In practice building (and getting clients) it seems to be that most self-employed people just hope for the best. They simply keep doing what they've been doing and don't have a strategy for creating the practice they'd be truly and deeply happy with. This is a big mistake in my opinion.

I used to write down my goals each year, but it never really worked for me. I just didn't feel really excited about my new goals. They didn't seem to propel me in motion and so I kind of viewed them as being useless. I never really looked at them, probably because they seemed like "shoulds" rather than "really-meaningful-wants."

Then I came across the concept of creating 3-year visions instead of just a list of goals for the upcoming year. This visioning wasn't just about business goals, but also family, financial, spiritual, and relationship goals. It became a "holistic" way of looking at what you wanted in your life. All the pieces looked like they would work together, but only because you were compelled to make it all work together, which was the first time I'd done that in such depth.

The coolest thing about visioning 3 years out came to me after I started doing this regularly. I noticed that ONE year goals were never too much of a stretch. They seemed like timid goals, goals that didn't really get me excited. But having to create a vision of what 3 years down the line would look like allowed me to REALLY think BIG.

Inhibitions dropped. My creative side started going and I really took time to see, "Hey, what WOULD I want my life to look like in 3 years, if I could have time to create it?" SHAZAM! I felt like I'd hit the jackpot.

I'm in Las Vegas for the second time about to get on the plane home. I was here for a web marketing conference called PubCon. I've enjoyed my time here. I saw the Blue Man Group and the Wayne Brady Show. I also did the all-American thing and lost $100 at the blackjack tables after a poorly executed Martingale strategy on the $5 tables at the Sahara. I leave, however, feeling the same way I felt last time--a bit dirty, a bit uncomfortable.

I'm disappointed with the excess and waste of the Westernized luxury culture. Wealthy men with fake-as-can-be paid escorts on each arm at the $5000 per hand blackjack tables, faux-venetian canal boats, Rolex, Prada, Burberry, and Louis Vuitton stores galore, Ferrari and Maybach dealerships, swinger clubs with $65 entrance fees, men on the streets passing out cards with naked women available for between $35 and $150.

I wonder to myself--Does this city in many ways represent a key part of what is wrong with our culture or a key part of the freedom that causes it to thrive? I am as pro-competitive market economy as the next guy, but I have to wonder what role do super-luxury goods play in a just society. I'm not talking about the $200 purses or $40,000 cars--the splurges that perhaps are bad within the realm of defensible-reason in moderation for quality or happiness-inducing reasons. I'm talking about the $10,000 purses and $500,000 cars.

The way that some people go on about the internet, it is as if everything you ever knew about business has to be thrown out of the kitchen window. There’s a whole class of people out there who like to talk about ‘new paradigms’ or ‘Web 2.0’ or any one of a dozen hot buzz words. Actually, even though we might all be using websites instead of billboards and brochures these days, nothing has changed that much at all.

Think about the methods you use to build your business offline. You can still use all of those techniques online.

#1 Networking

Ever been to a business breakfast? Or a seminar? You probably only go in case you bump into someone who needs your service, or someone offering a service you need yourself (unless you just really like bacon.) You’re also there to pick up some tips from other people, find out what’s happening in your particular sphere and maybe learn from one or two highly successful people.

Nothing’s changed! Online forums, blogs and message-boards serve exactly the same purpose. It’s just people meeting people, and find that they share some interests and goals. Think of any field you like, and chances are that a leading figure in that field is either blogging or contributing to a forum somewhere. But, if you’ve got enough knowledge (and a smattering of writing talent) then there’s no reason why you can’t become the expert. Making your website the place where people go to network can build your brand, raise your search engine profile and enhance your credibility tenfold.

Book Description

Do You Want to Become a Multi-Millionaire Entrepreneur? Here’s How.

By the time Ryan Allis had reached the age of twenty-one, he had achieved the financial goal most people just dream about: He made built his company to one million in sales. Allis has since grown his company iContact Corp., a provider of Web-based email marketing and online communication softwares, to $10 million per year in sales, and has helped numerous clients increase their sales dramatically.

Now Allis shares the secrets of his lightning-fast success with you. In Zero to One Million, he details his simple yet innovative evaluation system of “Market-Advantages-Return” to help you determine if your business idea is viable. Once you have a solid foundation, you can apply his advice for successfully running your business-from initial planning to managing high-speed growth.

• Evaluate your business idea using the innovative MAR system
• Write a business plan sure to excite your investors
• Launch your company with minimal expenditure
• Boost online sales using cutting-edge marketing strategies
• Watch all your hard work transform into millions

Did you know that eighty-one percent of millionaires are entrepreneurs? Join the pantheon of successful businessmen and women with Zero to One Million.

About the Author

Ryan P. Allis is CEO of iContact Corp., a venture-backed email marketing and online communications firm that has grown from nothing to over $10 million in annual sales and 80 employees. Ryan is also the Chairman of the web marketing firm Virante, Inc.

This concludes issue #36 of The Entrepreneurship Chronicle. If you are not subscribed and would like to subscribe, please visit http://www.zeromillion.com. If you would like to contribute content, become involved with the zeromillion.com team, make suggestions, or provide feedback please feel free to contact us at info [at] virante.com.

This newsletter is published by www.zeromillion.com with support from the Entrepreneurs' Coalition. The newsletter is sent using the iContact email marketing software.

Comments/Suggestions: myoung [at] virante.com
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