bradley will

A Note From Bradley: I recently sat down with a friend and client of mine, Butch Zemar.  Butch owns an insurance agency and I asked him to share some of the biggest mistakes young business owners make when it comes to insurance.  That turned into asking him to write a guest post because I just happened to be making these mistakes!

Health insurance is not a sexy topic for most young entrepreneurs. Most jump into things too fast, just to get some in place and they are ready to move on. In order to protect everything you are working for you need to take a small amount of time to plan ahead. Spending a little more time on planning can prevent something drastic from happening to you and your business.

Oblivious to What They Bought  ...Continue Reading

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My last blog post here talked about why you can and should leverage LinkedIn and that there is an opportunity cost for you NOT joining LinkedIn.  So you’ve taken our advice and created an account or are starting to think seriously about doing something with your membership. Cool. What’s next?

First of all, you need to remind yourself what your objective is for being on LinkedIn. As a young entrepreneur, you want to avoid the trap of looking at LinkedIn as merely a market for which you will sell in. People buy from people they like, not companies. And since LinkedIn is all about finding people that could be of value to you as well as being found by others, you need to start by creating a profile that will best represent you to the world.

1. Brand Your Profile
 ...Continue Reading

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Four days after our wedding in March of 2006, my new husband and I awoke to the sound of a hotel alarm clock blaring its taunting reminder to wake up. It was 6am in Maui on a Wednesday, the second day of our much-anticipated romantic honeymoon. There were beaches to be laid on, champagne to be enjoyed, and hikes to be taken – just the two of us. But this alarm ringing in our ears wasn’t for any of those activities. It was for a conference call with a client – one that couldn’t be rescheduled.

Throughout the honeymoon, mornings were filled with email exchanges and intermittent calls about the business. For every romantic dinner and carefree moment, there was a business issue to tend to. The company was a constant presence during our first week as a married couple, the computer and Blackberry like omnipresent chaperons keeping a watchful eye. This is a honeymoon when you’re married to an entrepreneur. This is a glimpse of the rest of your life. Are you ready take the plunge with someone whose heart and soul beat for the existence of their company – and not just you?  ...Continue Reading

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You’ve been on Facebook for a few years. You “get” Twitter. But you’ve avoided LinkedIn. Just for older professionals? Only full of recruiters and people looking for work? Don’t see any value? You’re not alone. Many people young and old are still confused over LinkedIn.

But, as there are more grandparents on Facebook than high school students now, the time has come for you to venture on to LinkedIn. And LinkedIn wants you to succeed; heck, they’ll even publicize it! If LinkedIn’s active outreach to 2009 college graduates is any reminder to you, you are definitely not too young to be on LinkedIn.

If you’re not on LinkedIn, you’re missing out big time. Here are 5 reasons why you SHOULD be leveraging LinkedIn:

1. Build a Credible, Professional Brand  ...Continue Reading

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For those of you who haven’t had the chance to visit Canada just yet…sure, we might have some brutally cold winters, and throw the occasional  (or not-so-occasional) “Eh” into our sentences, but one thing you may not have come to realize about Canada is that we are a land of emerging young entrepreneurs and leaders who are taking social media by storm and leaving our mark in the world!

I have been privileged to meet many brilliant young entrepreneurs and emerging leaders through social media; including many of my fellow Canucks! Through networking on Twitter, I’ve been able to get to know many dynamic, driven entrepreneurs and leaders in an array of industries, stages of business development, and of all different ages…and now I’m thrilled to have the chance to share these young movers and shakers with you and why they are great people to learn from and follow on their path to success.  ...Continue Reading

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Remember lunches in elementary school? Some questionably-edible amorphous green goo that you swore just threatened you with a twitch.  Didn’t look too appetizing and you lost your appetite.  No matter your product, design acts like a messenger.  And just like that lunchtime goo, your consumers prejudge the impact of your product even before they taste it.

You’re the lunch lady now.  You have control over what you dish out.  You may have the most nutritional meal on the market, but if it looks like something in the back of the refrigerator that’s about to mutate and spawn life, it’s not going to sell.  So what does good design do for you?

First Impressions are E-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g.  ...Continue Reading

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LinkedIn is the leading professional network on the web, so if you don’t have an account already, get one today! If you have one already, you’re off to a great start.

But even then, I have heard many people say that they consider LinkedIn to be only a career search tool; however, LinkedIn is so much more than that. It is actually a fantastic service and resource for entrepreneurs to use in the development, launch and success of their ventures.

One feature you entrepreneurs may not know about or have fully explored is LinkedIn Groups. LinkedIn Groups are free to join, and you can choose to join up to 50 groups from a list of thousands of user-created groups for literally just about anything. Not only do these groups provide you access to connect with and contact fellow group members who could become future partners, employees, investors, customers etc. of your startup, but the groups’ discussion board and news sections can provide more networking opportunities, answers to your questions and insightful advice, tips and support.  ...Continue Reading

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