Displaying All Posts tagged with Strategies

7 Figure Blogging

Collis Ta'eed 29th July Blogging 2 Comments

If there is one subject that’s been written about a lot, it’s how to make money blogging. In fact the very first blog that I ever wrote focused on that very topic, despite the fact that at the time I, myself knew very little on the subject! Happily in the last few years I’ve had the chance to learn a lot through our many blogs and have experienced the many highs and lows of running blogs in every capacity, from designing them to writing them, editing them to managing them, buying them to selling them, and everything in between. Today our blog network here at Envato grosses well over 7 figures a year and is one of the largest in the world, and certainly here in Australia. Read More

Putting the Odds in Your Favour

Collis Ta'eed 4th June Tips 25 Comments

luckTo look at a guy like Woody Allen, you’d never think he had a chance at being a household name and a famous comedy star. I mean, let’s be honest he’s a bit odd looking, has a very peculiar manner and if you met him on the street you’d think he was just an amusing eccentric. When he was asked some years ago how he came to success, his reply was that "80 percent of success is just showing up". Early in his career with nothing happening, he just used to go to every single audition, party, event, opening, anything that was going on.

People like to talk about luck being a factor in success, and you could say that eventually that’s exactly what happened, Allen got lucky. But of course the message in this story is not that he got lucky, but that he set it up so that he could get lucky.

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Creating Your Own Deadlines and Setting Aggressive Goals for Your Business

Collis Ta'eed 11th May Tips 28 Comments

goalsThe other day I came across a short presentation on entrepreneurship by Larry Page, co-founder of Google. In the presentation Page discusses setting aggressive goals and quotes a rather catchy motto which I think is just brilliant: “Have a healthy disregard for the impossible”.

In this post I thought I’d discuss some of the benefits for entrepreneurs and startups to setting aggressive goals and creating deadlines. But first let me begin with a story from my own experience… Read More

So You Want to Start a Startup? 5 Places to Start

Collis Ta'eed 16th April Startups 25 Comments

startThe world is rife with business opportunity, and nowhere more so than online. I often think of the web as something of a wild west frontier, awaiting anyone intrepid enough to stake out a claim. But to start an online venture you first need to have an idea of what you want to do. For many would-be entrepreneurs ideas are many and easy to come by, but not everyone feels this way.

Some time ago I met a very talented developer who was independent and industrious, more than capable of developing a brilliant web app. Despite wanting to start some sort of online business of his own, he was hamstrung, for he wasn’t sure what exactly to build. I remember being asked how I found so many different business ideas, and my on-the-spot reply went something like “uhm… they like, just pop into my head.” Not exactly a useful reply!

With a bit more thought and contemplation I’ve decided to catalogue some different methodologies for finding a business to get into. The post is split into five parts, each one detailing a different angle. Read More

6 Strategies to Take On an Established Competitor

Collis Ta'eed 19th March Strategy 25 Comments

competitionA common refrain for people thinking up business ideas is that all the good ideas have already been done. This of course isn’t true, but it sure can feel that way!

On numerous occasions I’ve had what I thought was a lightening bolt idea only to find that someone has not only thought of it before but has even gone out and built a really great business out of it. While it is rather vindicating to see that your idea really did have merit, it is also a bit disappointing. But should you give up? And if you don’t, then how do you go about taking on such a challenge?

Finding an established competitor is not necessarily cause to quit on the spot. It is however reason to think very carefully, and assess whether you have the resources, energy and ingenuity to go for it. Make no mistake, having an established and successful competitor will make things much harder. On the other hand, they prove that a market exists, and for larger competitors, even the left-overs can be very worthwhile. In one of the biggest markets – internet search – even a measly 1% of the market is apparently worth $1 billion dollars in market cap – sort of explains why companies like Ask keep at it when Google seems to have won the market hands down. Read More