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PROS

1. Your internal clock starts working right

2. More time to do be effective

3. You get extra time 

4. Feeling more driven and motivated

5. More willing

CONS 

6. You can’t break your routine

7. Get up, even if you slept bad

This is how you get most out of the day

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You might wonder, why I wrote those two scenarios.

If you do not know what I mean, you should read my post:

Breakdown, stress, heart attack and worse

Cherish life

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• On the toilet
• While you are eating
• About to sleep
• Socializing
• Reading 
• Or anywhere else.

Make sure to write it down as soon as possible, since you probably do not have the time to write right away.

2. Step: Research 
If you do not have any knowledge about the subject then do some research by Googling it. Use Googles settings and search tools, this way you will get the best and most accurate results.

The key here is being critical, since everyone has access to write practically anything on the internet.

Even if you know almost everything about the subject, it is still a good thing to do some research first.

3. Step: Brainstorm 
For beginners this is an important step, even if it sounds boring. – You need to know what is important and filter the unimportant part out.

If you do not know how to do a brainstorm, here is how you do it:

• Take a piece of A4 paper and a pen.
• Write the subject in the middle.
• Write every word, which comes into your mind down and draw a line from the subject. 
• If you can, then make sure to connect the connected words. 

As you get more used to writing, this step will automatically happen inside your head and you will not have the need to do a brainstorm.

4. Step: Make notes
Now it is time to find out what is important and to only choose the most necessary information, which you want to give your reader.

Put them as bullet points and then put them in order. Under each bullet point, you can add points; you might need it to go into extra detail.

For this post, my notes looked like this: 

• brainstorm/notes
• Find a picture
• intro
• write the post/ what is on your mind
• break
• read trough – does it make sense at all? 
  • cut back – remove unnecessary words
• Sections and headlines 
  • Shift places if needed
• Make important things pop
• Leave
• Proofread L
• publish 
• Proofread again
• Proofread after one day
  • Share on social media etc.

And yes, they probably do not make sense for anyone else. – The thing is, that only you need to know what they mean.

Yes, it does not matter if there are spelling mistakes.

5. Step: Find your picture
Now you have enough information to find or take the perfect picture. I usually use Pixabay to find royalty free pictures, even though there are many other sites. Here are 73 different sites.

6. Step: Write your post
It is finally time to write. For me, this is the best part. I can in an hour or two write a thoroughly worked post, like this one.

Take each bullet point and write everything important about it. Try to get your message across to the reader as much as possible. It is all right if it does not make sense.

7. Step: Take a break
Time to take a break. Take five minutes making tea, coffee or do something else.

Personally, I like to take a break to do a prayer, make a cup of tea or go check my social media. The last one takes too much time.

8. Step: Read it critically
Come back to your work and read it as critically as possible. Ask questions like:

• Does it help?
• Would I understand this, if I did not know anything about it? 
• Try to include the reader by asking questions.
• Use the word “you” to target the reader. 

If you remember what is where, you can just make sections and subheads. If not, just read it again and while reading, make the sections and subheads.

Having sections and subheads gives your reader a better overview of the post and gives them the illusion that they are not reading as much as they are.

If you have a text without sections and subheads, few are going to read it. – It simply looks too overwhelming.

• Sometimes it gives more sense that one section is first, so now is the time to move the sections around, if needed. 

10. Step: Bold, underline and italic
Make important things catch the readers eyes by making it bold, italic, underline or mixed. It draws attention to it and the reader will most likely read it twice. – It will sink in.

But do not overuse it.
Your post will look too overworked.

11. Step: Another break
Yes, time for another break. Take a minimum of 15 minutes. Now social media is a good idea. – You need to think of something completely different.

12. Step: Proofread loudly
Time to proofread your post. This is very boring for me and even if I do it more than once, sometimes basic words gets misspelled because I already know what is supposed to be there.

By doing it loudly, you can hear the mistakes. – I usually read to any person next to me. They can also tell me if something is unclear.

13. Step: Publish
Yep, it is time. Just press it. Even if you think, there are mistakes in the post.

14. Step: Proofread it again 
Yes, again. In addition, make sure someone is listening to you this time. Now it is available for everyone on the internet!

15. Step: Proofread next day
This is the last time. Just repeat step 12 or 14. When done, you are now ready to share it on your social media.

That is it!

– Hafsa

P.S. I would love to read your post after you have read this step-by-step guide. Send me a link on my Facebook page @HafsafarooqX2 and I will read it.

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Especially pictures on the internet, are at great risk.

Most do not have the knowledge about what copyrighting is and others just do not respect other peoples work.

1. Is copyright really a law?

2. Is it really stealing?

Absolutely, it is 100 percent stealing, if you take someones work and use it or publish it, as your own.

For the record it is not stealing, if you get inspired by a particular piece of work. You are allowed to produce your own, using the same idea. – Unless it has a patent. Then you cannot.

It is the expression which is protected and not the idea.

Let us go through a couple of examples to make it perfectly clear.

You may not:

• Find any picture and post it all over your social media accounts.
• Take a beautiful photograph, taken by a normal person and post it as your own on a blog.
• Find the perfect picture and put it on your blog, even with a link to the original source.
• Take any kind of text, which you just copy-paste.
• Use your favorite music piece in a video you make.
• Download a movie and upload it on Youtube.   

You may:

• Find a piece of text you like and use it as inspiration to write your own, then publish it on your website.
• See a picture of a motive and take one just like it, to put it everywhere you like.
• Upload a karaoke song to Youtube, which you have sung.
• Like a movie so much, that you make your own, which is inspired by it.

3. What should I do, if I really want to use the picture?

Ask for permission to use it. – And with that are two possibilities:

1. The owner will say, no. – Meaning you will have to find a new picture, pay someone to take one or take it yourself.
2. The owner will say, yes. – They might just ask for a link and others will ask for a price and add some conditions.
   

4. I have been a victim too

Once I discovered that two of my competitors had stolen pictures and some text from my online shop, X2Nails.

1. One took a picture and used on their Instagram account.
2. And the other one took four product pictures and a text I had written for the products. 

At first I could not believe that a company would steal something from mine. Fortunately, I knew the copyright law. I gathered all the evidence I could and contacted my lawyer. We sent a letter of removal and later an invoice for the violation.

1. The first case was solved fast and they paid as sum we both agreed on.
2. The other case went to court and was ruled in my favor. 

5. What to do if you are a victim?

1. First of all, you need to gather all the evidence you can get against the thief. Take videos of the material and screenshots.
   
2. Back the evidence up in more than one place. For example in any secure cloud service, on an external drive, in an e-mail or another computer. – It it best to have more than one back up.
   
3. Now you need to prove that the work is yours. Find the original picture or what it is, which is dated. If you have had it edited or made by someone, find the invoice, e-mail and more. – Save that by filming it and take screenshots.
   
4. Now seek help from someone professional or someone who has a lot of experience with these types of cases. If you have a case in Denmark you can get professional, cheap and great help from Not Allowed. They will even take your case for 35% of the settlement amount, with the “no cure no pay”-principal. – For your own sake, do not use anyone who has not done copyright cases before.
   
5. Have the lawyer send them an e-mail or letter and ask them to remove your work. Also make a claim for the violation. The amount you can claim is different, depending on the type and amount of work which has been stolen.
   
6. If they do not want to pay, there is always a choice of suing them. It can be difficult if you live in different countries but it is possible. – Although it is best to settle outside of court, since it can be time consuming and expensive.

6. Protect your work

This is important!

Especially since it is such a common crime to steal someones work. The tings you can do to save your work and easily prove that it is yours, are as following:

• Send an e-mail to a secret account, which only you know about, before publishing it.
• Back it up i an online service, which can save webpages with dates.
• Always have it saved somewhere else. For example on an external hardrive or a cloud service.
• Put a logo on your pictures.
• You can make sure your website does not allow anyone to copy the material.

7. What to do, if you have violated someones copyright

Simply, pay the owner.

You have committed a crime and you need to pay for it.

If you do not want to pay, then the owner will probably sue, costing you much more than the original claim. You will also waste a lot of time.

8. How to get amazing pictures without stealing

Since pictures are the most commonly stolen ting on the internet, here are some great ways to get amazing pictures:

1. Take and edit them yourself.
2. Take them and have someone edit them for you.
3. Buy pictures from a stock-site. 
4. Get a photographer to take them.
5. Find royalty free pictures, but it can cost a lot of time, to find the right one. Here is a page, where you can find 73 pages with free pictures.

9. Would you like it if someone stole your work?

Probably not.
So do not steal other peoples work!

– Hafsa

P.S. Sign up for my newsletter about my entrepreneurial journey and let me write to you directly.
Yes, thank you! I would love to follow your journey!

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1. Just because you are doing great
This criticism is the kind you get, when you are doing great and have reached a point where you now have haters.

Haters who does not have anything else to do than hate on you, your work and everything that has anything to do with you.

You should love this.
Even if the are saying mean things about you.

Why, you might think?

Well, look at it from this perspective.
They are jealous of you.
They secretly want your things.
Want your job.
Or whatever you are doing.

Do not take them seriously.
Do not remember the things they say.
Do not let it effect yourself or your work.

Just love it because you have reached so far, that you now have hater-fans.
Hater-fans who secretly wants your life.
Awesome, right? 

2. Better yourself and your business
This one is used commonly among businesses.
They call it customer feedback.

It just sounds more friendly than criticism but is the same thing.

You can choose to ask for it or you can get it when you flop big time.
We can both agree on it is best to ask for it, right?
Then you are also prepared.
And do not feel like you were just found with your pants down.

Always use the results wisely.

3. They want to help
These can be people you know or do not know.

We can divide these in two groups.

In the first group are the people who does not know anything about running a business but they think they do.

• Or they have a great idea for you.
• Or they think you are selling the wrong products. 
• Or you should just close your business and find a regular job.
• Or you need to listen to all their ideas and do what they tell you.

You should probably listen and then ignore it if it is not something you can use.

In the second group are those who does know a lot about running a business.
They are busy themselves and cannot see your problems until you put them in front of them.
But they would love to help you.

They might just refer you to someone.
Even help you out.
Criticize you.
Or just give you a tip.

The thing is, that the words that come out of their mouths will probably help you more than the first group.

You just need to ask for it.
And you need to listen.

Tip
If you need to criticize someone then do it in a way so the person won’t feel hurt or attacked. – Always give an explanation.

Criticizing right is not an easy job.
Criticizing wrong is easy.

Until next time!

– Hafsa

P.S. Follow me on Facebook for updates Entrepreneur: Hafsa Farooq.

P.P.S. Criticism is actually a great motivator. Did you ever think about that?

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• Did you get a job?
• Are you looking for a job?
• Just close your business and find a job.
• You should have a fixed income.
• And much more…

I cannot even blame them because they do not have the same mentality.

They do not understand the concept of building a business from the ground and up.
They think it should be easy.
They think success is supposed to come instantly.
They think normal is good.

Well it does not.
It takes time and a lot of work.

This is one of the many things that drives me.
To make them understand.
To make them realize.

It motivates me to work even harder and prove them wrong.

It is all right, if everyone do not understand you.
Even if nobody does.

Just keep going until you get in goal.
Make a difference.
An impact.

– Hafsa

P.S. Even if you are alone, just keep going and make it.

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Everyday there is something new in entrepreneurship.

Yes! I mean it. – Every single day.
Every day I see something new.

It can be some new innovation, another entrepreneur making it, a new way of marketing or even something that I just don’t know anything about.

1. The information age
There is so much information out there, that it is just amazing. The internet has made it so much easier for us to look up information and it even pops up when we are not looking for it. – This is the information age that entrepreneurs like you and me love so much. – Or at least should love.

Do a search on your problem and you will most likely find out how to fix it or where to get it fixed.

Before we… or rather our parents and grandparents, had to look things up in books or get consulted by someone who might knew about it og knew someone. It was hard, very time consuming and sometimes the problem didn’t even get fixed.

We are so lucky.

Really! Just think about it for a second… a life without the internet. – Just thinking about it is making me depressed.

It’s amazing how much information there is out there and just waiting for us. So much information that we can educate ourselves at our own pace and even share our own knowledge with others. – It is up to us to search for it and to use it right.

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Student-entrepreneur
About three years ago I was sitting in one of my professors office. He asked me why I had taken the education marketing management. I told him it was because I wasn’t ready to be an entrepreneur and I thought I would become ready by finishing this education. He then asked “Why don’t you just start now? You can always close it later if it doesn’t work out.” – Since I couldn’t answer that, I went home and started to work on my idea.

It wasn’t easy but I managed to start my company and I managed to get through with my education. I had the support of my study group and the business academic, ZIBAT started an environment for entrepreneurs, Drivhuset.

You can read my four reasons to choose ZIBAT here.

Study group
My study group was formed before the conversation with my professor I believe. We did have a drop out from the group but we ended up being five. It was a great group because we each have our different fields which we are great at. We all took the top-up professional bachelor in international sales and marketing and here we got a new member and she was just what we needed. The group consisted of Azmat, Christian, Maria, Nikolas, me and later Line. – Some of the other students even asked to be in our group but we had to say no because we would be to many.

Working as a team we have all been trough some things and we were there for each other. We understood the others needs and gave some space if one needed it. – We made it every time and were always getting the better results compared to the other groups. Nevertheless was it a great experience working with these people and I wish the best for them.

Education
After getting a good understanding of the basics in business high school I went straight to ZIBAT to study marketing management, where the focus was at Business-to-Consumer-market and the company itself. I learned a lot of the background of the companies and about the different types. How to strategize and forecast about the different initiatives.

At the PBA in international sales and marketing, the focus was on the Business-to-Business-market at the international level. I learned to measure sales and relationships, how to manage these and what tools to use in the different types of companies. I learned to go a step deeper and to know which tool to use.

Education doesn’t just end there. It is a constant process you have to go through otherwise you will be left in the dark. A person constantly has to look for new sources and new knowledge. Why it is so important to be up-to-date with the newest knowledge and trends in ones field is simply because the business world is moving in an amazing speed. There are so many new and better ways to do things that you constantly have to keep up and that is why I take a lots of courses. If I don’t have time to go out and take them I will take them online. I also read a lot of articles and I have learned to sort the better articles from the bad ones. Which is also very important to learn because it has become so easy to write and some people just write something they have found from a very untrustworthy source.

Under the time of my PBA I also started longer Successful negotiation course online from the University of Michigan. I like to negotiate and since I have to negotiate a lot with my suppliers I took this course. I got great tools to different kinds of negotiations and I also learned about how to make a great lean-contract.

Experience
Before starting my own company I had worked for my father as a secretary. I had to help with the accounting, keep in contact with his business relationships and do other small work. Later I became a Mystery shopper, where I got an eye for detail. I learned a little acting and wrote reports after every visit. I worked for two different companies and when I later decided to quit I was headhunted by the first company. In the mean time I had tried to be a telemarketer and that was not something I found very interesting, so when my former workplace wanted me, I went back to work as a mystery shopper.

Then I started my own company X2Nails alone. This challenged me in great ways and I had to learn a lot of new things. I have gotten a broad experience. I have to take care of the logistics, the economic, marketing, sales, design, product development, business development, negotiations, knowledge about the relevant laws and so much more. I even got to try being a boss. I had an intern in three months and today I have two. It’s has been a great learning process for me and it still is. It’s amazing how much I have developed myself by becoming an entrepreneur and I still get amazed how much i sometimes can and know. – That is also why I have started this blog so I can share out of my knowledge.

I have started to give voluntarily speeches about my entrepreneurial journey and to inspire others. I was even one of the GEW ambassadors last year. Today I am a voluntary venture pilot for Mind Your Own Business, where I am with six others, helping 10 teenage boys startup their company.

To read more about my experiences and my projects you can check out my LinkedIn profile.

Now it’s time for a new chapter in my life. – I hope to learn a lot more and to make a positive impact!

I am a student for life.

– Hafsa

P.S. Sign up to my newsletter and get the most important updates to your mail-box.
YES, let me sign-up right away!

P.P.S. I’m actually looking for a part-time job in Denmark, in my field. You’re welcome to contact me if you have found my profile interesting.

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Short after I had started my business the business academic, ZIBAT where I am studying at, started up an environment for student entrepreneurs called Drivhuset, which in English would be The green house, if translated.

1. Getting the last push
The last push I needed to start my own business I got by one of my professors. This was in the end of my first semester or the beginning of my second semester. – The reason I started at the business academic was because I felt like I wasn’t ready to jump out as an entrepreneur.

Apparently I was.

2. Mixing school with business
By starting my own business while studying I not only got great advice from my professors, I also got to mix my studies with my business. I was allowed to write five different exam papers about X2Nails and was allowed to take the obligatory three months internships in my own company, twice. This way I could instantly put the theory I learned into practice and develop my business.

This has been a great learning process for me especially because I am one of those who learns best by trying.

3. Free office space
The Drivhuset is not only for danish students or the international students at ZIBAT but it is also for the people in the city. Everyone is welcome but you have to go through a small screening process to become a member. You can follow Drivhuset at Facebook, all the postings are in English. – And you don’t have to pay anything to use the available facilities.

4. Opportunity for international and danish students
This is great opportunity for the international students because most of the programs in Denmark are mainly targeted danish entrepreneurs but at ZIBAT they focus more on international students and to give them a great start and opportunities in Denmark. Even the website is in English. It’s a great opportunity if you want to study aboard and would like to work on an idea or startup something.

– Hafsa

P.S. I’m almost done with my studies but I can still use Drivhuset.

P.P.S. To follow my entrepreneurial journey, you can follow me on my Facebook-page Entrepreneur: Hafsa Farooq.

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