Choose Your Co-founder Wisely

Having a work partner or business partner is very good for whatever
you are working on... As long as the partner, is right for you. I
recently learned this while working on projects with a friend of mine.

The idea was great, we were both motivated and committed to making it
happen. But because our relationship was not working, we were not the
best choice to work together. Trust was lost, along with respect. And
demotivation was right there waiting for me when I saw someone else
getting the credit for my work.

Choose your co-founder wisely.

I think the best work partner, is your life partner. Your husband/wife
might be the best person to partner up with when it comes to work. I
heard of this when I was studying entrepreneurship in Melaka, Malaysia
in 2008.

Why am I saying that your spouse is best person to work with? Because
it comes with the assumption that if you have decided to marry this
person, then you are already compatible people. You understand each
other, you respect each other, you share some common dreams and
beliefs. And nothing will come in between you, not even business.

And the cool thing is, you can solve problems in love, not war.

Choosing a business partner is like choosing a wife. Again, choose wisely.

If you followed my words and ended up with a divorce, then I think you
chose the wrong life partner to begin with. Right?

Sincerely,

Sherif Maktabi
Twitter: @sherifmango

Fresh Pictures From Lebanon Better Installation Today

Here are some few pictures I took at the installation at Souk el Tayeb, Beirut, today! One new surprise for you is that half the wall is in Arabic, and the other is in English.

It didn't take a lot of time to fill up the wall, even the farmers and bakers from the Souk contributed.

See the full gallery on Posterous

A video will be coming up to give you a glimpse of the day at Souk el Tayeb.

Many thanks to Cedar Environment (www.cedarenv.com) for donating the 8 eco boards that I used for the wall. And Souk el Tayeb for sponsoring and making this happen. Marc Khairallah for staying with me and helping me take the wall down at the end of the day. Marie Melki for supporting me and helping with taking the wall down too.

Building Lebanon Better Installation at Khandak al Ghamik

There is something precious about small business owners in Beirut. I'm talking about craftsmen: carpenters and electricians and all those who still work with their hands to produce something in our city.

I keep on hearing that they are slowly Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 disappearing from Beirut, a place where there once was 'Souk el Najjarin' and 'Souk el Haddadin'... Souks for every little expertise you could think of! Maybe it is true, that these small businesses are closing shop. But I want to make Lebanon Better in the process of making the 'Lebanon Better' installation.

That's why I chose to go to Khandak al Ghamik to build the frame that will hold the Lebanon Better wall. This way, I am contributing to a local industry and helping local craftsmen to keep on doing what they do best in Beirut.

Khandak el Ghamik is the part of Downtown Beirut that Solider didn't take control of. So it is still inhabited by the same people that were there before the civil war. And everything still looks exactly the same. Maybe that's what Downtown would have looked like if reconstruction never happened.

Abou Ahmad will have finished work on the frame by tomorrow morning. And he would have contributed to make the Lebanon Better installation at Souk el Tayeb this Saturday. Hope to see you there!

With love,

Sherif Maktabi

Twitter: @sherifmango

Lebanon Better at The Souk This Saturday

Lebanon Would Be Better If more people can share ideas to make their country better. That's why Souk el Tayeb commissioned Lebanon Better to make an installation at the Souk this Saturday!

The installation is an 8 meter Lebanon Would Be Better If wall made out of eco board. What is eco board? It's a material made by Cedar
Environmental that looks like a plastic board, but it's not! It's actually made out of plastic bags that you throw away. It's an eco
friendly wall, that will be painted white and stenciled.

There is something really special that will be announced at the souk this Saturday. And we would like you to be the first to know about it. Join Lebanon Better at the souk at anytime between 9am and 2pm this Saturday 23, July! And don't be shy, Lebanon Would Be Better if you came!

Sincerly,

Sherif Maktabi

Twitter: @sherifmango

Lebanon Better at the Souk this Saturday!

Lebanon Would Be Better If more people can share ideas to make their
country better. That's why Souk el Tayeb commissioned Lebanon Better
to make an installation at the Souk this Saturday!

See the full gallery on Posterous

How To Become a Better Copywriter Everyday

Being a copywriter is all about using the right words in the right way
to convince your audience to do something.

"kills bacteria and keeps your skin moisturized. Use Safe Hands
sanitizer. The right choice."

"Hot pizza at your door in 30-min. Order Dominos Pizza. Worlds number
one pizza."

"buy 2 washing machines and get a free trip to china! Khoury Home,
satisfying your every need."

You can't know if yo are a good or bad copywriter easily. Because you
have to wait till you see if sales for washing machines, pizzas and
hand sanitizers went up after your copy was published.

Now you can change that, and become a better copywriter everyday.

Since twitter let's you publish 140 character messages including
links, it's a great way to train as a copywriter. Because if you write
good convincing copy, then people will click on your link and
sacrifice their time to check out what you shared.

How to become a better copywriter everyday?

1) Get a twitter account,
2) get a bitly account on bitly.com
3) share shortened bitly links with your copy.
4) study your real time stats on bitly

When you get the stats from bitly, you can get to know what kind of
copy works and what doesn't. This way, everyday, you can fine tune
your copywriting skills.

Why twitter? Since twitter let's you only share 140 characters, it
let's you think really hard of every word you are writing. And that's
a good thing.

If you are a copywriter, get a twitter account and start. Twitter is
your playground.

Sincerely,
Sherif Maktabi

Untitled

Being a copywriter is all about using the right words in the right way
to convince your audience to do something.

"kills bacteria and keeps your skin moisturized. Use Safe Hands
sanitizer. The right choice."

"Hot pizza at your door in 30-min. Order Dominos Pizza. Worlds number
one pizza."

"buy 2 washing machines and get a free trip to china! Khoury Home,
satisfying your every need."

You can't know if yo are a good or bad copywriter easily. Because you
have to wait till you see if sales for washing machines, pizzas and
hand sanitizers went up after your copy was published.

Now you can change that, and become a better copywriter everyday.

Since twitter let's you publish 140 character messages including
links, it's a great way to train as a copywriter. Because if you write
good convincing copy, then people will click on your link and
sacrifice their time to check out what you shared.

How to become a better copywriter everyday?

1) Get a twitter account,
2) get a bitly account on bitly.com
3) share shortened bitly links with your copy.
4) study your real time stats on bitly

When you get the stats from bitly, you can get to know what kind of
copy works and what doesn't. This way, everyday, you can fine tune
your copywriting skills.

Why twitter? Since twitter let's you only share 140 characters, it
let's you think really hard of every word you are writing. And that's
a good thing.

If you are a copywriter, get a twitter account and start. Twitter is
your playground.

Sincerely,
Sherif Maktabi