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Eric Janssen

Last activity: Oct 06, 2008

  • I just added my lessons learned to my blog (garageentrepreneurs.blogspot.com) from my first true summer of running my own business. Here are a few:

    Put relationships with people first. Whether it be customers, family, friends, etc. People are the driving life force on this planet and the relationships you have with people should be a huge priority. Customers won't do business with you unless you make them feel special, make them feel cared for, make them feel like you care - compete for the emotions of the people you look to serve and they will buy from you. Friends and family deserve your attention at all times - put down the Blackberry, turn off the ipod and play an active role in the conversations going on around you.

    Leverage adversity to make your career/life better. Critics are everywhere, they're the ones telling you "you can't" or "you shouldn't" or "I don't know about that". The faster you learn to tune out your critics and battle through adversity, the sooner you will be on your way to business and self-mastery. Take the road less travelled, grow, and you will come out of the end a better person. Life and business is about running toward, not away from, the things that intimidate or frighten you. Try new things all the time, if you don't you might just miss out on an opportunity to discover your new favorite _.

    It's not possible to discover new oceans unless one is willing to lose sight of the shore. What a great phrase. You will never find your passion unless you step away (at least for a moment) from what you've always done. If you always do what you've always done, then you'll always get what you've always got - so true.

    Life is terminal - we're all headed for the same end. Straight from Robin Sharma. When you remember that before you know it, we'll all be dust, the things that currently limit you (fear, pride, past disappointments) just fall away. No matter how long we get to live, we are all headed for the same end.

    The climb offers more value than the mountaintop. It truly is all about the journey. I know I have yet to reach the mountaintop - far from it in fact, but I already see the value in, and am truly enjoying the journey. The climb shapes your character, offers opportunity to realize potential and tests you to see how much you really want to win. It transforms you. There are two kinds of people: those that see barriers and run, and those that see barriers and break through them. What kind of person are you?

    Nobody can prevent you from being exceptional. You set your own limits on your potential, and no one can stop you from achieving what you want to. Act as if failure is impossible, wipe out every thought of not achieving your objectives and set no limits on your imagination. When you start accepting mediocrity in your life, you become a magnet for mediocrity in your life.

    Run your own race. Explore self-mastery at your own pace. You'll know when you're ready to explore it. Lessons learned about time management, focus, abilities will come with time but only when you are receptive to the ideas. Go at it with a great attitude and act as if failure is impossible, read as much as you can but remember that there are no maps to success, only guides.

    Posted Aug 25, 2008 Your Lesson Learned by Shea Wilkinson

  • I would re-iterate that - definitely go online. For my startup I've had the graphic work done on elance (AMAZING), and had all letterhead, postcards, business cards done from an online company and had GREAT results. Can't beat it.

    Posted Aug 25, 2008 Local or Online for Letterhead/Biz Cards?? by John Allen

  • I like that comment "the way people react to the world itself determines how they recover..."

    I had an interesting observation the other day while standing in line at a coffee shop. A woman had been waiting before me for her bagel, but I was served first and she absolutely lost it, making a scene, screaming and yelling, carrying on. The servers were able to shrug it off and apologize and that's when I had a small revelation:

    In any situation, the people who are always happy will act happy and the people who are always upset will act upset.

    I'm sure you know people as well as I do that always seem to find the negative side of things. No matter what happens they always manage to turn it into something negative. On the opposite side, there are always those that focus on the postitive and can make good of even the worst situation.

    I see that a lot in successful entrepreneurs, a lot of them mentors to me. They have made good of bad situations and have prevailed in their business and personal lives.

    Posted Aug 06, 2008 What is Failure? by Eric Janssen

  • Amazing article Paul. Do you keep a blog at all?

    Posted Aug 04, 2008 What I've learned (so far) in my business start-up by Paul McFadden

  • I don't think it so much "slackerism" as much as it is life, especially among younger entrepreneurs. It's easy to do what everyone else is doing, it's easy to take that typical job that all your friends are doing (especially if you're in business school). What's not easy is doing something different, swimming against the tide, standing out, taking that leap of faith.

    I think that with entrepreneurs, life happens. You get a decent job, buy a car, buy a house and suddenly you can't take the plunge anymore because there is too much on the line. I don't think its laziness, but it does take a certain personality type to take that plunge.

    Entrepreneurship is amazing but sometimes it does feel like running full speed ahead with your eyes closed or doing open heart surgery while reading the manual but that's part of what makes it so great, the journey!

    I'm trying to document my entrepreneurial journey on a blog that I literally JUST started - if anyone's interested! garageentrepreneurs.blogspot.com

    Posted Aug 04, 2008 Just Say NO to Entrepreneurial Slackerism by Krista Dunk

  • I think you're absolutely right that Facebook and MySpace in large part facilitate relationships that were already in existence. The new connections made on Facebook beyond those "core 50" so to speak are often friends of friends, friends of friends of friends, etc. I think that what Facebook and MySpace do best is cater to younger crowds who necessarily have the time and energy willing to continue a relationship online, which is not always the case with these new sites.

    I'm relatively new to the emerging niche social networking scene but those three points are, what I think might be good to keep in mind when constructing these new sites. It's difficult to find genuinely new people on a site and have meaningful relationships with them unless there is a "rallying cause" like music, sports, or business, and this is what makes these first-adaptors interested - a passion for this "something." This passion, shown by members is contagious and it attracts more and more members to the same spot. The attention then leads to action when users write articles, and blog, and hold events, etc. – essentially giving back to the community.

    Facebook does the same thing when you think about it: The significance is already there (from an offline relationship), and it creates passion. It causes users to get excited about being able to stay updated in the lives of their other friends. The passion they show creates attention, and others join (like I did after everyone told me that I "HAD to have Facebook"). The attention then led me to download the widgets, write to friends, attend events, etc. However, if you look at my actions on Facebook, almost all of them are rooted in real life behaviour: "Hey that was a great picture from the game last night," "Are you going to Jackie's party tonight." All my activity is about continuing meaningful relationships online.

    What I was trying to articulate wasn't that someone is necessarily trying to show significance and passion on these networks, these are just some of the underlying tenets that make social networking an intriguing phenomenon which I'm still trying to wrap my head around.

    Posted Jul 30, 2008 Why Are Social Networks Popular? by Eric Janssen

  • I do Mallory. So much passion and dedication - I know it because I'm living it right now. I checked out your website and I love your work. Keep doing your thing, follow that dream. I've got a friend of a friend doing the same thing where I live. A lot of your shots remind me of hers.

    Posted Jul 28, 2008 I Love Young Entrepreneurs by Eric Janssen

  • That's an interesting take. I'm always afraid as a young entrepreneur that I'm striving to get to a certain "financially burden-free" point but when I finally get there, it won't be good enough. Definitely a big fear that I have. Timothy Ferriss offeres the same solution that you do.

    Posted Jul 28, 2008 It's NEVER going to be enough! by Adrian J Cartwood