How to Build a Profitable Blogging Business

Scott Fox in his new book "Internet Riches: The Simple Money-Making Secrets of Online Millionaires" gave one of the best (yet succinct) explanations on how to turn your blog into a profitable business:

By targeting a market of desirable consumers with timely and concise information that is hard to find elsewhere, it's possible to build a blog publishing business with no employees and minimal overhead, using ost effective marketing and dministrative software services and the Internet to freely distribute your commentary

The secret has always been simple: great content that offers value to its customers.

How Important is College Education to Entrepreneurial Success?

How important is college education to entrepreneurial success? How much does educational background and knowledge contribute to success as a business owner? Do you have to enroll in an Ivy League school to be successful in business?

Colleges and universities offer solid education, social network and access to resources to complement your studies. They take pride in helping ensure their graduates land top jobs, and much of the focus seems to be grooming young people for the corporate world and climbing the proverbial corporate ladder.

BusinessWeek had an article ("Who Needs the Ivies?") that looked at the correlation of education and entrepreneurial success. One of the studies the article mentioned was that of Jim Duggan, a senior technology industry analyst. The article states that Duggan's findings was

"... Attendance at top-tier schools might even be inversely correlated with
entrepreneurial success. These schools often focus on producing the next generation of research scientists and academics—not entrepreneurs. He believes that the elitism and confidence these schools nurture may work well in large corporations, but not in tech startups."

Personally, I think deciding to be an entrepreneur instead of a corporate worker is an individual's choice, though enhanced by the environment including schools. A risk averse person will still find solace in the steady paycheck of a job, even after attending one or two entrepreneurial classes.

Family and how entrepreneurship is viewed by the parents is a better gauge of whether a person will want to start and grow their own ventures rather than be employed by someone else. Children who see their parents enjoying the challenge, excitement and disappointments of starting a business are more likely to become entrepreneurs themselves.

But my hats off to the rare breed of entrepreneurs, who made it really big without college education. For these individuals, college education is not a prerequisite for attaining success. Here are some people from Forbes' list of the richest in the world who never completed their college education:

• Sheldon Anderson dropped out of City College in New York City to become court reporter.
• Lawrence Ellison is a drop out at the University of Illinois
• Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard
• Kirk Kerkorian is an 8th grade dropout
• Michael Dell dropped out from University of Texas
• Steve Jobs dropped out of Reed College
• Roman Abramovich is also a college drop out
• Amancio Ortega is also a self made man and dropped out of high school
• Li Ka-shing is also a high school drop out

Their stories can inspire you and give you confidence that you don't really need a degree to succeed in life -- as long as you are willing to work hard to make your business a success.

Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life

The new book The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work and Team with Positive Energy by Jon Gordon joins a long list of books that provides a road map to achieve success.

What sets the book apart and makes it interesting is its use of a business fable approach. The main character, George, is experiencing troubles in his personal and business life. To make matters worse, his car broke down. He was forced to commute and ride the bus. And the characters he met in the bus from the driver to other passengers showed him the techniques to cultivate positive energy he needs to steer his life to success.

The author calls his techniques "The Energy Bus Action Plan" and these are:

1. Create your vision: develop a vision for where you want your bus to go
2. Fuel your vision with purpose: associate your vision with bigger and larger purpose
3. Write down your vision/purpose statement
4. Focus on your vision: even visualize your vision
5. Zoom focus: write the action steps you need to achieve your vision
6. Get on the bus: identify who else can help you implement your action plans
7. Fuel the ride with positive energy and enthusiasm: cultivate a culture of positive energy
8. Post a sign that says "No energy vampires allowed": take out of the bus those who creates negative energy around you
9. Navigate adversity and potholes: there will be challenges and you need to be prepared to overcome them
10. Love your passengers: as you drive towards your vision and purpose, bring out the best in your employees and partners
11. Have fun and enjoy the ride: every journey should be fun

Entrepreneur Success Stories

I will now be writing the Entrepreneur Success Stories blog of WomenHomeBusiness.com . The blog was in hiatus for a long time, and now it's back sharing success stories of entrepreneurs.

I just wrote a post about the extraordinary story of Johnnie Bryant Hunt Sr., who only reached Grade 7 yet went on to become a billionaire with his tremendously successful trucking business J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc.

Read about this fascinating man in the post J.B. Hunt: Maverick in the Trucking Industry .

Secrets of the Super Successful

Why are the successful people, well, successful? How do they attain the pinnacle of success?

The book “There’s Always Room at the Top: 8 Secrets of the Super Successful” by Alan S. Becker looks at the super successful -- the CEOs, governors, diplomats, authors, politicians -- and examines what made them stand out from the rest. He found these 8 attitudes that can propel you to success:

1. The two simple but necessary steps to success are: Set a goal and Do it.
2. Know Your Limitations.
3. Go With Your Gut.
4. Never Quit.
5. Keep Your Eye on the Doughnut.
6. There is Always Room at the Top.
7. Power Abhors a Vacuum.
8. The Paths of Life.

You can read a summary of the book and explanation of the above points at Women Home Business