Kevin Kelly, who wrote one of the best books I have ever read, also wrote an influential article for bloggers and artists called “1000 True Fans.”

I read this post the other day. What a great blog! A few weeks ago, when I wrote about the blogs that I read, everyone said: go read James Altucher! That’s what I did.

I was looking at this site’s RSS stats today. It says that 1575 souls have decided to receive the feed. Thanks! That’s how I read stuff too. If you don’t yet use Google Reader to read blogs, here’s a quick explanation of how it works.

In the business world, the art of defining is called marketing. Marketing is the most important skill set for anyone bootstrapping a small business. I don’t care if you are a developer, a sales hawk, yoga expert, or whatever– if you want to make successful businesses, start thinking of yourself as a marketer.

If you’ve got a project or business idea that you care about, I encourage you to run it through the following checklist. If you can mange to say “yes” to most of the questions, you’ve got the entrepreneurial frame (there’s a scorecard at the end!).

Here in Singapore I’ve got a couple minutes before I head off to China and onward to JFK. I’ve got so much on my mind as 2011 winds down, and I can’t think of a better time to reflect than while in-transit.

A few days ago, our business clicked past the $1,000,000 mark in annual revenue. That was a huge mental milestone for us. We’re thrilled. Despite that, I’m getting more frustrated about presenting the numbers that way. What if I could say: “we grossed 10K from our cat furniture brand last month and here’s how we did it…”

I hope this list will help you find some new blogs and podcasts to follow. If you’ve got the time, I’d love to see a post like this on your blog. Not bullshit shout outs, or niche appropriate

My friend is a really smart guy with a lot of varied talents and passions. He’s got his MBA. He’s got a high paying consulting job that isn’t very intense or stressful. He’s got the power to make whatever he wants with his life.

Incubators seem to work well for start-ups– companies that have the potential to offer a huge return for investors. Unfortunately for my incubator dreams, I don’t know anything about start-ups.

I don’t know jack shit about health. I’m not qualified to tell you about it. I like to party my ass off, and eat the best of everything. Depending on who you ask, I’m 10 to 20 pounds overweight.

A few years ago when I was living in Vietnam and buzzing about all the opportunities I saw, I told a more experienced entrepreneur that I was thinking about writing a book about my travels and my business ideas.

Over a few beers the other night, I turned to DCer Travis Jamison and asked him to estimate how many Americans knew more about SEO than him.

“Chops” describes how talented of a business person I perceive somebody to be. Often there is a disconnect between the results somebody has achieved online and their chops index.

People who already have a lifestyle businesses don’t use those words as much. If you already have a business, you are more likely using terms like ‘hiring somebody,’ ‘building a product,’ or ‘evaluating tools or services’ to employ.

Forbes’ recent feature of Dropbox told the story of how Y Combinator’s Paul Graham insisted that the founder, Drew Houston, find a co-founder before he received funding.

Over the last few weeks– via my travels and the application process– I’ve had the opportunity to meet and talk with shit ton of blog readers, TMBA alumns, and members of the Dynamite Circle.

Tomorrow I’m recording a podcast with Ian and Brendan about a business concept that Brendan recently brought to my attention: critical non-essentials or CNEs.

This post is a job ad. If it were posted on a job website it would be titled something like: “Location Independent Entrepreneur Seeks Full Time Intern.” How I wish I would have seen a job ad like that 5 years ago!

So here’s the deal: No plan. No itinerary. Just a relaxing few days hanging out in paradise. We’ll go hiking, swimming, and have a few beers. We’ll talk some shop as well. It’ll be a small group.