There is a lot that goes into running your online business. SEO, shopping carts, web design, social media promotions, information products, building an email list, and on and on. It can be tempting to get wrapped up in all of these things, and there is no denying that they are all very important to your business. But oftentimes people get so focused on and distracted by these things that they lose sight of what is... Continue Reading

You've heard the old philosophical riddle "If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" Raising questions about reality, this question has undoubtedly claimed countless hours of debate in the halls of our colleges and universities. I find it relevant today as I make changes in my business and life. As I pull back from my business, I begin to wonder what would happen... Continue Reading

Have you ever gotten your car stuck in a ditch? Your rear tires desperately try to find traction only to spin deeper and deeper into the mud. The more you step on the gas, the worse your situation becomes. And now you are spraying mud everywhere. It can even end up on other people and their vehicles. You can keep trying to get out of the ditch. Or you can realize that what you are... Continue Reading

You've come up with a business idea you believe will rock the world. You have built your website... it's so beautiful it brings a tear to your eye. You are the expert in your field and you've got something to say. Now you just need someone to say it to! It's no surprise that the best way to become recognized is to be interviewed by others who want to leverage your expertise for a newspaper... Continue Reading

I received an email solicitation today to take part in an alleged competition that is due to take place starting in October. It's called (brace yourself...) "The Internet Marketing World Cup" (goooooooooalllll!) It is likely you will be hearing more about this in the future so I thought it would be interesting to dissect it and share some thoughts. Continue Reading

I'm not a very good cook, so I tend to eat out a lot. I don't do a lot of fancy dining, but it's not unusual to find me and my family at a national chain or local diner. My experiences as a patron of restaurants has helped clarify what I believe makes a good waiter and what makes a bad waiter. Waiting tables is a difficult job. Hectic kitchens... unruly customers... angry cooks... wrong... Continue Reading

What's the real secret to getting things done? While much of the answer lies in things like motivation and daily habits, you also can't ignore the value of the tools you use every day to do the work. We polled our staff to find out what's running on their machines here at the office and at home. What we found is that our office has some universal solutions, and then seemed to split departmentally. So... Continue Reading

The biggest mistake that people make when they start using Twitter is to look at the numbers. They see the figure under the followers link and they believe that the bigger the number, the more successful the twitterer. Continue Reading

(Written by guest contributor Joseph A. Michelli, Ph.D) I love buying things online! What I am not fond of is the service, or should I say the lack of service, I often receive after the sale. The great speaker and human development expert Earl Nightingale once noted, "Our rewards will always be in exact proportion to our service." However, with the world markets injured by those who focused more on profiting themselves than serving the... Continue Reading

It happens at least two or three times a week. I'll check my tweets to see who's talking to me and I'll spot it. Continue Reading

(Written by guest contributor Christopher Guerriero) Everything I Needed to Know to Make Over $200,000/Month in Online Memberships I Learned Cleaning Toilets in the Health Club Business Continue Reading

(Written by guest contributor Joel Ownby) Advertisers and business owners are starting to understand the value in direct response mobile marketing because the response rates are too high to ignore. TextCastLive is a new service that has taken the rules taught to us by direct marketing mediums like e-mail autoresponder systems and direct mail and applied them to SMS text message marketing to provide a robust, platform-independent, scalable, enterprise-class mobile marketing solution. At the highest... Continue Reading

When big companies first picked up on Twitter, many got it wrong. They used the company logo as their avatar, broadcast their ads and offers, ignored the people replying to them and didn't follow anyone who wasn't part of the company. They acted like giant firms using Twitter as a giant billboard. Continue Reading

(Written by guest contributor Sarah Beek) Meetup.com is the perfect confluence of online social networking and in-person social networking. Social networking websites are great, but they really can't compete with the power of meeting and connecting with someone in person. Actual social networking solidifies relationships and often seals real business deals. That is why we recommend conferences so highly. But if you don't have a couple of grand lying around to attend a conference right... Continue Reading