Last Lecture

The entrepreneurial journey is indeed a "Hero's Journey". I appreciate how this course was designed to have the book by Jeff Sandefer and Reverend Robert Sirico be the capstone of this course experience. This book like the course take you through a discovery process of the key elements that you will need in order to start your own hero's journey. Robert D Hales said "To find gifts we have been given, we must pray and fast...I urge you each to discover your gifts and to seek after those that will bring direction to your life's work and that will further the work of heaven." This course has taught me to infuse the gospel of Christ into my entrepreneurial journey. Starting a business with the focus of using our God given talents to make people's lives better and prosper financial in order to be able to have the financial means to further the work of the Lord is an approach that will not be taught in any other business school.
I have realized the extent in which this journey will continually provide me with different types of trials. This course has provided me with lots of examples of how to preserver and endure those trials by being prepared for them. One of our biggest challenges will be to seek the path of self mastery. Elder Tanner stated "There are two important elements in self-mastery. The first is to determine your course or set the sails, so to speak, of moral standards; the other is the willpower, or the wind in the sails carrying one forward, As I said before, character is determined by the extent to which we can master ourselves toward good ends." By diligently working through the inspired assignments in this course you will be able to think ahead and set moral guidelines to keep you on the correct path.
I have learned just as much about business from the General Authorities of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints as I did from the business books and readings. On spiritual notion to keep in mind as you decided to start down a path towards mastery is that there is one out there that doesn't want you to succeed. He has made it his mission to cause you to fail. "Brigham Young also said, "We never began to build [any] temple without the bells of hell beginning to ring"" Don't let him succeed, this course will help you learn how to slay your dragons. 

Gratitude

Receiving an education from a church based organization is a different experience than a state or private institution. I have enjoyed starting the reading assignments with a talk from a General Authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Learning how to incorporate our gospel standards into our jobs or our future businesses will be of benefit to all. Having an attitude of gratitude will bless our customers, our partners, our communities and ourselves. Learning to be grateful at all times of our lives, up or down, is key to overcoming the trials that are sure to come. Being able to seek spiritual guidance when making decisions will help us avoid costly mistakes. One mistake that is made often is choosing the wrong job. It is hard to decide on a path and then once something presents its self we make the decision based on financial needs and might not take future goals into consideration. Having the for thought to seek spiritual guidance when making life plans and goals will help in keeping us on the right path for us. As we prepare ourselves we will then learn to recognize and take advantage of the right opportunities that might show up. If we are learning and growing along the way we will be prepared for those opportunities.

Rank

It is great to have the amount of tools that are out there to be able to monitor what happens on your site so that you can make informed decisions on changes to the site. Woorank is amazing. And I only tried the free information. It helps you decide where to focus your efforts on enhancing your site. Their site also has lots of great actionable content. Useful information that you can implement to increase the search ability of your site. Part of the ranking process is getting people to link back to your site. This shows google that you have something that people are willing to share and talk about. However, getting these link backs is a difficult task. It requires a plan and a strategy just like an other aspect of your business. Another great tool to see what is happening on your site is Google Analytics. We had used it earlier in the semester but working with the program more in depth really shows it capabilities.

Consecration

The law of consecration has always been of interest to me. The thought of being taken care and taking care of others as brothers and sisters in Christ brings a feeling of peace to my heart. I have been blessed with many opportunities to experience it in a small degree. I have either had to live with other families for a time or have had families live in my home for a time. Everyone working together to live the best we can at the time. The natural man does eventually creep in and it becomes time to move on. But just because we can't seem to manage to level to the full extent of the law does not excuse of from being required to do all that we can for the poor and the needy.

There were a few thoughts that stood out to me while I listed to the talk from Elder Gay Entrepreneurship and Consecration. "An Entrepreneur uses adversity as a path to accomplishment ...they break with traditional patterns of thoughts and deeds to create new beginnings." Throughout this course it has been ingrained in us that the entrepreneurial journey is not an easy one and Elder Gay agrees. "Just because the world does not factor in the power and mind of heaven into business does not mean it does not matter....Successful pioneers are only inward focused as well as outward driven...Our aim must be to do his will..." 

Virtue and integrity are vital in business without it we see the deterioration of world markets. "...organization serves its own interests when it protects the overzealous from themselves." The business should exist to serve a need and provide for as many as possible. The time and talents of individuals should be valued as much as the money from investors. A business should develop a culture of community and service. 

Social Networking

Social media is constantly changing. It can be an overwhelming task to create a Social Media plan for a business if you are completely new to social media. It is normal for those that grew up sharing every detail of their lives on some kind of social platform. There are many social platforms and a few have come and gone. There are even social media monitoring and influence ranking sites. The most famous Klout just called it quits a few months back.
With all of the things that we don't know about Social Media, we need to pick a site or two to learn and develop a plan to share our business on the internet. Social Media takes word of mouth to a whole new level. Any and all businesses should at least be searching the internet to find what people are saying about them, to make sure they are fairly represented. A couple of negative comments on any of the sites can create thousands of impressions than just regular word of mouth.
I think that the hardest thing to do is create social content, the attention span of someone scrolling through a social site must be less than seconds. You literally have a few seconds to capture the attention of potential customers. Pictures need to be of the highest quality, captions need to be within the readable limits - odds are that they will not click on the more button to see what the end of your sentence reads. It will take time but just one semi viral post or picture could bring you more exposure than you ever dreamed.

words not just words

As authors of content we try to express our own voice. As we develop that voice it might evolve with different characteristics but as we write content that will need to be search by a web browser in order to be found we need to keep SEO in mind. Moz has put together a great guideline and detailed example of how best to do that. A few of the key concepts that I knew that I need to change immediatly on my website were first: Keyword- Targeted content. Things as simple as having the keyword in the URL and having the keyword in the first words of the title element. Second: add unique value (this may be a duh) but in the world where everything has already been done at least a couple of times, you need to really think about the unique value you give to the subject. One of the sentences reads "Searchers who visit would be unlikely to go "back" from the page to choose a different result." To keep that in mind, did I provide my visitor with exactly what they were looking for to the point that they stopped looking. Implementing these and many more suggestions that were given in this article will bring my content to a new level.

Money

Everyone whether entrepreneur or not needs to find a work/life balance. This is when it is important to seek guidance from those that have already been there and done that. Plenty of good advice can be found from religious and scholarly texts. In the formula for success President Monson advises us to first fill our mind with truth; second fill our life with service and third fill our heart with love. As we use this as a foundation for the principles from which to prioritize our life we can find some balance. Balance can mean different things at different times.
In the Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness it cautions against going on a fool's errand. It recommends thought provoking tasks that will help frame your thought process of the journey you are seeking to take. Task One: Understanding the difference between happiness, satisfaction and fulfillment. Task two: losing yourself in a hero's journey. Task Three: getting started on your quest. This article is a great precursor to the book: A Field Guide for the Hero's Journey. The article and book a full of great advice on how to set yourself up for a good work/life balance.
Then there is the big looming subject of money. In the Attitude on Money by Stephen W. Gibson he helps you think through some of the preconceived notions that you might have about money. Helps you think through changing the filters about money that may harm your path on the Hero's Journey. My overall attitude about money is respect. I respect it in the sense that I learn as much as I can about it and how to best use it. I respect the fact that I have it and can earn more. Our view on money can affect the way we live. If we don't understand it then we might get into trouble making unwise decisions about money. If we fear money we may never have sufficient for our needs or gain more than what we need in order to help others. In the article Gibson gives 6 rules that are recommended for prospering: Rule 1: Seek the Lord and have hope in him. Rule 2: Keep the commandments, that includes the temporal ones, tithing and fast offerings. Rule 3: Think about money and plan how you can become self-reliant. Rule 4: Take advantage of chances for learning so you will not be ignorant of these matters. Education, as President Hinckley has taught us, is the Key to Opportunity. Rule 5: Learn the laws upon which the blessings of wealth are predicated. Rule 6: Do not send away the naked, the hungry, the thirsty or the sick or those who are held captive.

forget yourself

The life of an entrepreneur can be a lonely one if you let it. Being able to interview a successful entrepreneur was a great experience. To be able to hear about someones beginning while at the same time being able to see and hear their middle and end. There are many books on the idea of building a business but there aren't any step by step guides on how to build your specific business. Every entrepreneur has their own dream and therefore needs to find their own way of doing things. It is great to learn the fundamentals of business, but when you are building something that hasn't been built before you need to have faith in yourself and your dreams.
There is also the need to be a well rounded individual. To make time for things other than business. We need to focus on building our moral character and making sure that we have set guardrails (things that we will not do) so that when those choices come up in our lives because they more than likely will, we will have made the decision previously and not hesitate to answer the questions in front of us at the time. As an entrepreneur we seek to be successful and we need to prepare ourselves for that success. 

all uphill

The home stretch seems to be an all uphill kind of adventure. I guess I should be happy that it should be an indication of being on the right path. As I worked through new technology and made sense of new terminology I had to read, step away from it for a few hours and then go back and reread. It usually takes time for my brain to become familiar with new ideas. I am grateful that I learned that early on in my life as a student. I don't recall now exactly where and how I learned it, but it has been useful to know my learning style. Especially with my lack of patience.
It has been interesting to take an Ad campaign in Google Adwords live. I would have never done that at this point in the web building process, I don't feel that the blog is developed enough to make a good impression. I have to keep reminding myself that this is a learning process and it doesn't have to be perfect in order to learn from it. I actually think that because it is not perfect I have learned more from it.
After looking at the numbers that come back for what Google tracks it is interesting to see what works and what doesn't. I can see that I need to make changes to the verbal content of the web landing page. Especially to align it more to the keywords being used in the ads. 

Trust is hard to come by

A person can't be a leader if he or she is not trusted. Trust is key in order to be able to lead. It has to be all around trust. Trust that the leaders is going down the right path, trust that the leader has everyone's best interest at heart, trust that they will value and respect those he is leading. Guy Kawasaki states that you trust people first and then you are trusted.

Building a trusting relationship with your customers is key. Frank Levinson stated that you want to weld your customers to you. There are a few great companies that have figured out how to weld their customers to them. This takes good companies and makes them great. In the book Good to Great by Jim Collins he outlines the key concepts that took those few companies from Good to Great. He separates 6 key concepts into three themes: Disciplined People, Disciplined Thought and Disciplined Action. All of the great companies had disciplined people at the head of the company. Jim describes them as Level 5 Leaders with the mind set of First Who Then What. The concepts for the theme of Disciplined Thought are Confront the true facts and Hedgehog concept. Culture of Discipline and Technology Accelerator are the concepts in the Disciplined Action theme. As he goes into detail about each of these key concepts you can see the difference the the Good and the Great companies.

Information overload

It was an interesting process to try to follow directions on how to accomplish something in a software that was recently updated and now none of the directions match. The wonders of quickly advancing technology. In any case Google Analytics is a powerful tool that helps a website owner to quickly learn what is or isn't working on a website. Linking the Analytics to Google Ad Words was the frustrating part since Ad Words is the software that was recently upgraded. It also would have been nice to know that if you want to link the two accounts you should have signed up using the same Google account. Which makes sense, but when I signed up for Ad words I used a newer Google account than the one that I already had that had an established Google Analytics account. Needless to say I was going around in circles. I finally accomplished the task of linking the two accounts after giving up a couple of times. Knowing the data that is available in Analytics I can see the benefit of linking the two accounts. It will give you loads of information to be able to create better marketing strategies.

Building a ship

This week has been a great lesson on the fact that the road to Entrepreneurship is one that requires a lot of grit. In the talk Looking Back and Moving Forward by President Monson we learn that all good and great things will only come through overcoming trials, struggles and set backs. As he looks back at the history that brought him to be in the place and position so that he could fulfill his divine destiny, he reminds us that we need to honor the sacrifices of those that came before us. The short videos of each of the following entrepreneurs echos the need to preserver. David Carrington found focus in his overcoming cancer. Elder Holland reminds us not to quit, some blessings come soon, some blessings come late and some blessings don't come until heaven. Taylor Richard reminds us that we can do anything. He quoted 1 Nephi 17:51 "And now, if the Lord has such great power and has wrought so many miracles among the children of men, how is it that he cannot instruct me that I should build a ship?" I'm sure that all of this counsel will serve there purpose for inspiration when I run into the trials and set backs that I will encounter during my entrepreneurial journey.

All uphill

I am pretty sure that I am currently in the space of building a website when I always give up. I haven't. I've thought about it, but keep remembering the inspiration I received at the beginning of the semester "It's about the learning not the perfect grade."
I have had some learning. In the past 6 years I have attempted at least a dozen times to get a newsletter sign up to pop up on a website and I finally did it. Either technology has progressed to the point that even a child can create correct html and placement or I'm getting smarter. My bet is on technology and well written tutorials. I have also finally figured out how to get a good load time on a website that is heavy with images. I've worked with Photoshop almost as long as it has been available (don't calculate me age in your head). This creates a false sense of knowledge. Because the homework was light for this week, I decided to take the time I set aside for this course and I went hunting for knowledge. Some of the processes where frustrating like placing my pop up code into my site code, but I found inspiration in President Eyring's quote "If you are on the right path, It will always be uphill." I haven't reached the top by any means but I have landed on a good clearing to catch my breath and plan the rest.

Win-Win

I have enjoyed the Intro to Entrepreneurship class so far. I especially like all of the video links to business speakers talking about being in business or building a business. They all have one theme that runs through them and that is that you shouldn't ever think of the money first. Most have specifically mentioned to find what you do best and provide the world with the service of doing what you do best. I love the book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, I've read it a couple of times. Every time that I read a book I seem to pick one or two things to work on, because if I tried to live by an book that I've read and make all changes overnight I would drive myself crazy. I have worked on a couple of the 7 Habits over the 6 years since I first read the book. As this class has progressed I have noticed that I am flying solo through life and have not really been interested in creating friendships or partnerships that would benefit me as well as those I let into my extremely tight personal space. I feel the need to work on the concept of Win-Win. To actively seek out relationship that go deeper than the 2 sentence conversation you have before starting work or in the church hallway. 

Practice makes perfect

I was actually dreading creating an Adworks campaign. The first couple of times I used it, I was able to generate what I needed for the assignments but it felt unfamiliar and gave me anxiety having to hunt around looking for stuff. I'm usually pretty good at learning software fast, but for some reason I wasn't getting the layout of the functions and how they related to each other. I'm a big picture kind of person. As I worked through actually creating a campaign it all came together. I could see how all of the puzzle pieces fit. I lack patience, and I'm easily frustrated when things aren't clear. Especially if I know that if someone would have put forth a bit more effort then I would need to be confused.
As I worked through finding key words for the add campaign I realized that we need to be clear about what we are doing, in order to put out a clear searchable message. If we can figure out what people need we can word our message to reach the people we can help.

Self Mastery

Never in a million years would I have thought that I would want to master anything, especially my self. Yet as I look back on the trials that I have endured over the past 15 years they have all been training to learn to control my self. In the talk by Elder Tanner Success is Gauged by Self Mastery he quotes Plato "The first and best victory is to conquer self; to be conquered by self is, of all things, the most shameful and vile." I can attest that is true. When the rage is gone and you are left with having to account for what you did or said during the lose of control, if you have any remorse at all you will be ashamed of what you've done. This was a talk given in a General Priesthood session, but it applies to all of us.

Elder Tanner goes on to say "there are two important elements in self-mastery. The first is to determine your course or set the sails, so to speak, of moral standards; the other is the will power, or the wind in the sails carrying one forward." It makes sense that if you don't have control over your personal life you won't have control or success in your professional life.

Along those lines I enjoyed the advice from Steve Blank in the video The Entrepreneur and the Family. He suggested that if you have a family to make rules that you will keep, like be home for dinner and set a time for family. 

And Jan Newman echoed that advice in the video Loyalty to God and Family. He stated to prioritize first God then Spouse then Family. 

Don't wait for perfect

My biggest resistance to creating is perfection. I've read book after book by Pressfield and Godin trying to figure out why I can't make my business ideas grow. I have no problems with the ideas or the start up but the publishing is always what gets me. If it were up to me I wouldn't have published the site just yet, but it is due on Saturday and because of other responsibilities all of my homework needs to always be turned in by Thursday night. So I have published ModestEveSewingStudio.com

I had started this course so that I could improve my current website, which I am also doing, but working through the homework assignments in this class I was able to resolve a conflict that I had which was that I did not want a blog on my Business site, but I wanted a blog to be able to help people learn to sew. During the "finding a business" assignment, I realized that they could be separate entities. I also had not ever considered monetizing a site to the extent that I have planned to do with the new site just created. I knew of the income possibilities but I didn't want to mix that with my business brand site. I am excited to say that it feels right and because it feels right, it doesn't have to be perfect. 

Endure

I have a note on my phone that I put there a very long time ago. It says Endure=Beyond the point when it would seem reasonable to quit. I don't know if that is the actual definition of the word endure, but someone during a stake conference said it and I wrote it down and never forgot it.
This weeks reading assignments all seem to have the theme of Persevering. The first talk by Elder Faust was title Perseverance. He states "Perseverance is demonstrated by those who keep going when the going gets tough, who don't give up even when others say "it can't be done."
I had always heard that it takes 10,000 hours to master a skill but never broke down the math into 3 hours a day every day for 10 years.
I enjoyed the address by Jeff Sandefer, A Hero's Journey. Parts had been quoted previously, but hearing the entire talk from start to finish is very inspiring. I am a list person, I have more ongoing to-do lists than any person should have. I literally now have another To Do list one that is going to replace a few of my previous ones. The guidance, direction and detailed action steps that can be pulled from this talk is a wealth of knowledge and sound advice.
My favorite is "focus and become an expert"

On the road again

I have started yet another website, which was the point of this class. Unlike the others, this time I have mapped out a plan, a method to the madness from which I can create an editorial calendar. As I worked on the assignments and read the updated blog post in regards to Site Design, I realized how fast technology can move. Something as simple as a circular photo of you instead of a square one makes a big difference. I hunted for several days for the correct WordPress theme to use and was amazed at the amount of technology already built into the themes, even the free ones. I was able to load a theme upload a photo (only after turning it into a circle in Photoshop) type some text and it was ready to go.
The theme even came with built-in social media icons, all I had to do was fill in the fields with my user information and up came the icons. I remember having to spend hours trying to get the dang HTML right in order to have social media buttons.
I am grateful for the updated technology, it should allow me to spend more time focusing on a business instead of having to learn new technology.

P.S. if you don't know what Grammarly is I suggest you go find out! How have I lived without it?

Personal Constitution

At the beginning of the Chapter on Personal Constitution in the ministry of business book there is a quote by Thomas S. Monson "Vision without effort is daydreaming; effort without vision is drudgery; but vision coupled with effort, will obtain the prize."
I want to be a visionary women. As I worked on the deconstructing my fears assignment along side the Personal Constitution step by step laid out in Chapter 7 of the book, I came to many realizations.
Fist of all the last sentence on page 131 "it's never too late to begin developing one." referring to the Personal Constitution.
Then the realization that I needed more time. I had set aside 2 hours for each assignment but I spent 6 hours going back and forth between the two. They seemed to feed off each other. When you ask yourself life changing questions you receive life changing answers.
I was glad to know that this is an ongoing and growing type of endeavor. "Putting together my Personal Constitution took over four months of writing, pondering, praying, and re-writing. I've since learned that my Personal Constitution is most meaningful when I allow it to become dynamic, capable of growing and evolving according to the changes of life. So I continue to work on it, alter it, and expand it."
I will take Steve Hitz advise and not worry about perfection at this moment.

eeny meeny

This was a week of choosing. Choosing a product, choosing a site builder and choosing a host. I had gone through this process over a decade ago, hey that's how old this blog is. I had also done it a decade before that, when the internet was an infant. A lot has changed in 10 years, and an even whole lot more has changed in almost 20 years.
Working through choosing a product really helps you to think through the entire process. As you contemplate different variations of your dream product and the potential of other products you can get a good sense of what to expect. Using AdWords to find key words search impressions can help you decided how to best spend your time and money.
There are so many inexpensive options for site builders and the tried and true like Dreamweaver are still around. The options can be overwhelming. It helped that the assignment had us choose at least 3 key points to rate each option by so that we were comparing them products based on what we needed and wanted.
Choosing a host, this was even more overwhelming than the site builder. It seems like there are thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people in business to sell you a piece of the internet. The taught of there being that many dedicated servers out there is mind boggling. The only thing my hippie side could think is that we are depleting our natural resources. hahahaha

Business learning

There was a lot in this weeks lesson materials that I wish not to forget. The most important is James Ritchie's formula for success. I enjoyed the video but was able to get more out of the book. The book the ministry of business by Steven A. Hitz with James W. Ritchie is worth the $5 I spent on it just for that one chapter, but the rest has been really good as well.

As we read about the topic of virtue and read several articles they all came down to one thing integrity. I believe the quote to sum it all up in a business setting would be from Sheri Dew's article True Blue Through and Through. "true leaders embody certain virtues, with the key virtue being integrity, because a man or women who can't be trusted can't really lead."

As I look at the managers in the many work places I've worked at, there were a few true leaders. In thinking back I didn't really know then why I didn't feel right about them and I now realize I didn't trust them. Because of one thing or another that they had done, I didn't trust them to make the right decisions for everyone involved not just themselves.

too many ideas

I'm sure that to a young person who wants to start a business, idea generating exercises are helpful even fun. My problem has always been too many ideas. I do see the light at the end of the tunnel, I can see that we are gathering information to find the best option for a business. I can also see that as we go through choosing one idea over another and using research tools like google Adwords keyword planner you can get a good idea of the impression potential of a given subject.

It is amazing the amount of content that is out on the web, especially since I though I was already consuming a lot of content. In a somewhat older video the creator mentions freedback.com which sounds like it was an early reddit, he suggest to become the expert there. The URL is a different type of company now. I also looked up feedback.com just incase I had written it down wrong, but that too is not a question site. It is however and idealab which is a whole different type of nut, squirrel....

Any who, that added an idea to my business idea- asksonia.com and just to satisfy my curiosity I posted the gig on fiverr instead. I haven't promoted it yet, but I'm revving up to start writing content again. Especially after researching affiliate marking programs, I might have to stop sewing to make time to write content just for the profit potential in the other gifts and talents that God gave me.

So there you see my problem, too many ideas.

Dreams and Stones

Working through the assignments in the entrepreneurship class I've had to dig deep into the reasons why I do or do not do things. As I wrote out my bucket list I had to really stop and think about what I would like to do if I had (or made) free time. I have spent the last decade and a half taking care of others being responsible for the health and wellbeing. I have come to realize that I need to be able to dream about my future in order to plan and accomplish the things on my very new bucket list.

The Stars and Stepping stones activity came a bit easier, because for the past 2 years I have been on a plan to start a business. I had taken a few small steps but this activity helped me to really put some specifics down and lay them out on a time table. As we go further in the class I look forward to being able to refine this document and really pull out some more defined stepping stones. I found the following quote from that article hilarious "The ultimate horror is not death. The ultimate horror is to wake up at age fifty-five or sixty and realize that you have wasted your life; either that time has slipped past while your dreams waited, or that you never had any dreams at all." I will be 48 years old in a couple of months. This actually happened to me at age 40, I woke up to the realization that I had spent 20 years going from small job to small job or small business to small business and even though I learned a lot about small business, I had no benefits. Plus many years the income was reported as a business loss so nothing was paid into Social Security. So I would be poorer than the poor living on Social Security. 

I have dreams but have set them aside for one reason or another and time has slipped by. My childhood dream was to create clothes for the rich and famous. That is no long a dream that I want to pursue but I am working on an iteration of that dream. It is a pretty achievable goal in the "working years" that I have left.

In reading through and watching Randy Pausch's video, I believe he was able to achieve his childhood dreams first because of the support of his parents. I love that they let him write on the walls of his bedroom. He also referred to himself as tenacious. That is an important quality for people to be able to achieve their goals. It is very important to dream and instill in our children the ability to dream big and give them the courage to seek to accomplish those dreams.

Web Creation Reflection

I've been on one heck of a roller coaster, not sure if it is resistance or menopause, either way not fun. I was excited for the class on web creation, I am ready to have a site with product and payment integration. So when I realized the amount of time I would need to spend on discussion boards I was taken back and ready to quit.

I've never been good at slow and steady which makes a lot of sense as to why I haven't followed through on many things. I didn't quit, and my perfectionist self will figure out what is required of me to get an A and strive for it. If I end up with something less then I'm ok, knowing I did what I could. If I say that a couple of times maybe I'll believe it. I have 110 credits and a 3.9 GPA, I'm still trying to find an honors course that will help me get that .1 back. Yes, I have issues, but I'm sure we all do :)

It's all about the learning and I have learned a few things in these two weeks. I learned I'm more stubborn than I thought! I realized that people actually sit around and say "I want to start a business, what should it be?" and there are websites out there that can help you figure it out. Every business I've ever started has come about because I saw a need that I could fill and thought "I could do that." Every small business owner that I have ever worked for have had the same experience.

In this new digital global economy everything is different. It is interesting to do the research to start a business without a business idea or passion driving you toward an entrepreneurial goal.

With that being said, I also found that the Keyword planner tool in the Adwords google software is a great tool. I had no clue and here I was paying money to people to help me come up with keywords to use in etsy in order to come up on search results. What an ingenious backdoor to an advertising tool.

Sonia's Business

actually since I'm posting it on the internet, it's become everyone's business :) As I reflect on what I have learned in my Intro to Entrepreneurship class this week there are a few things that really made me think.

In reading the article Living life as an Entrepreneurial Hero there were some things that stood out: "dig deeply for your special talents and gifts and use them to bring you joy and enrich your life and serve others." This seemed to be the theme across most of the readings and videos from this week, to find something we love and go do that.

"Dream big but start with small steps." it is so easy to feel overwhelmed when you dream big, that most of the time you don't know where to start. This gave me a gentle reminder that I can start small and start anywhere. Sooner or later all the small steps will come together to bring the big dream into reality.

"Choose a goal, grand or small. Find a challenge, pick a foe, start a fight, no matter what compels you, you must pass through the narrow gate that first step that signifies that there is no turning back." This statement validated some of my crazy thoughts and actions. On January 15th of this year I walked out of a job that was everything that I had been working towards only because my new boss was the worst boss on the planet making my otherwise perfect job into a toxic work environment.

"Accept that life is hard and seldom fair." The author then describes some major hardships and then states "these wounds hurt, but wounds like these often provide fuel for entrepreneurial heroes." These words really resonated. I have been to hell and back more times than I can count. And at the end of each trip I can recall remember the words that our trails build on each other one prepares you for the next. I also recall thinking, I have no idea what I am being prepared for but it is going to be one hell of a fight.

"Will it be worth it in the End." I really hope so!