The advice you give, the inspiration that you conjure up, the tactics that you teach – do you mean it? Do you really want to create a following of people who are, in some ways, like you? Do you want people to do what you do, say what you say, feel how you feel, and create businesses like yours?

Because, isn’t that what we’re doing? When I tell you my online business experiences, and my takeaways and lessons learned and food for thought and advice, what I’m really doing is telling you what to do – mistakes to avoid, strategies to try, and the like. I am, in a way, fostering my own competition.

I know people will chime in and say, “I don’t consider other <insert what you are here – bloggers, virtual assistants, coaches, etc> to be my competition. We build each other up, JV together, promote each other’s work, and we’re all stronger, as an industry, in the end.”

OK. Sure. That can be true. But they’re also your competition. If I coach another virtual assistant (which I have, by the way), they are becoming my competition in some way. If I train bloggers to be better bloggers, they could very well be my competition (if they’re in the same market).

So while I always mean what I say in my content, does it depend on who I’m saying it to? I’m questioning my own intentions here too. I think it’s good to do that every once in awhile.

For example, those who preach lifestyle design, time management, and being the CEO of your online business in some way or another, do you get annoyed when those who work with you (contractors, freelancers, virtual assistants, etc) put into practice the very strategies that you speak about (limiting phone calls, dealing with email systematically, holding specific hours, etc)? Is it only OK if your readers take your advice?

So I’ll come back to it: do we mean what we say?

I wouldn’t be posing this question if I hadn’t had some encounters recently that made me question whether or not people believe their advice applies to whoever happens upon it, or selectively to the people they can benefit from. It benefits me when my readers and customers achieve success via something I did, said, wrote, or created. But what about a competitor? Or someone I’m outsourcing to?

There’s no tying-it-up-with-a-ribbon lesson at the end of this post (which turned out longer than I thought it would be). And I’m not even sure that the post makes sense. But this is where my head is at today, and I’m not going to pretend it’s elsewhere and post something else.

If you’re yearning for a lesson though, I guess I’ll give you this: mean what you say, and mean it consistently. Easier said than done, right? If you’ve figured out how to master this, write a post about it, and link it up below in the comments. I’d like to read it and learn from it.

So what do you think? Do we mean what we say? Do you mean what you say? Does it depend on who we’re talking to?

No Related Posts.

And here’s one observation I’ve made recently: it seems like there are only three ways to act as an online entrepreneur. You can be reactionary, innovative, or stale.

Let me clarify those terms and what I mean by them.

Reactionary

These are the people whose only movements appear to be made based on someone else’s. They’re defensive. They’re really in sync with their competitors, and every move they make is based on a move a competitor made. They’re not afraid of change, but their change isn’t usually rooted in testing, but rather to match up with others.

An example? The billion and one bloggers in the make money online niche who all up and switched to PopUp Domination over the last few weeks. Now, don’t get me wrong here, this is a good product. And some people have had great results. In fact, those people (influencers in the market) who have had great results have publicly announced their great results, thus causing a wave of “you better fall in line because this is the new standard” across the niche. Did some bloggers switch because they researched the product and deemed it worthy? No doubt. Did some switch simply because “the cool kids” switched? Absolutely.

Innovative

You know these folks. You know these people because they’ve reinvented the wheel in some way or another. They’re driven by innovation, by new ideas. The creativity oozes from them. And often times, they’re pretty successful.

But I think the challenge with being innovative is that nagging feeling you get that tells you that you must always be creating and must always be one step ahead. And when you’re always focused on the next idea or product or service, you’re missing the opportunities of the present. And you’ll eventually burn out from the stress in one way or another.

Stale

I know – that word seems a little harsh. But these are the people who lack follow-through and intention. Time and time again they get passed by. Blogs go untouched. Products and services go unimproved and unsupported and unlaunched. These people may be paralyzed by perfectionism and have trouble getting out of “planning mode”.

An example? How about the 57 (I counted) blogs I unsubscribed from in Google Reader the other day? Blogs with business backends that just couldn’t, or lack the desire to, keep up.

Think about who you consider to be really successful. Which category do they fall into?

Well, if you were able to pick one category, you’re wrong.

The most successful online entrepreneurs are a healthy balance of all three. People like Darren Rowse, David Risley, Nathan Hangen, Dave Navarro, Chris Guillebeau, David Garland, Gary Vaynerchuk, Ryan Lee, Jim Kukral – are all three. They’re not afraid to react in a moment’s notice if need be, and when they react it’s intentional. A lot of times their innovation is based upon improving the wheel, not necessarily recreating it. They plan and calculate and observe, but only for a period of time.

Where do you naturally fall? And how can you be more of a balance of all three?

Personally, I’ve bounced between all three at different times in my business. When I started out, I was mainly reactionary. I did what everyone told me to do and what those I admired did. Then, I sprouted some innovative wings and got carried away with being on top of a million different ideas. Then, I got stale. I got comfortable with where I was at and what I was doing.

My constant struggle is to be all three. I want to create new products and services, and improve on accepted methods. I want each reaction of mine to be thought-out and intentional and to move me one step closer to my goals. I want to have the presence to know when to stop, listen, and test.

And the only way I’ve been able to move towards a balance of all these characteristics is to make a true effort to stick to my plans and systems (and to create new ones, if need be).

So what about you? Where do you tend to fall? How do you keep yourself accountable and keep moving intentionally forward?

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In this video, I’m talking about how and why to cut the fluff out of your day. You know what I’m talking about. All that stuff we do that, in the end, really doesn’t matter and really doesn’t work.

Check out the video and let me know what you do to keep the fluff from taking over your day.

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I’m excited to be heading to Las Vegas on October 13-17, 2010 for the BlogWorld & New Media Expo! The conference itself is on October 14-16, 2010 – but I’ll be there early.

I had a blasty blast last year. I got to meet some cool folks (who have since turned into friends and clients), check out some good panels and sessions, take awkward pictures of Dave Risley, see a Cirque du Soleil show for free, and just enjoy the company of my blogging colleagues.

But, what’s cool about this year is that I’m speaking. Dave Risley, Nathan Hangen, Mike CJ, and myself will be doing a panel on Saturday, October 16th at 11:00am on “Treating Your Blog Like a Business”. We’re taking it up a notch with our panel – no “just throw some ads on your blog” talk here. We’ve heard that a thousand times, and there’s no business strategy in that. Instead, we’re going to be highlighting information bloggers actually need to know in order to operate successfully as online entrepreneurs – like market selection, list-building, defining your goals and objectives, creating business plans and budgets, and (of course) outsourcing. Our session is for bloggers who want to go deeper and aim higher.

So, I want to know who’s coming to BlogWorld. If you’re going to be there, link up your blog below so I can get to know you before the event.

And bookmark this post, because I’m going to be updating it in the coming weeks with get-togethers I’ll be at, and more information about the panel I’m speaking on.

UPDATE 8/22/2010 – The BlogWorld schedule has now been posted. And our panel is scheduled to happen at 11:00am on Saturday, October 16th.

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So this is going to be a series of four short videos. Each will highlight a specific thing you can do to create more hours in the day.

I hope you find the videos to be helpful. I hate seeing people who are slaves to their lives (in one way or the other). Life is better than that. And your online business can flourish even if you don’t feel flustered and busy. Being busy isn’t a badge of honor like we make it out to be. It’s a clue that something isn’t going right at the moment and you need to shift priorities and workflow.

This is the first video in the series. And it’s all about the mindset you need to change, first and foremost, if you want more hours in your day.

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If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read this and this and this for starters. Or check out Chris’ Twitter or Matt’s Twitter. Then come back here. I don’t have the time or energy to rehash it all.

I’m not a lawyer. And also, I’m not a developer. But I’m both a WordPress and a Thesis (along with multiple other premium plugins and themes, not all GPL compliant) user (SpendLessOnLife.com is going to launch in the next couple weeks, using Thesis). I have no desire to spend my day following the he said, he said “facts”, or searching through Thesis code to compare it to WordPress code so I can point a finger at someone. I have a life.

But I will tell you (because surprisingly, I’ve gotten several emails and DMs on Twitter asking for this) what my opinion on this is:

There might be a lawsuit, but I kind of doubt it.
Matt feels the need to make an example out of Chris so that others don’t rise up and “disregard” the GPL like Chris has, but none of this would end happily in court for Automattic. Brian’s comment here is a good explanation why.

Both guys are being, in a word, buttheads.
Matt is discouraging people from buying Thesis (which is a jerk move, from a business standpoint, considering his pull in the WordPress world) and even offering to buy people a different theme. Chris is being pretty stubborn and conceited. What both men have failed to realize is that their public idiocy is bad for their businesses in general.

Even if the GPL thing were to work out (miraculously). If I’m a high-end Automattic client (which they have), I’d be worried about Matt’s very public display of frustration and retaliation. And for Chris, does he really want his customers to see that at the end of the day he doesn’t care about them and only cares about the money? That may be true for a lot of us, but we don’t publicly say it for fear that it would hurt our brand. Anyways, just an observation there.

Fear tactics, in any context, are ridiculous.
Matt telling people to buy a different theme is hinting at the fact that he’s going to “take Chris down”. And Chris is just egging WordPress folks on, begging for a lawsuit. Wouldn’t that look bad for WordPress. Spending money on a lawsuit instead of spending money on development. And Chris has a sneaking suspicion that this lawsuit wouldn’t go anywhere. Both men come off as terrified children.

I can’t help but think that this is all a little bit “big brother” on WordPress’ part.
Open source and propaganda go together like peas and carrots because it becomes a “movement”. I can relate to this tweet right here.

So where do I stand on the real issue?
On whether themes/plugins/whatever that are built to run on WordPress are covered by the GPL, and therefore should use open source code – this argument makes a lot of sense to me. I think forcing themes/plugins/whatever to be GPL isn’t a good idea – for so many reasons that you can see posted on Twitter and in articles on this topic.

This is, in a lot of ways, mainly just a case of two men disliking each other publicly, while flexing their muscles and yelling “I AM RIGHT” at the top of their lungs. There’s a real debate to be had here (and a real answer is needed), but these guys have taken it to another, personal level.

And a shoutout to my clients who are emailing me and asking me if they should switch from WordPress and/or Thesis because of all this – don’t give up on WordPress, or Thesis, or paid themes/plugins/whatever – at least not for this reason, and definitely not now when it’s all speculation and opinions.

For what it’s worth, I don’t know Matt or Chris personally. So I can’t tell you what kind of people they are, how they run their businesses, or anything else. This is all based on this altercation.

Thoughts on this nonsense?

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This is what I’ve been mulling around in my head lately, as I’ve caught myself reacting either positively or negatively (depending on the circumstance and person) to how other people use social media. And I think I’ve come to a conclusion. It’s a conclusion I’ve had all along, but it’s just that now I have experiences and more developed opinions to back it up with.

And if you think I’m going to tell you what that conclusion is at the beginning of this post, you’re just silly. Read on, my friend. Read on.

We’re bloggers. So we know how bloggers use social media, and we know what we think is right and wrong. But let me tell you a little bit about how other people, in other businesses, are using social media. These are all situations and people I’ve encountered.

You let me know if any of this sends shocks or icky feelings through you (like some of it did for me).

Person #1: This person is a business coach of sorts. Part of this person’s social media strategy is to take old blog posts from his or her own blog, and submit them as guest posts on a variety of blogs and websites every month.

Person #2: This person is a consultant of sorts. Part of this person’s social media strategy is to queue all of his or her’s tweets ahead of time. This person has never posted a spur of the moment Twitter update.

Person #3: This person runs a brick and mortar, service-based business. All of this person’s social media updates (tweets, Facebook status updates, LinkedIn status updates, etc) are about their own business, services, specials, etc.

There are some fundamentally wrong things going on here, right?

I mean, I’ll admit it. I thought Person #1 was screwed because they had posted the same content all over the place, thus impacting Google. Plus, their reputation must be shot to crap because they’re not even taking the time to create new content for these outlets. While I appreciated the attempt, I thought Person #2 was lazy and not really invested in Twitter. And Person #3, oh boy. I thought this person was committing the ultimate social media sin: no give, and only take.

But here’s a thought. Are we just thinking there are some fundamentally wrong things going on because of the limited view and understanding we have of how we should work social media?

It turns out that Person #1 isn’t doing anything wrong at all. See, this person is submitting to outlets that don’t care about reused content. Authenticity in that way isn’t valued in this circumstance. And the Google implications? Much less important than the positive impact of being exposed to a big group of this person’s target customers.

And Person #2? Well this person is anything but lazy. This person is so busy providing excellent services, that the only time they can break away to participate in social media is at weird hours. When no one is really listening. So they schedule updates (including replies) for when they’ll be seen.

Person #3 caters to a market full of people who don’t give a rat’s behind about “correct” social media behaviors. These are people who just need the information they need, without the fluff. So Person #3 is giving their customers what they want – timely information about their business.

So if you haven’t figured it out yet, here’s my conclusion: there is no right way to use social media. There just isn’t. There are too many variables. And if anyone tells you differently, they’re either confused and mistaken, or trying to sell you something. Before you jump on the “share, engage, be selfless, and all will work out in time” bandwagon, consider your market. Consider your customers. Consider your goals.

This is why social media consultants aren’t a scam, and aren’t a waste of money. If you need help figuring out the best plan of attack for you and your business (because it’s an individual thing, not a one-size-fits-all thing), a social media consultant is a good investment.

Back to the original questions. What do you think? Are there set, everyone should abide by them no matter who they are or what they do, social media rules? Or does the way you utilize and approach social media depend on, and change with, who you are?

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Such has been my life lately. With multiple Internet outages for long periods of time (at the fault of either nature or Comcast, or sometimes both) having happened so far this summer, I’ve actually been forced to write down what I should/could do in the event that I do not have Internet access.

And, sidenote, we’re a one car family. The husband takes the car to go to and from chiropractic school every day. So I, typically, do not have a car to drive to find myself a place that does have Internet access. So don’t comment and tell me to go seek out a connection.

So here’s my “dammit, the Internet is out again and I need to do something to make progress on something so I’m not so far behind later that I want to cry” list.

Write.
There is truly no better time to crank out 20 blog posts (yes, I’ve done that recently) than when you’re sans Internet. So what if you have to go back and add images and links later? The bulk is written and ready to go. And that means you don’t have to write anything for a couple weeks (or however long) and you can focus on other stuff.

Don’t want to write blog posts? How about website copy, or newsletters, or autoresponder emails, or a new guide or eBook of some sort? There’s always writing to be done. Always.

Brainstorm.
When I lose the Internet, I open up Evernote and just dump everything that’s been swirling around in my brain into notes. Do you know how many times a day you have a great idea? Probably a lot of times. But we get so busy doing other stuff that we forget to make note of things.

Take the time to get down some content ideas, map out the next few months of your business, or plan a new product or promotion.

Organize.
The first thing to go when I get really busy is always any sort of organization. So when the Internet is out, I take the time to clean up my work area, back up files on my computer, and go through and organize files and settings on my computer. So when the Internet is back on, I’m ready to work and I’m probably more efficient.

Create audio or video content.
You don’t need the Internet to create a podcast. And you don’t need the Internet to make a video. Stockpile some of this content which can take longer to create and edit.

What about you? What do you do when you’re without Internet (other than curse and cry and the like)?

Image Credit: Fringe Focus

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…it’s OK. For some reason, we’ve stopped telling each other it’s OK to feel this way. But I’m telling you now, it’s OK.

It’s what being an entrepreneur, and running an online business, is all about. And while people continue to write and speak like all they’ve ever seen is success, I know that behind every success story is a million and one failures, sleepless nights, and “what did I get myself into” thoughts.

I’ve spoken to a lot of people this week (more than normal, actually) who have a lot of very real obstacles in the way of their success. I even heard this gem this week, pointed at yours truly: “You are so upbeat. So positive. It’s probably because you didn’t have these issues to deal with while you were trying to launch. I bet you never get stressed and frustrated like this.”

So for the sake of encouragement, I want to share how I’ve felt over the last week:

I’ve felt behind everyone else because I’m not launching a huge new product or service.
I’ve felt like a blog I’ve been working my butt off on will never go live, and never gain traction.
I’ve felt tired (oh-so-tired), worn out by my business (and life) responsibilities, and in need of more than just one day off.
I’ve had conversations with people about not feeling passionate about this or that anymore.
I’ve felt stressed about projects. I’ve cried on the phone to my mother. And I think I may have lost it once or twice on my husband.
I’ve felt looked at as a role model, as an example, but all the while been questioning my place as such.
I’ve felt scared to make big decisions that need to be made.
As I’ve stared at blank screens, I’ve felt, “I have nothing left to share.”
I’ve felt like I’m drowning, and there isn’t a life vest in sight.

But this is the road I chose. I knew this road would be full of tough terrain, but I’m weathering it because there have been (and certainly in the last week) amazing successes, and there has been extreme encouragement, along the way. The fire that lights me up every day is ignited by my clients, and my readers, and those who send me emails, and people who reach out to me via social media. I’m doing what I love, getting paid for it, and helping people in the process.

So it’s OK to feel all those feelings. Take them in and let them guide you. But please don’t give up, and please feel happy, strong, and proud. Your blog, your business, your product, your service – give it all a chance to be a success. Give yourself a chance to be a Cinderella story. Because no matter how much people tell you otherwise, Cinderella stories still happen. But not to those who buckle under the immense pressure of all those feelings.

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And in just a few paragraphs, here’s how you can do it for yourself.

We all have a bunch of connections on Twitter. We’re all interacting on Twitter. And those interactions might include questions like, “How do you such-and-such?” and “What do you think about my such-and-such?” and “Can you help me with such-and-such?”. When your answers to those questions span more than a sentence, it’s time to upsell the person into consulting, or your product, or your service.

Here’s an example. Within the last few months, I’ve been getting more and more people replying to me and DMing me asking for advice, asking for blog critiques, asking for technical help, etc. If I can reply with a one sentence answer (that will ensure no follow-up questions on the same topic), I will. But if it’s a bit more difficult than that (e.g., “Can you critique my blog?”), and requires more input, I’ll refer people to PersonalBlogTraining.com or BloggerEmailConsults.com or another applicable service of mine. At the end of the day, I don’t have time to answer everyone’s questions and solve everyone’s problems for free (and I’m sure you don’t either).

And actually, I’ve earned some steady clients by going this route. Not to mention the few dozen email consults and personal blog training sessions I’ve done too.

See, Twitter is just as much a part of the sales funnel as your autoresponder series, or your landing pages, or whatever else. The reason you’re using it is to market yourself in some capacity. If you don’t take it one step further and monetize it, then you’re just left with another outlet full of people who may or may not pay attention to you, and who realize they can pump you for free information constantly as long as they do it via Twitter.

“But isn’t it wrong to straight-up sell via social media?” No. Wrong is in the eye of the beholder. And these eyes see it as capitalizing on sales that would otherwise be left untouched.

“Isn’t social media just for conversation and to drive traffic to where you need it to go?” While I love conversation, there would need to be a greater pull for me to use social media (money). Otherwise, it wouldn’t be worth my time and I’d be off somewhere else, using some other tools to make more money.

“Shouldn’t you spend the time selflessly connecting with people, and then later down the road ask them for a sale?” Twitter isn’t sacred. It’s just another way to establish yourself and your products and services.

What do you think? How can you, or do you, make money via social media outlets? Do you do it directly (via ads, or affiliate links, etc)? Do you do it more indirectly (like I mention above)? Do you not do it all? Why not?

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