So how did they do it? Same as just about everybody else – They built their “big idea” starting with zero dollars, zero business knowledge and a lot of determination. I would have to say in my experience in collaborating and sharing with these teen entrepreneurs, the difference between them and most people is they LISTENED……………………..to themselves. It’s an art in itself.

And what was my role in all this?

I cared …………and connected with them, oftentimes when nobody else did. Nothing more, nothing less. I ask the same of you and will continue to ask it of others I meet along the way.

Just because the majority of teens do not have money or a recognized name especially when they are trying to launch an idea whether it is business or otherwise, does not mean they don’t have value.

Alas, their life circumstances dictate that they are teens by default . But let it be known, they are Renegade by choice .

Stay tuned as we decide on the best way to introduce them and their respective stories.

@teenbizcoach

The Renegade CEO’s are becoming the go to place for the hottest teen and young entrepreneurs. So make sure you are connected with us because for the past few stories we have had requests for multiple teen entrepreneurs in certain geographic regions or industries. So you never know when we are going to be seeking you out. 

The CNN Producer reached out to me for leads and had considered several teen CEO’s for the story. Three days full of anxiety and anticipation would pass before I asked my teens if any of them heard anything back. Patricio non chalantly says to me ‘oh yea, she been called me back and finalized a date for me to come to the studio.’  !!!Teenagers!!!…Go figure, lol! Luckily, we have long been ‘READY’, hence, after creating a few marketing promos special to this media feature and some interview coaching, we were able to flow with the energy and bask in the magical experience of the day. 

Thanks so much to all who tuned in to the episode and showed their support. We appreciate each and everyone of you for your thoughtfulness and all your generosity before, during and after the feature.

7 Tips for Improving Your Chance of Getting in the Media:

And for those of you looking to get featured in the media….it will come. Stay connected to us for real time updates on Twitter: www.twitter.com/teenbizcoach in addition to continuing your own marketing efforts. Understand that it is all about timing and naturally it is based on the media’s timing not yours. The key things you can do to improve your chances are:

1. Keep your name out there online AND offline (go to community based events, connect with your local Chamber of Commerce or Economic Development office).

2. Be known for one thing, not just ’something’.

3. Actively use social networking tools like Twitter and Facebook. You can quickly turn your 6 degrees of separation into 3 or less. The more your names start circulating in networks, the more easier it will be for others to ‘discover’ you. 

4. Make sure you keep your blog current! Most of my media story requests were leads that came from my blog.

5. Create a special offer for your viewers so that way you can capture the names of the people that come to your site as a result of the exposure. Otherwise once they are gone they are most likely gone for good!

6. Send out a press release when you have major news announcements to make regarding your company.

7. Create a media page on your site. Make a page that tracks your features and lets the media know that you are comfortable with being interviewed.

Congratulations! Today is your day, you’re off to great places, you’re off and away. -Dr. Seuss, Oh the Places You’ll Go

Note: I am not sharing his name in this post because he has not officially posted his personal message and thanks to all his fans and readers. And it is his special day…first  I just get to share in it a little. After he makes his “Official Announcement” later on today or in the a.m. (Day 30) I will post more detail tomorrow on what the book is about and where to buy the book and all that jazz.

Once Upon a Time…

It was November 20, 2008 (yes, only a little over 30 days ago) and I was eating dinner. I was sharing a moment with one of my dear and wonderful confidantes about a ‘cute’ email I received from a teen that day (mind you I get inquiries from all over the place every week). I was saying how this one teen had just completed my 10 day ecourse and was asking me how he could really get his business really going and niche an idea that he didn’t realize he had already niched, lol (that’s what was so cute about it, he had answered his own ?).

Over the course of the next hour or so we were writing back and forth just brainstorming random ideas and what he referred to as “naive” dreams. I don’t think we even personally introduced ourselves until Day 28, lol. The next morning (11/21/08) I woke up and had an email from him. It read:

“I am starting to warm up to the idea of an ebook, especially as Christmas is approaching. My only thought was that wouldn’t a real book sell a lot better.”

Shonika Proctor Translation: He wants to write a book before Christmas…and indeed I was totally down with that

So throughout the day and the following day we went back and forth to work out some concepts. And when he finally seemed to think it just might be possible, I think he second guessed himself and said he would need to do a little research. So I gave him the “cliff notes”- open a word document and start writing and told him otherwise it would be very difficult to get done before Christmas. I also promised to give him all the support he needed and would manage the technical stuff and vendor relationships that he did not understand so well. He spent 2 days gathering his thoughts and I suppose building his confidence and wondering what on Earth has this crazy girl gotten me into, LOL, and on November 23, 2008 he went hard core “Richard Branson, Screw It, Let’s Do It Style”….FULL SPEED AHEAD, no helmet, no instructions and no safety net! 

When I knew he was going to hit his goal:

Day 5. I shared my secret squirrel writing tip with him on the first day he started to write so that he could lay out his chapters in advance and essentially not get ‘writer’s block’. On Day 5 he sent me his entire chapter outline. Also, he had off from work that day and spent 10 hours working on his book. On the other 29 days pretty much during his waking hours when he wasn’t at work he was working on the book and writing back and forth to me with ??? and updates. 

Most ’Classic’ Moment:  

Day 19: When he finished round one of his manuscript. That was the day I told him that my speedy typesetter “layout guy” was getting ready for the book. He was like “book”? This is going to be a “real book”. I was like uhhh yeah, it is going to be a real book….not a faux book impersonating a real book, lol. Then reading back through his emails one day, I noticed that he had thought all along that he was going to write the ebook first, see how that goes and try to write the ‘real book’ later.

‘Funniest’ Moment:  

Day 23: The Editor had finished the 2nd read through of the manuscript so I joked with him and said I wondered if there were any pages left. So then I said- “last I checked I think there were 8 pages left”. So we were going back and forth making all these funnies about that comment and at some point around the 6th or 7th email he said that it sounded more like a leaflet. And asked who is going to buy a leaflet? I can’t believe that all those pages have been edited out. So I replied WOW! You are really taking this joke to another level aren’t you?

Most ‘Memorable’ Moment:

Day 26: It was the day he sent me his acknowledgements section. He gave everybody a one line mention and he wrote like a paragraph about me that was really sweet and heartfelt. We had been joking back and forth for most of the days until that point and I was trying to keep his spirits up and the mood light but when he sent that page I got a little choked up. I was also a bit emotionally overwhelmed because I realized we were nearing the end of the project and I know this experience can’t really be re-created. And it is around the holidays and all that…we are going live this week with the 365- Infinite Expedition Project which has a lot of inspirational stories like that. So we are right in the full mix of this whole intense giving and sharing vibe. Everything just flowed in sync. I totally loved the entire energy around this project, his vision, his spirit. It has been very magical.

Other tidbits:

Editor and Typesetters were fast & amazing (as always)- Kelly Livesay and Ian Potts…MOOOWAH, love them dearly. And Kristina Duewell came in and saved the day at the last minute with her cover detail touch up.

Sacrifices: My teen author gave up ALL his free time more or less. He basically went to work then when he got home, would write and write and write. I gave up social networking for first 2 weeks to help keep him focused; and put a few other projects on the backburner.

Details, details, details…and Insanity: When he said he was a perfectionist, I had NO IDEA that he would build his ‘theme’ topic online from scratch just to make sure he included all the steps in his how-to book. His book probably could have been finished in about 10 days if he didn’t do that but it ended up taking more like 23 days.

Emails: Over 200+ emails exchanged just between us 2….easily

Inspiration: He inspired 4 other teens to start book & business “branding & writing” projects…so we are all very excited. They have each come up with great niche themes, pre-marketing ideas and are WRITING EVERYDAY. I am so darn proud of them.

Dreaming & Doing It: For those on my support team (and who are close to me) they were obviously saying from Day 1 they couldn’t wait to see the final product. And for many in my social networks who are still getting to know me, they seemed to think it was wishful thinking. For future reference they will now know…when I say I’ve got an idea…within 72 hours IT WILL BE set in motion—and—EVERYONE who is in my direct path needs to BE ready or get outta the way :)

We are now 2 weeks into my Teen Author’s challenge to write and publish his book in 30 days or less. He is quickly approaching his next milestone with less than half a chapter remaining in his manuscript. He is staying focused so that his book can be sent to the editor tomorrow. Our in house editor is super speedy and beingthat this is a non fiction how to book we don’t imagine that it will take that long. We have the barcode and ISBN ordered and in hand ( arrived Friday…a few days earlier than expected, YAY) and he has already designed his cover.  I didn’t even know he had graphic design talents..learn something new everyday We will work on marketing and production & distribution logistics while the book is being edited and prepped for print.

November 20, 2008:

Murph, a 17 year old teen from the U.K., kicked things off last week. He wrote to me on Thursday November 20, 2008 and said he had an idea that he hadn’t told anybody about and he wanted to share it with me. So he told me about it with much enthusiasm and how he had been eating, drinking and sleeping this ‘thing’ for the past 6 years. He had been trying to build an online community but coding was taking forever and the project was getting overwhelming. Well I explained to Murph that if he is a Pioneer in his niche industry that he needed to get his idea out there in a big way that made a statement- he had to be fast and first because indeed someone else somewhere in the world was thinking about something very similar and trying to put their idea in motion as well. So he explained to me that he didn’t have much disposable income as he is brand spanking new in the entrepreneurial start up phases. So I basically said to him, well thanks for the VIP Pass to the Pity Party but I am afraid I’ll have to pass.  I told him to work it out and focus on what he would be able to creatively do with the resources (i.e., translation, read between the lines, get a clue, aka) your intellectual property. It’s something you have at your disposal NOW and it is free and you have an unlimited amount of it. Then I told him to get back in contact with me once he was able to think of something. Well…let me tell you—LOL,  when I get my boys fired up and thinking on their own of the possibilities and what is at stake they think of solutions and ideas fast.

Update November 21, 2008:

Approximately 12 hours later on Friday, November 21, 2008 I woke up to this email from Murph. It said I thought of writing an ebook but I really want to write a book, but I want to have it written and published before Christmas. Do you think I can?

We have this synergy and theme in the Renegade CEO’s that’s called “The Infinite Expedition”…it is the moment that a teen consciously grasps onto an idea or a concept and is already in motion- it doesn’t matter what parents, teachers, significant others or friends say or threaten. They are already dreaming and do’ing and functioning on another level and completely being guided by their internal compass. And from this point forward nobody can tell them anything because they are in a place where dreams never end.

 So I said to Murph- all it takes is one person that truly believes in your idea. And being that I am the 2nd person, I think that you are well on your way.

He responded with anxious but nervous energy. He said he wanted to do it but felt he was naive about this whole book writing thing and said he had to research how to make an ebook and write a real book. And I said “Murph- nobody cares about what you plan to do, they only care about what you have done.” And here are the cliff notes- open a frickin’ word document and start typing, LOL. I know, I am so horrible aren’t I?!?!?  Focus, focus, focus in all your waking moments and don’t stop writing until you have made your point. I gave him the Shonika Secret Squirrel No Writer’s Block Book Writing Technique. So we made a deal- he gave up ALL his free time to focus on writing his book and nothing else and I gave up all my social networking, tweeting, facebooking, myspacing, linking in, to 100% focus on answering his questions and providing support and inspiration for him everyday as he works through his first masterpiece.

Update on November 25, 2008:

47 emails, too many silly jokes, lots of feel good emails throughout the day and nearly 6 days later- he has his 8 chapters clearly outlined and is about at the 1/3 point of his book.  We consider his official start date of writing the book on or about November 23, 2008 because he needed a couple of days to (get comfortable with me a strange girl from overseas, lol and also finalize his concept). And he also had to wrap his brain around it. It’s just a wee bit overwhelming for a 17 year old kid you know.

Being that he had off today he commited 10 hours to writing today to push him over the halfway point. He is 7 hours ahead of me here in the states and he has already checked in several times to update me on his progress. He says it is getting easier, he feels more confident and he is looking to the end.

Pulling it together:

I have my primary trusty and super speedy editor in place and ready to take on the project as soon as it is completed (we estimate his manuscript will be completed by this weekend). Our goal is to have everything done- editing, layout, publishing, sales page and the like live the week before the Christmas Holiday! I have already been busy setting everything in place. How happy he will be to have a real book in his hand that he conceptualized, wrote and published in less than 30 days!

Now Everybody’s Writing

Of course while he has been writing he is also making notes of the 7,463 other ideas that he has thought of in the process. In the meantime and in between time my other boys were getting a little jealous. So I now have 3 of my other teen boys who got inspired and motivated to start writing books on their respective niche interests or social causes they feel strongly about. Indeed the Infinite Expedition has taken us on a journey where dreams never end…