All Custom Content Members…It’s Your Turn!

Earlier this week, I posted an article with my brand new manly voice about finding article topics, but if you still need an extra hand, we can take care of it for you.

Mila and I have just added a new feature to our service at All Custom Content that will help our article clients find topics and well written articles in one place. So many people want content and understand the importance of articles…but need a little help.

We understand that not everyone is a born-writer or more times than not, you’re just too darn busy to write your own content. That’s why we’ve decided to lend our members a hand with their content creation.

Please note: This is not a stand-alone service, but for our article clients only.

Learn more and request a quote for your article project here.

More about Portal Feeder

Yesterday, I posted a rags to nearing-riches story of Jamie Mintum who credited a lot of her success to Portal Feeder.

I also mentioned that I was going to get on the phone with Jason Katzenback who gave me a tour of the whole back end of this pretty impressive system. I've also spent much of today, playing around and getting myself set up with Portal Feeder as well.

Usually when I write about a product, it's easy to write some bullet points, give some of the positives and potential drawbacks and then be done with it. But it's pretty much impossible to keep things "simple" when talking about Portal Feeder. So bare with me...this blog entry is probably going to be on the long side. I'll share what's included in a Portal Feeder membership and what thing you may want to consider before taking the plunge.

Let's Start by Clearing up a Few Misconceptions:

• Portal Feeder is not some kind of unsavory website generation software. With the Portal Feeder software, you create real websites with real content.
• Portal Feeder is not just site building software. It is a complete learning tool, software and more.

Let Me Try to Summarize:

Portal Feeder is a complete software system, with valuable extras, that allows you to easily create content-rich monetized sites. The whole system sets you up to rank your websites on search engines by keeping content fresh, using sound optimization techniques and through the use of the various promotion tools.

In addition to the software element, you get complete step-by-step instruction. If you're a total beginner and don't know HTML from a domain, the training documentation explains everything fully. But don't worry, if you're an intermediate or advanced Internet marketer, you can choose your own learning path without being bogged down in the unnecessary details.

In addition to a complete set of self-guided training materials, the folks at Portal Feeder have a very active discussion area and have a growing collection of recorded training calls. I'll give more details on those in just a bit, so keep reading.

What's Included in Portal Feeder:

• Build Unlimited Websites: You can build and publish as many sites with the software as you want without any extra charges.
• Scheduling Your Content, So It's Always Fresh: Fresh content is great for your visitors and the search engines love to see a site that is continuously updated. The software doesn't allow you to specify publishing dates, like WordPress does, but you can specify intervals at which to publish specific content.
• Import PLR, Reprints and Original Content Easily: You can edit content within the software and place it into "article packs" for specified future publishing. The folks at Portal Feeder have a HUGE database of reprint articles and provide 125 PLR articles to members each month.
  
• Easy Addition of Datafeeds: If you're a tech-moron like me, you may have looked at putting product datafeeds into your website, but quit when it seemed so complicated. The PF Datafeed makes it easy to import datafeeds from different affiliate programs, so you can easily increase your commissions.
• Innovative Blog Functioning: Set up a blog that automatically posts new snippets of your content as it is automatically published on your website according to your specifications.
• Member's Only Interactive Forum: This is a busy forum that is adequately staffed with experienced Portal Feeder users to help answer your questions and help you keep you going.
• Audio Training: I mentioned this earlier and members will find a growing collection of podcast downloads with various strategies, success stories, etc. The library already includes interviews with Perry Marshall, Yanik Silver, Keith Baxter, Joel Comm, Dr. Woo Ming & more.
• HTML Templates: Choose from the W3C compliant templates to make your site building much easier.

Other Software & Tools Included:

• Domain Check Tool: Check your backlinks, pages indexed, PR, Alex ranking (data from DMOZ, Google, Yahoo, MSN & Alexa).
• Directory Submission Tool: Streamline the process of submitting your sites to various directories.
  
• PF Web Page Analyzer: This tool gives you plenty of data to help you analyze your page for search engine rankings. Personally, I think it has too much detail than is usually necessary for ranking well for lower competition keyword phrases...but the accompanying user guides show you exactly how to use the data.
• Easy-to-Install Poll & Comment Scripts: Add some interactivity to your websites with these cool features.
• PF Comment Feeder: This handy piece of software helps you find blogs related to various keywords so you can post your own comments. You can read through the blogs right in the software and post your comments. It saves your results, so you can easily go back and check your comments are approved. The training guide is an educated piece about making good comments and not using it for a lame excuse to spam. It also gives some solid pointers on how to make valuable comments, instead of lame excuse to get your link into a blog.
  

What I Like:

• Portal Feeder is very community-oriented. I've already mentioned the fully-staffed and active message board, but there are also other components that help members work together. It includes a service called Portal Blog Feeder, where users can submit articles to the Portal Feeder blog network. There is organized opportunities to exchange links, share articles and even share keyword lists if you so wish. I think that's very cool!
• It Makes a Lot of Things Really Easy: I love the ability to incorporate datafeeds, schedule content and automatically add to your blogs.
  

What Could Be a Drawback:

• There is a lot going on. If you want to just build a site and run with it, this probably isn't the best tool to do that. Even though there is a learning curve and training stuff to go through, I do like that you can choose your own path through the materials, so if you're beginner, you can take it slow. If you're advanced, you can go a little faster.
• There is a monthly fee. Everything you make with Portal Feeder is yours to take with you if you decide to leave and continue to build your site elsewhere, but to continue with everything and to receive ongoing training, you do have to pay a monthly fee. Still, just looking at what is provided and the support you receive, it can definitely be worth it.

Final Thoughts:

This really is an impressive program and if you decide to venture in when they open the doors again tomorrow, (EDITED: Doors are now officially open) be prepared to take some time to learn and absorb before you jump right in. But don't worry, the learning will not be wasted...it's all about learning solid online marketing techniques, building traffic and really getting your online business going. And the software that is provided to help you build that online business includes what you need to create highly-monetized websites designed to bring in plenty of search engine traffic.

Portal Feeder first opened in 2006 and has been closed for membership for some time. They will be reopening their doors again on Thursday, April 26, 2007 to allow a smaller group in. (EDITED: It's open now, go check it out)

NOTE TO ALL PRIVATE LABEL CONTENT MONTHLY MEMBERSHIP MEMBERS: There's going to be a really cool perk available to you if you decide to try Portal Feeder, so stay-tuned to your email inbox for details tomorrow.

Happy Small Business Week to My Buddies to the South

I was browsing over at Lynn Terry’s ClickNewz.com and came upon her post about this week being National Small Business Week in the U.S.

According to Lynn’s post, April 22nd through the 28th has been celebrated as National Small Business Week in the US since 1963. It was designed to celebrate the small business owner and what they have brought to the economy over the years.

In Canada, the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) celebrates Small Business Week in October and has for the past 28 years. This year it’s October 14-20th and the BDC puts on many different events throughout Canada. They also set a theme each year and the theme for 2007 is “A World Without Boundaries.”

So to all my American entrepreneur pals, Happy Small Business Week! Keep up the great work and here’s wishing you the best for the rest of 2007.

Way to Go Jamie

I love success stories and this is a great one. Jamie Mintum went from near-bankruptcy to making $10,000 per month building portal sites. There's a short podcast recording on the Portal Feeder blog that talks about how Jamie did it. Head over and listen in. She speaks a little quietly, but turn up your speakers and listen to this smart gal.

By the way, I'm getting on the phone to talk to Jason Katzenback myself in a few minutes and I'm going to gather more inside knowledge about Portal Feeder and how it works. I'll report back to you later.

Thoughts on the New Hot Internet Marketing Sweetie Look?

Check me out! Yep, that’s me…Miss Internet Marketing Sweetie.

After a discussion on a forum where I falsely claimed to have the body of a size 0 model, my subscriber Garrie Wilson told me:

“Then start sending html emails with a picture embedded to increase our open rates! I know I'd open more of your emails.”

(Oh and by the way, Garrie’s a good guy…you’d have to have read the message in context, but it’s a looong story)

Well, I tried it today. If you got here from the email, what do you think of this hot mama? Think I can sell more products this way? ;-)

I’m not sure this “Hot Internet Marketing Sweetie” will be sticking around for very long, but it makes me think of Martin Avis’s success tip about being your own character that I posted about last week.

In business, diversity is a good thing. Imagine how boring the Internet marketing world would be if we all did exactly the same thing. By throwing a bit of your uniqueness into things you can let people know you are ‘real’ and don’t simply follow everyone else’s lead. When you stand out from the crowd, it’s easier to get noticed.

It also shows strength and confidence when you do things a little differently…and no, I’m not just talking about having a silly little graphic made like I did today. I’m talking about going beyond that. Don’t be afraid to share your opinions and don’t be afraid to appeal to a narrower group of people that really resonate with you.

What about you? What sets you apart from everyone else in your market?

Alice Finally Goes Through Puberty

If you’re a guy, you probably remember those painfully embarrassing days of when your voice started changing and crackling and squealing at all the wrong times. I feel for you. I’ve just undergone a similar transformation, but now have the sound of a fully mature professional announcer.

Listen to this article by me, “But There Aren’t Enough Article Topics to Reach My Target Market” (mp3 recording)

I sound different, don’t I? That’s actually a bonus from Mike Mograbi and Sean Storey’s Niche Audio Content.

Niche Audio Content takes content for your website to a new Web 2.0 type level…an audio approach. I had a chance to review Mike & Sean’s membership and here’s my thoughts and opinions.

What is it?

A monthly membership site, Niche Audio Content offers a TON of articles, reports, and more, all with an audio twist and in a variety of niches. Each audio is also accompanied by a written text version of the content – which is a really nice bonus.

What do I think of it?

The content I have had a chance to review thus far has been quality content.

The audios are very professionally done, but for my preferences, they’re a bit stuffy and formal. Depending on what you feel your audience needs; this might not be a problem for you.

I also think there is almost too much content and I wasn’t sure where to begin. Again, may not be a problem for everyone.

I’m not always a big fan of the niche idea because I believe people should really target in on their chosen market. Really work one market and grow to dominate it. That being said, the membership pricing is so low and some of the content could be perfectly suitable across a few different markets (for example, the content on procrastination is likely relevant to plenty of people) that it might just very well be worth it.

Anyway, if you’ve been looking for audio content for your website, do check it out here.

Mommy, Mommy You Can Get it TODAY!

If you've taken any copywriting courses, you've probably been told that "today" can be a powerful word. And even though we savvy marketers are wise to this, it really can get people to take action.

Sheesh...it REALLY works on my 5 year old.

Yesterday, he's watching a commercial for a Spongebob DVD where they say, "Own it today on DVD," and he starts shouting excitedly, "Mommy, you can get it today. You can get it today!" After a bit of disagreement back and forth, I was finally able to explain that you can get it today, but it will still be there tomorrow, the next day and the day after. It's just something they say to make you want it now.

And so ends my son's first lesson in copywriting.

Google Getting a Bit of Flack…Is It Really Worth Worrying About?

I was browsing over at IMNewswatch.com today and I found this post titled ‘How Google Killed Affiliate Marketing.’

It piqued my interest just a bit, so I took a look. It started out talking about eBay’s buy out of the StumbleUpon toolbar company and how within 24 hours Google had created a new toolbar add-in that recommends sites to Internet searchers based on their search habits.

Interesting enough so I kept reading and after I finished I came to the following conclusion:

Are these things really worth worrying about?

Small businesses can always thrive. Software companies thrive, despite the fact that many think companies like Microsoft are taking over the world. Living in fear about who is taking away from your business or may swallow you whole weakens you.

Instead, focus your energy on continuing to do what works. Keep growing and working towards dominating your own target market. There may always be bigger players, but that doesn't mean there aren’t plenty of pieces of pie for the rest of us.

But Martin, I Already Did My Homework

Martin Avis, of KickStart Daily has tagged me, asking me for my top 10 success tips. But Mr. Avis, weren't you paying attention?

I completed my homework of success tips a couple weeks ago. Of course, I wimped out and only did 5, so I though I'd discuss Martin's tips instead which you can read here. I agree with all his points, but...

Here are the ones I particularly liked:

#1 Be your own character. I think a lot of people start their businesses wanting to appear "professional" like a big company with employees and a corporate image. Others are fearful of offending people and want to please everyone, so they try the vanilla approach. Although vanilla happens to be my favorite flavor of ice cream, it's not what usually gets the most attention in online business. Don't be afraid to stand out from the crowd and show people who you really are. That's what's going to find you plenty of faithful readers and customers.

#7 You can't be a success unless you know what success is. How true. And nobody can define this for you. It's up to you to decide what success is, how you're going to get there and do it!

What do you think? Do you follow any of the success tips mentioned by myself or Martin...or do you have your own to share?

Marketers We Need Your Opinions & We’ll Pay You To Get Them!

Have you tried a marketing or business product and absolutely loved it or even hated it and wished you had never spent your money? If so, we want to hear from you.
Mila and I are collecting product reviews of business and marketing related products from online marketers.

Here are just a few examples of the types of product reviews we are seeking:

- How-to Guides & Courses
- Web Development Tools
- Graphic Design Tools
- Autoresponders

For each review we choose to publish, we’ll compensate you with a $5 deposit into your Paypal account. To learn more and to submit your review of a business building tool you’ve used click on the link below.

Submit Your Marketing Product Review

Do You Use Your VA As Effectively As You Should?

I came across a podcast recently, thanks to Kelly McCausey’s post about it over at the WAHM Talk Radio blog, that being the outsourcing loving person that I am, sparked a bit of interest in me, so I had to check it out.

Manager Tools is a podcast dedicated to those who, you guessed it, manage others. Kelly talked about her recent delegation epiphany in her post and brought to my attention an archived show about making the most out of working with your assistants.

Since I had a few minutes to spare today I thought I’d have a listen and see what it was all about. I just finished listening to the show and even though it discusses using admin assistants in more of a corporate structure, a lot of the topic applies to any type of assistant and is worth a listen to anyone who uses or is planning to use a VA.

As an online business owner outsourcing your work to a VA, if you head into that relationship unsure of what you want from it, you won’t get out of that relationship what you hoped to. Neither will your assistant. You also must be willing to delegate tasks; even those that you may not want to get rid of but are not producing money for you. An example of this is email.

Here are a few quick tips to help you to get the most out of your relationship with your VA.

- Take the time to plan before hiring a VA. Sit down and take an inventory of everything you do in your business, from checking email and networking to bookkeeping and site maintenance and everything in between.

- Determine what things you can pass on to a VA that will allow you to do your job more effectively. If checking and replying to customer emails is something that is taking a big chunk of your time daily it’s something you should be passing on so that you can focus on things like marketing to grow your business.

- Give your VA the tools necessary to complete the tasks in the beginning. Don’t hire someone and just give them the software or resources necessary to complete their job as they go. This wastes a lot of time that you could be spending on other things.

If you can’t delegate your tasks then you are going to have a difficult time using your VA to his or her potential. The responsibility of getting the most from your VA does not lie completely with the VA. The majority of their effectiveness lies with you as the business owner to plan and prepare what it is you need from them.

You can also pick up more outsourcing tips here

Week 3 of Internet Marketing’s Spring Cleaning for Maximum Profits Has Begun

After last week’s cleanout, we’re ready to maximize the highly-focused business assets.

In week 2, we got rid of the things that weren’t working. Sometimes it’s hard to know what’s working without digging in bit deeper.

This week is focused around creating systems that will ensure the students know how each component of their business is performing.

Many of the students are leaving a lot of money on the table, but this week we are going to begin the process of changing that! I think all of my students are really enjoying the idea.

That Don't Impress Me Much

You know, I'm not a country music fan. I was born and raised in the 'burbs of Vancouver, Canada and you won't catch too many wearing a cowboy hat around here, unless they're on their way to the handful of specified country bars in the city...but when I saw this...I thought of fellow Canadian Shania Twain's song:

"That Don't Impress Me Much"

...and I only know that song because our government institutes a Canadian content law that ensures a certain amount of what we see on TV channels and radio stations is Canadian content. :-)

Okay, disclaimer over. I was searching Technorati to see who was talking about Dr. Mike Woo-Ming's "Marketers on a Mission" and I found this.

Yep, that's a full automated "lift" of Mike's information page, complete with NO link to his website.

It looks like the owner, Andy Liu, often posts in an Asian language, so I can't read most of the characters...but come on, I can see that Mr. Liu has scraped some content of the Internet and doesn't even give credit to the source.

I don't know how much traffic Liu might be stealing, but that's just plain old sick.

That don't impress me much.

Help Autistic Children & Get a Whole Lot Back

By now you may know that Dr. Mike Woo Ming launched his new site to help spread awareness and support for autistic children. As a thank you for showing your support, he's put together an amazing package of learning materials, software and more from some of the top Internet marketers (and I'm not just saying that because Dr. Mike included me on his list!). This is really good stuff and from some of the best teachers around.

Today, Michel Fortin asked our Mila Sidman to write a little bit more about autism, since it's a very real issue that affects her family. Read through Mila's article on Michel's blog and then go to Dr. Mike's site to learn about how you can support autistic children and get access to a pretty impressive mountain of Internet marketing stuff.

Do You Hang Around with People Who Think BIG?

As Internet marketers, especially just starting out, it’s easy to get down and out about your business when things aren’t going like you had envisioned they would.

Whether it’s family, friends or fellow online business owners, the people we surround ourselves with can have an effect on our thoughts and actions in life and business; sometimes good and sometimes bad. It all depends on the type of people we choose to “hang around” with.

If your family and friends are supportive of your business and what you do (even if they don’t totally grasp the concept at first) you probably approach every day in your business with a positive, go get ‘em attitude.

On the flip side of the coin, if you hang around with small, scarcity-minded thinkers, who make it a habit of seeing the bad side of things, most likely you will eventually start doing the same.

Reminds me of a quote I saw posted in the signature of one of my mentoring group members that said, “Attitudes are contagious. Is your’s worth catching?” I don’t know who originally said it, but it is so true. The way we choose to present ourselves can have an effect on people we come in contact with. The same is true for those we come in contact with.

Luckily, my family and friends have always been supportive, but I have experienced small thinking from other online business owners. When I first started online, I joined every forum, Yahoo and networking group I could and most were and are still filled with naysayers and people who will bring you down. I eliminated those people from my daily life and things definitely started changing for the better.

How about you? Do you surround yourself with positive influences in your business? And, are you a positive source for others as well?

Free, No Strings Attached Guide to Help You Outsource Your Content AND Maximize Your Profits

Throughout much of March, the topic of conversation here revolved around content, from where find it, how to write it (or have it written for you) and most importantly how to make money from it. We talked about content so much so that you might have gotten overloaded with it all. Proving once again that content really is king.

Today, I want to tell you about a free, no strings attached guide that Mila and I have put together that will show you how to increase your profits and save time by outsourcing your content without sacrificing the quality your business needs to thrive.

As a business owner, you know that creating your own content is a necessity, but you also realize that there are only so many hours in a day. No matter if you are good at writing or hate even the thought of it, creating that content takes away from the time you need to grow your business.

That’s why Mila and I created Stop Throwing Money Down the Drain: Increase Your Profits by Outsourcing Your Content without Sacrificing Quality.

Just a few of the things you’ll find in the 21 page step-by-step guide for outsourcing content include:

- Exactly WHY content is king.
- Why using strictly reprint and PLR content, isn’t enough.
- Why creating content is a necessary for business growth.
- Which types of content are perfect for passing on to a writer.
- Tips for finding and keeping quality writers.
- Where to come up with content topics for your business.
- Strategies for outsourcing specific types of content and much more…

The best part…it won’t cost you a penny. Not one thing…not even your name or email address.

You can pick up your copy of Stop Throwing Money Down the Drain: Increase Your Profits by Outsourcing Your Content without Sacrificing Quality here and get that content monkey off your back today.

A Goodie for All Marketing Content Members

Mila and I are always thinking of new ways to let our customers know just how much we appreciate them. We love to add new and valuable goodies to our memberships as a thank you to our current customers, as well as our new members.

This time around it’s All Marketing Content members who get the goods. We’ve just added a 42 page, A-Z Internet Guide full of Internet terms and definitions.

As a member, you can use the guide to help your clients, readers and potential customers as they surf the unknown terminology of the Internet. This guide has detailed definitions on a wide variety of terms from Adsense to Adwords and Web 2.0 to Zip files, and everything in between.

As a member who receives the guide, you can add it as a bonus to a product, give it away to your customers or subscribers, whatever would benefit your business and your customers the best. Add your own product promotions or use it to build your list. It's completely up to you!

The new guide is just one more way we hope to help make running an online business easier for our members. We value our members and want them to know just how much, each and every chance we get.

So, be sure to login to your account now and grab the A-Z Guide to the Internet here.

Not an All Marketing Content member yet? You can download the guide once you join and you can do that here.

Week 2 Internet Marketing Spring Cleaning for Maximum Profits In Progress

We’ve already begun week 2 of the Internet Marketing Spring Cleaning for Maximum Profits Program.

The focus for week two is “Operation Clean Out”. So far, we’ve uncovered a number of Internet marketers with “buy-too-many-domains-it is”, “some software-a-holics” and others with serious Internet marketing-induced afflictions. ;-)

But that’s ok, we'll be clearing it all out this week and they're on their way to recovery. I’m sure many will suffer from some withdrawal symptoms at first, but soon they won’t have time to remember their past addictions because they’ll be focusing on bigger and better things with their business.

Is It Still Worth It...After All This Time?

Over the weekend, John Reese announced that he was clearing out all the remaining copies of his Traffic Secrets course at a huge discount. Since then, we've been inundated with questions like:

"Is it still worth it?"
"Isn't the information outdated 2 1/2 years later"

I thought I'd take the time and answer those questions now.

As far as information being outdated, this is what I've been
saying over the past couple weeks as questions came in.

The only parts that contain some dated information are:

-> The search engine DVD: Where the guests speak, some of this information is now outdated. However, John put together a search engine CD-Rom and that information is very relevant today.

-> The Google Adwords & Overture CD-Roms are still useful. However, both the Adwords & Overture (now Yahoo) systems have undergone some changes and added features that aren't covered in the CD-Roms. However, many of the basics and strategies found on the Pay-Per-Click Mastery DVD are still very relevant.

...but those are a tiny part of the course.

This is a huge course. At last count, I believe it is 10 DVDs and 6 CD-Roms (I lost count and my collection is all over the house since I've viewed each piece many times in different areas of my home!).

So, is it still worth it? Yes.

Why? Because when you watch the whole series, you get the BIG picture about Internet marketing and plenty of timeless advice. Being able to get such a big look into how John approaches his business is well worth it.

The choice is yours, of course. I'm not sure how many copies John has left, but I imagine they won't last long.

If you do decide the course is for you, be sure to go to this page:

http://www.aliceseba.com/traffic-secrets/

...it is something I created about 6 months after I purchased the course for myself. You'll find a printable interview I conducted with John Reese, plus some cool bonuses that will definitely help
you with digesting and taking action on every component of Traffic Secrets.

At the bottom of that page, you'll find instructions on how to get the course and to claim your bonuses. Note, you will need to use the link provided to buy in order to claim the bonuses.

I do hope this has been helpful and that is helps you make a decision you may have been pondering for some time. I know there's so many people who have been pondering.

This Rocks: When People Order from Your Affiliate Link ON PURPOSE

It seems like so many affiliate marketers today are so worried about stolen commissions and try to cloak links and do whatever they can so customers can't avoid their affiliate link. I've never understood this scarcity mentality. People who want to order through their own links will do so, no matter what kind of barriers you try to put up. Instead of trying to protect everything, why not just offer MORE?

I just got a private message from someone on a forum and it warmed my heart. Yeah, the commission is nice, but the feeling of doing something good for people AND earning a little cash at the same time is priceless. Here's what he wrote:

"Hi Alice,

Just wanted to let you know that I bought Traffic Secrets through your affiliate link. I don't know if you'll get a commission since I got it for the blow-out price, but I figured it was worth a try.

Even though I didn't learn about Traffic Secrets from you, you probably did more to convince me that it's a worthwhile purchase than anyone else. I read your comments on here and on other forums, and I also read almost every blog post you made since 2004 that mentioned the course.

Of course, John helped too. I downloaded the transcripts to three of his recent free videos and read two of them. I thought 'Hmmm, if his free stuff is this good, then the stuff that he charges for must be really good.'"

I think that's so cool and a testament how offering value to your readers can help you clinch a sale. Who cares about those commission stealers, I'd rather give people a hand and make some money at the same time.

I agree that John had a lot to do with the sale...because ALL his information is value-packed and anyone can see that. But guess what? Those videos John put together with his brilliance were transcribed by mine and Mila's All Custom Content (site coming later this week). Now, that's a really nice coincidence. :-)

But back to the point...what are you doing to make your readers WANT to buy through your affiliate links and take your product recommendations?

Are You Taking a Long Weekend?

For those with “real” jobs, Easter weekend starts tomorrow. Are you taking the weekend off?

While my kids were away last weekend, I did quite a bit of work…but now I’m taking it easy for 4 days. Taking time off should be a great stress-relief, but I know it stresses some Internet marketers out.

Here’s some ideas to make it a little easier.

- Plan ahead
If you want or need time off, be sure to think ahead. Make sure you set yourself up by letting everyone you work with (partners, assistants, or clients) know you will be away from XX to XX.

- Add a Little Extra Work
No, I don’t mean take work with you. Sorry if I scared anyone there for a second. Instead, in the days or weeks leading up to your time off, do a little extra work each day so that you are making up for the time you will be away, without exhausting yourself beforehand.

- Take Some with You
This one is for those of you who are really stressed out when you even think about taking time off. Take a bit of work with you while you’re away. Limit the amount of time you work and don’t let yourself get caught up in things and end up working too much. Only take what must be done and leave the rest at home. Give tips on making it easier to take time off.

- Get Help
Going along with the planning ahead tip, before you go away, determine what things must be tended to even if you’re away and hire someone to do them for you. Things such as customer service, email, etc. can be handed over to an assistant if you are sure to give yourself plenty of time to train them beforehand.

- Enjoy Yourself!
Last, but most importantly, once you get some time off…enjoy it. Don’t let your vacation be ruined by thoughts of your business the whole time. What fun is taking time off if you just move your business to where you are instead of actually “getting away”?

How Did You Take The Plunge to Entrepreneur?

I always find it interesting to hear how other Internet marketers and entrepreneurs started their businesses. Some are stay at home parents wanting to make a little spending money, others start part time and work their way up to business ownership while working for someone else until the time comes they can comfortably say goodbye to their boss, and still others, like Lynn Terry jump in with both feet and never look back!

As for me, I was a mom with a little baby who soon had to go back to work. I knew there must be a way for me to stay home and earn money, so I signed up for a direct sales company. I hated it! I hated all the rules and limitations. Then I realized there was a big wide world here on the WWW and I dug right in.

How about you? How did you take the plunge into entrepreneurship? If you had it to do over again, would you do it the same way?

How Cool is That? Wi-Fi in the Sky.

Here's an interesting story about a company that should be offering wireless Internet by 2008.

Estimated cost $10. That's less than my local Starbucks charges me!

Operation Spring Cleaning: Week 1 Officially Underway

Week 1 of Operation Spring Cleaning started yesterday and my students are madly taking a vital inventory of their businesses. This is the important first step of gaining a real understanding of where you’ve been, where you are and where you’re going.

If you are signed up and didn’t get the course info, access to our private forum and other contact details, please submit a support ticket.

I’m looking forward to the next 6 weeks. I’ve got a very eager bunch of students and can’t wait to see where their businesses end up once we’re finished.

Registration is now closed, but you can be on the notification list for future offerings.

Do You Know People In Your Target Market?

I’ve talked about it many times, on forums and in my courses before, but when working online, do you know the people who might traditionally be thought of as your competitors? And more than just knowing them, do you have a friendly and mutually beneficial relationship?

I always get questions from people asking me:

• How do I get people to post on my new forum?
• How do I get people to promote my product?
• How do I find someone to partner with on a project?

The answer to all of these questions is the same. You should ALREADY have people in mind when you’re ready to take these steps in your business.

Before you get to the point in your business that you are creating more products, looking for others to get your forum moving or promoting your products, etc. you should be certain you have researched, networked, and got to know the people in your target market. By doing your legwork first, when it comes the right time to do these activities in your business you will already have the people you are looking for at your fingertips.

Have you made any friends working in your target market lately?