Us bloggers have each other’s backs. Nathan, our business guru, sent me an email suggesting a topic to write about. He knows how helpful it can be to get some advice and was watching my back. Through researching his suggestion, I can see that not every business has that same support. (I apologize for the cheesy segue)

Pyramid Schemes

Pyramid Schemes are businesses that provide individuals with monetary compensation based on recruiting others to participate in the business, according to the RCMP’s website. “The money is made through recruitment only, while the product or service has no real value,” reads the site.

Most importantly, they are prohibited under Canada’s Competition Act and monitored by Canada’s Competition Bureau.

They are enticing because they offer income, not only based on what product you sell, but also based on the product sold by those you recruited, any product sold by those they recruit and so on. Every member is required to pay a start-up fee that can be quite substantial.

They are attractive to students because they promise easy money.

And don’t think that students can’t be tricked. One of my friends at the University of Ottawa told me about one of her friends joining a travel-related pyramid-style business. Nathan, who goes to school in Toronto, told me that more than one of his friends have jumped at the opportunity to participate in a pyramid-style business. Nathan says he was even approached in High School.
Over at secret2makingmoney.com, there is a great article that outlines the downfalls in pyramid schemes:

Say you were to start by recruiting 3 people in the first week. They, in turn succeed in recruiting 3 people each the next week, and your plan continues perfectly week after week. In 16 weeks your recruits would have exceeded Malaysia’s population. After 21 weeks, you would have to go to another planet to look for recruits as your down liners would now exceed the world’s population.

Multi-Level Marketing (MLM)

MLM is a pyramid-style business that is not illegal in Canada. It operates much like a pyramid-style business, but emphasis is placed on the distribution of product.

You earn money based on what you sell and the only financial gain in recruiting people is that you have the potential to earn more should they sell more. The focus is on product distribution. There should be no fee to join.

Telling the Two Apart

There are several things you can look out for should someone offering an opportunity that looks like a pyramid scheme approach you:

1. The business requires a large investment from you at the start-up
2. Offer return on you recruiting others
3. Products are often more expensive than similar products in the main market
4. Products are not really products at all, but rather brochures or tapes that explain further services

About.com has a series of questions to ask yourself before joining something you may suspect is a pyramid scheme.
Finally, I want to thank my fellow blogger for his suggestion. Now, Nathan, please tell three friends to check out my post this week and get them to tell three others and get those three…

Being the young, career-oriented woman that I am, I spend a lot of time thinking about and planning my professional future. Which direction to go in, what avenue to pursue next, what accreditations I need, how to get ahead today… But among all of these other concerns that I have for the future, from time to time I am reminded of another: the glass ceiling. The glass ceiling effect refers to an invisible barrier that prevents the professional advancement of a qualified person beyond a certain level of hierarchy (or pay) because of discrimination.

In this blog entry, (and in order to avoid speaking about that which I do not know) I want to address the glass ceiling in the context in which it refers to women specifically. This entry, like many others, is inspired by a flurry of news articles and blog entries that I caught wind of this week. The first, about the “insipid sexism of a male-dominated political culture”, and another about women making more than men on corporate boards.

Despite the views of these authors, I feel as though the ‘glass ceiling’ is a somewhat antiquated notion that referred to a force that once kept women out of the boardroom and positions of management. Today, I think the explanation behind this phenomenon has more to do with the decisions individuals make, and less about a work culture of entitlement.

I probably take this approach for two reasons:

1. I want to
   
2. I have to

Let me elaborate: I want to believe the glass ceiling doesn’t exist because I don’t want to adopt a defeatist approach and accept that there are forces beyond my control that will always prevent me from accomplishing my goals. I’m just starting out in the workplace and don’t want to abandon my mission of climbing the corporate ladder by disempowering myself.

But I have to believe the glass ceiling doesn’t exist or else the notion of its mere existence will become a crutch, an excuse, a reason for my every failure or shortcoming and would ultimately be the demise of my professional career.

At the end of the day, whether the glass ceiling effect is real or not, in my mind I have to feel empowered to move forward and persevere, relinquishing perceived drawbacks that might prevent me from reaching my goals and holding myself 100% accountable for my every failure and success.

I'm in a bit of jam as we're trying to move forward with our business plan and by the looks of things, I think its something we need to put on the backburner for now. It's humbling to admit that at this point we're not ready to take this and make a go of it, but the time we have put into it has been good. I still have confidence in the idea and I'm certain that there's potential in this model, I just need to focus on some other things first. It's been a quite the learning experience. Here's what I've taken away:

Commitment

Obviously, the reason that this isn't moving forward is that I'm not fully committed to it on a number of different levels that all kind of stem from one key factor - time. Its not a matter of me not having enough, because my free time is ample; its where I'm putting that time in. So, while we put together the plan and everything looked to work, taking the time to put in those next steps was not something that I was ready to do. In that respect, its my own fault.

What would have helped - well a mentor for one. Fortunately, I had Michel my boss giving me some tips on how to be a good team player (Wise old Michel). But in terms of an entrepreneurial mentor of sorts, I had nothing. It would have been nice to have had someone say "hey, this is going to work - have you tried this?" Building those networks and those connections can really come in handy and I just didn't have that.

The big goal

What's more, is that my commitment was felt stronger to the idea of be an entrepreneur more than it was to the core of the business. That leaves me in a bad place and I think that's something an aspiring entrepreneur ought to be aware of. I look at someone who has the panache to take a leap and start up their business and I think "wow, that looks glamorous". The fact of the matter is, I don't think its that glamorous. Its a lot of hard work. So if you're more fond of the idea that you'll become a qualified entrepreneur than the plan itself - its tough to stay committed (and probably not healthy)

The Playing Field

Being more interested in being an entrepreneur more than anything else lead me into troubled waters - a business in an area that I'm not familiar with. I talked about doing something that you're passionate about, that you're good at. Something in which you excel - I should take my own advice. It's tough only being in business school and not having that secondary skill set to lay a smack down on. But maybe I need to take a step back and reevaluate my skills. Maybe I do have something to offer.

At any rate, The I have is great, and I can say that with confidence. The execution was lacking because I just didn't have the whit and skills that it required. Its a shame, but I don't think its the end... I may catch a break.

So what Will I do now?

So, I still want to be an entrepreneur - I have the business acumen and work ethic that a startup needs (did that sound cocky...?) I just want a taste of what its all about - so I started emailing startups in the area. I laid it all down for them, told them where I was coming from and what I'm all about. And do you know what, every last one of them got back to me and said they'd like my help (did I mention I offered to do it pro bono?) Money isn't the point for me - it's having that experience, that network and those mentors. At this point, its putting myself in those positions where I can work in that fast paced environment so that when the opportunity arises, I'll be there to meet it.

There's no right way to go about it - for now, probably for the rest of the summer - I'm going to take a step back and get myself ready. I'm really excited about all of the businesses that got back to me and I know that its going to give me a fresh perspective and will help me to learn a ton.

Toronto is great for those students looking to whet their artistic palette without breaking the bank. I’ve been checking out some places that offer free admission for students who present their valid Student ID and with the hot weather coming, it’s a free alternative to cool down and learn something at the same time.

The ROM or Royal Ontario Museum is free every Wednesday from 4:30 pm to 5:30 pm. Some specially ticketed exhibitions might require additional admission so check their website for details.

I’m personally not the biggest fan of the Crystal appendage attached to the more classic architecture and most people I know have voiced similar disdain, but I have to say the inside is nicely organized and pretty accessible. It flows well, which is what I found the earlier incarnation of the museum did not do. You should check out the Darwin Exhibit, which pretty much shows the justification for the theory of humans having evolved and Darwin’s research that led him to many of his theories. The man’s life was quite interesting as are all the cool skeletons and samples of a variety of insects, mammals and reptiles.

If you’re like me and like to read a good book the Harbourfront Centre has Weekly Readings where if you’re a student, you can get in for free to listen to a published author read and talk about his/her book. They have a schedule up so you can see if one of your favourite authors is going to show up, but I’m pretty sure it’s mostly domestic talent that is there. However, there is the Festival of Authors in October, which is a pretty international event. I’ve been there a few years ago to see William T. Volkmann read from his book at the time and there’s nothing like having a Q&A with an author you enjoy reading.

There’s also a whole myriad of live poetry, dub and plays that offer free admission over the city, but I’ll have to keep you posted on those shortly because I have to run and start work on the next video. If you have any links to fun, creative and free (or cheap) activities in your city, post away!

Is It Time To Break From Online Life?

The other day, on a gloomy afternoon, a friend of mine and I went to the library and played a little game. I know what you’re thinking: how does the library have any connection to games or anything remotely related to fun?

Well, I hope to convince you that sometimes it’s nice to face books, and not computer screens (as I write to you on the Internet and you read it on your computer screen). So the deal was that we had to find books related to four topics we had agreed upon, with a fifth that was a wildcard of our own choosing. Before the 25-minute time limit expired on the workstation, we had to find the titles and would then proceed to embark on our curiosity-quenching quest. Upon finding the books, we’d compare to see who found what – the goal being to have the more interesting book.

Here were the results:

1. I actually had a lot of fun doing this.

2. I ended up borrowing 5 books.

3. I learned some crazy things previously unknown to me.

4. I spent NO money in the process.

5. I got away from the computer screen for a bit.

Alright, so the example above may be entirely too geeky for your taste, but the fact is that libraries don’t have spam, x-rated links, flashing windows and other distractions that exist online. As I looked for my selections, I did not come across books titled Congratulations You Are the 1 000 000th Visitor of This Book or Win a Free Binder. There were no books that popped out of the bookshelf, trying to get me to read THEM instead of the books I searched for. Mind you, I DID end up finding other books but this didn’t involve being taken away from the task at hand. In short, it was nice to learn things - with good company - without all the nonsense that can come with researching online.

If you are fortunate enough to have a local library, I strongly suggest that you take advantage of its many benefits. In addition to books there are also:

· audio books - have someone else read the book TO you

· CDs - remember these round relics?

· DVDs (VHS?) - why pay to rent them?

· Instructional classes - learn a plethora of useful skills

In all likelihood, all of these things are available to you at no cost whatsoever. I have probably watched over 200 movies courtesy of the library (over $1000 in savings) and have discovered (re-discovered) tons of music as well. The only cost is late fees, and those are entirely within my control. Take some time and catch up on some blockbusters or classics, and save loads of cash in the process. I know I have, and will continue to.

What do YOU do that costs you very little money but provides much enjoyment? I’m curious!

So, the thing that sucks about making the transition from total parental dependence to financial independence is that it takes work. That may sound obvious to you, but for me the transition was some distant minor problem I would face in my future and nothing worth worrying about now. Well now I’m here, doing my best to take the advantages my parents have given me to work hard, progress and start down the path to financial independence. Don’t get me wrong I’m certainly not independent yet but this blog is about what I'm doing this summer to prepare for the inevitable.

I decided that this summer I would go down to Spain and work in a hotel there. Thats where I am right now: in a four star hotel on the beach in Spain. Sounds amazing doesn't it? Well, its not exactly as it sounds. My goals for this summer are to improve my Spanish, gain work experience and hopefully save some money...Oh! And get an amazing tan of course! So now its been four days since my first day and this is what has happened.

Where I live

As I turned the key in the door to my apartment that the hotel was providing for me I could barely handle the anticipation. I have always been lucky enough to live in nice, clean places and was nervous to see where I would be for the next two months. Nothing. I mean nothing I could have imagined would have prepared me for this place. In the room the was a cot, two chairs, a tiny sink, a small fridge which was jammed between the bed and the sink and a closet with a toilet in it. That was it. Seriously. No table, no shower, no stove and only a tiny mirror!

Obviously, someone who wants to learn independence doesn't want to start screaming, storm out and refuse to live in the place that was just presented to me. I wouldn't want to appear like a diva and so I simply said okay and asked “where can I shower?” The reply was no more comforting then the smell in the room “shower you in laundry around corner” Right. I can handle that. It just means that every time I want to wash myself I need to go and ask the superintendent for the key. Thats normal. “Gosh I miss my condo” I said to myself as I feel asleep that night after getting used to the drone of the fridge next to my head. Luckily, I was moved to an apartment with a shower later but instead of the sound of the fridge, I was greeted by a multitude of cockroaches in the morning. I thought it was a fair trade.

Where I work

Every day I bike to work in the morning heat. Its a really nice bike ride along the boulevard that runs parallel to the beach. Its fun to bike to work and watch the tourists exercising in the morning and they always stare back at me in confusion because Im in a suit. The hotel Sunway Playa Golf where I work is really beautiful and right on the beach. I work in the reception and so I get to look out at the sea all day long (it makes me thirsty). Because its high season right now my colleagues don’t really have time to “train” me and so the first few days have been insane. All day long guests come and ask me for something (in Spanish) and then I have to do it (without having learnt how yet) and thats how I learn. One thing after another I have to observe and do and basically train myself (in Spanish).

By the end of the day my brain is killing me from speaking Spanish, German, French and Russian all day and doing things I don’t know how to do. But I find hope in the fact that tomorrow will be easier and I will do better and frankly, that feels great. I somehow find it empowering to start working at the bottom and not letting colleagues now that my parents have shares in the hotel. I enjoy doing this because it makes the preparation for my transition more real. Every day for me right now feels like an episode from an upper middle class version of “The Simple Life” and its easy to get discouraged.

I suppose it would be appropriate for me to write a post-blog disclaimer to clarify for the sake of potential responses to this blog. I am in no way complaining about what I have or don’t have I simply exploring it for the sake that it might interest others. I feel very lucky to be working in Spain, learning Spanish and killing cockroaches.

A while back, I met up with my Aunt. Knowing I now blog with RBC, she spoke of her concern regarding banking and people with vision problems.

Retinitis Pigmentosa runs in my family. It’s a disease that causes slow vision loss and, unfortunately, there is no cure.

My conversation with my aunt got me thinking about what services are offered to those with vision problems. I was surprised to learn that the first “talking” bank machine was introduced to the world on October 22, 1997. Users insert a headset to the machine and are prompted with audio options.

What’s even more interesting is that the first one was right here in Canada — at the corner of Bank Street and Queen Street in Ottawa. And the kicker: RBC put it there. It was the result of a human rights complaint by two blind men, and RBC responded.

Last year, RBC had 600 "talking" bank machines across Canada, according to its website. Today, when RBC purchases a new ATM for installation or replacement of an existing ATM, it is always audio enabled.

I had the opportunity to speak with Ted Murphy, head of ATM channels at RBC. Interestingly enough, one of Ted’s very first projects with the bank was the implementation of the first “talking” ATM.

“We asked our clients what would work best,” Ted tells me, speaking of the project. “It helped a lot because it debunked many of our preconceived notions of what blind individuals need.”
Ted told me that RBC reached out to the community when they are trying to solve accessibility issues. One of those community resources is the CNIB.

“Several years back when we were expanding the number of locations, we were trying to figure out where to put our new ATMs,” says Ted. “We went to the CNIB and they put a notice on their website asking for feedback—and we got a lot.”

Deborah Gillespie is Manager of Braille Publishing for the CNIB. She is responsible for all the Braille products produced, including telecommunications bills, tactile graphics, graphs, etc. Deborah says that RBC was a leader in making online banking accessible to the visually impaired.

“They were at the forefront,” Deborah says. “We did the original formatting of the website and they sold the program and the product.”

Deborah says that online banking has eased a task that had one time taken much effort. She, like many other blind individuals, uses an audible browser that can read aloud what appears online. As the user rolls the mouse over the page, a voice reads any text or tags placed within the site.

“The internet is great because it’s leveled the playing field for everybody,” she says, “If the website is properly coded and tagged, then almost anyone can handle it.”

In fact, to find out where a “talking” ATM is, clients simply have to use the online ATM locater. And to make things easier for the visually impaired, RBC has developed an introductory package to talking ATMs that is available in Braille, large print or audio.

“The package has a visual description of the ATM and general description on how to use it,” Ted Murphy says. “This way, when someone shows up to use the machine, they’re not trying to figure out how to use it.”

Users can just plug their headset into the machine for a brief introduction, however, if they do not obtain a copy of the introductory package. Packages are available by calling 1-800-ROYAL99.

RBC also makes client’s financial statements as well as other documents available in Braille to anyone who needs it.

Both Deborah and Ted suggest contacting your local branch if you require any assistance when it comes to your banking. Managers in the branch will be able to contact the appropriate division to get a response to your suggestion.

So, what about you? Can RBC do anything to make banking a little easier for you?

I've put together this video about 10 easy tips to waste more of your money! If you're into wasting money, definitely follow these tips and you'll be well on your way to an emptier wallet.

My move to a new frontier

My foray into social media over the past - oh, what has it been now? - month and half, has been quite the adventure. I'm not going to stand here and claim to have grasped it completely. In fact, I don't think its breadth can be grasped. Since being introduced to social networking sites like twitter.com and the buckets of blogs that have been plopped onto my plate, I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed. It's unlike anything else and the more I look into it, the more I begin to realize that this where aspiring student entrepreneurs need to be.

The Network, on and offline

It's daunting to initially get into "The Network" as it were, so I best advise you bring a friend or quickly find a friend who knows what it is they're doing. When I first joined Twitter a while ago, I remember thinking dang the concept is sweet - but it would be so much better if there was someone to interact with in all of this (which is, in essence, the objective of social media - interaction). Before I knew it though, I began to follow people who have the same entrepreneurial, interactive bent as me.

What I find most fascinating about Twitter and the social media frenzy that I've been opened up to is this seemingly intertwined network that extends beyond the internet into the real world. Go to any Democamp, Startupcamp or Third Tuesday (all of which take place all over North America and the world) and you'll see a third of those in attendance tweeting from their Blackberries. For a month and-a-half I talked to Malcolm Bastien on Twitter, and the other night I ran into him in person at Third Tuesday in Toronto (which I'll go into later).

Information, on and offline

Man, if I had a buck for every tidbit of learning I've consumed since getting into all of this I'd have at least a thousand bone by now. Whether its through random blogs of interest that you catch through a Tweet or events happening right now or in the future (yea, Twitter's earning a rep as being a first on the scene news force). But again, it doesn't end online - I was at Third Tuesday, which I found out about through Twitter, the other night and got to take in a really great speaker.

So to recap the learning cycle, I'm there on twitter, being fed information a mile a minute. Great. I hear about an event happening in Toronto for PR professionals, tech aficionados and entrepreneurs. Sweet. I check it out and hear a really great discussion and audience engagement. After its over, I get to hang around with all of these cool like minded people. Its a win-win for me.

You need it

I read an article in Profit the other day that heralded social media as the new critical success factor to starting up your business. Its beyond early adoption now and IDC says social media ought to grow 815% by 2009. That would make sense looking at this. But social media is fickle and not just anyone and any company can just jump onboard and say they get it; this is, in every sense, face time with the customers. Social Media Group from Dundas, ONT. says that if you're new to social media, take it easy and just blog.

Joe Thornley at Thornley Fallis (a PR firm in Ottawa) is all about setting up a blog for corporations and has worked with the likes of Visa and Dell. This guy knows what he's doing and I think he's borderline guru. But blogs seem to be the tip of the ice berg.

You'd be one of a few

I noticed this the minute I walked into Third Tuesday a few days ago: everyone is old. Scratch that, most people are older. There were very few students kicking around there, which tells me there's a huge opportunity for students to become versed in and excel in this. Malcolm discussed the role of students and digital media in one of his blog posts.

While there's plenty of students engaging in the online conversation, it seems to me that few are going beyond and taking part in critical thought about the potential that exists for social media as an integral part of growing a business. I recommend checking it out and really considering where your customers are, or will be, and how

On thing I'm learning for sure though, social media takes time, persistence and commitment. Fortunately, sites like Twitter are not time intensive (its a micro blog) and since its open source API, there's a ton of apps you can download in order to make your tweeting easier. I highly recommend checking it out. Now.

In downtown Prague there is this beautiful art nouveau style cafe in the municipal building that is quite famous. My mother and I went there the other day with some American guests of ours. As we all sat there enjoying the balmy summer evening, my eyes wandered and I stared intently at the man playing the grand piano, wishing I could play more than just ‘ode to joy’ on my favorite instrument. Then my mom said something that caught my attention: “I know what we shall do tonight Henny, we shall go and see ‘Sex in the City’!”

This moment was one of surprising realization. After my initial desire to remind my mother that the film was, in fact, called ‘Sex and the City” (although her title was just as suitable considering the content of the show), I found myself considering the irony of the situation. This consideration led me to conclude that something between my childhood and now had seriously effected my life, my country and my culture.

My mother grew up in the Czech Republic and had very fashionable, proud, parents. My mother herself is and always was a symbol of independence and female empowerment. After all, she was there in 1968 when the Warsaw pact invaded her country and she jumped on their tanks to express how pissed off she was at them in true Czech retaliation. I suppose, for me, her saying that she wanted to see that film was a surprise to me because she was also a symbol of European culture and fashion to me and others, and the way I’ve always imagined a woman should be.

Attending the film with her made my mind wander even further. We rushed out of the historical gem that we had just dined at in order to make the 8:30pm premiere of what was named ‘one of the summer's most anticipated films’. As we entered the massive multiplex cinema and found our theatre I was astonished to see that it was absolutely packed! The room was buzzing with pre-movie whispering as young and old, male and female Czechs waited for the film to begin. I don’t know quite how to explain the surprise that I was feeling. I mean, this movie was in english (as most cinemas play movies in english in Prague) and it was about four American girls, sex and fashion. It seemed shockingly ironic to me that so many Czechs, who have always been very good at sex and fashion were turning to this product placement filled melodrama from the west!

It was a sign of something I already knew was happening. Prague was changing, Moscow, London and Paris too. I remember the not so old days when my family and I would travel to the Costa Brava and enjoy shopping there because everything in the stores was so unique and different from home. It was a thrill to see how the Spanish dressed differently and to be able to take a piece of that home with you. Now when I go to Barcelona I see all the same shops that we have in Prague. Whats the point in buying something in Spain if you could have just bought it at the Zara on Robson street? Isn't half the fun replying when someone compliments your shirt saying “thanks! I bought it in Rome”. Moscow is the same way with sickly new “mega malls” popping up monthly. If you look around on the high streets of Europe’s most famous cities you will see every trend possible and less and less culturally typical fashions. Someday it will have all of them and the time that people traveled to buy things they cant buy at home will have died.

I am of course not oblivious to the benefits that the globalization of Fashion has brought to Europe and North America (much more North America). It gives people choices, they can be a skater punk if they want, dress like a ruthless New York lawyer or a Parisian princess, they have access to whatever style they choose. All this choice however, comes with a cost. The cost is that one of the best parts of fashion: culture, is lost and we find ourselves watching two and a half hour long advertisements like “Sex and the City” to tell us what’s in style. Such a shame.

Two weeks ago, I was among hundreds of my peers dressed in blue robes. As we proceeded around the courtyard at my school, I’ll admit that it felt like a scene from Harry Potter, but it was—obviously—a little less magical and—sadly—a little less dangerous.

As I sat through my commencement ceremony, I thought about the position that my fellow graduates and I were in: a period of great change. For many of us, this time of change may last a long while.

I was reminded of this after the ceremony while at the reception for my faculty. Having been out of school for two months now, there was a lot of catching up to do with my classmates and instructors. I was asked many times what I was now “doing”. The questions felt a lot like an interview, which is good practice for most of us because we’ll be trying to survive interviews in the years to come. Here’s a blog that can help me and any others graduating this year ace any interview.

Some people talked of their dislike for their current job. I have always been torn between whether one should take a job because it pays well, but perhaps doesn’t fulfill a dream or a mediocre-paying job that you love. The more I read, I find writers reinforcing the idea that you’ve got to follow your heart. Without happiness in one’s job, one will not be happy in life. I will keep this in mind for all future endeavors.

I’m currently pretty happy with my job. I’ve written about how I’m working for an environmental organization and have suggested some ways that students can go green in a thrifty way. Well, here’s a blog that has some tips for recent grads — Don’t worry, I think students can use these ideas, too.

I’ve sort of been on a search for life-tips, recently. Over at poorerthanyou.com, it’s suggested that a grad continue to read and write. A grad should never stop learning and communicating. Not only because it can make for a more well-rounded person, but you never know when something may come up in an interview or needed in the workplace.

And here’s blog that has an entire post with tips for the “newly independent”. The site has suggestions on ways to save money on groceries to how to find an inexpensive apartment.

But my most favourite tip has been to not be afraid at something I’m pretty good at: failing. Jeff Nickles at My Super Charged Life says that fear of failure is what often holds people back in life. “My regret usually comes from the things I did not try, not from trying and failing,” Mr. Nickles writes.

This advice is echoed in the words of J.K. Rowling’s recent speech, delivered at a Harvard Graduation. Ms. Rowling says that, while it’s important to strive for success, it’s important to embrace the failure you will inevitably encounter along the way:

It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all - in which case, you fail by default.

Ms. Rowling may have enjoyed my convocation because, the entire time, I couldn’t help but think that the President of my school had a very Dumbledore-esque vibe going on. I thought about mentioning that to him as I shook his hand when I crossed the stage—but my notes from this post reminded me that first impressions are everything. Maybe I’ll say something the next time I see him…

Since I started blogging for RBC, I’ve been exposed to a whole new world of social interaction. Relatively new to the blogosphere, I wasn’t really familiar with too many blogs or the impact they can have on your personal and professional network. So, needless to say that when I heard that Bruce Firestone, a master entrepreneur, founder of the Ottawa Senators and professor at the University of Ottawa was telling his students that he wouldn’t hire someone who didn’t blog, I was intrigued.

I followed up with Dr. Firestone to get to the bottom of this story and found out that the reluctance to hire non-bloggers was something that led back to Ryan Anderson, Director of Communications at Fuel Industries – an interactive entertainment business and one of the coolest companies around (be sure to check out the website).

I caught up with Ryan Anderson to ask him more about his hiring strategy… An avid Tweeter and blogger himself, for nearly 4 years, Anderson knows the value of social networking and is a huge advocate of social media sites. “Blogging is a good way of gaining a competitive edge” he encourages students and young careerists to get involved in the community, make connections, expand the student world, connect with pros and benefit from their experience!

When it comes to experience in the blogosphere, Ryan explains that commenting on other peoples’ blogs is great, but in order to really engage with the blogging community you should start up your own blog. While being particularly applicable to the interactive entertainment industry, blogs are also important for med, law, poli sci students and everyone in between! No matter what your field of study, you can almost always find a relevant network of bloggers!

Due to the personal, opinionated and controversial nature of blogs, I asked Ryan about what students should be talking about on their blog. Are any topics too controversial? Should students avoid taking a ‘hard stance’ in their blogs should future employers come across it?

Ryan’s answer: "Don’t be an ass."

Blogging is a personal thing and there are certainly some topics and stances that you should steer clear of, however (I think) most employers look fondly upon bloggers who provide new insights on intellectual subjects. Consistency of topic or theme is important and be sure to create conversation with other bloggers in your online network. When it comes down to it, blogging is about sharing information!

Final advice from Ryan Anderson to new bloggers: Blog about something you’re passionate about. You don’t need to be an expert in the field – curiosity and interest are important and will fuel some great discussion!

Get busy in the blogosphere today! Create your blogs and be sure to drop me the link here! For some tips on blog topics check out 10 Steps to Becoming a More Interesting Blogger.

Good luck!

Side note: Fuel Industries has a great blog, including Ryan Anderson’s. Check it out here.

But only if you have a couple more copies to hand out!

I read an interesting article the other day arguing that business plans are not all that necessary to capture that attention of investors. I think it’s a pretty ballsy argument and while the numbers are surprising, I don’t think they speak for themselves. Here’s some interesting finds from the study, as asked to venture capitalists:

How important are business plans?

70% important, 28% somewhat important, 2% not important

How carefully do you read business plans?

74% read carefully, 26% skim the plans

Do business plans project and accurate assessment of future success?

22% accurate, 71% modest, 7% poor

Finally, 5% of venture capitalists noted that business plans are a relic of the past and should be burned.

Here’s my issue with this sort of study, based on the theme of Burning your Business Plan, and the message that it conveys to young, would-be, go getter entrepreneurs. But first, I’ll concede that business plans are not always necessary for startup capital, thanks to (for example) a serial entrepreneur’s past successes, a loaded network and a million other seemingly non-factors.

Okay, here’s my issue; burning your business plan, or writing it off as unimportant in garnering interest from venture capitalists is an exception to the rule, and should not be mistaken as the rule (like the title suggests). What the study ought to be called is “Burning Your Business Plan and 100 other ways to decrease your chances of earning seed capital by 70%”. There’s an old saying, “Failing to plan is like planning to fail”; I’m not saying that every nitty-gritty detail needs to be hashed out, but if the business doesn’t have a course of action or a direction to roll, then its stagnant.

If you can’t pull your act together enough to put together a thoughtful, organized business plan, then the real world of entrepreneurship is going to eat you up. Don’t let an article like this allow you to start thinking that the business plan should be an afterthought. I think it’s a reflection of commitment, among other things; and regardless of what its been that I’ve done in the past, I’ve quickly realized that the name of the game is commitment.

Research to counter this argument? Look to the Journal of Small Business and Entrepreneurship. They take a very different approach to the topic of garnering seed capital: too many people today ramble on about great ideas, flying in a million different directions. So, the first step is to set those ideas down in a concise and directive manner (a la business plan). Second, they need to put their money where their mouth is.

When it’s your own money on the line and you’ve exposed yourself to risk through investing in the business’ potential, then you have some clout to tout around. If you honestly believe that you have something to run with, why not run with it?

You are, aren’t you? You may not want to admit it, but I’m willing to bet you cringe a little at the thought of going into a bank and discussing your money with someone. Well, you should re-think your position if that’s the case.

Unexpectedly Exciting

I recently sat down with Laura Dingwell, an Account manager at my local RBC branch, and I can honestly say it was one of the best-spent hours of 2008 (even better than half of Lost’s season finale). Well, that’s a close one. Depends which half. Anyway, my intention was not even to blog about it, but I left feeling so invigorated and empowered that I had to share it with all of you. Seriously, go talk to someone. You owe it to yourself.

A Little Help, Here?

My goal was to make sense of money and figure out how to make it work FOR me rather than against. This will differ from person to person, but let me share what I took away from my meeting with Ms. Dingwell. First of all, it turns out that I had met with her years ago to discuss my Royal Credit Line, and upon recognizing my name she made a point of checking to see why I seemed familiar. Maybe it was curiousity, but I think she genuinely cares about her clients. I certainly felt that I was a person and not just some numbers on a computer screen. Here are the top three things Ms. Dingwell motivated me to do:

1. I’m starting (later than I’d like) an RSP!

   Using the RSP Calculator found at the top of this page (seriously, this thing is pretty cool) she showed me, reluctantly, the difference that 8 years – from 20 to my current age – has already made on my future savings. It’s scary. The amount has roughly been cut in half. Do it NOW! Well, finish reading this, THEN go. I’m not kidding. You’ll be glad you did. Laura (I think she’d be cool with me calling her that) stressed the importance of starting earlier than later. If you’re unclear about just how an RSP works, here's a great page on RBC's site about the specifics.

2. I’m starting an ACTUAL savings account!

   While I do have an account that is called a savings account, it contains the money I use on a regular basis. Attached to my debit card, it is no place to put money I wish to protect from my spending. RBC has a High Interest E-Savings Account, which clearly has a higher interest rate than my current savings account. The plan is to have $25 from each paycheque automatically transferred into this account, as well as into an RSP. And the beauty of it all is that I can get it all done within a few mouse clicks and nickname all my accounts to reflect what they are (rather than generic “savings”). $50 a month may not be much, but it’s better to do SOMETHING rather than nothing at all.

3. I’m creating a savings account for BILLS!

   The final step of my trifecta is to set up another E-Savings Account, in which money for bills shall reside. The idea is to separate it from MY money, as we are all guilty of looking at our account balance and falsely believing more of it is ours than is actually the case. You might have $1250 in there but in the next month $1100 might be spoken for. Wouldn’t it make sense to remove at least an approximation from this pile, as to reduce confusion? Laura tells me that paying FROM an E-Savings Account is quite costly (the site says $5.00 each), so it would be wise to automate a transfer back to my general savings account and to pay the bills from there instead.

Now It’s Your Turn

Well, there you have it. It may not seem like much, but compared to my previous habits (and I suspect many of yours as well) this should help straighten out my finances. You may not like ANY of these ideas, but the point is that I was inspired to take these steps after speaking with Ms. Dingwell. I would highly recommend that you make an appointment to see someone, so you can tap into your financial truths. Seriously, bankers aren’t that scary. You might even have fun, as I did in my meeting!

The internet revolution has created a new field of at home workers who go online for their livelihood. The websites that facilitate this form of employment are endless but for some time Elance.com has caught my eye and I’ve been curious about how it functions and whether or not it works.

The Elance idea revolves around its obvious pun with “freelance” and its functionality is built on that same ideal. Users are separated into either providers or buyers and built their identity on the site as such.

Buyers can go to the site and post a job that they need done under a certain category, post a suggested payment range and can invite providers to bid. For example, let's say that you had a business and you wanted to take it online, with Elance you could post a project online under the Web and Programming category and then wait for professionals to bid on your job. Once the bidding is over you can select one of the bids and form a business deal and get the job done considerably easily without ever leaving your house. For more info on the buyers side check out Sramana Mitra's blog.

On the other side of the game the providers go through what the essence of freelance work is really about: competition. After all one of the main selling points of the site is that it offers buyers with choices and choices mean competition. As a provider when you join Elance you have to pick the category(s) that you will be bidding under. For me I picked writing and translation as an experiment to see if the site could benefit me. After doing this I set out to Elance University, which is required if one wants to start bidding on jobs. Elance university is basically a series of tutorial videos on how to use the site followed by multiple choice tests. Now that I had passed the tests and graduated from Elance university I was ready to get bidding!

Just like the real world, however, in the world of Elance, education is simply not enough and I had to work on my profile to prove to my clients that I am deserving of their work. On Elance, the way it’s set up is that you can create a sort of interactive online CV that shows your education, abilities, previous jobs and even a portfolio of your work. I even went so far on mine as to add a short video in my profile that explains my abilities. After working hard on my profile I clicked on the “find work” tab and felt as though I was some sort of online struggling actor.

During the first day I bid on five jobs and I felt extremely good about myself. “That was easy!” I exclaimed! Then I waited...and waited...and waited as I watched the bidding closing date get closer and closer. 8 days...7 days...6 days...the anticipation was killing me. Then, finally the day came that all the bids had ended and I found myself as a struggling actor must feel...rejected. None of my bids had been accepted and all I was left with was five messages that read “buyer choice other bid”. I couldn't understand why I didn’t win any bids. Did I ask for too much money? Was my portfolio not good enough? Did I need more experience?

It was then that I headed to the “water cooler” which is where you can find the Elance Blog. After spending some time at the water cooler and blogging with some fellow “Elanceers” I realized that I wasn't alone and got some tips for how to be more successful on the site. Some of that advice included getting “verified”, which essentially means that you pay Elance to contact your references, your school and your previous employers in order to prove that you have the abilities you do and then it will show up on your profile, or your CV, that you are who you are and have done what you have. The other option is to start bidding and offering very low costs for the jobs and then when you get one you work hard and do it well so that you get good feedback and in the future can place bids at a reasonable price. Check out what out this other non-Elance blog for more tips on how to succeed on Elance. Either way, both of these ideas are investments that are risks that could potential provide a future full of freelance work. So I decided to try again and put these ideas into action and we will just have to wait and see what happens but Im looking forward to seeing if Elance can really work for me.

Some of the things I love about Elance are the fact that you learn about the freelance life as you make proposals and try and sell your abilities. Some of the negative aspects are the system of bidding that Elance uses which means that every bid you make will cost you and that limits how many bids you can place per month. I also found the high price of verification which is $15 dollars US per verification but $25 if it is in Canada! Come on Elance! We aren't that far north and its not as if its going to cost you that much more to call Canada compared to, say, Alaska!

Second edition of Behulsive Compaviour: Qwertyous Communication. More to come!

In my previous post, I looked at what the benefits were to going green. I discovered that living an environmentally friendly lifestyle may mean emptying out my pockets.

I’ve been thinking that ‘going green’ can’t always mean it’s going to cost me.

So, I’ve perused the Internet for some tips on how to be environmental and save some money at the same time.

Bring your Bag

The Number One suggestion I read was that you should bring a cloth bag grocery shopping. While many stores offer the option of purchasing reusable bags, why not plan ahead and bring one of your own. If you don’t have a cloth bag, bring an old plastic bag that you have stashed under the sink.

Switch your Bulb

In my house, we’re trying to switch all of our bulbs to the fluorescent alternative. While it may cost you to buy the new CFL bulbs, it can apparently save you in the long run. Greenupgrader.com has an easy to understand chart that shows you how much you can save—over $50.

I’ll admit that this is a switch that I am both happy and reluctant to make. While I want to save energy, it pains me to add a perfectly good light bulb to the growing pile at the dump. Is it smart to replace existing bulbs? Or, should I wait until all existing bulbs burn out?

Turn the Car Off

I have a friend who used to work for an anti-idling campaign. I learned that, contrary to popular belief, turning off your car for even just ten seconds is more beneficial than harmful for your engine and battery. Greenventure.ca has a great list of myths and factsh on idling. According to the site, “Component wear caused by restarting the engine is estimated to add a minuscule $10 per year to the cost of driving.”

And if you’re worried that you need to warm your car before you drive it in Canada’s winter weather, the site says that on average it only takes 30 seconds to warm a cold car.

Unplug the Cell Charger

Over at families.com, they suggest you unplug your electronics when you’re not using them. They refer to these items as “vampire electronics” and estimate that up to 5% of your energy bill goes to appliances and charging devices left unplugged. They remind you to unplug your Cell phone chargers, Computers, Microwave ovens, Coffee Makers and DVD players.

Buy from your Farmer’s Market

A number of sites said that one of the easiest ways to go green is buy shopping at local farmers markets. You can talk to the farmers and learn how the produce was maintained and prices are often cheaper than the grocery stores. Most sites simply suggested to shop at a market, but I’ve found an online directory of farmer’s markets from coast to coast.

Before I sign off on this post, while I was researching alternatives, I found out another type of fruit is trying to make its “produce” green. Sounds like a great idea to me…

I just heard a lecture by the CEO of eHarmony, Greg Waldorf on his 5 Must Haves of an entrepreneur. Was it ground breaking? Not really. Honestly, I've heard this 100 times before, maybe rephrased a little, but it goes to show that there may be some underlying threads to being an entrepreneur.

Just as an aside: On the average day in America, 200 people get married after having met on eHarmony (100,000 babies born since the company's conception - no pun intended)

ONE

Work with great people. I talked about this a while ago in finding a partner with Avi from Applied Innovation at RBC. Greg spoke on thinking about the best boss you can imagine (I've had a few, actually) and finding someone just like that.

On the topic of mentors, Greg's lecture got thinking: I agree it's great to have a mentor now, but I think it's worth saying that choosing a partner that has the qualities of a mentor (willingness and patience to teach sans arrogance) is pretty key.

TWO

Willing to take risks. Maybe a no-brainer, but think of it this way.:

Don't let your sense of keeping up hold you back.

I trip on this all the time. I just want to start my own thing NOW. Right now, I don't want to wait one second longer. Then I see my friends getting safe jobs with big corporations that already have weight behind their name and I'm tempted (nay, I cave to the temptation) to pursue that course of action.

Entrepreneurship isn't glamorous and it really is risky. But, if you're smart about it, it doesn't have to be as risky as some make it out to be (Find good people, search hard for opportunities, fight status quo, etc.)

THREE

Be willing to adapt. You're not always right, get over it and go down graciously. Seriously, just check your pride at the door and remember you aren't the only one on the team. This is tough, and I'm learning the hard way.

I was talking with Michel the other day, and he gave me some really good advice on how to be... a better person. "No" is never a good answer to a proposition. But there are two good answers that can easily substitute:

1) "Why" (and ask it five times)
2) "(insert a compromising idea here)"

FOUR

Love what you do. Be passionate about it. The more I listen to and talk with entrepreneurs, I'm finding that real entrepreneurs are passionate about business, plain and simple; that, and long hours, hard work, customer pleasing and always trying to be better than before.

FIVE

You have got to put your plan into action NOW. Right this minute. If there's one thing that's easy to put off, it's starting your business up right now or, finding opportunities to get involved with entrepreneurial ventures (being an entrepreneur doesn't mean being the idea guy - startups are 10% inspiration, 90% perspiration... and cash up front).

Go and talk to people, that are involved in a million different things - University is the place to do it. You have everything from design, to engineering to environmental studies. Talk to them about their ideas, their strengths and their futures - and then hit them with a ton of bricks and suggest starting a business.

While researching Emergency Funds for my follow-up to this entry, I came across a poll at SavvySugar asking whether Starbucks should do away with the tip jar. Having worked several jobs that incorporated tips, I figured I would weigh-in on the topic. I’m sure most of you encounter someone who works for tips, at least once a week. Servers, baristas and bartenders all have their hourly wages bolstered by tips, but let’s take a closer look.

Who Deserves A Tip?

Once upon a time tips were given to those who delivered exceptional service. Having been a server in a busy waterfront restaurant I can attest to the amount of work that goes into it. I had people bus my tables, seat guests, deliver food to me and make my drinks and I STILL ran off my feet much of the time. Even then, I sometimes only received a couple of dollars for (what I considered to be) my excellent service.

And yet, in a matter of minutes of busy morning-time coffee rushes it’s possible to make that same couple of dollars in tips. I’ve done the coffee thing as well, and it’s not that difficult when it runs smoothly. Even less difficult is opening a bottle of alcohol or pouring a glass of draught. This isn’t to say that bartending isn’t challenging, but people often tip as much (or more) for those simple tasks as to someone providing service on a full meal. Seems backwards.

How Much Should You Tip?

The industry standard is 15% of the tab, which in my province is roughly the sales tax. Personally, if I receive excellent service I like to reward that person. Being busy with other customers can be expected, but incompetence or rudeness will lower my tip. Consider a server who spends an hour taking care of you, clearing dishes, refilling drinks, making recommendations and ensuring an overall pleasant dining experience, all the while managing to do the same for multiple tables. It can be tricky business.

If the bill was $23 (after tax) then 15% would be $3.00, and yet it is not absurd for someone serving drinks to earn that much on 6 drinks, which may take a total of less than one minute per drink. Why don’t we value food service as much as someone helping to intoxicate us?

What About The Exceptions?

In addition to having been a server and slinging coffee, I have also worked at a fast food establishment. I can honestly say that I worked as hard, if not harder, serving those customers as my coffee customers. And yet, no tips. It simply wasn’t even an accepted practice. Why does this double standard exist?

EDIT: Upon recently visiting a popular fast food place and NOT lovin’ it, perhaps I see why there’s no tipping.

Back to the poll, approximately ¾ of respondents say that Starbucks should do away with tips. I wonder what their reasoning is. If it’s because they’re a large company, so are many other (tip-accepting) coffee places and restaurants. If it’s because the prices are higher, then I guess we should stop tipping when we buy other items that carry a high profit margin.

The article mentions that Eric Felten, of the Wall Street Journal, claims that the tip jar subsidizes the company's payroll costs, which I can understand. Such a large company, that no doubt makes hefty profits, could surely afford to pay employees higher wages if taking the tip jar away required them to do so. And yet, the same could be said about countless other companies.

What are YOUR thoughts? As a trainer of mine used to say: Any questions, comments, concerns? Rants, raves, or reviews?

Whilst making this movie "Despicable Metal" I learned a lot about life in Moscow as a young person and how different the financial world is there than in Canada. The title for the film comes from a Russian saying that describes money as the "despicable metal". To learn more about the socio/economic situation in Russia right now check out Russia Today. I hope you enjoyed the film and keep checking my blog this summer to see movies around other topics as I travel around Europe. I want to give a special thanks to Oleysa, both the Katya's, Andrei and Lena for helping me out. Thanks guys!

My mind is green. Sadly, it’s not with money.

But it’s not a bad thing.

I’m working for a non-profit environmental organization and I’m being introduced to all sorts of environmental initiatives. By day, my thoughts are focused on getting the community to go green, but by night my thoughts are on greening students. Specifically, how much is it going to cost them?

More importantly, is it worth it?

I thought the best way to think about this was to look at the cost of traditional items and compare them to the cost of their “greener” alternatives.

I found a wheels.ca article that compares traditional vehicle models to similar hybrid SUV models. The comparison is made in a very easy to read chart. In one corner, the article has the $33,899 base model Ford Escape Hybrid AWD and in the other corner the $25,005 Ford Escape XLT AWD.

The article explains that over seven years, the Hybrid would cost $83,826 and emit only 28, 224 kg of C02 during that time. On the other hand, the traditional model would cost $69,681, but emit over 54, 754 kg of C02 during those seven years.

I have also looked at organic food options. The cost of a traditional brocolli at Dominion is $1.50, but it’s organic counterpart is usually just over $2.00.

I looked up what organic food is defined as because I’ve heard many different things. A 2006 report by the Canadian General Standards Board says that “organic production is based on principles that support healthy practices.” The report also outlines several principles that organic food production must follow:

• Protect the environment, minimize soil degradation and erosion, decrease pollution, optimize biological productivity and promote a sound state of health.
• Maintain long-term soil fertility by optimizing conditions for biological activity within the soil.
• Rely on renewable resources in locally organized agricultural systems.

These regulations mean that pesticide us is out of the question. But, I’ve heard that quantity and type of pesticides used in food production are often harmless to our bodies. Therefore, making an organic choice may simply be putting a little extra money in the farmer’s and grocer’s hand.
A future blog is going to be a continuation on all that is green. I’m looking for some feedback before I go too much further because I’m aware that there are so many perspectives to reflect on when realizing the costs and benefits of going green. So, please, tell me about any considerations that I’m ignoring.

Also, is there anyone out there who is digging himself or herself into a hole of debt because of green intentions?

RBC p2p got an interview with Apache Indian... Check it out as we ask him the hard-hitting questions, and see him reveal a possible remix of the classic "Boom-Shack-a-lak"!!!!!! Also, some clips of his performance at RBC Desifest. The crowd went wild, we went wild, now hopefully you will too! Enjoy!