It’s a New Year, whew hew! Out with the OLD and in with the YOU! Huh, huh, “you teen CEO know it alls” is that what it’s all about in the year of change? I am sooo going to be more sensitive and compassionate this year [brouhaha, evil grin > ].

Let me be the first to remind you that I strongly and truly believe that teens don’t need to be helped but they want to be empowered.  The teens I have worked with didn’t need for me to hold their hand. They just wanted me to show them how to leverage resources (people, places and things) so they could get their wee bitty little but very awesome & powerful idea branded and marketed to people who would LOVE IT and help it grow bigger!

I cold-call and market several days a week. I do it to help create media exposure, speaking and business opportunities for the teens who seek me out for help. I would say I am generally successful with this.  And the reason why is because it’s much easier and less stressful to get your name out there and people on board when you are building on something you already have established and in motion. 

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Today I found an interesting story on the web (imagine that, tee he he). It was about How to Pitch a TV Show. At first I thought it was how to pitch a TV show so that you could be on it…BUT as it turns out, it wasn’t. However, I still thought the content was useful. The focus of the article was how to pitch a potential TV show idea as in to a TV Station or Producer. Now, why exactly am I sharing this with you (you are only a teenager after all and what do you know)? [Everything and nothing at all....good answer.] 

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(Note: This is Part 2 of 2 from our innerview 2 days ago….sorry we were having “technical” difficulties yesterday).

Here is Part 1 if you missed it: “Part 1″

In Part II of his INNERview, we ask Teen CEO “Nashy” of ClastaZ.com questions that inquiring minds want to know . These questions were asked by our Renegades Community and Teen Biz Coach “Shonika Proctor”.  Hope everyone will find this useful as you continue to push forward with your own entrepreneurial pursuits:

1. You said you have been online since the age of 12…at what age did you start your first business and what was it?

Yea, that is right I have actually been active online since I was 12 either just browsing to find ways to make money, or attempting to create my own site. Looking back I don’t think you can call my first site a business, it was a free site I set up on freewebs! The only thing I paid for was the name: www.rediz.com. It was a shopping portal that simply displayed a lot of different sites selling numerous things. I was an affiliate of all of them, so was paid on click thru and also commission if a user went on to buy a product. It actually worked out well to start with but eventually traffic slowed down and commercially it turned out to be a failure. Having said that, I was so young at the time the money it made me felt like a lot and I learned some really valuable experience on the way.

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Two teen entrepreneurs have placed in America’s Best Young Entrepreneurs Under Age 25 (2008) for the 4th Annual Business Week Magazine competition.  They were the 2 youngest to be featured. Ironically they were both also females (which there were very few of..and I have had quite a difficult time recruiting to my program myself) and they were also both from the NFTE program. NFTE (pronounced nifty) stands for the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship, http://www.nfte.com. They teach a mini ‘MBA’ curriculum in middle schools and high schools that are located in low income neighborhoods. I have been a loyal NFTE Volunteer since 2005 and highly endorse it for both volunteers and sponsors.

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Looking for SEO (Search Enging Optimization) Tips and Tricks? In this post you will find a few tips presented in a fun and clever way by the SEO Rapper.

For those of you who don’t know what SEO is, it stands for Search Engine Optimization. It is how your website, blog or page gets found when people type in a keyword in the search box on a site such as Google or Yahoo. Continue on to Check Out the SEO Video Rapper!

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Do you know what the most valuable asset in your business will be in the next five years?

Your email marketing list! Yes, I know it may be difficult to believe right now, but imagine if you were a baker who acquired tons of clients throughout the years and, all of a sudden, something called the Atkins anti-carbohydrate craze comes along? Sure you could come up with an alternative carb-free product, but how could you quickly get in contact with all the people you sold to throughout the years to let them know before they bought into the hype and took their business elsewhere?

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Want to know how emerging teen small business owners can compete in the global marketplace…AND WIN? Then today’s post and article is for you! 

Many people are quick to tell you what you need to do in order to succeed in business. But not so many people are explaining what not to do. And as it happens, knowing what to avoid, the common mistakes made by so many people who’ve failed at fulfilling their vision and living their dreams, is at least as critical for success as knowing what to do. Because of that, I’ve put together this handy and invaluable list of the 7 big 21st Century no-no’s (aka ‘The Small Business Disruptors 2.0′) in making your small business work for you. You’ve heard all the “Do’s”, these are the “Don’ts”, and whatever you do, don’t you forget them! Brouhaha

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…and call it a day because it’s not how you die but how you live that counts the most. Truly ‘living’ is about going with the flow and doing things NOW & TODAY that are not just routine, but also fun and different. You can do what you want, when you want- if you truly understand the value and power of leveraging one’s mind and one’s time. These few statements pretty much embrace the culture of the ultimate (Young) Renegade CEO.
 

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