Today I read,

7 Habit of highly successfuly Gen Y entrepreneurs.

This is absolutely 100% correct. A great blog post establishing the normal habits of a young entrepreneur these days. Being a Gen Y entrepreneur I couldn’t agree more on these 7 habits. (Listed Below) The blog references Stephen Covey’s book and uses it as a guideline in the creation of the 7 Habit of highly successfuly Gen Y entrepreneurs. I have yet to read Stephen Covey’s book, 7 habits of highly successful people, but it is coming up soon on my “must read list.”

If you are a young entrepreneur or aspiring to become one, I highly recommend living and breathing these 7 habits. You will face a lot of resistance in the beginning adoption stage, but once you got the mindset down you will soon see doors open for you and the life you dreamed about will become a reality.

7 Habit of highly successfuly Gen Y entrepreneurs.

1) Terribly dislike working hard, they prefer working smart.

2) Love to connect! And they’ll rather do it socially than officially.

3) Won’t do ‘it’ just because ‘it’ is what everyone else is doing.

4) Are strongly motivated toward achievement.

5) Are money savvy.

6) Courage is their middle name.

7) Don’t know when enough is enough.

So keep working smart and stay on the path to success by following these 7 habits.

-Jason Kirby

Marketing Artificial Turf – eBoost Consulting (Jason Kirby)

Just finished up creating this new video to be the introduction to YourTurfSearch.com. The purpose of this video is to encourage artificial turf companies to navigate through the site more effectively. The video tells my visitors exactly what to expect from the website and then I added a call to action at the end to encourage they request a webinar with me.

In the video I used the website’s navigation as my main point of focus. I find this to be a useful and enaging technique that shows the visitors exactly what each link leads to and what they can expect to find on the site. I like using this kind of technique because it guides your visitors to follow a certain path on your site and increases your conversions by adding a call to action at the very end.

This is all apart of my marketing efforts to promote the Artificial Turf Marketing Program that I am in charge of at eBoost Consulting, a digital marketing consultancy.

Please let me know your thoughts on using this interactive technique in your videos.

-Jason Kirby

Video Production Credits to San Diego Headshots & Event Photography | The Right Light Photography

Today, Brand-Yourself.com wrote an article on my website and my personal efforts at self branding. I want to thank Trace Cohen for taking the time to write the piece and doing a wonderful job on it. I hope it encourages other young professionals and college students to get their name out there and truly work on getting that competitive edge in this current job market.

Students and other young people looking for a job or looking to network really need to understand the importance of having a positive and proactive presence online and what it can do for them. It gives you the power to share much more than your resume with potential employers. Being proactive online shows your employers that you have passion and the drive to be your best, that is going to say a lot more than a cover letter and resume.

If you are interested in starting the process of self branding but do not know where to get started or don’t know how to make a website, shoot me an email at Jason@Jason-Kirby.com and title the subject line: “I want to brand myself” and I will help you get started. Believe it is a lot easier than you would expect, the only hard part is getting started having some kind of strategy and that is what I can help you with.

Please read the article, Manage Online Reputation – Student branding: Jason Kirby by Trace Cohen so you can get another prospective on the important of creating and managing an online presence that goes beyond your Facebook profile.

- Jason Kirby

First Day of Cold Calling

No one enjoys cold calling. It is difficult to call people and have them accept what you are offering when they have absolutely no idea who are. However, it is sometimes the only way to start getting any sales and therefore it needs to be done.

Today was my first day of cold calling for eBoost Consulting. I have been working the last month to prepare for this day. I have spent countless hours creating deliverables, proposals, presentations, and sales scripts. All this work was to set me up and give me the necessary ammo for today’s cold calling.

I was so nervous, it took me much longer than I expected to pick up the phone and actually start calling. But I sucked it up and did it. Out of the 10 calls I made I only got a hold of one decision maker. In that conversation I messed up big time and said something completely wrong and he called me out for it and hung up. Certainly not the best way to start my first conversation with a decision maker.

So I was a little hesitant to pick up the phone after that rejection and I had to take a little snack break to recuperate. Once I was ready to pick up the phone again I decided to call that guy back to apologize and correct what I said. Of course he screened the call this time, but I left a message correcting what I said and encouraged him to sign up for the webinar anyway. It is a longshot, but I had nothing to lose and for some reason I am no longer hesitant to pick up the phone now. I think making such a stupid mistake and later apologizing for my ignorance made me realize it ain’t going to get much worse than that. I can only improve and make my pitch even better from here on out.

I encourage anyone considering a job where you will be cold calling to accept it when you make mistakes and then apologize to the customer for your mistakes and let them know it won’t happen again. Odds are you already lost their attention, but you have nothing to lose by calling them back so you might as well do it and see where it goes.

So today I am 0 for 10, but tomorrow is a new day and here at eBoost we are all about creating your own tomorrow and that is what today was for, working towards creating my own tomorrow.

Please leave a comment about your worst cold calling experience and how you over came it.

-Jason Kirby

Unexpected Wisdom

His name is Girard, a man that has taught me more in just a few hours of knowing him than anyone else I have ever met. He came dressed in old raggedy jeans, and what looked like a twenty year old beanie with a matching sweater. His hands were like worn leather that have seen years of hard labor. He had the face of a child with clear complexion and a cheerful smile. You can find him in any library with an old cane and over sized backpack diving into his research. His name is Girard, a great man with a desire to share his wealth of knowledge with others who are willing to listen.

This is a story a selfless man who has found pure internal bliss and wants to take what he knows and give it to the world for no personal gain. He does only for the enjoyment of others benefiting because of him sharing his wisdom. He is a man of simple pleasures. I asked him what does he look forward to everyday and he responds with a chuckle and a smile, “Waking up in the morning, seeing the green and not the roots.” He is just happy to be alive and enjoying what life brings him everyday. “I can’t complain about being alive.” Girard really makes you reconsider all of your meaningless worries and concerns in your life and makes you focus on what really matters; live, laugh, and love.

I met Girard in an unexpected way, and to my surprise I did not go somewhere else when he approached me. It was late one Sunday night and it was time for me to begin on my memoir paper that I have not put any thought into and the rough draft was due in the morning, or so I thought. Before I began to start slaving away on my paper in the library one floor below the Reserve Book Room at 8:00pm, a man to whom I thought was just a homeless man checking his email started to talk to me. At first judgment I said to myself I should probably ignore him and concentrate on my paper and get it done. However, I noticed he had a soft inviting tone from the words he spoke and I decided to answer his question he asked me. I look back now and do not remember what he asked me, all I know is that it grabbed my interest. The next thing I know I have been talking to him for two hours and it is time for him to leave and catch the last bus leaving State. During our conversation he gave me over a half a dozen book recommendations, over a dozen different motivational acronyms, and six pages of scrambled notes. After he left and we exchanged contact information I was completely in a state of shock of what just happened. He had asked me so many philosophical questions that really make you sit and think about what you are doing with your life. Girard asked, “Do you believe in F.E.A.R.?” He told me that F.E.A.R. is what keeps us from success and described F.E.A.R. as “Forever Evading All Responsibility” and this did not make sense to me at first. However, I thought about it later and saw how it applies to me and how each person must interpret their own way and apply it to their own life.

He descibes himself as a researcher, a student, a networker, and a human being, He makes things seems so simple, which from his perspective are true, but from a college student with a full load, two jobs, and other extra curricular activities, life does not seem as simple as one may wish it to be.

A couple of weeks after our first meeting, we met up again and we got to know each others’ background a little more. After giving him a brief interview, I was able to understand why his life is so simple and enjoyable. He wakes up at 5:30 am every morning and begins his physical and deep breathing exercises to get the blood flowing and open up his lungs. He then either goes to class at City College where he is studying Chicano Agriculture and History, or he goes to SDSU or UCSD and spends a majority of his time in the library doing hours of research. “The library is the center of knowledge and should be used for its purpose to expand the mind.” He then goes home. He sold his car long ago and strictly depends on public transportation to get him from place to place. If that is not the definition of a simple life then I do not know what is.

I asked him how he was able to live such a simple lifestyle and a little about his history and how he ended up being who he is today. He told me that he is born San Diegan and a San Diegan at heart. Although he lived in Germany and traveled Europe in his younger years, he came back to what he calls “paradise.” He is currently unemployed and lives off his early retirement pension he received ten years ago when he left AT&T as a linesmen. He has no family, to my knowledge, and lives in his home by himself in Talmadge which is near City Heights. He grows some of his own food, being that he is an agriculturist and by the look of his hands I would not doubt it for a second. He lives by the bear minimum and only gets things he needs and is not tempted by simple greedy or unnecessary pleasures. Rather than asking himself what he wants or desires he asks, “what do I need to do to be of service?” A true noble man at heart that lives only to help others.

Not only does he motivate me to live a more fulfilling life, but he has also excited me with his research. He has been spending a majority of his free time researching further into what I like to call “The Perfect Plant” also known as Amaranth. The research he has shared with me has caused me to want to grow my own Amaranth plants to eat and use for its many benefits. He describes the plant and its uses with so much passion and enthusiasm it is nearly impossible for me not to get excited about it as well. For an older gentlemen, he looks extraordinarily healthy and has lots of energy. He claims a lot if comes from consuming parts of this plant and using it for its myriad of uses. Although the plant is not the sole reason to his healthy skin and his energetic attitude towards life, but it certainly is a factor that he owes a lot of credit to.

I chose to interview and write about Girard because I found the situation in which we met so interesting and unique. It is not everyday you run across someone as wise and passionate like Girard. I wanted to learn more about him and his way of life so I could see what I could learn about my own life. The amount of enthusiasm and energy he has has inspired me to keep a motivated and positive attitude towards life at all times. I look forward to my future encounters with Girard and continuing to learn from him and maybe be able to teach him a thing or two one day.

He taught me what it really means not to judge a book by its cover. If I had judged him, my topic for this paper probably would have not been very interesting.

Have you heard of people using something called Twitter and how its popularity is skyrocketing? Well you better get on board before it is too late. Now you might be saying to yourself, what is Twitter and why do I need a Twitter account? Well I am going to answer that for you right here.

Twitter is an online social media platform. It allows users from all over the world to Tweet about anything they desire in a 140 characters or less. (Tweet is Twitter’s term for post). If you have a Facebook it similar to updating your status and sharing what you are currently up to with your friends. Now this might sound completely uninteresting to you because you might not care what other people are doing or others knowing what you are doing. However, there are so many other reasons for using Twitter. So many I will list them:

1. Social Networking, you can amass a large group of followers and if you post relevant and beneficial content you could have people clicking any link or site you post.
2. It is an extremely simple platform that is heavily regulated to prevent spammers.
3. It takes just a few seconds to post any kind of content or post a link to share with you followers.
4. You can have multiple accounts you use for many different reasons. One account could be to share funny content with friends and family. Another account could be for following industry professionals and reading up on the content they post that you find interesting.
5. Millions of users now have a Twitter and a majority of these accounts are industry professionals with a plethora of knowledge and wisdom they share to people like you and me.
6. The greatest part of Twitter is all of the content is mutually beneficial or only beneficial to the end user or the follower. Self promoters who do not share relevant and beneficial content are usually banned in a short period.
7. Twitter is an amazing as a self promotion tool and it is easy to search for people you want to follow, who in turn will most likely follow you.
8. It does not take a whole lot to write something in 140 characters or less
9. Once you understand Twitter you can start sharing information they benefit others and your follows.
10. Takes 1 minutes to be up and running.

Now you know the benefits, but you probably do not know any of the terminology. Here is Twitter terms defined:

• Tweet – A tweet is just like a post. For example someone would say “I just tweeted about that video yesterday”
• Follower – These are like your friends in a sense. So if you have a follower that means every time you post an update or tweet, only your followers will see it. So if you have no followers then no one will see what you post unless the click your profile.
• Following – This just means you are now the follower of someone else. So every time someone you are following tweets about something you will see it pop up on your home page.
• Updates – These are yours and other Twitters’ previous posts or tweets

To find out even more about twitter check out Drinking the Twitterade. It is a great blog that incorporates a video from the founder.

Now Go Out and Join Twitter and start having your Tweets heard around the world.

-Jason Kirby

Find out more about Jason Kirby

Blog Directory for San Diego, CA

Did you know that if you work an average of 40 hours a week from when you are 25 years old until you retire at 65 you spend 83,200 hours at work! That is 3466 days or 9.5 years. You will have spend 12% of your entire existence on earth at work! If you really over analyze things (which I do) you spend 29% of your existence asleep, therefore of your time awake and actually doing something with your time here on earth, you spend 32% working! I do not know about you but this kind of freaks me out. And these statistics are based on the bare minimum, most people work more than 40 years of their life and work more than 40 hours a week. Some people probably spend up to 50% of their life at work. WOW!

This is all kind of intense, most people do not really think about how much time they really spend at work in their lifetime. And people wonder why suicide rates have increased and the amount of clinically depressed patients has increased as well. I do not want people to get the idea that I am telling people to not work or live like Henry David Thoreau in his book Walden. However I am suggesting that people should love what they do. What I mean by “Love what you do” is if you are going to spend a large majority of your life at work or making money then you should be enjoying it at the least. If you do what you are not passionate about or something that gives little or no satisfaction then you will die a slow and miserable death. No one can honestly say to themselves that they want to lead a miserable and meaningless life.

For me starting a business and the idea of constant challenges is all I need for me to love what I am doing. Some people like sharing information or helping others so they should be a teacher or involved in a non-profit. Some people enjoy competing and being the best, therefore they should be an athlete or compete in a sales environment. There are so many things out that you can do that will bring you meaning and satisfaction. Never let the money guide you to where you will work. Money is nice, but if that is the only reason that gets you up at 8am everyday to go to a job you can’t stand, then you need to take a step back and re-analyze your life.

Wealth will find its way to you if you are doing what you love. It might come in the form of a paycheck, but it might even be disguised as love from those you care about or have helped or even pure self satisfaction. If your work is something you love to do then you can at least say that your are happy 30% of the time. Although, if you are happy at work you usually bring that positive attitude home to your loved ones, in which will in turn will make them happy which makes you happy. Therefore in the end you can say to the purest meaning of the word that you are Happy. Is that not what life is all about, being happy.

So be happy and Love what you do. Love is what makes human beings being human.

-Jason Kirby

Find out more about Jason Kirby at Jason-Kirby.com

The present is all that exist. Past already happened and no longer exist. The future has not happened therefore it does not exist. However, the past shapes the present and the future is developed from the present. It is amazing what can happen in a moment that can alter a person’s life. I just had this moment and this is my story.

“Let’s meet at the library”

“Why can’t we go to my place? It’s closer.”

“Because the library provides us tools to take action and record information.”

“Everyone is here. Let’s go”

The three of us are walking and talking about S.L.I. and the goals we have for the organization and the goals we have for ourselves. As we walk to the desk where the computers are, I notice an old man to whom looked like just another homeless man spending his time in the library. I ignored the man and began S.L.I.’s first meeting.

I was engaged in a meeting with individuals that want to do something with their life and are motivated to seek knowledge. This meeting involved me sharing my knowledge and wisdom to spark something within themselves that would cause them to recall their knowledge and share it with others as well and hopefully lead them to taking action. It was a brief but beneficial meeting. It was not until after this meeting that my learning begun.

After my friends left and I was getting ready to right my “Memoir” assignment, and the old man from across the desk made a comment about me.

“You guys look intense”

“Excuse me?”

“I was observing you guys and you guys looked intense and passionate about your ideas”

I did not expect this kind of comment and it threw me off. I did know what he meant nor the reason behind him talking to me. However, something was different about this man, I had no idea what it was, but something told to keep talking to this man. I could not tell you what or why I did. I just did. Now my life will change forever.

The things we talked about were enough to fill 6 pages of notes in an hour and a half. One minute we would be talking about oil and hydro carbons to talking about God and how math is the perfect language. The written word cannot describe the ideas and concepts we discussed in this hour and a half. To be honest I am at a loss for words.

The point I want to get across and what I want you to get from this post is…take a chance. What is being alive in this world if a person is always living in fear. A person has to be willing to step outside their comfort zone and take a risk. I took a risk with this man. I did not know him and have never seen him before, yet he changed my life and presented me with so much wisdom to the point where I will never be the same. He provided me wisdom that takes years of experience to accumulate and gave it to me in an hour.

Live in the present and take a chance, forget about your responsibilities and open your mind to the possibilities and information in front of you. There is so much that is going on in our world that we seem to miss or let it pass by. I have a huge paper to write that is due and 12 hours, but I realized what is important and pushed aside my responsibilities for two hours. In this case, the information in front me was an old man wearing a beanie. His name was Jason, but he went by Gerald. An interesting character who just wanted to share his wisdom to someone that was willing to listen.

Whether it is your professor, your parents, your boss, or an old man wearing a beanie, they all have something to offer you, you just have to ask for it. You would be surprised by the amount of people out there that want to share their knowledge with anyone willing to listen. The only thing you have to do is take a chance. Do not let the fear of rejection or uncertainty blind you in your search for answers.

Take the time to ask questions and listen to those who have the answers. If you are a young college student, take this piece of advice…LISTEN. When I say listen, I mean turn off all of your other senses and really concentrate on listening.

I know this post seems more like a rant than anything and I apologize, but I had to write and share the moment I just experienced. If you take anything from this post, take a chance and don’t let fear run your life.

The world works in mysterious ways.

-Jason Kirby

http://www.Jason-Kirby.com

Your Industry, Your Profession, and Your Business in Regards to Networking

Say our friend, Mike, works for a pharmaceutical company that researches and develops new drugs. Mike knows absolutely nothing on how a drug is developed except for what he needs to sell it. Mike is the Sales Director for Pharmaceutical X. At home, after work, Mike owns and runs a small e-commerce website selling different brands of swimmer goggles.

So now Mike is out at a networking event and meeting new people, maybe establishing new relationships, personal and professional. He is approached by another person and asked

“Hi, what do you do for a living?”

Mike has several different options from here. What would you say in this situation if you were Mike? To really answer this question to benefit you the most in attempt to establish a relationship, you need to know a couple things about your situation and what you really do. The situation is irrelevant for now, so let’s talk about what Mike or you really do.

Once you are working for a company there are couple things to keep in mind; what does your company do and what category of industry does it fall in, what you, personally, do for the company, and lastly, what you do for yourself (hobbies, interests, home/small business). Each of these three aspects of your professional life can be described by Your Industry, Your Profession, and Your Business.

1. Your Industry – In Mike’s situations, his industry would be the Pharmaceutical Industry. When someone asks Mike what industry he is in, he can answer with saying, “I’m in pharmaceuticals.” Since the company he works for is in that industry, that is the industry he is associated with.

2. Your Profession – Since Mike is the Sales Director, he doesn’t know much about drugs and drug research. Therefore, he would be giving false information if he told someone his profession is in pharmaceuticals. Mike’s profession is sales. He is in charge of obtaining new clients and increasing the bottom line. He is a business man, not a scientist.

3. Your Business – This sometimes has no correlation to your industry or profession. Your Business is what you do for yourself or on the side. It is your passion or hobby that you turn into a business. In Mike’s case, he is an avid swimmer and decided to sell swimmer goggles online. His business is e-commerce, more specifically, he sells swimmer accessories.

Now the question is:

What is YOUR Industry, YOUR Profession, YOUR Business?

Once you have answered this question you will be ready to start networking and selling yourself to others.

- Jason Kirby

Learn more about Jason Kirby at www.Jason-Kirby.com

Everyone has heard the saying, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” Well if you take this quote as seriously as I do, then you understand why business cards with your name and contact information are vital to your networking success. For those of you who are not a freak like me when it comes to networking, then you could benefit from this blog.

A lot of you might have thought of business cards for strictly people that have cool position titles in large companies and that you do not fit that stereotype. So why should you get business cards? There are several reasons to why you want to take the time to create and have business cards.

1)It is cool. Trust me when I say this, but when you thought (like I did as well) that business cards are for executives only and now you have some, you are going to be stoked on yourself. This might sound like you are being a little conceded, but all it is showing people you meet and hand off your new business card to, is that you have confidence in yourself. Successful people and people that want to be successful like people with confidence.

2)It is cheap if not free to get a couple business cards for yourself. All it takes is a couple minutes of your time and maybe shipping costs.

3)It is extremely easy to design and put together a business card. Most websites and print companies do it for you for free or no additional charge. They provide several professional looking templates that you can select and input your information.

4)They are a professional and acceptable way to get your name out there. There is such a thing as business card transactions. It is where one party hands off their business card in exchange for another party’s card. This is totally normal and you should join in.

5)Business cards look a lot better and are easier to hold onto than post-it notes or scratch pieces of paper with your contact information on. If it looks like trash someone is more willing to forget about it and throw it away. It is custom in our American culture to hold on to business cards. Most people feel guilty if they were to toss one, that is unless they did not like you, which hopefully is never the case.

Now that you know why you want a business card, here are the steps to follow to get your very own business card.

1.Visit this link to get you business card started.

2.Once you are there, select whether you want a free set of cards or purchase the premium cards. For right now, you will be fine with the free cards.

3.Now choose a template that you like.

4.From there you will input your contact information to be filled in to the business card.

5.Now follow through to the check out and you are all set.

KEY NOTE: Once you have a business card do not just throw them around and hand them off to just anybody. Make sure you are actually greeting the person and exchange in conversation before you hand off your contact information. The person on the receiving end still has to want your card before you hand it to them.

BEST TIP: Be yourself, attract attention and provide interesting facts about yourself so that a person would want your contact information, in which you have nice, clean business card to hand to them.

-Jason Kirby

www.Jason-Kirby.com Jason Kirby’s Professional Web Portal