Stop having one night stands on your social media channels.

If you really want to utilize this medium to grow your business, then start getting married, instead.

Let me explain my thoughts further.

A short time back, I had marketing expert and world-renowned speaker, David Meerman Scott on the VBL Podcast. I’m a massive fan of David’s and literally read everything he puts out. The guy is my marketing Yoda, plain and simple.

The one thing that he mentioned that stood out, more than anything else, was that people have got to stop pitching and start engaging more, to be able to make social media work for them in business.

So, in reverse order, here are three quick and easy tips to start utilizing social media to help grow your business faster than you thought possible… The RIGHT way.

Tip #3 – Fill Up Your Social Media Calendar

At the beginning of February I had the opportunity to fly over to Phuket, Thailand and speak in front of 160 passionate entrepreneurs on the subject of boosting traditional / brick ‘n mortar success, by engaging the online world of business, at the annual Business Blueprint conference. I have a video report of this trip coming up next week.

Side Note: If you are an Australia-based entrepreneur, you must check out this fantastic set-up from Dale Beaumont. I can’t rate it highly enough! 

Throughout the course of the 3-day conference many successful business owners, myself included (duh!) presented their pearls of wisdom to the highly energetic crowd. One session, presented by Andy Hopper, was on the subject of getting your social media strategy in place – for the entire year!

Andy showed exactly how to lay out our entire year, yes all 365 days, on our social media channels, so that every day of the week there was something different bring posted, across the board, via Hootsuite.

It included things like:

• Video clips.
• Links to blog posts.
• Famous quotes.
• Questions.
• Useful resources.

Perhaps I’ll go into this strategy a little more in the near future, but the big eye-opener for almost all in attendance was that, with a little planning and execution, you can #BeEverywhere (hashtag mention for my buddy, Pat Flynn), be engaging, helpful, resourceful and reap massive rewards through social media, in a non-spammy / sales-pitchy way.

So, get creative, plan your posting schedule (in the same way you would as a blogger), and then put it all on autopilot. Following this, all you have to do is pay attention and engage.

Tip #2 – The Twitter Tactic that has Transformed My Businesses

The one thing that I love about social media is that it’s instant.

Sometime last year I had issues with my hosting provider – our sites went down. I quickly went onto Twitter and discovered that there were a lot of people in the same boat, all using the same provider, just by doing a quick search.

This got me thinking. Surely if people were using the micro-blogging site to bitch and moan about problems they were experiencing, then they MUST be using it to find solutions, too.

I was bang on, right!

So, I immediately started stalking search.twitter.com, searching for people that needed help and support in my niche, and started reaching out – without pitching my company or services. I figured that if I helped them out willingly, that they would go ahead and visit my profile, click on my links and check out what I had to offer – when they were good and ready.

I was bang on, right – again!

Nowadays, I don’t do this searching myself. I leave it up to my VA, who manages all the searches via TweetDeck (see image above), and sends out pre-written responses that I produced in the course of my experimenting myself, as well as other types of interaction that she handles herself, too.

She does this with her own Twitter account, some company ones, and even sometimes using MY account, too! So, people think that they are chatting with me, as a thought leader in our niche, before they actually DO start talking to me. Smart so-and-so, aren’t I…?!!

For me, it works… Check out the tweets below, showing social proof.

Tip #1 – My Number One ‘Social Media for Business’ Tip

This is simple, yet so many people overlook it.

It’s time to minimize and simplify.

Having a presence on the major social media channels, such as Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn is important (click at random to interact with me on these channels). However, being actively involved on them all is just unrealistic – especially if you want to make a major difference in your business and more importantly, genuinely help your customers and prospective customers.

So, stop chasing the social media dragon and start getting smart.

Pick ONE channel that you enjoy using more than any other, and then GO FOR IT in a major way. That doesn’t mean that you won’t utilize the other channels frequently (or even have a virtual assistant manage them for you), it simply means that this one channel will become your social media focus.

For me, it’s Twitter. I like to tweet because it’s quick, easy and very mobile (thanks to my iPhone4 and iPad). It also enables me to add images, videos and links to other cool and helpful resources for my list of over 36,000+ followers.

For my aforementioned buddy, Pat Flynn – it’s Facebook. Pat’s fan page is ridiculous – in a good way! The engagement he has with his fans is unlike any other Facebook page that I have seen. Why? Because he decided a long time ago, that this was the way he wanted to answer fan questions, help, support and interact with them, away from his blog. He does a great job of it, too.

I’ll leave you with this…

10 People Doing it RIGHT!

There are LOTS of people doing things right already. However, here’s a list of ten of them that I see using social media in the right way (consistently), as discussed above, to engage, motivate, inspire and educate (as well as promote their businesses!).

Check ‘em out on Twitter, and emulate, people.

• Chris Brogan
• Deb Ng
• David Meerman Scott
• Pat Flynn
• Srinivas Rao
• Corbett Barr
• David Risley
• Francisco Rosales
• Gary Vaynerchuk
• Marcus Sheridan

What are YOU Doing Right… or Wrong?!

What experiences have you had with social media in regards to utilizing it for building your brand and promoting / marketing your business?

I’d love to hear about the good, the bad AND the ugly in the comment section below.

Quick Request: If you liked this post and found it even remotely helpful, I’d really appreciate a quick share of it on your favorite social media channel. Here’s the URL, so you can copy and paste it quickly. Thanks in advance! - http://bit.ly/ygb0dO

Earlier today I was interviewed for a podcast, we spoke about a lot of small business principles and strategies, and one of the questions poised to me was today’s discussion point. Obviously, I’m a big believer in working with offshore staff to leverage your time, financials and business growth potential.

I was also ‘cornered’ by pro-blogger John Chow minutes before my presentation at BlogWorld Expo (I’ve been asked to speak again in New York, this coming June, too!) last year where he asked the question ‘How does it feel to know you’re destroying the American economy by promoting offshore outsourcing?”.

It was a fair enough question – and I gave my answer, which was basically the following:

The fact is that it’s the small businesses that fuel any local economy, and a lot of the time these businesses are in bootstrapping mode. Every little the can save makes a big difference to their bottom line. Not only this, but from a business owner standpoint, it simply doesn’t make any sense to me why you would decide to pay $3,000 to have a web developer work for you, managing your websites, when an offshore, highly skilled and experience worker can do the same job for $800…

Fair comment, I believe… And I’m obviously a big believer in working with offshore staff to leverage your time, financials and business growth potential and have helped hundreds of business owners do just that through my Virtual Staff Finder company.

Now… I appreciate that this is a touchy subject, one that we’ve discussed in a round-about way before, and one where opinions will come into play quite heavily, hence today’s discussion point.

Please keep it friendly, and in the spirit of entrepreneurship. Over to you…

One of the most undeniable traits of a real entrepreneur is the ability to be flexible. To move in the right direction when the time strikes and to turn, or pivot in another, when required.

This is ‘formally’ known as the ‘Entrepreneurial Pivot’. 

I’ve experienced plenty of pivots in my career – learning something from each and every one of them. So, I thought it might be a good idea to tell you about my most recent one, what caused it, and how I handled it to turn things around and drive home another successful business launch – just in case you bump into one yourself in the near future!

The Beta Mode

Before I launched my most recent business, YourWebPA.com, we were in beta mode for around a year. We had been testing out different service packages, price points, how our processes ran, the way that we would work with and report to clients, and so on.

As someone that really believes in helping people with their outsourcing needs, YourWebPA.com is my personal answer to the issues of project-based outsourcing via the popular ‘job posting’ websites, and the hassle that comes along with hiring and having to work with people you’ve never worked with, or met before, for simple one-off projects.

Throughout the entire planning process and beta period we had our focus on putting together a line-up of 25 different service offerings. It was going to be a huge launch, with plenty of growth possibility for the future, too.

However, it simply was not meant to be that way.

The Problem

In theory it seemed fantastic to be able to offer that many services, right out of the gate. The problem, however, was that it was taking a long time to gather, train and get management processes in place for the complete, highly skilled and diverse group of people that I was going to have to assemble to be able to provide the best possible service to our clients.

Something needed to happen so that we could focus on bringing this new venture to the marketplace faster, and with a solid line-up of services that would really work well for our clients.

Enter… The Pivot

So, I grabbed my laptop, jumped in the car and went to my local Starbucks to do a little entrepreneurial soul searching.

Being around the team, as great as they are, was just clouding my vision when it came to finalizing a product line-up. Their passion and excitement to finally launch the new company was awesome, but it was really getting in the way of me thinking clearly.

An hour into a planning session over coffee, a brand new mind-map and a couple of quick tweets to people that had been utilizing the service in its beta mode, to get some quick feedback, and I had my service line-up completed.

YourWebPA.com would now feature just five different service offerings (instead of the 25 that we had been planning) for its kick-off, namely:

• SEO Packages
• Niche Site Creation
• Personal Branding Kit
• eBook Design
• Article Writing

Clarity was immediately felt. 

I went back to the office, met with my team and told them the great news! At first I could tell they were a little shocked – but, after explaining why I was doing this, they quickly realized that the entrepreneurial pivot that I had just made was exactly what we needed to be able to REALLY start growing this new business together.

We simply needed to get going, the growth would come… And it is!

The ’3 Reasons’ 

1) You see, if I had of carried on shooting for the 25 services that I was wanting to offer to people, it would have taken at least another 6 months to get it all finalized to the point where I felt really comfortable and confident to go live. I wanted to make sure that I had all my ducks in a line and that people would be immediately impressed with the service line-up and quality of work we were doing for them, as well as the general customer service, too.

After all, you only get ONE chance to make a first impression, right?!

2) Bringing the initial number of services available down to the five listed above allowed us to wrap things up quickly and get this new baby of ours launched and in front of potential customers all around the world – FAST. In fact from the afternoon that I performed this latest entrepreneurial pivot of mine, to the time that we launched, it was exactly 3 days.

3) We are now planning to roll out another six different services this year, with the first addition being transcription services at the end of this month. They are all being tested slowly, but surely and looking better every day. It’s given us more clarity than we ever thought possible.

The future of YourWebPA.com is looking bright… and a lot less complicated!

Have you performed an entrepreneurial pivot on a business venture? How did it go? If you haven’t yet, how do you think you would have handled my situation above? I’d love to hear your comments below.

I’m currently in the process of working with a blogging mentor – I’ll reveal who it is at a later date, but trust me, their credentials are solid!

The reason why I reached out to this person is because I’ve been battling with a few ‘blogging demons’ over the last few months. More specifically, I am actually questioning my purpose as a blogger, as well as my general niche and the way that I am perceived in that niche, too.

It’s Personal, I Get It!

The thing is that we blog for our audiences, obviously. But, as a blogger, when you spend the amount of time that you do, putting together all of your content, surely, you should be:

a) Enjoying it.

b) Doing it for the right reasons.

This is what I am questioning, I guess, at the moment. And, I must say, after just two sessions with my mentor, along with a little homework, I already feel that I’m getting close to REALLY understanding what I SHOULD be doing and the type of content that I should be creating as a blogger.

Now I’m Wondering…

So, here I am, now starting to wonder if all my blogging buddies and the other people that I enjoy reading online (and perhaps even offline – you know, real BOOKS!), are perhaps feeling the same way?

Are you blogging in, and about the niche, that you REALLY should be?

Or, have you started something that has done well, and you’re simply sticking with because it keeps you ‘up there’, or making you money?

I’m curious. If you’re a blogger, podcaster, author or online video producer, please let me know how you feel about this topic below in the comment section.

And please share this post with other bloggers you know…

Nowadays, I often get interviewed for podcasts, magazines and blogs. In fact I was just interviewed by Yaro Starak for his excellent entrepreneurial blog and podcast, which I’ve personally read for years myself.

I’ve been asked ‘If you could go back and start your journey as an entrepreneur all over again, what would you do differently…?’, on more than one occasion.

My answer is a simple one…

As an entrepreneur, I wish that I had gotten active online way, way sooner than I actually did – which is just two years ago.

Why I Enjoy Blogging so Much

My blogging, and the fact that I utilize social media, podcasting and online video as much as I do, has enabled me to far surpass my business growth targets, and has opened more ‘business doors’ than I can count!

In the video above, I go into my feelings on this a little more, and actually tell a couple of stories that reflect things a little clearer.

However, here are a handful of reasons why I wished I’d started my blogging and general involvement in the online business world, sooner:

• It’s enabled me to build a fantastic personal brand. A brand that has catapulted me to ‘Thought Leader’ status in my niche of ‘outsourcing’, even to the point of being asked to speak at several international conferences and expo’s.
• I’ve signed up so many new clients for my largest business (which currently houses over 300 employees), who have found me through my podcast and blog, I’ve lost count!
• The networking opportunities that blogging and having a voice in social media brings, has netted me some of my best, and smartest friends.
• Blogging has enabled me to create and launch TWO new businesses in the last 12 months.
• Doing business online has shown me that the world is so much smaller than it used to be, and that the global economy is thriving!

As you can tell, I’ve become a big fan of doing business online.

How My Blogging Journey Began

When I launched this blog, two years ago, I did so with a 1-year goal to become a Virtual CEO. I achieved that goal. And one of the reasons I believe I achieved it (and a full month ahead of schedule, I might add!) is because I documented the entire journey through the pages of my blog.

I blogged about everything I was doing to achieve that status, and more. And I produced monthly reports for people to see what I was doing on a month to month basis to hit my goal, too. It gave me a focus that I’ve never actually experienced before… Seriously. Some might say that starting a blog, and everything else that I’ve done online over the last 24 months has changed my life…

Has Blogging Changed My Life?

In a word, yes, I think it has. For all the reasons I listed above, and because of the stories I discuss in today’s video, too. Plus, much more.

Has it made me a ‘better person’..? No, I don’t think so (I like to think that I’ve always been a pretty nice guy!). But, it’s certainly made me more accessible to potential clients and business partners – which, as any REAL entrepreneur will tell you is AWESOME!!!

Its also put me into a thought process on business that is, literally, never ending. That doesn’t mean that I don’t switch off from ‘work’, because I certainly do. What it means is that I find myself having more ideas, creating more opportunities for myself and my businesses, as well as allowing myself to truly represent myself and my businesses the way I really want to. I love that control.

Have YOU Started a Blog Yet?

If you have, well done. If you haven’t, and you really, truly want to make a difference in this crazy entrepreneurial world that we live in and enjoy so much – do it. TODAY! Don’t wait… like I did. There really is no point and you’ll achieve nothing by sitting on the sideline.

The fact is that people want to do business with other PEOPLE. And creating, starting and building a blog will give you tons more opportunities to connect with people (AKA, your future customers, friends and partners!) than any other medium out there today, that I promise you.

I’m a curious type, as you know, so I have a couple of questions for you…

If you’ve not started a blog yet – whats holding you back? And if you do have a blog, and you’re perhaps thinking about re-launching it in some way, why is that? What are you not happy with?

—————————————————————————————————————-

How to Start a Blog That Matters

As you might remember, in my last post I did a review of a new blogging course from my very good friend, Corbett Barr (who is also one of my Top 3 Bloggers to Follow in 2012). He had just gone live with ‘How to Start a Blog That Matters‘, and I’m happy to say that there have been record numbers of people signing up for it.

In case you’re interested, you can read my entire review here, but here’s the general jist of it:

• 13 week course will take you from Step A, B, C, all the way through to Z.
• Over 8 full hours of high quality video tutorials
• Direct access to Corbett at any time (this is worth the $97 alone, if you ask me!)
• 4 awesome bonuses
• 60-day, no questions ask ‘money back’ guarantee.

And if you purchase through MY AFFILIATE LINK you’ll get FREE access to an Exclusive 1-hour webinar that I am going to be recording that will show you how to do all the stuff you’ll learn from Corbett with as little effort as possible, by outsourcing the work to a team fo virtual assistants. I’m even including an audio version!

PLUS – a $50 discount off my Virtual Staff Finder service, for when you’re ready to get going and hire your first VA.

To get all this, plus my bonuses, you simply have to sign-up before February 3rd, which is when the launch promo ends. If you have any questions – just drop me a comment below.

As you know, it’s not often (I can count on one hand how many times I’ve done it in the last two years!) that I whole-heartedly get behind someone and what they have to offer online. But, I’m gonna do it today.

On Monday I published a post highlighting 3 bloggers that you must follow online in 2012 to achieve the success I know you are all after – one of them was my good friend, Corbett Barr.

Just as I hit the publish button on that post Corbett opened the doors to his 13-week coaching course on How to Start a Blog that Matters. This thing is stacked, jam-packed with everything you’ll need to know to start a blog and kick-ass online – and the price makes it an absolute no-brainer, as far as I’m concerned.

Watch my video above for a solid explanation on everything, and 2 special bonuses that are up for grabs, if you get involved through my affiliate link.

What’s in the Course?

The following list is taken directly from Corbett’s genius set-up:

• Week 1: Choose the right topic for you.
• Week 2: Develop the perfect blog name and brand.
• Week 3: Design your blog to look great.
• Week 4: Create your social media strategy.
• Week 5: Develop your launch plan.
• Week 6: Learn how to create outstanding content.
• Week 7: Create your launch content.
• Week 8: Launch your blog.
• Week 9: Start making friends in the blogosphere.
• Week 10: Build your thriving audience.
• Week 11: Expand your reach using webinars, YouTube, podcasts and more.
• Week 12: Make your first dollar blogging.
• Week 13: Develop your strategy for taking your blog to the next level.

His Bonuses are INSANE!!!

Not only all of this, but you’ll also get the following amazing bonus videos from him to:

• How to Start a Popular Blog – The Ultimate Beginners Guide (Sit-down interview with Leo Babuata of Zen Habits)
• How to Use Authenticity to Feel Great and Build a Huge Following (with Danielle LaPorte of White Hot Truth)
• Case Study - How I Helped Scott Dinsmore create Live Your Legend and amass 10,000 Subscribers in 6 months!
• How I Built a Launched Expert Enough using the 13 Factors to Make a Blog Successful

As you can see, he covers exactly EVERYTHING you need to know to be able to get started with your blog in the right way, and with SUCCESS already a certainty! He also promises that if you don’t get incredible results he will spend time coaching you personally, one-on-one! An amazing guarantee!

And, Here are MY Bonuses!!!!!!!!!

Like I said in my video above, I want to make this as useful as possible for my audience. The chances to get involved in courses like this don’t come around very often – especially at the ridiculously low price of just $97 – for everything!

So, I’ve decided to put together a couple of bonuses of my own! If you purchase Corbett’s new course between now and February 3rd, 2012, I will give you the following:

Bonus #1

When you buy ‘How to Start a Blog that Matters‘ through my link, you’ll get exclusive access to a 1-hour webinar that I will do in the next month or so, which is basically a re-vamp on my BlogWorld Expo talk that I gave in LA, last November. It’s entitled ‘How to Work with Virtual Assistants to Help Build, Grow and Monetize your Blog’. The PERFECT companion for those of you wanting to take this course and fundamentally get someone else to do all the work – based on Corbett’s ‘How To’ principles and under your guidance!

And, so you can listen to the webinar (as well as watch it), when you’re traveling, working out, eating, walking your dog… whatever - I’ll include a free audio version, too!

Bonus #2

When you decide that you want to go ahead and hire your virtual assistant, whether that be right now, or anytime in 2012, I will give you a $50 discount on my Virtual Staff Finder service, allowing you to hire your virtual assistant and start realizing the power of outsourcing as a blogger and online marketer – trust me, you have NO IDEA what you can achieve (but, you will do, when you watch the webinar!).

So, that’s it.

CLICK HERE – TO GET CORBETT’S COURSE, HIS BONUSES  — AND MY BONUSES, TOO!

And like I said in the last video – in 2012 I’m going to be focusing on providing very focused content on Start-Up and Marketing principles here on VBL. Showing you how I’ve been able to create and market successful businesses (both my own and other peoples!) and launch them online to huge success. Some of them being real ‘online’ businesses, and some even traditional ‘brick n mortar’ businesses, that have simply blown up after getting active online.

In the meantime, if you have any questions about ‘How to Start a Blog that Matters, please leave them below – I know that Corbett will be more than happy to pop over to the blog and answer them for you!

2011 was another outstanding year for me, personally, and as an entrepreneur. I’d like to thank all of you for helping me along the way last year, in whatever way you might have contributed.

It’s now a new year and you’ll be happy to hear that I’ve made some changes to the type of content that I am now going to be focusing on creating here at the blog. I go into a lot more detail about it all in the video above.

However, thats not what this post is really about. It’s about three professional online publishers that, individually are crushing it (and have been for some time!), but collectively, will enable YOU to start doing exactly the same, this coming year.

So, without further ado, I give you…
. 

The Definitive VBL Blog Subscription List

To find out exactly WHY you need to be subscribing to these blogs and following their authors online, watch the video accompanying this post, as the reasons are important! However, if you just want to click, subscribe, and start enjoying their content, here are the links:

Myself with Corbett, Pat and David in LA, Nov '11

+ Smart Passive Income by Pat Flynn – @patflynn
+ Think Traffic by Corbett Barr – @corbettbarr
+ DavidRisley.com by, er.., David Risley – @davidrisley

Just three blogs, I hear you ask…? Yes, that’s correct.

This doesn’t mean that there are not lots of other, excellent blogs out there that you shouldn’t be checking out (and I’ll no doubt mention lots more in the future), it simply means that these are the three blogs that I personally suggest that you get well and truly stuck into!

Not only are the bloggers themselves all very good friends of mine (as you might be able to tell from all the man-hugging going on in the photo above!), they are also incredibly smart online entrepreneurs in their own right. It’s been said that you become the average of the five people that you spend time with the most. The same can be said for online friends, too, I believe. And these guys make up three of those five people for me!!! So, surround yourself with good online influences, too.

I read a lot of blogs, like most people interested in business. However, when it comes to these three guys, I never miss a single post from any of them…

Special Mention: How to Start a Blog That Matters

Although I’ll be doing a proper run-down on this fantastic new ‘beginners’ course in the next week or so, I wanted to mention that Corbett has just launched his ‘How to Start a Blog That Matters’ course that is absolutely fantastic from what I’ve seen so far. He has helped launch and re-launch so many blogs now its insane – literally hundreds of ‘em, and this new course has some of the best ‘how to’ content I’ve come across.

If you’re looking at launching your first blog, a new blog, or even re-launching a current blog, make sure you go check it out!

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Now – Help Me, Help You…

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Facebook Discussions

One thing I really want to try and make happen this year is better utilization of the VBL Facebook page and its community. It’s been a solid resource, in dribs and drabs over the last year – however, not the most ‘active’ of communities. If I was to be really honest, some of that obviously falls on MY shoulders, as the community leader.

So, I will be making a big effort to focus a little more on the community that we’ve already built up, and try to engage, motivate, inspire and communicate with everyone over there a little more. It’s also the perfect place to ask question, spin around ideas and get general feedback from everyone else in the community, too.

If you’ve not yet already ‘Liked’ the page, please do so now. And while you’re there, drop a comment to everyone introducing yourself, too!

It’s a TRIBE Thing!

I have always commended the VBL Tribe for the excellent advice, resources and general passion for business that you’ve all shared between each other. You are, sincerely, in my eyes, the BEST online community anywhere. Period.

I have plenty of things lined up for the coming months. However, I am now turning to you guys, my tribe, and asking what you would like to see from me, as the owner of the VBL brand. Nothing is off limits, literally.

Please comment below and let me know what you’d like to see in future posts – and any other suggestions in general. I’d highly appreciated…

Happy New Year, everyone…!

To kick-start 2012 I’ve decided to post this video a little earlier than I had originally anticipated. Even though it was shot at BlogWorld in LA, last November, I was going to release it at the end of this month, as part of a little series I plan on doing. However, when I was looking at it earlier today, the content just grabbed hold of me again, and I realized how important of a message it is for all of us bloggers! Hence the decision to post it earlier than planned.

Darren Rowse is known as one of the most successful bloggers and online entrepreneurs around. I’d met with Darren originally at BlogWorld in Vegas in late 2010, and we reconnected in LA, where we got to hang out and chat together a lot more – he’s a top guy and someone that I hold a massive amount of respect for.

So, in this video you’ll see me and Darren discuss the subject of one of his BlogWorld sessions, which bears the same title as this blog post.

I feel the content of this video is massively important to all bloggers out there. Not just because it helps us to come up with some cool post ideas, but also to capture the attention and imagination of our communities, and also allows people that follow us online to perhaps get a deeper understanding to what makes us tick and why we all do what we do in business, and life.

As a side note, I’d like to thank my buddy, Pat Flynn for playing cameraman for us for a few minutes on the middle of a very busy expo floor!

I’d love to hear what you guys think about this topic – please comment at will, below.

NOTE: Have you ‘Liked’ the VBL Facebook page yet? If not, come on ever (click HERE now to join the gang!) and introduce yourself, ask questions and get involved!

About six months ago we moved house. It was something that had been on the cards for a while, and although we had looked at a lot of houses in the area where we wanted to live, here in Cebu, Philippines, we hadn’t been lucky enough to find something that was truly what we wanted.

One of the main contributing factors for buying a new house was that I needed a larger home office space. Since I’ve become a Virtual CEO, I am now working from home more and more, and in the old house I was finding myself very constricted on a number of levels:

• I didnt have a ‘view’, which was quite literally driving me nuts!
• The aircon was old and noisey, not condusive to business calls.
• My desk area was small and very limited.
• I had no full-time space for my video shooting set-up.
• The room also housed a ‘shared’ family computer.
• It was on the lower level of the house, where all the ‘action’ is throughout the day.

Above you’ll see that, frankly put, I needed my own space, away from everything else. Somewhere quiet, and motivating. Not noisey and distracting. So, when we visited a one-year old house, designed and built entirely on Feng Shui principles, it was love at first site. Not only that, but the entire top level of the house was wide open and ready to be renovated into the home working facility I needed!

You can see the new home office in the short video tour, at the top of this post.

Needless to say, the difference speaks for itself. I find myself being incredibly motivated and heavily productive in this new environment. The additional desk space is a major factor in this, as I like to spread things out in front of me when I work. Not only that, but the huge whiteboard is a game changer as far as I’m concerned, especially for mind-mapping.

What do you think of my new set-up? Any suggested changes I could make?

As we get ready for the New Year, what steps are you taking to make sure that 2012 is the best year ever for you and your businesses? I’d love to hear your comments below.

First up, I’d like to say ‘thank you’ for all the well wishes I received from everyone last week, via Twitter, email and Facebook, as I lay in bed battling what turned out to be the worst flu of my entire life. I literally didn’t leave my bedroom for three full days. It was intense. Also – thanks for the patience for this latest Niche Site Project report, too!

As you’ll see this month’s report comes to you in all the glory of beautiful video.

The content of the video will either make total and utter sense to you, or perhaps, disappoint you. Either way, it is what it is. Simply watch the video, and get updated.

Items mentioned in this video:

• Official ‘Niche Site Project‘ website.
• The ‘Disable RSS‘ wordpress plugin.
• Monthly Report #4 here on the blog.
• The Adsense alternative, Media.net I’m now using.

So, there you have it. Now – if you’d still like to update the community on your numbers and how you’ve been going with your own niche sites, that would be great – I’ve enjoyed reading them, trust me. And if you feel that you’d still like to do it going forward, regardless of my intentions (again – watch the video!), let me know, and I’ll see what I can do to try and work something out on that side of things for everyone.

What struggles have you had in your niche site adventures? Also – what triumphs? Tell us all about it below.

Here’s a snap shot taken this morning at my facility in Cebu, Philippines. The shoot was for a feature that Entrepreneur Magazine is doing on myself, and my company, Virtual Staff Finder – it’ll be coming out in the March 2012 issue.

I’ve been lucky enough to get featured in more ‘traditional’ media quite a bit in my career – TV, Radio, Newspapers and Magazines. This particular feature in Entrepreneur will actually be my second in the incredibly successful business magazine. I’m always very thankful for the exposure that these articles, interviews, etc., bring me and my businesses.

Traditional Media vs New Media

However, with the world of ‘new media’ quickly becoming the ‘norm’ in regards to marketing and promotion of businesses, events, etc., the question has to be raised – is there really a battle between the two actually going on? Or, has ‘traditional’ media just accepted that the online world is here to stay?

Recently, I was on a flight coming back from the US, where I spoke at BlogWorld Expo (the premier event for new media enthusiasts) and watched a documentary called Page One – Inside the New York Times. It’s a great inside look at how one of the worlds biggest, most successful newspapers is handling their own transition into new media. Easily one of the most interesting docu’s I’ve watched for a long time, and I suggest you check it out.

My Opinion

In my own, humble opinion, I believe that ‘new’ media now includes all of what ‘traditional’ media is about. Seriously, I mean, when was the last time you looked in a magazine, newspaper, or checked out a TV show or even a radio interview / spot, where the words Twitter or Facebook were not mentioned / pimped out…?!!

Utilizing the power of the web, blogs, social media, podcasting and online video is now simply enjoying, incorporating and understanding… ‘MEDIA’. Period.

As a blogger, particularly, surely I am a online publisher… right?. That’s what I think, anyway.

What’s your take on all this? Do you believe that new media and traditional media are locked in a battle, or simply becoming more and more intwined together? Let’s discuss below!

I’ve been waiting to publish this post for what seems like ages…..!!!

Finally, after 6-months of beta testing with ‘real’, live clients, I am super excited and happy to formally announce the launch of my latest company – YourWebPA.com. In the video above you’ll find out a little more on the company, tour the offices and even meet one of my management team!

What is YourWebPA.com?

Good question. Eventually it’ll be your one-stop-shop for everything project-based outsourcing related – all work being done by people that work directly under me, here in my facility. However, right now it is focused on helping wannabe and ‘alreadybe’ online entrepreneurs get started (or boosted to a new level!) online in a fast, professional and cost-effective manner.

YourWebPA.com came about after receiving hundreds of emails and tweets from people over the last couple of years. They all had a combination of problems, that were becoming more and more apparent and all too ‘regular’ in occurrence for online entrepreneurs, so I wanted to put a service together that would stop all the madness and start getting people set-up in the right way to do business online!

The type of problems I have been seeing are things such as:

• Outsourcing work using ‘job boards’, or having freelancers ‘bid’ on their jobs, only to find people not delivering on their promises, time and time again.
• Working with over-priced companies, posing as so-called individual freelancers that were then just outsourcing the work to other, poorly-experienced people around the world.
• Outsourced work taking way too long to produce and finalize, even for very simple tasks.
• Deception and a regular amount of general bullshit being experienced, instead of a feeling of accomplishment through getting things done with outsourcing.

No ‘Pitch’, I Promise!

Fact is, I’m not gonna pitch my new company to you. I don’t need to… The services will speak for themselves – as will the quality of those services. You don’t need to take my word for it – read these testimonials from our existing clients that hired us for various tasks throughout our beta mode.

My Christmas Gift to My Tribe!

To celebrate the launch of YourWebPA.com, I am going to be doing something really special for my beloved VBL Tribe.

Starting right… NOW… You can all get an across-the-board 25% discount on ALL services at the site, right up to 12midnight (EST) on December 24th. This is my way of hopefully reaching out to as many entrepreneurs as possible and giving them the chance to begin 2012 on the best possible track in relation to their online business plans and ideas. Simply enter the discount code VBLTRIBE when checking out at the site and the discount will be put into effect.

You’ll see that our website is 100% functional, although it is still being tweaked a little. Can you suggest any changes? I’d love to hear your opinions, as always.

Got any questions on the services? Want to suggest additional services for the future? All good… Comment below. Thank you for patiently waiting for this to finally come along!

Episode 50 – WOW! Thank you, everyone.

As I sat down to record this episode of the VBL Podcast (the last in a while – you’ll find out why when you listen!), I must be honest, I felt extremely humbled by the success of the show and the way that its grown in popularity over the last year. There is not a day that goes by when I don’t receive at least one email, tweet or Facebook message from someone saying how much they enjoy it.

Hit the ‘Play’ button below to listen to this VBL Podcast now. Or, download to listen in on your iPod, iPhone, or iPad later on. DON’T FORGET: Be sure to subscribe on iTunes, too!

In this episode I discuss the following:

• The effect the podcast has had on the blog, my brand and my businesses.
• How grateful I am for all the wonderful guests that have been on the show.
• The reason why I am taking some time off from producing it.
• What’s in store for the future…
• Plus, some more random rambling.

I also mention the following:

It’s been a great run, and I’ve had some amazing guests, of whom I would like to say a special thank you to, and once again, this is NOT the end. It’s just a break, so I can focus on a few other things.

Be sure you check out and enjoy the VBL Podcast Archive in the meantime, and I look forward to continuing to converse with you here on the blog, via the VBL Facebook page, and Twitter, too.

On the way back from BlogWorld at the beginning of this month, I took a little detour from my trip back to the Philippines and stopped by to say ‘Hi’ to all the lovely people in San Diego, staying four nights to enjoy a little down-time with my wife. We hit the San Diego Zoo, SeaWorld (with my buddy, Pat Flynn and his family) and Macy’s for a brand new suitcase as my other decided to die the day before we were due to leave!

Our time in San Diego was awesome. The place is fantastic, and we’ll definitely be going back again in the future. There was one thing that made it all the more sweet, however.

As my wife and I were enjoying a late breakfast, before checking out, I had an email come in from my assistant back in the Philippines. She was confirming a consultation call with a Virtual Staff Finder client – in 30mins. Bad timing? A little… But, it was better to take care of the call now, I thought, before hitting the ‘road’, as I would be keeping my client waiting for at least a few days whilst I traveled and got re-acquainted with the Philippines time-zone.

I Don’t Pay for WiFi!

Being the tight bastard that I am, I don’t pay for wifi. Anywhere. I think that in this day and age, to even attempt to charge for it is nothing short of taking the piss, quite frankly. And at my hotel, they were attempting to charge me for in-room wifi. However, I was told that there was free wifi in the hotel lobby. Great!

I escorted my wife back to the room so she could finish the packing (as all good wives do!), and headed back down to the lobby with my MacBook Air and a pair of earbuds!

The call with my client was going by as normal. Simple questions at first, then getting a little more in-depth. Advice needed on how much to pay their virtual assistants, how to work with them properly, and whether the time differences would cause any issues, etc., etc. It was around half way through the 30min consultation that I noticed another hotel guest sitting across from me, using the free wifi, too. “I’m not the only cheap bastard staying here..!”, I thought to myself.

Why Eavesdropping is a Good Thing!

As I continued my chat, I noticed that my side of the conversation had gotten the attention of my freebie wifi buddy, sitting across from me. He was intently listening in on the advice I was giving my client, and quite frankly, I wasn’t bothered about it.

As with most people that I meet, not many of them know that much about virtual assistants and how they can help you run, support and grow your business, so I’m happy to educate whenever possible, if it means I help another had-working entrepreneur.

When I was done with my client call, I sent a quick email to my project manager, Stephanie, on the call notes, attaching a recording of the call, as I do with all my consultations (so she can go back and listen to it, if need be), and started to shut down my laptop. At this point, the other hotel guest reached out his hand and introduced himself as Mike, a business owner from LA, who was in town for a conference.

The Elevator Pitch!

After subjecting him to my 20-sec elevator pitch (which is perfected, trust me!) and a couple more minutes of general chit-chat he admitted listening in on my conversation, apologizing at the same time. No problems, I told him, and asked if there was anything in particular that pricked his ears up in the first place. He said that he liked the idea of having someone do the ‘shit work’ (his words, not mine!), that he hated doing everyday. As we all know, virtual assistants can do that stuff (along with other things, too!).

Ten more minutes goes by, I explain that we’re leaving soon and that I’ve got to go up to the room to make sure that the wife hasn’t stuffed the hotel bathrobes into our suitcase, along with other stuff that should stay in our room when we leave – he laughs – and asks one more, conversation-defining question.

“So, how much does it cost to use your service, then…?”.

BHAM!

I answered, gave him my card and told him to email or tweet me with any other questions that he might have. Here’s the thing… Because he had been a nosey so-and-so and listened in on my call, he already had all the answers to his questions.

By the time I had jumped in the taxi, got to the airport, checked in and was waiting for my flight to LA, I had a Paypal notification come through on my iPhone for $350. Nice.

Lessons Learned

Know your elevator pitch off by heart.

Never be shy, or scared to chat with strangers about ‘business’.

And above and beyond everything else – NEVER pay for wifi.

What do you think, should you have to pay for wifi? Anywhere? Have you any cool business stories like this to share? If so, go for it… below!

This is a Guest Post from Steve Wyman.

Panda has had a dramatic effect on the ranking of many websites. In the past it was possible to place 100 related longtail keywords on a page, throw some links at it and rank for many of them. In fact I had such a page on a niche site about training a particular obscure breed of dog. That one page brought in, on average, over 15,000 visitors a month to my niche site! Post Panda (version 2+) 4 per day (120 per month) is the best I’ve seen!

Is this a bad thing? Heck no! It shows (as do many other tests) that Panda really does affect poor quality, keyword-stuffed content. If your livelihood had been based on that type of strategy you would have been heavily penalised. Whilst painful, it’s just part of the process. Personally, I believe this is one of the limiting aspects of the passive-income niche site model. If the sites are never touched after the initial ranking how are they to maintain those positions against competitors (we all have software tools to look for these opportunities) and within the ever changing rules set by Google?

As consumers we want sites that are authorative, relevant and informative. In the medium to long term as niche site owners, that’s the type of content we should be producing. There are issues however, when your primary goal is to drive traffic off-site to clickbank or Adsense, and to a lesser degree Amazon. We don’t want to fully educate the reader but provide sufficient information for them to click a link and buy a product (or click the Adsense ad). So there is a contradiction between the consumers’ requirements and our own.

As with many things, so too with niche site building, there are compromises to be made. The content needs to inform and communicate but not deliver all the answers.

Will Google Ever Actually READ Our Stuff…?

Increasingly, bounce rates and time on site will be used as matrices to establish the “quality” of our sites. One day I’m sure Google Bot will be able to “read” our pages and decide if it’s writing fit for Shakespeare or just the doodling’s of a fool, but it’s not there yet. Including video and images on the page will no doubt help to make visitors stick around for longer. Great looking layouts, fonts and header images will all contribute to the sense of it being a real website/business that’s to be trusted. The days are numbered for sites which are parked domains with Adsense only listing. Not only do they not rank but users find little or no value and don’t trust them.

Having established the increased importance of quality content post Panda, there still remains the issue of being seen when users search. The simple fact is that if you do not appear on Page 1 of Google for your search term, the probabilities of being seen are very low. Indeed less than 2% of all click troughs are from a search result outside of Page 1 for that term. I’m sure we have all seen a result which is on Page 10 that gets a click but that’s the extreme exception. It’s fair to say that if your targeted keyword phrase does not result in a top 5 serps ranking then the traffic to your page/site and the resulting income will be disappointing. The effect on traffic of an increase from position 5 to position 3 is even more dramatic. There is some evidence that this is less of an effect post Panda but none the less it’s significant.

This leads us nicely into the thorny and somewhat tiresome subject of link building. I can hear many of you groan. It’s a necessary evil. With the best will in the world the best text and images will rarely outrank a decent site with backlinks. In my view all backlink creation is grey as soon as we create a link to our own site, it’s grey.

So what are backlinks? Backlinks are links to a website or page from another website or page.

Backlinks not only bring visitors, they also help search engines measure the quality/authority of a given page on your website. This is also an important element in determining which pages of your site are displayed, and in what order, on the results page for a search query.

The number of backlinks, the anchor text used and the PR of the originating page all have a bearing on the ranking of the target page on your site.

In other words, a backlink from a high PR page is theoretically worth more than one from a low PR page. If the source site is in a related field and your targeted keyword phrase forms the anchor text of the link, then this will also increase the effect of the link.

A quick side note: Links created on pages that are not indexed or have a PR of N/A, will have no value to you in ranking. It’s not uncommon for link builders to build links to other peoples’ pages to get them indexed! Although I see that as wasted effort, just find pages that are indexed.

However, we must not miss a very important aspect of backlink creation, that of natural link diversity. If your site were to have 100 perfectly formed blog comments (exact keyword phrase for the target page in the anchor text) and all were PR6, this would be neither natural nor would it show any diversity in the type of link entering your site.

Why is this a Bad Thing?

Because they are all indicators of spamming and automation of link creation. Something neither the originating site owners nor Google Bot wants. Panda is without doubt partly targeting these types of link patterns.

For link building to be effective, it’s necessary to vary the anchor text, the PR of the page the link was placed on and also the type of links. We don’t want all links to come from WordPress blogs hosted at wordpress.com. I would also use nofollow pages as well as dofollow pages and a small percentage of deformed anchor text such as typos (e.g. dgo training), the domain name etc, Again, it’s natural and we will never know for sure what Google Bot thinks of nofollow external links.

The other factor we need to be aware of is Link Velocity, the rate at which links are attached to a target page; note this is not the same as the rate at which they are created, as links vary in how quickly they become effective, if at all. One reason is how often the page is crawled by Google.

The last aspect of link building I want to cover is the rate at which you build links. A number of authority figures have tested very rapid link building to brand new domains, with no ill side effects. However, those case studies cannot remain current and it would appear, based on reports, that as of today rapid link building may make you vulnerable to some type of penalty. This is not the sandbox L which I still believe doesn’t exist, but a manual, human audited penalty. Spencer Haws at Niche Pursuits may well have had such an event occur on an authority site he was using as a case study.

A word of caution, in post Panda: you should be wary of hitting your money site with blasts of spammy links such as xrumer. It’s dangerous to the longevity of the site. It’s too easy to spend a fiver and get 1000’s of links. “Watch out the Panda’s about” would be a valid warning. I recently tested this and my site was fine and in fact is ranking keywords in the top 5 for high traffic terms with just 3000 xrumer profiles from a fiver provider. However a colleague’s site has been hit hard and is languishing down on page 90 L for the same keywords.

It’s also becoming clear that overly optimised SEO on page tactics are becoming less effective. The standard formula of top, middle and bottom for the keywords, bolding, italic, underline and perfect keyword density are having less of an effect with time. Interlinking pages and reasonable page length still however remain relevant.

Post Panda… What Should we be doing?

1) As Mr Cutts has said many times: write and create content for people not bots. This will make the people read the site, decrease bounce rates and increase the time on site.

2) Create links between pages within the site as this shows relevancy and is in the core concepts of the web being a series of interlinked pages.

3) Make the site visually appealing and even potentially a MicroBrand. This will also reduce bounce rates, increase on site and more importantly increase the feeling that it’s an authority to be trusted; a place to return to again and again.

4) Create backlinks that are diverse, meaning:

• Blogs, forum profiles, web 2.0 properties etc.
• Have varying PR (a lot of PR 0 and 1 is fine, its quite natural).
• Include nofollow links.
• Vary the anchor text to each page your building links to. For example 60% exact targeted phrase and 40% related (this is not a rule just an idea).
• Do not build vast numbers of one or two types of links.
• Be wary of high link velocity. Rather than build a vast number of one or two types of link in one week, build links over a period of time, 3 to 6 months (yes that long) is much more natural.

Link building is a never ending task. Indeed for most sites I never stop link building. You never know when the next competitor is going to see your niche and jump in. After all you did it to somebody else!

So, in summary, consistent, low velocity and diverse link building will become the norm together with relevant, well-written, informative content including text, images and video. This will become the new standard for any niche website designed to rank highly in Google.

To find out more of Steve’s mindset on all this stuff be sure to check him at at his blog, and tell him that the VBL Tribe sent you!

Do you have a niche site? How did Panda effect you? Negatively, positively? Share your thoughts on this highly debatable topics below!

I was driving to the office this morning and shot this quick video on the hop, as they say – but, I think the content brings up a serious point…

As entrepreneurs, we ALL do things differently, right?! What works for me, might not work for you, and vice-versa. That’s what makes this entrepreneurial world that we live in so remarkable and outstanding.

I enjoy making people smile… Shortly after filming this clip, I popped into Starbucks to get coffee for a couple of my managers, one of which tweeted a thank you (below) message. She was so happy, that she forgot how to spell ‘christmas’ (I assure you, her written English is spotless – unless infused with a free Starbucks treat!). Its awesome to think that this employee has been with me for 3+ years, has grown her career with my company and recently brought yet another Live2Sell Family member into the world!

What a way to begin not only my day, but my week – one of which, I can only assume, as I always do, will be awesome! It’s this mindset that I have that I know for a FACT has something to do with the way I am so productive, and therefore enable myself to be highly productive, in an increasingly ‘noisey’ entrepreneurial world.

What do you do to get started every day? Let us know below, maybe we’ll pick up some cool ideas from each other!

Another month, another dollar… kinda. I’ll go more into that in a while!!!

So, here we are with the 4th of six planned monthly reports where I chart my course to Niche Site Stardom!!! Seriously speaking, however, if you’re just joining in the fun and games, four months ago I launched the Niche Site Project community challenge where anyone could get involved and build, market and monetize a niche site, and share all the gory details (good and bad) for us all to learn from.

And there has been plenty to learn, I can tell ya!

This month the report is coming out a little under a week late, as I’ve just returned from BlogWorld, where I was speaking and also enjoyed some R&R in San Diego afterwards. So, without further ado lets get going with all MY gory details from the last month.

Google Search Position for Primary Keyword

Its been a bit of a tough month. I had some server issues where the site was reported for containing a virus. Upon looking into this, my team couldn’t find anything, and I used several software packages and online services to try and find out where this ‘virus’ was. Nothing was found. Saying that, I still had the guys go through all our servers (not just the one for my niche site), and I ended up doing a little spring cleaning, nonetheless.

Bottom line, my site has slipped to position 37, from position 18 which is where I was at, at the end of last month. Not happy..? Yes. Concerned, not really, as traffic has been much better (which means I’m ranking well for my long-tail keywords).

Does anyone know of any other reasons why we could have dropped so badly this month? Google and Panda playing games again perhaps? Any insights from the VBL Tribe are very much welcome and appreciated.

Number of Site Visitors

I’ve had another great month of growth when it comes to traffic to my site, I’m pleased to report.

A couple of things that really stand out to me is the increase in the average time on the site, from 1.49mins last month to an awesome 2.13mins this month! On top of this, the average page views per visit have also increased from 1.97 last month, to 2.17 this month. My bounce rate has improved, too. I love the fact that people are visiting the site and actually reading the content. It makes all the hard work that goes into creating original content worthwhile.

As for where the traffic is coming from, not any major changes from last month, except the volumes, obviously. Almost a 50% increase of traffic from Google, and Yahoo and Bing are also contributing steady, larger numbers, too.

I had more visits from the VBL last month than ever before, which I’ve never really ‘counted’, if you know what I mean. The reason for the increase this month is because Spencer, over at NichePursuits.com featured the Niche Site Project in a post and some of his readers came over to the VBL, before obviously hopping onto the niche site itself, to check it out.

Google Adsense Earnings

This is the tough part of this report for me to talk about. I’m gutted.

This month I’ve made basically exactly the same amount of money as last month, as you’ll see below. But, that’s not the part I am gutted about!

Last month I did $191 in earnings via Adsense. I know its not a lot of money – but, the joy felt in seeing all my hard work paying off as a first-time niche site marketer is/was great. I was so excited to see what the next month was going to bring me. But on November 3rd, as I was about to step on the stage to speak at BlogWorld I checked my niche site and realized something was strange – I immediately noticed that NONE of my ad’s were displaying…

The question is – why?!

I immediately sent an email to my internet marketing manager back in the Philippines and asked him to look into things for me, whilst I took the stage for my presentation. Later that evening I checked my email to see if he could shed any light on anything… He couldn’t, initially. I could still access my Adsense account (and still can). I hadn’t received (and still haven’t) any notification from Google on any issues and I am none the wiser as to why I still cannot display ad’s on my site, using my Adsense account.

A week into trying to figure out what the hell is going on, with absolutely NO EARNINGS, yesterday I finally bite the bullet and asked my internet manager to use HIS Adsense account on the site, until we try to get things rectified. This has totally taken me aback, I have absolutely no idea why its happening. So, I’d like to assume that with another week on the cards, I would have made at least another $50, which would have been great!

The only thing I can think of, and granted, this idea is fueled by countless searching online for info, as well as several conversations with other internet marketers I know – is that my account has been put on some kind of ‘hold’, because someone / some people have been click-bombing me from singular IP addresses, and Google thinks that it might be me trying to make extra money… If only I was that smart!

So, the mystery continues, and if anyone has any similar experiences, or ideas as to why this is happening, I’d love to know.

Alexa Rank

Very happy to not only see the increase in traffic this past month, but obviously the increase of the Alexa rank for my site. Down from 199,237 to the newest update of 157,618. This just proves that with consistent hard work and persistence, a website that hasn’t been around forever can become more and more popular with every passing month.

No movement on the pagerank, unfortunately, and I did think that we might see it increase on the last update that Google put out a week or so ago, but nonetheless, happy on these stats for the last month.

Number of Content Pages

Last month I mentioned that I was looking to add an average of 2 new articles a day to the site, with a total of 60 over the course of the month. I actually fell way short of that target, with just 19 new articles being added. The fact of the matter is that my writer is working on the content for my niche site when he is not working on stuff for clients. And, I’m happy to say he’s been a busy bee with client work (stuff that makes me the ‘real’ money!).

Saying that, I’ve actually hired another two full-time writers just since I got back from LA, and so I expect some more quality content to be produced this coming month.

Other Bits and Pieces

YouTube Video - I put this together to gain some more traffic from YouTube. That hasn’t actually happened yet, if I was to be totally honest. However, we’ve had 240 views on the channel, which is cool (perhaps competitors checking us out a little, too!), and I have not optimized the listing on YouTube yet, either. I actually learned some really cool stuff on this at BlogWorld, so that will be happening soon.

Aweber - Last month we finished with a pro-rata number of 60 new potential subscribers a month. Well, I almost hit that with 59 new subscribers this last month. So, the math was bang on. Again, not too sure what I’m going to do with this list yet – but, its better to start building it from the outset. Adding the new opt-in graphic and producing a cool, professionally looking eBook is helping, too, I think.

Additional Advertising - Whilst at BlogWorld, I met with one of the peeps from Media.net, which work with online publishers on advert placement, etc., through the Yahoo network. I’ve added a few extra advert’s from this service on the niche site to see how it goes. It’s nice to test other things out. I’ll update you next month on that.

Lots of Emails - Something else thats really cool is that I’ve been getting lots of emails from people who visit the site, asking questions or requesting more information on aspects of my niche – this is way cool, because it shows that people are genuinely seeing the site as an authority, so to speak – which is certainly the plan, long-term. I’ve had my VA replying to the emails with a template, suggesting some additional pages on the site.
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Over to You!

This is the part where I turn everything over to you guys, and ask for you to share your own updates.

I must say I have seen the number of ‘active’ contributors to this part of the VBL Month decrease quite rapidly over the last couple of months. I expected this, obviously. As entrepreneurs, or wannabe entrepreneurs, we sometimes start a project with the best of intentions and then abandon it. Online, this is even more rampant, as it takes a little longer than it did a few years ago to see results.

Its a great shame, actually, as those of you who HAVE stuck with it, and worked hard on your niche sites every month have seen some great growth in traffic, earnings and overall accomplishments. Good job to you all.

So – c’mon then… Show us whatcha got…!!!

I’ve just got back into the Philippines, and figured I’d get cracking this week with this round-up from my recent (and second this year!) trip to the USA. The last couple of weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind, and I’m feeling a little tired, but also very excited about the next few months, at the same time.

The trip kicked-off with a trip to San Francisco, where I met with a couple of clients, had lots of fun hanging out with my man, Corbett Barr and enjoyed plenty of coffee at Starbucks, which was situated right in the lobby of our hotel – to my surprise and delight!

After a few days, myself and Mrs. VBL jetted off to LA and landed to another couple of client meetings, a dinner and then it was all about BlogWorld. This was something that I’d been looking forward to ever since I attended last year and then subsequently missed the first ever New York event earlier on in the year. This time around, however, it was going to be a little different, as I was going to be speaking!

My BlogWorld Speaking Experience

Unlike some of the speakers I met at BlogWorld, this wasn’t my first time speaking in front of an audience, of any size. I’ve spoken at many different conferences, seminars and training events in the past and before I left for my trip to BlogWorld, I was actually confirmed as the Keynote Speaker at the upcoming Visayas Blogging Summit in Cebu City, Philippines which is taking place at the end of November.

All that being said, I always get a little nervous before speaking in front of a crowd (there’s something wrong with you if you don’t!), and BlogWorld was no exception. Especially as the crowd there is very savvy!

I had already got into the mood by shooting my video promo for the event, and had a load of people coming up to me, doing mafia impressions at the show, which was awesome!

All in all I was very happy with the way that my session, which was well attended and on the subject of working with VA’s to help build, grow and monetize your blog, played out. Not only did all the preparation for my session pay off, but I was very happy to see several friendly faces in the audience, as well as some of the biggest names in the blogging world, too!

I did have a little video shot at the session, and as I have had several requests to put something together, I’ll do my best to go ahead and do that in the next week or so, after I recover fully!

Why YOU Should Have Attended BlogWorld!

If you didn’t get the chance to attend BlogWorld in LA then you certainly DID miss out. The event just gets better and better, seriously. Just to make you feel worse than you probably already do, here are my top 5 reasons why YOU should have attended:

• Networking opportunities up the yin-yang!
• The chance to learn from the best in the industry.
• The opportunity to meet and greet your online buddies.
• Swag, baby – lots of swag on the exhibition floor.
• You would have been able to attend my fantastic presentation, obviously!!!

For me, the big take-away is being able to hang out with people that I get on well with, admire, respect and general enjoy talking to. Here you’ll see myself, Pat Flynn and Darren Rowse posing for a snapshot at some point in an hour or so of just ‘chit-chatting’ together. Good times.

If you still want to check out the fantastic sessions that made up the entire 3-day conference, then you can! Simply hop over to the BlogWorld website and purchase a Virtual Ticket. You’ll get access to every session, as well as a bit of extra stuff, too!

Thank You to Everyone!

There are way too many people that I met at the conference, came up to thank me after my session, shook my hand on the exhibition floor and in the corridors of the LA Convention Center, as well as in the Speakers Room throughout the course of the event, to thank here.

However, a few people I’d like to point out and say thanks to are Corbett Barr from Think Traffic, ‘Handsome’ pro-blogger David Risley and Srinivas Rao from BlogCastFM for their unwavering support. I’d also like to thank Darren Rowse from ProBlogger for not only showing his support by attending my presentation, but also for sitting down to record a quick, but memorable video Q&A for the blog (coming soon!) and my buddy, Pat Flynn from Smart Passive Income, with whom I spent plenty of time with, both during the event and after, in his home town of San Diego, where we relaxed together for a few days, along with our families. SeaWorld, baby!

And last, but by no means least, I’d like to thank Rick Calvert, Dave Cynkin, Deb Ng and the rest of the BlogWorld Team for all the fantastic support they showed myself and the other 300-odd speakers, as well as for their hard work in putting together an awesome industry event.

The next BlogWorld event will be in June 2012 sometime and probably in New York. Its a little soon for me to tell if I’ll be able to make it – but, I can assure you, if I can… I’ll be there with bells on!

Did you attend BlogWorld in LA? If so, tell us about your experiences at the show! And if you didn’t, what do you think you would have gotten out of it the most, if you had…?

This post by Benjamin Spall, is part of ‘VBL Guest Post Season 2′.

I have a huge respect for entrepreneurs.

Making it is tough. Real tough. Like so many other things, it’s not until you try it out yourself that you can really appreciate the difficulty of the game.

Take professional sports stars. They often get a beating in the press for how much they earn, and almost as frequently, how often they spend it.

Sure, sports stars earn a lot. Scratch that, they earn a hell of a lot. But it really gets to me when I hear a drunk in the pub shout at the TV “For six figures a week I could do better than that” every time somebody misses a shot or concedes a point for their team.

Do they really think they could? They obviously don’t know how hard these people train, the crazy diets they have to stick to morning, noon, and night, and as is the case in many sports, did they miss the part where you have to run around a huge plot of land for one, maybe even two hours at a time?

For the past twelve months I have been trying to make it on my own. Whilst at the University I had dreams of becoming an entrepreneur, but upon leaving I suppressed those dreams in order to work long hours in a job which in all honesty felt no passion towards at all.

Now, I thought to myself, is my time.

I won’t lie to you. These past twelve months have been tough. Looking back at myself a year ago I can safely say I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. No doubt I’ll feel the same way a year from now.

Reading books about entrepreneurship and flicking through one business success story after business success story in journals, cannot prepare you for the harsh realities of the real thing—much like watching sports on TV cannot prepare you for running out onto the field and leading your team to victory.

What looks easy from the outside is, in reality, incredibly hard. All we are often left to pull focus from is the finished product. “That Zuckerberg guy got lucky and is now worth billions of dollars”, “That sports star only does a couple of hours work a week, how can he possibly deserve his salary?”.

Do you really think you can do better? Do you really think you would have hit that shot, or saved that goal? Then step up to the plate and show the world what you’re made of.

I’m currently taking part in Chris’ Niche Site Project. The site I’m working on has been my first solid idea in the whole twelve months I’ve been trying to make it online. Before this point I’d keep coming up with failed idea after failed idea, convinced that it was the ideas at fault, and not by any means my inexperience.

From the top of my head, here are some of those ideas, some of which reached full website stage before being abandoned, while others didn’t get past the domain name creation:

• Telescope Review Website
• Software Review Website
• Parkour/Free running Website
• Job Interview Body Language Course
• Comedy Writing Course
• Learning South American Spanish Email Series
• Learning Portuguese from Spanish Email Series
• Council Waste Collection Website

It wasn’t the ideas themselves that were bad (despite how some of them may sound). I was simply inexperienced. I didn’t know how to successfully implement them just yet. I thought, as so many do after reading the 4-Hour Work Week and studying a few online forums, that I’d be on track to making thousands of dollars overnight with one single idea.

That was not the case.

What I realised from the niche site I have been working on for several months, is with consistent work and a vision of where you want your creation to go (both in the short and longer terms) success will eventually creep up on you. Your creation will gain momentum, two, four, six, eightfold over time. It’ll become something real, something tangible—something to be proud of.

Entrepreneurs deserve all the success and fortune they will eventually receive. It’s a hard world out there, and deciding to do it alone rather than conforming and working as an insurance salesman, that takes guts.

To all the entrepreneurs out there, thank you for inspiring me to do the work.

I’ve been fortunate enough to know my special guest today for at least a year and a half or so. Although, saying that, it feels as if I’ve known David Siteman Garland for a lot, lot longer. We’ve spoken via skype a ton of times, I’ve been featured on his fantastic web TV show, The Rise to the Top not once, but twice (a feat he now repays, by being on this episode of the VBL Podcast!), and its safe to say, we’ve become good buddies.

He even listed me on his ’20 Unconventional Entrepreneurs Who Will Inspire You!’ run-down, along with guys like Tim Ferriss and Seth Godin (thanks again for that, dude!).

David’s passion for business, life and entrepreneurship is infectious. Not every now and then, but ALL the time. He oozes affection and energy for what he does and shows the world, on his blog, TV show, as well asin his recent book ‘Smarter, Faster, Cheaper’.

Throughout the course of our conversation, you’ll hear us discuss amongst other things, the following:

• David’s amazing 7-day journey from ‘discussion’ to ‘book offer’.
• Why most first time authors get around a year, but how David got his first draft together in just 4 months!
• David’s ‘writing schedule’… How he got shit done – from coffee shops, daily!
• How 4-6 hour writing sessions got the ‘bulk’ of ‘Smarter, Faster, Cheaper’ together, fast.
• Much, much more!

Hit the ‘Play’ button below to listen to this VBL Podcast now. Or, download to listen in on your iPod, iPhone, or iPad later on. DON’T FORGET: Be sure to subscribe on iTunes, too!

This story just goes to show you that with perseverance, hard work and all-out passion, you can pretty much achieve anything. It might not have been your normal, run-of-the-mill first time author story, but lets face it – David is not your every day, run-of-the-mill kinda guy, is he..!!!?

To find out more about David, his book, blog and fantastic web TV show, hop over to TheRiseToTheTop.com, and tell him that Chris Ducker sent ya! Then, sit back, relax and enjoy his online ‘show’.

I can’t help but be inspired, excited and motivated every time I watch him. I’m sure you’ll feel the same way.

Are you utilizing video on your blog? Podcasting? I’d love to hear from you if you are. And tell us how you got started, as well as some of the high’s and low’s, too! Comment below.

This post by Timo Kiander, is part of ‘VBL Guest Post Season 2′.

Outsourcing is an evergreen topic in the world of online entrepreneurs. This is quite understandable.

Any business requires our efforts (whether when starting up or running it) and quite soon we may feel stressed out because of our workload. Especially if you are building your online business while having a day job, a family and some hobbies, available time becomes very limited.

That’s why outsourcing is so great – you can hand over the tasks you don’t like to someone else. At the same time you can focus on the more meaningful parts of your business instead.

However, as an entrepreneur, there are certain areas in your life that you shouldn’t outsource at all. They are very important ones and neglecting those will bring you lots of stress – harm and even worry – in the long run.

Although they are not directly related to your business, ignoring these areas will make your entrepreneurial life much harder than what it needs to be.

Your Family

Do you work hard? Isn’t this like a default mode for the entrepreneur – the more you work the more successful you come – right?

Well, what about the closest people around you, have you thought how they feel when you just work? Don’t you think they deserve your time as well?

I help you to answer this last question: Yes they do! In fact, you should make them a top priority in your life.

The surest way to alienate your spouse and your kids (and your friends too) is to be glued to your computer screen and ignorethe most important thing that you have in your life – the relationships to your closest people.

Keep gluing yourself to the screen enough and you will eventually realize, that the people that care about you now are gone tomorrow.

Don’t let this happen!

Action steps:

• Set clear limits when you work – communicate with your spouse and children about this
• Your business is important, but your family is equally important (keep reminding yourself about this constantly!)
• Spend time with your family by being fully present. No checking your e-mails through iPhone when spending the evening with your wife or thinking business related things when playing with your kids
• Be deeply grateful for the closest people of your life. Be utterly happy that you have these wonderful people in your life.

Your Health

Too often we take our health for granted – until we get sick or have a malfunction in our body. Usually we start thinking about our health more closely, when our doctor tells us to start exercising regularly and advises to change our diet. Because otherwise if we don’t …

Things do not have to be like this!

As an entrepreneur, it is very important to keep yourself healthy and fit. Your business needs a healthy owner to run it – you.

Take small steps at a time. Start exercising every day – just a bit. It doesn’t mean that you should be running 10 miles on a daily basis. Instead, much smaller doses of exercise will do just fine.

In fact, you could decide that you spend at least 30 minutes everyday doing some physical activity. It could be walking in the woods or taking a short bicycle ride in your neighborhood.

Once you get into the habit of exercising, it becomes your second nature.

Not only is exercising important, but you should pay attention to your diet as well. Cut down the amount of alcohol, sugar, coffee and you are on your way to a better life.

It’s your turn to take action now! You can’t outsource your health – you have to work on it by yourself!

Action steps:

• Start exercising 30 minutes per day. Find your own favorite way of moving and start out small – by listening to yourself and what feels good.
• Take some time off. It makes good to yourself to recharge your batteries every once in a while. Once you start working again, your mind is full of new ideas to implement.
• Check your nutrition. You are maybe thinking that since you are not sick right now, it doesn’t matter what you eat. However, the sicknesses and overweight come over a longer period of time. That’s why it is important to change your habits now.
• Remember to have enough rest. The amount in a night depends of the adult, but most likely it is between 7-8 hours (but it could be less). Take a 20 minute powernap in the afternoon, if you feel tired.

Your Passion

For some people, finding their passion is easy but for some, it requires years and years of exploring.

I belong to the latter group of people. In fact, I’m soon going to be 40 and I just happened to find my passion – the thing that I want to do when I grow up!

Since it took me quite a bit of time to realize this, the last thing that I would do now is to outsource it! When I have finally found “my thing”, I want to hold on tight to it. I want to invest time to mastering it, become an authority in it and help people to become better at it.

My passion means that I’m involved in it myself! I know, digital lifestyle would enable me to outsource most of the research, blog posts or interactions with others. However, it doesn’t necessarily mean I should do it.

I live and breathe my passion – it defines who I am.It brings me joy and happiness. Why should I give it away?

Action steps:

• Be proud of your passion – explore it even further
• Be grateful of having found your passion and that you have the chance to live it and master it
• Involve yourself heavily into your passion while experiencing a deep satisfaction of what you do
• Use your creative energy to take the most out of your passion. Enjoy the life that your passion is giving you.

Timo Kiander is a productivity and time management enthusiast, as well as author of the free e-book: “101 Tips For Becoming a Productivity Superstar”. Follow Timo on Twitter too.

I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting todays guest face-to-face yet, but I know that when we do eventually meet up in the flesh we’ll just get on like a house on fire. Tyler Tervooren’s thirst for life is clear to see, and the way he approaches community, networking and getting things done is an inspiration for all online entrepreneurs.

Tyler’s fantastic, popular blog, Advanced Riskology is a mouth-watering collection of inspiration, realization and bang-smack in-your-face advice as to why and how you need to be living your life, by taking risks and making things happen. However, what I wanted to talk to Tyler about was how he’s mentioned to create a huge following of brand new blog readers and fans in a realitively short space of time.

Throughout our conversation, you’ll hear us discuss amongst other things:

• Tyler’s secret behind getting that ‘little bit further’ than most out there online.
• The catalyst behind Advanced Riskology and why he focused in on the niche of ‘taking risks’.
• His 1% Club and how important it is to him, and the tribe he’s built.
• How he put together his first online product, by engaging his community, and why it was a raging success!
• Plus much, much more.

Hit the ‘Play’ button below to listen to this VBL Podcast now. Or, download to listen in on your iPod, iPhone, or iPad later on. DON’T FORGET: Be sure to subscribe on iTunes, too!

Community is about as important to bloggers and online entrepreneurs as praying is to the Pope, lets face it! What I loved about this conversation was how free and open Tyler was with his advice, just like my buddy, Pat Flynn, who has also fermented a massive following over the last couple of years online. It’s things like this that really inspire other people to go and do likewise.

Thank you, my tribe, my community… for all the support you show me, too.

If you’d like to find out more about Tyler, the risks he takes and what he has in store for the rest of the 1% Club, then hop over to his blog, and be sure to follow him on Twitter, too.

What type of risks have you taken in the last few months to get your business or personal projects off the ground? Are you actively building your own community, or tribe? Let us hear all about it, below…

This post by Sarah Russel, is part of ‘VBL Guest Post Season 2′.

Coming to Chris’s “Virtual Business Lifestyle” site always makes me feel happy.  From the smiling pictures of the virtual assistants working for his companies to the positive advice on how outsourcing tasks can revolutionize your business, it’s hard not to leave his page without feeling more optimistic about how much more work can get done when you harness the awesome power of outsourcing.

Of course, anyone who’s ever attempted to hire a VA without the right expectations or proper planning knows that this process isn’t always roses and sunshine.  This is my story of how I failed miserably (and lost hundreds of dollars) with outsourcing at first, as well as the lessons I learned that enabled me to take advantage of an outsourced business model successfully in the future…

I hired my first VA about four years ago. At the time, I was as green as an internet newbie can be and had just gotten involved in advertising CPA and affiliate advertisements on minisites via pay-per-click advertising.  Basically, I was jumping head first into a complicated plan laid out by an internet marketing “guru” for which I had neither the skills nor the aptitude needed to succeed.

But!  As it turns out, it wasn’t a problem that I didn’t have the necessary experience or knowledge, as my teacher promised I could outsource the entire system to a foreign VA and turn a quick profit while I sat back and cashed my payout checks (…raise your hand if you’ve heard that one before!).

You can imagine what happened next.  I signed up for the outsourcing program the guru was promoting, and within a few days, I had been assigned my very own VA.  When I received his very politely worded introduction letter, asking what tasks I’d like him to get started on, I froze.  It took me a few days before I was able to wrap my head around the process enough to let him know that I wanted help building websites and setting up PPC campaigns.

As you might expect, our exchanges didn’t get much better after that.  When he asked for more clarification, I wasn’t able to provide it, which led to work I wasn’t satisfied with.  I was so overwhelmed by the process that I’d let days go by without sending information, undoubtedly leading to frustration on his end as well.  After the month subscription to the service I had purchased expired, I cancelled the contract and resolved to never work with outsourced VAs again.

At the time, I blamed everyone but myself – including both the “crackpot” guru who sold me a course that no one in the world could succeed with (which is what you tell yourself after you’ve wasted tons and tons of money on something totally above your ability level) and the outsourced VA, who somehow couldn’t read my mind well enough to get the job done.

But as my business grew and stabilized, I began to reconsider that hasty decision to never outsource again.  Instead, using the tips I found on VBL and other outsourcing sites, I took the time to understand how to work with VAs more effectively.  Here’s what I’ve learned…

Rule #1 – Know your business better than you know your family members

A virtual assistant isn’t a “replacement you”.  Even if you train your VA for years and years, he or she will never have the exact same skills, outlook or opinions that you do – meaning that this single outsourced worker will never be able to fully take over and run your business the same way that you would.

Now, this doesn’t mean that virtual assistants aren’t useful (and obviously, I’m preaching to the choir with this one by posting it here on VBL) – it just means that the effective way to work with them isn’t to expect a single worker to handle everything, hands-off.  Instead, you need to invest time in mapping out your business processes, determining which elements make sense to outsource and finding a VA who is skilled in these particular areas.

But, as the title of this rule might suggest, it isn’t enough to say something as simple as, “I’m going to outsource my backlink creation.”  What kind of backlinks do you use in your business?  Paul and Angela style profile backlinks?  Unique article content posted to Web 2.0 sites?  There’s a pretty big difference between the skill sets needed to create these different types of backlinks, so if you plan to outsource your link building, you need to be crystal clear on what you expect your VA to do.

The only way to figure out what you want to outsource and who’s best suited to manage these tasks is with an in-depth analysis of your business.  Sit down one day and write out every single thing you do, down  to the tiniest detail.  Get the bulk of your business processes down on paper, but plan on spending at least a little time refining these lists in the future as you notice items you’ve missed.

Here’s an example of part of a detailed task list I put together for installing WordPress before hiring a VA the second time around:

• Log in to my Web Host Manager panel
• Create a new account for every new domain I purchase
• Use Fantastico to automatically install WordPress
• Configure the Akismet plugin with my key
• Install the All-in-One SEO, Google XML Sitemaps and Web Ninja Google Analytics plugins
• Add title, description and keyword information to All-in-One SEO

Once you have your list, make a note next to items that you absolutely must do.  These are the items that you are uniquely qualified to handle and that an outsourced worker could never be expected to take on successfully (news flash – there aren’t nearly as many of these as you might expect!).  Next up, make another note next to the tasks that you truly hate doing.  Items that you can outsource and that you don’t like doing represent the best place to start delegating to a VA.

Rule #2 – If something’s going wrong, it’s probably your fault…

Once you’ve identified these potential tasks to outsource and identified the right worker to handle them (see my Outsourcing Case Study for more information on how to do this), the fun really begins. JTraining your VA on how you want specific tasks performed is your responsibility, so in the initial stages of your relationship with your outsourced worker, it’s pretty safe to assume that if something isn’t working out, the blame probably lies with you.

Sure, it’s one thing if the VA you’ve hired has misrepresented his or her skills in some way (for example, saying he’s comfortable with Joomlatemplating when he’s never once logged into the platform), but otherwise, most problems result from miscommunications on your end that can be easily fixed.  The following are a couple of things I’ve learned that can help this training process go as smoothly as possible:

• Train one task at a time – Yes, I know you’re anxious to start outsourcing every single task that you reasonably can, but give your VA a break!  Imagine walking into a 9-to-5 job and being rushed through every single part of your new job in the first week – not cool, right?!  Work on one task or process at a time and only move on to the next one when you and your VA are comfortable with the quality of work being completed.
• Keep your instructions simple – I’m a writer.  I like flowery language and complex sentence structures that convey a point in the most elegant way possible.  But guess what?  This type of writing has absolutely no place in communications with your VA!  Even if you aren’t dealing with a language barrier, tasks, action steps and goals should be explained using the simplest possible terminology in order to avoid frustrating miscommunications.
• Set a time limit – I can’t take credit for this one – it’s a tactic I blatantly ripped off from Tim Ferriss’ “Four Hour Work Week”.  When introducing a new task – especially one that’s repetitive in nature – request that work be completed for a set period of time, at which point you’ll check the results and provide feedback.  It’s a great way to catch and correct mistakes before they affect the entire project.

Rule #3 – Don’t hide behind the computer screen

When I hired my first VA, I was so overwhelmed that I often took days to respond to him, and honestly, it’s a trap I still fall into sometimes today.  And as much as I can tell myself that I’m simply too busy as a business owner to respond to my VA’s questions, the fact of the matter is that I’m just being rude.

When you hire a remote worker, there isn’t the same immediacy that’s necessary in in-person interactions in your normal life.  While you certainly wouldn’t make a boss or a subordinate wait days for an assignment or follow-up to a question (or at least, you wouldn’t if you wanted to keep that day job!), it’s so much easier to let an email message from your VA get buried in your inbox without a response.

And while a lot of this is general “Golden Rule” type of stuff (treat your outsourcer the way you’d want an employer to treat you), there are a few lessons I’ve found that are unique to remote workers:

• Provide useful instructions – Explaining things to a worker who’s half the world away can be difficult, which is why I’m a huge fan of Skype and video training.  Personally, I use Camtasia to take a screen recording of me completing a given task (although there are plenty of free alternatives you can use) and send them to my VA via Amazon’s S3 service.
• Invest in your VA – If all of this training sounds time consuming, keep in mind that it’s going to take you even longer to replace a VA who leaves because you aren’t acting like the professional you are.  So if you find a good VA, invest the time in training him or her on your processes (even paying for additional training resources or software) in order to build a lasting relationship.
• Respect local traditions – In the US, working hours, pay rates and expected vacation privileges are somewhat standardized – but don’t fall into the trap of expecting that these arrangements apply to other countries!  Take the time to understand the expected pay rates and working conditions of the region from which you’re hiring a VA so that you don’t lose a good worker over cross-cultural misunderstandings.

Like I said before, I’m nowhere near perfect when it comes to outsourcing.  I still put off responding to emails, and I sometimes assign tasks that aren’t completely clear or that don’t make sense for my business or my VA’s specific skills.  But I’m working on it.  In many ways, outsourcing is like any other skill – you’re probably going to suck at first, but with time, energy and practice, you get better

So if you’re in the same position I was four years ago, where outsourcing feels like much more of a hassle than it’s worth, don’t give up hope yet!  Read the great material here on VBL and invest some time in making yourself a better employer.  With a little extra effort, you’ll be able to take advantage of all the benefits an outsourced workforce can bring to your business!

Check out Sarah’s marketing related blog over at www.CommonSenseMarketing.net, and be sure to hit her up on Twitter, too!

Today’s podcast guest, Jonathan Mead is a guy that knows what he wants, and goes out to take it, on his own terms, every day. You have to love that! At his excellent blog, Illuminated Mind, his tagline reads “Live and Work on your Own Terms – Don’t read if you want Ordinary!’. I love that even more!

I first met with Jonathan last year at BlogWorld in Vegas. We enjoyed a dinner, together with his wife, and various other great minds that were at the same table, such as Corbett Barr, David Risley, Maren Kate to name a few. And I remember Jonathan because he had this sense of calmness about him. The rest of us were super pumped to be at the conference and were a tad over excited, I would say. But, Jonathan sat there with a smoothness about him that only a man living on his own terms would. This is a man I needed to get onto the VBL Podcast!

In today’s podcast session you’ll hear me and Jonathan talk about, amongst other things:

• Why its so important to do what you truly love, and being creative.
• The difference between motivation and purpose and how to take the answer, and apply it to business.
• How he helps people align their passions to be able to live a life truly worth living.
• The focus that he had on wanting to work for himself, instead of just going through the motions of working for someone else.
• Much, much more!

Hit the ‘Play’ button below to listen to this VBL Podcast now. Or, download to listen in on your iPod, iPhone, or iPad later on. DON’T FORGET: Be sure to subscribe on iTunes, too!

You’ll enjoy this conversation with a real new age entrepreneur that is really carving out quite a following and solid niche for himself.

Spend a bit of time getting to know him some more over at his blog, and be sure to follow him on Twitter, too. Tell him that Chris Ducker sent you, and he might, just might give you a free latte, or something. Then again, he might not!

Are you living on your own terms? If not, why not? Whats in your way? Comment at will…

I’m currently in San Francisco, and if you don’t already know, I’m speaking at BlogWorld in LA (official hashtag #BWELA) in a few days. I’ve been busy preparing for my session for the last couple of weeks on and off, and wanted to post quickly before taking-off for Los Angeles.

It’s a common fact that there are over 200 speakers at BlogWorld this year. Thats a lot of talent, and a lot of options for the people attending, in terms of who they’re going to spend time with. After checking out the conference schedule itself I noticed that at the same time that I’ll be giving my presentation, there’s another 16 sessions going on, too!

What I Did to Promote My Session at #BWELA

I sat down and asked myself ,”What am I going to do, to make sure that my session is well attended..?”. Well, I like video as you know. It’s personal and easily digested, as well as easily shared online. So, I decided to shot a promo video – which you can view above.

I first had the concept of just filming myself in various locations talking about all the things that virtual assistants could do for you, and then editing it all together, real fast, to build the list up visually. But, I woke up about a week ago with another idea… spoofing those cheesy infomercials that you see on TV in the wee hours of the morning!

As you can see from the images below, a couple of props and a mafia impression later, the video was shot, edited and launched online!

Imagine my surprise when I see that the staff at BlogWorld.com had published it onto their site, and then just 48 hours later, featured it in their Newsletter mail-out to thousands of BlogWorld fans. Just awesome! Thanks to the staff at BlogWorld who graciously posted the clip everywhere they could. It was much appreciated.

Are You Atteneding #BWELA..?

If you’re going to be at BlogWorld, I would love to see you at my session, obviously. For clarification sakes, here are the details:

Session Name: How to Work with Virtual Assistants to Help Build, Grow and Monetize your Blog!
Date & Time: Thursday, November 3rd at 1.30pm-2.30pm
Location: Room 409A

In case you can’t make my session for whatever reason, but will be around at the conference, I’d still love to meet you, so please come up and say ‘Hi’ to me, when you see me lurking around the conference corridors, restaurants, networking events, parties, etc.!

If You Can’t Attend – Fear NOT! Buy a Virtual Ticket!

I’ve had a load of people email and tweet me saying that they aren’t going to be able to attend the conference itself, because of a number of reasons. It’s a shame that we won’t be able to meet up in person – but, that doesn’t mean that you have to miss out on all the fantastic sessions! You CAN still attend, with a Virtual Ticket.

Just click on the following link for information on what the Virtual Ticket includes and much more. This is great option for anyone that can’t make it. [Note: These are NOT affiliate links!]

I’d like to wrap this last post before #BWELA with a big thank you to everyone that has supported myself and the VBL brand over the last 18 months since it hit the online world. I’d like to think that I got selected as a speaker for the conference because of my good looks, but, as we all know, I’m not that good looking! The fact is that you guys have helped grow the VBL brand and as a result, my personal brand, too.

So, ‘thank you’, sincerely, and I look forward to telling you all about the conference and my session particularly (hopefully with a little video) when I return from the US of A!