Twitter Thank-you!

Hey! Thanks a ton for following me on Twitter. Here is a free ebook as a token of my sincere appreciation. This book is AWESOME! Chances are you have read it before so it will be a nice treat to re-read it and soak it in. If you haven’t ever read it you are in for a nice surprise. Kick up your feet, grab your favorite hot beverage, stoke the fire and relax. This book will spur some introspection that creates motivation and action. Enjoy. FREE Acres of Diamond’s Download.
Live-Love-Laugh

Tim

http://www.lifebyavision.com

http://www.abundancecreationsecrets.com




F1 Racing Stealing Nascar’s Marketing Chops?

Ok, I am not really an F1 racing fan for a ton of reasons I wont get into but….this is very cool.  Cu-dos to Red Bull’s marketing team for putting this video together.  I really wish one of the team sponsers at Nascar would pick up the idea of keeping their viewing public up to speed on rule changes. I would have loved to have this done for the car of tomorrow when it was coming. This is a great example of attraction marketing.  This video has every possibility of going viral and Red Bull is not asking for anything here,  just providing you, the reader, excellent content.  Are they in business to make money?  Of course.  The point here is that there is no pitch, no trying to sell me something.  I will remember this very cool video though and show it to people as well as remembering the Red Bull car and driver suit.  Sorry I won’t remember the drivers name.  Nice marketing lesson here. Do you think it is effective?

Tweetergetter Controversy

What is all the hub bub about tweeter getter? Here is a peek a what tweeter getter does, this is copied from the landing page of Gary McCaffrey….
————————
Your viral tweetergetter system is in motion!

IMPORTANT…

“You’re About To Discover The Secrets Most People Will Never Know About How To Really
Use & Profit From Twitter…”

How To Make Money With Your “Tweets” Using Twitter The Right Way And How To Avoid Annoying Your Followers!

Surefire Strategy To Make Easy Residual Income With Twitter Without Doing Anything Black Hat…It doesn’t get any easier than this…

Insider Secret Tactics On How To Set Yourself Apart From The Twitter Crowd… Most marketers have absolutely no idea how to convert their followers into real traffic and fail miserably to get any results at all…

How To Avoid The Biggest Mistakes Most Marketers Are Making With Twitter To Keep Your Following Growing Daily!

… and much, much more! Just enter your first name and valid email in the form below to learn more about how to use twitter the right way, right now…
——————————
end McCaffrey

So this is controversial because to some it seems black hat. I am not one to use black hat or even grey hat methods to build a list. It just doesn’t sit right with me. I would rather do it the old fashioned way by adding real value to those who land on your site looking for information. In my case the target market for this site is those who are looking for one of two things.
1-a site with personal development tools, infomation and strategies that will help you to be the best your creator intended.
2-those looking for a systematic approach to building an home-based business with an online presence through organic (read free) methods, ie attraction marketing.

These two thing are inseparable because most of us don’t start out with the tools to develop a positive mental attitude that will allow us to live and capture our goals and dreams. Alright so back to tweetergetter. As I mentioned some wont like this because it looks like an underhanded way to take a shortcut. If you take a peak under the hood I think you will agree with me that this is actually fine. It will be an awesome tool to add to your belt if you continue in the vein we teach here. That is to add value to your readers. The whole, give something away free without the expectation that people will buy anything. Help people get what they want first then as a by-product of that you will find what you are looking for.

So check out tweetergetter and see if it aligns with your value system. For an awesome and in depth article, check out Mike Klinglers article’s about this new twitter building tool and using twitter for building your network marketing business at  Marketing Merge.  As for my reslults, I just started using it and am already getting some results from it. Check back to see how we do, also, let me know how it works for you.

Rick Warren on Lifes Purpose

This, like much of the stuff I end up publishing here, ended up in my email box. I wish I could give proper attibution but I cant trace the originator of the printed version. It is from an interview with Pastor Rick Warren by Paul Bradhsaw in early 2006. The information on the health of Ricks wife kay, is not current. Here is a comment from Pastor Rick, “You reference Kay’s having cancer, but I wanted to assure you that the interview/article you cite is a few years old, and Kay is healthy and in remission. Would you kindly make note on your site that Kay is currently cancer-free and that the article was not written recently? (And I agree that there are definitely points in it that are timeless!) As you can imagine, when people read that “Kay is ill,” they are burdened for her health, unnecessarily so, and it causes much confusion. Rick Warren”

As a side note it is usually not a good idea to use content that is not original on your site, at least from an SEO perspective. Google has ways that you are penalized in rankings for content that is re-cylced somehow and not original. The obvious second area is that of a character or integrity standpoint. If I dont write the content, every effort is made to give you the originator for proper recognition of that persons effort. As the reason for this site is not just monetization, I do use many other peoples content and just deal with the serach engine penalties if they actually exist.
So there you have it, enjoy.

You will enjoy the new insights that Rick Warren
          has, with his wife now having cancer and him having ‘wealth’
from the
          book sales. This is an absolutely incredible short interview
with Rick
          Warren,
‘Purpose Driven Life ‘ author and
          pastor of Saddleback Church in California.  In the interview by
Paul Bradshaw
          with Rick Warren, Rick said:

People ask me, What is the
          purpose of life?
And I respond: In a nutshell,
          life is preparation for eternity. We were not made to last forever,
          and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.
One day my heart is going to
          stop, and that will be the end of my body– but not the end of
          me.
I may live 60 to 100 years on
          earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity.
This is
          the warm-up act – the dress rehearsal.. God wants us to practice on
          earth what we will do forever in eternity.
We were made by God and for God,
          and until you figure that out, life isn’t going to make
          sense.
Life is a series of problems:
          Either you are in one now, you’re just coming out of one, or you’re
          getting ready to go into another one.

The
          reason for this is that God is more interested in your character
than
          your comfort; God is more interested in making your life holy
than He
          is in making your life happy.

We can be
          reasonably happy here on earth, but that’s not the goal of life.
The
          goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.
This past year has been the
          greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay,
          getting cancer.
I used to think that life was
          hills and valleys – you go through a dark time, then you go to the
          mountaintop, back and forth. I don’t believe that
          anymore.
Rather than life being hills and
          valleys, I believe that it’s kind of like two rails on a railroad
          track, and at all times you have something good and something
bad in
          your life.
No matter how good things are in
          your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked
          on.
And no matter how bad things are
          in your life, there is always something good you can thank God
          for..
You can focus on your purposes,
          or you can focus on your problems:

If you
          focus on your problems, you’re going into self-centeredness,
which is
          my problem, my issues, my pain.’ But one of the easiest ways to get
          rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and
          others.
We discovered quickly that in
          spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was
not
          going to heal Kay or make it easy for her- It has been very
difficult
          for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a
          ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her
          closer to Him and to people.

You have
          to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of
          life.
Actually, sometimes learning to
          deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all
of a
          sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly
          very wealthy.
It also brought a lot of
          notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don’t
think God
          gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a
          life of ease..
So I began to ask God what He
          wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He
gave me
          two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II
          Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72.

First, in
          spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle
          one bit.. We made no major purchases.

Second,
          about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the
          church.
Third, we set up foundations to
          fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip
          leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next
          generation.
Fourth, I added up all that the
          church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church,
and I
          gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for
          free.
We need to ask ourselves: Am I
          going to live for possessions? Popularity?
Am I going to be driven by
          pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be
driven
          by God’s purposes (for my life)?

When I
          get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God,
if I
          don’t get anything else done today, I want to know You more and
love
          You better. God didn’t put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do
list.
          He’s more interested in what I am than what I do.
That’s why we’re called human
          beings, not human doings.
Happy moments, PRAISE
          GOD.
Difficult moments, SEEK
          GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP
          GOD.
Painful moments, TRUST
          GOD.
Every moment, THANK
          GOD.

A Goal Setting Primer

A Goal Setting Primer

 

This little primer will hopefully give you a great way to get started setting your goals so they actually work for you. I have had success using the methodology below.  As many of you know I am not a “process” oriented thinker.  Wrong side of the brain, backwards and for me boring.  But…this actually works so even though the thought of following a process is like listening to fingernails on chalkboard via Bose surround sound, it is an area where I actually follow the yellow brick road.  For those who have seen this I ask you, are you using it?  It is like the fundamentals in any discipline, I keep coming back to it and refining my use each year.  Enjoy.

SMART goal  setting, an acronym for high achievement.

S-Specific

Your goal must be specific.  You must be very clear about what you want to achieve.  Identify your why. Success Coach Jack Canfield states in his book, The Success Principles that, “Vague goals produce vague results.” In order for you to achieve a goal, you must be very clear about what exactly you want to put your effort into.  

 

A great way to get you thinking about this is to use the 6 “w’s”.

 

Who-Who will be involved in this goal with you for accountability or along for the ride.

 

What-Exactly what do I want to accomplish/

 

When-When will the pursuit of the goal take place.

Where-will the goal take place.  Where will I be?

 

Why-what is the reason i would like accomplish this goal?  This is an area to sped a good amount of time.  Drill down to find the emotional reasons, not logic.  Logic doesn’t work when we bump into obstacles specific to our goals.  Emotion is king.  use all of you senses here.  What does it look like?  Smell like?  Feel like? Sound like?

 

How-how will I accomplish this goal?  What will I give up?

 

 

M-Measurable

Your goals must be measurable in some quantifiable way.  You have to be able to track them as there is a psychological boost that comes from small incremental victories.  But you have to recognize them.

 

A-Achievable

Big goals, absolutely but you have to have a core belief that they are attainable and attainable for you if you hold to your plan.  Setting unreasonable expectations will only break us down.  When putting together a goal that will make us stretch you can scale the goal from 1-10, one being no challenge at all and 10 being perhaps not likely.  You will generally want to be in the 7 to 9 range here.

 

R-Relevant

You need to make sure your goals are congruent with your values and purpose in life.  So here is where you indulge your passion and again make sure you are emotionally attached and committed. This is your moral and ethical check against your personal core values.

 

T-Timely

Attaching a deadline is critical.  I hate deadlines.  I use this because it works.  I don’t like deadlines because that is like slavery.  The way I look at it is if I don’t set deadlines to specific goals and measures someone else will set goals and deadlines for me in a job.  Ewww! Also without setting a deadline you have no real compelling reason or motivation to begin work now.  By putting a precise year, month, say even time your subconscious mind goes to work as your helper here.

 

So that is the SMART part of it.  Next you need to make sure you write them down.  The mere act of writing them down has power.  It takes a dream and makes it real.  Now you can hold it in your hand.  I use computers, cameras, vids, all kinds of things but the most powerful is the goal sheet I write in my own handwriting on a card to carry.

 

Next would be to work out a SOP or DMO.  A daily method of operation or a standard operating procedure.  That means scheduling your days. First and foremost would be top of mind awareness for your goals.  You read them first thing in the morning out-loud, at a few key intervals during the day and the last thing before you go to bed.  When you read them it is personal and in the present tense.  Your subconscious mind can only work in present tense and we need that on our side. Then we break down our goals into monthly, weekly, and even daily tasks.  It is simple then to look at a know what to do  to keep you progressing towards those goals.  Below is an example for an new site I am working on for 2009.

Jan

week one-conduct market research to firm up keyword selection

week two-research competition specific to niche and keywords

week three-finish product creation

week four-write or outsource sales letter

Feb

week one-build website or buy template and ad opt-in offer

week two-set up paypal and complete writing for email marketing sequence.  Write or outsource

week three-publish site, start pay-per click advertising

week four-start search engine optimization

March

week one-set up blog

week two-start article marketing campaign

week-three-track stats and tweak to improve

week-four-head start for next product, rinse, repeat

 

So anyway you get the idea.  This makes it very do able with a weekly and even daily map to get there.  Having the plan also helps top of mind awareness. I am living it daily.  With this type of planning you increase your chances of success geometrically.  

 

Godspeed.

Music Frogs Demonstrate Branding

What does this have to do with business?  Nuttin but branding.  Take a peak and oh,

if you cant laugh on occassion you are taking life way to seriously. Lighten up.

image0011...gif
A frog goes into a bank and approaches the teller. He can see from her
nameplate that her name is Patricia Whack. 

'Miss Whack, I'd like to get a $30,000 loan to take a holiday.' 

Patty looks at the frog in disbelief and asks his name. The frog says his
name is Kermit Jagger, his dad is Mick Jagger, and that it's okay, he
knows the bank manager. 

Patty explains that he will need to secure the loan with some collateral. 

The frog says, 'Sure. I have this,' and produces a tiny porcelain
elephant, about an inch tall, bright pink and perfectly formed. 

Very confused, Patty explains that she'll have to consult with the bank
manager and disappears into a back office. 

She finds the manager and says, 'There's a frog called Kermit Jagger out
there who claims to know you and wants to borrow $30,000, and he wants to
use this as collateral.' 

She holds up the tiny pink elephant. 'I mean, what in the world is this?' 

The bank manager looks back at her and says... 

'It's a knickknack, Patty Whack. Give the frog a loan, His old man's a
Rolling Stone.' 

image0022...gif

(You're singing it, aren't you? Yeah, I know you are..........) 

Never take life too seriously! Come on now, you grinned, I know you did!!!

Get a Vision For Success

Learn the Language of Success

Fables and Fortunes

Fables and Fortune Hunters

Ok, I have a pet peeve I am gonna vent about. Business Planning or lack there of. Alright, maybe its not so much as a pet peeve but rather a point of contention specific to most people who teach business planning. At least these folks believe there should be some planning and that gets some big props. But the challenge is if you dont project, goal-set, dream and plan for specifics you may have a successful business regarding cash-flow and income but in reality that is a only a part of the whole picture. What if you end up working 80-100 weeks which is fairly common in many industries, especially in big dumb corporations. (actually in industries across the board 75 hour work week is the norm). Is that what you want? Is it your definition of success? That is what I mean because everyone has there own idea here of what success is to them. The point is if you dont know what you want, specifically, you most likely will get down the road and find yourself unhappy. Also if you know exactly what you are trying to build, and more importantly why, it allows you to design patterns of success based on being extremely effective not just efficient. Efficiency is good but if the task we are so efficient at is not necessary to be effective towards our goal…it is still a waste. Right? This story I saw a few years back illustrates it perfectly have seen this story around before but could not lay my hands on it. While I was reading Tim Ferris’s book, The Four Hour Work Week, he had this story profiled in his book. While I am still not sure where the original came from here is it excerpted from Tim’s book.

An American businessman took a vacation to a small coastal Mexican village on doctor’s orders. Unable to sleep after an urgent phone call from the office the first morning, he walked out to the pier to clear his head. A small boat with just one fisherman had docked, and inside the boat were several large yellow fin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish.
“How long did it take you to catch them?” the American asked.
“Only a little while,” the Mexican replied in surprisingly good English.
“Why don’t you stay out longer and catch more fish?” the American then asked.
“I have enough to support my family and give a few to friends,” the Mexican said as he unloaded them into a basket.
“But…What do you do with the rest of your time?”
The Mexican looked up and smiled. “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a siesta with my wife, Julia, and stroll into the village each evening, where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life senior.”
The American laughed and stood tall. “Sir, I am a Harvard M.B.A. and I can help you. You should spend more time fishing, and with the proceeds buy a bigger boat. In no time, you could buy several boats with the increased haul. Eventually, you would have a fleet of fishing boats.”
He continued, “Instead of selling your catch to a middleman, you would sell directly to the consumers, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village, of course, and move to Mexico City, then to Los Angeles, and eventually New York City, where you could run your expanding enterprise with proper management.’
The Mexican fisherman asked, “But, senor, how long will all this take?”
To which the American replied, “15-20 years. 25 tops.”
“But what then, senor?”
The American laughed and said, “That’s the best part. When the time is right, you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich. You would make millions.”
“Millions, senor? Then what?”
“Then you would retire and move to a small coastal fishing village, where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a siesta with you wife, and stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos…..”

Ah, the arrogance of us sometimes. It brings out a specific point though and that is starting with the end in mind. I have a podcast that I originally put on my artmarketingbuzz.com site, it is addressed to artist but conceptually it applies no mater what your profession or business niche. So what does all this have to do with social marketing, attraction marketing, social media marketing, or personal development? Everything. If you don’t spend the time defining the “why” of putting your business together it wont work. What if you get down the road and find out you would be happier doing something other than wohat your are trying to acheive now? What if you really want to work 2 days and just hang with your family the remaining time? Most of us plan and goal set according to previously defined social moire’s. Why? I think because we don’t spend the up-front time to really defined what “our” perfect life would look like. I am guilty of this…. bigtime. Next-time we can pick this up again and take a look at some other issues pertaining to the “why” of your business.

« Previous Page