I came across a great article on Entrepreneur.com about Suzy Prudden, whose face I recognized but whose name I did not. She’s had quite a life and offers many lessons for business people and entrepreneurs. Starting off as a fitness trainer out of her own, Suzy has seen serious financial ups and downs (which included being homeless and out of work), mostly based on youth and inexperience. She transformed herself into a motivational speaker, reaping praise from folks like Deepak Chopra and Oprah.

At 22, with a new baby on the way and a husband in school she needed an income and started doing fitness training from home. Soon she spun this into a full-fledged fitness company which she owned for 18 years before selling it in 1983. She started giving workshops, which she sold cheaply to gain a following and to brand herself as a speaker on mind-body connections. She’s now written 13 books, and is acknowledged as a leader in holistic mental/physical health.

What I particularly loved about the article and Prudden herself is her succinct advice for individuals interested in starting a business. This from Entrepreneur.com:

1. Have a business plan: “I actually for the first time ever have a business plan,” she says. “I’ve never had one before. I just had an idea and did it.”She’s now working with business coach Bobbie Leonard. “She looks at all the things I’ve done and she said she doesn’t understand why I’m not more successful in the world.”

   Prudden knows why: “It’s because I don’t plan, I just do.”
    

2. Find people to help you. “Getting a business coach is paramount,” she says. “A lot of us think we have to do it ourselves. We think we have to know everything. We don’t know everything. There are people who know much more than we do, and we need to get hold of them.”
    
3. Make sure you have money. “I suggest people keep their day job or make sure they have some kind of income. If you don’t have money, it’s too hard.”
    
4. Go for it. “Now is the best time to start a business because everybody’s a mess. The playing field is more even. And if you can make a business successful at a time like now, then you’ve got it made when things start turning around.”
    
5. Make sure you fill a need. “When you start a business, you have to look at what is needed, not necessarily what you want to do. People get a good idea, and they think everyone wants it. You’ve got to find out if they want it before you take it out there.”

For pulling herself up and following her own series of dreams, Suzy Prudden is our Saturday Success Story!

I just did a post about “fremium” and how it builds customer loyalty. Of course, there is something in it for the person reading the free content. You may be wondering where you can find these valuable no-cost goodies online. Here are a few that I’ve found valuable:

Personal Branding Magazine. Dan Schawbel, current leader in the personal branding field, offers a free issue of his Personal Branding magazine. If you want to be the Oprah of your industry, this is definitely worth the download.

Jonathan Fields Firefly Manifesto All Roads Lead Home ipod . For anyone who has recently been laid off and is considering making the big leap into working for yourself, Jonathan Fields, author of Career Renegade The Water Horse hd

, has given you a free inspirational kick-in-the-pants ebook full of reasons to not climb back into a career that you hated to begin with. He also helps you redefine what “success” actually means to you.

Chris Brogan and Julien Smith: Trust Economies

. Chris Brogan writes one of the most popular social media blogs. Julien Smith is a popular podcaster on similar topics. They expanded this e-book into their new (and fast-selling) Trust Agents

• Broadcast News rip
  
  download Prey movie

  download One Missed Call movie

• download The Phantom Creeps

which just came out. Informative information about relationship marketing.

Sonia Simone’s free e-classes. Her 10-lesson course on writing newsletters (which also works for blogs) is killer. If you think writing isn’t important, you are WRONG. Whether you are a VA or entrepreneur, improving the content of your written communication can set you apart from your competition.  

Do you have any other e-books, newsletters or giveaways that you love? Let us know below.

• Judgment Night
  Colour from the Dark dvd

I think it’s fair to say that sometimes being an entrepreneur is hard and lonely. You have a different mindset than many of your friends and family members, you are always having to hustle, the business is always in your thoughts…you have clients who won’t (or can’t) pay, you wonder if you are doing everything you can to grow your business and you often work from home at really weird hours. It is normal to feel discouraged or in a slump occasionally. Everyone gets motivated differently but here are a few resources to help get you up and excited again.

1. Get out. We talked about this earlier

but it sometimes helps to get out and actually be with people. Even if it is dragging the laptop to your local coffee shop. Or, because you may not have real co-workers, find a freelance group that works together. Most major cities have these opportunities. Try Meetup.com under Freelance to see if there’s a group for you. It’s nice to be with people who speak the same “entrepreneurial” language as you.

2. Read The Dip by Seth Godin

• A Mysterylaska buy

. Seth will remind you that slogging through the tough times is what differentiates successful businesses and people from the others. Pushing through “the dip” is crucial and he’ll walk you through the how and why.

3. Add these blogs to your blog reader (like Google): Steve Pavlina, Good Vibe Coach

• The Great Escape psp The Pacifier dvd Keeping Up with the Steins ipod Vengeance video The Town That Dreaded Sundown movie download

Red Planet film

• Kung fu download Cemetery Gates movie Resident Evil: Extinction film

, Genius Catalyst (be sure to sign up for Michael’s newsletter-killer content), Jonathan Fields The Salton Sea

, and Escape from Cubicle Nation. Trust me. At least one of these blogs will offer you a gentle boost each day.

4. Visualize yourself as powerful, successful, motivated and happy. Get to what that FEELS like. Hey! You can call it new-agey hocus pocus but professional athletes do it! They spend time working with their coaches visualizing sinking that putt, slam-dunking that ball, winning that gold medal. Why shouldn’t you?

5. Take a day off. It is soooo easy to think and do for your business 24/7. Don’t. I find the fastest way to do this is to absolutely not open the computer at least one day per week. I don’t check email. Period. And I spend that day however I want. Our brains and hearts need a break. Give them one!

Now c’mon readers. We need more than these five ways! Share your favorite books, blogs, tips on putting a bit more pep in our entrepreneurial step!  

Gremlins 2: The New Batch buy

There is so much juicy goodness in the form of free training and motivational videos on the Web! You can listen to top speakers who charge hundreds or thousands of dollars, all for FREE. Here are some of the best I’ve found:

1. Guy Kawasaki’s 10-20-30 Rule

for PowerPoint

2. Seth Godin’s Sliced Bread

(all about standing out in the marketplace)

3. Richard St. John’s Success is a Continuous Journey

4. Richard Branson (Need I say more?)

5. David Allen on Getting Things Done

6. Tom Peters (founder of personal branding) on Gain Respect by Giving It

• Barbed Wire Dolls dvd

7. Lisa Irby’s Creating a Wordpress Blog (ALL of Lisa’s YouTube videos about online marketing are excellent)

8. Gary Vaynerchuk’s Enormous Talent is Not Enough

Earth vs. the Flying Saucers hd

The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea download

U Turn trailer

9. Pam Slim on Escaping from Cubicle Nation Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem movie download Grow Your Own psp

10. Keith Ferrazi’s How to Turn a Contact into an Ally