I was watching the news the other day and it featured the Startup Bus.

Hearing about the Startup Bus genuinely interests me, because I love the notion that the best ideas often aren’t planned for. Drawing out an idea for months and months, and never taking action, can make you lose confidence in an idea and decide it’s not worthwhile. There’s something about being in the fire with other talented people, hashing out ideas to create that one that has potential if you throw sweat equity into it. It’s pretty much exhilarating.

So let me tell you a little story about why I’m so obsessed with “the startup life.” Nobody really understands how I got bitten with the bug that makes me want to constantly create things. Unless you count my mom, when she watched me try to create workout videos to sell to people when I was 8, create children’s stories so I can try to get them picked up and published when I was younger than the age of 10, my teacher who shook her head in disappointment when I tried to sell my game gear to another student in the 4th grade on the down low, and every other silly and insane thing I tried to do and create before I hit a double digit age to make money.

Many people say, “well- you like the startup life so much, but you haven’t really been a part of it.”

Oh, but I have been.

It’s not that hard really. In order to simplify the process, here’s how I view it.

• Find an existing hole and pain point to cure that you’re passionate about.
• Research the hell out of the market.
• Get your finances in order  (maybe).
• Blood, sweat, tears.
• GO.

Note: Don’t quit your job and start a business based on the above. I won’t hold myself responsible. :)

What the majority of you guys don’t know is that I was a “cofounder” that helped to create and launch a product driven business before I was 20 years old. It’s actually still around.

I can actually say that was my first attempt (8 or 9 years ago) at learning how to use SEO to help gain visibility for an ecommerce site. Can’t say it wasn’t a laughable attempt, but it’s funny how something you try to learn years and years ago sets the stage for what you spend the majority of your adult life doing. I actually feel like I learned a lot from this business, mainly because it was mainly offline (with online as only a part of the business model).

I got the real deal business experience. Face to face business when dealing with vendors and distributors. Actual sales and bargaining. Market research out in the field while selling. There wasn’t much of “sitting behind the computer” back then.

Born out of an idea I had, I realized that there was a huge market to take advantage of. All because I was so effing sick of paying $20 for a decent tongue ring or belly button ring and decided to purchase some in bulk on Ebay. So then, we did what any smart person would do- find a way to screw the system. And I say screw the system because when you think about how low the manufacturer costs are on jewelry and how insanely high the markup is, you realize how big of an opportunity actually reveals itself.

And so, a business was born. One that started expanding products into tattoo equipment, supplying a large percentage of the northeast and getting a retail store front around the time I bowed out of it.

We kept the overhead ridiculously low and contacted multiple jewelry manufacturers across (and outside of) the country, bargained with them all and found the one that could get us the lowest cost with the highest quality. We then started to undercut other businesses juuuuuust enough that we were drawing constant customers, but not enough to create a dramatic shift in the market. We figured out a bulk pricing model, created incentives for those who brought us either individual or bulk orders (a real-life affiliate program , if you will) and traveled from county to county to participate in events like huge motorcycle stunt shows and other places that vendors might build their client base.

I was still in college for business, but the school of life was teaching me way more than I could ever learn in a classroom.

There was no store front, barely any initial overhead, and we were literally working out of a garage. I never would have imagined how much work would actually have to go into a business that seemed relatively straight forward and product driven. When time wasn’t spent QAing the jewelry that came in to make sure we got the right amount of inventory (and when I say inventory, I mean thousands of pieces of jewelry) it went to creating a sustainable inventory system that wouldn’t want to make me throw myself out the window, figuring out taxes, trying to create an e-commerce website, building partnerships with other vendors, and literally selling individual pieces to people in town to get the brand name out there.

I think that’s when I really became a night owl. Many of these activities went straight through the night, only closing my eyes at 5 am because I had class the next morning. Or a job the next afternoon. But to see something created and built was the most exhilarating feeling in the world, and completely worth all the sweat and long nights that went into it.

The amount of (literal) blood, sweat and (literal) tears that went into launching that business was ridiculous. So ridiculous, that I told myself about 80 times I was done. I didn’t want to do it anymore. But then you get that opportunity that reminds you why you started it in the first place. You hear from a new company that’s interested in using you as a vendor. Money starts rolling in.

None of us took a dime out unless we needed it for travel expenses to meet potential vendors or clients. Looking back, I probably should have drawn a salary knowing that I wouldn’t be involved with it much past its second year.

So that’s my story. I’d like to think a big part of my drive and work ethic today came from the realization that starting something, anything isn’t easy. College really doesn’t teach you as much as it should. And yes, I do know what the startup life is like.

I’ve been on the warpath ever since.

Do you ever stop and think to yourself… “What the hell am I doing?”

Are you accomplishing everything you wish to accomplish? Are you learning what you long to learn? What do you do when you can never feed your thirst for accomplishment and have the urge to keep going and learning- never self satisfying?

Do you believe in fate and chance?

I believe that there are many different endings for us all; and many different paths. I think each decision we make, or each decision made for us, can send us spiraling down a different path. What do you do when, what you see for yourself is not what others see for you? When should you stop fighting for what you want to accomplish and want even when the path looks so long?

Easy. You don’t.

In the words of TI

I roll like a desperado; now I never know where I’m gonna go – still I ball like there’s no tomorrow.

This is completely unrelated to Internet Marketing, social media or technology… but frankly my dear, it’s my blog and I don’t give a damn :)

So anyway, I downloaded Eminem’s album “Recovery” from iTunes today.

It felt good… mainly because I’ve been using streaming music sites (Pandora and Grooveshark) so to actually have an album on my iPhone where I can stream it in my car and actually control what songs I’m listening to will be GLORIOUS.

Disclaimer: I did not download any songs illegally. Ever. The example below is a typical outline of what a music lover’s time line would be like when file sharing and streaming music were introduced. In case any of you are under 20 and weren’t around for any of this, I’ve put together this time line for you.

13-15: Buying physical CDs in Record Town and Coconuts

15-16: Music lovers were being naughty and using Napster to download a crap ton of songs and albums for happy musical consumption

16-18: Moved onto LimeWire after Napster got shot, beaten and killed.

18: Users get virus from LimeWire. Users swear to high hell that they would never use a program like that to download music again.

—— musical blackout ——

22: Started to use Pandora and users are totally blown away

23: Started using Meebo because users found out they can make playlists, unlike Pandora.

24: Found out Meebo got bought by Myspace (or whatever) so moved onto Grooveshark and Pandora simultaneously.

e25: Pandora started mixing in random songs into user’s playlists (playing Aladdin on a Lil’ Wayne station) so user starts using Grooveshark full time.

So I would like to say, I’m really happy that I downloaded this album. Mainly because, while I haven’t downloaded music, I’ve been stuck streaming for a long time. I happily dished out the $14.99 on iTunes because I (shamefully… or not so shamefully) will be playing songs on repeat and enjoying all 19 songs.

I really need to catch up on blogs and websites I like to stalk (please see previous post, to understand why its neccesary for my sanity) and as much as I love Google products, Google reader is just way too cluttered and annoying for my liking. YEAH. I said it. I dislike a Google product Whatdya know?

So anyway, with that being said, what are some other RSS readers that are a little more simple but have a nice interface and organization? I don’t want some ghetto application that just displays titles to me, but I also don’t really need to have it completely integrated with Gmail, seeing as I spend my whole day in there anyway.

So? What are some good ones? Why do you like them?

HEY! want a chance to come to BlueGlass FL? Check out our BlueGlass FL 2010 contest details… just make sure you read the deadlines- part 1 ends tomorrow at 1 PM!

Good luck :)

Saw info on the new Twitter that’s rolling out. I must say… I’m quite interested in seeing what this is like hands on.

I love all kinds of causes that use new media. There’s something about organizations that understand how to truly leverage social potential with the community that fascinates me.

One campaign in particular has caught my attention- Oxfam American Hunger Banquet. Now, I’ll admit it. I love helping out with organizations, but when we’re all so busy, often times it’s easy to forget or say you’ll do it later. Yes, I’m guilty of this. But one of the great things about this Oxfam organization is that they’re completely mobilizing participants and providing them with EVERYTHING that they need to make this successful.

A centralized social hub.

Toolkits.

Step by step event plans.

A script to follow.

Online calendars to find banquets near you.

Notifications.

EVERYTHING.

They don’t just give you information and throw you out there to fundraise and send in money to “donate to the poor for food.” No. They educate you- they teach you what we’re doing wrong, and give you every opportunity in the world to help.

Pretty much, you have no excuse to ignore this. World hunger is a serious problem- and it’s not because there’s a lack of resources. We have plenty- don’t be fooled. The problem is that we’re not allocating our resources efficiently… but we’re all guilty of that too, aren’t we?

The power of people when they’re banded and united for one cause is pretty amazing- people are competitive by nature, and leveraging that competitiveness and sense of unity at the same time makes for a moving and powerful campaign.

One more awesome thing (which I can’t show you on here because it’s written in Javascript- the embedded video is just the regular version) is that the video on the Oxfam homepage allows you to sign up and participate from right within the video. Perfect. Everything is literally right at your finger tips.

So what are you eating for Thanksgiving? How much food are you wasting? I suggest you look into hosting a hunger banquet. You’ll not only feel good about yourself, but you’re also making a difference- and every person counts.

I am done on my soap box now. Good day.

This is a completely useless post. Sorry if you came here looking for something awesome, but it’s 2 AM and I’m beyond sleepies.

I feel like Gmail adding a ton of crazy awesome capabilities and lab features lately… but what the hell is with their choice of interface? I feel like everytime Gmail does some kind of visual update, it look worse than it did before.

I’ve tried every kind of webmail under the sun (and have about 80 billion email addresses to prove it) and I stick with Gmail because I love the functionality and customizability (is this a word? Is now.) of it. But I must say… I’m a visual person, and if they’re adding random “Compose” buttons that stick out like a sore thumb, I have to wonder where they’re going with this. It looks completely out of place and was instantly noticeable.

Please Gmail. Overhaul your interface. Make it look like it’s existing in 2010.

IT’S THE MOMENT WE’VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR!

…Ok, maybe not ALL of us, but certainly meeeee!! I’m so OCD about everything matching, and it always drove me completely nuts that my signature couldn’t be changed to match my email font. Well, I signed into my gmail account today and noticed that the gods have listened and beamed down…

a Gmail rich text signature editor!

See for yourself!

We will no longer be cursed with looking unprofessional and not matchy-matchy. Although… I guess having a pretty font for your email isn’t really professional but I don’t care, I like my Trebuchet and I’m a big font-a-holic so… let me be people! Just let me be! AND MAKE YOUR SIGNATURE MATCH YOUR FONT! :)

The Google one is much cooler than mine, but hey. Don’t judge.

I implemented a flash gallery onto my website, but since I have no homepage (yet… it’s still in the works) I’ll just throw the link onto here. It’s really neat looking- I swear. click it. you know you want to. It’s all my photography. Once I get new subjects (see my gallery link up top by my about me as to why I haven’t taken more pictures) I’ll have some new photography up.

I DON’T KNOW WHICH ONE TO USE! One is just badass and the other is simple. I’m only linking this one though because evidently the badass one makes people nauseous (that’s just how awesome it is). Maybe I’ll put it up one day when I get sick of this one (Which will probably be soon).

esvienne.com/gallery