Posts tagged online business
Making Money Online and Writing Part Three
Jul 24th
“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who matter don’t mind, and those that mind, don’t matter.” ~Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel)
So, you are committed to writing daily, perhaps you already are writing daily. Where do you write? I’m not asking about the physical location where you invoke the muse; I am talking about where you are going to be making your writing visible to the online world. Here is what I have learned so far – from my own experience and from my coaches:
- You need a blog – almost certainly a Wordpress blog – and you should be posting blog entries to this at least three times per week – five would be better in the beginning.
- After you have gotten into the swing of posting blog entries, then you also need to be micro-blogging on Twitter. To ignore this tool, as I did for so long, is foolish.
- After you have gotten into doing these two writing platforms consistently, then you need to add posting comments on other blogs, writing to Facebook, working with LinkedIn and eventually YouTube. I haven’t decided which of these that I am going to add next, but we will all know shortly and you follow my lead. (I promise to be an example – either a good one or a bad one, but I will for sure be an example!)
Your Masterpiece
All along of course, you should be writing on your manuscript, your masterpiece, the first baby of your imagination and expertise that you will release to the world. You don’t know what that is yet – fine. Then start to write down some of the things that you love to do – even pay to do now – probably there is a great place to master and write about in that. For me, I started by writing down all of the things that I speak about in my seminars and that gave me a great place to look for potential products – information products, books etc. – that I could create and release.
What am I working on Today?
- I am making a blog post.
- I am finishing reading Richard Branson’s book “Losing my Virginity” to see what business skills and beliefs I can model from this exceptional achiever.
- I will make a few micro-blog post – tweets – about my day.
- I will work on my manuscript for my goal setting product that I intend to be the first things that I release to the online world.
- I will be working on some consulting proposals for the fall.
Till next time…Happy Writing!
Jack
“There is a misleading, unwritten rule that states if a quote giving advice comes from someone famous, very old, or Greek, then it must be good advice.” ~Bo Bennett
Are You Serious About Making Money Online?
Jul 10th
“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” ~e.e. cummings
Are you serious about making money online? Great! Me too! Bad news first:
- There are already approximately one hundred million blogs with perhaps two hundred and fifty thousand more being started every day – and you will need to compete with these for attention online.
- You will need to work hard and smart – although I believe in miracles, I am going to plan my work in such a way that miracles are not a mandatory part of my business plan.
- You will probably need to keep your day-job for awhile – perhaps an extended period of time, while you create your online business.
- You are going to need to develop new skills and new habits to be successful.
- You are certainly going to need to find the time to work on your online business – it will take significant time devoted on a regular basis.
Now for the good, even great news:
- The one hundred million blogs are important but not as much as you think. Most are orphaned by their authors within 90 days or are strictly devoted to socializing.
- The vast majority of blogs are updated rarely – if you write to yours five times per week you will absolutely stand out.
- In a world of two billion English speakers, a number that is growing rapidly, there is plenty of opportunity for new and marvelous success stories – including yours and mine!
- You will get to really be yourself – even if you don’t know who that is yet.
- You will have more friends – across the entire world – than you have ever before had in your life.
- People all around the world will care about you and care about what you think.
- Carefully planned and worked, your online business can grow more rapidly than any other type of business in the world today.
- Your financial investment in your online business, at least in the beginning, is trivial compared to the real opportunity.
More next time…Jack
“Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.” ~Judy Garland
Your Work Should Be Like Play Especially Online
Jul 9th
“Thousands of geniuses live and die undiscovered – either by themselves or by others.” ~Mark Twain
Last time I encouraged you to set a small goal – to make $250 dollars per month from your online business – each and every month. I still think this is a great goal and only the smallest percentage of people trying to make money online ever even make this goal a reality. Wow – why? I think it is because they are all going for the big quick score without doing the groundwork first.
It was interesting the huge number of tweets that I received yesterday promising overnight riches from online business. (For those of you that are not yet on Twitter – a “tweet” is a 140 character micro-blog. Twitter is becoming a force that must be taken into account and I will talk more about how and how not to use this service soon.)
Today, I just want you to think about your passions and your hobbies. What do you love to do – not for money, but because you just love it? Or think about it this way, if money was no concern, how would you honestly be spending your time? This bit of self-analysis is critical for your future online success and is my suggested homework for you. Look at what you love to do – even if you have never had time to do it and just write that down. Next time I’ll talk about why this was important.
Till next time…Jack
“I am convinced all of humanity is born with more gifts than we know. Most are born geniuses and just get de-geniused rapidly.” ~Buckminster Fuller
Omaha, Warren Buffett and the Economy
Jul 1st
“Word is getting around. People of every age and lifestyle are being drawn by the promise of educational opportunities, good-paying jobs, an affordable cost of living and a high quality of life.” ~ Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey
I spent the day today in Omaha, Nebraska. At the time of this entry, Omaha has one of the most robust economies in the USA. As evidence, I saw lots of signs saying “now hiring” on the windows of companies and lots of “sold” signs on houses. These are both very good things! I even heard radio ads advertising for employees and offering signing bonuses! This is unheard of in most of the country. So what makes the difference?
I am going to guess that a large part of this relative economic health is due to Warren Buffett and his holding company Berkshire Hathaway being headquartered in Omaha. The effect of this kind of wealth concentration, in the relatively small area of Omaha, has got to be quite significant.
So what does this have to do with you and I and making our lives better – what can be learned from the current state of Omaha and Warren Buffett that will benefit us? I expect that once I have the chance to model Mr. Buffett, something that I will have to do from books at first, and then hopefully face to face someday, there will a tremendous amount of useful information. I am sure that Warren Buffett has great empowering beliefs, and habits, and philosophies that would be of benefit to adopt – at least if someone wants to be completely financially free!
Omaha and Online Business
For now, I am just going to make this very simple analysis. If I needed to find a place where I could likely find a job that paid me well enough to support my family – then I would consider moving to Omaha. This comes from a simple analysis of the “economy” in Omaha. For you and I, today, if we needed to find a place where other people, ordinary people and extraordinary people, were able to make a good living with relative small startup money and a better than average chance of success – then I would say Online Business is the way to go. I would say – in a very clumsy comparison that still feels very true – that Omaha, Nebraska is much like Online Business – a great place to consider making a move. Wow that still sounds silly, but feels true!
Anyhow, I like Omaha. I knew when I moved to Iowa to take care of my mom, that Des Moines would be too small for me. I suspected that Omaha and Minneapolis and Kansas City and Chicago would end up being the markets where I spend most of my face to face time in business development and that is turning out to be an accurate prediction. I also suspected that moving to Iowa would be a great incentive to move my business online – that has also been true. More about that another time.
Bye for now…Jack
“‘Open for Business’ is a sign of the times in Greater Omaha. Building upon the foundation of four Fortune 500 headquarters – Berkshire-Hathaway, ConAgra Foods, Kiewit Corporation and Union Pacific Railroad – a variety of well-known and start-up companies are being attracted by the area’s loyal workforce, extensive telecommunications infrastructure and location in the central United States.” ~VillageProfile.com
Online Marketing Part Three and Death
Jun 26th
“Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live”. ~Norman Cousins
Two more celebrities from my youth died yesterday: Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett. I didn’t know either one personally – my connections to them were very average: I lusted after Farrah in college and had her famous poster on my dorm room wall and I admired Michael’s dancing and performing skills.
Still, I was saddened to learn of the death of these two and I looked for the source of my sadness. I discovered that I was actually sad about my own impending death. Yep, that’s right – the death of others that were significant in my life somehow reminded me of my own mortality. Is it bad to be reminded of this from time to time? No, I think it is actually a great gift – a painful gift to receive and unwrap perhaps – but certainly a gift!
I believe that I am here on this planet for a purpose – in the words of one of my trainers from long ago: “That I bring unique medicine to the world”.
So what does this have to do with online marketing? It actually relates directly to, but you will need to come back tomorrow to learn my perspective on this – I am off to work with a consulting client and my time has run out for today.
For now, follow this link from my online business coach and see what you think: Yaro and Gideon’s Youtube Marketing Video.
Till next time…Jack
“No one can confidently say that he will still be living tomorrow”. ~Euripides
Let’s Make Money Online
Jun 24th
“Don’t focus on having a great blog. Focus on producing a blog that’s great for your readers.” ~Brian Clark
I am going to be talking about making money online for the next week or so. This has been a mission of mine for the past few years. I think just a bit of my background may be useful here.
Some of you know that I was successful at making money fairly early in my business career. I retired, I thought for the balance of my life, when I was 36 years old. It took me just about 12 years to achieve this first retirement. (When I was 24 years old, I had set the goal for myself of retiring before I was 40) People talk about being bored when they are retired and what a mistake it was for them to ever quit work. Not me! I traveled the world. I lived in other countries. I worked on my private pilot license and flew great small planes. I invested nearly 2 years becoming a very accomplished sailor. I got my advanced scuba certifications. I went back to school and studied with masters of coaching and personal evolution – my time studying NLP and working with Tony Robbins are great highlights of my life so far. And then the money ran out!
It’s not quite as simple as that. I knew I was not a cheap date and I had a good stream of investment income. And then a wonderful investment opportunity in a Canadian company came my way in 1998 and I took a big chance – either all of my financial dreams would come true or I would need to start again. Things were great for 18 months or so and then the bottom fell out of the market – you may be old enough to remember the rise and crash of the dot coms. Anyhow, most, but not all of my money evaporated in a very short period of time.
I could have cut my lifestyle back considerably and done alright, but I had gotten used to living well and I did not want to change until I had to. So, I lived well and high, literally high in my penthouse overlooking the ocean in Vancouver British Columbia, until I had to go back to work. So, I have already had nearly 10 years of wonderful retirement.
So, what does any of that have to do with making money online? I believe that moving my business online is the future that will fully fund my next early retirement. When I came back to work, I set myself the goal of retiring again, at a much higher level, before I was 60 and I am certain that I am going to make it. I am also certain that the internet is going to be a key component of making this happen.
For today, I would like you to follow this link provided by my blogging coach. His name is Yaro Starak and he and his partner Gideon have been instrumental in transforming my business. If you let them, they will transform your business as well. Here is the link to their Become a Blogger site and training course. The free report there has already been downloaded over 20,000 times and I found it quite useful myself.
Next time I will talk more about what the internet has already done for my business and what it could do for yours.
Till next time…Jack
“The first thing you need to decide when you build your blog is what you want to accomplish with it, and what it can do if successful.” ~Ron Dawson