5 Common Mistakes Online Entrepreneurs Make

Every single year, thousands of people try their hand at online marketing. The unfortunate truth is that most of them fail miserably and leave the scene with their tail between their legs. Just like the fox and the sour grapes, they tell themselves that the whole internet marketing industry is a scam, and all those who succeed at it are scammers.

In reality, most of these beginners make cardinal errors in judgment and sabotage their own chances of success. To become a successful online entrepreneur requires knowledge, perseverance, a dash of luck, patience and a truckload of "massive action taking."

There is no other way to succeed online. The illusion of a laptop lifestyle by some sun-kissed beach in the Caribbean is exactly that - an illusion. It only becomes a reality when you've put in the work and have automated systems in place that generate passive income day after day, month after month.

To reach this stage, there are 5 common mistakes that you absolutely must avoid. Failing to do so will almost always guarantee failure and leave you stuck in the muck and mire of mediocrity. Maybe that's a bit harsh, but it sure drives home the point.

1. Waiting To Feel Ready

This is the biggest mistake of all. Most beginners are stuck in a hamster wheel of learning but not doing. They get their little paws on every eBook that they find, they watch every YouTube video out there on making money, they attend every pitch fest disguised as a "Webinar", but they don't do the one thing that matters.

They don't TAKE ACTION. This is the most important step. You learn by doing. You can't learn to swim if you won't jump in the pool. Start doing, and you'll overcome your inertia and get the ball rolling. You'll start seeing results and know what else needs to be done to succeed.

2. Your Business Model Is Not Passive

Initially, you may need to do everything yourself because you're just starting out and learning the ropes. You might be bootstrapping your business and funds may be tight. This is perfectly understandable.

However, your business should be able to run without your presence when it is successful. You should be able to scale your online business by automating tasks and outsourcing where necessary.

To truly succeed online, you'll need help from others. It's impossible to do everything yourself. Hire people to handle your support, or do your graphics or create your content.

Focus on only doing the most important income generating activities. The other extraneous stuff can be handled by your virtual assistants.

3. Expecting Success Online Because You Have a Degree

It may come as a huge blow to the ego, but your paper qualifications do not hold much water in internet marketing. Many newbies fresh out of school with impressive qualifications, expect it to be a cake walk online.

When reality hits them that their degree has no bearing on their success, it can be a bitter pill to swallow. Being an online marketer is about profits, and not wages. If you're looking to be hired at a company, your university degree will matter.

When you're selling online, your customers can't give two hoots if you have a degree or a Dalmatian. They just want products that are of value, and which help them. If you can deliver these two, you'll make the money. The focus is always on the customer, and not the fancy credentials after your name.

4. Failing To Adopt a Profitable Online Business Model

When starting out online, there are many paths to follow. Some can be scaled up and become wildly profitable, while others have invisible ceilings. If you become an info-product creator, you're only limited by your imagination and skills.

However, if you become an article writer at a content mill online, your earnings will be dictated by what they pay you. You'll also only be able to take on so many jobs in one day because your time is limited.

Always choose a business model that will allow you to scale up, and where you can set your own prices.

5. Focus On Your Strengths

This is a big one too. You absolutely MUST follow your strengths. If you have a good personality and can make interesting videos that get a lot of views, that's your strength. Go with video marketing and make a killing there.

Do not try to become a writer and struggle to write and sell content because you heard that's where the money's at. Or try to jump into graphic design and spend five hours creating an eyesore.

Focus on your strengths and exploit them to their fullest. You'll shine at what you do, and make enough money online to be considered a success. You'll probably end up influencing other beginners to do what you do, when that's not their strength to begin with. The vicious cycle never ends.

All online entrepreneurs should do their best to avoid these 5 most common mistakes and they should find success online.

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3 Reasons Why Your Emails Are Not Being Responded To

Email deliverables are important - with an estimated 74 trillion emails being sent every year, it is necessary that your emails are reaching its intended inboxes. But reaching the inbox is one thing - acting upon it is another.

True, you can work on your subject line, making it catchy and arresting audience's interest, but that will only help to improve email opens. Conversions are still a matter of concern.

So why not examine what you are doing wrong with your emails that it is not encouraging conversions?

Here are the 3 popular reasons why emails do not get responded to:

Your emails are not personalized enough

Remarkable as it may be, personalized emails have 41% higher CTRs than non-personalized ones - and even then 70% marketers fail to personalize their email marketing messages. Personalization however does not mean adding the "name" of the recipient in the body of the email. It means creating content unique and relevant to your recipient.

But wait - how is that possible when you are sending thousands of emails? The answer lies in using segmented email lists. Segment your audience as per their preference and personalize emails as per that.

Some of the other things to remember during personalization include:

• Working on the "From" section - use your name instead of a company name
• In case you are running a contest, use email marketing automation to send personalized emails.

Social media proof and Mentions are lacking

Is your email being sent out without including the social handles? Not a smart move considering people like to know what others are thinking of your brand as well. When adding social icons however, it is wise to ensure that you are actually active on the platform and you have positive feedback on your page. It's of no use to drive people to your social page and then let them see only 200 likes or 500 followers. Not a very appealing number.

Also, when you are constructing the body of your emails, it's a good practice to include the names of some reliable client or event testimonial. People find these social signs more credible to believe than self-bragging. You are probably missing all mentions of your brand in your email messages and hence missing out on conversions as well.

Where is the carrot?

Whether you are into B2B or B2C marketing, the carrot or "added benefit" works for all.

If you are familiar with online shopping then the term 'cart abandonment' will not be new to you. What will also not be new is, receiving an email from the eCommerce vendor, reminding you in a polite way that things are waiting in your cart. If you still do not respond, there will probably be an email after two days with an additional 5% discount if you buy now!

This is also true with customers who have not been active for a while. You may be familiar receiving emails with subject lines like -"We have missed you!" or "Áre you still interested?"

The question is, have you been using these methods of audience engagement for your email campaigns? If not, this is probably where you can work on.

Go back to your email database today and identify customers who have not done business in the last 6 months and there you have something to look forward to with your business!

SOURCE

Facebook Marketing

Are you concerned about your future? Would you like to be in a position to help your family through tricky financial times? Do you feel there is more you can do following retirement? Are you feeling worthless now that you have finished work? If so I would recommend that you take a look at Social Media Marketing as a project which could solve all of the above issues and enable you to achieve a valuable level of additional income. I personally experienced the frustration of a lack of something worthwhile to do with my life and in my search for a suitable alternative I came across the possibility of utilising social media as a business that could be run from home. As I was an IT newbie I needed a mentor to guide me through the early stages of setting up my business and my research threw up an exuberant young man, by the name of Paul OMahony. Paul is widely recognised internationally as a foremost expert in Social Media and he is an accomplished  and humourous speaker. He offers clear and unambiguous advice to his students and he is particularly excited by the potential of one platform in particular. Facebook offers massive opportunity for building a business and expanding a customer base. Astute imaging and regular content posting helps to create a high level of trust with your customers which in turn develops into a long lasting relationship with potential for further sales. Because of the vast potential of this area there is no time to lose, the sooner you take the plunge the better because of the rapidly expanding nature of Facebook Marketing..

If the thought of a Social Media business, working from home with hours to suit yourself, appeals to you you could not do better than to take a look at this FREE webinar presented by my mentor and Internationally renowned Social Media expert Paul OMahony 

Paul presenting at a Inner Circle gathering of his students in Peterborough 2017

To check out your 'totally no strings' FREE introduction to Social Media Marketing 

go to 

https://tiny.cc/2y17ky

'You are never too old'

Ray Willey 

What makes a good life?

The video below discusses the important part that relationships play in our pursuit of happiness. Having an achievable goal is a key part of this also. To have a shared objective, one that all participants have a stake in, gives a sense of purpose ultimately leading to a worthwhile achievement. As you get older it is critical that meaningful activities are built into your lifestyle which enable you to continue to grow. It has been said to me that if you believe you are going to live until you are 135 you will plan accordingly with optimism and even if you don't make it, the principle of having a sense of purpose is established, the result of which will be to make the best use of what time you have left. There are lots of opportunities to do things which are both mentally stimulating and potentially lucrative if you are prepared to try. All it takes is a bit of initiative and a willingness 'to give it a go', in the right hands the risk can be managed within safe limits and as the man said 'no pain, no gain', Its all in the mind...You are never too old!

What makes a good life? Lessons from the longest study on happiness | Ro...

Steve Jobs on how to succeed in business

How You Can Succeed With Facebook Marketing

When it comes to getting your business exposed to the masses, there is no better marketing tool than Facebook. In recent years Facebook has become the world's most popular social media network and business are now beginning to take advantage of it. Read on and learn all there is about Facebook marketing.

Do not sign up for a Facebook account and expect the name of your brand to speak for itself. Even if the brand you are marketing is fairly well established, you still need to do work to make it even more popular. Failing to do this may result in you losing some of your fans.

Create a custom tab for your Facebook page. You can use custom tabs as a welcome locale for all of your new Facebook visitors. It's a great place to promote your current offerings, products, and services. Plus, it'll give a little personality to your Facebook page which is always a plus.

Consider surfing Facebook as your company instead of yourself. When you're on your page, you have the opportunity to check out Facebook as the page itself. Do this and like pages which you think have a similar fan base, and then comment on those pages as well to get your name out to an expanded audience.

Ralybest Marketing

Decide why you want to have a Facebook page. As with other kinds of marketing to maximize the returns for the business, you must understand why you're marketing in the fist place. You also need to define your marketing goals and create a corresponding marketing strategy. You must create your Facebook page with your marketing strategy in mind.

Give Facebook ads a try. Your products or ser vice will only receive so much promotion from your normal postings. Purchased ads can make a huge difference. They aren't pricey and they can help.

Try using custom tabs on your Facebook page. When you first create your business Facebook page, you'll have general tabs like the Wall and Info tabs. Try extending your capabilities by creating your own custom tabs. Some businesses have tabs that contain links to various kinds of content like products, newsletters, and ongoing contests.

One of the best marketing tactics is to hold a giveaway. People like free stuff and may life your page for a chance to win something. You do not need invest much money, but you can increase your base of potential customers.

When thinking of information to share with your followers on Facebook, try to keep them relevant to what is going on with your business or industry. If your company sells auto parts, you should make posts about auto parts. Posting photos of cats or other irrelevant topics will ensure that people unfollow your page.

Having read the article above, you should now have a better idea of how Facebook marketing works. With a bit of effort on your part, you can reach more people than ever before. Use the tips and tricks mentioned above and take your business to a whole new level.

Kurt Tasche is an Internet entrepreneur, martial artist and motivational speaker. He writes articles on the topics of Internet marketing, personal development, network marketing, business, motivation, martial arts and more. You can learn more about Kurt by reading his blog at: http://www.kurttasche.com

SOURCE

Magic words for upselling

When You Know Your "Why" You'll Connect With Your Audience

Why do you have an online business? If you're just working to make a lot of money, you may find it challenging to reach your goal. That's because online business efforts are much more successful when they are laser targeted.

You should undoubtedly be marketing to a smaller, niche target, rather than a huge field. It's much easier to connect with a smaller, very precise group of people than the entire marketplace.

You'll also find success quicker, and easier, when you establish the "Why" that drives you.

What's Your "Why"?

What's the reason you're running your online business? Your initial answer is going to be pretty general. You may reply that your online business will ideally make you rich. You might also say you don't like your boss, and hate working for someone else.

If your instant response is, "Because I want to be rich," ask yourself "why" you want to be rich. Having wealth is fine, but what do you want from the money that you hope to make? Ask yourself why lots of money is important to you.

For example, do you want people to look up to you because you're rich? Perhaps you would like to be able to donate large amounts of money to charitable organizations so that you can help others? In either case, you've found the root cause for your surface goal of making lots of money.

Why Your "Why" Is So Important

People identify with passion. When you keep your "Big Why" at the front of your mind, it drives every one of your business efforts. It becomes clear to your prospects and target audience. People that have that same focus, those that hold your important ideals in high esteem, will be happy to become your customers and clients.

That is because they think like you do. It's easy for you to connect with them, mentally and emotionally. This is why digging down to your base reason for everything that you do is so important in business.

Business Can Be Tough

Business can be tough at times. Just like any other business, your online business will have highs and lows, good times and bad. If you are not 100% committed to a laser targeted vision that you hold above all other ideas, there are going to be times when you may think about throwing in the towel.

If you have identified, embraced and written down your "Big Why", working through any type of setbacks and business difficulties will be no problem at all.

One of the most challenging problems you can face when you're an online home business owner is being taken seriously. You can have issues with family, friends and strangers alike. Why are they so suspicions and skeptical? Fortunately, there are a number of ways to deal with the different people in your life to make them take you seriously as an online business owner:

SOURCE

How to Talk to Anyone: 92 Little Tricks for Big Success in Relationships...

6 Simple Internet Marketing Tactics (That Don't Cost A Penny)

Internet marketing doesn't have to be difficult and doesn't have to cost you a fortune. In fact there a number of internet marketing tactics that are highly effective and don't cost a penny.

1. Email Marketing

Possibly the most effective form of internet marketing is email marketing. Email marketing enables you to develop a relationship with your potential customer so that they come to know, like and trust you and as a result, be more inclined to buy from you. As an online business owner, you should be constantly building your email list of prospects. These are people who have shown an interest in your business and given you their permission to send them more information by email.

2. Social Media

As a general rule, most social media platforms, like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn and Instagram work best for doing a very specific job for your business. And that's creating leads, not sales. Interact with with your target market on social media, deliver valuable information, answer questions, offer quizzes and create contests. All this generates interest in your business and pushes traffic to your website.

3. Give Away Value (For Free)

People love getting something for free. If they know that what you give away is of value to them, they will happily exchange this for their email address (see point #1 above). Items like reports, eBooks, PDFs and even videos are all excellent ways to do this. Regular newsletters will help you keep customers that you already have. Free items that offer value can also be passed around internet from person to person, all driving traffic back to your website.

4. Video Marketing

Videos are easy to create and there are lots of free tools to enhance your video. People enjoy watching videos. They boost traffic to your website and it's a great way to promote your products and services. Plus, you don't even need to appear on camera if you don't want to.

5. Write A Blog

Blogging is all about informing and educating. Writing a blog helps to broaden your business, catch the attention of more clients and maintain relationships with your existing customers.Regular blog updates keep your website content fresh which helps to get your website noticed by the search engines.

6. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

This organic, or unpaid traffic, is important for every online business. It's all about getting the right keywords and phrases onto your website pages so that the search engines see your website and list it in their search page search results.

SOURCE

Tips to Promote Small Businesses Through Facebook Marketing

Do you want to grow your business digitally?

Do you want to promote your business through social media? The answer is simple- That is Facebook. Facebook is a huge success among a lot of successful entrepreneurs.

About all consumers utilise the Web to scan for local businesses - and the greater part of them are on Facebook. The site is the greatest person to person communication platform on the planet by a long shot, with more than a billion active users.

In the interim, the social media monster is consistently taking off elements to help clients discover small businesses while helping small businesses interface with potential new clients.

A decent Facebook presence can help you connect with your fans and develop your business. Be that as it may, with such a variety of approaches to promote your business on Facebook, it's hard to know where to start.

For successful promotion through Facebook read these steps

Creating your business Page:

Your Facebook Page is your business' homepage on the social networking site. A Page is a great deal like a normal Facebook profile, yet for brands and organisations.

You will interact with Facebook clients through your business' page, so ensure it genuinely mirrors your image. Utilise your business logo as the essential photograph for your Page, and pick a cover photograph that is alluring and exhibits what your business does.

Write catchy phrases to depict your image, and pick a paramount Web address. your brand name must contain after the Facebook domain name.

Sharing Images, Posts & Videos:

It's insufficient just to have a Facebook Page. To get attention from your followers you'll have to make advantageous, good content for your fans.

Clients who like your page will see your posts appear in their fundamental Facebook news feed, so get cracking. You can share updates, photographs, videos, promotions and significantly more.

The best Facebook posts - the ones that drive a great many people to comment, share and like - are short and visual. Search for approaches to add a visual element to your posts, regardless of whether it's a short video cut, a photograph from inside your store, or simply stock art.

Facebook's Page Insights device removes the mystery from sharing. The apparatus, open from your Facebook Page's Admin menu, gives profitable data on supporter action. For instance, it can disclose to you what time the vast majority see your substance so you can arrange your advancements.

Begin making associations:

What great is sharing content if no one sees it? Luckily, Facebook has built-in tools to help you build an online following.

To start with, look at the Build Audience tools found in your Page's Admin menu. You'll discover alternatives to welcome both your Facebook friends and email contacts to follow your Page.

Traditional marketing techniques can help you develop your crowd past your current following. That implies publicizing your Facebook Page's address on signs in your store, on your business card, in messages you send, and on whatever other marketing materials you deliver for your business.

On the off chance that you set aside the opportunity to make a memorable URL for your Page from the begin, it will be easier to promote it in the future.

Draw in your followers:

Then, you can develop your audience of people naturally by making content that your supporters need to share, as and comment on.

The key is to post quality content frequently. That implies sharing updates that are important to your crowd in any event on more than one occasion for every week. For best outcomes, try taking a friendly, conversational tone, and recollect to be brief.

Keep your updates timely, and react specifically to comments and private messages. Making an exchange with your followers will urge them to draw in with your posts later on.

Use friends of fans:

New clients will most probably attempt your business if their friends as of now utilise it. Facebook gives you a chance to use informal chat to promote your item or service.

Remember that when a fan interfaces with your Page, their friends will see the movement in their news feeds.

You can encourage more communication in an assortment of ways. Set up surveys and ask questions on your Facebook Page that fans can't avoid reacting to.

Urge clients to check into your business on Facebook when they visit by offering a little discount for any individual who does. Checking in is an element that permits clients to tell their companions of where they are.

You can likewise make unique occasions and restricted time advancements and welcome your adherents, who can welcome their companions thus.

Consider Facebook advertisements:

Facebook additionally offers traditional advertising alternatives that let you position your custom advertisements in clients' news feeds. The advertisements show up as special posts and direct any individual who clicks straight to your site.

Since Facebook gathers stacks of client information, it can focus on your promotion to clients who are destined to be interested in your item or service.

The stage likewise highlights an investigation device to help you comprehend which promotions drive interest and sales.

For your social media needs visit us at http://www.brightbridge.co

SOURCE

9 Proofs You Can Increase Your Brain Power

The philosophy of Stoicism - Massimo Pigliucci

It seems that I have been stoical all my life without fully realising it. You are never too old!

How to Get More Views on YouTube

Marketing Online For Business Startups

If an item as lowly as a Figit Spinner can take the Internet by storm in as little as three days and show up in class rooms across the nation a short week later, why can't your business power up and show up?

Let's max out a list of possible marketing options for your business online, within the next ten days and see if we can't send your business to the front page!

Are you ready?

• Facebook Fan Page. Invite your friends.
• Twitter #hashtags. Capture attention with keyword tags.
• LinkedIn Articles. Share with your groups. Tweet it out!
• Pinterest? Oh yes. Share your pictures. Show them off.
• Tumbler. Definitely, tumble out your release.
• Blogger. Share it. Reblog it. Invite friends to post it.
• WordPress. Reposting. News blast. Blog blast. Notify.
• Sumo. Kill it with Sumo, and share it everywhere Sumo goes.
• Yelp. Review it. Post it. Renew it.
• Amazon. Write it. Book it. Create a White Paper. Sell it.
• eBay. Auction block it. Post it. Reuse it.
• StumbleUpOn. Send it out with keyword precision.
• MapIt. Put your address on the map.
• Google it. Make sure you've registered your business with Google.
• Bing it. Register on Bing and show up on the wall.
• Yahoo it. Send it out to Yahoo News. Post it. Update it. Press Release it.
• Snapchat it? Of course, post a picture and meme it.
• WordStream it.
• PPC it.
• Banner ad and Press Release it.
• As your friends to share it. Scare it. Double dare it.
• Sing it. Make it a celebrity.
• YouTube it. Video and Audio share it.
• SlideShare it. Add the slides and words to it.
• Groupon it. Coupons work. Discount it.
• TRY to hide it.
• Secretize it.

I don't know about you, but some of the most exciting, most responsive advertising I've found online is FUN. When you're really having a good time sharing your business on the internet, others want to know what you've got. A great way to market your business online, is to stir up some action.

Food places and coffee shops can invite tribute artists to come in for a visit. Imagine, photos of Elvis seated at the coffee bar with your customers? Or maybe your customers are younger and would prefer Taylor Swift. My favorite recent marketing event was a joint effort with a coffee shop /bookstore where a book signing took place, and we invited local football team members to come by and sign autographs.

Need an event? Find a local celebrity and send out the press releases. Be sure your Social Media is turned on!

Need to put your new business startup on Main Street? Jan Verhoeff knows how to schedule events, attract attention, and drive traffic. Contact her for more great ideas at http://janverhoeff.com

ARTICLE SOURCE

90 year old takes SIXTH DEGREE COURSE

Today on the news, a 90 year old woman, Joy Gibson. talked about the sixth University degree she is currently working on. Having covered philosophy; Shakespeare; Elizabethan costume (she couldn't remember the others) she thought it would be good if she could complete the seventh in time for her 100th birthday. Amazing, I'll have to recruit her for to promote my business.
You are never too old!
Heres to you Joy, to your success.



Pic - The Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford upon Avon

FOR FREE ADVICE ON ACHIEVING A COMFORTABLE RETIREMENT INCOME  go to

https://tiny.cc/2y17ky

6 MINS FOR THE NEXT 60 YEARS OF YOUR LIFE - A RANT

This fully endorses my mantra 'You are never too old', a no holds barred by view by Gary V of the potential of the 'Senior Citizens' who have given up. Often for no fault of their own having reached the age of retirement and feeling as though they are on the scrap heap they are just whiling the time away 'til they die.

Another of my 'mantras' is that 'you are born, you live, you die', the point is there is plenty of living left in you, all it needs is a 'spark' to ignite the desire.

Check out  https://tiny.cc/2y17ky for a glimpse of what the future could hold for you.

You are never too old!!!

https://tiny.cc/2y17ky

Neil deGrasse Tyson on Knowledge vs. Thinking

You write amazing content and you post it for all the right people to read. Then what happens? Either your content makes a big splash or it doesn't. If the impact isn't there, there are things that you can do to change that. It is all in the targeting.

It is all in the story 

Every piece of content that you write must have a story in it. You don't want to tell the same story every time but each story should be filled with interesting, compelling words that resonate with your target audience. Your story is a demonstration of how human you are and how much like them you are in so many different ways.

Timing is critical 

Although your content must be top quality and it must contain all sorts of things that will make it draw attention, there are still other elements that go into the formula that will make it successful. One of those things is timing. At this point, without a doubt, you will have established the correct (and most appropriate) target audience before this point. Of course, it goes without saying that your content is perfect (or, as close to it as possible) before this point as well.

Now, all you need to worry about is when to post the content for maximum impact. Of course, you probably understand that your content must also be in the proper format, use of language, and the appropriate device as well.

At this point, it is probably helpful to examine the various aspects of this more closely.

• Posting to the appropriate people: The first concept that should drive you is that your content should be married to your target audience. Obviously, if the content is not of interest to your target audience, they will not read what you are posting. If that is the case, you will not have an opportunity to develop any sort of meaningful relationship with them. Without a relationship, you won't get anywhere. Your content will need to resonate with your target audience members. Your story will need to connect with them on an emotional level because the experiences that you are discussing are their experiences too. Your story must be extremely personal to them.


• Posting the appropriate content: When it comes to your content, it does not go without saying that any content will do. Your content should be well-thought-out and well executed. The truth is that you have taken a great deal of time and effort to establish exactly who your target audience members are and you have taken great pains to make sure that your content truly speaks to those target audience members.


• Posting in the appropriate place at the appropriate time: This is one of the most critical aspects of your content's success. It is very important for you to establish a solid relationship with your target audience members way before you reach this point. Assuming that you have been able to do that, you will come to understand their habits and preferences as far as reading posts online and interacting are concerned. That will drive you to post your content in the right groups and at the right times of day and on the most effective days of the week. It isn't that difficult to establish this. It is just that you need to wrap your mind around those concepts for them to work for you.


• Posting in the appropriate format and on the appropriate device: This is more important than you might think. Considering how many people view their content on some sort of mobile device nowadays, it is important that you optimize your content accordingly. The average business person is most likely not sitting in front of the computer on the desk, waiting for content to come in. He or she is on the go, attending meetings, etc. Content must be at the person's fingertips wherever he or she happens to be at the time.


• Using the appropriate language: The language that you choose for your content is an extremely important part of how you communicate and although you never want to lose your individual voice, you will want to use language that the target audience member can respond to positively. Your voice should be clear, concise, and beautifully expressed. There is no doubt that the other person will respond well to that.

Conclusion 

You write great, focused content because you are great at what you do and you have a deep understanding of your target audience. Your content should always be focused on the maximum impact that you can achieve. It is important that you are clear about your niche and your audience. If you follow the approach that was discussed here, you will start to see positive results that will make a tremendous difference to your business.

SOURCE

7 Keys to a Positive Personality

Birthday adventures

If you are like me you won't like surprise outings. I need to know what is about to happen in advance so I can be prepared. 

Thats not to say I haven't enjoyed the 'surprises' organised for my 71st birthday by my family, quite the contrary I have had a lovely two days, starting with that organised by my daughter who took me to a delightful local pub for a 'beer and cider festival' on Sunday and thereafter at home for a lovely meal prepared by my wife, a fabulous cook, which was enjoyed by us all. 



Today, Monday, I have walked 12.5 miles, been to Cannon Hill Park and enjoyed a picnic lunch with my wife, daughter, daughter-in-law and grandson 

There is nothing better in my eyes than to spend quality time with my family, I don't need presents, their presence is much more valued. 

We have always celebrated birthdays more than other 'conventional' holidays, they are personal and much more relevant than generalised public events. To be involved in a personalised gathering is much more pleasurable than to be showered with presents, the majority of which are of questionable use anyway. 

Don't get me wrong, I am not being ungrateful, I do appreciate it when someone goes to the trouble/expense of giving me a gift, its just that I would be more than happy with their company and have them avoid the worry and hassle of choosing 'an appropriate' present. 

Yes, there certainly is pleasure derived from giving and I would not want to deprive anyone of that but for me it's always the thought that counts and not the material possession of an artefact. What do you think?

At times, it is hard to get visitors for your site in the start. The tips given in this article will help you get a few hundred visitors per day without any problem. Getting started with blogging is difficult in the beginning but becomes easy if you keep trying. Read on.

1. Yahoo! Answers

If you do a quick search on Yahoo for SEO, you will get thousands of questions that you can answer. To drive traffic to your blog or site from Yahoo Answers, all you have to do is give helpful answers. Your goal should be to become an authority in your niche. With this technique, you can easily get over 100 visitors and your site will get a lot of exposure.

2. Social Bookmarking

If you can create enjoyable content, one of your posts may go viral or get popular. Actually, your goal is to put your site in front of potential visitors. Another way to do it is social bookmarking. With these sites, you can bookmark your favorite sites for other users to view. And the great thing is that you won't need to spend more than a minute to bookmark your website. Some good social bookmarking websites are Delicious, Reddit, and Digg.

3. Guest Blogging

For free traffic, we suggest that you go for guest blogging. All you have to do is spend a few minutes to write a quality article. You may want to contact the most popular sites in your niche and then ask them for permission to publish an article on their site. The majority of sites will give you the permission happily.

4. Forum Posting

You can find community forums for every niche, topic or industry under the sun. For likeminded people, the internet is the best place. What you need to do is post on the forums for the community members. The majority of forums will let you leave a link back to your site in the signature of your post.

5. Twitter

Whenever you write fresh content, don't forget to Tweet about it. With the help of the right keywords, you can make your tweet interesting and you will get a higher click through rate. Make sure the posts have creative headlines. If the headlines are not catchy, people won't click on it.

6. Facebook

You can create a Facebook fan page in a minute or two. If you are a business owner, make sure you have one. The reason is that 1 out of every 13 people of the world uses Facebook.

7. Blog Commenting

Another way to get a lot of traffic for your site is through blog commenting. As soon as you post a comment, you will get traffic. Make sure that the comments are insightful and are posted as soon as a new post goes live.

8. Article Marketing

You can also promote your website through article directories. As a matter of fact, this is an effective way of getting traffic for your site. You can write quality content and publish it on your sites, such as Article Dashboard and Article Base. However, make sure that the articles are interesting, creative and contain the right keywords.

So, if you want to get traffic for your new site, you may follow these tips.

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The 4 Best Habits of Rich People | Brian Tracy

��THESE 10 FOODS THAT UNCLOG ARTERIES NATURALLY AND PROTECT AGAINST HEART...

Should cholesterol be a matter of concern for you this could be helpful advice, I'm all for the natural way of things and try my best to avoid chemicals if at all possible. As it happens most of these items are part of my normal diet anyway and you know what? I've got a great  and varied diet, I love my food and my wife loves cooking, a marriage made in heaven.

Practical Ways to Make Passive Income - Actual Methods to Make Money

Why you should define your fears instead of your goals | Tim Ferriss

Fascinating and frightening at the same time. Stoicism, is an area I have not really considered in depth, though having viewed this TED video I might just do that (despite being relatively untroubled myself). 

Having spent a great deal of time recently developing a mindset of positivity I cannot imagine how someone who suffers with bi-polar disease could focus to the extent that I/we have as part of our mentoring journey with @paulomahony
Nevertheless Tim Ferris seems to have found a way whilst flirting with the 'other side', a remarkable story and one which we can all learn from. Your thoughts?

How To Create A Lead Magnet To Get More Prospects

A lead magnet is the free incentive you offer in exchange for somebody joining your email list. Email marketing is one of the most effective marketing strategies for running a profitable online business. It doesn't matter which niche you're in you must have a responsive email list. People will not give you their email address to receive something that doesn't interest them. When you create a lead magnet it has to be something so enticing that your prospect would otherwise pay for it.

Types Of Lead Magnet   Your lead magnet can come in a variety of formats. Think about what your audience is most likely to respond to. Here are some examples

• Cheat Sheet: This might be in the form of a worksheet, notes, a mind map, or some kind of visual.
• Course: People often like email courses that they receive over time.
• Report: A short, easy-to-digest report that offers a great strategy or tips.
• eBook: A longer, more comprehensive lead magnet in the form of an eBook.
• Audio File: A sound recording or course that teaches something.
• Video: A video that teaches something, shares a great strategy, demonstrates something, etc.
• Coupon: A discount to new prospects who sign up for your list.
• Quiz: People like to answer questions and see if they're correct, so you can deliver their results via email. 

Keep It Simple   Don't over complicate things. Your offer should be simple and effective. It should be easy to understand the value that you're offering and easy to sign up. Make sure your lead capture page (also called a squeeze page) is clean and straightforward.

Be Precise  Ensure that your offer is specific. Offering one solution to one problem people in your market have. You don't want to be to general or attempt to cover lots of different areas. Really spell out exactly what people can expect to receive.

Build A Great Lead Capture Page  Remember that you really have to encourage people to sign up for your list. You really have to "sell" it so people will sign up. Make it an offer they can't refuse and put the strongest 3 to 5 benefits on the lead capture page.

You Need Highly Targeted Traffic  Direct targeted web traffic to your lead magnet. This means you know your audience will be interested in what you have to say. You can use paid or free traffic or a combination. If you have a good lead capture page and you create a lead magnet that your target audience will want, you'll get a sizeable amount of sign ups for your list.

Anything you do online is pretty much useless without traffic. It doesn't matter how many lead magnets you create if you never get any traffic to your lead capture pages. This free checklist reveals free website traffic methods that will lower your reliance on potentially costly paid traffic sources: http://jonallo.com/freetrafficchecklist

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10 Proven Ways to Increase Your Facebook Likes

Whether for personal or business purposes, one of the main goals of most Facebook users is to garner more likes and reactions. This article will outline 10 simple ways to increase the amount of likes for any post.

1. Keep Your Page Updated -  It is important to note that keeping your page updated is not synonymous with spamming your Facebook followers. Getting more exposure on social media by posting periodically will result in more likes, reacts and even comments. However, posting too often is quite, frankly, annoying. As a result, your friends will literally like your post less, which translates to Facebook likes too!

2. Filtering -  You can and should choose what you share on Facebook. If you have a Facebook page that you are updating correctly, but the content is lacking, you may still find yourself not reaching your goal of likes. Ask yourself: What is the point of this post? A post will have more of an impact if the meaning behind it is clear to its audience, whether its intention is to be funny, touching or thought-provoking.

3. Add Photos  -  Any post that has a photo attached to it will garner more attention than any solid text post. When deciding to include a photo in your post, choose one that catches the eye of someone scrolling down their newsfeed. While adding a photo will be sure to increase your likes, make sure to include one that is of good quality. If someone stops to look at your eye-catching photo, they will be curious enough to stop, so take this opportunity to share what you will.

4. Factors of Exposure  -  Before posting to Facebook take into account the factors that will affect your Facebook likes. These include trending topics and viral posts. If you want more people to see your posts, it is best to include topics that are currently trending on Facebook so that your post will be seen in that thread. You can take advantage of hot topics like the most recent American election to do this. The mention or recreation of viral posts can also spark an increase in exposure and likes; for example, the popular mannequin challenge.

5. Post Time  -  Time plays a larger role in receiving likes than you may think. Obviously a post at 3 a.m. will result in less likes, but there are less obvious times to be avoided as well. Avoid all times when you know people are occupied with real life social interactions: office hours, happy hour, dinner hours, and morning rush hour. On the other hand, lazy hours, such as Sunday mornings, lunch breaks and late evenings are prime time for garnering likes since people are more likely to be on their phones.

6. Link Your Social Media  -  Facebook is one of many social media platforms out there, and this is something you should use to your advantage. Linking social media is a common practice for people who have found great success on these platforms. For Facebook this means: if you make a post on a different platform, you should also link those followers to your Facebook page. Using posts on different platforms to promote your Facebook page is an opportunity to increase exposure. This will expand your views, and also your amount of likes.

7. Relatable Content  -  If your Facebook page posts content that is relatable, more people will like it just because of this. Additionally, people are likely to tag their friends in these posts because they may know that the person experiences something similar. The surge in the popularity of "memes" in the mainstream media is proof of this.

8. Clickbait  -  While it is looked down upon by the social media community as deceitful, clickbait is not necessarily deceitful. Clickbait, in this sense, is creating a post that piques the curiosity of Facebook users by using ambiguity rather than deceit. For example, instead of saying "I am moving to Mexico to do volunteer work", say "I am making a huge change in my life, please join me on this journey" and let them watch your video for the explanation. This method works most effectively for videos or other content that people don't immediately see.

9. Tags  -  Make use of all the tools social media, in particular Facebook, has provided you. When creating a post, make sure to tag everyone involved or in the picture, so that their friends will see the post too. This will increase the views received by your post, and consequently your likes.

10. Giveaways  -  If you have the means, giveaways attract a lot of attention, and likes. Usually users can have a Facebook like and Facebook share of the post as a condition for entry in the giveaway; this is an effective Facebook marketing strategy. Many companies may also sponsor you if you have a large enough following!

BiggieTips - Tips and Tricks for Your Daily Life ( http://www.biggietips.com )

BiggieTips is dedicated to BIG TIPS to help you get things done more efficiently. You will master how to do everything in a bigger way and live smarter. Topics include Home, Health, Lifestyle, Travel, Technology, Entertainment, Business and Video.

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