…or do you?

The simple fact of the mater is, if no one gives a you know what about your subject line, there’s no way they are actually going to open the email.

Ouch, that hurts.

But, it’s true.

Chances are, you’re not seeing amazing open rates with your email marketing efforts to start. Marketers and brands have been struggling trying to break open that 3-5% open rate average we always hear about.

The number one way to do it?

You guessed it, fix your subject lines.

So the question is, why are you still sending out emails with subject lines that suck?

It’s time to fix that. Right now.

Here are 10 reasons why your subject lines suck. Learn from even one of these and you’ll see better results with your email open rates.

Let’s go.

# 1. Really Long Subject Lines

It’s amazing that there are people who look so deeply into data they can figure out the ideal number of characters for a subject line.

Thankfully, they’re out there. By the way, the number is 50 around characters, about 6-10 words.

In fact, a study by ShowMeLeads looked at over 260 million emails and found the subject lines that fell in the 6-10 word range had an open rate of 21%.

Compare that to the 14-16% open rate of emails that were shorter and longer, respectively.

So, if you are blowing out subject lines that are 15-25 words long, figure out a few ways to trim those down.

# 2. Repetitive Subject Lines

Yes, it is always good to alert your readers that your subject lines are from you, but that doesn’t mean sending the exact same subject line every single time.

It might work for the first email or two…

…but after that, you’re just going to get ignored, avoided, or deleted.

Is it any surprise? You’ve literally given your readers zero incentive to actually open the email, and the fact of the matter is when people see the same thing over and over with no reward, they just de-commit and move on.

Check out this study from MailChimp and how the open rate of a subject line that just repeats the same thing over and over sinks like a stone.

# 3. No Personalization

I bet you are way more likely to open an email if it feels personal, I know I am. So why aren’t you doing that for your own email list?

Now, personalization doesn’t just mean inserting the old: “Hey [Name]…” into your subject line. It’s a lot more that that, especially if you’re segmenting your list.

Here is where you can pull in some of your targeting and try out a re-marketing campaign or two. Look at areas where you can pull at the heart strings of someone by appealing directly to them and their likes.

That means looking at location, interests and hobbies just to name a few.

# 4. Not Enough Thought on Subject Lines

Raise your hand if you do this…

…write your autoreponder and then at the last minute bang out a headline in 30 seconds.

Oof.

And then you wonder why your emails might not be getting opened? Most people think the content of their emails is the most important thing.

And while content is important, no one is ever going to read it if they don’t actually open the email.

One of the greats of advertising, David Ogilvy, said this about headlines:

“On the average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar.”

Think of the headline as your subject line. Don’t just jot something down with no forethought, get that right and you’ll have a much better chance of getting the open.

# 5. You Are Boring

I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but have you ever given thought to the idea that your subject lines are just really boring?

Between friends, spam, work, and newsletters people get hundreds of emails a day in their inbox. And for those who only check it once or twice a day, you’ve got to make sure your email stands out from the crowd.

If it doesn’t, well be prepared to be sent to trash with the other 99 that stink.

In my last post about email subject lines I highlighted one that worked really well for me:

Now, the last thing you’ll ever call that headline is boring. If you saw that sitting in your inbox, I bet you’d click it, just to see what the hell the email was even going to say.

Sometimes in marketing, weird works.

# 6. You’re Giving it All Away

Come on now, everyone likes a little bit of a tease. So why are you giving away everything your subscriber needs to know about your email in the subject line?

Instead, try working on raising the curiosity level of your email list. There are tons of reasons to do this, but here are two:

1. When people are curious, they want to know more. So it means they are more likely to want to find out the answer. That means more clicks.
2. When people who are curious are given an answer for their curiosity, it releases good feelings. The means they start getting mentally trained psychologically to open your emails because of the reward.

Convinced?

Having an open loop, cliffhanger or tease in your email marketing strategy is only going to help. If you are already using those tactics inside your emails, why not try them in your subject lines too?

# 7. You’re Sending Spam

You know what sucks? Thinking you’re doing everything right and then realizing your emails aren’t even getting opened.

Upon further investigation, you find that you’re emails have been flagged for spam.

Doh.

Looks like you weren’t doing everything right after all. How can your emails get dinged? The answer is pretty easy, you’re using spam trigger words in your subject lines.

Here are a few examples of words you should stop using immediately:

• F r e e
• $$$
• No investment
• Eliminate debt
• Get paid
• Spam
• 100% Free

You get the point, right?

Don’t ruin a perfectly good email by attaching an incredibly spammy subject line to it.

Not only is it a sure way to get your emails flagged by your email service provider but a great way to alienate your email list. Both of these are pretty bad.

# 8. You’re Not Asking Questions

One of the best ways to connect with your email list is to get them talking about themselves. The most common way to do that is to start asking questions.

And that doesn’t just mean inside the emails themselves. That also means in the subject lines too.

Using a question in your subject line is a classic strategy that plays off psychology. The question makes people stop and think first and then click to respond because they want to know the answer.

When done the right way, a question subject line can be a pretty powerful tool to increasing the number of clicks you’ll see in your email marketing campaigns.

Try it out.

# 9. Spelling and Grammar Errors

I almost didn’t put this one because it should be so obvious, but really? You spend time spell checking your actual email don’t you, so why aren’t you giving the same tender loving care to your subject lines?

A subject line with blatant spelling and grammar issues is a fast track to spam or the trash can, whatever your reader is feeling at the moment.

The easy fix?

You guessed it, actually reading through your subject lines and making sure they are not blasting out poor spelling and grammar…

…with your name (or your brand’s name) attached to it.

# 10. You’re Not Keeping Mobile in Mind

Did you know that 53% of emails are opened first on mobile devices? That’s according to this study by Litmus. Now, we both know those numbers are only going to rise in the short term.

So, if you aren’t taking those mobile numbers into account and optimizing your subject lines for those devices, you could be screwed before you’ve even begun.

We all know that subject lines read differently on mobile. For example, with most devices the part of the email that is going to be highlighted the most on a mobile device is the “From Line” not the subject line itself.

So, even though it’s good email marketing practice to make sure your from line features your name or your brand’s name clearly, with mobile devices it’s more important than ever.

Like I said at the start of this post, if you fix even one of these subject line mistakes, you’re autoresponder campaign is going to be a lot better right from the jump.

But, we both know you can do a lot better than that.

Let’s face it, email marketing brings in huge returns on investment, remember this stat from Experian:

“For every $1 spent, $44.25 is the average return on email marketing investment.”

So, what better way to start cashing in on your email marketing than to learn from my article, the 5 mighty mistakes of email marketing and autoresponders.

In it, you’re going to learn a lot more than just the mistakes you’ve been making with your subject lines. You seriously do not want to miss out…

…or you could seriously be missing out.

Click here to start reading today.

The post Why Your Email Subject Lines Suck & What To Do About It appeared first on Young Entrepreneurs.

Whether your business is brand new or even if you’ve been around for a while, customer support is something that can always be improved.

Remember your customers are people who expect and deserve your respect, assistance and gratitude.

Here are 10 ways to instantly improve customer support:

Be Positive

You want your company to make people feel special. You’ll accomplish this by appearing eager to solve your customers’ problems.

Any type of snarky attitude, rude remark, or condescending tone may cost you a customer and future sells. It’s said that on average a customer is likely to share a stellar support experience with up to 3 people and up to 20 people if the support experience was poor… Make sure every experience is a pleasant one – even if it’s a refund request. 

Here are some ways to maintain a positive persona:

• Always greet your customers with a warm welcome and a smile.
• Help customers ask for help (ie: Do you have any questions? Is there anything else I can help with?)
• Love the unhappy customer. (ie: I am sorry for the trouble you’re having)
• Always say thank you.
• Be patient.

Set Expectations

Don’t leave your customer support to chance. It’s a good idea and beneficial for both your team and customers if there’s a level of expectancy.

There are several parameters of superb support to address with your team:

• Be polite.
• Have discounts ready for those who deserve it.
• Make sure every email is answered within 12 hours.
• If you use live chat, response time should always be under 1 minute. 
• Offer gifts (discounts, free products) to customers who become upset.
• Be present when interacting with customers. Verify and clarify the information you’re receiving before acting on it.

Offer Live Chat

This is something that builds a ton of trust and reputation and well as helps to increase sales. The very first week we added live chat to our sales pages, we had record sales. Our customers also started leaving positive reviews on forums that praised us for the convenience of the new live chat.

We use SnapEngage for our live chat. They allow you to set the chat box to appear after any amount of time and you can also set several different greetings to appear to your visitors which allows you to see which get’s the most interactions.

I also like SnapEngage because it shows you the location, time of day and weather of each person that interacts with you. This means you can personalize the experience with something as simple as saying “goodmorning,” or “goodnight” or “staying dry out there today?” when appropriate. This can put people at ease and disarm potentially confrontational customers. 

Clearly Display Working Hours

People need to know exactly how and when they can get ahold of you. Prominently display your working hours and customer support hours on your contact page, home page or any place that your customers are likely to see on their very first visit. 

Make It Easy To Find Support / Contact Page

If you’re a digital marketer your contact page should be clearly visible from the homepage of your website. You want people to know that you stand behind everything you offer and that you’re available to help. At the end of the day a business needs to make money, true, but it’s a service first and foremost, so serve!

Offer A Phone Number / Voice Message Service

There are still some people who don’t trust email or even live chat and strongly prefer to get in touch with somebody via phone. In the event that there is an urgent concern, an email response just isn’t quick enough for some people.

Offering a phone number or voice message service is a great practice for trust building and a strong sign of good faith for your existing and potential customers.

Have FAQ’s

Always include a FAQ (frequently asked questions) section for your business and products. People are desperate for answers and one way to satisfy this is by anticipating their questions. Gather as many Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for your website as possible.

Start by asking your team what common questions they receive about your products and services daily.

Here are some questions you may consider answering in a FAQ section:

• How to install?
• How quickly will I see results?
• What are your working hours?
• List of steps to fix common errors.
• How to get started for the first time?
• How is ______ different from other systems?
• What requirements do I need for your product or service?
• Can ______ use the system? (Lawyers, men, women, students etc)
• Who is ______ (name of founder, owner or business) and where did ______ (name of system, name of service etc) come from?
• Can the ______ (Name of system, product or service) be used to ______? (Solve common problem of your users)

Include a specific location for FAQs such as a knowledge base or literally a “FAQ” page.

With PopUp Domination all of our frequently asked questions are found in the knowledge base. Everything from solutions for common errors to install instructions can be found in our knowledge base. Not only is this a convenient resource for our customers, but it’s also a selling point.

A well-thought FAQ section shows we care and puts people at ease. 

Have Resources Ready

You never want to feel or look like you’ve been caught off guard with customers. They want to know you have everything under control. The best way to exhibit this control is by having several resources related to your product or service ready to go.

For instance, great customer support preparedness means having:

• List of FAQs.
• Affiliate links.
• Links to related articles.
• Links to related complimentary products.
• Common phrases and responses ready to go (for live chat).

Make Sure It’s A Priority

If you want your business to be successful, you must produce happy and satisfied customers.

Customer support should never be put off – ever. From the CEO all the way to the new tech, customer service should be the priority of every person in the company. Remember that if not for your customers, you would not have a business. Your (happy) customers are the lifeline and best advertising for your company so be sure to give them the respect, attention and priority they deserve.

Use A Ticket System

With high traffic businesses the support requests can flood in, even when things are going “good.” We use Desk for our tech support system and love it. My favorite features about Desk are the easy ability to track down previous users tickets (via their built in filtering options) and the use of predefined response templates, which save a ton of time.

Having a ticket system in place not only makes things easier for your team and your customers, but it also provides security for your tech team when sensitive information is being exchanged. 

Practicing great customer support greatly improves your odds of closing a deal and gaining repeat business which means increased sales and profits. It’s much more expensive to acquire customers rather than retain them.

The customer experience is the next competitive battleground. ~ Jerry Gregoire

The post 10 Ways to Instantly Improve Customer Support appeared first on Young Entrepreneurs.

Several years ago (2009) we published a blog post about the most successful college dropouts in history. There are many young entrepreneur dropouts, and I’m one of them. To celebrate us dropouts I compiled a list updated for 2015 with the top entrepreneurs who dropped out of college and still managed to crush it in business.

Here are some notable takeaways from our dropouts:

• Over 1.5 million employees.
• Over $600 billion net worth.
• Over $40 billion donated to charity.
• 14 names made their billions in the tech space.
• 10 names made their billions in the last 10 years.

Top 30 College Drop Outs Who Made It Big in Business

#1. Henry Ford  (Ford)

Net Worth $199 Billion – Dropped out at 16.

Henry Ford dropped out at 16 and later founded Ford Motor Company in 1903. By 1908 he dropped the famous Model T and the assembly line, which has affected all of our lives, literally shaping the world. If he was still alive today, he’d be worth $199 Billion.

#2. Bill Gates (Microsoft)

Net Worth $78.8 Billion – Dropped out at 19.

Gates attended Harvard in the fall of 1973, only to drop out two years later to found Microsoft with childhood buddy Paul Allen. In 2007, he ended up receiving an honorary degree from Harvard.

#3. Larry Ellison (Oracle)

Net Worth $56.6 Billion – Dropped out at 20. 

Larry Ellison is a serial entrepreneur, programmer and philanthropist who made a good chunk of his billions via the multinational tech corp, Oracle. Oh yea, he also own an island in Hawaii named, “Larry Ellison Island.”

#4. Amancio Ortega (Zara)

Net Worth $66.2 Billion – Dropped out at 14. 

At 27, Ortega founded his own company, producing quality yet affordable garments, and in 1975, he opened his first retail store, Zara. Ortega is now the richest man in Spain.

#5. Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook)

Net Worth $33.7 Billion – Dropped out at 19.

Surely you’ve heard of Mark Zuckerberg. If not, he’s the guy who founded the second highest traffic website in the world, Facebook. Remember the hoodie he wore to all of his press conferences and public events?

#6. Li Ka Shing (Cheung Kong Holdings)

Net Worth $33.5 Billion – Dropped out at 15. 

Li Ka Shing said “deuces” to school at age 15 and started selling watch bands. Today he’s the world’s largest operator of container terminals, world’s largest health and beauty retailer, Chinese energy supplier and real estate developer.

 #7. Sheldon Adelson (Las Vegas Sands)

Net Worth $30.2 Billion – Dropped out at 19. 

While you may not know his face, you may have partied at one of his Vegas establishments for your 21st. Aside from Sheldon Adelson being a casino tycoon, he also owns the Israeli Daily newspaper and dabbles in politics.

#8. Larry Page (Google) 

Net Worth $29.1 Billion – Dropped out at 21. 

Larry page is known for co-founding a little site called Google. He technically graduated from University of Michigan but later dropped out of his PhD. program which why he’s on the list. 

#9. Michael Dell (Dell)

Net Worth $21.8 Billion – Dropped out at 19. 

Michael Dell truly caught the entrepreneurial bug in college. Selling upgrade mods for personal computers from his dorm, ultimately led to him getting a license from the State of Texas to bid on (large) contracts. The rest is history.

#10. Paul Allen (Microsoft)

Net Worth $17 Billion – Dropped out at 20. 

This Microsoft co-founder is a sports fanatic, owning the Seattle Seahawks, and the NBA’s Portland Trailblazer’s. He’s known for having fun with his cash thanks to ridiculous toys ranging from submarines to 400ft yachts.

 #11. Azim Premji (Wipro)

Net Worth $16.4 Billion – Dropped out at 22. 

Mr. Premji has been at the helm of Wipro Limited for four decades. In that time he’s grown them into one of the Indian leaders in the software industry.

#12. Kirk Kerkorian (Tracinda) 

Net Worth $10 Billion – Dropped out at 12. 

Kirk Kerkorian is known as the “father of the megaresort” and has helped develop, shape and grow Las Vegas. An 8th grade dropout, Kirk is a former boxer, WWII fighter pilot and CEO of the successful investment firm Tracinda.

#13. Steve Jobs (Apple)

Net Worth $8.3 Billion – Dropped out at 21. 

Jobs dropped out of college after one semester and recycled cans and bottles to make ends meet. A vegetarian Buddhist who frequently experimented with LSD, Jobs has been hailed as the Ford and Edison of our Time.

#14. Dustin Moskovitz (Facebook)

Net Worth $8.2 Billion – Dropped out at 21.

Forbes reported Moskovitz to be the youngest self-made billionaire in history. Zuckerberg’s roommate at Harvard and Facebook’s third employee, Dustin left Facebook in 2008 to start hist software firm Asana.

#15. Lex Wexner (L Brands)

Net Worth $7.7 Billion – Dropped out at 22. 

Over the years Lex has built up some of the most famous brands in the world, including Abercrombie & Fitch, Lane Bryant, Limited Too and Express. Btw, he’s the shot caller aka current owner of Victoria Secret.

#16. Jan Koum (WhatsApp)

Net Worth $7.2 Billion – Dropped out at 20. 

Koum made $6.8 billion when Facebook acquired his mobile messaging startup WhatsApp for $19 billion. He had originally dropped out of school to Yahoo, where he oversaw security and infrastructure for the internet giant.

#17. Ralph Lauren (Ralph Lauren)

Net Worth $7.1 Billion – Dropped out at 20.

This billionaire fashion mogul studied business for 2 years before dropping out. In 1967, after leaving his clerk position at Brooks Brothers, Lauren sold $500,000 worth of ties. He started Polo the next year.

#18. David Geffen (Geffen Records)

Net Worth $6.9 Billion – Dropped out at 19. 

This guy founded Asylum Records and Geffen Records and co-founded DreamWorks. He also founded Hobby Lobby, a popular American chain of arts and crafts stores.

#19. Walt Disney (Disney)

Net Worth $5 billion (2015) – Dropped out at 16. 

Walt Disney dropped out of at 16 and founded Walt Disney; a company which now has an annual revenue of about $30 billion. He’s regarded as the most influential animator ever.

#20. David Green (Hobby Lobby)

Net Worth $4.7 Billion – Dropped out at 18. 

Billionaire founder of Hobby Lobby, religious philanthropist. Did not attend college. Started the Hobby Lobby chain with a $600 loan.

#21. Richard Branson (Virgin)

Net Worth $4.7 Billion – Dropped out at 16. 

ironically he dropped out to start a youth magazine called “Student.” After he moved to London in the 60s, he developed a “mail-order” record company to fund his magazine, named Virgin. Branson’s empire includes an airline, drinks manufacturer and over 400 other ventures.

#22. Elizabeth Holmes (Theranos)

Net Worth $4.5 Billion – Dropped out at 19. 

At 30, Elizabeth Holmes makes her debut on the Forbes 400 as the youngest self-made woman billionaire.  

#23. Subhash Chandra Goel (Zee Tv)

Net Worth $4 Billion – Dropped out at 12. 

Dr Chandra who is referred to as the Media Moghul of India, changed the television industry by launching the country’s first satellite Hindi channel in 1992. The Zee Network now has over 500 million viewers in 167 countries.

#24. Haim Saban (Saban Capital)

Net Worth $3.3 Billion – Dropped out at 13.

Saban made it big as the producer of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers TV show in the early 90s. And later sold Fox Family to Disney for $5 Billion and made $1.7 Billion on the deal.

#25. Sean Parker (Facebook)

Net Worth $3 Billion – Dropped out at 14. 

He’s the co-founder of the infamous music sharing service Napster, which changed the music industry forever. He later served as Facebook’s first president owning 28.2% of B shares.
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#26. Evan Williams (Twitter)

Net Worth $2.9 Billion – Dropped out at 19. 

Williams is one of the co-founders of Twitter and the founder of Square, and before each of the aforementioned companies he co-founded the successful podcasting company Odeo. 
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#27. Jack Dorsey (Twitter)

Net Worth $2.5 Billion – Dropped out at 20. 

Dorsey, who is now on the board of Disney, is one of the founding members of Twitter, and founder and CEO of Square. He’s often referred to as the “cool” guy in tech.

#28. Hiroshi Yamauchi (Nintendo)

Net Worth $2.1 Billion – Dropped out at 22. 

Yamauchi dropped out to take over the company his grandfather started in 1889, maintaining his role as the third president of Nintendo for 55 years, taking them from small card company to video game powerhouse.

#29. Gabe Newell (Valve)

Net Worth $1.3 Billion – Dropped out at 20.

Newell co-founded Valve Corporation, a company famous for the sci-fi video game, Half Life. Newell claims to be “producer of the first three releases of Windows.” Like Zuckerberg and Gates, he was also a Harvard dropout.

#30. Orji Uzor Kalu (Slok)

Net Worth $1 Billion – Dropped out at 20.

The Nigerian born billionaire and war survivor, made his billions in television and media after being expelled from University for leading student riots and taking a $35 loan from his mother.

We Can’t Gauge Our Success Based on Grades

Not having a college degree will be a hindrance to some avenues of success, but not all.  It does tend to make it harder to get a job with big companies (in particular) or with companies that are founded by individuals who place great value on academic degrees. These types of people are increasingly less common, especially in tech, as you’ll notice from this list, but there’s still a lot of them. 

Of the 30 names on this list, 25 are self made. And of the 25 that are self made, 10 made their billions in the last 10 years in the tech space. What’s also interesting, is that the combined total of employees that these dropouts employ is well over 1 million. And of this number of employees, a vast number of them have college degrees. Ironic, no?

Don’t Rush to Quit School

Interesting and inspiring selection I think you will agree. Not all are complete dropouts – some actually have pretty impressive academic achievements to their name but alas the call of their Entrepreneurial Ventures took them to leave those studies and instead go on to create considerable wealth plus businesses that in some case have touched Billions of people.

One entrepreneur who in particular impressed me was Michael Dell – who started a computer company called PCs Limited while attending the University of Texas in Austin. It became so successful that Dell dropped out of school to operate it, and the company eventually became Dell, Inc, with revenues of $56.94 billion in 2013. In 2006, Dell and his wife gave a $50 million grant to the University which he attended but never graduated from.

One remarkable fact I noted when compiling this list, was the number of businesses that started of in a garage. Take for example the HP corporation which started life in a tiny 12×18 foot garage. And then there is also Google and Apple who started life in a garage.

And the Most Notable Young Entrepreneurs Of Recent Times?

Well it is Mark Zuckerberg of course.

Facebook Founder, Mark Zuckerberg has an estimated net worth of nearly $34 billion and believed by some to be the wealthiest man younger than 35 in the USA. Mark Zuckerberg, like Bill Gates, is a Harvard dropout.

After launching Facebook school-wide from his dorm room at Harvard in February 2004, Zuckerberg began devoting more and more time to his program, gradually spreading it to other schools. By that summer, Zuckerberg and his roommate Dustin Moskovitz had released Facebook to nearly 30 schools, and the website was growing too popular to be run part-time.

This post is dedicated to Chad

We recently received an email from a mother concerned not only with the happiness and motivation of her son, but the type of ‘formal’ education he was receiving. She felt her child needed to be inspired and found a similar WebMakeMoney.com article to be just that.

Even if this list makes a difference to one life, it’s worth doing.

Where to go from here

WebMakeMoney is packed with helpful information and advice from some of the leading entrepreneurs in the world. For inspiration I would suggest you read some of our high profile interviews and check out our young entrepreneur rich list!

The post The Most Successful College Dropouts In History appeared first on Young Entrepreneurs.

Every year Yanik offers a few promising young entrepreneurs around the world the opportunity to go to his seminar on full scholarship. Each year, hundreds of applicants compete, but only a handful are accepted.

This year is the 6th-year running, and the fourth year that we’ve been hosting it atWebMakeMoney! Each one of these young entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to attend the event for free, network with some of the biggest names in business, and learn unique strategies to grow their own ventures.

Look out for these guys and gals! You can expect to see great things from them in the future. As always, let us know if you’re going to Underground this year. It’ll be great to see everyone. Find out more about Yanik Silver’s Underground.

Also, if you’re a young entrepreneur 23 and under and you haven’t applied for the scholarship this year, check out the streaming scholarship here, allowing an additional pool of scholarship winners to stream the event live from the comfort of your own home.

Harry Cammer – MyDigitalNatives.com 

I was born and raised in New York City. I am currently a senior at Tulane University in New Orleans majoring in Marketing and Consumer Behavior and minoring in Psychology. I started Digital Natives Marketing along with three other students in an attempt to help small local businesses leverage online tools (social media, web development, PPC, etc) to grow their business. I’ve always had a passion for tech and innovation, but unfortunately science and engineering were never my academic strengths. My current mission is to use this enthusiasm for technology to bridge the gap between technologists and the everyday person andhelp bring about meaningful change.

“Decide that you want it more than you are afraid of it” – Bill Cosby

Paulo Ribeiro – aprendizadoacelerado.com 

Paulo Ribeiro is a modern strategist, writer and marketing lover. Author of an ebook on accelerated learning, he helps people to learn better and faster with a Brazilian company that offers trainings on metalearning. Paulo has helped raising thousands of dollars through GiveGetWin, a philanthropic organization that runs deals with amazing experts all over the world and wants to impact lives in Mongolia.

With his role as Ambassador of Exosphere, a Chilean startup disrupting the way we think about real-life education, Paulo expects to contribute to the solution of the entrepreneurial education problem. He helps people to live better and meaningful lives running a self-development community in Brazil called Estrategistas. And he is about to hold a degree in chemical engineering but has no idea what to do with it.

Tara Byrne – TaraEByrne.com

I connect alternative learning environments with startups to give students a better shot at an education that works. I’m invested in opening new pathways between like-minded individuals to share resources, incite conversations, and cultivate collaborative partnerships. I want my peers to be able to flourish in nourishing, challenging environments that support vulnerability and transparency.

I’m 18 years old and have been an entrepreneur since early high school, with my first project at 14.

“Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Craig Jaffa – www.azurawear.co.za

From the age of 9, Craig started his entrepreneurial journey selling Power Ranger toys and dodgy lemonade to his neighbors. Since then he’s co-founded an eco-friendly clothing label at university, and is now receiving mentorship and working within a digital marketing agency as an ‘intrapreneur’.

His vision is to embark on ventures that create growth in developing countries and have the greatest impact for the greatest number of people. One such venture is a current project to launch a South African startup incubator.

When he’s not immersing himself in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Vipassana Meditation, or playing late night didgeridoo, he’s secretly pursuing his stand-up comedy career.

“Find out today whether you are willing to do what it takes to give your gift fully. As a first step, spend at least an hour today giving your fullest gift, whatever that is for today, so that when you go to sleep at night you know you couldn’t have lived your day with more courage, creativity, and giving.” – David Deida

Brandon Wagner – mypalettefabrics.com

Business had ran through my veins my entire life, the desire to improve the industry – revolutionize business all together. To this date I’ve had 12 realistic start up attempts of all sizes, my most recent has been my most successful to date and I plan on staying with it 100% until June, when I will break off into this and a personnel blog.

I have a huge passion for graphic design, branding and sewing.

“We’re all different people, all throughout our lives when you think about it. That’s okay, that’s good. You’ve got to keep moving forward, so long as you remember all the people you use to be.” – 11th Doctor from Doctor Who

Maxine Schiffmann – www.TheLeaderOfTomorrow.com 

Maxine has started her blog to inspire students to live life to the fullest and become the CEO of their life. She is a self-proclaimed information junkie who loves everything related to personal development & entrepreneurship. She currently consults an e-learning start-up in her home country Germany while finishing her business degree.

One of her biggest inspirations is Marie Forleo who once said: “Hustle, have patience and don’t quit”.

Jerry Panzu – www.kondeexpress.com

I was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I was raised in Brussels, Belgium and the U.S. I attended boarding almost all my life. I started attending boarding school at the age of 8 at Rumsey Hall School in Connecticut. My father is a businessman. Owns his own construction company and has oil and copper mines in Africa. I have two sisters. My older sister is a college graduate and has 3 beautiful girls my nieces two of which are twins. I am very motivated, ambitious and a gym freak. When I am not in the gym, I spend a lot of time reading about astrology, ancient aliens, UFO’S, economics and much more.

“Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage.” – Niccolo Machiavelli

Evan Luthra – EvanLuthra.com

I am a 18 year old entrepreneur who is thinking of new ideas to make this world a better place. I Conceptualize, Innovate and then work on Executing world changing ideas. I love building and rebuilding Products. Using creativity, ideas and magic, I build products in a way you’ll never forget.

I started out by curating Technology news at the age of 12, After crossing 200,000 readers – I moved on to developing mobile apps when I was just 13 , since then I haven’t looked back and created various web 2.0 companies and have user base of over 1,000,000 users. I have founded my own startup and now consult on others. I also occasionally speak at universities and Corporates about entrepreneurship.

“To get rich , you have to be making money while you are sleeping.”

Frances Farmer – stressoutlets.com 

Stress is a part of everyday life. It’s something to be dealt with, not avoided. A majority of people simply ignore stress until they finally can’t take anymore. Frances Farmer believes in facing stress head-on before it accumulates.

Frances has experienced first-hand the damage stress can wrought. She used to handle stress ineffectively by worrying excessively and overworking herself. As a result, she developed a stress disorder called Trichotillomania, causing her to pull out her hair as a stress response. For 7 years, she has struggled with the disorder. She finally found the light at the end of the tunnel when she learned about yoga. Yoga helped reduced her stress so much that it inspired her to search for other stress outlets. Thus, the journey began.

On Frances’ search for alternative methods of stress relief, she realized others probably have the same desire to find an outlet. So, Stress Outlets was born.

“SO” offers an assorted variety of stress relief methods from different cultures & philosophies to help you find a stress outlet you can plug into. The last thing you want to do when you’re already stressed out is to search for ways to calm down, you want immediate relief. “SO” brings the information to you in a nice and neat blog post, every Wednesday.

“Risk more than others think is safe. Care more than others think is wise. Dream more than others think is practical. Expect more than others think is possible.” — Cadet Maxim

Akshat Goel – www.iValueTech.com and www.TechiBiz.com

Akshat Goel (15 years old, New Delhi) is the founder of Techibiz. He is a mobile and web marketer with extensive knowledge in internet and mobile marketing. He is also the founder of iValueTech Apps, a mobile app development firm which specializes in Android, Kindle and iOS App Development.

Akshat can’t make it to Underground this year due to travel restrictions, but we were so impressed with this young entrepreneur that we wanted to make sure everyone reading this saw what he was up to.

The post Young Entrepreneur Scholarship Winners For Yanik’s UndergroundX 2014 appeared first on Young Entrepreneurs.

Marshall was a winner of the Underground scholarship the first year it was done, and has gone to a very successful entrepreneurial journey.

Marshall is really a product innovator, so we talked about his process for coming up with product ideas, the pre-launch process, and successfully running multiple brands at once. We also talked a bit about Marshall’s entrepreneurial journey, his successes, and his failures and lessons along the way.

My biggest takeaways from the interview include…

• Idea generation often has to be intentional at first, before it becomes natural. Marshall started by sitting down and consciously thinking of ideas, then eventually it became a natural process of innovation.
• Having an older business partner and mentor can go a long way in creating greater success as a young entrepreneur. Combine your young energy and creativity with their experience, resources, and wisdom.
• Most times, things won’t work the first time around. Maybe not even the first 5 times. This is normal, and you have to keep trying, keep pushing forward, and you’ll eventually get it right.
• While you can build a successful business from any circumstances, having freedom of location allows you to think and act more clearly, and be a more effective entrepreneur.
• As long as you build proper systems and automate the process, you can launch multiple unrelated physical products in different niches successfully without dedicated CEO’s or Product Managers for each.
• If working on multiple brands, even if unrelated, having a larger Umbrella brand (for Marshall this is NeedWant) helps build long term momentum and recognition in the marketplace.

The Google Hangout unfortunately cut out Marshall’s video at the beginning, so the recording is mostly just audio. You can listen below, and read the accompanying interview transcript.

Transcription

Dmitriy: I’m here with Marshall Haas, he’s 23 years old, a serial entrepreneur and product guy, he already develops lots of really unique stuff, he was a scholarship recipient for Underground, the first year we ever did the scholarship program and has before and since been a successful entrepreneur and has built really cool stuff over the last few years.

So welcome Marshall, thank you for taking the time today.

Marshall: Yeah. Thanks for having me.

Dmitriy: Absolutely. So, I checked out your personal site in the needwant.com and it looks like you build a lot of like really unique products for unique market places almost like category creators.

So the first question would be, what’s your process for idea generation and then testing for market viability.

Marshall: Sure. I used to just sit down and literally try to have ideas, like as weird as it sounds, almost like trying to practice it and then like know what it’s just like, it’s always on my mind.

Looking for different problems that you know may have a solution but isn’t very elegant or with the bedding thing, like it was just personal frustration and like productizing a solution. So yeah, it’s all good place nowadays it’s just like more of like day to day like a natural thing. I don’t know which thought process starts to go in that direction when I have free time. So yeah, I don’t know it all, a good place.

Dmitriy: Cool. So now it’s like you solve the old problems and bring that to the market place?

Marshall: Yeah, I think so. Sometimes it’s our own problems, sometimes it’s others, there’s a gap in the marketplace and this could be really cool. I think the best solutions like smartbeddings is one of my favorite and like that one of course like a personal frustration and I understand the problem so I could figure best one to design a solution for it.

Dmitriy: Okay. So now that you have multiple ventures, or multiple products, did you end up starting like multiple things at once or did you start one and then once you’re like, “okay this one’s nice and neatly buttoned up, start the next”. Do you have a science to it? Or is it just like, you’re inspired and you go start something?

Marshall: Sure. Like most people, I can have like entrepreneurial A.D.D., I’ve heard that term a lot. So I used to just like go all over the place, it’s like “oh this is interesting” but I’m still like you know, well into this a year into this other thing, like I need to put my time into. So I think like over the last years, I got a little more disciplined. Like okay this is a cool idea but let’s put this on the shelf until we like really locked down a process on this one and get it rolling. So it’s like, I definitely became more disciplined about it and now it’s definitely like “alright let’s lock down going for needwant example like let’s lock down smartbedding, like keep production rolling, everything we need to get that set-up and then work on the next thing”. And sometimes whenever, there’s like downtime waiting on manufacturing or whatever we’ll do a little bit on the next thing. But yeah, I’ll definitely try to be way more disciplined with that with the last year because it’s definitely true, like when you start bouncing around things start to suffer.

Dmitriy: Yeah, you lose focus a little bit.

Marshall: Yeah, absolutely.

Dmitriy: So then on that note, right now and in the near future do you run all of the companies with yourself and your business partner or all of the projects and products or do you guys find operator CEOs for the individual subsets or companies?

Marshall: Yeah. So with Needwant it’s definitely Jon and myself. We’re 50-50 partners and we’ve never really looked at hiring someone else to like run the day to day. Also I don’t think we ever will; with physical products and you have that process down and you can now resell. So it’s not like a lot of day to day that needs to – basically what I’m trying to say is that you can automate a lot. It’s really worthless bringing in a CEO type for each product unless they’re much, much bigger.

Unofficially, I’m CEO and he’s much better with the product than me. Like he definitely I would say has a lot better ideas than I do. And I think he tends to spend a lot of his time to think up different ideas. So yeah, we’re a good fit. Like we definitely have a lot of the same skill sets. We’re both like super product focused. I’m focusing more on the business growth ideas and he’s working on like making product better. And there’s a lot of overlap as well but yeah I think that it’s going to be just the two of us working on it long term.

Dmitriy: Cool. Awesome. How much do you think finding the right business partner has played a role in your success so far for the last few years? And then going forward?

Marshall: I think it’s huge. The first thing I tried was with my cousin who was like my brother. And like whatever that was the first thing and it crashed and burned because probably we were both really inexperienced. So nothing against him. Yeah, I had a lot of business partners and you know I think you can make things work like you know people that aren’t the greatest ever but it’s definitely huge finding the right people. And thinking about that I would just start working on things by myself and just never really make any assumptions like “oh, I need a co-founder” at some point. And it just , you know, you meet different people, you start making things putting them out to the world. Meeting other cool people that are doing other interesting things. And sometimes they’re like a good fit and you both like a place where you both starting something up that it make sense to you to bring them in. And that’s how things happened with Jon and I. Yeah so super important obviously.

Dmitriy: Cool. Both you and Jon have exited before you started working together through some sort of a previous start-up company – so you tell me a little bit about that and then how that played a role in what you do now.

Marshall: Sure. So, Jon co-founded dailybooth which was like pre-Instagram, like it was this picture sharing platform, where like you use mostly, I think actually only the webcam. And like you take a picture daily was the idea then you could like respond with pictures. And it was like really interesting community of just pictures like going back and forth and like they make their income…. raise much money. Like Ashton Kutcher is an investor and stuff like that. like their pretty big. And then they were like aqua hired by Airbnb couple years ago, maybe like two years ago or maybe a year i’m not really sure. And then he left just prior actually and went off and started just like thinking out with different tons of different stuff. And then I was working on this company called Absorbed and it was like project management software with like a roll your own takes so the idea was like you know everyone needs something different so we built out this like very modular system where it’s like okay if I need these features I can grab them ànd build my own project management app to suit what I do versus an architect or an event planner. And so that was the first company where I raised a little bit of money, raise like 110k. I started with myself and then actually had a technical co-founder join me while I was in Chile for a start-up Chile. And actually the first product is like ultimately failed. We was not getting enough attraction, and we still own some money in the bank and the idea was like we can either double down on this original thing like totally redesign it or like let’s try something new. And this is a much longer story but basically I got connected with Andrew Wilkinson of Metalab. He and I started keeping in touch. I basically pitched him on doing like a 50-50 joint venture and the idea was like “hey we got some cash in the bank still and we can pair on way and let’s build a product together and let’s lunch under metalab. And it was like cool, awesome, that’s great but like you guys need to come up here for two months here in the Victoria, B.C. And so we did that and then all the while the idea was still it’s like a joint venture between two companies building new products, so like we’re still independent, they’re independent. And then while we’re up there, two months working together it just became very clear, they really liked us. And Andrew made an offer to press to join them and you know it’s good. I’ve always been a fan of Metalab so we obviously took the deal. So I’m actually still with them. Like I’m a partner with them now. So I’m like bouncing my time between Metalab and Needwant stuffs. So that’s getting way out of myself, that’s the start between Jon and I, and those two companies.

Dmitriy: Yeah for sure. It sounds like you know you probably learned a lot through all of those experiences that allowed you to build your own.

Marshall: Yeah absolutely.

Dmitriy: How much of a factor do you think, or how important do you think it is to have that flexible lifestyle where you feel like ok while I’m living here, I’m gonna move to Chile to work on a start-up and go up to Victoria. That’s obviously pretty cool how much of a factor do you think that plays in being able to have that agile lifestyle for an entrepreneurial success?

Marshall: Yeah, I mean, I just think it depends on your personality like some people need, you know, structure and like routine day to day. And I’m actually getting to that point now where it’s like I want, I wanted to just, like for a while I don’t know where I will be, I just wanna be in two months or six months or whatever or where I’m gonna be living. And that gets old but I think for several years like it’s awesome, like I’m super laid back. And I think I have the right personality where like I can thrive in those situations where it’s like, oh, this is exciting, like I’m gonna be somewhere new. So, yeah, I mean totally important but at the same time like, it does get old after you know, a while, like you want to be based somewhere, right?

Marshall: But yeah like having the freedom to do that is definitely a huge perk and I think like it helps with, you know, it all trickles down like being happy, likes helps you have good ideas, and like treat people correctly and think clearly like when you operating your business. That happiness comes from freedom of location and will help you I think thrive in whatever you’re doing.

Dmitriy: Cool. Awesome. So, some of your products launched at the other store and pre-launched, do you have any good tips for preparing for launch and how to market yourself during pre-launch so as to have a successful product launch?

Marshall: Sure. It’s like with physical products, we have definitely found, we were just like foreign lever kick starter, I think just that whole crowd funding platform and like concepts, like really, like helps kick things off where it’s like a very big bang like it’s theres a time limit on, like your customer’s being like ‘Oh i want this thing, I wanna be in the first run of it.’ And there’s like you know yeah, okay, you have 30 days or 60 days or 15 days or whatever the limit is to like get behind this thing, and like you know, hand over your credit card. So, I think that helps a lot, like we definitely just really embrace that model. And like you know, if you launch something and it just doesn’t do well like, you don’t have that much money right? Like, you know, we, I think costs is like 5K and be ready to launch your own kickstarter for the last thing we did. And if like, not enough people like it, we obviously would have been out like the 4 whatever 50k and have nothing to market it. Yeah, so with physical products like we definitely just embrace that crowdfunding model and as far as like, you know, different thing is ran now, like you know we’ve put up a coming soon page super early, I mean as soon as we like have the idea that like we’re gonna do this thing and you put up some sort of page with collecting e-mail. And like that definitely help a lot like having that pre-launch. And like now, you know fortunate time like good networking friends that have audiences similar to ours that you know we can just buddies, nothing like super formal that we can hit them up to help us just get the word out. So, it’s super dirty, the whole process isn’t super fun, it’s super messy. Like every time we’re gonna launch something but yeah, there are definitely some things that we’ve been able to repeat and like ok, this works, you know. What the next thing we’ll do, we’ll apply work with the thing after that. Yeah.

Dmitriy: Cool. How do you see the next 2 or 3 years playing out for you? Will you keep focusing on everything you have on the table now or do you envision possibly new ideas, new products, new campaigns coming at the play?

Marshall: Yeah, so I think like now I can say with certainty like I’m gonna be doing in Metalab like helping in like being a partner there like helping with software business and physical products through need what, you know, with Metalab I’m sure we’ll have a new product. I know we’ll have new products coming out in the next few years. It is all through that business at the same you need warrant and for Jon and I,I think we’re gonna bootstrap this thing to long-term and you know, there will definitely be new products but still under you know you need one. I think that’s just gonna the next 20-year plan, I think it’s a to be a part of those two companies and do the longterm like I definitely found exactly what I wanna do, splitting time between, like two different businesses like software, B2B software like consumer physical products but I think that like it scratches all the issues that I have as far as like you know, attention and I think I’ll never get bored doing this for the next 20 or 30 years.

Dmitriy: Cool. So you got to cater your entrepreneurial A.D.D. and still stay focused on something you know, so you got both like the certainty and uncertainty within one spear. Awesome.

Marshall: Yeah. Totally. There is definitely a lot of benefit now, like I always knew this but now I’m like seeing it first hand and to like building everything under one brand like you know ten years from now, people are gonna be like “Oh yeah, that physical product company Needwant’. It is like starting something from scratch, like you’re literally starting from nothing, like with every single product launch that we do, we got an existing customer base or fan base to like we market things to and not just like that’s so huge like that and it’s just easier when you’re launching new things. Yeah.

Dmitriy: Cool. That’s awesome, literally allows you to still keep doing new stuffs but really build momentum for the long term within one company.

Marshall: Exactly. Exactly. Awesome.

Dmitriy: You’ve had a lot of different experiences, my question to you would be about a mentor or something, firstly who have you had as your mentors or other figures you’ve looked up to and then what’s the best advice that you’ve ever been given personally?

Marshall: That advice one is hard, I actually haven’t sat down and like you know it’s the best advice for certain situations. As far as like one person, like I definitely always, I never really had like a formal mentor, like one guy that is like 10 or 20 years ahead of me that you know, I can always go to. It’s just been like a lot of different people that I’ve been fortunate enough to like question about one specific thing I could reach out to. And, so that’s of course, been huge like getting advice from like this giant pool of experts that I could get for knowledge or whatever questions, you know, I consider friends. I think Andrew, the founder and CEO of Metalab, he’s like 5 years older than me so, we’re not actually that far apart but he’s definitely had way more success than I have. I’m his partner now with things like I would consider, like if there was one mentor that I have, I would say it’s him. Like, just being in business with him, he’s further ahead of me. I would definitely say that it’s a roundtable of people.

Dmitriy: Cool. Awesome. And then to flip that, what advice would you give to, let’s say your younger self 5 years ago or to somebody that’s just starting in the business today that’s maybe around that age like 18 or possibly early 20’s?

Marshall: I think, there’s always this heed of uncertainty of doing things, like the back of my mind, there are tons of things like crashed and burned and failed, over and over, right? Like you tried something and didn’t work, and like I think and this applies to most things, and I think people know this in the back of their mind.This is like what keeps you from going and like, if you just keep trying things and like, really genuinely try and learn from what didn’t work last time, like whatever it was like we needed better marketing or a bigger audience to launch to or the product was shed or whatever it was. If you do it long enough, like you stay in the game long enough, and genuinely learn from your mistakes, like you will eventually figure it out; you only need to be right one time and so you’re gonna be right eventually if you stay in it.

Dmitriy: Right.

Marshall: I would just tell myself ‘Hang on buddy, like you’ll figure it out eventually’. Right? Like yeah, so like it’s frustrating because people figured it out sooner or later than others, like some people their first thing is like hitting it out in the park and others, and is like stories of whatever case like so many years of trying and eventually got it. And it’s like late age.

Marshall: So yeah, that’s frustrating to sit by and watch. I had a buddy that like had no interest in business and like the first thing he did was made good money from and it was a nice business to support his lifestyle. That’s frustrating to watch, you know, when you have been trying different things for like 5 years or whatever but like, eventually, I can just promise anyone that eventually, you’ll figure it out.

Dmitriy: Awesome. That’s perfect. Alright, well, I think we’re all set for the day. This is really, really great content. I actually got some good notes myself. It’s really inspiring, what you’re doing at this age so far, and it’s exciting to see what you’ll do the next 5 years and beyond. And it’s clear that you’re gonna keep tinkering and building new stuff and I’m really excited to watch.

The post Interview With Marshall Haas Of NeedWant appeared first on Young Entrepreneurs.

Now, the actual content from this seminar has to stay Underground… but I’ll open up my personal notebook so you can take a peak at some of my biggest insights from the conference. Even so, this is like less than 3% of the actual incredible content that I learned there. Read to the end to see how you can get the same opportunity I did as a young entrepreneur to attend this year’s Underground live this coming March.

1. There is a three step formula for creating success online, inspired by AJ Robert’s presentation:

1. Get The lead
2. Convert The Lead
3. Deliver Awesomeness

This might seem obvious, but it’s actually quite insightful when you think about the fact that most young entrepreneurs miss one of these three key steps when building an online business. They might have an awesome product to deliver, lots of leads, but are missing the conversion element. Or they might be great at getting leads, pretty good with conversions, but don’t deliver the best product or service, making it harder to get repeat business. You need all three elements nailed down to build a thriving and sustainable business online.

Lately, I’ve been really good at getting leads and converting sales, largely because my previous work was so awesome and I built a reputation. Then more recently, my business started to suffer a bit because I wasn’t delivering as much awesomeness as I used to. Now that I’ve kicked #3 back into gear, the whole process is working a lot more smoothly! So this applies whether you have a services company or are selling information or technology online.

2. The Five Keys To Burnout (Avoid These!) inspired by Craig Ballantyne’s Presentation

1. Take on too many projects
2. No separation between work and non-work – leads to the biggest stress
3. You do too many $10/hour tasks
4. You are addicted to technology
5. Too much of what we all want – freedom – I am my own boss

This presentation had such an impact on my lifestyle and my business. Let me explain each one a bit more in my own words…

You take on too many projects: you know why you do this. You’re an entrepreneur. You get excited about ‘starting’ great things. The irony is, the more things you start, the less ‘great’ you can make each one until you learn how to focus and scale. Focus on making your key project(s) successful before moving onto the next great thing.

No separation between work and non-work leads to the biggest stress: Again, this is like an entrepreneurial disease; we can’t seem to ‘turn off’ enough to get rejuvenated and build the non-business parts of our lives, like health, family, and relationships. You have to set aside some time each day, and longer periods throughout the year, to totally disengage from your work. When you come back, you’ll be energized and refreshed with totally new energy.

You do too many $10/hour tasks: eliminate and delegated. My biggest solution to this has been to outsource. I wrote another post on outsourcing on IncomeDiary.com a few months after hearing Craig give this presentation on how I applied outsourcing in my business and how you can too.

You are addicted to technology: set several hours each day totally disconnected from your phone and your computer. You’ll hone clearer thinking and make better strategic decisions about your business, you’ll write better, and you’ll even find more peace in your life.

Too Much Freedom: I struggled with this a lot when I first heard this. Freedom actually comes largely from structure, rules, and systems. A lot of young entrepreneurs struggle with this, especially when they first start to make a full time income from home, because they can do what they want when they want. The irony is, if you don’t build structure, you’ll always have more stress and uncertainty, and less real freedom.

3. Screw The Unconditional Guarantee! Inspired by Marie Forleo’s presentation.

Don’t give customers an unconditional guarantee – make the refund terms conditional instead. Your customers actually get MORE value and you get LESS refunds. In order to qualify for a refund, students must submit completed homework. As a result, more of your customers will actually apply what they learn in your course or coaching programs, they’ll get more value from your service, or actually try and use the physical product. If they get results (which they should, assuming you are selling something great), you’ll get even more customers from the word of mouth that results from it.

Try it next time you craft your offer: give your students practical steps to apply before they can even ask for a refund.

I’ve done this with some of my clients’ info marketing and event project and have seen some great results. This is especially important when you have live events, or even webinar series, that are time senstive and have a lot of real hard costs.

4. Get REAL leads from Facebook Fan Pages inspired by Brian Moran’s presentation

Your fan page is so much more than a fan page. If done right, it’s an incredible source of fresh leads from targeted advertising. Create a tab on your fan page and make it a squeeze page – right within Facebook! Then drive paid traffic to it (cheaper than driving Facebook PPC traffic to an external lead capture page). You get two forms of leads: a fan/like, and an email. Even if they don’t optin to the email box, you will often still get a fan.

Your followers grow, more people see your message, your credibility grows, and you’re still focused on the most important lead generation component: capturing your prospect’s email address!

5. IDE = Innovation, Design, Experience … inspired by Ewa’s and Vishen’s (from MindValley) presentations.

This was probably my biggest takeaway that I leveraged for myself and my clients. The old school Internet marketing designs are on the way out, especially for higher end professional markets. Instead of big, bold, red headlines to grab your prospect’s attention – start studying what really innovative and successful companies do to attract customers. The Google’s and Apple’s of the world.

Think high end imagery. Clean design. Interactive experience and gamification. Not only will you see higher conversions, but you’ll also be more proud of your site and brand, and excited to present it to as many people as possible who might share your message.

This concept alone has transformed my business and is now the focus of my company: building a MindValley-like services agency that delivers incredible professional design that converts!

6. Your affiliates don’t care how great your product is… inspired by Glen Ledwell’s presentation (of MindMovies).

Your product must be great to even play the game. Your affiliates really care about what’s in it for them!

A lot of relatively amateur marketers tout the features of their product to affiliates. You’ll notice the more advanced launches focus on what’s in it for the affiliate. They make it quickly obvious that the product great and will provide a ton of value to their list, so that your affiliates know their lists will be appreciate for the promotion. But after that, the focus has to be on what’s in it for the affiliate: affiliate tools, EPC’s, prizes, and more. Once you’ve got your affiliates sold on promoting what you have, make sure you take good care of them!

Pay early commissions when you can, follow up with your bigger affiliates personally (call, don’t just email), have a leader board setup to track affiliate success and create some friendly competition, and make it fun and profitable for them.

7. “Doing traditional things will get you traditional results” inspired by Noah Kagan’s presentation.

Noah taught these steps for building a really successful marketing funnel (for multiple, often unrelated products)…

1. Do a lot of shit
2. Figure out what works
3. Scale the shit that works!

What works for someone else’s market might not work for yours. Try different advertising strategies, colors, copy, etc… test it and see what works, and what doesn’t. Then scale what works. Apply more of it, and keep innovating and tweaking as you go.

8. Network, network, network! Inspired by my results.

Okay, this wasn’t a lesson from the content – but it was a very real lesson I picked up from the experience. Underground 8 totally changed my life – but it wasn’t just because the content was incredible (which it was). It was because I put myself out there and took risks, I asked questions to the speakers on stage, I bought drinks for people I wanted to talk to and get to know, and I let my passion shine through. I put aside all fear of embarrassment or failure. I even break danced a few times (I don’t really know how to break dance) – okay… Michael Dunlop bribed me… for entertainment. The point is, the networking at Underground, even more than the content, propelled me in the past year to totally new heights. I came as a scholarship recipient to Yanik Silver’s Underground 8, and months later I started working with Yanik on a few different levels, and now we both envision a future of creating 10,000 startups by 2015 through various young entrepreneur programs and initiatives.

None of this would have happened if a) I didn’t go to Underground, b) I didn’t pay close attention to the content and the people and c) if I didn’t put everything on the table and put myself and my passions out there.

Your Opportunity:

If you’re a young entrepreneur aged 13 – 23, you have an opportunity to get a scholarship to Underground 9 this year ($3,495 value + priceless bonuses, like masterminding with Yanik and the Mavericks). But you have to apply by January 24th, so go ahead and do it now.

I hope to see you there!

Apply for the scholarship here

If you’ve been to an Underground Online Seminar, please share your experience below. If you’re coming this year or are thinking about it, or if you got some value from my notes above, please discuss below. Feel free to ask questions, I’ll answer!

The post 8 Secrets From Underground 8 appeared first on Young Entrepreneurs.

This year is the 5th-year running, and the fourth year that I’ve been hosting it atWebMakeMoney! So usually we only give out 10 scholarships, but because of this years exceptional pool, we actually accepted a total of 13 ! Each one of these young entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to attend the event for free, network with some of the biggest names in business, and learn unique strategies to grow their own ventures.

Look out for these guys (and gal)! You can expect to see great things from them in the future. As always, let us know if you’re going to Underground this year. It’ll be great to see everyone. Find out more about Yanik Silver’s Underground.

Larry Yu – DigitizeMyBusiness.com

Larry is a serious student of direct response marketing skilled in lead generation, marketing funnel creation, copywriting, and systemization. He and his brother currently run a web design and digital marketing firm called DigitizeMyBusiness that helps small business owners generate leads, increase sales and boost profits.

His biggest inspirations are Jim Rohn, Tim Ferriss, Johnny Ly, Travis Pastrana, Will Smith and Dan Kennedy. Their ideas and philosophies about life have made a major impact on him.

“If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.” – Jim Rohn

Daniel Vitiello – DanielVitiello.com, ActNow.io

Daniel has become obsessed with the power of big data and is working on giving ecommerce stores software that will tailor different offers for different visitors in real time.

Catherine Bronzo – GetRichinCollege.com, Logos4Laptops.com

Catherine has created a blog in which college students can learn how to become self-employed. It provides inspiration and insight into a world that may seem impossible for young students and entrepreneurs. In addition to teaching college students how to live the life of their dreams, Catherine has begun work on her first real business which will allow for companies to advertise on college students’ laptops. Support her blog and her first business by spreading the word! Her biggest inspirations are Tim Ferriss and Shay Butler, as well as many others.

Perry Yu – DigitizeMyBusiness.com

Perry lives his life by 5 core values: Freedom, Connection, Self Excellence, Value and Creativity. He sees entrepreneurship as a way to achieve freedom of lifestyle, connect with people in a unique way, force himself to stay progressive, provide value to the world on a large scale, and spark his natural creativity.

Perry currently runs a web design and digital marketing firm called DigitizeMyBusiness with his brother Larry. On the side, he also does freelance copywriting and has written for several successful product launches.

His top inspirations are Richard Branson, Tim Ferris, Johnny Ly, Dan Kennedy and Mark Cuban. Each one of these entrepreneurs have made a significant impact on the way Perry develops his brand, lives his life, and approaches entrepreneurship and business.

Perry is a self-proclaimed personal-development junkie and lives by a quote he heard from the late Jim Rohn: “Don’t wish it were easier, wish you were better”.

Ryan Krysiak – RMKStudios.com

Ryan is a strategic video marketer that uses his skill set of search engine optimization to drive massive amounts of traffic and generate sales via video. In 9 short months, his business transformed from a hobby to a full time job.

Chris McCann – OutlierAcademy.com

Chris is the fearless visionary of his two companies: Outlier Marketing & Design and Outlier Academy.

Whether it’s building online marketing solutions for brands or teaching entrepreneurs through Outlier Academy’s online courses, Chris is continuously committed to helping others achieve entrepreneurial expansion.

One of his biggest inspirations is Tony Robbins and Chris is currently devouring any and all training that Tony has to offer.

“Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.” – Theodore Roosevelt

Lukas G Resheske – YoungEntrepreneurAcademy.kajabi.com

Lukas started on the entrepreneurial path midway through college after the terrifying realization that he didn’t have a clue what he wanted to do with his life. His business ventures include local app marketing, ebook publishing, app development, and an interview site designed specifically to guide young entrepreneurs (age 29 and below) to become really, really, ridiculously successful.

He has three main inspirations; his mother Air Force Lt. Colonel (Retired) Julie Resheske, Tim Ferriss, who taught Luke that he really could do everything in one lifetime, and Robert H., who believed in Luke when nobody else did.

“Out of every hundred men, ten shouldn’t be there, eighty are are just targets, nine are the real fighters, and we are lucky to have them, for they make the battle. Ah, but the one, one is a warrior, and he will bring the others back.” – Heraclitus

Justus Allen – GetLeadsGetMoney.com

Justus is an extraordinary entrepreneur – definitely huge things coming from this guy. Justus is the CEO and Founder of GetLeadsGetMoney.com, which is comprised of 3 core pillars – A marketing platform that allows you to license his whole GLGM product line and sales machine, a Gold Inner Circle Family, which is a elite university and incubator for some of the world’s top direct response marketers, and a rapidly growing info-marketing/service business.

Justus is also a full-time professional musician, playing drums with national recording artist JJ Lawhorn. He says his biggest inspiration is “Strategists, innovators, visionaries, young people doing big things, and every one of you who is doing what you love, turning dreams into reality, and bringing more happiness to the Earth! …And, I’m inspired by surfing, music, & hot wings. DEFINITELY hot wings.”

Go check out Justus’ stuff and say hey – he’s a ton of fun, and has a massive vision to bring change and service to the world.

“Fate is for any man too weak to create his own destiny” – Kamran Hamid

Wes Schoeb – Fightingravity.com

Wes and a group of his Fraternity brothers decided to take what was once a performance developed for a charity event, and turn it into a business. The performance group, which does up-tempo blacklight illusion and choreography, is called Fighting Gravity. They have performed in over 5 countries with a majority of their performances having been for Fortune 500 companies. They are and have been in development of their full-length show for the past year.

Wes lists Josh Linkner (CEO and Managing Partner of Detroit Venture Partners) as one his biggest inspirations. “The passion that Linkner directs towards the value and overall importance of creativity assists me in preventing any form of complacency within the business”

” To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Mo Sahoo – Abilitylist.com

Mo helps individuals with disabilities find and share the resources, organizations and people that can help them in their own hometown. Mo’s biggest inspirations are his friends Amit and Matt, who each represent an ideal that he strives for daily, and Michael Mansoor.

Timothy Kenny – TimothyKenny.com, TimothyKennyUniversity.com

Timothy Kenny is a guy who lives in Lexington, MA and believes that learning how to learn faster is the most underrated and valuable skill for entrepreneurs. He wrote “Accelerated Learning for Entrepreneurs” after going on a journey to figure out why he forgot (and failed to implement) so much of what he learned from the business books he read.

Jock Purtle – BrokerCorp.com

Jock helps web masters sell their website through his website brokerage service brokercorp.com. He also buys websites for his own portfolio.

“Think big, make it happen” Donald Trump

James Guldan – 24HourTechStud.com

James was born in Green Bay, WI and graduated from the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire with a degree in Computer Science and Business. He created his business while still at the university and continued to build it while getting his degree, partnering with a college classmate along the way. James specializes in technology support for websites, marketing funnels, and almost any other web-based platform. His real passion is always finding a way to answer the question of “Can this be done?” with a YES, and proves this ability on a daily basis for many top marketers in the industry.

His passions include his iPhone, which he has developed apps for — he also enjoys working with/building computers, building his first computer when he was about 11 and has been playing around with them ever since.

“Everybody always has a plan until they get punched in the face” – Mohammed Ali.

The post Young Entrepreneur Scholarship Winners For Yanik’s Underground 2013 appeared first on Young Entrepreneurs.

We have another great interview online for you.

Check out the: Catherine Cook of MyYearBook.com Interview

Catherine and her story is quite the inspiration – over 5 Million Members now – and still a teenager

As a teen, Catherine is a self-declared “nerd” and proud of it. She’s a varsity gymnast with a boyfriend and a 4.0 GPA who, in her dwindling spare time, attends events like the National Youth Leadership Forum in Defense, Intelligence, and Diplomacy.

WOW!

The post Catherine Cook of MyYearBook.com talks abour her online success appeared first on Young Entrepreneurs.

Hi Everyone!

Do you Tatango?

Today we have a very interesting interview for you with Derek Johnson – founder of SMS Marketing startup Tatango.com – a Test Messaging Platform that allows the thousands that use Tatango every day to keep their group connected through group SMS.

Tatango.com was born out of a gap in the market, a gap which Derek like a true entrepreneur spotted and quickly filled. Tatango.com has taken off so well that Derek dropped out of the business program at the University of Houston and launched Tatango in late 2007, initially offering the service for free. Today users pay a monthly fee of $20 to $200 depending on the number of texts sent, and now has about 10,000 registered users. (You do the math )

I think you are really going to enjoy this interview and get a lot of inspiration from it.

Derek also gave us one of the cleverest answers ever to my question: What do you like least about the Internet?

It never sleeps, I have to sleep, it’s so much better than me.

Come to think of it – he could have gave the same answer to: What do you like best about the Internet?

Enjoy the interview – I look forward to your comments.

Best Wishes

Michael

PS: Check out the answer to question 12 in particular: What advice would you give to a Young Entrepreneur starting their first business today? Very impressive answer — and Derek includes his own Cell Number as demonstration of his commitment to customer service.

Derek Johnson Interview

First – a little background information on Derek:

I’m 25 years old, and have spent most of my life in Bellingham, WA, a small city just north of Seattle. Anyone that knows me, knows I’m an extremely motivated individual, I love to build businesses, it’s my passion. What motivates me though to do what I do? I think I just like the challenge.

1) You are the founder of tatango.com, which is a group text messaging platform. What gave you the idea for this type of platform?
The idea came to me one afternoon when I was having lunch with a friend. She was in a Sorority and they were having trouble contacting all the girls in the house at the same time about meeting times, events and other urgent information. They had tried Facebook, Email and phone trees, but they had all been proved inefficient. That’s when it came to me that text messaging would be the perfect way to reach all the members of her house at the same time. Looking for a solution for my friend, I went online and couldn’t find anything that really solved this problem. A few days later, Tatango was born.

2) You have thousands of groups using Tatango all over the country, which is really impressive. Could you share some strategies for how you grew your customer base?

It’s really not rocket science how we got to where we currently are. The majority of our new Tatango groups come from referrals, so we spend a crazy amount of time making sure our current groups are happy. Seems simple enough right?

3) What is the formula for becoming a successful entrepreneur?

This is always heavily debated, but I firmly believe you are either born with the entrepreneurial mindset or aren’t, you can’t learn something like that.

4) What next for tatango.com? Where do you see the business in say 5 years time? Any other budding ideas you can share with us?

Right now we are solely focused on making Tatango the best group sms product out there. We think we have our product very close, not sure what is next though. We don’t think too far ahead into the future, we just focus on what’s going on currently and how we can do what we are doing better. Recently I have started a new company called Derek Media, which is a company that manages brands on Twitter, Facebook and blogs for our clients. You can check it out at http://www.derekmedia.net

5) Do you have any recommended strategies for getting customers to recommend you to other customers?

Most of our new clients for Tatango come from references from current users. You have to keep your customers satisfied with your service. We accomplish this by being available 24/7 to answer questions about any technical difficulties, or just general inquires about Tatango. Also, we have allowed our customers to get to know us and create a personal relationship with us by using Facebook, Twitter, Blogs and videos. If you have a great product and customers are happy with their experience then they will recommend it to people they know.

6) Does social networking play any roll in your business? If so what?

Social networking plays a huge roll in our business. We are constantly updating our Twitter status (www.twitter.com/tatango) and engaging in conversations with people interested in our product, or just anyone who has something interesting to say. We also have a Facebook fan page (http://www.facebook.com/tatango) where fans can post questions and comments and we post videos, links and pictures about what’s going on at Tatango. We have a very strong online presence and have allowed our customers to get to know us on a personal level which provides them with more confidence in our product.

7) Do you have any suggestions for coping with set-backs, negative experiences?
No matter what happens, you are probably not the first person who has gone through it. Seek out guidance from those who have gone through it before, it will save a lot of time and energy. There will always be set-backs, but you have to handle them appropriately and not let them get you off focus. There is no experience that is a negative – every experience gives you an opportunity to learn and grow.

8 ) Do you have any suggestions for entrepreneurs who are experiencing challenging times?

To be honest, when things get crazy, frustrating, or just near impossible, I never think about throwing in the towel. For me, those are the fun days! When do you get to test your skills and determination more than at those points in your business career? Those are the sort of obstacles that make what I do such a challenge and so rewarding.

9) Is there anyone that you look up to and model yourself on?

My father is my biggest role model. He has experience with both his own startups and working for large national companies. His knowledge and experiences have always been a great resource for me as a young entrepreneur. He is one of the hardest workers I know, and a brilliant entrepreneur. In many ways he has inspired me to become a young entrepreneur.

10) Do you have any favorite business related or web design related books that you can recommend to other entrepreneurs?

College sucked the joy out of reading for me, so you most likely will never find me reading a book. I think the only book I’ve read in the last two years is the “The 4 Hour Work Week”, which is a must read for any entreprenuer.

11) What is the best advice you have ever been given?

Gary Player didn’t give me this advice personally, but he said

“the harder I work, the luckier I get”.

This is so true in business and life.

12) As someone who has achieved success so young, what advice would you give to a Young Entrepreneur starting their first business today?

1.Start Small – Start small and you will be able to quickly see if you have something interesting before you look to expand.

2.Don’t Re-Invent The Wheel – No matter what problem you are experiencing or challenge you have in front of you, you aren’t the first person to ever go through it. Seek out advice or guidance from someone that has gone through the same thing you are going through, this will save you from making a lot of costly mistakes in the future.

3.Be Available – I’m the only Internet CEO I know who makes himself as available to his users as I am. The majority of our users know my personal cell phone number (206.334.4012 if they have forgot it) and they know that if they ever have a suggestion or any feedback about our website, they are able to get a hold of me. I think communicating with your users is extremely important and is the sole reason why we keep launching features that users love and our competitors copy.

13) What do you like best about the Internet?

I love how much information is available, there is never an excuse not to be able to find the information you need.

14) What do you like least about the Internet?

It never sleeps, I have to sleep, it’s so much better than me.

15) Any advice for how young entrepreneurs can bootstrap? (Not spending a ton to get something off the ground)?

Yeah, don’t waste money on stupid shit that doesn’t bring in revenue. It’s pretty simple. I remember when we were starting out, it took weeks for my employees to get me to spend the $40 to put up a Tatango sign on our front door. In my mind, the sign wasn’t bringing in business, so why spend money on it?

Related Links:

tatango.com – Group Text Messaging Done Right.

Join the thousands that use Tatango every day to keep their group connected through group SMS.

The post Derek Johnson Interview, Founder Of The Revolutionary Tatango Text Messaging Platform Reveals His Entrepreneurial Secrets appeared first on Young Entrepreneurs.

Hi Everyone,

Today we have a great interview with “The Unemployed Millionaire” – Matt Morris

Matt lives in Dallas, TX and is 33 years old and is also Founder of Success University

At just eighteen years old, Matt Morris entered into his first entrepreneurial venture. At twenty, he dropped out of college to pursue business full-time. At twenty-one, he was homeless, $30,000 in debt, living out of his beat up Honda Civic and bathing in gas station bathrooms.

It was then that he made a life-changing decision to re-invent himself and his career. Due to a massive commitment to personal development and modeling the success of others, his life began to change quickly. By the age of twenty-four, Matt was earning a six-figure income as an entrepreneur and by the age of twenty-nine, Matt was a self-made millionaire.

As you will see from Matt’s amazing answers, we all have a lot to learn from Matt

Enjoy the interview and I look forward to your comments

best wishes

Michael

Matt Morris Interview

The Unemployed Millionaire

Hi Matt, thank you for agreeing to this interview. Before we start the interview proper can you tell us a little about what motivates you, inspires you, your rules for business success?

“What motivates me is having the freedom to live life on my own terms. No boss, no fighting traffic, no alarm clock, no having to miss my daughters swim class, no limitations on when I can take a vacation. I’m inspired by people who are willing to do what it takes to achieve their dream lifestyle. I was blessed to have found the drive and determination to find a way to win in life.”

“The formula for success is SUCCESS = Effort x Skill”

“Keep yourself in great physical shape. When the body is healthy, the mind stays healthy. Physical vitality is a key element in mental vitality.”

1) Thanks Matt, that is awesome. I love the SUCCESS = Effort x Skill quote. You are founder of SuccessUniversity.com – tell us how the company formed and what made you go into this niche.

I started Success University because of a passion for personal development and the massive impact it made in my life. At the age of 21 I was homeless, $30,000 in debt, living out of my beat up Honda Civic and bathing in gas station bathrooms. One night after not bathing for 2 or 3 days, I actually showered naked in the rain in the middle of a church parking lot because I couldn’t find a gas station open in the little town I was in. That night, my life hit rock bottom and I was searching for something, anything, that could help me turn my life around. I popped in a cassette tape by Tony Robbins and was inspired by his story of overcoming adversity which led me to develop a massive commitment to personal development. I began reading a new book on success every 2-3 days studying anything I could get my hands on that would lead me to a successful life. That began the process of re-inventing my life. From 21 to 24 I was able to achieve a six-figure income as an entrepreneur, traveling around the world and living what was a dream life for me. From age 24 to 29 I became a self-made millionaire. Based on what I learned through the personal development industry, I decided to start Success University to help others transform their life.

2)  Great passion often comes from an early struggle. Did you face any adversity early on?

At the age of 4 my parents divorced. About a year later, my father broke into our house and murdered my mothers boyfriend shooting him dead right in front of her. My father went to prison while mom worked 2 jobs to pay her way through college and eventually law school. We lived on food stamps, lived in a trailer park and definitely struggled. When my father got out of prison, he became a severe alcoholic despite having gone through re-hab. When I was 13 my father committed suicide.

3) Can you share some of the biggest lessons you have learned personally and as a business as things have grown? If you were to start again, what might you do differently?

The formula for success is SUCCESS = Effort x Skill
When I first got started in business I spent all my time on working hard (effort) and got very little results. When I began studying others to learn the so called “secrets” and increasing my skill, my level of success increased dramatically. If you want to become an expert in any field, become an expert which can be accomplished by simply reading 5 books on any one subject. That will put your level of knowledge in the top 1/2 of 1% of everyone else in your industry.

If I had it to do differently, going into business, I would have found the most successful person I could find doing what I wanted to do and I would ask them to be my mentor. I would study their techniques and strategies for success and I would interview them to pull out their beliefs as it relates to becoming a success. So not only would I study the how to’s, I would study the mindset and metal processes they went through to become a success.

4) What next for you? Where do you see the business in say 5 years time?

I’ve actually sold Success University and given up my title as CEO so I can enjoy my daughter who is 9 months old. I’m enjoying her growing up to concentrate on my writing career, internet marketing and am a partner in a $150 million a year travel club which is in line with my passion for traveling the world.

5) You have over 70,000 students in 175 countries worldwide, the company has generated over $10 million in its first three years in business, this is quite impressive! Could you share some strategies for how you reached such a wide audience?

We actually produced 109,000 customers in just over 4 years generating over $20 million. The #1 strategy was getting the right people involved in the company early on, attracting the right people as we went along and making sure they fell in love with working with us so they never left. I’m smart enough to know that I’m not smart enough to know everything. By surrounding myself with people much smarter and more talented than I am, together, we have made amazing things happen. We also followed the strategy I outline in one chapter of my book – “Why invent the average when you can copy genius”. Most of what we did was not a revolutionary concept. We studied our competition as close as possible to find new and unique ways to market and figured out ways to make those ideas even better.  Because we found so many great ideas and implemented them so quickly, we became the #1 most popular personal development website on the internet.

6) Do you have any suggestions for coping with set-backs in business?

Expect them and be grateful for them. The most successful businesses realize that challenges are inevitable. The degree to which you can bounce back from a setback is the degree to which your business will grow. As tough as this may sound, be grateful for the setbacks because they teach you one of the most important lessons of all – what NOT to do. When the team rebounds from a setback, that team will be stronger than it was before the setback. It’s why the MARINES and the Navy Seals are such a tight group – they go through hell together. By taking the valuable learning lessons from setbacks, you set yourself up for much greater successes in the future.

7) How do you keep your business focus – Do you have any suggestions for entrepreneurs who are experiencing challenging times?

Keep yourself in great physical shape. When the body is healthy, the mind stays healthy. Physical vitality is a key element in mental vitality.
Follow the Action Management chapter in my book The Unemployed Millionaire. You must take control of your day and focus on your top revenue generating priorities rather than let your day be eaten up with reactive actions such as emails, phone calls, and other interruptions. Be laser focused on your time management.

Also, continually set goals and keep those goals in front of you at all times. The goals are like your roadmap and without them you lose focus on where you’re going and you end up running in circles getting nowhere.

8) Is there anyone that you look up to and model yourself on?

Tony Robbins for his unique ability to create a system to keep yourself in peak states of motivation. His training above all other speakers have made a profound difference in my life.

My mother for her directness, her love and the pursuit of her dreams. Despite all our struggles, she finished law school and is a judge today. If I can be half the parent to my children that she was to me I will consider myself a massive success in life.

9) Do you have any favourite business related books that you can recommend to other entrepreneurs?

The Unemployed Millionaire – by me
Good to Great by Jim Collins
21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John Maxwell
Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand – even though it is a fictional book, it’s been the greatest book on success I’ve ever read.

10) What is the best advice you have ever been given?

You don’t become in life what you want; you become in life what you are.

11) As someone who has achieved success at a relatively young age, what advice would you give to a Young Entrepreneur starting their first business today?

Find a mentor to learn from, become an expert in your field, work your ass off, and NEVER quit.

12) What do you like best about the Internet?

The ability to earn millions from anywhere I am in the world.

13) What do you like least about the Internet?

The time sucking activities like email.

14) Have you any plans (personal or business) that you can share with us about your future plans / goals / lifetime goals?

To world school my children. My wife and I are going to find the smartest and most well rounded teacher and hire them to travel the world with our family to teach our children history, not out of history books, but to teach them history in the places in the world where the history actually happened.

Matt’s Websites:
MattMorris.com
SuccessUniversity.com

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