Another great resource that I've ben enjoyeing can be found at http://www.surveymonkey.com/Default.aspx
For me it had multiple uses, such as surveys, verifying understanding of a presentation, and more.
Check it out - it's FREE
:)
Friday, August 24, 2007
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
I'm pissed !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes, yes, yes!!!!
and
No, no, NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
I feel like crap!!! ... and retarded...!
Yes, I am sabotaging my success. I've been doing really good with staying away from movies for a while (I swear I was addicted to them - I'd watch one or two in the middle of the day and one at night [ok, sometimes two at night]).. But now last night I watched a stupid movie till after midnight (which would have not been a big problem 10 or 20 years ago, but now, at 40 my energy level is not what it used to be).
So today I was a bit tired - not too bad - but bad enough to drain my will power. And I spent most of my day playing video games...
No, no, NOOOOOOO!!!!!! I refuse to believe that I'm retarded. I'm better than this!!!!!!
It feels so, so, sooooo wonderful at the end of the day when I'm doing what I'm supposed to do. It's really great. And it's not like I'm overworking myself. I have enough fun too. At this point if I work 4 to 6 hours a day I feel really proud of myself (yes, I know shame on me - it sounds like I'm a laysy son-of-a-bitch -- hey, give me a break! I worked for about a decade 12 to 16 hour days + worked in teh weekends too -- it is my "grown-up" time when I can kick back a bit; except I'm kicking back waaaaaay tooo much.)
I really need to pull myself together and do what I know will bring more success and $$$$ money to the table. My house is too small, I'm one paycheck from bankruptcy (and it's not even my paycheck), and I have a baby in the way (yes, one more).
I really really need to pull my head out of my ass and show that I'm capable. I am success material, not a loser....
Host Your Own Radio Show! -- Now You Can...!
With more and more people getting their news and other information on the internet, internet radio is becoming more and more popular...
Did you ever dream of hosting your own radio show? Or would you be willing to put together something informative while at the same time promoting your services and/or products? Then maybe you can do a 30-minutes a day (or once or twice a week) show..
There are more and more internet radio providers on the net, but to start out I highly recomend http://www.blogtalkradio.com/, which is FREE, and no one can beat that price, right?
The good thing about internet radio is that you can listen live OR you can listen to the recorded show. And if you are interested in making your website more interactive, you can put a link to your show from your website.
I think that one of the most effective ways to structure your show is to interview people who perhaps are satisfied customers, success stories, etc. The more interactive the show, the more interesting, and the more likely that people will tune in to listen to your show regularly.
(Yes, great question :) and the answer is "NO, I still don't have a show of my own, though I'd really love to carve out time to do it. At this point I'm working on finishing some audio and video products on effective communication and dealing with difficult people)
Monday, August 20, 2007
Cool FREE Gadget - Digital Post-it Notes
Cool FREE Gadget - Digital Post-it Notes
If you like little useful gadgets that improve your productivity, you'll love the digital post-it notes from M3. Can you picture that? A digital post-it note? One with alarm and other features...?
They are easy, intuitive, and packed with features to get you organized. So you can make lists and reminders, key-code them with colors and photos, sort them by category, and set alarms to remind yourself of projects and appointments.
Read more about it here: http://www.3m.com/us/office/postit/digital/where_to_buy.html
Try it FREE here: http://pmb001.3m.com/pub/psnotes/pn31lous.exe
Enjoy!
If you like little useful gadgets that improve your productivity, you'll love the digital post-it notes from M3. Can you picture that? A digital post-it note? One with alarm and other features...?
They are easy, intuitive, and packed with features to get you organized. So you can make lists and reminders, key-code them with colors and photos, sort them by category, and set alarms to remind yourself of projects and appointments.
Read more about it here: http://www.3m.com/us/office/postit/digital/where_to_buy.html
Try it FREE here: http://pmb001.3m.com/pub/psnotes/pn31lous.exe
Enjoy!
Improve your communication and productivity
Do you wish there was a tool that could help you better understand yourself - Your communication style, your strengths, weaknesses, motivators, fears, etc.? What if this tool could also suggest ways to improve your communication with those around you? And what if, further more, this tool would suggest ways to improve your productivity as well?
Well, there is such a tool. It is called DiSC 2.0 or DiSC PPSS. These tools are used worldwide by fortune 500 companies, as well as by smaller businesses, to...
- help CEOs and managers be more effective
- help CEOs and managers improve their communications with employees
- help employees improve their communication skills
- reduce workplace conflict
- improve teamwork
- improve employee productivity
There are two main differences between the DiSC 2.0 and the DiSC PPSS:
The DiSC 2.0 is written in a narrative format vs. the DiSC PPSS, which is written in a bullet-point, more easy to read, format
The DiSC PPSS has a 2-page chart ( pages 12 and 13) that allows managers to see employees' (and their own) behavioral tendencies at one glance (the DiSC 2.0 doesn't have that feature )
Since DiSC PPSS is easier to read, it is the tool of choice of most large organizations (it is $10.00 more expensive than the DiSC 2.0)
You can view a sample of each assessment/profile at www.egsebastian.com/sample_reports1
(DiSC 2.0 Classic Sample Reportand DiSC PPSS Sample Report)
Here's a brief description of this great tool:
Setting the Standard for DiSC® Learning
Do you need a tool that will help you better understand your employees communication and behavioral tendencies? Do you want to better understand what are your employees motivators, fears, strengths, and potential weaknesses? Do you want to better understand YOUR communication style, how you are perceived by others, and how to improve both your communication and your effectiveness in reaching your professional goals?
The result of extensive field research and testing, DiSC Classic 2.0 is the leading DiSC assessment on the market. Scaled to today's diverse workforce, it offers more response format choices and more reliability, setting the standard for behavioral-based learning.
The DiSC 2.0 provides a non-judgmental language for exploring behavioral issues. It helps people explore behavior across four primary dimensions:
Dominance: Direct and Decisive. D's are strong-willed, strong-minded people who like accepting challenges, taking action, and getting immediate results.
Influence: Optimistic and Outgoing. I's are "people people" who like participating on teams, sharing ideas, and energizing and entertaining others.
Steadiness: Sympathetic and Cooperative. S's are helpful people who like working behind the scenes, performing in consistent and predictable ways, and being good listeners.
Conscientiousness: Concerned and Correct. C's are sticklers for quality and like planning ahead, employing systematic approaches, and checking and re-checking for accuracy.
DiSC Classic 2.0 is a multi-level learning instrument that helps individuals assess to what degree they utilize each dimension of behavior in a situation. The instrument then provides feedback designed to help people in your organization:
- build productive teams
- develop effective managers
- train a powerful sales force
- improve customer service
- ease frustration and conflict
Every day, organizations use DiSC to establish a common language, paving the way for successful training and coaching applications. Detailed, personalized information helps people apply DiSC learning to specific business situations, including sales, leadership development, customer service, and conflict resolution.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Is Your Marketing Copy SPAM-FREE?
With spam filters getting more and more sophisticated, at times I find that even legitimate email is getting caught in them...
If you use eMail as one of means to stay in touch with your customers and/or to promote your products and services, it is really important to ensure that your copy (text) does not include words that would trigger a spam filter to catch it.
Increase your chances of deliverability by understanding what words or phrases trigger a spam filter. A simple internet search with the words "SPAM TRIGGER WORDS" will give you a gazilion of sites with lists of spam-trigger words.
Or you can take the easy way out and run your message(s) through a spam trigger word checker, such as the one at http://www.lyris.com/resources/contentchecker/. It is 100% FREE and it will dramatically improve the deliverability of your marketing or informative emails.
If you use eMail as one of means to stay in touch with your customers and/or to promote your products and services, it is really important to ensure that your copy (text) does not include words that would trigger a spam filter to catch it.
Increase your chances of deliverability by understanding what words or phrases trigger a spam filter. A simple internet search with the words "SPAM TRIGGER WORDS" will give you a gazilion of sites with lists of spam-trigger words.
Or you can take the easy way out and run your message(s) through a spam trigger word checker, such as the one at http://www.lyris.com/resources/contentchecker/. It is 100% FREE and it will dramatically improve the deliverability of your marketing or informative emails.
What's the Most Important Element of Your Business?
What's the Most Important Element of Your Business?
a) To make a difference in my community and in the whole world, if possible
b) To do something meaningful and really enjoyable
c) To generate a good income/profit
Bingo! You are absolutely right! c) is the correct answer. Without profits you will be out of business before you could say shmorgeshbord. So make sure to follow the steps in my "7 Steps to More Productivity and $$$s" post, or just do whatever works for you to bring in those $$$s and then you'll be able to make a difference in your community and hopefuly have fun in the process. Just remember; without income there'll be no business and without business you'll end up working who knows where...
So keep on focusing on those income-generating tasks day after day...
a) To make a difference in my community and in the whole world, if possible
b) To do something meaningful and really enjoyable
c) To generate a good income/profit
Bingo! You are absolutely right! c) is the correct answer. Without profits you will be out of business before you could say shmorgeshbord. So make sure to follow the steps in my "7 Steps to More Productivity and $$$s" post, or just do whatever works for you to bring in those $$$s and then you'll be able to make a difference in your community and hopefuly have fun in the process. Just remember; without income there'll be no business and without business you'll end up working who knows where...
So keep on focusing on those income-generating tasks day after day...
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Solo Entrepreneur Success Traps
I tell you exactly why I am where I am today (and it might just explain why you are where you are in your business).
OK – a moment of honesty here… Why am I soooo unsuccessful…?
Why is it that some of us solo-preneurs are highly successful, some barely make it, and some of us straight out suck at it?
I tell you exactly why. Because we don’t treat our “practice” as a business. Some of us feel like “Now I’m self-employed, I have all the time in the world to do the things I love to do.”
Why am I so unsuccessful?
Simple. I’ve spent 60 to 70% of my time the past 4 years on non-productive tasks. More precisely, I’ve spent the first two years or so
- watching at least one movie in the middle of the day (at least, got that? That sucks!),
- taking a nap (which is not bad in itself, but combined with a movie, well… it adds up)
- reading about a dozen ezines
- reading dozens of non-essential emails (including some stupid chain-emails, which by the way I never forward) and replying to some in greeeeeaaaaat detail, sometimes spending about an hour or more on one reply (ok, some of those people turned into clients, though)
- designing several websites; putting way too much time into finding the right pictures, etc.
- visiting hundreds of websites to get ideas to build mine (then getting “lost” in their newsletters, etc.)
- playing computer games – Dang!!! This is bad!!! It starts out with “Let me play a game before I start my day,” then it turns out into 3 to 6 hours in front of the computer playing the dang’ game. Then, even worse, it turns into a daily routine, sometimes stretching out to a week or more… It’s a stupid addiction, and when you are on your own there’s no one to stop you. Oh ma’ God – if I could go back and trade my time spent on playing games (and watching movies) into productive time I’d probably be making a six-figure income L
- doing TOO MUCH pro-bono work, often not even trying to ask for compensation
- (overcomplicating things and striving for perfection…. Sounds familiar? Not taking real action till something is completed perfectly… )
That’s about the chunk of it. Yes, I’m getting better and better, but I still trip regularly. But as Alcoholics Anonymous and drug addicts will tell you, the first step to healing is admitting that you have a problem. So, yes, I have a problem. I procrastinate too much and spend too much on non-productive tasks.
80% OF OUR RESULTS COME FROM 20% OF OUR ACTIONS! Except there’ll be NO RESULTS if we don’t spend time on the “20%.”
*** IDENTIFY THE TASKS THAT ARE LIKELY TO BRING IN $$$s or new clients and try to focus most of the day on those tasks.
*** Develop a system that you abide by. Plan a schedule that you can follow day after day, week after week – one that contains activities leading to $$$s, more clients, visibility, growth, etc. You know what you need, you just need to do it, and the key is to schedule it/them.
*** Plan sessions of 30-minute-bursts. COMMIT for 30 minutes to FOCUS 100% ON A TASK. In that 30-minutes don’t check emails, if possible don’t answer the phone (look at the caller ID and answer only if it is a client) – let the answering machine serve its purpose. Then take a short break, then commit for another 30-minute burst.
*** HAVE A PLAN!!! I’m not talking about something super elaborate, though a business and marketing plan definitely help. What I’m talking about is KNOW WHAT YOU ARE WORKING ON! Write down on a sheet what your focus is and work on those areas days after day till you reach each of the items on your list. KEEP THE LIST SHORT: 3 to 5 items, so you can comfortably work on them and accomplish them. This will help you AVOID LOOSING FOCUS, which often happens to us solo-preneurs, and we end up task hopping and not accomplishing anything.
*** “Delegate!” You might say “How the heck could I delegate when I’m a solo-preneur?” What I mean is, don’t try to do everything on your own. Designing a website on your own might save you some $$$s, but ask yourself if you could invest that time more productively bringing in more $$$s than what you’d spend to hire a web-designer.
IDENTIFY TASKS THAT YOU CAN OUTSOURCE! …and try to spend most of your time on tasks that will result in profits and new clients.
*** FOLLOW UP & KEEP EXISTING CLIENTS
One of the shortcomings of any business person can be the lack of follow-up, regardless whether we are talking about a prospect or an existing client. Of course, the best way to stay in business is to keep existing customers and only when we have a system in place that ensures this, worry about gaining new customers. It’s always easier to sell to existing customers than to get new ones (yes, this sometimes depends on your business).
Bottom Line! Keep in touch with both existing customers and with prospects, this way you’ll keep growing your client base and not lose them to your competition who might provide better customer service
*** ASK FOR REFERRALS.
Do you have happy satisfied customers? Ask if they know anyone who might benefit from your product or service. In worst case the client might say that they have no one they can think of or that they’ll think about it; but think about the better case scenario when they give you a whole list of people or they send several people to you… So ask for that referral – after all, what’s the worst thing that can happen, right?
Follow the few suggestions from above and it will be impossible not to become more productive and more profitable.
Did I leave out any crucial steps? Reply to this post and I’ll update my list :)
OK – a moment of honesty here… Why am I soooo unsuccessful…?
Why is it that some of us solo-preneurs are highly successful, some barely make it, and some of us straight out suck at it?
I tell you exactly why. Because we don’t treat our “practice” as a business. Some of us feel like “Now I’m self-employed, I have all the time in the world to do the things I love to do.”
Why am I so unsuccessful?
Simple. I’ve spent 60 to 70% of my time the past 4 years on non-productive tasks. More precisely, I’ve spent the first two years or so
- watching at least one movie in the middle of the day (at least, got that? That sucks!),
- taking a nap (which is not bad in itself, but combined with a movie, well… it adds up)
- reading about a dozen ezines
- reading dozens of non-essential emails (including some stupid chain-emails, which by the way I never forward) and replying to some in greeeeeaaaaat detail, sometimes spending about an hour or more on one reply (ok, some of those people turned into clients, though)
- designing several websites; putting way too much time into finding the right pictures, etc.
- visiting hundreds of websites to get ideas to build mine (then getting “lost” in their newsletters, etc.)
- playing computer games – Dang!!! This is bad!!! It starts out with “Let me play a game before I start my day,” then it turns out into 3 to 6 hours in front of the computer playing the dang’ game. Then, even worse, it turns into a daily routine, sometimes stretching out to a week or more… It’s a stupid addiction, and when you are on your own there’s no one to stop you. Oh ma’ God – if I could go back and trade my time spent on playing games (and watching movies) into productive time I’d probably be making a six-figure income L
- doing TOO MUCH pro-bono work, often not even trying to ask for compensation
- (overcomplicating things and striving for perfection…. Sounds familiar? Not taking real action till something is completed perfectly… )
That’s about the chunk of it. Yes, I’m getting better and better, but I still trip regularly. But as Alcoholics Anonymous and drug addicts will tell you, the first step to healing is admitting that you have a problem. So, yes, I have a problem. I procrastinate too much and spend too much on non-productive tasks.
80% OF OUR RESULTS COME FROM 20% OF OUR ACTIONS! Except there’ll be NO RESULTS if we don’t spend time on the “20%.”
*** IDENTIFY THE TASKS THAT ARE LIKELY TO BRING IN $$$s or new clients and try to focus most of the day on those tasks.
*** Develop a system that you abide by. Plan a schedule that you can follow day after day, week after week – one that contains activities leading to $$$s, more clients, visibility, growth, etc. You know what you need, you just need to do it, and the key is to schedule it/them.
*** Plan sessions of 30-minute-bursts. COMMIT for 30 minutes to FOCUS 100% ON A TASK. In that 30-minutes don’t check emails, if possible don’t answer the phone (look at the caller ID and answer only if it is a client) – let the answering machine serve its purpose. Then take a short break, then commit for another 30-minute burst.
*** HAVE A PLAN!!! I’m not talking about something super elaborate, though a business and marketing plan definitely help. What I’m talking about is KNOW WHAT YOU ARE WORKING ON! Write down on a sheet what your focus is and work on those areas days after day till you reach each of the items on your list. KEEP THE LIST SHORT: 3 to 5 items, so you can comfortably work on them and accomplish them. This will help you AVOID LOOSING FOCUS, which often happens to us solo-preneurs, and we end up task hopping and not accomplishing anything.
*** “Delegate!” You might say “How the heck could I delegate when I’m a solo-preneur?” What I mean is, don’t try to do everything on your own. Designing a website on your own might save you some $$$s, but ask yourself if you could invest that time more productively bringing in more $$$s than what you’d spend to hire a web-designer.
IDENTIFY TASKS THAT YOU CAN OUTSOURCE! …and try to spend most of your time on tasks that will result in profits and new clients.
*** FOLLOW UP & KEEP EXISTING CLIENTS
One of the shortcomings of any business person can be the lack of follow-up, regardless whether we are talking about a prospect or an existing client. Of course, the best way to stay in business is to keep existing customers and only when we have a system in place that ensures this, worry about gaining new customers. It’s always easier to sell to existing customers than to get new ones (yes, this sometimes depends on your business).
Bottom Line! Keep in touch with both existing customers and with prospects, this way you’ll keep growing your client base and not lose them to your competition who might provide better customer service
*** ASK FOR REFERRALS.
Do you have happy satisfied customers? Ask if they know anyone who might benefit from your product or service. In worst case the client might say that they have no one they can think of or that they’ll think about it; but think about the better case scenario when they give you a whole list of people or they send several people to you… So ask for that referral – after all, what’s the worst thing that can happen, right?
Follow the few suggestions from above and it will be impossible not to become more productive and more profitable.
Did I leave out any crucial steps? Reply to this post and I’ll update my list :)
Friday, August 17, 2007
FOCUS & ACTION
FOCUS:
NOW/URGENT -- Free Publicity -- N
Insc. Consulting - Sold 21 DiSC assessments
Marketing -- N
Market Product -- N
T.Master - - N
Newsletter & Blog -- did not post to my other blogs
Write (my book) -- did not write at all today - that really sucks :(
Writing for (online) magazines --
Product Development & Recording Teleclass --
Speak -- MEANT TO PREPARE for the upcoming international conference -(dang!!! I'm playing the procrastination game again, then put a chest-crushing pressure on my self in the last days -- I really need to take this more seriously, after all they are paying me more than $2000 and I'll be exposed to company owners from around the nation and around the world, which could result in more business. STEP ON IT!)
Web design & Recording - N
NOW/URGENT -- Free Publicity -- N
Insc. Consulting - Sold 21 DiSC assessments
Marketing -- N
Market Product -- N
T.Master - - N
Newsletter & Blog -- did not post to my other blogs
Write (my book) -- did not write at all today - that really sucks :(
Writing for (online) magazines --
Product Development & Recording Teleclass --
Speak -- MEANT TO PREPARE for the upcoming international conference -(dang!!! I'm playing the procrastination game again, then put a chest-crushing pressure on my self in the last days -- I really need to take this more seriously, after all they are paying me more than $2000 and I'll be exposed to company owners from around the nation and around the world, which could result in more business. STEP ON IT!)
Web design & Recording - N
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Focus & Action
FOCUS:
NOW/URGENT -- I'm speaking at an international conference next month ($2000+ fee) - I did some mental practicing, going over some parts of my presentation, but did nothing serious toward fulfiling this commitment (yesterday, though, I did spend about an hour preparing)
Free Publicity -- N
Inscape Consulting - N
Marketing -- N
Market Product -- N
T.Master - - N
Newsletter & Blog -- did not post to my other blogs
Write (my book) -- did not write at all today - that really sucks :(
Writing for (online) magazines -- N
Product Development & Recording & Teleclass -- Planned a few products and set a completion date for the first one (audioproducts - teleclasses, then transfer them to CD and digital product + promote them on my website) ++ I started writing down the info of a highly successful marketer and I decided to duplicate his system
Speak -- Prepared proposal for High School and will submit it tomorrow (trying to present at their orrientation classes a presentation of effective communication and behavioral diversity)
Web design & Recording - N
NOW/URGENT -- I'm speaking at an international conference next month ($2000+ fee) - I did some mental practicing, going over some parts of my presentation, but did nothing serious toward fulfiling this commitment (yesterday, though, I did spend about an hour preparing)
Free Publicity -- N
Inscape Consulting - N
Marketing -- N
Market Product -- N
T.Master - - N
Newsletter & Blog -- did not post to my other blogs
Write (my book) -- did not write at all today - that really sucks :(
Writing for (online) magazines -- N
Product Development & Recording & Teleclass -- Planned a few products and set a completion date for the first one (audioproducts - teleclasses, then transfer them to CD and digital product + promote them on my website) ++ I started writing down the info of a highly successful marketer and I decided to duplicate his system
Speak -- Prepared proposal for High School and will submit it tomorrow (trying to present at their orrientation classes a presentation of effective communication and behavioral diversity)
Web design & Recording - N
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