If you’ve been in marketing for a while, then you’ve
no doubt seen the “crazes” come and go. It seems like
one minute everyone is interested in one thing and the
next minute everyone hops trains to concentrate on
something else.

This can be really harmful as far as focus goes –
if you never settle on any one thing, it’s a lot
more difficult to find success.

On the other hand, one of the really cool things
about having a web-based business is that there
are so many cool opportunities opening up.

It’s helpful to separate these things into two
camps — the first camp is filled with “shiny new
objects”. These are distractions — no-no’s, until
you’ve found success with what you’re already
doing.

The other camp is filled with things you SHOULD
be paying attention to. For instance, new
promotional strategies. In the previous
email, I talked about why I will not rely on
Google (or any single entity) for my business,
ever again.

How, exactly, does an Internet marketer go
Google-less, though?

You’ve got to build your own following.

You’ve got to allow your brand, your content,
your “whatever” become known, shared, and
celebrated.

One of the best ways to do that is by using
social media.

One of the absolute TOP ways to dive right into
building great relationships and generate
website traffic (and sales) is by using Pinterest.

I’m going to start some fairly thorough Pinterest
testing coming up, and I think you should do the same.

I’m recommending a Pinterest book focused on Kindle,
for starters, because its storyboarding method is
simply phenomenal.

This is perfect for those who are interested in
promoting Kindle books…but you’ll very easily
be able to translate the strategies to anything you
do online.

It’s all connected.

Seriously, pick this up (and grab my bonus as well -
you get my notes to get you started quick).

Don’t let Google rule your life…Pinterest is
simply the greatest way to “go viral” out there.
Combine this with your other strategies (no matter
whether you’re an offliner, writer, affiliate marketer,
product creator…whatever…)

~
J. Elizabeth

Just email me after your purchase (it’s less than the
cost of a pizza!) and I’ll send the bonus notes right
over.

Click on over to make a great choice!

This week has been sort of strange. Strange
in the sense that I can finally say, without
hesitation, that I never want to base my
business around the whims of Google, again.

——————————

Learn how to promote Kindle books (as an
author or affiliate) using Pinterest!

Make more sales using Pinterest
—————————————–

Sure, I’ll LOVE making it to the first page,
but, like many others I’ve talked to, my
focus will be on good content (I’m also proud
to say that it always has been).

It’s more important than ever these days to
take things into your own hands. It used to
be that all we had was Google…it’s easy
to fall into a sort of pity party about
all of the ranking damage that happened
as a result of “penguin” (algo change), but
we have to look on the bright side — there are
SO many better ways to promote stuff and earn
a living online.

We’re in a period right now where things are
very rapidly changing. I’ve been saying it
for a while now, but social media is truly
where it’s at — I also find and believe that
social media will continue to play a very large
role in Google rankings in the coming years
(making it a win-win).

That brings me to talking about Pinterest.
Pinterest fascinates me to no end. It’s
the most rapidly growing social media
platform right now, and it’s so much FUN!

There are also some awesome, ethical ways to
telling engaging picture-stories through
Pinterest. This leads people to repin your
stuff and gets them wanting to click through
to see what you’re up to! This can be very
profitable.

I’ve mentioned Pinterest products in the past
(by Barb Ling, my go-to Pinterest gal), but
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention her
latest –

Pinterest and Kindle — Storyboarding works

I know there are a TON of folks into Kindle
right now. She’s come up with an ingenious
way to promote your Kindle books (your own
or through an affiliate link) to get
tons of notice (and extra sales!).

This method (storyboarding) can be applied
to just about anything, really. I’m very
inspired by this — though I don’t recommend
using Amazon affiliate links due to their
restrictions. But you’ll see how to get around this
(via using your own site), once you’ve gotten
your copy.

I’m also so inspired that I’m ready to hand you
my personal notes on this product, as a bonus!

Just send me an email (hit reply to this one)
after you buy, and I’ll send them right over.

Then, you can get started right away using
Pinterest to increase your sales as a Kindle
author (get more notice to your books, leading
to more natural sales, too!), affiliate marketer,
or product creator.

Barbara did this as a joint venture with Sam
England, and they have actually teamed with
with a ton of other product creators to offer
FREE bonus products on Kindle.

For under $10, this is a value packed WSO that
you’ll absolutely see a return in investment on,
as soon as you put it into practice.

Guest Blogger — Michelle at Secret Weapon Copywriting

Moms decide to work at home for many reasons. Some choose to work from home because they want to raise their children, watch them take their first steps, or lose their first tooth. While others leave to get out of the “rat race” or they want a change of pace. There are still others who leave the workforce because of a sick family member or personal illness. I was in the latter group.

Seven years ago, I had to make a very hard decision. I had to leave my job of 13 years for health reasons. As the doctor put it “If you stay I think you won’t make it.”  He didn’t need to spell things out for me. I made a choice—it was far better to be alive and jobless than to be dead.

Though I made my decision, I had to adjust to my new role—and it was difficult. Emotionally I went through periods of anger, frustration, and despair. I lost my sense of self wondering who am I? What is my purpose?

 Mistake 1: Loss Of Identity

For over 13 years, my job had defined who I was. I was Michelle the caseworker and then Michelle the Adult Protective Services Supervisor. My identity was so intertwined with the roles I performed or the title I carried. Once I no longer had a job—I lost my identity.

In hindsight, I realize that was a mistake. Yet at the time, I didn’t realize it was a pattern I would soon repeat. During the first few months of being a work-at-home mom, I dove into writing which I had dibbled and dabbled in over the years. I had even gotten a few articles published on the web. Now I needed to try to earn a living at it. I wanted to establish my new identity as a writer.

Mistake 2: Defined By Rejection

I sent articles and stories out to editors and each submission was met with a rejection. Some editors were nice about it while others were very harsh. Since I was thin skinned each rejection was like a mortal blow. My self-confidence was holding on by a thread, and each rejection unraveled it more.

I felt like a total failure. For a time I stopped writing. I gave up. Why? Because I believed the rejections defined who I was. I believed I was a failed writer. I believed my new identity was failure.

Many women make this same mistake. They define themselves according to the role that they fulfill or the job they perform. When their status changes often times, they’re left wondering who they are. You may have experienced something similar.

Solution 1: Know Who You Are

So how do you establish your right identity? For me, it was to find out who I really was. I was more than the person who worked for the City of New York for 13 years. I was more than the woman who was now at home collecting disability. I was more than the writer with a drawer full of rejection notices.

I had to make a decision. Did these notices define who I was? I chose to accept that rejection notices were events that happened—they were experiences I had—things I lived through. And challenges that I had to rise above. I took a deep breath and decided to join a few writers groups. I took up a few writing classes and put my shoulder to the wheel.

I was still scared but I had to find courage by pushing past fear. Now I am still learning and growing in my craft but who I am is no longer defined by what I do. I am persevering, determined, and creative. What I do is write.

Solution 2: Get What You Need To Succeed

If you need to more knowledge to hone your skills, run your business, or to establish yourself then seek it out. If you need personal tutoring then find a coach. If you need business help—find a forum or group that will enable you to reach your goals. But don’t define yourself by what you do this would be a mistake. You’re so much more.

Maintain

Who you are is not what you do. You are a woman of vision, determination, and perseverance—and what you do is work from home. Keep yourself on the success track remind yourself of this daily!

About The Author:
Michelle J. Dyett-Welcome is a SEO Copywriter/Ghostwriter. She can be contacted at: michelle (at) Secretweaponcopywriting.com http://www.secretweaponcopywriting.com

Many people are confused as to whether they should dive into the world of product creation, or stick with affiliate marketing instead.

I want to make one thing clear — if you’re focusing on a solid affiliate marketing technique, follow through with it!

However, it definitely helps to diversify. You can have your hand in BOTH affiliate marketing and product creation — I do!

One of the biggest roadblocks people run into is whether they are even “expert” enough to create a product.

You’ll hear me say it time and time again… EVERYONE has several marketable products in them.

(more to follow Keep your eye on this space)

———————-

Update: I’ll finish my bit in another post. But, I feel it is VERY serendipitous that I just ran across an article by Marlon Sanders (with reprint rights) on this very topic.

I really think it will help members of my list and readers of my blog. Seriously.

It is pasted below:

“Create Something”
I have a theme for you that will serve you well.
It’s something you can apply TODAY.
This week.
You can take it with you through all of next year.
That theme is “create something.”
Why?
Why create something:
1. If you don’t create, you don’t have anything to trade to other people for
money.
2. If you don’t create something to trade for money then you have to trade
your own time. That sucks.
3. Creating is fun.
We are all born creators. It’s fun to create something.
There’s an old legend that God created the world because he was bored and
was in the mood to create something, so it might as well be a world.
So he created people who like him could create. This way his creation
became a viral marketing project.
If you’re gonna create, why not create something that creates something
that creates that creates in perpetuity?
How to Get Over Your Fears of Creating
Everyone has fears.
Fears that their creation won’t be valued.
Fears it won’t be good enough.
Fears it’ll be criticized.
Fears it won’t get any attention.
Fears it will be ignored.
Fears that it’ll be too much work.
Fears it won’t be worth it.
What’s the Answer To Fears?
The answer to fear is to look it in the eye and laugh.
Laugh hard.
Then laugh harder.
Then laugh really hard.
Laughter drives away fear.
You and fear.
A partnership of sorts.
See, fear isn’t going anywhere.
You can’t drive it away.
It’s inside of you.
The more you push against it, the more it grows.
So the answer to fear is to CREATE a NEW thought pattern. Which is
what’s so funny about it really.
The answer to fear of creating is to create new thoughts.
It’s funny.
When you’re young the fingers strike the keys on a keyboard at lightning
speeds and with great clarity and energy.
At older ages, that doesn’t always happen. Not because of arthritis but
because of the scars of time that eat away at the impetus to creativity.
The answer is to laugh at your fears and move on.
MOVE.
Nike had it right.
Just do it.
ALL excuses are FEAR driven.
I can’t do it because I procrastinate too much.
I don’t have any focus.
I’m not organized enough.
I don’t have enough money.
I don’t know enough.
I know too much.
I feel overwhelmed.
I don’t have any employees.
I don’t know how.
I don’t know how to do.
I don’t know how to do it.
I feel overwhelmed.
I don’t have enough confidence.
I’m over confident.
I kint talk good.
I kint write gud.
They all somehow have their basis in FEAR.
Fear of being a success.
Fear of failure.
Fear of mental or emotional pain.
Here’s the weird thing about FEAR.
It’s just a feeling.
It’s NOT something in the real world.
Fear of the kind that stifles creativity, robs you of productivity, steals your
future, smashes your dreams – it’s JUST a feeling.
We’ll do ANYTHING to avoid that feeling.
Some people make things up rather than to face the fear.
They make up physical ailments that are EXCUSES for fear of not being
good enough, doing enough, working enough.
They make up problems and drama because THOSE are easier to deal with
(since they’re made up) than the reality of feeling like a klutz, a failure, a
zero.
Some people will blame gurus.
Some will blame their family.
Some will blame anything or anyone other than themselves.
And it’s ALL fear.
100% of it.
And fear is just a feeling inside of you.
So at the end of the day, it’s you and your fear.
Really, at the end of your life.
And you look back at the life you lived. And you look ahead to the unknown
and you feel fear.
So from the day we enter this world till the day we leave it, we deal with
fear.
And you either succumb to it and let it stop your actions, serve as your
crutch, be your excuse, rob you of your future, steal your dreams.
Or you find that other feeling inside of you somewhere, no matter how
deep.
The need and desire to CREATE.
That desire, that need, that feeling is stronger than fear.
Love is stronger than fear.
We create because we love.
A creation is love expressed and in action.
So today, you have a moment of clarity.
A rare moment.
Today you can succumb to fear.
And make excuses.
And get distracted.
And lose focus.
And get overwhelmed with fear and the 1000 variations and colors of it.
Or you can simply choose to create and be a creator in the certainty that the
act of creation is stronger than your fears.
What will it be?
Fear?
Procrastination?
Excuses?
Reasons you can’t?
Reasons the gurus aren’t treating you right.
Reasons it can’t work for you because….
Because you are new.
Because you don’t have a list.
Because you don’t have money.
Because, because, because.
None of which have to do with a ….
Simple….
Solitary…..
Powerful…..Act of creation.
At then end of your life someday, you’re going to walk out that door. And
never walk back through it. One day you’ll read the last ezine I ever write….
And you’ll look back at your life.
You will have succumbed to your fears.
All your life.
And made excuses.
Or you will have chosen to create.
But what?
What do you create?
Whatever is inside of you to create.
Whatever wants to be expressed.
Not all those things can be traded for money. But they all have value.
And with a little luck….
And if life has been kind to you….
There IS something inside of you that you can create.
That others will value.
And be willing to give you money for.
And thus you go on a new road.
The road of being a creator.
The Road Not Taken
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim Because it was grassy and wanted wear, Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I marked the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost

http://www.poemhunter.com/

=======================================
Marlon Sanders helps people with hopes and dreams figure
out how to turn those into reality by selling stuff on
the Internet. http://marlonsanders.com/levelone

When I first started browsing the Warrior Special Offer section back in 2007, I often got sticker shock.

“That much for an ebook? Really??”

I managed to find many valuable ones, but they were usually in the $17+ range. After buying, and taking action with, many WSO’s, I was cool with that price.

It was even cooler when I was the one selling WSO’s, because I was able to see some nice paydays and develop a loyal list of buyers.

There was a long time where I didn’t offer a WSO — no reason in particular, it just fell off of my map as a product creator.

Several months ago, I realized I was leaving money on the table, because it’s an incredibly fast moving, and lucrative, marketplace.

Upon returning to the WSO section to figure out how to shape my offer, I was shocked to find that the prices were VERY LOW!

As in, many started around $3-5 and topped off at $10.

I have been launching mine on dimesales, at around that rate.

What I’ve noticed?

They fly off the shelves… however, I don’t know that that would be the case if it weren’t for affiliates.

Ahhhhhhh, affiliates.

Affiliates, I believe have been a game changer when it comes to Warrior Special Offers. Where it used to be “every man for himself” in the WSO section (as far as how well your WSO took off), it’s now on the shoulders of affiliates.

There are some great things about this! It tends to make your $40 you spend to advertise your WSO worth much more, because your offer falls off the front page so quickly. When you have affiliates promoting your offer, it doesn’t matter how many pages down you area, they get linked directly to your offer by people praising your work.

This can do wonders for your sales.

The problem is, prices are so darn low. Seriously.

We have kicked ourselves in the tail by offering insane value at $3… but what are we to do? As product creators, we can’t really backtrack and say “okay, things are $17 now!” because no one else is doing that. You can’t compete by offering incredible value…these offers already do that (at least the ones I mail as an affiliate do!).

It is still very profitable and fun to run a WSO, it is just an interesting lesson to examine the price points over the years and how massive the WSO packages have gotten. We are shaping people’s expectations, and there is probably no turning back now.

Despite the flack it receives sometimes, I still look upon the WSO section fondly, because it is such a hotbed of innovation — seriously… if you need a great, up to the minute strategy, that is where you’re going to find it.

And you’re going to find it for $5.

Crazy.

*Warning* this is a rant

As you start putting out your own products and building lists for affiliate promotions, you’re going to run into some issues, if you have any conscience at all.

That is, how often should you mail your list, and what should you mail them?

The first thing I want to say is that no matter how often you mail your list and no matter what you mail them, people are going to complain! That is something I can guarantee you.

You have to have thick skin as an e-mail marketer — you also have to make sure you are doing right by your list members.

Before I dive in much further, I want to do sort of a brain dump of things related to list marketing:

• You have a list of people interested in certain topics. Yet, they are at different levels, with different personalities
• People on your list are there for a reason — they want to learn more about a topic, they like you, they like your products, they wanted something free, etc.
• You can’t make everyone happy all the time
• You can make many of the people thrilled when you have a good message to market match
• I’ve gotten e-mails telling me that my two e-mails in a week were too much
• I’ve gotten e-mails praising me up and down for mailing certain offers because they changed people’s lives
• I’ve gotten e-mails telling me I’m just trying to squeeze money out of people and don’t care about my subscribers
• I’ve gotten e-mails thanking me because I happily and freely respond to people’s questions whenever they right me

With all of that said, let’s make another thing clear.

The reason most people have a list is to make money.

But, let’s make another thing clear, I would say that most people who have lists (myself included) care deeply about providing value to the people on their list.

I’ve actually been lazily building a list for years. Unfortunately, I was too scared to mail it much at all for more than 3 of those years. I was worried people would hate me.

You see, I don’t have very thick skin.

Then, I decided I was being silly.

People in the Internet marketing world ARE going to buy products, and buy them often. They are on many people’s lists. These people are GOING to buy from someone. Why not me?

Why not me?

I’d rather they hear of relevant products from me than from some of the other people out there. Some who just mail their lists for the sake of mailing and making money.

I vet every single product I promote. I look for great deals (that often means using Warrior Special Offers promotions) and things that I would personally use (and do!).

It really excites me to send an e-mail now, because I care so much and take so much time to test and make sure something either looks solid, or is something I already use in my business.

I don’t mail very often (9 e-mails sent in August), but what I do mail, I feel provides value.

This blog is meant to contain tons and tons of free stuff and information you can use.

Should the two always be separated? Maybe not.

That is why I’m going to test sending an informative newsletter every week (something I’ve started and stopped in the past).

So, this Friday, keep an eye out for that.

List marketing is a challenge because you’ve got thousands of people to try to make happy, and there is no way they are all going to be happy at once.

I’m going to write that on an sticky and paste it to my wall so I always maintain perspective.

One of the biggest confusions people have when they first get into affiliate marketing with Amazon is how to find products they can make money with.

Sure, basically everything in Amazon sells — but not all of them are HOT sellers.

If you want to earn some great commissions, you’re definitely going to have to go for ones that are hot sellers.

You need to put yourself in FRONT of the money.

If people are spending a ton of money on product X… you want to be selling product X!

And no, you cannot always rely on search counts from the Google keyword research tool alone.

It’s very important to figure out how well a product is selling before you go after it.

How do you do that?

There are plenty of tools at Amazon that are perfect for this purpose.

You can look at:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers

http://www.amazon.com/gp/top-rated/ref=zg_bs_tab

http://www.amazon.com/gp/new-releases/ref=zg_tr_tab

http://www.amazon.com/gp/movers-and-shakers/ref=zg_bsnr_tab

You can also look at:

http://www.shopping.com/xSN

Another favorite way is to type your keyword/product into Google, to search for it.

If there are Adwords ads, the chances are good it’s profitable and selling well — if people are PAYING to promote their site with the product, there is usually good reason for it.

Be careful, though — some companies bid on very generic and/or not totally related keywords, so you need to be sure people are bidding for YOUR keyword.

Yet another indicator is how many reviews there are for the product. If people are taking the time to review it, good or bad, then it is a hot seller. For every X number of reviews, you can generally rest assured that hundreds of others purchased the product as well.

Generally, you’ll want to use several different methods to determine whether a product will be profitable, or not.

These things in combination are pretty good indicators.

Questions about doing this? Ask away in the comments section

It’s no secret that keyword research is one of the most confusing parts of creating a presence online. It doesn’t matter whether you’re creating an Amazon affiliate site or you’re trying to rank for relevant keywords for your offline business, it can seem more than a bit overwhelming.

One of the most frustrating things is that there are so many different methods. One person tells you to do one thing, while another person tells you to do another thing.

In one of my courses, Amazing Niche Marketing, I even suggest doing away with keyword research altogether (JUST for that method). The fact of the matter is that the results many keyword tools deliver is out of date and can only be counted on to be a very, very rough estimate of the actual search counts.

That doesn’t mean I totally ditch keyword research! It just means that in some instances (a new product release, for example) it just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to rely on tools that aren’t going to give you an accurate count.

With that said, keyword research definitely has its place when you’re trying to decide on a niche, choose a profitable keyword, etc.

So, what’s my method?

For the longest time, I used Market Samurai. These days, I often turn straight to the source itself — the Google Adwords Keyword tool. That’s the method I’m going to discuss today, because it’s freely accessible.

To access the tool, go here: https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

I’m going to assume you already have a general niche narrowed down. One of the first steps might be to examine the keywords Google sees as being MOST relevant, according to a top site in your niche.

This might make the most sense if I show you an example:

Let’s say that I wanted to do a site based around organic tomato gardening.

First, I would do a search in Google for Organic Tomato Gardening.

The site that comes up first for me is: http://www.tomatogardeningguru.com

I’m going to go ahead and plug that into the Google Keyword Tool, to see which keywords it deems as being most relevant.

Next, I set the keyword counts to exact match. This gives estimates for how often people search for that exact phrase.

Then, I examine the search counts and determine if anything “looks good.”

Many ask me what my exact figures are for what I consider to be a decent keyword — I don’t have an exact cut-off number. It depends on a variety of things. For instance, if I’m creating an Amazon affiliate site and I come across a product there that is selling like gangbusters and yet it doesn’t have a high exact match search count in Google, I am NOT going to stop pursuing that keyword. You have to use all evidence available to you when it comes to things like this.

However, for those who demand a solid number they can hold on to, let’s say a good search count is at least 1,000 search per month on exact match.

Let’s examine the search counts for the keywords Google found me from the popular organic tomato growing site.

(remember to sort by Global Monthly Searches)

Now, I’m in marketing to make money. Therefore, I’m interested in choosing keywords that are not only getting searches, but are also leading to purchases.

A great indicator of commercial intent of a keyword is the “advertising competition”, which are those green bars you see above. That gives me an idea of how many people are PAYING to show up for those keywords, with their Adwords ads.

At first glance, I am most interested in “heirloom tomato seeds” because I see a lot of great commercial intent. If people are paying for a spot, imagine how much I could earn with a free, top listing in the natural search results!

There are also 1900 exact match searches, which isn’t shabby. When you add in all the broad and phrase match searches that are bound to come your way, it’s an even better bet.

Of course, you can’t try to rank for a keyword without also examining the competing pages. One of the most popular methods is putting the keyword into quotes and seeing what pops up, featuring that exact phrase. This is an unreliable method, however. It’s not always a good measure of what your true competition is.

Examining competition also comes down to just LOOKING at the results that are in the top 10. Are they authority sites? They will likely be hard to beat. Are they dinky little affiliate sites? Those are pretty easy to beat. Are they from sites like Squidoo, Hugpages or EzineArticles? Those are usually easy to beat as well.

This should give you a solid foundation for sure! Get started with your keyword research — just don’t get too wrapped up in the details. The most important thing is that you take action!

Very rarely do I get so pumped about a product that I feel the need to talk about it everywhere. This is one of those times! Probably because it was a direction I’d decided to take my business in already and this offer fell into my lap at the perfect time.

One of the fastest growing areas for service providers and online marketers is Social Media Management. I’ve been doing this on a small-ish scale for a while (without knowing that was what I was doing!), but now I’m going to ramp it up in a big way.

Ryan Deiss has teamed up with Social Media Manager extraordinaire Kate Buck Junior, who currently makes 10K a month as a social media manager part-time.

This is really her product, and she’s done a GREAT job with it. I’m truly blown away by the material and the potential.

I’ve been a service provider for three years now, and even have my own course on becoming a ghostwriter, but this is definitely the next step for me.

I’m also writing this recommendation with a bit of urgency, since Ryan has released a special bonus for affiliates, through this weekend only. If I can refer 10 copies of the product, I’ll not only earn commissions, but I’ll also win an iPad 2!

I love a challenge (and I love iPads), so I’m hoping to reach that goal. But, if you know me, then you know I ONLY recommend stuff I’m really excited about.

If you’re a service provider/offline marketer/writer/online marketer, then you NEED to check out Lets Get Social.

BONUS:

For those who buy through my link from now through Sunday, I will personally coach you to help you get your service business, ghostwriting business, or social media management business up and running for a full 30 days.

The bonus alone is worth the purchase price of this product (and I regularly sell out coaching slots at just under $200/month) so snatch it up now!

My Link (what you need to get the bonus): https://touchstone.infusionsoft.com/go/lgs/elibelli/

To collect your bonus after purchase: just e-mail me or PM me and I’ll give you my super-secret contact address to get started with your coaching

PS. YES, Ryan has used a super-annoying control-less video technique. I will give him my feedback on this. When I purchased, I just let the video play to the end (while I did something else), then the order button showed up. I am SOOOO glad I gave this product a chance since it is going to do amazing things for my business this year

One of the most discouraging things about working from home is the isolation. As a teacher, I was used to being surrounded by people. I was responsible for 20 or so kids at a time and got to interact with adults every single day. We did things after school (happy hour!) and just had a great time together.

While teaching was not the right path for me, I really miss those folks. I miss working with people and getting to talk face-to-face. I get to stay home with my two little boys and do things to “get out” of the house, but that’s not quite the same thing as interacting with like-minded people who know what you’re going through.

It’s important to me to get to bounce ideas off of people. I like to have people to look up to. I like to offer a helping hand when I can.

While the format is different, it’s still possible to have a “work community” that offers all of the things you might be missing when you work at home.

I’m fortunate in that I discovered early on that I needed and wanted to interact with other small business owners online. It started out as a way for me to learn the craft of online marketing, but it turned into something much more. The people I was learning from, brainstorming with, and caring about became my colleagues.

• I can ask them questions as they come up
• We can collaborate on projects
• We can moan and complain when things change
• They can ask me questions on things I might have a little more experience with

There is one main place I consider to be the online equivalent of “my office” and that’s Earn 1K a Day. I simply don’t know of a better community anywhere online. You’ll find me praising this membership all over the Internet, because it’s truly different than anything else out there (and I know…I’ve belonged to several online communities).

These people are there for me — whether it’s a personal or business issue.

I’ve learned invaluable lessons from being a part of this community. They are always there to pick me up when I’m down, and to give me an even bigger boost when I’m already feeling on top of the world. People like this firm up my sense that there is

The point here isn’t to sell you on Earn 1K a Day (but yes, I have included my link), it’s to sell you on the fact that you need to find an online community that understands what you are going through. It can get very lonely working online, and it’s missing a lot of what a job outside of the home would offer. Finding a great community (whether it’s the one I belong to or a different one) is key.

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Are You Ready to Give Up?

The longer I work for myself, the more I realize that not everyone is “cut out” to live this lifestyle. I’ve had no less than 5 family members and friends come to me, directly wanting to learn how to work for themselves to earn money from home. Exactly 0 of them have actually followed through.

Part of the problem is that the reality is very different from the fantasy many have when they start out. There is a learning curve. I remember struggling to put up my first site on WordPress. It seemed so daunting. But, I checked out videos on YouTube, used trial and error, and got my first blog up.

After having coached a fair amount of people now, there are some big differences I’ve noticed between those who succeed and those who give up.

These are generalizations, mind you.

Those who do not succeed:

• Come up with every reason in the book why this won’t work, that won’t work, and this other thing won’t work either (ugh!)
• Do not take the initiative to research something they don’t understand (YouTube rocks for techie-dunces like me!)
• Just want to learn, learn, learn, without ever taking action
• View IM as a hobby
• See this as a quick fix for money problems or long-term wealth, but haven’t and won’t take the step to get some sales buttons out there!

Those who do succeed:

• Know that the most successful people in the world make an incredible number of mistakes to get where they are
• Know that you can’t make money unless you actually have things for sale!
• Have a lot of initiative — they aren’t afraid to ask questions, but they know that a simple web search can save themselves a lot of frustration
• Have incredible motivation BEYOND making money

That last one is key. Do you have motivation beyond making money? Even that’s not a sure bet. I’ve known people on the brink of bankruptcy who know this is an option, and choose to twiddle their thumbs anyway (they just talk about why it won’t work!). You have to get rid of the doubts…you have to just dive in.

So, no, online marketing and freelance writing is NOT for everyone, and that’s okay. If you’re ready to give up, take a long hard look at your motivations and what you’ve done so far to try to make it online. It’s okay to want to do something else. But, if you take that long hard look and realize, “hey, I actually haven’t done enough to be successful online yet, let me give it another shot,” you’ll be glad you did

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Recommended Resources

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