The Entrepreneur's Guide to Keeping Your Sh*t Together


Book Description

Learn how to stay sane and ensure both you and your business thrive for years. You run a business. And running a business is hard. It can ruin your health. It can ruin your relationships. It can ruin your life. But only if you don't equip yourself for the journey. The responsibility, stress and loneliness of being an entrepreneur are a far cry from your friends who work salaried jobs. The path of least resistance is to let the stress and isolation of starting, running and growing a business infiltrate most aspects of your life. Over and over we've watched our fellow entrepreneurs succumb to the mental toll and chaos of running a business. We've also experienced it firsthand as we've launched and grown our own businesses. Odds are good that you've been overwhelmed at some point. Maybe you've read self help books only to find that books about stress management typically don't take into account the unique experience of entrepreneurs. Or they're 'lifehacks' written by a blogger with no formal training, offering advice based on anecdotes. Why do I need this book? You want to invest in yourself (and consequently, your business). You want to learn proven strategies, tactics and techniques to overcome the challenges that cause you heartburn and headaches. You want to get off the treadmill of stress, anxiety and isolation that entrepreneurship brings. You want to prevent burnout, depression, isolation, and the emergence of damaging coping strategies and self-sabotaging choices. Every aspect of this book is a pairing of psychological expertise with decades of entrepreneurial experience. Author, Seth Godin calls it, "A personal, generous and incredibly useful guide to staying sane and changing the world at the same time. Read it before you think you need it." Here are just a few things you will take away: New ways to deal with the responsibility and fear that go along with being an entrepreneur Why knowing yourself and where you came from is crucial to your success How to succeed as an entrepreneur no matter your personality type How to keep stress from ruining your relationships Dealing with depression, anxiety, burnout, ADHD and other common psychological burdens How to get more things done - and faster - by dealing with procrastination, distraction and muddled priorities How to deal with overwhelming (seemingly) massive failures How to find personal calm in the midst of chaos And much more... Love the book? Read a review! And join the conversation by joining our Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/zenfounder/




Start Small, Stay Small


Book Description

Start Small, Stay Small is a step-by-step guide to launching a self-funded startup. If you're a desktop, mobile or web developer, this book is your blueprint to getting your startup off the ground with no outside investment.This book intentionally avoids topics restricted to venture-backed startups such as: honing your investment pitch, securing funding, and figuring out how to use the piles of cash investors keep placing in your lap.This book assumes: You don't have $6M of investor funds sitting in your bank account You're not going to relocate to the handful of startup hubs in the world You're not going to work 70 hour weeks for low pay with the hope of someday making millions from stock options There's nothing wrong with pursuing venture funding and attempting to grow fast like Amazon, Google, Twitter, and Facebook. It just so happened that most people are not in a place to do this.Start Small, Stay Small also focuses on the single most important element of a startup that most developers avoid: marketing. There are many great resources for learning how to write code, organize source control, or connect to a database. This book does not cover the technical aspects developers already know or can learn elsewhere. It focuses on finding your idea, testing it before you build, and getting it into the hands of your customers.




Killing It


Book Description

The former CEO of Clif Bar, Co-founder of Plum, and serial entrepreneur offers insights about launching and growing a business while maintaining a fulfilled life in this practical guide filled with hard-won advice culled from the author’s own sometimes dark, raw experiences. With a foreword by Steve Blank. Aspiring entrepreneurs are told that to launch a business, you must go all in, devoting every resource and moment to making it work. But following this advice comes at an enormous personal cost: divorce, addiction, even suicide. It means sacrificing the intangibles that make life worth living. Sheryl O’Loughlin knows there is a better way. In Killing It, she shares the wisdom she’s gained from her successful experiences launching a company from the ground up (Plum), running two fast-growing companies (Clif Bar and REBBL), and mentoring aspiring entrepreneurs (Stanford University). She tells it like it is: If you don’t invest in your wellbeing, your business will not succeed, nor will you. Sheryl knows firsthand the difficulty of balancing the needs of her growing family with her physical and mental health, while managing other work and life challenges. In this warm, honest, and wise handbook, she gives you the essentials for killing it in business—without killing the rest of your life. Filled with real-life examples and anecdotes, Killing It addresses common questions including: How do you prepare your significant other for your business venture? How do you time launching and growing your business with the ebb and flow of family life? How do you find joy in the day-to-day? How do you maintain meaningful, supportive friendships? How do you walk away and start again? The ultimate life and business course, Killing It gives entrepreneurs the tools they need to start their enterprise and thrive—both in the office and at home.




The Entrepreneur's Guide to Getting Your Shit Together


Book Description

As soon as the Web became viable for entrepreneur marketers in the early 2000's, John Carlton surfaced as the go-to teacher for writing everything required to find prospects and persuade them to become eager customers...... as well as being The Dude for solving almost any biz problem holding things up. For decades, he was a notoriously-successful freelance direct-response copywriter with a global reputation for creating ads that brought home the bacon in almost every possible media (particularly direct mail, magazines and newspapers). And his street-savvy, close-the-deal style of salesmanship has now helped mobs of new entrepreneurs dominate niches online.This book is a collection of his best (and most recent) lesson-dense private articles to insider colleagues. What you're about to discover is the timeless advice and first-choice strategies that can help rookie entrepreneurs murder their competition, and veteran marketers re-establish dominance in their niche. No theory here. Every lesson is from the front trenches of the business world, where fortunes are won or lost through your ability to craft superior marketing in crowded business environments... and produce jaw-dropping results regardless of the economy, the competition, or any problem currently holding you up.If you have a great product or service, then shame on you if you don't learn and use the reality-tested, results-proven toolkit of advice and tactics packed into this sizzling tome. It's your best First Step to becoming an awesome entrepreneur, no matter where you are now or what your experience is or how broke/disadvantaged/clueless you are. You start here, and the greatest adventure of your life can finally begin in earnest.About the author:John Carlton's notorious 30-year career has become something of a legend among modern marketers. Just some of the highlights:He started out as the "bad boy" freelance copywriter snuck through the back doors of Los Angeles advertising agencies to do the hard-core sales jobs their staff writers couldn't pull off (because they didn't understand street-level salesmanship)... He penned game-changing packages for the largest direct response mailers in the world (like Rodale Press)... while single-handedly also completely transforming the way print ads worked in a number of markets (through sizzling long-copy ads the magazine owners hated, but which worked like crazy)... And he pioneered the now-common use of killer "old school" persuasive ad-writing models for online markets when the Web finally became a viable vehicle for entrepreneurs. John's been called "the most respected and ripped-off copywriting wizard alive", because so many of his ads are still used as templates by other marketers. (Yes, even the ads written before the Web became a viable marketing medium.) And for over a decade now, John has been the "go-to-teacher" for helping entrepreneurs learn how to craft ads that get results. His first book, "Kick-Ass Copywriting Secrets of a Marketing Rebel", is still cited as a primary resource by the best writers working today.




Double Your Business


Book Description

Some people would say starting their own business from scratch and building it up to a comfortable income is the hardest part. However, many realize that doubling their business is the bigger task and often wonder how they can accomplish this while still enjoying their life. After all, there are only 24 hours in a day! When business owners already feel too busy to find and serve more clients, it can seem impossible to double their business without duplicating themselves. Even after coming up with numerous options, and getting opinions from others, sometimes nothing seems to feel good because every solution requires more of their time and energy that is currently at a premium. In Double Your Business, business professionals alike will find the path to doubling their business without giving up everything else they desire. What good is more money if there’s no time to enjoy it?




The Entrepreneur's Guide to Market Research


Book Description

Planning your new business starts here. This invaluable guide arms entrepreneurs with all they need to know to research and analyze potential markets—key steps in constructing effective marketing plans, establishing sound financial forecasts, and finding backers. The Entrepreneur's Guide to Market Research is a must-have for anyone who wants to start or expand a business. This fact-filled, actionable book offers a step-by-step guide to researching and documenting the market potential of any product or service, something that is an essential—and too-often overlooked—part of constructing a workable business plan. Author Anne M. Wenzel, herself a principal in a market research firm, takes entrepreneurs through the process of assessing such things as market size and growth, market trends and needs, emerging technologies, competition, and distribution patterns. She discusses types of market research and makes it clear what market research can and can't do to improve the chances of success. Finally, the book shows entrepreneurs how to document findings as part of a well-written business plan that will be invaluable for their own decision-making and can also be shared with potential partners, lenders, and investors.




The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur


Book Description

Trying to start a business in this economy? Struggling with little or no cash? Have no experience, no baseline to judge your progress against? Whether you’re just starting out or have been at it for years, the Toilet Paper Entrepreneur's "get real", actionable approach to business is a much-needed swift kick in the pants.




Touching Two Worlds


Book Description

A trauma psychologist explores the inner workings of her own grief—and leaves an invaluable guide for those seeking hope in the aftermath of loss. As a therapist, Dr. Sherry Walling knew all the “right” things to say to help people through grief. But when she lost her father to cancer and her brother to suicide within six months of each other, she had the unfortunate chance to encounter two types of mourning up close—the slowly unfolding terminal illness and the sudden and stigmatized death by suicide. She realized we’re getting grief all wrong. In Touching Two Worlds, this trusted expert dares to open the inner workings of her own grief—and in the process, provides an invaluable resource for those seeking hope in the aftermath of loss. Written with honesty, gentle humor, and deep understanding, this book was created to bring comfort to friends and family when there are few helpful words to say. Dr. Walling grieves as a sister, daughter, mother, and mental health expert. She shares moving personal stories while offering a broad range of healing strategies and exercises derived from neuroscience—like how to heal through movement, how to cry in public, how to talk to kids about death, and how to cope with survivor’s guilt. These are tips from someone who has been there, as well as approaches informed by professional expertise. Touching Two Worlds is a story of love, sadness, and renewal. Whether your loss is recent and sharp or old and familiar, Dr. Walling delivers wise and tender guidance to help you carry the weight of grief while finding your own path forward.




Bossed Up


Book Description

In this candid, refreshing guide for young women to take with us as we run the world, Emilie Aries shows you how to own your power, know your worth, and design your career and life accordingly. Young women today face an uncertain job market, the pressure to ascend at all costs, and a fear of burning out. But the landscape is changing, and women are taking an assertive role in shaping our careers and lives, while investing more and more in our community of support. Bossed Up teaches you how to: Break out of the "martyrdom mindset," and cultivate your Boss Identity by getting clear on what you really want for your career and life without apology; Hone the self-advocacy skills necessary for success; Understand the differences between being assertive (which is part of being a leader) and being aggressive (which is more like being a bully) - and how that clarity can transform your trajectory; Beat burnout by identifying how the warning signs may be showing up in your life and how to prioritize bringing more rest, purpose, agency, and community to your day-to-day life; Unpack the steps to cultivating something more than just confidence; a boss identity, which will establish your ability to be the boss of your life no matter what comes your way. Drawing from timely research, and with personal stories, and spotlights on a diverse group of women from the Bossed Up community, this book will show you how to craft a happy, healthy, and sustainable career path you'll love.




How to Make Millions with Your Ideas


Book Description

You’ve come up with a brilliant idea for a brand-new product or service you know could make you rich. Or maybe you currently own a business that pays the bills, and your dream is to become fabulously successful and retire a millionaire. But how? How to Make Millions with Your Ideas has all the answers. This book is packed with the true stories and proven advice of ordinary people who began with just an idea, a simple product, or a fledgling business and wound up with millions. It examines the methods and principles of dozens of successful entrepreneurs, including author Dan Kennedy’s surefire, easy-to-follow Millionaire Maker Strategies. It helps you determine which of three paths to success are best for you and guides you step-by-step down that path on your way to fortune. Discover: · The eight best ways to make a fortune from scratch · How to turn a hobby into a million-dollar enterprise · How to sell an existing business for millions · The power of electronic media to help make you rich · The “Million Dollar Rolodex” of contacts and information you can use to get on the road to wealth