Craig Wolfe is the owner of CelebriDucks, the original creator of the first ever collectible celebrity rubber duck. Craig’s ducks include some of the greatest icons of film, music, athletics, and history. In this interview, learn how Craig took an idea of making rubber ducks that looked like celebrities and grew it into a business that to date, has created over 200 different CelebriDucks and pioneered a whole new collectible.

CelebriDucks are so unique. How did you come up with the idea?

At the time I was the largest publisher of artwork from television commercials in the country having created the first ever animation art lines for Coca-Cola, Anheuser-Bush, M&M/Mars, etc. But a friend, a little drunk, had this idea of making rubber ducks that looked like celebrities…and I thought why not!….I mean we didn’t create the Coke Bears or Bud Frogs, etc..so how cool would it be to have our own brand…and a very fun and whimsical one at that!

How did you turn this idea into a business?

Well, I had no idea how to do this kind of manufacturing as I was a publisher. But I eventually found a factory to make a Betty Boop for us. I chose Betty as I had called King Features and spoke to their director of licensing, Ita Golzman, a wonderful woman. I could tell speaking to her on the phone that she thought I was a bit out there but suggested I make one and get back in touch, figuring she’ll never hear from me again. Surprise!…I actually found this factory to make a prototype and sent it to her. I came in one morning and there was a message that she got the duck and thought it was very cute and wanted to talk…and the rest as they say, is history!

When the Philadelphia 76ers read about us a few years later, they asked us to do Allan Iverson complete with all his tattoos, cornrows, earring, etc., I knew it would be quite the challenge. But we did it. And honestly, when we got done with it, it looked more like him than he did! The event was a huge success and then all these other professional sports teams came calling. At that point, I felt it was time to sell off the animation side of the business and become all ducks!!

Your ducks include everything from college sports teams to various celebrities. How do you decide who is going to get a rubber duck created from their likeness?

You know a lot of people contact us, but we don’t always come to a financial arrangement that seems right so we might walk away. Most often we just look at classic characters that we like…people and universities we want to work with. We probably turn down 90% of the people who want to be part of our line. It’s just so much work…like 4-6 months to do a duck. The level of detail in our sculpting, painting and packaging is off the charts and is a lot of hard work so we try to choose carefully.

What is the next step after deciding on a likeness? For example, for the Michael Jackson Thriller duck, what legalities are involved before the duck is created?

Once we decide on someone, it’s a matter of working out licensing agreements. The one with Michael was interesting. It was such a huge hit for us. I actually worked with Michael when he was working on His Black and White album and I was marketing the artwork for The California Raisins. Michael loved his raisin statue. Then a few years ago I started working with him again with his agency in Europe. After his passing, I contacted them again and they were very happy for us to finish up what we had all started. Sadly, they lost the rights to a US group and thus we lost the rights. So once that first edition sold out, that was it. People still ask us for them all the time as it was one of our most popular ducks ever. Hopefully, one day we’ll work things out with the new agency.

How long does it take to go from rubber duck idea to a finished rubber duck ready for sale?

I would say around four months is the fastest. We spent nine months on The Wizard of Oz! Honestly, if I knew how complicated it was to make one duck; I don’t think I would ever have gotten into it. I mean I absolutely love it now, but what a learning curve!

You have now ventured in the Green market with The Green Gram. Which includes Mr. Green, the world’s first rubber duck made from 100% recycled material. The Green Gram was also named one of the Top 100 Gifts by Entertainment Weekly. What made you decide to add a Green line?

Actually, all our ducks won that award from Entertainment Weekly. For Mr. Green, well, people were asking us if we could do a “green duck for a long time and it seemed like a good thing to do. But wow, this may have been the most difficult duck we ever did. We had to use a whole different type of mold….and working with recycled material is so tricky. But it’s one of our top selling products and the only 100% recycled duck in the world. I’m not sure anyone else is even going to attempt it to be honest. And the soap that is handmade for us one bar at a time of an elderly lady in the mid-west is amazing…it’s our own scent and it’s fantastic and really is great for any skin type….so it’s been a very cool project.

Tell us about your Chocolate line that includes the Cocoa Canard rubber duck.

Well, I love chocolate. And we didn’t see any chocolate themed rubber ducks out there, so we came out with our Cocoa Canard. (Canard is French for duck by the way). We also came up with this line of high end Belgian chocolate that has our signature duck logos on each piece. Then we designed matching French chocolate shop packaging for the duck and chocolates. And then we designed this Canard Gram stationary. So someone can send a gift of our rubber duck, Belgian duck chocolates, and a personalized note to anyone anywhere in the country….it’s just such a fun and unique gift.

Do you create custom rubber ducks for customers?

This is a huge part of what we do here. We do them for NBA, NHL, MLB teams plus universities. We also do them Fortune 500 companies. If you go to the custom duck section on our website you can see a sampling of what we have done. It’s quite extensive and we’re always working on new ones. We just finished a very large one for a top Malaysian rock band, plus our new ones for Kikkoman and SeaWorld arrive this week!

What advice would you give someone that has an idea for a massed produced item?

Do a lot of research! Really make sure you have the right manufacturing partners and start slow and really test your idea. I of course did none of that so it can also work when you do it all wrong!! But they say hindsight is 20/20 and I’ve definitely learned a lot. But maybe one of the reasons why I was able to survive and learn from my mistakes is that I always tried to keep my overhead low and try not to spend money stupidly. I also realized early on that we had something different and unique here so I was willing to stick with it long enough to allow it to take root….patience, grasshopper!

Is there anything you would like to add?

Yes, in the end, it’s great to find something you can do as a job and feel passionate about every day. I feel very grateful for that. But it’s good to also know that no business can ultimately fulfill you. Your ultimate goals have to do a little deeper. For me understanding more about spiritual matters, love, compassion, and taking the time to set up my business such that my estate passes to a non-profit are very important. If you aren’t using your life to learn more about yourself and more about what you can do for others, it doesn’t matter how successful your business is…you will never really succeed as a human being….if anything…a good business gives us the foundation and means to make better choices in life.

For information about Craig and CelebriDucks visit http://www.celebriducks.com
Follow CelebriDucks on Twitter at http://twitter.com/celebriducks
Become a Facebook Friend at http://www.facebook.com/CelebriDucks

Julie Barnes is the author is this post. Julie is excited to be living in Generation E – the age of the Entrepreneur. As a writer, she enjoys writing about all aspects of the entrepreneurial journey. She enjoys interviewing entrepreneurs whose experience and wisdom can inspire others to follow their entrepreneurial dreams. Julie lives and works in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park, KS with her husband Ron, lovable dog Hank, and sweet kitten Sammy. You can visit her site at www.julieabarnes.com. Follow Julie on Twitter at @JulieBarnesKS. Become a Facebook friend at Julie Barnes.

This is the tenth in a series of interviews with Etsy entrepreneurs.

Marisa Haedike is the artist behind Creative Thursday, an online art boutique. Marisa started Creative Thursday while still working in the corporate world. An artist at heart, Marisa designated Thursday as her creative outlet day. Creative Thursday has grown into a full-time business that includes artwork, children’s books, podcasts, workshops, e-courses, and an Esty shop. In this interview, learn how Marisa went from the 9 to 5 grind to thriving artist.

How did you begin to build your business?

I began podcasting in 2006 and was encouraged to start a blog as a way to promote the podcast. I was hesitant to start a blog because I had not been much of a journaler, but I discovered I could use the blog as a way to do these daily paintings. I learned about daily paintings in a magazine article when Domino magazine was still around. They where featuring these artist, who were doing daily paintings and using their blogs to post them. That inspired me in as a way that I could express my creativity. I could put art work up on the blog without doing much writing and also promote the podcast that I was doing. What came out of the daily paintings was a new art style. There is something to be said for setting down and making yourself create every day. Things happen. Things evolve. I developed these characters. I was having so much fun painting and they started to sell. My work before was more collage based. A little bit more abstract and impressionistic. I started working on these characters, and they really took hold.

When did you start selling on Etsy?

The success of my new art style, this is what led me to Etsy.

How have you grown your business into the success it is?

With minimal advertising on my part, aside from contributing to the online world, letting people know I was there, and having my work shown at Velocity Art and Design, along with the few wholesale locations I had. That was it. That in itself is pretty amazing. I had no budget for advertising, so everything I did was self generated.

As a creative entrepreneur, how do you structure your day/week?

The first thing I’m trying to implement is limiting my online time. I check email twice a day. I’m also the kind of person who finds it helpful to stay in one mode for a period of time, to really get the momentum going. I try to do my shipping and preparation for shipping all on the same day, so I’m in shipping mode. If I’m in creative mode, I will set aside a day for painting. If I’m in teaching mode, I will set aside the day to focus on the classes that I am teaching and sharing information. I also try to work around my own personal time clock. I tend to have lulls in the afternoon, so I’ll work in the mornings and later in the evenings.

Do you miss anything about having to go to a j.o.b.?

No, of course there are times when knowing what my paycheck is going to be at the end of the week would be very helpful. Other than that, nothing really. I’m fortunate to live in Los Angeles. I have enough of a community. I have a lot of creative people that I can see in person, which ironically, the more that I’m online, the more I realize how valuable in-person relationships are. Ultimately, that can never be replaced. I have a sense of community, so the coworker I don’t miss because I see people.

What advice would you give new artist?

Love what you do!

For more information on Marisa and Creative Thursday’s visit http://www.creativethursday.com/
Visit Marisa’s Etsy Shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/creativethursday
Follow the Creative Thursday blog at http://creativethursday.typepad.com/
Check out Marisa’s e-course’s at http://www.creativethursday.com/teaching.htm
Follow Marissa on Twitter at http://twitter.com/creativethurs
Become a Facebook friend at http://www.facebook.com/people/Marisa-Cummings-Haedike/1003524340

Julie Barnes is the author is this post. Julie is excited to be living in Generation E – the age of the Entrepreneur. As a writer, she enjoys writing about all aspects of the entrepreneurial journey. She enjoys interviewing entrepreneurs whose experience and wisdom can inspire others to follow their entrepreneurial dreams. Julie lives and works in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park, KS with her husband Ron, lovable dog Hank, and sweet kitten Sammy. You can visit her site at www.julieabarnes.com. Follow Julie on Twitter at @JulieBarnesKS. Become a Facebook friend at Julie Barnes.

Giancarlo Massaro was up watching late night TV when he saw an infomercial pitching a product. It was while watching the infomercial that Giancarlo came up with the idea for AnyLukyDay, a daily contest website that operates as an advertising space to promote companies’ products and services through giveaways. In this interview, learn how Giancarlo is providing each of his clients a unique, fun and exciting 24-hour advertising campaign on AnyLuckyDay.

Tell us about AnyLuckyDay and how you came up with this unique idea?

The unique idea for AnyLuckyDay came about in December 2008. I had built and sold many websites leading up to my freshman year of college, but I decided to take a year off to focus on school. In December of my sophomore year, I was watching TV late one night trying to think of ideas for another website and that’s when I saw an infomercial pitching a product. I thought, “wouldn’t it be cool if I could test these products out before I had to buy them?” With a little tweaking of my initial idea, AnyLuckyDay was born.

AnyLuckyDay is a daily contest website that operates as an advertising space to promote companies’ products and services through giveaways. Every day, thousands of companies are searching for new and unique ways to advertise that are different than a traditional one-way advertising campaign. AnyLuckyDay does just that, providing each of its clients with a unique, fun and exciting 24-hour advertising campaign that includes a product giveaway, a custom “product-pitching” video created by me, and multiple posts on our Twitter and Facebook accounts. Clients also receive viral exposure as our users share the giveaway with their social networks in order to receive extra entries. It’s a great atmosphere because our users get to learn about new companies and they receive the chance to win their products, which creates an interactive experience for both the client and the customer.

How does the process work?

AnyLuckyDay works on a ‘one giveaway a day’ schedule. Every 24 hours we feature a new company and giveaway one (or many) of their products. Giveaways run from 12:00AM EST to 11:59PM EST. Winners are picked at random at the conclusion of each giveaway.

For contestants looking to enter the daily giveaways, they simply have to read the daily contest and watch the video on the homepage. Next, they must click the blue ‘Visit Sponsor’ button to check out the sponsor’s site because after all, they are giving everyone a chance to win their product. Finally, clicking the orange ‘Comment’ button and posting a comment will secure their entry into the giveaway.

For companies interested in taking advantage of the unique advertising service that AnyLuckyDay provides, they can view our booking calendar to purchase a day to be featured. Once a day is booked, we will work with the company to plan out their campaign.

How do you promote the product or service?

Every product or service is promoted on the homepage of AnyLuckyDay through a blog post as well as a custom ‘product-pitching’ video. In addition, multiple posts are made on our Twitter and Facebook accounts. Throughout the day, our users also share the daily giveaway with their social networks in order to receive extra entries, which allows it to go viral.

What types of product or service gets the most response?

I’ve been doing this for almost two years now and here is what I have found. Electronic items tend to always do well, as well as jewelry, apparel and unusual gadgets. I’ve started to shy away from promoting services because they do not get as good of a response as I would like them to. Surprisingly, food items have done well too, with a giveaway from Snyder’s of Hanover attracting over 600 contestants.

How has using video on your site helped in the sites growth?

Using video has helped AnyLuckyDay grow tenfold since I started it in January 2009. First, I feel that the video aspect adds a personal touch to the site, so people can actually see who is behind AnyLuckyDay and who is operating the giveaways. Second, using video allows for people to learn about the companies that support AnyLuckyDay and provide people with all the great giveaways. The great thing about video is that it can easily be shared with friends and family and reposted anywhere, which has allowed for more and more people to check out AnyLuckyDay.

What did you learn during the start up phase?

Don’t expect to turn an idea into an overnight success because it just won’t happen. I had so many great ideas in the beginning and felt that with a few weeks of hard work, I would be seeing green, and a whole lot of it. That wasn’t the case. In fact, AnyLuckyDay made no money for an entire year, but I kept on pushing. I worked 12-14 hour days, I stayed in on weekends when friends were out partying, and I even worked during my college classes (sorry mom).

What advice would you give aspiring entrepreneurs?

If you have an idea and you want it to succeed, be ready to pump all of your time and effort into it. You need to be passionate about it and truly believe in it. You will work longer hours than a normal 9-5 job, but that’s the life of an entrepreneur. You won’t make your first million overnight either, so if long hours and making little to no money is not for you, then don’t be an entrepreneur. I will tell you this though, there is no greater feeling than working so hard for something and seeing it finally succeed.

Is there anything you would like to add?

You can check out AnyLuckyDay at http://anyluckyday.com. You can follow us on Twitter @anyluckyday, or ‘Like’ us on Facebook at http://facebook.com/anyluckydaycontests

Julie Barnes is the author is this post. Julie is excited to be living in Generation E – the age of the Entrepreneur. As a writer, she enjoys writing about all aspects of the entrepreneurial journey. She enjoys interviewing entrepreneurs whose experience and wisdom can inspire others to follow their entrepreneurial dreams. Julie lives and works in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park, KS with her husband Ron, lovable dog Hank, and sweet kitten Sammy. You can visit her site at www.julieabarnes.com. Follow Julie on Twitter at @JulieBarnesKS. Become a Facebook friend at Julie Barnes.

This is the ninth in a series of interviews with Etsy entrepreneurs.

After pounding the pavement trying to get her line of pillows into brick and mortar shops, Julia Duncan-Roitman decided that the time and money did not balance out. Julia found the perfect solution in an Etsy shop. In this interview, learn how Julia opened Pink Baby Mouse Shop, where which sells her unique line of cone dog pillows.

What brought you to become an Etsy shop owner?

I had a few false starts creating my own line and trying to sell it wholesale and consignment through pounding the pavement hitting up brick and mortar shops. I could never make the time and money balance out between the design, production, marketing and selling all by myself. Etsy is the perfect solution; I make things to order and sell directly to customers totally cutting out the process of dealing with stores. I also sell to stores wholesale directly from my site. They find me; I don’t have to go to them.

How do you market your business?

That is another advantage of Etsy, they do most of the marketing for me! People come across my pillows because of the tags that I use for my items, sometimes my items make it to the front page where I get thousands of views, other Etsians include my items in treasuries, the Etsy Storque blog has featured my pillows and they have been featured in gift guides. Bloggers include my pillows in their posts through finding them on Etsy. Last year Heather Armstrong put my cone dog pillow in her 2008 holiday gift guide on www.dooce.com and really jump-started my whole business. At the time I had only sold a couple of pillows and was just making them as a hobby. All of a sudden my store was completely sold out; I re-listed the items and they sold out again and again and again. Within 2 days I had to figure out pillow and fabric wholesalers and a shipping solution. I am also a member of the New New York Etsy Street Team and we have a blog, Facebook page and hold sales events twice a year.

How has social networking helped your business? What have you found works best for your store?

I always post my new items on my Facebook page and on twitter. Friends and members of my street team re-tweet my posts and I for them, to expand viewership. I do get sales this way but I always feel kind of weird selling to friends and family, I always try to give them the item for free and then they refuse, etc. It’s kind of awkward; I prefer selling to strangers.

What is your favorite part of being an Etsy store owner?

I enjoy working totally on my own terms. I set my price, deal directly with my customers and design completely to my own aesthetic. I can experiment and make one of a kind items, so I don’t get bored. I also love working on the Internet; I’m not very good at “selling myself” in person but I can write decent copy and take decent photos of my work.

What are some of the ways that you find Etsy helps in your success as a store owner?

Etsy has been so supportive of me. My first sale was from an Etsy staff member and as I mentioned above they regularly include me in their gift guides, blog articles and treasuries. They even brought my pillows on a segment of LXTV on WNBC in December. I did holiday art show with them in December and I met lots of the staff and they were all so nice and eager to learn how they could improve the site.

What advice would you give new Etsians just starting out?

One of the draw backs of Etsy is the dearth of items one has to weed through in order to buy or sell successfully. I think you need to have a distinct point of view and really form a strong identity so that you stand out. I am known for my cone dog pillows. It’s weird but it’s distinct.

How did you come up with your shop name?

Pink Baby Mouse Shop comes from my first job, which was breeding mice and selling the babies back to the pet store. I would get ten cents per baby mouse.

How do you brand yourself to make your shop unique?

It never occurred to me to brand myself but I try to stay consistent in my design aesthetic, simple bold graphic, colorful, whimsical, funny off-beat. I think this is what makes my pieces recognizable and unique.

Do you feel a sense of community among the Etsy shop owners?

Definitely amongst the members of my Etsy street team. In fact, I am about four months away from opening up my own brick and mortar shop in Brooklyn and I am using my fellow New New York Etsy teammates as vendors in my shop. Some of them will be collaborating with me in designing and producing unique items for the shop and some of them will be my wholesalers. I can spend hours looking through the shops on Etsy; there are some amazing items for sale, it’s very inspiring. Fellow Etsians are very supportive of one another; I have done trades with several of them.

How do you connect with your buyers?

I don’t get too much into that; I used to do a hand written thank you note with every purchase but it felt a little desperate. I now package my pillows as professionally as possible in a cellophane sleeve with a printed hang- tag and thank you note with my logo designed and produced by a fellow Etsian.

Julie Barnes is the author is this post. Julie is excited to be living in Generation E – the age of the Entrepreneur. As a writer, she enjoys writing about all aspects of the entrepreneurial journey. She enjoys interviewing entrepreneurs whose experience and wisdom can inspire others to follow their entrepreneurial dreams. Julie lives and works in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park, KS with her husband Ron, lovable dog Hank, and sweet kitten Sammy. You can visit her site at www.julieabarnes.com. Follow Julie on Twitter at @JulieBarnesKS. Become a Facebook friend at Julie Barnes.

Let’s face it! Starting and running a business can be tuff. We eat, sleep, and drink our businesses. But, what happens when a business fails? Do we take the lessons learned and move forward or do we give up on our dreams of running a successful business? Unfortunately, failure can be looked upon as a negative thing to the outside person looking in, but entrepreneurs are a tuff breed. This got me thinking, how DO entrepreneurs handle failure. To find out, I interviewed some entrepreneurs who have turned their business failures into a business success.

Brian Cristiano, CEO of 24DP, an advertising agency http://www.24dp.com said, “I started 24DP as a commercial production company and as the economy weekend the advertising agencies that we depended on for work dried up. We made the bold decision to become an advertising agency ourselves and compete with the very people who were giving us our business. It was the best and most profitable decision we have ever made.” Follow 24DP on Twitter at http://twitter.com/24dp.

Danny Wong, Lead Evangelist of Blank Label, empowering you to be your own dress shirt designer http://www.blank-label.com said, “One failure I have had as an entrepreneur is in building a business that didn’t work. Before Blank Label made co-create dress shirts and was featured in the NY Times, Business Week and other media outlets, we were a custom tailor shop supplying suits and dress shirts, very basic bespoke products. But that business wasn’t scalable because we needed a large team of sales people who would be client representatives managing local clients. But finding reliable people was hard, the hardest thing we’ve ever done, so instead we scrapped that business, asked our tailors to do something different, and we decided to create the co-created dress shirt.” Follow Blank Label on Twitter at http://twitter.com/blanklabel.

Woody Hunt, Owner of Woody’s Books, Inc., one of the largest independent book sellers on the Internet http://www.woboinc.com. Woody started a company name BookSku in 2005 and it was a failure. After failing with BookSku, Woody learned valuable lessons about competitors, margins, integration and other areas of concern for new businesses. Since his first attempt in 2005, Woody was able to try again and create a new, successful business model. Now, he is using the tools and knowledge gained from the past 5 years for SkillCount http://www.skillcount.com, his newest venture. Woody said, “my new venture is SkillCount.com and I have taken learning experience one step further: 1) New concept. 2) Margin can be set by me, not determined by partners or the market. 3) Almost no integration points (other than well-defined social network APIs).4) Under girding built for massive scalability.” Follow SkillCount on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/SkillCount.

Rachell Coe, Owner of 4 the Grapes, a photography, marketing, and design business providing services to small wineries and vineyards http://www.4thegrapes.com said, “About 6 years ago, I started a business called Love Your Wedding Site where I designed wedding websites. I put everything I had into this — time, money and even borrowed a TON of money from my parents. It was one of those things where I felt if I could just sink the money I needed into it, I KNEW it would be a success . . . and it wasn’t. What made this failure so devastating is that I had felt, with every fiber of my being, that it would be a success. So to have it fail really shook my confidence and faith in myself. If I could be so wrong about that business, how could I ever trust myself again? I decided to just be a mom for a while and threw myself into volunteering at my son’s school (at the time they were 6 & 7) and trying to figure out what I should do next. With my youngest still in Kindergarten, if I tried to get a regular, full-time job, it would have to pay enough to cover child care along with what we needed to survive — and in my town, even mediocre paying jobs were hard to come by. So here I was, stressing out all the time about money, trying to get my husband’s paycheck to stretch enough to pay our bills and going even further in debt using credit cards to pay for things his paycheck couldn’t. After doing this for about a year, my husband saw a webmaster position offered by a large winery in our area and I put everything I had into my resume . . . and got the job. While there, I fell in love with the whole winemaking process and learned so much that after a year and half (in 2005), I was able to leave the winery and start my own design business focusing on small wineries and vineyards. And it has been amazingly successful! As well as design, I now provide photography and marketing services and am actually a speaker at the first Southern Oregon Wine Conference — I will be giving a 45 minute presentation on Making Your Website Work Much Harder For You. And please keep in mind that I am still able to work from home so I can be there for my sons (who are now teenagers and need supervision more than ever )After the failure of my wedding site business, I never thought I’d be successful and was fated for a dead end job and barely getting by. So I can’t tell you how blessed I feel to have fallen into the wine industry like I did and for the strength needed to try my own business again. I am truly grateful.” Follow 4 the Grapes on Twitter at http://twitter.com/WineryMarketing.

For more inspiration on failing forward, visit Failure Magazine at http://failuremag.com. Failure magazine was co-founded by Editor Jason Zasky. Failure Magazine is an online magazine covering historical and current stories large and small on failure. Failure magazine is a useful and interesting resource for not only entrepreneurs, but anyone trying to failure forward to success. Follow Failure Magazine on Twitter at http://twitter.com/failuremag.

Julie Barnes is the author is this post. Julie is excited to be living in Generation E – the age of the Entrepreneur. As a writer, she enjoys writing about all aspects of the entrepreneur journey. She enjoys interviewing entrepreneurs whose experience and wisdom can inspire others to follow their entrepreneurial dreams. Julie lives and works in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park, KS with her husband Ron and lovable dog Hank. You can visit her site at www.julieabarnes.com. Follow Julie on Twitter at @JulieBarnesKS. Become a Facebook friend at Julie Barnes.

Lani Hay served in the US Navy as an Intelligence Officer and Aviator Continue Reading

Have you been dreaming of being an entrepreneur? Maybe you want to earn a little extra money and have been thinking about starting a side business. But what will you do?

The easiest way to start a business is by using skills that you already possess. These could be skills that you gained from working in corporate America, or maybe you have a talent that you could use to build a business.

Here are seven ideas to help you break into entrepreneurship:

1. Virtual Assistant – A virtual assistant is an assistant that works from their home office providing services, such as, database management, Sales and Marketing support, Word Processing, and Desktop publishing to clients all over the world. The internet doubled with the online programs available today allows a virtual assistant to work from anywhere. For more information on becoming a VA check out www.ivaa.org.

2. eBay Trading Assistant – As an eBay Trading Assistant, you will make money selling other people’s stuff. A lot people don’t have the time to research what an item from their attic is currently selling for, to answer buyer’s questions, and monitor the auction item. This is where the eBay Trading Assistant comes in. For more information on becoming an eBay Trading Assistant check out http://pages.ebay.com/tahub/index.html.

3. Information Marketer – Selling E-books is a great way to earn extra money. Many information marketers have turned selling information into a full-time business. People love to read “How To” Books covering topics like saving money and time. You simply write and format the book in Microsoft Word. Be sure to edit the book. Having an extra set of eyes read the final product is also a great idea. Once the book is edited then save it as a down-loadable PDF. You are now ready to market the book. For more information on how to create an e-book check out www.ebooks-made-easy.com.

4. Direct Sales – Do you enjoy selling? Maybe you use a product line that you love from one of the many direct sales companies. Why not become a distributor so that every time you share what products you use from the company you can make a commission on the sales that result. There are many great direct sales companies that offer product lines, such as, makeup, skin care, nutrition, pet care, baby items, gift items, kitchenware, and many more. For more information on direct sales check out www.dsa.org.

5. Tutor – Do you enjoy math or English? How about teaching? There are many kids who could use a great tutor to help them improve their grades. This is a business that you could do at night, on the weekend, or you could work for a tutor agency. For more information on starting your own tutor business check out www.tutor.com.

6. Etsy Crafter – Do you sew, knit, crochet, paint, or design? Maybe you’re always making a gift for that special family member. Why not turn this hobby into a business using Etsy as your platform. Etsy makes it easy to start an Etsy shop. For more information about Etsy check out www.etsy.com.

7. Music Instructor – The success of American Idol and Guitar Hero has inspired countless kids and adults to learn how to play an instrument or learn to sing. Why not start a business using your musical talent? For more ideas on starting a music instructor business check out www.musicteachersnearby.com.

What talent or skills can you use to create a business today?

Julie Barnes is the author is this post. Julie is excited to be living in Generation E – the age of the Entrepreneur. As a writer, she enjoys writing about all aspects of the entrepreneur journey. She enjoys interviewing entrepreneurs whose experience and wisdom can inspire others to follow their entrepreneur dreams. Julie lives and works in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park, KS with her husband Ron and lovable dog Hank. You can visit her site at www.onewhowrites.com. Follow Julie on Twitter at @JulieBarnesKS. Become a Facebook friend at Julie Barnes.

Part of being an entrepreneur and business owner is constantly improving your skills so that you can increase your value in the marketplace. Many entrepreneurs attend coaching programs, seminars, and skill-building workshops weekly, monthly, and yearly. They schedule these events into their calendar alongside other important business activities. How are entrepreneurs investing in themselves? To learn how, I sat out to interview some entrepreneurs to find out how they invest and the growth that has resulted.

Laura Posey, Co-Founder of Dancing Elephants Achievement Group that provides sales training services www.dancingelephants.net said, “For me the best parts of being an entrepreneur are the freedom and the responsibility. I love being able to set things up so I can travel when I want. I never have to say “no, I have to work” when someone offers a great escape. I take at least 8 weeks of vacation a year and I work when and where I want. Today, for example, I am at home on the couch because I had a late night and didn’t feel like driving to the office. I also like the challenge of knowing my success is riding on my shoulders. Sure, sometimes I think it would be nice to let someone else make all the decisions and just collect a check, but I know there is no real safety in that. It is just a prison with a comfortable cell.” Follow Laura on Twitter at twitter.com/lauraposey.

Carl King, a creative design & multimedia artist www.carlkingcreative.com said, “My old boss used to tell me, “If you buy a book for $10 and learn something from it, you’ll earn that $10 back.” I don’t know the original source of that quote, maybe it was him. The point of this is: my creative career is completely based on investing in myself, teaching myself new skills, developing my talents. A couple of years ago I went out and bought Final Cut, starting from scratch. I borrowed a DV camera from a friend, bought some cheap lights, and experimented until I figured it out. Now I do video shooting and editing for clients, and it’s added $30k a year to my income. I’ve done this with countless other things. Another one is web design. I bought a couple of books on CSS… and between that and video editing, I now work from home, making more money than I did at my corporate day job (which I voluntarily left to use my new skills). Because of that, I picked up a publishing deal and am now writing a book on it.” Follow Carl on Twitter at twitter.com/carlking.

Tara Wilson, president of Tara Wilson, an event designer and lifestyle firm www.tarawilson.com said, “The top 2 things I’ve done to invest in myself are (1) I joined the Accelerator Program (a division of Entrepreneur Organization for owners with gross sales between $250,000 and $1,000,000) to help me network with and learn from other successful, like-minded business owners. This is a $1,200 annual financial investment and a monthly commitment. (2) I attend leadership conferences in my industry, again to network with and learn from my peers in event design. Since I’m a small business owner (2008 $283,000 gross sales) with 2 employees, I’m constantly trying to learn from other successful companies. The insights and knowledge I’ve gain from interacting with them has helped me shape how my service model as well as improved my strategic thinking. This investment (of time and money) has made me a better business owner with a clearer picture of my future.” Follow Tara on Twitter at twitter.com/SvyGrl.

How are YOU investing in yourself and your business?

Julie Barnes is a Freelance Writer focusing on her passion of entrepreneurship. Julie published “So You Want to Start a Business…Now What?” (http://www.so-you-want-to-start-a-business.com/ ) in December 2009. Julie lives and works in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park, KS with her husband Ron and lovable dog Hank. You can visit her site at http://www.onewhowrites.com.

One of the great benefits of being an entrepreneur in the internet age is that you can work from anywhere, but how do busy entrepreneurs keep their systems streamlined and businesses running smoothly. To find out, I sat out to interview some entrepreneurs to find out what internet based tools they use in their businesses.

Deb Kolaras, a Small Business & Social Media Coach and owner of BizCoachDeb www.bizcoachdeb.com said, “Project management tools help me stay on top of deliverables and milestones with my clients. It also allows my clients to stay on track over the year. Rather than back and forth emailing and the question of “where is that document I sent”, these programs allow a place for all those items to be stored, and then tracked for the duration of a project.”

Here are the internet based tools Deb uses in her business:

Google Apps: Documents, Talk, Calendar, Contacts, Wave, and of course, email. Using this platform allows me the advantage of portability and “on the fly” syncing, so I’m no longer tethered to my desk or laptop. My handheld is updated remotely, so appointments, tasks, contacts, and documents set by my VA show up instantly without me doing a thing.

Prezi.com: This is a presentation software second to none. I can load up a presentation anywhere, from any computer, and train and educate remotely, plus share the link with clients who can view it similarly on Macs and PC’s.

Jing: Using this tool, I can make short videos and tutorials for my clients and share it in a library for others to view. It also does great “screen shots” that you can annotate, so it’s flexible.

Zoho Projects/Deskaway/ManyMoon: Project management tools abound, and the jury is still out for me on which of these I prefer-I’ve been testing these three products all year long. As each develops specific things I like, another gets closer to being completely tabled. I wanted a very simple solution, as I guide my clients throughout the year and don’t want them bogged down in trying to learn a complicated platform like BaseCamp.

Believe it or not, Twitter: because of the “instant gratification” factor, Twitter allows me to find out about events, applications, etc., by simple searches. It’s more accurate than Bing or Google and gets me feedback from trusted connections immediately.

Jami Beaton, a public relations consultant and owner of JB Public Relations http://companies.to/jbpr said, “I run a public relations consulting business and have a few internet services that I rely on daily. I definitely think each of these offers my business a competitive advantage as it allows me to work productively, manage time and resources and most importantly, it gives my small business legitimacy. The fact that I can share files, run professional looking reports, coordinate web and phone conference calls in a professional manner makes my clients feel confident that I am not just someone working out of my basement. Many of my clients have commented on my work process and have even incorporated some of these services into their own businesses to save time and money.”

Here are the internet based tools Jami uses in her business:

Basecamp – Manage all of my projects, retainers and contractors through this service. Seamless and great way to keep communications and files in one place…no more looking for emails in your trash folder to find that written approval.

Cashboard – Manage all of my invoices, track my time and any contractors that I outsource, run productivity reports. This service really makes it look like I have it all together as a consultant…professional looking invoices, run quick and easy reports to analyze cash stats and I can produce a time sheet for my clients at a moment’s notice.

Adobe Share – Perfect for a small FTP alternative, share files easily with clients through a customized download URL. PDF file conversions and web conferencing services.

Things for Mac – Task management to keep all to-dos in my life organized, prioritized and updated. Matching iPhone app makes this even easier to manage, no missed deadlines!

Evernote – Effortlessly organize thoughts, notes, clips and inspiration as I find it, so that I can easily reference it at a later point in time. No more brilliant ideas forgotten!

Google Docs – To share spreadsheets/word documents with team or clients that need constant updating. Instead of routing a new spreadsheet each week for a status report, we can update just one doc on a weekly basis through Google Docs.

Dimdim/YuuGuu – Web conferencing solutions that are seamless, easy to use and have very good free options for small businesses.

FreeConference.com - Set up free conference calls, quick and easy…and most importantly free.

Andy Hayes, managing director of Travel Online Partners www.travelonlinepartners.com, a coaching and consulting firm, that provides online marketing support for the travel industry uses the following internet based tools to increase his productivity.

Google Apps: From Google forms that make things super quick and easy to their effective iGoogle homepage (to do lists, RSS feed, etc), I love Google. I plan to switch to GMail in 2010.

Highrise: This is a small business’s marketing dream come true. I just love it – so easy to track the pipeline of work and follow-up on people. Guaranteed with this we now close twice as much work.

5PM: Just getting started on this, but our project management tool. As we operate on a virtual model, it’s essential for everyone to have a solid platform to track work and update on communications.

Dropbox: Love having a seamless and near-instantaneous backup tool. In a pinch, you can even go online and pull off files that you need.

Skype: Chat, free/cheap calls, what’s not to like?

Audacity: Audio recording and editing for non-techies. Brilliant piece of equipment.

WordPress: our content management platform of choice. It’s not perfect, but it is very powerful given the cost.

and last but not least…

Spotify: It’s only in a few countries but it is all-you-can-eat music. My number one productivity increase.

What tools could you use to increase your productivity and streamline your business?

Julie Barnes is a Freelance Writer focusing on her passion of entrepreneurship. Julie published “So You Want to Start a Business…Now What?” (Available on Amazon) in December 2009. Julie lives and works in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park, KS with her husband Ron and lovable dog Hank. You can visit her site at www.onewhowrites.com. Follow Julie on Twitter at twitter.com/onewhowrites .

Sarah and Jerry Cook

Sarah Cook knows first-hand what it is like to have grown up in an entrepreneurial home. Sarah’s father owned his own successful computer programming business as did her grandfather. Their example left a huge impact on Sarah who received her BA in Family Studies from Utah State University and has owned her own successful national-wide direct sales skin care business for nearly 16 years. In the last three years Sarah has worked diligently with her own three children to help bring their business ideas to life. In this interview, learn how Sarah is sharing what she has learned with CEO Kids and their parents from around the world.

Raising CEO Kids is a valuable resource for parents of kid entrepreneurs. Can you tell us how you came up with the idea?

The idea of “Raising CEO Kids” was inspired by my children. Jacob has always wanted to earn money. He started selling on e-Bay when he was 10. He consistently made the money he needed to get the things he wanted and bought himself a laptop. Learning and fixing things on the computer brought him so much joy. He started fixing things for people for free and finally began charging as his confidence grew. In May 2009 at 12 years old he officially started his business, Jake’s Tutorials and Tech Support. My daughter got excited about the money Jake was making along the way and began her own business, Creating with CC at just 10 years old. Jon is coming up behind them starting his business, Jumping Jack Jon at 6 years old. As I worked with each of my children, I sensed their excitement in creating their own money. I saw them gain confidence in so many areas: money management, public speaking, leadership and so much more. It was heart-warming to also see them increase in their desire to give – 10% to our church as well as donations of time and products to school fundraisers and the homeless. In my heart I wondered if what we were learning and what we were doing could somehow be of benefit to other families. As I talked with other families from around the world who either had kids in business or who had kids who wanted to be in business, I had so much encouragement to put together resources to support families in raising entrepreneurs. We have only just begun putting together the resources that we want to make available for kids and families around the world.

What kind of resources are offered by Raising CEO Kids for kid entrepreneurs and their parents?

Right now we offer inspirational and educational articles, audio interviews and clickable resources such as business plans, tax work sheets and the biz expert’s directory. I hosted a teleseminar in Nov 2009 and those resources are available for purchase. I host a weekly free mastermind call, The Saturday Morning Mastermind where I interview “CEO Kids” and one of their parents. At the end I open up the line for questions so that families from around the world can get their questions answered by “real kids making money” and “real parents raising them”. This month we are launching our monthly web TV show about different aspects of Raising CEO Kids. In April we are hosting a free webinar/teleseries called, Cash Savvvy Kids in conjunction with National Financial Literacy Month. The replays and resources from the series will also be available for purchase. In May we plan to launch classes for kids who want to make money by kids who are making money. We already have a waiting list of people who want to take some of the classes! Very soon our CEO Kids directory will be launched to offer kids in business a venue for advertising as well as a forum for both parents and kids. Of course there is also the book that I am writing which includes over 110 kids that I have interviewed. I am hoping to have it published by our one year anniversary!

You grew up in an entrepreneurial family. What valuable tools did you learn that inspired you to carry on the tradition of being an entrepreneur?

Some of the tools I learned were people skills, public speaking, personal management, goal setting, creativity, focus, and my work ethic. I was inspired by the ability that entrepreneurs had to choose when they wanted to work as well as the tax advantages that having a business offered. I was highly motivated to make my own money as the minimum wage was only $4 per hour and you can hardly buy groceries on that amount per hour. I made and sold jewelry in high school and then went on to become a Mary Kay Sales Director my 2nd year in college.

And now your three kids that each have their own businesses. What advice could you give other parents of kids wanting to start a business?

There are a couple of things that I always tell parents who have entrepreneurial minded kids and then there are some things I share only if it specifically applies to their children. The first thing is to encourage their children to do what they LOVE! When children can make money doing what they love, they learn to create money without experiencing the burn out because it doesn’t really feel like “work” to them! The second thing I would tell them is to “let them do it”. I see some parents trying to run their children’s businesses for them. Yes some kids do need a bit of a nudge to get going at times but mostly we just need to be there to advise, drive around, love them unconditionally and make sure they are covering their bases. Depending on their child’s business idea, I also share about getting press, using social media, blogging, tax resources, legal resources, and people they should connect with.

What part do you and your husband play in your kids businesses?

In Jacob’s business we serve as advisor, driver (to local client’s homes), encourager, and his PR service. I am always so proud of him, that I tell everyone about the work he does. In Clarissa’s business we play the same rolls as in Jacob’s but I also offer her a lot of tech support and confidence boosting since she is still a bit shy. Jon’s business is just starting. I film him for his videos and sports reviews. I also role play with him on things he can say. I take him shopping to find products he would like to review that he can then offer as affiliate links on his website.

Do you find that being a kid entrepreneur helps them in school?

The children are advanced in their schooling. They all know they have to get their school work done before they can work on their businesses. They work hard and get their stuff done quickly so that they can have plenty of time to work on business.

Is there anything you would like add?

I would add that I believe it is a huge advantage for parents to have their own business so that they can model business skills in the home. This really helped my own children. They have all been born into an entrepreneurial home. It is what they know! They see all the benefits as well as the pitfalls. I don’t know if they will ever choose to work for someone else now that they have fallen in love with working for themselves.

For more information on Sarah and Raising CEO Kids visit http://raisingceokids.com. To find out more about the Saturday Morning Mastermind visit http://www.saturdaymorningmastermind.com/.

Julie Barnes is a Freelance Writer focusing on her passion of entrepreneurship. Julie published “So You Want to Start a Business…Now What?” (Available on Amazon) in December 2009. Julie lives and works in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park, KS with her husband Ron and lovable dog Hank. You can visit her site at http://www.onewhowrites.com.