WARNING:

The reason you’ll fail is because of fear.

Is your blog growing as you hoped it’d be? Is you email list growing as fast as you want it to? Did you live up to your expectations? If not, then read on because I think I know what the problem is…

We’re All Afraid… (of stupid things)

Here are some of my fears:

I’m afraid I’ll get into a freak accident and never get to reach my lifestyle goals

I’m afraid my subscribers will all unsubscribe one day for no apparent reason

I’m afraid no one will buy my Podcasting For Bloggers program next week..

I’m afraid the internet will vanish and everything I’ve worked on will go to waste

I’m afraid my business success will make my friends hate me

I’m afraid people will stop opening my emails

I’m afraid someone will say something bad about me, that spreads all over the web

All of these “fears” sound really stupid once you actually write them down. For example, right now I’m asking myself why would the internet just disappear, you idiot? But that’s the type of irrational thinking that goes on in our minds.

Most of these fear are likely NEVER to come true (let’s hope not) but still they linger, and stop us from taking any action. They stop you from doing the things that you NEED to do in order to:

Spread Your Message

Live Your Dreams

Get Paid To Do What You Love

Help Other People

Design Your Ideal Lifestyle

Buy What You Want

and Have Time & Financial Freedom

I Want You To Get Mad…

If you want to move forward in your business and overcome your fears, you have to get mad; you have to get angry at your current situation. Say NO to the recession and say “screw you” to the fear that is stopping from doing.

Someone you may have heard of, by the name of Thomas Edison, (Lol.. that was a joke – OK let’s get serious here)

Edison once said, “Restlessness is discontent — and discontent is the first necessity of progress. Show me a thoroughly satisfied man — and I will show you a failure”

So basically, if you want to fail at this internet business thing, all you have to do is accept and be happy with the life you’re currently living. Be satisfied and you’ll do nothing to get more of what you want; but if you get mad, success becomes a byproduct of the fearless action that you’ll take.

What’s Your Reason Excuse?

Let me help you out with this one. Pick the one you like best:

I don’t have the time

It’s too hard to build an audience

Nobody will pay for my stuff

It’s too hard to grow an internet business

I don’t have the skills to do this

I don’t have the money for this

I’m tired all the time

I tried and it didn’t work for me

[Insert Yours In The Comment Section Below]

These aren’t reasons, they’re excuses. This is our way of trying to convince ourselves not to stay in our comfort zone and away from fear.

But they also lead to a life of mediocrity and I doubt that’s what you want. If you’re reading this all the way through, I KNOW for a fact you want more. The road to getting more is letting fear motivate you and getting out of your comfort zone.

A general rule of thumb I follow is, If it feels scary to do, then it’s probably what I should be doing.

On to you… what scares you? what are your fears and frustrations? what reasons are you coming up with for not taking fearless action? Let me know in the comments section below.

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** The Podcasting For Bloggers Q&A Video Is Now Live.. click here to watch it now

Back in March 2010, I made the decision

We need to know when learning is needed and beneficial to us and when it’s just a waste of time. Reading a ton of blogs, reacting to every email, and watching a ton of videos aren’t going to get you where you want to go.

Don’t get me wrong I believe learning is essential to growth and success in any area of your life, but not at the expense of your own productivity.

Today’s post might strike a cord for some of you, and that’s the point. I want us to stop kidding ourselves as to why we’re not doing the things that NEED to get done. I want you to start taking massive action today, and here are 12 reasons why you should

12 No BS Reasons To Take Massive Action!

1. Because the day you quit, your competition wins

Yes! They Win. You Lose. End of story. All your leads and all your customers go to them and you get stuck with nothing, zero, zippo, nada. If the thought of working so hard on something, only to have it taken away doesn’t make you get up and start working – then maybe this next one will.

2. Because time isn’t your friend

When you realize you’re going to DIE, nothing else matters. The seconds will continue ticking away while you’re clicking away, having unproductive conversations on twitter. Take advantage of the NOW, because tomorrow may never come.

3. Because things will go on as usual, no matter what you do

Remember all those blogs you checked out this week already; yeah, those same blogs will continue to produce content whether you read them or not. Spammers will still spam. Gurus will still launch every 4 months. Everything will be the same whether you act now or act never, so might as well get in the game.

4. Because no one is coming to save you

This is by far the biggest illusion most start-up entrepreneurs have. They feel a product, course, program, coach, consultant, software or tool will fix all their problems and bring them success. But what they don’t realize is that all they need to be successful is already inside them.

5. Because you’ll feel better about yourself

You should be taking action for yourself. I still remember when I created my first lead capture page (it sucked), but damn, it felt good when I was done. I still remember learning how to use photoshop (not fun) but now it feels awesome to create graphics in minutes. I still remember getting my first subscriber, and because I took massive action I get people subscribing everyday.

6. Because you’ll create positive momentum

There’s no question that action leads to results. The beautiful part of this formula is that results increase your belief about how much you can accomplish; which in turn helps you take more action. It’s a beautiful cycle that only leads to more success. Try it. It’s great!

7. Because you’ll learn more by doing

Take action because you’ll actually “get it” when you actually “do it”. I can tell you that creating a great incentive (like my Smart Blogging Guide) can help you get more people to join your email list. But until you create your own, you won’t know what works best for you, until you actually do it.

8. Because you won’t know until you try

You could have the greatest idea in the world; it could be the answer to world hunger, (or it could just solve all your problems, which is fine, too) but you won’t know until that IDEA becomes REAL. The only way an idea can become a reality is through action. Remember that…

9. Because fear will never go away

I’m scared of failure just as much as you are. I’m afraid of being ridiculed just as much as your are. The only difference between me and the non-action takers, is that I’m more afraid of what will happen if I DON’T take action. That future is a lot scarier that the fear my mind creates.

10. Because knowledge isn’t power, Applied Knowledge is

You can learn all you want, but if you don’t apply what you learn, it means nothing. No one benefits from it. Not you. Not your customers or blog readers. Not your family and friends. I try to implement at least one piece of knowledge everyday because when you understand the concept of compounding results, it’s a “no-brainer” to continue adding to yesterday’s efforts.

11. Because getting out of your comfort zone is not as bad as you think

Me: I should start a podcast

Mind: ..they’re gonna laugh at you

Me: No they won’t.. I should talk about business blogging and branding

Mind: ..blogging? no one listens to that crap.. they use their ipods for music

Me: No, there are other people podcasting about business related topics

Mind: yes, but that’s them, Not YOU.. you’re not as good as them

Me: Is there an “OFF” button I can press to shut you UP!

Mind: .……………………………………no!

6 episodes and 4,000+ downloads later, my mind is telling me I’m smart for not listening to it. Your mind will always create very unrealistic, and scary scenarios to try and keep you in your comfort zone, but trust me when I tell you, the grass is greener on the other side.

12. This Last One Is One You…

Tell us in the comments section why you feel NOW is the time to take action. Tell us why you’re not gonna sit in the sidelines watching everything happen – and then share this post with those who need it.

Talk to you in a bit…

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If you’ve been wanting to work with me one on one, now’s your chance. My blog design and consulting services are now available. Click here to check them out.

Here’s the back story:

I got the idea to create this video ecourse last Friday (Nov 5) because of the emails I’ve been getting from people asking how to they can get started with their own blog. So I worked on it really hard all weekend in an attempt to release it on Monday.

I fell short 2 days but I’m not complaining.

The point is that this mini-project didn’t seem rushed. I felt as if I was gliding through the process with ease; something that doesn’t happen very often. (and I think it turned out great)

In this post I wanna share with you some of the things I did differently, that I think had a great impact on the how fast I finished this project. So, here we go…

11 Tips To Increase Your Productivity

1. Clear Your Desk

My desk was a mess. Papers all over the place, markers, pens, notepads, books, contacts solution bottle, cologne, cd’s, flash drives, paystubs, lotion and a nice nyc parking ticket. I couldn’t get myself to start working with a mess, so I cleared it up and all of a sudden, my creative juices started flowing. Which brings me to tip #2…

2. Write a ‘To Do’ List

I had ideas of the videos I wanted to create, so I started to outline the exact order they needed to be in. The TO DO list helped me organize my tasks from start to finish so I knew exactly what I had to do next to finish the project.

3. Forget The Things That Don’t Matter

Then I started writing stuff that really didn’t matter too much at the moment; which I don’t think was the best use of my time. Things like, “Get Back To So & So About That Thing” and “Don’t Forget To Go To The Bank”. These are the things that will take up all of your mental energy; the energy that you’re gonna need to get your stuff done.

So, what did I do – I forgot about it. I pretended that those other things I “needed” to do did not exist.

4. Email Can Wait

Your emails aren’t going to go away. They aren’t going to disappear from your inbox if you don’t get to them 3 seconds after you get that email notification. Just to make sure I wasn’t tempted, I disconnected from the internet while I was working on things that didn’t involve being online.

…like designing the graphics, lead capture page, editing the videos and a few other things.

5. Eat Before or After (Not During)

I’m a big fan of eating during work, and I know I’m not alone. We all do it (c’mon admit it). I made a conscious effort not to eat while I was working on this project, and that worked out great. I recommend eating before or after you start blogging, creating content, getting traffic or anything else that involves your business. This will keep you a lot more focused.

6. Keep A Reserve of Post Ideas

I knew that if I wanted to just work on this mini-project this weekend, I had to have a bunch of ideas for future posts just in case I was burned out from all the hard, focused work. I came up with 37 post ideas (including guest posts) that I’m going to be putting out in the best few weeks – one of them being how I came up with 37 post ideas :0)

7. Keep A Reserve of ‘Back-Up’ Posts

Friday was my back-up content day. I took the time to create 3 posts that I was going to use as guest posts and on my blog to keep the traffic flowing in case this project took my longer to put together. One of these posts was 5 Ways To Know If You’re Content Sucks that received a good response.

It felt really good knowing that I had something in the back burner, waiting to back me up if I needed it – which also helped me focus on the task at hand when Saturday came. So make sure to create content (posts) that you can fall back on whenever ideas aren’t coming in.

8. Focus on One Thing

On Saturday, while staring at my TO DO list, I was getting worried that this was going to take longer than I thought; but I soon realized that was just my mind playing tricks on me. I knew deep down that if I focused on ONE task at a time, I could finish them with ease – so that’s what I did.

9. Start With The Most Important Task

I started with Recording the videos because without the videos, nothing else matters. I found myself working on the web design work, and setting up the website and all this other stuff that needed to be done, but wasn’t a priority.

Whenever you’re putting up a new post, getting the images or figuring out what the headline is gonna be is not more important than writing the actual post. So, figure out what the most important task is and start there. Which leads me to..

10. If You Don’t Know What To Do – Create!

If for any reason you don’t know what the most important task is – CREATE. Create a video, audio podcast, blog post, or write a guest post. Creating is and always will be a high level activity. The more content you create and publish, the more of the internet you own. Remember that..

11. Work In Time Chunks & Take Breaks

We all need breaks. While I was working on this project, I learned that I get burned out after about 50 minutes of straight-focused work. During these breaks I usually just got a glass of water and thought about random things. Keeping your mind off the task will clear your mind and help you be more focused when you go back to work.

Extra Tip: Work your ass off and don’t stop until you’re done!

That’s it.. hope you liked the post – don’t forget to share it using the twitter and facebook buttons; I’d really appreciate it :0)

Leave your comments or questions in the comments section below, talk soon

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Similar Online Marketing Posts::

1. How To Deal With The Overwhelm That Comes With An Online Business
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This post is a bit selfish. I wanted to use this post as a way to remind myself that things will get tough. I wrote some things down that I wanted to come back to over and over again whenever I’m feeling like crap.

Look at this sorta like a “pick-me-up” for entrepreneurs. I think we all need reminders like these to help us get through the hard times.

And I also think this will be especially helpful to anyone just starting out, who’s witnessing everything that you need to learn in order to make an online business work.

So, that’s why I decided to publish this, and I hope you all find useful, too.

11 Simple Reminders That Will Keep You Sane

#1. Remember That Each Step Builds On Top Of Another

No one step is insignificant if it’s part of a bigger goal. You can’t set out to build the biggest, greatest wall of all time – because you’ll never get around to do it. The first step is to lay the first brick down as best you can, and then move on to the next. Soon enough, you’ll have a wall.

#2. Your Subscribers Won’t Disappear Overnight

Most of us fear taking a stand and being ridiculed by our audience. We feel that saying one “wrong” thing will make them up and leave you and never come back. It’s important to know that your loyal readers, friends, followers, and subscribers will stick with you if you’ve proven to them that you’re a trustworthy person. Most people will forgive you for saying something really stupid, and the chances of everyone disappearing and forgetting about you is slim to none.

#3. You Can Make Mistakes, We’re All Humans

Mistakes are not the end of the world. The question is not whether or not you’ll make mistakes, the question is, are you ready to deal with them when they arrive? If your mistakes somehow affect other people, you can easily apologize and learn from it. Embrace your failures and turn them into lessons.

#4. More Productivity Means Less Intake Of Information

The brain cannot produce information, and input information at the same time. You already have everything you need to take that next step – so take it! The only thing stopping you now is the inability to stop taking IN information and start producing more.

#5. No One’s Coming To Save You

No product, no service, no magic tool, no wordpress plugin, no coaching program will get you where you want to go. The ONLY person that can do that is YOU; and that’s by taking sickening amounts of action towards your goals. These other things can guide the way, but no one will save you by doing it all for you. Ultimately, everything you want is totally dependent on what you do.

#6. Don’t Discount Your Accomplishments

This is something I do A LOT – and I gotta stop! When you discount what you’ve done, you no longer see yourself worthy of your goal. You no longer see yourself getting what you really want in your business. If you need to, constantly remind yourself of where you were and how far you’ve come. It’s important not to take for granted the skills, knowledge and experiences that we’ve gotten since day 1.

#7. You’re Getting Better At What You Do Everyday

If you continue taking action, day in and day out – there’s no way you’re not getting better at what you do. We all know the feeling we get when learning something new – it’s like pushing a boulder uphill – but once we get the hang of it, it becomes almost second nature. Soon enough you’re doing things you weren’t able to do 6 months ago, with EASE!

#8. Focus On Only…

…one business, one project, one blog post, one task at a time. The moment you feel like you’re being pulled in 50 different directions is the day you say, “screw this, I don’t need this crap”. Avoid putting yourself in situations where you know you’ll get overwhelmed and focus on the task at hand.

#9. Stay Away From The Numbers

Keeping track of RSS subscribers, email list size, traffic stats, friends, followers, and “likes” will only drive you CRAZY. Take a look at this post where I talk about how often you should look at your stats so you can keep yourself sane.

#10. You’re 100% In Control Of The Situation

It sure as hell doesn’t feel like it when I’m going through all the overwhelm and doubt – but we really are in control. That’s why I said that I’m accepting these feelings as just another skill I need to master. You need to accept that it will happen, and when it does, you’re ready to take it on – head on!

#11. Asking For Help Doesn’t Mean You Suck

What I meant to say was, asking for help is not a sign of weakness. It doesn’t mean you’ve failed, it just means you are smart enough to ask for help when you need it. This is why making friends online is great, if not critical, to your success. Who else can you talk to about this internet stuff? Who else can you celebrate with when you get to 50+ optins per day? Find people who you can talk to, get advice from, and celebrate with – it’ll make it so much more exciting.

That’s it for my selfish post.

Seriously though… I hope you found this very useful and something that you can come back to over and over again (just like I will) to help you get through tough, emotional, times.

How Do You Deal With Overwhelm, Fear, and Uncertainty?

Please leave your feedback in the comments section below and please use the share, stumble, and retweet buttons to share this post – I’d really appreciate it. Can’t wait to hear what you have to say…

All the best..

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Are you building a business or are you screwing around?

…and I know we all screw off from time to time – it’s fine, we’re human. But I think there’s another level of screwing around that will literally stop you from reaching your business goals.

But before we get into that, let’s first define the act of screwing around.

According to TheFreeDictionary.com, to screw around is “To act or fool around aimlessly or in a confused way and accomplish nothing” and that’s NOT what we wanna do, right?

For a long time I just DID STUFF online aimlessly, without any clear goal or objective. Along with that, I also wasn’t seeing any type of results because I was treating my business like a hobby.

My goal here today is to help you avoid 5 dreadful mistakes when building your business. I hope you find them useful.

Keep in mind that for some this will be a reminder, and for others it will be a kick in the butt – enjoy! :0)

THE 5 MISTAKES TO AVOID AT ALL COSTS..

1. Not Putting Your Profits Back Into Your Business – This is very important because cashflow is crucial to keeping your business running.

Think about it. Your Hosting Plan, Autoresponder Service and any other services and tools that you use to run your business cost you MONEY.

The best feeling, especially when you’re starting out, is knowing that your business is funding itself.

I remember my first $100 day. As exhilarating as it was, I made a big mistake of spending the money elsewhere instead of on my business.

Now, I completely forget that money exist. All the tools and services I use are paid for by the profit my business brings me. You can check out the resources section to see a list of stuff I use.

The next big mistake I made was..

2. Not Having A Business Plan – BIG MISTAKE. This is why I was lost and confused. I didn’t know where I was going because I didn’t create the road map.

This includes things like:

- Choosing your niche
- Deciding on your angle (brand)
- What are you gonna sell
- How are you gonna sell it
- What’s your lead magnet gonna be
- How are you gonna automate stuff
- What do you want your business to look like in 5 years

….and some other stuff. When I answered those questions, I had a clear idea on what I wanted to do and how I was gonna go about it. If you haven’t yet created a business plan, then you DO IT!

You’ll be glad you did. The next big mistake I didn’t make was…

3. Not Having A Marketing Plan – I was learning so much about marketing stuff online that this wasn’t really a big challenge for me but it could be a challenge for you.

The first thing to realize is that this is different from a business plan. Your business plan details what your business will look like, in terms of products, branding and services. Your marketing plan is a detailed road map on how you’re gonna get your business in front of the RIGHT people.

I knew that blogging was gonna be my main marketing weapon, but you can always learn and try new ways to build and market your business that don’t include blogging. (although I think NOT including a blog is Success Suicide)

But, that’s just me. The next mistake to avoid is…

4. Not Having A Schedule For Everything – I still struggle with this but I manage.

The toughest part, I think, about building an online business is the part of it being online. Youtube, Facebook, Hulu, Twitter and all of our favorite sites are just a click away.

But I’ve learned that by having a schedule for yourself really increases your productivity.

For example, I set time for free & paid content creation, traffic generation and community building. All of these take a great deal of time and it can get overwhelming if not managed correctly.

So, take the time to create a schedule for the things you do for your business and try your best to follow it. The last mistake you absolutely need to avoid is..

5. Being Another Average-Joe (or Joy) – There’s nothing interesting about being average. When you put in average efforts, you get average results.

I remember being at the gym one day, and seeing a bunch of big dudes wearing shirts that all said, “Go Hard or Go Home.” That’s the attitude we need to have as entrepreneurs, especially if your goal is to brand yourself and become an authority in the eyes of your market.

People follow and buy from leaders, so make sure to do everything possible to put in the extra effort wherever you can. It’ll show in the results.

- Wanna attract readers? Don’t just comment on ten blogs today – Go for 15!
- Wanna get more loyal readers? Don’t write a 350 words post - Go for 1,000!
- Want more subscribers, don’t say “Get Free Updates” – Offer 3 Free Reports!

Every little bit counts. Trust me, when you do stuff like this, even if it’s just a little bit extra, you get way ahead of your competition – because they ain’t doing it!

QUESTION.. HAVE YOU HAD ANY OTHER HOMER MOMENTS?

Let me know in the comments below if there’s anything else you’re struggling with. I’ll try my best to answer your questions. …and if you have 4 seconds, please retweet and share this post - I’d really appreciate it.

Thanks

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Don’t throw anything at me, yet!

I’m gonna tell you why we need spam and why, the fact that people are buying crappy products, can ultimately lead to guaranteed success for us.

I was reading Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely over the weekend and I gotta say, We are WEIRD.

We live in a world of relativity. The only way that we can actually KNOW the value of something is by comparing it to something else of the same category. For example, we don’t really know how good of a deal a vacation to Fiji is without comparing it to it’s original price.

The same way we can’t decide on buying a certain SEO product without comparing it to another SEO product with similar features. Relativity is everything.

This Is Why We Need More Spammers & Scammers

Without them, our prospects won’t have anything to distinguish the good guys from the bad. Without them spamming forums and social media with their links, good marketing wouldn’t stand out as much as it does.

It’s unfortunate that a lot of people get scammed. They buy products and never get what they were promised or, they get sold on the hype, only to find out they just bought another PLR product.

But think about..

Without that reality, we wouldn’t have a big list of things NOT to do when trying to build a business online. Knowing that hypey marketing and crappy products are out there,  makes consumers way more careful about giving someone their money.

Which, ultimately, makes our job a lot easier since being authentic and providing real value is all we need to do to stand out from all the noise.

But we gotta take it a step further..

You Need A Unique Selling Proposition..

Just like there are a lot of spammers and scammers online, there are also a lot of people doing it the RIGHT way. You need more than just authenticity and content to stand out from the great marketers.

This is what we call the Unique Selling Proposition. It basically answers the question, “why should I buy from you, instead of this other person..??”

Corbett Barr wrote a nice piece on U.S.P’s that I think you should check out. The Ultimate Guide to Finding Your Unique Selling Proposition.

On To You..

Of course, I still hate spammers and scammers – and maybe I’m pushing the envelope too much in this post, but here the question:

What do you think online business would be like without Spammers? Far more competitive? A much nicer place? Speak your thoughts in the comments below..

If you found this post interesting, please share it on facebook, twitter, digg & stumble upon.. I’d really appreciate it

talk soon..

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I’m not much of a motivational speaker

You see.. when we’re first getting started, we have all this excitement, drive and a strong belief that this will actually work and that we’ll be successful. But as time goes on,  the excitement goes down, the motivation begins to drop and then we hit a wall.

You realize what it really takes to start seeing success and the amount of work involved to make it happen – and you start coming up with “reasons” as to why this isn’t gonna work for YOU.

One thing I want you to get from this post is that these “reasons” you come up with are nothing more than insecurities and limiting beliefs. Well.. you can get rid of these beliefs and I’m gonna show you how – one by one..

Let’s go..

7 Limiting Beliefs That Are Robbing You From Your Online Success

I’m not successful because…

#1. I’m not a techie – Ohhh man… I love this one..

I’m gonna be completely honest with you, anyone that tells you that you don’t need to know any technical stuff to do internet marketing or build an ONLINE business is probably trying to sell you something.

OR.. they had a nice budget to start with when they got started, and so they OUTSOURCED every technical detail about the business. (which is almost everything)

None of us were born knowing how to walk, but we learned didn’t we? 18 months ago..

• I didn’t know HTML,
• or how to upload videos,
• or how to create a blog,
• or how to social bookmark stuff,
• or how to install a member management script
• or how to use FTP software,

ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! – but there’s one thing I did know.

I knew that building an ONLINE business required me to learn certain skill sets that I didn’t currently have, and so I learned them. Through practice, trial and error. The only way to eliminate this limiting belief is to ACCEPT the fact that you NEED to learn new skill sets and yes… BECOME a techie -  I know.. I know.. it sucks, but I know you can master this internet stuff if you put your mind to it..

NEXT..

#2. I don’t have a big budget

This one is simple – you DON’T need one. I wrote a post a few months back (and if you’ve been with me since the beginning, you know what I’m talking about) – about how you can start an internet business with less than $29.95.

In that post I tell you how all you need is a domain name, hosting plan and an autoresponder. Anything else is extra.

Let’s continue – I’m not successful because…..

#3. I don’t have a list

We all know that the reason the BIG NAME GURUS make all that money with product launches is because they have thousands upon thousands of people on their email lists.

Using the excuse “I don’t have a list..” stops you from ever working to get one. You need to start asking yourself, “How can I get a list?” instead of “why don’t I have a list?” Asking the RIGHT questions will get you to start thinking about finding the RIGHT answers and moving forward in your business.

So, don’t let this limiting belief stop you from working towards building your own list of people who know, like and trust you.

If you wanna see how Popup Domination is helping me build my list, check out this post.

NEXT… I’m not successful because:

#4. I’m not KNOWN in the market

That’s almost like saying, Successful People are Successful because they’re Successful. – Sounds funny, right?

That’s because it is, but most people think this way.

The act of getting known in your market must be deliberate, it doesn’t just happen overnight. This is done by bloggging, guest posting and other social media strategies. It will take some time and it will take some work, but you’ll begin to “get known” in your market.

But, you knew that already.

#5. I don’t know what to write about

Creating content is tough. It takes time. It takes brain power and it takes real work. But as I’m writing this post I’m realizing that creating content is only tough when you don’t have enough to say on a particular topic.

The idea for this post came to me while I was shopping on 34th street today, so I took out my IPhone and took some notes about some limiting beliefs that I know I’ve had to get rid of during my journey. Then all I had to do is get home and start writing.

The point is, the idea could’ve been anything. But because I’ve learned, experimented, succeeded and failed at certain areas during my online journey, I have ENOUGH to say on those topics.

Whatever market or niche you’re in, you need to start (or continue) learning, experimenting and sharing those lessons you learn and your experiences with your readers.

Once you have a good reader base, you can simply ask people what they want to learn more about, so you can start addressing those topics.

#6. I have to write too much, and I don’t like to write…

Well, you don’t really have to. Writing is only one form of content creation. There is also video, and audio. If those are better modalities for you to share your message with your audience, then by all means go for it.

Create videos and post them on YouTube. Record audios and start a podcast on iTunes. These are great ways to get yourself and your brand out there in the marketplace and also great content to share on your blog.

A downside to using JUST video or audio is that getting search engine traffic will be really hard since the search engines bots read the TEXT on your site and can’t figure out what you audios and videos are about.

#7. I don’t know where to get started

Well that one’s easy – start by getting the 3 free reports inside my Business Blogging Vault. Inside you’ll learn how to effectively launch your blog, how to drive free targeted traffic to it, and how to “business-tize” it to start getting money.

It’s free, so there’s no excuse.

On To You…

What limiting beliefs have you had to get rid of in order to get where you are today?

Please share your thoughts and experience with us below, & please share this post on twitter and facebook – it takes 4 seconds - thanks.

Talk soon
Hector

This is a strange post for me to write.

If you’ve watched my intro video (To The Right) which most of you have, you know I started getting visitors to this blog on April 10th, 2010. It was literally the most exciting day of my life.

Who Gets Excited Because Of 6 Visitors? Me, apparently..

I don’t know who those 6 visitors were, but I just wanna thank them right now for giving me that feeling of “I can actually do this”

Before that day I had countless failures, miserable results trying stuff out, and very little motivation to keep going. The story goes like this, please keep in mind I never share this with anyone before…

1. Got introduced to online marketing
2. Tried an automated system & it didn’t work for me
3. Bought a marketing product
4. Became an affiliate and made a couple sales
5. Was happy for a couple weeks and didn’t make another dime for months
6. …got really really SAD and overwhelmed :0(

I really felt like giving up. There was a voice inside my head telling me to call it quits. Then I reached what I consider to be the turning point of my life. The day that I made a DECISION.

Wow.. what a powerful concept, isn’t it? -

Having the POWER TO DECIDE.

That day I decided to stop whining about the things that weren’t working and start seeing these “failures” as lessons learned. That was the day I became Hector The Online Marketer.

You see… marketers are a rare breed:

• MARKETERS don’t care whether or not a capture page converts – they tweak it until it does
• MARKETERS don’t feel a thing when they get a refund – because it’s just how it works
• MARKETERS see criticism and negative comments as market research
• MARKETERS translate failures and errors into Valuable Experience they can share with others

So what’s the moral of this story?? Simple – Make A Decision Today, (…RIGHT NOW EVEN) - To Become A Marketer and I can almost guarantee that you’ll laugh at the thought of giving up.

Making a decision to become student of marketing and keep moving forward has allowed me to turn those 6 visitors into hundreds of daily visitors – and you can do it too.

You really don’t have to share this post since it’s not really content based like my other ones, but I’d still appreciate it if you did.

Question: Have You Ever Felt Like Giving Up?

Please share what kept you moving forward in the comments below..

Talk soon
Hector The Alexa Director

Surprisingly enough working less hours has gotten me the best results.

I know I talk a lot about not getting any sleep and working on business til the sun comes up – but as far as my blog is concerned, I only spend a few hours everyday keeping it fresh and the traffic flowing.

(..it’s those other upcoming projects that take up most of my time, but I’ll save that for a later post..)

Today I wanna share with you 3 simple ways to avoid wasting time and getting what you want DONE. This is also gonna help you get focused as to what it is you want to accomplish with your blog.

Which, in my case, is to create a community of like-minded people who learn & share ideas.

Here Are The 4 Anti-Time Wasting Tips :0)

#1. Don’t Multitask – This is a BIG problem when working on building my online business. I sometimes find myself doing 3 or 4 things at once. Designing a lead capture page, blog commenting, replying to comments, and eating at the same time.

Just take a step back – choose one task, and go for it!

#2. Eliminate Any & All Distractions – Distractions can mean anything – Your cell phone, your email, your relatives, the kids, the neighbors, the dog, and food. (..I like food..).

I just lock the door, and tell everyone to leave me alone (..in a nice way of course..) As far as email – many tasks don’t require me to be online so I just disconnect and get to work.

#3. Have ‘POWER SESSIONS’ – This is one topic that I cover in great detail on day 6 of the Blogging Blueprint course. Essentially, it’s getting extremely focused on 3 aspects of your blog for 60 minute sessions.

I based the majority of the success I’ve had with this blog on those 3 power sessions. If you wanna check it out, click here.

What Are Your BIG Time Wasters?

Any tips that you can share with the community here would be great.. everyone is so cool around here – I’m sure we’ll get some great nuggets of wisdom.

As always, if you enjoyed it, please share it, digg it, stumble it and retweet it…

Til next time
Hector “The Alexa Director”

Similar Online Marketing Posts::

1. If It’s Not Permission-Based Marketing, You’re Wasting Your Time
2. BBP 008: How To Guarantee Your Blogging Failure & Ways To Avoid It
3. 4 Ways You’re Destroying Your Credibility and 5 Tips To Avoid It

This question might sound a bit confusing at first, but really think about it.

I think it comes from the misconception that PERSONAL BRANDING is about YOU instead of your PROSPECT.

Too many people are worried about what “others” will think of them and spend too little time worrying about what their prospects want and need. …and trust me, PEOPLE NEED YOUR HELP! – I get more and more emails everyday from people who need guidance and this is what caused me to write this post.

(By the way if you’re reading this I haven’t replied yet.. I sincerely apologize – I’ll get back to you soon)

So, to try and make sense of this… this is what I’m gonna do. I’m gonna list everything in my marketing that screams ME, ME, ME! – ..and then list everything that screams YOU, YOU, YOU!

This will hopefully help you see that marketing is not about you, it’s about your prospects. I mean you REALLY gotta care. You can’t fake it, it won’t work!

Here’s Everything That Screams ME, ME, ME!!

1. Part Of My Header Image – It says HectorJCuevas.com with a picture of ME. The other part is my tag line which screams YOU.

2. My Social Network Link – This is so I can connect with you, but I’ll put it on the ME side.

3. My ReTweet Script – This is to give you the ability to spread the word about MY blog.

4. My Facebook Fan Page – This is so I can feel like a celebrity.. :0) (by the way.. click the LIKE button.. pleeeeaassee)

Here’s Everything That Screams YOU, YOU, YOU!!

1. Part Of My Header Image – The tag line reads ..”resource for YOUR blogging & online marketing NEEDS”

2. Intro Video – Welcomes YOU & tells you how I can help YOU.

3. Blogging Blueprint Video Course – An entire blogging & social media video series designed to get YOU up to speed.

4. Free Stuff Page – Redirects to Lead capture page which gives YOU my Blogging Blueprint video course.

5. Top Commentators Plugin – Rewards YOU for being active on my blog.

6. Comment Luv Plugin – Rewards YOU for commenting on my blog.

7. All My Posts – Designed to guide YOU in the right direction with Tips, Tricks, & Strategies

See what I mean.. I don’t even have an ABOUT ME page for crying out loud!!..  which I probably should – but that’s besides the point.

I worry about what I can give YOU, not the other way around. This, my friends, will get you places you would never imagine. A favorite famous quote of mine is from a guy named Zig Ziglar.

He says: “You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want” – I live by that, and I’ll die by that. As always, if you enjoyed this post, please share it, retweet it, digg, it and stumble it.

Who’s getting the conversation started today?

Have a great weekend,

Talk soon
Hector “The Alexa Director”

In this episode I talk about a strategy that lets you get the most out of your content.

Check it out..

The 6 Step Formula To Getting ANYTHING Done

The subject of setting goals has been spoken about for ages because of one simple reason.. IT WORKS! But has anyone every given you a step by step formula to getting things done, and getting them done quickly?

No? Well, you’re in luck because today I’ll share with you the formula that i’ve used to create my content, my videos, my products, my websites, my marketing campaigns and anything else that involves online marketing. Of course, I can’t take credit for this, I learned this ‘formula’ from Zig Ziglar and I’m happy yo pass it down to you.

Step 1. Set a smart goal
A smart goal is measurable and is part of a bigger goal. For example: Setting up your front end marketing funnel can be broken down into 3 smaller ‘smart goals’.

1. Lead capture page setup with autoresponder form
2. Lead magnet creation
3. Thank you page setup with download link

Every one of those goals can have it’s own deadline and you can measure your progress from start to finish.

Step 2. Identiify what the pay-off is when you achieve your goal.
This is almost like a motivation booster. Simply write down what you will gain from accomplishing the goal, and this will help you actually DO IT!

Step 3. List all the obstable in your way.
You don’t want too go after a goal and end up with surprises along the way. Write down everything that might stop you from getting it done, so when the obstacle does come up, you’re ready to take it on.

Step 4. Identify who you NEED to contact to achieve this goal
This is always good to think about if you don’t have all the resources or skills you need available to you, others might be able to lend a hand.

Step 5. Develop a plan of action
Simply list every step you need to take to get this goal done. This will help you keep focus and help you track your progress as you move along.

Step 6. Set a Deadline
Nothing works better than setting a deadline, even though I hate deadlines. But you need to make a commitment to yourself to keep that deadline. Knowing you gotta finish it by a certain date, will make you do it that much faster.

This formula has help me out a lot, and hopefully it will help you to. Let me know if you have your own ‘goal formula’.. you can share it in the comments below for other readers to benefit from..

If you enjoyed that episode.. leave me your feeback below..

Are you using this strategy? If not, are you using something similar to get the most out of your content? Share you ideas and thoughts with the rest of us.

Talk soon

Hector Cuevas
The “Smarter Marketer”

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1. How Kanye West Uses Content & Email Marketing To Build His Empire
2. Ask The Readers: Can You Describe What Your Business Does?
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