Archive for September, 2008

Just a quick reminder that the registration deadline for Internet Marketing Spring Cleaning is rapidly approaching. We do have some spots yet and as long as they stay open, the last day to register is this coming Sunday.

If you’re online business has become an unmanageable tangled web, maybe it’s time to clean up. Clean up the clutter and make way for profits.

I can’t wait!

Just about every week, I give you 3 thoughts on a particular subject. Well, you know what? I’ve been depleted of thoughts! I know, it sounds crazy, but it’s true. I’m sure it’s just a temporary thing, but I’m hoping you’ll give me a little hand on this one.

And besides, listening to me all the time get…well…a little dull. I want to hear from you instead.

PLEASE POST YOUR 3 THOUGHTS on the 3 key activities for your online business.

Now, I don’t mean to give us your important business secrets, but what 3 general things do you do on a regular basis that are crucial to your success/productivity.

Can’t wait to hear!

Fear of failure is one of those irrational fears that seems to prevent us grasping new opportunities and trying new experiences. If worrying about failing is all that’s preventing you from creating online audio then all I ask is, what’s the worst that can happen?

You’ve come this far online; some things you have tried have worked and some haven’t, but you have learned from every mistake and benefited from every triumph. The way we learn as human beings is through trial and error. As babies, if we failed to pull ourselves onto our feet we’d learn from that attempt and try again until we finally managed it. We didn’t feel any shame for not achieving it the first time, nor did we give up trying. At some point in our upbringing, failure starts to become something that should be avoided, that we should be ashamed of, to the point where we often refuse to try something new rather than find it doesn’t work for us.

I don’t want this to become a therapy session, but I do want you to question why you are avoiding creating audio and what will happen if it doesn’t work the way you want it to? In most cases, nobody else will even notice. You can discard the audio immediately and try again, learning from the previous mistakes. Most successful marketers will tell you that they make almost as many mistakes as they have successes, but they learn from them and move on quickly. Stop thinking of it as failure and focus on the learning process.

Anyway, back to the audio.

Another reason you may be avoiding creating online audio is the cost of buying the necessary equipment.

There’s absolutely no reason to spend a fortune to get started. All you need is a computer (which I assume you already have), a decent microphone, recording software and something to say.

And when I say a decent microphone, I’m not talking about an expensive, professional studio mic. At work I may use a $2000 microphone, but that’s because all audio I record there has to be of the highest broadcast quality. At home I simply use my Skype headset (I have one of the higher-end headsets but it still cost me less than $100). I also highly recommend the Snowball USB mic from Blue Microphones that works for PCs and MACs again about $100.

I suggest you begin with a free recording program like Audacity (another cross-platform application). Make sure you download the mp3 encoder too so you can export your audio in mp3 format. This sounds technical but Audacity will usually save things as .wav files, and mp3 is simply the audio format that is best for use online.

Whatever market or niche you are in, I’m sure you have something of interest to say. Make some notes to keep you on-track and begin recording. A few practice runs will help you become accustomed to the equipment and feel more relaxed about recording yourself speaking.

Today, I sent an email to my subscribers that talked about the fact that many of us home based entrepreneurs avoid time management & organization because we love the freedom that working from home offers. Honestly, I fought of planning, scheduling and all that for a loooong time. It wasn’t until I gave up that fight that I started getting everything done and having extra time to do what I wanted.

I wrongly thought that planning and scheduling would tie me down and stifle my creativity. Seriously…it’s the EXACT opposite. I have consistently cut down my time spent working, increased my profits and get out in the real world more than ever.

Part of managing your time is making sure that your business is manageable. It’s easy to get carried away in this vast online world and create a tangled web of projects that you can never seem to keep up with. I’ve seen it over and over again.

If you’ve done my Internet Marketing Spring Cleaning Coaching, you’ll know the benefits of untangling that web and focusing for more profits and time. It’s amazing what clearing out, refocusing and maximizing can do, don’t you think?

If you haven’t completed the coaching, now’s the time as we’re gearing up for a new session starting this coming Monday. I’ll show you how to better manage all that you do in your online business, plus grow your profits without sacrificing your sanity.

One of the first things you’ll do as a new business owner is create a website or blog. Choosing a template is one of the first steps in this process. This task can be quite frustrating because of the vast number of templates available. These tips will help you avoid common newbie mistakes when choosing your first website template.

Know your website’s purpose – When deciding on a template it helps to know how you plan to use your your site. Will it be used to manage frequent article posts or will it be used less often to notify your business customers of updates? Will it be a simple “about me” page where you will list links to all of your ventures? The purpose of your website will help determine and prioritize your template requirements.

More than aesthetics – Many new business owners tend to choose their website template based entirely on the template’s color or the included picture. Even though you may find something you like, there is more to a great website than a pretty color or picture. In most templates, it is fairly easy to change the colors and graphics so keep these template requirements low on the priority list.

Features are important – Knowing the kinds of content you will be adding will help you decide what features you will need. Do you plan on including video or audio? Consider choosing a template or theme which has these built-in features. Will you be adding many navigation links and graphic ads in the sidebar? Get a template with a wide sidebar or even two sidebars. Place the feature requirements at the top of your list.

Browser compatibility – Check your template in several browsers. Your website may not be centered in one browser but is centered in another. Don’t take it for granted that it will look the same in each of them. You may also want to check your site on different computers. If you don’t have an additional computer, ask a friend to take a look at it for you.

Just because you use a specific browser, it doesn’t mean that your customers will use the same one. Personally, I use the Firefox browser. The people who visit my mom/family sites tend to use IE while the people who visit my virtual assistant site tend to use Firefox. You never know what browser your customers will be using. This is why you need your website template to view correctly in a variety of browsers. Browser compatibility should be one of the top two priorities on your list.

These are only a few of the things to consider as you look at the available templates. Finding just the right one may not be an easy thing to do. Some will suit your needs better than others depending on your requirements. The key to finding the right template is to know what you are looking for and how to prioritize your needs. Use these tips when choosing your first website template to get your new business started in the right direction.

The cool thing (well, one of the many cool things) about running an online business is that you can pretty much work when you want to. Of course, you need to carve your schedule around other obligations in your life, but the freedom is most certainly there.

My question. What time of day is your most productive? When you do find you get the most done and why?

One of the worst productivity killers and time wasters is, as you know, our friend procrastination.

Procrastination can take many forms, but the end result is the same – a feeling of being scattered and that nagging tickle that we are doing something that we aren’t supposed to be doing – because we aren’t doing what we ARE supposed to be doing.

In the end – guilt and stress because our responsibilities and our dreams are still floating around ‘out there’ somewhere, instead of being firmly accomplished and put away.

All of this results in disappointment and a feeling of failure. Feeling this way does nothing to help us to be productive, on the contrary, it will slow us down until we actually do find ourselves failing.

There are a few things that we can do to ensure that we will never have to wish that we had been more proactive or focused in our work day, because we will be too busy hitting our goals and enjoying the rewards of accomplishment.

BLOCK YOUR TIME to create focused time pockets when you can concentrate on one project or a group of like tasks. Use these themed time pockets consistently – that’s the trick.

DECIDE HOW MANY you can do and how much time you will spend in each pocket for every working day of the week.

DON’T OVER SCHEDULE. Over scheduling is the flip side of the procrastination coin and can have the same effect – frustration and a feeling of failure. This can quickly lead to burn out and right back to procrastination. Pace yourself, allow plenty of white space and stay fresh.

PLAN AHEAD. After you’ve decided on 1-3 major goals that you’d like to focus on, break them down into the basic steps that it will take to complete them – then break those down into smaller, doable steps that will be plugged into your daily time pocket schedule.

RECORD YOUR PROGRESS. Keep track of what you’ve completed. This will provide a record for you to look back on and will motivate you to keep moving forward.

IN A NUTSHELL

• Use Project Time Pockets Consistently
• Don’t Over Schedule
• Plan Ahead
• Record Your Progress

Using these tools will help you to increase your focus on what you know should be doing and as you’ve probably heard before, what you focus on expands.

Use your focus to get more of the right things from your day.

Planning to wait until tomorrow to try them out?

Don’t even think about it!

If you’ve achieved some success in Internet marketing it can be tempted to get your spouse on board. But you know what? Online business or business in general, isn’t for everyone.

Some People Like J-O-Bs?!

I find it baffling myself, but some people prefer to go into a job every day, do their work and then just go home. It might be because they like a sure thing, they like to separate their home from their work…I don’t know.

I know I spent some time trying to convince my husband to get on board, but he’s just not interested. And that’s cool with me. He supports me in other ways by keeping the boys busy, helping around the house and being a great cheerleader.

If your spouse is totally into getting started online – that’s awesome. But if he/she doesn’t share your passion and excitement, why sweat it? We all take the career path that’s right for us.