In the past few weeks, I’ve come across 2 VERY interesting visuals.

The first is a visual guide to where your federal tax dollars go. If you click the image or here, it will link to a larger version online. You can even buy a print version. Cool.

Next is a visual showing how the GPD’s of COUNTRYS match up to the GDP of STATES in the US. You can click the image for a larger version. This post
talks more about it.

Hat tip to Blake Snow for pointing the GDP map out.

Last week, while gearing up for my trip to the Wind River Range, I wrote about the burden that accompanies preparing for time spent away from the office. Now that I’m back, I remember another cost associated with being gone for extended periods of time: namely, that for every four days you spend away from the office, you spend at least one full day digging out! I had so many email and voice messages waiting for me upon my return that I wondered why in the heck I’d even left in the first place.

And speaking of digging out, due to an approaching winter storm, our six-day trip got cut short by two full days. At 10,000 feet above sea level–which I know, is nothing compared to Everest, K2, or Kilimanjaro–there’s little room for forgiveness, especially when it comes to weather. As someone much smarter than me once said, there’s no such thing as good weather or bad weather; there’s just weather!

Some of you may think I’ve stopped showing for work (after all, I haven’t blogged since the 12th of this month, and before that I took what amounted to an eight-day ‘blogging hiatus’). To satisfy anyone’s curiosity, I haven’t [stopped coming to work, that is], but if I ever did, it would probably be because I found a dark spot on the map and I’m staying put!

Click here or above for a birds-eye view.

For now, after having recently spent five hours on a plane flying back to Utah from Boston, I’d choose a dark spot close to home, like further west here in the Beehive State or somewhere up in Montana. How about you… where is your dark spot on the map?

Most bloggers start off on day one with one of those typically lame, “Well, I’ve finally decided to join the blogosphere” posts, as if to suggest that their first run at blogging is as a blogger. The truth is, even though this is my first blog entry ever, I’ve been a part of the blogosphere ever since Jonathan Last of The Daily Standard first coined the term back in April of 2002.

The great thing about blogging—and I don’t mean to position myself here as some sort of blog evangelist, because I’m not—is that whether you write for one, read one, or comment on one, you’re part of the blogosphere, and therefore you matter. Yes, I said you matter; which is to also suggest that I matter too.

My area of expertise, my passion if you will, is entrepreneurship. I have co-founded a number of companies that provide services and technologies to other entrepreneurs and small businesses—including my current one, Doba—and along the way I’ve learned some really valuable lessons, including the notion that entrepreneurial success does not occur within a vacuum. Because of how I view myself, I have an affinity towards others who are striking out on an adventure of their own to try and create something from nothing. By connecting with one another and sharing best and worst practices, we all have the potential to grow and succeed, and that’s what this blog is really going to be about.

Sure, I’ll be blogging about what’s going on at Doba, but not in a self-serving or unauthentic way. If I choose to write about an upcoming conference where we’ll be exhibiting our products and services, it won’t be because I’m looking for you to stop by our booth and hear the pitch; it’ll be because I truly believe that after having set up exhibit booths for Doba and the other start-ups I’ve run, that have something of value to share with other entrepreneurs about the benefits, pitfalls, and opportunities associated with participating in conferences and trade shows. If I choose to blog about a new book I’ve co-authored, it won’t be because I want you to buy my latest book; it’ll be because I have something unique and compelling to share about a particular aspect of the book writing or publishing process.

My point here is this… while the URL says “JeremyHanks.com,” it could just as easily read “ItsAboutYourSuccessAsAnEntrepreneurMoreSoThanItIsMyOwn.com,” but clearly that’s too long of a domain name for me or anyone else to remember let alone type.

In the days, weeks, months, and years to come, I’ll be blogging about entrepreneurship and the challenges and joys associated with starting, growing, and running a business. At various points in the life of the blog, I’ll also reveal more about who I am, what makes me tick, and what really matters most in my life.