But then something started to bug me. The ‘on the side’ part kept nagging me. It didn’t take me too long to figure out why. It was pretty obvious. I was compromising. And therefor not completely being ME. Not the IngridTappin.com I really, really, really wanted to share with you. This one was a good start, but still had some elements of fear in it. It took me a while to look fear in the face, slap it around a bit and scare it away by making a decision. And acting on it. It took me a while because I needed to take my own advice and find something:  the courage to turn everything around, to undertake something new, something different, something personal and change my world for the better. Change THE world for the better.

I found it. From September 1st helping entrepreneurs run better businesses is going to BE my business. Not on the side. As a main course.

The New Biz Company: New Media. New Marketing. New Business. That’s the change of plans.

This means that my brand new blog is already up for a make over. But I promissed you a launch, so I’m launching and I do hope you like what you see, even though as you may have guessed, some things are going to change over here. IngridTappin.com: Beyond Business is going to be a better fit with The New Biz Company. It’s going to be a better fit with me. Just so you know. I’m still here to help you, only in a different way. I think a better way. You’ll see.

I can’t wait to keep you posted.

I noticed a typo. Had I not, the title of this post might have been published as “Why Drinking is GOD For Business” instead of ‘good’. Knowing me, this would be a perfectly plausible headline, but let us not get into God or Freud today and focus on the drinking and business part of my advice for you. God and Freud are very last season anyway. Today, a simple answer to an important question.

Question: How do I start my business?
Answer: Start drinking.

Are you kidding me?

No, I am not kidding.

Just drink.

If you don’t like alcohol, I think you’re a bit odd and I’d recommend you give it a shot. No punn intended. But I’m not trying to get you drunk here. Coffee, tea, lemonade, soda, water, or any other liquid people have a habit of sharing together while socially connecting, will do. Stop working on your LinkedIn profile. Stop reading blogs on how to start a fanpage on Facebook. Stop reading this blog. Turn off your computer, and go out and have a drink with someone. It’s good for business.

No good?

You need more thoughts on this one? Tough cookie you are. Okay. Let me elaborate.

Social media is not your God

I understand your hesitation. “Why?” you ask. “Why should you go out and meet people in real life?”  We have the internet. We can start our business at home. We have mobile phones and laptops and the whole online social media thing going for us. That’s where all the money is made nowadays, right? You want to know what to do HERE, behind your computer. You’re thinking: “I don’t want to go out! I want to get started!! Give me something that’s fast and easy!!!”

I am. Because social media is a lot of things, but it’s not ‘easy’ and it’s definitly not as fast as all the guru’s are making it up to be. Having a drink with someone who can actually hear your voice and look into your eyes, listen to your story and get to know you, might not be as fast as typing a tweet, but in the long run it’s a hell of a lot more effective and in my opinion the easiest way to start your business now.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the internet. I love social media. I love reading blogs. I love my iPhone and I love hanging out on Twitter. And I do believe it can help you do business too. But it’s not where it begins. Social media isn’t your Business God. You are.

(Oh, shit God came back to haunt me for calling him last season. Sorry about that. Moving on.)

See, the fact of the matter is: You might think I’m pretty okay as @ingridtappin on Twitter. Maybe even like me when we speak on the phone. But have a drink with me and you’ll think I’m awesome. And that’s where business opportunities arise. With our awesomeness.

Get out and show up

Crazy and arrogant? Maybe. But it’s true. Everything I’ve achieved in business so far has started with a drink. The funding for my first production? I met some people in a bar and it all began with a beer (or two). Starting my first company? A group of ambitious people came together and organized a dinner party. First person who paid me for my services?  A friend advised me to have cup of coffee with a guy he knew.

You know how the really cool and succesfull entrepeneurs build their companies? By getting out there, showing up and being awesome.

Real business is done with real people. They will love you, help you and even give you some of their money, because of YOU. Not because of your LinkedIn profile. But because you rock.

Your future customers, clients, business partners, investors. They might be online. They might not. But the ones that are going to help you start your business will definitly want to meet you face to face. It’s up to you if this happens sooner or later. So, go on. Go do some bizdrinking. And let me know when it’s time for us to meet.

Cheers.

And then it happened. Not the good shit. The bad shit. The shit that stinks. I started to think too much. I started to think about my great idea. A lot. Deep thoughts. I started questioning myself.

Was this really a great idea?
Was this website going to be unique?
Was I really going to be able to make a difference?
There are loads of bloggers out there who are better writers than I am. Will I ever be able to be just as good?
Is there even anyone out there waiting on yet another blog about business and media?
Isn’t this just a waist of my time? I mean I have a business to run. I’ll never… Who am I kidding? This idea sucks.

I went from, Yeah baby. Let’s rock and roll, to: THIS IDEA SUCKS.

And it sucked.

Not so much the idea, but the overwhelming feeling of FEAR. Fear of failing. Fear of not knowing what to do next. Fear of not being perfect.

Lucky me, I’ve been in this situation many, many, many times before. All entrepreneurs have. It’s a package deal. You want to create, make a difference and get paid for it? Fine. Here you go. Have some creativity, some enthusiasm and some drive to get you going. Oh, yes and we will throw in some extra stinky fear with it for free. Have fun!

It’s a bitch, I know. But you learn to deal with it. By now I know exactly what to do when this kind of fear comes around the corner trying to bite me in the ass.

I have to become a schizophrenic.

Yes, that means getting yourself a multiple personality and start talking to an extra voice in your brain. Crazy stuff!? Of course! It’s insane. That’s why we love doing what we do, right?

Who is this Voice? Someone awesome. Someone who’s an expert on whatever the thing is you want to do. Someone you would just love to call and ask for help, but can’t because, well Oprah is kind of busy right now. That’s the Voice. Your perfect mentor.

If you hate Oprah, don’t do Oprah. It doesn’t have to be Oprah. Oprah is just an example. It can be anybody else. I just said Oprah because everybody knows Oprah. And if you are reading this, Oprah, you need another Voice. Because you ARE Oprah, and then the whole thing of being a schizophrenic doesn’t make any sense. But thanks for reading this. How cool, Oprah is reading my blog. See, good things happen when you allow yourself to be a bit insane.

Moving on. You start having a conversation with the Voice. You ask questions and the Voice will give you the answers. Because the Voice is someone awesome and preferably someone you look up to in some way or fashion. You will be asking the Voice the RIGHT questions. You won’t be asking the oh-no-I-suck-what’s-the-best-way-to-kill-myself -questions. Because, well you don’t want Oprah to think you’re a loser and waist her time. Talking to the Voice will make you calm down, be reasonable and make you sound smart. Especially if you write it down.

Example:

YOU: Hi there, (fill in the name of your Voice) I have a new idea for a (fill in your idea) and I’m a bit stuck. Could you help me?

VOICE: Sure, what is the purpose of (..)?

YOU: Well, I want to start this (… ) so I can help (…) and make some money so I can (…).

VOICE: That sounds great! How are you going to start?

YOU: I thought the best thing to do was (…) But now I’m not so sure.

VOICE: Hmm. That doesn’t sound too bad. Why aren’t you sure?

YOU: Because (…)

VOICE: I see. Have you thought about (…)?

I could go on, but it’s your Voice and I can only go so far in my insanity. Anyway, you see where this is going. This little crazy conversation has already got you explaining exactly WHAT it is you want to do, for WHO you want to do it, and WHY you want to do it. Very important stuff. Go on and you will find out HOW you want to do it.

Anyway, enough about you, back to me. I know you’re waiting to hear who my Voice is. It’s Naomi Dunford from Ittybiz. Go check her out. She’s awesome. I love her voice in my head. And as you can see she helped me out big time. I didn’t toss the idea. I got my mojo back. And my website doesn’t suck. I mean, for god’s sake, Oprah’s a fan!

So, feel stuck? Poor yourself a glass of wine and go all “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest” on yourself. It helps.

Anyway, my point is: There is a chance someone won’t like you and your business, and there is a chance they will let you know. It’s not the end of the world, but it sucks.

So, what do you do?

1. Let it suck. Breath in and out. And let it go.
2. If you did do something slightly asshole-like or something that could be percieved as so. Be nice. Say sorry.
3. Solve the problem if there is anything to be solved.
4. If the person won’t accept your apologies and solution, say, hasta la vista baby, and walk away. I mean, who’s the asshole now?
5. If you feel you really absolutly definitly didn’t do anything wrong, point number 1 is enough.

It’s simple. And remember: Hate is a very passionate emotion. Big chance they are trying to tell you they love you deeply, but don’t know how. Some people just have issues.