V.L. Thompson's Blog, page 14

Five Gadgets That Every Business Traveler Should Carry

Article from Grant Martin from Forbes.com

After ten years sporadically on the road, I’m starting to get the hang of business travel. A few things are standard: never check your bags unless you have to. Maintain loyalty to a hotel, airline and car rental brand and reap the rewards points. Sign up for the TSA’s pre-check program.

As new technologies emerge, some things also change. The consumer world is moving towards a lighter weight, individualized economy, with business travelers bringing their own gear, sustaining their own power and creating their own isolated bubbles. Notebooks are getting lighter, briefcases narrower and carry-on bags more agile. To stay on top of this tech, here are five things that the current business traveler should never be without.

Personal WiFi

Hotels and airports are famous for gouging visitors on internet connectivity fees, and rates usually go up proportionally to the quality of lodging. Four days straight of $29.99 internet can crush an expense report, so instead try bringing your own internet. Most wireless carriers now sell WiFi hotspots that provide on-demand internet wherever there’s a cell signal. For the same cost of a day of connectivity in some hotels you can have a month of personal internet in your briefcase bag, and in a pinch you can also use it as your home internet. Furthermore, it’s a personal connection, so there’s less to worry about stray lurkers peering in on your browsing habits.

Try Clear‘s wireless hotspots or your current mobile provider for a few options, or if you’re a light user, Freedompop has plans that are free for under 500MB/month.

Backup Battery Packs

With so many devices powered through a USB port it’s now possible to bring back up power to your phone, WiFi hotspot, tablet, portable speakers and a host of other devices with one single battery. This is especially good for high-use days when the GPS is constantly on or NPR has been streaming – few phone batteries can handle a full day of heavy use.

The problem with backup batteries is that they can get very heavy very quickly, but there are a variety of low-profile batteries that can be used to provide a decent half or full charge for your phone. Kensington has a variety of batteries that will do the trick, while Mophie has a pretty nice product line as well.

A Business And Travel Ready Tablet

The newest generation of tablets is well equipped to handle most business needs among office applications, email, PDF viewing and images. Instead of drawing lines between brands, pick your favorite and optimize it for your business use. Make sure that you (or your IT person) have everything seamlessly connected between your notebook, desktop and tablet. Make sure that email shows up immediately and in the right place. And perhaps most importantly, make sure that you have the right apps for the task at hand. An itinerary planning app like Tripit and a flight searching app like Kayak or ITA Software can help you plan your next trip, while preloaded movies and TV shows can take the boredom away from flights. Remember as well that this is business focused tablet that clients will be seeing. Fruitninja has no place here.

 

Read full article on Forbes.com

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30-Minute WordPress Setup Guide

Article by Sam Glover from Lawyerist.com

We have called it “marketing malpractice” not to have a law firm website. That is because most people, whether they are potential clients or referral sources or networking contacts, will expect you to have one so they can look you up online before they contact you. If they don’t find a website, chances are good they will call someone else — someone who does have a decent-looking website.

If you do not have a website, you are probably missing out on clients, networking opportunities, and more. Although you’ll never know unless you get with the program and get yourself a website.

Fortunately, getting a website is really cheap and really simple. This tutorial will walk you through setting up a website using WordPress, the most-popular content-management system (read: a website you can easily edit yourself) around. It is free and open source, and it powers everything from Lawyerist and our Sites network of websites to some of the world’s biggest websites.

All you need to get started is an internet connection and a credit or debit card. The total cost is less than $5.

Sign up for shared hosting and get a domain name

Difficulty: Piece of cake.

There are many options for shared hosting. We recommend going with one we have used before, that comes with good support, and that is a great deal: HostGator.

To sign up for shared hosting, visit HostGator and sign up for the Hatchling Plan. You can buy three years up front and get a great deal, but I think it’s a good idea to start out with a month-to-month plan to get started, and commit to a longer term, lower-priced package once your website is up and running.

Once you click the ORDER NOW button, you can pick a domain name. (Use the option on the left, which is selected by default.)

Choosing a domain name is important. Good domain names contain keywords relevant to your practice, use the .com top-level domain (as opposed to .net, .us, etc.), are short (10 characters or less), and are easy to tell someone over the phone. No hyphens, either.

If that gets your head spinning, just go with the name of your firm. If you can get a great domain name, that’s great, but there is a lot more to good search-engine optimization (SEO) than a domain name. Convenience is worth a lot, too; it gets tiring spelling out your email address military-style (“Charlie Tango Foxtrot law firm dot com”) a dozen times a day.

When you have picked your domain name, go ahead and check out. You should get a confirmation email shortly after completing the payment process with the information you will need to set up WordPress.

If you already have a domain name, you will need to use the box on the right, then forward your nameservers after you complete the setup process. To do this, go to the place where you bought your domain name — try GoDaddy if you aren’t sure — and set your nameservers to ns1.hostgator.com and ns2.hostgator.com. Follow GoDaddy’s  and select the “I have specific nameservers for my domains” option. You will also need to transfer your email to your new server. How you do this depends on how you use email; you should contact HostGator or get help in the Labbefore you forward your nameservers.

Install WordPress

Difficulty: Still really easy.

Follow the link in the email you received from HostGator to your control panel. This is the central control panel for your hosting account, which lets you set up email accounts, upload and download files, and much more. For now, find the Fantastico De Luxe icon and click it.

Then, click on WordPress in the sidebar under Blogs, then on New Installation.

Here is what goes in each box:

Installation location

Install on domain. The domain you just registered.
Install in directory. Leave blank.

Admin access data

Administrator username. Whatever you want to use to log into your website.
Password. Pick a password.

Base configuration

Admin nickname. Put your name here as you want it to appear on the site.
Admin e-mail. Your email address.
Site name. The name of your website. For now, you can just use your firm name.
Description. You can leave this blank for now, or insert your firm’s slogan, if it has one.

Once you have filled in all the fields, click the Install WordPress button. On the next screen, you will get the address to log in to your new WordPress website! Bookmark the address, then click the link and log in.

Your new WordPress website is up and running! (Check your watch — did it take more than 30 minutes?) Be honest, you thought that was going to be a lot harder, didn’t you?

Of course, a blank WordPress install is not much use as your website, so let’s get it cleaned up, configured, and start adding content.

Configure WordPress

Difficulty: Like taking candy from a baby.

Now that you have WordPress installed, you should tweak the settings.

To make these configuration tweaks, you need to be logged into the WordPress Dashboard, the “backend” of your new site. The address is usually http://yourdomain.com/wp-admin/ (replace yourdomain with the domain name you registered), and you should have bookmarked it a moment ago.

Here are some of the things I do to configure a new WordPress install:

1. Delete default posts. WordPress helpfully starts you out with a Hello World post. Click on Posts in the WordPress Dashboard sidebar and then on the Trashlink under the default post (the Trash link only shows up when you hover the mouse cursor over the post name).
2. Modify the default settings. Click on Settings in the sidebar. Under General, update the Timezone to yours. This is also the place to update the Site Title andTagline if you need to.
3. Under Writing Settings, enable XML-RPC under Remote Publishing. (Make sure the Atom Publishing Protocol is enabled, too.)
4. Under Reading Settings, you can decide whether you want the front page of your website to be a static page or to show your latest posts. (A static page is usually a good idea for law firm websites.)
5. Under Permalink Settings, select Custom Structure under Common settings, and paste this into the empty field: /%postname%/

That takes care of the basics. However, you are not quite done. First, we will install a few plugins to trick out your new website. Then, you can make it pretty.

Install and Configure Plugins

Difficulty: Slightly less easy, but still easy.

One of the reasons WordPress is so popular is that it is so extensible. There are thousands of plugins that add features and functionality, and the vast majority of them are free.

Installing plugins in WordPress is a piece of cake. Just go to Plugins in the WordPress Dashboard sidebar and click on Add New. Use the search field to look for each of the following plugins and install each one by clicking Install Now:

- Broken Link Checker. This plugin will tell you if you have any broken links on your site and allow you to fix the links from a central dashboard.
- WordPress SEO by Yoast. This plugin will take care of most of the easy SEO settings, give you access to more-advanced SEO tools, if you need them.
- Jetpack. This Swiss-Army-Knife plugin from WordPress contains a bunch of great modules, including basic analytics, Markdown support, email subscriptions, social-media sharing buttons, better comments, and much more. (In order to speed up your site, deactivate any modules you do not need or want.)
- iThemes Security. This plugin will help “harden” your WordPress install to keep it safe from hackers and malicious code.

After you install each plugin, go ahead and click the Activate Plugin link on the next page. Broken Link Checker and WordPress SEO will start working without any additional steps, but the rest take a little more work.

Jetpack

Being from WordPress, Jetpack is a user-friendly plugin. Sign into WordPress.com as directed, and you will get to use all the features, including site stats. To activate a module, click the Activate button (some will be activated by default). To deactivate modules, click the Learn More button on any module and then click the Deactivatebutton.

Here are the modules I would activate for a new site:

- Publicize
- WordPress.com Stats
- Jetpack Comments
- Subscriptions
- Sharing
- Related Posts
- Contact Form

Read full article on Lawyerist.com

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6 Ways to Kill Your Blog

Article by Brennan Girdler from socialmediopolis.com

The importance of blogging cannot be stressed enough in the social-content marketing arena. If you’re at all familiar with Internet advertising (which I assume you are) you’d know that a well-formed, high-end business blog is capable of pushing a brand’s products and services into the customers’ view more than pay-per-click advertising, social media, and other online marketing techniques.

As a blogger-for-hire, I’ve come to realize the most critical aspect that separates the good and the other business blogs: Mistakes.

It’s not easy to write informative, engaging content from your brand’s perspective to attract online readers. But instead of going into content creation and the finer points of blog promotion, I thought I’d share my 6 biggest pet peeves, flops, and fails of blogging that make the entire point moot.

1. Not knowing your place.

Smaller businesses — especially those in niche industries like concrete supply or whatever the case may be — are pups in the blogging community. To effectively write content that helps you show up in local searches that answers questions, you need to understand your place in the market and the customers you’re after.

If I went to some niche business blog, for instance, I’d expect to find posts that are about that specific industry and business, not posts written to cash in on link-bait and unrelated hot topics.

2. Utterly terrible design.

This isn’t 1997 anymore. Smaller companies no longer need to ask Billy, the high school sophomore down the street, to make a website for them.

WordPress is, in my opinion, both the bane and boon of blogs. On one hand, a semi-decent theme can be turned into a colorful, well-designed website that allows writers to easily post and manage content. On the other hand, pre-made themes may lead to laziness. How many blogs have you visited with pre-formatted feature images, anyway?

3. Cluttered content, messy features.

“Clutter” includes two different elements:

- Content: Cluttered content is dense, unspecific, and illustrates that a business blogger is just trying to put words on a page.
- Features: Features include side bars and navigation, social media buttons, and other aspects on a blog.

Both types of clutter lead to unprofessional blogs. You don’t want people winding up on your page and comparing you to the hobby blogger, do you?

4. Inconsistent posting.

Consistency is what I use to tell if a blog is actively attempting to use content to capture readers and — hopefully — leads. Often, overwhelmed marketers will publish posts infrequently, like every other month or so, or whenever their boss tells them to get back at it.

It is crucial for bloggers to set calendars and stick to them, otherwise known as the only way to attract return readers.

Read full article on socialmediopolis.com

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How to Improve Your Web Ad’s Chance of Going Viral

Article by  Karen E. Klein from BusinessWeek.com

Question: You wrote about making money on Web videos. What about ways to make our company’s online advertisement a hit? We hear about ads going viral—what’s the best way to make that happen?

Answer: Wouldn’t it be great if there were a simple prescription that could guarantee your Web ads would turn into viral videos, shared online from one social media account to another until you had a hit of Gangnam Style proportions?

Unfortunately, there is no secret recipe that can truly predict what is going to catch on with the online masses, which is why so many carefully constructed, expensive Web marketing campaigns fall flat.

There are, however, a few things to keep in mind that may help save your online ad from becoming a dud:

Grab attention: “Ingredients for a viral video include an element that immediately hooks viewers,” James Percelay, co-founder of New York City digital marketing agency Thinkmodo, writes in an e-mail. If your ad is unique and surprising, it will be remembered. And something that sticks in viewers’ minds is something they’ll want to share with friends and family.

Make it emotional: “Think about the Dove Beauty Sketch ads and how wildly popular they were,” says J.T. Hroncich of Capitol Media Solutions in Atlanta. “Google’s (GOOG)Dear Sophie ad is another one—it showcases the product’s features while beautifully telling a story.”

Keep it short: Under two minutes in length—and not too slick—is the way to go. “Polished production values can diminish the impact of a viral video,” Percelay writes. You also don’t want overt branding or a heavy-handed sales pitch that will turn viewers off.

Use inspiration and humor: Make viewers laugh and show how someone overcame an obstacle. “Or just acknowledge regular people doing something really remarkable,” Hroncich says. “A great example of that is the Proctor & Gamble (PG)ads about the mothers of Olympians. We sometimes take for granted the little sacrifices parents have to make to help their children achieve greatness. It was nice to see the people behind the medals and what they endured to get their kids to that point.”

Read full article on BusinessWeek.com

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What to Do When the IRS Makes a Mistake

Article by Karen E. Klein from BusinessWeek.com

Question: I paid the balance due in full of a 2011 business tax debt in May 2013, but the Internal Revenue Service mislabeled the money and used it to offset another debt my company had incurred. The IRS says I still owe, but I don’t understand how or why I’m responsible for repaying them money they lost, due to mistakes within their own system. What to do?

Answer: Your question is a timely one, given that the IRS announced last week that it is issuing a Taxpayer Bill of Rights, which it will post in its offices and mail out with tax notices.

In your situation, a lot depends on whether you designated the payment you sent in to be applied to your 2011 business tax debt. If you specified that the money was for payment of that debt, the IRS was required to apply it according to your instructions, says Scott F. Berger, certified public accountant and principal at Kaufman, Rossin & Co. in Boca Raton, Fla. “If you didn’t designate it, they will put it where it serves their best interest. And they tend to apply it to things like penalties and interest first,” he says, “so you’re out of luck.”

However, if you did designate it and they misapplied it, there are some avenues you—and additional business owners who want to challenge the tax man—can take.

Give them a call. Maybe all it will take is a friendly chat to get your problem resolved. The toll-free business help line operates from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on your local time (Alaska and Hawaii use Pacific time) at 800-829-4933.

Pay them a visit. Chat doesn’t go so well? Drop into a taxpayer assistance centernear you. “The wait could be five minutes or several hours,” Berger says. Then he mentions that he uses the practitioner priority line, which won’t be open to you. Maybe this is the time to get a pro involved in your case?

Use the advocate. The Taxpayer Advocate Service is an independent organization, as much as one can be when it actually operates within the IRS. It calls itself “your voice at the IRS” and reminds you—somewhat ominously—that “the worst thing you can do is nothing at all.” There’s no charge for using the service to help resolve your situation. And it turns out that Nina E. Olson, the National Taxpayer Advocate, has been lobbying for the Taxpayer Bill of Rights since 2007.

Read full article on BusinessWeek.com

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How Business Operates in God’s Economy

Article from KingdomBusinessConnection.com   Kingdom business is a movement spreading globally—because it is God’s movement, not born of man. We know that His Kingdom will invade every area and eventually take over every realm, and is described in Luke 13:18 as a growing tree that gradually fills the whole earth until all the birds can nest in its branches. Those of us who are called to Kingdom business are a unique breed of people. Our thrill doesn’t come from aspects of church alone. Rather, we are driven to succeed and make money, to expand and branch out in our communities with services and products. Kingdom business people are not particularly motivated by a personal desire for money, but find ourselves motivated to establish a new economy and set a precedent for a new way of life. The success we seek is more to see His Kingdom established in the business realm. What will happen as we unite together worldwide in this vision; from all denominations and cultures? Very quickly it will be the platform of change worldwide. We certainly have seen the inability and futility of politics to effectively change anything. God is making ready His economy, preparing us to be the vessels He pours life into as He brings forth a new earth that He will dwell in (Rev. 21:1-3). We are instructed to pray “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt.6:10). Believers will be needed to change every realm—which includes health, education and more—since this encompasses every arena. In this world, the devil has long performed as a “mimic” of God, imitating and twisting God’s principles to his advantage wherever he can as he attempts to appear as an angel of light (2Cor.11:14-15). The old serpent has gained control of this earth (Matt.4:8-9) and has taken over the business realm to corrupt it. Yet, many business principles and rules of trade or commerce were not inherently wrong. Satan has played upon greed to twist the pure basis of economic exchange until we find ourselves living in the time described in 2Tim.3:1. However, in the book of Genesis we see many examples of healthy business in the early days of God’s people (Gen. 13:12, 26:12-14, 39:2-3). In God’s economy we will enjoy commerce as a means of creativity and blessing for the functioning of our communities.  Everyone will work in jobs they actually love doing! This may seem revolutionary, but there is another reason for working other than the drudgery of having to earn a living in order to scrape by. We have been so long in the confines of this dying age that it is difficult for our minds to grasp an economy where business and labor takes place out of the joy of providing it. This is life when His Kingdom is established, and businesses will flourish without greed involved.

Such a business in the Kingdom may not necessarily be structured that much differently on the surface – yet it is fundamentally very different in how it operates. The difference is in the spirit of integrity with which the business is operated. The heart and spirit of the people operating the company are given to the King and are not bonded to the things of this present world. Here are some dynamic points that describe those differences:

1. Care and concern for one another versus discrimination and “office politics” to get ahead

This may be the largest difference in the feel of a Kingdom company. There will be a sense of care for all men equally, without regard to race, creed, or social status. As Paul points out in Gal. 3:28; there is neither Jew nor Greek, male nor female, but all are one in Christ. Business owners in the Kingdom will be very objective about this. They will weigh matters based on a person’s abilities for a task, loving when God has placed someone in their “niche.” They will appreciate all faithful workers in their business (1Tim. 5:18) and not use or manipulate one another for their own gain. They should strive to hire workers that embrace correct relating and not tolerate a bad or divisive attitude in the business. It may seem surprising to know, but God pays careful attention as to how we conduct our businesses (James 5:1-4 & Amos 8:4-7). He judges it as part of our own personal relationship with Him. In Malachi 3:1, He vows to avenge the laborers who have been oppressed by poor business practice and we may well be living in that time right now. Therefore, all dealings should be conducted open for His inspection and business owners can sleep at night knowing this.

2. Competition in the Kingdom is embraced versus jealousy and envy to destroy another’s enterprise

It is not that we are to tolerate ideas being taken and misused, or an unjust competitor trying to take over. There will still be laws to govern offenders in the Kingdom. Rather, those problems should rarely exist because we operate with a respect for one another. One major goal is to live in oneness and harmony, instead of just to make a dollar at all costs. We will conduct our trade with respect to our neighbor in business, and encourage someone who comes up with a great idea, not undermine them. This way of life may seem challenging at times, when a seemingly similar trade is nearby. But more and more we will fine tune and identify the very specific niche that our business holds in the marketplace. There is plenty of room for everyone’s creativity and enterprise in God’s economy. In fact, the greatest inventions have yet to be seen and we will see them spring forth from inspired people.

3. The success of the company is due to following God’s principles versus following a pattern of compromised integrity

We are to be a breed apart, business men and women that “…seek first His Kingdom…and all these things will be added to you” (Matt.6:33). It is a relationship with our heavenly Father that is paramount in our lives, and our business success is born out of the blessings that He has set forth for those who practice His ways. God has the power to make wealth (Deut.8:17-18), but we do not take it for ourselves by other means. In Genesis 14:23, Abraham would not take any goods offered, lest that king say he was the one that made Abraham wealthy. Neither will we compromise our integrity for money. The principles we follow will carry into every area of our business.  We believe that God can take care of us like He does the flowers of the field and we do not have to break God’s spiritual principles in order to gain wealth. We will be happy, healthy and wealthy following His ways. The book of Proverbs contains countless practical business guidelines and instruction for the workplace that we can follow. The author, Solomon, is of course renowned for being the wealthiest man on earth and perhaps today would be counted a trillionaire. The chapters he wrote serve as a “how-to” manual that illustrates the principles that got him there.   Read full article at KingdomBusinessConnection.com

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Is Klarna the new Paypal?

Article by Alanna Petroff from money.cnn.com

PayPal revolutionized the way we buy things online, but Klarna is the next big thing in Internet payments, according to famed venture capitalist Michael Moritz.

Moritz made early investments in Google (GOOGL, Tech30), LinkedIn (LNKD, Tech30),Yahoo (YHOO, Tech30) and eBay’s (EBAY, Tech30) PayPal. His firm, Sequoia Capital, has been investing millions in Klarna over the past few years. He is impressed with how the Swedish company’s technology makes online transactions easier, cutting out passwords and the traditionally slow registration process.

“We’ve invested in payments for a good long time and had started doing that in the 1990s,” Moritz told CNNMoney. “We had been an early investor in PayPal. But that was a long time ago. That was almost 15 years ago now. And the world moves on and changes, particularly with the advent of mobile computing … there’s a vast new landscape to conquer.”

Klarna has processed over 150 million transactions in Germany, Sweden, Norway and Finland, and the company plans to expand in the United Kingdom over the coming months. There’s no word yet on when it may try to break into the U.S. market.

With its Checkout online service, Klarna aims to take the hassle out of smartphone and tablet e-commerce, encouraging customers to complete their purchases by entering just their emails and postcodes instead of using traditional long sign-in processes.

Klarna co-founder and CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski notes that it’s difficult to get customers to make purchases on mobile devices. Of the 100 people who may click ‘buy’ on their phone, only three finalize their purchases, he said.

Moritz said he likes that Siemiatkowski understands the problems and hassles consumers face with their online purchases.

Read full article on money.cnn.com

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Should you drain your 401(k) to start a business?

Article by  Parija Kavilanz from money.cnn.com

If you’re saving for retirement, one of the cardinal rules is: “Don’t touch your 401(k) until you retire.”

Eric Schneider followed it diligently during his 25 years selling commercial insurance. But two years ago, he emptied his nest egg to launch Headrush Roasters Coffee & Tea in Kansas City, Mo.

“I took a big risk, but I don’t regret it at all,” said Schneider, 49, who co-owns the business with his wife Nancy.

Schneider left his six-figure job in 2010 with $250,000 in his 401(k) and $100,000 in savings. In 2011, he found a vacant building that he thought would be perfect for his coffee shop and roastery. He hoped to lease it, but the owner only wanted to sell.

“I’m a big believer in no debt,” he said. “I had paid off my house, my cars. I didn’t want to take out a loan to buy the building.”

As he researched financing options, he came across ROBS, or Rollovers as Business Startups. These allow people to use the money in their 401(k) to start a business (or buy an existing one) without paying taxes on the withdrawn funds or getting hit with an early withdrawal penalty.

The process can be pretty complicated, however. First, you must incorporate a business and open a new 401(k) plan under it. Then you roll your existing 401(k) funds into the new plan. Since both accounts are tax-exempt, you avoid taking the tax hit.

As owner of the new company, you can now direct what the 401(k) invests in. With ROBS, the new company typically issues shares that you can purchase using money from the 401(k). You’re then free to use the cash from that purchase for operational expenses (although owners must pay their own salaries out of revenue, not from the 401(k) funds).

While the IRS does not consider ROBS an “abusive tax-avoidance transaction,” the agency calls the arrangement “questionable” and has strict compliance standards to avoid penalties (and audits).

Because the process was so involved, Schneider signed up with Bellevue, Wash.-based Guidant Financial, which is among a handful of financing firms that help entrepreneurs set up ROBS.

Guidant began offering ROBS in 2004, and it has become the firm’s signature product.

Cofounder David Nilssen said his firm has had 9,000 entrepreneurs take advantage of the financing option, and 80% of them are still in business after four years.

But the firm’s services don’t come cheap. Guidant charges clients $4,995 initially and $119 a month for advisory services after that. (While that’s not required, the complexity of the arrangement means most entrepreneurs keep the accounts with Guidant to ensures regular compliance.)

“This option isn’t for everyone,” said Nilssen. “There’s a niche market for it, and individuals who’ve accumulated enough assets in life are more open to it.”

Read full article on money.cnn.com

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After Failure, What’s Next?

Article by Brad Feld from VentureBeat.com

Recently, I wrote a post titled After Your First Big Success, What’s Next? The comment thread was powerful and fascinating, as was the direct email feedback I got, including the following note:

I think it would be interesting to hear your perspective on how an entrepreneur should approach “what’s next” after coming off a failed business. How should one manage their own emotions and their own perspectives post failure? It’s easy to play the blame game and it’s easy to be extremely hard on ourselves. There has to be constructive ways to move forward rather than destructive ways that could lead to lack of confidence, or depression.

Having failed at a lot of things, I’m completely comfortable tackling this. But let me establish my bonafides first. My first company, Martingale Software, failed (we returned $7,000 of the $10,000 we raised.) My second company, DataVision Technologies failed. I didn’t have success until my third company, Feld Technologies. While my first angel investment was a success, I resigned as the chairman after the VCs came in and left the board after the CEO was replaced. In the late 1990s, what looked like my biggest success at the time, went public, peaked at an almost $3 billion market cap, and then went bankrupt three years after the IPO. And the second VC fund I was part of, which raised $660 million in 1999, was a complete disaster.

As the cliche goes, I learned a lot from these failures.

I’ve had many more. I remember firing my first employee, which I viewed as a failure on my part, not hers. I remember the first CEO I fired and staying up all night prior to doing it because I was so nervous and miserable about the decision I’d made to back him. I remember the first company I funded as a VC that failed and struggling to figure out how to shut it down after everyone else fled from the scene. I remember the first time someone threatened to sue me for doing a bad job for them (they didn’t.) I remember the first time I was sued for something I didn’t do (I eventually won). I can keep going, but you get the idea.

What’s next is simple. It’s whatever you do next.

In some cases this will be easy. You’ll already be on to the next thing before the previous thing you were working on failed.

In many cases it won’t be easy. You’ll be wallowing in the quicksand of the failure well after the other bodies have been sucked below the surface.

How you deal with your own emotions and perspectives is an entirely different matter.

I love the approach of Jeremy Bloom, the CEO of Integrate (we are investors) who I have immense respect and adoration for. In 2006 at the Winter Olympics, he was the best freestyle mogul skier in the world. On his last run, he was expected to take gold. Halfway down he missed a turn and placed sixth. As Jeremy told me, he gave himself 24 hours to be angry, depressed, upset, furious, frustrated, confused, and despondent. I imagine him in his room in the Olympic Village systematically destroying all the furniture. One minute after 24 hours, he was on to the next thing, with the failure solidly in his rear view mirror.

Read full article on VentureBeat.com

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How a Mom Got an Idea From God That Turned Into a Business

Article by GAIL PITTMAN from CharismaMag.com

Twenty-nine years ago, I was looking for a creative outlet as a stay-at-home mom. Since then, God has turned my hobby into a thriving enterprise.

When I was in high school, I thought I was going to be a rock star, but in 1968 God revealed to me that He had other plans. After graduating from the University of Mississippi, I taught school for a while and then stayed home after my second child was born.

I was happy and fulfilled with my family, but there was something missing—something I longed to do—something creative. I began to look for an outlet.

My search led me to begin “fooling around” with ceramics at my kitchen table. Soon my experimenting became an adventure, and I now have a company that manufactures hand-painted dinnerware and accessories in Ridgeland, Miss.—with 110 employees!

It was 1979 when I began pursuing my new career. In the 1980s I took a leap of faithand displayed my pottery at the Flea Market in Canton, Miss. Going into this experience, I reflected on Proverbs 3:5-6 and applied this passage to my situation,trusting in the Lord with all my heart and not relying on my own understanding. The result—success—and Gail Pittman Inc. was born.

By 1986 I had outgrown my work space at home, and my husband encouraged me to purchase an 1,800-square-foot building in Ridgeland as a studio. I read the book of Jeremiah for inspiration, memorizing Jeremiah 33:3: “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” After only three months, our building was too small, and in February 1988, we moved into a 7,800-square-foot studio.

The Lord continued to bless me and my small staff, and in 1992 we moved into a new 26,000-square-foot factory in Ridgeland with an increased staff of 80 artisans. In 1994, Gail Pittman Inc. had the privilege of being named one of Inc. magazine’s 500 fastest-growing private companies. Then we expanded for the fifth time into more than 50,000 square feet in our factory.

How did we grow so quickly? What is the secret to our success? The “secret” is not really a secret at all: We submit everything to God. Every time we have to make a decision, whether it is related to design, personnel or a pending expansion, we pray about it as a company—and whatever God tells us to do, we do.

Also, I depend on God continually for wisdom to determine what is important and what isn’t. I want to keep my priorities straight, making certain my husband and children come before my work responsibilities.

In addition, I invest spiritually in my employees. I believe it is my Christian responsibility to afford them the very best possible opportunity to grow in their faith. For this reason, every Wednesday morning employees have the opportunity to attend a company Bible study that is led by Jim Doremus, one of the ministers from First Baptist Church of Jackson, Miss.

Everyone involved in our company is invited to attend, and for many, this Bible study is the highlight of their week. We sing, share joys, hurts, and prayer concerns, and go to God together.

Serving the community is also important to me and the employees at Gail Pittman Inc. We helped build a Habitat for Humanity House in Jackson and participated in the Salvation Army’s “Souper Sunday,” for which we donated soup bowls. We also helped raise funds for the Salvation Army and its local ministries.

Other than listening to God, following His directives, and caring for my family, employees and community, there are a few guidelines I’ve learned to follow through the years to help my business grow. These are the guidelines, or tips, I give others when they ask how I did it:

 

Define Success

First of all, define what success is for you. Decide what you value, and set your goals accordingly. Keep in mind that the meaning of success is different for different people. You can’t set your business objectives by what others consider success.

Success can be defined in a variety of ways–from sales growth to employee retention to having a strong corporate culture. But don’t let money be your only measure of success. Many people who make a lot of money never feel satisfied with their professions.

 

Be True to Yourself

Be true to what you really believe. Pray about decisions, and ask God to help you make the right ones.

When I am facing a particularly difficult decision, I depend on my deepest held beliefs to guide me in my choice. I know I cannot compromise on certain principles, and that makes a lot of decisions easier.

 

Read full article on CharismaMag.com

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