It’s that time of the year again – the time when we all start to think about what we want to accomplish in the next year. I know many of you have already thought about what your New Year’s resolutions will be and what you’d like to see happen, but have you given any thought to what you don’t want to do in 2010? Most of us don’t think about our goals this way, but I invite you to do so because understanding what you don’t want to do can help you achieve exactly what you want to do. Click to continue…
A month ago, I had asked the following question both on my Facebook Page and on Twitter:
“Which do you need more of: ideas, or time to implement your ideas?”
Within 20 minutes, I had received over 50 responses. Ahh, the power of social media.
95% of the respondents said that what they all needed was more time. Here are some direct quotes from a few of the respondents:
“Time, by far. I have ideas by the minute.”
“Definitely time. It’s always easier to just stand at the staircase, than climb it.”
“…Ideas come and go, but time…blessed time!”
“Time…the precious commodity.”
Obviously, this was not a formal survey. It was just a question I had asked my specific group of followers on two social media platforms – so don’t think that 95% of all people in the world would have responded the same way. I think the thing to take away from this is simply that time is something we all wish we had more of.
Imagine what we could all do if there was just one extra hour in each day.
Unfortunately, we’re stuck with 24 hours, so it’s how we utilize those 24 hours that becomes the important factor that determines how successful we will be, with whatever it is we want to achieve. Luckily, there are things we can do to improve how we utilize our time, so it will seem like we’re actually getting more work done in the same period of time.
The following are some things you can do during the day to get that extra hour (or more) that you need to work on your own online businesses or blogs: Click to continue…
I’m writing this blog post on my iPhone, using the WordPress 2 iPhone app. Isn’t technology amazing? If this post doesn’t come out right or you see a superfluous amount of spelling errors, you’ll know why.
The reason I’m on my iPhone is because I’m at the hospital with my wife. Our baby boy decided he wanted to come out a month early and join us for Christmas this year! I am proud to announce the healthy birth of our son, Keoni, at 4:15am this Christmas Eve!
Because it was a month early, we were definitely surprised, and caught off guard a bit when signs for a delivery came about. Luckily we had everything prepared for the trip to the hospital already, but I have to admit, I freaked out a bit. I couldn’t find my keys and wallet, and I forgot how to put my shorts on.
We finally arrived at the hospital, and they took great care of us. In about 16 hours after checking in, our tiny 5lbs. 2oz. baby boy was born.
I’m the happiest person in the world. He’s so beautiful, and it just amazes me how life starts out in such a tiny package. It definitely puts things into perspective.
Before I leave you all to your holiday celebrations, I just wanted to say thank you to my wife, April. I’m so proud of her. She never complained during the entire process, and she showed me just how strong of a person she really is. A lot stronger than me, that’s for sure. She’s a wonderful wife, and I’m sure she’ll be an even better mother. I love you April!
Posting a blog post from my iPhone is pretty cool, but typing it sucks…
Happy holidays, Merry Christmas, and I wish you and your families all the best. Thank you for allowing me to share this brand new, amazing and beautiful part of my life with you.
Pat
p.s. I can’t embed a photo into the blog post, but I can attach one, I think. The link SHOULD be below if you’d like to get a glimpse of Keoni in his first hours of life.
Over the past several months, I’ve been introduced to several internet marketing and blogging forums that I wish I knew about (or were available) when I was starting out on my own. I’d like to share 5 of them with you today, just in case you don’t already know about these wonderful communities of like-minded people who all want to improve their online presence, and at the same time share their knowledge, tips and tricks too. I’ve also included a short analysis of each so you’ll know what to expect. Click to continue…
Here are 51 blogging and internet marketing tips that you can use as inspiration for the upcoming year.
Mindset
1. Revisit your goals. Take a moment and rewrite your goals. You may find that they may have changed since the last time you really took a good look at them. If you don’t have any goals, than what are you working towards?
2. Remember where you were. Where was your online business or blog at one year ago? Are you seeing any improvements? If yes, be proud of how far you’ve come along and the fact that you haven’t given up. If you haven’t seen any improvements, why do you think that is?
3. You can always do a little bit more. If you’re up to it, try this 2-step exercise:
- Raise your hand as high as you can.
- Raise your hand even higher.
If you do this exercise, you’ll notice that you can always stretch your hand a little higher, even though you were told to put it as high as you can at first. When I did this exercise as a teenager, it changed how I thought about everything I did after that moment. It made me realize that I can always do a little bit more. Apply this to what you do online.
4. Take action. As I mentioned in my first law of business and success, every business in a state of motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it. With that in mind, you can read and get inspired all you want, but nothing will happen unless you take action. Become the external force that is required to get your blog, business and life to exactly where you want it to be.
5. Flaunt your unique. In other words, know what makes you stand out from the crowd, and milk it. In order to succeed, especially online, you can’t blend in and just be another blog or website that talks about X. Your site can still be about X, but you should be one of the only ones that does Y, or Z.
6. No fear. Fear kills progress, and it kills business. When you’re reluctant to take an action or do something new, take a minute and think to yourself, “what’s the worst that can really happen?”. The worst usually isn’t as bad as you might think.
7. Failing is okay. We all want to succeed, but we shouldn’t ever be afraid of failing. Failing is part of the process and teaches us valuable lessons along the way. Learn from your mistakes, and improve on your next attempt.
8. Don’t work more, work smarter. When we think of putting in the extra mile to get things done, we often think that means just putting in more hours of work. Instead, think of ways that you can work smarter, which will accomplish the same (or even more), in a considerably less amount of time. It may take a small investment of time in the beginning to figure out how to work smarter, but you’ll make up for that time (and stress) soon enough.
9. Give back. I truly believe in “online karma”. The more you help others and the more you give back, the more success you will find. If your primary motivation is just to make as much money as you can and do things just for yourself, you’re only going to see a limited amount of success, if any.
10. Just freakin’ enjoy what you’re doing! If you enjoy what you’re doing, it doesn’t become work anymore. You’ll accomplish more, and be happier. If you’re not doing something you enjoy, why not? Click to continue…
When I heard that Tim Ferriss was releasing an expanded and updated version of The 4-Hour Workweek (with 100 pages of new, cutting-edge content), I was super stoked. The original was one of the most inspirational books I’ve ever read, and I’d like to partly credit my lifestyle as it is now to Tim and the words in his book. So, I pre-ordered a copy of the new one.
Oh, and I also pre-ordered 9 other copies for all of you!
All 10 books were delivered to my front door this morning, and I’m so excited to announce that from now until after the new year, I’ll be giving away 9 copies of The 4-Hour Workweek for free! I’ll be giving them away here on the blog, to my fans on my Facebook Page, and I also have a special giveaway that is only for those of you who have subscribed to the RSS Feed, so make sure you subscribe to get more details about that later.
See, even Gizmo enjoys Tim Ferriss…
Before we get to any giveaways, I need your help… Click to continue…
When I started this blog a little over a year ago, I hired a personal trainer to help me “look good” for my wedding, which happened to be about three months later. During this time, working out 2 hours a day with my trainer, David, I learned a lot about the body, but I learned even more about the mind.
I had written a few posts about the correlation between earning a passive income and working out at the gym, which I’ll quickly summarize for you below:
- Both are not easy;
- Both take time and dedication before you begin to notice any significant results;
- Your “workout plan” should be determined by what you want to achieve, not the other way around; and
- You’ll want to give up.
This last point is a killer. You’ll want to give up. Click to continue…
In my latest monthly income report, you may have noticed that my affiliate income had surpassed my direct income from the electronic products that I sell online. I received a lot of comments, asking me to explain more about where my affiliate income comes from and how it works.
Instead of just breaking down where it all came from – how much this, and how much that – I decided to turn this post into something a little bit more useful that would do more than just tell you how much I earned. Again, I’m not here to show you the money I make online, I’m here to show you how I make money online, and what I’ve learned along the way.
When thinking specifically about affiliate income, I determined that I could divide how people earn money as an affiliate into three primary categories: Unattached, Related, and Involved. I’m speaking in terms of how we are associated with the product or products we may be an affiliate for. Click to continue…
I’m about 90% finished with the eBook that I’ve been working on for the last month (I cranked out 10 killer pages yesterday!), but I’ve still had some time to read some excellent articles and blog posts around the web that I’d like to share with you today.
For Bloggers
Problogging – 10 Things I Wish I Knew When I Started: This is an excellent guest post on Problogger which is a must read, even for the experienced blogger, because it’s a great reminder of exactly what we should be doing in case we’ve veered off course a little.
5 Basic Tips for Video Optimization: For those of you who are expanding your blog and brand onto YouTube, here are 5 excellent tips to make sure you’re getting the best results for your efforts.
Podcasts
Internet Business Q&A From Academy Members: Sterling and Jay from the Internet Business Mastery Podcast answer questions directly from existing academy members and share them with the public. Good stuff!
Interview With Alborz Fallah – A Million Dollar Blogger: This is probably one of the most inspiring interviews I’ve ever heard in my life. In case you don’t have time to listen, there’s a PDF transcript that takes about 1/3rd of your time to finish.
Resources
1Password: Do you log in to a billion different websites that all have different usernames and passwords? This is the tool that helps me organize ALL of my passwords so I don’t have to waste space in my brain to memorize everything. Plus, you can auto generate complicated passwords that are less likely to get stolen or cracked too.
RescueTime: This is the time management software that I use, which tells me each week that I’m spending way too much time on Facebook. Put it to use, and see where you’re wasting your time.
Other Interesting Reads
Do Young Entrepreneurs Need to Go To College?: Erica from Erica.biz discusses a VERY touchy subject for many people. Join the conversation, and scroll down to see what I had to say. Do you agree?
The Ultimate Home Buying Guide – Buying vs. Renting Detailed Comparison: M.D. from Studenomics gives us an extremely detailed comparison between buying and renting in today’s economy.
Building a $1,000,000 Website in 12 Months: Glen from Viperchill is one of the most hard-working and inspiring bloggers I know. I’m very fortunate to be good friends with him, and totally recommend following his progress on this little big case study of his.
WingSuit Base Jumping: This doesn’t have anything to do with internet business or self-improvement, but it’s a totally awesome video of these guys in suits with wings that just makes your jaw drop to the floor. I always watch this when I don’t have any energy, and it totally gives me a quick boost.
All right, back to my eBook. Thanks for your encouragement, and hopefully within a week or two, you’ll see a new website design finally go live, and a killer eBook that you’ll have free instant access to. 
Don’t forget to love what you do.
Cheers!
I’m excited to share with you my monthly income report for November 2009.
Each month, I write a detailed report about where my online income comes from, along with the lessons I learned during the month and where I’m headed in the future. Part of the reason I do this is not only to help me keep track of how my businesses are doing, but also to let you in on exactly what kinds of things I’ve done or have planned to improve my results. I hope you enjoy this month’s report. Click to continue…
No, I'm not a millionaire, but I am living off of passive income made online. I'm here to show 
Enter your name and email below to get Free Instant Access to the most comprehensive guide available on how to Publish, Market, and automate your own killer eBook.
