The Entrepreneurship Chronicle
Zero Million - The Entrepreneurship Chronicle
  The Entrepreneurship Chronicle :: April 2010 Issue :: 56

Editor: Ryan Allis
Sent With: iContact


QUOTE OF THE MONTH

"Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises."

~Demosthenes


Dear [fname],

Welcome to the Entrepreneurship Chronicle! I hope you have made progress on your entrepreneurial vision and that you gain value from this issue of The Entrepreneurship Chronicle!

Entrepreneurially Yours,
Ryan P. Allis, CEO
iContact Corp.
2635 Meridian Parkway
Durham, NC
www.iContact.com


   Table of Contents
Non-Profit of the Month
North Carolina Center for Voter Education

North Carolina Center for Voter Education

The North Carolina Center for Voter Education is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to informing and involving citizens so they may fully participate in democracy. Founded in 1999 through the forward-thinking support of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, they have been a leading source for information on government, politics and election in North Carolina.

During the first 10 years of service, they provided facts on voting and elections to millions of North Carolinians through its print and online voter guides. They host public events, forums and conferences on issues pertaining to voting and democracy. Guests of the Center have included nationally renowned journalist Bill Moyers, prominent educator Bill Friday, North Carolina's first African-American Supreme Court Justice Henry Frye and U.S. Senator John McCain.

(To learn more or get involved visit: www.ncvotered.com )

Tech Awards: $50K for Using Technology to Address Humanity's Challenges
Ryan Allis

Tiffany Yee from Santa Clara University reached out tonight to ask me to share information about the upcoming Tech Awards which is offering five winners $50k each to scale their innovation solving a major human challenge.

The Tech Awards, a signature program of The Tech Museum, honors innovators from around the world who are applying technology to address humanity's most urgent challenges.

In partnership with Santa Clara University's Center for Science, Technology, and Society, 15 Laureates are selected annually and $50,000 is awarded to one Laureate in each category: Environment, Economic Development, Education, Equality, and Health.

(Read the Rest of this Article Here....)


Ryan Allis is a technology entrepreneur and social entrepreneur from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He is the co-founder and CEO of iContact, the leading global provider of email marketing services to small and mid-sized businesses.

Selecting the Right Start Up Opportunity
Charles R. B. Stowe

Your selection of what business to start is the most important one you will make. Selecting a business is as important as selecting a spouse, a college or a house, and perhaps even more significant. In the course of researching over 250 businesses that failed, I discovered that the majority of business owners simply chose a business that they thought would "make money."

Successful entrepreneurs express their criteria very differently... Here is some insight on criteria that should be considered when selecting a business to launch.

First, does your proposed business solve a problem and can you define what that problem is, who has that problem, what is that solution worth to them, and finally, can you solve the problem profitably? Note that the problem being solved is the prospective customer's problem and not the business owner's problem. If you can't define the problem being solved, then it is going to be extremely difficult to FIND customers or clients.

(Read the Rest of this Article Here....)


Charles has over 15 years experience in Venture Capital and 27 years of higher education. He holds an MBA, JD, and Ph.D. in Management.

3 Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make When They Start to Sell Information Products
Michele Pariza Wacek

Recently, I wrote about the big mistakes entrepreneurs make when they create information products. Unfortunately, there are more mistakes to avoid when starting to sell them! Here are the biggest 3:

1. Your expectations are out of whack with reality. I once had a self development consultant tell me he wanted to sell a million dollars of his $497 product in one year. So I ran the numbers for him on what he would have to do to get that. He got very, very quiet.

Look, I'm all about thinking big. I've thought big my entire life. But if you want to do more than simply think big and actually accomplish big things, you need to understand what it takes to get there.

(Read the Rest of this Article Here....)


Michele PW is your Ka-Ching! Marketing strategist and owns Creative Concepts and Copywriting LLC, a copywriting and marketing agency.

Zero to One Million: How I Built My Company to $1 Million in Sales . . . and How You Can, Too
Ryan Allis

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 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 $28 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 $32 million in annual sales with over 59,000 customers and 190 employees. Ryan is also the Chairman of the web marketing firm Virante, Inc.

(Buy the Book....)

Connect With Ryan
Connect Via Facebook

Do you have a Facebook account? If so, Ryan's on Facebook too. Just look up Ryan Allis (the one at UNC-Chapel Hill). Send Ryan a message or a friend request.

Connect Via Linked In Ryan also uses LinkedIn. If you want to connect to Ryan on Linked in just look him up and send a connection request to allisr [at] icontact.com.

Follow on Twitter

Or Follow Ryan on Twitter: ryanallis

Don't have Facebook or LinkedIn but still want to ask Ryan a question? Feel free to email Ryan at allisr [at] icontact.com. Thank you!

Closing Notes

This concludes issue #56 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@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.

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