NYEW Discount!

Just received some more good news. The New York Entrepreneurship Week has just been discounted 75%, thanks to the folks at 85broads . Here is the direct link to the page: 

http://www.85broads.com/public/blogs/diana-sonis-cfa/articles/new-york-entrepreneur-week-nov-8-nov-12-2010 

They have been nice enough to provide everyone with this hefty favor. This definitely puts me in a better position to go to the event now. Go check it out and PLEASE take advantage of this opportunity! Thank you 85broads!

Grind Music

Everybody has their ideal work conditions. Some people like watching TV, while others like working in complete silence. I personally LOVE MY MUSIC! It puts me in such a relaxed mood and allows me to flow through almost any task I take on. Each task warrants different 'Mood Music'(plug for Joe Buddens). Different artists have certain vibes that can dictate pace and efficiency. For the most part, my grind music recently has been mostly J. Cole. His music just seems to speak determination and non complacency. I just zone out when I hear it. Here's is some of his stuff, as well as a few others that get me going:

J. Cole – I’m On It by Hypetrak

Wale - Mike Tomlin by Hypetrak

And then there is Pandora.com...The ultimate site that gives you an unlimited stream of music to fit whatever your grind desires. If you don't know, please get on it. It saves lives lol. Leave a comment and let me know what your grind music is. Peace.

Making Moves

During the summer, I was looking on one of my favorite sites Under30ceo.com and came across a company called the Hodara Group. It was the nation's first student run real estate group, incorporating a management company, real estate academy, consulting, and real estate agent services under one roof. It was started by Alex Hodara, a Boston University student, and a few of his friends. They also created a web series about their experiences during their journey towards building their business called 'Young Entrepreneur TV: Making Moves'. Check out the first episode for the new second season at
 under30ceo.com/young-entrepreneur-tv-making-moves-season-2-episode-1- 

Let me know what you think.

Event Alert! New York Entrepreneur Week

Lately I have been looking for some events that I can attend that cater to entrepreneurs. One event that really caught my eye was the New York Entrepreneur Week. This is almost like the teacher's convention of entrepreneurship!

It's an opportunity to learn, network, and socialize with other like-minded people who are in the business of not just making money, but changing the world. The price is kind of steep but I think it would be worth it. I might have to crack the piggy bank open for this one!Check a short video of what it's about.

What is Entrepreneur Week? from NYEW on Vimeo.

It was created by Gary Whitehill, the founder of the Relentless Foundation, a non-profit that strives to advocate entrepreneurial education around the world. This sounds like an excellent event to capitalize on some great opportunities. Let me know if you're interested in going. You can get more info on the event and tickets at nyew.org

Me Time

What's up people?!

I'm so sorry that I haven't been keeping you all up to date lately. I needed to take some time to myself and there was a lot going on. I had to take a little time and reflect on where I'm at, what I'm doing and where I want to go. There was a point when I got extremely frustrated because I wasn't exactly sure what direction I wanted to go in. So, I went back to the basics: I K.I.S.S.ed it(Kept it Simple Stupid). Once that happened, the ideas started to fall in place. 

Now things are slowly starting to come together. I'm getting positive feedback from the people I'm sharing my ideas with and the phone calls are slowly coming through. The guidance I was seeking is beginning to find me. The plans are still in the works, but they are becoming more clear everyday. I will definitely keep you all posted on the progress because I feel like some good things are going to start happening soon. Thanks for the support!

Sorry!

Sorry people! I know I have been slacking on the blogging but I promise I will bring you more updates about what's going on with my life soon. Stay tuned and thanks for keeping me on track!

Learning Patience

Patience is one of the hardest things to learn as a human being. In this generation, we tend to want things now. No wait, not a lot of hard work, not for the long term, but right now. I'm slowly learning that as each day comes and goes, my goals become more clear. I can almost touch my dreams every time I think about them. Almost like a hunger in my stomach. When I'm at work, all I can think about is what my next step is to further my business ideas. Is that weird? 

The most difficult part of it all is realizing that this is a process. A journey that takes time to go through, steps that have to be taken. I'm taking the necessary precautions but it just seems that it's taking too long. I have to keep reminding myself that I have to move with a sense of urgency, but realize that everything is going to take its time. On with the grind!

Ahahhhh!!

Guess what people? I think I have found my passion and my first three business adventures. And yes I said adventures. I am so excited about getting these  ideas off the ground because I think that communities will really be able to benefit from them. Two of them involve inner-city youth and the other is my real estate venture. The ideas hit me at the most random time. I decided to finally to do one thing: K.I.S.S. (Keep it Simple Stupid!). I think prior to last week, I was trying to over-think the creative process and come up with something that no one has ever done before. Now I've gone back to the bare necessities and figured out what I love to do most; help kids and the community. I'm going to sit down for the next couple of weeks and come up with business plans for all three ventures and continue from there. I can't wait to see what the future brings me. I will keep you all posted. Literally!

Event Alert!!!

I'm really trying to go to this event:

Great Article

I was supposed to start my market research today and hit a road block. I didn't take the time to set parameters for my search. Then after that, the frustration set in. Anyway, in the midst of relieving my stress, I came across a great article on one of my favorite sites, imkeepingup. Go check it out. It's about goal setting and rearranging your priorities. Hope you enjoy.

Funding "Outside the Box"

It took me forever and a day to find these resources, but I found them finally! One of the hardest things to do when starting a business is finding capital. I haven't even started yet and that's the number question on everybody's mind. Where are getting your financing from? This simple question keeps a lot of people in the beginning stages of starting their businesses. It can separate the men from the boys. 

But as my history professors taught me, you dig until you find the truth. Or the money in this case. There is a new form of lending called, crowd funding. It allows entrepreneurs to use social networking to gain capital for their ideas. The best part of this idea is that NONE of the money has to be paid back. Doesn't that sound great? It's just people donating money to an idea that they believe in. Here are just a few of the more interesting sites I found that can help me and you get our ideas off the ground:

www.sellaband.com A European-based company started by Michael Bogatzki, uses social networking to allow fans fund their favorite independent artists. The site let's the artists maintain complete ownership of their work and choose the incentives for the fans that contribute. They have the freedom to enter deals with different entities without having to pay the advances back. Musicians this one is for you.

www.kickstarter.com This is an "all or nothing" funding resource. That means that entrepreneurs set a financial goal and if it isn't met then no money gets exchanged. The concept behind their philosophy is that it creates less risk for both parties (investor and entrepreneur), motivation on the entrepreneur's part, and satisfaction of seeing a good idea spread.

www.indiegogo.com Democratizing lending was the foundation of IndieGoGo.com. On this site, you can keep 100% ownership of your idea, while sourcing funds for the project. And even if you don't raise all of the money, you still get to keep what was raised (after fees). It's international too!

invested.in Invested.in uses your established social networking presence to help finance any idea that you want. Once you raise the money, you can either withdraw it or move it to another project before you hit the set goal.

There are plenty more resources that we can use to fund our projects. The goal is to BE CREATIVE!! The more innovative we are, the more options we will have. Hope this helps because I will definitely be doing my research! Keep grinding!

And it Begins!

Today, I take another step in my journey. I'm going sit down, revisit my action plans, and start my market research this week. By the Friday, I should have compiled a decent collection of data that I can analyze and begin to make some decisions. Oh, I forgot to tell you what my first project is. Real estate investing. I've been studying it for a while and I think I'm ready to start the process. 

There will be many more ventures soon to come, and I will definitely let you know about them as they progress. Until then wish me luck and if you have any suggestions or advice just let me know. Leave a comment.

Trying Something New

Last week I was checking out one of my favorite sites, www.imkeepingup.com , and came across a post that she put up about her new "secret" to accomplishing some of her goals. Here were some of her tips:

1. Come up with one or two major goals and set an end goal for accomplishing them. 

2. Visualize what those goals will look like once accomplished. 

3. Visualize and come up with a plan on how to get to your end goal. 

4. Then it is time to go crazy!!!!!! Take those goals and place them in as many places as you can. It is time to tell and show the Universe what the heck you are trying to achieve. Write your goals on the walls, mirrors, facebook status, gchat status, tweet it, say it 10 times. Go dumb with it!!! 

5. Then you want to wake up every morning and pray about it! Ask God for the strength to achieve what you have decided to go after.

This seems like an interesting and in-your-face tactic to reminding yourself everyday that you have something to accomplish. I'm willing to try almost anything once, especially if it has anything to do with keeping me focused. So I'm going to take the Socialite up on her offer and try it out. You will see that plan in action very soon. Wish me luck!

Comfort Zone: Part 1

Today I had an interesting conversation with one of my students. He was so interested in finding out what life is like outside of Philly (Philadelphia, PA for those who didn't know). He's only in 9th grade but he understands that there is life outside of his thirty block radius. He was so fascinated to hear what possibilities were out there and the things that he could experience.

The one thing that I have noticed with my students is that most of them do not want to leave their comfort zone. They are very afraid to do things that would set them apart from everyone else. Most have been told to follow the norm because that's all that they're capable of achieving. What they need to understand is that leaving their comfort zone allows ultimate growth. They are never going to know what they are capable of until they try things they never have done before. Take risks, explore, discover. And the biggest learning curve of all: FAILURE. 

It is the one factor that is inevitable and if they can embrace it, it will make them successful beyond measure.

My students have been told that failure is always a bad thing, but not that it can help you accomplish your wildest dreams.

To be continued...