It was early September 2010. At over 225 pounds and sporting a size 40 waist, I decided it was time to make a change. After all, at 46-years old, I wasn't getting any younger. In order to hold myself accountable to my desire to get fit and lose weight, I went public with my goals. I wrote about the changes I would be making extensively on this blog. My first entry was posted 9/14/10. By... Continue Reading

Carpe Diem, goes the phrase. Literally translated "Seize the Day" from Latin, I first became familiar with the term from the film Dead Poets Society. While the film had a depressing twist, I am coming to understand more and more the need to take hold of the moments in our lives. It seems like just yesterday that my son was born. I remember changing that first poopie diaper as though the smell still lingers in... Continue Reading

As I travel around our country, I can not help but notice the epidemic of homelessness. There are so many people on the streets of our cities. How many more are there that we DON'T see? We've all encountered homeless people in our cities or towns. My heart goes out to those who don't have a safe place to rest their heads. It's even more heartbreaking when those people are children. I recently had the... Continue Reading

(Written by guest contributor Tanner Bennett) Printing used to be the cool kid in school. Then one day a new kid showed up. He brought with him Facebook, Twitter, blogs and lots of other new tools for communication. Print was suddenly so last week. Continue Reading

There are a lot of different ways to market a product, but they're all trying to do the same thing. From a free listing on Craigslist to a thirty-second slot during the Superbowl, all marketing is trying to build a relationship with its audience. Continue Reading

(Written by guest contributor Tim Golen) Confession: I'm a lazy person. I have to continuously work on making myself active and staying productive. I've gotten quite good at that over the years, but there are still areas that I recognize that I need to improve on. One of those areas is the passing on of my knowledge to help others. My boss Joel Comm has been able to master this. He sells books full of... Continue Reading

(Written by guest contributor Carrie Wilkerson) I know just enough to be dangerous. Seriously. Continue Reading

How did Facebook ever get to be so big? Honestly, the site is chock full 'o so much garbage that it has become the new MySpace. But beyond all the stupid vampire and zombie games, there is a solid social media site that can be useful for businesses. For over a year, I have peaked at my 5000 friend limit. However, people close their accounts or unfriend me from time to time. So I've always... Continue Reading

Design Review is a new feature focused on enlightening subscribers about common web design mistakes and new techniques through constructive critiques. Stay tuned to Design Review as we address a different niche each month. This month's Design Review is a great example of a traditional business that is just starting to establish an online presence. Continue Reading

Christmas. Seems like we measure a good part of our year by the celebration of Christ's birth. I know. For many people Christmas is very much a secular holiday. A time for family and friends. A time for decorating and hanging pretty lights. A time for the wonder of Santa Claus and flying reindeer. And a time for gift-giving. And regardless of whether or not Target has the cajones to allow the nice Salvation Army... Continue Reading

Internet marketing isn't about technology. It's never been about technology. The computers and the Internet, the multimedia uploads, webinars and ebooks are all just a means to an end. They're tools for transferring information from one place to another. The revolution that has allowed us to build online businesses, even from our living rooms, garages and bedrooms, isn't a technological revolution. We've just enjoyed the benefits of those changes. It's a community revolution. Continue Reading

I've now been on Twitter since May 2007. When I wrote Twitter power, I had about 5000 followers. Fast forward to late 2009. I hit 83,000 followers, but that's nothing compared to the hundreds of thousands or millions of followers that some members have acquired. It's been an interesting ride, but a number of things have happened that have caused me to reevaluate my Twitter strategy. Continue Reading

We knew it would happen. It always happens. Not long after Twitter's popularity hit the stratosphere, the spammers began swarming. Now direct messages boxes are packed with Mafia invitations, follower lists have been infiltrated by pornbots, and I had to put up with dozens of impostors trading on my name before my verified account was able to show who's really me. Whenever something gets big and successful on the Internet, you can bet that there... Continue Reading

There are about seven billion people on the planet. Every one of us is different. Every one of us has opinions, tastes, inclinations and preferences. And every one of us is difficult to please. If you work hard at marketing your website and your products, you'll be able to put them in front of a few thousand of those people. Work really hard and build successful products, and maybe millions will see them. Continue Reading