Immature Entrepreneur

Yesterday I took my father to the doctor’s office for a 4pm appointment. We waited and waited and then waited some more. Eventually we got in to see the doc around 5:30pm and we were out of there in less than 10 minutes.

I realize that doctors have a lot of surprises in their daily schedules. It’s not uncommon for an emergency surgery to come up (which was the case with my father the day prior). They certainly have very demanding schedules and put in a lot of hours. Tough work.

This may seem on the surface to be one of those “it is what it is” situations. Hmm…do you feel a “but” coming? Yes, yes you do. Here’s the but: as a doc, you could easily account for the unknowns in your day by building it in to your schedule. Plan for them. You know they’re coming. Schedule fewer appointments throughout the day with more space in between. When you have a gap of downtime, call your next patient and ask them if they can come in early (maybe even offer a discount). Convey the message to your patients that their time is every bit as valuable as yours.

My point in this long diatribe is this: it is not that difficult to stand out from the crowd. Observe what everyone else is doing, and do something different. Would you favor a doctor that respects your time, knowing that if you have a 4pm appointment that you’ll be out of there by 4:30pm?

Be different. It’s easy, and it will give you the edge against your competition.

When a society that’s addicted to fossil fuels experiences the largest oil spill in history, do you blame the oil company that drilled for the oil or the society that uses it?

We live in a world today that is constantly changing. The rate of said change is quickening as well. So what does this mean to you?

Don’t become complacent (think Rocky III when Clubber Lang hands Rocky his butt). You can’t allow yourself to think “I’ve made it. I’m there.” Stop and reflect on what got you to where you are–passion. Fire. Spirit. Relentlessly climbing and clawing your way to the top.

The worst thing you can do is sentence yourself to a self-inflicted prison term inside your own comfort zone. That spot may be familiar, it may feel cozy, but there’s a big ol’ sarlacc monster (geeky Star Wars reference) hiding underneath that’s waiting to devour you as soon as you let your guard down.

The point is this: what you did yesterday won’t work today. What you did today may not work tomorrow. Stay hungry. Clubber Lang is gunning for you. Never stop growing, never stop evolving, and you’ll increase the likelihood that you will outperform your competitors every time.

Want off the corporate treadmill? You’re not alone. Take a moment to read this New York Times article here.

There is a new trend slowly building in America where people are making a conscious decision to no longer participate in the rat rate and instead do what makes them happy.

Is leaving a cushy corporate job with a six figure income to instead pursue farming really that crazy? Would you be willing to trade money and the pursuit of “stuff” for your happiness? It’s a rhetorical question so don’t answer–but do think about it.

Q. As everyone knows, ninjas totally rock. How did you come up with the concept of ninja bands? 

A. As they say, necessity is the mother of invention, and ninjaband.com is no exception. I wanted a silicone wristband that read ‘ninja’ similar to the ubiquitous LIVESTRONG bracelets. After Google gave me 0 results, I started wondering what it would take to create the product on my own. After a few days of research and planning I made the jump and launched ninjaband.com.

 Q. How did you go about locating a manufacturer to create your product? Any trial and error there? 

A. Turning an idea into a physical product is by far the hardest part of starting something like this. I was actually really lucky sourcing the product. Because I felt like “time to market” was really important for ninjaband.com, I did as much vetting as one can do in 48 hours and finally settled on a vendor that ‘seemed’ reputable. It was a home run, the bracelets arrived sooner than promised and they were exactly as I had envisioned them. 

Q. Do you have a traditional 9 to 5 job or is ninja bands your primary source of income? 

A. I am a computer geek by day, so ninjaband.com is a hobby for me. 

Q. The website layout is quite simple. Any concerns about the perception this could create with a potential buyer? Or have you found this to be beneficial? 

A. Simple is an overstatement! I wanted the website to be as ridiculously simple as the product and to do that I really needed to strip away everything but the bare essentials. Being a fan of ninjas myself, I knew firsthand what a potential buyer would be looking for in a website. I was guessing that anyone willing to spend their money on a ninjaband would have been turned off by a professional looking page. The ninja subculture is subtle like that.  

Q. On the ninjaband.com site, there is a noticeable lack of contact information. Was this done by design? If so, to what end? 

A. The idea behind the design was to say “Hey, I have a silicone wristband that reads ‘ninja’. If you want one, pay for it at the bottom of the page and you will receive it in the next few weeks. If you don’t, thanks anyway. P.S.: Ninjas rock!”  To send that particular message I didn’t feel that two way communication was necessary. You will notice that I have since added some contact information to the bottom of the page, mostly because I have really been enjoying the emails sent to me from the buyers. There’s this whole ninja-speak subculture that’s very funny, so the email/twitter links facilitate spreading that humor.  

Q. What is your process for filling orders? Do you handle this function yourself or do you outsource?

A. Order fulfillment is done 100% by me. Once the fulfillment process was created and standardized, it was a breeze. I have a nice little area that basically acts as a desktop fulfillment assembly-line. Believe it or not it is a nice way to wind down at the end of the day. 

Q. What steps do you take to market your product? Is word of mouth strong? 

A. Marketing was done by the usual avenues: Twitter, Facebook, and Google. However, what really pushed ninjaband.com into the success category was getting posted on deals.woot.com. Woot’s customer base is HUGE and they are the exact type of buyer I was looking for. Once a couple ninjabands were purchased through deals.woot, the rest of the deal a day websites picked it up. From there it was a snowball. 

Q. Why do you think ninjaband.com has been successful? 

A. The main driver behind the ninja band’s success was getting the product in front of the right demographic. I think lots of products fail because the right groups of people never see them. When I launched ninjaband.com I knew exactly the type of people that would buy it and focused only on getting their attention.

 Q. Who is your primary customer base? 

A. Ninja’s are a tricky bunch. Between 0-150 years old. Have an annual income between $0-$1,000,000,000. Are either male or female. In all seriousness though, when it comes to ninjas it’s very simple: people either get it or they don’t. People will either buy the wristband with enthusiasm or look at it like it’s the dumbest thing in the world. I’m not interested in changing people’s mind. I’m interested in the people who already get it. 

Q. Any other entrepreneurial ideas or endeavors in the works?

A. Yeah! I have a couple of other non-ninja band related projects getting ready to launch. Most involve combining the potential of cloud-based computing and people’s desire to buy stuff. 

Edward Ford, age 30, is the creator of ninjaband.com. He graduated from Rockford College, majoring in history (and ninjas) and is currently employed as an IT Manager. Edward is married with 1 child and 1 on the way. If you’d like to learn more about Edward he can be reached at his website here: http://www.edslifedaily.com/

The following conversation was overhead in a Kansas City area public school earlier this week.

Teacher: Are you going to get the homework done this time?
Student: I can’t do all of this stuff. I have to work tonight.
Teacher: Well you have work here, too (referring to school). Where do you work?
Student: Price Chopper (a local grocery store chain).
Teacher: I hope you like it, you’ll be working there the rest of your life if you don’t pass this class.
Student: I hate my job. It sucks.
Teacher: All jobs do.

Wow. I think we’re seeing the black crab theory in action here. Is this really what we want to teach our kids? Accept the fact that life stinks and learn to deal with it? Is this the reality we as parents, and even worse as educators, want to subject our children to? Really?

We’re already losing our kids in public education today. This is a prime example as to why. Parents, teach your children. Not dates, not numbers, not memorization of useless data that can be Googled in 1.3 seconds.

Teach your children. Enable them to stand on their own. Avoid conformity, equipping them with the ability to think independently. Seek to offer guidance, not demand obedience. Give them responsbility and allow them to learn from their mistakes.  Show respect and gain respect in the process. Lead by example and encourage leadership in them.

If we truly teach our children, maybe they’ll figure out how to create a world that is far better than the “all jobs suck” version that we have created.

Why set goals? Seems like one of those cheesy things that snobby business people do. And I’m pretty sure there’s a good David Beckham joke buried in there somewhere.

There is something inherent in establishing a goal that creates an internal commitment. Psychologically, you’re more likely to try to achieve “X”, whatever that may be, once you agree with yourself that it is now a goal. Setting a goal brings visibility to it and you’ll increase the likelihood that your goal will become reality.

As odd as it may seem, there is power in writing your goals on paper. Now it’s real. You can see it. You’re committed. That little voice in your head will begin to nudge you in the right direction. Putting your goal in writing helps refine your focus and propels you foward with intent.

Don’t just allow life to happen to you. Setting goals will get you where you need to be. Remember, if you’re not aiming at something that’s exactly what you’ll hit.

Which is more valuable — knowing all the right answers or asking all the right questions?

Being talented, being good at many things can sometimes be harmful. Why is that, you may ask? Well, even if you didn’t I’m going to answer.

I’ve always been the type that I pick up on things fairly quickly. Don’t mean to come across as arrogant; just speaking factually. My brain is extremely analytical so I can intuitively examine a process, a system, the way a person runs a department, etc. and immediately find ways to improve it. (Worth noting, this does not always cause one to be very popular…)

It took me a long time to come to the realization that just because you are good at something doesn’t mean you are meant to do it. Possessing a talent or having a certain skill is not the same thing as feeling passionate about something. Excelling at a  job simply means you’re good at it.

If you are a talented individual, don’t allow that to become a crutch. Find your passion. Chances are you’ll be good at that too.

Q.  Tell us a little about Squidoo. What is the site all about? How did you discover it?

A. Squidoo is a popular publishing platform and community that makes it easy for you to create “lenses” online. Lenses are pages, or overview articles, that gather everything you know about your topic of interest. While writing for your enjoyment, you can also get paid every month (after 2 months of publishing) for yourself or you can donate to charity. I discovered it after doing random searches online and found the top 3 listings on Google were from something called “Squidoo” so I investigated, and I am so glad that I did! 

Q. On your Squidoo profile, you mention that you had a bad experience with a get rich quick scheme. Please elaborate. What happened? What lessons did you learn?

A. Yes, I did! I was researching online for freelancer jobs and found an eBay one. The job included listing electronics such as laptops, iPads, and cell phones for a man. He told me I’d get paid $30 per item sold, so I jumped right on it! Well, long story short, no one received their items, eBay refunded all the people’s money but they had paid him OUTSIDE of PayPal so I was stuck with about $10,000 in my name. Thankfully a month later it all worked itself out and I have learned never to trust anyone online or accept a job that seems too good to be true!

Q. How well did your first Squidoo article go? Was there a learning curve? 

A. My first Squidoo article went quite well actually, after figuring out all the text, picture, and amazon modules it looked good! But looking back now, it sure didn’t compare to my newer ones so I have revamped most of it. It has steadily stayed in Tier 1 on Squidoo for a month so I’d call it a first attempt success! 

Q. Early on did you realize you would have to do your homework/research in order to be successful on Squidoo? 

A. Oh yes! I would search all day through Squidoo lenses and ask myself “What is it that puts this article on top?” I can honestly say I found a new idea or tip about Squidoo everyday for 2 months (and currently still learning!) 

Q. You shared with me in a personal conversation that you’ve experienced a little “friction” in the forums from some of the long-standing members. Without throwing stones, why do you think that is? How do you deal with it? 

A. I think it is a superiority issue, some members have been at Squidoo for 1-5 years and think they know all the answers. I definitely respect them but learning SEO and other common internet tools isn’t very hard to figure out. I just ignore some comments because I know what I’m doing is working for me.

Q. What made you decide to try Squidoo? What obstacles did you face in terms of finding a traditional job? 

A. A huge obstacle for me in the real world is not having my own car; if I take out a car loan, I’ll be working to just pay that off. It’s just not realistic to do when I’m currently a college student with tons of student loans in the first place. I decided to join Squidoo once I read someone’s lens that kept track of their monthly earnings, boy was I impressed! I clicked the “Join Now” button within a matter of minutes!  

Q. Have you looked into any other methods of making money online?

A. Yes, I have found weegy.com that pays 20 cents per question you answer (very slow money haha!) and also paid2youtube.com where you watch or comment on a YouTube video and earn some cents. 

Q. Do you need to be a computer/IT nerd in order to be successful with Squidoo? Did you have the necessary knowledge and skills going in? 

A. This is a difficult question because we all start in the online world as newbies. It takes a lot of reading, researching, experimenting, and patience to master Squidoo. I did have a lot of prior experience dealing with HTML and website designing so it came easier to me than probably most people. I think everyone has the potential to be successful at Squidoo, it just isn’t a “get rich quick” scheme. 

Q. How much money do you expect to make with your first payday on Squidoo? (For the readers, bear in mind this is essentially residual income meaning Michelle writes an article once and is paid for her content over and over again.) 

A. Well, since September is only half over I can’t say for sure what it will be but I have calculated some money stats. For just my Amazon sales total I have over $50 pending, eBay commissions are only revealed on payday (bummer!) but I have about 100 sales so far. I also have about 8-9 lenses on the edge of Tier 1 payout which is usually around $20.00 a month each (plus infolinks ~$6). If I had to predict my first real paycheck on Squidoo I’d say it’ll be around $300-450.   

Q. What advice do you have for someone that is considering 1) making money online and 2) trying out Squidoo?

A. If I had to give one piece of advice I’d say do yourself a favor and read all the articles in the Answer Deck on Squidoo and search around for experienced member’s blogs. It may feel overwhelming at first but gradually you will catch on and hopefully become a successful lensmaster earning a monthly paycheck for the rest of your life!  

Michelle Torkelson, the Squidoo girl, is an expert at webpage designing, search engine optimizing and html coding and enjoys helping people find success in online marketing and writing. You can find out more about Michelle by visiting her Squidoo lenses at:

http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/michelle89

and learning Michelle’s Squidoo tips, tricks, and secrets via her blog at:

http://squidoogirl.com/