If you’ve read my January Monthly Income Report, you’ll know that I’m in the middle of a move. I’m actually going to try and keep this post short because I have to go to our old apartment and re-paint some of the walls back to their original color.
Bah!
Anyways, as stressful as the move has been so far, one of the things that is driving me forward is that in our new place, I get my own office! It has always been my dream to have my own home office where I can close the doors at times and really CRUSH IT.
Don’t get me wrong – I was able to make things happen in my existing workspace (which is equivalent to the size of a port-a-potty), but my new 9′ x 12′ space will definitely be conducive to making loads of progress on my existing businesses, this blog, and all of the future projects I have in store.
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The most powerful marketing tool is a story.
I’ve recently started to reread one of my all-time favorite books, Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, and in it there’s an entire section dedicated to the power of storytelling and how it gets people to pay closer attention to what you have to say.
If you think about it, it’s absolutely true. We’re so much more in tune when someone is telling us a story, as opposed to when someone is just “talking at us”, or lecturing. All of my favorite professors from college were ones that were masters of storytelling.
Stories are powerful, and when combined with marketing, the results can be out of this world.
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Yay! The first monthly income report for the year 2010!
Each month, I like to write a detailed report about where my online income comes from, as well as report on the things that I’ve been up to that may have had an impact on my earnings. I do this not only to help myself keep track of how I’m doing, but more so to help you learn what to do (and what not to do) during your online business or blogging adventures. I hope you enjoy this month’s report.
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A couple of weeks ago, I had the privilege of speaking with Darren Rowse from Problogger.net, who has been more than a true inspiration to me ever since I started blogging. If you’re insane and you don’t know who he is, he’s like the Michael Jordan of the blogging world – he’s original, he’s got mad skills and he’s bald.
No offense Darren. I would gladly shave my head if it meant I could get to your level one day. Although, maybe that’s the trick. Think of Seth Godin, ShoeMoney and Leo Babauta – all top level bloggers…all bald.
Hmm…
Anyways, what made our recent conversation really special for me was the fact that Darren was interviewing me! I still can’t believe it, but it’s true. The interview was announced on Problogger.net yesterday, so if you haven’t heard it already, you can listen to it by subscribing to Darren’s newsletter.
If you’ve already listened to it, thank you for the gift of your time, and thanks to any new subscribers coming over here from Darren’s blog.
Side note: I apologize for the low volume on my end. I’m in the middle of a move and was using a backup microphone that apparently made my voice very soft. When my podcast comes out later in the year, I promise the quality on my end will be much better!
At the end of the interview, Darren had asked me to leave one parting tip for bloggers, and this is what I said:
In order to get to that next level, you’re going to have to take bold actions…
This is a followup post to that very statement.
The Routine
Ahh yes – the routine. A lot of what we do in life is simply part of a routine, and it’s not a bad thing. In fact, a routine helps us live a healthy, stress-free and happy lifestyle. We’re comfortable in a routine.
However, when trying to progress online with our blogs or our businesses, falling into a comfortable routine can stop us from ever seeing the influential results that we want to see.
Doing the same thing day in and day out – whether it be simply writing a new blog post, updating your Twitter or Facebook status, or commenting on other people’s blogs – will definitely help us progress, but it won’t take us to that next level. It’s the bold actions that we take outside of the routine that help us get there.
Think of it like a mountain that you wish to climb. There’s a set of stairs that wind all the way around the mountain, circling hundreds of times so that you can slowly make your way up to the top. In order to reach your goal faster, you can get off the stairs and create your own path.
Yes, it’s uncomfortable.
Yes, it’s risky.
Yes, it takes more effort.
Yes, it’s not part of the normal routine.
But that’s what makes it a bold action, one that could help us reach our goals much faster than if we simply relied on the routine.
Bold Actions
So what exactly are the bold actions that you should take?
For me, it was filing papers for my LLC. It was joining a mastermind group and asking hundreds of questions until I understood exactly what I had to do. It was spending 2 months to write an eBook. It was deciding to be completely transparent on this blog down to the penny. It was personally emailing Darren Rowse and telling him my story.
It was doing things that I was not completely comfortable with, but knew I had to do get to me to where I wanted to go.
And you?
I can’t tell you what bold actions you should take. However, I believe that most of you already have an idea of what they are. It’s probably something that you’ve been wanting to do for a long long time.
So why not now?
Thanks again for your support – it means the world to me. Have a great weekend, and stay tuned for my January 2010 Monthly Income Report in my next post.
Cheers!
p.s. Congrats to Stephanie from EmptyNestRenesting for winning a free copy of the new 4-Hour Workweek from my last post! Thanks everyone for sharing your seriously awesome comments!
Here’s the scenario:
You have a business idea that you could build up and sell in 3 years for $5 million – guaranteed. However, during those 3 years, you will be required to work an average of 75-80 hours a week.
Would you do it? Why or Why not?
I had asked this question to my fans yesterday on my Facebook Page, and the response was incredible. Within a few hours, over 25 people responded with various reasons why they would or wouldn’t go through with it. All had very valid, but different reasons.
What’s the purpose of this exercise?
The purpose of this thought exercise is to get you to really think about what’s important in your life. Thinking about this may put things into perspective as far as the lifestyle that you live now, the lifestyle you’d live while working 80 hours a week, and the lifestyle you’d have after you sold your business 3 years later. What’s important to you? It may have an effect on what you end up doing now.
Please assume that the $5 million is totally guaranteed (don’t ask me how, it just is. This is a hypothetical thought exercise people!), and you must do all of the work yourself (i.e., you can’t outsource any part of it).
Finally, I still have a few new versions of The 4-Hour Workweek to give away. I’ll select one random commenter (I’ll email the winner on Friday, 1/29) to send it to free of charge, so long as you answer the entire question:
Would you do it? Why or Why not?
If you’ve followed this blog for a while, you may have noticed that I stick to a consistent posting schedule, publishing new blog posts every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I’ve read that consistency is an important factor in the success of one’s blog, which is why I make sure to always set aside time on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday to write. However, there’s a lot more involved with my posting schedule in regards to what I write, how I write and when I publish certain articles. I’d like to share that with you today.
This is, obviously, something that I’ve come up with for my own blog that may not be suitable for all bloggers. But – as always, I’m happy to share with you the tips, tricks and techniques that I use that have helped me achieve some success. As you read through this, you may want to think about how to adapt a similar approach to what you publish on your blog.
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On Wednesday, I had written my most discussed blog post ever: How to REALLY Profit From Your Blog. In less than 24 hours there were over 100 comments, which is pretty incredible. Thanks to those of you who have contributed to the conversation and even added your own thoughts and personal experiences to the post.
After I hit the 100 comment mark earlier today, I had received no less than a dozen emails from some of you asking me exactly how I get so many people to comment on my posts. Part of the reason is because my community of readers are AWESOME, but also because of certain strategies that I use, which I coincidentally recorded a YouTube video about earlier this week.
Please feel free to watch Tricks to Get More Comments on Your Blog on YouTube (opens a new window):
What Else Can You Do To Get More Comments?
What other strategies or tactics have you used or heard of to get more people readers involved and commenting?
Thanks, and have a great weekend!
Last week, a good friend of mine asked me out to lunch. He said he was dying to discuss a potential internet business idea and wanted my honest opinion. Naturally, I accepted.
I was excited, not only because we were having sushi, but because I love helping people, especially those who I can tell have that drive and passion to succeed. Many people ask me about what I do online, but only a handful actually ask me how to setup an LLC or use Google Optimizer to increase conversion rates.
At lunch, after some catching up and small chit-chat, I finally asked him, “So what’s this business idea of yours?”
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Most of you know that family is my number one priority, especially with the recent birth of my son who is now 25 days old. Most, if not all of the decisions I make from now on are done so with him in mind.
However, I’m still a dude, and dudes love their toys. My dream toy is an Audi R8, a car that I first saw in a commercial during the 2008 Super Bowl. I don’t remember the score of the game, or even where it was played, but I do remember that car. I’ve wanted it ever since.
To quote Left Lane News, the Audi R8 has “…a 420 horsepower high-revving V8 engine and all-wheel-drive. It uses the mid-engine Lamborghini Gallardo platform positioning it squarely against the BMW M6, Porsche 911, and Aston Martin Vantage.”
The base price for this bad boy is $114,200 USD.
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No, I'm not a millionaire, but I am living off of passive income made online. I'm here to show 
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