The ability to influence others through words or behavior is an incredibly valuable tool in your relationship toolbox. After all, building a business is more than creating a new product — it’s about building relationships. “Opportunities are tied to people and people like to work with others that share common interests that they can trust,” […]

Sleep makes us healthier, more productive and less stressed. But when starting a new business, it seems like sleep is the least important thing on a serious to-do list. The reality is that not getting enough sleep is only a detriment to your success, especially when your brain is too tired to make major decisions. […]

Is leadership for you? The most important thing to figure out is whether you will like the kind of work you will be doing. Being a positional leader means having responsibility for the performance of a group. That’s different work from anything else you’ve done. If you like the work, you’re more likely to be […]

Meetings will destroy your business — but they might also just save it. Sure, that might be two contradictory statements, but this is entrepreneurship and we don’t live by the same rules as the rest of society. Get over it or get out while you still can! Where was I? Oh yeah, meetings. They suck. […]

Gallup has just published their “State of the American Manager” report. “Managers,” according to Gallup, are people who are “responsible for leading a team toward common objectives.” The vast majority of managers are “wrong for their role” and they account for “70 percent of the variance in employment engagement across business units.” If you didn’t […]

She called in sick her first day, was late on her second, and by the third she had to be fired. Not exactly what I expected after hearing all the wonderful things about working with virtual assistants (VAs). Authors such as Tim Ferriss (The 4-Hour Workweek) and Chris Ducker (Virtual Freedom) proclaim great things about […]

We may be in the Digital Age, but there’s something about having a physical business card that continues to be useful, particularly when networking and trying to bring on new clients. When presented the right way, a business card can serve as a powerful branding tool and allow people to quickly remember who you are […]