Do you have an idea for a business that you would like to create, a vision that you want to pursue, and goals that you would like to accomplish? Or, are you looking to launch a non-profit organization?

Just about one month ago Leo Babauta, Dan Clements, Andrew Flusche, and I launched Train for Humanity, an innovative new humanitarian project to try and generate some awareness and raise funds for folks who are facing a dire situation.

We are bound in our belief that with a little creativity and independent thinking individuals can make a difference and effect positive change in the world.

In addition, we realize that many people are looking to capitalize on the web and use it as a tool to launch, promote, or grow a new or existing business. Train for Humanity, is of course, a non-profit, however, launching a humanitarian site is pretty much just like trying to launch any other type of organization or business.

As such, we felt that a one-month recap might be useful to you and help to give some initial insight into some of the mistakes we’ve made and what is working well.

Some Initial Thoughts
It was semi-surreal watching a project that I had been thinking about for so long come to fruition.

I was shocked, pleased, and humbled by the number of people who helped us to spread the message on launch day regarding what this new little humanitarian awareness and fundraising organization was about.

Saving the world is a massive undertaking. We aren’t out to save the world just yet, and we realize TFH is not perfect, but by combining everyday athletes getting fit, and the power of the internet, we are trying to do our part to help.

However, I am not going to lie to you, it has been tough, tougher than I thought to keep the momentum going. Train for Humanity is a new concept and people don’t necessarily know us, or what we are about. It’s my job to help them learn.

Ten Lessons Learned
1. Don’t wait to take action – Sounds cliché but instead of just reading those words, here is an example. I walked around and thought about Train for Humanity for about two years. In December we will end phase one with our three participant athletes and look forward to phase two, which should have somewhere between 50-100 participants. Imagine if I took action two years ago, we would probably be on phase ten by now and looking at 1000 participants. If you have an idea that you would like to pursue, do yourself a favor and GET started today.

2. It’s OUR cause – we realize that almost everyone is touched emotionally in some manner when they witness on T.V. what’s happening in Darfur. However, those same people are busy trying to conduct their lives for themselves and their families as best as possible, which means that folks aren’t always going to be moved beyond pity or empathy. Whether you’re looking to launch a business, product, or non-profit organization, it’s important to remember (and one thing I have certainly learned) that you always have to be educating the end user and your target market.

3. Social media promotion – can be a very tricky medium when using it to help spread the message about your organization or business. It’s hard to know when to ask for help even if you follow the Jeff Pulver model of giving 95% of the time and asking only 5%. In fact, I have noticed over the past month or so that every time I send out a Twitter message regarding Train for Humanity (or Darfur) I lose like three or four followers. Furthermore, if you consider the effort spent on various forms of social media and blogging it can be very time consuming, especially when writing guest posts for other sites. (Note: check out some of our guest posts at - FourHourWorkWeek, ProBlogger, ChrisBrogan, SuccessfulBlog, MarkSalinas)

4. Traditional media still has value – some might argue, but regular newspapers and news programs can still help to gain visibility. If we had the funds I just might have paid for a traditional press release.

5. Online acquaintances are supportive – not even a question, the people who I have met online either via blogging, Twitter or other means, have been more helpful, kind, and encouraging than my life long friends. Quite possibly, it’s due to the fact that some of my offline acquaintances don’t necessarily understand the power of the net, but I have been amazed with the support from online friends.

7. Don’t be afraid to ask for help – in tandem with the above, if you have an idea, want to launch something, or need advice, I have found that people are VERY giving with their time and will go out of their way to help.

8. Narrow your focus – one of the greatest mistakes we (I) made during phase one was keeping the focus too broad. Even though I felt that “providing funds and raising awareness for genocide refugees in Darfur” was a fairly focused message, I think people had trouble grasping on to the idea. With the bombing of Darfur Peace & Development’s Shegegkaro School we did eventually narrow our scope to try and get targeted funds to help rebuild. As soon as we put the school at the center of our efforts I saw a marked effect.

The last two items “learned” come as direct questions from Twitter after I asked, “Would you like to know anything specific about what we’ve learned one month after TFH launch.”

9. michelle4change re: ten lessons learned — what challenges do you face keeping people engaged and recruiting/keeping new advocates?

The challenges we face are mostly related to a lack of time. I run a fulltime business, Leo is a pro-blogger, Dan is an author, and Andrew is working on his law practice. As much as I try, sometimes emails don’t get answered for a day or so. But, if you read the future outlook below, we are going to have some contingency plans in place to help us grow.

10. seanbohan re: ten lessons learned — would love to know what expectations you had (re: community building) going in that were met/exceeded/or more imp., missed.

I did have greater expectations with respect to sponsorship and fundraising when we originally started. Although, from the point of, we created and founded “something” from “nothing” I am quite pleased with where we are at and where we are going. To date, over 100 bloggers have written about us and that’s with only three participant athletes. I am really excited to see what happens during phase two with 50-100 people. Slow growth is a good thing.

Future Outlook
The Train for Humanity board members are teleconferencing tomorrow and we will specifically be discussing where we hope to go and achieve during phase two.

What I hope to see in the near future will be to create a portal for like-minded individuals who want to get into shape and have their training go towards a humanitarian cause.

Specifically, we hope that all participants will have their own TrainforHumanity.org account, e.g. bobsmith.trainforhumanity.org, where they will be able to spread the word to family and friends about what they are doing and the humanitarian issues at hand. Additionally, we hope to integrate an invitation only Ning community into the site so that fellow participants have a place to gather, swap stories, and cheer each other on.

(Editor’s note: special thank you this week to Melissa McDaniel [her blog] who has been assisting with some promo for Train for Humanity.)