Web maintenance isn’t something a lot of online entrepreneurs think about. In fact it can be quite a mundane task for most. However, it is important to keep your website ticking over smoothly.

Here are a few reasons why maintaining your website is important:

# Attracting the search engines – Search engines are important to the livelihood of your online business, but they don’t like “dead” websites. Websites which have been left static without updates or fresh content are a no-no in the online world. Another thing search engines don’t like is broken links.

As you build your web pages it’s easy to miss broken links. A good strategy is to double check every link you add to your website. Inevitably you may miss some or some may become broken with time (as web addresses change and so on). Regular maintenance and “check-ups” for your website will help you spot these broken links and keep your customers and search engines happy in the process.

# Updating information may increase your sales – Regularly looking over your website will also help you make changes and adjustments as necessary. For example, you may have started promoting what was a great product two years ago but now that product may be outdated and not so great anymore. By updating your website you may find products and promotions which are a better match for your visitors. This means more money in your pocket and more satisfied visitors.

Look through your old web pages to see if there are any promotions which can be updated or given a little extra “oomph.” Times change and on the internet time moves at a faster speed – keeping up with the times is important and you can do this by simply looking over your pages and tweaking as you go along.

# Keeping track of your stats is important – Another part of your basic web maintenance is keeping on top of all your visitor statistics. It makes sense to regularly go through your website and check how many visitors you have on a monthly basis, where they’re coming from, how they’re finding you, what pages they’re accessing and so on.

A running log of these statistics will help you quickly identify any potential problems such as loss of traffic or reduced income from sources such as Google AdSense and so on.

Regular web maintenance for your website is important. It can help you keep up with changing times, help to attract more visitors and ultimately make you more sales. If you find this task difficult to squeeze in, try scheduling it in for a set time each month or every few weeks. It shouldn’t take long and the time investment may make all the difference to your business. And finally, if you don’t have time to do the web maintenance yourself you can always think about hiring an assistant to help you with this task.

Modern technology has made it so much easier to get your materials out there.  You can share ideas and pictures with the whole world and use it to make money.  But just as it’s easier to share, it’s also easier to steal.  That’s why it’s important to know the laws and protect yourself. 

Before we talk about the laws behind intellectual property, we should probably talk about what intellectual property is.  Intellectual property is anything that comes out of your head, whether it be an idea, writing, art, or a picture. 

Just because someone can reproduce what you make doesn’t mean it’s legal for them to do so.  Intellectual property can usually be divided into four categories: patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets. 

While you’re likely heard all these terms, here’s a quick breakdown of exactly what they mean.

* Copyright. This protects items that are produced by the imagination, but are tangible, like books and songs.  To be protected, you must apply for a copyright, which requires you to fill out forms, pay a fee, and provide a copy. 

A current copyright lasts 78 years after the author’s death.  This is how families still make money off of their relatives after they pass away.  Courts can impose severe financial penalties if a copyright is violated.

* Trademark.  This protects names and logos that identify a specific brand.  They keep people from getting confused between two products.  While many things can be trademarked, general terms and images cannot.  You can apply for local trademark protection through your state, but you can get better protection federally.

* Patent.  These are used to protect inventions and processes that someone creates.  The idea is that they reveal how to make the product, and the government prevents other people from making it in exchange.  A patent lasts generally 20 years, but can also take a long time to get one.  The application process is more extensive than the others and should include a detailed description of how to make the item.  A patent also gives you the ability to sell the right to produce the item you’ve patented.

* Trade Secrets.  These are things a business uses that it needs to keep secret in order to succeed.  It might be a secret recipe or how a product is made.  Whether or not something can be protected as a trade secret is decided in court and is based on a variety of factors, but most importantly, whether something is public knowledge or not.  There isn’t a time limit to this kind of protection, but it can be voided if information is revealed to others.

Just because something fits into one category, doesn’t mean it can’t fit into another.  They often overlap, which can make it more difficult to protect yourself. 

Just because a law exists, doesn’t mean that there won’t be people out there who will not break them.  Unfortunately, the lines can get even more blurred when your business is online.  Knowing your rights is the first step and then taking appropriate measures to protect your content will lead you in the right direction.

Repurposing your content makes good business sense. It’s a good way to squeeze out as much value as possible from your current content. And repurposing also helps your customers by providing fantastic content in a variety of ways.

Here are a few ideas to help you repurpose your content:

Recycle. There’s no need to just use great content once. Recycling your content benefits everyone in a positive way. A good way to do this is to think about each piece of content and how you can reuse it.

A few ideas may be:

#1 - Take a special download report and use the content for article distribution. The report is only available for download on your website but you can use several articles within the report to distribute to article directories. That content will then work to bring you new subscribers to your site.

#2 - Use product content to create an autoresponder series. If you have an info product available for sale (or a free one) you can take snippets of that content and turn it into an autoresponder series. This way your customers can preview the content through the AR series and the AR series can promote the actual product.

#3 - Use the content on your website for a product. If you have articles on your website or blog you can easily turn these into a product. Simply choose a collection of articles you’ve previously written and make them available in download format for customers.

You can choose to use this content as a free giveaway to gain more subscribers, or you can turn it into an actual product for purchase. Not everyone is likely to look through your whole website or blog to find the content. Also, people will often pay for the convenience of having the information at their fingertips without having to search for it.

#4 - Use your newsletter to attract search engines. If you have a regular newsletter which you send out make sure you also add it to your website or blog pages after sending. This will help you attract more search engine traffic and will give customers an archive to view previous newsletters.

#5 - Turn your audios into content. If you have audios on your website, use them to get more free search engine traffic. Have the audios transcribed and place them on your website or blog pages. This also gives your customers options, as some people will prefer to read rather than listen to an audio.

With a little thinking and planning you can make your content go a long way.

If you are a business owner, you’re eventually going to get some negative feedback from your customers or other people you work with or for.  While your initial reaction is probably to get mad or upset, negative feedback is actually a good thing.  It means that your customers are giving you an opportunity to improve your business.

The most important thing to remember when getting negative feedback is to not get mad.  Sure, getting mad may give you an energy burst to be more effective and get more things done, but it’s more likely going to get you worked up over nothing and make you waste time. 

There are two things you can do instead of getting angry or upset, and which one you choose depends on what kind of negative feedback you got. Negative feedback can pretty much be divided into two categories: useful and mean spirited.

If someone sends you feedback that simply says they disagree with you and says nothing more than that, your next step is simple - ignore it.  There’s nothing you can do to change their opinion and acknowledging them is simply going to waste both your times.  Just forget about it and move on.

Just because feedback is negative doesn’t mean it’s bad.  Negative feedback should be looked on as an opportunity for improvement.  And while this person may have been upset and not have been the nicest person in sending their feedback, the first thing to do is thank them. 

It doesn’t have to be big, just a quick email letting them know that you value their opinion and will look into the issue.  If you already know, you can let them know how you’re going to fix the issue at hand.  This will not only help you keep a customer (and possibly make more by referrals), it will also encourage them to send more feedback so you can make further improvements in the future.

Once you have helpful negative feedback, the first step is to analyze whether or not it matters.  Just because a suggestion gives a good idea, doesn’t mean it’s worth the time and money you have to put in to it.  If a problem is difficult to fix but only affects a few of your customers, it’s probably not worth it to spend your resources making it better. 

After you’ve decided you need to take action, it’s time to brainstorm what action to take.  This could take a few minutes, or even a few weeks.  If you are getting stuck, you can even ask customers (or the person who gave you the feedback) what they think would be a good fix.

For each possible action, also go back and weigh it based on how much the negative effect matters.   While you may agree that the problem needs fixing, you may not agree that you need to make a substantial investment to fix it and opt to go for a cheaper, but less effective fix.  Once you have all your options laid out, it should be much easier to choose a solution.

Once all this is done, you can finally implement your solution, but don’t forget to let your customers know about the changes - particularly the one who inspired the changes in the first place.

When you’re starting a business, seeing the “big” picture is important. Many entrepreneurs have stated that had they looked at the small details in their business they may not have started the business in the first place. This is because many of us get bogged down by all the small details and often it can put us off starting something new.

If you’re starting a new venture, here are a few tips to help you stay focused on the “big” picture:

#1 – Don’t Worry. It’s easy to worry about the fine details of starting a business. But it’s important not to get stuck on these. Keep in mind that whatever you don’t know how to do, you can learn or get help with. In business, there are services and experts for just about anything you can imagine. You can always turn to them for help when the time comes. But as the old saying goes – “I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.”

#2 – Concentrate on your big goals. Instead of worrying about all the small details, write down your big goals. If you’d like to launch your new product in two months’ time, aim for that. If you’d like to start offering a new service, aim for that. Once you have your big goal in place, all the small details will fall into place.

#3 – Make sure it will work. Saying “don’t worry about the small details” doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t thoroughly research your venture. It just means that you’ll put your efforts into researching your market to ensure that your new venture stands a good chance of being profitable. There are certain big things like target market, product approach and finding customers that warrant your attention.

Other smaller issues like how to set up a product in a shopping cart or what payment processor to use can be worked out in due time.

#4 – Just do it. In business, speed often pays off. If you have a great idea, research it quickly and put the necessary steps in place to take action on that idea. Good business insight often means being open and receptive to the opportunities and ideas that are all around us. Had many successful entrepreneurs sat on the fence for too long, we may not have such wonderful innovations today.

Seeing the big picture in business is a skill which can really lead to success. And even if you’re a “small details” type of person, by following these steps you’ll stand a better chance of adapting to a “big picture” mentality.

Being a good decision maker can help you in business and life. It’s been said that highly confident people make decisions clearly and stick to them rather than changing their minds or being indecisive.

And even if decision making doesn’t come naturally to you, it is a skill which can be built on. Here are a few tips to help you:

#1 – Start small. Even making small everyday decisions will help you accomplish the bigger goal. Small decisions such as what food to eat at a restaurant are not to be underestimated. A good way to start is the next time you’re eating out, look at the menu and decide what you’d like to eat. Then put the menu down and don’t change your mind. Don’t ask your companions what they’re having and base your decision on that - make the decision on your own and then stick to it.

Small steps like this can be empowering and help you to tackle the bigger decisions to come in the future.

#2 – Approach decisions logically. Many of us tend to make emotion-based decisions rather than logical ones. In business this can spell disaster. A good way to help you approach decisions in a logical manner may be to write down a list of pros and cons.

Simply grab a sheet of paper and label one side pros and one side cons. Then list all the good and bad points of your choice. Logically think through your comments and then make your decision. This way you can leave emotions out of the equation and concentrate purely on the facts.

#3 – Cut yourself some slack. Making decisions is a skill which can be learned but even pros don’t always make the right choices. Realize that making decisions effectively takes confidence and is a great first step, but your decisions may not always be the right decisions. If you happen to make the wrong decision, give yourself a break and take comfort in the fact that you thought out your decision clearly and logically and made the best choice possible at the time.

Being a good decision maker takes time and practice. However, it’s a worthwhile skill to develop. Making decisions regularly may help build your confidence level and also help people know where they stand with you – two great entrepreneurial qualities.

If you want your business to make you money or even just get off the ground, you’re probably going to have to advertise.  For many companies, advertising becomes a huge chunk of the overall budget, but it doesn’t have to be.  There are plenty of free or inexpensive ways to let people know about your business and get them coming back.

* Email

Email is a great, cost-effective way for get your name out there, contact potential customers, and keep existing customers up to date and coming back.  And while developing an email list may take some time and effort, sending out an email once you have a list takes very little time. 

You can get email addresses by simply asking for them on your webpage about a related topic to your products, asking for them from your customers when you take an order, or offering a free product or service in exchange for an email address.

Many people get emails by offering people products in exchange for the email addresses of their friends, but these are often far less useful than when people give you their email addresses themselves.  Ninety-nine percent of the time, the friends really aren’t going to be interesting in what you have to offer.

* Word of Mouth

Word of mouth is also a great way to get word about your business out there, and it generally costs you nothing.   

The key to starting word of mouth business is not only to tell people to pass the word on to their friends, but more importantly, to treat the customer right so they want to spread the word.

Social networking sites are a great way to start a word of mouth campaign about your business.  These are sites like MySpace, Facebook, and other sites where people can ad their friends, bands they like, and businesses or products they might be a fan of. 

Then, if someone is a friend, the site will often automatically suggest they become a friend with or a fan of the same things.  Soon, you’ll have a bunch of people who are all fans of your business - then you can use the page to send updates to all of them about new products, services, and promotions.  It’s all free and pretty simple to get started.

* Blogs

Blogs are another way to get people interested in your products and keep current customers up to date.  Starting a blog is simple, there are tons of blog sites that will pretty much set the whole thing up for you.  The trick is actually getting people to read it. 

You can use different SEO techniques including microblogs like Twitter, but you also need to provide quality content that people actually want to read.  Start your blog by not only talking about your business and ideas, but also those of other people.  If you refer someone to a good article or great deal, they’re much more likely to keep reading.

While you may decide to spend some money on your advertising, you can still supplement with these methods to boost your exposure even more.

Now, it's easy to share our articles and tips with others.  Simply visit the blog anytime and use the handy widget that's posted in the right hand column.

http://a25hourday.typepad.com/productiveentrepreneur/

With most coaching programs, YOU leave the session each week with ALL the "homework" - tasks that YOU are expected to carry out before the next session.  Your coach plays the role of instructor, cheerleader, and trusted advisor... but YOU do the lion's share of the work.

The result is that many people get frustrated with coaching... traditional coaching FEELS good at first... you may even start with a whirlwind of energy and activity.  But for most people, that initial novelty wears off and real life begins to happen between sessions.  Homework doesn't get done and many people begin beating themselves up or end up cancelling their coaching services because they no longer see the value.

Our 90-day coaching programs are built with "real life" at the center.  I've always recognized that most people WANT to direct the forward momentum of their business and WANT to know how to do certain things... but when you have LOTS of tasks on your plate... or if you're not an expert at something, it's not easy to stay focused for the long haul.

That's why I've designed the program to give you all the regular strategy, planning and instructional support you'd typically get from a coach... but you also get the added support of a VIRTUAL TEAM that does your homework for you.

In 90 days or less, YOU will be up and running with everything you wanted to do... guaranteed.

Choose from:

"I Need to Get This Product Online" Coaching with Full E-Commerce Set-Up - a sales page, thank you page, connection to a shopping cart, etc. are all done for you.  We'll even train you on how to check for orders and manage the e-commerce console.

"I Want to Be a Speaker" Coaching with Full Development of Your Speakers Kit - an outline of your keynote or workshop, speaker's biography, marketing materials and participant handouts.

"I Want to Create a Membership Program" Coaching with Full Development of Your Membership System - your members-only site, admin panel, etc. will all be set-up for you and we'll train you on how to run it.

"I Want Other People to Help, But I'm the Only One Who Can Do Anything" Coaching with Full Procedural Documentation Set-Up - we'll review your processes, help you streamline how to do things faster, determine whether you've hit the point of being able to hire someone new and leave you with checklists and documentation that will make sure you'll get a great Return on Investment if you choose to hire help. 

"I Need a New Website" Coaching with Full Website Set-Up - brand new website built to match your business plan and design specifications, launched at the domain of your choice, including domain-specific emails and all the bells and whistles you'd expect from a professional site.

"I've Started a List... Now What?" Coaching with Full Content Marketing Set-Up - autoresponder, newsletter and ezine templates set-up with all the systems in place to help you create and send effective drip marketing.
 

One of the things that makes the team at a25hourday so unique is that we ALWAYS practice what we preach.  The business advice and systems that we recommend are all approaches that we've used to grow our business and we're happy to refer you to clients who are THRILLED with the results that they've received as well.

Want to learn more?  Drop by this Web page and either give the office a call or send a message from the Contact Page.

What do you think when you hear the word failure? You probably are thinking that you're not good enough and that you should give up.

While failure can involve those thoughts and emotions, failure can also make us stronger or wiser.  When I think of this definition of failure, I'm reminded of Thomas Edison, the inventor of the light bulb. While there are many conflicting stories of how many times Edison "failed" at inventing the electric light bulb, most agree it was in the thousands before he found the right combination of materials.

One of Edison's most famous quotes is, "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work. I am not discouraged because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward."

If you adopt this same attitude, you'll overcome your feelings of failure and be able to see your dreams and desires come to fruition.

The truth is, you only fail when you give up! When you keep trying until you've found the answer or the solution, you're successful.

Speed reading is a much sought after skill that enables you to boost your reading speed, while also improving your comprehension.

Speed reading strengthens your ability to read any style of writing while still understanding the intended and deeper meaning.

For example, when speed reading, you'll be able to skim right over the less vital pieces of information and pick out the sections which are more important far quicker than by using traditional reading techniques.

Whether you're already a fast reader or not, once you start training yourself to speed read, you'll notice your reading rate and retention will vastly improve over time.

Just like anything else, when learning how to read more quickly, you can't expect to read faster overnight. To learn how to use this skill properly requires time, effort and practice. You'll need to work at speed reading every day in order to become proficient.

Here are some effective techniques you can use to teach yourself to speed read:

1. Time yourself. When you first begin, time your current reading pace so you'll have a baseline that you can use for comparisons. Time yourself often when reading to see your growing improvement.


2. Practice improving your speed. Try and force yourself to read a little faster each time you pick up the material. You can do this by skipping over common words like the, to, from, and, etc.


3. Read each and every day. If you only read when you feel like it, you can't possibly improve. Work a little bit each day, otherwise you may find yourself having to backtrack and relearn skills all over again.

* Go to the library and grab plenty of books to practice with.
* Take time each day to sit down and practice quickly reading a chapter or two, then test your retention by paraphrasing what you read.

4. Learn good reading habits. Work to break yourself of habits that slow your reading down, such as sub-vocalizing words, which is pronouncing words to yourself or moving your lips when reading. Be sure you're only saying the words in your head.

5. Read with your hand. Moving your hand down the page helps guide your eyes quickly through the material.

6. Avoid re-reading. Practice taking away understanding of your material the first time you read it.

* You can skim through the information from time to time if needed, but avoid re-reading it in depth if you don't have to.

7. Read in blocks of words. Instead of reading words letter by letter or the information word by word, interpret the author's ideas in blocks of words.

8. Avoid distractions. Interruptions can interfere with your capability and cause confusion.

* You may want to try reading in the morning or before you go to sleep, when there are likely to be fewer distractions.

Before you can speed read, you first have to make the commitment to continually refine your skills. Practicing speed reading will help you improve your reading, writing and comprehension. As you strengthen your speed reading skills, you'll soon find that you enjoy reading and learning new things more than ever!

Getting bogged down by daily drudgery?  It happens to all of us at one time or another no matter how much we love what we do!

Here are five quick and easy ways to find inspiration:

1. Use motivational quotes and affirmations. It seems that no matter how many times you read or hear your favorite quote, it resonates with you almost as much as the very first time you heard it. Adding to your collection will bring you an ever-flowing well of new inspiration.

* As your goals change, look for quotes and affirmations that reflect your new path so you can gain the inspiration to persevere in your new direction.


2. Find inspirational imagery. Sometimes you come across inspiration by spotting something in nature, like a beautiful sunset or freshly fallen snow. Other times you may be inspired by a photograph, an image in a book, or a painting at an art gallery.

* Perhaps the beauty of an image will inspire you to create something beautiful of your own. In the process, you'll find new excitement and motivation to carry over into the other areas of your life.


* An image can also remind you of your destination, which will motivate you to work ever more swiftly with laser-like focus to reach your goal.


* Once you find an image that inspires you, rely upon it during stressful or difficult times as a visual reminder to keep moving forward.

3. Confide in strangers. A method you may find surprising as a source of inspiration is to talk to strangers when out and about. There's an understood confidentiality clause with strangers. Because of the anonymity factor, people may actually become comfortable with someone they may never see again.

* Someone you meet by chance can bring you a new perspective on old challenges. The next time you're out, try striking up a friendly conversation and share your thoughts.

4. Let your neighbors inspire you with their stories. When you hear someone's story of personal triumph or hardship while standing in line at the neighborhood post office or sitting in the waiting room at your local doctor's office, you just may be able to relate to this person.

* Because you're neighbors or friends, it's as if you have an instant connection. Their story could very well be yours, with a few different details. Seek out their stories and let them inspire you!

5. Watch motivational videos. Websites like YouTube offer a plethora of motivational and inspirational videos. Some videos, such as the late Randy Pausch's poignant "Last Lecture," has inadvertently inspired millions, even though it was originally intended for a much more personal audience.
 
* People often use YouTube to tell their stories, share successes, and offer advice or encouragement. When facing a challenge, or if you need some words of wisdom from someone who's "been there, done that," you'll surely find inspiration here.

The next time you feel like you need some extra inspiration, try these sources. You may be surprised at how well they work to get you happily working toward fulfilling your goals and living the life you desire.

Although many things about the brain are still unsolved mysteries, we've learned a lot about memory.

Your brain is made up of 100 billion neurons. As you grow up, develop, and gain wisdom from life experiences, these neurons become connected to each other and they communicate through these connections.

Memories are formed when certain neuron connections in the brain are strengthened by an event. Even though our brain takes in everything, if we don't strengthen these connections, we tend to forget.

How can you improve your memory?

A big part of what you remember has to do with how much attention you pay to what's going on around you. If you are intensely focused on a certain thing, your memory of the event will be stronger than something that happened in passing.

Here are some ways to strengthen your ability to recall memories:

1. Exercise and eat right. When you keep yourself in shape and eat foods that are good for your body and mind, everything just works better. Sounds like common sense, but that's because it is!

2. Get enough sleep. Research has shown getting a good night's sleep is a great way to help boost your memory. Your mind processes everything you went through during the day while you're sleeping. It takes those events and files them away so you can recall them.

3. Create a rhyme or song. Try making a rhyme or song out of something you want to remember. The rhyme will stick in your head. Through repetition, you're more likely to remember something important.

4. Write it down. Just the act of writing something down helps you recall it later. Not only are you thinking about something you wish to remember, you're also visually focusing on it through writing it down.

5. Get enough beta-carotene. Beta-carotene has been proven to help with your memory recall. You can get beta-carotene from orange vegetables, especially carrots. Just one serving a day will be a big boost to your memory.

6. Create acronyms. "Every Good Boy Deserves An Egg," is the acronym many people learn to remember the notes of guitar strings: E-G-B-D-A-E. Make a saying or an acronym out of important information to help you remember it better.

7. Utilize repetition. If there's something you need to learn or remember, repeat it over and over until it's so deeply ingrained into your mind that nothing will get it out. It's also repetition that enables you to learn new skills, after all, practice makes perfect!

8. Remove distractions. When you're trying to commit something to memory, any distraction can take you off track and make it harder to absorb. Go somewhere quiet and comfortable and focus on what you wish to deposit into your memory bank.

9. Meditate. Teach yourself to meditate and clear your mind of all unimportant thoughts before you begin to study or learn something. It will help make your mind an open book for you to place information in so you can recall it again later.

The Most Important Tip

These are just some of the ways to help focus your mind on what you need to remember. Of all the techniques mentioned, sleep may very well be the most important action of all in your quest to have a better memory.

When you're groggy, you can't focus. When you can't focus, you can't remember things as easily.

Set a regular bedtime and avoid caffeine after a certain time in the afternoon. Next, put some exercise into your daily routine, but avoid exercise in the late evening. You may also want to turn off your computer and television an hour before bedtime.
 
At the end of the day, let your mind relax from the stimulation of the day's events. This will also help ensure you receive a good night's rest.

Once you've adjusted your sleeping routine to allow for increased memory performance, be sure to use these tips to help you strengthen your memory. If you don't remember them, print out this page and refer to it often!

Distractions get in the way every day, keeping you from being as productive as you might like. These distractions come in many forms, from ringing doorbells and telephones, to emails and voicemails. It can be a real challenge to stay focused!

How do you go about disregarding all these disturbances to get any work done? It can be tough, but there are ways to reduce the interruptions.

Here are some strategies you can use to control your distractions:

1. Telephone distractions. Unless you're expecting an important call, turn off your ringers and direct your calls to voicemail. Then only check your voicemail once or twice a day.

* Return the calls you must, but if you can reply via email, that's even better. When you send an email reply, you can keep the conversation succinct.

2. Email interruptions. Unsubscribe from email lists you don't need and set up separate email accounts for business and pleasure. This way, when you're trying to work, you don't find yourself bombarded with jokes, videos, party invites, or Facebook messages.

* Reduce the frequency emails are delivered to your inbox or set your email so you only receive emails when you go in and manually retrieve them in batches.

3. The World Wide Web time drain. If you don't need the internet for your work, stay away from it. You'll save yourself a lot of wasted time.

* Fully close web browsers so you eliminate the temptation to surf online.

4. Co-workers. If you find that co-workers annoy you, try wearing headphones while you work to give the illusion you can't hear them. It might sound silly, but it eliminates being subjected to endless babble.

* Another option is to post a Do Not Disturb sign outside of your workspace. Hopefully, your co-workers will know that you mean business and honor it.

5. Work space clutter. Get rid of any visual clutter - it's distracting and kills productivity. Seeing unfinished projects or pending work can cause unnecessary stress. This stress can have negative results, like making you unable to focus on the task at hand.

* Put everything you don't need for your current project into a drawer or box out of sight if you have to. You can always sort it out carefully when you're less busy.

* The same should be said for computer clutter. Eliminate unneeded computer programs and icons to make your computer more efficient. The quicker you're able to find the file you need, the faster you'll be able to get back on track.

6. Work-at-home distractions. If you work from home, make sure friends and family respect the fact that you're truly working just like anyone who goes into an office. Some people may have a difficult time understanding this concept, but they'll comply if you explain it.

* Avoid doing household chores during your work time. Train your mind to think about these tasks when your work is finished.

When distractions do arise, whether at home or at the office, make notes and deal with them at an appropriate time at the end of the day. If someone pops by to chat, stand up to let them know your chatting time is limited. Don't allow them to sit or get cozy.
 
Of course, you still need to set aside time to handle these distractions. You don't want to be so restrictive on yourself that you burn out. After all, everyone benefits from a little guilt-free downtime! It's okay to let your mind wander, browse the web, or do whatever appeals to you, just make sure it doesn't creep into your work time.

Follow these tips every day to make effective use of your time and energy. When you eliminate distractions, you'll find that you can get more done in half the time!

It seems that every couple of years, disaster strikes one of my computers.  I've made it through 2009 relatively incident-free.  Until this past weekend, that is.

My heart sunk the minute I saw that blue screen of death.  I rebooted and rebooted and rebooted with no success.  The darn thing just wouldn't boot up and the internal drive was making the most ominous click-click-click sound.

To be fair, I'm pretty tough on computers... especially my primary one that sits on my desk.  But still, my first thought when something goes wrong like this is always, "WHY????  Why NOW???!!?!   I have NO TIME for this!!!"

With project deadlines looming, I went out and bought a new hard drive Saturday afternoon and began the process of recovering data from my disaster back-up system that evening.  Amazingly, I was pretty much restored whole within 24 hours.

It's another time that Carbonite - the service I use to automatically back-up my files - saved me.

If you aren't using something automated that runs behind the scenes and remembers to save every file for you, the time to do so is now!

Do you wish you could be more productive at your computer? There's good news! There are some things you can do that will allow you to get more done in less time.

You may be surprised at how simple these strategies are, how little some of them have to do with your computer, and how much they have to do with organization!

Here are the top five computer strategies to get more done in less time:

1. De-clutter. One of the simplest computer strategies is having a clean workspace. When most of us think of our computer, we think of the actual machine, but did you know that the space around your computer is as important as the computer itself?

* When you keep your computing space as tidy as possible, you can get more done because you won't be distracted by stopping to "clear a path" as you work.

* De-cluttering also means removing old software and files that are taking up too much space. You'll be surprised how much speedier the machine will feel when you've cleared all the junk off your computer!

2. Run anti-virus software every day. Viruses can slow down your computer or worse. Obviously if your computer is unresponsive, you'll lose precious time during your workday.

* Running anti-virus software will help you make sure your computer is running at its very best so you don't lose momentum by waiting for a document to open.


* You'll also prevent things like hard drive crashes and data loss. So run anti-virus software on your PC or get a Mac.

3. Organize. A little observed, but very effective, computer strategy is to organize your files and folders in such a way that everything you need is within reach. This way, you can move seamlessly from one task to another without wasting time searching for files.

* Put commonly used files in one place, such as your Documents folder. Also, use full filenames so you can easily find what you're looking for.


* Use a search tool like Google Desktop on the PC or Spotlight on the Mac to easily find files not within reach.

4. Clean the desktop on your computer. Many people don't give much thought to their desktop and they may have dozens of unused icons and downloads just taking up space. Keep only the files, folders, and programs you need on your desktop.

* Delete the icons you don't use regularly so that you can find what you're looking for quicker.

5. Learn the shortcuts. Set a goal to learn something new about the software tools you use the most. There are plenty of options hidden in menus and keyboard shortcuts that can save you time, energy, and sanity.

* Print out a list of common shortcuts and keep it beside your computer for easy reference. When you challenge yourself to learn these new tricks, you'll get faster and more productive over time.

These are all very simple computer strategies that will help you be more efficient and productive. When you incorporate even one of these strategies into your daily routine, you'll find that you truly can get more done in less time.

Email marketing lists will be your key to electronic marketing. They are easily the least time-consuming of your marketing plans once your email list has been established. The question remains, however; how exactly do you go about the process of developing this list in the first place?

You can start out by having a location included on your website where people can sign up for your e-mail list. As long as you have the correct marketing tools, this process is relatively easy to implement. It’s in the best interest of your business to send out newsletters at least once per week. This will keep your business thriving, as well as keeping your readers up to date with fresh information on a regular basis without it becoming a burden on them.

The next step you probably want to consider is finding a free mailing list or mailing list host service. Signing up with free resources at the beginning of your business launch into the technological business world will save you some money you may very well need elsewhere right from the start.

If your business doesn’t already have a website designed for it, this is a great time to consider the construction of one. You will have HTML codes from the free list service you will need to include on your website pages.

Most mailing services provide you with a multitude of tools to use in order to make this process bit easier for you. Their tools are normally quite self-explanatory or come with easy-to-follow instructions. There will be links to include in your coding which uses phrases such as “Sign up for our newsletter” or “Click here for updates on our website” where visitors to your site can insert their information for you to use at a later date.

Marketing of your website can be done through flyers and business cards, as well as e-mail marketing. You will find that many interested customers will add their e-mail addresses to your list for newsletters and promotional information quite rapidly, especially if your information is of value to their own personal business or lifestyle. They may wish to receive your weekly newsletter, or simply be aware of any sales or specials you are having. It’s a good idea to have both options available when they fill in their information.

You can also buy or rent email lists from professional email list brokers. If you chose this method, verification needs to be done to ensure your broker is following the laws against anti-spamming. There are some serious rules about opt-in procedures, so it is in your best interest to include a double opt-in method when your customers first sign up. It’s also wise to include an ‘unsubscribe’ button in each email you send to allow the customer to be removed from the list if they so wish.

Just remember to keep everyone informed and up to date on the comings and goings of your business via your website. Remember to be consistent with your newsletters, keep information on your site current and in the end you will find yourself with a great list of clients you know will be loyal to you, because they can count on you being there when they expect you to be. This will create word-of-mouth references as well, growing your list on a regular basis.

There are several common legal structures that you can set your business up under.  Which one you chose is going to depend on what kind of business you are setting up, who else is involved in this plan with you, your own personal preferences, among several other factors.  Here is a quick overview of your options.

Sole Proprietorship

This is still the most common type of business structure, particularly for small businesses that are just starting out.  This means that one person owns and is responsible for the business.  They make all the decisions, but they also hold all the financial responsibility.  The profits or losses from the business are reported on the proprietor’s personal taxes.

General Partnership

This is very similar to a sole proprietorship, except that there is more than one person involved in owning and operating the business.  The business is still connected to you, but also to your partners.  This means you all share in the management and financial responsibilities of the business.

Corporation

A corporation is a entity that is formed and does business on its own, separate from anyone personally.  This means that the financial situation of the business does not roll over onto the person who owns the business.
 
While this may seem like the better option to avoid personal liability if something happens within the business, it can be extremely tedious and expensive to set up and maintain.  This is not a viable option for most small business owners because most of them cannot afford the set up fees or maintainence of records required. 

Limited Liability Company/Corporation (LLC)

This is a newer and very popular type of business structure because it offers the benefits of a corporation, does not require a lot of the same hassle.  Unlike a limited liability partnership, you can set up this type of company with only one person.  It provides a lot of the financial protection of a corporation, but does not require as extensive measures to upkeep. 

Limited Liability Partnership (LLP)

This is a different type of partnership, but it also provides some of the financial protection of a corporation.  Unlike an LLC, you must have at least two partners.  However, it is easier to maintain and keep your structure than an LLC.  This business structure is also much more common in the UK, which LLCs are more popular in the US.

How you set up your business is an important decision.  The structure you choose could make a big financial and legal difference.  It will depend on many factors, including local laws.  Take the time to research your options and talk to an accountant or other business professional and anyone else involved in your business before making your decision. 

Being a Working At Home Mom (WAHM for short) can often turn into a balancing act.  The duties of work and home begin to overlap, and often one can take over.  Many moms decide to work at home to spend more time with their families, but end up dedicating even more time to work.  Here are a few tips to help you juggle.

1.  Get organized.  Figure out what your goals and priorities are, in your business and in your personal life, then figure out how to achieve them.  Then put your house, office, and life in general, together in a way that will help you achieve your goals.

2.  Lists, lists, lists.  One you have your plans and goals, make to-do lists.  Try to organize your lists by priority.  If something doesn’t get done, it probably wasn’t that important anyway.

3.  Multitask.  At some point, you’re probably going to get burnt out doing things that seem tedious or that you just don’t want to do.  Try mixing it up.  If something is really stressing you out, go on to something else and come back.  As a WAHM, there’s always something else that needs to get done.
 
4.  Set work hours, and follow them.  Set work hours for times when the kids aren’t around, or don’t require a lot of attention.  When your work hours are done, stop working.  If you can’t manage to get your work done, you may need to reset your work hours, but you most likely need to look at how much work you can actually take on. 

5.  Make a separate space for work and family.  While it may be easy to work and play in the same area, it helps to have a dedicated office area when you work from home.  This will help you focus on what you need to be doing, and even help protect you from getting your work disrupted by your family.   

6.  Get the family to help.  Sure, if your kids are young, they aren’t going to be able to help with much, but even very small children can often help organize the house or dry dishes.  Make sure everyone does their part.

7.  Take time for you.  When balancing work and family, you often forget an important part of the equation:  you.  When scheduling your work and family, always schedule some time to relax, socialize, and do what you like to do. 

8.  Make friends.  Even if you don’t get to see them a lot, friends are an important part of maintaining your physical and mental health.  Remember to take time to keep your friendships alive. 

9.  Stay positive.  One of the biggest keys to success is keeping a positive attitude.  You’ll be surprised what you can accomplish as long as you believe you can do it.  Plus, you’ll be setting a great life example for your kids at the same time.

10.  Remember that you are unique.  Trying to fit into someone else’s schedule and someone else’s plan isn’t necessarily going to be successful.  You need to tailor your plan into your family’s unique needs and find something that works for you.

If you go into any large, successful company and look at their employee materials, somewhere you’ll probably find a vision statement, or some similar form of guidance or goals for the company.  That’s because a vision statement is one of the most important things a company can have.

When you think about a long race or long project, which part do you think is the hardest?  Which part do you think is the easiest part to just give up?  Logically, you would think it was the end, but if you think harder, the end is actually pretty easy.  That’s because, even though you’re drained you can still see your goal in sight, which pushes you to keep going.

The purpose of a vision statement is to keep yourself going when you’re tired, but not even close to achieving your goals.  A vision statement reminds you that there is a point, there is an end in sight, and if you keep pushing you’ll get there.  Vision is what keeps us from giving up on our dreams.

So how do you make your businesses vision statement?  Basically you just have to sit down and figure out what you want.  Sounds pretty simple, but if you’re ever actually tried to accomplish this, you know it’s a bit more difficult than it sounds. 

To write your statement, think about what you want - from your life, from your business, and for your family.  If it helps, you might want to write separate statements for your personal life and your business.

While having a vision statement is great, the simple act of writing one is a benefit in itself.  It causes you to sit down and think about what you REALLY want out of your business, and out of your life.  This is something many of us have never actually done. 

While it is beneficial to have an all-encompassing vision statement, it also helps for it to be fairly short and concise.  This may take a while to do, but is worth it in the long run.

Once you have your vision statement, be sure to keep it in mind.  It doesn’t work to push or motivate yourself if you forget about it completely.  Make sure to put your vision statement in some form, whether it be the whole statement or just key words and pictures, where you’ll see it on a regular basis.  This way it will keep you motivated and pushing for your dreams.

If you have a business with employees or where customers and business partners come to your office, it could be beneficial to post your vision statement somewhere that everyone can see it.  This will help motivate your employees and let your customers know what it is you’re about and what you’re committed to.

It may take some time and some thought, but a well thought out vision statement can be a fantastic tool for your business.

The problem with many small business owners is that when they get started they’re all gung-ho and working hard, but after they reach some disappointment, they lose sight of their vision and often stop trying as hard and peter out.  To run a successful business, it is essential to keep your vision alive. 

The first step in keeping your vision alive is to have a clear vision in the first place.  If you haven’t already, try sitting down and writing a clear vision statement, for your business and yourself.  Think about why you started your business, and what you hope to achieve. 

While it’s important to have a vision statement, you have to keep it in mind if you’re going to actually achieve it.  Having an idea of what you want doesn’t really matter if you throw it in a drawer and only think about it once every six months.  Try posting it somewhere in your office or having it written down where you will see it regularly.

It might also help you to do more than just post your vision.  Most people know the phrase that a picture is worth a thousand words.  Well, why not use this to your advantage?  Find pictures that make you think of what you want and what your goals are in life, and post them in places you’ll see.  If may be posters around your office or even just your computer desktop.  They’ll serve as a constant reminder of what you’re working for. 

To keep your vision going, it’s important that your work reflects your vision.  That means not only working towards your goals, but associating with people who feel the same.  Sure, you’re not always going to be able to choose who you work with, but you can still try to make business contacts who have similar vision and beliefs as you.  These people will help you stick to what you want and become successful.

It’s a generally accepted fact that if you’re surrounded by negative people, you’ll probably start thinking negatively eventually.  Attitude is something that permeates to the people around us.  To help keep your vision on track, surround yourself not only with positive people, but with those that share your vision, or a similar one.  They will help keep you on track when you get discouraged.

If you’re having trouble focusing on your vision statement, maybe it’s not you that needs help, maybe it’s just your vision.  You are not the same person you were when you opened your business, so why is your vision statement the same?  If your vision statement doesn’t reflect what you want anymore, considering reviewing and revising it.  Just be sure not to do it too often, or you’ll find yourself going from focus to focus without actually accomplishing anything.

What’s most important is not to lose faith in yourself and your business.  Great businessmen aren’t the ones who have never failed, they’re the ones who failed and kept on going. 

Many people already know that Twitter is a great way to keep up to date on everything that’s going on in the world around you.  Whether it’s finding out about the latest product releases or just knowing what your friends are up to, Twitter is a quick, easy and popular way to keep an eye on the pulse of the modern world.  But it’s also a great way to get traffic to your website.  More and more people are expanding their numbers using Twitter and so can you - you just have to know how to do it.

If you’ve never used Twitter, it’s pretty simple.  It takes about a minute to create an account, then you can type in short messages (less than 140 characters) and they’re sent to everyone who has chosen to be one of your “followers”.  You can also follow people you’re interested in and get updated whenever they make a post. 

These are a few reasons Twitter is a great tool for getting traffic.

*It’s easy.  Pretty much anyone who can use a computer can use it.  And we all know that the less work people have to do to use something, the more likely they’re going to be to use it.

*It’s accessible.  People can use Twitter from their computer, phone, or pda.  That means they’re always checking it and always getting updates.  It becomes a part of their life.  And if they follow you, that makes you a part of their life too.

*It’s Popular.  Millions of people are already using Twitter, and thousands of new users join each day.  So you can transfer networks over from other sites, or your email list, and watch your followers grow from there. 

The first step to increasing your traffic is to simply gain followers on.  If you’re tweeting and no one is listening, it’s not really going to do you or your website any good. 

The easiest way is to bring along your network from other sources, like your business contacts, email list, message boards, or even other social networks.  If you don’t have anyone to add, or you want to expand, simply start following others in your field.  Many will follow you in return, and if you use your tweets properly, the word will get out.

Once you have followers, there are many strategic ways to use your tweets wisely.  Don’t just talk about anything:

*Keeping up relationships.  Whether it be clients, potential clients, or business contacts, Twitter can help you update your followers, and following them can help keep you updated.  This makes them feel more connected with you and gives you a better relationship.  You can even take it a step further and follow-up on their tweets through other communication lines.  And remember, happy customers means repeat customers and referrals.

*Product release.  If you have a decent number of followers, Twitter is a great way to get the word out about a new product, website, or service offer.  You can also use it to build excitement before a new release.

*Website changes.  If something changes about your site, even something small like a new article, spread the word.  This gets them to come back to your site, even if they’ve already been there.

*Become a resource.  If there are things going on that interest you and that might interest your followers, spread the word.  They’ll be thankful that you shared valuable info with them and be more likely to pass on your name and pay attention to future tweets.

While the dot-com boom has pretty well subsided, savvy businessmen and women are still making a pretty penny using the internet.  The key to making money is to know what you’re doing and how to market yourself.  One great way to make money is through e-products. Here are five tips on how to achieve it:

1.  Go with what you know - There are certain products online that are going to sell better than others.  You can probably figure out what these are just by looking at the number of available products.  The problem is if you go with a popular topic, you’re going to have to compete with a lot of other products, so you’ll need something to stand out. 

That’s why it's good to at least start with something you know.  An e-book about dogs is going to sell better if it’s written by someone who has been breeding dogs for ten years rather than being written by some guy who thought he could make a lot of money researching and writing about dogs. 

2.  Big technology, little prices - There are all kinds of programs out there to help you make quality products easily and effectively.  Contrary to popular belief, they don’t have to cost you an arm and a leg.  They just require you to do a little research and know what you’re looking for ahead of time. 

For instance, do you want to make instructional videos?  You can now get quality digital video and lighting equipment online.  How about instead of describing how to do something on the computer, just buy a program to record everything on your computer screen as you do it?  This is also a great option for the camera shy.

You can also buy affordable software to record audio conversations through your computer.  This means you can do an interview or conference call and have it practically ready to sell right away.

If you do some product searching and mix in a little creativity, there’s no telling what you can do.

3.  Start small - If you try to create a stellar product right away, you’ll probably fail miserably.  Start on a scale you can handle.  Once you start the money coming in, you can use it to upgrade your equipment while you also improve your skills.

4.  Marketing, Marketing, Marketing - Making a good product is a great way to bring in money.  But if creating that product is all you do, there’s a 99% chance you will make precisely $0 (minus any production costs, of course).  The key to making money is marketing your product.  You can do this by paying someone to do it, or by learning to do it yourself.  Paying an experienced person is going to get you a better start in the beginning, but depending on how much time you can devote, learning to do it yourself may be a better investment in the long run. 

5.  Be creative - When people are purchasing e-products, there are generally tens, if not hundreds or options for them to choose from.  In order to stand out, you have to do something different, something special.  Often, you just need to be a little silly.  When creating your product, take some time to think about what you can do to make it really pop.  It might take a while, but it will be well worth your effort.   

Getting ready to launch YOUR first product?   Here's a resource that can help:

http://www.a25hour.us/skill-building-ebooks/how-to-launch-a-product-fast/

There are all kinds of devices and technologies around to help you save time.  But the more things there are to save time, the more it seems like we don’t have enough.  Everyone could use a little help getting more done, so here are a few tips on help you manage your time wisely and fit more into your day.

To be the most productive, try making a plan.  Each project you take on, be sure to plan it out ahead of time.  Include each step you’re going to need to take, and who and what you need to get it done.

Once you have an overall plan, use this to make a plan at the beginning of each day.  Before you do anything in the morning, make a list of what you need to get done that day. 

They say that if you start each day by eating a live frog, nothing else you do that day will seem that bad.  While you’re probably not going to actually eat live animals, this is a great philosophy to use in your life. 

Start each day by picking the hardest thing on your to-do list, the thing you’re really dreading.  Once you get that thing done, everything else in the day will seem much simpler.  Plus, the feeling of accomplishment will energize you and help keep you focused throughout the day.

If you’re easily distracted and nothing seems to be working to stop that, try removing the distractions totally.  If you keep playing video games, go somewhere without internet access or a TV.  If you keep getting distracted by the kids, work while they’re at school or when someone else is there to take care of them.  The whole point is that not having distractions is much easier than ignoring them.

If you have trouble starting work or keeping on task, get a buddy to help you.  The biggest problem most people have is keeping to deadlines.  If you don’t have someone to report to, like a boss or manager, then you have less reason to get things done.  Ask a friend or family member to check on your work and push you to keep going or get started.  If you feel accountable, you’ll get more done in less time.

One of the best things you can do to get more done in your day is to take breaks.  While it seems counter-intuitive, giving yourself a rest every so often helps you re-energize and make better use of the time you do have.  Whether it be taking the occasional weekend off, doing some yoga or deep breathing during the day, or just sitting in a quiet room drinking your coffee, you need to take some time to recharge.

We all feel stress sometimes.  Stress is the natural response of our body to help us deal with difficult situations.  Without it, we would be unable to survive.  The problem is that nowadays, most people have too much of it.  This can not only be detrimental to your health, it can also hurt your business.  That’s why it’s a good idea to figure out what stressors are causing you problems in your business and lessen them so you can be more productive and effective. 

If you are having trouble losing weight, doctors will often recommend you keep a food diary.  If you are having stomach issues, they’ll have you record food and digestive symptoms.  Pain problems?  Again, record your pain and anything that might trigger it. 

If you’re having trouble with getting stressed, why not keep a stress diary?  This can help you figure out not only what is causing you stress, but also what the most effective way to deal with it is. 

Your doctor or other health professional can often provide you with a stress diary.  There are also many journal templates available for you to download online.  If you don’t want to bother with these journals, or can’t find one you like, you can simply make your own using a binder or notebook.  Just remember to include a few key variables.

- What stressor you have faced.

- How stressed you are.  It’s usually recommended to use a number scale instead of descriptive words.  This way you can easily compare different stressors and their effectiveness.

- Physical symptoms of stress.

- What you did to ease your stress.

- How well it worked.

Once you’ve kept your stress diary for a while, you can then start analyzing it by looking at your stress and looking for patterns.  It might help you figure out what stresses you out the most or what coping technique works best for you.  You may also find things you didn’t think you would, for example that you are less stressed in the evenings or around meal time. 

The key in using a stress diary is actually doing something with the information you learn.  If you’re lucky, you will find a simple solution, like using a coping method to stressors that seems to work better than others.  Then you can simply use this method and reduce your work stress.

While it may seem to be a bit complicated, stress diaries are fairly simple once you get the hang of them.  This will not only help you work more effectively, it can also improve your health and even save your life.

If you are having trouble finding patterns and useful information in your stress diary, you might try taking it to a doctor or psychologist.  They can not only help see issues, they can also help recommend more effective coping techniques for dealing with your stressors. 

Once you figure out what causes you stress and how to best deal with it, you’ll find yourself working and feeling better.   

If you have no other reason for self-development, technology is it.  Technology is changing constantly, and if you’re not up to date, you’re probably going to be left behind.  Even if you choose not to use what’s available, you need to be knowledgeable to keep up with your marketing methods and to figure out how to get ahead of those who are using these technologies.

An important part of being a small business owner is staying connected to other people.  You generally need people to work with, and you don’t just need to meet them, you also need them to think you’re knowledgeable and worth working with.  Going to classes and seminars not only helps you meet business contacts, it also helps you gain knowledge so you can sound like you know what you’re doing and people will want to give you business. 

If you own your own small business, you probably are well aware of the rush you get when you take on a new project or come up with a new idea or new way to get things done more efficiently.  Gradually, however, that initial push wears off and you sink back into the same old plodding-through work. 

Now imagine if you were learning about a cool new product or idea every few weeks, or even every day.  You could keep that energy burst going and going.  That’s one of the biggest benefits of self-expansion.  It keeps you excited about work and wanting to learn more and do more.  And in the end, you get more done.

If you’re working on your own, you don’t have a boss to constantly offer to send you to meetings and conferences to expand your horizons.  That means you have to find them yourself. 

There are all kinds of options out there for self-expansion.  Here are just a few general categories but the list goes on:
 
- E-books
- Seminars
- Local classes
- Online courses
- Newsletters

With all the options available, it’s may be hard for you to figure out which direction you want to go.  There are thousands of programs, newsletters, seminars, ebooks, and all kinds of products out there to help you expand yourself and your business. 

Before you try to find ways to develop yourself, you need to figure out what you want.  This means setting your priorities and business goals.  Do you want to make lots of money?  Do you want to help others?  Or do you just want to have a career your can balance with your already full life?  What you want is the most important thing and should be your starting point.

Once you have a vague direction, talk to other people with the same interests and ask for options.  Starting with things like newsletters and message boards are great because they’ll probably help you find more information for self-expansion.  The key to staying successful is to never stop learning.

It’s long been accepted that positive thinking can give you a better, happier life, but it can also help boost your business and actually make you more successful.

Successful entrepreneurs need a lot of qualities, but the one that is probably the most important is persistence.  Successful businesses often have their failures, but they pick themselves up and keep on going.  So what do you do if you’re not a naturally persistent person?  Change your way of thinking!

If you look at a situation positively, you’re going to eventually see the possibilities rather than the failures.  That becomes just the push to keep you going, keep you trying and eventually make you more successful.

A positive attitude in general makes you a happier person, and happier people are more appealing to do business with.  Sure, people can be annoyed when someone is ALWAYS sunshine and smiles, but they’d much rather deal with someone who is positive and happy than a grumpy person who doesn’t see the potential in things.

It’s a great idea to start thinking more positively, but if you’re like me, it’s a lot harder to put into practice.  Here are a few steps, some large, some small, that you can take to put a more positive spin on your business and your life.

- Surround yourself with positive people.  You can’t choose everyone you have to talk to, but you can make sure the people you do choose aren’t dragging you down.  If you find your husband or a good friend is constantly bringing in negativity, try talking to them and making it a challenge to both turn your thinking around.

- Use positive affirmations.  These are positive statements about yourself and your business that you repeat several times at least once a day.  Eventually you will find that you start believing these things more and more.

- Make a list of accomplishments.  At the end of every day, make a list of what you got done that day, or simply what you’ve accomplished with your business overall.  Make sure nothing is negative and purposely push the negative thoughts from your head.  The next day you can read these accomplishments to help give you a positive boost to start your day.

- Take care of yourself.  If you feel good, you’re more likely to be positive about the world around you.  You might find help from exercise and a healthier diet, but can also get benefit from activities like meditation or yoga.  They are great for clearing your mind of negative thoughts and giving you a fresh new perspective on life.

If you take small steps to make yourself more positive, you’ll probably get some big boosts in your business success.

Our new Resource Center is now LIVE and we've pre-loaded it with TONS of reviews on some of our favorite business books, software, equipment and more.  Lots more to come, so be sure to stop by regularly to check out what's new.

You'll find it at: http://a25hourday.typepad.com/resourcecenter/

In business, there is always going to be some element of risk.  No matter what your do, no matter how stable, there’s always a chance that something will go wrong.  It’s just that some business plans are more risky than others, but those are usually the ones with the most to gain.  Making money and being successful is all about knowing how much risk to take.

It’s plain and simple - if you don’t take a lot of risk, you’re probably not going to have a lot of gain.  The internet has given a lot of people the opportunity to go into business for themselves who haven’t been able to before.  That means that there are a lot of extra people competing for the same business and the same money.  You have to do something to stand out and put yourself ahead of the rest, and that involves taking a risk. 

Right now, many businesses are running away from risk as fast as they can.  A lot of that is because they’re already in trouble from losing out on taking risks before.  The truth is, recession is actually a great time to take moderate risks.  When companies have hit rock bottom, there’s not much lower for them to go, but there is a lot for them to gain. 

Taking risk can help you expand your horizons and learn new things.  A lot of time when you’re taking risk in your business, you’re probably trying something you’ve never done before and may not know too much about.  Taking that risk gives you a chance to try it out, and you may just find you like it. 

Risk can be a good thing when done right, but to run a stable business, it’s important not to take too much risk.  For example, take a look at successful investment plans.  They will take some risk so they can make large gains, but there is also a portion of the investment in more stable options so you don’t lose everything.  If you risk all your resources on one thing, you won’t have anything else to risk if it goes poorly. 

Your willingness to take a risk also needs to depend on your knowledge of what you’re risking.  If your neighbor or relative tells you they’ve got a great business opportunity and you don’t understand a work of what they’re saying, it’s probably not the best idea.  However, if there is an opportunity in your field and it’s something you understand and seems like a good idea, you’re better off going for it. 

Ultimately, how much risk you take depends on you.  Not only your personal preferences, but also your knowledge of the potential risk and your ability to survive financially if the risk doesn’t work out. 

For many people, running a business out of the home can be a great opportunity.  You can spend more time with your family, control your own workload and income, and have a lot more flexibility to fit your life.  But before you quit your job and get started, you need to consider some of the downsides of working from home and how they could affect you and your family.

One thing many people don’t consider when making the decision to work at home is loneliness.  Even if you work hard, if you’re at an office, you have a lot of human interaction.  We all need to interact with other people on a regular basis to stay happy and healthy.  If you’re starting a home business, be sure to schedule in plenty of social activities with friends, even if it’s just a phone call during the day.

While the normal office includes a variety of distractions, it also includes a supervisor and deadlines to help you keep on track.  A home office has more distractions and less threat to keep you focused.  If you’re someone who’s easily distracted by things like computer games, television, or other things in the home, this could be a problem.  While you’ll need self-discipline, it also helps to have a dedicated office and specific work hours to help you focus. 

Many people bring their work home from the office, but it’s a whole lot easier to do this when the office is in your home. Many moms decide to work from home so they can spend more time with their families.  But after a while, they see their families less because they’re working on weekends and until all hours of the night. 

Most moms have become pretty good at multitasking - to run a family you pretty much have to be - but working from home takes multitasking to a whole new level.  Not only is the baby screaming while the dinner is cooking and the laundry is being put in, but now you have a work deadline to meet as well.  If you want to work from home, you’ll need to learn to be an expert multitasker.

Normally, people who work outside the home are paid hourly or are salaried.  While you may have variable hours, usually it provides a fairly steady income.  Depending on what work you’re doing at home, your income is likely to be much more variable, especially at the beginning when you’re establishing your business.  Make sure to have savings or a backup plan to help you out when your income dips.

While there are a lot of problems people may encounter when working from home, they are all manageable if you’re prepared for them, so try not to let them discourage you.  Working from home offers many benefits as well, including flexible hours, more control over the kind of work you do, more time for your family, among countless other things.  Ultimately the choice is up to you and your family.

Are you looking for a great way to keep your customers and other business contacts up to date?  Or keep up to date on them?  Or do you just need a quick and easy way to keep up a personal relationship with your contacts over the internet? 

Well, there’s a great new trend picking up called microblogging that may just save you time and even expand your customer base.

Microblogging is similar to regular blogging, but shorter and usually faster and more convenient.  While you can access normal blogs through the internet on your cell phone, many microblogging sites will have applications that automatically update you on your phone.  This makes it easier for you to reach your friends, family, and customers.

Depending on the service you use, you may be able to microblog in forms other than text. Some sites will let you add video and audio as well, as long as it is smaller than a certain size.  This makes it as effective as blogging, but a lot faster and more accessible for you and your contacts.

To microblog effectively, you need to have contacts who receive your posts.  The easiest way to build your customer base and advertise a campaign is to use already existing networks to your advantage.  A friend passes something along to three friends who pass it along to their three friends and so on, and eventually you’ve got a huge network of people to work with.  The beauty of micro blogging is that these sources already have thousands of people who are all interconnected.

Microblogging can be used as a great way to promote your blog.  You can add short comments, then direct them to the blog to hear the rest.  This way, more people read what it’s about because they don’t really have to go out of their way to look at your blog.  Plus, there is software available that will post the microblogs for you.  That way, you get all the benefit without all the work. 

If you don’t have a blog, you can still use microblogs to increase the traffic to your website as well.  Any time you release a product or make an update, you can tell your contacts about it.  This will keep them coming to your website over and over.

Microblogging is a great way to keep in touch with business associates and customers without having to do all the work of emailing.  You can communicate what you’re doing with them, and keep up and their lives and businesses, and it’s all quick and easy.

You can also use microblogging as a way to establish yourself as an intelligent business person and a valuable asset in your field.  You probably already do research on what’s going on with businesses in your field, whether it’s a new idea or an upcoming product release.  Microblogs are a great way to pass along these tips, and an even better way to keep up on them yourself.     

Twitter is a great example of a microblogging platform that is uber-popular.  If you've noticed all the businesses now announcing their Twitter pages, that's no coincidence.

Want to join in?  Pick up my Twitter ebook that's perfect for beginners - it's the perfect resource to get you micro-blogging quickly.

While working from home is a great way to spend more time with your family while still making a living, you tend to lose out on time with your friends and co-workers.  Even if you have a business that lets you interact with other people, it’s often through the internet and that isn’t really what you need to stay happy and healthy.  Here are some ways to help avoid loneliness:

*Sports.  We all need exercise to stay healthy.  Instead of working out in your basement or at the gym, join a local sports team.  You can get a workout and some social interaction at the same time.

*Play groups.  This is not only a great way to socialize for your kids, it’s also a great way to socialize yourself.  Set up time for the kids to play while the moms enjoy activities of their own.

*Date night.  It’s great to find other people to hang out with, but don’t forget your own partner.  Every so often, it’s a great idea to find a babysitter and treat yourself to a night out (or even a night in). 

*Online.  There are plenty of ways to meet new people and maintain friendships online.  Just remember that nothing takes the place of good old face-to-face conversations.

*Professional organizations.  You can combat loneliness and propel your business forward at the same time by joining professional organizations.  You can join local networks, or even attend seminars around the country or even the world.  And, you’ll be making the kind of friends that can help you be more productive and profitable at work. 

*Find a hobby.  If you have something you love to do, or have a hobby you’ve always wanted to try, find a group of people who will do it with you.  You can find groups for anything from crocheting to juggling or even watching a certain soap opera.

*Classes.  Many local organizations offer classes where you can socialize while learning a new skill or trade.  You can take classes related to your work, learn a new hobby, or just take a class on something that interests you.  Classes are a great way to meet friends to hang out with as well.

*Pets.  While social interaction with people is great, interacting with animals can be a great substitute when you just can’t get out.  They not only provide social interaction, they can also help you get out and exercise, and have even been shown to extend your life span.  Just be sure to research the kind of pet you want before you buy it so you know you’re getting a friend you can care for properly.

These are just a few ideas of how to get out there and keep yourself happy and healthy.  If you find yourself still missing the work environment, you can always get a part-time job that will give you the interaction you need without taking you away from your family for too long.

If you want to get your website noticed, the easiest way is to get to the top of popular search engines.  While all search engines have different formulas, they all have one thing in common:  links.   All of these engines base you higher the more high quality sites link to you.  That’s why it’s important to get quality links to your site.  In addition, links not only bring in search engines rankings, people occasionally follow them too!

Here are a few easy ways to get links to your website:

*Social bookmarking.  Social bookmarking sites are designed so people can save their bookmarks online and then share them with their friends, family, business associates, or pretty much anyone.  You can also use this to post links to your website.  Plus, if other people see your posts, they might just go and recommend your site to someone else.

*Online directories.  These are like a phonebook for the internet.  However, many of them are very selective.  They are divided up by type of website so people can find you easily, but since they don’t take everyone, many can provide high quality links to your site as well.

*Blogging.  If you have blogs you use to promote your business, these can be used to provide links to your related websites.  However, if the blog isn’t a quality link, it’s not going to help your site at all.  And microblogs like Twitter or commenting on blogs aren’t going to help your rankings either, but they may get traffic directly to your site.

*Article Directories.  These are online catalogues full of articles free for anyone to copy and use.  You put a link back to your site at the bottom of the article.  Just remember that if all the content from your site is on article directories as well, it’s going to be less unique and less valuable to search engines.  You could choose to only put some of your articles on directories, or you can have two slightly different versions, one for your site and one for directories.

*Press releases.  If you’re releasing a new product or making some newsworthy change to your business, you can write up a press release and submit it to a news site.  Press releases are a great link that will also provide a lot of traffic for your site.

Many people will participate in a link exchange instead of, or in addition to, one-way links.  This is where you contact someone who already has a web page in your area and ask them to link to your site and in exchange you will link to their site on yours. 

With link exchange you have to email requesting it and it can take a while for them to reply.  It can be very slow and tedious.  While one-way links take time, they’re generally an easier way to get guaranteed links from quality sources.  In addition, most search engines can find link exchanges and discount their value when determining rankings.

At this point, most people have heard of social networking sites such as Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, and a host of other sites.  They have been accepted as a great way to connect with friends and as a business networking platform. 

But if you want to use social networking sites to propel your business to the next level, your best bet is a lesser known site called LinkedIn.  It’s a social networking site that is designed just for business-minded individuals like you who don’t want to be bothered with all the useless frills and apps that come with other networking sites.  

Not only is LinkedIn preferable for business users because you don’t have to worry about all the junk, but you also don’t have to worry about all the people that are not relevant to your business.  It may be a smaller site, but when it comes to your business contacts and clients, quality is far more important than quantity.  Plus, if people are talking to you through LinkedIn, they’re more likely to think you’re a quality contact too.

If you’re starting a viral marketing campaign, LinkedIn can be just the ticket you need to get things going.  The best viral products work on already existing networks.  LinkedIn is a great network to start your campaign on, especially if your products serve people in business rather than the general public.

LinkedIn can help get you noticed on search engines.  These pages actually get pretty high SEO rankings, so taking advantage of that can put you at the top of search engines.  When you sign up on LinkedIn, use a name based on your own name, or even keywords that pertain to your business.  That way, if someone searches that term, your page will come up. 

Find customers.  If your clients are regular everyday people, then you might not have huge success using LinkedIn to find customers.  But if you cater to people who are in business themselves, then this network is a great place to find new customers.  Just check your contact’s networks for people that might be interested in your services and send them a message or a contact request.  Just try not to compete with the contacts you’re finding them through; that’s likely to lose you more clients than you make.

Keep up customer relations.  In today’s market, customer service is key, particularly if you do business online.  If you don’t provide people with the kind of relationship they want, they can find ten other people who are willing to.  LinkedIn is a great way to communicate with your customers and help keep them happy.  If they’re happy, you’ll not only keep their business, but they may just recommend it to their friends and business associates.

When using social networks to promote your business, it helps to only use one or two instead of spreading yourself too thin.  If you only pick one, LinkedIn is a great choice.

OK... so I admit it... I am a domain junkie.  I think I have about 150 different domain names that are all either in use or I'm planning to use them.

I like to market products and services with specialty names, so grabbing the domain name that corresponds with what I'm intending to market makes sense.  At about $7/year, it's good business to grab it before someone else does.  If I decide later that I'm not going to use it, I simply release it and I'm only out 7 bucks.

Over the years, I've picked up a few tips about domain names.  In fact, a catchy domain name can help people remember who you are and easily find you to give them what they’re looking for.  By contrast, a bad domain name can make your website hard to find, so they’ll find someone else or give up trying. 

Here are some quick and easy tips to help you pick the name that’s best for you.

Do's:

-  Make it easy to remember.  If people remember a website, they’re more likely to go to it.  Our brains process tons of information in a day, and most of it we forget.  Just because someone’s friend tells them about a great website, doesn’t mean they’re going to remember the name when they get home to check it out.

-  Make it related to your site.  When you start choosing your domain name, the best place to start is with a few keywords related to your topic.  Take these keywords and try to turn them into a name.  While you might be able to find an awesome catchy word or phrase, if it’s not related to your topic, people aren’t going to remember it.

- Make it easy to type.  There are certain letters that are just harder to type than others.  While it may not make the biggest difference, try to avoid letters like q and p.  And avoid difficult combinations.  If it doubt, have a friend who isn’t the best typist try to get to the sites.  If one takes a lot longer or is harder for them, it’s probably best to throw out that option. 

Don'ts:

- Names that are hard to spell. 

- Misspellings. If you misspell a common word, people are probably not going to spell your domain name right.  Correct spellings are easier to remember.  If they don’t get it on the first try, they may try again, but more likely they’ll either find another site with the correct spelling, or simply give up.

** If you do need a name that you think people may have trouble spelling, also pick up the misspelled version.  For example, I do this whenever I have to purchase something with the word "entrepreneur" in it... I get the correct version and the incorrect version.

- Names including numbers.  While it might be clever, it’s hard for people to remember, and it’s hard to spread the site name by word of mouth. 

- Names that are too close to a popular website.  Sure, you might get the traffic from misspellings, but that’s not going to be enough to sustain a quality website.   

I'm partial to Go Daddy (http://www.godaddy.com) for my domain services.  Yes, there are a TON of sites out there that you could use to reserve a domain, but I've had a LOT of clients come in after LOSING control of a domain... simply because the provider they were using suddenly went out of business.  Domain names are too important to risk doing business with a no-name domain reseller who is operating out of his basement.  It's ALWAYS better to work with a well-established, reputable company.

If you want to get stuff done at work, you need to take breaks.  Our brains and bodies aren’t meant to go non-stop.  The longer you go without taking a break, the slower you’re going to be working.  By taking breaks, you’re going to increase your productivity and probably get more done in the long run.  Occasionally, you’re going to need a day off, or even a full vacation. 

When you work in a regular office, you have specific vacation time that you can take to get out of the office.  When you work at home, it’s easy to not only skip vacations, but also to work through weekends and holidays too.  If you try to take a day off at home, you’ll often end up working through your break.  To really get a break, you need to get out of the office and the house.

You’ve probably heard of people or media outlets talk about office burnout.  This is when you get so stressed out at work, you just don’t want to do it anymore.  You’re tired, angry, and disinterested in your work, or sometimes anything else.  This not only decreases your productivity, it also can be dangerous to your health.

Don’t have time to take off?  You’ll get too far behind on your projects?  Before you write off taking a break, sit down and think about why you started working at home to begin with.  Chances are it had something to do with your family.  Whether it was to make more money for them or to spend more time with them, it’s probably about them.  If you work yourself so hard you’re having physical and mental problems, how is that helping your family?

When we’re used to keeping going and going, it’s hard to figure out what to do on a day off.  However, there are plenty of things you can do for any interest.  Like learning?  You can go to a local museum.  If you like nature, go to your local zoo or park.  If you prefer adventure you could take the family canoeing.  If you just need to relax you might look into your local day spa.  There are endless possibilities to fit every personality.

Just because you take a day away from the office doesn’t mean you necessarily need to stop working.  One great way to do this is to go to a seminar.  The beauty of seminars is not just that you meet new people and learn things, it’s that they’re often in fun, sometimes exotic places.  You can build useful business relationships, learn new techniques and ideas, and have a relaxing vacation all at the same time.  If there are no useful seminars, you could just go on vacation with someone in your field.  You can brainstorm, trade ideas, and relax at the same time.

The important thing to remember is that if you don’t take care of yourself, you can’t take care of anyone else.  Taking the occasional day off is a great idea to recharge and refresh yourself so you can get back to being the best version of you. 

If you want to get stuff done at work, you need to take breaks.  Our brains and bodies aren’t meant to go non-stop.  The longer you go without taking a break, the slower you’re going to be working.  By taking breaks, you’re going to increase your productivity and probably get more done in the long run.  Occasionally, you’re going to need a day off, or even a full vacation. 

When you work in a regular office, you have specific vacation time that you can take to get out of the office.  When you work at home, it’s easy to not only skip vacations, but also to work through weekends and holidays too.  If you try to take a day off at home, you’ll often end up working through your break.  To really get a break, you need to get out of the office and the house.

You’ve probably heard of people or media outlets talk about office burnout.  This is when you get so stressed out at work, you just don’t want to do it anymore.  You’re tired, angry, and disinterested in your work, or sometimes anything else.  This not only decreases your productivity, it also can be dangerous to your health.

Don’t have time to take off?  You’ll get too far behind on your projects?  Before you write off taking a break, sit down and think about why you started working at home to begin with.  Chances are it had something to do with your family.  Whether it was to make more money for them or to spend more time with them, it’s probably about them.  If you work yourself so hard you’re having physical and mental problems, how is that helping your family?

When we’re used to keeping going and going, it’s hard to figure out what to do on a day off.  However, there are plenty of things you can do for any interest.  Like learning?  You can go to a local museum.  If you like nature, go to your local zoo or park.  If you prefer adventure you could take the family canoeing.  If you just need to relax you might look into your local day spa.  There are endless possibilities to fit every personality.

Just because you take a day away from the office doesn’t mean you necessarily need to stop working.  One great way to do this is to go to a seminar.  The beauty of seminars is not just that you meet new people and learn things, it’s that they’re often in fun, sometimes exotic places.  You can build useful business relationships, learn new techniques and ideas, and have a relaxing vacation all at the same time.  If there are no useful seminars, you could just go on vacation with someone in your field.  You can brainstorm, trade ideas, and relax at the same time.

The important thing to remember is that if you don’t take care of yourself, you can’t take care of anyone else.  Taking the occasional day off is a great idea to recharge and refresh yourself so you can get back to being the best version of you. 

When your computer is for personal use, a crash can be a real pain if your data wasn’t backed up.  If the computer you’re using to run your business isn’t backed up, a crash could be devastating.  It could take months to replace the data you lose, and much of it you may have to be rebuilt, costing you precious time and money.  You need a line of protection against this kind of loss.

The first line of protection for your computer is getting software to protect it from viruses, worms, and other malicious software that could ruin or steal information or even trash your whole computer.  While many people spend a lot of money on software programs, there are great virus scanners, and other protective software online for free.  And even if you do spend some money, it’s worth protecting your computer and everything on it.  

Just because you have protective software, doesn’t mean it’s going to block every threat that might attack your computer.  Even if you have protective programs, you still need to be aware of new ways hackers are using to get into your computer and use common sense.  There are all kinds of web pages that will alert you to the newest cons and viruses going around and how to avoid them.

One of the most important things you can do to keep from losing data is to back it up.  Here are some common ways to back up your data so you still have it in case it’s accidentally lost: 

*CD. Burning Data onto CDs is a quick and easy way to back it up.  However, it can be time-consuming and a CD can easily be scratched and damaged and only lasts so much time.  

*Flash Drives.  These are similar to CDs.  You can easily put information from your computer onto a flash drive and then detach them to store for safety or transfer them to another computer.  The difference is that a flash drive is not written once and then you’re done.  While most CD drives can add files, they can’t delete them or change the files.  Flash drives can be erased and rewritten just like any other drive on your computer. 

*External hard drives.  This is a great way to back up large amounts of data.  An external hard drive is generally just like the memory in your computer, but it can be detached and put in another space.  Unlike flash drives, you can get hard drives with very large amounts of space. 

Most people shy away from external hard drives because of the price, but if you compare the amount of data they store, they are well worth the money.

*Data Back-up Services.  The problem with drives that attach to your computer and then detach for storage is that they can often be damaged when your computer is.  A virus on your computer can easily transfer to another drive without your knowledge.  And if your computer is destroyed in a flood or fire, there’s a good chance your external drive will be too.

The good news is, there are all kinds of services now that will back up your data for you.  They generally cost a monthly or yearly rate for a certain amount of space, so the cost will vary with what kind of business you have. 

Remember that backing up your data once only does so much good.  If you don’t back up regularly, you’re still in danger of having a major loss. 

Of course, I have to tell you that for me, it was really hard to practice what I preach in this area.  I finally had to go the route of an automatic back-up service.  The one I chose is Carbonite (http://www.carbonite.com).  I've experienced 2 catastrophic computer crashes in the years that I've been using Carbonite and both times, it saved my butt!  I was easily able to recover all the documents that I feared were gone.  If you DON'T have a back-up system in place, I encourage you to check them out.

When starting your own business it’s often easy to get yourself started, but a lot harder to keep yourself going when things get a bit more tough.  Here are ten tips to help you stay committed.

1.  Set goals.  Without goals, there’s really not much reason for you to be in business.  If you want to stay connected to your business, it helps to make yourself realize why you’re in business to begin with.

2.  Keep goals in mind.  You started your business for a reason.  You need to keep that in mind so you don’t get weighed down by the day-to-day of your work.  Keep little pictures or other memorabilia around that remind you of why you’re doing this is the first place. 

3.  Be flexible.  There’s not a one-size-fits-all method to success; you might have to try a lot of things before you find what’s right for you.  The key is to be flexible and willing to try new things when things aren’t working for you.

4.  Be persistent.  While you may want to change when things aren’t working, you can’t give up on everything so quickly.  You have to be willing to keep trying and keep going even if things don’t go well.

5.  Make it fun.  We all want to do things that are fun, and shy away from things that aren’t.  Make sure the avenues you pursue are not only profitable, but enjoyable to you.  If you have stuff you need to do that isn’t as fun, try turning it into a game, just like you probably do with your kids to get their chores done.   

6.  Find supportive people.  It’s a lot easier to stay committed to something if there are people on the sidelines cheering you on.  Take time to talk to people who are supportive of your business.  If you don’t have many, try finding people like you online and at local classes so you can encourage each other.  

7.  Get help.  If you’re like most people, you probably think you can get your business going on your own.  And if you’re like most people, you probably can’t.  Starting your own business is a big job, and it’s perfectly normal to need a little help or guidance.  Try to find a mentor who has already been successful in your area to guide you and give suggestions.  They will also be a constant reminder that what you’re trying to do is achievable.

8.  Review what you’ve done.  If you’re feeling like you want to give up or just feel beaten down, take out a pen and paper and write down what you’ve accomplished since you started your business.  Even if it’s just little stuff, write it down.  By the time you’re finished you’ll probably feel better realizing how much you’ve accomplished.  Then keep the list and review it and update it every so often to keep yourself going.

9.  Expand yourself.  You’ve probably found that when you have a new idea or project, you get very excited about it.  Try to constantly expand yourself by going to seminars, reading ebooks, getting newsletters, and doing other things to keep yourself coming up with new ideas and getting new projects.  The more new things you do, the more excited you’ll be about just doing your work.

10.  Stay positive.  A positive attitude goes a long way in keeping you motivated.  Take steps to keep yourself looking on the bright side of life and work and it will be easier to keep yourself going. 

Now, it's easy to share our articles and tips with others.  Simply visit the blog anytime and use the handy widget that's posted in the right hand column.

http://a25hourday.typepad.com/productiveentrepreneur/

The main goal in most businesses is to attract as many customers as possible. With Twitter, you have the ability to continue having contact as long as you have either a cell phone with texting ability or an internet connection. And one added perk, it’s a free service!

The signup process for Twitter is pretty much the same as for any other social media or networking service. It requires providing certain information in order to open an account. Once that is accomplished you are able to send short messages or “tweets”.

As an instant communication tool, Twitter can be used for many purposes. We won’t list all of them here, but some include:

* Notifying customers of new products available.

* Directing traffic to your business website by notifying customers of new or upcoming sales.

* Asking for feedback about various items such as the new look for your website, or to get answers to your crucial questions.

* As a business management tool. Not only can you connect your staff to one another, but you are also able to keep certain tidbits of information confidential.

* Setting up meetings on short notice, while finding out within minutes when everyone is available.

And this is just the beginning! There are so many more ways in which you can use Twitter to not only your personal advantage, but that of your business as well.

Twitter can be used with your cell phone. This is again another quick setup to deal with. Once you have signed up for a Twitter account, simply look for the “Phone & IM” link on the “Settings” page to enter your cell phone number with your area code, and hit “Save”. Following this you will check the box beside “It’s okay for Twitter to send txt messages to my phone. Std. rates apply.

Twitter will send you a text message informing you the procedure worked, and you may now start sending Tweets from your cell phone.

It’s the same principle for RSS feeds. Your first step is to sign up for a Twitter account. Once that has been accomplished, it’s time to decide on the direction you want your Twitter account to take before using RSS feeds. You don’t want to be losing your audience as a result of being inconsistent with your posts.

Once this is established, you need to create a Twitterfeed in order to Twitter with any RSS feed. There will be a prompt for you to use “OpenID”. You will find a button to click at the right side of the prompt for logging in. The menu will then expand to show services such as Yahoo or Flicker which will enable this process for you. If you don’t have an OpenID already, you will need to sign up for one at any of the locations found in the menu. If you do have one, paste the URL in the space provided, and then click “My Twitter Feeds”.

In order to start adding feeds to your list, select “Create New Twitter Feed”. Paste in any URL whose feed you wish to follow. This is normally achieved by right-clicking on the RSS Feed icon found on various internet pages. You can now select Copy, and Paste into the URL space as you did before.

With all of these steps accomplished, you will be running with the flow of Twitter. Your business will be synchronized and everyone will be up to date on the important aspects of the day. And they won’t have to be called one at a time, or even be in the same building to do it.

Just getting started with Twitter?   Don't miss this resource:

http://www.a25hour.us/skill-building-ebooks/how-to-learn-twitter-fast/

Working on your own is a great way to gain freedom and flexibility, but finding self-motivation can be one of the biggest road blocks.  The key to succeeding as your own boss is that you have to act like a boss.  You boss is someone who gets you on the right track and keeps you going.  Here are a few tips on how to be your own motivator.

Make goals.  It’s pretty hard to stay focused on work if all it is to you is work.  To keep yourself motivated you have to have something to work towards.  If you’re starting to get yourself motivated, the first thing you need to do is set goals.  It might be a business goal, a financial goal, or something you’ll be able to do once you get your business going (like sending your kids to college).  If you’ve been going for a while, remind yourself of what you started working for.  And don’t forget to write down your goals so you have them right there with you.

Don’t forget.  Once you set your goals, be sure to find a way to keep them in your mind.  Keep a written statement of your goals somewhere you can see them often, or post pictures on the walls of your office of your family or things you want to do when you make the money.  Anything that will remind you of what you’re working for will help.

Get help.  If just having goals isn’t enough to keep you on track, why not try going to a professional.  You don’t have to spend all the money to hire a life coach.  There are plenty of courses and systems available with methods to help keep you on track.  The key is finding the right one.  Why not find successful people you know and ask them to point you in the right direction.

Think positive.  While positive thinking is a hard skill to master, it’s one of the most beneficial things you’ll ever learn.  It can not only help you achieve your goals, you’ll probably find yourself happier and more satisfied in your personal life as well.  You can try things like positive affirmations or even meditation.

Stay healthy.  A healthy mind is fueled by a healthy body.  You don’t have to be a pro athlete, but if you eat a sensible diet and get regular exercise, you’ll probably find yourself feeling better and working better too.

Take breaks.  If you feel like you can’t concentrate, take a break and get yourself back in focus.  The same thing applies long term.  If you’re feeling burnt out and just can’t get yourself going, why not take a few days off.  You can go on a vacation, or just take a stay-cation and rediscover what’s in your own back yard.  Once you go back, you’ll feel re-energized and ready to take on any challenge. 

Affiliate programs are a great way for small businesses to get started selling their products without a lot of capital.  The problem is that a lot of people already know this.  That means if you’re going to have an affiliate marketing program, you’ve got to do it right.  Here are some tips to get you started on your way to a successful program.

Find your niche.  Running an affiliate program doesn’t require much capital to start, but it can take up a lot of time finding and maintaining relationships with affiliates.  That’s why it’s very useful to have a specific niche for your programs.  That way you only have so many affiliates and can often resell to affiliates and customers.  You can make a profit without spreading yourself too thin.

Find the right affiliates.  Sure, a popular website is a great way to get started when looking for someone to advertise your products and services, but it also has to have the same target demographic as what you’re selling.  If you’re marketing help with your home business, a website for stay-at-home moms is probably better than one targeted towards children.  The more specific to your niche, the better.  But try not to be too specific, or the audience of the websites will be too small.

Treat your affiliates well.  After you’re done doing that, treat them better. There are thousands of affiliate programs out there for your partners to choose from.  If they don’t work with you, they’re very likely to find someone else to work with.  That means you not only need to pay your affiliates well, you also need to treat them well, be prompt, and keep up a great professional relationship. 

Find the right incentive.  Among the other decisions you need to make, you’ll want to find the right incentive program for your affiliates. While pay per click is going to make the job easy for your affiliates, pay per sale or client is going to inspire them to do a bit more on their page than just click.  If you provide a large percentage per sale, affiliates will often write entire sales letters for your product or promote it in other ways.  You may also consider special benefits for affiliates like free or reduced price products.

Find the right kind of link.  There are all kinds of links you can use to get someone sent to your website: embedded text, banners, search boxes, and other less common methods.  You can also have them link to specific products, your main webpage, or a store front.  If you want to actually sell products or find clients, you need to research all the choices and make the right decision for what you’re trying to do.

Be creative.  Affiliate marketing is about getting people’s attention, just like commercials on TV.  Whatever method you choose, you have to be creative, whether it’s through your banners, your website, or your affiliate incentive program.  You have to get people’s attention and give them a reason to use you over the other guys.

If you’re a small business owner, an affiliate marketing program is a fantastic opportunity to make a lot of money without having to have a lot of capital or overhead costs.  And if you have a web page, affiliate marketing is a great way to make quick cash without adding a lot of extra work.

But just because you find a popular webpage to promote your product or the right product to promote on your page, doesn’t mean it’s going to work.  In affiliate marketing, it’s all about the link.  The kind of link you use and what you link to are going to make all the difference. 

Here are the most common methods of linking for affiliate programs:

*Text links.  These are a good way to put links on your site because they stand out, but at the same time, still look natural and don’t have the appearance of an ad.  When you have a related word in your text, just embed a link in the word to a product or website.  But if you overload your text with links, it will become unreadable or just annoying.

*Banner Links.  These are ads that are usually at the top or side of the page.  They can be plain, but are often catchy to try to get the attention of the reader.

Just remember that people who surf the internet a lot see hundreds of banners in a day and ignore pretty much all of them.  If you’re going to make advertisement banners, make something that’s going to stand out and get you noticed.  The more clever and unique, the better.

*Search Box.  Most people are familiar with search boxes embedded in a website that will do a Google or Yahoo search of the web.  You can embed search boxes that will do this type of search, but search a marketer’s webpage instead of the whole internet.  That way people can search an affiliate marketer’s website, sometimes without even knowing it.  And they can find exactly what they’re looking for, even if the marketer has thousands of products. 

Just because they’re linking to an affiliate marketer, doesn’t mean all links are the same.  The link depends on what the affiliate and the vendor want. 

Here are the most common options:

- Website main page.  This is better if you’re selling services or simply looking for business connections rather than selling specific products.

- Specific product.  This is a good idea if you have one product that is expected to make high sales and pertains directly to the website it’s linked from.
 
- Vendor Storefront.  If a vendor sells a variety of related products, this is a great idea.  If there is more variety in the products, you may be better off using a search box instead of a direct link.

Just remember that links aren’t everything; you still need quality products and a popular webpage to make money on sales.

When it comes to Twitter, subscribers or “followers” are your key to building popularity. And popularity is a fundamental and very important concept to grab hold of. The idea is that by following someone, they’ll agree to follow you back.

The following are other ideas which can help with subscriptions:

1)  Connect your blog or social network site to your profile. By adding a link to each of your social media profiles to your Twitter profile, and vice versa, you are making sure everyone you know is able to reach you in all the places they have accounts as well.

2)  Ask others to recommend your profile. A blog reader could recommend your social networking page, or other members of your social network could recommend your blog. Word of mouth can go a long way, especially in the world of social networking. Although you may not get every person who hears of you on your Twitter page, you can easily raise the number with a few referrals from friends.

3)  Purchase banner ads which in turn can be linked to your profile. This way, when your website banner ads are clicked on, the link is automatically established to your Twitter page. This will prevent anyone having to search far and wide in order to find you.

4)  Use usernames and avatars which match either your business or other social networking sites. When you sign up for your Twitter account, use the same name you have on other social network sites. If this name isn’t available, try to use something as similar as possible. You can use the same avatar as well. Anyone who is familiar with you from another site will notice when you send out a tweet.

5)  Avoid spamming your Twitter. If you constantly drop in silly and unproductive comments several times a day, people won’t take you seriously for long. Make sure you are adding something of value when you post. While it’s fine to post your own URL, joining into conversations will show people you are approachable.

6)  Asking questions will show people you are not only looking for input, but you don’t consider yourself a guru either. Who knows - this may result in not only receiving an answer to your question, but with reciprocal following as well.

7)  Be careful when posting URLs in Twitter. If the link is too long, it will be shortened with tinyurl. If this happens, it becomes impossible to see the source link to figure out what the page is before clicking through. Before you post any links, it’s recommended you write a short description or the title of the page.

8)  Follow people from within your personal niche. Not only will you be able to understand what they are talking about, but you may be able to bounce some ideas off them when you get stuck. Having similar concerns and experiences means they are more likely to follow you as well.

9)  The difference between bios and backgrounds is easy. Bios on Twitter are short and to the point, unlike an About Me page found on most blogs. People will get to know you from how and what you tweet, not from a novel written in your bio section.

10)  If at first you don’t succeed, try again. The most experienced in the internet world make mistakes sometimes. It’s part of life. If you find you have made a mistake in one of your tweets, fix it. If you find you have chosen the wrong person to follow, stop following them.

Take the time to work out the kinks on your Twitter page, and you will see how quickly everything else will fall into place.

Just getting started with Twitter?  Pick up a copy of my Twitter ebook here.

Here’s a simple comparison to help you differentiate between the two.

Webcasting is similar to traditional broadcasting in some ways. Basically, it’s a video recording of you or others on the net. You can have a news webcast or an interactive one where you hold an online class and participants can view you on video.

Podcasting is similar to traditional radio in some ways. As a podcaster you can have an internet radio show where you invite people on to interview or simply record your thoughts on audio and share with your audience.

Both can be a great method of publicity and interaction on your website. More than ever people are looking to connect on the internet, and both a podcast and webcast can help them do that.

It’s also great news as far as search engine results for your business are concerned. A webcast and podcast may mean more repeat visitors, which is a positive sign for the search engines. If you then repurpose your content by adding it in text form to your webpages, you’ll gain additional SEO points.

So how do you choose between the two?

The decision is ultimately yours but it helps to think things through a little before starting. Ask yourself a few questions:

• Do I like the idea of appearing on video regularly? Or does that mean more work for me – i.e. looking presentable, getting your hair done, honing in your presentation style, etc.?
  
• Is an audio recording easier or more within my comfort zone?
  
• Do I have a good speaking voice?
  
• Do I have the presence to hold a viewer's attention on video?
  
• What is my end goal with this?
  
• Will my target market respond better to video or audio? Note: it may be easier for some people to listen to an audio then it is to sit and watch a video.

Whether you choose one option or the other or both, podcasts and webcasts are great additions to any online business. It may also be worth noting that it is beneficial in may ways for you to produce a text version of either the podcast or webcast. You’ll always have the visitors who prefer to read and this option will not alienate anyone. It’s also a great plus for your search engine rankings.

If you want to be successful, one of the most important steps is setting goals.  If you just work to get things done, you end up going through the motions with no real purpose or drive.  Setting goals gives you something to strive for, and skyrockets your chances of actually being successful, no matter what you set out to do. 

To make the most out of setting your goals, there are a few rules to always follow:

* Aim high.  While it may seem logical to set goals you know you can reach, that's really not going to make you any more successful than what you are now.  To be able to achieve, you need to reach for something just beyond your grasp.  Something that will motivate you to do more.  Otherwise you'll just end up where you started.

* Be realistic.  So, at first glance, this seems to be totally opposite from the last tip.  The problem with aiming high is that, if you constantly set goals you can't reach, you're going to fail over and over again.  If you keep failing, you're eventually going to give up with goal setting and settle for less than you're capable of achieving. 

If your goals are unrealistic, you also run the risk of putting yourself in danger.  If you are 100% set on reaching a goal that is simply out of reach, you're going to raise your stress levels.  High stress levels can keep you from getting sleep, affect your emotional and mental health, and increase your risk of all kinds of diseases and illnesses. 

* Make a plan.  Having a goal is great, but you also need to know how to get to your goal.  Otherwise you'll end up getting sidetracked with things that distract you from your goals.  Once you set your goals, make a plan of exactly how to get there.  Most importantly, after you make your plan, follow through.  To keep yourself on track, check your plan every so often.  This will not only help you make sure you're following the plan, but will also give you a chance to revise your plan if it's no longer the best course of action.

* Tell someone.  Having your goals in mind is great, but if you get distracted or reach a setback, you only really have yourself to be accountable to, and you only have yourself to provide you with encouragement.  If you tell someone, they can help remind you of what you're working for and push you to keep going.  Make sure this is someone you trust, so you don't worry about being embarrassed by what you really want.

* Keep objectives in mind.  When running a business, it's easy to get caught up in the day to day and forget about your ultimate goals.  That's why it's good to make sure you have reminders in your office of what you're working for.  If you're working to provide a better life for your family, keep pictures of your family succeeding.  Maybe you have an idol that you want to be like.  Post clippings of them and their various successes around the office.  These will help keep you focused on your goals and motivated to do the job at hand.  

One key in being successful is knowing that even if you fail, you can build and learn from what you did wrong.  If you set a goal and fail to meet it, don't give up.  Keep trying to reach for the stars.

In life, there is one constant: change.  Around us the world is constantly changing.  Everything is in a constant state of flux: fashion, architecture, technology, and most of all - business.  While some people have been successful by sticking with the same old thing, it’s a pretty short list. 

If you look at yourself and what you know and do, and compare it to all the knowledge and opportunity available in the world, it’s probably a pretty small chunk.  There are so many new avenues in business that are open to you; you just have to be open to them as well.  While most people resist change, you may find that a lot of these avenues will not only make you more successful, you may just like them more than what you do now.

Willingness to change makes you a better investment to customers and clients.  If they only see you as a one-trick pony, they may come to you for that one thing, but that’s about it.  But if people see you as adaptable, they’ll have more faith in your ability to keep up with the changing world and be more likely to take a chance on you, or come to you with new business opportunities that might be something you haven't tried before.

In today’s business market, technology is one of the best resources you can have.  And the technology available is changing at a remarkable rate.  It used to be that if you were out your business for ten or twenty years, you’d get behind and probably couldn’t go back without learning a lot of new stuff.  Now, if you’re gone for just six months, you could be totally out of date.  While you don’t need to get the latest or most expensive gadget, you do need to make regular changes and upgrades to the equipment you’re using. 

Some of us are just more resistant to change than others; it’s just engrained in our DNA.  But just because you don’t like change doesn’t mean you need to be left behind.  Small changes can make big differences too. 

Instead of turning your life upside down, just start by looking in different directions.  Attend a seminar about new ideas or technologies, subscribe to a new newsletter that you didn’t before.  By themselves, these are pretty small changes, but when you do them, you might find options of bigger changes that won’t be too hard either.

Don’t change too much.  Warren Buffet is one of the world’s richest men.  He got there by being fairly resistant to technological change.  He invests mostly in stable businesses like insurance and food, rather than more unstable things like dot-coms.  The reason?  Just because something is new, doesn’t mean it’s good. 

It’s always a good idea to research anything before getting involved with it, and to never put all your eggs in one basket - no matter how big an opportunity it is.  If you change smart, then you’ll likely find yourself in a better situation.

It’s been said that “no man is an island” – this couldn’t be more true when it comes to working online. Particularly when you’re working from home; it’s very easy to get into a “lone worker” mentality. Avoid this by using our networking tips to help you expand your network.

#1 – Build a support system. Find others in your field or work and build up a support system. These people will not only understand your business but they’ll also be able to support you in a number of ways, such as sending new business referrals your way or recommending a great service provider. Of course, you’ll also want to help them in return.

But more importantly, a great support system is just that – support. Your support network will be able to understand the unique issues and dilemmas of your business and may be able to offer advice and a helping hand whenever needed.

You can build your support network by joining like-minded mastermind groups or finding local events in your area. A quick search on the internet or asking other colleagues should give you several options.

#2 – Go to seminars and events. Especially if you’re working from home you may think that going to a seminar is too difficult or perhaps not worth it. But it’s been said that many great business relationships (and friendships) have been formed at these events.

If a large seminar seems daunting, start with a smaller-scale event. You may even be able to find one locally rather than having to fly out to a different area. And keep in mind that no one expects anything from you at these events; you can participate as much or as little as you feel comfortable with. Having said that, this is a great time to network and make new business relationships.

#3 – Network online. If you can’t make it to an event or want to find a good networking option in between events, online forums can be a great tool. Visit several and read through the posts before deciding on where you want to spend your time. Forums can be time consuming so you’ll want to choose wisely.

A good forum will have members who are courteous and genuinely interested in helping each other and building support networks. Do your part by contributing where you can as well. And do take your time to familiarize yourself with the forum rules and etiquette before joining in – this will help you avoid potentially embarrassing situations.

Ask around for recommendations from people you trust. If you can’t come up with recommendations, then a simple online search should bring up several results. Do your homework and go with the one you feel most comfortable with.

#4 – Join a mastermind group. A mastermind group is a like-minded group of people who come together to help and support each other. Many great businesses have been built on the mastermind concept. Although these groups will usually cost a certain amount to join, you may make the initial investment back several times over.

However, not all mastermind groups are created equal. You’ll want to find a group that will offer support in a positive manner. A good aim is a group of different abilities, including some entrepreneurs whom are more successful than you are – this will ensure that you’re getting great advice from people who have “been there and done that.”

Above all, no matter which networking option you choose, it should make you feel good and ultimately help your business. And remember, give back wherever you can as well.

Whether your business is online or offline or a mix of the two, building positive word-of-mouth is important to your success. By building a steady following of customers and clients your marketing will become much easier. You may even get to the point where all (or most) of your business comes from word-of-mouth recommendations alone.

If you’re looking to improve your business presence, then these tips will help you get started:

#1 – Customer service is king. Whether you provide the service yourself or have people doing that task, it’s important to pay a lot of attention to this area. Most customers, even when very upset at a situation, will come around if they are treated politely and fairly.

Try to set up a system for your customer service management so that you can follow similar procedures. And always try and diffuse any potential situation by letting the customer know you understand their concerns and will work with them to resolve it.

#2 – Ask for feedback. Your business can only grow from receiving feedback – whether good or bad. It’s all feedback from customers that will help you remedy negative situations and build upon the positive ones. Use this feedback to constantly improve and expand your business. And let your customers know you appreciate them taking the time to provide it.

#3 – Ask for recommendations. Many of your customers, even the happy ones, may not be thinking of passing your information on to friends or family. Let them know that you appreciate being recommended to others and make it easy for them to do so. Have business cards, brochures and flyers available for them to give away.

And where possible give people an incentive for passing on your details. It could be a future discount for every friend they recommend or a bonus product. It’s always nice to give back.

#4 - A little more goes a long way. One of the best ways to build stellar word-of-mouth is to over deliver. Whether you provide goods or a service, make sure you do more than everyone else in the field is doing. It’s this small amount of extra effort that will help your business stand out from the competition and help you build a positive reputation and following – a win/win situation for all involved.