A few years back, I attended a convention of entrepreneurs with a respected business journalist who was looking for interesting rags-to-riches stories. Word of his pursuit quickly got out among the attendees, however, and the journalist soon had a posse of people following him around, desperate to share their sagas. So, if you're worried you're doing the self-promotion thing wrong, take some advice. Here are the tips I’ve learned on how to sell yourself without turning people off.

A few years back, I attended a convention of entrepreneurs with a respected business journalist who was looking for interesting rags-to-riches stories. Word of his pursuit quickly got out among the attendees, however, and the journalist soon had a posse of people following him around, desperate to share their sagas.

Today, the Business Intelligence Group named 34 companies as leaders and winners of the 2018 BIG Innovation Awards. This annual business awards programrecognizes the organizations, products and people that are bringing new ideas to life. "More than just technology, innovation as a whole is changing the way we all experience the world and these winners are leading their markets," said Maria Jimenez, chief operating officer of the Business Intelligence Group. "We are thrilled to be honoring all of our winners as these are the organizations, products and people who are leading by example and making real progress on improving the daily lives of so many."

Financing tends to be at the top of the list of hurdles for entrepreneurs setting out to start their small business. But, when I started TerraCycle as a college freshman at Princeton University, our original business model of vermicomposting (converting garbage into worm poop fertilizer) came to me only after the Entrepreneurship Club’s annual Business Plan Competition caught my attention with a grand prize of $5,000. After placing fourth (just low enough to finish without prize money), we used the next year to scrape together the money to buy a worm gin and get started.

TerraCycle is a high-profile company that gets a lot of press, but because it’s a private business, much has been unknown about its operations and income. A new financial filing provides details on how it manages post-consumer plastics, including which major reclaimer it relies on and where it sells recovered resins.

A few years back, I attended a convention of entrepreneurs with a respected business journalist who was looking for interesting rags-to-riches stories. Word of his pursuit quickly got out among the attendees, however, and the journalist soon had a posse of people following him around, desperate to share their sagas.

TerraCycle is a high-profile company that gets a lot of press, but because it’s a private business, much has been unknown about its operations and income. A new financial filing provides details.  

The rise of social media and internet literacy sees us living in an increasingly connected world. With it, a new funding option has developed for small businesses looking to raise capital: crowdfunding. TerraCycle US Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of TerraCycle, Inc., just announced that its $25 million Regulation A offering has been qualified by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), thereby allowing anyone the opportunity to invest in our U.S. business.  

To me, hustle is motivation and persistence. It is being motivated by the word “no,” or the desire to do something others think is not possible. It is thinking big and not settling for anything less than great.

It’s important to give credit where credit is due, so I need to update you on some Terracycle background. After six and a half years as principal of the Spencer Middle School, Eric Knolles is leaving on Feb. 14 to start his new job as superintendent of schools for the Waverly Central School District.