Today’s Thought Splash: Start Building Your Team Now!

When I first started thinking about becoming a Micropreneur I was overwhelmed by all the different skills I was going to need.  I was seriously freaking about things like:

  • How many different programming languages will I have to learn
  • How will I connect with prospective customers and partners via social media
  • How do I perform market research
  • How will I become a SEO Guru
  • What webhost should I use
  • How will I market my products

Since I knew I would have to get up to speed quickly on a lot of subjects I didn’t know much about, I started reaching out to people in my network and asking them for help.  Being able to connect with people with experience in my growth areas helped to subdue that feeling of being overwhelmed.

Usually I just need some direction, advice, or just a ear to bounce ideas off of; but sometimes I need some structured feedback, and mostly I need to have someone to be accountable to.  This is where having a mentor comes in handy.  Being able to share my goals with someone who cares enough to follow up and see if I’m still on track and gives me a gentle nudge or kick in the butt when needed is an invaluable asset.

Over the last several months I have connected with two mentors: Vernon Ross (@RossPR), Branding Coach and Blogger & Nicholas Cloud (@nicholacloud), Software Developer, Entrepreneur, and Blogger.

Mentorship

When I first met with Vernon Ross (@RossPR) to discus my aspirations of becoming a Micropreneur and Blogger he eagerly agreed to be my mentor.  During that first meeting Vernon asked questions about my goals, and by the end of the meeting had a set of actions items for me to complete within the next week.  He then followed up with an email with links to various resources we had discussed, as well as, an outline of the actions items.  One of those actions items was to get this blog up and going, this was something that I had only talked about for almost a year!  As I completed a few steps I  kept Vernon up to date on my progress.  When I missed one of my deadlines Vernon contacted me and asked how things were going (*** gentle nudge ***).  Vernon continues to help me grow my personal brand and, connects me with resources and people when needed.

I met Nicholas Cloud(@nicholacloud) in person a couple times at local .NET User Group sponsored events.  From those meeting I started following him on twitter and reading his blog.  He’s blog has some awesome content about .NET software development.  I decided that I wanted to seriously develop my .NET skills, so reached out to Nicholas for some assistance.  By my surprise Nicholas jumped at the opportunity to be my mentor.  We connected via Skype and talked for several hours about software development and entrepreneurship.  Nicholas also shared some resources that would help me develop my skills, such as books, screencasts, and blogs.  Nicholas checks in with me from time to time to see how I’m doing.  We have a meeting coming up in January of 2011 to work through some questions I have about .NET.

So far these mentorships have been great! I have only one regret, not getting started sooner!

Thought Splash: Start Building Your Team Now!