Help Local Businesses Get (Better) Online

Use Your IM Skills Locally

A New Plan for Using Your Internet Marketing Skills: Go Local

Okay, you've made some money online and know the basics of the business, if not, why? Here's a thought: why not take your skills and help local businesses market their most profitable merchandise, products or services. You can also help them scale up any underused capacity that they want to promote. Best of all, you can plan it so they give you monthly, recurring payments!

This is the lat post in this series so I want to impress on you the money that is in local marketing online. Most brick-and-mortar local businesses know their business, but don't know how to market their business effectively. Sure, they do what their competition is doing, but they don't think outside the box. You, as an experienced marketer, can help them in ways they may never even imagine.

First, you have to realize that what local businesses need is not an education in online marketing. Truth be told, many of them won't understand anyway. They need someone to look at what they're doing with fresh eyes and a willingness to listen to them. The worst thing you can do is walk into a small business with a "business in a box" solution. You need to know what the problem is before you offer any solutions.

Avoid making the same mistake that many new Direct Response Internet Marketing hopefuls make: build a product or service, then check to see if anybody is already buying something like it. Do your market research first. Locate the hungry buyers for advertising and promotion.

Find out who is paying a lot of advertising money in your local area. Approach these businesses first, before you think about helping smaller, less profitable businesses. One easy way to start your market research is to look at Yellow Pages books and business directories. Concentrate on those businesses that have big display ads.

Full-page (or large) display ads cost a lot of money. In fact, the amount is usually so much that they are paid for on a monthly basis. As I mentioned in a previous post, all you have to do is call or write to these resources and find out the monthly fees for advertising in their publications

You may be in for a shock! Small and medium-sized businesses who do this kind of advertising can pay up to thousands of dollars every month in advertising fees with no way to get an accurate feed on ROI, meaning that money is just disappearing. I refer to this as "hope marketing" because it ends with hoping that it is working.

Now you have an idea of which local businesses in your area are already "hungry buyers" for what you can offer them. You'll be able to approach them with confidence. Your marketing skills, applied to their business and marketing plan, can really boost their revenue.

Avoid using IM "jargon" when speaking to these businesses. Remember, they know their business. They don't know about autoresponders, split testing, affiliate links, analytics for Web pages, etc. You'll just make what you do seem foreign to them.

Instead, find out what their business and marketing plans are. Help them target their most profitable merchandise, products or services. Find ways to help them improve the marketing of any underused capacity or products they have.

Think of their needs first, before you offer any solution. You'll be more likely to get a new client and get more money every month for helping that client.

I do wish to help answer any questions you may have about online marketing or business in general, so ask away.

Get Your Client's Website Out of the Witness Protection Program

The Front Door Method of Local Business Promotion

Put a Big, Red Front Door on Your Client's Local Presence

So if you have been following this series, then you have already made your local searches and tests of niche markets, you may have noticed that very few businesses and professional practices ranked well in the search engines. That's because there are SEO mistakes in their landing pages that prevent them from being indexed properly for their niche. Others simply don’t have one.

One of the most effective steps you can take to remedy that is to give them a "front door" to their website. This is a standalone page that has great SEO value and points directly at the clients business or website. These "front door" pages are simple in design, load quickly and have a tightly focused intent: get a prospect to call the business on the phone.

Most people who need a service go looking for it online. When they go looking, they want to call someone. Many have an urgent need and don't want to have to hunt around for the "contact us" page that most websites add like it was an afterthought.

Your Front Door pages need to have:

●       The client's logo or photo of their business as seen from the street

●       The client's business name in big letters and as an <h1> headline

●       The client's phone number in large, easy to read numbers

●       Tightly focused, customer oriented pre-selling copy

●       A strong call to action – call NOW

●       Absolutely nothing else on the page – no AdSense, no other links but the client's (make the header graphic and title clickable links); nothing to distract the reader from calling your client.

This approach saves you from actually redoing the customer's own Web page and gives their site a great backlink, which will improve their rankings. When you combine this method with blogging and article writing that supports the Front Door page, you make yourself invaluable to the client.

If your authoritative articles and blog posts all have backlinks that point to the Front Door page, several things will happen

●       Your Front Door page will rise to the top

●       Your supporting backlinks will appear right beneath the Front Door

●       You will push your client's competition farther and farther down in the SERP's

The real value to you, as a marketing consultant who earns big monthly fees for his or her work, is controlling the top spot in the SERP's. Always make sure your Front Door page gets all the backlinks from your supporting blogs, articles and other online resources.

If you like, you can take over the entire first page of the SERP's in some niches! Just add some social networking pages (Squidoo, Hub Pages), some classified ads (craigslist, USFreeAds, backpage.com) and at least one Wordpress blog post with targeted keyword tags. Wordpress tags have great SEO value!

Hopefully you can see now that generalizing online is not profitable, while niche marketing is. So to niche market specifically with local businesses to help their marketing soar is the ultimate in online business.

We have one more installment in this local market deep dive. If you have any questions, let me know. See you in the next post and, until then, here's to your success.

The First Step Is Market Research

Finding Hungry Local Advertising Buyers

Let Your Fingers Do the Walking

If you want to make the most effective use of your time and energy helping local businesses get online, start with smart market research. Instead of guessing which businesses spend big ad dollars, go to the Yellow Pages or a local business directory that has display ads.

Start at the beginning and go through the listings. When you find a niche that has full-page or very large display ads, make a note of it. Continue searching until you reach the end, or find more than enough potential niches.

In most cases, you'll find there are "rich-niche" businesses and professions that advertise like this:

●       Contractors

●       Dentists

●       Doctors

●       Insurance

●       Lawyers

●       Real Estate

These businesses and professionals make large sums of money on each new customer or client they get. Spending thousands of dollars every month to advertise is just a fraction of what they receive in profits. You can be the one that gives them great value for their advertising spending.

Most business owners complain that 50% of their advertising budget is wasted. They just don't know which 50%! You know, from experience, about adding Google Analytics, Stat Counter or any of the other third party services for these statistics. You'll be able to prove (and show) a prospect where their potential business is coming from, what they do when they view a Web page and where they leave (exit).

No Yellow Pages book can do that! Instead of guessing whether or not a given display ad is performing well, a customer of yours who has a Web page will have measurable statistics to rely upon. These statistics can also provide valuable market research for the client. No Yellow Pages book can do that either!

For you, the marketer, the results you get from your exploration of the Yellow Pages listings is just the start. You'll have to "weed out" all the retail-oriented display ads like restaurants and other businesses that are working on a small profit margin. Just because a restaurant has a full-page menu, that doesn't mean they're making a big profit. They're just up there because their competition has a menu, too!

Take the final results of your searches and organize them into categories that will simplify the next step in your market research. Put all contractors as sub-listings under the more general term "contractors". That way, when you take the next step and search for them in Google, you'll be able to just run through the list one word at a time, like this:

1.    Contractors building

2.    Contractors concrete

3.    Contractors drywall

And so on…

In case you have any questions in your mind if this is a good way to find hungry ad buyers, call your Yellow Pages advertising department and ask for the cost of all the display ads they offer. You already know from these posts that the prices are outrageous for what you get, but act shocked. Ask them if you can get a discount on the "rate card" they quote you.

After you get their numbers and see their willingness to assist in price, you'll know for sure that this is probably the most powerful source of market research for hungry advertisers in your local area!

In the next post I will get a little more detail on getting that foot in the front door.

Beat the Big Guns with a Blog Post!

Test Your Niches for Total Domination

#1 in Google in 10 Minutes! (OK, maybe not 10 minutes, but pretty close)

In the last post, we discussed getting online with marketing because it won't be for long until Yellow Pages book will be obsolete. We also spoke about how Yellow Pages are now getting online, but the reality is that the site is just as convoluted as the books as it comes to deciphering local businesses from businesses in other towns and states.

Online Yellow Pages sites can have a Google Page Rank of 8 for their home page. Despite that, a lowly blog post from a new blog with a Page Rank of 0 can beat them in the SERP's! That's because, for local search, local content wins.

If you don't already have a marketing blog that's been up for a while, start a new one. In the meantime, you can write an article, using the keywords you want to test in the title. Sprinkle them throughout the article using natural language (Google has really started cracking down on keyword manipulation techniques, so it has to be conversational text, not just a stack of keywords).

Either way, your content could end up being crawled and indexed by Google very quickly. An established blog or article directory gets crawled more frequently than a new blog or website. Use "seasoned" resources like these to make your test.

If your blog post or article ends up in the top spot of the search engine results, you have a viable niche! While the blog post or article may not stay there right away, don't worry. Google's dynamic indexing will eventually give you a solid place in the search results over time.

Test as many of these niches as you need, according to your plan. Prepare yourself to dominate the ones in which you rank well. The best next step to take is to start a blog that's specifically made to support your prospective clients.

Once you realize the power and ease with which you can use your IM skills to dominate local search, you'll get excited! This is a wide-open market with few effective competitors. Unless there is another Direct Response Internet Marketer in your location, you'll have no effective competition.

Even if you have one or more colleagues in your area, you can get together and divide up the territory among yourselves. There's no need to fight battles among yourselves, unless you like the competition!

This whole process you've begun is leading up to your main marketing strategy: getting as many of the local businesses you can give top spots in the search engines to pay you a monthly fee that's a percentage of their Yellow Pages fees. Once you can show these heavy advertisers that you can help them dominate local search with your ongoing help, they'll pay you ongoing fees to do just that!

The amazing thing about this particular part of your testing is how fast it can happen. A blog with a Page Rank of 1 that is regularly crawled by Google can have a new post in the #1 spot in less than 10 minutes! An article on a well-respected article directory can do the same thing just as fast. That's unusual for articles, but blog posts get special treatment.

Now you need to think about how you can help your prospects beyond your blog posts and articles. They may already have a website. It just doesn't appear in the search engine results because of SEO mistakes. The great thing is that you don't even have to repair what's wrong to help them out. All they need is a "front door" to their local business.

Next we get into market research, so keep an eye out for it.

As always, here's to your success.

"Drill Down" to Big Profits

Find the Niches Where There is No Competition

Let Google Show You the Money!

I have written on this before, but I have gotten a few questions from those around me, so I thought I would do a slight deep dive into this again. If you are ready to take the next step in helping local businesses and profiting from helping them; with a list of local advertisers who spend major ad money on display ads in the Yellow Pages and Google, you can target potential profits for yourself. It's easier than you may think! All you need to do is go where there's no local competition.

In many local markets, the keywords that describe the niches you are exploring are dominated by non-local websites. Yellow Pages online, business directories and so-called "scraper" sites (which get their content by "scraping" Yellow Pages content and repackaging it) have a low Page Rank. You'll be able to dominate the search results for these niches because you will have an actual, local presence.

Local sites for local businesses dominate some niches. You don't want to do battle with these niches. Instead, you "drill down" to more specific long-tail keywords that these Page Rank 4 sites didn't include.

Here's how to do the next step of your market research:

●       Pick a niche to search in Google

●       Enter your keywords in this order: location, general niche, specific sub-niche – manhattan lawyers estates

●       Look at the green text at the bottom of each listing. That will be the URL of the site you're competing with

●       If the first search results indicate business directories, classified listings, news items or Yellow Pages online, this is a very good niche

●       If the first search results indicate actual local businesses, this is competitive. Move on or "drill down" with your keywords.

You may find that the first listing is actually for an out-of-state business or professional who happens to have a word or two about your local area on the landing page. This is also a very good niche for you to test further. No one else in your local market is indexed in Google for your area!

If you do find a niche like divorce lawyers is dominated by local law offices, try variations or other specialties of the legal profession. Lawyers can limit their practice to areas like aviation, bankruptcy, commercial law, immigration and so on. Don't fight unnecessary battles – win the search engine war!

The point is that there are few local listings for businesses and professionals that rank well in the search engines. Smart Internet Marketers will go to where the money is and where there is no competition.

Keep in mind, in just a few years, Yellow Pages books may be a thing of the past. If you and your clients are well placed in the search engines, you will have another advantage – age. Google places a premium on older websites that have fresh content added on a regular basis. Make sure your clients are there with that content when the future arrives.

Your next step in getting into the local Web development market is to actually test the best niches for viability. All it will take from you is a blog post or article in an article directory to get you results!

As we continue deep diving on this subject of working with local markets, if you have any questions that I am not covering, drop me a line and let me know.

Time to Promote

Effective Ways to Sell / Promote Your Home Business!

When your business is up and running, you need to reach out to the masses so that the public is aware of its existence and the kind of services you are providing. Hence, one of the major steps in setting up a home business is having a marketing plan. Marketing your home business is not necessarily expensive. Read on to discover several effective yet low cost methods to promote your business to all your potential customers!

1. Website / Blog

Set up a simple website or a blog containing all information on your services or products. Consider using free services such as Wordpress which offer templates and some simple customisable features if you are not ready to pay for a website. Having a website gives you access to a bigger client base as you can direct practically anyone you met to your website for details.

2. Social networking

Capitalise on social network e.g. Facebook, Linked In and Twitter. Use them to get in touch with your clients and potential clients as well as to understand their needs. Imagine asking a question regarding your products on your business’ Facebook page and almost instantly you get responses from your clients. Where else can you get such quick and direct feedback?

3. Article marketing

You can do this by publishing articles about your business in online article directories such as Ezine Articles which have high traffic everyone from people looking for certain information on niche areas. Alternatively you can also write your own eBook on any interesting subject, publish and distribute it for free. Give it to your existing clients or make it available for free download on your website. In your eBook, include some details of your business and a link to your website. Those who think your eBook is good will share it further with their friends and family – it is free viral marketing strategy!

4. Business cards

Make your own business cards which provide the details of your business as well as your contact details.                 Having a business card shows that you are professional and are serious  about your business.

5. Ask for work or leads

You can first start off by calling non-governmental organization (NGOs), schools, universities or other businesses that might require your services or products. Bring your business to them instead of waiting for them to come to you!

This is the last post in this series. If you haven't picked up your copy yet, I am giving away a guide, free of charge, on how to start your own home based business.

All you need to do is email me at 12th.pillar.solutions@gmail.com or comment below and tell me what your biggest fear or concern is when it comes to starting u your business.

Home based case study

Home Business Success Stories

Want to be a successful home business entrepreneur but don’t know how? One of the easiest ways is by modelling other people’s success stories. There are many entrepreneurs who are willingly sharing how they start up and develop their home business on the internet.

Sam, a 21-year-old undergraduate from the United States started his own company from his dorm offering advertisement-free electronic invitation cards for formal events. Read Sam’s story here. http://www.womenhomebusiness.com/startup/sam-franklin-going-green-with-an-electronic-invitation-business.htm

Kate and Tamala were working in hospital as occupational therapists before they started their own home business providing occupational therapy to needy clients at their homes. Read their stories here http://www.homebasedbusiness.sbdc.com.au/10_01_casestudies.asp

Andrea, a former online inventory manager, started off her Take My Mac service to help Apple device owners to sell and recycle their gadgets, instead of throwing them into the bins. Read Andrea’s  story here http://www.womenhomebusiness.com/startup/andrea-bebirian-recycle-and-sell-apple-devices.htm

Some common things among these successful home business entrepreneurs above are:

1. They worked on something they are passionate about.

Sam’s idea of an electronic invitation cards is in line with his belief in going green and saving the trees. Both Kate and Tamala have 25 years of experience working as occupational therapists in hospital offered their services to the community through their home business. Andrea wished to provide a solution for Apple devices owners to get rid of their old gadgets while helping the needy (e.g. schools, etc) to have their own Apple devices.

2.  They worked on a niche market.

Sam’s advertisement-free electronic card received good response because most e-Cards come with many advertisements which are sometimes unwelcoming. Kate and Tamala saw the demand for occupational therapies at a community level and hence decided to quit their jobs at hospitals. Meanwhile Andrea’s Take My Mac made it easier for Apple gadget owners to sell their devices as more and more people are using the Apple devices.

3. Things were never easy at the beginning.

All of them have their own shares of challenges and difficulties when they first started their business. However with perserverence and hardwork, their efforts have born fruits.

Plenty of such success stories are available on the internet to serve as a source of inspiration for all aspiring home business entrepreneurs. Learning from their successes and failures will definitely help in building up a successful home business!

In case you didn't catch the previous two posts in this series (128 & 129), I am offering a free guide to help you start your home based business. All you need to do is send me an email at 12th.pillar.solutions@gmail.com or comment below and tell me what your greatest fear or concern is that is keeping you from jumping off the fence..

The How...

How to Start a Home Business

We touched on the why in the last post, now lets touch on the how.

How do you start a successful home-based business? What needs to be in your consideration?

Below is a 6-step guide:

1.       Assess your skills and knowledge

You need to know what you are good at and what you are not so good at. Identify your strong points and your weaknesses. This can help you gauge if you are suitable for embark on a home business. As a home business owner, you will need to run a lot of tasks on your own, from planning, business management to the field work. Make sure you can carry out the tasks needed.

2.       Generate business ideas

Start brainstorming from your interest and passion. Get your family to involve as you will be using part of their space for your business.

3.       Test the market

Shortlist your ideas so that it contains only those ideas that can work for a home business. Be practical. Think whether people will want to spend money on the kind of products or services that you can offer, how much and whether this will generate sufficient income proportional to your effort.  If no, get back to Step 2 for more ideas. Being persistent is important at this stage because many people gave up after facing the obstacles.

4.       Understand the legal barriers.

Check if there are any rules or regulations controlling the starting up of a home business in your state or country. If yes, figure out how you want to get around them.

5.       Determine your capital.

Calculate the amount of money you need to start up your home business. The cost should include the purchase of any instruments, hire of any professionals (e.g. lawyers) and insurance. You might not be familiar with all these so take your time to do some price checking and bargain.

6.       Plan your business – break even points.

Once you have obtained a clear picture from Step 1 – 5, it is time to lay down your business plan. Find out your break-even point and how many products you need to sell in order to get back your investments. 

During this series I am giving away a free guide to starting your home-based business. If you haven't grabbed it yet, do so now by simply sending me an email at 12th.pillar.solutions@gmail.com or in the comment section below and tell me what your biggest fear is for not starting your own business.

Why Home Business: The Untold Benefits

More people are jumping on the home business bandwagon in recent years. What are the benefits of doing home business besides being convenient and cost saving?

What I hope to accomplish with this mini series on home based business, is to get those readers who may be on the fence about starting a business off the fence.

 

1. Personal freedom

Working at home requires no dress code, no rigid work schedules and no company cultures. Instead, you can work and earn money at your own pace, at the comfort of your home. This allows you to gain control of your personal life while not losing a source of income – the best of both worlds! It is necessary however for a home business owner to be self-disciplined and motivated to maintain the momentum at work.

2. Experience enrichment

Home business owners need to play many roles at once, from being the CEO, the financial planner, the researcher, the marketing manager and the sales manager. This is especially true for those solo owners who have to learn how to do everything on their own. While this also means greater workload, you get to see the whole picture of your home business and make better plans to achieve your goals.

3. Increased competitiveness

As the overhead cost of a home business is low, you can now offer quality products or services at a lower cost, making your products and services more competitive in the market. In addition, small home business is more able to provide clients with personalized services that cater to their specific needs compared to large commercialized businesses.

4. Lower risk

Home business frequently requires low capital to start up and is also cheaper to maintain. This protects the home business owners from their life-time savings should the business idea fails. It also allows business owners to test out new business ideas before deciding to invest large amount of money in it.

5. Reduced stress

Being able to work from home allows you to plan for both your work and your family. This is especially true for parents of school-age children as they do not need to juggle between work and taking care of their children.

Now for the action plan. Email me at 12th.pillar.solutions@gmail.com and tell me what is your biggest fear or concern about starting your own business or leave it in the comment section below. 

For your input, I will send you a free guide on stating a home based business.

Here's to your success.

Success- What is it?

Success for the business owner is defined as the achievement of wealth and fame.

However, for many, this definition of success remains an unreachable dream, but there is a formula that can allow virtually anyone who desires it bad enough to reach their goals and turn those dreams into reality.
 
First step is to know your products and/or services before you even start to promote them. You
must learn everything about that which you are promoting. Know the benefits inside and out, backwards and forwards.

 If you are trying to sell something you know very little about, your potential customer will see you as a modern day snake oil salesmen. Your reputation, credibility and value to the customer will be on the line.

In promoting something just for the sake of catching an extra buck may get you some customers, but not any long-term customers or good word of mouth.

The second step is to set goals. Look at success as a roadmap and goal setting as laying out a coarse to get you from where you are to where you want to be. Without effective goal setting you wander around, hoping that you are heading in the right direction. Until you have actually sat down and committed your goals to paper, you are doing nothing more than daydreaming. I have heard from quite a few of my mentors that a goal is a dream with a deadline.
Remember the formula: Conceiving + Believing = Achieving so write down a goal today and break it down into achievable objectives with deadlines to each. Maybe your goal is to grow your business or even start a new one. Write down what it will take and then get to it.
 
Third step is, now that you have a goal on paper, make a plan for reaching your goal. Being able to break down a goal into smaller objectives is important in accomplishing the goal. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
 

Your objectives must be detailed enough to help you reach the goal, but flexible enough to allow for modifications as situations arise or “life” happens. Many times, you will find that goals change, timelines need adjustment, and other situations develop. Having detailed objectives allow you to make the changes necessary without starting from scratch every time something comes up.
 
The fourth step is to put your plan into action. Business, as in life, is based on action, not just thought. Without taking action, your goal will remain a dream, which doesn’t help your business.
 
Once you start moving in the direction of the goals and start to work on achieving the objectives, you will quickly find that your objectives will meet you half way and goals, often times, will be met before the written deadline.
 
Act immediately. Remember back to your physics classes to the first laws of motion: an object in motion tends to remain in motion. No matter how minute the objective is, start moving today.
 
Though these steps may seem simple, if you apply they will help you reach your destination…the success that you want in your business,

Here's to your success and be sure to keep an eye out for the next post where I discuss more on the topic of starting a home-based business.

 

How's your year so far?

Occasionally, I go off script and instead of giving success advice, I just open up and shoot from the hip. This is one of those times.

It's almost April, so I ask, how's the new year go for you so far; how about those resolutions?

According to the University of Scanton's Journal of Clinical Psychology, only 8% of people are successful in achieving their resolutions.

That just absolutely floored me and got me to thinking about how I was stacking up as it came to my new year's goals.

As March 2016 is wrapping up, I recently spent a lot of time just reflecting on where I came from in just 4 short years. We can't successfully get to where we want to be if we don't understand where we have been.

Here is just a few highlights of my personal journey...

I very clearly remember being part of the 92% of people who failed to meet their resolutions, not just that year, but for many years.

For years I knew that I couldn't create a better life for my daughter by working a dead end job that kept me bound by someone else's schedule, so I tried everything to get out of the rat race; I built an engraving business, got into e-commerce, even tried my hand at authorship, but nothing worked and I kept finding myself in a position where I was having to go back to a 9 to 5 or be a stay at home dad where we barely lived paycheck to payccheck. Nothing seemed to click.

 

• I was a slave to the job, a slave to the clock, a slave to my creditors.

• I had no time to do the things I enjoyed.

• I had no energy to enjoy time with my family.

• No extra money, so no savings, no vacation, no splurging, no emergency fund.

To make matter worse, I couldn't get on facebook without seeing, what seemed to be everyone around me, being more successful than I was. It sucked. Friends taking off in the middle of the week to travel across country, new cars, new house, blah blah blah...

It seemed like everyone around me was successful while I had to listen to my daughter (4 years old at the time) crying because I couldn't afford a happy meal for her.

I kept asking myself,

"Why is this so hard?"

I definitely had a bruised ego, but I still had this dream that I could make a little extra money while spending more time with my family and not chained to a desk or getting stuck in traffic.

I started thinking that the only way to make money online was to sell stuff on eBay or turning into some sort of sleazy MLM type marketer (not that all MLM ventures are pyramid schemes). It was heart breaking because I did not want to do that.

Being able to help people and actually get paid for it was unfathomable to me and, though I saw it done, I felt that you had to be an expert with over 20 years expertise and the title of guru to be able to be successful online.

I was wrong!

Way wrong. Looking back on it, I was always just a few steps away from my dream, I just didn't see it or understand what it was that I was missing.

My goal for the past decade or so, was to figure out how to get out of the rat race. Breaking the golden handcuffs once and for all.

I finally found the secret to having a successful life; After years of trial and error, Zig Ziglar has been giving the answer for years; "You'll get everything in life that you want if you help enough people get what they want."

This is the reason for this blog series. My goal, now that I am out of the rat race, is to show as many people as I can how to do the same.

Now it's your turn

What is your resolution? How can I help you climb out of the maze? Not everyone has the same definition of success, nor do we all have the same hurdles to jump over, so what do you need help with?

Drop me a note and let me know.

 

The Part Timer

Time Management Tips For Building Passive Income Part Time

As you start working on your passive income, you will realise the importance of time management. You want a steady side income but you must not give up your day time job which gives your secured monthly wages. How to optimally use your 24 hours a day on your passive income and your day time job?

 

Strategy #1: Keep your home and your work desk organised

You spend most time developing your passive income from home after work. Hence, having a messy home and work desk will make you lose time when you have to search for a missing item every now and then. It dampens your working mood and creativity. To be efficient, you not only need to keep them clean and tidy, but also make sure they are organised so that you can find your items at ease when you need them.

 

Strategy #2:  Compound your activities

Do you listen to music while driving or while doing gym? If yes, why don’t try to learn something about passive income and business instead at the same time? How? Listen to motivational and inspiring podcasts on your MP3 that will teach you about business and passive income. They are easily available on the internet! You can also read a motivational business book while on public transport or even in queue. Be industrious!

 

Strategy #3: Spend less time on TVs

If the first thing you do when you come home from work is to switch on your TV and then stick to it throughout the night, you are watching too much of it. Cut down on your TV consumption. Use the free time to work on your passive income. Read and learn about it from the internet or books.

 

Strategy #4: Use time management tool

There are several time management tools out there. One of the techniques is by listing down your tasks according to their priority and urgency. Work on those which are marked as most important and most urgent first, and the least important and least urgent tasks last. Cross them out once you have completed them to have a general idea on your progress. Besides a ‘today’ list, you can also work on a ‘this week’ list or a ‘this month’ list.

 

Passive Income from Active Actions

Passive income is a source of income which generates money without you being present or working hard. You might ask, is that even possible? Yes, thousands of people have done it!! A popular example lately is the sales of products and services online. Exactly how to actively start your own passive income? This article outlines the steps.

First, generate ideas. You need to set your mind to actively churn out ideas while you are doing other things. Always carry a notepad and pen with you so that you can keep a log of all your inspirations and ideas. Commit yourself to come out with at least one idea per day. You may start by thinking around your areas of interest.

Second, try it. Once you have generated several ideas, start trying them out in order to see whether they are workable, including those that might sound absurd. For example, if you can draw well and want to earn money by selling your cartoons online, start drawing it to see how it works!! If you don’t try them on, your ideas will gather dust and you will forget and lose your initial passion about it.

Third, shortlist ideas. Select few that you think are the most workable and you are more likely to be able to commit. Do take your financial status into consideration as some passive incomes require a capital to start and maintain (e.g. sale of products online, property investment) while others require low or no start-up capital (e.g. sale of services and e-books online).

Fourth, plan it. With a shortlisted idea, plan how you want to develop your income stream. Find out other people doing the similar thing and how they are doing it. Give it a go, even if it does not work well from the beginning. If it does not work out, at least you have tried and now you can move on to your other ideas.

Fifth, save money. While your passive income might not necessarily need a large capital it is best that you save some money from the beginning. This allows you to see the outcome of your active actions on your passive income and allows more flexibility in growing your income stream later on. Once your first passive income has become steady, use this fund to work on the second one, and then third one!

Before long, you will have multiple passive income streams which are flowing steadily and making you financially independent!

Here's to your success. If you have any topics on building a business or creating the anti-rat race lifestyle that you are looking for, drop me a message.

 

From Passive Income to Financial Independence

<p class="MsoNormal">Growing your passive income online to eventually achieve
financial independence requires some extra work. Here are some tips to do
exactly that – fire up your passive income!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;
</span>Be genuine in sharing<o:p>
</o:p>
</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">First rule in growing your passive income is you must
demonstrate genuine interest and be genuine in sharing. Your potential clients
can feel it from the content of your website. Be honest about your products.
Generally people will not mind if you are recommending something useful however,
you can turn people off easily if people realise what you recommend is actually
of less value than you claim.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">2. Use social
network <o:p>
</o:p>
</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As the popularity of the social media skyrockets, it would
make no sense if you take advantage of them to promote your products. Use social
media such as Facebook and Twitter to get in touch with your fans and potential
clients. Reply to every comment and reply every email. Engage the readers in all
conversations. Slowly, you will build a marketing army which will market your
products for you in their network.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">3. Build a
subscriber list.<o:p>
</o:p>
</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A list of subscribers to your blog is essentially a list of
potential customers who are really interested at what you can offer them. It is
much easier to promote your products to these subscribers and get them to buy
your products rather than doing a general promotion online.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">4. Aim to instill
value <o:p>
</o:p>
</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This is one of the most powerful strategies. If you can
deliver valuable products consistently, who would not want to own them? Put your
passion into growing your passive income and aim to educate your clients with
your products. It will keep them coming back for more.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Good luck!</p>

A Guide to Leprechaun spotting

Taking a break from our normally scheduled program to bring you a bit o' blarney as we go into St. Patrick's day.

By Fearghus Hayes O’Connell

Some people go out of their way to avoid the wee folk, others pursue this fairy gentry in search of fortune. Lore tells us that the Leprechauns live in the oaks and the hawthorn trees, the fairy forts, and recently in the shires. But just where can the wee folk be found?

Leprechauns, many say, are the ancient citizens of the Tuatha de Danaan, a godlike race that inhabited Ireland for over 200 years. The de Danaan (Children of the goddess Danu) fell to the invading Milesians.

With their defeat the Tuatha de Danaan retreated to the sidhe mounds where the fae who lived there took them in as protectors to their ring forts. After a few generations, the fae magic of the area began to work on them and they slowly became the dwarf sized mischief makers that you see today.

To locate a ringfort you must look for the tell tale signs. Historically, ringforts are circular enclosures surrounded by an earthen or stone bank which were used as farmsteads from about 500 to 1200 A.D. Within the protective earthen bank, activities such as cooking, grain grinding and pottery making took place along with everyday living. Approximately 40,000 ringforts still dot the Irish countryside.

More direct routes to find yourself a Leprechaun is to find pathways to the land of fairie or Tir Na n'Og,  which often can be found to exist in cave entrances, toadstool rings, and large old Oaks with hollowed insides.

The many standing stone piles oddly placed also give rise to fairy workings. Perhaps Irelands best known portal tomb is Poulnabrone, located alongside the Corofin-Ballyvaughan road in County Claire. This Late Stone Age monument, though the topic of much fairy legend, once held the bones of 16 adults and children who lived in the surrounding farming community.

To those searching for the wee kind, these sites are a good place to start. But remember, the fairie folk are felt more often than seen and their fondest sport is that which they make with humans.

 

Always remember to forget
The things that made you sad.
But never forget to remember
The things that made you glad.

Always remember to forget
The friends that proved untrue.
But never forget to remember
Those that have stuck by you.

Always remember to forget
The troubles that passed away.
But never forget to remember
The blessings that come each day.

Hope you have a great St Patty's day. Don't drink and drive and as always, here's to your success.

 

 

Secrets Behind Passive Income Opportunities

If earning passive income is that easy, why isn't everyone getting rich? Why are there still people struggling with their passive income stream? Why are there people who think passive income is a scam while others are making hundreds of thousands of dollar every year?

The answer: because they do not know the secrets behind the passive income opportunities.

 

Secret #1 Passive income is not get-rich-quick scheme.

Many people think that earning passive income is easy and never expect to put any hard work into it. The truth is, just like any business venture, a passive income opportunity will cost you time and effort before it brings you any decent income. For instance, to sell an eBook you need to spend time planning its content, compiling information, writing it, editing it, formatting it and marketing it. The whole process could easily take months before you earn your first buck of passive income. Unfortunately many passive income seekers enter the business with the wrong mindset and give up when things don't quite meet their expectations.

 

Secret #2 Persistence is the key.

To be a successful passive income earner, not only do you need to be innovative but you must also be persistent. Receiving monthly rent of your property might be easy, but you still have the responsibilities as the landlord and you will be the person the tenants call when something in the property goes wrong. The same applies on selling eBooks online where you need to update your websites with new information and features to keep the clients coming back. Expect to do follow-up on the source of your passive income so that it keeps generating money for you in the long run.

 

Secret #3 You need to work on your passive income alongside your permanent job.

Many people misunderstand that active income and passive income are mutually exclusive. They are not, at least at the beginning! It is not practical to quit your day time job just to build your passive income streams. If you do, you are only creating more tension to your financial situation because you would have to rush and squeeze money out of your passive income. Instead, focus on developing your passive income while still receiving your steady monthly pay from your employer.

 

How to Make Your First Buck Online

The advent of Internet has made money making easier than ever. Instead of being physically present at a certain location to promote and sell your products or services, you now have the whole world as your potential clients! It is no wonder that more and more people are turning to internet to make their passive income. How to start making your first buck online? One of the simplest way is to develop and market information products or in other words, an eBook.

1. Pick a topic.

Find an area of your interest or something you are familiar with. For example, if you are working in a publishing company as an editor, you can share tips on publishing magazines or self-publishing. 

 

2. Survey the market.

Use “Google External Keyword” tool to find out the search volume for your market. Search volume reflects the interest of the online population on your topic. As long as the “keyword” of your topic has a decent search volume, you can assume that your informational product would have some demand when it is put up on sale.

 

3. Brainstorming for ideas

Keep a list of ideas for your topic, either on your note book or on your computer. The single major benefit of writing down all your ideas as they come in is that you can avoid forgetting about them. This strategy would save you much time if you use it regularly.

 

4. Get a website up

You need a platform to promote and sell your informational product. Start with using free blogsite such as Blogspot or Wordpress. As your traffic builds up and you are really making an income, consider to upgrade to web hosting site where you have more freedom in customising the website for the content.

 

5. Draw traffic to your website

A common strategy is by creating interesting content on your blogsite. This free information serves two purposes: first, to educate the public about the topic and secondly, prime them to purchase your ebook! You can also go to a similar blog, post relevant comments and share the link to your articles.

 

Now you are set to generate passive income online with your informational product!!

Go Local : A New Plan for Using Your Internet Marketing Skills

 Use Your IM Skills Locally

Help Local Businesses Get (Better) Online

 

Okay, so you've made some money online and know the basics of the business. Here's a thought: take your skills and help local businesses market their most profitable merchandise, products or services. You can also help them scale up any underused capacity that they want to promote. Best of all, you can plan it so they give you monthly, recurring payments!

 

Most brick-and-mortar local businesses know their business, but don't know how to market their business effectively. Sure, they do what their competition is doing, but they don't think outside of the box. You, as an experienced marketer, can help them in ways they may never even imagine.

 

First, you have to realize that what local businesses need is not an education in IM. They need someone to look at what they're doing with fresh eyes and a willingness to listen to them. The worst thing you can do is walk into a small business with a "business in a box" solution. You need to know what the problem is before you offer any solutions.

 

Avoid making the same mistake that many new Direct Response Internet Marketing hopefuls make: build a product or service, then check to see if anybody is already buying something like it. Do your market research first. Locate the hungry buyers for advertising and promotion.

 

Find out who is paying a lot of advertising money in your local area. Approach these businesses first, before you think about helping smaller, less profitable businesses. One easy way to start your market research is to look at Yellow Pages books and business directories. Concentrate on those businesses that have big display ads.

 

Full-page (or large) display ads cost a lot of money. In fact, the amount is usually so much that they are paid for on a monthly basis. All you have to do is call or write to these resources and find out the monthly fees for advertising in their publications

 

You may be in for a shock! Small and medium-sized businesses who do this kind of advertising pay thousands of dollars every month in advertising fees. All you have to do is stand in front of that flood of money.

 

Now you have an idea of which local businesses in your area are already "hungry buyers" for what you can offer them. You'll be able to approach them with confidence. Your marketing skills, applied to their business and marketing plan, can really boost their revenue.

 

Avoid using IM "jargon" when speaking to these businesses. Remember, they know their business. They don't know about autoresponders, split testing, affiliate links, analytics for Web pages, etc. You'll just make what you do seem foreign to them.

 

Instead, find out what their business and marketing plans are. Help them target their most profitable merchandise, products or services. Find ways to help them improve the marketing of any underused capacity or products they have.

 

Think of their needs first, before you offer any solution. You'll be more likely to get a new client and get more money every month for helping that client.

Let Your Fingers Do the Walking

Finding Hungry Local Advertising Buyers

 

The First Step Is Market Research

 

To continue with local niche marketing, lets dive down into research, because this is the first step that tells you if you are doing it right.

 

If you want to make the most effective use of your time and energy helping local businesses get online, start with smart market research. Instead of guessing which businesses spend big ad dollars, go to the Yellow Pages or a local business directory that has display ads.

 

Start at the beginning and go through the listings. When you find a niche that has full-page or very large display ads, make a note of it. Continue searching until you reach the end, or find more than enough potential niches.

 

In most cases, you'll find there are "rich-niche" businesses and professions that advertise like this:

 

●       Contractors

●       Dentists

●       Doctors

●       Insurance

●       Lawyers

●       Real Estate

 

These businesses and professionals make large sums of money on each new customer or client they get. Spending thousands of dollars every month to advertise is just a fraction of what they receive in profits. You can be the one that gives them great value for their advertising spending.

 

Most business owners complain that 50% of their advertising budget is wasted. They just don't know which 50%! You know, from experience, about adding Google Analytics, Stat Counter or any of the other third party services for these statistics. You'll be able to prove (and show) a prospect where their potential business is coming from, what they do when they view a Web page and where they leave (exit).

 

No Yellow Pages book can do that! Instead of guessing whether or not a given display ad is performing well, a customer of yours who has a Web page will have measurable statistics to rely upon. These statistics can also provide valuable market research for the client. No Yellow Pages book can do that either!

 

For you, the marketer, the results you get from your exploration of the Yellow Pages listings is just the start. You'll have to "weed out" all the retail-oriented display ads like restaurants and other businesses that are working on a small profit margin. Just because a restaurant has a full-page menu, that doesn't mean they're making a big profit. They're just up there because their competition has a menu, too!

 

Take the final results of your searches and organize them into categories that will simplify the next step in your market research. Put all contractors as sub-listings under the more general term "contractors". That way, when you take the next step and search for them in Google, you'll be able to just run through the list one word at a time, like this:

 

1.    Contractors building

2.    Contractors concrete

3.    Contractors drywall

 

And so on…

 

In case you have any questions in your mind if this is a good way to find hungry ad buyers, call your Yellow Pages advertising department and ask for the cost of all the display ads they offer. Be shocked! (If you have never priced a yellow pages ad, trust me you will be). Ask them if you can get a discount on the "rate card" they quote you.

 

Then you'll know for sure that this is probably the most powerful source of market research for hungry advertisers in your local area!

 

Next time, we will get into more detail about the Front door method so keep an eye out.

 

Also, if you have any questions or comments, let me know. If I don't know the answer, I won't blow smoke, but will let you know and then I will find out. I am a research nerd.

Beat the Big Guns with a Blog Post!

Test Your Niches for Total Domination: #1 in Google in 10 Minutes!

 

In my last post, we started talking about niche marketing to local businesses to create online presence that ranks in Google. I would like to get more into specifics by getting into how, having a blog (similar to the one you are reading now) can help push your endeavors forward.

 

Online Yellow Pages sites can have a Google Page Rank of 8 for their home page. Despite that, a lowly blog post from a new blog with a Page Rank of 0 can beat them in the SERP's (search engine results page)! That's because, for local search, local content wins.

 

If you don't already have a marketing blog that's been up for a while, start a new one. In the meantime, you can write an article, using the keywords you want to test in the title. Sprinkle them throughout the article using natural language...use NATURAL language. I can't stress this enough; Google has added so many algorithm changes to weed out the marketers who try "seeding" content in order to create false relevancy, so don't just throw in a keyword for the sake of throwing it in. create a viable sentence which will seem logical.

 

Either way, your content could end up being crawled and indexed by Google very quickly. An established blog or article directory gets crawled more frequently than a new blog or website. Use "seasoned" resources like these to make your test.

 

If your blog post or article ends up in the top spot of the search engine results, you have a viable niche! While the blog post or article may not stay there right away, don't worry. Google's dynamic indexing will eventually give you a solid place in the search results over time.

 

Test as many of these niches as you need, according to your plan. Prepare yourself to dominate the ones in which you rank well. The best next step to take is to start a blog that's specifically made to support your prospective clients.

 

Once you realize the power and ease with which you can use your IM skills to dominate local search, you'll get excited! This is a wide-open market with few effective competitors. Unless there is another Direct Response Internet Marketer in your location, you'll have no effective competition.

 

Even if you have one or more colleagues in your area, you can get together and divide up the territory among yourselves. There's no need to fight battles among yourselves, unless you like the competition!

 

This whole process you've begun is leading up to your main marketing strategy: getting as many of the local businesses you can give top spots in the search engines to pay you a monthly fee that's a percentage of their Yellow Pages fees. Once you can show these heavy advertisers that you can help them dominate local search with your ongoing help, they'll pay you ongoing fees to do just that!

 

The amazing thing about this particular part of your testing is how fast it can happen. A blog with a Page Rank of 1 that is regularly crawled by Google can have a new post in the #1 spot in less than 10 minutes! An article on a well-respected article directory can do the same thing just as fast. That's unusual for articles, but blog posts get special treatment.

 

Now you need to think about how you can help your prospects beyond your blog posts and articles. They may already have a website. It just doesn't appear in the search engine results because of SEO mistakes. The great thing is that you don't even have to repair what's wrong to help them out. All they need is a "front door" to their local business.

 

Stay tuned for more...

 

If you haven't checked it out yet, here is a nice resource that I found that might help you further. Just click here for details.

 

 

"Drill Down" to Big Profits

Find the Niches Where There is No Competition and Let Google Show You the Money!

 

Wanting to start your own business, but not sure where to start exactly? Been there, done that. In fact, ever entrepreneur has been there, so you are not alone.

 

If you have been reading these blog posts for any time, then you are now ready to take the next step in helping local businesses and profiting from helping them. With a list of local advertisers who spend major ad money on display ads in the Yellow Pages and Google, you can target potential profits for yourself. It's easier than you may think. All you need to do is go where there's no local competition. Local markets are the best way to start out with an online business and start with B2B (business to business) before moving into your own products.

 

In many local markets, the keywords that describe the niches you are exploring are dominated by non-local websites. Yellow Pages online, business directories and so-called "scraper" sites (which get their content by "scraping" Yellow Pages content and repackaging it) have a low Page Rank. You'll be able to dominate the search results for these niches because you will have an actual, local presence.

 

Local sites for local businesses dominate some niches, so you don't want to do battle with these niches starting out. Instead, you "drill down" to more specific long-tail keywords that these Page Rank sites didn't include.

 

Now time for research:

 

●       Pick a niche to search in Google

●       Enter your keywords in this order: location, general niche, specific sub-niche (ex. Muskogee lawyers living wills)

●       Look at the green text at the bottom of each listing. That will be the URL of the site you're competing with

●       If the first search results indicate business directories, classified listings, news items or Yellow Pages online, this is a very good niche

●       If the first search results indicate actual local businesses, this is competitive and may be difficult to rank unless they are the only one followed by the yellow page ads. Move on or "drill down" with your keywords.

 

You may find that the first listing is actually for an out-of-state business or professional who happens to have a word or two about your local area on the landing page. This is also a very good niche for you to test further. No one else in your local market is indexed in Google for your area!

 

If you do find a niche like will lawyers is dominated by local law offices, try variations or other specialties of the legal profession. Lawyers can limit their practice to areas like aviation, bankruptcy, commercial law, immigration and so on. Don't fight unnecessary battles – win the search engine war!

 

The point is that there are few local listings for businesses and professionals that rank well in the search engines. Smart Internet Marketers will go to where the money is and where there is no competition.

 

Keep in mind, in just a few years, Yellow Pages books may be a thing of the past. If you and your clients are well placed in the search engines, you will have another advantage – age. Google places a premium on older websites that have fresh content added on a regular basis. Make sure your clients are there with that content when the future arrives.

 

Your next step in getting into the local Web development market is to actually test the best niches for viability. All it will take from you is a blog post or article in an article directory to get you results!

 

I will have other ideas in later blogs on how to start your own business, but this is an easy way to get started online, especially if you like working with websites. This cold lead into continuity programs that will bring in residual revenue.

 

Have fun and, like always,

Here's to your success.

 

P.S. I have also found an inexpensive resource that will answer other questions for you. Just click here and check it out.

Keeping it Fresh and Flexible

As with any plan, your plan for work/life balance must be kept fresh and flexible. Be sure you allow for contingencies and guard against backsliding.

Old habits die-hard and you may find yourself in need of a refresher to stay on track.

Look at your plan often and keep talking about it with your friends and family and co-workers. The more you reinforce its important to yourself and others, the less chance you will fall back into your old ways.

Remember that nothing ever goes just as planned, so be ready for the unexpected and don’t let it get you down.

If your plan did not include a contingency for a particular event, just sit down and look over the plan again and make room for some new ideas to address the problem you face.

Don’t be discouraged if you hit a snag.

“For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way. Something to be got through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life”

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               ~ Fr. Alfred D'Souza

Remember that it will take awhile for the world to catch up to you and while many companies and people may not understand the need for balance, the fact that you do, may save your life and your relationships.

If those around you fail to recognize the importance of your efforts and scoff at your taking a lower paying job or choosing to stay home with a sick child, remain secure in the knowledge that you are running a marathon, not a sprint and that in the end, you will finish the race well!

You may be breaking new ground. You may be a role model. And, that position is not always easy. Pioneers have hard work to do, but they ARE the first to see the beauty of the new horizon.

So, stick to your plan! You will get better at this as your old habits die. Remember to exercise self-discipline and have the courage of your convictions.

Remember to pay attention to the important things and keep things in perspective.

Don’t spin your wheels or expend too much energy on the things you can’t change or the things you don’t feel are important.

 

Just because someone else tells you it is important, doesn’t mean you have to believe them.

Keep the plan and the perspective fresh and if one thing doesn’t work, try another. It is your commitment to the change that is important.

And if you find another way to get there, that is just fine!

It may not turn out exactly as you expected, but your focus on the goal of balance is the important thing! Without that focus, you can’t change anything!

Don’t be afraid to get advice from others you trust if you get stuck on the path. You don’t have to do this alone.

“Be glad of life because it gives you the chance to love and to work and to play and to look up at the stars”

                                                                                                                                                      ~ Henry Van Dyke

We’ve covered a lot of ground in a very short period of time, and you may want to review this information again to make sure you’ve got it all.

The concepts are simple, and although you may find yourself wondering if all of them relate to work/life balance, you will find answers as you implement the steps we’ve outlined here.

Each of these steps is designed to address a different part of the problem.

Having enough time and focus to appreciate your life outside of work is one thing.

Having the mental, emotional and physical stamina to do it all is another.

Understanding how to keep your life in balance, and what the factors involved in a long-term commitment, is also important.

If you can’t manage your time, you will never have enough of it, no matter how few hours you work in a week.

Taking a step back to look at how you got to where you are and what issues you’ll need to resolve to backtrack – that’s important too.

Think of this as a primer, of sorts. Of course, the particulars are yours to figure out and your specific issues are different than the issues your neighbor will face, but there are many common factors.

As we said at the beginning of this discussion, you’ll need a plan. So, let’s review some of the key components.

You can adjust and tweak your plan along the way, as you need to make changes, but getting the plan in place is the first and most critical step.

            �� Sit down with a pencil and paper and gather your thoughts and expectations.

            �� Talk to your family, your boss, your co-workers and your friends and get their thoughts.

            �� Then set your goals!

            �� Make the plan and move forward.

            �� Adjust the plan along the way if you need to do so and be realistic about what you can accomplish and how long it will take.

            �� Keep the lines of communication open and keep people informed about your goals and your progress and about what is important to you.

            �� Learn to manage your time better so you can leverage the free time you have to use it as you wish.

            �� Schedule and keep commitments with your family and friends.

            �� Find ways to improve your productivity and learn to transition from work to home and back again so that you are truly ‘present’ in every situation and not spinning your wheels thinking about other things.

            �� Don’t get distracted!

            �� Exercise self-discipline and stay committed. Pay attention and listen to others and do it right the first time so you don’t have to do it over again!

            �� Learn to handle and diffuse stress and eliminate it from your life wherever you can.

            �� Be optimistic and positive.

            �� Understand that work/life balance is key to your health and happiness and it can actually make you more productive at work and give you a better quality of time with your family and friends.

 

And, so we come to the end of our journey!

Now, it’s your turn to get the plan on paper.

You can do this!

Take control of your life and live it to the fullest.

Keep your priorities straight!

Remember! You don’t live to work – you work to live!

“I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well”

                                                                                                                                                                                         ~ Diane Ackerman