Step 2 – Know The Problem

 

 

 

There is a method to follow when trying to get things done and like most things in life if you follow a set of simple rules you tend to have a much better success rate.  I am sure you have heard of the KISS formula.  Keep It Simple Stupid.  I have found this to be an invaluable method to keep me on track over the years. The second step in getting things done is to KNOW THE PROBLEM.

This seems simple enough, doesn't it?  Of course you would want to know the problem before you started a strategy plan to fix it. 

Let's just take this issue of – "Not Getting Things Done".  Is that the problem?  We know we need to get things done to be more productive but somehow other things keep popping up.  The kids, work, this show I have to watch, that cobweb in the corner, anything we can come up with except what we tell ourselves we should be doing.

The next thing you know another week or month goes by and you still haven't done anything to get closer to your goal. The tragedy is, in this day and age, that usually involves some way of making more money for you and your family. Many times the procrastination comes from surfing the internet, dreaming about that vacation or car that you so desperately want but are wasting valuable time surfing the internet looking at pictures. 

So in this instance like so many others, the real problem is procrastination and distraction.  Why do we procrastinate and become distracted from the things we know we should do, even when those things we should do can produce awesome results in our lives.  The other side of this timeless dilema is when we finally push through and accomplish what we should have been doing all along we realize it wasn't a third of the difficulty we made it out to be.  It did not take as long or it was not as hard as we made it out to be.  

So Why Do We Procrastinate And Become Distracted?  Let's not get distracted trying to figure it out right now, let's stay focused and just realize that we do and this is THE PROBLEM. 

Please leave your comments and some stories on how you get distracted and maybe how you pushed through it and realized excellent results on the other side. 

See you  in Step 3.

Step 1 – How To Work Better – Do One Thing At A Time

How To Become More Productive

As we learn how to center and focus the mind with our daily exercise of concentrating on our simple breathing exercise for a whole minute we are training ourselves to be more efficient for this first step in learning how to work better.  The goal as we move through the steps of productivity is continuing to practice the breathing and focusing exercise each day, it only takes a few minutes.  Simple Meditation Breathing Technique.  Try to hold your focus for more than a minute.  Start with small increments such as 1 minute and 15 seconds and keep adding 15 seconds each day.  

Step 1 – How To Work Better & Be More Productive

Step 1 is as simple as the breathing exercise – Do One Thing At A Time.  As simple as it sounds the fact is it is extremely difficult for many of us to do.  So much of our lives are in a multi-task mode that if we really tried to focus on only doing one thing at a time we would find our mind wondering and before you knew it we would be adding things to our task list. 

Continue Reading…

How To Work Better And Get Things Done – Beginning Exercise To Help Focus The Mind

Focus On The Task To Get Things Done

The process of trying to stay focused to get things done today is overwhelming.  It is so easy to get distracted with all of the things whirling around us today.  The technology boom has created, a gazillion channels on TV, Radio, iPods, New iPads,( I LOVE MINE ), Xbox, Cell Phones, Laptops, Online, Offline you don't know what you are doing from one minute to the next. 

I just finished listening to the Steve Jobs biography on CD,  I highly recommend this by the way, and one of the things mentioned throughout the book was his ability to focus on the one thing he was working on at the time, essentially blocking out everything else around him and committing his energies on this one thing. 

Obviously he accomplished many things in his short life but each of them came under intense focus during the creation period.  Many of us struggle with this and I must admit I am certainly one of them. 

When I Am Focused I Get Things Done

Continue Reading…

Google Website Hijacking – 2 Easy Steps To Stopping Domain Name Hijacking

Website hijacking is becoming more widespread and occurring to domains that are very popular. Many website hijackers steal passwords to Google Gmail accounts. Click here for a two step process to secure your Gmail account from website hijackers.

New Facebook Timeline Fan Page Highlights

Once again another change has occurred and been mandated to our Facebook pages.  This time I took the approach of making the change to my personal page and fan pages sooner rather than when Facebook forced the change. I have spent the last few weeks learning about some of the changes and how to best utilize them to promote and present the page and the new components.

I personally like the larger Timeline Cover Picture. This allows you to really promote your message and impact your visitor.  After all, a picture is worth a thousand words.  If you learn to edit pictures and add a little text to your pictures then you can truly paint your own message on any picture you have.

I have taken a screenshot of a Fan Page I run called Fan Pages Made Simple and given you a look at some of the dimensions and components from the new timeline.

1 – Here is the Cover Photo – A place you can tell your story and ideas immediately through a photo.  Here you can capture the message of your business and highlight your products and services.

2.- Profile Picture – Here is where you can put your logo or some other form of branding for your business

3.  The About Section – This is one of the most important parts of the new timeline.  Here you can put the URL link to your website.  You will need to use the "http:// " to make it linkable.  I would suggest putting it as the first part of the About section so the link is easy for your fans to click on and get to your website.  Beyond the website link you can tell the world who you are and what you are all about.

4. Page Links – I have highlighted this arrow because this is where you click to expand the various page links you have on your Fan Page.   You have the ability to change the order of these pages so you can put the more important pages first in the list.

Now for the Not So Good Stuff.

Facebook has delivered another set of No – No's that just, in my opinion, make no sense at all in the face of utilizing Facebook as a marketing tool for your business but never the less we must adhere to them or run the risk of the New Big Blue shutting us down.  Here they are:

*Cover photos cannot include:
A. Price or purchase information, such as “40% off” or
“Download it at our website”.
B. Contact information such as a website address, email,
mailing address, or information that should go in your
Page’s “About” section.
C. References to Facebook features or actions, such as
“Like” or “Share” or an arrow pointing from the cover
photo to any of these features.
D. Calls to action, such as “Get it now” or “Tell your
friends”.
Covers must not be false, deceptive or misleading, and must
not infringe on third parties’ intellectual property.

My advice – Get Creative and Start Taking Pictures throughout the week.  Change your Cover Photo regularly to bring some freshness to your page and get a good photo editor and learn how to add text to the photo.  My suggestion to the PC world is Photoscape – Its Free, Fast and Awesome

Please Leave Comments Below and Give Me Your Feedback

Federal Trade Commission Starts A WordPress Blog

Here is a snippet from a post I found about the FTC starting their own blog about Technology.  Notice the date of the post.

FTC Launches Tech Blog on WordPress

March 23, 2012

The first post is written by Ed Felten, Chief Technologist at the FTC, who goes on to say that the point of the blog is to talk candidly about technology in a way that is "sophisticated enough to be interesting to hard-core techies, but straightforward enough to be accessible to the broad public that knows something about technology but doesn’t qualify as expert." 

"We’ll aim for a conversational, common-sense tone–and if we fall short, I’m sure you’ll let us know in the comments."

"I’m looking forward to having a conversation with you about technology," he adds. "Stay tuned for our first 'real' post."

Why Is Blogging With WordPress Significant

The reason I highlighted this new FTC launch of their own WordPress Blog is twofold.

Continue Reading…

Two Very Important Plugins To Make Sure You Have On Your WordPress Sites

Through the years of working with WordPress I have settled into a pretty efficient method of posting content.  When I first started blogging I was using Windows Live Writer as my text editor which is really outstanding and Free.  You can't beat that.  It worked great but the problem was there were times when the uploading process would not work smoothly and when I bought an IMac I realized there was not a version of Live Writer for a Mac.  That was a bummer.  

I have a few blogs I write for on a regular basis and many times I will start a blog post and then want to save the draft and come back to it later to finish it.  Depending on where I was and what computer I was on I wanted to be able to access the blog post and continue with the completion of the content.  It became apparent that I needed to start creating the posts on the WordPress editor so I could access the draft from wherever I was, regardless of whether I was on a Mac or a PC. 

The problem was the default editor you get with WordPress is very limited so I went on a plug in search to see if I could find something to improve the test editor.  What I found was an exceptional tool called CK Editor.  It turns the WordPress editor into a much more powerful set of tools that allows you a large variety of editing tools.  I highly recommend adding this plug-in immediately and experimenting with the tool box and creating your content from the dashboard. 

Another plug-in I highly recommend is the Ozh Admin drop down plug-in.  The reason I recommend this is because I hate the navigation of the wordpress dashboard as it comes in default.   This slick little plug-in puts the navigation across the top bar and makes it much easier to use. 

Both of these plugins are part of the first wave of plugins I load immediately when I first set up a new WordPress site.

Please share any feedback or insight you may have about what plugins you activate initially upon setup. 

Get Your Finger On The Ebay Pulse Of Your Niche

Jumpin Leap Years.   Well I couldn't miss this posting day, it only happens every 4 years and I certainly wanted it to be a helpful, money making Leap Day post that could potentially make you a fortune, so here you go.  This is one of the coolest insight tips I have come across in a LOOONNNNGGGGGG Time. 

I learned it in an internet marketing conference I attended in February 2012 here in Atlanta called NAMS.  It rocks and I have written about it many times and will continue to do so until you get here but this is the kind of great stuff you get when you come to this event.  I am telling you it's about making you money.  Once again here is the link and it is so affordable to attend this event it's ridiculous.   NAMS Atlanta

Okay, on with the lesson.  This is a quick video that tells you everything but basically this is a great tool to give you a laser targeted look at what people are looking for, up to the minute, in your niche of choice.  Check it out

Google Keyword Tool Tutorial – Keyword Volume Lesson

I am super excited about my next project.  I am in the midst of creating an online WordPress Virtual Classroom.  It's going to be awesome and I am already having a great time putting the pieces together.  In fact I have just finished another video for the program and thought I should go ahead and share this one because it has such great stuff in it about the Free Google Keyword Tool. 

This is the kind of stuff I teach my offline students and share with everybody that is in the beginning stages of keyword research.  In fact many of the people I work with in a Meetup group here in Atlanta have never even been to the Free Google Keyword Tool let alone know how to use it.  This is a very "nuts and bolts" tutorial video on the first stage of keyword research which is looking at the search volume of your keywords.  I also provide a very in depth explanation on the difference between the keyword search results and the Google search results. 

I would love to get some feedback from you about what you think about the video,  good or bad, you won't hurt my feelings, I promise. 

 

 

Google AdSense for Mobile shifts to AdSense for Content

Internet Marketing Lunch Time

Here I am sitting at a Moe's on a Wednesday afternoon grabbing a quick Joey Bag of Donuts and surfing around on my laptop thinking about what my next blog post should be about and what happens, I get an email from Google themselves and it was evident about what my next post should be about.  In fact I might shift most of my conversation to this topic, it's where the world is going, Google says so.

The topic is mobile and this is just the beginning but I am here to tell you if you don't make efforts now to get in the game the competition will eat you alive.  It's BIG it's BAD and it's HOT. 

Look, Google is making massive shifts in its biggest money maker to be in the mobile groove.  Don't you think you need to jump on it too?

In Moe's right now there are about 10 people, half of them are on laptops, smart phones and ipad's.  This is a snapshot of a little Moe's outside of Atlanta at 3:00pm. What do you think is happening across the country right now?   Mobile is huge and getting bigger.  It's not going away but in fact this is how we will be surfing the internet most of the time.  The more effort you put into making the shift for your business to take advantage of mobile now,  the further ahead of the competition you will be when they finally take notice. 

I will be talking about this topic more so make sure you get on my feeder list, I promise I will take good care of you and I appreciate the support. 

Google Adsense Goes Mobile

Here is the article I just received in my in box from Father Google. 

Dear AdSense for Mobile Publisher,

Today, we are happy to announce an important step in our ongoing effort to bring the full strength of Google to our mobile web publishers.  As of this morning, Google AdSense now offers mobile monetization as a fully-integrated solution within the core AdSense for content product.  Not only will this upgrade offer AdSense for mobile publishers the simplicity of a single user interface between web and mobile, but most publishers will also see an improvement in their revenue potential.

To complete this migration, we're asking all publishers who have AdSense for mobile ad units that are meant for "iPhones and other highend devices only" to update their ad code as soon as possible.  As of today, you will find the mobile ad unit sizes within the AdSense for content section of your AdSense interface.  Implementing Google AdSense now will allow you to continue monetizing your mobile content after May 1, 2012 without disruption.

If you are using the AdSense for mobile ad units meant for "All Phones", you will continue to be able to serve ads to both WAP phones and highend phones.

For more questions about how our mobile ads products will work now, click here: http://goo.gl/BtTcI. For additional support on Google AdSense, visit the Help Center at http://support.google.com/adsense/.

We appreciate your cooperation and look forward to continuing to serve you.

Sincerely,
Google AdSense Team

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