Business
A Conversation Can Make You More Money
This is a guest post by Sean Smith of Powerofmore.net.
Recently I took a trip to visit a close friend. The purpose of my trip was not necessarily for business, but some how I always manage to meet someone during my conversations and interactions with others who wants to do business with me. After meeting probably the tenth person during my travels who was interested in my services, it donned on me that the questions I typically ask during my conversations with others whom I’m meeting for the first time create an infections environment where they become excited about what I have to offer them. This realization is my inspiration for todays blog post. Click Here To Continue Reading »
Applying the 80/20 Rule To Get More Done With Less
The last week or so, I’ve been having to balance out work and family even more so than usual. For obvious reasons. 
And family has mostly won. But, it really brings to mind the whole balancing act.
Over at TheInfoPreneur.net, I talked about the 80/20 rule briefly in a post and I thought I would expand upon it somewhat today. It is otherwise known as the Pareto principle. Simply put, it says:
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How to Get Big Results from Small Ideas
This is a guest post by Ian Nuttall, of Leash Optional,
Everybody wants to have that one “big” idea. The idea that will generate them a six figure income, change the world and allow them to live the life of their dreams.
Who doesn’t love a big idea? Big ideas are sexy, alluring and dangerous. Everyone is looking to find the next Google or the next Facebook.
But whatever happened to the small idea? Click Here To Continue Reading »
Mind Mapping: Turning Ideas Into Content
This is a guest post by Mario Mendoza.
Developing a consistent writing habit was my biggest obstacle. I had ideas scattered: my proof was notepads filled with article topics and potential project ideas that just had a title and nothing else. I had the missing pieces; I just lacked a way to channel my ideas into action.
I decided to give Mind Mapping a chance and see if it could help organize my music projects and website tasks. I was intrigued by the claims of the process: easier organization, remembering ideas, solving problems better and increasing productivity.
Mind Mapping
Mind Mapping is considered a form of “creative note taking” meant to map out your ideas similar to how your brain processes them. You start with a central topic or bubble and branch out accordingly to categories and sub-categories.
Your ideas all branch out from your center concept, keeping you focused on your mission. Some forms of mind mapping are plain while others include images and multi-colors. I chose to use a free version of Xmind.
I use Mind Mapping now as a way to jot down thoughts and create specific tasks for them. I was pitching: my ideas were in the windup position, but they lacked the follow thru.
I found myself speaking of plans in the first stage and not offering specific action to get the ball rolling and see if the idea was worth developing. Trying to balance my music projects and blogging tasks became more of a pain. I tried mind mapping on a sheet of paper and began to brainstorm.
Bloggers can relate to musicians. You can find yourself encountering inspirational moments and not writing them down, or assuming you will remember later. It can be a blog topic, hook, melody, lyrics or an idea. Trying to recall those can be painful, especially when you can’t remember where you were going with the original thought.
Now I follow one simple rule: Give detail to your inspiration.
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10 Tips For Overcoming Critics To Build Your Business
This is a guest post by Frank Angelone, founder of Social Tech Zone.
The number one thing any new business or start up idea is going to face is critics. Critics are everywhere and are always going to voice their opinions. They don’t always necessarily have to be people in your industry, but can also be family members or friends as well.
What I want to leave you with is 10 tips that you should use and implement into your own business so that critics will not get the better of you.
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My System For Getting Things Done [Strategy for 2010]
What you’re about to read is part of a system which I present my students in a training video at the outset of the Blog Masters Club training program. There is more to it than this, but I thought this section of it might prove useful to everybody as we embark on a new year.
One of the things I make a point to do every year is sit down for serious, solid strategic planning for the coming year.
I take some time off. I reflect on what I have accomplished in the prior year. I then set forward my plans for the coming year.
The biggest thing that sets apart a successful entrepreneur from an unsuccessful one is that the successful entrepreneur knows how to make a plan, put it into action, and GET IT DONE. In other words, putting a list of hopes down on a piece of paper doesn’t turn any of those hopes into a reality. The job of an executive is to make planning turn into reality.
That is all he does.
It does start, however, with setting forth plans. With the plans in place, you set forth the action it will take to turn those plans into reality.
Let me let you into a system I find works for me…
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Five Terrible Reasons You Failed To Incorporate Your Online Business
This is a guest post by Michael Alex Wasylik, a Florida lawyer and blogger.
Look around you. You’re neck-deep in other people’s companies.
The computer you’re using to read this? Made by a company. The software that runs your computer? Probably created by a company – even most flavors of Linux. The breakfast you had this morning, the chair you’re sitting on, the roof over your head, even the underwear you’re wearing – all made, distributed, sold, and repaired by other people’s companies.
But there you sit, running your online business as a sole proprietor – me, myself, & I. What do all those other successful businesses know that you don’t? Or, perhaps more important, what are some of the reasons you haven’t gone ahead and formed your own corporation or LLC?
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Just Got BBB Accreditation. But, Does It Matter Anymore?
Late last week, I got word from the Better Business Bureau that I am now officially accredited by them. I paid them about $600 and had them go over my business to make sure I’m legitimate. It took a couple of weeks, but it is now done.
The question, though, is WHY did I bother? Is the BBB even relevant anymore?
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How To Get Blog Traffic By Pissing Off Your Audience
It has been said that you never want to upset your customers. However, I’m here to tell you that sometimes there is a place for it. IF you do it strategically…
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Don’t Worry, Be Crappy
Are you a perfectionist when it comes to your own stuff? When it comes to publishing a blog post, writing a report, launching a product, do you want it to be perfect? Are you afraid of people thinking your stuff sucks? Do you let it paralyze you?
Maybe it’s time to just realize when good is good enough.
I'm David Risley. I've been making my living as a blogger for over a decade. Blogging is my business and how I support my family. With this blog, I'm just gettin' REAL and telling you how this business works. 
