I’ve been working on a new  workbook to go with my “Seven Stages of Raising Capital workshops”. It’s nearly there. The difficulty is in making a relatively complex process appear practical in a 2 hour time frame. The workbook will help as attendees can take their own business and work through the process.

I’m sending up the drafts to Cochin in India this week so they can complete the layout in time for the first workshop next Wednesday.

On the Tuesday I’m speaking at the Eco Innovation Forum. The topic is “Australian Small Scale Offerings Board – A Capital Underdog’s Guide to Raising Capital”. I’ll be giving a broad outline of the ASSOB Capital Raising Platform. Some successful Eco case studies and then a shortened version of the seminar on Wednesday in Sydney.

First time I’ve used Eventbrite and I’m impressed. Have my next three workshops on there.

Also a big congratulations to Jessica Watson. I particularly like this line from her ….

I have to  disagree with Mr Rudd I don’t consider myself a hero I’m an ordinary girl who had a dream. You just have to have a dream and set your mind to it.’’

During her circumnavigation of the globe she nourished herself on 10 different Easyfood meals.

Easyfood is presently on the ASSOB Capital Raising Platform.

Dharmesh Shah, Chief Technology Officer & Founder of HubSpot wrote a blog post where he reflected his experience to produce 9 Quick Tips Learned While Raising $33 Million In Venture Capital.

I thought I would take a slightly different approach and rewrite these relative to my experience at the Australian Small Scale Offerings Board. At ASSOB we are a step or two before Venture Capitalists get involved. Some do in some matters but it is mostly Private Equity investors.

You can read my post entry here.

Was “Australia Day” here yesterday and I got thinking about how so many ventures are dependant upon funding from friends, family and fans to get to the next level.

Many people say friends, family and fools.

Which got me thinking. How can someone with a business opportunity needing early stage funding from private equity or investors prepare themselves better. On my “Capital Underdog” Blog I added a new entry which I believe should be invaluable for someone seeking to raise funds from friends, family and fans.

Read it here!

Ironing

A chore to many, a vocation for others.

Beautifully captured here by the meanest indian.

Her blog is worth subscribing to as well!

Just imagine ironing all the fabrics below with the iron above!

I’ve been dabbling for years in all different ways to earn money on the internet.

Some months I bank hundreds, other months thousands. I’ve made some money out of selling clickbank products via Google Adwords but when I read that Michael Cheney was the master in this area I had to check him out.

This is what I found …

1. He affiliate system has allowed him to move from a $90,000 apartment to a $820,000 mansion
2. NBC television invited him to speak live about his phenomenal internet business
3. He one the top affiliate prize and received it in Las Vegas
4. He regularly receives tens of thousands in affiliate commisions.

If you cant wait to read more and want to see how his system works click here!

As a teacher Michael is first class.

His Affiliate Millions course has some brilliant videos that really teach you how to make money as an affiliate. He covers …

1. How to make money as an affiliate
2. How to pinpoint the most profitable products
3. How to create cascades of cash with killer conversions
4. How to power up your profits using TV’s secret formula
5. How to create hungry hordes of happy buyers
6. How to achieve auto pilot affiliate riches
7. How to create a cash-erupting volcano using viral video
8. How to turn on a tornado of traffic to your affiliate offers
9. How to create money magnets
10. How to get a list of red hot prospects

The noted UK internet guru Neil Shearing says these videos “are an exceptional series of movies explaining *exactly* how the affilate industry works and how a newbie affiliate can grab their share of the explosion in comissions earned from online sales.

To grab this Great Way to Get Started on the Internet Earning Real Money click here!

Social proof is a psychological phenomenon that occurs in ambiguous social situations when people are unable to determine the appropriate mode of behavior. It is also known as informational social influence. People often make the assumption that surrounding people possess more knowledge about the situation, they will deem the behavior of others as appropriate or better informed.

As an example, say we have a person who has been unemployed for a long time.

Even though they are highly skilled and qualified they may have a hard time finding a new job

The “social proof” is assumed to be that if the guy hasnt got a job even though he is highly qualified he is not worth employing.

This causes the potential employers to search more intensively for flaws or other negative characteristics that are “congruent” with or explain the person’s failure and to discount the applicant’s virtues.

Other examples are ….

- Advertisers tell us they have the largest selling album, care etc

- Milgram, Bickman, and Berkowitz (1969) conducted a social contagion study on 42nd Street, New York City. Varying numbers of passersby (all confederates) were staring at a sixth floor window. The dependent variable was the percentage of persons who stopped to stare. As the number of sources increased, the percentage of persons who stopped to stare also increased. Forty-five percent of passersby stopped if one confederate was looking up, 85% of the passersby stopped if 15 confederates were looking up.

- Waiters and waitresses often put a few coins in the “tips” jar to say to others that lots of people tip us

- Bandura, Grusec, and Menlove (1967) used the principle of social proof to treat young children who were terrified of dogs. The treatment was very simple. They merely watched a boy play happily with a dog for twenty minutes a day. After only four days, 67 percent of the clients climbed in a playpen with a dog and played with him.

- Joshua Bell the famous violin virtuoso played in the Washington DC subway during the morning rush hour. He took his $3.5 million Stradivarius violin and played. Almost no one noticed or stopped to listen. He collected a total of $32 for an hour of playing (not counting a $20 bill that was given by a person who recognized him). Without his posters and huge venues and fans he was totally barren of the fame that he would have encountered in another venue. The commuters responded as if he was needing the money rather than judging his playing ability and the violin.

Here is another example of a Self-publishing success with MySpace.

TIME Europe Magazine: Jul. 31, 2006 — Reasons to Be Cheerful – 1

A handful of free tracks posted on Allen’s page on virtual community MySpace has garnered almost 3 million listens. “Obviously I’m really grateful for MySpace and what it’s done for me,” says Allen, “but at the same time MySpace is just a website; it’s the music that people are attracted to, not the Internet.”

Reading this article on Virtual Business one wonders if the age old “penname” may eventually morph in to an Avatar. Maybe all of us will have a virtual presence that is an Avatar!

Marketing to us will depend on which particular space we are in at the time.

Virtual Business » Blog Archive » Marketing to Avatars

Self-publishing can extend to T-shirts as well. A Australian badn has handed its merchandise distributon  over to Cafe Press.

Signal Room Reaches Out – Australian Rock Band Uses Cafepress.com to Reach International Fan Base

Signal Room, the Australian rock band born on the set of cult science-fiction TV hit Farscape, recently embraced Cafepress.com as the way to satisfy their fans’ requests for band-related merchandise.

Based in Sydney, Signal Room is self-publishing a new CD. The financial investment merchandise sales usually require in production, inventory and shipping, and the back-office technology to support it, was out of the question. Enter CafePress.com. Their capability for one-off production of t-shirts and other merchandise keeps the band from having to maintain an inventory in various styles and sizes and eliminates the risk that they may be left with unsold goods.

At www.cafepress.com/signalroom, Signal Room is able to accept credit cards and ship inexpensively to Europe and the U.S., home to the majority of the band’s fans. “It’s a huge hassle dealing with payments in different currencies and shipping from Australia to anywhere,” admits Stephen Edwards, the band’s guitarist.

Check this out.
You get to sense the journey you can have before you leave home!
Awesome.

Experiential Travel Meets Experiential Technology: Relief Rides Come Alive