Roxane Martino made me a new design… what do you think? She even stuck our logo at the top… talk about cheap advertising.

      

Maybe I’m jaded. Maybe I’m confused. Maybe it’s inexperience. Maybe it’s poor management. Maybe it’s poor people.

But in my short experience it seems that when I’m pushing someone to get involved in a project, I’m doing most of the work. I can motivate someone to get involved with a project that they’re not initially excited about but after a few weeks, that fizzle goes away. Once the fizzle goes away, I’m the one that’s baby sitting, making sure work is getting done and making sure that the fizzle, that was once there, doesn’t go away. Many times the fizzle is long gone and they’re just doing the work so they don’t disappoint themselves or me.

Well, I think from now on, I’m going to look for people to bring ideas to me. I think I’ll wait to find the people that are willing to stick it out through the inevitable highs and lows. I’ll wait to see what ideas I want to get involved with rather than bringing ideas to people. I won’t try to change people’s minds or ideas until I’m completely sold on the people.

As I’ve said before, people are more important than ideas. Once I know I have solid people then I’ll share ideas. But I still won’t push ideas onto people. I’ll do my best to explain a vision and hope they catch fire… I’m not interested in the fizzle, I need to see the fire.

      

Okay… here is a free business idea.

I want a recruiting system, that allows potential employees to submit their resume, allows our guys to sort through those resumes, search the resumes and store the resumes. Thats it… really simple… I want it to look good and run fast.

We have a recruiting system now but I’m not really happy with it. Its slow, complicated and not user friendly.

The Free Idea (lets call it XYZ.com)

What would be really nice is if XYZ.com was a job web application like monster.com. But, XYZ.com created an API which my web site could use to allow John Doe to submit a resume for my position. Then, using their API, I could view, search, and store any resume submitted through my web site.

When John Doe submitted his resume, although he sent it to my company, it was actually stored at XYZ.com. XYZ.com, as a service, offers companies the ability to search through the “global resume database” for a small fee.

After John Doe submits his resume to my company, he can now easily submit his resume to other companies that use XYZ.com.

The Revenue Model
XYZ.com is basically a monster.com… it gains revenue by companies paying them money to search through resumes and post jobs.

What Makes XYZ.com Different
What makes XYZ.com different is their ability to obtain a vast number of applicants… its viral marketing… its distributed networking… its pushing “the work” onto other people.

The application is given away but the data is saved. It is inherently integrated into a business with no need to change the way business is done. People and businesses hate change… the requires NO CHANGE.

Conclusion
Do you like the idea? Good… me too… As a business owner, I would use it because it would allow me a cheap way to obtain a recruiting system… I’d be your first customer

If you like it enough, higher iProv to write the software.

Or email me and lets do it together as a joint venture

Call me, we’ll do the development

      

We’re looking for some REAL entrepreneurs. People that are willing to take a real risk in hopes for a BIG return.

The opportunity has A LOT of upside including profit sharing and the opportunity to work on a project seen by MILLIONS!

We are working to grow FORECLOSEDmaps.com including increasing our user base, revenue, and adding value to our user’s experience.

There are a few requirements that applicants MUST have:

1. Excellent written and spoken English
2. Top grades or a track record of success
3. Permanent legal right to work in the US (Student visas are time-limited)

We look forward to hearing from you!

Hours: Full-Time

      

Are you looking for a few good workers? Finding the right IT and contract workers can be a challenge. In order to find the few people who are truly qualified, you need to wade through piles of resumes. At iProv, we focus on finding people to fill your positions so you don’t need to worry about it. A lot of people have asked me why companies use iProv, and not just do this themselves? We’ll here’s a short list…

Short Term Projects
If your company has a short term project in the works, hiring a skilled worker on contract terms could be an ideal solution. Typically, these projects do not require the enlistment of a permanent employee. Why hire, train, and devote your business’s resources into a short term fix? Let iProv show you the benefits of bringing in a trained worker, specialized in your area of need, whose only goal is a final product up to or exceeding your company’s specifications.

High Growth Companies
Through our employee recruiting and placement program, iProv is also able to help high growth companies increase their relative efficiency. When a business achieves rapid growth, that growth must be met with an adequate base of coverage for all your company’s tasks. Simply adding employees without multiplying net resources can lead to a deduction of your business’s overall production. And as you know, when you are just trying to stay afloat, the last thing you can afford to do is spend precious time searching for qualified candidates.

Help Find Quality Candidates
Our main focus with this placement initiative is finding top of the line, quality candidates for our customers. For every employment opportunity that you advertise, chances are you receive a lot of applications. It takes time to sift through them, interview, verify backgrounds, test, and train the right people for the job. We simplify this process by going through all of those steps for you. We narrow the search down to a select number of candidates that we find adequate for you. We utilize nationwide searches, powerful referrals, and other resources that, honestly, can’t be accessed by the general public.

Not an IT Expert?
If you need IT professionals but you are not an IT expert, the task of hiring can be really frustrating. It is hard for someone who is not part of the IT industry to spot a quality candidate. Since we focus on that kind of work, we know exactly what to look for. This increases the chances that you will find a perfect match for your position.

      

On Thursday we were honored with the Most Promising Business of the Year for 2006 by Arkansas Business Development Roundtable.. It’s an honor and proves that our hard work and commitment to providing valuable solutions is paying off.

      

iProv has made FORECLOSEDmaps.com FREE!

We’ve opened it up for everyone to use at NO CHARGE! We are doing this because we know this is a helpful tool and we want people to use it. Check it out for yourself at FORECLOSEDmaps.com.

We still urge people to register so that we can keep you informed as far as updates, etc. are concerned, but it isn’t required.

If you know ANYBODY that you think might want to advertise with us or will use the site, forward this on. We made it free in the hopes that we could get sponsors to help us with costs. With all the traffic the site has been getting thus far, we know it can be a useful resource not only for investors, but also for anyone who chooses to advertise their business on the site.

Thanks and remember, we made it free because it’s a useful tool, SO USE IT!

      

I was lucky enough to appear on Talk Business with Roby Brock on Channel 16. I really enjoy his show and I appreciate his support. Therefore, I’m going to recommend you all go and watch his show. It airs on Sunday nights on Fox at 10:00pm. Sorry to anyone outside of Arkansas, you won’t see Roby.

Roby’s Web Site
FORECLOSEDmaps.com coverage on Talk Business by Roby Brock - 60 Seconds

      

I know… I know… it’s been over a month and everyone has stopped reading this. But, I’ve been working really hard on a new project! And we’ve just released it! The project is FORECLOSEDmaps.com.

FORECLOSEDmaps.com scrapes a bunch of web site finding foreclosed properties and stores it in our database. Then, we tie the properties into Yahoo! Maps. This allows you to see a big picture of ALL the foreclosures in central Arkansas.

Investors are then show flags for each property in foreclosure. If they click on the flag, they can see details about the property including address, owner information, lender information, estimated auction price, contact information, etc.

The big idea is that investors can make a more informed decision if you present them information that is easily comprehended. There are over 190 foreclosures in Pulaski County… There is no way you can comprehend all 190+ properties… unless you are using FORECLOSEDmaps.com.

      

Well, it’s been a while! One of my New Year’s Resolutions was to post regularly. That obviously isn’t going as planned. The holiday’s are busy for everyone and with the added pressure of year-end stuff, it’s really easy to fall behind. I also enjoy trying to think of goals for the New Year. As I began asking people about their goals, I found that many people don’t make goals. And, the people who do make goals don’t understand their purpose.

So, I thought I would outline how to make goals. But first, let me tell you why you need to make goals.

Goals allow you to set milestones and judge performance. Additionally, goals usually aren’t as easy as a single step. For instance, most people say, I want to graduate college. Notice, the goal is to graduate college. Well, to graduate college you have to first graduate high school or take your GED. Then, you have to score above some minimum on either your ACT or SAT. The point is, you can’t just graduate college without accomplishing some intermediate goals first. It’s good to have a big picture (ie “I want to be the President”) but you have to outline goals to allow you to accomplish these things.

That takes me to my first point:
Look at the big picture. Goals should always be a stepping stone toward the big goal. Maybe your goal in life is to be the President of the United States. Each intermediate goal (aka New Year’s Resolution) should get you closer to your big goal. You can have multiple big goals, but make sure all of your intermediate goals are working toward your big goal.

Goals must be measurable. At the end of the year, you need to be able to look back at your goals and say “yes” I accomplished that. Or, you have to be able to say “no”, I didn’t accomplish that because of X. Either way, you can’t say things like “I want to be a better person”. Try saying, “I will donate $10,000 to a charitable organization” or “I will make it a point to say hello to 3 strangers”.

Goals must be attainable. Anyone who sets unattainable goals is doomed for failure. Subconsciously your brain gives up and you forget about meeting the goal. Shoot for the stars but understand that you’re smarter than any empty promises on a piece of paper.

Goals must promote your well being. Yes, don’t set goals that allow you to sit still. I guess this is the definition of a goal but either way, understand that your goals are set to make you a better person. Maybe your goals are professional, personal, or spiritual. But, either way, let your goals bring you up, not down.