Richie Norton

"The Great Wall of Facebook:Having just visited the Great Wall of China, I'm thinking about the walls we build on FB. They are real. They keep people in and others out. Build your wall carefully by answering this question:What are you building your wall around?"

"Be a learning machine. What made you money last year, won't necessarily make you money this and next year."

"If you have time to write a business plan, you have time to prove the model. Just sayin."

"If you want control, loosen your grip. You're strangling your employees. Letting go is actually holding on."

"Are you setting business goals? Try this:Step 1: Add a "0" to your revenue goal. Step 2: Take away a "0" from your expense goal. Step 3: Let your mind go to work. Thank me later."

"Doubt manifests itself in indecision."

"Life isn't about having, it's about experiencing."

"People love to say, “You gotta fake it till you make it.” But this implies that the fake you is someone better than who you inherently are, and this is simply not the truth. Let me say this loud and clear: the person you imagine yourself to be in the very best and most powerful moments of your life, is the authentic you. And in truth, I imagine you’re probably much more amazing even than that."

"Live in a way that helps you lean into your fears, make a difference and live without regret."

"If only 1 out of 10 businesses succeeds, start 10 businesses. Just sayin."

"The moment you think you can do something that you previously thought you couldn't, you can."

"When someone says you can't do something because of XYZ, is that true? Or are they playing with your life with their good intentions to keep you safe?"

"There's no "get rich quick." There's no "overnight success." However, this doesn't mean that when you decide to start a business that you're just starting. You could start making new money tomorrow. I was fishing with my son and taught him that you can't catch a fish unless your line is in the water. A truth my dad once taught me. You may have spent years learning a skill or creating a product or service that you just simply haven't thought to monetize. Like leaving a fishing pole on the ground along side the river, but not having your line in the water yet. All you need to create a new stream of income is to make something consumable and offer it at a price that someone will pay. If you're not making offers, you're not making money. Get your line in the water!"

"Better to teach a man to fish who already loves to fish."

"College does not equal job security. Entrepreneurship does not equal job security. For heaven's sake, "job security" does not equal job security. So what do you do? Don't be a one-trick pony. Add real value in everything you do. But most of all, study and apply business models. No matter what discipline you come from. Learn how to add value so that value can flow in the form of money to you. That, my friends, is job security. Learn where money comes from and you'll know where to turn when life throws a curve."

"What is good customer service about then?One word: caring. Bad customer service happens when the employee doesn't care. You could chalk it up to low wages or getting paid regardless of results. But that's not it either. Hiring managers need to do two things and two things only:1. Hire employees that ALREADY care and are ALREADY motivated.2. Repeat step 1. When this is done, everything changes. People are happy on both sides of the table. Costs for management and training plummet"

"Follow your passion and learn how to make money at it. Or don't follow your passion and learn to make money at that. They are the same. It's a choice."

"Ever feel like you're always winding up and never throwing it out? You might blame it on perfectionism or procrastination or preparation. You may even call it prudent. But whatever it is... IT'S NOT WORKING. I call this phenomenon "petrified performance." Where you're busy, busy, busy (on the wrong activities or the right activities for too long), and never accomplishing the idea or task you set out to do. You're stuck. Like a tree that once was lively is now dead and immovable like a stone. What once was a fluid idea is now frozen in time. How do you overcome petrified performance? With practice, silly. Everything you do should be considered a "project" because projects have a beginning and an end with a timeline. No more dreaming. Wake up and put those dreams to work by putting the steps necessary to make them happen on the calendar. Are you willing to practice? That's my prescription."

"When haters start to rear their ugly head, just play around with them and throw them a bone so they can go away and chew on it."

"You can disagree with an idea without attacking the person who shared it."