Working on the marketing team of a content marketing company means that every year around this time, I’m very aware of what is happening in the industry and what my team is preparing for in the upcoming year. Best case scenario, the upcoming trends are ones that we are already aware of and have been planning for. When you work in content marketing, you are in an industry that seems to…
Becoming an amazing keynote speaker doesn’t just happen. Like anything else in life, it takes practice. You’ve all heard it — any great endeavor worth doing, is worth doing it well. Without special abilities, very few people will ever just sit down and play the piano. Even with much practice, many pianist are still lousy and it makes you cringe to hear them play. Rarely will someones first…
I’m not going to sugarcoat it, sell you rainbows and unicorns, or tell you that becoming an entrepreneur will make you instantly rich. And I’m definitely not going to tell you that it’s easy. Starting your own business is HARD. The biggest component to success is a high risk tolerance. I have repeatedly struggled to find my footing, pay bills, and get everything set up before finally finding…
To my fellow twenty-somethings: Do you consider yourself entitled? I ask because Time Magazine is calling us the “ME ME ME” generation. …and that pisses me off. The common line of thought is that our generation wants more than we “deserve,” that we’re not willing to work for it. Our elders compare us to generations of the past. We don’t have any grit or follow-through, they say. I…
Recently my business, Idea Lemon, celebrated its 4 year anniversary. I use the word ‘celebrated’ loosely because really that meant Linkedin notified me it had been 4 years since I first added Idea Lemon to my profile, and I looked up at my Cofounder, Martin, and said, “Hey, apparently its our 4 year anniversary today.” He replied with, “Oh really? Cool,” and we got back to work. While there…
If you’ve ever dreamed of giving a TED/TEDx Talk, you’ve probably also dreamed of the potential fame that comes along with it. “People will bust down my door to interview me!” “I’ll get tons of business opportunities!” “I’ll be Youtube famous!” Those things are certainly POSSIBLE, but let me feed you a truth sandwich and tell you that they aren’t likely. And that’s okay, because fame is…
In the hustle of building a business, launching a side gig, or climbing the ranks at your company, it’s easy to compare yourself to others. “I’m not making as much as them” “They have a thousand more followers than me” “I’m not nearly as qualified as that person” These mindsets lead to self-doubt, but a lot of self-doubt stems from a deeper-rooted competition. A competition with ourselves. Someone…
If you’re reading this right now, and it’s during the work day, there’s a preeeetttyy good chance it’s because you’re bored and searching for distractions. You know the boredom feeling well–You’re mindlessly scrolling Facebook on your phone, and then you open a new browser tab and type in “Facebook” only to realize you’re accessing Facebook in two places at the same time! It wasn’t always like this, though.…
I had a conversation with a friend recently about her career. She’s in a situation where she knows she has a ton of qualities that would make her a great leader at her company. The problem is, she’s a perfectionist, and this holds her back from ever voicing her ideas. This creates a fear of failure, and therefore she doesn’t strike while the iron’s hot. Does this sound…
The entrepreneurs dream: cash out and island hop through the South Pacific following your passion. In this week’s interview Gary Arndt (@everythingeverywhere) tells us about how he made this dream a reality as a self taught photographer who went on to become Travel Photographer of the Year, one of the world’s top travel bloggers, and a podcast host for CBS. Gary has gone on to visit over 170…