5 Types of Audience Members You Can Safely Ignore

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It takes a certain amount of strength to be an audience-focused content creator.

It’s not for the faint of heart.

Because when you know your audience is the source of all good things for your business, you open yourself up to receive a lot of opinions.

But sometimes those opinions can also weaken the energy you invest in your business.

For example, you might receive opposing feedback.

Someone complains that you emailed about your special deal too frequently. Another person laments that you should have emailed more often so they didn’t miss your offer.

If you don’t have a solid content marketing strategy in place, it can feel very confusing.

You might become nervous every time you publish, and those nerves often trick you into diluting your content to try to please everyone.

Don’t do that.

You’ll never please everyone and you’ll miss opportunities to attract the right people.

It’s important to learn how to spot helpful suggestions and swiftly disregard the rest.

Here are five types of audience members you can safely ignore to stay focused on serving the people who appreciate your work.

1. The person who’s enraged by a typo

Yes, typo-free content is ideal.

However, as much as we value strong editing and correct punctuation here at Copyblogger, we understand typos happen.

And if they only happen occasionally, they don’t necessarily indicate sloppy content.

So if someone lets you know your content is not credible because they found a typo, that person is unreasonable. They’re likely more interested in feeling superior than connecting with your message.

Thank them. Fix the typo. Move on.

2. The person who doesn’t want you to have a point of view

This person means well.

It’s clear they like your content, but they’ll point out it didn’t cover every possibility:

“It sounds like this works for you, but it’s not going to work for everyone.”

Well, obviously.

No worries. Just appreciate the engagement.

You know the difference between content and content marketing.

3. The person who’s in the wrong place

When the wrong people find your content, they might ask you to explain your intentions for creating it.

They don’t understand your niche, so they’ll badger you with questions, almost as if they find you suspicious.

For example, after Sonia heard about my search for the perfect nail salon, she told me about the Simply Nailogical YouTube channel.

Simply Nailogical has more than five million subscribers, but it’s “not like other nail art channels.”

A humorless person looking for eloquent nail art tutorials might not understand Cristine’s sarcastic and silly approach to video content. That’s not Cristine’s problem.

4. The person who’s off-topic

Similar to the person who’s in the wrong place, this visitor seems a bit lost.

But they won’t ask belabored questions.

Instead, they comment on your blog or email you with information that’s not related to your content.

They might even ask to collaborate but demonstrate they have no idea what you do.

When their comments are public, you don’t have to be hospitable. In fact, it’s your job to shield your loyal audience members from anyone who wants to abuse your platform. It’s like protecting your family from an intruder.

Delete. Block.

5. The person who just wants to argue

This one is tricky.

Sometimes you’ll make a mistake and someone will correct you.

Your natural instinct might be to respond to them; it’s noble to admit your error and acknowledge that they raised a good point.

However, sometimes this person just wants to argue. And even if you rationally respond to their comment, they’ll keep coming back with a new jab at your response or content.

When that happens, it’s smart to realize that there’s no pleasing them and any further engagement from you is a waste of time.

If you have trouble letting go of the correspondence, just remember you’re spending energy on someone you will never satisfy instead of thinking of new ways to serve the people who appreciate your content.

Over to you …

Has feedback ever impeded your content creation?

How do you sort out constructive criticism from useless negativity?

In the comments below, share the methods you use to keep on keepin’ on.

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Rejection Is Part of Entrepreneurship. Here's How to Handle It.

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Successful entrepreneurs say "no" to most offers. Those are exactly the people you're trying to do business with.

July 9, 2018

4 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

In our minds, we understand that we'll experience rejection in our lives and as we build our businesses. But when it happens, it's a completely different scenario. Whether it's a "tiny" rejection or a major bump in the road, it's very easy to get lost in the overwhelming feeling of loss. One rejection can easily lead to days (or more) of ignoring business tasks while you binge-watching your favorite Netflix series.

If you are taking action on accomplishing your goals, you will experience rejection constantly. If you aren't, you have to ask yourself if you're taking big enough steps. Growth happens when you step outside of your comfort zone to do the things that scare you. In that place, rejection is possible. Here are four things to do when you experience rejection.

Related: Stories of Rejection From 8 of the World's Most Successful Entrepreneurs and Leaders

Take a moment to scream.

You're human. You can try bottling all those feelings and emotions inside but good luck with that strategy. At some point, you'll explode -- probably in a situation that you regret. Let your humanity out. Scream, go for a run, punch your mini desktop punching bag.

Talk out loud even if you're alone and acknowledge exactly what's on your mind. Talk to your significant other or a friend. Bring it up to your mastermind meeting. The point is, to heal you have to first acknowledge. You can't fix a problem that you won't admit is there.

Related: She Was Told 'No' 100 Times. Now This 30-Year-Old Female Founder Runs a $1 Billion Business.

Evaluate the "why" behind the rejection.

Our minds put rejection in the "not good for us" category but that's not always the case. Life is our greatest teacher. Rejection offers us the opportunity to make sure what we're doing is right for us. Evaluate why the rejection came. Determine if this is something you really want to do, but need a better approach with.

If you need more expertise, get it. If this is a warning message for you telling you that what you're pursuing is not what's best, listen. After you're done processing your feelings and emotions, get tactical by examining what happened. A rejection can be a bump in the road or worse. What happens next is your choice. I vote for learning and coming back even stronger.

Related: 10 Blessings That Come Hidden in Rejection, Losing and Failure

Determine your next steps.  

Your next steps after a rejection have to be strategic and tactical. Take a few days to plan out what to do next. If it's getting more expertise, be specific about how to do that and attach a timeline to it. If it's creating a different approach to go after the same opportunity, take some time to examine what others before you have done that helped them achieve success. 

Use each rejection to fuel your motivation. 

It takes a lot to build a business. There will be more than a few times when you're just not feeling it. You'll need to be inspired and motivated to keep going when it feels like nothing is going right. There's a mindset shift that can give you the fuel you need consistently get motivated. Use each rejection as fire to light you up and motivate you.

Every experience in life offers a lesson. Those lessons help you become the best version of yourself. Shift the way you view rejection. Get even more determined to accomplish that goal. Use the rejection as your motivation to continue doing the work. At the end of the day, doing the work consistently is what builds your business and accomplishes your goals -- it's not your feelings and emotions.

Experiencing rejection doesn't have to be the end of our story. Change your story and you can change your life. You have a choice to make and you should never choose anything that takes away your inner power. View rejection as a lesson and get tactical about what you'll do next. This is your life and you only get one of them. Make each experience and decision count. 

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How MedMen Became the Starbucks of Pot

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For Adam Bierman, the CEO of MedMen, it all started with a blue-haired lady and the question--why not?

July 9, 2018

9 min read

In this ongoing series, we share advice, tips, and insights from cannabis entrepreneurs out there doing business battle on a daily basis. (Answers have been edited and condensed for clarity.)

Tell us how you got into the cannabis business.

In 2009, my partner Andrew Modlin and I had a business that we were running together, branding, designing, and construction. We got a phone call one day from someone who will forever affectionately be known as the Blue-Haired Lady. She said that she had a marijuana dispensary on Sunset Boulevard and she wanted to talk about hiring us to provide services to her. I knew nothing. I didn't know marijuana was a business. As I drove through the streets of LA, I was naively not understanding that the green crosses meant marijuana because I wasn't a marijuana user.

We showed up at this 600-square foot dump on Sunset Boulevard and this Blue-Haired Lady, with crazy hair sticking straight up, told me she was doing $300,000 a month in revenue out of her place. I corrected her multiple times, explaining that I was trying to figure out her monthly revenue, not her annual, so we could address where to go with marketing solutions and rebranding and rebuilding. She said, “No, no, that's not my annual, I do $300,000 a month. I want to do $600,000 a month." I left there dumbfounded.

So, we spent 2009 talking to lawyers, trying to find people that could give us information as to what this was because we didn't understand the legal side of it. I was 28 years old, didn't really have any money, didn't have any estate or a savings account. Andrew was 22.

Related: Do Something That's Never Been Done Before, According to This Marijuana Tech CEO

What did you find out?

Nobody could give us any good answers. You would pay an ambulance-chasing criminal defense attorney $300 for an hour of his time and at the end of it, you would have nothing. All these people were pretending to be marijuana lawyers. But still our gut was: I think there's something big here, I don't understand what it is, but it just feels like there's something huge underneath this mountain. I just have to dig underneath it and figure out what it is. It wasn't even an industry yet, you didn't have sophisticated professionals involved in the space. There was still the potential risk of shut down, raid, arrest, that kind of stuff. But I asked myself: What do I really have to risk? So we jumped off the diving board, you know, into a pool in the middle of the night where we were hoping there was water, right. Um, and we opened our first dispensary in Marina del Rey in 2010. It was called the Tree House.

Related: 3 Questions to Help You Decide If You Should Open a Cannabis Business

Image Credit: Courtesy of MedMen

 

How did it do?

We opened that dispensary and then the world of marijuana started opening up to us. We started building relationships and understanding what existed at that time. We went from one store to multiple stores in LA and then in Orange County, growing as well as selling.

The other thing that happened that we didn't expect was that the level of sophistication of the operators and the people in the industry was so poor that we just exceeded all our expectations when it came to the actual performance of the business itself. Our purpose was never: Let's get into a gray market business in an industry we don't understand and see how much cash we can make. Instead, it was: The only way to understand what's going on is to do it and there's going be some risk attached. But let's be vigilant and let's keep ourselves out of trouble while we uncover where the true opportunity lies. 

And what was that opportunity?

In 2013, we started getting phone calls people in Massachusetts, who told us their state was coming out with their own medical marijuana program and part of the application for the licenses was a requirement to demonstrate operational expertise in the field. They wanted help with the application.

This was like the first big lightbulb moment. Because if Massachusetts is going to create a regulated oligopoly with merit-based applications, I didn’t foresee how any subsequent state could do anything other than that going forward.

So we divested of our assets in Southern California because, again, the intention never was to become the kingpins of the gray market, it was to learn and be exposed. We put our heads down, and we started the next iteration of the company, which was to build a management company for marijuana retailers. I couldn't find off-the-shelf software to run these businesses, so we took about over two years and did nothing but build systems. We were maybe one to two months away from complete destitution, just broke as a joke because Andrew and I put everything we had into it.

How did you stay afloat?

In some ways that was a really good moment for us because it forced me for the first time in my life to go out and raise money. I never even knew that option existed. I've been an entrepreneur my whole life. It's always been about self-funding.

Talk about naivety being so important, at the time the cannabis industry was federally illegal, had no institutionality, was so uncertain and misunderstood, it was nearly impossible to raise money from people. But I went pounding around saying I'm raising money for my weed business. I just thought, why not? Everything in this business has been, why not? Obviously, 99 percent of the people I spoke with told me I was nuts, but I found a family office out of Miami that committed a little over $3,000,000 to us. 

So we raised money and we went ahead and signed up a license in Nevada to manage. Then California created a path towards actually legitimizing this industry in issuing licenses and we started getting phone calls from people saying, “Hey we're going to buy a business and we want you to run it.” We're like, praise Jesus! 

And then our next kind of curveball got thrown which was, none of those investors from around the world could execute on buying businesses in California because these were nonprofits, with murky regulatory, no clear path towards license, no understanding. They're coming in from New York and they couldn't talk to, negotiate with, or even come to terms with the legacy participants like the blue-haired ladies. 

So that was my next setback/opportunity. I knew the blue-haired ladies. I've been in the business now for a few years. I could talk to them, negotiate the deals. Nobody understands the regulatory better than me. I've made it my mission to understand it, to build the relationships with the electives, to build the relationships with the regulators, to understand what the people wanted from a polling standpoint and always be right in the middle of that discussion. But I told the investors if I do the whole of the work using your money, I want a piece of it. So we did $30/$40 million dollars of these SPVs, where we got a GP interest, um, and we got the management contract.

Now we're going public in Canada, where we were raised $110,000,000 on a 1.65 billion dollar valuation. And I'm just looking for the clearest path that is in front of me today that gives us the best opportunity at executing our goal, which is a $25 to $50 billion business that just happens to be in pot.

Related: 6 Lessons From Cannabis CEOs Who Raised More Than $50 Million

Image Credit: Courtesy of MedMen

 

What qualities make a great entrepreneur?

It's waking up every day and saying, “I have one life to live, and I'm not comfortable with the potential of it being taken away tomorrow or ending in 20 years or 50 years with what I did when I woke up today, so you know what? When I wake up tomorrow, I'm going to do something different because it's completely within my control to decide how I live my day even though it doesn't feel that way all the time, but it truly is. If I wake up tomorrow and walk in here and say this doesn't inspire me anymore, then what am I doing here? 

Because life is too short. Agnostic of industry, agnostic of business or personal or social, that's just the way that I live my life. I think far too little discussion is had around that point. People wake up thoughtless and go through life and then what happens? Then they wake up one day in the middle of their lives and say, what am I doing? And now they're probably too far baked to do anything about it. The same thing applies to the industry. The one caution to this industry is you have as a professional, as an entrepreneur, you have to inform your decisions and your commitments as far as what you're going to do in business here, pretending it's not marijuana. 

Is that your best advice for people considering getting into the marijuana industry?

That's the best, most important piece of advice. The minute someone says to me, “I want to launch this kind of company.” I say, “Explain the fundamental, how's it going to work? Where's the opportunity? I don't care that it's marijuana. I don't care what the past has been. If this wasn't pot, if this was anything else, would you be successful? Have you thought about the regulatory environment? Have you thought about what your competitive set looks like? Have you thought about your competition for capital and what capital formation looks like around that sector? Have you thought about how that plays in a mature version with full legalization?”

I think far too often entrepreneurs get caught up in the fact that this is pot, so they forget their fundamentals because they were so excited around marijuana. That won't work. 

This is a real business with strong fundamentals that have sustainability and ultimately on top of it all, our industry makes the world a safer, healthier, happier place. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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How to Make Money Promoting Survey and Quiz Affiliate Offers

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With so many different ways to make money on the internet, it’s important not to fall into the trap of shiny object syndrome. And by this, we mean jumping from one idea to another and trying to get rich overnight. Even if this can be successfully done, it will likely only bring minimal results and only last for a short period of time.

A much better way to make money online is to look at the long-term picture and create a website, or an ad campaign that will continue to provide value, incoming traffic, and revenue for years to come. With virtually an unlimited supply of traffic and advertiser money out there to benefit from, it’s simply a matter of choosing a niche market, then making the most of it.

One such example of an industry that is completely evergreen and will have a never-ending supply of traffic and revenue, is the online dating niche — much like the weight loss and financial markets, they just never seem to die out as more people come of age daily. However, this is an extremely saturated online market as well. If you are going to jump into this area, you need to put in the time and effort to know who your audience is and create the best ad campaigns possible, specifically targeted towards geographic and demographic interest and data.

With all of that in mind, today we are going to walk through the process of how to create a profitable dating and relationship blog. This is a perfect business model or marketing method for anyone to get started with online and affiliate marketing. Even better, this method also doesn’t require a lot of upfront money in the process and is ideal for anyone that would like to focus more on putting their free time and effort getting put to good use.

This process breaks down into the following three steps.

1. Know your audience and target demographic


2. Have a form of monetization (ie: affiliate2day)


3. Promote your site with SEO and social media

Be sure to follow along and consider your options with making money in the world of online dating and providing relationship advice to the millions of people who are searching for these types of resources daily.

The Target Audience and Demographic of Your Site

While it might seem like your audience and the demographics of your site would be anyone who is single and is looking for a relationship, you would be correct, but you would also be way too generic at the same time. Instead, if you want to make money and be able to rank above the competition, you will need to have a very niche specific site that not only caters to a specific gender but also provides them with exactly what they are looking for.

When looking at the type of content to create and how to target an audience, a perfect example of this can be seen in the how to be a good girlfriend article from YouQueen. Their site content is extremely focused, they know who their target audience, and it’s written in a way that provides detailed and actionable tips for anyone searching on the topic.

Some notable examples of top keywords and search phrases that people are searching for in reference to online dating or relationships, can be seen below. When doing any research on these keywords, be sure to look at the additional long tail keywords and other ways that you can spend this into more creative topics while giving the audience exactly what they want.

• how to date your best friend


• how to date yourself


• how to confirm a date


• how to go on a date in the kardashian game


• how to ask someone on a date


• how to go on a date


• how many dates before you become exclusive


• how to date a shy guy


• how to date a mormon girl


• how to write a dating profile

When creating the content for your site, it’s important to always focus on not just your end goal (which is likely to get users to sign up for a dating offer) but to also rank higher in the search results with the most targeted content possible. If you have a site that is strictly focused on kissing, you can cover every type of kissing/making out search phrase there is. You can see a few more examples of these keywords below.

Sticking with this same concept, you can use any of the most searched for phases at the beginning of this section, then plug them into Google and see more “related searches” like the ones above. For best results, create one super long article with all of these topics covered, or multiple articles (2,000+ words in length) and link each of them back to each other on your site.

How to Best Monetize Your Site Content

The great thing about creating dating tips or relationship blog, is that there are plenty of ways to monetize your content. At the most simple form, you can always through Google Adsense ads on your site and make a small portion of the revenue generated, or you can promote individual dating related offers or actual dating sites in themselves. In most cases, going with an affiliate offer to send leads to a dating site is probably the best option — since that is likely what your audience is interested in.

Also mentioned earlier, the online dating space is absolutely saturated with content, competitors, money, and advertising options — however, there is still plenty of room to compete and make money as well. There are many well-known brand name US dating sites, many of which you probably already know and maybe even use or promote. The same holds true for dating outside of the US. If you are only targeting the USA or just English-speaking countries, you are missing out big time! Take a look at this list of the world’s most single countries.

1. BRAZIL, 10%


2. KENYA, 15%


3. SOUTH AFRICA, 24%


4. RUSSIA, 25%


5. CANADA, 27%


6. U.S., 28%


7. ITALY, 29%


8. JAPAN, 31%


9. BRITAIN, 34%


10. SWEDEN, 47%

To make all of this easier to follow, we will use Affiliate2Day as our example affiliate program for monetization on a dating tips or relationship blog. Like many other affiliate networks or CPA-driven platforms, Affiliate2Day is a dating-specific network that offers compensation when someone joins one of their dating websites.

If you don’t already have an affiliate account with them, you can create one by clicking here.

Most of my site readers should already be familiar with the process of affiliate marketing and how to set up their first campaign. You simply join a program, grab your affiliate link, and post it to your site. For a program like Affiliate2Day, it would be best to place call-to-actions throughout the content on your site. If you were going to promote the dating offers through paid marketing and media buying, then using unique landing pages that cater to different demographic audiences and their interests would be best.

When attempting to make money with a dating and relationship blog, it’s important to keep your efforts focused on one common call to action. Either use a solution like Google Adsense, an individual product/service, or a specific dating website. Too many options can lead to site readers being overwhelmed and simply leaving your site. This can also be a headache for tracking site earnings as well.

In reference to making money with Affiliate2Day, affiliate partners have three monetization methods to choose from.

• Pay Per Sale: 25% of sales amount + $25 sign-up bonus


• Pay Per Lead: $6 to $8 per lead generated


• Pay Per First Order: $150 to $250 per first order

If you aren’t sure which monetization method is best for your site, I would recommend going with the “up to $8 per lead” option, as this will give the best results overall while also letting you know the type of data and leads you have flowing through your site. Higher quality sites and leads would likely benefit more from the “$250 per first order options. You can also contact your affiliate manager to change to a different payment structure at any given time.

Another way to make money with Affiliate2Day, is to refer other site owners and affiliate to their network, and then earn a 10% commission from each lead sent back to A2D.

Now that we have a content monetization method in mind, we can now move onto the content promotion part.

Attracting New Site Visitors with SEO and Social Media

Creating a website or a blog is extremely easy. Content creation is also very easy as well, and can even be outsourced if you don’t know what you are writing about. One of the most important factors when attempting to make money online with a website or a blog, is knowing how to get a consistent flow of new visitors to your website.

Two of the most common and effective ways to accomplish this or through the use of SEO and social media. As mentioned earlier, ranking at the top of Google for any type of generic term is nearly impossible. This is why you are going to have to get creative and unique with the type of content you create. We recommend you go after long tail keywords and make your content as specific as possible, not only so you can target your audience, but also make it more likely that they will take action when they get to your site.

However, there are better ways to approach this process. For example, using a tool like SEMRush, we can plug in any dating or relationship blog and see what keywords they are currently ranking for. We can also see their placement in Google, how many people search for that phrase monthly, the difficulty in ranking for that keyword, and also a direct link to the article that is ranking. Obviously, you don’t want to copy the content on these sites, but instead, study the long tail keywords that are ranking and getting traffic, which you might not have found otherwise. You can see an example of all of this below.

At the same time, if you are completely against the idea of waiting around for your site to organically rank in Google, you can also focus your efforts on social media. Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest are three of this hottest social platforms for building a following around relationships and advice — and Facebook Ads is ideal for targeting singles based on their interests and locations (think custom landing pages here).

No matter what method you choose, understand that it’s all about the time and effort that you put into your content, call to actions, and link building/promotion efforts. With more than a billion active sites on the internet, creating a site and content means nothing — it’s all about the value, delivery, and getting it in front of the right audiences.

Can You Really Still Make Money in the Online Dating Space?

Without a doubt. Just ask any of the top dating affiliate platforms on the internet today, and they will tell you they are paying out thousands of dollars per month to hundreds, if not thousands of their site partners — and best of all, affiliate marketing is paving the way. This means you can test different dating sites, content offers, and traffic sources, to see which work best for you.

As always, I can only provide you with so much information and details. To see real results, you need to actually put all of this into action. If you haven’t started a website or blog yet, follow this guide, and feel free to shoot me an email when you get started. I would love to hear about your online success!

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How to Overcome Stress and Own the Day

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Here are some tips on how to take control of stress in your life.

July 8, 2018

2 min read

This story originally appeared on Lewis Howes

I’ve been dealing with a lot of stress in my life lately. Then, I get wrapped up in it and tell myself (and others) how stressed I am. This mentality ends up breeding even more stress, and it’s honestly not healthy. 

As I listen to others around me, I’ve come to realize this is the norm. Despite all of the technology we have and all of our luxuries, we consider ourselves to be the most stressed generation.

That’s why I decided to bring you another great mashup talking about this stress from Amanda Enayati, Todd Kashdan, Lissa Rankin and Arianna Huffington. Stress, more than anything, is a mindset. It’s something we create ourselves in order to try and protect ourselves.

We even become stressed about the unknown. The possibility of infinite success, or infinite failure, naturally gets our emotions to focus on the darker side of the world.

Instead, I challenge you to take the lessons from each of these clips. Apply them to your life and see just how much better you can make your life.

Press play and learn about how you can take control of your stress, on Episode 659.

Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Google Play or TuneIn.

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Trade School vs. College: Which Is Right for You? (Infographic)

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Figuring out your future isn't easy. Here are some things to consider.

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Where In The World Is Sally Chow?

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On this episode of the Dot Com Lunch, I answer a question that is being asked a lot: Where is Sally Chow? Answer: she’s in China babysitting pandas!

Click Here To Download John Chow’s New eBook, The Ultimate Online Profit Model!

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How Canada's Marijuana Legalization Changes the Game

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Experts weigh in on the global significance of this landmark decision.

July 8, 2018

7 min read

Opinions expressed by Green Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

We’ve all seen countless articles about Canada’s decision to legalize the recreational use of marijuana on a federal level. Analysts and reporters discussed what this meant for Canada and the US, but what about the world?

Related: What Canada's Legalization of Marijuana Means to the US, Eh

First G-7 Nation to legalize marijuana

Canada has become the first G7 nation to legalize marijuana despite a decision earlier this year by the United Nations International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), which issued a report classifying the legalization of marijuana for recreational uses as a “clear violation” of the U.N.'s 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. While Uruguay disregarded this international treaty, Jamaica was deterred from moving toward full legalization. Now, Canada has joined Uruguay on the rebel band.

Stuart Titus, CEO of publicly-traded Medical Marijuana, Inc., defined Canada's move as a “total game-changer for the overall cannabis industry,” highlighting the importance of a G7 nation setting up the framework for legal cannabis and investments in the space going forward. Similarly, Tim McGraw, CEO/Founder of Canna-Hub, said Canada would serve as “a case study as to what adult use cannabis legalization can look like in a developed nation.

“The Cannabis Act legalizes cannabis but leaves it up to each province to decide how to regulate it," he said. "Countries, including America, will be watching closely to better understand the challenges and opportunities that come will full-scale legalization as Canada works toward its official legalization date of October 17."

UN feels the heat

In the view of Leslie Bocskor, investment banker and president of the cannabis advisory firm Electrum Partners, Can is a critical moment for the United Nations. “The U.N. is in trouble. They're facing a growing sense of irrelevancy led by the populist and conservative movements around the world,” he noted.

“But there’s more: the U.N. is facing another crisis. Their policy on cannabis is wrong and if they don't get in front of changing the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, and countries like Canada, eventually the U.S., hopefully Mexico, Spain, Greece, and others start establishing medical markets, which are in contravention of the treaty, and then adult markets, other countries will start disregarding the treaty as well,” he added. “So, if the U.N. is not able to reverse itself and get in front of this rapidly, what's going to happen is you're going to have other nations that are just going to legalize notwithstanding.”

Related: Researchers Recognize an International 'Tide Effect' Driving Worldwide Cannabis Reform

What Uruguay has learned

Since Uruguay is the only country with an active recreational marijuana program, I reached out to some people down there.

Eduardo Blasina, the founder of the Montevideo Cannabis Museum and a director at Cannabis Uruguay Ltd., a local medical cannabis producer, said that Canada's decision was expected but importnant. Why? "First off, because the law was approved within the timeframe that had been projected at the beginning of the year, and counted with substantial parliamentary support,” he said. 

In addition, Blasina noted, this move puts Canada on par with Uruguay in terms of its freedom to produce every variation of psychoactive cannabis.

Finally, he said, “this move will generate an explosion of new products: foods, drinks, medicines and industrial products," adding, “The main thing to observe here will be the international financial system. Will it take in the new reality and relax the rules that are limiting the development of the cannabis industry in Uruguay?

“Taking into account the magnitude of the Canadian market, I’d expect regulations to loosen up soon,” he concluded.

Gastón Lepera, CEO of MedroPharm partner Greenfields Health Care returned to the global impact of Canada’s move, highlighting the country’s healthy mix of responsibility and freedom. As uses of cannabis evolve, so will the industry, he argues. “I believe Canada’s legalization marks the fall of the ‘prohibition wall,’ as the country bets on a new era without boogiemen or traps,” he said.

But it was not only Uruguayans who brought up the South American nation’s lead in the recreational cannabis realm. Vikas Desai, partner at cannabis investment firm WelCan Capital, also did. “Following Uruguay, Canada's legalization of cannabis sends a strong message to the rest of the globe: it is time to end prohibition," he said. “This is a global turning point. With one of the largest industrialized democracies in the world legalizing cannabis, more countries are waking up to the fact that licensing, taxing, regulating and enforcing cannabis is far better public policy than following an outdated approach.”

Related: Uruguay Legalized Marijuana and the Crime Rate Has Plummetted

What happens now

I asked my expert panel what to expect how that Canada has changed the game. 

Sara Gullickson, CEO and owner of DispensaryPermits.com, noted that, “The cannabis industry is fast becoming a lifestyle for a mainstream market.” She predicted that in five to seven years, “cannabis will be in kitchen cabinets."

Gullickson believes that “Canada’s actions are a step forward to reduce the stigma surrounding the industry. It is offering alternative solutions for wellbeing, which is great. This really is a wellness industry above all. A year from now, when other countries realize that legalizing cannabis did nothing but help their economy and the overall health and well-being of its citizens, maybe others will follow. I’m a firm believer that we have a long way to go, but this is a big step for us. Not only for the industry as a whole, but also for patients and people that are sick and tired of being sick and tired.”

Titus also brought up the banking issue. “We are also going to witness banking reform and the ability for the Canadian, possibly international, banking system to allow for ‘normal’ business practices, including the payment of cannabis employees via the Canadian banking system.

“We believe this has tremendous spill-over applications for the rest of the world,” he voiced.

Nicolas Ruiz, CEO of Chile-based Cloudponics said that "full legalization in Canada will help push away the stigma that cannabis faces in other countries... As others see the social and medical benefits of this wonderful plant, we predict that people (who are curious beings by nature) will be intrigued by growing their own. We envision at-home cannabis growing will take on a similar trajectory that craft brewing has…”

Finally, Canna-Hub’s McGraw shared some conclusions: “Based on positive data we are seeing from states here in the U.S. that have passed adult-use cannabis laws, we anticipate Canada will enjoy a significant reduction in drug-related crimes and a noticeable economic impact on its GDP.

“The real growth opportunity for Canada’s economy will come from its ability to export cannabis,” he said, quoting reports from Marijuana Business Daily, which suggested a surge in medical marijuana exports. “As more countries worldwide adopt cannabis legislation that allows for the importation of cannabis, Canada is well positioned to service these markets as its own production market continues to swell. Legalization will also spur more investment in cannabinoid science and research, further positioning Canada as a reliable source of cannabis for countries who have not yet developed their own cannabis infrastructure.

“Canada’s legalization of cannabis demonstrates that we have reached an international tipping point in the development of pro-cannabis policies and it is only a matter of time before the U.S. and other countries follow suit,” he said.

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7 Ways VR Is Changing How We Work

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Virtual reality is on its way to revamp the way we collaborate, communicate and cut down on unneeded business expenses.

July 7, 2018

5 min read

This story originally appeared on Personal Branding Blog

Virtual reality is a technology we mostly associate with video games, an accessory that makes a digital world tangible. But it’s more than just a hobby -- it’s a device that’s changing the working world, too.

Related: 6 Tips for Doing International Business

That’s because virtual reality has multiple uses for companies large and small, jobs tech-related and old-fashioned. Soon, it’ll probably be part of your daily grind, too. Here are seven ways it’s revolutionizing the modern workplace.

1. It’s creating jobs

For starters, the popularity of virtual reality is a boon to employment as a whole. Not only are more and more people becoming developers, but, with the improvement and proliferation of the technology, there are even more job openings in the VR sector.

You don’t have to be a computer science pro to become involved with virtual reality, either. Everyone from marketing specialists to lawyers to business developers will undoubtedly be involved as the technology becomes more common at work and in homes.

2. It’s revolutionizing collaboration

Sure, you can consult with far-flung co-workers via email, instant message or even through video chat -- but have you tried conducting a meeting with VR? The possibilities are truly endless in this regard.

Rather than shuttling employees from site to site -- more on that later -- you can show them a new construction project and its progress through VR. Or, you could use the technology to have designers from all over the world brainstorming, drawing and revising their creations in ways they never could before. Even a face-to-face conversation is more immediate, real and personal with VR.

3. It’s updating training

Some jobs require very intensive training before staffers are ready to complete the task at hand. In the past, this put employers in a tough position -- how can you prepare someone for a challenging role without the liability of having a newbie at the helm? VR is already changing that.

Related: How to Create a Strong First Impression as a Leader

Virtual reality has revolutionized things as specific as ship captaining and navigation. Now, training can take place through VR, giving users full access to radios, autopilot, tracking and other controls they’d need to get a ship from point A to point B. And this practice gives firsthand experience that’s informative enough to put practitioners behind the wheel sooner, rather than later.

4. It’s bringing virtual employees into the office

We already touched on the fact that VR is changing collaboration -- namely, that it brings together employees from across the world to take projects from planning to reality. But this technology will affect remote employees, too, whose jobs usually isolate them from the rest of the team.

Now, they can come to the office regularly for meetings, status updates or feedback sessions. For a company with offices around the world, VR will make every conversation that much more personal. And, if you like who you’re working with, you’ll be happier and a better employee in turn, so VR could improve workplace performance as it hones communication.

5. It’s improving employee health

Sitting at a desk all day can be detrimental to a person’s health -- research has linked everything from slower metabolism to spinal injuries to depression to a sedentary lifestyle. But VR could be the answer to this problem.

For starters, VR allows staffers to get up and move around while remaining productive. They can collaborate with and speak to their colleagues while sneaking in a bit of exercise they wouldn’t be able to get otherwise. Or, companies can someday use the technology to make workplace tasks easier on the body by making some controls virtual. These implementations are just the beginning when it comes to bettering a workforce’s health.

6. It’s transforming the face of marketing

It’s a specific niche, but VR is having a particular effect on the marketing world. Now, those within the industry have to consider the technology and how they can use it to improve the promotion of their product or service. It’s a powerful tool, too, since it’s so immersive and gives potential buyers even more of an experience than traditional marketing methods.

Not every marketing firm has made this avenue a priority, though, and that could be a big mistake. If this happens to be your industry, start familiarizing yourself with the types of VR available to consumers and brainstorm how you could use it to your great advantage.

Related: How to Bounce Back After a Business Venture Goes Awry

7. It’s reducing business travel

The only ones who will be unhappy about this one are the airlines that routinely fly businesspeople from one office to another. VR makes it possible for employees to slip on a headset or a pair of goggles and attend in-person meetings without setting foot on an airplane. The face-to-face collaboration will be the same -- the only difference is that it doesn’t take any travel to make it happen. Jetlag, hotel fees and expense reports will become obsolete, too.

Go virtual

The internet completely revolutionized the way we work and play, but that was only the beginning. Virtual reality is on its way to revamp the way we collaborate, communicate and cut down on unneeded business expenses -- in other words, you don’t want to miss out. So, think of ways you can make VR part of your company’s day-to-day tasks and implement them right away. The time to go virtual is now.

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AdSense Alternatives to YouTube Monetization

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In a move that even out-shadowed the whole demonetization controversy of 2017, YouTube announced significant changes to its partner program in early 2018. As a result, many smaller YouTubers got booted from the YouTube Partner Program because they no longer met the new requirements. As a refresher, the new requirements called for at least 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours watched in the last 12 months. And no one was grandfathered into the program either.

It’s through the YouTube Partner Program that video creators could monetize their videos using Google AdSense. This includes the pre-roll video ads and the banner ads shown in the video themselves, among other possible placements. Without this revenue source, many YouTubers felt distraught… but maybe they’re forgetting about all the other opportunities to make money on YouTube too. Here are a few that you may have left on the table (that you should now pick up if you haven’t already).

Amazon Associates

It probably won’t surprise too many of you to learn that many of the people who watch YouTube are interested in what equipment goes into shooting YouTube videos. This is especially the case with vloggers and other channels that target creative professionals (and amateurs and prosumers too).

One of the simplest things to do is to leverage Amazon’s affiliate program and provide links in the video description to the gear that you use. Similarly, you should be including links to any products you mention in the video too, just as I did in the video where I compared different Amazon Kindle versions. If someone is watching a product video, they’re probably interested in buying it.

Patreon

You might remember when I wrote about Patreon in the context of YouTube monetization a few years ago and it’s arguably even more relevant today. The basic idea here is that instead of trying to get money out of sponsors and advertisers, you get money from the people who are watching your content in the first place. It’s a much more direct relationship and Patreon only takes a 5% fee for providing this platform.

Many of the top YouTube channels have taken this approach. Science video channel SciShow, as of this writing, brings in over $20,000 a month from over 5,000 patrons. That’s nothing to sneeze at and even if you have a smaller subscriber base, Patreon can provide a more consistent and predictable source of income that isn’t subject to fickle algorithms.

Affiliate Lead Generation

If you want to talk about the bigger bucks, this is definitely John Chow’s preferred method of making money from YouTub e. To put this all in perspective, his YouTube channel brings in about $1,000 a month in AdSense (as reported for May 2017). His MOBE earnings for the same month was nearly $250,000 and YouTube referrals accounted for almost a third of that. Put another way, the resulting MOBE affiliate earnings beat out his AdSense revenue by about a factor of 70-to-1.

When you position and target your YouTube videos accordingly and partner up with the right big ticket affiliate program, your earning potential can shoot through the roof.

Your Own Products and Services

You’ve got an online business, so why not leverage your YouTube channel to help build and promote that business even further? The natural tie-in would be if you have a specific product to promote. If you just published a new book or launched a new membership site, there’s no reason why you can’t spread the word on YouTube or include a “promotional message” (from yourself) at the beginning or end of your videos to coincide with the launch.

Collaborations and Sponsorships

Influencer marketing is bigger than ever before. It’s a common misconception that brands only want to work with online influencers who have millions of followers. That’s just not the case. Brands are oftentimes better off working with a larger number of influencers with smaller followings to get the most bang out of their marketing buck.

Speaking for myself, I worked with Subaru Canada on a video that showcased the new Impreza at a local event and that was a sponsored video. Similar partnerships, collaborations and sponsorships are available both through influencer networks and by working with brands (and their PR agencies) directly. Don’t be afraid to reach out. There’s no harm in asking.

Of course, there are innumerable other opportunities for making money on YouTube beyond the AdSense alternatives listed here. Do you have any favorites? Share your experiences and insights in the comments below!

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

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Sales Enablement Tools Are the Keys to Making More Money

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Technology has made it easier than ever to optimize the performance of your sales team to drive revenues faster.

July 7, 2018

6 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Over the last several years, many technologies have been developed to help accelerate and automate the sales and marketing functions. First, it was upper funnel tools that help drive customer awareness and consideration through marketing automation. Then came the middle and lower funnel tools that help drive customer evaluation and purchase through sales enablement tools, which I will talk about in this post. These sales enablement tools can make a material difference in helping you drive revenue faster, consistently across your entire sales team.

What is sales enablement?

At the end of the day, sales enablement tools arm your sales team with the content, guidance and training they need to effectively communicate and close buying customers. This includes tools for salesperson training, coaching, content development, communications and customer engagement, coupled with performance analytics reporting designed to best optimize the sales process. Sales enablement is not about your sales operations (e.g., territory management, capacity management, compensation, systems/CRM/CPQ/SPM, sales forecasting, sales reporting, contract management), which is typically managed by an entirely different sales operations team.

Related: 5 Ways Marketing Automation Helps Startups Succeed

What is the goal of sales enablement?

The goal of using sales enablement tools is to set up a scalable and repeatable process to drive revenues, for the entire sales team to follow, anchored by quantifiable metrics and reporting to help prove the ROI of the sales team as a whole, and the individual salespeople therein. It also serves as the bridge between the sales, marketing, product, and brand teams, to ensure the appropriate documents and messaging desired by marketing, is actually being used by the sales team. It is designed to make sure the customers see the most preferred content, at the most preferred times in the sales cycle, mapping to the customer journey and increasing conversion rates in the process. It is also the best tool to create the feedback loop from customers through the sales team back to the product and marketing teams, so they can make the appropriate changes on their end, based on real time customer feedback.

Related: 5 Proven Ways to Get More Customer Reviews On Google and Facebook

Primary use cases

There are really three major functional purposes for sales enablement tools:

• Sales content centralization and optimization. This is all about organizing the sales content (e.g., email templates, decks, case studies, white papers, competitor intelligence) so it is easily searchable by all sales team members, in a consistent format controlled and approved by the marketing department.
• Technologies to automate the process. This is about setting up ways to automate prospecting, triggering automated emails or direct messaging. 
• Sales team reporting and analytics. This is about getting visibility and insights around the sales team’s activities, demos, win rate and leads generated, optimizing the sales process and qualifying leads along the way. It tracks data not only from the sales team (individually and collectively), but from the customers’ engagement with the content (e.g., what content did they read the most in the deck, which email template had the best response, what message most lead to a conversion).

Related: 4 Hacks You Need to Know to Amplify Your B2B Sales

Most desired functinality

Here is a list of the most needed tools within a sales enablement platform:

• Content Template CMS: prebuilt for fast and consistent content creation
• Persona Management: different content for different end users
• Activity Alerts: triggered when prospects take a certain action with content
• Automated Actions: emails automatically triggered when certain actions happen
• User Success Analytics: are salespeople doing what you want them to do
• User Engagement Analytics: which content most used by salesperson and team
• Customer Engagement Analytics: at the customer and aggregate levels
• Content Creation: ability to create content right inside the platform
• Advanced Search: easy to quickly find content by user, type, customer, etc.
• Content Importability: ability to quickly upload your current content into system
• Presentation Support: ability to present live in person, screen share virtually or on mobile
• Content Scoring: which content is most effective to getting a desired outcome
• Machine Learning: system learns over time and makes recommendations

Key performance indicators

These are example metrics that will come out of a sales enablement platform that needs to be optimized, both at the individual and department levels:

• Time to Revenue
• Quota Attainment
• Sales Cycle—Funnel Optimization
• Time Spent Selling (vs. other tasks)
• Content Usage (by sales team and your customers)
• Product Mix (are we selling most desired products)

Expected outcomes

According to the market research firm, Aberdeen, who studied the benefits of companies using sales enablement tools vs. companies that were not, you can expect the following results, on average, by using sales enablement tools:

• 2.2x more effective at linking sales actions to revenues
• 83 percent more effective at improving productivity with technology
• 58 percent more effective at finding, training and retaining sales talent
• 32 percent higher sales team quota attainment
• 24 percent higher individual sales person quota attainment
• 23 percent higher conversion rate

So, as you can see in the above data, sales enablement tools are well worth the investment and should have an immediate payback, if used correctly by sales managers, the sales team and other stakeholders in the business.

Key vendors to consider

There are several key players serving the sales enablement tools market, including Guru, Clearslide and CloudMap. You can get a good overview of the strengths and weaknesses of the various sales enablement vendors in this great market landscape and list of customer reviews from G2 Crowd. In addition, beyond traditional sales enablement tasks, there are many other tools to consider to help accelerate sales, including outbound sales call/email tracking and analytics (from players like Outreach, SalesLoft and Yesware) and sales team coaching and onboarding (from players like Gong, Level 11 and Brainshark). So, research which tools are most needed for your business, and put the most appropriate sales-related technology stack in place.

With sales enablement tools in place, it has never been easier for sales managers to get visibility into what is working and what is not working in their sales process, and training the best of those activities across the full team. And, it has never been easier to get insights from the actions taken by your customers around your content, to optimize what is most likely going to accelerate conversions from your future efforts. So, if you are not using sales enablement tools today, perhaps it is time to start. Especially, if you are a B2B company looking to optimize your outbound sales team.

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The ROI of Social Media (Infographic)

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When you're spending lots of time and money on social media, it's important to know just how much it's helping your brand.

July 7, 2018

2 min read

No matter what business you’re in, social media is a necessity. And when you’re spending time and money building your brand’s social presence, it’s important to know whether these efforts are making an impact.

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

Of course, social media can be tough. But the good news is you’re not alone. A number of professionals admit they don’t know if their social media efforts are actually paying off. According to research by MDG Advertising, 44 percent of CMOs admit they have not been able to measure the impact that social media has had on their business. Not only that, but only 36 percent say they have a good qualitative sense, but not a quantitative one, and a mere 20 percent say they’ve actually managed to quantify social media’s impact. Given these numbers, it’s no wonder marketers say their top challenges are social media related, including difficulty measuring ROI, publishing content and developing a social strategy.

Related: 5 Social Media Tips to Help You Drive Sales

However, with the help of digital tools such as Hootsuite and Google Analytics, tracking social media is a little easier. These tools make it simple to measure engagement, likes and comments. Where people run into trouble though is measuring the actual sales that come from social media. In fact, a whopping 58 percent of brands say they measure engagement but not actual conversions; only 21 percent say they measure conversions.

Related: 4 Tools for Automating and Recycling Social Media Posts

Don’t let these number discourage you though. From increasing exposure to building a loyal fanbase -- your social media strategy may be working, but the actual numbers are not quite clear. However, with the right investments, platforms, employees and data, you’ll be well on your way to understanding social media’s full impact on your business.

To learn more, check out MDG Advertising’s infographic below.

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4 Successful Ways Businesses Need to Adapt to a Growing Hispanic Demographic

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Make sure your brand and message is inclusive.

July 6, 2018

4 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

According to Geoscape, by 2020, over 50.6 percent of the U.S. population growth will be attributed to the Hispanic market.

Small and large corporations alike will be affected by this demographic shift, now and well into the future. Multicultural consumers are driving the growth of the U.S. economy, its employment growth and even upcoming political elections.

As the U.S. Hispanic community matures and becomes part of the mainstream, their household incomes increase and so does their economic class. The projected growth of Hispanic household incomes of $100k+ between 2017–2022 will be +23 vs. +12 percent for non-Hispanics, based on a Geoscape report.

Consumers do not buy products or services; they buy brand experiences. It starts from the first time they visit your website, walk inside your store or even interact with your customer service hotline. You have to be able to fulfill your customers' needs, wants and desires so you can build loyalty, increase retention and turn them into your brand ambassadors.

Here are four helpful tips to gain a new profitable consumer base with Hispanics.

Related: 10 Reasons Why Good Customer Service Is Your Most Important Metric

1. Invest in research. 

Throughout my career, I have encountered many occasions when corporations did not know their Hispanic customer base. They didn't know what percentage they represented, where they were located, what they bought from them, etc.

So, if the upcoming consumer growth will be multicultural, and in particular Hispanics, how can you project revenue growth in your company when you don't know who your customers truly are or whether you are fulfilling their needs?

Qualitative and quantitative researches are the wisest investment you can make.

Related: Steal These 4 Proven Customer-Retention Strategies

2. Be proactive.

I have seen executives who get paralyzed with the decision of moving forward with a Hispanic market initiative. They make excuses such as, "I don't have a budget for this market, it is not a priority as we are content at the present time." Or they say, "Once we hire bilingual employees with a customer service hotline and we convert our marketing materials in multiple languages, then we will start thinking about marketing to Hispanics. "

As Zig Zigler said, "If you wait until all the lights are green before you leave home, you'll never get started on your trip to the top."

You have to start somewhere. Reallocate a portion of your marketing budget to Hispanics. You will obtain a greater ROI.

3. Culture is more important than language. 

The growth of the Hispanic market will come from those born in the USA, bilingual, bi-culture, higher household income, higher level of education.

For many corporations, a Hispanic initiative means targeting to the traditional Spanish-speaking consumers through a partnership with a Hispanic network running translated messages or scripts into Spanish.

But, what about millennials and Generation Z? Diversity youthful is becoming the counterweight of white aging consumers. This is why cultural relevancy is key to engaging with Hispanics. It is not about language, it is about culture and how well you understand it.

English might be their preferred language, but your execution has to appeal to their cultural nuances.

Related: 25 Tips for Earning Customer Loyalty

4. Be inclusive.

You have to have the right diversity representation in your business. If you are in an area where, for example, 20 percent of the people living within a five- to 10-mile radius from your store are Hispanic, what makes you think that you don't need bilingual people on your team?

You must hire accordingly, it will pay off in the long run. I remember talking with a car dealer in Miami who reached out to us because sales where declining for him.

Turns out, his marketing money was only allocated to the Anglo market. Basically, he was only reaching 30 percent of the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale DMA consumer market. That was a big part of his problem.

So, if you really want to be successful with Hispanic consumers, the best investment you can make is in education. Learn who they are, get exposed to their culture and how they interact with your brand.

Start investing in this market today, so you can assure a sustainable growth for your business now and well into the future.

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The Rosinbomb Rocket Is a Panini Press for Weed

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The 13-pound tabletop rosin extractor is designed to squeeze and melt the THC crystals present on the surface of the flower into a solventles.

July 6, 2018

4 min read

Brought to you by Engadget

While medical cannabis is already available in more than half of American states and recreational cannabis nears its cusp of national legalization, cannabis culture still strongly values self-sufficiency. Even though this generation of stoners likely won't have to worry about MacGuyvering their bongs together from household implements or growing their own herb instead of buying it from the corner dispensary, there are still plenty of DIY projects that they can take on.

Related: 9 Business Ideas for People Looking to Cash in on the Marijuana Boom

Dabbing concentrates is often seen as being an efficient and cost-effective means of consuming cannabis. With just a teensy dollop of hash on the head of a nail, tokers can get stonier than a rock garden. But when you're paying anywhere from $60 to $100 a gram for concentrate, those savings don't always add up. What's more, the process of extracting concentrate from the flower itself can involve a number of chemicals that you probably don't want in your body. Of course, you could always make your own. And that's where the Rosinbomb Rocket comes in.

The Squeeze Is On

The Rocket is a $600, 13-pound tabletop rosin extractor designed to squeeze and melt the THC crystals present on the surface of the flower into a solventless, dabbable hash similar to shatter. Think of it as a panini press for weed.

It's super easy to use. Just plug in the Rocket, turn it on and wait a couple minutes for it to heat up to around 200 degrees F. While that's happening, you prepare the flower by setting it between two pieces of heavy duty parchment paper. The press can handle loads from half a gram up to half an ounce. Obviously, the more weed you put in (and the stickier that weed is), the more rosin you'll be able to extract. I found that using full flowers, rather than grinding the plant material beforehand gave the best results.

Once the press reaches the desired temperature, you slide the parchment-shrouded weed between the heated plates and press them together. These plates, driven by a near-silent electric motor, exert more than 1,500 pounds of force, squashing the flowers into a paper-thin puck and causing the liquified rosin to flow out. After around two minutes of pressure and heat, you separate the press plates and remove the flattened sheets. Give them a few minutes to cool down and you've got yourself some high test concentrate perfect for dabbing, vaping or just crumbling over a bowl of looseleaf -- all without the residual hydrocarbons found in most commercial concentrates.

Not for the Casual Producer

While the Rocket is much quieter than presses which rely on hydraulics for pressure, rather than an electric motor, it is purpose-built for home use. You're not going to be able to start your own hash production business just because you pick one of these up. For that, you'll need the industrial-strength $1,800 Rosinbomb M50.

The other stumbling point for the Rocket is its price. This machine is roughly the price of a mid-range dab rig. What's more, you can achieve the same general results, though not nearly as easily or efficiently, with a standard laundry iron and some wax paper.

Related: What Happens When AI Meets a Cannabis Grinder

On the other hand, the Rocket does offer some cost savings. The company's website figures "if you assume $150 per ounce or per 28 grams for flowers, the yield you should anticipate with Rosinbomb is approximately 20 percent or around 5.6 grams of rosin. Given this estimate, the per gram cost of rosin produced with Rosinbomb would be approximately $27 per gram ($150/5.6 grams)."

During testing, I managed to squeeze a surprisingly large amount of oil out of an eighth of weed. Specifically, I used an eighth of 33.7% Chem Dawg from Bloom Farms split into two equally-sized batches, you can see the pressing results in the video above. The resulting puck of plant matter can also be recycled for use in edibles or budder. There is very little waste involved in this process and virtually zero chance that you'll blow up your garage if something goes wrong. That's more than I can say about supercritical CO2 extractions.

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Are You Rich and Don't Even Know It?

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July 6, 2018

4 min read

This story originally appeared on Due

What does it mean to be "rich?” Does it mean an ability to afford basic needs like a home, clothing and food? Is it an arbitrary earning rate, like $100,000 per year or $1 million per year? Is richness measured by how much money you have in the bank? While there may not be a clear answer to what makes someone rich, many people do try to categorize us by earnings, assets and other measures.

One common way to look at your wealth is to compare yourself to others. That often comes in the form of “keeping up with the Joneses,” or feeling bad if you can’t. Some recent studies showed the average income in some of America’s biggest cities, and where the top and bottom incomes are found in the United States. Let’s dive in to see how you compare and the answer to the pressing question: are you rich?

Top 50 percent income rates

Depending on where you live, the mid-level income varies widely. The highest average income in the country is Silicon Valley, with a top 50 percent threshold of $110,000 per year. That’s right! You need to make six figures just to reach the median income in The Valley. Nearby San Francisco has the next highest average income at $96,700 per year, according to Census Bureau data.

But if you can live anywhere on your income and want to feel rich, consider a move to America’s Southeast. In New Orleans, you only need to make $48,800 per year to join the top half of incomes. Nearby Memphis is another city where you can be in the top 50 percent below $50,000 year, with a $49,800 income putting you square in the middle.

Those are the extremes of metro areas in the United States for 2016. The infographic compiled by how much shows that the vast majority of cities require an income in the $60,000 to $80,000 range to reach the top half of incomes.

This income breakdown also helps to show why some cities are more attractive than others. Why would someone move to Washington D.C. where you have to earn over $95,000 per year to join the top half when you could move to Atlanta, not far away and a lot more affordable? In Atlanta, $62,600 per year puts you in the upper 50 percent of incomes.

Compare your total income to the chart above to see if you land in the top half of income earners in your city, or if you need to hustle to earn a little more to join the top half.

Can moving make you rich?

Here’s an interesting question to ask yourself. If you are not self-employed, could you move to a new city in search of wealth? If you make the average income in a low paying city, would moving to a higher average income city lead to a raise? The answer is maybe.

In my own experience, I was able to move to a new city and get a 40 percent raise in the process. Much of that, however, was due to a new MBA, working with a high-quality recruiter, and changing from a low paying industry to a highly profitable one. But in some cases, if you have the right skills you can absolutely do the same. Just keep in mind that you may be able to get a raise in your current hometown before you uproot and move to a high-income city that may also cost a lot more in comparison to where you live today.

Are you rich already?

Nearly a decade ago, I had a lively debate with another personal finance blogger about what makes someone rich, or at least upper class. He argued that a $100,000 income in San Francisco does not mean it is easy to get by. That may be true, but it could just be a matter of how you are trying to get by. Perhaps you have let lifestyle inflation take you into a more expensive living situation than you can really afford, but that does not make you poor.

Maybe you are rich. Compare your standard of living to that in other parts of your city, other parts of the country, and other parts of the world. If you have a high income and still struggle with the bills, stop looking at your neighbors and start looking at your budget. If you manage your money right, you may be able to live a rich lifestyle on what you make today. If you can find happiness living within your means, you are on the right track for a lifetime of happiness and success.

(By Eric Rosenberg)

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South OC Cars and Coffee San Clemente – Stay Humble

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At this week’s South Orange County Cars and Coffee, I check out a lot of exotic sports car, included a riced out McLaren 540 with 50HP worth of stickers, fake hood scoops, musical unicorn horn, leopard patten seat covers, and it claims its a 4×4 because it has the badge to prove it. Stay humble!

Click Here To Download John Chow’s New eBook, The Ultimate Online Profit Model!

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5 Stylish Heels for Work That Are Also Super Comfortable

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Yes, they do exist.

July 6, 2018

6 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

We’ve all been there: rushing to the office with sneakers on, a cup of coffee in one hand, a pair heels in the other and a box of Band-Aids in your bag. But is there a better solution? Absolutely -- and it involves just one pair of shoes: comfortable heels. (Yes, there is such a thing.)

We scoured the world wide web to find heels that are not only stylish but also pleasant to wear...and maybe even run in. Fashionable and functional, these shoes prove beauty doesn’t have to be painful.

Here are the five best heels to wear to work.

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Banana Republic’s Madison 12-Hour Pump

Image credit: Banana Republic | Entrepreneur

What we love: Like the name claims, you can wear these pumps for 12 (or more) pain-free hours. Its “Exclusive Padding System” has memory foam and a cushioned insole that will make a standing desk actually enjoyable. The Madison 12-Hour Pump also has injected insoles for heel stability to protect you from twisting an ankle and are reportedly skid-resistant, meaning they are safe for rain or shine, sleet or snow. With a breathable synthetic lining, you can wear these shoes even on the hottest of days and not worry about your feet smelling anything less than fresh.

Bonus points: Need shoes for a work event ASAP? You can reserve these shoes online and they will hold them for you in store, same day. Oh, and they also come in a variety of styles.

Heel height: 3”

Colors: Black leather, Pink Sundown Suede and Harbor Blue Suede

Size availability: 5-12, whole and half sizes.

Cost: $128

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Everlane’s Day Heel

Image credit: Everlane | Entrepreneur

What we love: The two-inch chunky heel is just high enough to lift and lengthen while still allowing you to run to your meetings in graceful fashion. While most leather pumps have a hard backing that tear up your feet, the Everlane Day Heel is backed with soft elastic, so you can walk all over town, blister free. Ranging from bright red to pale pink and olive, they come in 14 shades so you can find what color works for you. Accidental coffee spill? They can easily be spot cleaned with a cloth. Plus, customer’s claim they “feel like butter!”

Bonus points: Everlane only uses the best, ethical factories to create their products. It believes in radical transparency and breaks down the pricing to customers to show exactly what each step of the process costs. And for the Everlane Day Heel, it costs the company cost $61 to make a pair of these heels, with Everlane stating a typical retailer would hike the price to $305. Everlane labels the heels at a reasonable $145.

Heel height: 2”

Colors: Black Suede, Natural Suede, Navy Suede, Cognac Suede, Red Suede, Pink Suede, Blue Suede, Olive Suede, Black Soft Leather, Bright Red Soft Leather, Pale Rose Soft Leather, Oxblood Soft Leather, Taupe Patent and Slate Patent

Size availability: 5-11

Cost: $145

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Marion Parke’s Mitchell Heel

Image credit: Marion Parke | Entrepreneur

What we love:  Your doctor will approve of these shoes -- literally. Designed by Marione Parke, a surgical podiatrist, these shoes are designed to make your feet both feel and look good. A sexy spin on a classic Mary Jane, the Mitchell stiletto heel is lined with medical-grade material that will mold to your foot over time. The patent-pending insole follows the natural contour of the bottom of your foot to ensure maximum comfort and support. For those skeptical about “comfort” shoes, Parke ensures that the Mitchell Heel is a “fashion shoe first.” Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Glamour, and Elle have all proclaimed Marion Parke as one of the healthiest luxury footwear out there.

Bonus points: Though they cost a pretty penny, these shoes are worth it. Produced at the same factory as top luxury footwear brands like Jimmy Choo, Mui Mui, and Isabel Marant, these shoes are about the best quality money can buy.

Heel height: 3.3”

Colors: Black, Dusty Pink, Stone, Malbec, Denim, Cocoa

Size availability: 5-11, half and whole sizes.

Cost: $650

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RockPort’s Total Motion Pointed Toe Pump

Image credit: RockPort | Entrepreneur

What we love: If a running shoe and a stiletto had a baby, it would be the RockPort Total Motion Pointed Toe Pump. Built with trueTech technology and packed with retention foam, these ultra-feminine pumps are shock absorbent and perfect for anyone with shin splints or knee pain. A molded heel helps with impact resistance. The midsole plate is made of polyurethane to help you walk with stability, despite a 3-inch stiletto. They come in over 15 colors and styles, so there’s a shoe for everyone.

Bonus points: You don’t have to worry about avoiding any puddles. Crafted from full-grain leather, these shoes are easy to maintain. Give them a quick wipe down and they will be good as new.

Heel height: 3”

Colors: Black Leather, Black Suede, Black Patent Leather, Bronzo Pearl Patent, Burnt Orange, Sapphire Pearl Patent, Ocean, Floral, Merlot, Taupe Grey Pear Patent, White Assylum, Rose Gold, Navy Floral Textile

Size availability: 5-11

Cost: $120

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Stuart Weitzman’s Mira Mule

Image credit: Stuart Weitzman | Entrepreneur

What we love: While these shoes may make a temporary dent in your bank account, Stuart Weitzman is a celebrity go-to shoe brand -- and rightfully so. When creating a shoe, Weitzman puts 50 percent focus on engineering for comfort, and 50 percent designing for style. Elle even claims they are “surprisingly comfortable to walk in.” Perfect for long nights on the red-carpet, or long days in the office, the shoes are made with strong soles and sturdy heels. With the Mira Mule, you don’t have to worry about the time-consuming straps on sandals or uncomfortable backings on closed-toe pumps. Just slide your feet right in and walk out the door. With a sexy stiletto heel, these shoes are the perfect boost to your height, and ego.

Bonus points: If the price tag makes you reluctant, think of these shoes as an investment piece. They are extra durable and will last awhile, making them a smart investment if you’re looking to up your wardrobe.

Heel height: 2.5”

Colors: Black, Off-White, Green, Pimento Red, Dandelion Yellow, Dolce Taupe, Asphalt Gray, Dovetail Blue Gray, Leopard Gray

Size availability: 4-11, half and whole sizes, narrow, medium, and wide.

Cost: $455

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