My friend and serial entrepreneur Kevin Daum recently kicked off a promotional campaign for his new book Video Marketing For Dummies, using a funny video that he put together with some of the book's coauthors to draw attention in the social media space. Kevin is an Inc. 500 entrepreneur who has chalked up more than $1 billion in sales and two Amazon #1 best sellers. As I watched the video, I was reminded that this is about the fourth or fifth time that Kevin has reinvented himself -- and his brand -- since I first met him 10 years ago. At that time, Kevin was the founder and CEO of a thriving mortgage brokerage in the San Francisco Bay area. Soon after we met, we decided to write a book together -- Building Your Own Home For Dummies. However, not long after the book was published, the housing market began to tank, and Kevin found himself out of the mortgage business.

Being the driven serial entrepreneur that he is, Kevin immediately reinvented himself by starting a new company -- TAE (The Awesome Experience) International -- devoted to "working with small, medium and large companies to increase growth by bringing design to their sales process and intent to their marketing." As he built this company, he embarked on writing another book: ROAR! Get Heard in The Sales and Marketing Jungle. I'm not too sure how well (or not so well) TAE International has done for Kevin, but it wasn't long before he decided to take another zig in his entrepreneurial path, starting up another company (and a new personal brand): ROARing Video. 

Now business video producer and consultant Kevin Daum advises companies on how to best market themselves using video. If the work he does with his business video clients is half as good as that promo video for Video Marketing For Dummies, then I think Kevin may have reinvented himself into a business that really is built to last for him. Of course, regardless of how well he does in his latest venture, I suspect he will continue to reinvent himself in the coming years. In fact, he's already picked up a gig as a columnist for INC. magazine, dispensing advice to other entrepreneurs on a variety of different topics.

The best entrepreneurs are constantly testing their environments and themselves -- measuring their results and their future success trajectories. If these outcomes aren't up to expectations, then they are ready to pivot 180 degrees and to try something different. The best entrepreneurs are masters of reinvention, and they aren't afraid to jump out of one business and into another when the need arises. In this way they find the success that they seek.

Oh. And here's that video that Kevin and his coauthors put together for his latest book:

Tomorrow is graduation at the University of Southern California and probably hundreds of other schools around the country.  And while it should be a time of hope, a sense of accomplishment, and the excitement of getting a job and becoming independent, this year’s class is facing a tough job market—fewer jobs and more people competing for them. How prepared is this group of graduates to meet the challenges that await them?  Sadly, and with apologies to the students who took their time in school seriously, I’m concerned that too many are not equipped with the skills they need for success.

I won’t go into a litany of things you should have learned in college.  Others have done that recently (Stephens: To the Class of 2012 by WSJ columnist Bret Stephens and  10 things Your Commencement Speaker Won’t Tell You by Charles Wheelan, to name a couple).  And it’s too late to tell you how you should have spent your time in college.  You’ll learn that in the next couple years on your job performance evaluations if you’re lucky enough to get a job.  No, I want to give you a snapshot of a student I had the pleasure of teaching in two classes who will never have a problem finding work and being successful at it.

As a slave to Fox News, I constantly hear that the government -- particularly the current administration -- is anti-business and anti-jobs. While I don't personally know if this administration is any more anti-business or anti-jobs than any of its predecessors, the business climate does vary from state to state within the Union. Always has, always will. This fact was backed up by a recent survey of more than 500 U.S. CEOs polled by Chief Executive magazine.

According to Chief Executive, the surveyed CEOs based their opinions on a variety of factors, including regulations, tax policies, work force quality, education resources, quality of living and infrastructure. As you likely know from personal experience, each of these factors can have a significant impact on the decisions you make for your own business -- including whether or not to locate your business in a particular state or city, or even a different country.

Here are some of the results of the survey:

The 5 Best

1. Texas

2. North Carolina

3. Florida

4. Tennessee

5. Georgia

The 5 Worst

46. Michigan

47. New Jersey

48. Illinois

49. New York

50. California

Perhaps needless to say, my state -- California -- was ranked dead last on the list. While I personally don't think that I am particularly disadvantaged by California's tax code or its environmental and other laws and regulations, I can see where some captains of industry might. Says T.J. Rodgers, CEO of Cypress Semiconductor, a $668 million chip-making firm in San Jose,"ABC – Anywhere But California. It's expensive, it's hostile to business and environmental regulations are more of a drag on business than protecting the environment."

Interestingly enough, my old stomping grounds -- the South -- was ranked at the very top of the list, easily capturing the top-5 positions.

Keep this list in mind the next time you're thinking of opening a new facillity -- or moving an old one. The company you save may be your own.