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I kind of fell into blogging several years ago. although I did not realize that it was called blogging back then. I had a small business with a website and I decided to utilize the website to keep my customers informed rather than the old paper newsletter that I used to send out.

For the past year now I have wanted to get serious about blogging and truly make a career out of it. But as most people, I thought I knew enough to make a go at it and make a little money.

Well, I must say that the blogging world has changed quite a bit. It seems everyone is blogging and making 6 figures with their blog. At least thats what it seems with all the “Make Money Blogging” websites out there.

Being realistic, I doubt that all those people are making that much money.However, I do believe that one can still make money blogging, if done well and professionally. That means I will need to learn from the most successful bloggers out there and emulate them.

Are there course for this kind of thing? Fortunately there are and I have narrowed the literally hundreds of courses to just three which I feel or the best produced and most professional

So, in no particular order, I have the following courses to choose from by the end of the month.

1. BlogMasterMind — This is geared towards the new blogger and takes you step by step to developing a blog that will generate income.

2. Internet Entrepreneurs Club- This is targeted toward internet marketing in general, This course seems more on the selling and marketing side of things. Not only blogs, but websites in general. This course also discusses how to develop products, build e-mail lists, and other things that go into a successful website marketing campaign.

3. Six Figure Blogging - This is more of a home study course but also takes the beginner step by step and develops a professional blog.

Soon, I will be making a decision on which one to start.

I will be posting my progress and I go through the course and will see along with me, how a blog or website is developed from the ground up.

I will update when the decision is made next week.

taxgirl ™
Starting, running, or even working at a business is no small task. Find advice, tips, and insight from industry experts on every imaginable subject from branding to venture capital, and everything in between.

I discovered this blog today and it has some great information regarding running your small business.

If you are a professional blogger, check out the article “46 Tax Deductions taht Bloggers Oftens Miss”. Being a business owner for aawhile now, I thought I had most the deductions I could use.

Wrong! I discovered some that I will be using this year for sure.

If you’re looking to become involved with a network marketing company, there are many aspects you need to consider before deciding. There are many scams out there, unfortunately, and proper research is important to ensure you do not get tangled up in one of these. Your time and money are valuable, so spend both wisely!

The first thing to look at is obviously the company. Check the company’s rating with the Better Business Bureau. See how long the company has been in business, as well as how much the company has sold within the past year. Find out how many network marketers are currently involved with the company. All of these things can help you determine how strong and legitimate any given company is.
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I just received and invite for a very interesting service. GranndCentral.com

GrandCenteral was recently acquired by Google and the premise is that you have a single phone number that you can redirect to any of your other phones such as cell, work and home.

I have been wanting something like this for awhile. Being a contractor, I am hesitant to give out my home phone and my cell phone number changes with every new cell phone I get.
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Business rises and falls on leadership. According to business guru, Brian Tracy, “Leadership is the most important single factor in determining business success or failure in our competitive, turbulent, fast-moving economy.” Still not convinced? Based on a study by Jessie Hagen of the US Bank, here are the main reasons why businesses fail:

* Poor Business Planning
* Poor Financial Planning
* Poor Marketing
* Poor Management
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1. Use a “P.S.” at the end of your ad copy. This is were you either want to repeat a strong benefit
or use a strong close like a free bonus.

2. Publish a free ebook and give it away from your web site or in your e-zine. This will increase your traffic, sales and e-zine subscribers.

3. Create multiple streams of income with your web site. You could sell your own products, join affiliate programs, sell advertising space, etc.

4. Give your visitors compliments in your ad copy. This can earn their trust and put them in a good mood, in return they will be easier to sell too.

5. Create new products or services only if there is a strong need for them. You won’t have anyone to sell them to if you don’t have a market.

6. Sell your backend products to your customers right after they order. Take them to a “Thank You” web page that includes other products you sell.

7. Sell a few products on your web site instead of selling a large amount of products. To many choices can overwhelm your visitors and they won’t buy.

8. Include content and free stuff on your web site that promote the products you’re selling. If they don’t read your ads, they may read your offerings.

9. Remind your visitors that you’re human not just a web site. You could publish information on your family life, a picture of yourself , a profile, etc.

10. Provide a “Contact Page” on your web site. Give your visitors as many options to contact you as possible. This’ll add credibility to your business

Great Leaders are optimists first and foremost. Their tendency is to interact according to Henry Ford’s observation, “whether you think you can or think you can’t - you are right.” Because the buck must stop somewhere and because the dynamic of authority dictates that all delegated authorities are themselves subject to authority, they understand that being a leader is far more than a title. The ten qualities listed herein are based on these assumptions and are just the beginning of developing the character of a great leader. Here’s to a great beginning!

1. Great Leaders are mission inclined and ensure the survival of the vision. By making certain that the principles of that vision are daily implemented, the Great Leader indicates a firm grasp of the mission and visions of the organization and is in agreement with them, making a conscious choice to submit to and support them.
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Wordhugger is a new website that is monetizing words with an unusual angle.

For $60.00, you can buy a word and a webpage. You can put anything you want on the associated webpage. Stock it full of adsense ads, insert links back to your website, whatever you please.

The website was started by a enterprising 17 year old in which half of the money will go to pay for his college and half will go to a very good cause - Kiva - Which makes micro-loans for entrepreneurs in developing countries. This has to be the most brilliant and creative use of keywords I have seen in a long time.
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You’re a smart, hardworking entrepreneur, and you’re moving fast. You are highly educated in your field and your business is growing and getting busier each day. But somehow, you find yourself stuck. You’re doing more tasks that take you away from your core business, you are working more and earning less. You need help. Wouldn’t it be great if there was someone, anyone out there who could help you take away some of the daily tasks so you could focus on the things you really love?

Maybe you’ve looked, tried to work with or even hired people to help you manage your business. But somehow, every time, things just didn’t go right, and there you were, left again with the mounds of paperwork, details and projects to manage. Alone.

“No problem,” you tell yourself. “I can do it faster myself anyway.”
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Ok, so you have not made your first million within

90 days as you thought. Your idea crashed and you

feel gutted. Worst, your partner says I told you so. You

and your get rich ideas. Well, I salute you because

you tried and failed. Guess what? The more you fail, the

faster you will succeed. So keep falling forward. Get up and keep moving. The distant dream is getting closer with each step.

Now some of you depressed entrepreneurs want to stay
down. You crawl inThis is the reason why many people are suffering from
depression much more often in winter than in the other
seasons. It’s because the nights are longerto a depression. You want to hide from
the cruel, unforgiving world. Rest if you must but die you
will not. So dust yourself off and read the following
strategies to get you fired up. Here goes..

1) Go Out Into The Light and Sunshine.
Lack of exposure to sunlight is responsible for the
secretion of the hormone melatonin, which could trigger
a dispirited mood and a lethargic condition.

If you can’t afford to get some sunshine, you can
always lighten up your room with brighter lights.
Have lunch outside the office. Take frequent walks
instead of driving your car over short distances.

2) Get Busy.
Get Inspired.

You’ll be more likely to overcome any feeling of
depression if you are too busy to notice it. Live
a life full of inspired activities.

Do the things you love. If you’re a little short
on cash, you could engage in simple stuffs like
taking a leisurely stroll in the park, playing
sports, reading books, or engaging in any activity
that you have passion for and would love to pursue.

Set a goal - a meaningful purpose in life. No
matter how difficult or discouraging life can be,
remain firm and have an unshakable belief that you
are capable of doing anything you desire.

With
this kind of positive attitude, you will attain
a cheerful disposition to beat the blues.

3) Take a Break.

I mean it.

Listen to soothing music. Soak in a nice warm
bath. Ask one of your close friends to massage
you. Take a break from your stressful workload
and spend the day just goofing around. In other
words, have fun.

4) Eat Right and Stay Fit.

Avoid foods with lots of sugar, caffeine, or
alcohol. Sugar and caffeine may give you a
brief moment of energy; but they would later
bring about anxiety , tension, and internal
problems.

Alcohol is a depressant. Many people
would drink alcohol to “forget their problems.”
They’re just aggravating their conditions in the
process.

Exercising regularly is a vital depression buster
because it allows your body to produce more
endorphins than usual. Endorphins are sometimes
called “the happy chemicals” because of their
stress-reducing and happiness-inducing properties.

5) Get a Social Life.

No person is an island. Your circle of friends are
there to give you moral support. Spending time
and engaging in worthwhile activities with them
could give you a very satisfying feeling. Nothing
feels better than having group support.

Never underestimate the power of touch.

Doesn’t
it feel so good when someone pats you on the back
and gives you words of encouragement during your
most challenging times? Hug or embrace someone
today. You’ll never know when you have saved
another life.

Get intimate. Establish close ties with your
family and friends. The love and care expressed
by others could tremendously boost your immune
system and fend off illnesses. Best of all, you’ll
live a more secured and happy life.

Now, that feels better.

Melatonin is only produced in the dark. It lowers the
body temperature and makes you feel sluggish. If you
are always cooped up in your room (with the curtains
closed), it would be difficult to restrain yourself
from staying in bed.

How I made $100,000 by spending 25 minutes and $0 on Marketing | Self Made Chick

This is a great article on how one person stopped making excuses and pulled the trigger. As a result, is now making a good living with an idea to fill a need.

Kinda inspiring huh?

No matter how good your product or service is sooner or later you’ll face an angry customer. Sometimes it will be your fault it, sometimes it won’t.

So how should you handle their complaint?

1.Say Sorry - It doesn’t matter if you are in the wrong or not, just saying sorry can go a long way to pacifying an upset client. If you believe it’s not your fault then by all means don’t apologise for the problem, instead apologise for the fact that they are not happy with the product or service. For example “I’m sorry to hear that you’re not satisfied with our service”.

2. Ask For An Explanation - Ask them to repeat the problems. No matter what they say don’t answer back, now is the time to listen carefully and take notes. When they have finished read your notes back to them and check you have correctly documented their complaint. By now most people will have “gotten it off their chest” and will start to calm down.

3. Make It Right - Take each of the issues you’ve noted in turn and resolve them, where there’s an obvious solution there’s a fly in my soup - we’ll get you a new soup just do it. Where the solution is not so simple you’re hosting a wedding and you print the couples names incorrectly on the menus but it’s not spotted until all the guests and the happy couple have seen it and it’s too late to change, firstly say sorry. Then offer the customer something as compensation. If the customer is not happy with your offer, or you can’t think of a suitable offer, ask the customer what they would like you to do to resolve the situation. If what they ask for is unreasonable the entire wedding for free smile and explain that you understand their disappointment but you can only offer them a solution that is fair to both of you. If needs be ask if they truly believe their suggestion is reasonable.

4. Make Sure They Are Happy - If you’ve listened to their complaints and dealt with them, make sure they are happy with the resolution you have agreed with them.

5. Follow Through - Make sure you follow through on the actions you agree to take.

6. Offer Them A Reason To Come Back - Even after resolving all the issues it’s worth going that step further and offering them a good reason to use you again, for example a discount on their next purchase.

7. Improve - Evaluate how you can improve your business so you don’t get the same complaint again, then make the change.

What you should never do is:

1.Respond in kind to aggressive or abusive behaviour, if they shout, don’t shout back. No matter what they do, try to stay calm. If they continue to be abusive ask them to refrain and refuse to deal with them until they calm down.

2. Blame them if it’s clearly your fault.

3. Lie.

4. Ignore them.

Remember how you handle it however can have a huge impact on the success of your business. If you’re forever dealing with upset customer in a confrontational way you’ll soon lose interest in the business and the business will gain a bad reputation. On the other hand a customer who complains but then has their complaint dealt with promptly and in a fair manner will often become a regular customer and an advocate for your business.

Interesting job of the week.

How To Make Money Selling Used Golf Balls

This guy sells golf balls on ebay and makes a pretty good sum. Its interesting the way he goes about sorting the balls for best profit and marketability of the balls. Only goes to show you that you could seel just about anything on E-bay

What is the most interesting job you have ever had ?

A stand-up guy - July 1, 2007

This is an interesting article on how one person decided to order a tall desk so the could stand instead of sit. The unexpected benefits is the interesting part. He found himself to be more productive and the people around him more approachable.

Interesting read.

Let em know what you think

Top 10 Ways to Fire the Client From Hell - Inside CRM

Some of the best decisions I have made have been saying NO to a client. Here is a great article on how to do that with tact and diplomacy.

Clients are the lifeblood of any business. Without them, your venture simply doesnt exist. On the other hand, some clients are so bad that your business, not to mention your personal sanity, is better off without them. So what do you do when you have a client that pushes you to the brink? You fire them Heres how to give 10 of the worst offenders the pink slip without burning bridges.