Linking and Analytics

This week I learned about the importance of links to my website.

Links not only bring visitors who follow them into the website; they also improve the site's relevance for search engines. Search engines like Google analyze how many ''backlinks'' connect to the site giving it credibility and relevance so it shows higher in search results.  Quality is also important since Google knows tricks people use and punishes bad linking practices. It is important that the links are relevant. Links coming from famous and highly visited websites benefit much more.

Useful resources:

Intro to linking

Linking strategies

More linking strategies

I have also been using Google Analytics and exploring it almost every day for the last few weeks. 

It is really a great tool that that now I can't imagine living without. In order to install it you have to place the analytics java script code on the site, or in the case of Drupal users, install the Drupal Analytics module that places the code automatically in all pages.

Analytics allows website owners to track visits, trends and how their goals (conversions) are being met. This data is more useful when used to determine trends. This way I have been able to determine what actions and changes have worked on my site, which campaigns are being more successful and how visitors interact with my site in general.

Useful resources:

Introduction to Google Analytics

Guide to the Analytics interface

Interpreting reports

Social Media - Continued

Essential to any marketing effort for a product, company or website today is a Social Media Strategy, especially if it is looking to market to young people.

There are many social media courses, articles and tutorials out there that explain the technical side of it. Here are some of the lessons I recently learned about the generals points for social media:

Be different. It is important to stand out from the crowd. The average person today is constantly bombarded with advertisement. It is not enough just to show your product anymore; you have to make them understand why it is different and cause an impression that won’t be overlooked.

Be authentic. Customers are not easily deceived anymore. They look for multiple sources and know when a company is just ”trying to sell them something”. Answer their comments, interact, be a person and engage your customers and visitors so they recommend you to their friends through their comments and interactions.

Be creative. This goes hand in hand with being different. Don’t just do what you learn about social media but look for ways to innovate, to create new things.

Have a strategy. It doesn’t help to spend money and time on this if you don’t have a goal or purpose for it.

Use your tools. Take advantage of Google Analytics and use metrics to measure your social media ROI so you can learn what works and refine your strategy.

Useful Resources:

12 Awesome Social Media Tutorials

Social Media for SEO - Goals

Social Media for SEO - Goals

The way we do business has changed. Not only do we have online businesses nowadays but with the arrival and widespread of social networks, businesses have become social. A business, especially one that sells to young people, now has to develop a social networking strategy to serve its customers with personalized service and improve its SEO at the same time.

I am used to using Facebook. In fact, my session is always open in my mobile device and I use it as one of my primary means of communication with friends and family that I don’t see often, interaction with communities that share my interests, and assessing the trustworthiness of a company I just discovered. For example, I am trying to change my Internet Service Provider so after finding some companies I could choose from the first thing I did was looking them up in Facebook looking for customer comments and reviews. If a company doesn't have an official Facebook page it’s easy for me to ignore it. If customers are happy with the company and mention it on the company’s Facebook page I gain confidence about their quality. If I ask the company questions through Inbox and their answers are useful to me, then I am much more likely of becoming their customer.

With these facts in mind, I came up with a list of goals for Social media and SEO:

Obtain ‘’Likes’’ and relevance. After I ‘’like’’ a company’s Facebook page, I will start seeing their publications in my wall and they will be present in my mind. The first step is to get visitors and potential customers to ‘’like’’ the company. A Facebook Ads campaing can be used for this. My first goal is to reach 100 Likes as a first stepping stone, then use an ads campaign and organic growth through interaction to increase its number to 500, and then 1,000.

Create content that is ‘’likeable’’ and ‘’shareable’’. Publications that are liked, shared and commented will have a greater and wider reach. Sharing content from related but not conflicting sources can also be good to keep social interaction up. The goal is to have at least one publication a day in order to remind visitors of my site’s existence.

Engage with the community. The Facebook page is the ‘’face’’ of the business where customers can ask questions and give suggestions. Friendly and warm interaction is the key for visitors to return. My goal is to answer comments every day, and invite people to interact if comments are scarce.

Expand your reach. I am not really using Twitter, Instagram, or other social media sites to promote my site other than Facebook and I have been suggested to try it. My goal is to open an account in those other sites and becoming familiar with them.

Success can be measured from this using Google Analytics. With it I can know how many visitors are visiting my site as a result of social media interactions (which is the first goal), and how many of those clicked Adsense ads. Links to Affiliate Networks can also be posted on social media publications advertising special offers.

Useful resources: 

http://www.toprankblog.com/2009/08/social-media-optimization-redux/

http://www.toprankblog.com/2010/07/4-social-seo-success/

SEO

Here we come to the mystical world of SEO. 

I have to admit that I had heard about ''SEO'' for a long time but I never knew what it meant until a couple months ago when I started learning more about Search Engine Optimization, or how easily can search engines find your website.

There are a few factors that can affect your website's SEO:

Keywords: Include Keywords that people are looking for but are also relevant to your website. It is important to focus on quality rather than spamming the website with the desired keywords.

Back-links: How many links lead to your site? This is a very important point too, and these links must be high quality links too, not just spam.

Site optimization: How long does it take to load? Is it easy to see in all screen sizes? What about mobile devices? All of this affects visitor experience in your site and how likely they are to return.

Be unique: Not only create original content; make that content so unique that your site stands out from the crowd.

Make it shareable: If you were a visitor, would you share what you found on Facebook or another social network? Make your content interesting, and make sure your URL's are simple and reflect what your content is about.

There are much more ideas to be applied on a site for SEO.

I recommend this guide.

And if you use Drupal you might want to take a look at the SEO Checklist Module

I still have a long way to go for my site. I'm learning and applying these things by trying and making mistakes.
My site (In Spanish): www.saliradentro.com

Improving my ads, analyzing with Analytics and seeing some progress

Very slowly but very surely, my business project is getting up there.

My wife and I went out on the weekend to get more pictures of some places I wanted to write articles about and we ended up visiting 7 different free museums in downtown Mexico City that afternoon alone. There were a lot of museums we didn't have time to visit since we were very tired after that but now I have lots of pictures and experiences to write about.

I installed Google Analytics in my site using the Google Analytics Drupal module. It's amazing how much information I can obtain with it and I have been using it to improve my site. I especially liked being able to see the bounce rate to see how effective my landing page is after visitors get there as a result from my Adwords campaign.

I am also working on a new version of my site trying out different Drupal distributions and themes before I make changes in the actual website. 

I also started my Adwords campaign. At first I was having a very high bounce rate as I was sending visitors to my home page, but I found much better results as I created more specific ads that lead to specific sections of my site, especially to the ones that are better connected to products from my affiliate networks.

https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/2453976?hl=en

https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/6080602?rd=1

Ads, getting traffic and getting ready

The website (in Spanish) is taking shape, although I really want to make some major changes on it. I found some interesting Drupal distributions and modules that will allow me to do a complete makeover for my website and make it more like what I want it to be but I haven't had the time to do it. Another obstacle is that I don't want to lose what I already built doing an experiment that might or not work.

The solution: I am creating a local website using XAMPP to create a server and installed Drupal there, then I will create a sample of the website layout and features that I want and see how it works before doing it in my actual site. That way the process will be smoother and faster and I won't miss revenue and visits now that I'm about to start my Adwords campaign.

I am also happy to say that I just earned my first $0.10 from Adsense and I started having clicks on my affiliate ads! It's not a lot but it is an important milestone for me. I got this little traffic by creating a Facebook page about my website, inviting my friends and my wife's friends to like it and then posting links to the articles in my website.

This week I learned a lot about Adword ads. I had some experience creating Facebook ads campaigns for a couple business projects and this is quite a different system with a few things in common. With Adwords I choose the keywords I want to associate my ad to rather than purely demographic information. Adwords also provides a lot of feedback on the effectiveness of my ads and my Keywords through the ''quality score''

I am very excited about officially starting my Adwords campaign tomorrow. I also have a lot of ideas for articles and sections that I am about to create as well as a YouTube channel associated with my site and turn it into a whole online magazine.

Tips for Adwords Ads: http://www.addme.com/newsletters/issue269.htm

Getting started with Adwords ads: https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/1704392?rd=2

My First Web Business

These last couple of weeks have been some of the most intense of my life. I have been working over time and doing some important projects, the most important one being my web based business.

I had a steep learning curve with Drupal, but now I'm so glad that I chose it not only for the satisfaction of achieving something challenging but also because now that I have installed and customized all the modules that I need and built the ''back bone'' for my website, adding new content will be really easy; I will just have to type it, give it format and Drupal will publish it right where I need it automatically. 

This has been a great experience so far, and next week will be even better as I launch my Adwords campaign and see the website actually working. 

I have found very nice Affiliate Networks and I have applied to them as well as to Adsense. I also got a lot of insight from Affiliate Marketing and Adsense forums with people who have more experience. Now I'm just waiting for my application for several of those programs to be completed and start placing my ads or links in an intelligent way. 

I am also excited about creating new content. I hadn't realized that I like photography! I am looking forward to going out with my wife, visiting places and writing articles about it using my own pictures and experiences. 

So, here it is! This is my very first website: www.saliradentro.com

It is written in Spanish.

Work in Progress

Working on my website

So, I decided to start building my website using Drupal. When I first started doing it I was overwhelmed at how difficult and complicated Drupal looked. But everything is going well. 

I've also been trying to apply what I learned about web design from this great article: https://www.webwiz.co.uk/kb/website-design/ and translating that into the website model that I have in my mind. 

I have also been looking for affiliate networks to use with my web-business and I have found some very interesting options; I'm just concerned about the logistics with the payments, but it doesn't seem too complicated. 

Getting actually started

In the last few weeks I have learned about the different types of online business, how I can use Google's Keyword Planner to analyze different business ideas and decide which one is my best option at the moment. I also learned about the different tools that I have at my disposal. Now I am about to get actually started and build my first online business. 

I have decided to merge some business ideas, adapt it to my current situation and availability of resources and focus on creating content to attract visitors and refer them to other websites who offer compensation to affiliates. I have requested my wife's help because of her field of study in college. As I talked to my dad he brought up the fact that he already has hosting space available as a benefit from our internet supplier and that I could borrow it for a few months as I start the business and then move to a different hosting service when he needs it back and I have already kick-started the business; so, right now I'm looking at the hosting service he is offering me for free and the web building tools that are available with it.

Some tools that I want to share:

This is a top 10 list for hosting companies : http://www.top10hostinglist.com/

This is a course development course I purchased a couple months ago in Udemy and I'm trying to complete during my spare time: https://www.udemy.com/complete-web-developer-course/#/

When ideas are hard to come by

I am the kind of person who finds it very difficult to get started with things. Whenever I have to write an essay I struggle for days just thinking, looking at the paper and wondering how I could start. I have discovered that the best way to start is... starting. I start writing the first thoughts that come to my mind about the subject, my mind starts working and the rest of the essay is smooth and easy. However, the ''blank page phobia'' is still there every time I have to start a new assignment. 

I discovered in the last couple weeks that the same happens when I try other things, like starting a business in this case! However, this is the solution that I found:

I started keeping notes about problems that I found around me; everything! From the difficulty of keeping my desk clean to how to improve public parking lots.

Then I started with more specific business ideas. Even if the business sounds impossible or if it doesn't make sense at the beginning. I found that if I don't let those ideas develop I will never get to the good ideas.

Then, I realized that everything is possible with determination, knowledge, perseverance, and making your idea unique, like Seth Godin's purple cow on the side of the road.

For whoever finds this entrepreneurial journal:

I would like to share some resources that are helping me refine the business ideas I have chosen. The first one is about Affiliate marketing, or how you can earn money online by referring traffic to sites like Amazon.org or even Oakley sunglasses and earn money by the sales you generate. 

The second one is a presentation about lessons learned from the success of Dropbox and Xobni

http://adamsmith.cc/from-zero-to-a-million-users-dropbox-and-xobni-les

After watching this I really felt that I was able to do anything I wanted to accomplish!

Getting Started With Web Businesses

I had been thinking about starting a business on the web for a while but I really had no idea how to do it. I started trying to sell books through Facebook and looking for affiliates. I even bought advertising in Facebook in order to target a specific kind of customer without a lot of success.

This semester I have the opportunity of taking a class about creating web businesses. I'm in the second week of the class and it has been great! I was terrified at first because I actually need to create a real business during the class and I didn't think I would be able to do it, but the things that I have learned so far have helped me feel empowered and confident that I can actually succeed at this!

I have a lot of ideas in a list that I'm making and I'm doing a study in order to decide which idea to use for the business. One of them is what my wife and I have been planning to do for a while: A website that shares the best places and tips for tourists visiting central Mexico. I also want to create a business that I could manage with my dad. He just lost his job today and he tries to keep a calm expression but I can see that he is really sad. He is a computer engineer and has some projects he's been talking about for a while; now that he lost his job he wants to try them and I want to be able to help him with what I learn during this class.

One of the things that amazed me the most this week was how easy is it to use the tools from Google Adwords like the Keyword Planner. I will share a video of how it works!

Web Businesses

It's been a couple months since I wrote on this journal. Life has been hectic and I haven't been able to accomplish some of my goals on time but I'm getting there slowly.

I'm taking a web-business creation class in college right now. It is very challenging because... I actually need to create a web business during the class! This is the first week and I'm learning the basic business models on the web and getting some ideas of what I might do.

I found some very interesting material that applies not only to online businesses but to any person who wants to be an entrepreneur. First of all, this website that gave me ideas of how I can brainstorm business ideas! now I'm carrying my notebook and writing about every problem or difficulty I see in front of me.

http://bizthoughts.mikelee.org/brainstorming-business-ideas.html

Next, there's this video I watched as a part of the class that teaches an interesting concept: the magic box that generates money:

I'm not a great fan of those websites that sell information of how to make money online doing exactly what they are doing, but the concepts in the video are interesting and valid for any kind of business.


The last thing I wanted to record in this journal for today:

Last week I met with a High School friend. We are planning on starting a business on our free time. We are refining the idea and getting the plans ready so I won't share a lot of details since we want to be the first ones in our city to offer our product. I have some many things that I want to try that I don't know how I'm gonna fit them all in my schedule but it makes me feel very excited!

My Last Lecture

I am not a person of many words; those who know me are aware that it is hard for me to express my ideas in talks or speeches, although I am not afraid of doing it. As I reflected on the lessons I have learned in my life, and pretended this would be my ‘’last lecture’’ a lot of ideas came to my mind. I hope I am able to express them in a way that they can mean the same to you and you are able to take something home from this today by reading this.

As humans we tend to shy away from danger and challenges. We are naturally afraid to fail; however, when we look back at previous stages of our lives we are prone to wonder why didn’t we take more risks, try more things and even fail a little more. Don’t wait until that happens, please. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, but rather learn from your failures. Try, do, and leave the comfort zone.

Don’t be afraid of being yourself. I made the mistake of being too shy and building a barrier around me in High School, trying not to lose face. Don’t waste your time trying to be somebody else, or hiding who you are. You are not here to be what others want. Don’t be afraid to do the right thing and speak out when something is wrong. The world is full of people who stay quiet and accept things as they are. We need more people who are not afraid to be themselves, speak out and act.

Don’t waste your time with Television. Read a good book, watch a documentary, take an online course, visit a museum, and travel to new places.  In 10 years you won’t remember what you watched on TV, but the lessons and experiences you obtain will stay forever.

Now, I think I’ve talked more than enough about the ‘’don’ts’’. Now it’s time for the things I would encourage everybody to do: Dream! Dream big dreams and make them true. Your life is short, so spend it building your own dreams, not your employer’s dreams. Do what you love, start a business, fight for your freedom. You deserve to spend time with your family and live a plentiful life.

Start investing soon. When I was in High School I wanted to do it and everybody thought I was crazy. Today I do it and they still think I’m crazy for ‘’risking’’ my money. Learn; seek for knowledge, try, fail and repeat. You will reap the rewards in the future.

Be grateful; tell your loved ones that you love them every day. Be happy today.

Remember always who you are, a child of a Heavenly Father who loves you. You have a great potential to accomplish. You can do it if you start today.

Take your family with you

A few weeks ago I was reading the Book ''So you want to be an entrepreneur?'' by Jon Gillespie-Brown and I was really impressed by the title of chapter 7: ''Make sure you take your loved ones with you''. I want to give the best to my family and I want to be with them so I need to make sure that I have time to be with them. I must not let my other activities take me away from my loved ones or everything will lose its original purpose.

I got married 8 months ago and I am really happy. Both my wife and I are still going through school. We have set goals and objectives that we want to achieve. We have also decided that we will always dedicate time to each other and to our children.

We are together as a team in all of our plans, and it will be like that forever.

Our current project:

As we are starting to gather material to start our blog about tourism in Mexico, I started a web design course so later on we can create a website. We have also been looking at existing projects similar to ours to learn from them.

How my Journey Starts

I have always wanted to do something big to make a difference. When I was little I dreamed about setting up a zoo that focused on conservation and take care of all the animals; however, a few years ago I did not even believe in the free market! The last couple years have been a transition point in my life and a great adventure. I got back from serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Las Vegas, NV, I got married, I started my studies at BYU-Idaho and I got converted to the free market in the process.

I really think entrepreneurship and economic freedom can solve many of the problems my county (Mexico) faces today. I think we as people are intelligent and capable enough to find solutions in a better way than the government. I want to be an entrepreneur.

As I started in this path a couple years ago I had a complete change in my paradigms, I read a few books and was introduced to new concepts. I also tried and failed in obtaining an income through three network marketing companies and my own little book selling business. However, I am not ashamed of those failures because I have learned a lot in each of them.

I really want other young people in Mexico and the world to realize they can be entrepreneurs and the positive impact they can have on the world so I have decided to start a blog, and then a website, about local entrepreneurial success stories and resources to help those willing to start their own business. I will continue posting my insights and experience in this journal.

There are two most important steps for this project (and any other project!). The first one is actually making the first step from idea to action. The second one is not giving up and continuing through ‘’the Dip’’ (that has been the reason of my previous failures). I will keep you (whoever reads this, and myself) posted on what happens.

Learning how to fish

 

Iceland is a place I am fascinated with. The landscapes are beautiful, their language and Viking heritage is really interesting and their economy is prosperous.

I also admire how the Icelandic people have been able to live  and thrive in such a harsh environment; Iceland is not a tropical island at all!

There is a great lesson I learned from the attitude they have that I would like to turn into a personal proverb:

“fish when 

the fish are there, not 

when the weather is 

good.”

We are always waiting for better conditions, more money, more experience, more knowledge and fail to act today. 

With that in mind, I have decided to start a personal project now instead of waiting until later. 

My wife and I will start a blog, video blog and website where we share the places that we really love in our country (Mexico) in a way that we provide useful information for tourists. I will talk about the other blog I will start in my next blog entry.

If anybody is reading this, I just want to tell you this: Don't be afraid to act, get rid of that fear. Also remember that knowledge is the key that opens many doors and the sword that defeats many foes. Never stop learning and never stop trying.

I learned this from this article: http://hbr.org/2010/06/the-big-idea-how-to-start-an-entrepreneurial-revolution/ar/1

Riches and Laborers

Matthew 19 tells the story of a young man who had kept the commandments always but who chose his material possessions over the gospel.

The evidence that I find that the Young man decided not to follow the savior is that after the Savior directly invited him to specific answer he decided to go away and did not trust him. He chose his earthly possessions over the gospel.

The Savior promises that those who follow him will ‘’be first’’; he said to his apostles that they would sit in twelve thrones when he sits in his throne in heaven. He promises also that they will receive ‘’an hundredfold’ and have eternal life.

Material possessions are important, but they are insignificant when we compare them with the happiness of living with our families for ever in the Celestian Kingdom. When we put things in perspective that way we are able to make choices that lead us to Christ.

Parable of the laborers

This teaches me that all who serve in the Lord’s Kingdom can obtain the same reward: The Celestial Kingdom. Even those who didn’t have the chance of receiving the gospel early in their lives are able to earn that same reward.

This is a great message of comfort for converts who like the laborers of the eleventh hour were afraid for great part of the day that they were not going to be hired; converts can have the assurance that they can earn the same reward as long time members of the church.

I really like this talk that would answer any question about why they are paid equally and what that means for us: 

Why to continue?

 There are many times when life just seems to get harder and harder. This is especially true when you try to start a business from zero. People almost seem to laugh at you and tell you to get a job. Your first clients want to see your experience, but it is hard to show a story of success at the beginning! You have every reason to quit and try something different.

This week I learned from Jeffrey R Holland a truth that will guide me for the rest of my life: ‘’The best things are always worth finishing’’ as he said it referring to the Salt Lake City temple and all the struggles that people went through during its 40 years of construction.

Nothing that is worth something in this life is easier to obtain. Completing a University education is hard but it is very easy to quit. It is hard to build a business or learn how to trade in the stock market, but the alternative of doing nothing is extremely easy. The secret for success is not to settle for the easy.

At the same time, Seth Godin’s book ‘’The Dip’’ teaches when it is necessary to quit in order to use our time and energy for those things worth not quitting. I have realized now that I need to quit my morning job as an English teacher. At first I was worried about the income I would forego, but I have realized that I am not growing there anymore and I could accomplish much more for my long term and more valuable goals by doing some other things with that time.

http://www.amazon.es/The-Dip-Little-Teaches-Stick/dp/1591841666

http://vimeo.com/28080897

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHKe9EqB5vE

Mastery

Mastery / What for?

Have you ever wanted to be really good at a sport, skill or any kind of ability? I have, and I have failed many times; but George Leonard’s book ‘’Mastery’’ gave me a new perspective of why I have failed and how I can be better in anything I do.

Learning occurs by little moments of improvement that happen every now and then. Most of our time is spent on ‘’the plateau’’ or those long periods of time of repetitive practice in which we feel we don’t improve at all. The secret for mastery is to love the plateau and persevere.

I will start applying that to learning German, playing the guitar, learning about business and becoming an entrepreneur. Mastery is a path that never ends.

Why do you want to be an entrepreneur? What is a business for? What is the reason of doing all these things?

Those are great questions to ask yourself. I want to be an entrepreneur because I want to reach my potential, be free and create something meaningful for society so I can feel that my work was worth it. A business is meant to solve a problem and create value, as well as providing opportunities, rewarding those who take risks and providing for many families. I invite whoever reads this to ask him/herself these same questions and maybe think about business in a new way.

http://www.amazon.com/Mastery-Keys-Success-Long-Term-Fulfillment/dp/0452267560

Self Mastery

Self Mastery

The most important principle I learned this week is self mastery. I have a few thoughts on it:

What is the hardest, and maybe, most important challenge that we will face in business and life? Probably that of conquering oneself.

Even Plato said: “The first and best victory is to conquer self; to be conquered by self is, of all things, the most shameful and vile.”

Human nature leads to excess and vice that destroy the individual and deteriorate society. The great battle of life is inside of us. It could be waking up early in the morning in order to work, it can be persevering in learning when we find ourselves ‘’on the plateau’’, it can be setting and respecting our own moral boundaries. The truth is that controlling the self is the first step for success, and one that will continue being developed through the entire life.

How can we do it?

Let me suggest a few tips for this:

Know your reasons. Ask yourself why you want to do something and set goals that motivate you. It is easier to wake up in the morning when you know why you want to do it.

Set moral security lines around you. Make a list of those boundaries that you will never cross.

Be accountable. Don’t set excuses, look for somebody to help you be accountable with yourself.

‘’Each day I examine myself on three counts: whether or not I am loyal to those in whose behalf I act; whether or not I am trustworthy in my dealings with friends; whether or not I practice what is imparted’’ Confucius

Becoming like a Child

I want to share a few principles from the scriptures today:

‘’And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.’’ Matthew 18:3-4

‘’ Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye are little children, and ye have not as yet understood how great blessings the Father hath in his own hands and prepared for you;

 And ye cannot bear all things now; nevertheless, be of good cheer, for I will lead you along. The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours, and the riches of eternity are yours.’’ D&C 78:17-18

The Lord commands us to be innocent, kind, and good; just like little children are. They have no malice and seek not to harm others. We should strive to develop the same qualities.

At the same time, he says that in our mortal condition we are ‘’little children’’ in the way that we don’t understand the things of God nor his eternal perspective and purposes. He then explains that, if we are humble, he will lead us along and bless us. For that to happen we need to have faith in him and be teachable, just like children are.

Mosiah 3:19 (In the Book of Mormon)  teaches us how the natural man is an enemy of God. In order to get rid of that ‘’natural man’’ inside of us we need to:

Yield to the enticing of the Spirit and be cleaned through the atonement.

Be: Submissive, meek, humble, full of love, patient, and willing to submit to God’s will.

The world we live in teaches us the opposite thing: people are trying to take advantage of others all the time. They see moral corruption and a virtue, rebellion against God as liberty and the ability to harm others as intelligence. 

I invite myself and whoever reads this to the challenge of getting rid of the natural man and changing for good.

I invite you to visit this website and see how happy you can be if you decide it:

Mormon.org

Perseverance

This week was a great reminder that it is not how good you are in school or how much you know, but how you use that knowledge and your perseverance. Those who succeed are those who don’t give up and are willing to face challenges.

There is a great talk given by Elder Faust in which he tells us how he knew kids in High School who were very smart and talented but who failed to persevere or to put forth the extra effort and thus failed to accomplish their full potential while others that at first were not as talented where able to accomplish great things by not giving up.

Yesterday I watched the movie ‘’Revenge of the Electric Car’’. It is a documentary about this new trend in the automotive industry. In it, Tesla Motors was struggling to launch its first cars. They ran out of money and almost had to close, but the founder Elon Musk kept giving of his own money for the business and taking risks in order to keep it alive. I honestly started wondering if entrepreneurship is really for me.

Being an entrepreneur is not having a lot of money and enjoying a life of pleasure; it is rather a constant fight and struggle to keep the company going. I truly wonder if I will be ever able to do something like that. I know I can if I really try and don’t give up.

Perseverance talk: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2005/04/perseverance?lang=eng

Revenge of the Electric Car: http://www.revengeoftheelectriccar.com/

John The Baptist

John the Baptist

This week I want to share also some thoughts from my scripture study about John the Baptist.

In Matthew 11:2-3 John sends his disciples to ask Christ if the is the Messiah. They go and see by themselves that he performed miracles, served all people around him and preached the gospel to them.

Did John doubt that Jesus was the Messiah? No. He knew who he was and was inviting his disciples to follow him; however, some of them were still reluctant to forsake him so he decided to send them and see by themselves by commanding them to go and ask him questions.

When Christ talks about John, he describes him as one of the greatest prophets. His calling was a special one: to prepare the way of the Lord and baptize him. There was no other before him or after with such a calling. He held the keys of the kingdom of God and was thoroughly humble and obedient in all he did.

The greatest lesson from John comes from John 3:30: ‘’ He must increase, but I must decrease’’. As great as he was, he recognized that he was just a messenger of the light, and that light is Christ. He recognized always that he was an instrument in God’s hands and did not seek his own accomplishment of praise but to fulfill his calling.

All of us have a calling and the commandment to preach the gospel to our brothers and sisters. We carry that light but we are not the light. As we selflessly give our lives to serve God and our fellow men and ‘’decrease’’ so the gospel of Christ can ‘’increase’’ we will be following John’s example of humility and obedience.

No matter where we are or what we do in life, we must always be humble and forget ourselves.

‘’For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it’’ Matthew 16:25

Consistency

Consistency

My dad told me once that College was not for the smart, but for the stubborn. I made a fortunate mistake this week by reading articles from next week’s lesson and my dad’s principle really hit me. Those who have success in business (and most other things in life) are not the smartest or more skilled people but those who persevere and are consistent.

Jeff Hawkins states that any business that consistently makes better choices than its competition will, over time, grow much more than them. Working hard it’s not enough but making effective choices gives and edge. The real difference comes when those effective choices are made consistently.

A lot of entrepreneurs agree that the most important things in business are your attitude, your ability to sell your product, your project and yourself. All of them also agree that consistency is the factor that really makes the difference.

My new objective now is to learn how to sell; it is the hardest part about business for me but I now realize that I must learn this valuable skill.

Networking

There are a lot of YouTube videos and online courses on networking that I have seen. Many of them teach how to approach people in different settings and even ‘’how to be authentic and friendly’’. I have sought them since I am quiet by nature; however, I now realize the obvious: I just need to be myself and although I must seek to get out from the comfort zone, I don’t have to be a different person or do things that make me uncomfortable in a bad way. Another part of networking is seeking to help others. That must be the number one rule, after that everything will follow.

Jeff Hawkins video: http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=2250

How big is your dog?

How big is your dog?

I was at a conference for young adults which was held in a ranch in the middle of the forest up in the mountains an hour away from Mexico City. It was freezing cold, I remember. But what I will never forget is the lesson I learned there about business and life.  The presenter, a man in his forties, told a story of his childhood. He was playing with a ball until he kicked it so hard that it flew to the neighbor’s yard. He spent a long time trying to jump the wall that separated both yards. When he got to the other side he got the ball, he kicked it back to his house and prepared to the difficult task of climbing the wall one more time. It was then when he realized there was a huge dog staring at him. The dog started running towards him and, without thinking, he ran towards the wall and climbed it ‘’Spiderman style’’. He had no idea how he did it, he only knew that an enormous dog was chasing him so he was able to do something amazing in order to survive. The presenter then asked us: what makes you wake up in the morning? What makes you work every day? What makes you do amazing things in your life? How big is your dog?

That dog is the motivation that makes you excel in what you do. Jan Newman talks about it in the video ‘’Risk in Business’’ (http://vimeo.com/27917536) when he talks about having ‘’skin in the game’’ and how his partner asked him to ask for a loan and invest in his business so he could have ‘’skin in the game’’. That risk motivated him to work harder and to reach success later on.

Integrity is the best policy. I learned this week that you cannot be a leader without integrity. Nobody wants to follow somebody who does not have integrity. I remember a picture I saw at the offices of Schneider Electric in Mexico City with a picture of the company's president and the question ''would you trust me if I were dishonest in my words and actions'' or something like that. When you have integrity you avoid problems, you feel good with yourself and you can look at others in their eyes. 

Dreams

Dreaming

What is a dream? Many people dismiss their own dreams as they consider them not useful or even a waste of time. They could be no more wrong.

Dreams are part of us; they are stars that guide us to achieve great things. Without dreams there is no direction in our lives and it’s hard for us to accomplish anything.

Today I completed a list of 50 things I want to do before I die. I thought it was going to be really easy and that I would complete it in 5 minutes. It was very hard actually. I got very worried that maybe I don’t have enough dreams or I’m not passionate enough about things. I realized that I need to dream more.

I invite anybody who reads this journal to do a list like that: 50 things you want to do before you die. You will learn a great deal about yourself as you do that.

I read the last lecture given by a man named Randy Pauch. He said something that hit me really hard: ‘’ The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people’’. I want to be the kind of people who keep trying despite those brick walls I will face in life.

Jumping Into Action

Jumping into action

This is the first entry for this blog. It is actually the first entry for the first blog I ever create! And, actually, starting this blog is a product of the great lesson that I learned this week.

The best way to learn any kind of skill is to practice it and jump into action even when we still feel insecure. In fact, that insecurity is the reason why we must jump into action right away and try so we can sooner. We have a saying in Spanish that closely translates to ‘’you learn by messing up things’’. It’s better to commit mistakes sooner so we can be better prepared later.

So, whenever you want to learn a new skill don’t limit yourself to books and lectures but rather look for opportunities to practice it through case studies, role plays and even engaging in the actual activity.

An important principle from the book ‘’The Start up of you’’: ABZ planning

Your plan A is what you are doing right now.

Plan B is your next move when you need to change plan A or something better comes to your life.

Plan Z is your life-boat; what allows you to take risks. Plan Z is that option that you can fall back on when everything else fails and then restart the battle from there.

I will keep posting entrepreneurial and management principles in this journal. May this be the first of many.