How to Make Money Listening to People

There are millions of people in the world who need someone who can listen to them. This isn’t some sort of get-rich-quick, motivational speaker ploy. Before I tell you about this, just know that it’s not easy, but it can be rewarding. Know that you truly must be motivated to help those who need help. Know that it can change your life and how you look at the world, for good.

I’m talking about Psychosocial (or Psychiatric) Rehabilitation. This is a job very few people really can do well. Your primary task is to listen to people and help them achieve their goals, which seems like it should be easy. Yet working with people who have been diagnosed with mental health issues takes mental strength, patience, problem-solving skills, empathy, organizational skills, communication skills, and motivational skills. If you have even one of these skills, and want to help people, read on.

Psychosocial Rehabilitation (PSR)

First, a disclaimer: If you go into this field, it’s more than likely you will have clients who, at one point or another, are suicidal. Many of your clients will be young, and suicide disproportionately affects young people. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for people ages 15-24, and the second leading cause of death for people ages 25-34. Perhaps the reason for this is that mental health is fragile for the young, who are still working on finding their identity and making their way in the world.

That being the case, be prepared to take on young clients with parents that haven’t been able to figure out how to help their kids adapt to society. There is a sense in which the parents are also your clients.

The majority of your clients will need to learn coping skills. They don’t know what to do when they feel frustrated and angry, depressed, and anxious. They’ll need to learn social skills and how to identify healthy relationships. They’ll need to learn how to organize their lives, do homework, and get jobs. They’ll need to learn how to apply what their counselor is teaching them to their everyday lives.

Here’s the great thing about this: when I was a PSR specialist, I did stuff with clients like go to the rec center after school, play Dungeons and Dragons with a community group, go to the park, make art, play music, sit in the coffee shop, play cards, and chat about life. You’re not rehabilitating clients in a boring and stifling atmosphere, you’re doing it in the real world. There are some practicalities to consider:

Education

To get a PSR job, it helps a great deal to have a BS in psychology, sociology, or social work. Psychology is the most common degree in the field. However, If you don’t have such a degree, it’s not necessarily a barrier to entry. I became a PSR specialist with an English degree.

Driving

You’re going to be doing a lot of driving. Find out ways to save money on your car. Keep track of mileage as if you’re self-employed, because plenty of agencies you’ll work for won’t reimburse you for gas. You can, however, write off fuel expenses on your taxes. You’ll have to prove your car insurance and registration are always up to date.

Paperwork

This job requires a lot of paperwork as you regularly update client treatment plans. And, in my state, every 90 days I had a to submit an application for more client hours to the insurance company.

Location and Certification

Each state differs when it comes to PSR. Some states require you to get a CPRP certification at some point in the process, either before you get the job, or after you’ve had it for a while. Look into your state’s policies on PSR.

Continuing Education

To continue working in the PSR field, you have to get continuing education units (CEUs). You can get these simply by reading qualifying materials online or by attending qualifying events your agency will tell you about.

Pay

Like the state-by-state variation for certification requirements, the rate of pay varies per agency. Check out the job listings to get a good idea.

No matter what the pay, psychosocial rehab is well worth it. You’ll work hand in hand with therapists to help people achieve their goals. Whether the goal is to make more friends, get a job, or cope with anger, you learn a great deal as you concentrate on other people’s problems and forget your own. In the end, your perspective on life grows deeper, broader, and more colorful, because you get to know some of the most interesting and genuine people on Earth.

5 Things You Should Never Do If You Want to Have a Successful Career

This post is from guest author Melissa Davidson. You can find her on Twitter @madtris

If you’re just going through the motions every day, but not fully present in your job, you’re not giving it your all. It’s time to take action.

Sometimes, taking action simply means giving up the things that no longer serve you. It’s not necessarily some major overhaul of your life.

Everyone has a different definition of success and what constitutes action. Here are five things to give up today if you want to have a successful career:

Treating Your Body Poorly

If your body really is your temple, you’re aware of what you eat and drink throughout the work day. You might notice if you eat something unhealthy, it makes you feel sluggish or sick to your stomach. Pay attention to your energy levels and only consume the foods that make you feel good.

After work, it’s common for colleagues to commiserate over drinks. While it may be fun to do Happy Hour, it’s not so fun to wake up with a hangover, or worse, getting socked with a costly DUI on the way home.

In addition to healthy eating and drinking, it’s just as important to get some exercise. Most of us sit at a computer all day and forget that going for a walk is part of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Another way to stay fit and bond with coworkers is organizing company hikes or joining a softball league.

You’re never too busy to take care of yourself. Your health is essential for a happy life.

Dulling Your Own Light

Don’t make yourself so small that no one else sees you. Every single person has something valuable to offer the world, including in the workplace.

As author Marianne Williamson said, “You playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do.”

When we let our light shine, we are also giving other people permission to do the same. Wouldn’t it be cool if we all appreciated each other and let go of the fear that’s holding us back?

Refusing to Give it Your All

If you are showing up to work and only giving the bare minimum to your job and customers, it’s a poor reflection on you. Challenge yourself every day by going above and beyond of what’s expected of you. People will notice.

Part of challenging yourself includes learning new skills, staying on top of technology, and taking on new projects. The same old way of doing business doesn’t keep you challenged and makes you appear irrelevant or stubborn.

A stellar career doesn’t just happen. Be the best you and it will pay off down the road.

Failing to Look Ahead

No matter how stable your job is, you should keep your resume accurate and updated. You never know what the future holds. Setting goals and planning ahead can keep you excited about the future and prevent current job stagnation.

Keep your eye out for that “dream job,” check job openings, network and make a five-year plan. However, there’s also nothing wrong with living in the moment because you don’t want life to pass you by if you’re looking too far ahead. Think of it like the eclipse on Aug. 21. If you’re busy taking photos and have your nose buried in your phone because you want to preserve the moment, you’re missing out on the real live once-in-a-lifetime event.

Gossiping and Blaming

Nobody likes a gossip. It’s unprofessional and catty. Everyone probably says things about other people behind their backs at some point or talks about the company in a negative light, but if the habit continues, you could get fired. Stop the gossip mongering by not engaging or just walking away from the conversation. How self aware are you on this issue?

Blaming others is another common tactic at work to appear as the victim. These people blame everyone but themselves and fail to take accountability for their own actions. They may feel cornered when they are caught doing something they shouldn’t, or blame someone else for missing their deadline or blame the boss for having it out for them. These type of people don’t take control of their own situation and think everyone is out to get them.

Negative behaviors, such as blaming others and gossiping, don’t necessary mean you’re a bad person, but they will reflect poorly on you if you keep it up —  and may even cost you your job.

The secret to a successful career is all the little things that have a cumulative effect. Making a commitment to overcoming bad habit or weaknesses, setting goals, and improving yourself no matter what your position in the company is will lead you down the right path.

Why a Degree in Cybersecurity Is So Valuable

This post is from guest author Daphne Stanford. Daphne is a DJ for Radio Boise. She writes poetry, nonfiction, and lyric essays. Other ways she enjoys spending her time include hiking, piano, singing at inappropriate times, and good conversation with friends & family. Follow her on Twitter.

Cybersecurity is a field that is dramatically understaffed, and the problem is growing by the minute. You should consider a career in cybersecurity because the number of job openings is nearly two to one, there is a variety of diverse industry opportunities, and future technology is only projected to need more experts in the internet of things (IoT), wearables, apps, smart homes, and user experience (UX). Moreover, if you happen to be a woman, you could help change that gloomy 11 percent industry statistic that just won’t go away.

Here are a few future trends in the cybersecurity industry, as well as reasons to get involved at the professional level.

  • Career Prospects in Cybersecurity

The first and most obvious reason why those interested in the tech industry should consider specializing in cybersecurity is the glaring industry shortages that only continue to increase. Specialized academic preparation like a BS in cyber and network security would be wise considering employment of information security analysts is projected to increase 18 percent by 2024, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

To give you a better sense of the scope of the problem, the Palo Alto Research Center reports that, by 2019, the demand for cybersecurity professionals will increase to approximately 6 million globally.” And women, if you want to be a force contributing to the reversal of dismal gender statistics in the tech world, the positive correlation between more women in executive positions—as well as throughout the company—and better company performance and ROI has been demonstrated.

However, as with any industry, it’s not as simple as earning a few credentials and then scoring a sweet gig in Silicon Valley making 90K right away. As Keirsten Brager explains, you’ll need to network, join industry associations, get involved with open source projects, and share your knowledge via online portfolios that demonstrate concrete, real-world experience. Moreover, Brager writes, “Talent shortages are regional and product specific. You have to understand your local job market and skill up accordingly.”

  • Diverse Industry Needs & Global Security Risks

The data security risks across multiple industries and fields are well-documented and only increasing from year to year. Furthermore, many global business concerns stem from internal lapses in education on the best policies and procedures in risk assessment. Major data security risks include internal data protection and insecure fax machines or email servers. Solutions include employee training and development sessions, cloud faxing options, email encryption, and secure file exchange platforms. The creation of basic security policies and procedures, as well as better communication between IT, security, and other departments, would also help.

Let’s take one of the items on that list that is probably utilized more often than any other: email. According to Digital Trends, “Email was not designed with any privacy or security in mind.” That fact in and of itself should strike fear into the heart of most CIOs. However, it’s good to be aware of such weak points, since awareness is the first step toward increased security. As Cesar Cerrudo writes, there is “…[A] lack of knowledge and awareness about the importance of cybersecurity. Some companies don’t care … while others care but don’t know what to do or how to do it.” This lack of understanding and urgency, coupled with the speed of new technology acquisition, is only compounding the problem.

Moreover, in addition to cyber criminals and hackers, now there are potential hacktivists, cyber terrorists, and nation states to worry about. Cerrudo points out the need for businesses and cybersecurity professionals to work together on a global level to change the precariousness of the situation. One area of particular concern is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which explicitly protects electronic health records (EHRs) and medical data. More industries outside of tech and healthcare must get onboard the information security bandwagon, however, before it’s too late. This may mean an increase of internal training in risk assessment, specific cybersecurity applications and software, or a diversion from standard HR recruitment conventions that focus too heavily on ROI and industry experience and too little on employee training and advancement.

  • Current & Future Technology

Smart homes, wearable technology, artificial intelligence (AI), and IoT have made quite the proverbial splash in the tech world, as of late. They will only continue to do so in the cyber and information security sector, as well. According to Dan Tynan, AI may be the key to our impending cyber security crisis. Since machines can identify potential threats more easily than humans, they may become integral to the information security field—provided the data used to train them is solid, as well. That kind of stability requires—again—good communication between various players in IT departments, as well as increased awareness of the need for more uniform federal security regulations and built-in security measures in devices such as smart appliances and apps for wearable technology.

To return to Cerrudo’s points on the matter, there are already a large number of IoT-connected devices on the global market, and “…By 2020 there will be 200 billion connected things.” His list of demonstrated vulnerabilities is long, but it includes cars, smart home alarm systems, pacemakers, power grids, dams, mobile banking apps, and smart city traffic systems. The potential confidentiality problems are extensive, and they are only projected to continue—especially if internal security controls are not improved from the get-go—rather than externally added-on later, as an afterthought. Furthermore, if you’re not interested in the private sector, the need for cybersecurity professionals in the government and national security sector will always be strong, as well.

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The need for cybersecurity experts and information security professionals is dire, and the demand is looming. Will you answer the call? Add your thoughts to the comments section below!

Millennials: Use Your Experience with Technology to Make Good Money

This post is from guest author Daphne Stanford. Daphne is a DJ for Radio Boise. She writes poetry, nonfiction, and lyric essays. Other ways she enjoys spending her time include hiking, piano, singing at inappropriate times, and good conversation with friends & family. Follow her on Twitter.

Millennials are transforming communication in the workplace by altering the nature of what is considered typical—typical office environment or remote working location—as well as altering the extent to which technology is becoming an integral part of a typical company’s workday. The flow of meetings, instant messaging, editing, and collaboration are becoming faster and more digitally connected in nature.

Read on to learn about a few ways you can utilize your experience with technology to advance your career—whether it be in the for-profit business world, government, or the nonprofit sector.

Technology Equals Opportunity

Due to the necessity that practically every industry these days—from manufacturing and retail to finance to nonprofit and government sectors—has an online presence, the ability to be well-versed with platforms such as WordPress, Slack, Skype, and Google Docs is essential. Moreover, the typical workplace is rapidly changing, and it’s due, in part, to millennials.

This oft-maligned generation’s fondness for technology and collaboration are fundamentally changing the way we communicate, in the workplace. Whether it be through team communication platforms like Slack or via video conferencing, the increasing speed and preference for convenience is spurring greater levels of motivation—as well as innovation. Tools like video conferencing are critical, allowing participants to feel more prepared and engaged than traditional phone conferencing.

Moreover, according to Elizabeth Dukes, millennials value technology over flexibility—often since smart offices naturally foster more flexible work environments. In fact, Dukes cites a study finding that 60 percent of millennials would feel more productive at home than in a traditional office setting. This enthusiasm for flexibility comes with a caveat, however: personal connections are also placed at a high premium by many younger employees.

Workplace Communication

A new study by business communications provider Fuze found that 69 percent of 15-18 year olds believe it’s important to meet people face to face if you work with them, suggesting that a sense of community and well-structured goals and guidelines are also crucial to motivating employees to work together as part of a successful team. Perhaps the influence of the instant communication, social media, and news-driven culture is part of the reason why it’s so crucial that employers provide consistency in communication and fairly regular check-ins via chats, conference calls, or meetings.

A recent Gallup study seems to back up this theory, finding that 44 percent of millennials who have regular meetings with supervisors feel engaged, and thus happier in the workplace, allowing them to concentrate on developing their roles at their current place of work, rather than looking for new positions with companies offering more advanced technology, in the workplace. This finding also finds, again, that millennials value a structured work environment with key objectives and goals explained clearly and directly—rather than the loose, unstructured environment perhaps more valued by Gen Xers and baby boomers.

If you’re eventually interested in an entrepreneurial or management position, practice your remote communication skills on a regular basis and implement them into your life philosophy, as well. Janet Friday, Director of Environmental Sustainability at Merck and Marylhurst University MBA graduate, argues for the benefit of remote work for both business and the environment: “Remote work offers several benefits—for both the business and for the environment… Because I am not commuting to an office on those days, I avoid having to drive my car (lower emissions) and I have more time to devote to my work activities.”

Continuing Education & Business Sectors

If you’re interested in management but also interested in a career in nonprofit administration, public policy, or government, you may want to look into Master’s level public administration or public policy programs. Increasingly, graduate level MPA programs are beginning to offer different attendance options ranging from part-time to full-time. For working professionals who don’t happen to live in the same area of the country, some have fully online options as well.

This kind of convenience is also highly appreciated by students living outside the college’s metro area who would prefer not to have to make the long commute to the city. By taking classes online, students are able to save both time and money. In addition, numerous programs—Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, for example—now offer dual-degree programs like MPA/MBA or JD/MPA programs that take three years, instead of four.

Furthermore, experience with private sector business can lead to roles in government, public policy administration, or nonprofit management. The possibilities are endless and many overlap in fields like healthcare, public communication, and public policy. You might specialize in environmental law and work as an administrator or grant writer for a nonprofit sustainability group, for example; or you might want to become an entrepreneur and focus on developing an app to address a gap in the healthcare app market.

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The future of work is connected, flexible, and operates at hyper-speed. How do you plan to take advantage of this brave new world? Share your thoughts about how you plan to contribute or utilize your knowledge to change the next generation in the comments section, below.

Young Entrepreneur’s Guide to Credit Cards, Part 2

In part 1, I discussed setting up your business to do e-commerce and accepting credit card payments. In this installment, I’ll discuss personal and business credit cards for the young entrepreneur.

For some, “credit card” is like a bad word. For the young entrepreneur, it’s a necessity. Without a credit card, you have to siphon personal spending money directly from your business the minute you make a profit. Yet, at the outset, profit can be hard to come by. I’m not advocating for you to go into debt. I’m saying that using credit cards the smart way can help keep your head above water as you navigate the beginnings of a business.

Personal Credit Card Versus Business Credit Card

Some solid advice from Entrepreneur Magazine: “If you think you won’t be able to pay off purchases in a single billing period, it might be better to charge them on the personal plastic, rather than a business card.”

Business cards come with incredibly high interest rates, and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation found that every $1,000 of credit card debt your business accrues will make you 2 percent more likely to fail.

In other words, take on $10,000 in debt, and your chances of failure are 20 percent higher than they would have been otherwise. And that’s just due to credit card debt alone. There are countless other issues that can throw a wrench in the works, such as staffing issues, ineffective marketing, and inventory problems.

For the most part, keep business expenses and personal expenses separate when you’re paying with credit cards. But think hard about whether you should burden your business credit with expenses over a certain amount.

Establish a set baseline figure you can afford to put on the business card—it should not exceed revenue. Fill out a cash flow statement. Look at projected expenses, revenue and profits, and charge basic expenses on the business card. Then, charge additional expenses onto your personal card. If you can’t pay it off right away, your creditor can’t raise the interest rate like they can with a business card.

Consider tried-and-true methods of stacking savings—for you, the number one piece of advice here is to use a cashback credit card.

You won’t be able to get a cashback credit card unless your credit is good enough as is. Once you’re able to get one, use business profits, your own savings, as well as investor funds to pay off the card immediately. Try to pay your entire balance each month. You’ll make extra money that can go right back into the business. And you’ll build your own credit.

Building Business Credit

Your own credit score is extremely pertinent to your business credit. Before you even begin looking for a business credit card, check your FICO score and dispute any claims you think may be in error. Next, review your options for your business credit card.

Noobpreneur points out that the best option may not come from a major company. Rather, talk to the bank you’re using for your merchant account. They may be able to offer you a card more tailored to your specific business needs, and since they want to be competitive, they could give you a better interest rate.

Think about the nature of your business. If a lot of travel is involved, look for a card that earns you frequent flyer miles. If you’re confident you can pay off the card at the end of the month, find a rewards card, even if it has a higher interest rate. This is a gamble, but those rewards can really pay off. Ignoring them is one of the big mistakes small businesses make with credit cards.

Another mistake is paying interest. Again, if you can’t pay in full or miss payments, your credit issuer can immediately raise interest rates. But your credit issuer may initially give you a deal in which you pay no interest on purchases and balance transfers. For the new entrepreneur, it’s a wise idea to take advantage of those offers.

Make sure to protect your business against fraud by keeping your financial docs in a safe place, and only allow your most trusted employees access to the card for business expenses. Monitor the account and make sure no large, unfamiliar charges pop up, and be careful when you’re exchanging any sort of financial info with clients.

Watch your cash flow carefully and only charge what you can afford to the business card. Regular payment will build your business credit.

At the outset, do your best not to rack up credit card debt. Use any other means you can to finance your business. Small business loans are more forgiving than credit card debt, and your friends, family, investors, and personal savings are better sources of funding than credit cards. Once your business is on stable footing and you have good data to plug into your cash flow doc, you’ll be able to reasonably predict expenses, revenue, and profits. Then, make smart charges to your business credit card as you continue building credit.

Young Entrepreneur’s Guide to Credit Cards, Part 1

As an aspiring entrepreneur, you have your sights set on pursuing your passion, competing with the best entrepreneurs in your niche, and earning enough to take care of yourself and the ones you love. But there’s a basic fact you may be overlooking: to be a great entrepreneur you must be good with finances.

At the outset, you can’t afford a financial adviser. The entrepreneur who masters finances on her own has more money to put into the business, therefore she gets more out of it. As the saying goes, you have to spend money to make money. Is that necessarily true? Well, now this thing called credit enables entrepreneurship. If you use credit correctly and run your business well, you can spend other people’s money to make money. This guide will help you understand how to do just that. Let’s start with making money through credit payments online.

E-Commerce and Credit Card Payments

E-commerce isn’t a buzzword and it’s not something only big corporations like Amazon do. The first quarter of 2017 saw e-commerce sales makeup 8.5 percent of the retail market. Given the fact that e-commerce has only been a thing since 1994, that number is huge. And that’s just the retail market; all sorts of e-commerce comes in the form of subscribing to software-as-a-service, buying white papers, and paying to access scientific research.

So, as a young entrepreneur you can either setup your e-commerce site on a hosted platform or choose the self-hosted option. One primary difference between a hosted platform and a self-hosted platform is that the latter allows for more customization. A hosted platform, however, will include built-in best practices.

One of the best practices is to accept credit card payments. This may seem like a no-brainer to you, but there are some things to understand about ecommerce credit card processing:

  • Open a merchant account: You must have a merchant account setup with a bank to accept credit card payments on your website

– If you have good credit and can pass a risk assessment, a dedicated merchant account will allow you to  set your own sales rates

– A third party account through Paypal or Square is easier to establish and works great for small businesses

  • Choose a secure payment gateway: This is the form through which the customer inputs payment

– The platform you use for your e-commerce site will help you determine which payment gateway to use

– Pick a payment gateway that has a plug-in for the platform you’re using; this will make it easier to setup

  • Know you’ll deal with a processor: The payment processor handles the transaction between your payment gateway and the banks involved, including your bank and the customer’s credit issuer
  • Know about fees: There are processor fees, interchange fees from credit card organizations, and possibly monthly service charges from your gateway service; pay close attention to fees involved and compare rates

Seems like a lot to think about, right? It’s worth it, because so many people use credit cards. Without accepting them, you won’t compete with all the other e-commerce sites.

There’s one gigantic issue with setting up an e-commerce site, accepting credit cards, and doing your best to steer customers to your business: security. Basically, you’ll be accumulating data when you’re operating an e-commerce site. The accumulation of data brings security risks with it.

You’ll need to do marketing to direct people to your site. The majority of effective web marketing involves analyzing your target audience’s data as well as that of your customers. You need a place to house these data, and it’s typically the cloud. What’s more, there’s all manner of data related to your internal operations. These data are a byproduct of e-commerce, just like the records you would create when running a brick-and-mortar operation. Since there’s not a lot of room on hard drives, a lot of your business data will end up on the cloud, which is a burgeoning business itself. Whether it’s on the cloud or on hard drives, the data is vulnerable.

Be careful—as you operate in the light on the World Wide Web, the dark web is there, with its huge contingent of hackers and bad actors. Basically, as people are making payments on your site and you’re collecting data, hackers operating on the dark web can tap in and steal data. They can also steal your internal data. They’re so sneaky, the average data breach takes over 200 days to detect. A third party discovers about 85 percent of breaches.

That’s why it’s very important to prioritize security. You can earn a great deal more money by taking credit payments, but there’s more to lose from threats such as ransomware and other types of malware. Do your best to keep all software up to date, and use a best-in-class data security solution to make sure you don’t fall prey to hackers.

In the next installment, I’ll talk about entrepreneurship, business credit cards, and personal credit cards.

Save money on your first small business brick and mortar location

Starting a small business? Real estate will be one of your biggest expenses. Unless you’re committed to doing nothing but ecommerce, there’s no escaping the difficulty of finding just the right location at a price you can afford. Particularly if you’re planning on starting something like a coffee shop, a type of business highly dependent on accessibility, your location is the difference between success and failure.

Getting started

First, you’ve got to determine where the money for your new location is going to come from. Just like The Lenders Network connects homebuyers to lenders, the SBA page on loans and grants is a tool for connecting entrepreneurs to a lender. But loans come at a price. You’ll have to pay the mortgage on your loan, so when all is said and done, you’ll pay more than the actual value of the real estate.

To avoid costly mortgage rates, start with crowdfunding. Indiegogo only charges 4% if you meet your goal, a much smaller amount than you’ll end up paying with a mortgage. Kickstarter allows you to crowdfund the creation of a product–if it takes a brick and mortar location to create that product, acquiring one is part of your campaign. Rockethub bills itself as “The leading global community for entrepreneurs”, with the “Elequity” funding hub as a starting point to guide you through the funding process. Peerbackers also specializes in entrepreneurial and small business funding, with its Crowdfunding Academy there to help educate you on how best to go about crowdfunding your business.

Maximizing your space for sustainability

Once you’ve procured funding to get going, choosing the right location is your next step. In terms of saving money, it pays to think about sustainability.

Have you looked into sustainable commercial real estate? Green buildings can save you up to 20% on utilities alone. If the building isn’t up to sustainability standards, according to Marylhurst University there are income tax credits, rebates, grants, and property tax abatements  “for everything from solar installation projects to interior energy retrofits of commercial buildings”.

If property values on sustainable buildings in your area are too high, the smart route is to identify a building in a good location that hasn’t been updated. Then, determine the price of green renovations and add it to the cost of the building. Next, research the federal, state, and local incentives for installing things like solar panels, double-pane windows, and high quality insulation. Subtract the estimated dollar amount of incentive kickbacks from your first figure, which was the cost of the lease combined with the cost of green renovations. Finally, compare that number with the price of buildings that are already updated for sustainability.

In the long run, you’ll only save money from updated, eco-friendly real estate, because you’ll save on utilities and repairs. You can also use your investment in sustainability as part of your branding, with environmental stewardship as a cornerstone of your business.

Incentives and practical considerations

Incentives don’t just come from modernizing a space for sustainability. Have you ever considered relocating to a different city? In terms of finding the absolute best location for your small business, there are cities such as Chicago that offer grants, loans, fee waivers, tax reductions and land-write downs in exchange for job creation. Do your research on areas where your product is needed, look into state and city incentives, and then consult with the local Small Business Development Center. If you’re willing to relocate beyond the US, consider global hotspots for entrepreneurship, such as Berlin, Tel-Aviv, and London.

Quickbooks points out, “The cheapest choice isn’t always the right choice.” Look for an area with plenty of traffic from your target customers. Be aware of how much competition there is in the area, too. The more competition, the less visibility you’ll have. However, if you find a key price point on which you can undercut competitors, and you have a unique brand, take the risky location with a reasonable price.

When it comes to relocating, some states have lower minimum wage than others. Research minimum wage along with the economic environment of prospective states, and plan accordingly.

In some states, you’ll have multiple power companies to choose from. Find the one with the best rates and be aware of whether they have additional charges during peak hours of use. Large spaces cost more to heat and cool. Don’t get a bigger space than you need. Reserve about 80% of the space for retail, and use low cost rental space for any additional storage, distribution, and offices.

As far as janitorial and maintenance costs, DIY is the cheapest. Another option is to use an app such as TaskRabbit, which connects you to inexpensive and reliable freelance janitors and maintenance personnel.

You’ll need liability insurance in case anyone gets hurt in your store, so use a broker to look hard for the insurance provider with the best rates.

Ultimately, the smart decision on your first location is finding the balance between price and location. A great location with lots of traffic will pay for itself. But if you don’t have a ton of funds at the outset, and don’t want to rack up lots of debt, look for the space with a decent price in a decent area, and work hard at marketing and branding to make customers come to you.

How to Make Money from Your Photography

This post is by guest author Amethyst Tagney. Amethyst spends her time writing on a variety of topics. She is an avid learner and loves to share what she discovers. You can find her @AmTagWrites

Snapping a picture can be easy. Selling that picture can be less so. As a photographer, breaking into the field takes a mixture of talent, connections, and luck.

With any profession in the arts, it takes an incredible amount of work to be successful, let alone make money. However, if you know the right steps to take, it can be as easy as saying, “Cheese!”

Find Your Niche

Sometimes it’s smiled upon to be good at everything. This is not the case, though, when it comes to making money in photography. If you’re aiming for success in your career as a photographer, pick one thing that you love to take photos of and become really good at that.

So, if portraiture is your thing, then take portraits. If fashion is your calling, then take fashion photos. You can even be successful with photobooths if that is the route you want to take.

Potential clients will not be thrilled to look at a portfolio that is all over the place genre-wise when they are specifically looking for a wedding photographer. The key is to tailor your collection of work around a specific client, so that when they see your photographs, they know exactly what they’re getting into.

Get the Right Equipment

Once you figure out what genre to focus on, it’s time to acquire the camera — but not just any camera. Acquiring the right camera gear is essential to a successful photography business. The type of equipment you will need will be different depending on what kind of photography you are practicing.

You would not need the same equipment for landscape photography as you would for war photography. Make sure to take the time to research what specific needs the genre of photography you have chosen will have and what equipment will fill those needs. Another option to consider is renting the gear you need if purchasing it yourself is not feasible at the time.

Make an Eye-Catching Portfolio

So you have the equipment and you know what pictures to take. Now comes the fun part: putting together your portfolio. There are many tips on how to build a better portfolio, but here are a few to get you started.

First of all, make sure to show variety. Not in genre, but in lighting, camera angles, and subjects within your chosen niche. The number one thing you do not want your client to be is bored when flipping through your photos.

However, keep the size and orientation of the photographs the same. You will also want your portfolio to start strong and end strong. Do not include pictures you are less than happy with. Chances are potential clients will be less than happy as well.

Lastly, make sure you print your photo book. Clients are looking to buy physical prints from you, so it only makes sense to show them something they can physically touch and see. This will also give them a better idea of what the finished product will look like.

Be Social on Social Media

Social media is one of the most important things you can get involved in as a photographer. You need an online presence that people can find so that your photos and services can be found as well. You also need an overarching website that connects with all the social media platforms you’re active on.

In this digital age, it’s essential to be online where your clients will be. Social media is also a great way to network with other professionals and potential clients, as freelance photographer Ashley Grant would tell you. Forming these connections is crucial to your ultimate success as a photographer.

Consider investing some time in starting a blog as well. When you make content that is useful and relevant to your clients, they will most likely follow you and use you for current or future projects.

Let’s Make Some Money

Now, what you’ve all been waiting for: it’s time to make some money! There are many different avenues you can take when it comes to selling your photographs and services. Some ways to earn money as a photographer include:

  • Selling prints at art fairs, local businesses, galleries or on online stores.
  • Entering contests to not only receive validation and potentially informative critiques, but also a nice sum of money if you win.
  • Becoming an assistant for an already established photographer. More often than not, they can use the extra help with coverage over large events such as weddings. In exchange, you get much needed experience and a paycheck too.
  • Licensing your images as stock photos. Let your photos make the money for you as multiple people can pay to use a single image over and over again.

Always Continue to Learn

It’s a dangerous place to be when you think there’s nothing else for you to learn. Photography, like any artistic pursuit, is always changing. Better technology is always coming out, and if you stay in one place for very long, more ambitious photographers will pass you by — along with your clients.

Although some older techniques and methods are still used for more artistic reasons, if you want to stay in business as a photographer, you need to keep up with new advancements in your medium. This applies as well to photo editing software. If you don’t know what Photoshop is, you need to.

Taking Photoshop classes, along with classes in any other software you’re unfamiliar with, is essential to making your photographs the best they can possibly be. These programs are always being updated with new features and tools to improve your photos, so now is the time to learn all you can.

It takes a certain focus to be a photographer — even more so if you want to make money from it. However, things become more clear when you zoom in on the things that matter most in your career. It’s important to know what you want to specialize in and get the right gear for it.

Then you’ll be better equipped to make a prize winning portfolio that can be shared on your website and social media accounts. This will make receiving money from your photos much easier, especially if you keep on top of the learning curve. If you follow this guide and put in the effort, your career as a photographer will have a better chance of being picture perfect.

Snapping a picture can be easy. Selling that picture can be less so. As a photographer, breaking into the field takes a mixture of talent, connections, and luck.

With any profession in the arts, it takes an incredible amount of work to be successful, let alone make money. However, if you know the right steps to take, it can be as easy as saying, “Cheese!”

Find Your Niche

Sometimes it’s smiled upon to be good at everything. This is not the case, though, when it comes to making money in photography. If you’re aiming for success in your career as a photographer, pick one thing that you love to take photos of and become really good at that.

So, if portraiture is your thing, then take portraits. If fashion is your calling, then take fashion photos. You can even be successful with photobooths if that is the route you want to take.

Potential clients will not be thrilled to look at a portfolio that is all over the place genre-wise when they are specifically looking for a wedding photographer. The key is to tailor your collection of work around a specific client, so that when they see your photographs, they know exactly what they’re getting into.

Get the Right Equipment

Once you figure out what genre to focus on, it’s time to acquire the camera — but not just any camera. Acquiring the right camera gear is essential to a successful photography business. The type of equipment you will need will be different depending on what kind of photography you are practicing.

You would not need the same equipment for landscape photography as you would for war photography. Make sure to take the time to research what specific needs the genre of photography you have chosen will have and what equipment will fill those needs. Another option to consider is renting the gear you need if purchasing it yourself is not feasible at the time.

Make an Eye-Catching Portfolio

So you have the equipment and you know what pictures to take. Now comes the fun part: putting together your portfolio. There are many tips on how to build a better portfolio, but here are a few to get you started.

First of all, make sure to show variety. Not in genre, but in lighting, camera angles, and subjects within your chosen niche. The number one thing you do not want your client to be is bored when flipping through your photos.

However, keep the size and orientation of the photographs the same. You will also want your portfolio to start strong and end strong. Do not include pictures you are less than happy with. Chances are potential clients will be less than happy as well.

Lastly, make sure you print your photo book. Clients are looking to buy physical prints from you, so it only makes sense to show them something they can physically touch and see. This will also give them a better idea of what the finished product will look like.

Be Social on Social Media

Social media is one of the most important things you can get involved in as a photographer. You need an online presence that people can find so that your photos and services can be found as well. You also need an overarching website that connects with all the social media platforms you’re active on.

In this digital age, it’s essential to be online where your clients will be. Social media is also a great way to network with other professionals and potential clients, as freelance photographer Ashley Grant would tell you. Forming these connections is crucial to your ultimate success as a photographer.

Consider investing some time in starting a blog as well. When you make content that is useful and relevant to your clients, they will most likely follow you and use you for current or future projects.

Let’s Make Some Money

Now, what you’ve all been waiting for: it’s time to make some money! There are many different avenues you can take when it comes to selling your photographs and services. Some ways to earn money as a photographer include:

  • Selling prints at art fairs, local businesses, galleries or on online stores.
  • Entering contests to not only receive validation and potentially informative critiques, but also a nice sum of money if you win.
  • Becoming an assistant for an already established photographer. More often than not, they can use the extra help with coverage over large events such as weddings. In exchange, you get much needed experience and a paycheck too.
  • Licensing your images as stock photos. Let your photos make the money for you as multiple people can pay to use a single image over and over again.

Always Continue Learning

It’s a dangerous place to be when you think there’s nothing else for you to learn. Photography, like any artistic pursuit, is always changing. Better technology is always coming out, and if you stay in one place for very long, more ambitious photographers will pass you by — along with your clients.

Although some older techniques and methods are still used for more artistic reasons, if you want to stay in business as a photographer, you need to keep up with new advancements in your medium. This applies as well to photo editing software. If you don’t know what Photoshop is, you need to.

Taking Photoshop classes, along with classes in any other software you’re unfamiliar with, is essential to making your photographs the best they can possibly be. These programs are always being updated with new features and tools to improve your photos, so now is the time to learn all you can.

It takes a certain focus to be a photographer — even more so if you want to make money from it. However, things become more clear when you zoom in on the things that matter most in your career. It’s important to know what you want to specialize in and get the right gear for it.

Then you’ll be better equipped to make a prize winning portfolio that can be shared on your website and social media accounts. This will make receiving money from your photos much easier, especially if you keep on top of the learning curve. If you follow this guide and put in the effort, your career as a photographer will have a better chance of being picture perfect.

How to Make Change a Positive Experience for Your Millennial Employeesz

Starting your own business? You’ll need to hire and retain some excellent talent. Millennials are highly trained and skilled, and they’re ready to join your workforce. Yet, at work 71% of millennials are not engaged, and 47% will switch jobs if this doesn’t improve.z

As the millennial generation begins to mature and make career inroads, observers keep noting a salient trend: these young people change jobs a lot. Good employers are eager to buck the attrition trend and invest much-needed retention efforts in valuable millennial employees. But why do us millennials jump from job to job so often to begin with?

There’s a lot of competition for our talent. And, there are constant, often abrupt changes happening. Companies get bought out, they grow in leaps and bounds, they alter direction, or they dwindle and suddenly die. In today’s business world, change is the only constant.

You must find strength in change and help employees view developments in a positive light, even if they’re negative. This starts with management.

Empower Managers

According to Terry Petracca, an HR expert from MEL, managers are the number one reason employees leave organizations. This applies big-time to situations of company upheaval and change. Petracca believes authenticity is the number one way for managers to establish a relationship of trust with employees. She says, “A manager needs their employees to believe them because they’re the gatekeeper for truth and knowledge about the company.”

In order for a manager to be authentic, in order for a manager to impart “truth and knowledge” to employees during a time of change, you must empower your managers:

  • Encourage transparency
  • Regularly brief managers with all the facts and bottom line information that affects change
  • Reinforce and encourage their leadership abilities
  • Give them a voice throughout the transitional process, seriously consider their suggestions and act on them whenever possible

Although change is inevitable, losing employees isn’t. Employees value honesty and rapport with you and your managers. Managers are particularly close to employees during day-to-day operations. When they build strong rapport with employees through honesty and communication, employees are less likely to leave. The manager effectively leads them through change as it happens.

Encourage Stress Management

When you’re under a ton of stress due to transition, it can be hard to recognize employees are too. The weight feels like it’s all on you. For anyone, stress triggers a fight or flight response. For employees who aren’t as rooted in the business as you are, it’s easier to quit when stress gets overwhelming. Ignore the fact that employees are stressed, and risk losing employees—and that includes managers.

Coach employees on stress relief tactics; doing so will acknowledge and validate their feelings. They probably know these tactics already, but a quick refresher on the following stress relief techniques will provide everyone with a welcome moment of levity:

  • Listen to music: Listening to relaxing music can lower blood pressure and reduce the release of cortisol, a chemical related to stress
  • Talk to a friend: In and out of the workplace, communicating with someone about stressors really puts things in perspective
  • Coach yourself through it: The most successful individuals know the value of positive self-talk
  • Eat a healthy diet: Foods with high Omega-3 content, such as fish, can help reduce stress symptoms
  • Get humorous: Laughter releases endorphins and minimizes release of cortisol and adrenaline
  • Drink green tea instead of coffee: While coffee increases adrenaline, green tea has an amino acid called theanine, which has a calming effect
  • Practice mindfulness: This is the act of paying attention to one’s senses, thoughts, and surroundings (more on this important one later)
  • Get exercise: Exercise also releases endorphins and relieves stress
  • Get plenty of sleep: Seven to eight hours
  • Do breathing exercises: Deep breathing oxygenates your blood and increases calm

The more you care for the psychological state of your employees under stress, the more likely they are to stick with you. Mindfulness can even improve performance under stress.

Psychologist Ellen Langer has been studying mindfulness for 40 years. She says, “If everyone is working in the same context and is fully present, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t get a superior coordinated performance.” She lists improvements in attention, creativity, interpersonal relationships, and stress management as benefits of mindfulness. “Question the belief that you’re the only one who can do it, that there’s only one way to do it, and that the company will collapse if you don’t do it. When you open your views to be mindful, the stress just dissipates.”

Know Best Practices

https://youtu.be/wL85lL5Z-zg

Langer’s advice on mindfulness can truly guide the entire change management process. Because each company is unique, there is no single set of rules or practices guaranteed to be best for your situation. Context determines the way to manage change. Yet, rules do provide guideposts. Being aware of them is like being a musician who masters the basics to enable improvisation and innovation.

Change management best practices make sense—after all, this is about initiating change as well as letting it happen:

  • Change from the top down: As a leader, take a proactive role in delineating how change will take place and who will be on the change management team
  • Pay attention to timing: You may feel a big shakeup is necessary, but can your company handle it all at once? Is right now the best time? What’s a realistic timeline to mitigate risk?
  • Communicate, communicate, communicate: Facilitate communication routinely the whole way through, and disclose technical details to management
  • Pay attention to process: Watch the extent to which various stakeholders in the process need differing levels of assistance and resources, and solicit feedback
  • Plan on disruption: Even when everything seems in place for a transition to go off without a hitch, the theme here is that change is constant; prepare for things not to go as planned, and pinpoint areas where problems may arise

There are a lot of variables that leave room for disruption, such as problems or advances in technology, budget issues, compliance with local and state statutes, personnel losses, etc. Leave room for flexibility. At the same time, with best practices you’re maintaining the framework and order within which disruption and stress are good things.

You want change. You want problems. Without them you don’t improve, you remain stagnant and your employees move onto bigger and better things. Be mindful of change management strategy, and watch your employees flourish as your business does as well.

The Pros, Cons, and In-betweens of Starting Your Own Business

A black and white world doesn’t exist. If I were to tell you, “There’s absolutely no downside to starting your own business”, I would be be wrong. Rather, starting your own enterprise involves entering a world of complexity you’ve only glimpsed from the outskirts.

The good news: about one-third of new businesses survive 10 years or longer, while about half survive five years or longer. If you’re really in this for the long-term and are ready to go all out, you stand a good chance of sticking around. If you’re not, you stand a good chance of being among the two-thirds who fail.

Pros

  • There’s a lot of assistance available: Simply Google “How to start a business” and there’s a wealth of information. The Small Business Association offers a ton of resources, and you can attend conferences, or other meetups; for an example of the type of info available, check out my article about saving money on internet marketing.
  • There are a ton of options: For one, the possibility of e-commerce opens up a world in which all you need is a product and a website. If you don’t have your own product, there are organizations like Amway that supply products for you to sell. The Amway model is called “Direct Selling”, it typically provides a supplemental option for aspiring entrepreneurs. Three million people worldwide are Amway “Independent Business Owners”, and the direct selling model—in general, not just Amway’s—brought in $36.12 billion in 2015.
  • You can do what you want: What you do with your business is only limited by your own ambition. If you want to keep it small, keep it small. If you want to go big, do your best to appeal to a wider and wider audience.
  • You can offer true personalization: You are the shop-next-door, the equivalent of today’s mom-and-pop operation, the underdog, the face of what has made America great from the get-go. You can get to know your customers face-to-face, learn their names, what they like, what their friends like, and, ultimately, what your target audience wants and needs.
  • You can end your job search: Young adults ages 20-28 change careers an average of seven times before arriving where they want to be; start a business doing something you really want to do, and stop the vicious cycle of looking for a new job and being dissatisfied with what you find.

In-betweens

  • There’s a lot of responsibility: Some people thrive on responsibility and love it, while for others the level of responsibility involved in starting a business is just too much. Before starting a business, evaluate what type of person you are and ask yourself if you’re willing to invest your entire life in it.
  • There’s a ton of competition: On one hand, the many advanced, ravenous competitors make it tough to gain an advantage; on the other, competition is good for business because your competitors will push you to be better.
  • You can’t just sit there and focus on product: If your offering is all you’re passionate about, this can be a difficult truth to recognize: a great deal of your success will depend on marketing and branding, networking with other business owners, maintaining inventory and keeping air-tight books. This is why it’s important to raise funds for hiring consultants and specialists, but nothing beats learning how to do everything yourself.

Cons

  • People try to take advantage of you: The more your business grows, the more you’ll be on the radar of other businesses and individuals who will try to take advantage of you in one way or another—and there’s simply no escaping the fact that there are bad actors in the world. Beware, do your homework, and don’t go into business with anyone unless they’re squeaky clean. Make sure their proposition is legitimate in terms of how you’ll come out on the other end.
  • You can end up being out-of-touch, overconfident, or overly-stressed: Of course, this won’t necessarily happen, but single-mindedness can be the result of overzealous pursuit. Out of Forbes’ reasons why businesses fail, a big one is leadership failure. The other reasons, such as failure to properly communicate a value proposition, stem from the owner being disconnected from the people upon which the business depends.
  • It’s about nothing but money: In the beginning, making good money was going to be a byproduct, not the end-all-be-all, because you were passionate about people and ideas, not just money; don’t let dollar signs become your only reason for doing business. Those bad actors I talked about earlier? They’re motivated by moolah.
  • It becomes ho-hum: You’re not doing anything different, you’re set in your ways, and so are the people who keep you afloat; continue on this way, and you’ll soon find yourself gasping for air.

The great thing about starting a business is the cons depend on you. Decide to steer clear of the bad actors, not to be one yourself, and to stay attuned to the evolving business world. Evolve with it, even ahead of it, and you’ll see more pros than cons.

Entrepreneurs: How to Minimize Marketing Spend Online

Are you a young entrepreneur going into business for the first time? If there’s anything you don’t have a lot of at the outset, it’s money. In terms of cash flow, 28% of small businesses that go bankrupt have big problems with their financial structure. There are a multitude of expenses, from product development, to finding and leasing a quality brick-and-mortar location, to hiring and training staff, to paying consultants and accountants—the list goes on.

Thankfully, many of your first-time expenses are tax deductible. You can deduct up to $5,000 in your first year of doing business. After that, deduct your remaining expenses in installments over a period of 5 years.

Things like property, vehicles, and inventory aren’t expenses—they’re capital expenditures. Over time, you can write off the cost of tangible items through depreciation. But that doesn’t make up for the fact that you have to invest money in capital expenditures at the beginning. The same applies for expenses; you could spend well over $5,000 at the beginning. With both capital expenditures and expenses, you have a year during which you’re on your own, and you may not see any return on investment (ROI) unless you do some high quality marketing.

That’s where this guide comes in. If you lower your marketing spend, you may be able to write off all of your marketing expenses in the first year. A great place to start is right here, on the internet.

Understand Google and Internet Advertising

If you’re planning on drawing in customers, invest in a website. There will be costs, such as web hosting fees. If you want to minimize your overall spend, check out a free course on how to make a website. You can DIY and achieve awesome results. It’s purely a matter of how much time and effort you put into your site.

Once you have a site, consider the matter of making yourself visible online. There are several ways of going about this, but let me just get straight to the reality of the situation: You can spend plenty of money on advertising, but not achieve any results. When it comes to display ads, publishers and advertisers have to cope with the fact that over 200 million people use ad-blockers. You are 475 times more likely to survive a plane crash than click a display ad, and 33% of people find ads “intolerable”.

As a first-time entrepreneur, you’re nowhere near the point where you’re a publisher who can prompt people to whitelist you on their ad-blocker extension. The best, and most inexpensive way for you to gain visibility online is to rank as high as you can in Google.

There are two ways to do this. You can buy AdWords, meaning that if you pay Google for certain keywords related to your business, you’ll show up at the top of the page when someone enters that particular search phrase. The unfortunate thing about AdWords is that if someone clicks on your ad, but doesn’t buy anything, you still pay for that click. Also, if you’re looking to compete on a national level, the competition for your keywords will be incredibly fierce unless your product is so niche nobody else is selling it. Fierce competition equals expensive keywords.

The second way to rank in Google is the organic way, otherwise known as content marketing. Organic can also be the least expensive. Start a blog on your website and create informative content related to your product or service. Put the keywords you want to rank for in your posts, but don’t overdo it. Make sure the meta structure of your site is also in good shape. Send clear signals about what you want to rank for. Next, guest post on high authority blogs and create backlinks to your content. Particularly since you’re the business owner, many different sites will want to hear from you.

This is all part of the complex and competitive world of SEO. Before you undertake this, make sure you know exactly what the deal is with Google and links. Some links to your site can be negative, some can be great. You want good links to your site, and you want internal links between your pages, ultimately funneling the user to product pages where they can make purchases. The only way they’re going buy anything is if you’ve convinced them along the way.

Understand Social Media Marketing

Social media is a great tool for valuable, inexpensive marketing. You’ve probably seen plenty of it during your personal time on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and any other social media sites you might use. There are entire websites devoted to the topic of social media marketing; it’s an art, just as content marketing is to Google.

This is a huge subject so here’s a digestible, step-by-step intro:

  • et up your business page on Facebook, which is the social grandaddy
  • Decide on your Twitter handle, and start your business Twitter account
  • Sign up with one or two other platforms on which you’d really like to see some engagement; i.e. you’re appealing to a young audience, and they’re all over Instagram and Snapchat
  • On your website, provide social media buttons for sharing content and liking your company
  • Consult these four social media rules for businesses:
  1. Along with promotional content, provide valuable information related to your niche
  2. Pay attention to your brand message by using the right words, images, and other media
  3. Post at good times; e.g. Facebook users prefer 1-4pm, Google+ users 9-11am
  4. Create conversations that evoke emotions
  • Pay attention to video marketing trends and take advantage of them; people love video—about 65% of viewers will visit your website after watching your video
  • There are so many great free tools you can use for social media marketing; even just looking at these will help give you an idea of all the different things you can do
  • Respond to your audience as quickly as possible when they reach out to you

Overall, your reach on social media can be huge and you can get started on most networks for free. Link up your content marketing efforts with your social media efforts. Think about who your customers are and what type of customers you want, then design your marketing messages accordingly. Put your heart into this, and you’ll get great results for a very small investment.

Bluesky Local Helps Restaurants Weather Bad Times

Restaurants are directly affected by external circumstances such as bad weather. Bluesky Local is an innovative coupon marketing solution that projects when restaurant sales will slump using factors like different time of day, a change in the season or unexpected weather forecast. If sales are low for that local restaurant, Bluesky Local automatically sends customers coupons to that restaurant—and sees an impressive 14 percent redemption rate. This is a perfect solution for not only restaurant owners but also money-conscious customers. You can easily try Bluesky Local, free for thirty days at www.BlueskyLocal.com.

Young Money interviewed the young entrepreneur, Matt Ackerson, to find out more about this new and exciting restaurant marketing tool.

YOUNG MONEY: Tell us about your background (education, etc)
MATT ACKERSON:
In May 2009 (this year) I graduated from Cornell University.  While at Cornell I started a couple of businesses and worked hard to soak up at much entrepreneurial knowledge as possible. My first real venture was “Scrimple” (a combination of the words scrimp and simple), a local coupon website where college students could go to print off discount offers or text them to their cell phones. My second business was more profitable: a student discount card, called “The S-Card” advertised discounts that could be reused numerous times around Cornell and Syracuse University. After graduating, my friend, Angel Villegas, and I, decided to defer full time job opportunities to work full-time on building and growing Bluesky Local. We feel confident in its potential since the business model makes up for the weaknesses in the past ventures while also building on our existing knowledge of the local merchant market.

YM: Tell us about your Bluesky Local.
MA:
A majority of restaurants’ sales are impacted to the tune of 20 percent because of external factors that they have no control over, such as weather, seasonal changes, time, etc. Bluesky Local gives business owners a tool to counteract these effects so that every time our service predicts or detects the presence of slow sales conditions it automatically delivers coupons to local customers via email, text messages, and Twitter. Thus restaurants see a sales increase when they would normally see a slump.

We’re seeing some great results thus far, with our average coupon redemption rate being 14 times the national average. One of our clients has seen her sales increase literally 20 percent. Besides the fact that Bluesky Local helps to solve a big problem for restaurants, we’re excited because we’re the first company in this space to tackle this specific problem.

YM: What gave you the idea to start this business?
MA:
For two years in high school I worked as a dishwasher, chef, and bus boy at a local restaurant called Vinnie’s Mulberry Street in my hometown. During my time there I noticed a direct relationship between external factors such as the weather, seasons, and time. I noticed this because whenever business was slow the waiters and I would sit around, play cards, and complain and joke about how little in tips we would make for that night.
Fast forward a few years: when I was in college I started and grew a coupon website business targeted at college students at Cornell and Syracuse University. At the end of my college career something clicked and I remembered my past experience at Mulberry Street; I thought how marrying the idea of coupons to that slow sales situation could be a practical and innovative solution.

YM: Where did you get the funding for your business?
MA:
Bluesky Local has been bootstrapped to date. It has been completely funded by my Co-Founder, Angel Villegas, and I.

YM: What was the hardest thing you encountered while starting your business?
MA:
All of it. I suppose the most difficult thing is being aware of the shear upward slope of the learning curve that you must get over if you want to build a successful company. You don’t know, what you don’t know, as they say. Some people will kill themselves trying to get up that learning curve as fast as possible. Today I generally believe that it takes years to become an overnight success. We’re going to get there though. Starting out and making mistakes early as an a young entrepreneur in college was one the smartest choices I’ve made.

YM: What surprised you the most?
MA:
Managing yourself along with a small team of people, is much more difficult and less glamorous than most people might initially think. When managing yourself in the context of being a start-up entrepreneur, you’ll inevitably have to ask yourself some tough questions, like what do you really value, what actually motivates you, and how do you make decisions with those questions in mind?

When it comes to managing a team of people, you have to approach it with the greatest humility and an unflagging sense of resolve that you want your company to succeed. “Speak softly and carry a big stick,” said Teddy Roosevelt. The big stick for an entrepreneur is his or her will power, while speaking softly represents his or her outward humility. “The superior man is modest in speech, but exceeds in his actions.” This quote from Confucius similarly reflects the humility and will power with which all entrepreneurs should seek to lead.

YM: How do you get your name out there and get customers? What has been your most effective marketing technique or tactic?
MA
: So far our most effective marketing technique has come from building strong relationships with our local clients. People like to buy from people they know and therefore trust. It’s quite literally a friendship, but it’s business also. Friends look out for what’s in each other’s best interest, and that’s why our existing client-base has decided to sign-up with Bluesky Local. While although we’re a start-up business with little brand reputation, because they’ve personal met us and spoken with us, they know that we’ve got their best interests at heart and that we will work hard to make sure our solution meets their expectations. With that said, on the ground sales have been the most effective sales tactic for us because they are also the most personal.

YM: What effect has the recession had on your business?
MA:
It’s been a great boon for Bluesky Local believe it or not. Since Bluesky Local is a win-win solution (increased customer traffic for restaurants and discount coupons for local consumers) the value proposition really makes sense since restaurant sales traffic is down across the board and consumers are actively seeking out coupon discounts online like never before.

YM: If you could offer one piece of concrete advice to other people, what would it be?
MA:
Don’t be reckless–but more importantly don’t be risk averse! So many people think they need the next great idea to start a business or to just make money in general. Right now, today, is the best time to take a risk and do something you’re passionate about if only because the future is so ambiguous.

The greatest challenge of our generation is not coming to grips with the reality that our youthful idealism was a farce and that we should trade it in for a satisfactory salary and some health insurance. No, our challenge is learning not to compromise our dreams.

Ali Alam Helps You Find Your Vox

Through skillful leveraging of technology, YourVox focuses on promoting interaction in a context which transcends boundaries often created by language, culture and politics. Ultimately, it creates a new kind of dialogue, one which gives voice to perspectives, dilemmas and solutions not yet conceived. Collaborative exchange brings about thoughtful responses to local and international issues. This forum opens up new channels of communication regarding peace issues in the Middle East, North Korea, or Somalia. It has the potential to change the way we frame our thinking about remote areas of our planet and about some of the seemingly intractable world problems we face.

Young Money spoke to President and Founder, Ali Alam.

YOUNG MONEY: What is YourVox.org?
ALI ALAM:
YourVox is an innovative platform for “interactive journalism”. In summary, this is a concept which allows participants and contributors from anywhere to share information and ideas about events taking place in our world, on a real time basis. Unlike traditional news sources, YourVox is about interaction and discussion. It creates a venue that inspires thoughtful opinions and exchange regarding current affairs, of both political and social interest.

YM: What gave you this idea?
AA:
Two realities of today’s evolving world have inspired YourVox. The first is my own curiosity and desire to explore the world through multiple lenses. In this context, I have always admired the freedom-of- speech philosophy which underlies so much of how we live in the United States. The second source of inspiration comes from emerging technology which harnesses the internet’s ability to instantaneously connect individuals from all corners of the globe. At the speed of light, contributors from the Pacific Rim can share ideas with students in the US and Europe.

YM: When dealing with journalists and readers from all over the world, how do you deal with different languages? Does everyone have to submit in English?
AA:
Currently, we use English as the host language. However, to welcome new participants, we are working on developing auto translators. Although many foreign users are comfortable with posting in English, we are sensitive to the fact that others, with equally valid opinions, thoughts and perspectives, may be more comfortable expressing their ideas in another tongue.

YM: Are you looking for a certain type of story?
AA:
Only in terms of the impact of the issues. As long as an issue touches the global community—by the way, few do not—it qualifies for inclusion. However, on a given day, we do have to sift and sort to maintain accuracy, balance and some kind of rough parity in the regions we cover in the articles presented. We also focus on quality articles which show that the author has drawn attention to the issue at hand in a thoughtful way. We do not encourage, for example, hate communications of any kind or comments designed to trigger a violent response.

YM: Do you have regular contributors? Do you try to get a variety of countries represented?
AA:
We invite contribution from all corners of the world. As part of our quality control framework, we have representatives with particular expertise who contribute to the site on a regular basis. However, many more contribute spontaneously. The goal is to offer the global community a menu of thoughts, opinions and perspectives presented concisely, on timely topics.

YM: How did you get funding for your business?
AA:
The continuous funding for YourVox comes from advertising we do on and off the internet. We have received kind contributions from writers and others. In the future, we anticipate engaging the world community to get funding to support the growing infrastructure for the site. Additionally, we are developing new aspects of the site to be used as flow-through channels for philanthropic activities across the globe.

YM: What was the hardest problem you faced when starting your own business?
AA:
The most difficult thing was framing the idea in a concrete way that would be executable. Although it can be very difficult to anticipate how people will respond, we primarily focused on strengthening the underlying core of the site, while making it easily accessible. 

YM: What advice do you have for other young people?
AA:
I would urge students to manage change creatively, with courage and with the sense that they can affect the world’s future in positive ways. The world is changing rapidly. The wisdom of the past will have to evolve to keep pace with this change. We, as the next generation, must master the art of shifting to meet new realities. This requires mental agility, resilience and an unrelenting belief in one’s endeavor. It is my hope that YourVox will stand as an example of these qualities and will inspire others to act creatively and with courage to meet the challenges of the world as they evolve.

YM: Is there anything else that you would like my readers to know?
AA:
Because of the site’s recent growth, students from all over are applying to be part of YourVox, not only writing articles, but also determining the future of the very project they contribute to. Members of “teamvox” have the opportunity to meet and interact with fellow members (from all over the world) via monthly group conferences. We are also operating at the ground level here in the United States by recruiting senior leaders of school districts in the effort to spread the word and to include their students in the network. If you would like to be part of this growing global effort.

Business Empire Consulting: Young, Yet Experienced

Bryan Young, a senior at North Carolina State University, and his business partner, Matthew Laster, may still be hitting the books in college, but they have already developed a successful service to bring solutions and success to businesses who need a strong push in the technology direction. Business Empire Consulting Group gears their focus on web design, marketing, sales, and operations management.

YOUNG MONEY: Tell us about your company.
BRYAN YOUNG:
Business Empire Consulting Group provides consulting services and an interactive virtual textbook/learning management system. Our consulting service focuses on helping our clients’ build their brand around the customer experiences and this may come in the form of build/improving their website or coming in and completely re-adjusting their operations. The interactive virtual textbook(Business Education Extension aka BEES) looks to teach from practical experience instead of theories to help individual’s go beyond the definition of a problem and actually recommend solutions for what students learn in college classes. We actually started as an online business magazine in August 2008 and then made the decision to switch our business model to consulting and an educational resource in May 2009. The combined experience of our executive team reaches well over 20 years. We’ve worked with companies as small as your local one man-shop and as large as those in the Fortune 500, with annual revenue exceeding $5 billion.

YM: What gave you the idea to start this business?
BY:
By the age of 19 my trucking company had reached $5 million in revenue, a fleet of 22 trucks, and over 30 employees. The rapid growth of my company and downward turn of the economy had my financial advisors telling me to consider filing for bankruptcy at the age of 20. It was at that time that I realized that college classes were teaching from theories not practical experience and the things they were telling me should work, weren’t. I met Envier Capps who is now the Director of NC State’s Entrepreneurship Initiative and her methods and philosophies helped me avoid disaster as they opened me up to being willing to change. I restructured the company so that the drivers made a bigger profit than the company and heard many tell me that was the dumbest decision ever. Those companies went out of business and my company didn’t go bankrupt. As I started to share my story more others, many of whom I had never met, came to me for advice as professors were sending my peers to talk to me. I decided to start a website to help them because so many people were contacting me for assistance. Last May we decided to start getting paid for our knowledge.

YM: Where did you get the funding for your business?
BY:
Our business is completely self funded. I no longer work with the trucking company but as I made my exit from it I started to fund Business Empire. To accommodate the expected growth of our interactive virtual textbook we are considering outside funding.

YM: What was the hardest thing you encountered while starting your business?
BY:
Many of our clients are old enough to be our parents or even have children that are older than Matt and I. Matt and I knew that once people talked to us they’d realize that our experience and knowledge far exceed our age. Early on we had to lower the price of what we knew we were worth just to get a few clients under our belts. In that process we had a company try to take advantage of us and the knowledge they thought we lacked when it came to payment for our services, but we stood our ground and learned from the situation.

YM: What surprised you the most?
BY:
Matt and I talk all the time about how “unreal” all of this still feels! We changed our business model in May and our consulting service at the moment this month alone has generated $20,000 in revenue and our interactive virtual textbook has already pre-sold to be used by 3,000 students in college business programs. We’ve also generated interest to grow to other academic departments and as a training tool for corporate employees. We did it all from word of mouth advertising and simply using our creativity to find ways to spark others interest in what we were doing.

YM: What would you do differently?
BY:
Nothing! Matt and I were introduced to each other through a mutual friend last October and we clicked instantly. We’ve seen our concept adapt and change over the past year and have grown with every client interaction.

YM: Is this your first business?
BY
: No, this is actually the fourth business that I have started through self funding. At 8 years old I used my lunch money to by candy at wholesale prices and sell it at school. At 12, I used my allowance to buy a lawn mower and built a successful lawn care company. At 17, instead of buying my first car I brought an 18-wheeler to start a long haul trucking service. Then right before my 21st birthday I launched Business Empire Magazine which has become Business Empire Consulting Group.

YM: How many employees do you have?
BY:
We currently have 9 employees and will hire 5 more over the next 2-3 weeks. In May we moved into an office and then moved out of it so we are also in the market for office space again.

YM: How do you get your name out there and get customers? What has been your
most effective marketing technique or tactic?
BY:
Actually when Matt built the new website I came up with this crazy idea to create a buzz for our old site. We had 400 t-shirts with our company logo and website, 500 friends put up a cool slogan with a link to our website on their facebook status, and we had 1,000 flyers made with a guy looking down with his mouth wide open and looking down that said “I can see your business” with a link to our website on the bottom. We put that flyer above every male bathroom stale on campus. Matt and I had his fraternity brothers, friends, professors, and random people all participate on in wearing the shirts, putting up the status feeds, and we woke up at 6 a.m. to put the flyers around campus before the lunchtime rush. Within the first hour 17,000 people rushed to our website and shut down our server for about 30 minutes. Our hosting company gave us a slap on the hand for the stunt and NC State Alumni were beating down our door to bring our creativity into their company. This guerilla and viral marketing campaign that we launched back in January was really the only one we’ve done and it only cost us $2,000. We then started getting campus media attention and I started speaking to business class at NC State and that has kept our client list steady.

YM: What effect has the recession had on your business?
BY:
The recession has made me the dumbest person in the right room. I mean that in a good way as it has allowed me to surround myself with individuals who are all very talented for pennies on the dollar. When we made the decision to finally go forward with consulting the type of clients my team had worked with included Terminix, CondeNast, Cartoon Network, Progress Energy, TruGreen, Merry Maids, and American Home Shield and that is only naming a few of the bigger ones. We recently hired Kathy Roberts who has 20 years of operations management experience as our COO, she is the only person over 28 on our staff. The key players in our operation all were making well over six figures before joining us and they we’re willing to take huge pay cuts for equity in our company.

YM: If you could offer one piece of concrete advice to other people, what would it be?
BY:
A vision is only as good as the team you put behind it. As a consultant I come across many people of all ages with good ideas, but it is the execution of those ideas that makes the difference. I always tell people to dream is to be a great thinker, but to achieve is to be great at executing.

YM: Is there anything else you would like our readers to know?
BY:
Empower failure and use it as your greatest learning tool. So many people give so much power and effort to avoiding failure and you can only imagine what would happen if they gave that same amount of power and effort to their dreams and goals. In that regards starting a business during college or at a young age is an excellent opportunity because you have plenty of time to learn from any mistakes you make and start over if necessary. As you get older you’re weighed down by mortgages, kids, and other fixed expenses that are present for most in their youth.

Games2U: Rey Puente Comes to You

Rey Puente, a teacher, wanted to do something different. He was hired as a game coach for the first Games2U franchise in Austin, Texas. After watching the tremendous growth of Games2Uand getting first hand experience about how much fun bringing games to birthday parties and other events could be, he decided it was a good investment and bought his own franchise.

Games2U is a mobile game theatre that provides the ultimate in party entertainment through fully customized Mercedes Vans that feature five 42’ HDTVs, 3 Xbox 360s and 2 Nintendo Wiis. The van has been tailored on the inside to accommodate up to 12 people playing Xbox together. The systems are system linked so up to 12 people can play together on one game, which is especially popular with titles like Halo and Call of Duty.

The outside of the van features two more TVs hooked up to Nintendo Wiis where up to eight more people can rock out on Rock Band or work up a sweat on Wii Sports. This is the core of the business but we also offer outdoor laser tag where we set up bunkers in your yard or a local park where up to 20 kids battle it out. We also have giant Hamster Balls where kids or adults can get inside and roll around. New products are constantly in development through our corporate office.

Rey Puente answered a few of our questions about Games2U and operating a franchise.
YOUNG MONEY: Can you tell us about what makes owning a franchise different?
REY PUENTE:
The first thing that comes to mind is the fact that I am directly responsible for everything. There’s no one to blame if something goes wrong I am in total control.

The amount of work that goes on behind the scenes took a bit of getting used to. I thought I had a clue of how hard the franchise owner was working but I got a better feel for it once I was the one taking all the calls, booking the events and working the parties. I also learned how much of a family aspect Games2U has with each of their franchise owners. Everyone is constantly trading ideas and working with each other to make this company the best it can be – we truly have a terrific team and everyone works to help one another.

YM: Why did you decide on this particular franchise?
RP:
I had the opportunity to see firsthand how much the company was growing. As I said earlier I began working for Games2U when it was in its infancy. As I saw the growth and how many other people were buying into the idea, I knew it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. I majored in education and had a good background working with kids, so if I wasn’t going to teach this seemed like a good alternative to still work with children. Besides…it’s video games and birthday parties! I was going to be hard-pressed to find another job that was this much fun.

YM: Where did you get the funding for your business or franchise?
RP:
Being 23 years old and right out of college, getting a loan large enough to cover the initial investment was tough, especially with the credit crisis. I did what any logical person in my situation would do – I turned to my parents for assistance. They jumped in and gave me what was needed to open the franchise.

YM: What was the hardest thing you encountered while starting your business?
RP:
TIMING. I got started in the dead of summer when most families are enjoying their vacations, so it was a bit of a slow start. Once word got that Games2U was in the Rio Grande Valley things quickly turned around.

YM: How do you get your name out there and get customers?
RP:
I talk to a lot of people and do a ton of free events for the community. I try to be out there as much as possible, even if that just means driving the van around. The van is a moving billboard, so the more people that see it on the road and call to ask what it is the better. Also, doing events for the community and schools, as well as local and national festivals go a long way to getting your name out in the town.

YM: What effect has the recession had on your business?
RP:
None that I can tell and I actually think it might have helped business. When I approach a restaurant to help set up a local event with Games2U, the idea has been well received since the recession has stopped some families from eating out as often as they might have been. Anything that will drive in more families for them is a big deal and Games2U is the perfect companion for restaurants and all local businesses.

YM: Is there anything else you would like our readers to know?
RP:
Games2U offers the best in birthday parties and community events. Look us up at www.g2u.com for more information and to see if we’re available in your area. If we aren’t – then go ahead and join the family.

Generation Debt: Hope for Echo Boomers in Trouble

The children of Baby Boomers have many nicknames: Echo Boomers, the Millennial Generation and Generation Y. With birth dates ranging from 1978 and 1994, Generation Y makes up 60 million of America’s 300 million population.

They’re demanding, technically savvy, ambitious, question everything and, as a group, are in financial trouble. No group has ever started adult life so deeply in the hole, thanks to mounting college costs, dwindling financial aid and credit-card debt. Here’s how Generation Y became Generation Debt, and how they can turn things around.

1. Cushy Upbringings
Raised by Baby Boomer parents who wanted a better life for their children, Generation Y was pampered, nurtured and given everything they needed or simply wanted. It’s no wonder they grew up with a sense of entitlement.

2. Easy Access to Consumer Credit
Consumer credit companies handed out cards to Generation Y like candy, allowing them to instantly gratify their desires with the latest iPod, laptop or phone upgrade. As a result, Generation Y now faces a median credit-card debt of $8,200.

4. College a Must
Many Baby Boomers were the first in their families to earn a college degree. It was only natural they expected their children to follow in their footsteps. A recent survey found 70 percent of Generation Y felt a college degree was a necessity to compete in the shrinking job market.

5. Financing College
Many entered college just as tuition inflation set in and college loans became more difficult to secure, resulting in an average college debt of $20,000.

6. Poor Financial Skills
While they’re technically savvy, many of this generation are financially illiterate. The education system hasn’t kept pace with the increasing complexity of financial products and the easy availability of consumer debt. This attitude is reflected in the 52 percent of Generation Y who say, “Loans were always expensive; I’ll worry about them later.”

7. Necessity of a Degree
High school graduates face fewer jobs and a more-qualified workforce than ever before. Many employers, faced with an overwhelming number of applicants for each job posting, weed down these numbers by requiring a minimum of a BA or BS for even rock-bottom entry positions.

8. Unemployment Statistics
Roughly one-in-five young adults between the ages of 18 and 29 is unemployed, compared with a 7 percent unemployment rate for those over age 30.

9. Poor Debt Financing
With an entire generation facing underemployment or unemployment, many have turned to the bank of Mom and Dad or borrowing from friends to keep their heads above water.

10. No Bail Outs
Recession recovery programs rarely address Generation Y financial concerns. 80 percent of those still in college think the financial bailout won’t provide help with tuition or student loans.

11. Taking the Easy Out
When debt payments become insupportable, many Generation Y members think bankruptcy will provide an easy out. People between ages 25 and 34 make up 22.7 percent of all U.S. bankruptcies. Unfortunately, college loans aren’t forgiven through bankruptcy.

So what’s a generation to do? For those trapped in debt and struggling to get on top financially, Coupon Sherpa offers the following five strategies.

1. Adjust Expectations
Although the challenges facing young people are real, out-sized expectations are a large part of the problem. For example, most people historically don’t buy their first home until they’ve reached financial stability, in their late 20s and early 30s, yet many GenYs took on mortgages at a much younger age.

2. Track Expenses
There’s a reason the rich are rich. They treat their spending like a business and know exactly where each penny is spent. Create a budget and record every expense according to category. Are you eating out too often? Cell phone carrier bill too high? Tracking expenses allows you to see where it’s possible to cut back.

3. Use Online Financial-management Aids
• Yodlee helps you create a budget, track spending, monitor online accounts, create expense analysis charts, and track your net worth.
• Mint is a free money-management tool that allows you to analyze spending, savings and other financial habits. Best of all, Mint offers suggestions for improvements, including showing users how much money they could save or earn by using a credit card with a lower interest rate, earning higher interest from a bank account, buying a less expensive cable service, and more.
• Wesabe combines social networking with money management and tracking capabilities. Users can join groups, set financial goals, and share tips and information with each other.  Wesabe also allows users to create tags for expenditures and automatically label store purchases.

4. Finance College With Minimal Debt
The recession has made it more difficult to obtain private student loans, but government loan programs now offer more loans, more money, and better rates, while increasing tax breaks for parents. An expanded tuition credit for households with up to $160,000 in adjusted gross income could trim as much as $2,500 in taxes. Go Frugal offers five public and private ways to finance college.

5. Face Up to Collectors
Avoiding collectors’ calls or letters will just delay the inevitable and usually make things worse. It’s important, however, to know your rights. Collector may not harass you; falsely imply they represent the government or that you’ve committed a crime; or suggest you’ll be arrested if you don’t pay up.

6. Chip Away at Debt
Aggressively pay down your highest-rate balances while making on-time minimum payments on the others. Your budget will dictate how much you can devote to paying down your balances each month. If possible, use any savings, bonuses or overtime pay to buy-down debt.

7. Educate Yourself
There’s a lot of free help on the Internet. Financial Guru Suze Orman, MSN’s Money Central, CNNMoney.com, and, of course, Young Money are excellent, unbiased resources that don’t push specific products.

8. Don’t Give Up
You didn’t get into debt overnight and you won’t be able to climb out quickly. It takes time and patience, but you’ll find it worthwhile in the long run.


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