No matter what kind of business you have, and no matter what type of product or service you offer, you must be an entrepreneur first. Most Makers and Creative Entrepreneurs do not start out with an entrepreneurial mindset (I didn’t), and that’s OK. It is a process. It does not happen all at once. But…
I spent last week learning how entrepreneurship is like baseball. Well, really, I spent it watching my son play about a million baseball games at the beach. Before last week, I knew little about baseball. I thought it was about hitting a ball hard, and running around the bases, with the goal being to get…
One of the most important jobs you have as an online entrepreneur is to regularly write and publish content that attracts people to your website, nurtures customer relationships and builds a solid platform for your business. At times, this job is so daunting that you may be tempted to hire someone to write for you…
If you have read my blog for even a few weeks, you know how important it is that you maintain a blog to support your business. When I first started blogging, my intention was simply to have a place to share my thoughts ideas, and connect personally with members and prospective members of the Indie…
Other than incredible relationships, the things that have contributed most to the long-term success and sustainability of my business are the systems I use to manage it. Your success is in your systems, and this post is about helping you implement the systems you need to enjoy success as an entrepreneur. When I quit my…
On Wednesday evenings from 8 to 8:30pm ET, I host #MakerBizChat, an Instagram event to help Makers and Handmade Entrepreneurs build a solid business foundation, increase your income, and use your business to create the life you love. Our topic tonight was HOW TO BUILD A STRONG COMMUNITY AROUND YOUR BRAND. I chose this topic…
Today is Independence Day, or “Indiependence” Day for all you Makers and Handmade Entrepreneurs out there. It’s a day where I personally celebrate not only the birth of my home country, but also my own personal birth as an entrepreneur. In 2009, following an article I wrote about my Indie lifestyle, I received an email…
Is you spouse or partner a “nontrepreneur?” If you’ve never heard that term before, it’s because I made it up. A nontrepreneur is a person who is not an entrepreneur. I don’t use that term to refer to people in “real life,” but I thought it was a fun sort of tongue-in-cheek way to describe…
Handmade entrepreneurship requires massive amounts of time and energy, but simplifying things will help you conserve some of that precious time and energy. It will also help you simplify your life … always a good thing, right? Traditional entrepreneurship has usually meant that you sell the products, but you do not physically make them. When…
Entrepreneurship is messy, but it would be a lot more messy for me if I did not intentionally operate my business in the midst of an entrepreneurial ecosystem that allows it (and me) to thrive. From very early in my business, I predicted that my personal life situation would not always be a bed of…
While most entrepreneurs invest considerable resources to acquire the knowledge-based and functional skills needed to grow a business, not all entrepreneurs put as much effort into cultivating a personal entrepreneurial style to complement their business as it grows. As a business leader, you owe it to yourself and your business to cultivate a personal entrepreneurial…
It’s never a good idea to be someone you are not. It’s an even worse idea to be someone you are not in the age of the Internet. Authenticity has always mattered. It matters now, more than ever. Over the last several days, I have watched in stunned awe as former NAACP leader Rachel Dolezal…
Each week, I receive dozens of invitations to collaborate in new business ventures of one kind or another. I decline nearly all of them because I do not want to spread myself too thin. When I do enter into a collaborative relationship with another entrepreneur, I generally do so because the collaboration has very specific…
On Wednesday evenings from 8 to 8:30pm ET, I host #MakerBizChat, an Instagram event to help Makers and Handmade Entrepreneurs build a solid business foundation, increase your income, and use your business to create the life you love. Our topic last night was How to Build a Membership-Based Business. While most people use the terms…
Now really is the best time to start a business. How do I know? Because I started one 15 years ago, and when I compare the process then to the process now, there is little doubt that it’s easier and much more fun to start one now. When I started the Indie Business Network in…
On Wednesday evenings from 8 to 8:30pm ET, I host #MakerBizChat, an Instagram event to help Makers and Handmade Entrepreneurs build a solid business foundation, increase your income, and use your business to create the life you love. Our topic last night was Top 5 (Easy) Ways to Improve Your WordPress Website, and the conversation…
The #MakerBizChat event has been retired, but I invite you to enjoy this article, which is useful to all entrepreneurs who want to build a solid and sustainable brand. You can binge on all of the other #MakerBizChat posts at this link. On Wednesday evenings from 8 to 8:30pm ET, I host #MakerBizChat, an Instagram…
On Wednesday evenings from 8 to 8:30pm ET, I host #MakerBizChat, an Instagram event to help Makers and Handmade Entrepreneurs build a solid business foundation, increase your income, and use your business to create the life you love. Our topic last night was How to Pitch Your Products to Holiday Gift Guides, and my guest…
On Wednesday evenings from 8 to 8:30pm ET, I host #MakerBizChat, an Instagram event to help Makers and Handmade Entrepreneurs build a solid business foundation, increase your income, and use your business to create the life you love. Our topic last night was How to Add New Income Streams to Your Maker Business, and my…
This week, for the first time, I invited a guest to deliver one of your Indie Business Tips! Author and speaker Marlon Smith and I met on Thursday to record some video to announce his new “Personal Branding Summit,” coming up in Charlotte next month. While there, I asked him to share a 10-second business…
The first week of spring means I can make more videos outside, yippee! This week was my first one back after a week of travel. I’m excited to be home for the next several weeks, as my next travel is not until May. I am really enjoying making these #IndieBusinessTips videos for you. Before I…