K9 ADVISORS was founded as a result of my passion. For years, I trained thousands of dogs for a large dog training facility in Miami. There, I began as a protection dog decoy and agitator and quickly progressed into basic and advanced (off- leash) obedience and severe behavior problem solving, becoming the facility’s head dog trainer. Throughout the years, I’ve trained many other dog trainers, advancing some and releasing those not suited to dog training, in addition to managing and training the kennel staff. I continued training dogs of all kinds and ages with varying behavior issues while attending Florida International University. I then received my Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology, with an emphasis on behavior assessments and modifications, in 1997. Shortly after graduating, I began a lucrative career as a financial advisor, while continuing to train dogs for free in my spare time. It was never something I could let go completely; it was too much a part of me. After creating and operating my own financial service firm, I still continued with my passion of dog training. While a financial advisor, I continued to help various local rescue groups save some “un- adoptable” dogs with behavior problems through my training techniques. Eventually, I found my passion for helping dogs and their owners more rewarding than being a financial advisor. I then coupled my drive and my ability to advise people on their financial affairs with my solid dog training. Today, I am well recognized by many local and national rescue groups as a canine behavior problem solver. I can train ANY dog, regardless of the circumstances. From severely abused and neglected, to deaf and blind dogs, to even police dogs for various local police departments, I’ve done it all!

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* Solving Severe Dog Behavior Problems

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Check out these great online web tools for small business shared by Inc, Magazine. Great ideas here.

Find Out Who is Visiting Your Website

Demandbase lets you know when those blue-chip customers are knocking at your virtual door. Its free real-time ticker analyzes your visitors’ IP addresses and compares them with information from sources such as Dun & Bradstreet and LexisNexis. With those data, Demandbase can tell you the names of the companies at which many of your visitors work. Click on a company name, and Demandbase will sell you the name and contact information for a lead at that company. Demandbase has been called the iTunes of CRM, and it’s almost as affordable: The average cost per lead is just $1.80.

Calendar, Meet Social Networking

LuckyCal aims to make it easier for you to meet up with friends or business contacts. The free Web tool, which launched in December, integrates your work and personal calendars with those of your employees, friends, and business associates (as long as they give you permission). The main benefit could be for road-weary sales teams; LuckyCal will scan your colleagues’ and clients’ Outlook calendars and Facebook profiles and e-mail you when they are in your area. LuckyCal plans to charge for an enterprise version that launches later this year.

Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

Three new software programs can help companies cut carbon emissions. Edison (verdiem.com/edison), CO2 Saver (co2saver.snap.com), and Carbon Control Software (carboncontrolsoftware.com) all use Windows power settings to reduce the energy consumed by computers while they are idle. All the programs provide information on how much carbon you have saved, and Edison estimates how much money you have saved as well. The personal versions of the programs are free. Carbon Control Software’s business version costs $10.50 and up per license per year and Verdiem, the maker of Edison, has a corporate version that sells for $20 per computer per year. It may be worth the price: Globally, IT infrastructure emits as much carbon as the aviation industry, according to research firm Gartner.

Ditch That Phone Tree

Fonolo.com has mapped out the automated customer service phone trees of 200 companies. Log on, click on the department you want to reach (reservations at American Airlines, for example), and Fonolo will make the call, navigate the system, and call you when it has reached your desired department. When we used it to call Citibank, it connected us with a rep in less than 20 seconds, compared with two minutes when calling directly. Fonolo has an iPhone app as well.

Save Money on Travel

When you cancel a flight, you are entitled to a refund of the taxes and fuel charges you paid — even on a nonrefundable ticket. For 25 euros ($32), MissRefund.com will get that money for you. The company has secured refunds as large as $262; the average is $101. If you don’t receive a refund, you don’t have to pay. Meawhile, Vayama.com is an airfare booking site focused on routes and destinations that aren’t generally available online, like Seattle to Denpasar, Bali. But it doesn’t always have the best prices, particularly on run-of-the-mill trips, so make sure to shop around. Airfarewatchdog.com scours listing sites such as Travelocity and Orbitz to find the best deals, even on small airlines like Allegiant. And Yapta.com will alert you when a good price appears on the flight you want. If the price falls after you have bought the ticket, Yapta will, for $15, try to get you a refund or credit for the difference.

Name Your Price for Coding Help

The world’s largest community of software developers and graphic designers is now ready to serve small companies. Since 2001, TopCoder has been holding coding and design competitions to help companies like ESPN develop new software tools, websites, and logos. Late last year, it launched TopCoder Direct, a do-it-yourself version that allows small and midsize companies to get in the game. Log in at topcoder.com/direct, describe what you want, and determine how much money you will award the first- and second-place finishers. When the submissions come in, you pick the best. A prototype for a simple website might cost $1,200.

Skype on Steroids

Chances are you have a cell phone, a work phone, a home phone, a couple of e-mail accounts, and maybe an instant-messaging program. With free software from VoxOx, you can keep them all in one place. Import contacts from all of your e-mail and IM accounts. Then, e-mail, IM, text, or call anyone you know, all through VoxOx. Every user gets a phone number, which shows up in the caller ID of the person receiving the call. If someone uses the number to call you, you can pick up at the computer or have the call forwarded to any phone. But there is one drawback: VoxOx gives users only two free hours of calls. Then, you can either pay a fee or get more free calls by watching ads.

[via INC MAGAZINE]

Twitter is the canary in the coal mine of public opinion — for celebrities, politicians, and, of course, corporations. When European discount carrier Ryanair lashed out at “lunatic bloggers” after a Web designer reported a glitch on the airline’s site, its online reputation dipped as low as its fares. Conversely, Mars got a sweet treat when it posted Skittles-related tweets on its Web site, learning immediately how people felt about the candy.

Twitter’s explosion from microblogging curiosity to mass-media phenomenon [0] has awakened a lot of companies to just how fast memes spread on the Internet today. Make a mistake like Ryanair’s — or Johnson & Johnson’s offensive Motrin ads last winter — and the response is brutal. Get it right like shoe retailer Zappos and bask in the love. How can you know if your canary is singing or dead? These tools will help you monitor not just Twitter but everywhere the online conversation involves your brand.

TweetDeck [1]. To follow the raging tweetstream, you need a dashboard. This free download splits your Twitter feed into subgroups, letting you follow shout-outs (@replies) in one window and specific searches in other views. For instance, Pepsi could follow Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Tropicana, and Frito-Lay in four different search fields, receiving instant feedback on announcements and ad campaigns.

Scout Labs [2]. Need to monitor feedback on your new product? Scout Labs reads blog posts and social-networking comments from around the globe and judges them by their words and tone. The sentence “I love Amazon but the Kindle 2 is disappointing” gets properly parsed as a positive comment for Amazon but a negative one for its e-reader. This ultra-targeted approach allows clients such as Charles Schwab, HP, and Netflix to follow comments in real time and react quickly. Pricing starts at $99 a month for five searches.

BlogPulse [3]. This free feature from Nielsen Online searches the blogosphere for what’s happening with your brands. Type in a few keywords and track the number of mentions over the past six months, and view them in a handy fever chart. You can also trace the roots of a Web conversation and learn more about key Web influencers.

Vanno [4]. It’s Digg for reputation. Readers vote on news stories, opinion, and gossip about more than 5,800 companies, and Vanno mashes it up into a numerical score. The free site tracks these companies based on 25 topics, including job satisfaction, customer service, and social responsibility. At press time, Cisco was No. 1.

CoTweet [5]. This free service (currently in limited beta) allows multiple people to tweet from the same user name, using software to replicate the success of Zappos’s hundreds of staff bloggers, including CEO Tony Hsieh, within one account. Employees can delegate tasks, track conversations, schedule posts, and best of all, identify the people behind the brand.

TNS Cymfony [6]. If you need a more heavyweight tool (starting at $40,000 a year), TNS Cymfony goes beyond simple keyword analysis across the Web and analyzes grammar. It also includes crisis PR solutions that track key bloggers, journalists, and consumers. (Nielsen Online’s Buzzmetrics [7] service offers similar features.) During the past Super Bowl, TNS Cymfony reported that the teaser for the anticipated summer hit Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen earned seven times the buzz of the average ad during the big game.

Use these seven tools and you won’t have to worry about revenge; your brand will be transformed into an agile, respected member of the Web’s social swirl.

For marketers, Web 2.0 offers a remarkable new opportunity to engage consumers.

If only they knew how to do it.

That’s where this article aims to help. We interviewed more than 30 executives and managers in both large and small organizations that are at the forefront of experimenting with Web 2.0 tools. From those conversations and further research, we identified a set of emerging principles for marketing.

But first, a more basic question: What is Web 2.0, anyway? Essentially, it encompasses the set of tools that allow people to build social and business connections, share information and collaborate on projects online. That includes blogs, wikis, social-networking sites and other online communities, and virtual worlds.

Millions of people have become familiar with these tools through sites like Facebook, Wikipedia and Second Life, or by writing their own blogs. And a growing number of marketers are using Web 2.0 tools to collaborate with consumers on product development, service enhancement and promotion. But most companies still don’t appear to be well versed in this area.

So here’s a look at the principles we arrived at — and how marketers can use them to get the best results.

Web 2.0 tools can be used to do what traditional advertising does: persuade consumers to buy a company’s products or services. An executive can write a blog, for instance, that regularly talks up the company’s goods. But that kind of approach misses the point of 2.0. Instead, companies should use these tools to get the consumers involved, inviting them to participate in marketing-related activities from product development to feedback to customer service.

How can you do that? A leading greeting-card and gift company that we spoke with is one of many that have set up an online community — a site where it can talk to consumers and the consumers can talk to each other. The company solicits opinions on various aspects of greeting-card design and on ideas for gifts and their pricing. It also asks the consumers to talk about their lifestyles and even upload photos of themselves, so that it can better understand its market.

A marketing manager at the company says that, as a way to obtain consumer feedback and ideas for product development, the online community is much faster and cheaper than the traditional focus groups and surveys used in the past. The conversations consumers have with each other, he adds, result in “some of the most interesting insights,” including gift ideas for specific occasions, such as a college graduation, and the prices consumers are willing to pay for different gifts.

Similarly, a large technology company uses several Web 2.0 tools to improve collaboration with both its business partners and consumers. Among other things, company employees have created wikis — Web sites that allow users to add, delete and edit content — to list answers to frequently asked questions about each product, and consumers have added significant contributions. For instance, within days of the release of a new piece of software by the company, consumers spotted a problem with it and posted a way for users to deal with it. They later proposed a way to fix the problem, which the company adopted. Having those solutions available so quickly showed customers that the company was on top of problems with its products.

Give consumers a reason to participate.

Consumers have to have some incentive to share their thoughts, opinions and experiences on a company Web site.

One lure is to make sure consumers can use the online community to network among themselves on topics of their own choosing. That way the site isn’t all about the company, it’s also about them. For instance, a toy company that created a community of hundreds of mothers to solicit their opinions and ideas on toys also enables them to write their own blogs on the site, a feature that many use to discuss family issues.

Other companies provide more-direct incentives: cash rewards or products, some of which are available only to members of the online community. Still others offer consumers peer recognition by awarding points each time they post comments, answer questions or contribute to a wiki entry. Such recognition not only encourages participation, but also has the benefit of allowing both the company and the other members of the community to identify experts on various topics.

Many companies told us that a moderator plays a critical role in keeping conversations going, highlighting information that’s important to a discussion and maintaining order. That’s important because consumers are likely to drift away if conversations peter out or if they feel that their voices are lost in a chaotic flood of comments. The moderator can also see to it that consumer input is seen and responded to by the right people within the company.

And, of course, it’s important to make a site as easy to use as possible. For instance, there should be clear, simple instructions for consumers to set up a blog or contribute to a wiki.

Listen to — and join — the conversation outside your site.

Consumers tend to trust one another’s opinions more than a company’s marketing pitch. And there is no shortage of opinions online.

The managers we interviewed accept that this type of content is here to stay and are aware of its potential impact — positive or negative — on consumers’ buying decisions. So they monitor relevant online conversations among consumers and, when appropriate, look for opportunities to inject themselves into a conversation or initiate a potential collaboration.

For example, a marketing manager of a leading consumer-electronics company monitors blogs immediately after a new-product launch in order to understand “how customers are actually reacting to the product.” Other managers keep an eye on sites like Digg.com and Del.icio.us that track the most popular topics on the Web, to see if there’s any buzz around their new products, and whether they should be adjusting, say, features or prices.

In one case, a company found a popular blogger who had spoken highly of the company’s brand. Just prior to launching a new product, the company sent the blogger a free sample, inviting him to review it with no strings attached. The end result: The blogger wrote a favorable review and generated a flood of comments. So the company got nearly free publicity and feedback.

Peter & Maria Hoey

Resist the temptation to sell, sell, sell.

Many marketers have been trained to bludgeon consumers with advertising — to sell, sell, sell anytime and anywhere consumers can be found. In an online community, it pays to resist that temptation.

When consumers are invited to participate in online communities, they expect marketers to listen and to consider their ideas. They don’t want to feel like they’re simply a captive audience for advertising, and if they do they’re likely to abandon the community.

The head of consumer research for a leading consumer-electronics organization created an online community of nearly 50,000 consumers to discuss product-development and marketing issues. One of the key principles of the community, she says, was “not to do anything about marketing, because we weren’t about selling; we were about conversing.”

In short order, community members not only identified what it was they were looking for in the company’s products, but also suggested innovations to satisfy those needs. The company quickly developed prototypes based on those suggestions, and got an enthusiastic response: Community members asked when they would be able to buy the products and if they would get the first opportunity to buy them. They didn’t have to be sold on anything.

Don’t control, let it go.

In an online community, every company needs to find an effective balance between trying to steer the conversation about its products and allowing the conversation to flow freely. In general, though, the managers we interviewed believe that companies are better off giving consumers the opportunity to say whatever is on their minds, positive or negative. Moderators can keep things running smoothly and coherently, but they shouldn’t always keep the conversation on a predetermined track. The more that consumers talk freely, the more a company can learn about how it can improve its products and its marketing.

One marketing executive recalled the first time she let an online community created for a client interact with very little control or moderation, resulting in an animated discussion about the look of the company’s product. The client, with great concern, asked. “Who told them [the consumers] they could do this, that they could go this far?” Of course, when this process resulted in totally new packaging that helped boost sales, the client was ecstatic.

As another executive of a company that creates online communities for clients told us: “You have to let the members drive. When community members feel controlled, told how to respond and how to act, the community shuts down.”

Find a ‘marketing technopologist.’

So who should direct a company’s forays into Web 2.0 marketing? A number of managers identified an ideal set of skills for an executive that go beyond those of a typical M.B.A. holder or tech expert. We coined the term marketing technopologist for a person who brings together strengths in marketing, technology and social interaction. A manager said, “I’d want to see someone with the usual M.B.A. consultant’s background, strong interest in psychology and sociology, and good social-networking skills throughout the organization.”

Foot soldiers need to be carefully selected as well. One large technology company weighs employees’ proven skills to choose writers for blogs that are read by consumers. The company has long used blogs internally to help employees discuss technical issues, products, and company and industry topics. When it decided to use blogs to raise its profile online, it recruited those who had shown the most skill at blogging within the company. The company currently has about 15 employees who blog publicly, mostly on technology trends, and is recruiting more the same way. Meanwhile, the bloggers plan to meet occasionally to share the lessons learned from their experiences.

Embrace experimentation.

One Web 2.0 strategy does not fit all, and sometimes the best way to find out what’s best for a given company is to try some things out and see what happens.

Blogs, wikis and online communities are among the tools that companies are most commonly using for marketing, but there are other ways to reach consumers. Some of the companies we talked with have gotten their feet wet in the online virtual world Second Life, where millions of users interact with each other through avatars. Companies can sell their goods and services and sponsor events in Second Life just as they do in the real world; one sponsored a contest for the best avatar.

Others are considering new ways to use more-familiar tools. For instance, many companies have long used instant messaging on their Web sites to allow shoppers to chat with customer-service representatives. One executive we spoke with said he would like to experiment with allowing consumers to chat with each other as they shop on his company’s site.

[via WSJ Small Business] By SALVATORE PARISE , PATRICIA J. GUINAN and BRUCE D. WEINBERG

For the above entrepreneurs, wearing pajamas for a day at the office isn’t far from reality. From pet care to virtual assistants and even online dating, we found entrepreneurs who are not just enjoying work from their living rooms and bedrooms, but they are also making a good living at it. In one case, a business owner grossed $10 million in a year, and cleared half that amount. Here’s a look at the hottest industries for home-based entrepreneurs — illustrated with some fun CEO self-portraits.

Pet Care — Paul Mann, Fetch! Pet Care

Virtual Assistant — Tawnya Sutherland, VAnetworking.com

Bargain Hunting Website — Karen Hoxmeier, MyBargainBuddy.com

Accounting Services — Melissa Nash Andrews, Accounts Receivables

Technical Staffing — Bill Foster and Ruben Santana, XRoads Consulting

Home Improvement and Organization — Allan Young, ShelfGenie

Green Construction — Nic Darling, Chad Ludeman, and Courtney Ludeman, Postgreen

Graphic Design Services — Sam Feuer, Mindsmack.com

Resume Writing — Kathy Sweeney, The Write Resume

Corporate Educational Services — Joseph Pickett, Experts Briefings

Online Dating Site — Markus Frind, PlentyofFish

George Foreman has three fundamentals of business success: selling, integrity, and “the shotgun tactic.” Over a lifetime, Foreman has created the kind of well-rounded success that most people dream of. He is a profitable businessman, a community leader, a husband and a father. His life is full, but more importantly to Foreman, his life is meaningful.

With nearly 100 million George Foreman Grills sold since 1995, Foreman has had enormous influence in the wellness industry. He is also one of the highest-paid and most recognized celebrity endorsers in the world.

In 1999, Foreman signed a $137.5 million deal with Salton Inc. (recently merged with Applica Incorporated), entitling the grill manufacturer to global, unrestricted use of Foreman’s name in marketing the Lean, Mean, Fat-Reducing Grilling Machine and related products. The deal made Michael Jordan’s $40 million deal with Nike look small by comparison.

Before his endorsement of the grills, Foreman made business deals based primarily on a desire for income. “I was so successful,” he says. “All the ads I had done for sausages, you name it, [I was] mainly thinking about money. But then I went into the grill business.” He took the grills all over the country, making personal appearances and boosting sales. “I was meeting people who would say, ‘The doctor told me to get a George!’ I’m like, what are they talking about? Get a George?” He realized his product was making a difference in people’s health, and his perspective changed. “From that point on, you know, I can never go back to what I used to do where I just sell and sell,” he says. “Now everything I do has to be connected to something healthy.”

The Importance of Selling
Of course, Foreman’s business success started with his success as an athlete. Born in 1949 in Marshall, Texas, Foreman, nicknamed “Big George,” was one of seven children in a struggling home. By the time he was 15, he was a street thug and mugger in Houston’s dangerous 5th Ward. His life changed when he left for California to join the Job Corps and was introduced to the discipline of boxing. In 1968, Foreman won the Olympic Gold medal in Mexico City, in only his 25th amateur fight. A world champion was born.

Within a few years of turning professional, Foreman’s record was 37 wins—most by knockout—and no losses. In 1973, he defeated Joe Frazier to become heavyweight champion of the world. Despite his fame, he maintained a cold distance from the public, and his surly demeanor earned him occasional boos in the ring. He defended his title twice before losing it to Muhammad Ali in the “Rumble in the Jungle” in 1974.

A few years later, Foreman announced what he thought was his retirement. A religious awakening led him to pursue a life in the church. He didn’t know at the time that the seeds of his business success lay in these days of personal transformation.

“It started because I left boxing in 1977 and worked in evangelism at a church in Marshall,” he says. Foreman had made a fortune in boxing, but now turned his attention fully to his faith. “I spent all my time preaching with lots of money. Lots of money.” But he didn’t preach like a rich man. He spent countless nights out on the streets of Houston, in all weather. Just as in his boxing career, he was relentless.

He also made good on a personal pledge to help at-risk youth, just as he had been helped during his early days as a teenage thug. After he joined the Job Corps, a counselor saw young George’s potential and got him involved in boxing, possibly saving him from a life of crime or jail or worse. Foreman wanted to provide the same kind of opportunities for young people and in 1984 founded The George Foreman Youth & Community Center, which offers scholastic and athletic activities including, of course, boxing.

But 10 years after he left boxing, he says he looked up and was on the verge of bankruptcy. “I had to go back into boxing for our survival, to feed my family.” Fortunately, his years spent preaching on the streets of Houston had taught him valuable lessons that would carry him into a second career as a businessman. “What I found was the 10 years I was out of boxing, I was preaching on the street corner and I’d make people stop. They didn’t know me,” he says, “the old George with an afro and all that. So I realized I could stop these people, who are always headed somewhere, for a second and sell my message. That’s what I learned to do on the street corner.”

He tried applying his newfound skills in the boxing world. “So I went back to boxing trying to sell the old George Foreman heavyweight champion of the world,” he says. “Nobody wanted to buy it, though.” Foreman was 38 when he returned to the ring, a tough sell for any athletic comeback. But the man in front of the camera this time wasn’t cool or removed. He had a gentleness about him that contrasted his toughness in the ring, and that appealed to the public.

“In time, I learned the importance of selling,” he says. Foreman realized he had power outside the ring to influence how people viewed him. In 1994, at the age of 44, Foreman reclaimed the heavyweight title. “That’s when people started to say, ‘This guy can sell himself. Let’s let him sell Doritos or Kentucky Fried or McDonald’s.’ ” And sell, he did. In addition to promoting these companies, Foreman became the spokesman for Meineke Car Care Centers. The boxer and preacher was now an advertiser’s dream come true.

But he says his athletic ability was less a factor in his business success than his selling skills. “If you learn to sell, it’s worth more than a degree,” he says.” It’s worth more than the heavyweight championship of the world. It’s even more important than having a million dollars in the bank. Learn to sell and you’ll never starve.”

Integrity: His Greatest Asset
“The greatest asset, even in this country, is not oil and gas,” Foreman says. “It’s integrity. Everyone is searching for it, asking, ‘Who can I do business with that I can trust?’ ”

By 1994, Foreman’s life was again on the upswing. When he took the opportunity to endorse what is now the George Foreman Lean, Mean, Fat-Reducing Grilling Machine, he found a new drive to help people improve their lives by improving their health. Now he won’t settle for anything less when it comes to endorsements. “One of the biggest things is to fight,” he says. “Just don’t go absolutely for the buck.”

Foreman learned after his fi rst retirement that to go back into boxing he had to protect the brand of George Foreman. “So now I understand you must preserve the quality of your name, your integrity,” he says. “You don’t want to lie about anything. And it’s something that people will be happy about once they get to know you. Because people count on you. You know, a contract you can easily break. I’ve found in business, everyone signs a contract to make a business deal, and they always leave a loophole so they can break them.

Foreman says people with integrity are in high demand. “There are a lot of guys who are successful, they make a lot of big money, I mean millions overnight with a contract, and they don’t understand the evaporation. It evaporates. You’re always back to square one. I found that out, so integrity is how I do business. That’s my main asset.”

This attitude is one he intends to impart to his kids. He has 10 children—five with his current wife, Mary “Joan” Martelly. George III, nicknamed “Monk,” is Foreman’s business manager. “Your children are looking at exactly what you do,” he says. “You’ve got to believe in something. And you’ve got a line that you can’t cross. I point this out.

“I’ll give you an example. I had the opportunity to go into the restaurant business. A chain of restaurants, the George Foreman restaurants. And it was an opportunity right out to make lots of money.” But Foreman is opposed to selling liquor in his establishments, in accordance with his religious beliefs. “And they said, ‘Well, this is what will make more profi ts. You can just donate them to charity.’ I said, ‘No, I can’t do that.’ And my sons, who were in business with me, watching me put this deal together, they could not understand it. They just couldn’t understand. Not to say that they have to have the same feelings I have about things. But at least have something you believe in and you cannot be talked out of by dollars and cents. And that’s what I try to pass on.”

The Old Shotgun Tactic
Foreman is approached by hundreds of potential business partners every year. He reviews offers daily with George III, and asks for input from his wife and children before he signs a deal. So how does he choose from all the opportunities he sees? “I call it the old shotgun tactic,” he says. “My grandfather used to go out hunting during the days of the Depression. The good shooters, the marksmen, shot with one shell.” But during the Great Depression, you couldn’t put all your bets on one bullet because those bullets were expensive. “If you missed the squirrel, so to speak, you don’t have anything but an excuse on the table,” Foreman says. “But if you buy these cheap shots, which are buckshots, they scatter. You come back in with a squirrel. Although you got a lot of buckshot in it, you got a decent meal on the table.

“So now I use the same thing, although you’ve got to be selective because you have a name to protect.” Foreman believes that one of the many opportunities he investigates will hit it big. “You know you put out a lot of buckshot, you’re going to strike one,” he says. “You’ve got to start out early in the morning and look at hundreds, literally hundreds of things, looking for that quality. And it may take a year, it may take three or four years, but you’re going to hit something so you have something to put on the table for your family.”

Foreman’s company, George Foreman Enterprises, consistently strikes new deals for products and services that meet Foreman’s requirements of being high-quality and beneficial to the consumer. He has lent his name to a line of clothing for big and t a l l men sold by Casual Male and endorsed a new brand of shoes for diabetics by InStride as well as a health-food restaurant chain called UFood Grill.

“And then we have the green cleaning products, which I’ve been working on for a couple years,” he says. “We finally got it absolutely, totally biodegradable.” He hopes that using biodegradable products, like George Foreman’s Knock-Out Household Cleaning System, will help preserve the land for his grandchildren. His other hope is that the established cleaning-product manufacturers will follow suit. “This is going to be so good it’s going to make the big companies jealous, and they’re going to outdo me. And I still win,” he says. “I still win. Because it makes the planet much better.”

But it doesn’t end there. Through Foreman’s Web site, visitors can purchase cookbooks, memoirs and autographed boxing gloves. His 10 books, three of which were published by Thomas Nelson in the last two years, offer inspirational insights into life, comebacks and fatherhood. And then there are the grills. The newest version, the 360 Grill, is selling well and is one of several George Foreman brand small kitchen appliances, including the Lean Mean Fryer for reduced-fat frying and the Grill & Roast for convection cooking.

He’s also become a star of the small screen; his reality series Family Foreman starring him and his family debuted in 2008 on the cable channel TV Land, and an ABC sitcom starring Foreman ran for nine episodes in 1993-94.

Foreman has succeeded in creating more than a brand. He has created a relationship with consumers based on integrity and a gift for making the sale. This relationship allows him to transfer his brand to a wide range of products and succeed in staying diversified. “The bottom line is, you make a decision you’ll be able to sleep with, wake up the next day, look in the mirror and feel good about yourself,” Foreman says.

“You want to leave something, you really do,” he says. “I mean, in the end, statues and all those things, that doesn’t mean anything. Leave something that we’re all going to benefit from. I think that’s what I’d like to do.

Apply Foreman’s philosophies for success in your life:

1. Belief: “You have to have something you believe in. It could be someone you believe in, too. But at least have something you believe in and you cannot be talked out of by dollars and cents.”
2. Integrity: “You must preserve the quality of your name, your integrity. You don’t want to lie about anything. And it’s something that people will be happy about once they get to know you. Because people count on you.”
3. Sales: “Learn to sell and you’ll never starve.”
4. Resilience: “You’re going to fail if you do enough business. But you can always come back because you’ve got some integrity, and people need that.”
5. Persistence: “It may take a year, it may take three or four years, but you’re going to hit something so you have something to put on the table for your family.”
6. Legacy: “You want to leave something, you really do. I mean, in the end, statues and all those things, they don’t mean anything. Leave something that we’re all going to benefit from.”

[via Sta.rtup.biz] by Amy Anderson

Get your business going, keep it going strong or take it in a new direction with this compilation of web sites for entrepreneurs.

At last count there were approximately 10 gazillion websites out there. Where’s a business owner to start when looking for valuable information? If you’re reading this, it means you’re on Entrepreneur.com, which is a good start. Read on for 64 more vital online spots you should know about.

Accounting Terminology Guide
http://nysscpa.org/prof_library/guide.htm
If you need to know what a specific accounting term means, no matter how obscure, this is the site for you. Hosted and maintained by the New York State Society of CPAs, nearly 500 accounting terms are defined on this site, all sorted in an easy-to-use alphabetical list.

AccountingWEB
www.accountingweb.com
Updated daily, this site offers accounting industry news, information, tips, tools, resources and insight–everything you need to prosper and interact with other accounting professionals.

Adweek Online
www.adweek.com
This is the online edition of Adweek, a popular print magazine focusing on all things advertising and marketing. This site features the inside scoop on what’s going on in the marketing departments of high-profile companies and corporations.

American Association of Franchisees and Dealers
www.aafd.org
This organization represents the rights of both franchisees and dealers. Here you can learn about upcoming events, read some free publications online, order other publications from the bookstore, and become a member.

Backpack
www.backpackit.com
Backpack is a web-based service that makes organizing your company’s information easy. Backpack lets you make pages that can contain any combination of notes, to-dos, images, files and so on.

Better Business Bureau
http://us.bbb.org
Browse or search for a business or charity’s reputation. Included are instructions for how to file a consumer or B2B complaint.

BizBuySell
www.bizbuysell.com
Looking to buy a franchise? There’s a good chance you’ll find one here. From restaurants in California to auto shops in Florida, you can search more than 25,000 businesses currently for sale, many of which are franchised.

Bizwomen
www.bizwomen.com
Bizwomen is an online community for women business executives and entrepreneurs to connect, support one another, learn and grow. You can share and explore ideas with women across the United States or in your neighborhood to help grow your business.

Business Owner’s Tool Kit
www.toolkit.com
With an emphasis on problem solving, this site features more than 5,000 pages of free cost-cutting tips, step-by-step checklists, real-life case studies, startup advice, and business templates to small-business owners and entrepreneurs.

Business Owners Idea Cafe
www.businessownersideacafe.com
Managed by successful entrepreneurs and the authors of several guides on forming and running a business, this site includes numerous award-winning resources, along with practical advice, business news and humor.

BrandChannel.com
www.brandchannel.com
Run by internationally acclaimed brand consultancy Interbrand, BrandChannel.com provides a global perspective on brands and the art of branding. Site features include in-depth feature articles, conference announcements, career resources and access to white papers.

Brandweek
www.brandweek.com
A leading source of news and information for the branding industry, it’s also the only online trade magazine to offer saturation coverage at all levels of the brand-activation process.

Catalyst
www.catalystwomen.org
Catalyst is a leading corporate research and advisory organization that works with businesses to build inclusive environments and expand professional opportunities for women.

Chief Marketer
www.chiefmarketer.com
A content-rich website, Chief Marketer provides marketing executives with insights into key marketing issues, innovations and practical solutions.

CPAdirectory
www.cpadirectory.com
When April rolls around and you find yourself scrambling to find a CPA, this site will help. Billed as “the largest online database of Certified Public Accountants,” here you can search for CPAs by ZIP code, name, industry or area of specialty.

Customer Service Group
www.customerservicegroup.com
New Jersey-based Alexander Communications Group (ACG) uses this site to provide practical information free of charge to customer service professionals. If you work in the customer service industry, be sure to sign up for Service Starters, ACG’s free customer service industry eNewsletter.

Customer Service Manager
www.customerservicemanager.com
If you work in customer service, this website is for you. Here you will find an active community of customer service professionals, along with daily news, reviews, articles and resources aimed at improving customer service.

Customer Service Zone
www.customerservicezone.com
Customer service expert Robert Bacal’s website for customer service professionals, The Zone offers information to help businesses of all sizes and their employees provide efficient and effective customer service.

Direct Marketing Association
www.the-dma.org
The Direct Marketing Association is the largest trade association for businesses that are interested and involved in direct, database and interactive global marketing. Here you can learn more about the DMA, become a member and access its services.

Electronic Frontier Foundation: Intellectual Property
www.eff.org/issues/intellectual-property
EFF works to preserve balance and ensure that the internet and digital technologies empower consumers, creators, innovators, scholars, and average citizens. This section of the EFF website spotlights current challenges and solutions facing the intellectual property rights of everyone.

Entrepreneur.com / WomenEntrepreneur.com
www.entrepreneur.com/ womenentrepreneur.com
Published by the same people who bring you Entrepreneur magazine, this is an excellent site for entrepreneurs, featuring a solid collection of articles and tips from experts, plus hundreds of links to other entrepreneurial resources on the web. WomenEntrepreneur.com offers additional articles, blogs and resources specific to women for starting and growing their businesses.

Entrepreneur Connect
econnect.entrepreneur.com
Entrepreneur‘s social networking site is a gathering place for thousands of business owners. Take part in discussions, join like-minded business owners in groups, and give and receive valuable advice from the trenches.

Entrepreneur.com’s Trade Publication Directory
www.entrepreneur.com/tradepublication/category/index.html
Don’t miss one of the internet’s largest searchable databases of trade publications. From agriculture and biotech to purchasing and procurement, Entrepreneur.com has your industry’s trade publication listed here.

Fambiz.com
www.fambiz.com
Fambiz.com is the internet’s leading website for owners and employees of family controlled companies. Managed by Northeastern University’s Center for Family Business, here you will find insight on every family run business topic imaginable.

Federal Trade Commission: Franchise and Business Opportunities
www.ftc.gov/bcp/franchise/netfran.htm
This site has lots of information, including an FAQ section, Guide to the FTC Franchise Rule, consumer alerts, Before You Buy pamphlets, and state disclosure requirements.

Franchise.com
www.franchise.com
Learn more about available franchise opportunities or advertise your franchise to potential buyers at this site, which aims to connect franchise buyers and sellers, as well as anyone thinking of starting one.

Franchise Expo
www.franchiseexpo.com
If you’re thinking about buying a franchise, do your research here; you’ll find detailed information on nearly every franchising opportunity known to man.

Franchise Zone by Entrepreneur.com
http://www.entrepreneur.com/franchises
Dedicated to linking enthusiastic entrepreneurs with the top franchises, this site provides all the information you need to find the best franchises and become a successful franchisee. How-to articles, advice from experts and lists of the top franchises in various categories make this the first site to turn to for those considering the purchase of a franchise.

FreshBooks
www.freshbooks.com
FreshBooks is an online invoicing and time-tracking service that helps businesses of all sizes save time, get paid faster and look professional.

Fundability
www.fundability.com
Fundability is a marketplace where entrepreneurs and investors can find funding success. Founded by entrepreneurs and investors, Fundability’s Company SnapShot, Deal Search Engine, and DiligenceRoom provide intelligent online tools for the savvy entrepreneur.

Glide
www.glidedigital.com
Glide is a complete mobile desktop providing a secure and scalable platform for personal and collaborative computing.

Google Checkout
www.googlecheckout.com
This online payment system works alone or as an alternative to systems already in place. Customers don’t have to share credit card information with merchants that use the system, and identity protection is increased.

Google Docs
www.google.com/docs
The folks at Google deliver a free web-based word processor and spreadsheet, which allow you to share and collaborate online. Google Docs accepts most popular file formats, including DOC, XLS, ODT, ODS, RTF, CSV, PPT, and more.

Hoover’s
www.hoovers.com

Hoover’s gives you access to up-to-date information about industries, companies and key decision makers. Great for professionals working in sales, marketing, business development, and others who need intelligence on U.S. and global companies, industries, and the people who lead them.

Idea Locker
www.bkfk.com
One of the best invention/patent sites on the Web for novice innovators of all ages, this site is specifically designed for kids. It provides information on how to invent, famous inventors and discoveries.

Internal Revenue Service
www.irs.gov
Business owners can get all of their federal and business tax information–not to mention forms–directly from the source. It’s also a good place to stay current on tax laws that affect business owners.

Jobfox
www.jobfox.com
Started by the former CEO of CareerBuilder.com, Jobfox walks you through creating a skills inventory and then tells you which employers are looking for people with those exact skills. The Jobfox site also provides a free trackable resume and career web page to showcase your skills, experience and work samples.

Kauffman Foundation
www.kauffman.org
The Kauffman Foundation delivers an up-to-date and relevant website dedicated to furthering our understanding of the phenomenon of entrepreneurship and to advancing entrepreneurship education and training. Check out the Resource Center for getting started information on business operations, sales and marketing, human resources, finance and accounting, and the like.

LinkedIn Jobs
www.linkedin.com/jobs
Whether you’re looking for a new job or trying to help someone else find the perfect job, LinkedIn can help you find and get in touch with the people you need to contact. Create a profile and click the Jobs tab to get started.

Microsoft Small Business Center
www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness
A vehicle for selling various Microsoft small-business products, this site also provides plenty of excellent information and advice entirely for free. If you’re starting or running your own small business, Microsoft’s Small Business Center is an excellent place to learn from the experts.

Mint
www.mint.com
Entrepreneurs can get help with the personal finances, money management and budget planning. In addition, Mint offers free financial planning software.

National Association for the Self-Employed
www.nase.org
The NASE provides its self-employed members with support, education and training. The organization conducts surveys relevant to the needs of the self-employed and posts articles business owners can use.

National Association of Women Business Owners
www.nawbo.org
NAWBO is a fierce advocate for women business owners, providing resources and support. It can help women get access to government contracts that most business owners don’t know about.

PayPal
www.paypal.com
Perhaps the best-known payment system, PayPal allows web sites to receive and send money electronically. Business owners and customers find PayPal easy to use–and secure.

Salesforce.com
www.salesforce.com
Easy-to-use web-based customer relation management tools for your entire company, including online solutions for sales, service, marketing, and call center operations.

Small Business Administration
www.sba.gov
Here you can learn how to start your own business and finance it. The site also provides information on business opportunities, local SBA offices, laws and regulations, and much more.

Survey of Current Business
www.bea.gov/scb
The monthly Survey of Current Business is the definitive source of information by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis about its economic accounts. Monthly updates present the latest national, international, regional, and industry estimates, and keep business leaders up to date on relevant BEA issues and initiatives.

Survey Monkey
www.surveymonkey.com
Put your finger on the pulse of your customers with this free basic service. Create and publish custom online surveys to gather data you can use.

TradePub.com
www.tradepub.com
If you’re looking for a trade publication, you’re likely to find it here. This site features an extensive list of free business, computer, and engineering trade newsletters and magazines, all of which you can subscribe to for free.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce
www.uschamber.com
Find your local branch, figure out how to start, learn about new taxes and much more at the national Chamber of Commerce site.

U.S. Copyright Office
www.copyright.gov
Find all of the forms, publications and information you need to copyright your original work.

U.S. Department of Labor: Office of Small Business Programs
www.dol.gov/osbp
The OSBP promotes opportunities for small businesses, especially disadvantaged businesses, women-owned businesses, HUBZone businesses and businesses owned by disabled veterans.

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
www.uspto.gov
Official site for searching the U.S. patent database. Includes international treaties, statutes and patent news.

VentureDeal
www.venturedeal.com
Easy-to-use database with the latest information on U.S.-based venture-backed technology companies, senior management, company financings, and M&A transactions. Updated daily, this site offers a convenient way of accessing critical information related to business development, funding searches and venture capital investment goals.

VisualCV
www.visualcv.com
VisualCV reinvents your resume using technologies that transform the way in which resume data is presented, accessed and shared. VisualCV allows you to easily build and manage online career portfolios that come alive with informational keyword pop-ups, video, pictures and professional networking.

Wesabe
www.wesabe.com
The site offers financial advice, analysis and planning for business owners.

Word of Mouth Marketing Association
www.womma.org
Official website of WOMMA, where you can find the latest thinking on a variety of Web 2.0 marketing strategies, including word of mouth marketing.

Work.com
www.work.com
The small-business owner’s manual on where to go, what to know, and how to get the most value from the ever-growing array of web resources for business. The site features more than 2,000 how-to guides written by business experts and organized by common business tasks and challenges.

Women’s Work
www.wwork.com
Women’s Work is dedicated to helping women move from standard 9-to-5 jobs to flex careers–telecommuting, small business and other options. This site is packed with articles, advice, how-to guides, flexible career choices, and success stories to inspire and motivate.

Wufoo
www.wufoo.com
Wufoo is a web-based application that removes inefficiency and tediousness from the form-building process. Wufoo reduces what used to take trained professionals days (if not weeks) into something that can be done by anyone in minutes.

Yelp
www.yelp.com
Yelp provides a fun and engaging website for “passionate and opinionated influencers to share the experiences they’ve had with local businesses and services.” Watch out because “yelping” can be quite addictive.

Zimdesk
www.zimdesk.com
Zimdesk provides all the features and functionality you would expect from a standard desktop PC. The difference is that Zimdesk runs from an internet browser, allowing you to access all your applications, files, games and accessories from any computer.

Zoho
www.zoho.com
Zoho offers a suite of office productivity tools online, including a word processor, spreadsheet program, invoicing tool, presentation creator, web-conferencing functions and calendar organizers.

This list was compiled by the Entrepreneur.com staff, with a major assist from Mikal E. Belicove, author of the 2009 Internet Directory: Web 2.0 Edition.

[via Entrepreneur]

“It’s time to bail out the people and the planet,” says Van Jones [1], author of The Green Collar Economy: How One Solution Can Fix Our Two Biggest Problems [2]. We agree, and this guide to to sustainability-focused career paths will help retrofit and solar-charge your work life.

The TOP TEN GREEN JOBS FOR THE NEXT DECADE:

Farmer

America has only two million farmers, and their average age is 55. Since sustainable agriculture requires small-scale, local, organic methods rather than petroleum-based machines and fertilizers, there is a huge need for more farmers — up to tens of millions of them, according to food guru Michael Pollan. Modern farmers are small businesspeople who must be as skilled in heirloom genetics as marketing.

Schools: University of Vermont: Center for Sustainable Agriculture; Stone Barns Center For Food & Agriculture in New York State; University of Oklahoma: Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture; Evergreen State College: degree in Sustainable Agriculture.

Related careers: urban gardener; farmers market and CSA coordinator; artisanal cheesemakers; and other food producers.

Forester

Modern forestry is a complex combination of international project finance, conservation and development. According to the World Bank, a staggering 1.6 billion people depend on the forest for their livelihoods. Foresters help local people transition from slash-and-burn to silviculture–teaching cultivation of higher-value, faster-growing species for fruit, medicine or timber, for example while carefully documenting the impact on the environment. Deforestation, which causes around a quarter of all global warming, is also likely to be a leading source of carbon credits worth tens of billions of dollars [3].

Schools: Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies; Duke University: Nicholas School of the Environment; University of Michigan: School of Natural Resources & Environment.

Companies/organizations: The Nature Conservancy; New Forests Inc.

Solar Power Installer

Making and installing solar power systems already accounts for some 770,000 jobs globally. Installing solar-thermal water heaters and rooftop photovoltaic cells is a relatively high-paying job–$15 to $35 an hour–for those with construction skills. And opportunities are available all over the United States, wherever the sun shines. Currently over 3,400 companies in the solar energy sector employ 25,000 to 35,000 workers. The Solar Energy Industries Association predicts an increase to over 110,000 jobs by 2016 — even more if anticipated tax credits are accelerated [4].

Companies: Akeena Solar; Sungevity; Sunpower; Full list at SEIA.org.

Energy Efficiency Builder Buildings account for up to 48 percent of US energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. LEED, the major green building certification, has over 43,000 accredited professionals [5]. But the cutting edge in efficient buildings goes far beyond LEED. Buildings constructed according to Passivhaus and MINERGIE-P standards in Germany and Switzerland, respectively, use between 75% and 95% less heat energy than a similar building constructed to the latest codes in the US. Greening the US building stock will take not only skilled architects and engineers, but a workforce of retrofitters who can use spray foam insulation and storm windows to massively improve the R-value (thermal resistance) of the draftiest old houses. A study by the Apollo Alliance recommended an $89.9 billion investment in financing to create 827,260 jobs in green buildings — an initiative supported by the Obama stimulus package, which specifically mentions energy retrofits [6].

Schools: Arizona State University School of Architecture: Energy Performance Climate-Responsive Architecture; University of Michigan: Alfred A. Taubman College of Architecture + Urban Planning; The Earth Institute at Columbia University.

Wind Turbine Fabricator

Wind is the leading and fastest-growing source of alternative energy with over 300,000 jobs worldwide. Turbines are 90% metal by weight, creating an opportunity for autoworkers and other manufacturers to repurpose their skills. According to the American Wind Energy Association [7], the industry currently employs some 50,000 Americans and added 10,000 new jobs in 2007. Their job board [8] is an excellent place to start looking for opportunities.

Companies: Vestas; Siemens; GE Energy.

Conservation Biologist The granddaddy of diversity, E.O. Wilson, famously called conservation biology — a discipline with a deadline. The urgent quest to preserve the integrity of ecosystems around the world — and to quantify the value of — ecosystems services — leads to opportunities in teaching, research and fieldwork for government, nonprofits, and private companies. The forthcoming economic stimulus package from the Obama administration offers the prospect of increased federal support for science and research [9].

Schools: Center for Conservation Biology at the University of Washington and the Center for Conservation Biology at Stanford University. At the small College of the Atlantic [10] every student gets his or her degree in human ecology; it’s been called the most sustainable college or university in the world.

Green MBA and Entrepreneur

The concept of the triple bottom line [11] has migrated from the margins to the mainstream of the business world. A recent report by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Mayors Climate Protection Center found that business services like legal, research and consulting account for the majority of all green jobs — over 400,000. This includes everything from marketing to the LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) segment, to serving as a VP of sustainability within a large company, to piloting a green startup like Method or Recyclebank.

Schools: Stanford School of Business; San Francisco’s Presidio School of Management; Leeds School of Business; University of Colorado at Boulder — Deming Center for Entrepreneurship; the Bainbridge Graduate Institute in Wash.

Recycler The total number of recycling jobs in the United States is at more than 1 million, according to recent reports [12] (PDF, right click to save). Although the market for paper and plastic has slowed down recently due to the economic downturn, demand for steel is still strong — 42 percent of output came from scrap in 2006 — and recycling remains the economical alternative to high disposal fees. Worldwide more than 200,000 people work in secondary steel production, and the US is a major center of production. New laws and regulations [13] are also creating a need for specialized companies that can close the loop by recycling and repurposing e-waste, clothing, plastic bags, construction waste, and other materials.

Companies: Rumpke; Greenstar North America.

Sustainability Systems Developer The green economy needs a cadre of specialized software developers and engineers who design, build, and maintain the networks of sensors and stochastic modeling that underpin wind farms, smart energy grids, congestion pricing and other systems substituting intelligence for natural resources. Coders with experience using large scale enterprise resource planning have an edge here, as well as developers familiar with open source and web 2.0 [14] applications.

Companies: IBM, V2Green, WindLogics

Urban Planner Urban and regional planning is a linchpin of the quest to lower America’s carbon footprint. Strengthening mass transit systems, limiting sprawl, encouraging use of bicycles and deemphasizing cars is only part of the job. Equally important is contingency planning, as floods, heat waves and garbage creep become increasingly common problems for metropolises. Employment in this sector is projected to grow 15 percent by 2016, and the jobs are mainly in local governments, which make them a slightly safer bet for the downturn.

[via Fast Company] by Anya Kamenetz

Rather than a heartfelt note, it’s always more fun to mark joyous/saddening occasions with a snarky message that cuts the recipient to the core — but how to crush them in a classy way? By taking the E out of your burning greetings, with Hard Cards.

Launched late last year by the most natural of duos, a Warner exec and a college professor, Hard Cards boast misleadingly earnest wishes on their fronts followed by cutting, anti-sentimental statements inside on simply designed, 100% recycled soy-ink-printed card stock — so you’ll feel good about helping the world while making others feel like the complete freaking losers they are. Occasion options run the gamut from birthdays to weddings, including these outside/inside highlights:

Sympathy: “I’m sorry you’re going through a rough time right now/but if you’d quit making s#itty decisions this wouldn’t happen.”

Holiday: “Happy Holidays/In lieu of a present, I donated money in your name to an orphanage in Guatemala. I bet you’re upset, but you can’t really say that because then you’d be a jerk who hated orphanages.”

Romance: “You’re so hot/I rarely imagine you’re someone else when we have sex.”

Hard’s constantly adding new cards, and’re talking about expanding to email greetings sometime in the future — for when you’ve surrendered all pretensions of classiness, and sure as hell aren’t buying a stamp.

Salute the snark at HardCardsRule.com

[via Thrillist]

Tony Hawk is rich and chief executive of his own company, but that doesn’t mean he’s changed all that much from the skateboarding kid with a junk food diet. In fact, it’s something he says makes him a better C.E.O.

For Hawk, it’s always been about being true to one’s self, or at least his constituency—the skaters.

“You have to be approachable and identify with your audience,” Hawk said. “I never forgot where I came from. I still continue to skate with the kids and see what they’re up to. I still eat at McDonald’s.”

Sky High

Tony Hawk on Authenticity

Watch more interviews with Tony Hawk

Hawk has never lost touch with that audience and doesn’t want to. And that may be the key to the success of his Tony Hawk Inc., a privately held business with 30 employees working from an office park 40 miles north of San Diego.

“(I want to) actually experience it and not hire a marketing group to do it for you and then you’re out of touch and you’re relying on whatever their vision is,” Hawks said.

Hawk started skating at the age of nine and three years later he gained his first sponsor.

Two years later at 14, he turned professional and in the following two years, he was considered the best skateboarder in the world. Over the next 17 years, he won enough contests–enough to think he was set for life.

He launched a skateboarding company, Birdhouse Projects, but it struggled as pubic interest slumped. Hawk slumped, too, financially. But when skateboarding and extreme sports began to grab the spotlight, he seized the opportunity.

His defining moment could be deemed when he went to the 1999 X-Games in San Francisco and completed the first “900″ in skateboarding competition. (A 900 is a jump of two-and-one-half rotations, 360 degrees + 360 degrees + 180 degrees = 900).

“I didn’t really anticipate making (the 900) that night,” Hawk said. “I told myself that night that I was going to make that trick or get taken to the hospital.”

That kind of determination served Hawk in business, too.

“I go with my gut feeling,” Hawk said. “Is this is something that is truly connected with what I do.”

He trusts his instinct because “I do live in this world. I didn’t learn about it through videos or books. I actually did it and struggled with it.”As a businessman, Hawk now has racked up unusual success.

His video game series with Activision has sold more than 30 million copies and the newest releases are frequently among the top 10 sellers in the business. He’s done a direct-to-DVD movie, a clothing brand that’s sold at Kohl’s and last year, the Tony Hawk Big Spin roller coasters made their debut at Six Flags’ Amusement Parks.

That’s all in addition to his skateboarding business and an extreme sports tour called Tony Hawk’s Boom Boom HuckJam, which he started in 2002.

Hawk also founded the Tony Hawk Foundation, which is designed to promote and help finance public skate parks in low-income areas.

The foundation has distributed more than $2.3 million to non-profit groups building skate parks everywhere from Homer, Alaska to Needles, Calif., to Greencastle, Ind., to Livermore Falls, Maine.

[via Conde Nast Portfolio] by Phillip Lee