I’m both encouraged and discouraged by what I see.

I’m encouraged by the number of people who have found a way to become, and remain, relevant while building a solid credential behind their personal brand.

I’m discouraged because, while more and more people are actively building their brands, the overall percentage is alarmingly low.

Keeping your brand (you) relevant is the same challenge faced by companies as they seek to keep their brands relevant in an ever changing and accelerated world.

I’ve spent a large part of my career working with new products for large companies such as Procter & Gamble and Hershey’s. Along the way, I’ve often wondered why very few people engage in new product development for their personal brands. Continue Reading »

Today’s guest post is written by Mark Harai.

I often read articles about the bliss, excitement, and glory of being an entrepreneur.

Don’t get me wrong, these are certainly part of the overall journey, but typically just the icing on the cake.

Everything in between the start of the climb to the icing at the top define you as a person and shape your entrepreneurial career.

Dealing with bills, budgets, and payrolls isn’t glorious. Driving day-to-day operations, motivating the crew, and meeting crushing deadlines may sound exciting, but it can be daunting. It will seem as if everyone and everything is conspiring to derail you and your plans. It can really suck!

Pushing through constant resistance and overcoming challenges on a daily basis requires commitment, mental toughness and hard ass work.

Before you buy into the bliss of entrepreneurship, one must first understand and accept the realities to have staying power when the tough gets going. Continue Reading »

I was just reading a GigaOm article titled, “Should Apple Buy Twitter?”

It likely comes as no surprise to you that I’m shocked Twitter is still around. While I love it and spend a good amount of time on it, I have no idea how they’re surviving.

Yes, they were just valued at $9 billion. Yes, they have tons of funding. But a company that hasn’t made a cent in their entire six years? I don’t get it.

Did we not learn our lesson in the dot com bubble? Eyeballs don’t always equate profits.

But now there is speculation Apple could buy the social networking giant with some of their cash reserves (it’s also said they have so much money, they could buy Facebook and Research In Motion).  Continue Reading »

I was not popular in high school. I was not popular in college.

It took me well into my career before I had enough confidence to speak without mumbling because I was so painfully shy.

We also moved around so much that I didn’t have a set group of friends. So I’d move into a new school (particularly in high school) and I was cute and I was smart and I was new.

On my second day in a new high school, a girl threatened to beat me up after school. Just because I showed up for the second day.

Those years were extremely painful. So painful, in fact, I refuse to attend any kind of reunion or Facebook groups.

That’s why I was so interested to read Erika Napoletano’s new book, “The Power of Unpopular.” Well that and because I love her style of writing (minus the curse words). Continue Reading »

Last week I had dinner with Ken Jacobs who said to me, “I was shocked to see you almost went out of business last year. What happened?”

When I blogged about it earlier this year, I used the word “bankrupt” and that got everyone’s attention. Yes, we nearly went bankrupt.

You see, we had plenty of accounts receivables to accomodate our expenses and even make a little bit of money last year. But, when the debt ceiling crisis debate ensued last July, all of our clients retracted and went into hiding.

No one knew what it was going to mean for the United States and, in particular, businesses. And, because we’d just had three years of really rocky times, everyone was skittish.

We didn’t get paid from a single client for nearly 90 days. Sure, we’ve done all the things you’re supposed to do: Require deposits upfront, make calls before A/R is late, even stopping work when clients were late. But it didn’t help when push came to shove. We still had bills to pay and nothing to pay them with, except signed contracts that showed the money was coming.

I don’t blame our clients. We did the same thing to our vendors and partners. I blame myself. Continue Reading »

In 2005, I took the plunge from climbing the corporate ladder to entrepreneurship.

It wasn’t a conscious decision. More done out of frustration with the way communication results were handled (or not handled) inside agencies.

I thought I had a better way.

I did have a better way, but it took me five years to get the business to a point that we could do things differently. To the point other business leaders would listen to something so radically different than what they were hearing from other PR/marketing/communication firms.

It wasn’t because we couldn’t prove it worked. We could. It was because I had to learn how to jump from big budgets, big funding, and lots of resources to, well, nothing.

This is a point made in a recent Forbes article, “Confessions of a Successful Entrepreneur.” Continue Reading »

A few weeks ago, the Harvard Business Review ran an article titled, “It’s Time to Acknowledge CEO Loneliness.”

It’s an interesting article that discusses extravagant compensation packages, fancy jets and hotels, mansions for homes, and car services. All while feeling very lonely because, as a leader of an organization, you seemingly have no one on your side.

I recommend you read it.

But the most interesting part of the article is in the comments.

You see, people don’t feel sorry for CEOs. The perception is they have all this money so why should it matter they’re lonely?

In fact, one commenter said, “My heart bleeds for the lonely, misunderstood CEO.  I’m sure someone making three hundred times my salary is in need of some tender loving care and understanding.  So let me tell these guys where to find sympathy:  In Webster’s, somewhere between s*** and syphilis.” Continue Reading »