Today I have a guest video post by my friend Chris Ducker who I am also partnering up with on some awesome online outsourcing business ideas as we speak. Chris has tons of experience with outsourcing and actually runs a large company in the Philippines (where he lives as well) that hires many outsourced workers as its core business model. Watch this short video & I swear you’ll know 100x more than you did before on outsourcing and the beauty of virtual assistants.

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The other day my Dad asked me why I didn’t use my last name anymore, he said that I used to hate my middle name and now it’s if I adopted it to replace my last name. Is it because I harbor a resentment towards the fam? Is it because I’m trying to be a rebel… no and nope.

If that doesn't scare you away I don't know what will

My fam is rad, my mom is the best she cooks, takes care of my whole family and runs her awesome wine and food blog at the same time. My dad is great, he has taught me a lot of my business ’savvy’ and is open minded enough to start a blog on his passion which is commercial real estate (yes those were both shameless plugs for my parent’s blog but darn it, they rock).

The reason I use Maren Kate in all my social media accounts and business dealings is because it is way more ‘brandable’. When I started out in business for myself I realized fast that I needed to create a ‘persona’ to survive. Granted my persona is pretty much just who I am in real life except that behind my blog I’m quieter and shy in front of new people, but every time I do business or blog, or interact online I assume my ‘Maren Kate’ persona vs. Maren Kate Donovan for a variety of reasons.

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First off, thanks for everyone who commented & responded to my questions for escapee’s of the 9 to 5 yesterday! You all gave a really great response and I am planning on pouring over the responses and starting the ball rolling to put together a mastermind community for those who truly want to succeed and become extraordinary entrepreneurs.

Now to the post… So recently I have gotten a few really big contracts in a short period of time. Contracts to do social media marketing for businesses as well as some website design contracts for brands. I don’t code myself, but I have amazingly awesome virtual assistants who make up the ‘core’ of my company Oracle Launch.

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So you’re obviously interested in entrepreneurship since you are reading my blog about how to escape the 9 to 5, heck, you are probably even bent towards online entrepreneurship… and why wouldn’t you? Its freaking kick butt… I get to work anywhere, anytime and make as much as I want (or better am willing to work for). But, and this is a big one, when you are starting out PLEASE don’t fall for internet business scams!! Sometimes people ask if there is such a thing as an internet better business bureau, too bad there isn’t but to help you out I put together this list of scams NOT to fall for.

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44% of American adults take prescription medications the associated press reported a few years back and that number has only grown.

In 2004 Pharmaceutical companies made $200 billion in pill sales, this doesn’t take into account the pills pushed illegally through the streets.

The other day I filled my first ever prescription for ‘pills’. I haven’t taken any yet, to be honest I’m afraid to. But I made the leap and just knowing the little pink pills are nearby comforts me in some strange way. You see I have suffered from nearly debilitating anxiety attacks in past years and always thought it was ‘normal’ and only a few months ago did I realize how much havoc my condition was causing in my life and business on a daily basis.

That is when i started to see a very nice lady therapist to help me with my anxiety, racing thoughts and obsessive behavior (come to find out many entrepreneurs share these characteristics). Anyways I say this not so you can feel sorry for me or judge me but because as a blogger I’m dedicated to 100% transparency (in a tactful way of course). So while looking at my little red bottle of pills shortly after I was prescribed them I was struck by the thought “entrepreneurs must adopt a pill popper’s mentality to really get ahead”. This sounds awful at first, but let me explain and it really makes a lot of sense…

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*WARNING: this post was written without spell check, without a proof read & is coming straight from my heart… and frazzled mind*

How do I get money to start my business? Is a question I hear an obnoxious amount of times, it is also a question I’ve asked myself over and over. So I decided that I’ll go through step by step how I started my business and how I plan to raise a little money for it now via the Angel investor model… this is a 2 part series but can be incredibly helpful if you are a start up or an entrepreneur in the beginning stages of business planning. Learn from my mistakes and take notes on the successes I’ve found in certain (usually out of the box) ways…

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So I haven’t blogged in 3 days! After blogging every day for a while it is weird and not a good feeling. It reminds me of when I forget to feed my cat or water a plant and in reality that is what it does when you don’t blog consistently, every day if possible… your blog starves, your plant dies and you get arrested for animal cruelty (not necessarily in that order). But I am back and I am determined to be better than ever ladies & gents… Momma got uber motivated in a recent trip to San Fran (see I had a good excuse) and I am more into my business and blogging than every before.

Today I am unveiling the 7 super secret networking tips you WANT to know. Trust me these work online and off. Networking is one of the most important things in your life to learn, it helps you build relationships (both business and personal), it brings you more business when your booming & can be a life saver when times are tough. As the old saying goes, it’s not what you know but who you know.

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How many business cards have you received or given in your lifetime? Okay… now think of how many you’ve kept or better can even remember? Probably the business cards you can remember in detail you could count on one hand. These rare unique business cards usually don’t keep to the typical ‘business cardy’ model.

Maybe they are like www.meatcards.com where your business info and contact numbers are engraved in a piece of beef jerky. Have you ever gotten one of those? I doubt it. If you did I guarantee you that you’d tell all your friends and never forget it.

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Today I have an amazing interview with Jason Falls of SocialMediaExplorer.com. Jason shares some of his secrets on social media strategies and how to use networking platforms to best build your own brand. This is a must for entrepreneurs and all those interested in using social media right!
 

If you have comments or questions please feel free to post them below!

Okay all you entrepreneurs and would-be’s. Here are the 3 E’s of entrepreneurship which should give you as good of an idea about how to become an entrepreneur as any MBA program I’ve heard of (no seriously!). If you can master these three E’s you can have the world when it comes to working for yourself & having life on your terms.

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