Monthly Archives: August 2018

Talk with Tom: Episode #42 | TwT Motivational Minute: Sometimes You Have To Change Things

 

In this Talk with Tom Motivational Minute, Tom reminds us there are often things in our life that just aren’t working and that when we recognize that we sometimes have to take uncomfortable actions to change things for the better.

Every month Tom shares topic after topic to Grow Your Life and Build Your Business. If you’re not already a subscriber, join us. Talk with Tom is 100% free, and there are special benefits available only to our subscribers, so be sure you subscribe yourself on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts, and we look forward to seeing you right back here on the last Wednesday of every month with Talk with Tom.

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Happy Birthday To My Son, INDY!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the motto he lives by.

#SuccessSeries  #GrowYourLife  #BuildYourBusiness  #HappyBirthdayIndy

Four Email Templates To Help Start Ups Raise Capital

 

#GrowYourLife  #BuildYourBusiness

Life Area: Professional  
Topic: Raising Start Up Capital

Four Email Templates To Help Start Ups Raise Capital

 

Email is still one of the most effective tools for startup fundraising. The question most of my business coaching clients ask center around what and how much to email prospective investors. According to Forbes the series of email templates below make it super easy to leverage email to raise seed money.

 

The Power of Email

Having started numerous businesses, receiving pitches as an investor, and consulting founders on fundraising, I can tell you that email still works. In fact, it can be the most powerful and high ROI tool in your box.

One of my favorite shows continues to be Shark Tank and one of the show’s most prolific investors is billionaire Mark Cuban. What some people don’t know is that Cuban’s investment volume on the show is far exceeded by his Dallas-based investment machine, Mark Cuban Companies.

Consider that multiple entrepreneurs have raised millions of dollars from Mark Cuban alone by using emails like these. In January 2016 a high school dropout received a $3M investment from Cuban as a result of a cold email for his car insurance startup. Adam Lyons ended up closing his Series A round for $17M. He has raised over $21M to date, including investments from billionaire investor Mike Maples Jr. who was also involved in Twitter and Lyft.

In 2015, two engineers cold emailed Cuban and received over $500,000 for their brand new 3D printing startup. Founders Tim Ellis and Jordan Noone went on to raise over $8.4M as a result of that.

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Email is still a favored medium for communicating by savvy and busy angel investors and venture capital executives.

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Email is still a favored medium for communicating by savvy and busy angel investors and venture capital executives, simply because they favor the short form and relative insistence that you get to the point or they bounce. Whether you are just formulating plans for beginning a new venture or are strategizing a new series of funding, these email templates that I found in the book, The Art of Startup Fundraising, can help remove the guesswork and speed you along to the next milestone.

 

Email Template 1

This is the first email startup entrepreneurs should send. It can work both for following up with investor contacts they have been introduced to, as well as for pitching potential investors they haven’t met yet. Note that founders should have spent time building an investor list well in advance of their funding needs. This email is specifically designed to work after you have secured a lead investor, though may be tweaked for earlier stages as well.

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If you are looking for a roadmap to achieve any goal and create the life you want, look no further than my Create The LIFE You Want Workshop. In this workshop, I’ll walk you through the steps needed to create a crystal clear vision of what you want, choosing a BIG, ambitious goal, and putting together a complete plan of action and achievement. This workshop is often held in an exotic location (last year we were in Santorini, Greece. This year we are in Sedona, Arizona!), so if you want a vacation with a purpose, this is the one for YOU!

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Email Template 2

Email 2 is designed to be sent as a follow up to email 1. Two to three weeks is a good time period to wait in between first and second messages. This is essential to keep up momentum with investors you have already spoken to or have communicated back and forth with based on your initial email. It’s also a great way to reach out again in case the first message was missed, and to stay on the radar of potential investors for further rounds, even if they fail to participate in this one.

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Talk with Tom: Episode #41 | TwT Motivational Minute: Daily Success Habits

 

I am always exploring success habits of others to learn from. Over the past few years, Tim Ferris interviewed nearly 200 world-class performers to discover their daily success habits and compiled his findings into Tools of Titans. Three habits stood out that most all of them practiced. In this episode of my Talk with Tom Motivational Minute, I detail each of the three.

Every month Tom shares topic after topic to Grow Your Life and Build Your Business. If you’re not already a subscriber, join us. Talk with Tom is 100% free, and there are special benefits available only to our subscribers, so be sure you subscribe yourself on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts, and we look forward to seeing you right back here on the last Wednesday of every month with Talk with Tom.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Four Tactics To Help You Be Super Focused

 

 

#GrowYourLife  #BuildYourBusiness

Life Area: Personal  
Topic: Mental Focus

Four Tactics To Help You Be Super Focused

 

You ever find yourself needing to be super focused to prepare for that special presentation or meet a crucial deadline? Well, if you’re like me that need surfaces often. I’ve written here before about Cal Newport’s book Deep Work, wherein he gives us beaucoup advice on achieving deep, focused work. Here are four tactics I use that may resonate with you in order to give them a try:

 

1. Use Time Blocking

At the beginning of each week, on either Sunday night or Monday morning, I plan out my week ahead using my Ideal Week Template as my guide (see offer below to download it FREE). I look at meetings and projects that must be completed and I estimate the number of hours I will need for each (if you find yourself underestimating completion time, double whatever you estimate when first doing this routine). Then I look at the week ahead (which already has time blocks for my regular occurring things like my power hours, meditation, and workouts) and I block out first committed appointments and meetings, and then these projects. Treat these focused project times just as you would a meeting with a board member or investor…you’re gonna make it happen!!

 

2. Eliminate Distractions

Isolate yourself in a quiet place or work from home to avoid those inevitable office distractions. Dress comfortably, make the room a comfortable temperate (69-72o), eat some healthy food free of white flour, caffeine, and sugar so your blood sugar is balanced, and put on some low volume, low key music (personally, I turn on the Spa Radio channel on Pandora).

 

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At the beginning of each week, on either Sunday night or Monday morning, I plan out my week ahead.

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3. Set Mini Goals

As you’ve heard me mention here before, it’s best to take a big project and chunk it down to bite size tasks by reverse engineering the many steps to its completion. By that I mean break it down into smaller goals that are tasks that I can finish in, say, three hours. If you’re like me, you’ll get a rush just from checking the box of each smaller task!

 

4. Set a Timer and Take Breaks

We often get in the zone and reach burnout sooner than we could if we otherwise predetermine break times. The Pomodoro Method advocates 50 minute work spans followed by 10 minute breaks each hour. But each of us is unique and as self-aware individuals that make up my audience, I’m guessing you know your bodies and attention spans and can determine whether a 60 minute work span or a 90 minute work span works best for you before either a 10 minute or 15 minute break, etc.

 

The moral of this story is that mental focus takes intentional action. Try these tactics and see if they give you greater results.

 

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Download this FREE Resource, the Ideal Week template in either Excel or PDF formats to help you with your time blocking. Click here for an Ideal Week Sample to use as a guide.

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My mission is to inspire people and organizations to live their highest vision.

I am a Success Strategist and Master Coach. I provide transformational coaching and training for individuals and organizations to help you Grow Your Life and Build Your Business by getting clear and focused on what you want, why you want it, and how to create it. Learn more about me at SuccessSeriesLLC.com.

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