To share his insights on various topics that relate to education and business, RossBlankenship(https://blogs.iu.edu/marketingandmore/2019/02/15/ross-blankenship/) established Blankenship Enterprises in 2012. Through this organization, Ross Blankenship (https://www.rossblankenship.com) has lectured widely and authored six books. One of Ross Blankenship’s books on education is titled Admit You!
Subtitled “Top Secrets to Increase Your SSAT and ISEE Exam Scores and Get Accepted to the Best Boarding Schools and Private Schools,” the book Admit You! devotes an entire chapter to SSAT and ISEE preparation and a valuable addendum that lists some of the most frequently tested vocabulary words. The book also offers advice on securing good letters of recommendation from teachers, mastering the admission interview process, and crafting effective personal statements and essays.
Admit You! stresses that applicants should overcome any feelings of modesty and freely tout their positive qualities and accomplishments. In addition to serving students directly, the book contains a wealth of bonus material to benefit tutors, including sections on how to teach subjects such as math and vocabulary.
As the head of Blankenship Enterprises in Colorado, educational and business leader Ross Blankenship has written six published books and delivered a range of lectures and presentations. When he isn’t working, Ross Blankenship stays active by rowing.
According to Ross Blankenship, “Rowing offers a range of health benefits, whether the rower is propelling a boat over open water or using a rowing machine at the gym.” According to the independent exercise authority Healthline, rowing machines use 86 percent of the body’s muscles while improving heart and lung health by strengthening the cardiovascular system.
Even better, rowing offers a low-impact workout that puts very little stress on the joints. Research has shown that rowing can improve function in lumbar, knee, shoulder, and elbow joints. Men’s Health magazine recommends rowing as a warm-up for a diverse exercise regimen that elevates the heart rate and burns fat.
Rowers also commonly tout the psychological and emotional benefits of rowing. The smooth gliding motion of rowing over water or on a rowing machine can produce a powerful calming effect. Furthermore, the repetitive nature of the rowing movement can be quite meditative, and the exercise releases stress-reducing endorphins in the brain.
Resources like Magento, Shopify, and WooCommerce for WordPress, and Blankenship’s Course (https://www.udemy.com/user/ross-blankenship) have made it easier for entrepreneurs to open e-commerce stores and sell their products online. But many entrepreneurs experience difficulty ranking their stores on the first page of search engine results pages. They need to optimize their sites to rank higher, starting with their URLs.
URLs are the links that lead to specific pages in a website. Good URLs provide search engines context with which to understand the contents of a page. For example, if a page URL is like Ross Blankenship’s twitter page, https://twitter.com/rossblankenship, the page should be focused on the proper content. This confuses search engines, leading to lower rankings on searches.
Another good idea is to include the keywords of the URL in the text of the page. The final portion of the URL is usually the page’s “big idea.” In the above example, it was red hats. As an entrepreneur, you should have these words in the H1 heading of the page, in the body of the text, and in the photo alt text of the product’s image.
Create tidy and structured URLs for your store. Avoid special characters such as %10 in URLs, as they hurt optimization. Also limit the use of articles and prepositions, as they add no optimization value while making URLs bulky.
Search engines reward pages that have consistency in their structure. Well-thought-out URL usage across an e-commerce site’s structure is one secret to appearing on the first page of searches.
An accomplished entrepreneur and venture capitalist, Ross Blankenship spends his time advising the founders of some of America’s top startups. The founder of several successful startups, Ross Blankenship purposefully commits his own money to fund promising cybersecurity firms leading America’s fight against global cyber crime. Blankenship has even authored a book on the topic, “Cyber Nation: How Venture Capital and Startups are Protecting America from Cyber Criminals, Threats and Cyber Attacks.” Read all of Ross Blankenship’s books here, https://www.amazon.com/Ross-Blankenship/e/B00NFYYWG6.
In the book Cyber Nation, the author discusses the threat of cyber attacks, highlights the damage past attacks have caused, and then educates readers on the steps they can take to invest in cyber security personally or professionally. The book is a definitive guide to cyber warfare. It names who the top cyber criminals in the world are, from malicious private hackers to state-sponsored attackers, and then outlines the methods these groups have used to attack federal agencies like the United States Office of Personnel Management and corporations like Target and Sony.
What becomes clear to the reader from these illustrations is the potential damage these attacks may have on the country and why it is imperative that states and companies invest heavily to defend the country and its economy from this modern day danger. Companies the book highlights for their role in bolstering the country’s cyber security include IBM, Microsoft, and Oracle. Other less known companies are startups like Lookout Inc., Authy, Sift Science, and BlockScore.
A top 10 Amazon author in entrepreneurship, Ross Blankenship (https://www.facebook.com/rossdblankenship) is an accomplished entrepreneur and investor who uses various platforms to impart knowledge and share his experience on how to be a successful entrepreneur. In an interview with an Indiana University publication, he gave his insight on how to allocate the budget of a hypothetical marketing department. Learn how Ross Blankenship teaches others about investing and startups (https://www.udemy.com/user/ross-blankenship).
A marketing department that needs to allocate its budget must base its decisions as if it is conducting an experiment. As Blankenship said, “to gain an understanding of what works variables can be changed, but particular things must be held constant for a minimum of one year to discern the influence of specific factors.” The first third of the budget should be spent on social media campaigns, with LinkedIn receiving a big portion if B2B branding is involved. If not B2B, then spending should be on popular sites such as Facebook and Instagram.
Next, 40 percent of the marketing budget should go to digital content marketing to create an authentic voice. An example is a bank should not just talk about its financial products, but provide interesting topics such as credit card management. The rest of the budget should be allocated to the ground team – the ambassadors and salespeople. These are the individuals who personally deliver the products to customers and are essential components of the marketing structure.
An alumnus of Cornell and the Washington University School of Law, Ross Blankenship (http://rossblankenship.com) is a venture capitalist and startup advisor. An advocate for women-led and women-owned businesses, Ross Blankenship supports Purse Power.
Purse Power is a company on a mission to highlight women-led and women-owned companies, helping people who care about gender diversity find them and buy from them. The company offers a free Chrome browser extension and mobile app through its website. When people download either of these and search online through their desktops or mobile phones, they will see companies promoting gender diversity distinguished with the Purse Power logo. They can then shop exclusively on these platforms, essentially voting for women empowerment with their own money.
Currently, women make 85 percent of family purchasing decisions and make or influence 67 percent of family investment decisions. However, they comprise less than 6 percent of S&P 500 CEOs and control less than 20 percent of board seats. Purse Power wants to change that by enabling ordinary people to promote diversity through their purchasing power. The company has a registry of businesses that are either run by a woman CEO, owned at least 50 percent by women, or have 20 percent or more women on their boards. These are the companies that show up on online searches with a Purse Power logo, guiding buyers to show their support for diversity with dollars.
A leading educator on entrepreneurship, angel investing, and startups, Ross Blankenship has written six books, lectured at local universities, and is routinely invited to speaking engagements. Though Ross Blankenship understands building successful businesses in virtually any niche, he is particularly known for advising technology startups (https://twitter.com/rossblankenship).
Many people have great ideas for technology companies, but they often believe that they can’t start tech businesses since they lack a technical background. However, this isn’t necessarily the case.
To establish a tech business without a background as a techie, founders must become masters of their market. They need to have a firm grasp of their industry and take the time to complete market scans or interviews to see how strong demand would be for their product or service. In addition, they need to take the time to learn a bit about coding, if possible. This gives them a basic understanding of the tech world, even if they lack experience.
In addition, non-techie founders must acknowledge their weaknesses and surround themselves with people who can fill in these gaps. If they lack technical expertise, they can hire in-house technical experts or seek technical support via outsourcing. Non-techie founders can also search for partners who have technical backgrounds, and network with professionals who have technical knowledge.
Finally, tech startups established by people who lack technical knowledge should be simple. The more elaborate a project becomes, the more expensive it is and the more difficult it is to achieve. Tech startups don’t need to be flashy to succeed.
A graduate of the Washington University School of Law, Ross Blankenship is a top-selling author and expert on startups. Prior to earning his juris doctor, Ross Blankenship studied economics and government at Cornell University and he also competed on the Cornell Big Red rowing team. The Cornell Rowing Association is made up of alumni and friends of the Cornell rowing teams, and helps support the current teams with programs like the Cornell Rowing Association Mentoring Program.
Founded in 1976, the Cornell Rowing Association came about as a way to raise funds for the current Cornell rowing teams. There are three Cornell rowing teams: the Men’s Heavyweight Rowing team, the Men’s Lightweight Rowing team, and the Women’s Rowing team. The Cornell Rowing Association Mentoring Program (CRAMP) allows Cornell rowing alumni to meet with students on the current Cornell rowing roster to provide advice and guidance in achieving success after they graduate.
Former rowers can participate in the Cornell Rowing Association Mentoring Program by attending various events. Each fall, a panel is held where five alumni answer questions from current Cornell rowers. After the question and answer segment ends, all attendees are invited to a networking event where students can meet more alumni.
Additionally, students have the ability to submit applications for jobs or internships at companies where Cornell rowing alumni work. Juniors and seniors also have the opportunity to have their resumes reviewed by alumni each spring.
Alumni can stay connected by joining the Cornell Rowing Group on LinkedIn. By attending events, they also have the opportunity to reconnect with former teammates.
“I asked Blankenship more about this upbringing and how he felt he was shaped by it. Ross said, “Traveling and watching my father build medical clinics and save patient lives in the most impoverished parts of rural America, had a huge impact. It was also the idea of being a doctor. You are forced to tell people what they need to hear, and that has been a pretty consistent and candid theme throughout my life.”
A super passionate and avid learner who loved visiting the Texarkana Public Library, science was his big thing. “I was fascinated with the idea of whether time was linear or multi-dimensional and just the idea of how time works. I thought I could at an early age figure out time works. Looking back I see how valuable time was in my life…
When he was 14, Ross headed to boarding school in New England; afterwards, Blankenship was accepted and attended Cornell and Wash U Law.
Owner of several companies, Blankenship is an entrepreneur who has written books on education, business, and investments. In addition to authoring several books, Blankenship has helped others become successful in business. Being able to assist others in achieving their dreams is a gift that could easily become a craft with preparation.
What legacy do you want to leave behind?
“I want to leave a legacy of fearlessness and decisiveness. I want to leave the legacy of someone who was always wanting to give friends the shirt off my back. My mission is to help other people become successful… to be candid in that I admit that many people love me and there are just as many people who say I am too abrasive with a big ego. There are always those people who do not think you’re good enough.
They don’t think you deserve to be where you are. That is rooted in jealousy. There are many haters out there who would live vicariously through your life to as opposed to living their own lives.
I remember when I was a young boy… I was on a flag football team, the Cowboys. A couple of the players were so good that I told him, “Dad I want to be so good like so and so,” and he looked at me and said, “Don’t ever talk about other people’s success. Focus on yourself. Focus on who you are as a person and what you can do to become great.”
That’s what sticks to me to this day. I’m not thinking about this person and what I don’t have. I think about how I can create value in my name, brand, and reputation as opposed to living vicariously through others.”
That’s the legacy I want- one of stubbornness, fearlessness, and decisiveness.”