How do you get your business noticed? Seriously, how do you do it?

James 12 Comments

How the hell do you get your business noticed these days when consumers are being bombarded with so many messages? Seriously, I’m asking. Because I have no idea.

Yeah yeah! I know all about the usual “tricks” like, Facebook advertising, blogging, guest blogging, blogger reviews, appearing on podcasts, Google Adwords, Instagram ads, daily deal sites, influencer marketing, PR, landing pages, and blah blah blah.

Presumably those tactics have been successful for many businesses, but not so much for mine.

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Luck Does Matter and Here’s How it Got My Biz on Good Morning America

James 6 Comments

The more you hustle, the luckier you get.

To be clear, hard work (e.g., hustle) matters more than anything. But in my experience as an entrepreneur, the harder I work, the more lucky breaks I get.

This might be an obvious statement to some, but I know there are many people who don’t believe in luck; they say they create their own luck, or there’s just no such thing as luck.

They are wrong.

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Here’s How I Got Featured in Forbes as an Up and Coming Entrepreneur

James 8 Comments

This weekend I had the good fortune of being featured in Forbes.com as one of eighteen entrepreneurs who are up and coming, but who were rejected by the tv show Shark Tank. I’ve been rejected twice by “The Tank” despite making it past the first round of auditions both times.

Folks ask me all the time how I’m able to get PR like this on my own, so I thought I’d share the background story.

 

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Sometimes When You Lose, You Win (Part 3)

James 4 Comments

As entrepreneurs, we are out here grinding, chasing big dreams and trying to knock the cover off the ball. When the stakes are high, we all hope for the best and sometimes get attached to the outcomes we want. But when things don’t go as planned, we can get down on ourselves.

Don’t do it.

Why? Because I’ve learned an important lesson on this entrepreneurial journey: When things seem to not be going your way, they can take an unexpected turn that works out completely in your favor. In other words, sometimes when you think you lose, you ultimately win.

I’d like to share a quick story to make my point.

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How I’m Trying To Get My Business On Oprah’s List of Favorite Things

James 17 Comments

Yesterday I had the idea that my company, WeMontage, should be included in the list of Oprah’s Favorite Things for 2016. I mean, why not, right?! I’m confident she will love it, if she gets a chance to see it.

I thought I’d share this experience on the blog because it might inspire someone to take action towards manifesting their vision and get their hustle on. (more…)

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The Good, Bad, And Ugly Of Being An Entrepreneur

James 14 Comments

Y’all know I keep it 100 over here. Today I’d like to talk a little about the good, bad, and ugly of my current entrepreneurial journey. Too many folks write only about the good, but that is limited in its instruction and inspiration. It’s the bad and ugly of the entrepreneurial process to which most people relate and from which they have useful takeaways.

To steal a line of gallows humor from one of my advisors, “It’s always darkest before it’s pitch black.” That is some dark ass humor, but it’s true; at least in my experience. What the joke doesn’t say though, is if you keep working and maintain a positive attitude, eventually, the sun does shine.

I suppose what is good, bad, and ugly is subjective, but here’s my assessment of my situation. (more…)

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Dear Parents of Young Kids: These ARE The Good Old Days

James 10 Comments

My twins recently turned three, and I had an epiphany: these ARE the good old days.

If you ever talk to people whose kids are grown now, you know what I mean. Parents whose kids have gone off to college and/or now have their own children will tell you how fast the time flies, and many of them long for the days when their kids snuggled up to them after kissing their boo-boo, or gave them a kiss just because.

Here’s a wonderful article that drives these thoughts home via The Huffington Post written by my blogger friend, Dawn Q Landau, titled, Dreaming Of The Days When My Grown Sons Adored Their “Mommy.”

 

I’ve also heard some parents describe the experience of having young kids as “long days and short years.” I agree with this, but think it’s not just the years that are short, but the months, too. (more…)

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The Birth of My Premature Twins Was Traumatic, Today They Turned Three

James 6 Comments

It was December, 2012 and my wife was 6 months pregnant with our twins when we went in for an ultrasound checkup; it was all normal.

Until it wasn’t.

The technician noticed a problem with my son’s placenta and blood flow, which caused him to be under-sized, as he wasn’t getting proper nourishment. If the blood started to flow backward, we would have to immediately deliver both babies, or else my son wouldn’t make it. (more…)

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Here’s What Happens When You Support a Small Business

James 8 Comments

A good friend of mine posted this article’s feature image on his Facebook page; he recently left a successful career in corporate marketing, and is now an entrepreneur. He posted the following quote along with the photo:

 

This is so true. I never saw it this way but it is a reality. - Roger G.

 

As someone who has been on the entrepreneurial grind for about four years now, who has made MANY sacrifices along the way, and is a dad of three year-old twins, this photo resonates deeply with me.

For this post, in addition to the items listed in the feature image, I’m going to list a few other ways supporting small businesses is helpful.

And I’d like you to add to this list by leaving additional helpful items in the comments section. I will update this list with all of your input. It would be great to see this list grow to well over 100 items.

To be clear, I ain’t at all mad at the big company CEO for building her third holiday home-more power to her. But people need to know their support of small businesses MATTERS.

Ready? GO!

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50 Happy Things for 2015: Bloggers Unite in Flood of Gratitude

James 4 Comments

When my friend, Dawn Landau, contacted me to see if I was interested in spreading gratitude all over the blogosphere by joining dozens of bloggers in writing an article about the 50 things we are thankful for, and posting and sharing all at the same time, I was like, “Um, yeah! Count me in!”

The trick though was we had to write our list with a timer running and do so within 10 minutes.

Ready, set, go!
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