Instigator Blog

I bookmark endless resources “to be read” at some point in the future. The sad thing is, that future rarely comes. I wish I had more time for reading & sharing some worthwhile resources.

On that note, here are some resources you might enjoy:

1. What are your startup’s philosophies? It’s a good question, and one I’ve wanted to respond to for awhile. I just haven’t had the time to articulate something intelligent enough. So instead, I give Matt Moore a long overdo link and hope that others can pick up the slack!
2. Social Media impacts much more than Marketing. Another post that I’ve wanted to comment on for quite some time. Jeremiah Owyang is right on the money in his asset of social media and how it will percolate through all aspects of your business in the very near future. He doesn’t mention recruiting, where I think the principles of social media have yet to be implemented successfully…
3. 100 Financial Calculators Every Entrepreneur Needs. An exhaustive list of financial tools you can use to help your business. My recommendation for entrepreneurs of any stripe (small business, startups, solopreneurs, freelancers, etc.) is to find a great accountant (the picture on this post is worth the visit!) For that matter, if you can, find a great bookkeeper too. You should always be aware of your financial status; don’t rely blindly on accountants and bookkeepers, but get help.
4. The 100 Best Business Finance Posts of All Time. This ought to keep you busy for the weekend…or two. There are a number of great posts on raising financing. I also found the section on outsourcing and employees interesting.
5. All Entrepreneurs Burnout, It’s Just a Matter of Time. OK, not the most inspiring or fun topic, but an important one nonetheless. Darren Herman provides us with a number of worthwhile resources to counter the burnout effects.
6. Characteristics That Make a Startup a Startup. The shortest post of them all - Chris Conley gets right to the point. What do you think of his points? Do you agree? Disagree? Tell him.

Happy reading!

Leaving a full-time job to become a freelancer can be very scary. It can also be extremely exciting and rewarding.

It’s not always the most obvious transition. There’s a lot to learn and do when setting yourself up as a freelancer.

You will make mistakes. There will be hiccups along the way. But as long as you’re prepared for those stumbles and missteps, you’ll end up succeeding.

The biggest challenge for a freelancer is first “setting up shop”. You decide it’s time to strike out on your own, and you put the proverbial sign on the door — “I’m open for business.” But now what?

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Most bloggers give their content away for free. It’s what we do. It’s the nature of the beast.

But is it a smart strategy?

Yes and no.

As an attraction strategy to draw an audience in, giving away free content makes complete sense. It’s the carrot at the end of the line. It’s the hook you use to provide additional services or sell additional products.

Wait…you mean you don’t offer anything extra? You’re focused on monetizing with AdSense and Google searches? It’s an obvious strategy, in the sense that everyone’s doing it, it’s relatively easy to setup, and we’ve heard plenty of success stories of people many thousands and thousands of dollars. But does it really make sense? There has to be more right?

There’s an old saying: Those that can, do - those that can’t, teach.

Not anymore.

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Entrepreneurs are leaders. Entrepreneurs are passionate and resolute (sometimes beyond reason!)

We’re stubborn and inquisitive. Curious and determined. Certain we can do better than anyone else.

And so it makes sense: When entrepreneurs turn their attention to the environment, good things happen.

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For any entrepreneur starting a web business this is a critical question. If you’re building a web application for consumers you’re probably thinking, “I’ll give it away for free and sell advertising.” So be it. As much as I dislike that model, it’s the de facto one for consumer web apps. For business-to-business web applications, the model should be different. And I’m a strong believer in what the guys at 37Signals espouse, which is very simply, “charge for your web apps.”

But what should you charge?

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