Is there value in pure fun and straight-up good times?

Is it OK that we mix business, creativity and pleasure all together?

I say hell-to-the-yeah. Times 100!

You may, or may not know, that I absolutely love hip-hop, dance and gettin’ all gangster. In fact, my friend Laura Belgray was SO thrilled to see this latest b-school launch video because as she said, “I love your all your stuff Marie, but I secretly get so pissed that no one gets to see you DANCE! I miss that part of you. I saw this video and want more!!”

So in case you missed my hard core hip-hop dance and teaching days, here’s a chance to see me at my very, very best.

WARNING: Pure entertainment ahead. No lessons; no witty wisdom; no action steps to take. Kind of nice on a Monday, right?

Enjoy and as always, let me know what you think by leaving a comment!

Do you ever wonder how people actually make money online?  From the outside looking in, it can seem very mysterious.

Do they sell advertising?  Are they making a ton from affiliate sales?  Do they sell boatloads of information products?

Ice cube trays?  Membership sites?  Enlargement pills? Coaching programs?

Learning how people make money online is a fascinating topic.

It’s also something not enough people talk about openly.

I’ve worked with many different, and many expensive coaches over the years and never felt quite comfortable (until recently), asking them how they actually do it.

Seeing exactly how other people do things ignites my imagination, creativity and sense of possibility.  Not to mention triggering the mega important “Holy shit . . . I can do that too!” moment.

So now for the million dollar question.

Do you want to know exactly how I make money online?

The real-deal revenue breakdown and inside scoop on my entire business?

And, of course, get the answer to why I’m in bed with another woman?

If this kind of thing floats your boat (learning how people make money online OR seeing two chicks in bed get the full scoop here.

It’s a full on-training video that’s part of my Rich, Happy & Hot B-school launch.  Honestly, this may be one of the best free training videos I’ve ever released.

Why? Because I have friends who’ve paid $100K plus for business mentorship type programs and never got this level of transparency.

But it’s all yours for free right now. (who love’s ya, baby?)

Seriously.  I think you’ll really enjoy the video of Laura and I in bed and the training video about how we make money, the cool PDF maps and ‘take action now’ exercise that goes along with it.

Go see it here now.

Like I said, this video is part of our b-school launch and unlike my regular blog content, this video will not be available for long.

BIG FAVOR:  Please leave a comment on the blog and let me know what you think.

We really stuck our asses out here, so to speak.

And if you know other people who are starting or growing their business online, please share the video with them.

As Malcolm S. Forbes says, “Insight is the best vision.”

Enjoy and I’ll see you over there now.

You’ll never find me using “retail therapy” as a means of relaxation.  In fact, most of the time I walk into stores and instantly feel overwhelmed by the racks and racks of endless choices.

My brain goes on overdrive and I get frustrated and tired really fast. (Can you relate?)

But a few weeks ago I had a much different experience.

And it all was due to ONE big juicy, powerful word.

In fact, this one word makes all the difference between my business feeling like a hot mess vs. when it runs smooth like coco butta .

It’s also the secret to successfully marketing your products, services, and programs.

Let me explain.  

It was a Friday afternoon and we were going to a casual, “all white” summer wedding.  I had dressy, white jeans and needed a simple white top.

I didn’t have much time, so I figured I should go to the one store I knew would have a shitbunch of options.  Unfortunately, it’s also one of the most chaotic, overwhelming, nerve-frying stores in New York City.  Forever 21.

And get this.  It was a major holiday weekend.

I broke into an anxious sweat just thinking the store could be even more insanely packed than usual.

But to my pleasant surprise, not only did I enjoy myself (did I really just say that??), but I got exactly what I needed within about 25 minutes with zero frustration or anxiety.

Here’s what happened.

I walked in and instantly dismissed every pink, blue, black, green, yellow, orange, graphic, brown, gold, stripped, polka-dot, be-dazzled and NON-WHITE top in my visual path.

I darted around the store like a lightning bolt and quickly scooped up every viable option I could find.  Seriously, I was a fucking shopping ninja!

After about 10 minutes scouring two floors of a store that often feels like a teenage clothing explosion, I collected seven awesome “white wedding top” contenders.

I was in the dressing room for all of 4 minutes before I edited down my selections to the one top that worked. SWEET!

I grabbed a fun, multi-layered gold and pearl necklace, threw down my credit card and skipped out the door unscathed.

As I walked home smiling, I thought to myself,  “What happened? Am I in the Twilight Zone?  That place is usually a shit show,”

Then it hit me.  There was a big difference between this visit and how I typically shop.

This time I knew exactly what I was looking for.

I needed a simple, white top that would work with skinny white jeans. Period.  End of story.

That “exactly” thing is key.  It means I harnessed one of the most powerful business words ever.

CLARITY.

When there’s chaos in your business, clarity is often what’s missing.  Clarity, my friend, gives you instant speed, confidence and watch-the-fuck-out-I’m-a-ninja-like-effectiveness.

Think about it.   When you know exactly what you’re trying to accomplish, you instantly eliminate all the other distracting bullshit that makes you crazy.

Clarity also super-charges your marketing.

It makes designing your offerings and writing copy oh, uhm, about a gazillion times easier. You know exactly who you’re going after and more importantly, who you’re not.

And that, my sweet, leads to better, happier customers and a lot more money for you.

In short, clarity cuts through business chaos like a Ginsu knife.

If your business feels chaotic, here are two simple ways a little clarity can help you get your own ninja on.

1.  Know exactly what you want to accomplish, before you sit down to work.

The worst mistake many of us make is getting on the computer without a clear, prioritized task list to guide our time and actions.  And the busier and more successful we get, the more vital this practice becomes.

Think about it.  Without clarity of what you want to accomplish, it’s pretty much guaranteed you’ll get sucked into the abyss of the Internet and waste hours on porn sites.

(Just making sure you’re paying attention

Sitting down to work, especially online, without a a clear plan is like me walking into Forever 21 with 5 million pieces of clothing; ear-piecing club music and absolutely no clue what I’m supposed to be buying.  Not fun.

When you have clarity on what you plan to accomplish and why, you are sooooo much more likely to enjoy the process of creation and keep your business chaos to a minimum. 10 minutes of clarity work prior to any work session will do wonders.

2.  Know exactly who your ideal customer is before you create your marketing, product offerings and sales materials.

Right now, I’m launching a brand new program called Rich, Happy & Hot B-School (business school) for women who want to make it big online.  (Side note:  the free content we’re releasing for this is beyond awesome. If you want a heads up on all the videos as they’re released - go here.)

It’s the the most hard-core marketing and technical “how-to” business course I’ve ever offered.

My partner in this project (Laura Roeder) and I spent a loooong time getting crystal clear on exactly who our ideal customer is for B-school before we did anything else. We interviewed women and created a detailed customer profile for who this program is for, and more importantly, who it’s not for.

Surprise, surprise. . . it’s made the design and content creation process easier than almost anything I’ve done before.

When you know exactly who your ideal customer is FIRST, your marketing and offerings are more clear, compelling and powerful.

Now of course, there are loads more ways clarity helps cut through the chaos of your business and life.

But I’d love to hear your thoughts.

What say you?  Got any good stories, tips or strategies around clarity or your lack of it?

Leave a comment below and let me know!

A few weeks ago, the Tony Robbins’ team called me up to do a follow-up webinar for their elite New Money Masters clients.

(BRAG ALERT! Tony recently interviewed me as part of his DVD series on the world’s leading internet marketing experts. I’m not gonna front. It was hands-down, one of the coolest experiences ever.)

Anyway, I was in the midst of some back-to-back travel, mastermind retreat planning and like 5 other important projects.

But of course, I said “Heaallls yeah!” to the T-man crew.

I spoke with Matt, Tony’s V.P of Sales to clarify objectives and confirm a time for the next day to review what I was going to present.

In my excitement, I didn’t realize my afternoon was already booked, which means I only had 4 hours the next morning to create my slide presentation before our appointment to review.

You see, I normally take waaay more time to produce webinar content.  I’m a bit of a perfectionist so often I spend hours, over several days, refining my content before I feel it’s ready to present.

Well this time, I put myself in a hot little pickle.

There was no “several days” to work on this puppy.  I had to produce high-quality, high-value content, fast.

That next morning was intense. I planted my ass on the couch for 4 hours and did not move.  Every cell of my body was focused and on task.

We had the review as planned and a few hours later, delivered the live webinar to their top-tier clients.

The result? Matt told me it was one of the best webinars they’ve hosted and that I officially “raised the bar for delivering high-value and fun.”

Now before you think this is one big ‘look-at-how-awesome-I- am-fest’, there is a point.

Most of us entrepreneurs have a habit of working on stuff WAY longer than we need to.

We spend days, weeks, and months slaving over our creations. Why?

Because we forget to about our trusty little friend, Parkinson’s Law. Parkinson’s Law states that work expands to fill the time allotted.

Translation:  You give yourself a week to make a video intro for your website, you’ll likely take a week, or 12, to do it.

Now imagine this.  If Oprah called and said, “Hey Sex Pot! We just had a cancellation on this Friday’s show.  But in order to book you, my producers need to see a 3 minute video within the hour.  Then we’ll send our private jet to get you.”

You think it would take you a week to shoot that video?  Hell no!  You’d whip out your little Flip Video so fast it would smoke and leave streaks.

If the Tony Robbin’s crew would have given me three weeks to create content for a webinar, I would’ve spent three weeks thinking about it, worrying about it, tweaking it and I’ll bet it wouldn’t have been nearly as good.

Here’s the deal.  When you’re up against a wall to complete a task, your genius gets focused like a laser beam. Metaphorically, you Rock-The-Casbah.  All that juicy, delicious and magical creativity inside you funnels directly into the task at hand.

Bottom line?  We can all get things done in MUCH less time than we think.  And do a damn good job to boot.

Take a look for yourself. I’ll bet you have tons of examples in your own business and life where you had to get something done – fast – and killed it.

The real trick is learning how to consciously and deliberately create this kind of focused momentum.  First, we need to get intimate with our little ol’ friend Mr. Parkinson and remember that work does expand to the time allotted.

These next four steps take it from there.

1.  Outside Accountability.

Most of us are way better at getting shit done for others vs. doing things for ourselves.  If that’s true for you too, get all Jujutsu on yourself and use it to your advantage.  Promise someone.  Pay someone.  Go public with an announcement. Put some kind of real accountability in place so you have to get it done.

2.  Clear Time Frames.

Have a clear, specific time and date by which you must deliver the goods AND have a set amount of time to do the work.  “In a few weeks” or “It’ll take a couple of hours” doesn’t cut the mustard.

The more specific you are, the better your chances are of knocking it out quickly and on time.

3.  Zero Distractions.

This is HUGE-ola.  No distractions or interruptions allowed during creation time.  No texting, tweeting, emailing, phoning, surfing the interwebs or straying off task.  Peeing is permitted. If you need to get outside help or research, keep it short and to the point. Stay uber focused.

4. No Fail Attitude.

This is actually the most important aspect of all: your belief in yourself. You can do whatever you set your mind to.  You’re a genius.  A star.  A fucking prodigy. And way more capable than your chattering little mind likes to give you credit for.

Don’t give yourself any room to panic, complain or have a meltdown.  No drama.  No B.S.  No cryin’ for mama.  Just sit down and do the effin’ work.

When you follow these steps, you can easily double your results while working much less.   That should mean a lot more cash-ol-a in your pocket, a few more Coronas in your bucket and more time to enjoy both.

I promise, once you experiment with this stuff, you’ll be shocked at how damn good you are at knocking great things out in no time flat.

TRUE CONFESSION:  Now don’t get all crazy and think I bang stuff out like this everyday.  I can’t be this hardcore ALL the time.  I’d get totally fried.  But I do practice regularly.  Kind of like a productivity workout to build my speed and stamina.  And when loads of projects have to get done, this is how I roll.

Now take a look at your own business and life.  What’s one profitable task that’s been on your list for a while that you’re ready to tackle?

What’s ONE thing that you’d love to knock out fast? How can you pro-actively use these four-steps to cut your task time in half or in a third?

Leave a comment and let me know. And if you have any good stories, tips or ideas to share on this topic, let em’ rip below.