A failed business

If you ask any entrepreneur if they've ever had a business that's failed, you'd probaby have a hard time finding one who hasn't.

Many businesses fail.  It's the nature of the business--no pun intended.  But many of those businesses are ones that probably never see the light of day anyway.

Years ago, I started a resume-writing company.  I had big dreams of what I wanted to do, how I was going to advertise, but there was something missing: I failed to do any actual research into running a business, let alone how to market one.

If I had met accomplished authors such as Seth Godin or Dan Miller back then, I guarantee the business I started would've turned out different.  I possibly wouldn't have started it.  Or, if I had, I would have had some marginal success.

My marketing plan consisted of putting an ad in the local paper, which included a free ad on their website.  It wasn't much, a few dollars here and there, but it added up after a few months . . . and guess how many bites I had.

One.

My plan was to get them to request some info, I'd send out a packet to fill out for a resume . . . and that was it.  No follow-up.  Nothing.

If you're going to have a business, check out there two guys: Seth Godin and Dan Miller.  They'll give you both the tools and the inspiration to start with, and they'll give you the names of several others to read as well.