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Girl Entrepreneurs

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I’m in my local Barnes & Noble, supposedly working on  my next book.  During a walk to restore my numb butt, I just ran across a small display of products.  They’re not quite toys, but close.

If you’ve heard or seen the word “gamification,” you might understand what I’m trying to wrap my brain around.  “Toyification” maybe?  I don’t know.

It’s a line of products by Fashion Angels called “It’s My Biz.”  They’re a series of intro-to-entrepreneurship kits that introduce the concept of starting and running your own business.  I’m really intrigued by the Ultimate Business Guide.

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A New Beginning

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Wow, that sounds dramatic.

Hopefully it isn’t as catastrophic as it appears to be.  I finished a draft of my book Profitable Web Hosting last week, three full weeks before the due date.  I’ve got the next one outlined on 3×5 cards (yes, really!).  But they fell on the floor and got messed up.  What’s a guy to do?

Well, I have had a free program for a while that allows you to input bits and pieces of text and rearrange them into something more coherent.  But I just didn’t like the damned thing!  So I went looking for another one.

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New Book Coming

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I just completed the first draft of my next book.  I mean like 5 minutes ago!  I’m approximately 3 weeks ahead of schedule.  ‘scuze me while I bask in the feeling for a few minutes.  Projected “publication date” is January 2nd (I think – I don’t have my planner with me), but it will probably be available by mid-November.

This is cool, because the book following that was mostly written but has been – well, let’s call it misplaced.  Rather than hunt for the digital files, I will probably re-write it, and the next three weeks will certainly help by giving me extra time.  The projected time for that one was February of 2015.

I’ve been thinking about my books for the last few days, since I’ve been listening to the Sell More Books Show podcast.  I need to create supporting video content for these as well, and I was thinking about cranking out a book every other month next year.  I may not be able to do that if I create the video content myself.  I’ll probably have to find at least one virtual assistant, probably more than one.

Selling Something Else

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RecEx_front_coverI’ve been on vacation.  That said, I’m a terrible business owner slash sales person in general, because I almost never have business cards or a book with me.  It’s true, I brought both of those on my trip, but they were safely packed away with my laptop in my hotel room when I ran into a very nice young gentleman.

We got talking about his family’s business, and how they’ve been running an extension to their business without marketing for several years.  They’re planning on trying to “flip the switch” on marketing at the beginning of 2015.

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Asking Rarely Hurts

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My wife and I are spending some quality time in the Southwest US.  Specifically, Albuquerque New Mexico.  A couple days back, we went to the 10th Annual Salsa Fiesta held in Old Town, ABQ.

I’m a wimp.  I was only able to make it through two of the three tents filled with contestants and their salsa samples.  In one of the tents, one of the contestants was urging the public to vote for them as the winners.  The staff at the booth asked, in loud voices: “Please vote for booth #18.  Remember, when you vote, please vote for booth 18.”

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Chromebook – Not Bad

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Got a new digital toy.  14" HP Chromebook.  This model comes with 200 MB per month data via T-Mobile.  I used up 80% of that in the first hour!  Anyway, that's why I bought it.  As a refurb, it was nearly $100 less than the regular price for the item.  I used it most of the afternoon, and only drained 20% of the battery.  Cool so far!

The ChromeOS takes a little getting used to.  It's just like working in Windows, or Mac, or Android, but only a little . . . off.  Just enough so you scratch your head and try to remember how to do something.  Usually, it's easier than what you're trying to make it.

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