No matter how much you plan and prepare, things can still go wrong.

One of the most powerful networking practices is to provide immediate value to a new connection. This means the moment you identify a way to help someone, take action.

It can be easy to become 'friends' or 'connected' with someone in a digital world, but it requires thought and strategy to convert social media connections into rewarding business relationships.

I have learned that champions aren't just born; champions can be made when they embrace and commit to life-changing positive habits.

When it comes to nurturing professional relationships and developing a community, LinkedIn is one of the best resources.

Effective networking isn't a result of luck - it requires hard work and persistence.

Each day, we have the opportunity to learn something new, apologize for our mistakes, and become better.

The world is awaiting your gift - all you have to do is show up with the right intention!

Not only is a LinkedIn group free to create, it can enable you to offer your professional network a vibrant, useful information resource, all while driving traffic to your site and increasing sales.

Sleep might be the most important aspect of building a great business, and having a high-performing body.

As a profession, entrepreneurship breeds anything but balance. The highs can be stratospheric, and the lows can be crushing.

Chasing profits and building a long-term profit model are two different things.

There's no way to become great overnight, but in the marathon of success, it takes a lot of intention to see you through each day of the journey.

Poor leaders motivate those following them with false promises of promotions, success, and a great tomorrow but rarely deliver on those promises. Leaders who do this can be manipulative and often hold the goals and aspirations of their followers hostage in order to get them to comply.

In my perfect day, I wake up next to the woman of my dreams, and she's crying tears of joy because she's so excited about the life we have together. I'm preparing to compete in the 2016 Olympics with U.S.A. Team Handball, so I head to an intense training session with my coach to increase my physical strength and athleticism.

The key to forming good habits is to make them part of your 'rituals.' I have a morning ritual, afternoon ritual, and Sunday ritual. It's one way to bundle good habits into regular times that you set aside to prepare yourself for the life you want. Rituals help you form habits.

I believe passion is the sword of love that pierces through the wall of fears that hold us back.

Disruption starts with committing to excellence and taking a stand for your customer.

Unfortunately, the higher you climb in social media, the more people will want to throw stones at you. But don't retaliate publicly.

The road to profits is paved with unfair advantages.

If you come across as boring or monotone, you're going to lose your audience.

Apart from creating a vibrant branded Twitter account for your startup, business owners should consider creating their own personal account on Twitter. Fans and followers often want to connect with the person behind the brand.

Being a lifestyle entrepreneur is about building a business around your lifestyle rather than a lifestyle around your business. You need to figure out what your ideal lifestyle is first.

As a business owner, leadership is more than just telling others what to do. Leadership is about the investment we make into others and the responsibilities we accept for being the voice and direction that others count on.

Giving customers and prospects a glimpse into the entrepreneur's life and mindset can allow them to cultivate a deeper relationship with customers separately from the brand.

What's your routine after attending a networking event or meal? If your answer is, 'I go home,' you're probably going to miss out on opportunities.

I was in my 20s when I started writing my goals down, assigning each a date that I would achieve them by. I was amazed when I started reaching these goals by the date I had listed on them. It was a daily visualization exercise, and it almost always works.

No one cares about your logo, nor the font size that's on your site.

Among the social networks, LinkedIn can be one of the most useful when it comes to cultivating critical, lucrative business opportunities, since it has a high concentration of business decision makers.

Instead of fearing the unknown - all the bad that can happen - realize that good things can surprise you as well.

Some of the most successful products are born from a personal need to solve a problem rather than a desire to turn a profit.

When people are living from passion, they tend to be fulfilled, happy, healthy, and love everyone around them.

Staying consistent with positive habits can be a challenge.

I often speak publicly, and when I do, I also get to listen to other presenters. The most memorable are the ones that hit an emotional chord with a tight story and a punch line. No fluff. Keep it creative and concise. Greatness exists in quality, not quantity.

Goal setting should be part of your daily and weekly routines and should not be based on a calendar year or month.

The more confident you are, the less doubt you will have, and the more likely your success will be.

There's no reason to feel embarrassed about presenting your product or service if it solves a problem.

When it comes to building your business and developing a powerful network, you'll want to develop a reputation as someone who highlights others. Not only does this give credit where credit is due, it also communicates that you're secure with your success and have the ability to promote others in your industry.

When you are competing for attention and eyeballs, articulating value and evoking possibility and vision can be powerful tools.

You may confuse a lot of people when going against the grain of conventional thinking, and that's perfectly okay. As an entrepreneur, standing up for your vision to your family and friends might possibly be the best practice you will get for the life that awaits you.

While it may be difficult to get on the front cover of a major magazine, you can create marketing strategies and opportunities by being featured in a popular niche blog.

Before you can change your industry positively, you need to understand how to go about doing so.

Online leadership is about leveraging digital platforms such as blogs, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and other networks to build a loyal following of people who want to learn more about and benefit from your experiences and expertise.

Everyone can benefit from seeing smart marketing.

Just like football, business is a game of inches, where the smallest advancement or advantage can mean the difference between winning and losing.

I'm a big fan of intention. That's because I have learned first-hand the power of setting my intention on my goal and making all decisions based off of that intention.

Besides having an audience, the most important currency for any leader is his or her reputation. And having a reputation for over-delivering on what's expected of you should give your visitors, subscribers and customers more reason to spend their money with you and refer their friends.

As a business owner, what's the sense in having droves of followers and connections if you aren't able to turn them into paying customers?

It doesn't take a lot of research to realize that the human eye is drawn to attractive things. So the better looking your LinkedIn profile is - meaning professional and complete - the more qualified you'll appear to your audience and the more interested people will be to check out your site.

Leaders are focused on using their vision and courage to do great things. This means challenging the way things are done and then sharing the journey with others.