Why Everything Is Your Fault and Why That’s Good
One of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned, about three years ago now, is that everything that is “happening” to you at this moment is absolutely your fault.
I’ve noticed that too few of us are willing to take responsibility for the events and situations that occur in our lives.
We’re quick to blame the economy or a lack of opportunity or of time.
Let’s say that you’re in some sort of management position and your team isn’t performing well.
They’re showing up late, not making enough calls or missing deadlines, and so on.
When is the last time you asked your team what you could do to help them succeed?
On the other hand, if you’re an employee who hasn’t received that promotion or raise, then when was the last time you asked a manager for an opportunity for more responsibilities?
Take responsibility.
No one is responsible for the outcome of your life but you.
The more responsibility you take for your life, the more you’ll see the results you want out of it.
6 Ways for Entrepreneurs to Hone Leadership Skills
6 Ways for Entrepreneurs to Hone Leadership Skills.
One answer is for the developer to find a partner who is a leader to build and run the business, and two heads in a startup are almost always better than one.
But in my experience as a startup mentor, I find that the happiest and most successful entrepreneurs in the long-term are those that continually stretch themselves to get comfortable in the leadership role.
Let go of performance goals that limit new learning.
Avoid the network trap of sticking to the same old players for insight, motivation and advice.
Leaders need at least three different networks — operational, strategic and personal.
Stretch yourself to take action now, and recognize that you may not see at first how all the dots connect as you start branching out beyond your comfort work zone, habitual networks, and historical ways of defining yourself.
If you have mastered the art of developing solutions, but struggle with building a business, it is time to focus on your critically important leadership skills.
Stop hiding in your comfort zone, and branch out for some new outsights.
You too can find an entrepreneur identity in yourself that you never thought possible, and business success that you once only dreamed about.
3 Ways to Build A Mobile App With No Tech Skills
3 Ways to Build A Mobile App With No Tech Skills.
With mobile being one of the most lucrative industries today, many startups are launching their own applications despite having no background in tech.
The good news is, you can get started in the mobile application industry by learning new skills, creating the right team and even using the right web-based tools.
Learn to code, fast.
If you want to create a mobile application without spending money on hiring a new team, learning to code will come in handy.
Coding is, in many ways, like learning a new language.
Learning a broad enough coding skill set to create an application will allow you to launch your product, speeding up your sales process and increasing revenue at the same time.
You need someone to manage the development team who can speak their language.” A more cost effective way of building your first app is to partner up with a developer.
If you don’t want to learn to code and you don’t want to create a team, or partner up with a developer, there are several web services that will enable you to create a simple mobile application with no prior programming knowledge.
Although app builders offer you a vast library of features, they are not the best choice for those looking for a highly customizable mobile application.
New Tax Laws That Impact Small Business Owners in 2017
New Tax Laws That Impact Small Business Owners in 2017.
Since it’s always best to be well-prepared when it comes to taxes, here are some of the new changes that you should be aware-of.
Section 179 expensing/bonus depreciation Under Section 179 of the tax code, explains Brian McCuller, JD, CPA, “the expensing provision allows capital investments of up to $500,000 for certain property to be taken as an expense deduction — rather than being depreciated break — which was made permanent under the PATH Act passed at the end of 2015 — phases out for asset purchases above $2 million.” Additionally, HVAC units are now eligible as an expense deduction instead of depreciation in tax years beginning after Dec. 31, 2015.
“For property placed in service in 2015, 2016 and 2017, the bonus depreciation is 50 percent.
Tighter filing deadlines Filing deadlines have been changed so that flow-through entity return deadlines are due prior investor return deadlines.
This means that partnerships and S-corporations operating on a calendar year will have a new deadline of March 15.
Also take note that hard filing deadlines have been imposed for Forms 1094-B and 1095-A, B and C. These are due by February 28 by mail or by e-file on March 31.
This change will have a significant impact on how partnership interests are valued and transferred.
Expanded eligibility for R&D tax credit Until the PATH Act, the development of internal use software was not eligible for the research and development tax credit.
“The changes have not been finalized, and business owners who have been considering passing along part of their ownership interests may want to consult with their tax advisors about accelerating those plans to take advantage of current rules.” Possible tax laws under President Trump In addition to the changes listed above, business owners should also pay attention to the tax laws that may take effect under President-elect Donald Trump.
Mobile Marketing is Not Simple. This NYC Startup Can Help
Mobile Marketing is Not Simple.
AlleyWatch chatted with the Moburst team about their offering.
Moburst is a full service, global mobile marketing company that helps companies grow their app and mobile business.
Hundreds of companies from local startups to large global brands such as Google, Deezer, Gett, New-York Fashion Week and Pfizer have leveraged our strategy, product, creative, app store optimization (ASO) and media services to enhance their product and maximize their KPIs.
We knew digital marketing agencies were not mobile experts, and were approaching mobile as a small piece of marketing, instead of recognizing the platform’s potential.
We wanted to create a full service agency to provide one stop shop for powerful marketing and optimization that solely focused on mobile.
Moburst targets brands and mature start-ups alike, who are looking to expand their mobile efforts, either with an existing app, or a non app based mobile campaign.
We recognize that needs and advertising budgets vary from company to company, and we structure our business to be flexible to the market’s needs.
We’ll continue to expand our New York branch and we’re looking to add more fortune 500 companies and large brands to our client portfolio, as well as continue our work with amazing start-ups.
We’re building up the new San Francisco branch within Silicon Valley and starting to plan the next branches as well.
How to Use LinkedIn, Twitter and Snapchat in Your Next Job Search
How to Use LinkedIn, Twitter and Snapchat in Your Next Job Search.
Not sure what to put on LinkedIn, how to use Twitter or if your should be snapping with your boss?
Entrepreneur.com Contributor Jessica Abo sat down with Courtney Spritzer, co-founder of the social media and marketing agency Socialfly, to break down the do’s and don’ts.
To learn how to boost your business through Facebook Live, Instagram Live and Instagram stories, watch Jessica’s interview with Socialfly Co-Founder Stephanie Cartin here.
Watch more videos from Jessica Abo on her YouTube channel here.
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Can You ‘Feel’ It? How to Use Emotional Decision-Making in Marketing
How to Use Emotional Decision-Making in Marketing.
While many people think rational thought wins out, studies show that people rely more on emotion than information to make purchasing decisions.
The marketing efforts that companies make form a deeper connection with us, and force us to fall in love with whatever they’re selling.
After all, while it’s important to educate your customers about your services and products, it’s even more important to make them feel something.
In marketing, likability plays a huge part in brand perception, and whether an advertisement makes a positive impact.
We like advertisements for all the same reasons we like people.
They include: Happiness Sadness Surprise/Fear Anger/Disgust While you probably assumed that “happiness” would be an emotion that all marketers should appeal to, the other options might surprise you.
After all, what company doesn’t want to inspire a host of smiling, happy customers?
There’s no point in a marketing scheme that makes your customer feel miserable and then suggests buying your product for no connected reason.
In the same way, stories can shape the way we see the world through marketing, giving us an emotional investment in certain brands or companies.
The 4 Best Tools For Internal Business Communication
The 4 Best Tools For Internal Business Communication.
In fact, reports Hyperlink InfoSystem of our present-day situation, “Almost 15 percent of an employee’s time is spent in communication with co-workers, 20 to 25 percent in looking for business-related information and 20 percent checking messages and mailboxes.” Workplace communication crowds out work.
Similar to Slack and Skype, the basics are the same — Brosix is easy-to-use and straightforward, and it comes with premium tech support for any and all users.
Not an issue in the slightest — if it’s a social network you’re looking for to unite your staff, give Yammer a try.
The platform might look like Facebook, going as far as offering up profile pages, status updates, likes, comments and shares, but it’s been completely privatized for business use.
Furthermore, following in the footsteps of its social predecessor, Yammer’s basic service is 100 percent free.
BaseCamp.
BaseCamp eliminates them.
Personally, my favorite thing about Fuze Meeting is its flexibility.
Are there more internal communication options out there?
The Immigrant Entrepreneurs Behind Major American Companies (Infographic)
The Immigrant Entrepreneurs Behind Major American Companies (Infographic).
Much of the time, we overlook the origins of some of our favorite companies and brands.
And with all of the confusion caused by President Donald Trump’s recent immigration ban, people may not realize how much of the items they own or services they use can be credited to foreign-born entrepreneurs.
Related: Here’s How to Fix the H-1B Visa Program to Drive Startup Growth More than 40 percent of companies on the U.S. Fortune 500 list were launched by immigrants or children of immigrants.
No one can deny the success and impact of ecommerce website eBay — a credit to the ingenuity of its French founder Pierre Morad Omidyar.
And how’d you find this article?
Chances are through a Google search, whose co-founder Sergey Brin was born in Russia.
Intel, AT&T, Tesla, Yahoo!, Pfizer, Huffington Post — check out Free Enterprise’s infographic below to check out more companies launched by foreigners.
20 Crazy New Things We Learned About Snap
After months of speculation, Snap Inc. filed yesterday for a $3 million IPO on the New York Stock Exchange.
But this move now requires the previously mysterious company to submit financial details and its plans for the future with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, so that potential shareholders have the information they need to make decisions about the company’s stock.
Read on for the 20 facts we learned about Snap from its SEC filing.
An average of 158 million people use Snapchat every day.
More than 2.5 billion Snaps are created daily.
At the end of 2016, Snap had revenues of $404.5 million but the company had a net loss of $514.6 million.
While Snapchat is wildly popular today, founders Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy admit that they “anticipate that the growth rate of our user base will decline over time.” Spiegel wants to influence the future of Snap even if he is no longer with the company.
The SEC filing specified that “if Mr. Spiegel’s or Mr. Murphy’s employment with us is terminated, they will continue to have the ability to exercise the same significant voting power and potentially control the outcome of all matters submitted to our stockholders for approval.” The company uses Google Cloud to store company information.
In 2014, Brown received $157.5 million in a settlement.
Snap defines a Daily Active User as someone who has an account on the platform and opens up the app at least once during a 24-hour period.
To Reach Your Goal, Make Time For This
To Reach Your Goal, Make Time For This.
Congrats!
We showed you real-world strategies to get organized and set priorities to help harness that big energy.
-Productivity expert Chris Winfield shared a technique to help prioritize the tasks in your day in his Tuesday Facebook Live.
-Accountability pro Ali Schiller told you how to find a power-packed accountability buddy to help achieve your goals.
Need to Catch up?
If you’ve missed an article, worksheet, challenge or Facebook Live, don’t worry.
What to do now: It’s time to think about the week.
Watch Natalie’s latest Facebook Live here.
Make sure you visit The Goal Standard Challenge hub to review the action plans and materials from the previous challenge weeks.
8 Online Methods to Attract Potential Franchisees
Your site should be rich with keyword phrases — combinations of words that people enter into the search engines to find information.
The following are some tips for your email efforts: Your email addresses should be connected to a dedicated URL.
You will want keyword-rich articles on your website blog to rank higher on organic searches.
If you use it too many times in the article, though, it may be penalized by the search engines; 350 to 450 words is a good length for a blog article.
Insert a link to your franchise website in each article.
Franchisors can now invite prospective franchisees to scheduled or impromptu web meetings to present their franchise opportunities.
You’ll want to offer texting as a communication option for prospective franchisees during the discovery process.
You’ll also want to allow your franchisees texting options for support after they open for business.
They’re a good way to educate your prospective franchise owners as they move through your discovery process.
You can also optimize these for the search engines to drive traffic to your websites by posting them on all of the free sites and directing links back to your sites.
The Goal Standard Challenge: How to Use Reflection as a Strategy to Get Unstuck
The Goal Standard Challenge: How to Use Reflection as a Strategy to Get Unstuck.
As we approach the end of The Goal Standard Challenge’s Honeymoon Stage – the period of excitement — it is a great time to reflect on what went right and what went wrong.
In a Facebook Live, author, producer and Emmy Award-winning media entrepreneur Natalie MacNeil discussed the importance of celebrating our wins and tracking our challenges.
Using the power of visualization, she talked about why it is important to know the end result of your goal and how knowing what that will feel like can help you continue to take action, even when things get tough.
Related: If You Want to Actually Achieve a Goal, Follow These 6 Tips Check out her Facebook Live video to get more advice.
Also, download her accompanying worksheet Weekly Reflection.
If you haven’t signed up for The Goal Standard Challenge email, go to our content hub.
Also, if you are late to the challenge, no worries.
The hub has all the past weeks’ information, videos, content and resources.
Join our Facebook Group to get updates, real-time support and be part of a community full of achievers, just like you.
How Houston-Area Franchises Are Getting Super Bowl Ready
How Houston-Area Franchises Are Getting Super Bowl Ready.
While independent business owners will no doubt benefit from the influx of fans to the Houston area as well, franchise owners have a unique advantage since their brands are likely already familiar to visitors from New England, Atlanta, and across the country.
Terry Powell, CEO of The Entrepreneur’s Source, a company that matches people with franchises to buy, puts it this way: “Being comfortable with a familiar franchise brand on a trip away from home takes the unknown out of questions about quality, service, and cleanliness.” Shaun Gill, owner of two Houston-area American Family Care urgent-care clinics agrees.
Houston-based franchisees of other brands expect to benefit from the big game as well.
Blimpie franchisee Sobhi Badra, who’s got the added advantage of having a store located near dozens of hotels, already had one of his highest-grossing weekends ever thanks to catering orders for the Houston-New England playoff game, and is expecting this weekend to be even better.
That’s thanks in part to an already established partnership with the Revention Music Center in downtown Houston.
His team’s designing wall murals, signage, and other graphics for a private corporate party there.
Brown is doubling up on staff and ordering extra product for the weekend, and expects to cross-use employees between her two stores depending on the flow of traffic.
The other benefit of being a franchisee during a busy weekend like this is that you’re not on your own.
“Our franchisees are like a family, and everyone wants to see each other succeed,” he says, “so all I need to do is pick up the phone and call one of my fellow franchisees and ask them how their experience was when the Super Bowl was in their town.” Of course, as busy as they are, the franchisees are bound to get swept up in the excitement of the big game as well.
4 Ways to Get Noticed at a Crowded Trade Show
4 Ways to Get Noticed at a Crowded Trade Show.
For those in B2B sales, trade shows may feel like just one more thing you have to do in an already busy month.
Not that they don’t have my sympathies: It can be frustrating when you’re trying to stand out among so many other vendors, especially when it feels as if everyone has thought of something more creative than you.
Instead, simply inform your contacts that you’ll be there and that your booth will be worth visiting.
Offer an activity.
Trade show attendees want an interactive experience with your brand, not a standing sales pitch.
So, when people approach your booth, be ready to offer them an activity, whether it be a game or a product demo they can play with.
Just make sure the activity is aligned with your brand.
Call out some of the media publications your product or service has been mentioned in.
It’s easy to want to copy what other companies are doing, because they’ve already made a big splash.
Don’t Make Things Awkward: Reduce Uncertainty and Proactively Communicate
This video is part of a series brought to you by Entrepreneur’s book division, Entrepreneur Press, the publisher of Jill Schiefelbein’s book Dynamic Communication: 27 Strategies to Grow, Lead, and Manage Your Business.
In this Dynamic Communication interview, author Jill Schiefelbein chats with Sylvie di Giusto, founder of Executive Image consulting and author of The Image of Leadership, who gives a tip that can help you lead your business.
If you want to really understand how your image can help you get more business, or how it’s hurting your chances at gaining your next opportunity, watch this video.
What are the four components that make up your image?
Who is responsible for your digital footprint and online image?
Learn the answer to these questions and more in this video with entrepreneur and professional speaker Sylvie di Giusto.
Want to see the full interview with Sylvie di Giusto?
Di Giusto’s interview excerpt is featured in Dynamic Communication: Strategies to Grow, Lead, & Manage Your Business Chapter 2: Don’t Make Things Awkward: Reduce Uncertainty and Proactively Communicate In this 27-video series, the author of Dynamic Communication: Strategies to Grow, Lead, & Manage Your Business, Jill Schiefelbein, interviews stand-out companies and entrepreneurs to bring you great bites of information to help improve your communication and drive results.
Watch more videos from Jill on her YouTube channel and buy the book at Amazon.
Click here to become a part of this growing video network.
Geek of the Week: Susan Preston on what makes a great angel investor and the future of clean tech
Geek of the Week: Susan Preston on what makes a great angel investor and the future of clean tech.
In the time since she has held senior positions at private and public companies; been a partner in three law firms; served on the founding boards for Angel Capital Association and Angel Resource Institute; written two books on angel investing; and taught and consulted around the world on angel investing and early-stage investment structures.
While most tend to wonder what makes a great angel investment, we asked Preston what makes a great angel investor these days.
“Being engaged in the angel investment process and contributing one’s knowledge and time to making intelligent, thoughtful investments always makes a great investor,” Preston said.
“But, I think, the post-investment engagement and support of one’s portfolio companies is an absolute imperative.
Selecting the asset class of angel investing as part of your overall personal portfolio, I believe, is very smart.” Having invested in clean technology for nearly 10 years, Preston has come to learn what makes that a wise move beyond “it’s the right thing to do.” “The fact is that we do need to aggressively address climate change and investing in new, promising clean tech companies is a way to help,” Preston said.
The product needs to make economic sense — have a positive impact on the bottom line.
My favorite is energy efficiency, which provides a company an instant positive impact and a negawatt is just as good as a clean watt in my view.” We are still in the trough of disillusionment for clean tech because we did go through a boom and bust, but I am optimistic about the future.
I love helping others learn about and be an effective angel investor, as well as helping entrepreneurs better understand what makes an investable company.
The recent Angel Resource Institute Tracking Angel Returns study shows an overall return multiple of approximately 2.5X, compared to 2.1X for early stage venture capital.
Hydro One wins award for Best Investor Relations for an Initial Public Offering
Hydro One wins award for Best Investor Relations for an Initial Public Offering.
Held annually for the past 25 years around the world, the IR Magazine Awards celebrate excellence in Investor Relations in 30 different categories.
Publically traded companies selected as winners are identified through a combination of in-depth research and votes cast through the magazine’s independent investment community surveys with thousands of institutional investors and analysts across North America, Europe and Asia.
Our team of 5,500 skilled and dedicated employees proudly and safely serves suburban, rural and remote communities across Ontario through our 30,000 circuit km high-voltage transmission and 123,000 circuit km primary distribution networks.
Hydro One is committed to the communities we serve, and has been rated as the top utility in Canada for its corporate citizenship, sustainability, and diversity initiatives.
We also provide advanced broadband telecommunications services on a wholesale basis utilizing our extensive fibre optic network.
Hydro One’s common shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: H).
SOURCE Hydro One Limited For further information: contact Hydro One Media Relations 24 hours a day at 1-877-506-7584 (toll-free in Ontario only) or 416-345-6868.
Our website is www.HydroOne.
http://www.hydroone.com