The following answers are provided by the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC). Founded by Scott Gerber, the YEC is an invite-only nonprofit organization comprised of the country’s most promising young entrepreneurs.  The YEC promotes entrepreneurship as a solution to youth unemployment and underemployment and provides its members with access to tools, mentorship, and resources that support each stage of a business’s development and growth.

A. The Happiest, Smartest City on Earth

A. Make It Phonetic

Crazy startup names and quirky misspellings have become quite a trend, but it’s frustrating for consumers. No one wants to have to spell out the name of a business every time they talk about it. Make your business name phonetic so that people will be able to Google it from hearing it out loud.

Laura Roeder, LKR

A. Focus on the Product First

Focus on building the best product you can; you can always choose its company name at the end. Don’t waste too much time or get stuck because of the name. Keep building and improving.

Ben Lang, EpicLaunch

A. Read the 22 Immutable Laws of Branding

Read the 22 Immutable Laws of Branding by Al Ries and Laura Ries to get help naming your new company. Remember, with most businesses, generic names are doomed to fail. You want to be as different from your competitors as possible, so as to avoid possible confusion. Finally, before you pull the trigger, ask ten people to spell out your company name and see if they get it right!

Matt Mickiewicz, 99designs

A. Stay Away from Wit

Although you’ll see lots of stores and brands with cheeky, punny names, it is important to stay away from that. This is like getting a tattoo that seems good at the time, but you’ll later regret. Think about some of the leading brands; some of these are simply names or just one bold word. Keep it simple by boiling it down to its essence. Brevity is appealing, profound and confident.

Steven Le Vine, grapevine pr

A. What Do You Do?

Find a name that describes what you do. This way, there’s no question what your company is about. The company name will resonate with people more; they’ll have a much easier time finding you. Keep it simple and be able to express your services in two or three words maximum.

Louis Lautman, Young Entrepreneur Society

A. Get the .com Domain

In the case that you are struggling to come up with a memorable branding identifier, work backwards and start researching domains that may or may not be available. Use a domain suggestion tool like nameboy.com to come up with ideas. From there, pick a strong .com that makes the most sense. Then, brand accordingly.

Logan Lenz, Endagon

A. Can They Remember It?

Tell ten people the name you are considering. A week later, connect with them again and ask them to recall that name. How many people were able to accurately remember it? If it was less than seven, you may want to consider other more memorable alternatives that truly grab people’s attention.

Justin Beck, PerBlue

A. Evaluate the Search Competition

Before you file the paperwork, make sure you’re choosing a name that’s unique enough to come up on top of search results when someone Googles you. You don’t want to fight for the top as “Creative Industries LLC.” And an added bonus, a unique company name will make it easier to monitor for mentions of your company in social media and engage with your community.

Allie Siarto, Loudpixel

A. Don’t Get Sued over Sloppy Seconds

In the naming stage, you do not want to select a name that you may have to change later or, even worse, get sued for, because someone else has a registered trademark on the word or phrase. This can be easily be avoided by visiting the federal patent and trademark office’s site, USPTO.gov, and doing a search on any potential names.

Nick Cronin, ExpertBids.com

A. Crowdsource Your Ideas

Come up with some ideas on your own, but also enlist friends, family and other folks in the industry to come up with something unique and memorable. You could also turn to social networks to get other people’s opinions and ideas. Don’t forget to check if the domain name is available, too!

Heather Huhman, Come Recommended

A. Say It Out Loud!

Sometimes you come up with a name that looks great when written down, inspires a visual brand and makes for a snappy domain where the .com is still available. But how does it sound when you say it out loud? Do you feel proud and cool saying it or do you feel slightly embarrassed? You’re going to be using it a lot when you launch, so make sure it’s something that works well verbally.

Lea Woodward, Inspiring Ventures

A. It Doesn’t Matter!

The name of your company doesn’t matter. Yahoo? Google? Woot? Amazon? Zappos? Gatorade? Nike? These names don’t typically mean anything and the majority of them are made up. The key is to market your company well, reinforce your branding everywhere and try to do something unique and memorable. The more people see your name, the easier it is to remember it.

Jason Sadler, IWearYourShirt.com

A. Pick Something Versatile and Memorable

Choosing a startup name can be tricky, because chances are that the business you start today is not the business you’ll have three years from now. Think of companies like Yahoo and Google, who have evolved their products and offerings. Their company names still apply, and are both memorable enough to stick.

Nathalie Lussier, Nathalie Lussier Media

Are you reading this while wearing a bedazzled Ed Hardy t-shirt? Is your ensemble rounded out with an airbrushed trucker hat perched atop a majestic mullet? If so, you might suffer from Style Blindness (SB), a type of trend disorder. While you should definitely see a doctor about that, your problem with trends doesn’t have to affect your business decisions. Like the world of fashion, the business world has trends of its own – and staying ahead of those trends means the difference between looking like a business maverick and well, just looking like an outdated idiot. What changes can you expect to see in the business world this year? Use these 12 predictions to stay ahead of the curve.

1. Big business starts to socialize. Mitt Romney isn’t the only one who wants you to think of corporations as people. The corporations themselves want to get personal, and in 2012 they’ll be using social media networks to do it. Get ready for requests from corporate giants like Walmart on your Twitter and Facebook, and expect to see a change in the way these giants interact with their consumers online. With Occupy protestors calling attention to economic inequality and corporate greed, companies will create personal connections with consumers, partly in an attempt to manage their reputations. They’ll nix the business-speak and create conversations instead of sales pitches.

2. Younger entrepreneurs take the stage. Like the future of the Twilight saga, the future of the global economy is uncertain. Asking when and how the economy will improve is almost like asking what will become of the Cullen clan – no one knows. That uncertainty is causing young people to break out of traditional molds. They know the business world is changing, and they’ve not afraid to adapt. Instead of taking the reins at Dad’s auto shop or accounting firm, they’ll continue to go into business for themselves, forming cutting-edge start-ups and changing the face of small business in the process.

3. Social media works better. Business appraisers are starting to truly understand social media, and they’re now much better at determining which strategies will result in a profit and which will be a waste of time. As a result, social media practices are becoming more and more structured around actual ROI. Instead of constantly spamming consumers with emails and excessive tweets, businesses will slow down and focus on quality content that actually leads to sales instead of headaches.

4. Businesses go mobile. Which members of N*SYNC were originally part of the Mickey Mouse Club? When important questions like these come up in conversation, all you need to do is whip out your smartphone and do a quick search for the answer. When you need to find a pizza shop, tow truck or repair man you probably do the same thing. Smart phones make it easy for us to Google on the go, and brands are finding ways to adapt. Businesses who want to stop you from stumbling onto a competitor’s contact info are creating vanity numbers that customers can easily recall. These 1-800 numbers are a traditional business tool that will see a surge in popularity as mobile culture grows in 2012.

5. Green gets greener. Consumers are getting smarter. Brands that try to cash in on the green trend without truly upholding environmental standards aren’t going to get away with it anymore. In 2012, many new and existing companies will adopt green practices, but we’ll also see some companies get called out on their false claims and misleading marketing. Green will actually get greener, because these businesses will find they can no longer fake it.

6. Health insurance shrinks business size. New insurance regulations and systems will provide insurance for the self-employed that is more accessible than ever before. Workers who had previously relied on company benefits packages at jobs they didn’t enjoy will now be able to afford to go it alone, and you can expect a lot of people to seize the opportunity this year. Businesses that want to cut rising health care costs will keep their workforce as small as possible and employ independent contractors whenever they can.

7. It’s an app world. When’s the last time you checked your Words With Friends score? Five minutes ago? Ten? If you find yourself slightly obsessed with your mobile apps, you’re not alone. Think about Angry Birds – the mobile game is so wildly popular that you can now find Angry Birds toys, school supplies and even clothing. Businesses see our app obsession as a valuable marketing opportunity. That’s why you can expect to see an influx in corporate apps this year, from the useful to the downright silly.

8. Retirees reenter the workforce. A lot of baby boomers who thought they had it made are now finding that their savings alone can’t sustain them through retirement. Grandpa knows his job options don’t begin and end with “Walmart greeter,” and he’ll be looking to apply his skills and experience at a job he can enjoy. Watch for workplace dynamics and demographics to shift as retirees reenter the workforce and apply their traditional knowledge and insight to new business systems.

9. Daily deal sites cater to you. Sites like Groupon and LivingSocial experienced wild popularity last year, but consumers are growing tired of the flood of emails. More, they’re annoyed by all these deals that have nothing to do with them (laser liposuction, really?) The sites are evolving into something more customizable, like the system you’ll find on BigTip, the new deal site that allows customers to search through thousands of deals by category. This system will also pay off for business owners. They’re just not equipped to deal with a flood of customers who try to redeem their coupons all at once.

10. Target demographics shift. The largest population demographic is made up of people 85 and older. Though many brands pander to the young and hip, businesses will begin to shift their focus to this much larger age group instead. Pay close attention and you’ll see a change in marketing strategies everywhere. Does this mean advertisers will finally stop slapping the buzzword “extreme” on everything from deodorant to cheese puffs? That would be such a welcome change, wouldn’t it?

11. Businesses focus on the local. In a world where we’re constantly inundated with newsletters and pop-up ads, consumers yearn for that personal touch. They’re reaching out to find a real sense of community, and businesses are hoping to meet them halfway. From children’s sports team sponsorships to non-profit fundraisers, we’ll see more businesses getting involved on the local level.

12. Everyone gets an online shop. From bill paying to gift buying, consumers are more comfortable with online shopping than ever before. Smart business owners will get in on the action in an attempt to get their hands on all those digital dollars. While giants like eBay and Amazon will stay strong, you can expect surprising new players to enter the field. The boutique down the street will create an online catalog featuring their vintage dress collection, and your local grocery store could even start taking delivery orders online. Consumers will start making more of their formerly “in-store” transactions online instead.

Style blindness is the rarest of medical conditions: an illness that actually is a laughing matter. But while you might require a one-on-one consultation with Dr. Tim Gunn to talk you out of those Crocs, remember this: you have the power to prevent your horrible fashion sense fashion from affecting your business decisions. Keep these trends in mind and you’ll be sure to stay ahead of your competitors in 2012. Sure, they might look a little more GQ at the marketing conference, but your profits will say what a million tailored suits can’t – that when it comes to business, you’re a true trendsetter.

Perry Sheraw is the founder and executive vice president of eBusiness Appraisals. She is a dedicated business owner advocate with a mission to ensure all business owners have access to critical information in order to make the right choices and achieve the highest possible value from their life’s work.

Beatrice L., Concord, NHThe following answers are provided by the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC). Founded by Scott Gerber, the YEC is an invite-only nonprofit organization comprised of the country’s most promising young entrepreneurs.  The YEC promotes entrepreneurship as a solution to youth unemployment and underemployment and provides its members with access to tools, mentorship, and resources that support each stage of a business’s development and growth.

A. Fear of Judgement

I launched my first business in college. At first my friends thought I was weird. In order to get over this fear of being judged, I surrounded myself with people who would support me whether my business succeeded or failed. This gave me the room to build a business without worrying about what my peers were thinking. These supporters were a key in building my business into what is is today.

Nick Reese, Microbrand Media

A. Unrelenting Debt

When I founded my publishing company as as teen I turned to family and friends of family to raise capital. It was terrifying to think about how much money I owed to people I cared about. But it was also extremely motivating. Each night I went to sleep thinking of new ways to generate income and each day I hit the streets running. If viewed constructively, fear can be an excellent fuel for success.

Kent Healy, The Uncommon Life 

A. What if I Get Sick?

I have a chronic illness, and I was very concerned about not having any stable healthcare when I launched my business. After meditating on my decision to pursue my venture, I realized that there would always be excuses not to work for myself. I had faith in my own abilities and thought that things would naturally work out over time. It did for me and will for you.

Eric Bahn, Beat The GMAT

A. No adoption

Before launching my education startup I was worried it wouldn’t be adopted by students. After dedicating so much time to building our product I didn’t want it to launch and risk no one using it. I worried that way for quite a while and was only relieved when students began to use and it continued growing.

Ben Lang, MySchoolHelp

A. Am I Too Young?

When I was starting my business during university, I had so many people say, “You’re pretty young, shouldn’t you go work for a company for awhile?” These naysayers caused me to really doubt myself and question whether I was too young to be taken seriously in business. I finally came to realize that age really is nothing but a number and it would only be an obstacle if I made it an obstacle.

Natalie MacNeil, She Takes on the World

A. Instability and the Unknown

The greatest fear I had when starting my business was the instability of it all. The lack of revenue and not knowing whether I would be able to make ends meet. After bootstrapping and eating pasta for many months, persistence paid off and my fear passed.

Zach Cutler, Cutler Group

A. Was I Making the Right Choice?

I quit my full time job at Ernst & Young to start my company. I had my mom yelling at me every day to get a real job. “What are you crazy?” was all I ever heard — even after I had quit my job. But ultimately, I trusted myself, my vision and what we were going to offer the world. If you believe strongly in what you do, it’ll help you push past the fears.

Adam Gilbert, My Body Tutor

A. Lack of Education, Experience and Training

In the beginning, I was worried about not having all of the skills and experience I needed before launch. I overcame this by simply starting with what I had and learning along the way. Business planning is needed, but the process of doing is the only way of conquering the fear of “starting.”

Lucas Sommer, Audimated

A. A Black Hole in My Bank Account

My biggest fears were about money. Could I survive on my own? What if I went for six months without earning any income, and I ended up in debt, foreclosed on and feeling like a giant failure? I had a six-figure salary (that came with endless perks), so I was terrified to leave my job. I conquered the fear by reminding myself, “If not now, when?” and “What will I regret more, leaving or staying?”

Jenny Blake, Life After College

A. Cold Calling Chills

I started my business by cold calling real estate agents to find ways to help them. Each day on the phone was a brutal, painful experience. Over time, I became numb to the rejection and I realized that each ‘no’ is simply one step closer to a ‘yes.’

Andy Drish, Referral Squirrel

Based on more than forty interviews with Jobs conducted over two years—as well as interviews with more than a hundred family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues—Walter Isaacson has written a riveting story of the roller-coaster life and searingly intense personality of a creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing.

At a time when America is seeking ways to sustain its innovative edge, and when societies around the world are trying to build digital-age economies, Jobs stands as the ultimate icon of inventiveness and applied imagination. He knew that the best way to create value in the twenty-first century was to connect creativity with technology. He built a company where leaps of the imagination were combined with remarkable feats of engineering.

Although Jobs cooperated with this book, he asked for no control over what was written nor even the right to read it before it was published. He put nothing off-limits. He encouraged the people he knew to speak honestly. And Jobs speaks candidly, sometimes brutally so, about the people he worked with and competed against. His friends, foes, and colleagues provide an unvarnished view of the passions, perfectionism, obsessions, artistry, devilry, and compulsion for control that shaped his approach to business and the innovative products that resulted.

2. The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses – Eric Ries

Most startups fail. But many of those failures are preventable.  The Lean Startup is a new approach being adopted across the globe, changing the way companies are built and new products are launched.

Eric Ries defines a startup as an organization dedicated to creating something new under conditions of extreme uncertainty. This is just as true for one person in a garage or a group of seasoned professionals in a Fortune 500 boardroom. What they have in common is a mission to penetrate that fog of uncertainty to discover a successful path to a sustainable business.

The Lean Startup approach fosters companies that are both more capital efficient and that leverage human creativity more effectively.  Inspired by lessons from lean manufacturing, it relies on “validated learning,” rapid scientific experimentation, as well as a number of counter-intuitive practices that shorten product development cycles, measure actual progress without resorting to vanity metrics, and learn what customers really want. It enables a company to shift directions with agility, altering plans inch by inch, minute by minute.

Rather than wasting time creating elaborate business plans, The Lean Startup offers entrepreneurs – in companies of all sizes – a way to test their vision continuously, to adapt and adjust before it’s too late. Ries provides a scientific approach to creating and managing successful startups in a age when companies need to innovate more than ever.

3. Thinking, Fast and Slow – Daniel Kahneman

In the highly anticipated Thinking, Fast and Slow, Kahneman takes us on a groundbreaking tour of the mind and explains the two systems that drive the way we think. System 1 is fast, intuitive, and emotional; System 2 is slower, more deliberative, and more logical. Kahneman exposes the extraordinary capabilities—and also the faults and biases—of fast thinking, and reveals the pervasive influence of intuitive impressions on our thoughts and behavior. The impact of loss aversion and overconfidence on corporate strategies, the difficulties of predicting what will make us happy in the future, the challenges of properly framing risks at work and at home, the profound effect of cognitive biases on everything from playing the stock market to planning the next vacation—each of these can be understood only by knowing how the two systems work together to shape our judgments and decisions.

Engaging the reader in a lively conversation about how we think, Kahneman reveals where we can and cannot trust our intuitions and how we can tap into the benefits of slow thinking. He offers practical and enlightening insights into how choices are made in both our business and our personal lives—and how we can use different techniques to guard against the mental glitches that often get us into trouble. Thinking, Fast and Slow will transform the way you think about thinking.

4. Start Something that Matters – Blake Mycoskie

Love your work, work for what you love, and change the world—all at the same time.

What matters most to you? Should you focus on earning a living, pursuing your passions, or devoting yourself to the causes that inspire you? The surprising truth is that you don’t have to choose—and that you’ll find more success if you don’t. That’s the breakthrough message of TOMS’ One for One movement. You don’t have to be rich to give back and you don’t have to retire to spend every day doing what you love. You can find profit, passion, and meaning all at once—right now.

In Start Something That Matters, Blake Mycoskie tells the story of TOMS, one of the fastest-growing shoe companies in the world, and combines it with lessons learned from such other innovative organizations as method, charity: water, FEED Projects, and TerraCycle. Blake presents the six simple keys for creating or transforming your own life and business, from discovering your core story to being resourceful without resources; from overcoming fear and doubt to incorporating giving into every aspect of your life. No matter what kind of change you’re considering, Start Something That Matters gives you the stories, ideas, and practical tips that can help you get started.

5. Startup Weekend: How to Take a Company From Concept to Creation in 54 Hours

“Startup Weekend is a global phenomenon that has attracted and encouraged a new generation of entrepreneurs. Startup Weekend has changed the world, and this book will change the way you think about startups.”—David Cohen, founder and CEO of TechStars

“Startup Weekend is the most current account of how the modern tech entrepreneur will operate and succeed. Sure, the person, the hustle, the persistence, and the environment all account toward success—but to hit your key fundamentals, this book will be the best.”—Brian Wong, founder and CEO of Kiip

“There are lots of people who want to be entrepreneurs but they don’t know how to get started. How do you move from passion and an idea to a team, a product, and a launch? Startup Weekend has empowered thousands of entrepreneurs around the world to kick-start their startup dreams. If you want to start a business, stop dreaming about it and just do it—this book can teach you how!”—Neil Patel, founder of Crazy Egg and KISSmetrics

“Startup Weekend is the modern-day equivalent of Woodstock for current and aspiring entrepreneurs.?It’s 54 hours of no-holds-barred company building that leaves pretty much everyone who participates saying ‘I can’t believe what we just built over a weekend!’ ?This book captures many of the insights and wisdom from those weekends and gives you a window into what is the mostintense entrepreneurial experience out there today.” —Greg Gottesman, Managing Director of Madrona Venture Group

6. The Thank You Economy – Gary Vaynerchuk

If this were 1923, this book would have been called “Why Radio Is Going to Change the Game” . . .

If it were 1995, it would be “Why Amazon Is Going to Take Over the Retailing World” . . .

The Thank You Economy is about something big, something greater than any single revolutionary platform. It isn’t some abstract concept or wacky business strategy—it’s real, and every one of us is doing business in it every day, whether we choose to recognize it or not. It’s the way we communicate, the way we buy and sell, the way businesses and consumers interact online and offline. The Internet, where the Thank You Economy was born, has given consumers back their voice, and the tremendous power of their opinions via social media means that companies and brands have to compete on a whole different level than they used to.

Here renowned entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk reveals how companies big and small can scale that kind of personal, one-on-one attention to their entire customer base, no matter how large, using the same social media platforms that carry consumer word of mouth. The Thank You Economy offers compelling, data-driven evidence that we have entered into an entirely new business era, one in which the companies that see the biggest returns won’t be the ones that can throw the most money at an advertising campaign, but will be those that can prove they care about their customers more than anyone else. The businesses and brands that harness the word-of-mouth power from social media, those that can shift their culture to be more customer-aware and fan-friendly, will pull away from the pack and profit in today’s markets.

7. Enchantment – Guy Kawasaki

Enchantment, as defined by bestselling business guru Guy Kawasaki, is not about manipulating people. It transforms situations and relationships. It converts hostility into civility and civility into affinity. It changes the skeptics and cynics into the believers and the undecided into the loyal. Enchantment can happen during a retail transaction, a high-level corporate negotiation, or a Facebook update. And when done right, it’s more powerful than traditional persuasion, influence, or marketing techniques.

Kawasaki argues that in business and personal interactions, your goal is not merely to get what you want but to bring about a voluntary, enduring, and delightful change in other people. By enlisting their own goals and desires, by being likable and trustworthy, and by framing a cause that others can embrace, you can change hearts, minds, and actions.

This book explains all the tactics you need to prepare and launch an enchantment campaign; to get the most from both push and pull technologies; and to enchant your customers, your employees, and even your boss. It shows how enchantment can turn difficult decisions your way, at times when intangibles mean more than hard facts. It will help you overcome other people’s entrenched habits and defy the not-always-wise “wisdom of the crowd.”

Kawasaki’s lessons are drawn from his tenure at one of the most enchanting organizations of all time, Apple, as well as his decades of experience as an entrepreneur and venture capitalist. There are few people in the world more qualified to teach you how to enchant people.

As Kawasaki writes, “Want to change the world? Change caterpillars into butterflies? This takes more than run-of-the-mill relationships. You need to convince people to dream the same dream that you do.” That’s a big goal, but one that’s possible for all of us.

8. The Big Enough Company: Creating a Business That Works for You – Adelaide Lancaster & Amy Abrams

Despite the freedom that striking out on your own promises, most of the accepted wisdom on how to build a small business advocates a one- size-fits-all approach. So-called experts-and sometimes just well-meaning friends-urge business owners to grow fast, be more profitable, and imitate other successful start-ups. And while these tips may work for some, they fail to consider the astounding variety of values and motivations that individuals have for starting a business. Too often, owners sacrifice their personal satisfaction in order to conform to unnecessary (and often unworkable) standards.

Adelaide Lancaster and Amy Abrams have seen this problem for years when working with women entrepreneurs like themselves. They set out to explore how successful female business owners have grown their enterprises in a way that sustains their own personal goals and needs, not someone else’s standards.

Drawing on the true stories of nearly 100 entrepreneurs, as well as their own experiences, Abrams and Lancaster guide readers through the best principles that really matter when you work for yourself. For instance:

• Figure out what’s in it for you: Clarify why you started your business and what you want to get out of it over the long haul.
• Find a role that suits your strengths: Identify where you add the most value and can have the most impact.
• Embrace experimentation: Trying new things gives you the opportunity to see what works and what doesn’t and opens up unseen possibilities.

This book empowers entrepreneurs to ignore popular “wisdom” and peer pressure to take charge of their businesses in a way that will help them succeed on their own terms.

9. Uncertainty: Turning Fear and Doubt into Fuel for Brilliance- Jonathan Fields

Properly understood and harnessed, fear and uncertainty can become fuel for creative genius rather than sources of pain, anxiety, and suffering. In business, art, and life, creating on a world-class level demands bold action and leaps of faith in the face of great uncertainty. But that uncertainty can lead to fear, anxiety, paralysis, and destruction. It can gut creativity and stifle innovation. It can keep you from taking the risks necessary to do great work and craft a deeply-rewarding life. And it can bring companies that rely on innovation grinding to a halt.

That is, unless you know how to use it to your advantage.
Fields draws on leading-edge technology, cognitive-science and ancient awareness-focusing techniques in a fresh, practical, non-dogmatic way. His approach enables creativity and productivity on an entirely different level and can turn the once-tortuous journey into a more enjoyable quest. Fields will reveal how to:

• Make changes to your workflow that unlock buried creative potential.
• Build “creation hives” — supportive groups that can supercharge and humanize the process.
• Tap social technology and user co-creation to add clarity, certainty, and sanity, even if you’re an artist or solo-creator.
• Develop a set of personal practices and mindset shifts that let you not just tolerate, but invite and even amplify, uncertainty as a catalyst for genius.

10. Nothing to Lose, Everything to Gain: How I Went from Gang Member to Multimillionaire Entrepreneur – Ryan Blair

Ryan Blair knows about building a business from the ground up. Like many entrepreneurs he had no formal business education. But he had great survival instincts, tenacity, and above all, a “nothing to lose” mindset.

Blair’s middle-class childhood came to an abrupt end when his abusive father succumbed to drug addiction and abandoned the family. Blair and his mother moved to a dangerous neighborhood, and soon he was in and out of juvenile detention, joining a gang just to survive.

Then his mother fell in love with a successful entrepreneur who took Ryan under his wing. With his mentor’s help, Blair turned himself into a wildly successful businessman. He started his first company, 24/7 Tech, at the age of 21, and since then has started and sold several companies for hundreds of millions of dollars.

Now Blair shows readers how to start and grow their own profitable businesses by following his often contrarian philosophies:

• In juvenile detention, if you let someone take your milk the first day, they’ll start taking it every day. The same is true in business.

• When you’re dealing with an investor’s money, you have to act as if God himself wrote you the check.

• Most business plans aren’t worth the paper they’re written on.

• Efforts don’t pay the rent. Have no sympathy for employees who talk about how hard they’re trying.

• Entrepreneurship is great because you can set your own hours — any 17 hours of the day, 7 days a week. But if you’re doing what you love, it doesn’t drain you as much as the 9 to 5 death cycle.

This book is an inspirational guide for people who are willing to put in the hard work, time, and dedication needed to see their vision through to the end. Blair shares lessons from his mentors and advice from his own life- changing experiences, and provides readers with a road map for entrepreneurial success.

What other must reads do you have from 2011? Leave a comment!

Book descriptions and reviews via Barnes & Nobles

Victor L., San Jose, CAThe following answers are provided by the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC). Founded by Scott Gerber, the YEC is an invite-only nonprofit organization comprised of the country’s most promising young entrepreneurs.  The YEC promotes entrepreneurship as a solution to youth unemployment and underemployment and provides its members with access to tools, mentorship, and resources that support each stage of a business’s development and growth.

A. Realigning Is Hard

If you’re running a business before you start traveling, chances are you’ll have to scale it down a bit before you can hit the open road. This was a tough concept for me, as my business was big and growing, and my dream was always to run a big studio. Eventually I realigned my business with my wants, and realized scaling would give me more freedom, which I wanted even more. I’ve never looked back.

Colin Wright of Exile Lifestyle

A. Define Your Work and Play Schedule

Traveling is meant to be fun and enjoyable. However, sometimes the allure of exploration can supersede business obligations. I suggest scheduling in advance so there is a clear division of work and play. This decreases the guilt-factor of “playing” during what would normally be “work hours” while simultaneously increasing your focus when working.

Kent Healy of The Uncommon Life

A. Release the Fear of Income Uncertainty

One of the biggest hurdles I faced before quitting Google, renting out my condo and moving across the country in my quest to become a nomadic entrepreneur was the almost-paralyzing fear and uncertainty around where my next income would come from. Part of being a nomadic entrepreneur is accepting a life unplanned — embracing serendipity and spontaneity, and trusting that opportunities will come.

Jenny Blake of Life After College

A. Leave the Right People Behind

Empowering the people you work with is the key ingredient to allowing you to be absent from your business. Before you can think about traveling, you need to give your staff opportunities to problem solve without using you as a resource, so they know (and you do, too) that when the occasion arises, they will be able to find a solution that works for the company and the customer.

Vanessa Nornberg of Metal Mafia

A. Let Go of Your Security Blanket

Making the decision to give up a steady paycheck is hard, but world-class opportunities don’t come without a measure of risk. If you have a dream you want to pursue, don’t give in to fear of where your next paycheck will come from. While you do need to make shrewd and profitable business decisions, having a solid idea and the conviction to see it through will put you on the path to success.

Robert Sofia of Platinum Advisor Marketing Strategies, LLC

A. Redefine Success

Mark Sanborn says that how you keep score determines how you play the game. It’s important to redefine what success means and what’s important to you. I had to shift my thinking and move “freedom” ahead of many other success factors on the list. Know what’s important to you and use that to make decisions.

Lisa Nicole Bell of Inspired Life Media Group

A. Master Logistics: Mail, Phone and Home

One of the hardest parts of becoming an nomadic entrepreneur is the logistical nightmare. It does not have to be difficult if you use the right services. I use MailBoxForwarding.com for all of my mail, which scans my mail for me while I’m gone. I set-up a Skype line and Voice Message system for my calls and put my house for short-term rent on AirBnB. These have been essential for longterm travel.

Vanessa Van Petten of Science of People

A. Recurring Revenue

I knew that I needed a certain amount of profit every single month to be able to travel anywhere in the world that I wanted, and if I was going to do that, I needed to add on an additional recurring model. I now have certainty that every single month I have a certain amount of money to live on even if I didn’t find new clients. That is freedom.

Louis Lautman of Young Entrepreneur Society

A. Managing Expectations

One major challenge when going nomadic is managing your clients/staff so that they know what to expect. If you manage their expectations correctly then no one feels unsatisfied. If you try to maintain the appearance of being local or available clients/staff are upset when problems arise from your travels. Know what you can and can’t deliver while being nomadic and you won’t upset people.

Lucas Sommer of Audimated

A. Getting Others on Board

To run any business you need a strong team. I was most nervous about managing a team virtually while abroad. It started with getting my business partner on board with a virtual system and then building out the virtual team. It was an adjustment. After overcoming that hurdle all that was left was to move out of the office and choose the first adventure as a location independent entrepreneur.

Natalie MacNeil of She Takes on the World

A. Don’t Forget to Have a Homebase

One big myth I had in my head was that to be a lifestyle entrepreneur I couldn’t have an office, I had to be “nomadic.” For me, not having that homebase to return to between trips was tough and made me feel less connected to my community and my mission. So, once I got an awesome office (around other young entrepreneurs) I felt less nomadic and more like an entrepreneur who just travels a lot.

Trevor Mauch of Automize, LLC

Here’s what I wish I had known at age 22:

1. Know what you don’t know. At 22, I didn’t know shit. I could recite Shakespeare, construct a balance sheet, and crank out 15-page term papers in an afternoon on almost any topic you gave me, but I was ill-prepared for the real world. I thought I knew it all and didn’t need anyone’s advice or help. Big mistake.

2. Being busy destroys your value. I used to pride myself on the amount of “stuff” I’d do. I was constantly meeting with someone and working on something. I felt extremely productive. How could I not be successful when I did so much? Unfortunately when I looked back on what I’d accomplished, it amounted to very little. Although I continue to fall back into cycles of busyness, I know a key ingredient in the recipe for success: “make haste slowly.”

3. Nothing complicated ever works out. I’ve crafted a lifetime of reseller agreements, highly complex employment incentives, partnerships, and intricate business plans. None of them have been successful. Success has come from simple plans, defined roles and clear expectations. For every added layer of complication, you’ve exponentially increased your chances of failure.

4. Treat everyone well. This means you should A) give people the benefit of the doubt; B) be transparent; C) never step on someone to step up; D) refrain from talking crap on anyone. We only see the surface layer of peoples’ lives. Beneath that layer lies heartache, anxiety and baggage that causes some unfortunate actions from time-to-time. Understand that when you ask someone, “how’s life?” you’re almost always going to get the answer “things are good.” That doesn’t mean all is good.

5. Specialize to win. Saying you do everything is a joke that everyone gets but you. You’re not good at everything. In fact, you’re not good at most things. You’re probably excellent at one or two things. By specializing, you’ll gain credibility, focus and the right kind of business. You’ll become a go-to resource, instead of always having to hunt and kill.

6. “Quit the wrong stuff. Stick with the right stuff. Have the guts to do one or the other.” Seth Godin says it perfectly. Life is not about gutting out every situation. It’s about identifying opportunity and a lack thereof. If your pride is all that is standing in the way of quitting, quit. The right people won’t care and the wrong people don’t matter. If you know you’re on the right path, persevere though the pain. It will be worth it.

7. Profits matter. Fast growth is exciting. Creating large and growing revenues feels great. But none of it matters if you can’t turn a profit. Profits create stability and durability. Profits keep people paid and allow for focus. If your intentions are not to immediately create profits, ask yourself why.

8. Service based businesses suck for young entrepreneurs. You’ll struggle with the same challenges of scalability, client whims and a constant squeeze on margins. But, you’ll also have the added problem of perceived or actual expertise. It takes a tremendous amount of time and effort to become excellent at a service. Intelligence and a robust education don’t make you an expert. Unlike products, services are judged on their history of success. As a young entrepreneur, you won’t have a history of success. That makes it tough to convince people to buy your service. I highly recommend that young entrepreneurs make products first, then develop service-based businesses later (if they so choose).

Brent Beshore is the CEO of AdVentures ranked #28 on the 2011 Inc. 500 list of fastest growing companies in the U.S.

–Wendell P., Albany, NY

The following answers are provided by the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC). Founded by Scott Gerber, the YEC is an invite-only nonprofit organization comprised of the country’s most promising young entrepreneurs.  The YEC promotes entrepreneurship as a solution to youth unemployment and underemployment and provides its members with access to tools, mentorship, and resources that support each stage of a business’s development and growth.

A: Act, Reflect, Repeat

If you are just thinking, it’s time to act. Commit to something that is measureable. At the end of March (Q1) reflect on how things are going and then decide what your next action will be. There is so much to be learned by acting and reflecting. You will be amazed at the opportunities and doors that open up, just because you acted and were visible to the public.

Ambassador Bruny of Ambassador Bruny.Com

A: Learn to Cut the Fat

We’re facing unpredictable economic times that can create sudden swings in consumer and production trends. This is enough to run top heavy companies into the ground. The businesses that do well, however, will be those that run lean. Discover any possible points of monetary and emotional waste and cut them from your operations. This will allow you to remain flexible amidst market shifts.

Kent Healy of The Uncommon Life

A: Get More Organized

Being an entrepreneur means that you have to wear many hats, get a lot done and think on your toes. There’s no way one can be productive without a sophisticated organizational tool that keeps your entrepreneurial life in check. Improve in 2012 by investing in a to-do list strategy that you will remain faithful to that will also hold you accountable if you ever start being less productive.

Logan Lenz of Endagon

A: Start Something!

There is no better way to learn to be an entrepreneur than by doing it. You don’t have to set out to start the next Google on day one. Just solve a problem you see and try to get other people to use your product. Even starting a small company can pay dividends when you start bigger ventures and make you more appealing if you want to work at a startup.

Jason Evanish of Greenhorn Connect

A: Stick to Your Mission, Even In a Difficult Economy

Many businesses have felt the pinch of the difficult economy. Do not make the mistake of deciding to change the fundamentals of your business to trim costs during this time. Cutting corners on materials or providing less service to customers will only cause your company to lose credibility. Don’t do it! Reputation damage is hard to repair.

Vanessa Nornberg of Metal Mafia

A: Exercise Every Morning

Being an entrepreneur can be stressful. Don’t settle in to bad eating habits and lethargy in front of your computer screen. Instead, make the commitment in 2012 to do a workout each morning, even if it’s only for 15 minutes. This is one of the best secrets of the world’s top CEOs. It’s not about waistlines, it’s about blowing off steam and having a dedicated, daily opportunity to plan and reflect.

DoreenBloch of Poshly Inc.

A: Resolve to Focus on Revenue Generating Activities

Most entrepreneurs spend their time planning, tweeting, emailing, hiring, invoicing, having meetings and networking. The problem is, very little of that time is being spent on billable hours or sales. Aim for 80 percent of your time to be spent making money. If you do this successfully you might even be able to hire an executive assistant to take care of the rest.

Matt Wilson of Under30CEO.com

A: Make New Friends (But Keep the Old)

As the song says, “Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other’s gold.” As an entrepreneur, silver and gold are both pretty great, so commit to reaching out to one person every day — current clients, former classmates, business owners you admire, etc. Relationships are the most important assets of your business, so make them your top priority in 2012.

Lindsey Pollak of Lindsey Pollak

A: Move Forward

Outline one major goal you wish to accomplish in 2012, and daily determine one task that will help bring you closer to completion. Keep moving forward. Far too often we hold ourselves back from execution. If you can continually challenge yourself to move forward in some way, you’ll be well on the way to accomplishing great things in 2012.

Jeff Slobotski of Silicon Prairie News

A: Don’t Wait for New Years to Get Motivated About Goals

I kind of despise new years resolutions. I used to do them, it’s just what we do … right? But, then I realized, “Why put off my big changes and big goals to new years.” Rather than setting New Years resolutions take time each month to reflect on progress that month, and on your vision and goals for the next 90 days. If you can’t commit to a big goal today, doing it on New Years won’t help.

Trevor Mauch of Automize, LLC

Then comes the curve-ball: Mobile.  Everyone is checking their phone all the time… including you.  And you want to get in front of those eyeballs, thumbswipes and Angry Birds.  So what can you do to “Go Mobile” like a Boss?

Save your money (like a boss) and try these seven things to put in make your business Go Mobile and be the envy of the town:

1. Claim your Business and your Location.

With smart-phones, a consumer searching for a hardware store will automatically be shown the nearest hardware stores relative to the GPS-enabled device in the consumer’s hand.  That means, you want to be sure your physical facility shows up (even if your office is just the location for people to call).

So what can you do to be “found”?  It’s pretty simple really – just be sure that you visit each site such as Yelp, Bing, Yahoo Local, Google Places, Foursquare, and Facebook and “claim” your business and it’s location.

2. m.yoursite.com.

Mobile searches have grown 400 percent since 2010, according to Google.  And when they find you on their phone – consumers visit (59%) or they call you (61%).

So, be sure you can be found.  And that means make sure that website you initially launched back in 2000 is accessible by mobile phones or “mobile optimized.” How do you “Go Mobile”?  Well, there are lots of new and reasonably priced tools to help make your site mobile-optimized.  But before you plunk down any money, check out Google’s “GoMo” site that has a testing tool and resources to help businesses with their websites.

3. Make your coupons “mobile.”

Have you ever been in line at a store and seen a store clerk refuse to honor a coupon on someone’s mobile phone.  Claiming “no, you need to print that before I can accept it” just sets the consumer off even more.

Don’t be that business.  The days of “clipping coupons” has come and gone.  Now most consumers would simple prefer to open an email or webpage with your coupon, flash it to you on their smart phone and get the discount.   Make it clear that showing the coupon on your phone is sufficient and consumers will thank you for being “mobile-friendly” and you’ll avoid that awkward confrontation with your store clerks.

4. Monitor your reviews.

Did you know that 81% of consumers say they read reviews before making a purchase?  And 51% of consumers say they use the Internet IN SHOPS before making a purchase.  And if you have a bevy of negative reviews or poor feedback, that consumer may decide to shop, eat, drink or pay somewhere else.

The first step to keep tabs on your reviews is to set a Google Alert (alerts.google.com) for the name of your business.  Watch for any reviews, postings or other news that you might need to address.  And find out the review-focused sites people use regularly to review your business: Google Places, Yelp, and Angie’s List. For a more detailed tracking service, try Reputation.com for Business that monitors and provides real-time alerts for your business.

5. Talk to your customers.

Guess what?  Consumers want to talk with and hear from brands they like.  43% of consumers “like” at least one brand on Facebook.  53% of individuals with a Twitter account recommend products or services in their tweets.  And more and more consumers are using social media on the go.

Both Facebook and Twitter are free to setup and utilize – so schedule time daily to engage.  Put links to your accounts on the web and in your facility (if you have a physical location).  And talk to your customers: respond to questions or concerns, and consider offering deals for fans or followers.  And the most important lesson: talk like a human not a brand.  Consumers want to engage with a person (especially the person(s) behind the brand).  Remember, as consumers are out and about, they are talking to you, about you and with you – so be a part of the conversation.

You can manage most of these conversations using the standard Facebook or Twitter platforms, but if you want something more advanced try Hootsuite which can help you manage your efforts, schedule messages or track conversations from a single interface.

6. Be Able to Take Money Wherever you Are.

Quick, how much cash do you have in your wallet?  Enough to buy something over $100?  Over $50?  Over $20?  People are becoming more reliant on credit cards for all of their transactions.  So rather than force someone to run to the nearest ATM (and pay the enormous fee for withdrawing from a non-bank ATM), consider taking payment right on your mobile device.

It’s easier than you thought these days with services like Square, (squareup.com) or Intuit GoPayment (gopayment.com) providing a device that plugs into most smart phones to take a credit card on the spot.  And new technologies are coming along to allow you to pay without needing any hardware at all.

7.  Tried Text Messages?

According to the Pew Foundation, 73% of cell phone users, utilize the text messaging function on their phones.  And 44% of Americans have opted into at least one text messaging marketing campaign.  So, why not share deals, information and updates with your customers via text.

For a simple guide to get started with SMS Marketing, check out the Beginner’s Guide to SMS Marketing by Tatango.

Conclusion

This year, with more people expected to be using mobile than ever before, business owners must think about how they can interact with these potential customers.  With a few simple actions and activities, any business can “go mobile” to create a positive environment for their customers, leads and partners.

Eric is the co-founder and COO of Zaarly.  Zaarly is a real-time mobile marketplace that provides tools for small-businesses and consumers to transact right from their mobile devices.  For more information or to sign-up for SMB mobile alerts, visit www.zaarly.com/business. 

If one of your resolutions is moving your life to a more peaceful, less cluttered, and paperless existence, I’m right there with you.  While we’re working hard on moving our online marketing firm to a completely paperless business, I’m also busy making my life paperless as well.

Before downloading and registering for every paperless app and service out there, sit down and determine where the biggest culprits in your life reside; where is most of the paper (and the overwhelm from paper) coming from?

When I did this for myself, I found that I was really bogged down by paper inefficiency in the following areas:

• Mail—catalogs, statements for multiple accounts and bills
• Receipts—things I’ve purchased & might want to return, business expenses, and more
• Printed paper and documents from my computer
• Magazine pull outs and articles
• Business cards and brochures from conferences and people I’ve met

I found the following tools 9 tools to be the best for an initial paperless toolbox.

1. Evernote

Evernote is one of the best online tools I’ve found to quickly file articles, pictures, and really anything I ever want to remember.  Plus, you can tag the web clippings or can just run a search which will “employ the Evernote elephants” to search through the text.  I’ve found this to be best for remembering anything that I find online—from cool travel locations to business articles to dress photos.  Also, scan paper documents (yuck!) that you receive and upload and organize them using Evernote.  Here are 8 ideas to increase your Evernote productivity.   Cost: Free ($5/month for premium)

2. OneReceipt

This seems to be the answer/cure to my purse full of crumpled receipts.  My biggest issue with throwing away receipts is knowing what to save and what to keep.  From an IRS perspective, I found that they do permit electronic copies of receipts and you don’t need originals.  OneReceipt allows you to add all of your email accounts, pulls anything that is a receipt for a purchase—Christmas gift, plane ticket, Prada purse—and allows you to categorize it.  Furthermore, you can keep all receipts in one place to refer to when you need them and to not worry about them when you don’t.  When the dishwasher breaks, don’t dig through old folders but just quickly search your OneReceipt account.  For hard copy receipts, I email them to my OneReceipt email address and they’re automatically added.  Cost: Free.

3. SignNow

I hate having to print documents to sign and then scan them back in.  Talk about inefficient.  Enter SignNow.  This tool allows me to open a PDF, sign my name directly, and even email to another for a signature.  Cost: Free.

4. Catalog Choice

I prefer to not receive any catalogs because most of them end up in the recycling bin anyway.  Also, like most of us, I get catalogs from companies I have never purchased from anyway.  Catalog Choice is a free service that allows you to unsubscribe from requested catalog using one dashboard.  In 10 minutes, I unsubscribed from 15 mailing lists.  Catalog Choice also shows me the environmental benefits of just my cancelled subscriptions.  To date, I’ve saved 1 fully-grown tree, 190 lbs of greenhouse gas, 68 lbs of solid waste, and 457 gallons of water.  Cost: Free (this is a non-profit so if you love the service, please donate).

5. Doxie scanner

This is the only piece of hardware on my list.  After reading reviews on the more expensive NeatReceipts scanners I decided on the Doxie.  The all-new Doxie Go lets you scan anywhere without being attached to a computer.  The software is included and is user-friendly (a sticking point with most NeatReceipts reviewers).  From the software, you can directly send your scans to Evernote.  I especially like that the scanned PDF text is searchable; that is huge.  Cost: $199.00 for the Doxie Go.

6. Virtual PostMail

When you decide to take that trip around the world (or really if you’re just trying to go paperless), Virtual PostMail gives you a 4-digit postal mailbox or real postal address to receive all of your mail.  You can then see your mail online within 24 hours.  This service even has a check depositing feature that deposits checks you receive in to your bank account securely.  Cost: starting around $10/month.

7. CardMunch

This iPhone app, built by LinkedIn, allows you to take a picture of a business card and convert it to an address book contact automatically.  You can also then see your mutual connections on LinkedIn and add them as a connection if you like.  Cost: Free.

8. Google Apps

Keep your email, calendar, and documents (including spreadsheets) in one place and in the cloud.  Google Apps is useful for sharing documents and making edits without having to send multiple versions back and forth.  Set up a personal domain (i.e. www.yourname.com) and use Google Apps like you would as a mini-business.  Cost: Free.

9. DropBox

Dropbox stores your files—documents, photos, videos—that you previously kept on your hard drive in a synced cloud-based folder, accessible by your phone or any of your computers.  You no longer will be emailing files to yourself (come on, we’ve all done it) or, heaven forbid, print it.  This also helps eliminate those multiple version issues.  When you change a document from your iPad, it will automatically update across your devices.  You can also share folders with friends and colleagues.  In our business, we use this especially for very large files that we previously needed an FTP site for.  Cost: Free for up to 2GB of storage.

BONUS tool – SendItToMe

If you have a Kindle, install SendItToMe’s bookmarklet in your browser toolbar and you can send articles that you want to read directly to your Kindle.  Don’t print out articles and add more paper.  Cost: Free.

What tools are you using to reduce the paper in your life?  Chime in here.

Author: Alexandra Gibson is the Managing Director (boss lady) for OttoPilot Media, an inbound marketing firm, and the SVP for Aspen Associates, an FF&E procurement company in the hospitality industry.  She wrote her first business plan at age 11…she’s been entrepreneurially intolerable since then. 

Here are my social media connections if you need them! Twitter, Blog, Facebook, LinkedIn or Email: alexandra(at)ottopilotmedia.com