I'm The Blog

June
2, 2020

5 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

With most of America’s 76 million students currently being homeschooled, this gives the nation’s school systems an opportunity to improve decades-old practices. I’m always seeking the silver lining in things, and in my opinion, this is a great use of time and energy during shutdowns. 

Kids have access to many learning apps and platforms, but school districts, teachers unions and colleges have been resistant to change. Mentors give students a perspective outside of the traditional education system, as well as offer a glimpse of what things are like in the real world. Such coaching is valuable in fields like business, technology and sciences, where there are many insights to be learned not found in textbooks. 

Mentoring also helps future graduates to join an evolving U.S. economy in which 52 percent of workers will be gig workers by 2023, according to a 2018 study by MBO Partners. The practice is effective in the corporate world, too: CNBC reported that 91 percent of workers who have mentors are satisfied in their jobs. Here’s how mentors help mentees join tomorrow’s workforce.

Related: 5 Reasons Why Every Entrepreneur Needs a Great Mentor

Forward thinkers view education as a service, not a brick-and-mortar location. U.S. STEM education needs a major overhaul after ranking 38th in math and 24th in science out of 71 developed countries in 2015. That’s after significantly outspending Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries; America spends $12,800 per student on elementary and high school education (compared to $9,500 for OECD countries) and $30,000 per student at the post-secondary level (compared to $16,100 for OECD).

Great mentors provide a perspective on professional trends, the global economy and post-secondary education, whereas relying solely on teachers and guidance counselors could limit one’s perspective.

Tech entrepreneurship programs for kids like Alex Hodara’s Rocket Club and Elon Musk’s Ad Astra School are changing the STEM landscape by teaching and gamifying entrepreneurship, engineering, networking and other professional skills. New York-area Rocket Club also features a mentorship program of successful entrepreneurs including Mr. Wonderful, Marcus Lemoni and Chris Zarou, founder of Visionary Music and a Forbes “30 Under 30” honoree. 

Mentors like Chris advise Rocket Club’s 7-14-year-old members throughout the launch of their first businesses while teaching members business lessons not found in textbooks. “Our members are learning the art of entrepreneurship during a time of their lives when they have so few limiting beliefs,” says Alex Hodara, founder of Rocket Club. “Being able to discuss their business model, branding, income statement, etc. with mentors like Chris is something that I wish I was able to do when I was a kid.”

Each day, students participate in Rocket Club Live, where they engage in engineering and entrepreneurship trivia, ask questions to industry leaders and interact with like-minded peers.

Aside from offering sound advice, a good mentor often holds a mentee accountable in a way that others can’t. That’s partly because mentees typically share their professional objectives, and therefore have an objective third party who reminds them of challenges and milestones ahead. A good mentor discourages a protege from getting distracted or discouraged and provides a morale boost when school, or life in general, gets tough. In high school and elementary, too many kids fall through the cracks simply by not having an emotional support system.

Learning From Subject Matter Experts

Another trend is bringing subject matter experts into virtual classrooms and training programs. A longstanding criticism of traditional education is its emphasis on passive reading of outdated texts. Students are graduating into a competitive marketplace that demands updated skills in fields like programming, digital marketing, blockchain, artificial intelligence and robotics. 

When education is viewed as a service, there’s a premium placed on curated content, not brick-and-mortar classrooms. It’s expert content and practical skills that give future job applicants an opportunity to find high-paying employment.

Affiliate Institute (Ai) is an online source for anyone who wants to start an affiliate marketing venture. Founder Mathieu Jang provides instruction on “what works now” and only brings in the best marketing experts. He views traditional education as offering outdated or irrelevant content. “Affiliate Institute has helped earn over $100 million for the businesses our students work with,” says Jang, whose intensive 12-week Accelerator Program helps students to optimize their affiliate marketing operations. Students of all age groups receive a certificate that gives them the option of finding employment after completing the course.

Related: The Secret to Finding a Great Mentor — Don’t Ask to Be Mentored

One of my favorite Confucius quotes goes like this, “I hear and I forget … I do and I understand.” Mentors give students an edge when it comes to navigating their educational and professional careers. I’m also a huge believer in learning by practical application, and this mentor-experience movement is a perfect example of that.

May
20, 2020

8 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Yes, we’ve all heard it: “Quarantine feels like a prison!” Well, I’m here to help you debunk that myth. There are myriad reasons why it’s not even close, but here are just a few that stand out: I’m assuming there are no prison riots in your home; you don’t have to worry about getting shanked while you sleep; you don’t have house correctional officers raiding your bedroom looking for contraband; you can use the bathroom at your leisure (what an amazing luxury); and most of you probably have cold, clean drinking water. I can go on, from food not made for human consumption to no daylight to shackles on your feet and hands when moving units.

So, while quarantine can totally suck, you’re still not quite in prison. Plus, there are a million ways to use your time wisely while dealing with the lockdown. And, please don’t let my sarcasm take away from my empathy towards the current situation though. No matter the scenario, nobody wants to stay locked up in a confined space all day every day. I feel you on that. 

You’re probably wondering: Well, what makes you an expert? “Well, Jim,” as a young man, I went to prison and was institutionalized more times than I like to admit and have learned these invaluable life and business lessons by intimately experiencing the great challenges of life in lockup. Yes, yay me! You can read more about my life story on my website. I also wrote a comedy book about prison called Don’t Drop the Soap that shares some life hacks, workout and even food recipes. Go check it out if you want a good read during quarantine. 

Related: Managing Your Company Culture Virtually

In prison, inmates focus daily on something they refer to as their “program,” which is essentially their daily routine. It is the backbone of a successful prison term, because it keeps you focused and active. Most inmates live and die by their program, and as a freshly minted quarantine-ee, I recommend you do the same. 

Here are my 10 OG quarantine tips.

1. Learn a new skill

While I was in prison, I taught myself how to build websites using my #2 pencil, textbooks and a notepad, so I don’t want to hear your excuses. (I even have a course you can take.) This is a great time to learn a new skill to make a bunch of money, expand your mental capacity or to make the best use of your time. 

2. Read daily

Over the course of two years in prison, I read well over 300 books. Reading keeps your mind sharp, expands your imagination and improves your vernacular. Even fiction has its place, especially in a confined space. What are you reading currently? I’d love to hear. Send me your list on Twitter @andrewmedal. 

3. Write daily

As entrepreneurs and leaders, we must always strive to be the best communicators and learn how to clearly articulate our messages and words. In prison, your written word becomes your voice on the outside while being cut off from other communication means (like in-person communication, emails, calls, texts, etc.). Writing daily in prison had a profound effect on how much stronger I communicated, in all areas of my life, upon my release. If you don’t know what to write, keep a daily journal of your thoughts, ideas and feelings. Start writing and set dedicated time aside each day. 

4. Work out daily

You don’t have weights? Who cares! Body-weighted workouts can destroy you and get you super-ripped. Plus, the dopamine and discipline you’ll reap from working out far outweigh the physical benefits, especially as an entrepreneur. 

5. Connect with your higher power

Harvard research studies of meditation have shown benefits against an array of physical and mental conditions, including anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. The most “woke” people I’ve personally ever met in my life are inmates doing life in prison, most of whom have dedicated their life to daily meditation or some form of spiritual connection. There’s something about captivity that reminds you how insignificant the human species is and how there must be more to life. It is also the secret formula for living with empathy and looking outside of yourself, which is much needed in our modern society. 

6. Get a side hustle

The underlying fabric of the inmate prison system sits atop an unbreakable entrepreneurial foundation. Every single inmate in prison has a hustle. That hustle can be the yard’s tattoo artist, the laundry guy, the sports bookie, the yard chef and a million others both legal and not so legal (I mean, it is a prison, so what do you expect?). Side hustles on the outside are all the rave, and this is the perfect time to do it. The quickest way to create a side hustle is to monetize your skills and hobbies. For example, if you like to write in your downtime, create a content agency, or if you have a passion for baking, start selling your baked goods to friends and neighbors. A side hobby can net you an extra couple of bucks per month, and everyone loves extra money. I share tons of side hobby ideas on my Instagram account, so go connect with me there @andrewmedal! 

7. Find a new hobby

The prison yard is full of hobbies, from drawing to working out, chess, reading, handball and playing cards 24-7. Inmates are unfortunately forced to pass the time, but it becomes a nice way to escape their current circumstances. This is a great way for you to do the same. One of mine and my wife’s new favorite hobby is playing cards after dinner once we put our newborn baby girl down for bed. We’ll even throw in a little bit of cash in the pot for bragging rights. This new hobby has been something we look forward to all day and provides a fun way to escape and bond. 

8. Learn a new language 

If you’re looking to improve your memory, your decision-making ability and overall cognitive health, you better dust off that ‘ol Espanol dos libro and get to studying. Prison language is a dialect unto its own, and as a fresh fish, if you want to survive without getting gutted, you better learn how to communicate with the other inmates fast. I previously wrote a useful article titled “13 Prison Slang Terms You Should Use with Co-Workers” for anyone wanting to learn some handy prison slang. And instead of using with coworkers, you can use it with your quarantine mates and on Zoom calls.  

9. Share stories

Sharing stories in prison is almost a rite of passage. Inmates gather around the yard sharing their most epic stories from the streets. Sharing stories is an amazing way to entertain, teach, and learn about one another. As a species, our culture has been built on storytelling and this is an incredibly useful skill to build as an entrepreneur. Storytelling can help you raise capital, gain new customers, and create brand loyalty. We live in the attention economy and there’s no better way to gain an audience’s attention than through a good story. 

10. Program. 

I spoke briefly about what programming in prison above and how it becomes the lifeline for every inmate and how they manage their day. Creating a consistent schedule and routine becomes the most effective way to do time. Programming teaches discipline, provides structure and is a super-useful productivity hack. I’ve applied programming to my life as an entrepreneur and have reaped massive benefits in my ROI of time and energy. During quarantine, it can become too easy to just forget your normal routine and let the day run away. 

Related: Use These 3 Strategies to Embrace Hope and Eliminate Fear

For fun, here’s also a quick hit list of things to avoid during a lockdown: uncontrollable gambling, drugs, treating quarantine like it’s an extended spring break and excessive TV binging. Some of these vices are how inmates get into a wreck while doing their time, and you may as well learn from them what not to do too. Make the best of your quarantine time and come out of lockdown smarter, more jacked and with a side hustle. Then, you too can have that “slammer swagger.” Stay safe!

April
13, 2020

7 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

There are two strategies you can pursue right now: 1. Retreat and play defense with all the uncertainty surrounding the economy and world, or 2. Go on the offense, control your brand’s narrative and push more content. Personally, I’m choosing the offense. Increasing my social media posting and driving my brand forward is in my control, unlike a lot of other variables (like where my next stash of TP is going to come from). 

With COVID-19 keeping much of the country on lockdown, this is shaping up to be a year of Instagram-consumer overload, opening an opportunity for content creators and entrepreneurs to start engaging with their base a little more. I’ve been seeing lots of users hack out new ideas, especially on Instagram Live. This experience, while tragic and traumatic in many ways, has also doubled as a litmus test for brands and their social media strategy.

As a chance to start reassessing the Instagram tools you might be using and what can be improved, I’ve decided to pull together a set of 10 — each of which I’m currently using across my various businesses and brands — that can help you start planning and assessing how to grow your followers during this otherwise challenging period.

Related: Quarantined? Boost Your Social Proof With These 5 Strategies

ViralRace 

An excellent choice if you want to build your follower base quickly, ViralRace enables you to get your content in front of the people who would enjoy it most. The system allows people to send their profiles out to a wide group of people, and thousands of interested users then follow the account. The app is a custom AI engine that geo targets followers to get quality leads, which is what was compelling to me as a user. I’ll note that since it’s not utilizing a bot or fake followers from a farm, the build is quick, but built with genuine people that will stick with you. When you consider how often Instagram sweeps to get rid of fake followers and bots, a tool like ViralRace is an efficient, affordable way to garner more traction for the long haul, which I highly recommend to get a solid base going.

Figma

One of the most intuitive and inventive design tools to come out recently, Figma is giving Adobe a run for its money (especially since Figma starts its pricing out as free, versus Adobe, which only offers free trials). Beyond the pricing, Figma is a seamless collaborative-design platform that works in real time with your team on projects. It’s especially helpful if you’re working with a copywriter/graphic designer duo or have multiple hands on your Instagram’s design scheme. It’s not often I come across products that provide effective collaboration, and I always stick with them when I do.  

Later

From the team that brought you LinkInBio (a grid-formatted link for linking out content on Instagram posts), Later is one of my favorite products for planning and scheduling out your content for Instagram. Later has a clean and easy UI and delivers on analytics that are easy to understand. With competitive pricing that starts at free for individuals, Later is something you definitely shouldn’t put a hold on checking out.

VSCO

Considered by many to be one of the strongest visual communities out there, VSCO is where you need to go for any and all visual inspiration. As VSCO’s primary tool is their photo editor, they’ve had some skin in the game since Instagram’s early days, growing to be one of the biggest treasure troves of different styles and shots from some of the world’s best. Consistently going strong for almost a decade now, VSCO is a classic for any Instagram pro’s social-media arsenal.

Union Metrics

An alternative-analytics platform from Later, Union Metrics has a robust platform for tracking who’s been looking at your Instagram and which of your content they’ve been gravitating toward. Explaining data in a pretty straightforward way, Union Metrics can help you quite a bit in making informed decisions on what type of content you should be posting, as well as what time is the most advantageous. 

BuzzSumo

For all the talk about influencer-marketing campaigns, the best of them start with BuzzSumo. Giving you a deep dive into what each influencer’s follower count is like, average engagement and ranking for your Instagram, its platform helps quite a bit in getting the best ROI out of your influencer-marketing campaigns. Although a little pricier in that it’s designed for professional teams, it’s still a smart consideration if you’re really looking to ramp up your influencer marketing soon.

Why use TikTok, an Instagram competitor, as a tool for engaging on Instagram? The content format and editing are increasingly becoming the new norm in people’s Instagram Stories. More and more people are turning to TikTok to create short videos with a narrative (similar to a longer Vine), evolving a new medium of content that didn’t exist before. Even if your Instagram still has good engagement on its Stories, learning how to create content “TikTok style” will help you stay ahead of the curve while also enabling you to start building an audience on another platform.

Related: Facebook and Instagram to Limit Coronavirus Misinformation

Linktree

For a simple, linear tool to help organize, compile and track personal links, Linktree is the best in the business. Starting with unlimited links in its free version, it’s a perfect solution for anyone trying to collect their clickables in one place. Plus, in the advanced version, the tracking is especially helpful in the content you’re trying to A/B test your engagement on. I personally love the data and make changes based on what I see. For example, if one of my articles is getting more clicks, I put it higher on my Linktree feed. 

Landscape

A new tool introduced by SproutSocial, Landscape helps you resize any and all your photos into a convenient size for Instagram. Although many of us think cropping things down is an easy job, you’d be surprised how much content people prohibit themselves from capturing because they don’t think it’ll fit for Instagram, or they’ve taken a flick and it doesn’t fit. Instead, Landscape fixes that problem, changing behavior in helping more people create content freely. Plus, its quick click-and-drag system is one of the simplest, most convenient ways to get the job done better and faster than going through manually.

AR Filters 

Finally, a trend that doesn’t seem to be slowing down is AR filters, which enable people to do everything from taking quizzes to wear masks and even play games. The possibilities creators have been exploring with AR filters have been endless, cycling through with new interactive and engaging content almost every week. With the right idea, your AR filter could possibly go viral.

What’s your favorite Instagram tool you’ve been using recently and how has it shaped your process? Hit me on Instagram @andrewmedal, and let’s go on the offense during this crazy season.

April
7, 2020

6 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

We all could use a little extra help when it comes to running our businesses. Whether you have a personal assistant, a virtual assistant or simply Google Assistant (still a contender), it can at times feel like a juggling ploy to keep up with all the moving pieces. Enter additional responsibilities and passion projects (such as speaking gigs, writing opportunities or launching new initiatives), and the pieces move faster and demand more attention, decreasing our productivity and contributing to our overall stress levels. 

What ends up happening is that potential leads and opportunities can slip through the cracks. How many times have you forgotten to respond to a potential client because they messaged you on Facebook, where you had 347 other unopened messages? Or, how many hours have you had to log into your weekly calendar to respond to emails?

Thankfully, we have technology that can help us. I’m in the business of investing time up front to automate said technology to work for me moving forward, so I don’t have to continue to commit chunks of my weekly schedule to run operations or delegating and then overseeing those delegations. It also helps that automation can eliminate a margin of human error, as reported by Towards Data Science. If you’ve ever been curious about how automated technology can play a role in your productivity, regardless of what type of business you run, here’s how to get started and test it out for yourself.

Related: Automation Is Becoming a Business Imperative

1. Determine what doesn’t require your mind power

The reason to rely on technology is simply that your mind power is precious, and ideally should be reserved for creativity and brain-powered productivity sessions. Even if you prefer to be in control, ask yourself, “What doesn’t need my mind power to operate efficiently?” Do a walk-through of your day, and you’ll likely find a number of tasks that eat up your time and don’t require your effort. And one of the most cited benefits of automation is its ability to save time.

Amiad Soto, co-founder & CEO of Guesty, a short-term property-management platform for those with businesses on Airbnb and other booking channels, mentioned in a virtual conference the other day (yes, that’s a thing now) that when it comes to running your own short-term rental business, “Many don’t realize just how much time the small, repetitive tasks of guest communication, staff scheduling, maintenance and updating calendars across booking channels can take. For entrepreneurs, this time is better spent elsewhere, such as marketing and growing their businesses. Automation tools in a business such as this — which can mean automated check-in instructions and requests for reviews post-stay, or editing a listing and having it uploaded to all major booking channels instantly — can save property managers/hosts a minimum of 50-plus hours per week. Relying on tech tools that enable you to avoid monotonous tasks also means being able to avoid hiring more staff, and rather rely on smart solutions as an extension of your in-house team sans another salary.”

Think about how much you could drive your business forward if you had technology at the helm of the automated tasks. That’s a lot of extra time for creation, strategy and working on the big projects.

2. Figure out how automated tech can enhance your client experience

Beyond what you can get off your own plane, automated technology can also go above and beyond to enhance your customer’s experience in a way you never thought through before. One example is response time. The Lead Response Management Survey found that “waiting even 30 minutes to reply to a potential customer’s inquiry can decrease your odds of qualifying the lead by 21 times.” Having an automated technology in place to respond within minutes — then to follow up without a response — is extra work that you likely never considered before. 

Automated technology like the chatbot can get a bad reputation, but done with thoughtful, human-centered copy, can actually dramatically increase your conversion rate. The possibilities for automated technology extend far beyond cleaning up your to-do list. And companies of all different sizes, as explained by Business News Daily, and value propositions are using it to add to their features in both simple and revolutionary ways. At the heart of it, automation enables companies to serve customers better than the business could before.

3. Test it out on a small scale first

To get started, it’s best to exercise it on a small scale to make sure you feel in control and that it works for you. Don’t begin by completely overhauling the typical way you do business, as this can lead to a big cleanup down the road. Slowly implement one new technology (or increase the scale of the technology’s tasks slowly) per week to make sure that you know what’s going on and can brief your team members. 

“It all comes down to the research, which requires a period of testing,” Kyn Chaturvedi, Chief Business Development Officer of Tomochain, told me in a recent email conversation. “Leaning on technology is one of the best productivity hacks that entrepreneurs can try, but they have to understand deeply how it will work within their own business and build the right infrastructure for it.” 

Related: 11 Ways to Automate Your Business and Boost Efficiency

Automated technology should by no means be adopted overnight, but it’s the first step in taking the load of the small tasks off our shoulders, so we can reserve our energy and creativity for efforts that really move the needle forward in our business. Businesses of all types and sizes are finding ways to make automated technology work for them, and productivity is increasing as a result. Try it for yourself, and see how it can improve your business’s ability to serve.

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