This post brought to you by American Express Canada. They have recently launched their Amex for Business Canada Facebook Page where you can access the latest news, information and resources for Canadian entrepreneurs.

When I was at the Dx3 show last month at the American Express booth I asked for your questions and received over 100 comments! There’s only so much you can write in a Facebook reply so I thought I’d take one of the questions from GMG Public Relations and turn it into a blog post.

The question was:

“Evan, what do you recommend as the formula for figuring out how much a company should spend on marketing each year? Percentage of gross sales? If so, how much?”

My quick reply was:

“Good question! Especially for entrepreneurs, we need to make sure our marketing investments pay off. Those are hard earned dollars! So for me I don’t look at a percentage, I look at roi. If it’s making more than I’m spending including my time, then I keep doing it and increase my budget. The key is tracking everything and knowing what’s performing for you.”

Let me now expand:

The purpose of marketing is to get more people to know about your company and buy your products or services. Each dollar you invest into marketing should yield more than a dollar in business and should be profitable for you after you deduct your costs of doing business.

Measure Your Marketing

Always ask new customers how they found out about your business so you know what’s working for you and what isn’t.

It’s important that any money you spend on marketing is measured so you can determine what your return on investment is.

If you’re buying pay per click ads, set up goals in your analytics software to see exactly how many sales are being generated. If you’re taking out an ad in the newspaper, direct people to a landing page so you can track how many people who see your ad end up becoming customers.

Always ask new customers how they found out about your business so you know what’s working for you and what isn’t.

Measure Beyond the First Sale

Figure out the lifetime value of your clients for each marketing channel.

For those entrepreneurs who do measure their results, many of them only track the first sale. As you get more of a track record with your business it’s important to track the lifetime value of your clients for each marketing method you use.

For example, do people you meet at trade shows end up buying more often from you and stay loyal to your business for years? Do people who find you from online searches only buy from you once and never come back?

The more data you have about your customers and how they found you, the easier it is to make decisions as to where you should spend your marketing dollars. Figure out the lifetime value of your clients for each marketing channel and you’re on your way to attracting ideal customers who will stay with you for the long term.

How Much Should You Spend?

Figure out your costs of doing business and what the minimum return you need from your marketing dollars is to make it profitable.

Some people will suggest spending a certain percentage of your sales on marketing. They’ll say you need to spend anywhere from 3% up to 20% of your revenues on promoting your business.

My answer is: it depends.

Looking for an exact number is an easy way out. It often forces entrepreneurs to spend money and not measure their results, which leads to a lot of money being wasted.

My suggestion would be to figure out your costs of doing business and what the minimum return you need from your marketing dollars is to make it profitable.

For example, you might need to get a $4 return from sales for every $1 you spend on marketing to cover your costs to produce your product or service.

How much do you spend on marketing? If it’s making you $4 or more then do it and keep spending more. Increase your budget if you can handle the business because it’s profitable for you. If you’re not getting that minimum $4 return, stop. It’s as simple as that.

This is your hard earned money and you deserve to keep as much of it as you can.

Start With Small Tests

Start small, bootstrap, and hustle when you’re launching any new campaign.

Whenever you’re starting a new marketing campaign, start small and test immediately.

Interested in seeing if online advertising will work for your business? Start with $500 and see if you can get a return on it. It’s not too hard to find $100 Google AdWords credits for first time advertisers so you’re a fifth of the way there!

Can trade shows help boost your sales? Partner up with someone who is already going and see if you can get a part of their booth instead of dropping thousands of dollars on your own. See if you’re getting a response from people and then you can make an educated decision on future trade shows.

I hate spending money until I’m making money and there’s a lot of ways to spend spend spend on marketing without getting a return.

Start small, bootstrap, and hustle when you’re launching any new campaign. Test the results, tweak your campaigns to optimize their performance, and make sure you’re getting a return on investment on every marketing dollar you spend!

Good luck and also don’t forget to check out the Amex for Business Canada Page!

Photo Credit weddingssc1

I believe that the fastest and most effective way to build a business is to model the strategies of people who have already done what you’re trying to do. I call it Modeling the Masters.

Today we’re going to look at how a young entrepreneur went from performing in the streets and sleeping on park benches to becoming a billionaire who plays high stakes poker and is a space tourist in his spare time. This is the story of Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté and the top 3 lessons that you can learn from his success.

Must Watch Video

“I bet everything on one night. If we failed, there was no cash for gas to come home.” – Guy Laliberté

Guy Laliberté, (born September 2, 1959) is a Canadian entrepreneur, philanthropist, poker player, space tourist and the founder of Cirque du Soleil. When Laliberté was 18 years old he left Canada for Europe to become a street performer. He played traditional Canadian music on an accordion with a hat for donations and slept on a park bench by night. He also met other street performers who taught him how to breath fire, juggle, perform magic, and walk on stilts before returning home.

Unable to find a 9-5 job back home, he started a business that would create large-scale street shows. After 3 years of successful shows in 13 Canadian cities, Laliberté wanted to get bigger. In 1987 his company was booked as the opening act for the Los Angeles Arts Festival. He spent all the money he had to get to Los Angeles and prepare for the show. If it didn’t work out he’d have to perform on the streets to get gas money to go home. Luckily for him the gamble paid off – his performance received standing ovations and ticket sales came flying in.

With an estimated net worth of US$2.5 billion, Laliberté was ranked by Forbes in 2011 as the 11th wealthiest Canadian and 459th in the world. In 2006, Laliberté was named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year and his company now employs over 5,000 people – not bad for a hustling entrepreneur who started off sleeping on park benches because he couldn’t afford to pay rent.

Action Item #1: Have a Greater Purpose

Is your goal to make a lot of money or to change the way something is done? If you look at the most successful entrepreneurs in the world you’ll find that they started their businesses to have an impact. Sure they had to make money, but it wasn’t their primary objective. Strangely enough, if money is your only goal then it rarely comes to you but when you focus on a greater purpose you’re much more likely to become successful.

Laliberté’s goal isn’t to make money; it’s to touch people – even if it’s only for a few hours on a single day. He goes to great lengths to help people open their imagination, be awed like a child, and see the world in a slightly different way. He transformed the circus industry from being large-scale amusement park shows designed to make people laugh to a full out experience that expose people to new cultures and ideas.

According to Laliberté, “We are in a position of financial and social power, and we could be agents of change in our society. Without pretension, I believe we could be a nice little gardener who takes care of the garden, and hopefully our neighbor will do the same. Then, maybe we’ll achieve a better world… Inside every adult there’s still a child that lingers. We’re happiness merchants – giving people the opportunity to dream like children.”

Action Item #2: Foster a Creative Workplace

Very few entrepreneurs can’t benefit from an influx of creativity into their businesses. When you and your team and creative, you’re coming up with new ways to solve problems, unique products and services to sell, and interesting ideas to fuel your future success. Think about your own success. Did you have your best ideas when you were in a creative space or when you were stressed out and overworked?

Laliberté believes that if you create a creative place to work, you’ll be rewarded with unique ideas that will help grow your business. He’s resisted the urge many entrepreneurs have to go public because he wanted to prevent shareholder pressure for short-term profits. He also invests 40 percent of profits back into research and development, twice the average for his industry. His hands-off management style allows his team to be as creative as possible without his interference and he only provides feedback in the final phases of production.

According to Laliberté, “I believe that the profits will come from the quality of your creative products… Business is difficult. But it could be approached two ways: Seriously, or with the same way you’re doing your job, with entertainment aspect, with pleasure, with fun. And we decided to try to make it as fun that we do our creativity… I believe in nurturing creativity and offering a haven for creators, enabling them to develop their ideas to the fullest… We are each but a quarter note in a grand symphony.”

Action Item #3: Take Risks

It almost goes hand in hand that to be an entrepreneur you have to take some risks. You’re venturing into the unknown and are creating new products and services. But when you’re betting on yourself then there’s no better investment in the world. If you commit to seeing things through until you reach your goal you’ll have the confidence to take the necessary risks and move mountains to accomplish your vision.

Laliberté isn’t afraid to take risks. He attributes this quality to his early years as a street performer where he had to be creative and daring to stand out and to survive. His first big risk was to change the way a circus was run. Gone were the dancing bears and lion tamers. He would create an animal-free circus. He then introduced the concept of having a permanent show. How could a circus survive without travelling? Laliberté would show them. He continued to bet on himself believing that the risks would pay off and he was right.

According to Laliberté, “We’re not afraid of risking what was our success yesterday in order to explore some new field. We’re adventurous. We like the challenge of unknown territory, unknown artistic field, and that’s what stimulates us… I have seen many successful people fail after they start fearing they might lose what they have built. [We stop growing] if we start being afraid of taking risks and if we start diminishing our creative pertinence. We should always aim at doing more-creative endeavors, not in terms of volume but in terms of more creativity and more sharing… I don’t believe in pitfalls. I believe in taking risks and not doing the same thing twice.”

True Story

Laliberté understands the importance of getting the right people for his company. Once a year, Cirque du Soleil engages in a hiring campaign to bring new and freshly energized talent on board. For 16 weeks, anywhere between 60 and 70 candidates from around the world are gathered together to be tested. Pushed to their limits, Cirque encourages candidates to do things they probably have never done before, evaluating not only their core competencies, but also their values, generosity, courage, teamwork and problem solving skills. Laliberté wants to hire people who are risk-takers, just like himself, and who fit with the company’s core values.

More Quotes

“It was live or die in L.A. And we bet everything on one night.”

“If you want to be good you have to connect with the best people.”

“Today, the dream is the same: I still want to travel, I still want to entertain, and I most certainly still want to have fun.”

What Do You Think?

Does your company have a greater purpose? Are you afraid to take risks? What part of Guy Laliberté’s message impacted you the most? As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts if you leave a comment below!

Evan Carmichael

To learn more check out my list of Guy Laliberté articles. Also don’t forget to check out the Amex for Business Canada Page!

Pete Cashmore, Founder of Mashable

1) Mashable

http://mashable.com - Mashable (Mashable Inc.) is an American news website and Internet news blog founded by Pete Cashmore. The website’s primary focus is social media news, but also covers news and developments in mobile, entertainment, online video, business, web development, technology, memes and gadgets. Mashable was launched by Pete Cashmore from his home in Aberdeen, Scotland in July 2005.

Mark Frauenfeldereu, BoingBoing

2) BoingBoing

http://www.boingboing.net - Boing Boing started as a zine in 1988 by Mark Frauenfelder and Carla Sinclair, his wife. Issues were subtitled “The World’s Greatest Neurozine”. Associate editors included Gareth Branwyn, Jon Lebkowsky, and Paco Nathan. Along with Mondo 2000, Boing Boing was an influence in the development of the cyberpunk subculture. It reached a maximum circulation of 17,500 copies. Common themes include technology, futurism, science fiction, gadgets, intellectual property, Disney and left-wing politics.

Joe Brown, Editor-in-Chief of Gizmodo

3) Gizmodo

http://www.gizmodo.com - Gizmodo is a technology weblog about consumer electronics. It is part of the Gawker Media network run by Nick Denton and is known for its up-to-date coverage of the technology industry, along with topics as broad as design; architecture; space and science. Joe Brown, current Editor-in-Chief.

Josh Topolsky, Founder of The Verge

4) The Verge

http://www.theverge.com - The Verge is a technology-focused news publication founded in 2011 by Joshua Topolsky and Marty Moe in partnership with Vox Media and its CEO Jim Bankoff. The Verge’s mission is to offer breaking news coverage and in-depth reporting, product information, and community content via a unified, modern platform.

Ken Fisher, Founder of Ars Technica

5) Ars Technica

http://arstechnica.com  - Ars Technica was founded in 1998 when Founder & Editor-in-Chief Ken Fisher announced his plans for starting a publication devoted to technology that would cater to what he called “alpha geeks:” technologists and IT professionals. Ken’s vision was to build a publication with a simple editorial mission: be “technically savvy, up-to-date, and more fun” than what was currently popular in the space. In the ensuing years, with formidable contributions by a unique editorial staff, Ars Technica became a trusted source for technology news, tech policy analysis, breakdowns of the latest scientific advancements, gadget reviews, software, hardware, and nearly everything else found in between layers of silicon.

Richard MacManus, Founder of ReadWriteWeb

6) ReadWriteWeb

http://www.readwriteweb.com - ReadWriteWeb is one of the most popular technology blogs in the world, known for offering insightful analysis about each day’s Internet industry news. ReadWriteWeb was founded on April 20, 2003, by Richard MacManus and is now one of the most widely read and respected blogs in the world. Our readers are smart, tech savvy, engaged, decision makers; 46% have “significant input” or “make final information technology purchase decisions.” As one advertiser put it, “The real users of the Web read ReadWriteWeb.”

Dwight Merriman, One of the founders of Business Insider

7) Business Insider

http://www.businessinsider.com  - Business Insider is a fast-growing business site with deep financial, media, tech, and other industry verticals. The flagship vertical, Silicon Alley Insider, launched on July 19, 2007, led by DoubleClick founders Dwight Merriman and Kevin Ryan and former top-ranked Wall Street analyst Henry Blodget.

8) Slash Gear

http://www.slashgear.com - Dedicated to highlighting the latest and greatest in personal technology, SlashGear covers everything from cutting-edge tech gear to the latest digital lifestyle trend. Distinctive, informative and fresh, we’ll keep bringing you device information and reviews you can trust as well as thought-provoking commentary.

Scott Beale, Founder of Laughing Squid

9) Laughing Squid

http://laughingsquid.com  - Laughing Squid was founded on November 16th, 1995 in San Francisco by Scott Beale as a film and video production company, producing documentaries on the surrealist painter Alonso Smith and The Cacophony Society’s Portland Santacon ’96 event. In 1996 Laughing Squid launched The Squid List and for a while, Laughing Squid offered publicity and web design services, but then started focusing on web hosting in 1998. In December 1999 John Law joined as a partner in Laughing Squid as head of “special projects”, followed by David Klass, joining as evangelist-at-large. Laughing Squid features interesting art, culture & technology from around the web. It is also an independently owned and operated cloud-based web hosting company. 

10) Torrent Freak

http://torrentfreak.com - TorrentFreak is a weblog dedicated to bringing the latest news about BitTorrent and everything that is closely related to this popular filesharing protocol. We are not a news aggregator, but focus on unique and fresh stories. TorrentFreak is where news and filesharing collide. We try to be the source of all the latest breaking news in the p2p world.

11) PhysOrg

http://www.physorg.com - PhysOrg.com™ is a leading web-based science, research and technology news service which covers a full range of topics. These include physics, earth science, medicine, nanotechnology, electronics, space, biology, chemistry, computer sciences, engineering, mathematics and other sciences and technologies. Launched in 2004, PhysOrg’s readership has grown steadily to include 1.75 million scientists, researchers, and engineers every month. PhysOrg publishes approximately 100 quality articles every day, offering some of the most comprehensive coverage of sci-tech developments world-wide. Quancast 2009 includes PhysOrg in its list of the Global Top 2,000 Websites. PhysOrg community members enjoy access to many personalized features such as social networking, a personal home page set-up, RSS/XML feeds, article comments and ranking, the ability to save favorite articles, a daily newsletter, and other options.

Danny Sullivan, Founder of Search Engine Land

12) Search Engine Land

http://searchengineland.com  - Search Engine Land is a news and information site covering search engine marketing, searching issues and the search engine industry. The site is led by journalist Danny Sullivan, who has been covering search for the past 11 years. It is published by Third Door Media, which also produces the Search Marketing Expo conference series and the Search Marketing Now webcast events.

13) Los Angeles Times

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology - The Los Angeles Times Media Group (LATMG) businesses and affiliates include the Los Angeles Times, The Envelope, Times Community News, LA, Los Angeles Times Magazine and Hoy Los Angeles and reaches approximately 5.1 million or 38% of all adults in the Southern California marketplace. LATMG also owns and operates California Community News as well as Tribune Direct’s west coast division and is part of Tribune Company, one of the country’s leading media companies with businesses in publishing, the Internet and broadcasting.

14) Gizmag

http://www.gizmag.com - Gizmag covers invention, innovation and emerging technologies in all fields of human endeavor – everything from computing, communication and automation, through social innovation, new ideas, inventions, and services to enhance life, work and play for people of all ages. Gizmag is entirely free to readers, listeners and viewers. Our income is entirely derived from web and email advertising however we don’t sell any of the products, ideas or services we write about, so when you see enthusiasm and passion, you know it’s not financially motivated. Similarly, we do not sell editorial or advertorial, or allow advertising to influence the tone or direction of our editorial. Our obligation is to our readership, not our advertisers.

Seth Godin, Author of Seth Godin's Blog

15) Seth Godin’s Blog

http://sethgodin.typepad.com - Seth Godin’s riffs on marketing, respect, and the ways ideas spread. If you don’t know Seth, the writer of numerousbestselling books about marketing, you need to check out his ever popular blog.

16) Geeks are Sexy

http://www.geeksaresexy.net - [Geeks are Sexy], which was originally a personal project of a Canadian system administrator, was launched in October 2005 on a free Blogspot account. A little more than a year later, the site became too big to be effectively managed and exploited on the blogger platform. The [GAS] team then decided that it would be better to move everything to a more serious blogging solution (WordPress) on a paid hosting service.

Doug Ross, Proprietor of directorblue.blogspot.com

17) Doug Ross @ Journal

http://directorblue.blogspot.com - The Semi-Official Fan Page for Doug Ross @ Journal. This is the somewhat official page celebrating the infamous, centrist blog that is always 75% snark-free (or your money back).

18) Geek.com

http://www.geek.com - Geek.com has been an online technology resource and community for technology enthusiasts and professionals since 1996. We feature the latest news and reviews of the hottest hardware and software, along with Computer Buying Guides, Features, and more. Geeks can feel at home in any of our topic areas including Apple, Gadgets, Games, Mobile, and Chips.

19) The Big Picture

http://www.ritholtz.com/blog - The blog is a compendium of what a Wall Street money manager is looking at, thinking about, and writing on. It is written by me (& the crew) for people ranging from investment professionals to media to anyone else interested in investing, markets, and the economy. It is, by design, laden with facts, statistics, and informed, data-driven opinions. We avoid the squishy, touchy-feely “I think/hope/want” type of fact free analysis so prevalent in the media and on Wall Street.

Ray Wert, Editor-in-Chief of Jalopnik

20) Jalopnik

http://www.jalopnik.com - Jalopnik is a Weblog covering cars, car culture, and the automotive industry. Owned and operated by Gawker Media since 2004, Jalopnik emphasizes irreverent humor. Jalopnik contributors regularly attend media events and press conferences hosted by automotive manufacturers, which prior to the rise of the blogosphere in the 2000s, were limited to traditional media outlets. Jalopnik’s site’s Editor-in-Chief, Ray Wert, appears regularly on live news programs including CNBC’s On the Money. The word “Jalopnik” is a portmanteau of Jalopy and Beatnik.

Maria Popova, Brain Pickings

21) Brain Pickings

http://www.brainpickings.org - Brain Pickings is the brain child of Maria Popova, a cultural curator and curious mind at large, who also writes for Wired UK, The Atlantic and Design Observer, among others. She gets occasional help from a handful of talented contributors. Brain Pickings is a human-powered discovery engine for interestingness, culling and curating cross-disciplinary curiosity-quenchers, and separating the signal from the noise to bring you things you didn’t know you were interested in until you are.

22) LiliPuting

http://LiliPuting.com - Liliputing is a news and information web site covering mobile technology with an emphasis on low cost, ultraportable computers including notebooks, netbooks and tablets. You can find the latest news, reviews, and bargains on mobile devices on Liliputing, as well as software tips and other advice for getting the most out of your gadgets. Also make sure to check out the Liliputing Product Database for detailed specifications on a number of netbooks, notebooks, and tablets.

23) Android Community

http://androidcommunity.com - Android Community is centered on the rapidly evolving world of open-platform mobile devices. Launched by R3 Media LLC, creators of SlashGear.com, Android Community works closely with entities like Google to stay ahead of the news curve and to provide the best source of open-platform mobile news and analysis on the Web. At the heart of the site lies the community which is composed of mobile and tech enthusiast and professionals, as well as, everyday consumers who are embracing the new technology. Android Community’s social networking strata allow users to do their own blogging, to network and join different geographic or interest groups and to share photos, art and more in the gallery in addition to connecting through forum discussion. Advertise on Android Community to reach early adopters, trend setters and real people seeking real practical technology solutions.

24) Blogcritics

http://blogcritics.org - Blogcritics.org is an online magazine, filtered microcosm of the blogosphere, and a full service news and reviews source, covering all aspects of contemporary culture and society. Blogcritics.org is a new kind of online magazine, an interactive community in which writers and readers from around the globe talk about stories, issues, and products. If it’s happening in the world – from global political issues to obscure rock bands, from the latest best selling novel to the TV shows that aired last night – Blogcritics.org has it covered.

25) Intomobile

http://www.intomobile.com - IntoMobile delivers breaking news, information, and analysis on the latest mobile phones and mobile technology. IntoMobile is the leading and most read daily mobile technology news site that caters to early adopters, mobile professionals, technology enthusiasts, and technology consumers alike. Founded in late 2005, IntoMobile now serves a global audience of over 3.5 million monthly unique visitors* looking for complete coverage on mobile technology – making us the most trafficked mobile tech news resource on the web! The IntoMobile team consists of 10 experienced editors who take their enthusiasm for mobile technology and give it a journalistic twist. IntoMobile strives to provide readers with in-depth analysis, comprehensive content, and the best aggregated mobile news on the web.

26) Psfk

http://www.psfk.com - PSFK is the go-to source for new ideas and inspiration for creative professionals. We provide readers, event attendees and corporations with fresh trends and innovation stimulus. Over 1,000,000 readers from the design, digital, marketing, media and technology industries come to PSFK.com each month to read and share the emerging ideas that our editorial team identifies and publishes.  We also publish a series of ‘Future of’ reports which have been underwritten by organizations such as United Nations, UNICEF and Microsoft.

Jackie Cohen, Editor of AllFacebook.com

27) All Facebook

http://www.allfacebook.com - AllFacebook.com launched in May, 2007. WebMediaBrands‘ Mediabistro subsidiary acquired the blog from its founder Nick O’Neill in late 2009. Jackie Cohen became the editor in 2010. The blog covers Facebook and everyone who uses it, both individuals and companies; we provide advice, news and analysis.

28) Wired

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/ - WIRED is the first word on how ideas and innovation are changing the world. Each month in the magazine and every day online, our editors deliver a glimpse into the future of business, culture, innovation, and science. AdWeek named WIRED to its 2011 Hot List and made WIRED its first-ever “Magazine of the Decade” in 2010. It was named to Advertising Age’s A-List in 2010, received three National Magazine Awards for general excellence in 2005, 2007, and 2009, and was nominated for a National Magazine Award for Magazine of the Year in 2011. Wired.com was named 2009’s Best Magazine Website by AdWeek, Best News, Business & Finance Website in 2009 by MPA Digital, and was a 2011 National Magazine Award for Digital Media “General Excellence” finalist. WIRED and Wired.com reach more than 14 million readers each month.

29) Conversations by Nokia

http://conversations.nokia.com - Conversations by Nokia is a site that tells compelling stories about the global cultures, technology and people shaping mobile innovation. Whether you’re seeking ideas about the next stage of technological evolution, tales about the power of communication, the latest news from Nokia, or views from the people in the know, Conversations aspires to be a must-visit destination. It is, also, a Conversation. We want to create stories you want to comment on and share with other people. 

30) MAKE

http://blog.makezine.com - MAKE Magazine brings the do-it-yourself mindset to all the technology in your life. MAKE is loaded with exciting projects that help you make the most of your technology at home and away from home. We celebrate your right to tweak, hack, and bend any technology to your own will. Published as a quarterly since February 2005, MAKE is a hybrid magazine/book (known as a mook in Japan). MAKE comes from O’Reilly, the Publisher of Record for geeks and tech enthusiasts everywhere. It follows in line with the Hacks books and Hardware Hacking Projects for Geeks, but it takes a highly visual and personal approach.

31) Technabob

http://www.technabob.com - Technabob features new and unusual gadgets, gizmos, video games and other tech toys from around the globe. We try to offer something a little different from all of the other tech news blogs out there, digging under rocks that aren’t already uncovered, and always with a bit of wit and whimsy thrown in.

32) Geeky Gadgets

http://Geeky-Gadgets.com - Geeky Gadgets is designed to provide up to the minute daily technology news on the latest advances in the technology sector including software, hardware and gadgets from around the world. Geeky Gadgets features in-depth reviews on the latest devices with impartial coverage of the features and developments of new technology. As well as reporting on the latest tech and gadgets the editorial team are always willing to create their own concepts and even create working prototypes to see a concepts through to design, with a number of designs created from the simplest of materials becoming viral on the web such as the Pencil iPad Stand together with other designs. The Geeky Gadgets editorial team is passionate about technology, using and building computers from the earliest Sinclair computers to the latest cutting edge hardware. Geeky Gadgets is owned and run by  Squarefish Media.

33) Mobilesyrup

http://mobilesyrup.com - MobileSyrup.com is an independent resource on mobile technology in Canada – connecting to those who are mobile enthusiasts, professionals and shoppers. All content is Canadian – and written by Canadians. We provide daily market and industry news & reviews.

34) Yanko Design

 http://www.yankodesign.com - Yanko Design is a web magazine dedicated to introducing the best modern international design, covering from industrial design, concepts, technology, interior design, architecture, exhibition and fashion. It’s about the cutting edge and the classic, the new and the rediscovered. It’s all about the best. Yanko Design reaches a rapidly expanding audience of approximately 1.8 million unique users, serving 6 million page views each month with 41,000+ total daily newsletter subscribers making it the world’s most popular & influential online design magazine.

35) O’reilly radar

 http://radar.oreilly.com - O’Reilly Media spreads the knowledge of innovators through its books, online services, magazines, research, and conferences. Since 1978, O’Reilly has been a chronicler and catalyst of leading-edge development, homing in on the technology trends that really matter and galvanizing their adoption by amplifying “faint signals” from the alpha geeks who are creating the future. An active participant in the technology community, the company has a long history of advocacy, meme-making, and evangelism.

36) Entrepreneur

http://entrepreneur.com - Inspiring, informing and celebrating entrepreneurs since 1973. Entrepreneur magazine seeks to inspire, inform and celebrate entrepreneurs. We offer real solutions to the challenges you face as an entrepreneur, including tips, tools and insider news to help build – and grow – your business.

37) Social Times

http://www.socialtimes.com - Your source for emerging social networks. Social Times is a news website dedicated to covering the people, business and culture of emerging social networks like Google Plus, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Quora, YouTube and more.  The Social Times was created as a way to leverage social technology to build the social technology industry. We serve as a centralized location to discover news and interact with others in the community, while furthering awareness of the products and companies that shape the social web. The Social Times is more than just a blog. Our events, mixers and conferences take place all around the country, with an online presence linking all physical events back to the website. We update our site daily with breaking news and videos, and serve as a hub linking our users to all types of media pertaining to the social web.

The Social Times is the single place online that builds the community within the web industry both online and offline, and we look forward to seeing you at our next event.

38) TrendHunter

http://www.trendhunter.com - Routinely sourced by the media, Trend Hunter is a source of inspiration for industry professionals, aspiring entrepreneurs and the insatiably curious. Trend Hunter has been featured or cited everywhere from MTV, The Economist, and CNN to the personal blog of Kanye West, tweets by Ashton Kutcher and tweets by Paris Hilton. Each day, Trend Hunter features a daily dose of micro-trends, viral news and pop culture. The most popular micro-trends are featured on Trend Hunter TV and later grouped into clusters of inspiration in our Trend Reports, a series of tools for professional innovators and entrepreneurs.

39) VR-Zone

http://vr-zone.com - VR-Zone is a leading online technology news publication reporting on bleeding edge trends in PC and mobile gadgets, with in-depth reviews and commentaries.

40) Major nelson

http://www.majornelson.com - Currently the most followed personalities in the gaming industry and has the most active/followed account at Microsoft.

41) Cool Hunting

http://www.coolhunting.com - Cool Hunting is synonymous with seeking inspiration. Our global team of editors and contributors sift through innovations in design, technology, art and culture to create our award-winning publication, consisting of daily updates and weekly mini-documentaries. Founded in 2003 as a designer’s personal reference, we now have an international audience of like-minded creative people, who find our content on coolhunting.com and on our iPad app, follow us on sites like YouTube, Twitter and Facebook, and subscribe to our RSS feed and email newsletter.

Darren Rowse, ProBlogger

42) ProBlogger

http://www.problogger.net - Who is behind ProBlogger? – My name is Darren Rowse and I’m a full time Blogger making a living from blogs like Digital Photography School and TwiTip – Twitter Tips. In 2002 I stumbled upon an article about ‘Blogging’. I didn’t know it at the time but that moment changed my life. 

43) Nerd Approved

http://NerdApproved.com - Nerd Approved is a website dedicated to all things weird and interesting in the world of gadgets and toys. If it’s nerdy and entertaining, you will find it here.

44) ohGizmo

http://www.ohgizmo.com - OhGizmo! is a frequently updated blog that focuses on gadgets, innovation and design. It sets itself apart by recognizing and catering to two personality traits shared by most gadget lovers: a keen sense of aesthetics, and an almost childlike hunger for amazement. What this means is that additionally to the usual gadget fare, you can also expect to find articles on elegantly designed furniture, ingeniously conceived household products and groundbreaking technology. And this every day, five days a week.

It is written by real people, who either do this in their spare time, or have decided to blog professionally. They are passionate about the things they write about, and will often give their unvarnished opinions, whether the public at large really ever cares to hear it. They are not hired by anyone, and the bulk of their income comes from the revenue generated through advertising. As such, they have no incentive to write positively or negatively about anyone. In the rare cases when they’ll get paid to look at a product and give their opinion, the articles are clearly marked as such, and the opinions given are still very much their own.

Dave Altavilla, HotHardware

45) HotHardware

http://hothardware.com - With a current 18 year career in the Semiconductor industry, Dave Altavilla started HotHardware.com almost a decade ago on a vision from the inside looking out but with a passion for the wonders of system-level developments and performance that culminate into the next generation products of tomorrow.  Cultivated with the sweat-equity of time spent in the engineering backrooms and offices of Chief Architects at Wallstreet bellwethers like Motorola, Cisco, Alcatel-Lucent and Nortel, Dave’s insight into the design and manufacturing of leading-edge technologies, brings a laser-sharp understanding of what it takes to deliver a best-of-class product to market.  Dave currently handles final editorial responsibilities of HotHardware’s content, along with the site’s creative vision and business development efforts.   In addition to product launch articles at HH for major OEMs, Dave is also a published author in technology-based print publications and is featured as a guest on the PC Chat radio show along with Marco.  In his spare time Dave likes to spend time by the ocean with his young family or friends and keep mind-body fit via Korean Tae Kwon Do style martial arts.

Michael Hyatt, Chairman of Thomas Nelson Publishers

46) Michael Hyatt

http://michaelhyatt.com - Michael Hyatt – I am the Chairman of Thomas Nelson Publishers, the largest Christian publishing company in the world and the seventh largest trade book publishing company in the U.S. This is my personal blog. It is focused on “intentional leadership.” My philosophy is that if you are going to lead well, you must be thoughtful and purposeful about it. I write on leadership, productivity, publishing, social media, and, on occasion, stuff that doesn’t fit neatly into one of these categories. I also occasionally write about the resources I am discovering. My goal is to create insightful, relevant content that you can put to work in your personal and professional life. If you are in a position of leadership—or aspire to be—then this blog is for you.

Martin Brinkmann, Founder of gHacks

47) gHacks

http://www.ghacks.net - Ghacks is a technology news blog that was founded in 2005 by Martin Brinkmann. It has since then become one of the most popular latest tech news sites on the Internet with five authors and regular contributions from freelance writers.

Herman Yung, Doobybrain.com

48) DoobyBrain

http://www.doobybrain.com - Doobybrain.com is a website about music, fashion, art, and pop culture written by Herman Yung. The website has been online since 2002. If you’re new here, dig around the archives.

49) Gizmodo Australia

http://www.gizmodo.com.au - Gizmodo Australia covers local technology news with a team of award-winning local journalists, and localises the best posts from the US, making sure to eliminate what’s irrelevant for Aussies. If you do want to access the US site, you can go to us.gizmodo.com/. Our coverage is sorted into 11 main tagged categories, so they’re easy to browse and locate: News, Mobile, Gadgets, Online, Computing, Cameras, Science, Entertainment, Geek Out, Software and Cars.

50) Digital Inspiration

http://www.labnol.org - Digital Inspiration, launched in 2004, is among the Top 100 technology blogs on the Internet out of an estimated total of 130+ million blogs. The purpose of this site is to help you take maximum advantage of the software tools and web technologies at your disposal so that you spend more time doing things your really love.

Digital Inspiration averages more than 3+ million page views per month and has been quoted in most publications including The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Forbes, Wired, CNN Money, Guardian, Financial Times, PBS, The New York Times and more.

Grab the Badge

Stan Prokop is the founder of 7 Park Avenue Financial. The firm specializes in business financing for Canadian companies in the areas of working capital, asset based lending, SR & ED tax credit financing, equipment financing, franchise financing and banking.

He’s also a Platinum author on my website – you can check out his articles here. I asked him 8 questions about how to finance franchises.

1.) How does one factor the cost and return on investment of franchising finance loans?

Traditionally business folks measure an ‘ ROI ‘ by analyzing their profits relative to the amount of capital in their business. In Canada franchises of all size are available for purchase , from an investment of a few thousand dollars to the several million dollar range .  If you finance a purchase by a large amount of debt and little of your own money , and the franchise does well you will be achieving a great ROI . On the other hand if you put a  lot of your own capital into the business and your profits are low, ( or non – existent ) your ROI  is of course … not great!  Probably the right answer to all of this is to borrow at rates  and amounts you are comfortable repaying, and that your own money (  ‘capital”) in the business is an amount you are comfortable with and has a reasonable expectation of earning returns that are  satisfactory .

The key take away here is that ROI ( return on investment ) is a concept that can be used by CFO’s of major corporations, or would be entrepreneurs in Canadian franchising.

2.) Can you provide basic tips on how to buy and finance a franchise?

Having helped finance over 100 entrepreneurs and total financings in franchise finance of 25 Million dollars we are  always amazed at how basic and simple it can be to buy and finance a franchise. So the ‘ Readers Digest ‘ version of our answer would be as follows :

- Do your homework on a franchise that fits your skills, interest, experience and financial capabilities

- Plan well via a solid business plan that accurately reflects the financial potential of your business

- Investigate carefully the resources you have for financing and general business advice

- Understand the criteria for both purchasing  and financing your new business : amount of personal investment required, financing options to buy the business, growth and working capital needs to operate and grow your business.

3.) How can entrepreneurs be successful with franchise financing business lenders?

In both our discussions with clients and on our Business Blog we refer constantly to that time worn Boy Scout motto – ‘ Be Prepared’.  So presenting your business case in a professional and complete manner that demonstrates you understand the upside and downside of business risk is key . We meet many clients that have spent weeks/months in a frustrating process of satisfying basic requirements that could be addressed succinctly, once.  Also, entrepreneurs seem to forget that lenders are interest in only one thing, repayment of the loan . They aren’t equity partners with you, and your upside isn’t theirs. So focus on cash flow, working capital , and debt repayment which can be demonstrated and defended by yourself.

4.) How do franchising financing companies work?

That’s the $640,000.00 question !  This is Canada , and there is really only one franchise financing company in Canada that is a subsidiary of a multinational U.S. corporation . As a general rule this firm favors larger chains with well known brands that have a large number of units .  Requirements for financing focus on cash flow and owner equity .  Hundreds, if not thousands of Canadian franchisees’ finance their business in another manner,  via the Governments Small Business Loan Program . While we’re quite sure the program didn’t originally contemplate being the financing of choice for Canadian franchisees it has certainly become that.

We supplement franchise financing via  a cobbled together approach, utilizing asset and lease financing, small business lines of credit, and merchant advance facilities .

5.) What types of loans are available for a franchisee when financing a franchise?

As we noted, the government  BIL/CSBF loan is the most popular method of franchise financing . It’s a term loan that combines principal and interest payments on a  5-7 year term loan . The program finances equipment, assets such as computers, software, etc, and even real estate . However , the most powerful aspect of the program is that it finances leasehold improvements, which are typically a challenge in business financing . Equipment financing , aka ‘ leasing ‘ is also available for selective assets on a typical 3-5 year term .

6.) What should every entrepreneur know about regarding financing a franchise?

That’s a bit of a general question but what we can say through our own experience is simply that finance options to acquire a franchise  in Canada are not unlimited, that’s for sure , but that utilizing the financing options we mentioned success is achievable .

We’re generally not big fans of the common statement that  franchisee’s are in effect ‘ buying a job ‘. Franchisees we meet come from all walks of life, have often put their personal resources on the line ( homes, savings, etc ) and are clearly committed to the entrepreneurial vision.  They should also know that going it alone can be both lonely , and frustrating . So by working with an advisor , their accountant, their mentors, or acquiring info from sites such as evancarmichael.com the road to success is a combination of easier and faster.

7.) How should one deal with franchising lenders successfully?

We’re keenly aware we might sound like a broken record sometime, but its simple really . Understand the criteria for financing , don’t bite off more than you can chew re: business risk, make sure you have the appropriate amount of equity and debt , have a basic solid business and financial plan, and present yourself in a professional manner .

8.) How long does it take to get a loan for a franchise?

For us and our clients, 48 hrs. Surprised?  Franchisees that have spent weeks and months of frustration sure are . The reality is that once you have understood and documented criteria for franchise financing it’s simply a case of submission and approval . It’s getting to the submission point that’s the challenge! Working with an expert sure helps speed the process also , whether that’s a business financing advisor such as our firm or a banker or commercial finance firm  that understands and can fast track your franchise package .

The world of search has changed dramatically over the past year. Google introduced its Panda update which killed off a lot of websites. Social signals are playing a more important role in your rankings and how fast your website loads is also becoming more important. What’s going to happen in 2012? Here are the top 50 experts who will tell you want you need to know! If you are concerned about where your website ranks then you should definitely add these bloggers to your must-read list. Enjoy!

Danny Sullivan, Founder of Search Engine Land

1) Search Engine Land

http://searchengineland.com  -  Search Engine Land is a news web site that covers search engine marketing and search engine optimization. It was founded in 2006 by Danny Sullivan after he left Search Engine Watch. Search Engine Land stories have been cited numerous times by other media outlets.

2) SEOmoz Daily SEO Blog 

Rand Rishkin, Founder of SEOmoz

http://www.seomoz.org/blog  –  Rand Fishkin is the CEO & Co-Founder of the web’s most popular SEO Software provider SEOmoz. SEOmoz develops SEO software, provides a robust link intelligence API, and hosts the web’s most vibrant SEO community. We’re based in Seattle, but we’re often found traveling the globe to participate in marketing events and meetups. We’re also incredibly fortunate to have the most helpful and cuddly robot in the Solar System. Oh, and by the way, we’re hiring a few good people.

3) Emailwire.com

http://www.emailwire.com  –  EmailWire.com is a service of GroupWeb Media LLC, aba GroupWeb.Com. An online media company and specialize in press release distribution, newswire services, news aggregation and dissemination.

4) Search Engine Journal

http://www.searchenginejournal.com  –  Search Engine Journal, established in 2003, is a 7 year old publication of Alpha Brand Media, which specializes in a community approach to the reporting of search engine news and the sharing of Search Engine Marketing knowledge and tactics.

5) The KISSmetrics Marketing Blog

http://blog.kissmetrics.com  –  KISSmetrics is run by a team of designers, developers and entrepreneurs that are passionate about helping online businesses measure, grow and monetize. The team’s experience comes from previous ventures including ACS, Crazy Egg and Product Planner. As a result, the team has hands-on experience understanding and developing analytics solutions for high-end web properties. KISSmetrics is backed by well respected private and institutional investors including True Ventures, SoftTech VC, Felicis Ventures, Dave McClure, Shervin Pishevar and Bobby Yazdani.

6) Web Hosting Delhi

http://www.mychoicedelhi.blogspot.com  –  DLL Incorporation provides SEO In Delhi, Technology News, Ethical Hacking Tricks, SEO Tips, Blogging Tips and It is Delhi Based SEO, Web Promotion, Web Designing and Web Hosting Company.

7) Famous Bloggers

http://www.famousbloggers.net  -  Famous Bloggers is a multi-authors blog and Social Network platform for Making Money Online Tips built on the contributions of its authors. We are serious about creating a fun, safe, rewarding, and effective Social Network platform for SEO, Marketing, Traffic, Design, Social Networking and Making Money Online Tips!

Andy Beal, Marketing Pilgrim

8) Andy Beal’s Marketing Pilgrim

http://www.marketingpilgrim.com   -   MarketingPilgrim.com was launched by internet marketing consultant Andy Beal in September 2005. As a follow-up to Beal’s award-winning search marketing blog, Marketing Pilgrim expands its coverage to bring the latest news, rumors and reviews of all things related to internet marketing and online advertising. The site is constantly rated a top 10 media and marketing blog by Advertising Age.

9) Hitwise Intelligence

http://weblogs.hitwise.com  -  Hitwise Intelligence — Understanding online consumer behavior, beyond your own Website, is key to growing and retaining customer relationships. By having the insights necessary to identify your best customers and prospects, know where they spend time online and understand what motivates them to buy, you’re able to connect with customers and engage them on a much more meaningful level.By combining online insights with unique offline lifestyle and life stage information, Experian Hitwise helps companies build and optimize their online marketing campaigns for improved multichannel success. Clients rely on Experian Hitwise’s insights to improve the effectiveness of search, display, affiliate, email and social marketing campaigns.

10) Business 2 Community

http://www.business2community.com  -  Business 2 Community aims to provide a balanced view of the current business landscape based on industry news and trends, as well as real-life experiences. 

Lee Odden (Left) & Susan Misukanis (Right), Founders of TopRank

11) Online Marketing Blog

http://www.toprankblog.com  - TopRank Online Marketing is a digital marketing agency founded by Lee Odden and Susan Misukanis that helps companies increase sales, brand visibility online and develop better customer engagement. We specialize in content based customer acquisition and relationship programs that emphasize social media marketing, search engine optimization and email marketing. Companies hire us for consulting, training and implementation services.

12) 12 Most

http://12Most.com  -  12 Most is a dynamic community of influential, globally-renowned writers & business experts publishing THE BEST LIST POSTS on the web, period!

13) Reel SEO Video Marketing

http://www.reelseo.com  -  ReelSEO.com is The Online Video Marketer’s Guide – The world’s leading resource for news, analysis, tips and trends for the online video and internet marketing industries. Our videologists & columnists offer expert advice, guidance, and commentary about the world of online video in an effort to guide internet marketers and video content producers towards best practices and online video services that suit their needs. Our goal is to help evangelize for the industry, collect and disseminate best practices, and learn a little bit while doing it.

Kevin Gibbons, Founder of SEOptimise

14) SEOptimise 

http://www.seoptimise.com/blog  -  A leading light in the search industry, SEOptimise founder Kevin Gibbons has over 10 years’ web experience. He has specialised in the field of search engine marketing since 2003, advising a wide range of industry sectors on increasing their online visibility by using the latest search engine marketing techniques.

15) BizReport

http://www.bizreport.com  -  BizReport is recognized internationally as a leading source for Internet business and e-commerce news. Attracting a diverse and influential audience of business professionals, the BizReport website delivers breaking news, in-depth reports and interviews with industry leaders. BizReport is linked by a broad range of online finance and investment portals, technology companies and e-commerce sites. Industry CEOs and Executives around the world rely on BizReport.com for in-depth, up-to-the-minute coverage of the Internet industry.

John Jantsch, Founder of Ducttapemarketing

16) Ducttapemarketing

http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog  -  John Jantsch has been called the World’s Most Practical Small Business Expert for consistently delivering real-world, proven small business marketing ideas and strategies.  John Jantsch is a marketing consultant, award winning social media publisher and best selling author Duct Tape Marketing and The Referral Engine .

17) Marketing Profs Daily Fix

http://mpdailyfix.com  -  The Internet is full of marketing tips, marketing advice, and marketing experts—but most of what is out there is either pure garbage or really confusing to figure out. Our editorial team cuts through all of this marketing noise to find the experts and in-the-trenches marketers who know what they are talking about. Then we take their know-how and mix it with our marketing smarts to turn it into practical advice that you can actually use through our newsletters, conferences, seminars, podcast, articles, and webcasts. We must be doing it right, because we’re a multi-million dollar company that serves a community of more than 418,000 entrepreneurs, small-business owners, and professional marketers at the world’s largest corporations.

18) Inkling Media

http://inklingmedia.net/  -  Inkling Media is an inbound marketing shop based in Lancaster, PA with an emphasis on social media. We provide consultation on utilizing social media as part of an overall marketing strategy. In addition to Social Media, we work with you to help implement a strong blogging plan, as well as organic search engine optimization. Our work includes the creation, and implementation of social media plans. A social networking media plan can be extremely simple and cost effective if done properly. We can work with you to find the best mix of social media to meet your needs, from broad-based social media branding, to smaller, more specific campaigns and events. We also will provide you and your staff with the knowledge and tools needed to effectively carry out your social media marketing plan. We’ll also help you navigate and understand the inherent differences between traditional media and social media, and how to use those differences to your benefit. We offer a personal, hands-on approach that gives you the education and tools necessary to create and manage a successful Internet marketing program.

19) For Bloggers by Bloggers

http://bestbloggingtipsonline.com/  -  For Bloggers, By Bloggers. Offers some of the best blogging tips online. Blogging advice on themes, platforms, design and more.

Matt Cutts, Gadgets, Google & SEO

20) Matt Cutts: Gadgets, Google, and SEO

http://www.mattcutts.com/blog  -  Matt Cutts works for the Search Quality group in Google, specializing in search engine optimization issues. In an interview with USA Today in June 2008, Cutts provided advice on how to optimize search results on Google.

21) Brafton News

http://www.brafton.com  -  Brafton is an online news and content agency that offers integrated content marketing services.

22) Vandelay Design Blog

http://vandelaydesign.com/blog  -  Vandelay Website Design exists to help businesses and organizations build a stronger presence online. By working directly with our clients to identify and address areas of need we are able to provide a customized experience and an end product that will produce results and lead to increased profitability.

23) Sitemaps and SEO

http://www.sitemaps-xml.com  -  Sitemaps and SEO — We are all trying to discover phrases that pay. Finding the right key phrases for your business and placing them for best effect is the quest for the Search Engine Holy Grail.

24) FSMdotCOM

http://www.funkyspacemonkey.com  -  FSMdotCOM – a place for tips, how-tos and the latest information about what’s really important in the iPhone/iPad/jailbreak world.

25) Dan Zarrella

http://danzarrella.com  -  Dan Zarrella is the award-winning social media scientist at HubSpot and author of three books: “Zarrella’s Hierarchy of Contagiousness,” “The Social Media Marketing Book” and The Facebook Marketing Book.

26) aimClear Search Marketing Blog

http://www.aimclearblog.com  -  aimClear® is an internationally respected 16 person boutique online marketing agency based in lovely Duluth, Minnesota with a 6 person satellite office in historic Lowertown St. Paul.  Having masterminded Facebook Ad campaigns since 2007 which generated over 10 billion impressions, aimClear is generally recognized as one of the top paid Facebook demographic research specialists in the world. Client Credits include Martha Stewart Omni, Siemens, Second Life,  Washington Post companies, AngiesList,  Budget Direct and other clients in Australia, UK, Germany and numerous others.CEO, Marty Weintraub, is author of “Killer Facebook Ads” (Wiley/Sybex 2011).

27) State of Search

http://www.stateofsearch.com  -  State of Search is one of the leading websites when it comes to search and social media. This website, founded by Bas van den Beld and co-founded by Lisa Myers, focusses on the next step in search marketing and social media. The web is changing and so is search. What consequenses do these changes have and how do we handle these? Those are questions answered on StateofSearch.com. StateofSearch also is the host of a weekly podcast broadcasted on Webmasterradio in which the state of the search market is discussed. The show-host Bas van den Beld and Roy Huiskes receive many guests from all over the world to discuss the latest developments.

Justin Germino, Dragon Blogger

28) Dragon Blogger

http://www.dragonblogger.com  -  Founded by Justin Germino, DragonBlogger is a Technology and Entertainment portal that in addition to featuring technology articles and product reviews, also has a section designed to provide tips to help bloggers earn more and improve in their online ventures.

29) Blazing Minds

http://blazingminds.co.uk   –  Blazing Minds is a blog of all sorts, but is best known for it’s honest and well-written reviews of gadgets, websites and other popular tech products.

30) Mark and Angel Hack Life

http://www.marcandangel.com  -  Here at “Marc and Angel Hack Life” we enjoy sharing practical thoughts on a broad range of topics pertaining to life, hacks, productivity, aspirations, health, work, tech and general self improvement. We promise you will not find a regurgitation of someone else’s point of view on our site. Regardless of the topic at hand, these views are our own.

Harsh Agrawal, ShouMeLoud

31) ShoutMeloud

http://www.shoutmeloud.com  -  Harsh Agrawal is a young Entrepreneur and professional blogger from New Delhi, India. He writes about Blogging, Social media, WordPress, SEO, Technology and Make money online. Apart from Blogging, he offers various  services like custom WordPress theme, WordPress set up, WordPress SEO, blogspot to wordpress migration, Thesis Theme customization.

32) BrandSavant

http://brandsavant.com  -  BrandSavant is a blog about making sense of the social web from the perspective of a professional researcher. Tom Webster is a 20-year veteran of opinion, media and marketing research, and the principal author of Twitter Users In America, The Social Habit, The Podcast Consumer Revealed and other widely-cited studies of consumer technology usage. He is currently Vice President, Strategy, for Edison Research, most widely-known as the sole providers of U.S. Election exit polling data to all major media outlets. 

33) Online Journalism Blog

http://onlinejournalismblog.com  -  The Online Journalism Blog publishes comment and analysis on developments in online journalism and online news, data journalism, citizen journalism, blogging, vlogging, podcasts, interactive storytelling, publishing, Computer Assisted Reporting, User Generated Content, searching, online communities, mobile phone journalism, social media and all things internet. It tends to go through phases based on the current interests and activities of the contributors.

Daniel Scocco, Daily Blog Tips

34) Daily Blog Tips

http://www.dailyblogtips.com  -  Daniel Scocco has lived and studied in several places around the world, including Italy, Chile and Brazil. After receiving a degree in International Economics and working for one year in a multinational company, he decided to pursue entrepreneurial projects on the Internet.

Christian Hollingsworth, Smart Boy Designs

35) Smart Boy Designs

http://smartboydesigns.com  -  Christian Hollingsworth is an online entrepreneur, blogger and digital marketing consultant with ten years experience in the industry.

Brian Hawkins, Hot Blog Tips

36) Hot Blog Tips

http://hotblogtips.com/  -  My name is Brian D. Hawkins, the admin of several blogs and many websites. I have well over twelve years of online experience, as well as earning a steady online income for over ten years. Hot Blog Tips offer quality tips to help bloggers with everything from designing their blogs to building traffic, from monetizing to branding, marketing to search engine optimization. If it will improve your blog we want to discuss it here.

37) Econsultancy

http://econsultancy.com/blog  -  Econsultancy is a community where the world’s digital marketing and ecommerce professionals meet to sharpen their strategy, source suppliers, get quick answers, compare notes, help each other out and discover how to do everything better online.

38) Success is A Choice

http://www.andrewsegawa.com  -  Success, Blogging, SEO, Make Money Online, and Personal development.

39) SEO.com Blog

http://www.seo.com  -  With SEO.com on your side, the best geeks in the biz are in your corner – geeks who get all jazzed about search rankings and search marketing. We do fist bumps when our clients reach the first page of the search results. We brag about our new tools and strategies. We stay ahead of new trends and changes in the industry. We drool over every nugget of search news. We geek out about search marketing because we love it – and that’s why we get top rankings. And that’s what delivers a big ROI.

40) Van SEO Design Blog

http://www.vanseodesign.com  -  VanSEODesignBlog specialize in building usable and search engine friendly websites so whether it’s a living breating person or search engine spider that’s visiting, both will have an enjoyable experience on your site.

41) Makobi Scribe’s Product Reviews

http://www.makobiscribe.com  -  Makobi Scribe is a go-to-resource for Product Reviews, Giveaways ending near-daily, and Resources for fellow bloggers. Makobi Scribe is mainly operated by Jennifer, who does the bulk of the reviews and blogging tips; but has recently welcomed new members to the team. 

42) Lunametrics

http://www.lunametrics.com/blog  -  LunaMetrics is a Google Analytics Certified Partner, and the same for Google Analytics Training, Google Website Optimizer and Google AdWords. We also specialize in Social Media, Search Engine Optimization and Pay Per Click Advertising. Our work often falls on these three areas: traffic, analysis and action. 

43) Social Media Encyclopedia

http://buzzom.com/  -  Buzzom is a platform to explore and share the what, why and how of social media marketing. Get insight into latest social media trends, tips on using social media tools like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, and learn from experts about what it takes to build a buzz around your brand.

Roger Johansson

44) 456 Berea Street

http://www.456bereastreet.com  -  This site is developed and authored by  Roger Johansson. A Swedish web professional who has been working with the web and other interactive media since 1994.

45) Noobpreneur Business Blog

http://www.noobpreneur.com  -  Noobpreneur is a business blog offering tips and ideas for small business owners and those who want to enter entrepreneurship with the right mindset.

46) SEO Best Tips

http://www.seobesttips.com  -SEO Influence’s technique involves a mix of the most powerful SEO strategies employed by any firm in the country. On page SEO, social media, content syndication and online reputation are what affect a sites ability to rank on the search engines. Detailed information about a search engine’s algorithm is rarely disclosed, so using any one method alone will likely fail to produce results. SEO Influence is constantly researching and testing every known method of internet marketing. Google, Yahoo and Bing regularly change and alter their ranking algorithms, meaning a method that works today may not work tomorrow. For this reason, SEO Influence utilizes diverse and flexible forms of search engine optimization, to ensure that the desired results are achieved.

Patrick Altoft

47) Blogstorm SEO blog

http://www.blogstorm.co.uk  -  Blogstorm is the UK’s largest blog discussing internet marketing and search engine optimisation news & strategies. Owned by Patrick Altoft. Patrick is Director of Search at Branded3, a Leeds based digital marketing agency specialising in search engine optimisation & social media marketing as well as building and designing websites and applications.

48) tripwire magazine

http://www.tripwiremagazine.com  -  Tripwire magazine — Web professionals have to master many skills and technologies to create the modern, effective web applications that clients demand these days. It can be hard to stay at the top in the web field – it’s a never-ending task!

49) All About Content – SEO Blog

http://www.all-about-content.com  -  All about Content — Online marketing professional with expertise in search engine optimization (SEO). Currently at PBS. Previously worked as an in-house SEO for one of the top 5 e-commerce electronics sites in the world.

50) SEO Complete Solution

http://www.seocompletesolution.com/seo  -  SEO Complete Solution is one of the few sites on the internet that is merchant-certified. From a 10 person company in 2009 to a 150 person workforce in 2011, SEO Complete Solution, is globally recognized as one of the leading link building and SEO companies. Our website optimization firm has deeply rooted values and is a website that strongly believes in white hat SEO techniques, we believe that there is no room for error in today’s competitive SEO world. The fact that, not a single site we have ever optimized has ever been reported or blacklisted is a strong testimonial to our techniques and methodologies. SEO Complete Solution has a dedicated team for each service it offers, that, coupled with our innovative and creative search engine optimization methods, is the reason for our proven track record.

Grab the Badge

He’s also a Platinum author on my website – you can check out his articles here. I asked him 6 questions about lines of credit for entrepreneurs:

What is a business line of credit?

The common definition of a business line of credit is an approved credit facility that provides short term working capital for the Canadian business borrower. Business credit facilities can be secured or unsecured.  They can also be collateralized against specific assets such as accounts receivable and inventory.

Business lines of credit are not long term debt obligations for your company – they are used to provide working capital and cash flow liquidity for day to day operations such as payrolls, inventory purchases, and fixed obligations such as rents, payroll, etc.

Which option would you recommend a bank line of credit or alternatives to a business operating line?

The necessity for a business credit facility arises out of your company’s need to carry working capital accounts, typically receivables and inventory. Banks in Canada lend on a combination of the business assets and general credit worthiness of the business, as well as the personal guarantees and credit histories of the owners of the firm.

We strongly recommend bank facilities to firms that can meet Canadian chartered bank business credit guidelines – typically those guidelines are:  established firms, clean balance sheets, profitable, and positive cash flow.

As we can imagine thousands of firms who are still growing but have financial challenges in the 4 categories we noted above do not qualify for traditional bank lines.  We then, as an example, work with clients to put alternative facilities in place. Those facilities include receivable financing, inventory financing, purchase order financing, or monetization of tax credits such as the SRED program. (Yes SRED R&D credits can be financed!)  These types of facilities are non-bank in nature, are often combined in some sort of manner, and have less stringent borrowing and approval criteria.

Business credit facilities provide a cushion for the business owner – they allow liquidity while inventories are converted to receivables which are converted to cash.

How does a business owner know if their company needs a bank line of credit?

The classic symptoms are for recognition of a need for such a credit facility can be easily calculated by any business owner. By adding his days sales outstanding to his days inventory outstanding and then subtracting his days payable on hand the business owner can easily calculate one simple thing – how long it takes 1$ to flow through his or her firm .  If that number, for example is 75 days, and you are required to pay your creditors in 30 days… well we think you get the picture! The bottom line is simply that if you are growing and have an investment in receivables, inventory, etc then you most definitely need a business credit facility.

Can you provide us some benefit of getting a line of credit for a business?

Business credit facilities provide a cushion for the business owner – they allow liquidity while inventories are converted to receivables which are converted to cash… with the cycle starting all over again.  The ability to maintain relationships with key suppliers is critical for any firm. Business credit lines allow you to take advantage of supplier discounts and purchase smarter.

What are the drawbacks of getting a line of credit?

One of the drawbacks of a credit facility is that they can lull the business owner into a sense of false comfort. This allows A/R and inventory to build up. We caution clients that revolving business credit facilities must do that, revolve!  If you are always at the top of a business credit line we would suggest some of your operating metrics are out of control. However if sales and profits are growing the usage of your facility might simply be reflecting that.

Would you recommend start-ups to apply for line of credit?

In Canada, in general start ups do not qualify for a business line of credit. We have touched on part of the reason on that already – i.e. not financial bench strength on the balance sheet, no track record, etc. Those businesses that do achieve business credit lines at start up are, quite frankly business facilities that are secured by personal holdings of the owners. That really isn’t a business line of credit! We would point out though that many start ups do qualify for alternative line of credit financing.

Looking to kick-start your marketing efforts for 2012? Here are 50 of the brightest minds in the world sharing their thoughts on what it takes to succeed in marketing your products and services. Use some of your holiday downtime to check these blogs out and put your 2012 marketing plan together. If you want to sell more next year than you did this year these experts can help. Enjoy!

Danny Sullivan, Search Engine Land

1) Search Engine Land

http://searchengineland.com - Search Engine Land is a news and information site covering search engine marketing, searching issues and the search engine industry. The site is led by journalist Danny Sullivan, who has been covering search for the past 11 years.

Seth's Blog, Seth Godin

2) Seth’s Blog

http://sethgodin.typepad.com- Seth Godin’s riffs on marketing, respect, and the ways ideas spread. If you don’t know Seth, the writer of numerousbestselling books about marketing, you need to check out his ever popular blog.

3) PSFK

http://www.psfk.com - PSFK is the go-to source for new ideas for creative business. PSFK.com actively reports on the latest changes and creative ideas in popular, consumer and business culture.

4) TrendHunter.com

http://www.trendhunter.com - With 31,000,000 monthly views, TrendHunter.com is the world’s largest, most popular trend community. Each day, Trend Hunter features a daily dose of micro-trends, viral news and pop culture.

5) Entrepreneur.com

http://entrepreneur.com - Entrepreneur delivers distinctive content on every road taken by the independent thinkers, builders and leaders driving economies across the world.

Daniel Roth, The LinkedIn Blog

6) The LinkedIn Blog

http://blog.linkedin.com - Editor Daniel Roth manages this blog that offers industry insights from one of the biggest social media players around, LinkedIn.

7) ProBlogger

http://www.problogger.net - ProBlogger helps bloggers to add income streams to their blogs. This site is dedicated to helping other bloggers learn the skills of blogging, share their own experiences and promote the blogging medium.

Robert Scoble, Scobleizer

8) Scobleizer

http://scobleizer.com - Robert Scoble is an employee of Rackspace, which can help you with all your hosting needs. He is chief troublemaker in the building43 community of Internet fanatics.

9) Get Rich Slowly

http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/ - Get Rich Slowly — recently named a best blog of 2011 by Time magazine and most inspiring money blog by Money magazine — is devoted to sensible personal finance.

10) Blippitt.com

http://www.blippitt.com - Blippitt is your top destination on the web for the latest breaking & outrageous news and viral videos. Headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, and one of the top 30,000 websites in the world, Blippitt offers a unique mix of pop culture news, viral videos, a touch of the odd and bizarre, and even daily deals!

11) Emailwire.com

http://www.emailwire.com – EmailWire.Com is a global newswire and press release distribution service. Uses viral marketing, XML, RSS, FTP feeds and E-mail Alerts to distribute news releases to major newswires, vertical news portals social networks and to journalists.

12) Search Engine Journal

http://www.searchenginejournal.com - Search Engine Journal, established in 2003, is a 7 year old publication of Alpha Brand Media, which specializes in a community approach to the reporting of search engine news and the sharing of Search Engine Marketing knowledge and tactics.

13) Copyblogger

http://www.copyblogger.com - Want more traffic, links, subscribers, and a profit-generating website? Copyblogger gives you the solutions you need to succeed.

14) FRESHNESS

http://www.freshnessmag.com - reshness explores the landscape of a boundless culture with no definite origins or home. The site is the face of a global community concerned with the acquisition of goods, for reasons both known and covert, in a studied and tactful manner. Our world has taken to product design and brand marketing as the new frontier in compelling others to think differently, create distinctively and communicate effectively.

15) Famous Bloggers

http://www.famousbloggers.net - Famous Bloggers is a multi-authors blog and Social Network platform for Making Money Online Tips built on the contributions of its authors.

16) mUmBRELLA

http://mumbrella.com.au - Mumbrella is a discussion of everything under Australia’s media and marketing umbrella.

17) WebUrbanist

http://weburbanist.com - WebUrbanist covers the collective life of our times through the lens of creative visual culture in the beating hearts of our cities. From urban design to individual homes, and subversive street graffiti to compelling works of gallery art, our authors scour the net to find the most innovative, compelling and cutting-edge artworks and designs in the world. Our focus is on quality over quantity – publishing only once daily, WebUrbanist packs each article with asmany relevant images and links as possible, part of an attempt to be exhaustive informative as possible within any given subject area.

Andy Beal, Marketing Pilgrim

18) Marketing Pilgrim

http://www.marketingpilgrim.com - MarketingPilgrim.com was launched by internet marketing consultant Andy Beal in September 2005. As a follow-up to Beal’s award-winning search marketing blog, Marketing Pilgrim expands its coverage to bring the latest news, rumors and reviews of all things related to internet marketing and online advertising.

19) Jay Mug

http://www.jaymug.com - Jay Mug – Trendspotting |Advertising | Marketing | Design | Media | Tech | Sharing inspiration, creative thoughts and awesomeness for the ever curious.

20) Spinsucks

http://www.spinsucks.com - The Fight Against Destructive Spin focuses on today’s issues in the media, and the intricate role public relations plays in our daily lives. FADS is a forum for discussion among public relations professionals and the online community.

21) Hitwise

http://weblogs.hitwise.com - Hitwise is the leader in online competitive intelligence. Contact Hitwise to maximize your online marketing programs.

22) Business 2 Community

http://www.business2community.com - Business 2 Community aims to provide a balanced view of the current business landscape based on industry news and trends, as well as real-life experiences. We feature daily news, information and blogs on Marketing, Strategy, Branding, Public Relations, Social Media, Tech & Gadgets and Entertainment. Our mission is to expand readers’ awareness of business best practices and to encourage participation.

23) Marketing Profs

http://mpdailyfix.com - MarketingProfs Daily is a rich and trusted resource that offers actionable know-how to help you market your products and services both smarter and better. Entrepreneurs, small-business owners and marketers in the world’s largest corporations make up its 379,000 subscribers, making it the largest in its category.

24) Adrants

http://adrants.com - Adrants, published by Adrants Publishing LLC, provides marketing and advertising news, especially insightful, informed, experiential, no holds barred commentary on the state of the advertising and media industries.

25) Traffic Generation Café

http://www.trafficgenerationcafe.com - Traffic Generation Cafe brings you the most profit-pulling free traffic generation tips, tricks, and resources, so that your website and business will go where no website has gone before.

John Jantsch, Small Business Marketing Blog

26) Small Business Marketing Blog

http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog - John Jantsch has been called the World’s Most Practical Small Business Expert for consistently delivering real-world, proven small business marketing ideas and strategies. Check out his blog at Duct Tape Marketing.

27) Food Politics

Marion Nestle, Food Politics

http://www.foodpolitics.com/- Marion Nestle posts almost daily about current events in food and nutrition politics and policy, mainly those related to agriculture, food, nutrition, and health, particularly dietary practices, obesity, food safety, and pet food.

28) MarketingCharts

http://www.marketingcharts.com - MarketingCharts is a Watershed Publishing publication. It is published daily in the US by its own staff, and also features editorial contributions from other writers and analysts in the Watershed Publishing network. MarketingCharts is a sister publication to MarketingVox.

29) MarketingProfs Daily

http://www.marketingprofs.com - MarketingProfs Daily is a rich and trusted resource that offers actionable know-how to help you market your products and services both smarter and better. Entrepreneurs, small-business owners and marketers in the world’s largest corporations make up its 379,000 subscribers, making it the largest in its category.

30) Chitika Insights

http://insights.chitika.com - Chitika is a data analytics company in the business of on-line advertising. Through the application of data and innovative technology in the fields of mobile, local and search Chitika has developed a vast global network that maximizes yield for both publishers and advertisers.

31) Reel SEO Video Marketing

http://www.reelseo.com – ReelSEO.com is The Online Video Marketer’s Guide – The world’s leading resource for news, analysis, tips and trends for the online video and internet marketing industries. Our videologists & columnists offer expert advice, guidance, and commentary about the world of online video in an effort to guide internet marketers and video content producers towards best practices and online video services that suit their needs.

32) comScore Voices

http://blog.comscore.com/ - comScore Voices shares perspective on the latest events and trends in global Internet behavior. comScore Voices shares commentary and analysis of the state of Internet audience measurement, as well as how trends in Internet usage are affecting businesses and creating new opportunities for growth.

Neil Patel, Quick Sprout

33) Quick Sprout

http://www.quicksprout.com - Neil Patel is the co-founder of 2 Internet companies: Crazy Egg and KISSmetrics. Through his entrepreneurial career Neil has helped large corporations such as Amazon, AOL, GM, HP and Viacom make more money from the web. By the age of 21 not only was Neil named a top 100 blogger by Technorati, but he was also one of the top influencers on the web according to the Wall Street Journal.

Chris Brogan, chrisbrogan.com

34) chrisbrogan.com

http://chrisbrogan.com - Chris Brogan consults and speaks professionally with Fortune 100 and 500 companies like PepsiCo, General Motors, Microsoft, and more, on the future of business communications, and social software technologies. His blog is in the Top 5 of the Advertising Age Power150. He has over 11 years experience in online community, social media, and related technologies.

Eric Goldman, Technology & Marketing Law Blog

35) Technology & Marketing Law Blog

http://blog.ericgoldman.org - Eric Goldman is an Associate Professor of Law at Santa Clara University School of Law. He also directs the school’s High Tech Law Institute. Before joining the SCU faculty in 2006, he was an Assistant Professor at Marquette University Law School, General Counsel of Epinions.com, and an Internet transactional attorney at Cooley Godward LLP.

36) Online Marketing Blog

http://www.toprankblog.com - Since December 2003, TopRank’s Online Marketing Blog has provided insights, resources and commentary on a range of digital marketing and public relations topics including: Search engine marketing and optimization, Social media marketing, Business blogging and marketing, and Online public relations.

Brian Solis, Brian Solis

37) Brian Solis

http://www.briansolis.com - BrianSolis.com is among the world’s leading business and marketing online resources, ranking among the top 1% of all blogs tracked by Technorati. Solis is also ranked as one of the leading voices in the AdAge Power 150 index of worldwide marketing bloggers.

Mark Sisson, Mark's Daily Apple

38) Mark’s Daily Apple

http://www.marksdailyapple.com - Mark’s Daily Apple is a blog by Mark Sisson, a forum for discussion and debate, a place where people go to explore how to live the healthiest life possible. And it’s a place where I rant, teach and attempt to entertain with daily articles. I started this experiment at the end of 2006 and haven’t missed a day yet. Visit the site daily to learn something new, to take home some practical information and tips you can actually use in your life, and for continuous motivation and reinforcement.

Bas Van Den Beld, Founder-State of Search

39) State of Search

http://www.stateofsearch.com - State of Search is one of the leading websites when it comes to search and social media. This website, founded by Bas van den Beld and co-founded by Lisa Myers, focusses on the next step in search marketing and social media. The web is changing and so is search. What consequenses do these changes have and how do we handle these? Those are questions answered on StateofSearch.com.

40) Social Media Explorer

http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com - Social Media Explorer is a leading platform for insights, opinion and learning around the world of social emdia marketing, online communications, conversational marketing, digital marketing, public relations, community building and branding.

41) Direct Marketing News

http://www.dmnews.com - Direct Marketing News is owned and operated by Haymarket Media Inc., a privately held media corporation, located at 114 W. 26th St., New York, NY, 10001. The Direct Marketing News franchise today includes the print edition of Direct Marketing News, serving a BPA-audited circulation of 45,000 qualified recipients, along with this website, www.DMNews.com, and four e-mail newsletters and four lead generation opportunities.

42) For Bloggers by Bloggers

http://bestbloggingtipsonline.com/ – according to leading blogging resource Technorati, there are more than 133 million blogs online today, and that number continues to grow. With these numbers, it can be hard to stand out – and that’s why For Bloggers, By Bloggers and our own resource of blogging tips was born.

43) Shawn Blog

http://www.shawnblog.com - Spawning initial public awareness of the shocking and awful anti-Radiohead movement, shawnblog.com was featured on the tumblr.com home page and subsequently became popular enjoying higher technorati and Google rankings than far more influential web sites. The blog is, of course, mostly nonsense and should not be taken seriously, only very loosely representing the moments in the stream of consciousness of it’s author.

44) Intuit Small Business Blog

http://blog.intuit.com - This blog is dedicated to a discussion of small business, including advice, resources, and insights we think will help you be more successful . We’ll talk about broad topics of lasting interest to small business owners, such as Money, Customers, and Employees. We’ll also share information on current Trends as well as stories about Local businesses. Authors include professional journalists, people who work at Intuit, our customers and research partners, and guest experts we invite to share their perspectives.

Noah Rubin Brier, noahbrier.com

45) NoahBrier.com

http://noahbrier.com - He uses the web to understand the world. In his eyes, everything is linked, and Noah treats every encounter with information as a potential web waiting to be untangled.

Jeremiah Owyang, Web Strategy

46) Web Strategy

http://www.web-strategist.com/blog - As a Web Strategist, Jeremiah Owyang strives to deliver insight on disruptive technologies and their impact on how companies communicate with their customers. This blog has been around since 2006, and has been recognized as a top analyst blog within the industry and by readers like you.

47) Osocio Weblog

http://osocio.org - Osocio is dedicated to social advertising and non-profit campaigns. It’s the place where marketing and activism collide. Formerly known as the Houtlust Blog, Osocio is the central online hub for advertisers, ad agencies, grassroots, activists, social entrepreneurs, and good Samaritans from around the globe.

48) Inkling Media

http://inklingmedia.net/ – Inkling Media is an inbound marketing shop based in Lancaster, PA with an emphasis on social media. We provide consultation on utilizing social media as part of an overall marketing strategy. In addition to Social Media, we work with you to help implement a strong blogging plan, as well as organic search engine optimization. Our work includes the creation, and implementation of social media plans.

49) SEOptimise

http://www.seoptimise.com/blog – SEOptimise began life in 2006 and has doubled in size every year since. Familiar faces at SEO conferences both as speakers and delegates, the ever-expanding SEOptimise search team develop innovative SEO strategies based on the latest thinking and developments in the online market. We pride ourselves on proven results delivered to clients at a high return on investment, with the flexibility to work to a huge range of Key Performance Indicators.

Larry Ferlazzo, Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day

50) Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day

http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org - This blog highlights new sites added to Larry Ferlazzo’s English website, which has over 6,000 links apprpriate for English Language Learners and younger native-English speakers. Subjects include English, Math, Social Studies and Science. 

Grab the Badge

Today’s post is brought to you by American Express Canada. Check out their new Amex for Business Canada Page here and vote for the winning small business story in the Take Off with American Express contest.

If you’re having a hard time getting your business up to the next level, chances are you’ve got an operational issue that you need to address.

Here are the top 5 operational mistakes that I see entrepreneurs making and hopefully you can learn from them to improve your business.

1) Trying to do it all yourself

Most entrepreneurs start off as a one man or one woman show. That’s a great way to start – you know every detail about how your company runs and you’re able to make changes on the fly.

However, as you grow your business you’ll always be limited by how much time you have. You’ll have to work insanely long hours, your quality of work will suffer, and you’ll have to say no to customers because you’re beyond capacity.

The secret to sustainable growth is to spend your time on what adds the most value to your business and delegate/outsource the rest. Start with simple admin tasks and expand as you get more comfortable letting go of some of the control, a very difficult challenge for many entrepreneurs.

2) Focusing on the product instead of the customer

When I started my first real business, my partners and I focused so much on our product and adding features that we thought would be amazing. We were our target market so it would make sense that we knew what to create.

Yet, it almost sank our company. We spent way too many resources creating features that we thought were useful but our customers didn’t really care too much about. Fortunately we had enough amazing features to still win clients over but we could have done much better.

Start talking to your customers from day one. Listen to what they want, build all of your offerings around solving their challenges and make them an ongoing part of your research and development. After all, they’re going to be the ones who are paying your bills!

3) Spending money before you’re making it

This is a common mistake for both startup companies and more established businesses. If you’re looking at creating a new product or service try not to spend money before you some coming in.

Anybody can spend money. It doesn’t take a creative genius to spend $10,000, $100,000 or $1 million. I’m sure you can find ways to spend it. This time around, I prefer to find ways to make money and then expand my marketing to make even more money when I know I have a winning idea.

Invest your time in  talking to customers, doing market research, creating prototypes, etc. but not your money. Make sure you have something that people want to buy before you pour your financial resources into it. Even having just one person commit to buying is a step in the right direction.

4) Not having any accountability

A lot of us become entrepreneurs because we want to be our own bosses. While it’s great not having anyone looking over our shoulders, what most entrepreneurs lack is accountability.

Who is going to make sure you meet that big goal you set for yourself at the end of the year? What happens if you don’t make it? Who is going to push you to keep going when you feel down on your business and don’t feel like working?

The best solution that I’ve found is to start or join a Mastermind group . Connect with other business owners and have them push you to be the best entrepreneur you can be and you do the same for them. When you commit to other people and have them hold your feet to the fire you’ll be amazed at how much more productive you’ll become.

5) Carrying too much overhead

Similar to point #3 about not spending money before you’re making it, another  operational blunder entrepreneurs make is spending too much on overhead.

As entrepreneurs, we’re often overly enthusiastic and believe that we’re going to achieve at a much faster rate than we actually do.  It’s great to be an eternal optimist and believe you’re going to have success. Those are some great personality traits to have as an entrepreneur.

But, don’t make the mistake of buying too much inventory, renting out a huge office, or buying equipment that is way above your needs. Cash is king, especially for entrepreneurs, and you don’t want to get stuck holding too much overhead that can’t be converted into cash quickly if you need it to get through a financial crunch.

I hope you enjoyed this post and don’t make any of these mistakes as you start or grow your business. I’d love to hear your thoughts, words of wisdom or any other mistakes you’ve made as an entrepreneur, so  leave me a comment below!

Once again, today’s post is brought to you by American Express Canada. Check out their new Amex for Business Canada Page here and vote for the winning small business story in the Take Off with American Express contest.