Become an Entrepreneur

In an article published June 29, 2010, Chris Brogan listed “19 Presence Management Chores You Could Do Every Day” to help increase your online presence. As a career and small business coach I train people how to use both face-to-face networking and social media to enhance their personal brand and find the perfect career or the perfect customer.  Thus, Brogan’s list is of great interest to me.  He’s the king of using the web to build trust and strengthen relationships.

I’ve always known that “if we can measure something, we can improve it.”  Brogan’s list gives us a way to measure something that is a bit intangible — how we use social media.  It is possible to waste an incredible amount of time on social media, thus many people (including job seekers and small business owners) are reluctant to spend any time there for fear of watching the day go by unproductively. But Brogan gives us a model for measuring our activities to get maximum impact.

For my own purposes, I have created a spreadsheet from Brogan’s list and plan to keep track every day.  Every item simply gets 1 point, and my goal is to get 10 points per day. I’ve even added a couple of items of my own (i.e. writing a blog post gets 5 points). This system keeps me on track doing the things that are most important to me.

I encourage you (whether a job seeker or an entrepreneur) to do the same.  Develop your own systems (or borrow them from your friends and colleagues). Systems will help you track, measure and improve your actions so you are doing the right thing at the right time for better results.

Happy Hunting!

Just one more thing — Peter Clayton of Total Picture Radio believes recruiter confidence is picking up.  He writes, “According to the latest ExecuNet Recruiter Confidence Index, a growing number of companies are adding new executive jobs, and fewer are eliminating them, leading executive recruiters to confirm economic recovery is beginning to take hold.” You can listen to the podcast at: Total Picture Radio (with Peter Clayton).

For those of you who are planning on starting your own business, there are some things you should think about ahead of time. For instance, what is your sales model? Your sales cycle? Your business model? Who is your perfect client? What financial tools do you need in order to stay in compliance with the State and IRS?

There are many places you can go to get this information. I recommend that you check out your local SCORE chapter and the Small Business Development Centers in your area.

As we progress through the month of blogging I will have other ideas for starting your own business — commonly called becoming an entrepreneur.  Today I want to share with you a recording from a phone interview I conducted with Lori Hensel of PayChex.  Lori specializes in helping entrepreneurs and small business owners with their payroll and HR needs.  Services are quite affordable, too!  I didn’t realize that you can have someone provide payroll services for under $50 per month.  Talk about taking away headaches and making life easier!

If you are thinking about going into business for yourself, listen to this recording with Lori and then go talk to someone who offers these kinds of services in your area. If you aren’t thinking about going into business for yourself you are still welcome to listen.  Either way, come back tomorrow!

Click here to listen to my interview with Lori Hensel of Paychex

Happy hunting!

30 Day Blogging Challenge – day 3.  Tomorrow’s post: Larque Goodson shares with us stories about her job search.