The Smart Passive Income Blog » personal development

What I’m Reading Right Now – Stand and Deliver

Pat — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 19:58:03 +0000

As many of you know, I have a couple of speaking gigs coming up in the near future:

A presentation at the Financial Blogger’s Conference in Chicago in early October, and
A presentation at Blog World Expo in Los Angeles in early November.

I’m very honored to be speaking at both of these wonderful events, and although I’ve spoken in front of large crowds before, never have I made a live presentation about what I do online.

Over the past 3 years, my experience online has taught me the best way to deliver a message to my audience via a blog, in a podcast and on video. I know there is always room for improvement but I think I have a good grasp on how to effectively teach and communicate to groups of people on these platforms.

A live presentation is a whole new ball game and I’ve always been extremely admirable of those who present themselves well in a live setting. Actors, politicians (some of them), stand up comedians, teachers, and several of my peers in this industry who have been doing the live speaking thing for a while.

They are all incredibly inspirational, and I want to master the craft just like they have.

Truly, this can only come with experience, but as with anything we want to learn how to do, we can give ourselves a head start by properly educating ourselves about what we want to achieve.

What I’m Reading Right Now

DJ Duty, a friend on the SPI Facebook Page, sent me this message the other day (thanks DJ!):

Stand and Deliver looked like a good read, so I purchased it on Amazon and within 16 hours the book was delivered to my front door.

I’m about half way through, and I must agree – it’s a fantastic read!

Dale Carnegie is one of the greatest public speakers and lecturers of all time, and after reading what I’ve read so far, not only do I understand what makes a presentation great, but I’ll be able to use a lot of the same principles to communicate better online and in life too.

I won’t go into much detail here, but what I really love about Stand and Deliver is that it sort of breaks down a good presentation into a science. As they say, becoming a good communicator isn’t a gift – it’s a skill that anyone can learn, and this book reveals the methods, strategies, tips and tricks to learn that skill.

I’ve had a lot of “oh yeah!” moments while reading this book – things that I’ve noticed in presentations before that have really made an impact on me.

I can’t wait to see what I pick up from the book and how it translates into my presentations.

One of the exercises in the book involves learning, emulating and getting inspiration from great speakers that seem to just connect with us, for whatever reasons that may be.

In an attempt to learn as much as possible and continue my research, I would love to hear who your favorite speakers are, and why. If you have links to any YouTube videos or TED videos or whatever – I would very much welcome them in the comment section below.

Please note that comments with 2 more more links must be approved manually, so please insert a link to just one of your favorites.

Thanks for your support, and look out for my August monthly income report going live on Monday!

Cheers, and don’t ever stop learning.

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What I’m Reading Right Now – Stand and Deliver
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How to Invest 30 Minutes and Gain 4 Hours for Your Business Every Day

Pat — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 14:55:25 +0000

One of the most common questions that people ask me is how I stay so productive. In SPI Podcast session #12, I mentioned a number of things that keep me organized, energized and on track – one of them being exercise.

Exercising was something I did not get into to benefit my online business – it was for me because I was getting out of shape. But, as a result of my workout programs, my productivity levels and focus dramatically increased, and so did the success with my business. It was a surprising, but awesome consequence.

I’d like to introduce you to a good friend of mine, Dustin Richemann, whose guest post I’m happy to feature today. Dustin is a long time reader of the Smart Passive Income blog and as far back as I can remember he’s been contributing to the community here. He has recently seen some major success with a few of his own blogs, including EngagedMarriage.com and more recently, FitMarriage.com.

I’m a huge believer of including fitness in one’s life, but I’ll let Dustin take it from here to explain more.

Are you sitting down?

If you’re like most online business enthusiasts, you have probably been sitting in a chair for most of the day. Even if you work a “day job” and burn the midnight oil working on a side business, chances are you spend the vast majority of your day being sedentary, often in front of a computer.

We’ve all heard the health benefits of being active since we were in elementary school. And we would certainly like to slim down and tone up to look better, like this guy.

Yet, many of us still struggle to make exercise a regular part of our already-busy routine.

Well, have you considered what getting fit can do for your online business?

Use Fitness to Fuel Your Passive Income Pursuits

“How do you become more productive?”

Sir Richard Branson leaned back and thought for a moment before answering.

“Work out.”

He went on to elaborate that working out gave him at least four additional hours of productive time every day.

There is a reason that one of the busiest and most successful entrepreneurs in the world cites exercise as his top productivity secret. And you don’t have to look that far up the business success scale to see the impact of a fit lifestyle.

A regular exercise routine is common among most top performers that we admire for their productivity. From Tim Ferriss to Barack Obama to our very own master of content production Pat, successful business people typically make fitness an integral part of their busy daily schedule.

You might be able to relate to my situation.

I have a wife, three small kids, a full-time engineering position and I manage two online brands.

Last year, I was struggling to keep up with just my first site (Engaged Marriage), but once I got serious about my fitness and committed to regular workouts, I realized whole new levels of energy and productivity.

This led me to partner with fitness expert Tony DiLorenzo to form a new site called Fit Marriage where we help busy couples (and hustling entrepreneurs with families) make fitness a part of their hectic schedule.

Our passion for this topic continues to grow as we witness how much value being fit adds to the lives of our community members.

The impact of adding fitness to my daily schedule has been dramatic and real. It helped me go from a tired and stressed-out guy to a legitimate online businessman.

Since adopting new healthy habits, I’ve been blessed to create successful products for both brands and have two growing part-time businesses, along with a happy home life and a full-time professional career, and it was all spurred to life by my fitness pursuits.

5 Keys to Exercise that Will Boost Your Productivity in Less Than 30 Minutes Per Day

Hopefully by now, you’re a bit fired up and ready to figure out how to get started with a successful and sustainable fitness program of your own. You are very wise.

However, you may have noticed that the headline of this post promised you could do this in 30 minutes a day. Well, I lied.

You can do it in less than 30 minutes.

If you have followed Pat’s fitness success (and many others online), you may have noted that he used the super-popular P90X Extreme Home Fitness System and then recently followed that up with Insanity. I have to say that P90X is awesome for the right situation (I’ve done it twice in the past), but it does require 45-75 minutes per workout.

If you want to get a great business productivity boost (and still lose some junk in the trunk in the process), here are 5 keys to making it happen by investing just 15-25 minutes per day.

1. Work Out at Home

If you are tight on time and/or money, or even if you just don’t like the health club environment, you should definitely consider working out at home. When you skip the gym, you save a lot of travel and preparation time, not to mention an average of $43 per month in gym membership fees.

You can definitely achieve your fitness goals in your home with little or no equipment. And since you are likely working out of your house, at least part-time, you’ll be ready to get started on your workout within a few steps of wrapping up a blog post.

2. Do It First

If there’s one practical key to making exercise work as part of a busy schedule, it’s doing it early in the day. When you get your workout done before all of the distractions and mini-emergencies of the day unfold, you are much more likely to stick with your routine.

You’ll likely find that you can focus better and get a workout completed with maximum efficiency when you do it first. Plus, starting the morning off with a quick workout really sets you up for an energetic and productive business day.

3. Full HIIT Action

For a real metabolism boost, you should stick to full-body workouts mixed in with High Intensity Interval Training and your favorite cardio. By employing HIIT routines, you can completely blast your body in as little as 12 minutes.

In fact, if you can continue a HIIT workout longer than 20 minutes, you simply aren’t being intense enough in your effort!

4. Integrate Family Time

We tend to segment our lives to the point where all of our time is compartmentalized with no overlap, which can lead us to feel stretched too thin and unfulfilled.

At Fit Marriage, we love to hear from couples who workout together and make fitness an integral part of their quality time together. However, it’s not always possible to exercise together, and some couples just don’t enjoy it (you can put my wife and me in this category actually).

Even if you don’t make it a regular practice, you should definitely include fitness as part of your family time. Some time spent chasing your kids or climbing the playground equipment is an awesome way to get a workout and have a blast in the process!

5. Don’t Forget About Food

While physical activity will go a long way toward providing you energy and enthusiasm, you won’t improve your body or mood a great deal if you spend the rest of the day eating Twinkies and pizza. With a little forethought, you can eat really well without suffering through bland food or long preparation times.

There are a ton of great resources out there to help you eat better, and all of the programs below offer nutrition guidance. We just collaborated with some online nutrition experts to publish a killer cookbook that details over 40 healthy meals, snacks and desserts for busy families. Just sign up here to have this collection of recipes sent to you (for free).

Here’s How to Take Action TODAY

If you’re like most online business builders, you are stretched for time, a little short on energy and you probably have a few pounds to shed. By being proactive and making the right kind of exercise an integral part of your routine, you will be amazed at how much more you can get done and feel great in the process.

Pat’s done it, I’ve done it, and now it’s your turn to get out of your computer chair and start getting active.

Your waistline and your business’s bottom line will thank you!

Dustin Riechmann is the co-creator of Fit Marriage and the popular Fit Marriage Show Podcast where he helps busy couples and on-the-go parents get fit and live with passion. Get plugged into the Fit Marriage movement by signing up for free access to the growing Ready, Set, Go! Fitness Blueprints library of awesome fitness resources.

Need Help Finding the TIME for Fitness? Check Out This FREE Webinar, Exclusive for the SPI Community.

If you had to pick the one thing that holds you back from being fit and active, what would it be? For most of us, it’s a lack of time, and this is especially true when you’re a hustling online entrepreneur!

To help you take action and get moving forward with your fitness and business goals, we’re hosting a special webinar next week just for Smart Passive Income readers. Join us on Tuesday, June 28th at 6:30 p.m. PST for an exclusive live event – 7 Secrets to Fitting in Fitness…for Hustling Entrepreneurs

When you join us for this FREE live online video presentation, you’ll learn the following:

Exactly how to find time for exercise in your life as a busy online businessperson
How you can lose weight & look fantastic by investing just 20 minutes…in your home!
The specific workouts that you should be doing to have fun and get quick results based on your lifestyle
Getting motivated and staying motivated to reach your fitness goals
The #1 thing you should be doing to make your family happier & healthier
How you can actually eat in a way that’s fun and lose weight in the process
A step-by-step plan for making this the summer that you get the body you want and the energy you need to thrive as a smart online entrepreneur

We look forward to welcoming you to this special event for our SPI friends. Click here to get signed up, but don’t delay because space is limited to just 200 attendees!

As an added bonus, we’ll be giving away TEN free memberships to our popular Thrive90 Fitness program to some attendees who are ready to take action and get more fit and productive. You have to be there to win, so sign up soon.

Pat here with some final closing words: After I shared my Insanity results last week, a few people emailed me wondering why I was talking about fitness on a passive income blog. I understand the concern, but I hope after reading this guest post you can understand why. I didn’t share those results just to talk about fitness, I shared them because it has to do with goal setting, goal achieving, working hard, and everything Dustin mentioned about becoming energized and experiencing increased productivity levels.

Plus, this blog isn’t just about making money online – it’s about achieving a kind of lifestyle that you want to live.

Thanks for your support, and look out for some killer articles and a new podcast session going live next week. Cheers!

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How to Invest 30 Minutes and Gain 4 Hours for Your Business Every Day
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A Thought.

Pat — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 09:06:52 +0000

I almost gave up on this blog…several times.

Within the first 5 to 6 months, I wasn’t sure if it was going anywhere. There was hardly any traffic coming in and I was doubting whether not it was all worth it. I mean, I was spending 2 to 3 hours on each blog post to make sure it was great content and high-quality.

“Am I wasting my time?” was a constant thought in my head every time I pushed that publish button.

Then, on January 21, 2009 – someone influential wrote this post, which was all about me and this blog.

That day, I saw more visitors than every previous day combined…10x over.

I never asked this person to write about my blog, but he did…and it honestly changed my life.

Since that day, my traffic has grown and I haven’t looked back since. People are coming here to read what I write and listen to my advice.

So my advice to you today is this:

Keep at it and keep working hard to provide over-the-top, high quality content. It only takes one influential person, one moment, to change everything.

Thanks LazyManandMoney for being that person for me.

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A Thought.
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SPI 005 : Podcasting and Passive Income – Interview with Cliff Ravenscraft of PodcastAnswerMan.com

Pat — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 07:05:34 +0000

In this session of the Smart Passive Income Podcast, I interview the totally wise and inspirational Cliff Ravenscraft of PodcastAnswerMan.com, who shares with us his crazy journey to making a living doing something he loves, as well as the strategies and tactics he uses to earn a passive income.

I had a lot of fun with Cliff on this interview, and we went a little longer than usual. But, I’m sure as you listen you’ll get super inspired and learn a lot about how to make even more money online, and how you can make money from what you love to do too.

Plus, he’s super easy to listen to. He definitely has the “radio voice”. Check it out!

Enjoy!

Right click here to download the MP3

Items Mentioned in this Session:

Transcript:

SPI 005 : Podcasting and Passive Income – Interview with Cliff Ravenscraft of PodcastAnswerMan.com

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SPI 005 : Podcasting and Passive Income – Interview with Cliff Ravenscraft of PodcastAnswerMan.com
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What P90X Can Teach Us About Becoming a Successful Entrepreneur

Pat — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 08:46:10 +0000

Right now, I’m in the middle of one of the most intense home fitness workout programs available – P90X.

P90X is 90 straight days of gut-busting, iron-pumping, fat-trimming, muscle-building, endurance-enhancing, nutrition-mastering, life-changing hell…and so far – I love it.

Today I completed Day 4, which was the yoga disc. I’ve never sweated more in my entire life and I have newly found respect for anyone who does yoga on a regular basis. It’s no wonder why some of the world’s top athletes take yoga classes.

Anyways, this post isn’t about why I’m putting myself through this program, or even about how awesome their marketing campaign is. I will, however, keep you updated on my progress every thirty days. I’ll even include before and after pictures (once I have a less embarrassing after picture to show you in 30 days). Just as a forewarning…I will be shirtless in those photos (gasp!).

I’m doing this partly to keep myself accountable for staying focused and crushing it during each workout, and partly to motivate any of you who may be looking to make similar changes in your life as well.

P90X is about making extreme changes in your body and in your life, and many of the tools and philosophies behind the program are directly related to becoming a successful entrepreneur. I’d like to share these with you today.

Success Takes Time to Achieve

I invested in P90X because it seemed like the most realistic fitness product to me, being a 90 day workout program. That’s three entire months, which is a lot of time to invest, so it makes sense that if I stick with the program I will see drastic results.

The idea here is that it takes time to see results. It takes time to succeed.

As an entrepreneur, the same ideas apply. You won’t get rich overnight, and anything that claims to help you “get rich quick” is a scam in my opinion. True businesses grow from hard work and time.

Unfortunately, many people give up because they’re not seeing traffic, customers or sales right away – much like how some people give up on these workout programs because they don’t have a 6-pack after the first day.

Keeping Track of Numbers is Important

When training with P90X, it’s recommended to write down and record almost everything.

I’ve only been training for 4 days, and already I’ve recorded more numbers than I ever have about my body. I record my weight and body fat percentage each morning. I write down the number of reps and with what weight for each of the exercises I perform. I record everything I eat so that I know all of the nutritional facts about what’s going inside my body.

It may seem like a lot of “extra” work, but it’s vital because it can prove that we’re making progress (which is totally motivating), and also help determine what areas may need improvement.

In the online business world, it’s important to keep track of your stats and numbers for the very same reasons.

If we don’t know where we’re at, how do we know how to get to where we’re going?

It’s a Good Idea to Take Breaks

Although P90X is extreme fitness, they also understand that it’s important give our bodies and muscles a break sometimes. Short breaks are scattered throughout each of the workouts, and there’s even 1 day off from working out entirely each week.

Breaks are important because you don’t want to overwork yourself, and the same holds true for doing business, especially if you’re working from home where there’s always an easy opportunity to just keep working non-stop.

Take breaks. Schedule them if you have to, but do yourself a favor and give your mind a rest every once and a while. You will become much more productive.

Motivation from Others is Key

What I especially like about P90X is that they promote their message boards – a community where other people who are going through the workout can get together. I joined a particular thread a few days before I started, which comprises of people all starting the routine on the exact same day. We’re already over 200+ posts into it, and like I said we’re only on the 4th day of the program. We’re all keeping each other motivated, and in a way holding each other accountable too.

If you’ve read yesterday’s post about mastermind groups, you’d understand just how important it is to stay connected with other people for your business as well.

If you go for a goal all by yourself, it’s going to be that much tougher. That’s why people always say it’s much easier to go to the gym if you have a workout partner, or go on a diet if someone else is doing it too.

The same goes for your business – find your other half, and work together toward that common goal.

“Bring It”

Each day after I pop in a new DVD, before the workout begins the words “BRING IT” appear on the screen.

To me, these words are synonymous to “CRUSH IT“, which is the Title of Gary Vaynerchuk’s book about becoming successful by just going all out and doing what you have to do to achieve your goals.

The main point here is that no matter what you want to accomplish, no matter what it is – whether it’s having a body like Taylor Lautner (for you Twilight fans out there), or starting the next Apple, Inc., in order to do it you have to really want it and give it all you got.

100% 110% – everything you have.

Commitment

There are a number of other connections that could be made between working out and doing business online, but there’s one overall theme that encompasses everything I’ve already mentioned, and that’s commitment.

In order to become successful, you must commit. You must commit not only to what your doing and what your plans are (i.e. sticking with the program), but you must also commit to yourself. That means being confident in what you know, and committed to where you want to be.

Nothing can stop you.

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What P90X Can Teach Us About Becoming a Successful Entrepreneur
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Strength in Numbers With Goal Setting

Pat — Mon, 31 May 2010 08:47:26 +0000

What images comes to mind when you hear the phrase “strength in numbers”?

Maybe a school of bait fish trying to play the numbers game and avoid being eaten by a predator? Or how about a battle between two sides, hoping for the advantage over their adversary? A “power play” in hockey?

Generally speaking, when there are two sides involved with something, there is definitely a “strength in numbers”, but I’m going to pull a fast one on you and ask you this:

How does the phrase “strength in numbers” come into play when there’s only one side involved? How can it help you?

“Strength in THE Numbers”

Here’s how it can help you.

Whenever you want to set a goal for yourself, it’s always best to set a quantitative goal – with numbers! It may seem obvious to you, but it surprises me how many people don’t grasp the power behind actually setting quantitative goals.

A number can motivate a person because a number has a defined meaning that cannot be changed or misinterpreted. It is what is it. Also, by defining our goals as much as possible (with numbers), we can determine a clearer path to get there.

A blurred goal can only blur ones path to get “there”.

Here’s an example of a goal that I know a lot of my readers have:

I want to have a successful blog.

That’s a great goal to have, but unfortunately it’s also terrible.

Why?

Because what does “successful” really mean? How will you know when you get there? If you leave it at that, chances are you will never feel like you’ve succeeded, no matter what, which doesn’t bode well for our self-esteem.

Here are some other “terrible” goals:

I want to lose weight.
I want to save more money.
I want to have more clients.
I want a large email list.

Again, please don’t misinterpret my use of the word “terrible” with these goals. I only say they are so because they are not quantified.

Beyond the Numbers

There’s another crucial element to goal setting that we should also never fail to include:

A specific time.

A quantifiable goal is great, but without any set time or date to go along with it, it becomes very easy for us to “put it off” or make excuses that “we’re getting there”, although it may be at an undesired snail’s pace.

Like a number, a date and/or time cannot be messed around with. It is exactly what it is, so it further defines our goals, and therefore our actions towards those goals.

Lastly, try to stay away from a general time frame to complete your goal, i.e. “in a year”, or “in a couple of months.” Your goals should be as specific as possible. That way, you’ll understand not only what needs to be done, but also when.

Just a Number?

Recently, when people ask me, “Pat, what’s your goal for SPI?”, I’ve been responding with, “10,000 RSS Subscribers by the end of the year.”

Usually, I get a follow up question asking, “Why 10,000? It’s just a number.”

And the truth is that it really is just a number. It has no true significance to the blog, which will be no different than when it had 9,999 subscribers.

However, even though it’s just a number, I hope you can understand why it’s important that this number exists. It actually gives me many things that I can use:

It gives me something EXACT to work towards. It’ definitely motivating, especially when I see the subscriber count tick closer and closer to the goal.
I can break it down into smaller goals or “installments” that lead up to 10k. For example, I can say that this leaves me 6 months to earn about 3600 subscribers. That’s 1800 in 3 months, or 600 per month.
After breaking it down into smaller goals, I can actually figure out what actions to take to get there. It’s a lot easier to think about how to get 600 subscribers then it is to get 3600.
If for some reason I’m not “on schedule” based on how I’m progressing on the smaller goals, I can make adjustments as necessary to make sure I stay on track.
After I reach this goal, I can make a new quantifiable goal to ensure the continued growth of the blog.

Not So Terrible Goals

Now, let’s bring back our “terrible” goals from earlier and see how they look now:

I want to lose 20 lbs. by July 15th, 2010.
I want to save $150 a month for 3 years.
I want to have 5 new clients in 30 days.
I want an email list of 15,000 subscribers by March 24, 2011.

Looks good to me!

Now that you’ve read this post, what’s one of your goals? It can be about anything you care to share.

Cheers everyone!

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Strength in Numbers With Goal Setting
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The Realization That Enabled Me to Make a Living Online

Pat — Wed, 05 May 2010 07:05:53 +0000

This is a guest post from Glen Allsopp of ViperChill.com. If you’ve been around on my blog for a while, you may notice that I refer to Glen and his blog quite a bit. Why? Because his content is just that good, and this guest post is no exception.

When I built my first website at 15, I honestly didn’t know too much about what I was doing. I used a free site builder so didn’t have my own domain, used the built in templates so I didn’t have to mess around with HTML and used image generators online so I had no need for Photoshop. When I started looking at how to make money online and everyone I spoke to recommended that I should get my own domain, I felt totally lost.

For the next year I tweaked my MySpace pages as a way to help me learn HTML (and impress my friends. Sad, I know), I purchased domains as people had recommended and used a friends hosting company to get my website online. After struggling with databases and FTP software for a few months, I started to get a hang of what I was doing.

Though I had some initial success when one of my websites was featured in a popular book and I built and sold some websites for a few hundred dollars, I really wasn’t making that much money online. I was even building websites around the things that I loved, but just didn’t seem to be getting anywhere.

After much frustration, I went…

In Search of the Magic Bullet

If you’ve been trying to make an income online for a decent amount of time then you’ve probably came across the thousands of guides offering you tips on how to get rich overnight. The “secrets nobody is telling you about” in the form of an instant download or how one man “went from nothing to working from a beach in Thailand in just six weeks”. These are just some examples, but I’m sure you know what I’m talking about.

Lured in by these promises, I spent what little money I had trying to gain knowledge in the area of making money online. I had built my skillset in terms of creating websites and getting them hosted online, but I thought there must be something missing that nobody is telling me if I couldn’t seem to get further than a few hundred dollars per month.

One product turned into the next, and that one led me to another, until I ended up with piles of useless eBooks that had left me in a worse financial situation than I was in before. I was supposed to be learning how to make money, not getting other people rich by buying their products.

If it wasn’t for my successful stint as a freelancer and my sheer determination to “get this down,” I think I would have given up my internet income dreams a long time ago. Product after product and promise after promise left me nowhere.

The magic bullet was nowhere to be found.

Today, I’m making a very healthy living online building websites around things I love and helping thousands of people around the world do the same. I don’t make a living by teaching other people how to make a living online but I do try my best to help.

The last two years have been very instrumental for me, and they also helped me find the magic bullet. That’s right, there is one. And it’s much closer to home than you think.

My Realization

My realization is fairly simple, but once you grasp and internalize it, the results from your internet endeavors are sure to skyrocket. The realization was simply this: You are the magic bullet. Instead of looking for some genius idea or a secret that it seemed everyone was keeping away from me, it finally clicked that maybe, just maybe, it was the actions I took rather than the knowledge I seeked that would allow me to finally make money online.

Instead of buying another product, I bought a domain. Instead of looking for instant results in an eBook, I looked for a niche I could target. Instead of wondering why so many people besides me where making money, I decided to focus on one thing until I was the person making money.

And guess what? Things actually started to happen.

I built one affiliate site and a few months later it started making a great income. I used the same steps in another industry, and did well in that one too. I then went on to build a blog as I love writing and having an audience, and through nothing more than right action and a lot of determination, that also became very successful.

I will now say that it is very, very difficult to get out of the groove of looking for the secrets of the magic pill if you’re already entangled in buying make money online products. I have a friend who is doing exactly that right now, and no matter how much advice I give him, he’s still clicking the ‘add to cart’ buttons on the next “can’t miss” product launch.

For some people, the only way this lesson will click is when they go through the spiral themselves and realize it isn’t taking them anywhere. Fortunately, you do have the opportunity to see that everything you really need to make money online is out there; you just have to start putting that knowledge into action.

What To Do Now

If you’re still looking for some hidden information that you think I might have missed from this post, then you’re still in the mindset that someone else has the knowledge you need to succeed. Sure, there’s great advice out there (especially on Pat’s blog, here) but it isn’t going to take you anywhere unless your main focus is not that of a seeker, but one of a doer.

With whatever web properties you have right now, or the ones you’re planning to build, commit to actually seeing them through until you start to see a return on your time investment. Decide that you wont buy another internet secrets guide until you’ve actually made the money to afford it via your income online.

The process may be slow, and it may be tough, and you might even fail.

But I guarantee you’ll learn far more from the process and your mistakes than anything I, Pat, or any course online can teach you.

You are the magic bullet. You just have to put yourself to good use.

Glen Allsopp is the writer behind ViperChill, a blog on Viral Marketing. If you run a blog, he’s also written an extensive guide to WordPress SEO that you may find useful.

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Working From Home Is NOT Easy, But This May Help

Pat — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 09:03:48 +0000

In September of 2009, I wrote a post that you wouldn’t think to find here on the blog, entitled The Top 5 Reasons NOT to Quit Your Job and Work From Home.

I wrote it because:

I always tell all sides of the story – no fluff or hype here; and
Working from home is difficult and not for everyone.

With almost two years of working for myself under my belt, I’ve done a lot to adjust to the work-at-home lifestyle. However, there are still a few things that are much more convenient for a person when working for “the man”.

In this post, I’d like to recap those concerns and give you some advice as to what you can do from home to assist with those concerns.

YOU Make All the Decisions

Summary: Becoming your own boss is awesome. You don’t have to answer to anyone and you have the ability to take your business exactly where you want to take it.

The problem with this is that all decisions about all aspects of your business are up to you. As a result, the decision making process is more stressful and a lot more research needs to be done in order to know you’re making the right decisions, especially with things you’re unfamiliar with.

When you work for “the man”, there are decisions being made for the business every day that you don’t ever need to worry about, and there are systems of checks and balances behind each and every one of them.

Advice: The solution is simple. Get in contact with people who know more than you.

Even though you may work from home by yourself, you can find a team of people to become your system of checks and balances.

Here is my “team” and what they’re useful for:

My CPA, who helps me with tax-time decisions and investments. If I have a question about money and how it should be recorded and properly managed, my CPA is my go to guy. I trust him enough to make a lot of the decisions for me, which takes a huge load off of my back.
My Mastermind Groups, who help and guide me with whatever internet-related business decisions I have to make.
A Business Coach / Mentor, who also helps and guides me, but in a more personal way with longer goals in mind.
You, my followers and readers, who provide me with opinions and comments that often help me figure out what to do next.

Even though I’m on my own, it’s nice to know that really, I’m not.

Your Schedule Isn’t Set In Stone

Summary: Part of breaking away from the 9 to 5 is breaking away from that routine: wake up, go to work, come home. Rinse and repeat. It’s nice to be able to work when you want to, and it’s especially nice to take a day off here and there.

However, without that routine in place, it’s tough to stay disciplined enough to work or not work, when you should be doing the other. Personally, I found myself always thinking about my business and even doing work in the wee hours of the night, just because I could.

With a family, especially now with a child too, this isn’t the healthiest of lifestyles. Anyone who works from home should strive to stay disciplined enough to give themselves some time away from work to do anything else and enjoy life.

Advice: In a recent blog post on SPI, which was actually featured on lifehacker.com, I talk about my exact stragety for tackling this problem, which involves:

Creating a Schedule: Yes, even though we all want to break away from that routine, we still need some kind of schedule. Without it, our lives will be unpredictable and unstable. With a schedule in place, my mind knows when to stop thinking about my business and my family knows exactly when it’s “daddy time”.
A Separate Workspace: A physically separate workspace will do a couple of things. One, it will help you focus even more when you are working; and secondly, it will help stop you from being tempted to keep working when you shouldn’t. If there’s an office and it has a door – shut it.
A Separate Computer: Along the same lines as a separate workspace, a separate computer that is for only for personal use will further delineate the line between working and not working.

Since implementing these strategies, I’ve been able to get so much more done, and spend more time with my family.

It’s Harder to Get Into Work Mode

Summary: When working from home, it’s tough to get into “work-mode” because, well – you’re at home! It’s really easy to hit that snooze button and stay in bed just a little bit longer, and the television is always playing some interesting game show (or Soap, if you’re into that) during the day.

Advice: Beyond a creating a schedule and having your own separate workspace, here are a few hacks I’ve learned that will help you get into work-mode even more:

Get Dressed For Work at Home: You don’t need to put on business attire, but if you change out of your PJs and into something for the day, your mind will be ready to do stuff and get things accomplished. Trust me, I’ve worked in my pajamas many times and it’s really easy to just crawl right back into bed and go to sleep.
Schedule Important Meetings or Interviews Early: If you know there’s something you must do, you’re more than likely going to make sure to get up in time and be ready for it. This is why I always try to schedule any interviews or meetings early in the morning.
Exercise: I don’t know the science behind it, but after you exercise you often feel like you have more energy to do things. Of course, you have to make sure you’re drinking lots of fluids and eating right, or else you’re just going to feel tired instead.

Do you have any hacks you’d like to share for getting and staying in “work-mode” at home (or even at your 9 to 5)? Please share!

No Fellow Employees

Summary: Part of what I loved about my 9 to 5 job was the people who I was working with. A lot of them became good friends and we often took breaks during the day to chat about whatever. Now that I work from home there is none of that. No one to talk sports with, no one to talk smack about our boss with, and no one to have lunch with. It can be a lonely world working from home.

Advice: In today’s world, fortunately, there are many ways to stay connected with people even while working from home. Namely – social media and online chat.

I use Facebook and Twitter during my breaks to chat with people and just feel like I have someone to talk to. For lunches, I usually have them with my family at home, but I often schedule lunches with my friends who work 9 to 5 jobs nearby too.

A lot of people who I met through my blog, Facebook and Twitter have actually become dear friends of mine, which definitely makes me feel like I’m not alone anymore. Even just reading and responding to comments made here on the blog helps too. So to all of you – thanks!

The Benefits

Summary: This is probably the biggest issue for many people who work for themselves, and the reasons should be obvious. Health insurance is expensive, and dental care and vision are not cheap either. No more 401k (with matching), and no more vacation hours or sick leave.

The true meaning of employee benefits are not fully understood until you’re working for yourself.

Advice: I’ll write a more detailed post about benefits for the self-employed later, but what it really comes down to is research.

For health insurance, there are a lot of “scams” and things out there that say they are indeed a form of health insurance, but they are not – so you have to be really careful. Another piece of advice is to call your state’s department of health care services, because you may be able to qualify for certain grants. Even if you don’t, they will be happy to help you out and offer some advice.

For retirement savings, it’s not too difficult to start an IRA, which will definitely help you save money during tax time too. Again, if you have a CPA working with you, I recommend contacting them if you’re interested in investing. The sooner, the better.

And as far as sick hours and vacation time, you’ll have to just remember that because you work from home, you do have a little more flexibility with your schedule so you can take those days off, or even go on “mini-retirements” if you are able to. You’re your own boss, so there’s no need to sign a “request for days off”.

If any of you have anything you’d like to add as far as helping people who work from home, please contribute by commenting below. Thanks, and I wish you nothing less than success. Cheers!

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The Most Important Conversation I’ve Had About My Business Ever

Pat — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:05:47 +0000

In my last post, I had mentioned that I wanted to tell you what my favorite infomercial was and dissect it so we can all learn about why it’s successful. Well, I decided to change things up a bit because a few nights ago, my wife and I had what was probably one of the most important conversations ever, and it’s directly related to what I do online. This message that I want to share with you, which came as a result of our discussion, is more important than any infomercial tactic, blogging tip or online business strategy that I could possibly offer.

(And in case you are wondering, the infomercial was P90X.)

The Issue

The subject of our discussion was my work schedule. The problem was: I didn’t have one.

As someone who has been somewhat successful online thus far earning a passive income, I do have the ability to work less hours, and if I really wanted to, not work at all. However, having this freedom to work whenever I want has put negative thoughts in my head about adhering to an actual schedule.

Why would I want to “force” myself to a schedule and work during specific hours of the day, when I have the freedom to work whenever I want?

I now know the answer.

The Problems

There were a few problems with the lifestyle I was living prior to this life-changing conversation:

1. It was hard to decipher when I was working, and when I was not.

Because I wasn’t on a schedule, it was often hard for my wife to know exactly when I was busy, and when I was not. Sometimes I’d be in my office doing work related things, and sometimes I’d be in my office doing non-work related things. If she wanted to talk about something, or needed some help with the baby, sometimes I’d be in the middle of something important, and sometimes I wouldn’t. It was tough for both of us.

2. Work was never “done” for the day.

As I’ve mentioned in the past, working from home is tough. It takes a lot of discipline to really clear your head of work-related items when you’re not working, because those work-related items can so easily be done at any time of the day.

Although my current income streams only require just a few hours of work per week, I spend a lot of my extra/free time working on new projects to diversify and expand my passive income portfolio. Because of this, I feel like I could always do more work. And that’s exactly what I ended up doing.

I compare it to a piece of artwork, or a painting – how do you ever know when it’s finished? It just seems like there’s always more you can do to make it better.

Not having a schedule made it really hard for me to stop.

3. Randomness.

Not adhering to a schedule = total randomness.

This is a tough one, because a lot of us want to break free from that 9 to 5 schedule where it seems like everyday is exactly the same (I was there not too long ago). But at the same time, it’s that schedule that keeps a lot of our lives sane and less chaotic.

With a different schedule every day of the month, you can imagine how hard it was for my family and friends to understand when I was available, or when it was okay to plan certain things that may involve me one way or another. Now, especially with a baby in the house, sticking to a schedule is more important than ever.

The Solution

My wife and I (civilly) came up with a solution for this dilemma. It’s basically a two part solution:

Create a schedule
Separate work stuff from non-work stuff

Creating a Schedule

It was obvious that I needed to create a schedule, again not only for my wife’s sake, but for my own as well. Both she and I would then have a clear understanding of when I am working and unavailable (except for Emergencies, obviously), and not working.

Before creating a schedule, I gave myself some guidelines:

I didn’t want a straight 9 to 5 schedule.
I wanted a long lunch.
I wanted to allocate time on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday night to write blog posts for SPI, since I know that’s when I write my best material.
I want the schedule to be flexible, meaning I could trade time here and there throughout the week.

The nice thing is that if I don’t have anything to work on, I could really easily just scrap those hours for the day and not worry about it. However, if I do have work to do, we all know exactly when that work is supposed to happen.

Separating Work Stuff from Non-Work Stuff

How many times during the day are you actually working when you’re supposed to? Probably not as much as you should.

I wasn’t.

In fact, after literally keeping track of everything I did during a normal day, I noticed some rather disturbing issues, especially when it came to checking my emails, checking website stats, opening my Facebook account (personal, not the fan page), and reading the news.

Basically, I did a lot of non-work related things when I was supposed to be working. On the flip side, I was working (or thinking about work), when I probably shouldn’t have been.

So, how did we solve this problem?

It may sound a little odd to you, but I purchased a new MacBook Pro laptop computer.

Here’s why (and no, it wasn’t because I wanted a new laptop. That wasn’t even on my mind until this came up):

The computer in my office (an iMac) is where I did everything, including all of those personal things. It was hard for me personally to keep those things totally separate. By buying a laptop that is specifically just for personal, non-work related items, I can more easily focus on work when I’m supposed to work, and not be tempted to work when I’m doing personal stuff.

Furthermore, because the laptop is portable, I can literally separate work from non-work stuff by keeping the office and the computer in it off limits during non-work hours.

I deleted all of my personal email accounts from my mail client on my work computer. I imported all of my personal bookmarks and files into the laptop, and deleted them from the iMac. All of my instant messaging and chat software (excluding Skype, which I use for business only), has been transferred as well.

In the past couple days, living with this new setup, I’ve begun to notice major changes in my life, both in how much work I’m actually able to get done, as well as how I feel when work is “done” for the day. I’m more able to enjoy time I spend not working, and life just seems that much better now.

My Final Thoughts

I’m really glad my wife and I had this discussion, and I think it’s one that everyone should have because it’s really easy for work-related things to get out of hand, making us forget sometimes why we’re really working in the first place.

And even if you’re single, it’s important to understand these principles too. Especially when it comes to knowing when work is done, so you can really enjoy your time to play.

If you do any kind of work from home, do you work on a schedule? How do you make sure you keep business and non-business related things separate?

Thanks you so much for your support, and I hope you found this post valuable as a blogger, entrepreneur, employee, husband, wife, or person.

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Up the Ante By Taking Bold Actions

Pat — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 08:31:24 +0000

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!

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Up the Ante By Taking Bold Actions
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