As an entrepreneur there is one thing that is both precious and hard to come by. Time. We make decisions all day that impact how much time we have for everything and everyone in our lives. We prioritize, make lists and try to accomplish all we can on a daily basis, constantly pushing forward and working to accomplish our goals. This is not inherently bad, however, sometimes we tend to spend all our time on business goals and sacrifice having a more balanced life. Look, I am not turning into a hippie, but rather “balance” means incorporating health into a type-A, driven lifestyle. This is something [...]

Sometimes you have a thought, a stop you in your tracks realization that something strange is evolving.  For the sake of this post I will call it ‘friend fatigue’.  I am caught in the middle of two very distinct ways of looking at social media connections.  On one hand you have the Chris Brogan and Darren Rowse’s of the world ‘cleansing’ their follow lists and eliminating the proverbial noise we all encounter throughout  the social sphere.  The other school of thought, which personalities [...]

This is a Guest blog article submission by Stacy Bergdahl, President, Berglon Marketing Now that you have effectively distinguished your business as a Purple Cow in your marketplace, you might be wondering what’s next?  It’s time to take your brand to the next level: engage in your social media communities.  As the backbone of social media, engagement means truly listening, interacting and sharing quality, relevant and timely content with your audience.  So, how does this translate into [...]

A new hero has arrived to vanquish Internet withdrawals.  CLEAR Wireless selected me to be a CLEAR Hero.  So what does that mean for you? I will be providing free WiFi service from my new CLEAR Spot 4G for anyone that finds me.  I will be traveling all over Southern California and Los Angeles with my CLEAR Spot 4G running in my bag.  If you see the WiFi hotpot ‘Clear Spot Hero’ pop up then I am close.  All you have to do is ask and you can join my mobile hotspot. You can find out ahead [...]

Hot off the press this morning on the OC Metro blog How Its Done by Bryan Elliott. How It’s Done is an inside look at the people in Orange County that are making things happen. From small businesses to the big guys, I write a little about how they go about their business. Introducing Chris Van Dusen, Owner, i-FFICIENCY. Chris teaches entrepreneurs and business professionals to utilize new technology into their sales and general business processes. Their goal is to create a remote efficiency jedi [...]

While my new iPad case may be Top Secret, the MyEdge case by M-Edge ($50.00) should not remain classified. I realize after seeing the photo of my case that you might not have fallen in love. Truth be told, my design has not garnered great reviews from my friends and family as I am not a great designer. Nevertheless it is my design and isn’t that what i-devices are all about? What I love most about my iPad is that nobody has one exactly like mine.  If I pick up a friend’s iPad the form-factor [...]

This is a Guest blog article submission by Stacy Bergdahl, President, Berglon Marketing Branding Your Business: The Importance of Being a Purple Cow It’s not an accident that some brands catch on and some don’t.  In technical terms, the American Marketing Association defines a brand as a “name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of other sellers.”  While [...]

I will be giving a presentation March 3rd 11:30am at UC Irvine Click here to register http://octane.uci.edu/emails/110303_eforum.html The Elevator Pitch The elevator pitch is the tip of your business spear, and the sharpest spear breaks through the most effectively in conveying the problem and the solutions your company can provide. In a society of 140 characters or less, how do you capture attention meaningfully and authentically? Chris Van Dusen, writer and speaker for entrepreneurs and startups, [...]

It depends on the user, right?  Well, sort of…  I spend the majority of my time on the road giving talks, meeting with clients and traveling, so for me the iPad is my mobile office.  I use it for correspondence, writing blog posts, keeping up to date on social media, and the articles and books I read to hopefully become a better writer (I was an Econ major, not Journalism). I also play games. The reason I brought up playing games is who are we kidding?  The screen is large and beautiful and [...]

I recently returned from a mini-vacation to Sayulita, Mexico, a small beach town just north of Puerto Vallarta.  I spent 5 days away from my gadgets. No cell service and very limited WiFi access.  This would be my nightmare; or so I initially thought. While I was away from the technology I am dialed into 24/7, I had a very profound realization – we need to plug-in to un-plug. I do not mean we literally jump on our devices to unwind, but rather what we work so diligently for each day is to [...]