Blog Posts

An example of a web property that generates great monthly income

10/8/2018

It's been over a year now that Handshakin turned from an online marketing services company to a web property investment company. ... What the heck does that mean?

It means we build our own websites on our own domain names. Instead of building websites for clients. Here's a concrete lead generation website. We built a referral website "Fort Collins Concrete Contractors" and after waiting and blogging for 6 months...

Bought a $10,000 domain on Sedo for $100... I thought.

9/11/2018

Recently, I've been bidding on not just domain names, but domain names that come with a website. You can buy pretty inexpensive websites that are 'starter' and may not be making money each month, but have a ton of original content and viewers already visiting it. If it's a niche that you're familiar with, you may have a good chance of making money at it!

I have bid on domain names on Godaddy Auctions for years acquiring domain names for my company Handshakin, but recently have started to spend more time on Flippa and Sedo.

23 Places for American entrepreneurs to visit in Metro Manila

9/1/2018

Hello from Dubai - I just arrived here after 3 months in Philippines (spent 5 months in Philippines in 2018 total), and here are my top choices for you to check out if you are looking for good food, a good time, and good networking. I wrote this on the flight with Cebu Pacific, which is a great budget Philippines airlines, too, if you haven't booked your flight yet ;)

How to buy a car $1,500 less than Dealer Invoice

7/18/2018

Hey guys, I helped a friend buy a car here in Denver, Colorado earlier this month. It was a brand new 2018 Mazda Miata RF. Before we go how we got the car for a good deal, I'd like you to consider a few important questions I had my friend ask before we decided a Mazda Miata was the right choice for her...

Colorado, Home of the Entrepreneurship Capital of America

4/20/2018

What city is the entrepreneurship capital of the United States? Where does one find the densest enclave of concentrated, up-and-coming startup culture? Silicon Valley? Palo Alto?

Nope. It's Boulder, which boasts twice as many startups per capita versus any other American city; this pole position has been a long time in the making: "Since 1960, it has quietly nurtured nascent industries, including natural foods, computer storage, biotech, and now Internet companies." While Boulder is famed for its emphasis on work/life balance, make no mistake; its citizens take the 'work' part of that equation seriously.

I'M ABOUT TO BOARD MY FLIGHT TO ASIA

4/5/2018

I'm at SFO with just a few minutes to get this published before flying to Tokyo, Japan with my Startup Denver co-organizer Mike Kilcoyne. We're mostly visiting Tokyo for pleasure and it will be my first experience staying in a hostel for a few nights. We'll see the Cherry Blossoms with a 3rd friend who is in town, and then I'm quickly off to Philippines on April 11.

Advice from Morgan Linton for startup founders seeking to buy their domain name

3/26/2018

After organizing Startup Denver for over 3 years now and being a domain name investor for over half a decade, I've had my fair share of startup founders ask me if I could help them 'get their domain name.'

My friend Morgan Linton absolutely wrote the best article that allows you to go about it yourself, enjoy:

How to buy a domain name – here’s why nobody is responding to your domain name offers.

HOW TO PRICE YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE

3/23/2018

Knowing how much to charge for a product or service is going to be a make or break decision for a successful business. Price too low, and you will probably receive a ton of business but won't make ends meet, but price too high, and it will push customers away.

HANDSHAKIN' IS HIRING IN PHILIPPINES NEXT MONTH

3/14/2018

That's right. I'm traveling to Asia next month for half personal (seeing Cherry Blossoms in Japan), and half business. I'm incredibly excited to finally meet my team in Philippines, including one who I have worked with for over two years!

I'm planning to hire two key roles while I'm out there, a trial and sales manager, and a SEO specialist. Here's more information on the vision of Handshakin in 2018 and my next blog post will be more details on who we're looking to hire.

BlogMutt Customer Spotlight: Handshakin' From Blog To Agency

2/26/2018

GUEST POST BY ZOE TREESON OF BLOGMUTT

For this month’s customer spotlight, we’re proud to introduce Matt Holmes of Handshakin’. He’s been a longtime BlogMutt customer since 2014. Long enough, in fact, that he’s been able to witness our business grow and consistently adapt to the evolving content marketing trends.

And as BlogMutt matured, Handshakin’ was growing up right alongside us, from a single blog with a mission all the way to a successful marketing agency with multiple clients, using BlogMutt content to fuel its growth.

(Photo courtesy of Matt Holmes)

27 Viral Referral Strategies for Ultimate Growth in 2018

2/13/2018

GUEST POST BY BEN KAZINIK OF SHARESOMEFRIENDS

“If it quacks like a duck and walks like a duck it’s a duck”. Have you heard that expression?

There are some companies among us that sell like the best, hire like the best, treat their customers the best possible way. They are simply the best. Everything they do makes them great.

Lessons from NamesCon 2018

2/9/2018

NamesCon 2018 was the first conference I gave a speech at! Although I've been a paid speaker since last year it was still a very special conference to me. It's no surprise it's special since it was my third year in a row learning from such a diverse crowd of online entrepreneurs and investors!

Here's my top tips I took away from the conference as well as 3 tips I mentioned during my talk you may have missed:

SHOULD YOU GO ALL IN ON CHRISTMAS GIFTS OR CRYPTOCURRENCIES TO CLOSE OUT 2017?

12/27/2017

I always thought i was late to the game with Bitcoin and the other cryptocurrencies. One of my friends wrote about Bitcoin in 2012, and then bought one at $1000. He watched it fluctuate up and down, and today it's worth $17,000, down from $19,500 just a few days ago. Why would I buy now and of course, what's the least sketchy way to buy?

I never bought cryptocurrencies because i didn't understand how. It wasn't easy, plus I was more focused on investing in real estate and online assets (like domain names).

However, watching the market in the past 2 weeks has changed everything about my strategy...

The CTO of Dell EMC Big Data Consulting: how to value your data

11/25/2017

I recently linked with Bill Schmarzo, the CTO of Dell EMC, on LinkedIn, since I wanted to learn more about how the volume, variety, and velocity of data can be well managed. Of course, in corporations, it starts with what Bill calls the four M's, "Make me more money."

Bill knows that a great data strategy involved knowing what your goals are, not just looking through the data to see what you can find. I asked him these questions to help IT professionals plan for 2018.

I teamed up with a Data Analytics Consultancy!

11/2/2017

I recently met Philip Lima, the Founder of Mashey, at a 12 Mavens Mastermind group for Founders a few weeks ago. He shared with me that his business is a 2 year old data analytics consultancy. That means that they help larger companies get their data organized, pull valuable insights, and build automation around that to improve the team's performance. I got really jazzed about that because...

Interview with Dave Mayer from Technical Integrity

8/9/2017

Tell us about your background:
I'm a serial entrepreneur with a deep love for community building based on the givefirst ethos. I have a deep appreciation for entrepreneurs and the journey we all experience. I am passionate about mental health in the entrepreneurial realm as I believe that the happiest healthiest entrepreneurs are the most focused, productive and ultimately the most profitable. I am the founder of a boutique placement firm called Technical Integrity. We have been leading an ethical revolution in recruiting, bolstered by our givefirst approach to bringing people together in the startup realm, with no expectation of anything in return. We love what we do. It has been a winning approach.

Interview with Kevin Harrington from Shark Tank

3/21/2017

I had the pleasure of interviewing Kevin Harrington about his background and upcoming podcast.

My questions are in bold and his answers follow:

HOW TO ESTABLISH CREDIBILITY BY CREATING ONLINE CONTENT

3/14/2017

There are two parts to the creating credibility in online content, the first is widespread prominence and the other is credibility.

Establishment of prominence can be translated into getting hits on your business website and getting cited by other websites so your name gets out there into the public.

Credibility is the hard part. The word "credibility" has a lot to do with reliability, authority, honesty. And several other characteristics as internet users look for something they trust online.

HOW TO GET STARTED WITH GUEST BLOGGING

3/7/2017

Guest blogging is an easy way to expand your professional network and showcase your writing abilities.

It exposes you and your work to new audiences. The following guidelines are guaranteed to help you become a successful guest blogger.

WHY PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW YOUR NAME: THE POWER OF A STRONG PERSONAL BRAND

3/4/2017

Imagine, for a moment, a saloon in the Wild West. It's a bunch of regulars, and a few out-of-towners, and things are all right. Then someone walks in through the bat wing doors.

Someone in a broad, flat-crowned hat, with silver spurs. The room goes quiet, and the whispers start.

He might be just a man, but people have heard tell of him. They know those low-slung guns, and that scar along his right hand. Before he even opens his mouth, everyone in the room is thinking about shaking his hand.

Just kidding, that's just what I have dreams about, but you get the idea.

HOW TO PITCH YOUR STARTUP IDEA FOR FUNDING AND FEEDBACK

2/22/2017

For those of you who only know me from Handshakin.com, you may not realize that we also own and organize the Startup Meetup Pitch Battle groups around the US (and we totally just passed 10k followers on Instagram!). We're in Denver, Boston, Atlanta, Austin, Phoenix, LA, San Francisco and more...

What is a Pitch Battle you ask? An event where 4 startups pitch to a panel of investors and judges for 5 minutes. Here's how to prepare and make the most of these events:

HOW TO BECOME A FREELANCER

2/14/2017

Being a freelancer can be quite a rewarding career. You can write, consult, build websites, and really customize what you do for your clients based of your passion.

You can almost do whatever you want, employing others by assigning the things that you don’t necessarily enjoy

HOW A STRONG PERSONAL BRAND CAN HELP YOU NETWORK BETTER IN PERSON

2/7/2017

Growing your personal brand is crucial and powerful in succeeding.

It leads to connections, growth, and a wealth of knowledge about your place in the industry.

To understand how a strong personal brand helps you network better in person, here are four ideas to start with:

MY LEXUS WAS TOTALED DURING IT'S 2ND TRIP ON TURO.COM

2/2/2017

Have you ever tried the "sharing economy"? I've always been the first out of my group of friends to try stuff and take risks.

In my opinion, it presents entrepreneurs some of the best passive income and part-time/flexible incomes while launching their startup.

I've been an Airbnb host (I rented out extra rooms in my house to other entrepreneurs for cash), I have an unused garage space in an investment property on my friends app Stow, and most recently, I made the decision to list my car on Turo, where you can rent your car to people for cash... First trip went just fine. Second one, my car was totalled...

WHY CONTENT MARKETING MATTERS FOR GROWING YOUR BUSINESS

1/27/2017

Today, I'm at NamesCon 2017 (Domain Name Industry conference), and learning a ton about domain names and marketing. There's a session I really wish you could be here attending"Why Content Marketing Matters for Growing Your Business" Sound familiar? Here are my takeaways for you.
Having blogged weekly for over two years, I'm not a stranger to trying to balance writing content that is optimized for search engines while also trying to make an 'human' post that is designed for you, the reader.

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