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How My Biology Blog Landed Me My Dream Job

by Paul Joseph July 26, 2011 Featured

Yeah, I know. It’s not what you want to hear about on a blog about Blogging and Entrepreneurship. Who comes here to know how to land a job? Isn’t the entrepreneurial dream never to have to work for anyone but yourself? Isn’t it all about working smart and not hard? Can you be an entrepreneur and still have a full time job ? The fact is, for some “entrepreneurs”, the end goal isn’t ONLY to work for yourself. I fit in this category. I’ve started an online business, and the main thing it does is that it supplements the income from my job as a teacher. It gives me the ability to do things I wouldn’t be able to do without my own online business. However, there’s something that I’ve realized that I can’t deny – I’m a teacher, and I LOVE teaching . Not only that, but I love teaching at the university level, and ever since my days in grad school, in the recesses of my mind, I knew that it’s what I wanted to do. My Educational And Teaching Adventures When it comes to education, I’m somewhat of a sucker for punishment. I did a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and went on for a Master’s degree in Neurobiology. I LOVE neurobiology, physiology and all of those kinds of subjects (yes, I’m a nerd). However, there was a significant problem – I HATED the research (or I thought I did). Although my Masters Research involved traveling to the beautiful country of Germany for two summers along with all kinds of cool stories like playing piano for a gospel choir, staying in a Fraternity house for $80 a month with a chef that came in once a week to feed us AWESOME food, and hiking through the Hartz Mountain, it also involved coming back to a small research lab dissecting crickets and doing electrophysiological recordings for up to 14 hours in a day – YUCK! It was at that point that I abandoned my dream of teaching at the University level. I loved the people, but hated the crickets (and for me, that represented the research). When I was offered a job as a High School science and Math teacher, I decided to jump at it. Teaching, without the research – YAY! This is where the 2nd problem came – I was also teaching things I wasn’t passionate about, and it wasn’t at the level I enjoyed. So, I decided to do something about it. I wasn’t qualified to teach at the university level, but I was going to teach University-level stuff whether it was my job or not. How? By blogging of course . . . My Blogging Experience Since 2008, I’ve been actively blogging and have been having a decent level of success. Working part-time on my blog, I have been able to net anywhere between $500 and $3000 per month , much of which has been relatively passive. Not a ridiculously large amount like many others, but enough for me to feel like I know what I’m doing. I learned about SEO, Affiliate Marketing, Traffic Generation, Building a list, and all of those phrases the readers of this blog have come to know and love (hopefully). What I eventually realized was that I could take those same principles and apply them to Biology. So, I started my Biology Website , where I started making short video clips teaching the content I wanted to teach , with no one telling me what I could or couldn’t do, and it was very exciting. The website grew quickly, and my videos are being viewed anywhere between 1,000 and 2,600 times daily , thanks to a lot of what I learned in Gideon Shalwick’s Rapid Video Blogging Course . Not only that, but I started receiving emails, almost every day, from people all over the world who have been using the site and finding a tremendous amount of value in the content. These people included University Students and Professors, Doctors, Pharmacists, Nurses and a variety of other professionals who have been using them as an integral part of what they are doing, or just as a tool to help them remember the things they forgot from Medical School or University. The Bad Story With A Good Ending Back in April, my father was diagnosed with a serious neurological condition, and was sent to a special hospital in Colombia (the country). Because we weren’t sure how things would go, I went down there to spend a month with my family. He was in an induced coma and was paralyzed to where he could hardly move his arms and legs even before going into the coma. While there, my main task was to help him with his Physical therapy. While he was in the coma , I would exercise his arms and legs twice daily, to help speed up his healing process, and when he was taken out of the coma, the exercises continued. During this relatively stressful period in time, there was a topic of discussion that kept coming up. My mother and aunt would constantly tell me that they thought that I should be a Physical Therapist. I actually let them know that it was something I had considered in the past, but that I knew that my calling was to be an educator. However, if there were one Profession I would want to do in the Health Care field, it would be Physical Therapy. At a certain point, with a lot of prayer, and some serious miracles, my dad’s condition took an abrupt turn for the better. We were planning for him to be in the Hospital for a few months, but in about a week, so many good things were happening that he was moved out of intensive care, into a different hospital, then to a hotel, and was then sent back to our country. The details of all of that would take many blog posts to get into, but the short version is that we’re praising God for the things that happened. The Invitation When I got back home from Colombia, there was a letter in my mailbox from the university I attended. It was an invitation to teach Anatomy, Neuroscience and Pathophysiology, in one of the top Doctor of Physical Therapy programs in the United States. When I received the invitation, I was quite surprised. I was not a Physical Therapist, nor did I have a PhD. In the back of my mind, I couldn’t help but think how much of an “interesting coincidence” it was, with everything I had been experiencing. Well, I decided to apply. Yes, I was unqualified on paper, but I thought that my blog would give me some leverage to where they would at least consider me as a candidate. Then I called up one of my former professors for a recommendation. He went in to speak with the chair of the department, and then told me that I should consider taking a trip to the university to talk with the chair of the department, and show him the stuff that I was working on. The Importance Of My Blog Based on the recommendation of my former professor, I made an appointment and went to speak with the department chair. We had a very interesting chat. At the end of our meeting, the following was clearly established: There were over 30 people applying for the job, many of whom were actual Physical Therapists who were more qualified on paper than I was. The department had already decided that they were not going to hire someone with a Biology Background. They wanted someone with a physical therapy background. If I hadn’t come in, I would have never gotten an actual interview. BUT , he was blown away by what I had accomplished online . Based on my blog , he would make sure that, at the very least, I would get an interview. The Interview And Job Offer Then it was time for the interview. I came into a conference room and sat at the head of a conference table that was surrounded by eight highly educated individuals, most of which had PhDs and DPTs (Doctor of Physical Therapy) ready to grill me with their questions. I started off with an opening statement, highlighting my passion for Biology and the success of my website. I let them know what was happening at my site, and you could see their faces light up. Then they asked me all kinds of questions. I answered. I was cool, calm, and collected, with the confidence that whatever happened, I would leave the situation a better person. Now, I know that I didn’t do a great job with building up the suspense in this article. In fact, you knew the result by reading my title. Yes, I did get the job. In fact, it was a unanimous decision which, from what I understand, doesn’t usually happen in these committees. Why did I get the job? For a number of reasons. However, one of the main reasons was that I used my blog to demonstrate authority. In fact, I can proudly say that because of my blog, people all over the world have come to see me as an authority when it comes to biology. Does it mean that my blog is perfect? Nope. In fact, I make mistakes in my videos and get people saying things like “Umm, actually, that’s all wrong!”. Then I go in and correct the mistakes (sometimes). It’s a learning process, and I learn as I go, and then I share what I learn with people all over the world. If you would like to listen to this full story from my podcast, go to the podcast episode on my blog of How I left My Job because of My blog . The Importance Of Blogging Without a shadow of doubt in my mind, I now firmly believe that Blogging is one of the best ways to establish yourself as an authority in your industry/niche today. It’s a way of building credibility , nurturing relationships , and gaining an audience . These are factors that can help anyone accomplish their goals. Your goal might not be to get a better job. In actuality, that wasn’t my goal with my blog either. My plan was to eventually quit my teaching job and do internet marketing full-time. However, that was me settling because I didn’t think that teaching at the university level was plausible. For me, to a certain extent, doing internet marketing full-time would be settling. I know what I’m called to do, and now, because of my blog, I can do it. I don’t know what your goals are, but I want to encourage you to take this blogging thing seriously, because it has the potential to do great things . My Recommendations My first recommendation is that if you don’t have a blog, START ONE NOW . The concept of blogging is still young enough that most people don’t know how to do it well. You’re reading this blog, so you have access to resources to help you get started and to do it well. In other words, you’re at an advantage. At the risk of sounding like I’m writing this because this is Yaro’s blog, I HIGHLY recommend that if you haven’t taken his Blog Mastermind course , you need to get in on it. Without Blog Mastermind, I would NOT be where I am today. It gave me a strong Blogging foundation as a blogger, and has made me comfortable enough to start a blog and establish myself as an authority. The biggest thing is that it helped me to avoid making some of the common mistakes most bloggers make, and that is worth it’s weight in gold. My final recommendation is that if you are into video blogging, check out Gideon’s Rapid Video Blogging Course. It has really done a lot for me, especially when it comes to my Biology blog , and has helped me to go from hardly any video views to over 1,000 daily views in less than two months. Online video is thriving right now, and Youtube is allowing a lot of people to Crush it! Remember that you can’t keep doing the same ‘ol thing and expect to get different results. Well, you can expect it, but that’s the definition of insanity. Take action! Give yourself a kick in the butt and get going. Your Comments Have you started a blog already? If so, are you having success with it? If so, what has blogging done for YOU? Let me know in the comments below! Until Next Time! Get your bonus copy of my book “How To Start An Internet Business & Make Your First $1,000 Online” Download Here

Tagged as: article, country, health, industry, interview, mind, podcast, small-business, videos, young

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Overlooked Secrets of Successful Entrepreneurs

by Paul Joseph July 25, 2011 Featured

Entrepreneurs are not born successful. They work long and hard to achieve their goals. If you have a plan and are willing to put forth the time and effort needed to see your plan through, you too can be the kind of entrepreneur you desire to be. There are some important, often overlooked secrets to remember as you work your way down the path to success. The first thing you must know is that you need to do what you enjoy. When you start out doing what you love, you’ll be happier right from the beginning. Know your talents and tap into them. Don’t waste your valuable time having a career that you can’t stand. If you focus your business on what you know and love, potential employees and clients will notice and be immediately attracted to it. You’ve heard the adage, “You are what you eat.” You are also what you do. If you want to manage your own interior design business, be the best designer possible, as your success as a designer will define the way you feel about yourself and the way others see you. Don’t forget to project a positive image in both your business and personal lives. Being successful in business starts when you take care of yourself physically and mentally. Get enough exercise. Allow enough time in the day to rest and sleep. If you want to be at your peak when you are promoting your new ideas and business, take time to rejuvenate your personal self. Then, you will project excitement and enthusiasm to everyone you come in contact with. A big part of success in any aspect of life is learning how to find and maintain balance, particularly between work and play. As important as it is to devote the necessary time to getting your business up and going, you must not let work overtake your life. Make time for breaks. If necessary, schedule break time just like you would an appointment and be vigilant about it. Vacations are also a must. Maybe you can’t take the time off or spend the money to go on a seven-day cruise, so try a stay-cation. Don’t go into the office, stay home and work on a hobby or take a nap. Sometimes just a day or two are all that it takes to get the spring back into your step and clear your mind. Also, give your employees time off as well. Every person works better on a fully-charged battery. Another secret is to continue to invest in your education. Look for ongoing classes offered by other successful entrepreneurs and business people. Remember that there is always room for improvement in your business, and if you want to attract success, surround yourself with it. Read books and then read more. There is no such thing as too much knowledge, and every time you learn something new you will become a better business person and a better employer. Above all, be willing to accept advice. You might think this is a tricky concept, but just because you allow someone to give you advice doesn’t mean you have to use it. Be open to new concepts and ideas, but rely on your intellect and instinct. After all, you’re ultimately the only person responsible for your own success. Finally, look everywhere for opportunity. Don’t be afraid to start out small. Know that sometimes seemingly insignificant opportunities can lead to key developments in your business. As stated before, most successful people become successes because of time and effort. Thinking big but starting out realistically will get you where you want to be faster than trying to become a millionaire overnight. About the Author: Kyle Mortensen is a freelance writer for Tektronix. Tektronix is a leading supplier of test and measurement equipment such as a digital multimeter .

Tagged as: become an entrepreneur, education, entrepreneurship, mind, money, office, personal, time

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Discover EXACTLY What Your Audience Wants With This Clever Google Analytics Hack

by Paul Joseph July 22, 2011 Featured

Are you a married man? I am! Happily married now for five years, one month, and seven days at the time that I’m sitting down to write this. In the five years of my very happy marriage, and my dating years that came before, it has become quite obvious to me that, in many situations, guys can’t read girls’ minds . I know, it sounds strange, but follow me on this one. Have you ever been in a situation where your significant other expects you to know what they are thinking, and you have absolutely NO IDEA that they are even thinking about something? If you are a guy, you’ve probably encountered this at least once in your life In my Many years of marriage (ok, I know. I’m still a newbie), my wife and I have come to realize that if we want to know what each other are thinking, asking can be a very valuable skill that is often overlooked. So what in the world does this have to do with Internet Marketing, Online business, blogging, etc? Well, in a past article, I showed how my 5 Question Survey saved me time and resources in product development . It’s a very clear example of how asking your audience the right questions can help you accomplish your goals for your online business. But what if you could read the mind of your significant other? What if you knew exactly what he/she was thinking without even having to ask? How awesome would it be if you could wake up in the morning, sit at your laptop and get a detailed report of everything your wife thought the day before, and throughout your entire relationship? How AWESOME would that be? (On a side note: Have you seen the Movie “What Women Want” with Mel Gibson? That’s EXACTLY what I’m talking about) Well, unfortunately for you and I, that won’t happen. My wife and I will just have to go through the long, and sometimes painful, process of getting to know each other. Fortunately, for my online business, this is something that’s very easily accomplished – Thanks to Google Analytics ‘ Site search Feature. What Is Site Search And How To Benefit From It? If you’re a blogger, you probably have a search function on your site. If not, you should definitely add it. It’s an easy way for your website visitors to search the contents of your site. It basically functions as an internal Search Engine . Most WordPress themes have a search function built in, and if yours doesn’t, WordPress has a widget that you can add to your sidebar. Here’s the thing – most bloggers have site search on their website, but don’t use it to their advantage. Whenever someone does a search on your site, they are telling you exactly what they are looking for, without even intending to do so. However, you will never know what they are looking for if you don’t have a system to report what their searches are. It’s like having the ability to read the mind of your significant other, but not taking advantage of it. Fortunately for you and I, Google analytics gives you the option to Track Site Search. How To Set Up Site Search Before you can track site search on your site, you need to set it up in Google analytics . It’s quite a simple process. Here it goes: Go to your site and do a search for anything using your site search function. When you reach the results page, take a look at the URL in the address bar. For example, when I go to my Interactive Biology Website and do a search for the term “Kidney”, the url in the address bar is http://www.interactive-biology.com/?s=kidney Take note of the Query Parameter. In my case, my query parameter is the letter “ s ” (? s =kidney). In your Google Analytics Profile Settings, you will see a Site Search section that gives you the option to Track Site Search. Select “ Do Track Site Search ” and enter the query Parameter as shown below. Select the option that says “ Yes, strip query parameters out of URL “. This will clean up your reports and make it easier to analyze. Click on “ Save Changes “. That’s pretty much it. Now you are ready to use your mind-reading powers. However, make sure you use your powers for good and not for evil How To Analyze Your Site Search Report Now that you have your superpowers, it’s time to start making the magic happen. Of course, it will take some time for data to start accumulating. Hopefully, you have enough visitors by now and they are actively doing searches on your site. If so, the rest is super easy. Allow me to illustrate by giving an example. Let’s take a look at my Site Search Report . When I look at the report above, it gives me some very useful details. Not only that, but it shows me that a number of the things people are searching for are very closely related to the content I have on my site. This makes me happy, and gives me actionable data. The term that is searched most often on my site is “ kidney “. Obviously, some of the people that are using my site are looking for information on the kidney. And when they do that search, they don’t find any results. Approximately 67% of people leave after not finding what they are looking for. The average user that searches for “kidney” on my site only spends 1 minute and 25 seconds on the site. If I were to make a few videos on the kidney, that should increase the amount of time they spend on my site, and that would increase the likelihood of them coming back for more . The next most frequently searched term on my site is “ Action Potential “. Fortunately, I have a bunch of videos on my site that deals with the concept of the Action potential. As a result of that, only 11% of people who do that search leave the site, and the average person who searches for that spends 6 minutes and 39 seconds on the site. Do you notice a difference? I sure do. So the take home message here is simple: If people are searching for something that is very relevant, but you don’t have it – start making some of that content and increase the amount of time they spend on your site, and the likelihood that they will return (and even share your site). My Next Steps Seeing that this gives such valuable info, there are two things that I plan on doing. The first should be extremely obvious. I plan on making more of the content that people are searching for. It’s easy to do, and is very relevant. In other words, it’s a win-win situation. Secondly, I plan on making a search box that’s more prominent on my website, to highlight the fact that you can actually search for what you are looking for. That will accomplish two things: It will make it easier for my visitors to find what they are looking for It will enhance my mind-reading capability (if you know what I mean). Are YOU reading your audience’s minds? If not, then you should start. Set up the Site Search reporting capabilities in Google Analytics . Have you done this already? If so, how are you using this information? Let me know what you think below. Until Next Time! Get your bonus copy of my book “How To Start An Internet Business & Make Your First $1,000 Online” Download Here

Tagged as: goals, internet, laptop, mind, online, search, search-engine, time, wife

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7 Keys for Kicking Fear’s Butt and Starting a Business Now

by Paul Joseph July 21, 2011 Featured

Entrepreneurship is risky, right? That’s what we’re told. We’re told that a lot of people (most, by some estimates) fail at being a business owner and some lose everything. That’s pretty scary. But it’s the rest of the story that keeps entrepreneurs going and keeps us focused on business ownership over getting a job. The rest of the story is that most highly successful entrepreneurs did fail at one time, but they got back up and kept trying until their hard work and perseverance paid off. As with any great accomplishment, failure comes with the territory; however, it’s that failure that makes us better and stronger in the long run. Still, for a lot of entrepreneurs, especially those considering starting their first business, fear of failure is very real. It’s easy enough to say that failure is a great learning tool, but that doesn’t make it easy to face. It’s that fear of failure that will keep a lot of people from even trying to live their entrepreneurial dreams – and that’s sad. So what if there was a way to lesson your chances of failing at entrepreneurship? There are never any guarantees – no sure things – but are there steps you can take to increase your chances for success, thereby making the prospect of starting a business less scary? Definitely. If your fear is keeping you from taking the entrepreneurial plunge, follow these seven keys for getting past fear and taking action! 1. Follow your passion. People who build a business around something they’re passionate about are far less likely to let fear stand in the way. Passion can fuel your creativity and problem solving abilities, and it can make problems appear a lot smaller. If you’re doing what you love, there’s nothing to fear. Even if the business doesn’t succeed, the journey will add to your happiness, so you win either way. 2. Determine a need. One way to increase your chances for success is to make sure there is a need for the product or service you plan to offer. It might sound like a great idea in theory, but if there isn’t a market for it, you won’t make it. Doing proper research and determining that there is in fact a need for what you’re offering – and for a company like the one you’re building to offer it – will help ease your fears, because you’ll know you have a greater chance of making it. 3. Surround yourself with positive people. When you’re considering a new business, you probably have some doubts swimming around in your head, and being around the wrong people can fuel those doubts. Additionally, you might be thinking that you don’t have what it takes to succeed as a business owner. Through networking events or other business gatherings, get around other entrepreneurs who have made it. This will help you see that you don’t have to be someone special to be a successful entrepreneur, and it’s also great for making connections and getting advice that can help you in your business. More than anything, getting some positive feedback and encouragement from people who have been there can help to squash any fears or doubts you have. 4. Have a plan. Before you sit down and make a plan for your business (whether it’s a formal business plan or a one-page plan), you’ve got a million ideas, what-if scenarios, and to-do items rushing around your brain. That can be overwhelming for anyone, and it can lead to a fear that it’s too much for you to handle. Getting it all down on paper in the form of a plan of action will organize your thoughts and help you put them into a manageable form. It will also free your mind to imagine the possibilities rather than worry about what might happen. 5. Get an education. No, we’re not talking about going to college. Whether you have a university degree or not, it’s important to recognize that the most successful entrepreneurs never stop learning. Having knowledge about your industry and business in general will give you more confidence; and the more confident you are, the less fearful you are. So read everything you can get your hands on, attend workshops and seminars, and, again, get around others who can guide and mentor you. This is one of the best ways to replace fear with determination. 6. Immerse yourself. Get involved in your industry in every way you can. Join industry trade groups, subscribe to trade publications, and read every useful blog post you find. This is part of the ‘Get an education’ piece, but it’s more than that. In addition to learning about your business, you want to become your business. There’s a lot of talk about work-life balance, and that’s an important factor, but the fact is, most successful startups were launched by people who were a little (or a lot) obsessed with working on making their business thrive. And when you have that kind of focus, there’s not room for fear. 7. Keep your self-talk in check. For many of us, our own mind is our worst enemy. If you’re the type of person to fear the unknown or worry about failure scenarios, work on ways to turn those thoughts around. Give yourself a pep-talk a couple of times a day. Post positive messages on your bathroom mirror and around your home and office. Read inspiring books. Fill your mind with so much positive energy that there’s no room for anything else. One common characteristic of successful business owners is that they had an unwavering belief that they could (and would) succeed. Get into that frame of mind and stay there as often as possible, and you’ll deliver a huge blow to fear! What are you biggest fears about starting a business? How do you overcome them? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments, and on our Facebook page !

Tagged as: become an entrepreneur, business, creativity, entrepreneur, entrepreneurial, entrepreneurship, industry, mind, motivation, starting a business, story, thoughts

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3 Steps To Avert Disaster When Things Go Wrong

by Paul Joseph July 14, 2011 Featured

Sometimes, no matter how carefully you plan and prepare to execute a client engagement, things just go wrong. Big things, small things, crazy things, ridiculous things. Things just go wrong. I know because ALL of the following have happened to me at some point over the last four years: An irreplaceable file was accidentally deleted by an associate An unrevised and horribly incorrect draft was sent out to 13 executives at a client site The WebEx link refused to work during a major sales presentation My server was hacked by internet terrorists and my site was replaced by a picture of a squirrel holding a gun on the day of an e-book product release I’m willing to bet that you have had experiences like this in the past. Why? Because in any business – whether you sell goods online, offer a service, or build a product – there will be things, both outside your control and within your control, that just don’t go according to plan. But savvy entrepreneurs know there are a set of simple steps that can be taken in just about any gone-wrong scenario to help get – whatever disaster has befallen – back on track. Let’s explore those steps together. Step 1: Let Common Sense Prevail The biggest mistake people make when something important goes wrong with a client is to panic.  And while panicking is often the most natural response, it is also the most counter-intuitive because panic clouds commonsense , and commonsense is usually the way to get whatever is wrong back to good. Last year, I was coordinating a coaching presentation for one of my clients. I had built the slide deck, organized the meeting, prepared their talking points, and set up a WebEx link for easy use.  Not two minutes after the presentation was supposed to start did I get a call from my client, irate because the presentation link wouldn’t connect. My first instinct was panic. My client was yelling at me, something that I had checked had failed to work, and all seemed totally lost. I put the call on hold and desperately clicked around on the WebEx website trying to figure out what had gone wrong. As I frantically tried the link over and over, only one blinding thought went through my mind: I was going to lose my client over this . Then, a surprising thing happened – a little bit of common sense peaked through my panic. I realized that what looks even more bush league than having a broken WebEx link is keeping the client on hold for ten minutes whilst trying to fix it. What made more sense was to simply send all parties on the meeting a copy of the slide deck via email, apologize for the issue, and let the meeting continue as scheduled. I took a deep breath, took the call off hold, and proceeded to compose my email. If you happen to be on the receiving end of some evil twist of fate, common sense prevailing is also a wise idea. Instead of becoming enraged or upset, it behooves you to realize that whoever you are dealing with: might not be responsible (think customer service rep, etc.) OR is responsible, but acted without malice. In either situation, you will likely need the offending party to rectify the wrong, and you catch more flies (aka: get to the bottom of your problem) with honey rather than vinegar. Step 2: Maintain The Appearance Of Calm I took dance lessons all through my childhood and early teens, and never realized that they were teaching me an important business skill: people only notice mistakes if you act like a mistake has happened. I can remember being up on the stage for the final performance of the year, staring into the dark auditorium looking for my parents during my ballet routine and feeling absolute dread crawl over me as I realized I had no idea what the next steps were. I had two choices: freeze like a deer in the headlights or improvise until I could think of what to do next. So I improvised . After a few tense seconds of moving across stage with the music, I remembered my place in the routine and burst with confidence into the final minute of performance. I finished, took my bow, and walked off stage wondering if anyone noticed my cover-up. It shocked me to realize that no one knew I had missed a chunk of choreographed steps. Lesson learned. I had the same experience ten years later when WebEx was down… after I improvised and sent a professional email with the slides attached, the meeting carried on without issue and by the end of the call, all participants – including my client – had forgotten about the link-blunder. If you’ve been dealt a bad-luck blow (think about how I felt when a well-meaning associate deleted a vital client file permanently), then maintaining calm – even if you don’t feel calm – is key for maintaining business relationships and not burning bridges in a state of upset or alarm. Step 3: Don’t Focus On Apologies, Focus On Correction There is a time for apologies, and a time for moving on. When something goes wrong with clients, many of us default into apologetic mode. We want to share how sorry we are, how embarrassed we are, how upset we are, on behalf of the outrage done to the client. The only problem is that nine times out of ten, the client doesn’t want an obsequious apology, and they certainly don’t want to hear whose fault it is – they want the problem corrected competently and to move on. If you’ve ever had someone hack into your site and replace it with pictures of violent rodents, you’ll understand that this step applies to both sides of the coin. My initial instinct was to demand apologies from every member of the server support team, until I realized that all the time I would insist they spend grovelling at my feet would be better used restoring my site. Focusing on correction, not seeking apologies, was what helped get the site restored in under ten minutes . I’ve found there are a couple of key phrases that can be used in a variety of situations to get things back to good and forward-looking when things go wrong. If you tackle their issue right off the bat with one of these, you can keep yourself from panicking, maintain the appearance of calm, and let common sense prevail: “I am sorry to hear about this, how can I help?” “Thank you for sharing that feedback, what do you see as the next steps?” “I apologize for this inconvenience, why don’t we do this instead?” Sometimes, stuff just happens. We get overworked and make mistakes , or the people we work with get overworked and make mistakes. Technology will fail . Clients will cause issues due to user error. And things that are completely impersonal to you or your work will cause disruptions , distractions , and deletions that can be critical. Such is the nature of life and the nature of the entrepreneurial path. We all need to know how to get it right when things going wrong not only for our success, but also for our peace of mind. How do you get back on track when things go wrong? Here’s to your Entrepreneur’s Journey, Nacie Get your bonus copy of my book “How To Start An Internet Business & Make Your First $1,000 Online” Download Here

Tagged as: clients, entrepreneur, internet, mind, nature, online, small-business, time, young

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What Do Microsoft, Tim Ferriss, Donald Trump and Katy Perry Have In Common?

by Paul Joseph July 8, 2011 Featured

I know most of us will agree that Microsoft does not make the best products. Competitors with better products have smaller market share and less influence. The operating system market was monopolized by Windows for many years while Linux and Apple had single digit market share. (Of course today it’s different with Apple coming in strong with its Apple OS .) Now here is the question that pops up in my mind – How did Microsoft become a giant while producing less impressive products than its competitors? How did Microsoft dominate many markets ingeniously and remain strong, while its competitors put their heart, soul, sweat and blood into producing better products and not getting any closer to beating this giant? The answer to my question is one single word: Leverage . Let me explain by shedding some light on history. Microsoft recognized early on that the industry was going to shift from hardware focus to software focus. The hardware provided the base processing ability that would improve with time, while the software logic gave infinite capability for a programmer to produce softwares that performed any task the mind desired. At that point in time, Microsoft joint forces with IBM , the industry giant at that time, to provide Operating System software for all of its machines. The second strategic move Microsoft made was to charge IBM a small license fee per unit sold. Now, if you think about it, Microsoft did a joint venture with IBM, and leveraged their mass distribution and deep market penetration to reach the entire industry while getting paid for it. This is holy smokes smart! Not revolutionary, just strategic . It was not a marketing plan, it was a business strategy . Today, Microsoft is Microsoft not because of some marketing campaigns, but only because of their ability to command the distribution through multiple mediums in multiple markets consistently. I don’t think that things just worked out for them every time they tried something. They probably had to try ten things to come across this idea. But they were willing to take shot after shot that most of us are not willing to take. A recap on Microsoft moves: Recognition of the industry trend before it was apparent to others Forming a deal with a giant that gave them access to massive distribution I think you got my point! As entrepreneurs, we strive to grow our businesses as fast as possible, and in the blur of feverish activity, we loose the ability to look at the bigger picture . We focus on day to day activities and begin to micro-manage projects. Soon the business runs us. Sad. The reason for this is lack of perspective and business strategy . If you are somewhat active in the Internet Marketing Courses industry, you know that many gurus have built their business purely through joint venture partnerships. That is through partnering up with multiple businesses that complement or compete with theirs and then cross promoting each other’s products in exchange for a sales commission. Sounds sweet, right? Paying only per sale. The Timothy Ferriss Strategy This idea is not limited to the Microsoft or the more familiar Internet Marketing Guru industry. Let me give you a more recent and unconventional example: Timothy Ferriss , the author of two best selling books, “ The 4-Hour Workweek ”, and “ The 4-Hour Body ”, openly holds blogging responsible for his mega success. Now of course Tim had the goods ( solid content ) in his books, but he built his community and following by appearing in numerous leading blogs throughout the Internet (including Entrepreneurs-Journey.com). He spread his message, one blog at a time and one media outlet at a time, while he attributes his success more to the blog partnerships he did as apposed to any other media outlet. Donald Trump & Robert Kiyosaki I know you are convinced already, but how about another unconventional example, Donald Trump . As you know Donald Trump is expanding his business in diverse markets, many of which he is not experienced in. One example is the “financial awareness industry”. Although Trump has many resources at his disposal to become successful in this market, he decided to partner up with best selling author, Robert Kiyosaki , to co-author the book “ Why We Want You to Be Rich ”. Trump knows that Kiyosaki’s book “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” has been on the best seller list for many years and anyone looking to become financially educated, more than likely knows about Kiyosaki. Co-authoring a book with Kiyosaki is a strong leverage for Trump to penetrate this market in a big way. Katy Perry Realize this, it’s unconventional; Katy Perry became enormously famous after her album “ Teenage Dream “. I don’t know about you, but I didn’t even know her before this album, and this is not her first album. Her first music video for this album, “California Gurls”, featured Snoop Dogg . Talk about leverage of association. I agree, Snoop Dogg’s appearance was not the only reason for her success, Katy is a talented artist indeed, but there are many other talented artists in the world who do not receive the kind of attention they would like. Snoop Dogg’s appearance in her video is more of a marketing play than a business strategy, but again it’s leverage. Here Are The Rules The rules are that there are no rules. There are no clearly defined rules or a secret formula to creating such joint ventures that pay big time and for the long term. At least I don’t know of any yet. I was having a conversation with Perry Marshall one day and he said “Aziz, I have tried many things in my business, but the Google Adwords stuff worked for me the best”. If you think about it, when you think of Perry Marshall, the one thing that comes to mind is AdWords. I know just a year ago Perry attempted to dominate the Facebook Ads market by launching his Facebook Ads training course. Still when you think of Perry today, Google AdWords comes to mind. This is just to reiterate the point that there is no ONE SECRET FORMULA, therefore stop looking for one. I believe in noticing patterns that appear in multiple business successes and developing my business strategy and marketing plans accordingly. It is crucial to notice that such partnerships are unconventional , out of the box, and not as common as they should be – since they create massive successes for entrepreneurs. This is good news for the few of us who are literally going to take this message to heart and do something with it. For the vast majority (80% +), this message will serve only as entertainment value and nothing more. Sad, but true. Aziz Ali Get your bonus copy of my book “How To Start An Internet Business & Make Your First $1,000 Online” Download Here

Tagged as: apple, facebook, Featured, marketing, microsoft, mind, online, small-business, video

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Scaling Businesses, a hands on workshop by Saarthi

by Paul Joseph July 6, 2011 Featured

This is a press release. “Is it the right time for me to scale? How do I scale? Will it affect my current pace of my business? What can I do now so that I can scale easily later? How do I grow my venture from strength to strength?” If these thoughts are ruling the roost of your mind-space, then this workshop scheduled to be held on 6th August from 9am – 6pm might interest you. The workshop… (Visit Yourstory.in for full news, other content, and much more!)

Tagged as: content, current, frontpage, mind, other-content, venture, workshop, yourstory-in

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Prof. M.S. Ananth, Director, IIT-M, to inaugurate Chennai Regional RoundTable

by Paul Joseph June 16, 2011 Featured

The trait that differentiates wise men from ordinary men is that their mind thinks possibilities and their heart is in the right place. A visionary director for 10 years at Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M), the only director to serve two terms and one of the brains behind IIT-M Research Park, Prof. M.S. Ananth, has graciously agreed to start the TechSparks 2011 Regional RoundTable… (Visit Yourstory.in for full news, other content, and much more!)

Tagged as: content, frontpage, mind, other-content, regional-round, research, yourstory-in

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Kerwin Rae Explains How To Maintain Optimal Flow For Peak Performance

by Paul Joseph June 12, 2011 Featured

Hello once again fellow entrepreneur. Today we have a very interesting article based on an interview I had with Kerwin Rae last week. For all those who have been reading this column from the beginning, you will notice that Kerwin has already appeared twice previously, once in an article on Creativity and Influence and the other on Inspirational Leadership . In one of the articles, I mentioned seeing Kerwin presenting in such a powerful state of flow , that he literally seemed to have the audience in the palm of his hand . I found out later that he made around a million dollars from that 90 minute presentation, which exemplifies how powerful congruency and flow are in relation to our business. When I asked Kerwin about this accomplishment, he told me it has taken about ten years to get to that level of expertise in his presenting skills. This lead us to discuss something I have heard him reiterate numerous times, that success is never an overnight phenomenon , and it’s always the long distance runners who win in the end. Endurance Beats Speed Kerwin went on to say that in many areas of business, you hear people talking about overnight success, but business and wealth creation needs to be committed to for the long term. Kerwin has studied wealth creation for decades. The penny dropped after one of his mentors asked him to read the BRW Rich 200 and start studying billionaires , rather than listening to people who talk about making money. He noticed all these guys were 50+, and only started to really crack money game in the mid 40’s. He also noticed that a lot of them were 60, 70 and 80 years of age. At that point, it really hit Kerwin that if he wanted to figure this out and do it properly, he needed to let go, relax, do the work and realize it was going to take some time. One of the most useful things Kerwin uses to keep his mind in the right place for wealth creation is to keep his expectations in the short term realistic and stay focused on the long-term goal . Staying focused on the game for life, not moment to moment, keeps him in the state of relaxation and flow he needs to keep jumping his business to higher levels. What is particularly fascinating about this is that Kerwin has cracked the game of wealth and business at a level many people only dream of, those who attain this degree of success in business, often do so much later in life. (I can’t be quoted on this, but I think Kerwin is the same age as me, and that’s mid-thirties.)  But he did this by shifting his focus, working smarter not harder, and learning how to maintain a state of coherence and flow within himself, and as we shall see in the next paragraph, without the latter, none of it would have been possible. That is fascinating! I think that equation could be worth noting for all of us. How A Life Threatening Situation Led To Greater Coherence In his early thirties, Kerwin suffered a massive stroke, he told me that the stroke turned out to be one of the most amazing experiences of his life. To explain this, he went on to cite the difference between elite athletes and business people. If you look at most business people, it’s almost a complete reverse model to an athletes model, we spend 80% of our time competing in our business, maybe 5% training, and if we’re lucky, 15% in rest and recuperation. This is actually a burn out model, and Kerwin said he has burned out many occasions. One of the techniques Kerwin had to learn was moderating his energy levels . Like many business people, he used to become quite intense and run on adrenaline in his activities. Much like the sprinter, he was very effective very quickly, but suffered from exhaustion because of maintaining such an obsessive focus. The greatest tool Kerwin found for moderating his energy levels and finding flow was something called “ Heart Math ”. Heart Math is based on the science of neurocardiology, which concentrates on the messaging system between the heart and the brain. Various meditation and spiritual disciplines create an alignment between the brain and the heart. Heart math is a scientific approach to accessing and accomplishing these same results. Heart Math focuses on coherence, helping people find a channel or a link between chaos and coherence as quickly as possible in stressful situations. Ultimately, it trains us to recognize coherence as a state being and access it on demand. Heart Math has played a phenomenal role in Kerwin’s life, especially in his recovery from stroke. For three months after his stroke, Kerwin had no short-term memory, and he would be grappling to remember things constantly. He said it was like torture to live in this state for three months. But one of the things heart math gave him was the ability to access information that was not neurologically based. So when Kerwin became panicked at not remembering things, he found he could use heart math to access the information, it would just come to him without him having to remember it. This happened through the process of aligning his heart and brain, so he could access information without having to use his brain to think about or remember the answer, it was more like using intuitive memory . Heart math has enabled Kerwin to bring focus to his heart in stressful situations, and put his heart back into a coherent state, which then sends messages to his mind, then through the rest of his body to return to a state of relaxation and flow for optimal performance. When we relax, we give ourselves the ability to find flow. This is often the missing link when we are trying to be successful in our work, we’re so intense and focused, we can lose the natural flow that is there for us. The Curious Case Of Our Inner Oracle Kerwin explains that the heart sends 16 times more information to the brain than the brain sends to the heart, our heart is communicating to the brain constantly . Our heart perceives information in the environment well before the brain does, and it communicates that information directly to the brain. Using heart math is one way to get access to information that is available in the environment to everyone, but very few people are tuned in to it . As many of you will have read in my previous articles, I talk a lot about using play to access creativity, and how our creativity gives us the ability to access information that is not present to the senses, in other words, it’s intuitive knowledge . What is particularly interesting about this is until my conversation with Kerwin last week, I’d never heard of Heart Math, but a very weird thread of similarity ran through the things he spoke about and what I wrote about in my book on creativity. My first book was literally written from my intuition, I even say in the introduction: “I would often go in search of this book in the outer world, asking people if they knew of a book like one that was already imprinted in my own heart.” Of course, I researched and cited the work of many leading authorities and scientists on play and creativity in the text, but the information I intuitively knew was only being reinforced by their findings. The reason I’m telling you this is to show you that we all have access to our intuition , and the information is already sitting in our environment waiting for us to pick up on it. The trick is finding whatever works for you to access this and then doing it. Both Kerwin and I are on the same page about the heart being the crucial instrument we need to get connected and coherent with in order to make this happen. The more open our heart is, the more open we are to intuition , then the challenge is to have that information transported to the brain and interpreted in a way that we can receive it clearly. That’s where coherence comes in. How Coherence Gives Us An Edge In Business We need to create coherence within the communication system, and then be able to recognize the information that’s being sent as different from our thoughts or ego. Kerwin teaches Heart Math in his program, Power to Create . During the program, people find out how to read other people’s intentions, so we can pick up on people’s intentions in any scenario. Our heart can receive information, but it can also send information. This may sound a bit unusual, but the truth is, we’re all doing it all the time in our lives anyway. We may not be doing this consciously or effectively, because we have not consciously aligned our heart and brain frequencies for coherence. Kerwin explains that our heart has the most enormous amount of charge compared to any other part of our body. Every time it beats that pulse, it goes through the entire body, the thumping of the heart acts as a regulator, regulating the entire body organism . He goes on to say that we’re constantly giving off heat in the form of photons . Our body is literally producing light, and depending on what we’re doing and thinking, our body is producing different levels of light. Every time our heart beats, it is imprinting information on the photons that are leaving our body. So whatever we hold in our hearts is being communicated to the rest of the environment. Kerwin says that 85% to 95% of the time in his Power to Create program, people can read into situations, events, occurrences in people’s lives just by putting themselves into a state of coherence. The applications for this in our business are phenomenal . Most successful business people I know work from gut feeling and intuition when deciding on potential business partners. Sir Richard Branson says he knows within a few seconds of meeting someone whether or not he will do business with them, this is based on intuitive knowledge. By sensing another person’s intentions and level of coherence, we can decide immediately whether or not the other person’s intentions are coherent with our own. Again, we all do this sometimes; none of us would do business with someone who didn’t “feel right” to us. It isn’t rocket science, it’s just common sense. Unfortunately, we’ve been trained to ignore or discount our intuition when really, if we are tuned into it properly, it’s a far more accurate method of discernment than relying only on material data alone. (There is an entire article in this that I could write on marketing and perception management, but I’ll leave that for another time ) This article has blown out to being much longer than I’d planned, and I haven’t even come to the end of the information I transcribed from Kerwin’s interview! As much as I love this topic, I’ll have to finish up here and continue with this in another article. I hope the information shared by Kerwin has created some new insights and avenues of thought for you, and as I’m sure you can tell, he has a wealth of knowledge and experience to share. Kerwin travels all over the world doing presentations, trainings and workshops, and if you would like to find out more about his work, check out his website for details. Thanks for reading and I’d love to hear your comments at the end. Cheers, Neroli. Get your bonus copy of my book “How To Start An Internet Business & Make Your First $1,000 Online” Download Here

Tagged as: book, business, environment, game, life, mind, online, person, power, thoughts

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“There’s something to be learnt from every story we write”: S. Prem Kumar, founder of business magazine Smart CEO

by Paul Joseph June 5, 2011 Featured

Strange are the workings of the mind. The young, handsome Prem Sivakumaran (S. Prem Kumar) chose a startup in the already crowded business magazine space after having worked with the microprocessor design team of AMD. With no journalism experience, he took a plunge in October 2009 and in less than two years, Smart CEO, Prem’s brain child catches the eye every month in the stands. It’s not always… (Visit Yourstory.in for full news, other content, and much more!)

Tagged as: content, frontpage, mind, other-content, smart, yourstory-in

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