Morning Clarity

I want to share a couple of simple ideas that have come to mind because of the activities over the last couple of weeks.  Each could later serve as an extended blog post.

• Implement Daily.  I was at a realtor association's banquet on Friday and had a great conversation with a realtor from Scottsdale, AZ.  While we shared a ton of ideas, this is what I will remember from her.  Those of us who lean towards being overly reflective, need to remind ourselves to put all of the great ideas we have in our head into action.
• Face Your Fears/Challenges Head On.  Name the issues and confront them 
• Get Organized. You might see some opportunity once you clear away the clutter
• Be a Guinea Pig.  I recently attended a Social media Bootcamp and out of that, two things happened that I couldn't have planned for. First, I received an interview on the spot that served as a blog post for one of the sponsors and I also struck up a relationship with another participant in which I am serving as a Guinea Pig for the early stages of an application he is building.
• Never too late to do the right thing.  If you know you should do something, DO IT!
• Be Thankful. Because bad can get worse.

Resource - LinkedIn

There are numerous tools that exist or are to be launched in the social media space.  I engage or experiment with a number of them regularly, but LinkedIn stands high above the rest for being a place where real value is created, not only for my personal, brand, but also to my ability to solve problems.  In particular the feature that allows you to ask questions of individuals within a particular industry has been extremely helpful to me.  I sometimes use it to confirm a hunch and other times to get the sense of options that I might have related to a problem.  The attached link will walk you through where to find the feature and give some additional insights.  LinkedIn Q&A. (The video focuses more on the lead generation aspect of the feature than I use it for).

What social media tool do you gain the most bottom-line value from?  How do get the most value from LinkedIn?

Developing Your Skills By Gaining Experience – the Path to Being an Entrepreneur

To allow your inner entrepreneur to emerge, first you have to identify your talents and skill-set so that you can begin to refine and focus them.    Previously, I had the opportunity to talk with Adriene Washington, a successful Washington, DC based entrepreneur who has been very successful as a real estate developer.  Knowing what he knows now, Mr. Washington suggests a path he would encourage would-be developers (or entrepreneurs generally) to take to help refine their entrepreneurial skills. 

 He suggests first going to a large, well established, first class company to train, learn best practices, and gain an understanding of what it takes to play in a large arena.  After a couple of years, having checked off a list of pre-defined experiences, move to a smaller organization that has an entrepreneurial spirit and learn how to play bigger with less resources.  Begin to make a name for yourself and establish key relationships.  After a few years at a smaller organization, set out on your own and start your own company.  Mr. Washington believes such an approach might have mitigated a key low point in his career when he was out on his own and found himself to be 'undercapitalized' and 'under experienced'.

Developing key skills before you cast your lot as an entrepreneur will go a long way in allaying concerns and fears that you may have about starting your own business.  Preparation through experience is a touchstone for any successful entrepreneur.