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

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.

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Snapshots Of My New Office

It’s amazing what a new workspace can do for motivation and getting things done. In the last 3 days that I’ve been working from my new home office, I’ve gotten so much done and I even have a new startup in the works, but I’ll talk more about that later. That’s not to say that if you don’t have a nice workspace, you can’t get things done. Below is the picture of my old workspace, which was pretty much just a little niche area in the kitchen. Here’s a video of my old workspace too if you’re interested.

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This is For All the Turds Who Send Me Emails

As the popularity and traffic of the Smart Passive Income Blog grows, so does the number of emails I get in my inbox – and that’s totally cool. I love reading emails and helping people out as much as I can, and thanks to those of you who shoot me a message just to say thanks. I really appreciate that.

Sometimes, however, there’s a turd or two in the pool of emails that I receive. That’s right…

A turd.

This message is for those people who send me spammy emails who try to cover the fact that they just want to benefit from this blog and it’s traffic.

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Dear Turd,

My name is Pat.

Not “smartpassiveincome.com”. Not “webmaster”. Not “blog owner”.

PAT.

It’s always nice to call someone by their name. Hence, turd.

I’ve worked hard to get where I’m at today, and guess what? I’ve never had to ask for a link exchange or anyone to write a blog post about me. People do that voluntarily because I believe I write good content that’s worth talking about and linking to.

What do you have to offer me? Oh cool…a product that helps people lower their credit score. And you say that’s related to what my blog is about? Well, I wouldn’t expect you to know what my blog is about, since you don’t even know my name.

Do you think it’s cool to go up to someone you’ve never met before and say: “Hello human, would you like to try this new candybar?”

We’re all taught as children to never take candy from strangers, so your method is not going to work.

Try getting to know me first. Make me want to know exactly what you do and what you have to offer. Show me you’re a real person and not a stranger trying to get something out of me. Become my friend.

Do that, and I will no longer call you a turd.

Until then, I will ignore you and your silly emails.

/Rant

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Thanks to those of you who have contacted me with legit emails. I have the best audience in the world, and none of you deserve any kinds of offers from people like this.

Have a great weekend everyone!

The Idea Room – White Markerboard Wall Plan

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 Worst Decade Ever?

Happy New Year to each and every one of you.

With the recent arrival of our new baby boy, my wife and I decided it would be a neat idea to keep a newspaper from his date of birth, and some magazines about the era in which he was born. As I was looking through a stack of magazines lying around the house, I came across the latest Time. On the cover, it boldly read: The Decade From Hell.

Do I really want my son to know he was born in the decade from hell?

I know…a lot of devastating things have happened in the past 10 years. The media has been really helpful in pointing those things out and bringing back the memories of those terrible events in magazines and articles such as this. My heart and prayers go out to all of those who were affected by these events.

But what about all of the good things that have happened? What about all of the opportunities that have been made available to us within the past 10 years? What about all of the people who have been able to speak their voice and change lives, including their own, in ways that were never possible until now? For those people, the people who’ve taken advantage of those opportunities and have taken action – the past 10 years may have been the best decade ever, not the worst.

So, when my son is old enough to ask about what was going on in the world at this time, this is what I’m going to say:

“Son, the first 10 years of the year 2000 were tough for many people. A lot of terrible things happened, things that people had no control over. But a lot of good things happened too. This was the time when I was able to start my own business, right from the very house I was living in. This was the time when I was able to be heard all around the world, just from writing words on a blog. This was the time when I learned that if you put in the hard work now, good things will happen to you later. That’s how I was able to marry someone as beautiful as your mom, which resulted in the best thing that has ever happened to me in my life. You.”

The Best Christmas Gift Ever

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.

Our Baby Shower! He’s coming!!!

Every once and a while, I like to post something about me and my family here to keep you updated on what’s been going on lately. Not only is it a nice break from a long string of hardcore blog posts about online marketing and blogging, but I just like to get personal and show you a little of what I’m about sometimes beyond what I do online.

If you don’t know already, my wife and I are having a baby boy in January. This weekend is our baby shower, and we’re totally excited! It might sound crazy to you, but there should be around 80 to 90 people attending. We’re a Filipino family (my wife is full, and I am half), and there are two things to understand about the Filipino culture:

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It’s a BOY!

I’m so excited to announce that on Friday, August 28th, we found out our baby is going to be a BOY! Woohoo!

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My Journey to Find a Publisher Begins

That’s right! I’m looking for a publisher for an idea I have for a book, which I would love to turn into a series if all goes according to plan my dreams.

Although I’ve always stated that publishing an electronic book is the way to go (because of the fact that they are easy to create, easy to automate and very cost-effective), one of my life long goals is to see a book on the shelves of a major bookstore with my name on the front cover. With an idea in my head and my motivation levels high (as always), I think now is the time to start pursuing this goal.

I’m not going to tell you exactly what my idea is (I’m sorry!), but I can tell you it does involve the internet, social networking, and possibly you! Now I bet you’re really wondering what it is…but don’t worry, I will tell you eventually.

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Gone Fishin’

Hey everyone. I just wanted to give you a heads up that my dad and I will be embarking on a 3 day deep sea fishing trip today. We’re taking a boat out of Pt. Loma Sportfishing in San Diego down to Mexico to hopefully catch some albacore, yellowtail, and maybe even a bluefin tuna.

My dad and I used to go fishing a lot. One summer I think we almost went out in the ocean every weekend. It’s been a long time though, since I did the whole graduate from high school, go to college and get married thing, but I’m really looking forward to spending some quality time with my dad. Maybe I could get some parenting advice from him now that I’m going to be a father myself, because he was definitely a great dad.

Here’s to Dads all around the world!

p.s. I’ll report my July income once I get back.

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