Today’s guest post is written by Rieva Lesonsky.

Although I’m a bit superstitious, I’m going to go ahead, channel iconic 1950s television personality (and songwriter, who knew?) Steve Allen, and say I think 2012 is going to “be the start of something big.”

I know there are naysayers out there who will disagree, and point out the numerous reasons I’m being too much of a Pollyanna, but frankly I don’t care. There are plenty of signs the economy is finally on the rebound.

Consumer confidence (as measured by The Conference Board) soared in November (December’s numbers won’t be out until the end of the month) to 56 (on a scale of 100), from 40.9 in October.

Although 56 indicates consumers are still feeling fairly uncertain, a 15-point jump in a month is a good sign, which is amplified by the “Expectations Index” part of the survey hitting 67.8, an increase of nearly 18 points in a month. Continue Reading »

Today’s post is written by Ameena Falchetto.

My experience as an entrepreneur in Dubai was largely affected by two factors.

First, I am half-Egyptian, half-English which means I am often discounted by both cultures.

Secondly, the company I built with John Falchetto was one of the most male-dominated businesses out there; we provided safety and rescue training for government and corporations. Continue Reading »

Today’s guest post is written by JK Allen.

I’m an entrepreneur. My business is “me” and my client is my employer.

As entrepreneurs, we are often challenged with less-than-ideal situations and we find ways to turn them into opportunities or learning experiences. Over the last year or two, my heart has been consumed with the idea of being self-employed again which has led me to despise my job.

As you can see, this is less than ideal. But I’ve turned it into a learning experience.

Many of my online friends who I find to be powerful business people have shown a great amount of appreciation for how I manage my career like a business. No one has been more vocal about this than John Falchetto. But I’ve also gained support from class acts such as Marcus Sheridan and Danny Brown. Continue Reading »

One of my best friends is the manager for the Obesity Prevention Program for the State of Alaska. She has uncovered the secret to losing weight and has a FABULOUS idea for a book on the subject. It’s called, Eat Less, Exercise More.

The end.

I know, it’s a radical idea, and we laugh so hard every time we talk about it. And how huge this book could be in sales, if there were anything more to add, other than the title, but there isn’t. That is how you lose weight. It takes a long time, and there is no SHORT CUT.

My father used to call it the Strawberry Short Cut – it works when you’re driving from Point A to Point B (sometimes), but it doesn’t work when you’re trying to get from Point A to Point B, like say, from obscurity to the cover of Entrepreneur.

I use that example because Gini Dietrich and I always talk about what we’ll wear for our cover photo shoot when we get there.

And the funny thing, my other BFF, Dana Hughens, texted me the other day joking about an incident that will be retold in her Entrepreneur interview some day.

So I bet there are a lot of you out there with similar dreams. And none of us will make it happen by taking the short cut. Continue Reading »

During the past five years, I’ve had the opportunity to work directly under someone (cough, Gini Dietrich) as she has evolved through each of the following entrepreneurial minds.

I’ve now come to a point where I think I’ve figured out how these minds work.  Yes, they say it’s lonely at the top for this select group of individuals, but because they move too fast for the rest of us to keep up, the loneliness is self-inflicted.

I’ve created a chart outlining the stages of an entrepreneurial mind to help the rest of us make it less lonely for our beloved CEOs.

It’s not as National Geographic as I thought it would be. In fact, it’s pretty simple.  Your own CEO is probably at one of these stages now. Continue Reading »

Lisa D. Jenkins is an erratic blogger growing into her Big-Girl Business Panties one terrifying decision at a time.

One of the hardest things we do is to make the choice not to work with everyone who wants to hire us.

That’s easier read than done.

In some cases, we say no to protect ourselves.

Those of us building our young reputations and growing new client bases have (or should have) a very clear vision of the clients we want to represent.  Deviating from that vision can derail months of strategic planning and endanger our place in the market we want to serve.  We must choose carefully.
Continue Reading »

Guest post by Tim Jahn of Beyond The Pedway.

I’m a new dad and an entrepreneur, so I’m familiar with the idea of failure. I have a hunch you are too. We’ve all experienced failure from time to time. The key is to harness that failure into useful lessons.

My son is only about two months old. He has yet to attempt standing up, crawling, walking, talking, swimming, biking, or algebra. But in a matter of months, he’ll try to start crawling. Once he conquers that, he’ll attempt to start standing up and walking around like his parents do.

He’ll fail. I can say with almost certainty that my son will fail at his first attempts to walk.

Why? Continue Reading »

My mom, Christy Norton, is visiting me from my hometown of Salt Lake City and the Arment Dietrich Facebook fans thought it’d be fun to have her make a guest appearance in today’s video. So, here she is, answering the question, “Did Gini always show signs of being an entrepreneur and, if yes, what did you do to instill that in her?”

(If you’re viewing this in Feedburner, click here to watch the video)

Guest post by Laura Scholz, president of Scholz Communications.

When you first start your solo PR practice, bartering services can seem like a win-win. You get amazing experience, exposure, and valuable services; your “clients” get your professional expertise at virtually no cost.

During the past three years, I’ve traded for web design, haircuts, Pilates and yoga classes, personal training, head shots, nutrition advice, office space, and more than the occasional meal. Having started my business with zero savings and zero capital — in the middle of a divorce, no less — these types of relationships were crucial to helping me manage my budget AND move my business forward. And I would say the same was true for those on the other end of the barter.

But as my business continues to grow and my time becomes more limited, I’m starting to question the value of trade for all involved. I think everyone enters trade with the best of intentions, but with never-ending to-do lists and nonstop schedules, you have to set priorities. And that means paying clients come first – often to the detriment of good relationships with quality people who have nothing but the best intentions. Continue Reading »

A couple of weeks ago, Elizabeth Sosnow, a managing director with BlissPR, a B2B-based public relations firm in New York and Chicago, wrote on PR Breakfast Club, The Secret Worries of a PR Firm Boss.

In her post, her worries include: Positioning more broadly, employee turnover and cultural changes, divvying up the profits, employees who don’t like one another, and loss of clients. She and I bantered a little bit over Twitter and she asked me what I would add to the list.

It’s funny that Elizabeth’s worries are not my own; I don’t even worry about loss of clients (anymore). Each firm is unique, with its own culture and own set of challenges. Following is what keeps me up at night: Continue Reading »