This weeks readings and videos were pretty good and the one that stuck out to me a lot was the video on increasing your likeability. It's funny how simple the concepts were that Guy talked about. Improving your smile, having a good hand shake, and dressing for a tie. These are simple things but are VASTLY overlooked by many. I am shocked at how many grown men give me the dead fish handshake. First impressions really are everything and it is very easy to make a good one by having a great hand shake. I have even met people of influence and when I shake their hand I am instantly disappointed to find that they have a mediocre hand shake. I have found myself saying, "wow, how did they get to the top with  a wimpy handshake like that." Maybe I just have a weird little pet peeve and I am over exaggerating but there are enough people that mention that I don't believe I am alone in this. I remember being taught how to shake hands by a cub scout leader and have never forgotten that lesson. Weirdly enough I have received several compliments on my hand shake and even had a friend of mine interview me because of it. She was doing some sort of paper on human relationships....
The $100 challenge is coming along pretty good. I don't have a great deal to report this week as I didn't have a lot of time to get out and push the business but I always like to have plenty of time to mull over a business idea before putting it out in the public. I am feeling very confident about the idea and pricing now and next week I should be able to make a big marketing push.

This has been a good week in my entrepreneurial ventures. A lot of encouraging things have happened!! I decided against using the hot chocolate backpack for the $100 challenge and opted for the errand service after all. I figured the errand service had more of an opportunity for growth and was a more viable business option. I got a small start on marketing for the business by going to the three hotels located in Rexburg. At the first one I got to talk to the general manager who was really excited about the service and said that he had always wanted to have a business like that himself. He had a lot of ideas and good recommendations for me to consider. He recommended that instead of going straight to the consumer he suggested that I go to the small businesses in town that have competitors with delivery services but they don't. I could offer them a cheaper option than starting their own delivery service and do it for them. This would mean that they don't have to hire a driver, or pay insurance for the driver and their vehicle. I have a few friends who might be on board to help me cover all the deliveries so next week I will start going around to restaurant owners.
As for the reading I have done this week I have already made a pledge to avoid excessive debt and not have a credit card but all of the reading has reaffirmed that decision and strengthened my resolve. As a student I will have to take out some student loans but will not take out more than I need.

Professional Interaction

This week I had the pleasure of reading a really good book called "How to Win Friends And Influence People" written by Dale Carnegie. The book is all about how to handle people and win them to your way of thinking in a tactful and honorable way. Everyone should read this book at some point but expecially anyone going into business should have the skills and topics covered in this book mastered. The biggest thing that I took away from the book is that people really aren't interest in you. if you want to be a successful person you need to get your mind off yourself and make the happiness of others your top priority. Although there may be many things about you that are interesting, others would almost always prefer to have you ask about their lives. This is especially true in business relationships and salesmanship. If you want to win, make others feel important and needed.
As far as the 100 dollar challenge goes I have been kicking around a few ideas. The first one I played with was starting a small errand running business. The problem with that is that I really don't know the rexburg area yet so I wouldn't be very efficient and I would have a hard time finding my customers because I simply don't know where they are. The second is the idea of starting a hot chocolate club. This idea came to me as I was walking to class in the subzero temperatures of rexburg. I wanted so badly to have someone just hand me a cup of hot chocolate as I went to my next class. That is when it occured to me that I had seen someone with a backpack that could hold hot chocolate and dispensed it through a hose. I was thinking that you could sell people tickets that they could present to you and get unlimited hot chocolate on campus for an appointed period of time. I would be in the busiest areas of campus at appointed times that ticket holders would know and if they brought me the ticket they would get a quick cup of hot chocolate from me and my back pack. The big problem is that the backpacks cost several hundred dollars. I will either take the risk and buy the backpack or try and make my own back pack. I will have to report back on that in about a week or so.