Several months ago one of my YouTube videos really started taking off. Which for me is only 30,000+ views.

Usually I really have trouble getting more than 1,000 views.

No this post is not about personal branding, it's title, you ask? "This is How You Buy a Used Car!"

​Due to popular demand here's a blog you can print and take with you for your next new car purchase. 

Recently, I've had too many projects and new ideas at Handshakin'.  Additionally, I've been pretty busy outside of work with friends, happy hours, intro meetings, and coffees. And I'll admit it... the occasional Netflix binge.

Sometimes I wonder what's worth it and what's not.

As a startup founder, I constantly ask myself, how can I create more valuable content to increase our exposure at Handshakin, without compromising the integrity of the content.
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Do you ask yourself the same?  Are ghost writers okay?  Are you spending too much time reposting your blog to 3rd party websites?  Is consistency or quality more important?

Here's my list of the Dos and Don'ts for personal branding for founders. ​

Today, I'm most excited to tell you about a couple different ways I'm making money online.  In case you missed Assets & Entrepreneurship Part 1 (Automotive) and Part 2 (Real Estate), fear not, as these are by far the most exciting strategies with the most opportunity. 

Last week, you may have seen my blog post detailing the various ways you can make money and build your net worth in the auto industry. You might have also noticed that, although it's the easiest to get into, I don't recommend it because A) they are depreciating assets, and B) they are small assets.  You'd have to own a lot of cars to make enough for one persons salary from them. 

Let's talk about Real Estate and how to leverage debt (mortgages) in order to make money off appreciation of assets that are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.  Not including monthly cash flow and rental income.  When building assets, let's ditch the auto industry where any asset over $100,000 is going to cost you tens of thousands instead of make you tens of thousands.

I recently bought a 2008 BMW 335xi that is inspiring me to write this post.

I plan to use it as my daily driver and rent it out on Turo for a premium (if rented, I'll just drive my work truck).

​It was a smoking deal, and has some serious appeal being black on black, all-wheel-drive, and 300 hp.  Now if you're not a car person, I'm still writing this for all entrepreneurs out there. 

All aspiring entrepreneurs should put a lot of thought into the assets and their net worth when considering launching a business.

It's been almost 6 months since I attended NamesCon, and I'm still on fire about domain names, small websites, and how to make money online.  But it all starts with 'owning the land.' 

If you think about the internet as real estate, it really becomes clear where the opportunities lie, and where you're able to make money.

Here's some important insights I've learned after being a domain name investor and online entrepreneur for 3+ years.

Oh, and the photo is of course a handshake with the Founder of NamesCon, Richard Lau. I'm already getting excited for January 2018 just uploading this picture. 

​I sat down with Kimbal Musk last year to talk about the enthusiasm that drives his personal and entrepreneurial success. 

​While his brother Elon is focused on space and energy, Kimbal is crusading against industrialized food and its negative impact on health and the environment, and social media has been invaluable for generating support for his efforts. ​

Last Friday, I was invited to give a talk to Social Media Day Denver. There was almost 250 paid attendees, and they were an amazing group of social media enthusiasts and bloggers.  I was surprised by how many people already had their blogs up and how many used Wordpress (I recommend Weebly). 

But I definitely got everyone's wheels turning on interviewing influencers to accelerate your career and current goals...

I recently read "Tips on Crafting a Top-Notch Startup Pitch" by Techstars, and had to share some of their insights with you, as well as what I've learned from hosting pitch events for almost 3 years with Startup Denver.  

​And, this is after my own experience pitching after graduating Founder Institute and making my own pitch from their pitch deck recommendations and templates.

​For businesses comprised of free agents working on their own initiative, each team member's personal brand could be contributing to the power of the team as a whole. The clients they are popular with, the positive comments and reviews each member has attained, can all be leveraged toward greater outreach and prestige for the entire team and company as a whole. ​

Back in September 2014, it was estimated that there are now over one billion internet sites on the internet, keeping that number enhancing every second. ​

It's harder than ever to actually find the exact tool you need because so many tools do many different things and the small tool that you're looking for is beat by it's competition that does a better job at SEO. 

So sad.  But fear not, here's a really powerful list...

Almost a year ago I interviewed Phil on the Handshakin Video Series in San Francisco.  

As I prepare to head out to SF to host Start SF's Pitch Battle (think mini shark tank event), I revisited my interview with him and wanted to share one of the best things a mentor has ever told me.

When I asked him about what makes a successful entrepreneur he mentioned three things:

Management

Focus

Execution

Some would say our environment and productivity are inconsequential, claiming that they are productive and happy anywhere. ​

High five to you, you’re killing it and this article probably isn’t for you. ​

I've worked with two Virtual Assistants (VAs) since the start of handshakin.com who have helped immensely behind the scenes.  Recently, we hired two more full-time Philippino team members.  

​And, as a bootstrapping entrepreneur, I can only grow as fast as I increase sales, without taking significant monetary risk investing in payroll.

Now I've hired US based team members before, and let me tell you, that can put a big dent in your checking (and savings) account should you hire too soon, or hire the wrong professional. And that dent will not always come back. 

Want to hire a full-time outsourced employee for a few hundred per month?  Then this is for you.

Anyone who has met me knows that Instagram and LinkedIn are my two favorite social networks to market on.  Here's how I did it with the Instagram account @pitchbattles.  

By the way, I've grown 4 others to 10k+ followers, and now I need to learn how to take it to 100k followers, so feel free to comment if you're an expert of experts with tips.

My goal is to share actionable steps that we took to accomplish this, and I also interviewed two other Instagram marketers to bring even more tips for you to consider.  

​More and more blogs nowadays are starting to publish video content of their own – chiefly

because of how useful it is in attracting interest, increasing engagement, and even boosting

conversions. ​