Please be sure to check out my guest post on Michael Hyatt’s blog today entitled, How to Create a Life Changing Presentation. If you get a chance please leave a comment on his blog and let us know your favorite motivational speakers. Thanks!

But wait… there’s more.

Now you can publish in an interactive textbook format on the Ipad with iBooks Author. You can write your eBook in manifesto format and submit it for review at ChangeThis.com. When you are done you can take your electronic document, reformat it, and self publish it in printed form through a publish-on-demand company.

While all of these publishing options are great, you’ll soon find that the formatting differences will drive you absolutely nuts. Each format has it’s idiosyncrasies and numerous options. You can literally spend days fine tuning your document for one particular application only to find that it completely changes when viewed on a different device. Your book will look completely different on the small screen of a cell phone, than it does on the larger screen of an iPad or other tablet.

I spent the last month formatting my printed book, The Path of Consequence, for Kindle, iPad and Nook. It seemed easy at first, but as I viewed my document in the different formats I was horrified at the results. Through trial and error I found some solutions and came to some conclusions. Here are the three common formats and some workarounds.

1. PDF format. If you have a blog or website and want to format your book for your readers, saving it in PDF format is a good start. You can save it in a landscape format for screen reading, or a portrait format for cell phones and printing. If you want to create a good looking landscape document for the screen, try creating your PDF document in Powerpoint or Keynote. For portrait use, MS Word is a good option. Later versions of Word allow you to save in PDF format right from the program. To give you an idea of how this format looks, here are three creative examples.

Landscape Mode: The Tower by Chris Guillebeau

Portrait Mode: Lycopolis by Ali Luke

Keynote Format: Michael Hyatt has a tutorial on his blog about how he created his Life Plan eBook in seven steps. You’ll find some great tips here if you will be using Keynote (on the Mac) for your creation software.

2. Kindle Format: If you want to make your book available for Amazon’s Kindle e-reader, you’ll need to save it in their MOBI proprietary format. This is best done using Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing service. You’ll need an Amazon account to get started. Once you sign in to their service, you’ll want to look at their simplified formatting guide. Amazon recommends that you save your document in .doc format. This is the older Microsoft Word format. Both MS Word and Apple Pages software will save in this format.

What I found when formatting for the Kindle was to keep my document simple. Kindle automatically indents the first line of each paragraph by default. If you use Word, try uploading your basic document and see how it looks and make changes from there. After the end of each chapter, add a page break to keep your chapters from running together.

Publishing on the Kindle was relatively easy using MS Word. You’ll need to experiment and tweak your document to get it the way you want it. For advanced users you can download their full formatting guide, but this is overkill for most users.

3. ePub Format: If you want to publish for the iPad or Barnes and Noble’s Nook, you’ll need to save your document in ePub format. If you have a Mac and Apple’s Pages program you can save in this format natively. Unfortunately, to get your ebook actually listed by either publishing firm you’ll need to go through an intermediary company. For most people this will be Smashwords.

To save you hours of time and frustration, sign up for a free Smashwords account and then look at their free style guide. Smashwords will save your book in multiple formats using their meatgrinder conversion software. Their formatting guide is very helpful and offers once very powerful suggestion… nuke your document. I spent almost two days trying to get my pre formatted book to go through their conversion software. I finally had to use the nuclear option. I took my document, made a copy, and opened it in notepad on my PC. This removed all extraneous formatting. Once I saved it in notepad, I reopened it in Word and added chapter headings and indentation. Once I did this, the conversion worked like a charm. Within a week, my eBook appeared in the iBooks store and on Barnes and Nobles site.

Overall: eBook publishing can be a challenge. It requires patience and a lot of trail and error. The current ePub and Kindle formats are in their early stages and the published output is rather simple to work with multiple devices. It lacks the polish of traditional books. If you are a perfectionist, this may drive you nuts.

If you are in a hurry to get published, there are many professionals that can help. Amazon has a list of conversion services that may help. If you are a blogger or small business professional and want to get an eBook out to your readers or customers, I would suggest that you pick up Ali Luke’s easy to follow guide, Irresistible eBooks. This easy to follow book includes two MS Word templates that will get you up to speed quickly.

Question: Have you published an eBook before?

Then reality hit. As I compared popular eBooks, I noticed that there were all sorts of formats. Some were wide screen, others were in portrait mode. Some used extensive backgrounds while others were just text.

I decided to take the plunge.

For my first attempt, I used Keynote on my MacBook to create the pages. This format would look good on the screen, and Keynote had lots of templates to choose from. I would start with a basic canvas and add from there. I started working with titles, pictures, and backgrounds. I had to adjust text sizes and fonts to fit the screen. Soon I had the first chapter done. I saved it as a PDF and viewed it on the screen.

This is where things went bad…

The book looked good on some screens, but was too big on others. The Mac fonts didn’t play well on a PC. The advance arrows were different, depending on the PDF software.

I started out of the box with a mess.

Frustration soon set in. I was dealing with too many variables. I couldn’t decided on an appropriate background and font set. The page sizes seemed all wrong, and then I went to print out some slides and discovered that they didn’t print well. After a few hours of frustration I closed the lid on my laptop.

I gave up on my first try.

A few months went by until I tried again. This time I would be a success, because I would take an eBook class. I signed up with a local writer and took her e-book course. I learned a lot about eBooks and was able to interact with other writers from my local area. The subjects and writing styles were eclectic, but I came away with a greater understanding of the process. Unfortunately, the teacher did not offer a template or advice on formatting. She said she used someone else to do that for her. After spending a day in class, I was left with a gaping hole in my eBook process. I had the words, but not the process. I was frustrated to say the least.

I decided I needed more information.

I continued to look at different eBooks and styles. I did some searches on Google. I read lots of material. I had the basics, but I wanted perfection. I wanted the create the best eBook on the market. Unfortunately I was making a classic mistake.

I was overthinking the whole process.

I wanted the moon, but what I really needed was a straight-forward process to get my words to my reader in a format that they could read. But I had too many choices. My creative mind couldn’t settle on a single style or format. I was really getting frustrated now. Then one day, quite by accident I met someone who changed everything.

I met Ali Luke.

She had done a guest post over at Copyblogger and talked about how to actually write and format an eBook. I was impressed with her writing style. She had a copywriter’s mindset. She also offered something that I really needed. She offered an eBook on writing eBooks that came with a template for MS Word (portrait and landscape). I decided to purchase her book and then things changed quickly.

Her book was written in a simple to understand style that led you through the process of creating the ebook from scratch. Her eBook was written using the same template she offered for her readers. I liked the look and it was different than so many other books that I’d read. It worked on my laptop as well as my PC. She created a compelling book, using chapter headings, text boxes, and great formatting. I loaded up her MS Word template in Word 2010 and then…

I started creating.

My words flew on the page. Her template and instructions helped me get my outline done in under an hour. Using the navigation mode in Word 2010 with her template, I was able to fill in the chapters of my template in record time. Soon my ebook was taking shape. The cool thing was, when I output it in PDF it looked good everywhere I tried it. It was simple but well done.

Once I was done with the basic text, I created a compelling cover with instructions from her book and added illustrations along the way. Now when I output the document, it grabbed my attention. With her template, I created an updated table of contents with one click and it showed right in the navigation screen.

I can’t tell you how easy this process was using her template and tools. I went from blank page to finished draft in just two days. Then it got even better. Since I was so impressed with her book, I decided to see if she would edit my book for me and create a compelling sales page.

She e-mailed me right back and was able to do the editing and sales page in a little over a week. Since she is a copywriter, her copy page came out great. I was really impressed with her words. One of the hardest things to do is write copy for your own product. She provided just the right tone at a reasonable price. The bottom line….

I would be excited to buy the book (even though it is free) after reading her copy.

Even though she lives in England, doing business online using Paypal was a breeze. If you have struggled with the whole e-book publishing process, I recommend you pick up her Irresistible Ebooks edition and template. Her straight-forward approach will have you published in no time.

I soft launched my new Productivity Hoax eBook last week on the sidebar, and you can get a copy for just signing up for my Success-Connect newsletter. The next step is to create a video page and then do a formal launch. Stay tuned as we finish the project out.

Question: Have you ever wanted to publish your own ebook?

The creation software, iBooks Author, is a free download for the Mac from the app store (It’s not currently available for the PC). It installs quickly and has the look and feel of Apple’s flagship word processor, Pages. I downloaded the software to my Macbook Pro and decided to take an existing ebook that I published and convert it to an interactive text. The iBooks Author video made it look easy.

After working with the software and importing my existing ebook, I would like to give you a preliminary overview of the process. I thought the process would be as simple as importing my existing book, making a few changes and Viola… and interactive book. Unfortunately it’s not quite that easy. Here is what I’ve found so far.

1. Multiple Monitors are a must. If you are going to use iBooks Author, you’ll need a LOT of screen real estate. Unlike working in Pages or Word, creating an Interactive book requires opening a lot of windows and dialog boxes. Trying to do this on my 13” MacBook proved difficult. I soon had a huge amount of screen clutter. Hooking up an external monitor really makes this program come alive. If you have a large screen iMac, you’ll probably be OK. With a MacBook an external monitor is a must.

2. An iPad and connector cable is necessary. To view your compiled book, you will not be able to view it on your Mac. You’ll need an iPad and connector cable to download the iBooks file. The transfer is quick and easy and then you can explore the interactive features. Since this transfer is necessary, you’ll have to change your standard workflow.

I found this to be very clunky at first. I’m used to viewing my finished work with the click of the mouse. With iBooks author you’ll need to export each time to see the changes. Once you get used to it, it makes sense, since only the iPad has a touch interface. If you don’t have an iPad handy, you can also export to PDF which will play on your computer and will give you an idea of page formatting in the final output.

3. Importing is best done one chapter at a time. The iBooks Author program has an import feature that allows you to import existing MS Word or Apple Pages files. While the import works, it doesn’t format existing chapters properly. In my limited exploration so far, I’ve found it easier to import one chapter at a time instead of the entire document. When I tried to bring in my existing book all at one time, I ended up with a mess. So far, I’ve found that having my existing book open in Pages and cutting and pasting one chapter at a time works the best.

4. New file types. In exploring the available widgets, I’ve found some new file types to play with. You can import Keynote files (Apple’s version of Powerpoint) and use the built in animation to create stunning animated diagrams and charts. For 3d models, iBooks Author uses 3D Collada files with a .dae extension. Google SketchUp will create these files. I did a little searching online and found a few examples. Once you get everything together you can build interactive chapter reviews.

Overall: So far this journey has been slow and somewhat cumbersome. Once I added the larger monitor and broke my project into smaller pieces, it’s actually starting to come together. Having an iPad handy, really makes the project come alive. Once I get this done , I’ll post a step-by-step review of the process.

Verdict: If you have a Mac and want to start creating magic, download this free program and start exploring. Start simple and play with the tools. You’ll soon have your first interactive textbook on it’s way to the iBooks store.

Question: Have you tried iBooks Author yet?

In the video above I’ll show you a practical and low cost solution I discovered for preparing quick meals with a minimum of fuss. The Cuisinart Griddler allows me to cook two meat patties along with buns or tortillas all at the same time. I just pre-heat the unit for a minute, put on my food items and come back five minutes later to a fully cooked meal. Since the unit cooks on both sides at once, I don’t have to constantly turn items or drain juices.

The unit features reversible grills for different items. One side is flat for pancakes, buns, and bread while the other is ribbed for meat and Panini style sandwiches. Cleanup is fast and easy as the grills click out for washing in the sink or dishwasher. Cooking a low carb meal couldn’t be quicker and easier. The ribbed grills allow fat and juices to drain off the back into a collection tray.

Watch the video above to see how easy this is.

In the video I used delicious Chicken-lime patties from Trader Joe’s along with whole wheat crumpets. You can easily substitute turkey, beef, or fish, and have your meals ready in minutes. While it’s better to thaw your meat beforehand, the grill works well with patties right from the freezer. Now that there a lot of low calorie bun choices, you can make a healthy low carb meal, that you take with you with a minimum of fuss.

Question: Have you ever used a two sided grill like this?

This is a guest post by Ali Luke. She is a writer and writing coach, and blogs about writing on her site Aliventures. You can find her on Twitter as @aliventures, where she’s always happy to answer questions about writing.

Although podcasts and videos are becoming more and more popular online, we still live in a text-heavy world. Whenever you put a page on your website, publish a post on your blog or even send an email, you’re communicating through words alone. If you’re a good writer, you’ll stand out; if your writing skills need some work, you could be failing to achieve the success you deserve.

I’ve met plenty of people who are incredibly smart – but unfortunately, in emails, they come across as careless or uneducated. I’ve met others who are great fun to be around – but their website copy sounds stilted and jargon-heavy.

Here are five quick tips for improving your writing today:

#1: Write in a Conversational Tone

Most of us learnt certain “rules” about writing in school. Do any of these sound familiar?

· Don’t write in the first person (“I”)

· Don’t use contractions (write “do not” not “don’t”)

· Don’t end a sentence with a preposition (Write “To where did the ball fall?” not “Where did the ball fall to?”)

· Don’t start a sentence with “and” or “but”

· Don’t ever use sentence fragments (sentences without verbs)

You can break all of these rules when you’re writing for your website or blog. If you write in the first person, using contractions, your web copy will sound much more friendly and immediate.

#2: Look Out for Jargon

Whether you’re writing a corporate website or a hobby-based blog, there’s a fair chance that some jargon’s going to sneak in. This can be alienating to potential clients or new readers. Watch out for:

· Technical terms that could be expressed more simply (or explained briefly in parentheses)

· Acronyms that your reader might not understand

Slang and in-jokes are also a form of jargon. Online, you’re often writing to a worldwide audience – so don’t assume that everyone will understand a regional expression.

If you need to have a lot of jargon on your website, you might want to create a glossary page that explains the different terms to new readers.

#3: Edit Your Writing

One of the most common causes of poor writing is hitting “publish” or “send” too fast. Make sure that you take a few minutes to re-read what you’ve written. This is especially crucial if you’re using a smartphone or another device with predictive text – sometimes, what you thought you wrote is very different from what’s appeared on the screen.

Careless typos make you look unprofessional, especially if they’re on prominent pages of your website. People will be more forgiving with casual blog posts and emails – but typos still have the potential to cause embarrassment or even offense. (I’ve heard plenty of tales from people who’ve accidentally typed “retards” instead of “regards” at the end of an email, for instance…)

#4: Ask Someone Else to Help Edit and Proof-Read

It’s hard to spot your own typos, and it’s also hard to spot areas of your writing where you’ve expressed something clumsily. Get a friend or colleague to help by reading through your work before you send it out into the world. Often, they’ll spot something that you can easily fix.

If you’re returning the favor, look out for:

· Missing words – a common form of typo that spell-checkers won’t necessarily pick up

· Awkward or confusing sentences – if you had to read it twice to understand the meaning, it probably needs rewriting

· A lack of flow or coherence in the piece – if it deals with several different points or subjects, you’ll want to suggest adding in some subheadings

#5: Borrow from Other People

When you come across a piece of writing that works well, borrow from it. If a headline on a magazine cover catches your eye, for instance, you could try using a version of it for your next blog post title. If you read a blog post that’s engaging and valuable, see whether you can use a similar structure for your next post.

Be alert to the sort of writing that grabs your attention – and the sort that turns you off within a couple of lines. You’ll almost certainly find a clever trick you can use in your own writing – or something to avoid!

If you’ve got a great tip for better writing, leave it in the comments below…

Ali’s Blogging Guides can help you with your writing, blogging, or creating an e-book. Check them out for straightforward, action-focused support for your business goals.

In a nutshell, carb cycling boils down to…

On weight training days you have more carbohydrates,

On non weight training days you have less carbohydrates.

This simple concept allows your body maximum calorie burning efficiency and helps your system maintain a high metabolic rate

On the surface this looks really easy, but as I have dug deeper into the plans, many of them are extremely complicated. The idea of carb cycling is to keep your body from reducing its metabolic rate and going into starvation mode when you reduce calories.

Over the next few weeks, I’m going to experiment with different exercise and diet options and see if I can boil this down into a simple program that is easy to do and remember.

My top three goals are…

A simple meal plan that is easy to make, portable, and doesn’t require exotic ingredients.

An easy to follow exercise program that is flexible and doesn’t require a gym

A simple daily plan that most anyone can follow.

Hopefully, as with many things here at Success Begins Today, I want to simplify this into a one sheet solution. If I can’t put all the information on one sheet of paper that I need to deal with on a daily basis, it’s too complex.

To start with I’m going to dig into Chris Powell’s Book, Choose to Lose, and take a look at his menu and fitness options.

Stay tuned…

Question: Have you tried a carb-cycling program before?

The Low Carb Diet (South Beach, Dukan, and Atkins are common versions)

The Paleo Diet (Diet restricted to what our ancestors ate: No bread or processed food)

The Low Fat/Calorie Diet (Many versions including Weight Watchers, Volumetrics)

The Liquid Protein Diet (Slimfast and others)

The Vegan Diet (No meat or animal products)

The Gluten Free Diet ( Gluten is a wheat protein which some people are allergic to)

The listings above are just a small sample of the popular diets advertised on TV, infomercials, and in books and magazines. Many are restrictive, and block out whole food groups.

Over the years, I’ve tried many of them with varying success. Since most restrict either quantity, calories, or types of food, they are very hard to stay on for long periods of time.

I have found a simple secret though,

It might seem counterintuitive,

But it works…

The secret is this…

You need to eat to lose weight.

Your body is like a furnace. You need to keep the fire stoked and burning with the proper fuel for efficient operation. If you give it too little fuel, the fire goes out. If you give it the wrong fuel you may end up with a flash fire that quickly extinguishes or a heavy slow burning fire that lumbers along. Too much fuel and it has to store it somewhere.

In simple terms, a furnace converts fuel into heat. If your body takes in more calories than it needs to function, it stores the excess by transferring it into fat.

Many diets restrict so many calories, that the fire goes out. This causes the body to shut down its metabolism and go into starvation mode. Some diets severely restrict carbohydrates, which are the main fuel of the body This causes a very uneven fire which can make you lethargic and foggy. Other diets have you eating 2 or 3 big meals a day, which causes excess fuel to be stored as fat.

So the real question is… How do you make your furnace burn the hottest?

The secret to keeping the fire going is to eat smaller meals more often. This keeps the fire hot at all times and your metabolism steady.

In practical application, this means 5 or more meals a day and 500 calories or less per meal.

Chris Powell in his popular book, Choose to Lose, has divided up a furnace stoking solution into 4 rules…

RULE 1: Eat more often.

RULE 2: Eat carbohydrates.

RULE 3: Build muscle.

RULE 4: Move your muscles.

Chris has come up with a Carb Cycling program that can keep your body’s furnace burning hot at all times. His program has helped many overweight people find significant success. His story of how he helped David Smith lose over 400 pounds in 26 months is amazing.

His video page will explain to you how your body’s furnace works and how true weight loss takes place. Years back, I used a similar plan (Body for Life) to lose 26 pounds in 12 weeks. I really like how Chris has fine tuned the diet portion and combined it with specific exercises to maximize how your body burns calories.

In our next blog post, we’ll look at his carb cycling program and see how we can design a simple diet and exercise plan that will work with our busy lifestyles.

Question: Have you heard of Carb Cycling?

Why are November and December so hard on the waistline?

Every year I tell myself I’m not going to gain any weight over the holidays, but it is usually a losing battle. When I actually sit down and research what happened, I come away with one powerful answer…

It’s their fault!

Yes… it’s the Starbucks and their Peppermint Lattes. It’s Applebee’s and their holiday pies. It’s all the people in the office with their home made fudge, brownies, and Christmas cookies. It’s our friends and family who give us See’s candy for the holiday.

It’s not my fault… really it isn’t.

I’m helpless to resist!

Every year I try, but the temptation is too great.

Sugar, white flour, and all sorts of unseen fat are combined in a myriad of different ways to trip me up. This combines with the fact that it has become very cold outside and my daily runs/walks have gone away.

So what really happens?

It really comes down to this…

For two months out of the year I’m taking in more calories than I’m burning. Usually about 500 extra calories a day.

500 calories/day x 7 days/week = 3500 extra calories/week

3500 calories equals one pound.

By the time I realize the damage, 10 weeks have gone by, and 10 pounds have found my midsection.

It’s simple math really!

So to lose 10 pounds I need a 500 calorie deficit every day to lose a pound a week.

I can do this two different ways…

I can restrict my calories by 500/day or burn an extra 500 calories with exercise.

Or I can do both.

Both sounds good.

Here is the challenge. I need to find a way to burn an extra 500 calories a day and develop a diet that I can stay on that restricts my calories by 500 below my baseline.

It has to be fun and enjoyable

It has to work!

Tomorrow we’ll look at a mysterious diet secret …

Question: How were the holidays on your waistline?

Have you been there?

I sure have.

I usually ask friends, go online, and search for answers where ever I can find them. Yet many times I end up stuck.

Many times it comes down to a decision or a less than desirable answer.

Sometimes I settle…

Sometimes I give up.

There has to be a better way.

Last week, while perusing the listings at Audible, I came upon a book with an interesting title

Accidental Genius: Using Writing to Generate Your Best Ideas, Insight, and Content

I decided that it might be something that would be of interest, so I downloaded it and listened to it on my daily commute. What I found was a little known problem solving technique called Freewriting.

This was really interesting, since I’ve been a big fan of Freewriting for some time. Yet I never considered it as a way to solve problems.

Freewriting can simply be described as sitting down at the computer, opening a blank word processing document, and typing whatever comes to mind for a limited period of time, usually 5 or 10 minutes.

I’ve used it for years to get unstuck while writing. If I have writers block, I usually Freewrite.

As I got into the book, author Mark Levy offers six secrets to turn Freewriting into a helpful problem solving exercise.

They are…

1. Try Easy (Work at 90%)
2. Write fast and continuously
3. Work against a limit (10min)
4. Write the way you think (not speak)
5. Go with your thought
6. Redirect your attention.

He suggests writing about your subject or problem in an easy low stress way. He calls it “try easy,” where you work at about 90% of your usual intensity. He proffers that writing fast and continuously for a set period of time, usually 10 minutes, will bring on powerful ideas one after the other. As you are writing, he says to put down your actual thoughts, not cleaned up versions as your would use in conversation.

Once you have reached your time limit, he suggests that you take a break and then go into another session, using the last thought as your starting point.

I have tried this technique over the last week and I can honestly say it has been a source of amazing ideas and creativity. The most interesting thing about this technique is to write things down in your thinking language. This provides great outline headings and junctions to start new freewriting journeys.

I highly recommend this book, in either audio or written versions. It’s simple premise and helpful tips can help you break through tough problems and come up with completely unique solutions.

Popular speaker and blogger, David Meerman Scott says in his Amazon review…

In a typical year, I’ll write one full-length book, a smaller ebook, about 100 blog posts and deliver about 50 talks all over the world.People ask me all the time how I can be so prolific. "Where do all your ideas come from?" they ask.

The answer is simple: I put my internal editor on hold for first drafts. This allows me to crank stuff out very quickly. A technique called "Freewriting" that I learned from Mark Levy in his terrific "Accidental Genius" allows me to get ideas down very quickly without seeing if it is "good."

I’ve been amazed at how this simple technique can draw out ideas you didn’t know you had and word them so you can easily take action.

Question: Have you ever tried Freewriting before?