Travis Robertson

The other day, my best friend and best selling author of Brand Against the Machine, John Morgan, and I decided it would be fun to hold a live video-based Q&A session and see what happened. Truthfully, we didn’t have an “agenda” for the call and really just wanted to connect with real business owners and entrepreneurs and talk about the realities of starting and running a successful business.

We believe too many people are caught up in the romanticized version of being an entrepreneur or business owner when they should instead be focused on and prepared for the realities of starting and running a business. It’s not all filled with unicorns and rainbows. We cover a TON in this video including:

• C Corp vs. S Corp vs. LLC
• How to find team members that are passionate and reward them
• How to find and hire virtual assistants
• John’s top 3 branding tips
• Online reputation management
• And a LOT more (I’m just tired of making this list)

In case you’re wondering, we also spend a healthy amount of time making fun of each other.

If you enjoy this video, John and I are hosting an online training session next Tuesday which you can sign up for here (it’s 100% free). It’s called 7 MASSIVELY Effective Strategies The Will Grow Your Business. It will be WAY more structured and organized than this. If you’re serious about starting and running a successful business, I would really encourage you to attend. The slots are filling up VERY quickly so go grab your slot one right now.

I normally don’t accept guest posts on my blog. However, I recently ran into Nicholas “Santa” Claus, the CHO (Chief Holiday Officer) of Santa Industries, Worldwide. It turns out he’s an avid reader of my blog and we thought it would be fun for him to write a guest post sharing with you how he manages such a large organization and what advice he has for entrepreneurs and business owners looking to grow. The title was his idea.

Ho ho ho! Most people don’t know it, but I started Santa Industries, Worldwide roughly 1,600 years ago. I’ve survived the dark ages, depressions, recessions, wars, and encroaching competition from retailers. Over the years, I’ve learned an enormous amount about running a successful business and I want to pass on a few tips to you.

My very good friend sent out the following tweet (which I in turn retweeted):

Any logo designers out there want to work on a fun project in return for a lot of exposure?

One of the first responses I received was this one from @notlikenormal:

Which was then followed by these tweets (as well as a few more):

Should You Ever Take Free Work as a Creative?

100% yes. Anybody who tells you differently is just angry that you got a job they wanted. I explain why in this post…

The first interview I want to share with you was with best-selling author and career Dan Miller. Dan has written two incredible books called 48 Days to the Work You Love and No More Dreaded Mondays. If you hate your job or you need a job, go pick up 48 Days to the Work You Love right now.

Dan also has one of the most successful business podcasts on iTunes which you can get to here. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Dan a couple of times and he happened to be milling around PodCamp Nashville on Saturday when Justin Davis ran into him. Not sure of how long he’d be there, I asked him if he would be willing to let me interview him.

Dan graciously accepted my request and I had the honor of interviewing a person I great respect. My sincerest “Thank You” to Dan.

Warning: This post has only been mildly proofread. It’s my “gut reaction” to a few conversations on debt over the last two days. It’s not nearly as polished as many of my others. Don’t say you haven’t been warned.

This post has been rolling around in my head for a while. I didn’t plan on writing it yet – partially because it’s a sensitive topic and partially because it’s difficult to be thorough and brief. Not impossible, just difficult.

“What” and “if” are two words as non-threatening as words can be. But, put them together side-by-side and they have the power to haunt you for the rest of your life.

If you want to create a life you’re proud of, build a legacy, and live a life with few regrets, you need to wrestle with the “What if” questions right now.

Why do so many people wait until they’re fired or laid off before they launch their own business? Why don’t they quit the job they hate and fire their boss? In this post, I provide a 3-step guide to firing your boss.

“Hey, you’re the same age as Jesus was when he died!”

Yesterday (August 23) was my 33rd birthday and the person who said that to me got me thinking about what turning “Jesus’ age” means. I like to think about what I would tell myself if I could travel back in time to when I was in my early 20’s. These are three lessons I would give myself.

There are a lot of people who talk about “one day” owning their own business. Yet, very few people actually end up even trying it. Why?

Usually it’s because they’ve chosen to believe one or more lies about starting a business. There are 7 common lies that people are telling themselves right now that will keep them from changing their dream of entrepreneurship into a set of goals they can accomplish.

Do you remember the first job you applied for as a young adult? Chances are it was for some entry-level position that merely required you to be half as intelligent as you were, show up on time, and not be drunk.