Often people talk about success, how easy it is to achieve. Actions speak louder than words, yet not many people take steps, even baby steps towards their dreams and goals. It is far easier to talk about success than it is to actually take action.

What action should I take?

Reaching your definition of success requires taking a single step towards the goal. Follow that step with another step and then another. You can not swallow an elephant in one bite. Think about what you want, then define your success.

Why define success?

Your personal definition of success is your goal. If you are trying to reach a goal set by someone else, chances are slim that you will take any action. Picture your success in all the glory that imagine, if the image makes you happy, you will want to take action.

If your success is not on your own terms, if it looks good to the world but does not feel good in your heart, it is not success at all. ~ Anna Quindlen

What if I am scared?

When you were little, someone taught you how to ride a bike. You saw the older kids on just 2 wheels and this became your goal. It was scary when your dad released the back of the bike and yelled balance and suddenly you were on your own. Yet with that release you were free. Even if you fell, you tried again because your goal of riding on two wheels was that important.

Now, you are older, but is your dream any less important?

Your dream is more important than ever. Your success is steps away as long as you keep moving towards it. While others talk about success and talk about action, you are moving towards your own success. And yes that makes you a success!

Finally I bought a domain name that fit with the idea as far as I understood it. A week later started the Christmas holidays here, there and every where, followed by a couple of New Years traditions… However the last piece of the idea came to me in the form of a Christmas present from my friend… and the website filled my dreams… as soon as the holiday events ended the website required my attention, each night more details came to mind.

Tomorrow it’s going live.

But the inspiration is not mine (from Above) and the focus is not to be on me or mine…

So if you want more information, look for the following people, join their newsletters, follow them, see what they have to say tomorrow.

Maggie Miller * http://MindMovingMeditations.com * Http://Twitter.com/Maggie5565

Claus Jensen * http://ClausDJensen.com * http://Twitter.com/CDJensen

Geoff Hoff * http://Thatwouldbeme.com * http://twitter.com/GeoffHoff

Kelly Maria Clark http://KellyMariaClark.com * http://twitter.com/KellyMariaClark

Martha Giffen * http://Marthagiffen.com * http://twitter.com/MarthaGiffen

Mike Shippey * http://habitualVictory.com * http://Twitter.com/mikeShippey

Capt Rob Lee * http://Piratelifestyle.com * http://Twitter.com/CaptRobLee

Trapper http://Mindvacationmeditation * http://twitter.com/TrapperSherwood

Karen L Kay * http://learntoconcentrate.com * http://twitter.com/KarenLKay

Carl Davison * http://Jointventuresins.com * http://Twitter.com/CarlDavison

Connie Ragen Green * http://AskConnieAnything.com * http://twitter.com/ConnieGreen

Follow these great people and see what they have to say

Isn’t it time you finally wrote that short story you’ve talked about writing?

An Unseminar7 I met the wonderful Geoff Hoff. He and his writing partner; Steve Mancini, are award-winning, best- selling writers. They’ve also written popular how-to books on writing.

Now they’re giving a hands-on, on-line course called “You Can Write a Short Story” where they will take you by the hand and walk with you through the entire process of writing a short story.

The BEST part is YOU WILL have a short story done at the end of the course! Imagine showing people what you’ve written, getting their praise and respect. Geoff and Steve will even give you feedback on the story you write.

Geoff and Steve have been writing together for over 11 years. They’ve written a best-selling satirical novel and write for an award-winning web show. They’ve both also written lots of short stories.

After Unseminar 7, rest assured I know they are a lot of fun to talk to and laugh with.

They love writing and they love teaching people about writing. They say it makes them feel like proud parents when one of their students succeeds.

Geoff even cries a little.

I’d sure love to hear one of my people made Geoff cry a bit over your great story.

The course is 6 weeks long, beginning on January 14th, so you need to register now. Especially since I forgot to send this email Monday. *blushing*

In the 6 weeks you get 6 lessons via email/ web and 6 weekly phone calls where you can ask them questions directly.

http://www.TipsOnWriting.net/class

NOW, here’s your gift. The course is normally $97, but they’ve offered my readers and friends a special discount. If you apply the coupon code ROCKSTAR at checkout, you will get $20 off the price of registration.

Plus, you’ll get some other great bonuses that I haven’t told you about! See them here:

http://www.TipsOnWriting.net/class

If you have ever thought you’d like to write, or if you’ve ever been confused by the writing process, I urge you to take their course.

If you’re a writer and find yourself overwhelmed with ideas or lack any new ideas, or if you frequently experience what people call “writer’s block”, I urge you to take their course.

The course starts on Thursday, January 14th (TOMORROW) and the first phone call will be held the following Wednesday. But don’t worry, Geoff will be glad to help you catch up if you get this email after the 14th but before Wednesday, January 20th.

To find out more about it:

http://www.TipsOnWriting.net/class

Sincerely,

MJ Schrader

PS Join their writing course and when you are done, you can share your story with me. If you want and you upload your story on the internet I will even share a link to your story with my reader.

Free publicity to go with that brand new story…

PPS If you miss the class, get their book!  It’s a great deal at $14.97.

Get Tips on Writing!

Do you know who your friends are?

Even good friends may not understand your online business.  This does not make them any less your friends.  You can try to explain to them what your needs for online business success yet it is a far different world online and offline.

So what can you do?

By attending seminars, visiting online forums and using other forms of social media you are able to meet people who understand your needs.  When I attended Unseminar 5 I was able to meet lots of great people who are still my friends today, who help me in my business.   Some friends I met there told me about forums where they met other people.

How do friends help?

After developing friendships with people who have businesses online, you have a common bond.  They also understand what you need.  When you develop friendships with people online businesses they can give you advice and suggestions.  They can also relate to what is going on when you are having trouble with your business or just need opinions.

What about your other friends?

This does not mean to get rid of old friends, however having people to relate to will help you.  When you work at a business you have co-workers who share a similar work experience and this is why you want friends who can relate.  These become your co-workers and helpers in developing your online business success.

Just like your co-workers work with you on projects, or help you, your friends online can help you with projects.  You may also find some people who make great business partners.  There are so many ways having friends who can relate to your business can help you.

Thank you to my many Unseminar and online friends who have helped me throughout everything.

Unfortunately I am kind of competitive, which is really bizarre because as far as sports go, I am clumsy. In most challenges, well, let’s just say I am typically an “also ran” for most things. Thus I have learned to not compete just so I don’t get worked up for nothing. Yet, with this challenge, being an “also-ran” has a benefit, so I took the challenge and ignored the competitive side. My goal to complete the challenge.

How do challenges help?

Depending on the challenge it can help in a variety of ways. Writing 30 blog posts is going to help get more material on my website. It means writing daily which forces me to increase my speed and forces me to write. This gives me something to talk about with my subscribers and gives me more ideas about things to write and share.

But what about online business success?

With more material on your website, subscribers have more reason to visit your website. The more often they visit, the more likely you are to sell something. Your business success depends on visitors. This also gives them more reason to respect you.

What about a different challenge?

A traffic challenge will bring in more visitors. Increasing social media will provide business publicity. Writing for other websites means outside links pointing to your online business. If there is a business related challenge it will generally mean more visitors for you. Any way you get more visitors there is a greater chance for people to buy!  Connie competed in a challenge by Armand Morin “Better Your Best”  and she improved her business by many little ways that help her make money without a job.  In addition she won the contest and accepted a nice check from Armand Morin himself in front of everyone at Big Seminar 13 in Vegas.

What if the challenge is too hard?

Then you need to judge how much it will actually help your business versus how much work it will take. Something that is going to cause you to double your work load for a few visitors is not going to help you. However the increase is manageable and your visitors double then it would be worth the challenge.  Your business will benefit and so will your wallet.

What if the challenge is just too much to do?

If the challenge itself is too much, but you like the challenge, change it. No, you won’t be able to compete, but you could gain the knowledge and the ability. Instead of doing 30 days of press releases do a week or two weeks, or do one every other day. Go for the 30 days or for 60 so you have 30 at the end. You learn how to do the press releases, you get more of them, and you build your reputation. What is not to like?

Your business success depends on your ability to bring people to your website so any challenge that does is a good one. Just make certain it is a challenge that will benefit your website. If it the challenge is too big, break it down into a manageable size.

Thank you Connie for the wonderful challenge!

MJ Schrader

Do you have a mentor?

For years I wanted to create a business online, I started working online 7 years ago. My income was minor, but it was there. At the end of each year I had enough money to pay for Christmas. This was not exactly the business success I envisioned.

Then 2008 I wanted more, my income increased but not enough. Finally in July of 2009 I decided to finally get a mentor. My business started growing, I learned little things to help my business succeed, while my blog makes money now. If you are curious about my mentor visit Pat’s Coaching.

How does a mentor help?

Having a mentor has meant someone who stirs me into action. He guides me along the path, without forcing me or the situation from school “it’s my way or else.” Business is not like that, there is not one correct answer. However there are times when we need assistance and direction. A mentor also helps give advice when you are stuck.

Is it worth a monthly fee?

Well, as a friend would say, “it’s worth testing.” If you decide you want to try a paid coaching program commit yourself to three months of training. You don’t have to pay them for three months, you may quickly find you and the mentor are not compatible. However if you like them, then commit to 3 months. It takes time before your business will see any success, so quitting too quickly could shut you short.

What is the last important factor?

Yes, a mentor can help you. Yet, only if you make a commitment to work, to aim for success and go for it. So like mentioned previously and will be mentioned again YOUR SUCCESS DEPENDS ON YOU!

The very method that I use everyday.  A method I help others set up and get started!

SELL PRODUCTS ON YOUR BLOG!

Yes, I discussed selling crafts, doing auctions and all of that, but newbies to gurus who sell online are switching to the WordPress blog program as their website.  The ease of use and the ability to quickly change without learning programming has gotten many people to embrace this.

What type of products?

Many of my friends sell various digital products with their blogs.  There are digital downloads of meditations, instructional guides, cookbooks, and much more.  All of these create a money making making blog. With digital downloads there is no delivery of product, people are able to instantly download, and using a blog format like WordPress, it is relatively easy to set up.

How does selling on my blog work?

Rather than the posts like normally created you actually use pages.  You create a sales page which with WordPress you get a nice WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) format.  So you simply type in your page, then add a buy link.   Add a thank you page for after they buy and then a download page if they purchased a digital product.   Create an about me and you have a complete site set up with a blog program and without learning programming.

Is it really that simple?

Guess I could be talking out of turn, but check out Rockstar Guide Books.  That is my sales site, as of this writing there are 3 products.  Hopefully next week it will be 4.  Oh, are you saying I teach this?  Well, I didn’t teach everyone on Pat’s Coaching Product Page. Many of them used WordPress for their sites.  Even the gurus are switching!

So I really don’t know how I left out the most important way to make money with your blog, but hopefully you got some great information from this!  Plus another way to make money online is always a great idea!

Craft Blogs Build Business

If you are into crafts or homemade products, you can sell them with Etsy.com. I am constantly amazed by the number and variety of goods available on the site.  Perhaps you make quilts, or fancy dolls,  wooden pens or crystal balls.   On Etsy, you will see those and more, even things for your door.  (It started rhyming and I had to go with it)

Auction Blogging

Some people discuss the items they have for sale on eBay.com. If you regularly auction things then you should blog about your auctions!  Even in you don’t regularly auction, there is no reason not to discuss when you do have an auction running.   If your blog is focused on something that might be offered on eBay, you can affiliate with them and post links to related items.

What about Services ?

You can offer your services on a site like elance.com and then further discuss services or provide additional services on your WordPress.

Are you too cool?

Some people have blogs so popular that websites, stores and more look for them. If you build a site like that, and they will ask you to let them advertise on your website. They may ask you to review a product or service and they will give that item to you free. Plus this gives you more material to discuss in your blog.

So no matter how you choose to make money with your blog, make certain to write about your experiences.  Write about what you do.  Writing posts is what puts new material on your page, and new material gives your readers more reasons to come back to your site.   And that’s the goal!

Tomorrow what your readers see…

Banner Ads on Your Blog

A popular way to make blog income that we all see is with advertisements.  You could have banner ads on your website.  These you can blog money makers from being an affiliate.  At their affiliate pages they will have images you can use as banners or square ads.   They may even have a blog post you can add to your site.

Ask for more!

Another way to get advertising is by asking similar blogs or business owners you know.   You could post an article asking for advertising or place an ad on your site saying “your banner ad could be here.” Some people get advertisements on friends they meet in online forums.

AdSense and Blogs Make a Great Combination!

You can register to add a block of Google Ads to your site.  The site will walk you through the process.  You get paid per click, which means each time someone clicks on one of the ads you make a few cents, however that can add up!  Plus there are times when words sell for even more.

Tomorrow will be another post about how you can make money with your blog!  Funny it seems my posts have been coming in sets of three.  Maybe that’s just in my head. 

Being an affiliate means you do not need a product or service. By joining an affiliate program as offered by many websites you can recommend their services or products. Every time someone purchases with your link you make money. You do not have to worry about returns, refunds, your only concern is getting people to read your WordPress site.

How do you make money?

Rockstar Guide Books offers an affiliate program that pays 50% commission.   You can add links, images, review the products and add them to your blog.  When someone makes a purchase with one of your links you and your blog make money!  

Join the Rockstar Guide Books Affiliate Program!

Do you want an example?

If you want to add affiliate income to your blog it is as simple as writing!   Below is a sample, however if you were to join they have a wonderful training program.

Here’s a quick review

I recommend “My Marketing Goldmine,” It is the site I use and has come in handy for a variety of reasons. First, this is where I host my sites. Second, they offer both affiliate and other online income training. Third they give users free products every month that can you can resell. Fourth after you join their site, they will tell you how you can become an affiliate.

Between the training, affiliate program, and products it’s pretty great, however their support department is over the top! The two men that run it, and their Virtual Assistant, I have never had to wait more than a few hours for a response when my website had problems even during Christmas! And honestly I wasn’t expecting a response that day so I don’t know how fast they actually responded.