5 Affiliate Marketing Conference Guides You Need to Follow

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Internet marketing conferences are an excellent way to make new connections with brands and business, while also getting that face-to-face experience you might have been missing out on. While email is great for running an online business, nothing beats being able to meet your freelancers, blogger friends, and affiliate managers at a live event.

It’s easy to talk about the many benefits of attending internet conferences from a personal perspective, but I wanted to highlight some other expert guides and write-ups instead. Even John often talks about the many benefits of growing his personal brand by speaking at different events, and how covering various conferences and events through his blog continues to grow his audience and brand in the process.

To improve your internet marketing conference knowledge and getting yourself ready to attend that next big event, but sure to follow these industry guides on affiliate marketing and blogging conferences around the world.

Leadbit’s Guide to International Marketing Conferences

Back in the day, affiliate marketing conferences were mainly held in the United States. Now they are all over the place! At the same time, if you wanted to get the perspective of how these events were, you would likely need to come across an affiliate blog and read up on their perspective. With so many global affiliate networks in place, that’s no longer the issue. Not only do most of the affiliate networks in the world today have blogs, they are also attending such events like never before. You can see a perfect roundup and Q&A session with the team over at Leadbit, in their “International Affiliate Marketing Conferences” reference guide.

Ngo’s Guide to Top Affiliate Marketing Conferences to Attend

Speaking of affiliates and their affiliate blogs, an excellent one to follow is Charles Ngo. Through his blog, you will find a wide selection of detailed tutorials, articles, and reviews on everything related to affiliate marketing. Charles also has an excellent guide on the 26 Best Affiliate Marketing Conferences in the World. If you’d only had the opportunity to attend a handful of conferences, be sure to run through this list and see which are most recommended, or headed to your area soon.

Expert Guide on “How to Prepare for Affiliate Summit”

Affiliate Summit is one of the most popular and largest affiliate marketing conferences in the world today. It’s currently held twice a year in Las Vegas and New York City — but it in the works of expanding to outside of the US. Shawn Collins is the co-founder of the conference, and he’s always providing some great resources and guides on the event for first-timers, and those who are making their way back again. A new post on his blog (by Adam Reimer) covers everything you need to know about attending Affiliate Summit, whether it’s your first time or 15th. Topics include how to choose the best sessions to attend, the best parties to attend, and of course… the importance of networking and getting real business from the event.

2018 Calendar of Affiliate Marketing Events: Conferences, Expos & More

As great as online reviews and guides are for learning about upcoming affiliate conferences, sometimes it’s better to just see a list or calendar of what’s on the horizon. With literally hundreds of internet and affiliate marketing conferences happening annually, it can get quite overwhelming!

Geno from AMNavigator has a constantly updated list of the top conferences and events happening around the world. Be sure to check out this list, as you never know when a new event might be heading to your area.

Affiliate Summit Parties: East and West

As mentioned earlier, Affiliate Summit is where most of the attention is going these days in reference to affiliate marketing conferences. One of the reasons for this is because of the heavy advertiser and network attendance at these events, and the massive parties they throw at each event.

Networks will always send out mailings and invites to these events, but if you are looking to find all of the information on one site, ASWparties.com is the place to go. The site name says ASW, but they have a page and updates for ASE as well. The site also now provides other events and parties outside of just Affiliate Summit.

It doesn’t matter if you are a complete newbie to attending affiliate conferences, or a veteran — each of these resource guides will provide you with a ton of information and resources to make sure you are ready for that next big trip. In addition to each of the resources below, also be sure to check out any of the top affiliate marketing blogs on the internet today , as they are always releasing new articles and topics that have yet to be discussed before.

Feel free to leave your favorite internet marketing event or conference in the comments below.

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How to Build a Social Media Community: Content and Collaboration

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Driving engagement among your followers is just as important as gaining a following.

July 6, 2018

5 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

I like to be on the cutting edge when it comes to utilizing social media and content. With the social landscape changing so often, we have to constantly be students of it, striving to find individuals whose content stands out from the crowd -- to learn from and emulate.

Related: What You Should Be Looking at in Potential Hires' Social Media Posts

Being “more interested than interesting" means that I take the opportunity to learn from the top social media influencers, allowing me to duplicate their social media fundamentals to improve my online presence.   

I often consult my team members about the content that they enjoy most on social media. This is how I came across Eliot Robinson, the young entrepreneur and operator behind the @dunk account with more than 2 million followers on Instagram. Robinson has built a massive community based on his unique brand of basketball content. His community-building talent even caught the attention of superstar entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk, who asked Robinson to help expand his social media profiles, resulting in more than a million new followers across Vaynerchuk’s platforms.

I was eager to learn more about what makes the @dunk community special. So, I phoned Robinson to get his input on my two keys for creating an engaged social media following: content and collaboration.

Content is still king.

Today’s best social media strategists focus on aggregating content on their platforms. They elevate their own brands through collaborations with others, leveraging their content, while also minimizing operating and production costs. And the better your reputation for social media excellence becomes, the more users you'll find who are willing to work together for little-to-no compensation. This technique allows you to aggregate valuable content on your social media platforms and avoid content creation processes that waste time and money.

Related: You Can't Treat Social Media as an Add-on or Afterthought

According to Robinson, incorporating humor and putting your own personal spin on the content of others adds personality to your posts and allows for personal expression, which pulls in your audience. You must find a frequency, a combination of truth and awareness that resonates with others. This is key for any public figure, and especially true on social media.

Be sure to bring an energy of creativity when it comes to your content. As Robinson advises, “Post things the viewers want to see, rather than satisfying your own preferences."

Originality and emotion build better relationships

One important facet of social media success is maintaining strong relationships with viewers, readers and listeners. That's why I make a point of replying to almost everyone who interacts with my content, whether it's on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or YouTube.

Experts in this field, like Robinson, advocate building long-lasting relationships with your audience by consistently posting content that is 100 percent your own. Original content gives followers insight into your life (and mind), which aids in developing a stronger connection.

Emotion is another tool heavily utilized by many social media strategists. The best social media pages use emotional pulls to develop connections between themselves and their audience. In my content, I do my best to address and solve common problems that my followers experience, such as being told “no” or experiencing the emotion of embarrassment. This provides value that they might not get elsewhere.

Related: 6 Social Media Monitoring Tools for Managing Your Online Presence

These days, there's a vast amount of focus on negativity. But, if you add components like humor, excitement or hope to your content, you'll generate a stronger attraction to your community.   

The role of partnerships

Social media professionals like Robinson are able to create and maintain partnerships with other talented content creators by leveraging their internet popularity and success. Robinson also cites a need to have the first rights to the content of others, however, as original content is much easier to monetize.

Related: Teens Are Increasingly Ditching Facebook. Here's How Entrepreneurs Should Respond.

This strategy of combining lots of valuable and unique content gives users the ability to stand out and flourish as a one-of-a-kind social media account. For this reason, I leverage my own brand to connect with icons in the sports, business and inspiration fields, in order to collaborate on new content.

One of my best recent social media collab opportunities came from working with the @motivation_mondays Instagram account. I did an interview on Instagram Live, along with the curator of the account, and answered questions about inspiration and motivation from the account’s followers. Not only did I help to create some great original content for @motivation_mondays, but I captured content to share on my own page and gained many new followers in the process.

This mutually beneficial exchange is the essence of a community. Both giving value and gaining value is what collaboration is all about!

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The Most Successful Entrepreneurs Are Able to Both Start Small and Think Big

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Don't boil the ocean -- try a pot of water first.

July 6, 2018

5 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Some entrepreneurs are great at communicating a big vision for their startup, while others are good at finding a place to start. But, the best -- and most successful -- entrepreneurs are those who are able to strike an exquisite balance between that big vision -- Version 5.0, if you will -- and a high-traction starting point, or Version 1.0.

Related: 25 Common Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs

After all, while investors, customers and strategic partners want to know they're part of something impressive, big ideas won't get your business airborne. So, it's crucial for visionaries to also be "execution artists" who understand the do it/try it/fix it mentality of getting a minimum viable product out in front of customers, generating revenue traction and plotting a logical growth trajectory from there.

Some examples

In this 1997 video interview with Jeff Bezos, the Amazon founder discussed how his startup was focusing on selling books on the internet, and how his ecommerce business model was ideal for a product category with millions of titles. A year later, the New York Times declared "Amazon.com Is Expanding Beyond Books." Fast-forward another 20 years, and it's not unusual to see analysts predicting that Bezos's behemoth will grab nearly 10 percent of all retail sales by 2020. It started with a relatively modest and focused plan, became best in the world at doing one thing, and only then expanded off that base.

Netflix took a similar approach: Launched in 1997 with a simple focus of renting VHS tapes and DVDs on the internet via U.S. mail delivery-and-return, it has since expanded its business model to include streaming and production of original content. In the process it has grown its subscriber base by over 40 percent per year, from 700,000 in 2002 to 117 million in 2017.

Related: When Nobody Believed in His Vision, the Co-Founder of Fatherly Shares How He Proved Them Wrong

Alfred Peet launched the eponymous Peet's Coffee within a Berkeley, Calif. storefront in 1966. Initially, the store didn't even sell beverages -- just small-batch roasted beans. Only after that store had developed a cult following (they called themselves "Peetniks") did the gourmet coffee company expand, eventually to about 200 stores, many franchises and roasted bean sales through major retailers and online (Peet's was acquired in 2012 by Joh. A. Benckiser for approximately $1 billion).

The "Peet's formula" -- start small and focused, refine your success formula, then expand -- has been repeated by a number of gourmet coffee startups over the years, most famously by Starbucks. A current up-and-comer is Sweetwaters Coffee & Tea. Twenty-five years ago, co-founders Lisa and Wei Bee started out with a single shop in Ann Arbor, Mich. as a newly married couple fresh out of the University of Michigan. They're now in the process of building out a national franchise presence, and along the way, have introduced bottled retail beverages for retail such as Chinese-inspired iced teas.

Related: 10 Ways Leaders Think Differently

How you can apply these lessons

Step back and look at these examples and the same pattern stands out: Start small and focused, be best-in-class at one thing, then expand off that foundation to achieve a broader dream. How can you apply this approach in your own startup? In my new book, The Launch Lens: 20 Questions Every Entrepreneur Should Ask, I delve into this in some detail. Here are some tips to consider:

• Develop a preliminary product roadmap for your startup.
• Start by first describing your "big vision" -- your proverbial version 5.0.
• Then back off from your big vision to describe your preliminary launch configuration -- your version 1.0, or what I sometimes refer to as your VNS ("version no, seriously"). This represents the bare minimum you'll need for a successful commercial launch.
• Finally, back off yet further to describe the minimum viable product, or MVP -- that version of the product that you can cobble together as a prelaunch test case that will enable you to gather the most customer input while expending the least effort and resources.

You can describe your small-to-big product road map using a range of characteristics. For instance, if you're developing a B2B SaaS platform for customer relationship management (CRM), the growth path for the product might be described by features (e.g., starting out with the few most demanded by your customers); language (perhaps starting with just English and expanding to include Spanish, Hindi, Mandarin, etc.); vertical markets (say, focused on manufacturing and eventually expanding to services industries, etc.); platform (e.g., starting out with a browser-based platform and eventually expanding to include mobile apps); and even third-party integration (for instance, systematically adding integration with key enterprise resource planning systems).

Related: Getting Clarity on Your Big-Picture Vision

To look at a B2C example, let's say you're launching a new line of all-natural canned vegetables. Your small-to-big road map might include both product and other business factors, such as: products (say we start with pickled carrots, and eventually expand to include a family of different vegetables and various flavors/spices); packaging (e.g., start with one jar size and add others over time); distribution channels (for instance, starting with farmers markets, adding online sales and expanding to regional and eventually national store chains); and perhaps distribution and sales partnerships.

So, as you can see, it's great -- indeed, advisable -- to have a big, long-term vision as you're getting started, but don't try to boil the ocean. Start by boiling a pot of water better than anyone else.

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Basic Blockchain Lingo Every Entrepreneur Needs to Know

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Do the terms 'proof-of-stake,' litecoin' and 'mining' mean anything to you? If not, keep reading.

July 6, 2018

5 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

With all the buzz lately around blockchain technology, it can be tough to keep up. Given how fast this industry is growing, new terms are being introduced on a regular basis, and if you have wanted to learn more about crypto, the blockchain and what it means to "HODL," then here is a short list of essential vocabulary to digest.

Related: Just What the Heck Is Blockchain? Watch This Explainer Video.

Blockchain

If you’re going to talk about blockchain, you have to know what the blockchain is first. Blockgeeks explain that blockchain is a distributed ledger of digital information. Created by an unknown individual named Satoshi Nakamoto (probably a pseudonym), the original use-case for blockchain was the digital currency Bitcoin. A significant benefit of blockchain is that the technology is transparent and incorruptible because the network exists through decentralized consensus. It’s helpful to think of blockchain technology as a giant spreadsheet to which everyone can contribute.

Cryptocurrency

Cointelegraph defines blockchain as a digital or virtual currency designed to be a medium of exchange. It uses cryptography to secure and verify transactions and create new units of a cryptocurrency. Built upon their own blockchains, cryptocurrencies vary in how they process transactions, number of coins available and overall structure.

Related: How Blockchain Will Help Small Businesses Challenge Even the Largest Rivals

Bitcoin

Bitcoin creator “Satoshi Nakamoto” remains an unknown figure to this day. But his (her?) Bitcoin is the first peer-to-peer currency for online transactions.

Litecoin

Litecoin was created to be a direct competitor of Bitcoin. According to PCMag, Litecoin was designed to handle transactions more quickly than Bitcoin. It can take a significant amount of time for blockchain to process transactions, whereas a Visa or Mastercard can process thousands of exchanges in a second.

Ethereum

Like Bitcoin and Litecoin, Ethereum is considered a significant cryptocurrency. Bankrate describes Ethereum as a “world computer"; this is because Ethereum is a foundational blockchain system that other blockchain developers can use to build new cryptocurrencies. The process of using existing blockchain technology and building on top of it is similar to how mobile developers build apps on the App Store platform.

In the blockchain world, these technologies built on top of foundational blockchain systems are known as dApps.

dApp

dApps, or decentralized apps, are applications built upon an existing blockchain. Like applications in the App Store, these apply to a wide variety of uses, from health care to asset management. Numerous entrepreneurs have found different use cases for blockchain and crypto, so dApps have become widely used for blockchain development projects.

Altcoin

Altcoins are cryptocurrencies built either independently on their own blockchains or on top of existing blockchain networks such as Ethereum. According to Just Crypto News, there were approximately 1,368 altcoins in existence in December 2017.

ICO

An ICO, or initial coin offering, is a public sale for a token or coin through a blockchain company or dApp. It’s not unlike a Kickstarter campaign, except that ICOs usually offer utility tokens to be used on their own platform instead of the ownership of shares in a company. Nevertheless, ICOs have become a wildly popular way to fund-raise; according to Coinschedule, there have already been approximately 538 ICOs in 2018.

Mining

"Mining" refers to a way of earning cryptocurrencies. A lot of cryptocurrencies are mined by solving complex algorithms and math problems, and "miners" are rewarded for solving them in tokens. However, it’s unknown how long mining will be considered a sustainable practice for two reasons; first, miner rewards for Bitcoin have dropped 50 percent every year; and, second, bitcoin mining requires the solving of complex math problems, which in turns means a lot of electricity-eating computer computations.

Gas

Gas is the transaction fee to operate on a network, and the price is determined by miners. For example, according to ETH Gas Station, it costs approximately $0.30 per transaction to run a transaction on the ETH network currently. Be mindful of this cost as you trade crypto because these fees can add up quickly, especially if you make several small transactions.

Proof-of-work

Proof-of-work is a mining algorithm and the basis of Bitcoin. Generally considered a laborious algorithm, it’s much less popular than newer algorithms, such as proof-of-stake.

Proof-of-stake

Proof-of-stake is a consensus algorithm used to validate blocks on the blockchain. Instead of drawing consensus that the block is correctly completing equations using the “show your work” model, proof-of-stake processes blocks by confirming consensus among token stakeholders. Due to the faster transaction speed, many blockchain enthusiasts are switching to the proof-of-stake model.

Nodes

Nodes are the end points which confirm blocks. These are at work all over the globe, processing each transaction. According to Bitnodes, there are 9,867 nodes for Bitcoin right now; understandably, Bitcoin is one of the biggest networks, but nearly every blockchain network utilizes nodes to confirm transactions.

Related: 6 Ways Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Are Changing Entrepreneurship

White paper

Hubspot has stated that a white paper is “a persuasive, authoritative, in-depth report on a specific topic that presents a problem and provides a solution.” For blockchain, your white paper is your project thesis and should help users understand why they should invest in your token or coin.

What blockchain lingo are you struggling to understand? If it's HODL, which I alluded to earlier, that's slang for holding on to cryptocurrency rather than selling it.

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My Book and Baby Are Due the Same Day! Follow Along on My Journey. Next up: Trust Your Gut

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Jessica Abo shares the different elements she's working on at once to prepare for her next deadline and marketing strategy.

July 6, 2018

2 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

This video is part of a series brought to you by Entrepreneur’s book division, Entrepreneur Press, the publisher of Jessica Abo’s book Unfiltered: How to Be as Happy as You Look On Social Media.

Hi again! If you watched the first two episodes of this series, you know that once I started working on my book, I spent the beginning struggling with the table of contents (TOC). While I worked, and reworked, the chapter titles and chapter order, I still had to keep writing to make my next deadline.

While I wrote more chapters to submit to Jennifer Dorsey, Vanessa Campos and I started thinking about the book cover and marketing. Campos and the designer used the drawings I made that you saw in episode 2 to come up with cover options for me to see. My biggest pieces of advice if you're stuck on anything, like I was on the TOC, and you've already stepped away and shared it with someone else, then just move on and come back to it later.

My other advice while you're writing your book is to have a marketing calendar separate from your publishing one with marketing goals and deadlines. That will help you stay on track with everything that there is to do when you're writing, publishing and promoting your book.

Related: My Book and Baby Are Due the Same Day! Follow Along on My Journey. Next up: It's Okay to Step Away.

Watch more videos from Jessica Abo on her YouTube channel here.

Entrepreneur Network is a premium video network providing entertainment, education and inspiration from successful entrepreneurs and thought leaders. We provide expertise and opportunities to accelerate brand growth and effectively monetize video and audio content distributed across all digital platforms for the business genre.

EN is partnered with hundreds of top YouTube channels in the business vertical. Watch video from our network partners on demand on Roku, Apple TV and the Entrepreneur App available on iOS and Android devices.

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The Problem with Blogging These Days – Part 2

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Welcome to Part 2 of my series and if you’re just joining, then I’d like you to go back and read Part 1. I’m discussing, from my experience, what the common problems with blogging are these days. These are factors that I’ve noticed can contribute to many blogs failing because they simply don’t resonate with their readers like they should. If you can make sure you don’t make these mistakes, you’ll be able to grow your brand and blog quickly. In Part 1, we discussed factors like…

• A simple idea


• Passion


• Not providing value

Let’s get started and your feedback will be appreciated.

Wrong Team

As your blog begins to grow, you’ll starting getting busy with side projects and you’ll have to hire a team. This can be a good thing because it will help divide your workload, however, you want to be careful when selecting the right team. Many people hire the wrong people, particularly those with little knowledge about their niche, and this leads to lower user engagement. You have to remember your audience comes to your blog because of your niche and when they find the wrong type of content, it will lower engagement. I’ll be discussing this in the next section, but in the meantime, it’s important you pay close attention to the following.

• Hire a team who has experience within your niche


• Hire a team you can afford to pay so you don’t run into problems with owning content


• Do background checks to ensure they write authentic content – avoid plagiarism, copyright, etc.

This will allow you to hire the right team for the job, which is very important to protect your brand and the quality of your blog.

Divided Focus

As mentioned, one of the reasons your blog will lose momentum is because your content is way too spread out. You have a specific focus and should focus on it no matter what the results. Even if you have low engagement, it’s NOT because of your niche, but the value you’re providing within your content. I recommend always keeping a close eye on your niche whenever you write content because this will help during the research and writing process.

Some ways to help keep you on track is to:

• Listen to your audience through comments and questions.


• If you have email subscribers, then shoot a quick follow-up asking them for content ideas or to fill out a survey


• Research is the best way to compile topic ideas that are focused and on point.


• Hire a team of professionals who are experts in your niche.

The point I’m making is when you have built an audience for your niche and then write unrelated content, it can cause engagement to slow down. This is a common mistake made by bloggers and a huge reason some don’t survive in this industry.

Not Using Tools Available

You are in a very lucky time, mainly because you have so many channels available to you. I’ve seen some content that was posted on social media with the right #hashtags blow up within a few minutes. With the right combination of value and #hashtags, you can create immediate brand awareness and momentum. This means the ability to build your blog quickly and have a targeted following. If you want your blog to survive, then make use of the channels your competitors are making use of. This means to promote on social media and use FREE tools to find keywords and #hashtags relevant to your content. I can promise you one thing…

If you don’t make use of them, you’re going to lose to your competition because they definitely will be using these channels to promote content. With only content, especially when starting, you’ll have slow and stagnant growth and this will take enormous time to achieve your bottom line.

Click Here To Download John Chow’s New eBook, and Live The Dot Com Lifestyle!

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2018 Software Development Trends That You Can Count on Continuing Into 2019

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An Entrepreneur contributor consults his crystal ball and says to keep an eye on blockchain, AI and progressive web apps.

July 6, 2018

4 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

That new technology you're hopping on may be all the rage now, but will anyone remember it this time next year? Trends in technology can fade quickly as advancements are rolled out at lightning speed.

Related: 8 Tech Trends to Keep Your Eye on in 2018

So, which trends in 2018 will continue to grow into 2019?

Here's a look at several of the "hot" trends in software development: blockchain, artificial intelligence/machine learning, progressive web apps, low code and security.

Blockchain

Blockchain gained in popularity due to the Bitcoin revolution. Now, industries and companies are adopting blockchain development rapidly. "Blockchain" describes a technology enabling a peer-to-peer network of interconnected devices to store data rather than rely on central computers and defined locations.

This development provides the capability to transact and authenticate large-scale transactions quickly and without expensive intermediaries. Companies in software development, including healthcare software, are seeking broader applications in administration, supply chain, and medical data, to streamline processes.

Related: 10 Artificial Intelligence Trends to Watch in 2018

Tip: Leaders in blockchain development include IBM, Oracle, Microsoft and Amazon, which are introducing proprietary blockchain platforms. Blockchain startups to watch are: BlockPass, BitTicket and ALTR.

Artificial intelligence/machine-learning

Artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI) will also continue to gain in importance. Some estimates show that nearly 40 percent of businesses may be using AI to automate their processes by as early as next year. By integrating IA solutions to execute specific tasks, these businesses gain the competitive edge and provide a higher-quality service experience for consumers.

Practical applications include voice-responsive home assistants, insight-as-a-service, big data and smartphones. Facebook, Google and Slack are leaders in AI development, and Google plans to base its algorithms on AI technology in the near future.

Tip: Startups to watch in AI are: Element AI, with $102 million funding; and UIPath, with $30 million in funding.

Progressive web apps

Progressive web apps (PWAs) are  in fact websites or web pages but look and act like conventional apps or native mobile applications. These offer the best features of the latest browser technology, with the advantages of the mobile experience. Gartner listed PWAs in its software technology trends report for 2017. These apps have gained considerable steam and can be expected to continue strongly into the upcoming years.

Google, in particular, has begun developing browser features that perform like mobile apps, thus providing an equal level of user experience. PWAs are less complex to develop and maintain than conventional mobile apps; that adds to their popularity.

Tip: Companies involved in health care, ecommerce and banking are adding more PWAs to offer easier accessibility to a broader base of consumers.

Low Code Development

Low code development is overtaking conventional waterfall app development, because the latter is a labor-intensive endeavor. With low code development, tedious repetitive development tasks are automated, so the need for a technical analyst or development team disappears.

PC magazine has named the following as some of the best platforms: Appian, PowerApps, Medix, Google App Maker and Salesforce App Cloud.

Tip: In addition, according to WaveMaker, the top uses for low code include business-process managing applications, database managing applications, omni-channel platforms, microservices-based applications and the re-creation of recreating legacy applications into modern ones.

Security

The headlines report cyber attacks on large companies, but small- and medium-size enterprises and startups are increasingly acknowledging the need for software security. A study by Ponemon Institute found that 55 percent of small-to-mid-sized businesses had experienced some type of cyberattack.

Tip: If your business utilizes the internet, has a digital presence with cloud accounts and a website, then it is at risk for a breach. Most attacks occur through automated malicious software that search for vulnerable networks and computers regardless of size.

Related: The 5 Most Interesting Artificial Intelligence Trends for Entrepreneurs to Follow in 2018

So, what lies ahead? These five trends will carry through into 2019 and beyond, and they may even spawn additional technology advancements that could benefit your business in the future.

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The STEM Skills That Turn Engineers Into Entrepreneurs

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Organizations are spending millions to integrate technology and computer science into classrooms. But these skills can benefit you, too.

July 6, 2018

7 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Recently, we've seen a surge of initiatives to help prioritize STEM education in schools across the United States. From Google, to Microsoft, to the White House, organizations are spending millions of dollars to integrate technology and computer science into classrooms.

Related: How Humanities Degrees Cultivate Marketable Business Skills

And, while introducing and encouraging the understanding of STEM principles is critical for young students aiming to find success in science and math skills, these principles are equally important for those looking to build businesses of their own someday.

Becoming an entrepreneur inevitably involves business, marketing and finance skills; however, many do not realize the value that STEM skills can also contribute to running a company.

The top STEM skills entrepreneurs need for success

Perhaps it’s no coincidence that many entrepreneurs started their companies in a garage – from Apple to Harley-Davidson. For many, the idea of a garage is synonymous with tinkering. I grew up visiting my uncle’s farm, seeing him working with tractors and equipment.

I realize now that this must have sparked my interest in systems at a young age. It was fascinating to figure out how to fix machines when they were broken and to devise the most effective ways to make crops grow. I got to understand, hands-on, the beauty of how systems really worked, rather than being satisfied by the illusion of seamlessness.

It’s clear that curiosity, creativity and innovation lead to a deeper exploration of entrepreneurship. In fact, these are among the top traits that encourage the younger generation to pursue successful futures.

Attending Imperial College London for mechanical engineering opened my eyes to the vast career opportunities technology holds. A 2017 study conducted by my company, SAM Labs, found that 69 percent of teachers surveyed believed that technology can be used to support any subject, ranging from English and reading to math and science.

Related: These Skills Will Boost Your Salary by 20 Percent

STEM can be useful for everyone in every field.

From the music industry to exploring outer space, STEM concepts are consistently making a real-world impact. Some of the top STEM skills that we learn at a young age have proven their value for all entrepreneurs. Some examples:

●  Teamwork and collaboration. Working in STEM is all about working together. As engineering teaches, a well-oiled machine can  run efficiently only when all moving parts are in sync and producing no friction. The greater the efficiency, the greater the momentum.

When Satya Nadella began as Microsoft’s CEO three-and-a-half years ago, he recalled noticing teamwork being replaced by internal politics; he saw the need for a deeper understanding among team members. In this context, Nadella has made the point that working with people and working together are vastly different concepts and that a company’s success depends on its teams' collaboration and mutual understanding.

●  Resilience. Practitioners of STEM are all essentially trying to do one thing: face a problem that’s both challenging to understand and solve. Therefore, to begin an experiment, a researcher must first create a hypothesis.

Analyzing a problem from an “if … then” point of view allows this researcher to face a challenge with an open mind and to reach an educated solution. If the solution is not met, the experiment is not a failure; it is simply restarted.

Entrepreneurs are constantly faced with problems. Keeping an open mind to constant learning will allow the growth needed to adapt and continuously take on new challenges with energy. There is an endless list of successful entrepreneurs who have failed, sometimes many times, before they've been successful. This includes people like Evan Williams, co-founder of Twitter; Vera Wang, the famous fashion designer; and Arianna Huffington, founder of the Huffington Post. All were rejected, denied and fired before finding success.

●  Establishing relationships between disparate areas of a project. Just as happens in engineering, entrepreneurs start with a big goal they have to break  down into smaller, more achievable parts.

If you are a computer scientist building a website, you have to imagine the final site, but in order to begin, you need to first break down the javascript line by line, class by class, in order to eventually reach the final goal. Just look at The Walt Disney Company, which started with a cartoon animation and grew into a worldwide entertainment empire. Entrepreneurs need the ability to connect seemingly unrelated topics to create one coherent solution.

Simple advice for a complex job

Though a background in business, rather than STEM fields, may seem a more efficient route to entrepreneurship, I’d argue that the skills it takes to succeed in STEM fields provide unparalleled value to the way that an entrepreneur works – boosting common sense and decision-making business skills. In fact, STEM skills will make you an invaluable asset to many lucrative industries and career fields in the following ways.

●  You'll trust yourself. The most important value engineering taught me that translates to being an entrepreneur is to trust yourself. Ultimately, no one has the perfect answer. Most decisions don’t get made simply because people are scared to make them, not because they “need more data.” You have to trust your abilities to take the course of action you think will lead to success. Whether you feel inexperienced or underrepresented, you've gotten to the point you're at for a reason and need to trust in your knowledge and abilities.

●  You'll get the facts. It is important to realize that most people don’t know the answer, and those who are critiquing you don’t have your data set. Further, they might not even have the strength to make the decision if they were in your shoes. If you gather all of the information possible and try your hardest, you become a mini-expert, while keeping in mind that your conclusion is subjective. If the result doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped, at least you know you took action and learned something new.

●   You'll inspire others. All entrepreneurs can do their part in encouraging others to understand how technology and STEM skills intersect with real life. All businesses require some level of technology to work, starting with the most basic form of communication, the company website. It’s important to be a role model and tell your company’s story by mentioning the tools that helped you get there. This allows children to picture how to use the skills that they’re learning in school, in real life. Look at Google as a great example of a site with purpose.

Related: 3 Educational Trends That Will Change How You Hire in the Future

A lack of STEM knowledge should not deter entrepreneurs from pursuing their passion. These skills are extremely achievable and can be learned by everyone. There is a common misconception that STEM skills can be used only in math and the sciences, but the truth is that they are valuable in any career path, especially entrepreneurship. Running a business takes common sense and basic life skills. Having some STEM education provides value and enhances these abilities.

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9 Quotes on Success, Money and Entrepreneurship From Millionaire 'Shark Tank' Investor Kevin O'Leary

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Mr. Wonderful's 'tough love' approach to business has helped him make millions. There's a lot to learn from him.

July 6, 2018

3 min read

You might know him as the tough, truth-telling investor “Mr. Wonderful” on ABC’s Shark Tank, however there’s much more than what you see on screen. Entrepreneur, investor, author and television personality Kevin O’Leary got his major business break when he co-founded SoftKey, a tech company that packaged floppy disks and CDs in the 1980s. After buying The Learning Company, a company that created educational and entertainment games in 1995 and absorbing it into SoftKey, O’Leary sold the company to Mattel for more than $3 billion, making him a multimillionaire.

Related: 50 Inspirational Quotes to Motivate You

Since then, O’Leary has gone on to become a world-renowned investor and business magnate, with one of his latest ventures being O’Leary Funds, launched in 2008. Throughout his career, he’s also made a big name for himself in the entertainment world, starring in Canada’s Dragon’s Den, The Lang and O’Leary Exchange and eventually ABC’s Shark Tank.

When it comes to success and entrepreneurship, there’s much to learn from O’Leary. For more, here are nine quotes on money, risk and hard work from Shark Tank’s Mr. Wonderful.

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Elon Musk, the Latest iPhone Rumors and Sex in Space! 3 Things to Know Today.

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Stay in the know in 60 seconds.

July 6, 2018

1 min read

1. Elon Musk has offered his help in the dangerous rescue of the boys' soccer team trapped in a cave in Thailand. Musk says engineers from SpaceX and The Boring Company will travel to the cave site this weekend, where one rescue diver sadly lost his life yesterday.
2. 9to5Mac reports that Apple will launch bigger iPhones in a variety of colors later this year. The rumored 6.1-inch LED iPhone will reportedly come in grey, white, blue, red, and orange.
3. Proposing on the jumbotron at a stadium is so been-there-done-that. If you really want to surprise your girlfriend or boyfriend, an agency in France is offering a package to propose while orbiting the moon in 2022. The cost of the trip is $145 million, but can you really put a price tag on love?

Have a great day!

Watch the previous 3 Things to Know video: Amazon Reportedly Printing a Holiday Toy Guide!

 

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Lessons From Music Festivals Doing It Right

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Coachella, Bonnaroo and Rolling Loud all illustrate an entrepreneurial vision in changing up the traditional music festival.

July 6, 2018

6 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

If you're a music lover,chances are you’ve attended a festival. Typically ,these are multiple-day events at open-air venues attracting the who’s who of performers.

Related: Why Your Brand Should Be Headlining Summertime's Regional Music Festivals

Summerfest, which has occurred every year since 1968, typically sells out its 800,000 fan passes in minutes after going on sale. In 2015, Austria’s Donauinselfest (Danube Island Festival) attracted a record-breaking 3.3 million attendees over its three-day span. And, last year, the annual music and art festival Coachella grossed over $150 million in ticket sales. In short, huge numbers are involved with the festival business, but their business model has not changed for the most part in the last 50 years. 

Below are some tips from select festivals that are trying to change that.

Bonnaroo

The four-day Tennessee-based Bonnaroo features a diverse lineup of acts every year with 10-plus stages showcasing more than 130 bands. Many attendees stay at the attached campgrounds, resulting in a strong sense of community throughout the festival.

Insight: Sustainability and CSR can bring benefits. Bonnaroo has had an eco-friendly commitment for all of its 17-year history. The festival composts all waste on the property, utilizes solar arrays on-site, encourages hydration with water-refill stations, hosts a 5k run and displays its eco values in other ways.

According to Bonnaroo’s official website, the event aspires to be the greenest festival and to set the standard in sustainability and greening practices for North American concert events. 

Lesson: The massive crowds festivals bring can easily yield a large carbon footprint. But Bonnaroo works to limit that footprint and is not alone in fighting for greener event planning. In this context, I spoke with Tony Alfaro, CEO and founder of Ribbon, a new app that helps with event-planning.

Related: iPhone Thief Outsmarted at Coachella Music Festival

Alfaro is an annual attendee of Burning Man, a large-scale community and art event held annually in the Nevada desert. On the subject of sustainability, Alfaro told me that “Leave No Trace is one of the ten principles of Burning Man.

"The positive effects are physically recognized, resulting in community reinforcement [self-policing]," Alfaro continued of the eco influence Bonnaroo has had. "And, most importantly, this has influenced ‘leave no trace’ to be adopted by many other festivals and the real-world at large.”

Rolling Loud

Founded only three years ago, the open-format hip hop festival Rolling Loud has grown to the point that it can host leading acts like Kendrick Lamar, Lil Wayne, Post Malone, Migos, Future, Rick Ross and Gucci Mane. In 2017, Rolling Loud’s primary Miami-based event claimed to have grossed an estimated $60 million in ticket sales and to have generated $75 million in local economic impact.

Insight: Use loss leaders to help scale. In general, entrepreneurs may lose in the short run using loss leaders, but with this strategy, festival organizers can expect to win customer loyalty in the long run.

This means establishing deep-rooted brand equity and more favorable margins as the company grows. “That’s why you see us giving the artists [gold] chains [as gifts], and we go above and beyond for them,” Rolling Loud cofounder Matt Zingler said in an interview.  “It’s not about the money, it’s about the long play. It’s about your relationships, and you can’t put a price on a relationship with an act that may be the next Drake or Future.”

In live music, talent is a core element of the product, so it's smart business to treat acts accordingly. “What can you do to make yourself more appealing to work with?" Rolling Loud cofounder Tariq Cherif said. "Hospitality is key. All our stuff is different ... and it's attractive to do shows with us."

The event thrives off a strategy to do things differently, which includes embracing hip hop culture and trends -- something major festivals have avoided in the past.  Look no further than the Cban link gold chains and custom diamond pendants event organizers give to marquee acts. Booking talent based off of the downloads and streams those artists have attracted, as opposed to just music charts and radio play, is another example of the next gen approach the festival takes.

Lesson: The point is to "build a scene," as Cherif put it. "We were and are some of the leading flag holders,” he said. Add to that mix strong social media engagement, larger-than-life personalities and destination locations like Miami, San Francisco, and Southern California, and you begin to understand Rolling Loud’s game plan.        

Coachella

Coachella takes place over the span of two weekends in April and features artists like The Weeknd, Beyonce, Eminem, Cardi B, Migos, SZA and Kygo. In 2016 the Greater Palm Springs Convention and Visitors Bureau estimated that Goldenvoice, a subsidiary of AEG Live, which organizes Coachella, brought in $704 million in economic impact to the area.

Insight: Go strong on tech. Coachella offers a unique experience by harnessing innovative technologies, both to enhance its artists’ sets and to improve its attendees' overall experience. In 2018, Coachella sold activation packages to brands like Google, Amazon and American Express.  The companies offered fan-interaction zones to give concert-goers exclusive sneak peaks at future products.

HP and Intel also utilized drones to enhance visual displays live during artist performances. Aerial drone displays have been used during the Super Bowl and the Olympics, but Coachella broke ground as the first music event to do something similar.

Speaking of drones, I asked Nicholas Horbaczewski, CEO and founder of the Drone Racing League (DRL) the premier international drone racing platform, and an expert on drone tech, to chime in on the subject.

“We love learning what these high-performing robots are capable of, and we're continually amazed by the depth of their technological abilities to support an array of industries from security and transportation to sports,” Horbaczewski said. “However, the industry that's been most revolutionized by drones is aerial photography and cinematography. Given their size, speed and unmanned nature, drones can capture practically impossible shots from extremely hard-to-reach angles."

Because of these technological strengths, drones are being applied to film, TV production, content-capture at live events like music festivals and more, Horbaczewski added.

Related: The Number One Lesson You Can Learn from Fyre Festival: Preparation is Everything

Lesson: For any entrepreneur, one last lesson is that wherever you can reinvent the experience, as the Coachella organizers have done with technology, there is money to be made.  

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Use This Mindset to Help Everyone in Your Network Succeed

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Animus Women's Innovation Summit founder Lucienne Gigante says providing economic opportunities for women is what will set our global communities on a path to prosperity.

July 6, 2018

5 min read

In this series, Open Every Door, Entrepreneur staff writer Nina Zipkin shares her conversations with leaders about understanding what you have to offer, navigating the obstacles that will block your path, identifying opportunity and creating it for yourself and for others.

A month and a half after Hurricane Maria swept through Puerto Rico, leaving devastation in its wake, Lucienne Gigante says she knew exactly what she had to do.

Gigante has not one job, but four. She is works as a managing director at Golden Seeds, a venture capital and private equity firm that focuses on investing in women-led startups. She also runs strategy positioning firm LuGi, which helps companies align their community outreach programs with their business goals. Gigante also co-founded AccessLatina, a nonprofit that provides women entrepreneurs with access to capital.

Finally, in 2015, she co-founded the Animus Women’s Innovation Summit, an organization designed to help women grow and succeed professionally. After the storm, Gigante felt a responsibility to do her part to help as much as she could, the best way she knew how.

“In Puerto Rico, 60 percent of women heads of households in the labor force live below poverty level. And Puerto Rico has been going through a very long recession,” Gigante explains. “How can we provide the opportunities for the other 50 percent of the population to reach their economic potential?”

Related: The First Black Woman to Own and Run a Billion-Dollar Company Says That Trusting Yourself Is Key to Success

There was no question: the show -- Animus’s third annual conference in San Juan -- had to go on, even if it was a few weeks later than Gigante had originally planned. The event was sold out. On Dec. 1, 2017, more than 800 women networked and heard from established business owners, new startup founders and big names such as EGOT winner Rita Moreno. The fourth summit will be held on Nov. 30.

“There was an incredible challenge. We were then and [in many cases are] still fighting for survival for basic needs. So that became even more of an important mission to leverage driving women's economic development as a solution to move forward,” Gigante tells Entrepreneur. “Opening doors to women's economic development [is] a solution for a country, a town, a community to transform itself.”

Gigante shared her insights about how to build the infrastructure to help you, and everyone around you, accomplish goals.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What personal traits or strategies do you rely on to create and pursue opportunity?

Listening is one of the key traits that anybody can have to be able to achieve a specific goal or to move on to the next step. I don't think we listen enough to our customers, to our mentors, to our peers, and that doesn't mean we need to do what they say, but we need to understand the variety of people that we're actually going to be catering to and listen to where they coming from and use to little bit of empathy in order to make any decision.

When you experience a setback, what do you do to keep going? 

Failure and mistakes are fast track growth tools if we use them correctly. We need to to understand what happened. We need to think about it and ask what could we have done differently and then move on and pivot. We have to understand that it's not personal because it's a marathon, not a sprint, and failure is an important as of any success we will ever have.

Related: This Single Mom Turned Tech Entrepreneur Shares How She Rose Above Self-Doubt

How can you be your own best advocate?

Speaking up is key to you achieving any progress. I've read that women make CVs for specific jobs when we are a 100 percent sure that we comply with all the [requirements] and opportunities while men [do the same with] 30 percent or so. So thinking about just taking a risk, when you're scared and raising your hand and speaking up, those actions are key to reaching to the next step. We need to take more educated risks. It needs to have to be well thought out. It needs to be a needs to make sense. But do it anyway. Just ask.

What is your best advice for creating opportunity for yourself or someone else?

Every time you help someone or you introduce someone to a mentor or say, "you should talk to this person," [you make a difference]. It doesn't have to be the [biggest networks]. It's [with] all those connections that you're actually helping someone get to something [they want]. It works in a way where everybody moves up. Write that email. Take that coffee. Say yes to that event. That extra mile of helping others and helping yourself plan and showing up. You add on and it makes a difference in your career, in somebody else's career, for your community for your family and for a higher purpose.

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Your Worst Coworker Is Probably Not a Human

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Difficult tools slow us down just like difficult coworkers.

July 6, 2018

6 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

You have a coworker who's inflexible, stuck in the past and constantly a nuisance. It feels like she is almost trying to sabotage the team's work. I've been there, too. Let's call the worst coworker I ever had Sally Forth.

Related: 15 Useful Tech Tools for Your Business

Sally never changed, no matter how frustrated you got with her. She nagged me and everyone on the team all the time. It didn't stop after work or on weekends; she messaged everyone constantly. Eventually, we all got so fed up that we hired someone as a go-between, just to interface between Sally and everyone one else. My boss was convinced that Sally was a best-in-class asset to the team. If I couldn't work with her, he said, then I was the problem, not her.

You've probably worked with Sally, too, because her real name is Salesforce. She also goes by Microsoft Outlook, SAP, Peoplesoft and a bunch of names, but in every incarnation she's critical to the team, defended by leadership -- and an absolute pain in the neck.

There's so much discussion about how to build strong, effective relationships with coworkers, managers and peers. But, there's little to no discussion about our relationship with the systems we work most closely with, and how they affect our mindset, productivity and well-being. We spend much more time interacting with these platforms than we do with actual colleagues; as a former sales executive, I would check Salesforce about 50 times a day, which is roughly three times the number of conversations I'd have throughout the day with colleagues and customers.

Related: 4 Pitfalls to Avoid When Choosing Tech for Your Business

Poor technology can impact your business in numerous ways: Your employees may end up spending less time with customers and more trying to cope with the inefficient technology, it hurts their productivity and morale, and it limits your ability to think big picture because it's a constant, nagging thorn in your side.

Difficult tools slow us down just like difficult coworkers. Fortunately, the strategies you develop to avoid a bad colleague can also help you avoid bad tools.

1. Interview them like you would a team member.

You wouldn't hire a critical member of your team just based on what he tells you about himself. You check his references. The same goes for technologies that you'll be using frequently. If you're dealing with a salesperson, ask to be put in contact with current customers. Talk to other entrepreneurs and do your legwork. What technologies did they find to be most flexible, most friendly and most effective?

When it comes to customer relationship management (CRM) software, there are around 25 choices. Don't just do what's easiest and pick the one that's most well-known (and most expensive) -- look at which types of software would work best for your unique company culture, sales cycle and business needs.

Enterprise platforms designed for large companies, like Salesforce and HipChat, camouflage the weaknesses of their products via talented, enterprise sales representatives. It's their job to sell into senior level executives who rarely actually use their products, or use them for totally different purposes than the team would. Just like it's critical to make sure that a new hire fits with the team, talk with the people that will use the software the most and ask them to test the products you are considering to discover which ones they like best.

Related: These 9 Gadgets Prove Office Tech Is Finally Getting Interesting

2. Take the time to train them -- and turn negative reminders into positive ones.

If you've already bought into a platform that is distressing to your team, there are often ways to mold it more to your liking. Take the time to change the program's colors and fonts. Make sure the sales stages and names match your company lingo. These things may seem trivial, but the interface needs to reflect and align with your company culture, just like new employees do.

I've found that the default language of most tools emphasizes stress rather than the kind of positive thinking required for a team to enjoy their work. If dragging deals to the "Lost" stage in your CRM is making you feel defeated, swap out the traditional sales stages like "Discovery," "Won" and "Lost" and replace them with more helpful and positive language.

As a sales executive, I developed my "Seven Virtues of Sales Methodology" with my team, where I replaced the standard sales stages like "Quality" and "Lost" with positive emotions. In an effort to help breed a healthier, happier environment at my own company, we've leaned into aspects of our work that help lead to positive emotions, even when it comes to technology, which can often have distressing features that induce negative emotions.

Some old-school sales leaders dismiss these efforts as a waste of time. But, changing the language in our tools tangibly impacted our bottom line:17 percent more deals closed because we increased our focus on creating connection.

Related: Why Corporate Collaboration Tools are Fundamentally Flawed

3. Don't take bad coworkers home with you.

Even with your favorite colleagues, it's healthy to create some divide between work and home life. Miro Kazakoff, senior lecturer in communications at MIT Sloan's School of Business, says the same principles should be applied to the platforms you use at work.

"I love Hubspot, I love Slack. But, that doesn't mean that spending all day on them makes you more productive," says Kazakoff. "Good tools, like good communication, should be invisible and let you focus on creating value. The best tools, like the best colleagues, free you up to spend more time on the activities that drive your business. It's not healthy in any relationship to spend all your time together."

Even the chief technology officer at Slack, Cal Henderson, takes a similar approach when working after hours.

"I try to avoid DMing people late at night," Henderson told Lifehacker last year. "The pressure for people to respond quickly can guilt people into thinking they need to be always on."

You can take steps to separate these worlds, for example, by only keeping your CRM or messaging apps downloaded on your work computer, and not on your personal phone -- eliminating the temptation to be "always on."

By creating this divide and investing in the relationship in order to change your outlook from one of defeat to that of hope and positivity -- you just might find that you have a new best friend at work.

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Elon Musk Is Sending Teams to Assist With the Thailand Cave Rescue

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It's hoped his resources could save the boys from months spent underground.

July 6, 2018

2 min read

This story originally appeared on Engadget

Elon Musk has offered assistance in the rescue of the boys' soccer team trapped in a cave in Thailand. Engineers from SpaceX and The Boring Company will travel to the country on Saturday to help with what is becoming an increasingly perilous rescue effort. As CNN reports, conditions are becoming life-threatening, with a former navy diver involved in the operation losing his life after a sudden drop in oxygen levels underground.

According to Musk, technicians may be able to utilize a Tesla-made battery pack to increase the pump rate of water out of the cave. He also discussed the possibility of inserting a nylon tube into the cave to fill it with air, "like a bouncy castle." In a tweet, he said he was "happy to help if there is a way to do so."

SpaceX & Boring Co engineers headed to Thailand tomorrow to see if we can be helpful to govt. There are probably many complexities that are hard to appreciate without being there in person.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 6, 2018

The 12 boys and their soccer coach were discovered safe and well after nine days spent trapped in the caves due to rising water levels. But it's now feared they could spend months underground, as heavy rainfall is expected to contribute to further flooding.

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Print On Demand eCommerce: Free Video Training

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Get free access to a complete step-by-step blueprint on building a highly profitable print-on-demand business without worrying about competition. A simple 3-step formula..

Why You Need This Training:

Background:

It really isn’t a secret that the eCommerce industry is exploding right now.

More old-school brick-n-mortar stores are closing every week as that outdated model loses its luster. These days its all about ecommerce. 

In 2017, retail eCommerce sales worldwide amounted to 2.83 TRILLION dollars. And it’s projected to grow to over 4.88 trillion by 2021. That means we’re still in the early stages of online market growth – meaning that even if you’re just getting started there is plenty of room for you to grab your piece of the pie.

Many of use are already riding this massive wave making huge profits every single day. The hard part is knowing where to start and which path to take to success.

Today I have a new, lessor-traveled route to online success to share with you…

What You Will Learn:

• This is a 10-part video training course teaching a simple 3-step system on a new eCommerce model


• You’ll learn how to sell hundreds of products that don’t even exist with just a $5 per day budget (that should get your attention)


• Learn how to sell products that are 100% unique to you & 100% automated – all with large profit margins


• Learn how to leverage this trillion dollar industry without using dropshipping.


• Discover how to copy this system without investing in inventory, hiring staff or renting an office.


• You can do all of this from the comfort of your own home


• You do not need any prior experience

Where Do I Get My Free Access?

Sign Up By Clicking Here Now

Who’s Is Teaching This?

Michael Shih has been a digital entrepreneur since 2013. He has built multiple 6-figure businesses from local marketing to networking marketing to CPA marketing. Through his years of venture, he has accidentally discovered his true potential which is running his own online stores through Shopify with print on demand.

Michael has managed to take his first store to 6 figures in just 60 days using nothing but print on demand. He has also achieved the Two Comma Club from Clickfunnels by generating over 1MM with just one funnel and print on demand.

Sign Up By Clicking Here Now

 

 

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10 Must-Read Books for Entrepreneurial Graduates

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Take command of your success with these essential reads.

July 6, 2018

5 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

A new class of graduates are entering the workforce, and many are doing it on their own terms. Unlike previous generations, a large percentage of this "internet generation" are bypassing traditional jobs to start their own business. In fact, almost half of millennials freelanced last year -- the highest of any generation.

Related: 10 Books Every Aspiring Millionaire Must Read

If you're unsure of what your next step is or how to get there, here are 10 books to help you take command of your success.

1. The Lean Startup by Eric Ries

In my must-read book for entrepreneurs, The Lean Startup, Ries details a "just do it" approach that bypasses traditional processes and management. Two common challenges in scaling a business are knowing whether an idea is worth pursuing and finding the people you need to make it happen quickly. This book shakes up traditional approaches to help you avoid getting stuck in traps.

2. The Non-Technical Founder by Josh MacDonald

What do you do if you've got a great app or other tech idea, but you don't know how to code? Although I have an engineering background, you don't have to know software to build a company in this digital world. In The Non-Technical Founder, MacDonald interviews 20-plus founders of multimillion-dollar software companies who give advice to non-techies on building a product and creating a customer base through social media.

Related: 30 Successful Entrepreneurs Reveal the Books That Changed Their Lives

3. Dear Millennial by Chelann AR Gienger

In my experience, the higher the risk, the higher the potential reward. And the best time to take more risks is early in your career because you usually have more freedom and the least amount to lose. But, if you're not sure what type of business to start, Dear Millennial can help you. It starts by helping you identify your passion.

4. Crushing It by Gary Vaynerchuk

For a lot of people, putting yourself out there to sell your own brand or your company's can be intimidating, but everyone needs to do it. I'm proof you don't have to be the most extroverted person to succeed, but you do have to work hard and get yourself out there. For example, I set goals for myself every time I go to events around the number of people to meet. The stories and tips in Crushing It help motivate you into action and develop your own approaches.

5. Rise of the Millennial Entrepreneur by Joey Wilkes

Many people only see entrepreneurs after they're successful, which makes it look as if it's an easy journey. I can assure you it's not, but the rewards are worth it. Through his personal stories, the author of Rise of the Millennial Entrepreneur shares tips on creating your own bootstrapped business and teaches how to survive the ups and downs that come with growing a business.

Related: 5 Books to Read Before Starting Your Business

6. Make Trouble by John Waters

Sometimes creating a legacy means pioneering industries, or just doing things differently. But, being on the leading edge can feel lonely or create doubts. In Make Trouble, Waters advises being pragmatic, learning how to stay creative and not fearing rejection. In my opinion, these are great reminders for anyone starting off or needing confirmation that it's alright to zig while others zag.

7. Zero to One by Peter Thiel

When starting my own businesses, I wanted to create something innovative instead of another version of something that's already out there. If you want to do the same, Zero to One shows how to ask the right questions to create products and services that are truly new.

8. Now What?! by Ari King

I recommend Now What?! to anyone who's pressuring themselves to figure out their passion and frustrated they haven't found it yet. In a collection of interviews of everyday people to industry leaders, King shows how the path to success and discovery usually isn't what you expect, and that's ok.

Related: Bill Gates Is Giving Away Free Copies of One of the Most Important Books He's Read to All College Graduates -- Here's How to Get Yours

9. Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull

Catmull is a co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios. In Creativity, Inc., he shares how he developed one of the most creative companies in the world using an insightful management style. Among his insights, I especially appreciate his guidance on creating a safe environment for people to take risks. Too many organizations focus on risk avoidance. Although an informed calibration of efforts is essential, the bolder a business empowers its people to be, the better its results.

10. Grit, by Angela Duckworth

Duckworth, a psychologist, discovered that genius doesn't drive success. Success is fueled by what she calls grit: the combination of passion and long-term perseverance. After the experience of seeing my company go through a merger and leading it through a rebrand, I can tell you she's right. The stories in Grit provide insights and inspiration from people who succeeded through grit.

What will you create?

With technology providing so many tools at your fingertips, it's an exciting time to create your future and the impact you wish to make in this world. It's my hope that the wisdom and encouragement offered in these books helps make your journey more successful and joyful.

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