Struggling Entreprenuer

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In this episode of The Struggling Entrepreneur, we interview Jason Alba, the creator and founder of the JibberJobber web site, tool and small business firm.

However, as you will hear in this audio interview, Jason’s quick success is due to his mantra, which is “Leverage the WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY.”

 Jason’s entrepreneurial venture of JibberJobber.com was created to meet a requirement in his own experience as a job-seeker. Thus, originally developed as a system to manage relationships, follow-up and contacts during the job search environment, he has extended it to be a useful tool for anyone who wanted to manage ALL business relationships, follow-up and networking in any environment. His business model centered around a “freemium” strategy–that is, giving users free use of the tool and job-seeker relationship portal, but then providing premium content for a relatively small fee.

As Jason mentions in his interview, he has leveraged other “windows of opportunity.”  In addition to the JibberJobber.com relationship-management portal, he has also authored or co-authored two books:  (1) I’m on LinkedIN–Now what?  and (2) I’m on facebook–Now what?

These books are available at most book outlets, including www.amazon.com.

In addition, Jason has also developed DVD content which he is providing. This DVD is training content to help the users maximize the tons of all the incredible function in his JibberJobber.com tool, which he really could not cover in his live speaking engagements or in his free overview webinars online.

Moreover, he has also become a speaker that is quite in demand from Public Sector groups involved in helping job-seekers, as well as Private Sector teams that want to learn how to leverage the Social Media tools of LinkedIn and facebook.

What is interesting is that part of the business plan that Jason has created already has target time frames to include an acquisition strategy.  With the focus of Jason’s core business and his successful ability to discover and leverage key windows of opportunity, we now understand his entrepreneurial energy, excitement, ambition and drive when he said that he will NEVER let a single firm or individual be responsible for all of his income–only himself.  His success story is definitely a key case study of a successful entrepreneur.

Copyright (c) 2009, Matrix Solutions Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

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In this episode of The Struggling Entrepreneur, we have an interview with Monique Hayward, an entrepreneur since 2005 who went into the dining/entertainment business with a cafe for beverages and desserts in the suburbs of Portland, an establishment called Dessert Noir Cafe and Bar. Although Monique still holds a full-time day-job, she admits that running an entrepreneurial venture in a “brick-and-mortar” location (instead of online Internet business) is also a full-time job. However, Monique found the time to write an eBook, as well, which is selling as a paperback at www.amazon.com:

Monique has fame in being the head of the Nouveau Connoisseurs Corporation.

This small business venture is weathering the storm of today’s economic climate–and Monique has had to make adjustments to her Business Plan to adapt to the situation. What is interesting is that she still has her day-job in Corporate High-Tech America.  While other online and internet marketers scoff at those who still hold full time jobs and are “workin’ for the man,” it seems that this has become a favorable situation for survival during the economic downturn and has allowed Monique to continue her business, while making the adjustments.

As for her eBook (above), Monique will give a free copy to the first 10 listeners in our audience who send her an email with a request for the book and a statement that they are subscribers to The Struggling Entrepreneur Podcast (see her blog at www.moniquehayward.com for contact information).

Copyright (c) 2009, Matrix Solutions Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

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In this episode of The Struggling Entrepreneur podcast, our interview with Ricardo Guerrero (the Founder and Principal of www.Stwittergy.com) provides a look at a very niche market, niche offering and a targeted community — the social media community of twitter business users.

Although Ricardo has a day-job as a full-time employee of Dell Computer, he has gained experience in setting up the twitter ids, as well as working on the twitter strategy, for the Computer giant.

However, he is also a part-time entrepreneur who has launched his own firm, www.Stwittergy.com–and, yes, the tag line for the business is based on providing the “Twitter Strategy, Metrics and Consulting for business.”

 As you will hear in this audio podcast, the ability to plan for launching a business and gain a foothold for your brand and your offering ahead of the possible competition can be the determining factor of success. In fact, his solution may be one of the “next big things” for his venture to really take off.

Ricardo mentions key strategies that every entrepreneur should review in the development of the part-time venture into the eventual full-time business. As you will see, he has experience in quite a few environments that have added additional revenue streams to the typical day-job.

Ricardo is available on most of the social media tools:

- his twitter handle is @STWITT3GY;

- he is on Linked in:  Budurl.com/stwittergyLI

- he is on Facebook: Budurl.com/stwittergyFB

and you can reach him at via email at

RG @ Stwittergy.com  [separated to avoid spam]

Copyright (c) 2009, Matrix Solutions Corporation. All rights reserved.

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This is a blog post from http://blog.asmartbear.com –which is Jason Cohen’s blog about small business and entrepreneur themes. The title for this post is:

“Starting a Business isn’t as crazy and risky as they say.”

In this blog post, Jason describes the differences between the perceived vs. realistic risks in starting your own small business during this economic downturn.

In the blog post, he also gives us the graphs and the links to the sources and footnotes in which he bases his research and draws his conclusions. For example:

 and

We thank Jason Cohen for his permission in allowing us to narrate in audio format his blog post at http://blog.asmartbear.com.

Copyright (c) 2009, Matrix Solutions Corporation and Smart Bear Software. All Rights Reserved.

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