This is the second part to my two post series about starting an LLC. In part 1, I talked about the pros and cons of starting your own business. Part 2 will walk you through exactly what you need to know before you apply.
Here’s that disclaimer again: I am not a lawyer, CPA or any kind of professional. I simply share my own experiences about how I did things, and the actions you take based on what I say is not my responsibility. As always, you should seek advice from a trusted professional before making these types of decisions. Thanks!
Let’s get right into it.
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Did you know that February is National Start a Business Month?
Neither did I.
But, in light of the fact, I decided it might be nice to do a detailed post of some of the benefits behind starting a company and exactly what it entails.
I am a small business owner myself. In fact, I’m the owner of two companies: Flynndustries, which is my company that heads the websites that I create (including this one), and LOLer Apps, which is my iPhone app company. Additionally, I just helped a friend start his own company the other day, so the process is still fresh in my mind. I just wanted to make sure I could share as much as I could remember with you today.
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I’m back!
Well – technically I never really left, but I have been moving into a new house for the past couple of weeks, and it really does take a toll on productivity. Even without a 9 to 5 job, I felt like all I was doing and all I could think about was moving and painting.
So now, as I write my first blog post from the new office in my new pad, I’m happy to say that I’m ready to crank out some more useful content for you.
The following is my checklist for evaluating a good domain name. If you’re a beginner, I recommend using this as you begin the process of selecting a domain name for your blog or business. If you already have an established website, run through the checklist and see how your domain name does, and be sure to keep these in mind for any future projects.
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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!
As many of you know, I’m in the middle of a move. We’re about 90% complete, so look for some killer posts next week when I finally get settled into my new office.
By the way, if I see another can of paint, I’m going to go crazy!
Even though I don’t have much time to write new content today, I do have something awesome to share with you.
Dustin, my friend over at Engaged Marriage, has worked really hard the last couple of months putting together a free eBook, which is a compilation of pieces about Love from some of the best relationship writers on the web. Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, and if you didn’t know (I didn’t), this week is actually National Marriage Week.
Who knew!
Anyways, although I’m not a relationship blogger, I was honored to be asked to contribute a piece to this eBook. As you know, family is my number one priority and the motivation behind all the work I do online, so I happily accepted the offer.
Even if you’re not in a relationship, I invite you read the eBook, which again is totally free, and you don’t even need to subscribe to any newsletters or anything like that. If you read my piece, which is on lucky page #13, I’m sure you’ll find that what I wrote is something that can be applied to anything in life, not just your relationships, but with your businesses, goals, dreams and hopes.
So check out Love Every Day (on scribd), and look out for my piece on page 13. I hope you enjoy! And Dustin, if you’re reading this, post – job well done!
Thanks everyone for your patience as I situate myself into a new workspace. All the best to you!
You have the ability to create the perfect online course for your audience.
The real question is, what makes the perfect course? How do you create a product that your readers would just die to have access to?
Obviously, it would have to have information that your readers want, not what you think they want. But how do you know exactly what that is?
It should also present the information in a way that is best suited for their taste. But again, how do you know?
If only your audience could tell you exactly what they wanted. It would be as if they created the product for you. How awesome would that be?
Well, that’s exactly what you should do.
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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!
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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