Where ambitious young professionals connect and grow

Coach Al Johnson
Chicago, IL
President & Chief Coaching Officer, Inspiratude Coaching Solutions
Entrepreneurship
Fans (29)
Groups (12)

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Ryan Paugh Welcome! If you'd like to be added to the Official Brazen Careerist Members Twitter List then please leave your Twitter ID in this thread.

125 weeks ago from Brazen Careerists on Twitter

Tara Jackson: @tjatedutrek
1 day ago
Sheshadri: @shady_gun
1 day ago
 
Coach Al Johnson Good evening fellow strategist! I'm new to the group. Curious what any of you do to improve your strategy development skills?

19 weeks ago from The Modern Strategist

Jay Bitsack: Hi Coach,
Depends on what you mean by strategy development... Very often, strategy development involves a process. And in that context, there are ...More
Hi Coach,
Depends on what you mean by strategy development... Very often, strategy development involves a process. And in that context, there are skills that are necessary at the process level and skills that are necessary at the component/elemental level. But not to belabor the technicalities, the simplest and most consistently relevant answer to your high-level question is: READ...a lot!

5 weeks ago
 
Ryan Paugh What are your favorite books for entrepreneurship? Here are some faves from members of our YEC Women program: http://bit.ly/vnj75e What would you add?

20 weeks ago from Youth Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurs, Shotgun Startups, Web Startups and Upstarts!3 more

Timothy Johnson III: I'd add "The Personal MBA: Mastering the Art of Business", by Josh Kaufman and "168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think" by Laura Vanderkam
17 weeks ago
Beatriz Alemar: The E-myth and Get Clients Now. My personal favs about entrepreneurship.
16 weeks ago
 
Suzanne Kaplan Is there anyone here who would be willing to do an interview with me for my nascent blog http://jobtalknj.com/? I'm particularly interested in interviewing entrepreneurs. Please let me know how to get in touch with you, or mention me on twitter @JobtalkNJ. Interview takes 30 minutes via phone. Thanks! Suzanne PS I can't pay you, but I'll make sure to tweet your praises!

19 weeks ago from Youth Entrepreneurship

Sarah Young: I am very interested. please email me at sjyoungdesign@gmail.com
18 weeks ago
Timothy Johnson III: Suzanne, you're close by, as in, Princeton close!
17 weeks ago
 
Coach Al Johnson Just read a great article that I wanted to share with this group from Mark Cuban on entrepreneurship: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/222524

19 weeks ago from Youth Entrepreneurship

Dave Rothacker: Man, do I love #9! And #12, ironically just yesterday I had a conversation with a middle manager, who I know to be excellent at what he does. His ...MoreMan, do I love #9! And #12, ironically just yesterday I had a conversation with a middle manager, who I know to be excellent at what he does. His main beef is that he is under-appreciated and under-valued.

Nice work on finding this resource Coach Al!

18 weeks ago
 
Coach Al Johnson BRANDING: When you start a new company where you are a coach or consultant...should you brand yourself, the company name, or both? Open to thoughts...

19 weeks ago from Youth Entrepreneurship

Dave Rothacker: Here's a thought Coach Al - As a consumer, if I am dealing with the employee of a company, that company's brand no matter what they want it to be, ...MoreHere's a thought Coach Al - As a consumer, if I am dealing with the employee of a company, that company's brand no matter what they want it to be, takes a backseat to the employee.

In a one person gig, I would work like crazy on consistent & appealing communications, image & service. I consider this tactical work. As far as individual branding, I believe good values, ethic and service fortifies the tactical side, so that in the end, there's really only one brand.

18 weeks ago
 
Coach Al Johnson CURIOUS: What is the one thing you wish you would have known BEFORE you started your business and what would you do differently had you known?

19 weeks ago from Entrepreneurs

 

19 weeks ago

 

19 weeks ago

 
Coach Al Johnson Great tips in the attached article! What are some things you wish you would have known when you were 22 that would have either accelerated your career success and/or eliminated some bumps and bruises along the way? http://under30ceo.com/8-things-i-wish-i-knew-when-i-was-22/

19 weeks ago from Chicago YP Entrepreneurs

 
Coach Al Johnson Great tips in the attached article! What are some things you wish you would have known when you were 22 that would have either accelerated your career success and/or eliminated some bumps and bruises along the way? http://under30ceo.com/8-things-i-wish-i-knew-when-i-was-22/

19 weeks ago from Inspiratude Coaching Solutions

 
Coach Al Johnson ARTICLE: Great read from entrepreneur.com with solid advice from billionaire Mark Cuban: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/222524

19 weeks ago from Chicago YP Entrepreneurs

Coach Al Johnson: What would your TOP THREE rules for start-ups if this article had interviewed you?
19 weeks ago
 
Coach Al Johnson Hello - o - o - oooooooooooo! That would be an echo since I'm the only member of this newly started group! But in time I hope many other Chicago Young Professionals will consider joining the group. See YOU all at the top, Coach Al Johnson www.inspiratude.com

19 weeks ago from Chicago YP Entrepreneurs

 
Coach Al Johnson January is National Mentoring Month! As a coach, I believe having coaches and mentors of my own helps me stay on top of my game. I'm curious -- how do you all go about starting your own mentoring relationships?

19 weeks ago from Ask A Coach

 
Coach Al Johnson COACHING TIPS: Are you a young professional in a less-than-ideal job? If so, see what other career coaches and I had to say in the Wall Street Journal this week: http://www.inspiratude.com/about-us/press-room

19 weeks ago from Ask A Coach

 
Coach Al Johnson How many folks here are located in Chicago? I'd like to try and connect with a few folks in the Chicagoland area for a live discussion in February. Any takers? I really want 2012 to be the year I challenge myself to learn from others vs. trying to do so much on my own.

19 weeks ago from Youth Entrepreneurship

 
Coach Al Johnson Are there any entrepreneurs in this group who are looking to connect with other young professional entrepreneurs? I've started a new group and hope to gather at least a half dozen to a dozen members in the next 30 days for a live meeting in Chicago! If you are interested send me a message or join the group here: http://www.brazencareerist.com/network/chicago-yp-entrepreneurs

19 weeks ago from Young Professionals of Chicago

 

19 weeks ago

 
Coach Al Johnson Happy New Year Badgers! Are any of you located in the Chicagoland area.

19 weeks ago from Wisconsin Badgers

 
Coach Al Johnson How many of you have a mentor and how many do you have?

19 weeks ago from Inspiratude Coaching Solutions

 
Coach Al Johnson January is National Mentoring Month! Have you told your mentor THANK YOU yet? What challenges do any of you face with starting a new, MEANINGFUL mentoring relationship?

19 weeks ago

 
Coach Al Johnson QUESTION: I spent some time talking with a business consultant I met at a friend's b-day party this weekend. The question of the hour was, as a young entrepreneur, when you full time day job potentially holds you back due to time commitments there, how/when do you know when the right time is to leave your comfortable corporate job and go ALL IN with your start up? What do you guys think?

19 weeks ago from Youth Entrepreneurship

 
Edward Antrobus I recently started a new company doing ebook file conversion and publishing.The conversion aspect I started 10 months ago but never had any customers. Last month I relaunched adding the publishing side. So far I've signed on author had made one sale. What I need help with is the marketing, to get the word out, but I only have ~$25/month I can put towards the effort. I need to find somebody who can do the marketing and advertising on that budget.

20 weeks ago from Youth Entrepreneurship

Edward Antrobus: JRandom, That's a great question. The short answer: quality. The long answer: Any software-based conversion tool is going to be inherently limited ...MoreJRandom, That's a great question. The short answer: quality. The long answer: Any software-based conversion tool is going to be inherently limited in producing quality output by how close the input file resembles what the programmer coded for. The less formatting the source, the better looking the final product.
I'm a big fan of Calibre, I use it to manage my own library, and it does a decent job of converting files from one ebook file to another. If I get a Kindle book for my personal library, I'll use Calibre to turn it into an epub. But it tends to fall down on the job on odt/rtf files (it doesn't support doc files as an input file). Even Amazon's own conversion tool won't produce a file that Amazon will accept if the source file isn't just so.
If somebody wants a file that is going to look right on readers screens, will validate on validation tools, and will be accepted by ebook retailers then work and knowledge has to go into formatting the source document. That's 90% of what I do. And if you're not familiar with the rules, it can take a lot of time. The first ebook I ever did, it took me 10 hours to get right.

Noel, Any company that has a "zombie" level of service desserves some consideration. I'll have to look into them more. Thanks for the link!

20 weeks ago
Noel Rozny: @Edward--You bet! Let me know how it goes.
19 weeks ago
 
Coach Al Johnson Curious how other young entrepreneurs who also hold a demanding full time job split their time. There is marketing, operations, content development, website maintenance, strategic planning, and the list goes on when you are an army of one. I've learned to split my time by category, but I'm curious how others spend their time to generate success.

20 weeks ago from Youth Entrepreneurship

Dave Rothacker: In another lifetime Coach, I had a twenty-five year relationship with your day job company. (You can just imagine how skinny the catalog USED to ...MoreIn another lifetime Coach, I had a twenty-five year relationship with your day job company. (You can just imagine how skinny the catalog USED to be :-) What is your company's attitude towards your coaching gig?
20 weeks ago
Coach Al Johnson: Dave - I'm impressed each year that they find a way to add more to it! They are fully supportive and my coaching and mentoring background has led ...MoreDave - I'm impressed each year that they find a way to add more to it! They are fully supportive and my coaching and mentoring background has led to many opportunities within the company as a result. Great to place to work - as they reward me with more there, I feel punished that I have less time to devote to my own business. It's tough!
20 weeks ago

Groups (12)

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Fans (29)

Geoff Brown
Barbara Hall
Amanda Guralski
Brenton Gieser
Eric Leebow
Dave Rothacker
Nate
Arsene Hodali
Demetra Brown
Website Designer

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Chris Perry
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Kelly Cuene
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Dave Rothacker
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