Guest Post by New York Times #1 Bestselling Author and Registered Nurse, Carol Gino
Okay, so after about 10 hours stiffening into stone sitting in front of a computer screen, I finally decided to get up and move inside, away from reading anything about healthcare. I want light, mindless entertainment. So I flop down on the couch and pick up the remote to begin scanning tonight’s programs. I click through the stations like a man. But the remote always returns to the same station.
Oh God! Grey’s Anatomy. I love Grey’s Anatomy. Why do I love it? There’s nothing like it in the real world. But that’s why I love it. It’s so romantic. It paints such heroes. Heroes I believed in when I was a teenager. Doctors who fall apart when a patient dies, doctors who smooth a patient’s brow for long minutes, doctors who forego dinner at the local pub with their friends in order to play checkers with a patient…..What?
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Hey guys, on Monday I introduced you to Keith Carlson, one of my co-hosts on RN.FM Radio. Today, I’d like to introduce you to my other partner in crime, Kevin Ross from InnovativeNurse.com.
Kevin is our no-nonsense, tech-savvy, won’t settle for anything less than the very best kind of nurse entrepreneur….and we love him for it!
Here’s Kevin’s motto:
Seek every opportunity for continuing education. A business can never afford to be static. Innovation is the key to success and it is a delicate combination of ever-changing art and science.
He is an ultra-innovative, self-starter and always has his “head on a swivel,” as he likes to say. Early in his professional career he realized that if he wasn’t working his passion and living up to his potential…he was just existing and ‘getting by’…that’s painful for some of us to recognize….and it was a painful realization for him as well.
By digging deep and identifying his passion and then strategically pursuing it, Kevin was able to achieve a level of wellness, career satisfaction and purpose that few achieve.
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Everyone knows that social media marketing is a great way to explode your marketing efforts. Since social media sites are free and reach a huge audience, there is no reason not to use them. Talk about being cost effective!
1) Set up accounts on several social media networks. For instance, you may want a Facebook page, Twitter profile, LinkedIn profile and YouTube channel. Of course, there are other networks coming on board all the time, so join as many as needed.
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Hey guys,
Hope you’re all enjoying the holidays as much as I am!
Boy, I’ve been hitting the cake and eggnog a little hard these days – I won’t lie, the pants are definitely fitting a little tighter than usual – so it’s back to the gym with a vengeance for me in January!
Anyway, I wanted to give you guys links to 2 guest blog posts I wrote in the last week, so you didn’t miss out on these nuggets!
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5 Things They Never Told You in Nursing School
Hey Guys!
Just wanted to say a big hearty THANK YOU!
I just debuted my first eBook on Amazon as $0.99 download (link here and above) and in one day the book has sky-rocketed to #1 in not one, but 2 nursing categories! Due in no small part due to your killer support and awesome engagement!
If you’re thinking about downloading it, but the $0.99 feels a little steep (lol!), here’s a totally unsolicited review by another nurse blogger whom I’ve never met, except that we follow each other on Twitter because we’re both fighting the same good “nurse entrepreneurship” fight!
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Guest Post by Ursula Mentjes
What if you could have anything you desired in 2012? What would you ask for?
Since I was in my early twenties, I have been researching the topic of goal achievement incessantly. I have read hundreds of books (my book shelf and Kindle are overflowing!) on the topic so that I could more easily achieve my goals and help my clients do the same. My hunger to find books on the topic is insatiable. Used bookstores, new bookstores, Kindle – they are all like a magical land to me! Some say that you just need to read ten books on any topic to be considered an expert. What does it means when you’ve read one hundred or more?
For me, it means that I can now help my clients answer this question, “What is the fastest and easiest way to reach my goal?” That is the question that I tell all of my clients to ask themselves when they get clarity on what they want. But sometimes the hardest thing is for them to figure out what they want.
Why is it so hard for humans to figure out what they want? It’s difficult because our belief system gets in the way. Just as an idea pops into our heads regarding what we want, our ego pops up and says, “Really? You can’t have that! You’re not _______ !” Our ego is there to keep us safe by creating fearful thoughts to stop us in our tracks, but it’s only a problem if we believe what it tells us.
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All nurses who long to cease being a staff nurse and start being their own boss and achieving unlimited earning potential, find that when they start to brainstorm, the ideas for nursing-related businesses are endless.
There are many important factors to consider when starting your own nursing business.
First off, you will want to determine if your business idea is really something worth pursuing as a business (and not just a hobby). By doing market research and targeted keyword searches (in Google Keyword Tool, for example) to discover the popularity and profitability of your idea, you can narrow down the field of possibility and rule-out ideas that will be potential non-earners. Plus, you can discover some real winners!
Also, don’t be afraid to ask others (friends, family members, Facebook groups, Nursing Forums, Nursing Blogs and colleagues) what they think about your idea. If there is resounding uncertainty, then you may want to rethink your plan.
Also, you will want to consider how much others will pay for your services or products or how often they will purchase these services. This will help you with determining your prices and help you get clear on the demand side of the business. Ultimately, understanding your pricing and your customer’s lifecycle will also help you determine if your idea is financially feasible.
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Hey Guys!
This article from the UK-based magazine, Nursing Times, hits the nail on the head with the opening question of this article: “How many times have you struggled with a poorly designed piece of equipment, tried to book staff from an agency, or listened to a facilitator and thought: ‘I could do that better’?” This line of thinking is EXACTLY what spurs nurse entrepreneurs into action. But ACTION, not just having the thought, is the key!
Sure there are challenges along the way, but to those who risk comes reward.
Read up on these ambitious nurse entrepreneurs from across the pond and leave me a comment in the box below if you feel inspired!
Warmly,
Anna
The Nurse Entrepreneurs
by Victoria Hoban, Nursing Times Magazine (UK)
How many times have you struggled with a poorly designed piece of equipment, tried to book staff from an agency, or listened to a facilitator and thought: ‘I could do that better’?
And if you did have this thought, did you do anything about it? An increasing number of nurses are doing just that. By developing their ideas into successful businesses, services, or products, they are carving out new careers for themselves as nurse entrepreneurs.
One such nurse is Barbara Hastings-Asatourian, a former nurse educator and health visitor. ‘I used to run programmes on sex education, where I would speak in front of young people,’ she says.
‘It was embarrassing for them and they would ask very few questions. My intention was not to repeat the experience, so when I had to design my own programme for a group of young people with learning difficulties, I developed a board game so they learn together in small groups.’
Little did she know where her idea would lead. So far her company, Contraception Education Ltd, of which she is managing director, has sold 1,200 copies of Contraception: The Board Game.
Last year she was a finalist in the British Female Inventor of the Year Awards.
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Hey Guys!
Caught this awesome article in on workingnurse.com and wanted to share it with you. It profiles some of the heavy weights of the world of Nurse Entrepeneurship and highlights the fact that even nursing schools can no longer ignore the viability of nurse entrepreneurship as a way for nurses to make a big difference in the world and in their own lives. Enter The Center for Nursing Entrepreneurship (CNE) at the University of Rochester School of Nursing. Imagine Nursing Schools now teaching nurses how to market and sell themselves! I love it!
Enjoy a great read and let me know what you think in the comments box below the article.
Cheers,
Anna
Nurse Entrepreneurs
It takes a hefty dose of moxie and a business plan
BY ELIZABETH HANINK, RN, BSN, PHN
What do Seattle Sutton and Wild Iris in have in common, other than intriguing names? Both are companies started by nurses, people like you and me. Nurse entrepreneurs as a group are largely unknown, yet there are hundreds of them. They form a “sort of secret society,” says Pat Bemis, RN, CEN, head of the National Nurses in Business Association. It isn’t that obscurity is the goal. But many people — can I include the majority of nurses? — think that entrepreneurship is incompatible with nursing. We care for others, even for free, if necessary. It’s not just about the money, right? So how could you thrive in business with that attitude?
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Here are 5 no-brainer reasons why you should use blogging as an Internet marketing tool.
1. Blogging is simple. If you have a PC and an Internet connection then you can blog. Period.
2. Blogging is authentic. In this day and age where advertising literally saturates our lives, the credibility of promoters’ claims are always in question. However, in blogs things are different. Blogs are about creating a community and sharing valuable information. With a blog, you can connect deeply and personally with your audience and provide them with real value based on the relationship you’ve built with them vs. the marketing mumbo jumbo you spout at them. See the difference?
3. Blogging is free. Any opportunity for free exposure is a huge bonus especially to start-ups. But many new nurse entrepreneurs aren’t blogging, thus literally losing out on the significant opportunity to gain valuable exposure to their target market for free.
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