Website Marketing - Are You Feeling Overwhelmed?

I am sitting with a hot coffee, staring at my computer, trying to decide whether to:

- write an article and submit it to article directories,
- record a video and upload it to video sites,
- post useful information in forums to build links,
- jump onto Facebook and share some interesting information,
- tweet the latest news on Twitter,
- pin photos and designs onto Pinterest, or
- blog a keyword rich post onto my Blog
- or maybe I should research more keywords and optimise my website for Search Engines.

I know I should be doing all of these activities and some extra ones...

But the longer I sit here, I am feeling more anxious and unable to move... I can't make a decision about what to do.

If you research online about the best way to promote your business, you've probably felt the same panic. You know you need to keep up to date with the latest online marketing techniques, but the trends keep changing and you are not able to stay on top.

Now what?

It's time to let off some frustration (just make sure you close the door and all the windows, so no-one can hear you scream) AAAAAAARRRGHHHHHH!...

Feeling better? I am... that's for sure.

I still haven't decided whether to blog, tweet, Facebook, record, write, post or eat some chocolate, but I definitely feel relieved.

What now?

Time to just sit still, turn the phone off, shut down the internet and just be - preferably outside and in fresh air.

Amazing how getting away from the computer can suddenly give you a new perspective.

By now, you are hopefully feeling a little more sane and are able to think more rationally.

One little step at a time.

Sit down and write a list of everything you would like to get done in a week.

2 Facebook posts, 4 Tweets, 1 Blog Post, 1 Article,1 Video

Suddenly, the list doesn't seem so impossible.

If I have learnt anything about online marketing or working on a big project, it's this. You just have to take one step at a time.

Set yourself an achievable weekly goal - work on your marketing for ½ hour to 1 hour a day and before you know it you have achieved so much.

You will be further ahead than your competitors, because most people are still sitting staring at their screen, feeling anxious and unable to do anything.

You don't need to jump onto all the latest trends and try to do everything at the same time. You just need to do a little each day... choose several marketing activities, be consistent and you will see the amazing results your actions will bring.

And what do you know... I've just done my article for the week... time to grab a coffee and watch the world go by.

Ivana Katz makes it easy for you to get your business online very quickly. If you're looking for a professional and affordable website designer, visit http://www.web4business.com.au and download a free website plan or connect with Ivana on http://www.facebook.com/Websites4SmallBusiness.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ivana_Katz

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Website Marketing - Are You Feeling Overwhelmed?

I am sitting with a hot coffee, staring at my computer, trying to decide whether to:

- write an article and submit it to article directories,
- record a video and upload it to video sites,
- post useful information in forums to build links,
- jump onto Facebook and share some interesting information,
- tweet the latest news on Twitter,
- pin photos and designs onto Pinterest, or
- blog a keyword rich post onto my Blog
- or maybe I should research more keywords and optimise my website for Search Engines.

I know I should be doing all of these activities and some extra ones...

But the longer I sit here, I am feeling more anxious and unable to move... I can't make a decision about what to do.

If you research online about the best way to promote your business, you've probably felt the same panic. You know you need to keep up to date with the latest online marketing techniques, but the trends keep changing and you are not able to stay on top.

Now what?

It's time to let off some frustration (just make sure you close the door and all the windows, so no-one can hear you scream) AAAAAAARRRGHHHHHH!...

Feeling better? I am... that's for sure.

I still haven't decided whether to blog, tweet, Facebook, record, write, post or eat some chocolate, but I definitely feel relieved.

What now?

Time to just sit still, turn the phone off, shut down the internet and just be - preferably outside and in fresh air.

Amazing how getting away from the computer can suddenly give you a new perspective.

By now, you are hopefully feeling a little more sane and are able to think more rationally.

One little step at a time.

Sit down and write a list of everything you would like to get done in a week.

2 Facebook posts, 4 Tweets, 1 Blog Post, 1 Article,1 Video

Suddenly, the list doesn't seem so impossible.

If I have learnt anything about online marketing or working on a big project, it's this. You just have to take one step at a time.

Set yourself an achievable weekly goal - work on your marketing for ½ hour to 1 hour a day and before you know it you have achieved so much.

You will be further ahead than your competitors, because most people are still sitting staring at their screen, feeling anxious and unable to do anything.

You don't need to jump onto all the latest trends and try to do everything at the same time. You just need to do a little each day... choose several marketing activities, be consistent and you will see the amazing results your actions will bring.

And what do you know... I've just done my article for the week... time to grab a coffee and watch the world go by.

Ivana Katz makes it easy for you to get your business online very quickly. If you're looking for a professional and affordable website designer, visithttp://www.web4business.com.au and download a free website plan or connect with Ivana on http://www.facebook.com/Websites4SmallBusiness.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ivana_Katz 

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Expert Tips - How to Use Facebook For Business

Hooray you've created a Facebook page for your business because you heard everyone else is doing it and you didn't want to be left behind. You've managed to upload the cover picture and profile photo and have even posted on your Timeline. Now you are waiting for people to arrive and start commenting. You check every day... and still only 2 likes - one from your aunt Mary and one from your best friend John.

You decide to do something about the lack of response and post a message on your personal Facebook page, begging your friends to become fans of your page. Great... 3 more likes from friends who feel sorry for you.

Now you have a total of 5 Likes from people whom you had to drag in and who are not really that interested in your business. They are busy enough with their own lives and not really interested in promoting your new venture.

OK, so now what?

It's easy! Get interested in other people on Facebook.

That's a lesson I learnt from my 11 year old, who joined Instagram (a social photo sharing mobile application). He started "Liking" everyone else's photos and commenting on their pictures and within a few days he had over 150 followers. How he figured out this is the best way to get more people to "Like" you, I'll never know, but I am guessing he followed his instinct and did what others were doing. It's human nature... if someone is interested in what are do, we want to know more about them.

Ideally, the first thing you should do is join Facebook Groups - and there are plenty out there. Find pages where your potential customers are hanging out. For example, if you sell kids clothes, do a search on Groups which have the words "kids", "child", "mom", "mum" etc. Then join the Groups and observe how other members are communicating. Many groups will allow you to post comments or questions, so go ahead and give it a go. Make sure that you share useful tips and information. Never, and I repeat NEVER try to sell anything... all you are trying to do is to get people interested in who you are.

Make sure you are posting in those groups as your business page, not from you personally. To change how you post, simply click on the down arrow in the top right hand corner of your Facebook page. You will be presented with an option that says "Post on Facebook as... " then choose your business page.

While you are being interested in others, post new comments and photos on your own page, so there is fresh content as people come to visit. Here are some ideas to get you started:

1. Post photos with your comments

2. Ask questions

3. Put in 'blank' statements, eg. This weekend I am going to ______________

4. Post news from your industry

5. Share "how to" tips

6. Funny stories and pictures

7. Give away free gifts such as ebooks and reports

I should probably backtrack a little bit first. Before you start getting interested in others and posting on your page, make sure your page is set up properly.

1. The large photo, also known as cover photo should be used as a branding opportunity. You can show off your products and also include branding statement and benefits of using your products / services.

2. The small profile photo should be your logo. The reason for that is as you make posts, this is what will show up next to your comments.

3. Fill out all the information about your business under "Edit Page"

Once you've done that, you are ready to start bringing in new visitors.

It is important to understand that interaction on your Facebook page is critical to your success. The more people interact, the more your posts show in their Newsfeed. Their comments may also show up in their friends' Newsfeeds, thus slowly spreading virally.

Search Engines also take note of your social activity and interactivity, so the more people Like, Share, Comment on your page, the higher it will rank.

If you own a restaurant, for example, or a camel riding business, make sure you take photos of your customers (with their permission, of course). Let them know you are planning to put their picture on your Facebook page and where possible tag them in the picture. Most people like their 15 minutes of fame and will give you permission. By tagging your customers, their friends will also see the picture and may become curious enough to click through to your page.

When you have been on Facebook for a while and understand how it works, you may consider running Facebook ads. Again, make sure you don't try to sell anything in your ads; simply ask people to "Like" your page if they agree with a certain statement, for example. One successful ad, which has brought in several hundred new likes in a short time and for very little investment, was one for Kids Universe (a business dedicated to places to go with kids). The advertisement showed a picture of an Oreo cookie and simply said "Click LIKE if you agree that cleaning the house while the kids are awake is like brushing your teeth while eating an Oreo."

One of the key things to keep in mind, Facebook is a social medium... people are there to have fun and share information. It is not a shopping cart or a sales page. Your Facebook page should be used to build brand and credibility.

Ivana Katz makes it easy for you to get your business online very quickly. If you're looking for a professional and affordable website designer, visithttp://www.web4business.com.au and download a free website plan and connect with Ivana on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/Websites4SmallBusiness.

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Great Website Design 101

To have the best website design, you need to be clear of how you will use your website. Will you be simply providing information or selling products.

If you are only going to provide information and not sell products, make sure you have all of the following:

1. Professional Website Design

The website needs to be clean, easy to navigate and visually appealing. Choose one colour scheme and stick to it. Include your business logo for brand recognition.

2. Relevant Original Content

Ensure your website has as much information about your products/services as possible. When people are looking on the internet, they want the information right there and then. They don't want to have to wait until they can email you or speak to you on the phone. Consider including the following: product/service details, pricing, testimonials, frequently asked questions, useful links, survey, resources, articles, media information, etc.

3. Website Credibility

If you can prove your credibility, it will be a lot easier for you to convert visitors into paying customers.

This can be achieved by including testimonials, before and after shots, media articles published about your business, details of awards you have won and trade / industry associations you belong to. Where possible, also link to the association, so your visitors can find out more details easily.

4. Search Engine Friendliness

Make sure your website contains as many relevant keywords and key phrases as possible. Include them in the title of your page, in the headings, within the content of the site and also in your images' alt tags and description.

5. Call to Action

Don't forget to tell your customers what you want them to do on your site. If you want them to download a report, tell them where. If you want them to phone you, ensure you provide your phone number or if you wish them to email you, give them your email address.

For websites that sell products and services, you need to have all of the above, as well as:

6. Secure Payment Gateway

People often get nervous when it comes to leaving their credit card details online, so ensure you use a reputable service, such as Paypal for processing payments.

7. Privacy and Returns Policy

Let people know you will not sell or rent their personal details and clearly outline your returns policy.

8. Guarantee

Take the risk out of doing business with you by providing a money back guarantee. The longer the guarantee, the better.

Remember having great website design is not just about having a good looking website, it is also about what you include on the site.

Ivana Katz of Websites 4 Small Business makes it easy for you to get your business online. If you're looking for a professional and affordable website designer, who can also assist you with search engine optimisation, visit 

http://www.web4business.com.au and download your copy of a free website plan.

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Search Engine Optimisation 101

How Search Engines work and hence how one can optimise their website for each SE is often a mystery for website owners.

In an easy to understand video "How Search Works" Matt Cutts, Google Quality Engineer explains how Google indexes pages and then delivers results when someone does a search. The main point Matt makes is that Google asks over 200 questions of each page and then delivers pages that are most relevant.

When deciding which pages to show for each search term, some of the questions Google asks include:

Do the search words words appear in the title?
Do the keywords appear in the website address (URL)?
Does the page include synonyms for those keywords?
Is the page on a quality website or a spammy website?
What is the page's "PageRank?"
How many backlinks point back to the page?

Then Google combines all the answers, gives each page a score and delivers the results, which it feels is the most appropriate to what the visitor is searching for.

Although the exact formula for delivering search results is not known, there are basic things that you should do if you wish to rank high for certain keywords.

1. Include keywords in the Title of your pages, in the headings of your pages, in the page description and in meta keywords as well as in alt tags of your images.

2. Provide quality, original content in the website

3. Update your website regularly with fresh information

4. Get as many links as possible from relevant websites back to yours

Search Engine Optimisation is not a one off exercise... you need to keep working at it. Whilst many people try to trick the search engines, it is never a good idea, as they ultimately end up being dropped from the search engines and even banned.

Your first priority should be to find keywords which have a reasonable amount of searches each month, but for which not a lot of other websites have been optimised. There are two main tools you can use for this - Google AdWords Keyword Suggestion Tool or Wordtracker. Each works slightly differently, but both will give you an idea on the right keywords to use.

It's never a good idea to optimise your website for generic keywords, such as "travel" or "cars" for example. You want to optimise your website for keywords that people are searching for, when they are ready to buy, not for keywords that they are searching for when they are doing research.

Ultimately, Google and other search engines, such as Bing and Yahoo want to display content that is as relevant to their visitors as possible, so the more relevant content you have on your website, the better.

Remember, when one of your potential customers searches for a product/service you offer, only two outcomes are possible.

1. They find your website

2. They find your competitor's website

So the more you do, the more chances you have of your website ranking higher than your competitors.

You can certainly hire a Search Engine Optimisation company to do the work for you, but the truth is there is a lot you can do yourself. Just take one step at a time. Research your keywords, then add them to your website and build backlinks from other website to yours.

Ivana Katz of Websites 4 Small business makes it easy for you to get your business on the internet. If you're looking for a professional and affordable website designer, who can also assist you with search engine optimisation, visit 

http://www.web4business.com.au and download a copy of your free website plan.

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Vital Pages To Include On Your Site

Wondering what pages to include on your website and why? Below is a list of pages which should be considered.

Firstly, you should make a plan of what to include on each page. That way you won't repeat yourself or forget vital information. The most common pages on successful websites include:

1. Home Page (First Page)

This is the first page your customers will generally arrive at, so it is important you include details of what you can do for them. It should also give your visitors a brief overview of what they can find on your site.

2. Products / Services

It is useful to have a separate page for each product/service and write as much detail about each as possible. Start each page with a brief summary of the product/service, then provide whatever information you can. If the page appears too long, you can always break it into more pages. When people are searching for information on the internet, they want to know it NOW. They don't want to wait until tomorrow when they can speak to you on the phone. The more information you can provide about your products/services, the better.

3. Contact Us

Place contact details in as many places as possible. Make it easy for your customers to contact you. Create a special "Contact Us" page, include your details in "About Us" page and also at the bottom of each page. Information to include: business name, physical address, mailing address, telephone, fax, email, emergency number, website address.

4. Pricing

Whenever possible include the price of your products/services. Even if you can't be specific. It is helpful to put at least a range of prices, eg. Carpet cleaning ranges between $40 - $60 per room.

5. Testimonials / Product Reviews / Before & After

Include testimonials from your current customer to show your potential clients that you are trustworthy, reliable and that you offer great service and/or products. Make sure the testimonials are real and if possible provide contact details of the person who supplied you with the testimonial. If you don't have any right now, get them! Simply email your customers and ask for their feedback on your business and service. Most happy customers will gladly provide this. You could also include before and after photos.

Show the problem picture and beside it show the picture of resolution, with an explanation of your product's benefits.

6. Frequently Asked Questions

This has proven to be a great time saver for many companies. Instead of having to answer the same questions over and over again, place them on your website and keep adding to them. The more information you have on your website, the less time you will need to spend answering questions by email or phone.

Frequently Asked Questions should address your customer's concerns that may otherwise be an obstacle to making a sale.

7. Response form such as "Subscribe" or "Enquiry" form

An absolute must if you want to build a mailing list. Most people don't like giving out too much information, so ask only the basics, such as Name and Email Address. Then keep in touch with your customers on a regular basis by sending out information that may be of interest to them. You may even wish to develop your own on-line magazine (ezine). There are many fantastic free or inexpensive programs that can handle this for you. We will discuss these in more detail in future articles.

8. On-line Magazine or Newsletter

This is a great marketing tool. Not only does it help you keep in touch with your customers, but provides your website with fresh content. You can set up your Ezine in 2 different ways:

(a) Email subscribers on a regular basis or

(b) Publish it on your website. Or both. Include information about your business, industry or anything that may be of interest to your customers.

9. Resources/Articles

Add value to your business. Provide information that is complementary to what you do. For example, if you sell wedding dresses include information about reception venues, wedding planners, wedding cakes, flowers. By adding extra information you encourage more hits.

10. About Us

This is a very important page as it tells your customer about who you are and why they should buy your products, services and/or trust your organization. It can also feature your business hours (if you have a bricks and mortar store) or when they can speak to someone live. Many companies also include their mission or purpose on this page, details of their staff (photos, biographies, qualifications), recently completed projects. Other information to include: ACN or ABN, logo, directions to your store/office.

11. Guarantee

Offer a money back guarantee. The longer the guarantee, the more effective it will be. It could be 30 days, 60 days, 1 year or lifetime.

12. Survey

Find out what customers think about your website, business or product.

13. Events Calendar

This can relate to your business or industry. If you are an artist, you can feature dates where and when your art will be displayed or if you are a singer, where you will be performing.

14. Search My Website Feature

Some visitors to your side may not know exactly what they want but if you include a search function on your site, they can look for it very easily. Like search engines, this feature will allow your visitors to type in a word or phrase and then search for it on your site. It's like having your own mini search engines, only instead of it searching the world wide web, it just searches your website.

15. Return/Refund Policy

To make your customers feel more comfortable when making a transaction at your website, you should provide then with your return/refund policy. Ensure it is easy to understand and spelt out step by step.

16. Privacy Policy

Privacy continues to be a major issue for customers shopping online. Concerns about how their information is going to be used is a major barrier when making a sale. Internet shopping experience is built on trust and privacy is the number one ingredient in trust.

17. Site Map

A site map is similar to a contents. It shows visitors how the site is laid out and which sections are where.

18. Copyright Information

Your website should carry a copyright notice to protect its intellectual property. It is generally in the form of "Copyright © 2010, Your Company Name".

19. Links

Here you can place links to the manufacturers of your products, trade associations or complementary services. When you place links to other businesses, you can request they do the same for you. This will not only bring you more visitors, but may improve your search engine ranking

20. Media Information

Include any information, articles, photos of your products, staff etc that have appeared in the media - print, TV, radio or internet.

21. News

This can include news about your products/services or about your industry.

22. On-line store

An on-line store allows you sell products directly on the internet 24 hours a day/7 days a week. When building an online store it is important to take in a number of key concepts.

- Make sure that when visitors arrive at your store the navigational mechanisms are simple and effective- The actual process of placing the order must be simple- Make sure you accept common and convenient methods of payment- Continually test your store so you understand your customer's shopping experience

23. Blog

A blog is basically a journal that is available on the web. The activity of updating a blog is "blogging" and someone who keeps a blog is a "blogger." Blogs are typically updated daily or weekly using software that allows people with little or no technical background to update and maintain the blog. Blogs are a great tool as they help with:

(a) Communicating with your customers. Blogs provide a way for you to communicate with your customers directly.

And it is a two-way communication. You can post a message on your blog and your visitors can easily respond. Staying in touch with your customers regularly means you can build long-lasting relationships and develop their trust.

(b) Search Engine Marketing

Blogs give you an increased presence on major search engines, like Yahoo! and Google. If you use Blogger (Google's Blogging Tool), every message you post creates a new page on Google so in a very short time you could have a lot of pages pointing to your website, bringing you lots of new visitors.

(c) Stay Ahead of Your Competition

Blogs are still relatively new and chances are your competition does not yet use them. So you will be seen as an expert in your industry when you post your knowledge and expertise.

(d) Media & Public Relations

Blogs are excellent PR tools. You can post your Media Releases and articles and have them picked up by the media.

(e) Free or Low Cost

Many Blogs are free to use. Two such blogs are:

Blogger -http://www.blogger.com

WordPress - http://www.wordpress.com

(f) Easy to Use

If you can type and press a "Publish" button, you can use blogging software. The software allows you to follow easy step by step guide and provides great online help.

24. Photo Gallery

Even if you do not wish to sell your products on-line, you may wish to showcase your goods or services in a special photo gallery - show how your products or services are being used by your customers. They say "pictures speak a thousand words" and on your website it is particularly important.

Don't give your customers a reason to visit your competitor's website and provide them with all the information they may possibly need or want.

Ivana Katz makes it easy for you to get your business online very quickly. If you're looking for a professional and affordable website designer, visit http://www.web4business.com.au and download a free website plan.

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Are You Looking At Your Life And Are Stuck in A Rut?

Do you feel as though you're stuck in a rut and can't get out?

Ya know it's funny how the older you get, the more that certain stories really have a lasting impact on you.

One story that I heard recently that really made me think, was the story of these kids who were at football practice one day jogging laps. This is in Florida during the summer, so the heat and humidity was really high, and this in turn made you feel really yucky and slowed down your movements.

Well these kids were feeling the fatigue while jogging around the field, and wanted to give up because they were getting tired. All of a sudden, this big scary dog jumps on the field and starts to chase after them.

Without even thinking, these guys started to run as fast as they could to get away from the big mean dog chasing after them. The thought of being bitten was worse than any kind of pain or fatigue they were feeling. They had an extra amount of energy, when they needed it, so that they could escape.

The same holds true for most people who are floating along in life, stuck in a rut, not living the life of their dreams. They are simply too tired and fatigued out to make any extra effort to try and get out of the rut.

In most cases, the only way to actually get out of that rut is if something drastic happens. Something like getting laid off, or having a pile of debt and not knowing where to turn, or needing to get off your ass to make something happen for the better.

In other words, to get out of your comfort zone and change your life.

If you want to finally make a life change because you're sick and tired of the rut of existence you're currently living, then you need to be shocked out of your rut. If you want to get your life out of your current mundane activities, then you must change your daily rituals. Drastic change will require you to wake up so you're at the point where you can't take it anymore. You have to change.

Yeah this is going to be difficult at first. The checks will stop coming in and you may find that you're running out of money. Suddenly things might seem like they're going downhill fast. However, stay focused on doing the same little tasks every day, and keep your mind set to where you believed that you can do it. And never look back. Fast forward 10 years later, and this will be the decision to get out of your comfort zone, a decision that actually changed your life.

And really that is the most important thing to keep in mind folks, life is a choice, and we can decide to get out of the soul-sucking day job and create a business that runs on autopilot. All it takes is focus and the belief that it is easy. And all the other elements will fall into place like magic.

Tyler Jaysen loves working at home. Discover how you too can start a legitimate work from home business in your spare time,Click here Now to find out more.

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Achieve Your Goals - Is Your True Commitment Focused?

Commitment can be defined as demonstrating dedication or application to a task or purpose. Being committed to a goal therefore makes perfect sense. You will stick to your task and follow the path to the end. You will apply yourself and do what needs to be done in order to reach your desired outcome. Or will you? True commitment is a powerful internal statement of intent. People often say they are committed to something but in reality they are not. They are keen, excited, desirous, eager, passionate and any number of other things but they are often not truly committed. This article will examine commitment in relation to goal setting and how you can harness its power.

Once you truly commit to doing something you unleash a powerful set of forces within yourself. You have an intention. Your unconscious will work away at an issue or task without you even being aware of it. It will see and make connections for you then throw them up to your conscious mind and you will find yourself making great progress with your goal. Commitment is a powerful force. Commitment takes energy, both emotional and physical, and you need to use it carefully to get the best from it. Applying commitment unwisely can have unintended consequences.

A major problem can occur, for example, when you choose to fully commit to a flawed goal that is unlikely to be achieved. A goal can be flawed in many ways: too big, too vague, not compelling enough, not sustainable, not yours, etc... The issue with commitment is that is doesn't differentiate between good and flawed goals. It applies the same emotional energy to everything it is aimed at. Therefore, if you fully commit to something you cannot complete, there is a much larger emotional and physical cost when that outcome is not reached. After a few such resource sapping events you may give up on your goals altogether. Not good.

I therefore recommend that you only truly commit to well-formed, compelling, appropriately sized and sustainable goals or sub-goals that will still stretch you but are inherently achievable. Committing to just one or two smaller goals at a time is ideal. Keep the overarching super-goals simmering until you build up to them and grow your emotional and physical resources to fully commit to them later.

Commitment is like a muscle. Muscles can be trained and can grow. They can also be overworked and become tired or even torn and broken. Working your commitment muscle with steady goal progress will pay you huge dividends. You are rewarded with success and your commitment is justified. Truly committing to each goal in a chain of progressively bigger goals is far better than committing to a single large, possibly flawed and ultimately unachievable goal.

Make a commitment today to treat your commitment muscle well and it will work hard on your behalf. I wish you well with achieving your goals.

I'm Andy Pope and I am committed to helping individuals and organisations develop more effective face to face communication skills and personal development. I hope you enjoyed this article.

Check out more information and resources on my website at http://www.eryrglas.com

Sign up for my free newsletter at http://eepurl.com/e9T-Q

See you there soon!

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Achieve Your Goals - Is The Fear Of Success Holding You Back?

When it comes to goal setting there are some people who only set low-grade goals and people who fail to set goals of any kind at all. Many of these people are scared but what exactly are they scared of? I think it is fair to say that most people are familiar with the concept of the fear of failure. This is a common and largely understandable fear as surely nobody wants to fail. Much has been said and written about turning the concept of failure completely on its head and looking at it as a very useful feedback and learning tool. The fear of feedback is not nearly so debilitating. This article, however, is about the fear of success and the subtle but very real damage it can inflict on our efforts to set goals and complete them.

How can the fear of success possibly stop anyone doing anything? Surely this is a contradiction in terms? Surely we are looking for success and that is why we make goals in the first place. That may be true for many people but for some, success is a scary thought.

Think about it for a moment. Success means you have done well at something. Other people may have noticed this and will expect more of the same or perhaps even better results in the future. Success can also bring responsibility. Many people don't like responsibility and thus don't like to stretch themselves with adventurous goals. They fear succeeding and having to step right up into the limelight and the harsh glare of expectation.

If such a person thinks that a big audacious goal will produce success by-products that they don't want, they will not attempt that goal. If they do attempt it, maybe due to peer or family pressure, they will find subtle ways to de-rail things and will often blame any external events or other people that they can and cite many plausible reasons for not achieving. Quite often this self-sabotaging behaviour is completely unconscious. The person believes they are trying their best and that they simply can't succeed.

If you suspect you are in this situation it is worth carefully analysing what achieving a big success will mean to you. Is this possible fear of success actually holding you back?

One workable solution is to develop a longer series of sub-goals that build slowly, steadily and deliberately toward a big goal. You can then try achieving each stage and getting used to the incremental successes. Others will not notice any huge changes in you either and they may be less demanding in their expectations. Before you know it you will be comfortably enjoying deserved success where you previously feared to go.

Set the bar where you know it should really be and rise to your challenges in the way that is best for you. All roads lead to Rome.

I'm Andy Pope and I am committed to helping individuals and organisations develop more effective face to face communication skills and personal development. I hope you enjoyed this article.

Check out more information and resources on my website at http://www.eryrglas.com
Sign up for my free newsletter at http://eepurl.com/e9T-Q
See you there soon!
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Achieve Your Goals - Is Your Goal Process Or Outcome Driven?

There is some debate as to whether goals should be process or outcome driven. What does this even mean anyway? Is one approach better than the other? Is there a middle road? In this article I will discuss both cases and offer some thoughts for you to consider when setting your outcomes.

It is fair to say that when most people consider a goal they think of it as having an outcome of some sort. The question is whether this is an "outcome" or a "process" outcome.

By an "outcome" type of outcome I mean that the end point of your goal is SMART in nature, i.e. specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timed. This type of goal target forces you to focus on exactly what you want and also forces you to provide the details required to allow an objective and verifiable measure of completion and success (or failure). An example would be "I will weigh less than 160 lbs, be able to do 10 chin-ups and fit into 34" waist pants by January 30th 2013." This (completely fictitious I assure you) goal fits the SMART criteria well. This type of goal setting is useful for achieving specific required results or completing specific required actions.

By a "process" outcome I mean that the end point is a much more subjective situation. For example "I want to run two or three times a week in order to feel healthier and happier and look better in my clothes." This is clearly not a SMART objective. You could measure the number of runs taken but neither the duration or distance of run is mentioned or the period of time for that matter. It is still a goal and you can have your subjective decision for success or failure at a point of your choosing. You can still consider it a success or failure. This type of goal setting is useful for changes of mind-set or habits over time.

Which is best? The answer is of course, neither of them. They both have positive and negative facets and they are also highly context dependent.

Your overarching big goal in life may actually be a mixture of the two. For example "I want to be a highly paid public speaker and author by the time I am 55 years old." This goal has some SMART and some subjective portions. It is timed and has stated that you want to be a public speaker and an author. It doesn't state what you will speak or write about nor does it define how much "highly paid" actually is. It is therefore a mixture of outcome and process drivers.

Taking this further, if you break your big goal down into smaller sub-goals, these can also be one or the other or both.

The important take-away point is that it could be problematic to stick with one type of goal exclusively. Too much outcome thinking can lead to obsession and feelings of inevitable failure, whilst too much process subjectivity can lead to loss of focus and dilution of effort.

Both of these goal setting approaches have great merit and, when used in a constructive and balanced way, can yield fantastic results.

I wish you well with all your upcoming challenges.

I'm Andy Pope and I am committed to helping individuals and organisations develop more effective face to face communication skills and personal development. I hope you enjoyed this article.

Check out more information and resources on my website at http://www.eryrglas.com

Sign up for my free newsletter at http://eepurl.com/e9T-Q

See you there soon!

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Achieve Your Goals - Are You Flexible And Resilient Enough?

Achieving goals can be hugely satisfying and life affirming. I guess that's why we set goals in the first place. Achieving goals can also be immensely hard work. The goal has to be big enough to stretch you and challenge you otherwise it is just a routine task. Goals can sometimes seem to fight back; almost as if they don't want to be achieved. A really good goal that appeared benign at first can suddenly start to fight hard and dirty and you know that when you have achieved that goal, you have really earned the plaudits. You need to be flexible and resilient when this happens as you never know which particular goal will prove a handful.

By being resilient, I mean being able to withstand or recover quickly from difficult or adverse conditions. Flexibility aids resilience; trees bend and sway in the wind to avoid breaking.

Developing behavioural and mental flexibility is a key element to achieving your goals. The person with most options in any given situation is most likely to advantageously influence that situation. Problems and obstacles will appear in your way that will defy any frontal assault. You will sometimes need to move back to then go forward by another route. If this happens too often it can be emotionally draining and it is only your reserves of resilience that can keep you together and focused on your desired outcome.

How can you increase your resilience? Pay attention to what you are good at, stay positive and be optimistic. Take full responsibility for your life, actions and problem solving skills. Make sure that your overall purpose in life is important and motivating enough. Look after your mental and physical well-being. Build and maintain a strong support network. Embrace change and trust in your abilities.

I would also go as far as recommending that really ambitious goals be split down into smaller sub-goals that, whilst still challenging, are much more attainable and therefore less of a potential drain on your resilience resource over time.

After all, the way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time.

I wish you well with all your challenges.

I'm Andy Pope and I am committed to helping individuals and organisations develop more effective face to face communication skills and personal development. I hope you enjoyed this article.

Check out more information and resources on my website at http://www.eryrglas.com

Sign up for my free newsletter at http://eepurl.com/e9T-Q

See you there soon!

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Achieve Your Goals - Big May Be Beautiful But Is It Realistic?

Is the big and beautiful goal you have set yourself unrealistic in scope? Does this sound negative? I feel duty bound to ask you this because, whilst it is laudable to set big, beautiful and boundless goals, it can sometimes be a detrimental tactic. In this article I will explain my logic and offer a strategy that will get you there in a more manageable and sustainable fashion.

When visualising a goal it is beneficial to layer in as much specific sensory detail as possible in order to make the goal compelling and desirable enough to keep you motivated whilst pursuing it. A goal that is poorly visualised will be less compelling.

A hugely ambitious goal that is too far removed from your current reality may be exciting and it may feel compelling but you simply may not be able to visualise it well enough to sustain the effort. This can lead to a feeling that the goal really is out of reach and ultimately unattainable. This feeling is not a useful one for you.

The strategy I recommend adopting would be for you to keep the very big goal deliberately vague. This will allow you to come back down the route in the direction of your current reality and choose a less ambitious goal that you can fully realise and visualise. This should still be a challenging goal but, crucially, it will appear much more attainable and you will be motivated to achieve it.

When you have achieved this interim goal your original big goal will be that much more attainable. It is at this point that you can flesh it out and fully visualise it in all its glory, because your reality will be much closer to it.

Attempting more than you can handle too early may set you back and discourage you so make your goals big enough but no bigger. A series of challenging steps will ensure you cover the necessary ground and grow into each new reality in a sustainable fashion.

I wish you well on your journey.

I'm Andy Pope and I am committed to helping individuals and organisations develop more effective face to face communication skills and personal development. I hope you enjoyed this article.

Check out more information and resources on my website at http://www.eryrglas.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7363841

Achieve Your Goals - Is The Fear Of Success Holding You Back?

When it comes to goal setting there are some people who only set low-grade goals and people who fail to set goals of any kind at all. Many of these people are scared but what exactly are they scared of? I think it is fair to say that most people are familiar with the concept of the fear of failure. This is a common and largely understandable fear as surely nobody wants to fail. Much has been said and written about turning the concept of failure completely on its head and looking at it as a very useful feedback and learning tool. The fear of feedback is not nearly so debilitating. This article, however, is about the fear of success and the subtle but very real damage it can inflict on our efforts to set goals and complete them.

How can the fear of success possibly stop anyone doing anything? Surely this is a contradiction in terms? Surely we are looking for success and that is why we make goals in the first place. That may be true for many people but for some, success is a scary thought.

Think about it for a moment. Success means you have done well at something. Other people may have noticed this and will expect more of the same or perhaps even better results in the future. Success can also bring responsibility. Many people don't like responsibility and thus don't like to stretch themselves with adventurous goals. They fear succeeding and having to step right up into the limelight and the harsh glare of expectation.

If such a person thinks that a big audacious goal will produce success by-products that they don't want, they will not attempt that goal. If they do attempt it, maybe due to peer or family pressure, they will find subtle ways to de-rail things and will often blame any external events or other people that they can and cite many plausible reasons for not achieving. Quite often this self-sabotaging behaviour is completely unconscious. The person believes they are trying their best and that they simply can't succeed.

If you suspect you are in this situation it is worth carefully analysing what achieving a big success will mean to you. Is this possible fear of success actually holding you back?

One workable solution is to develop a longer series of sub-goals that build slowly, steadily and deliberately toward a big goal. You can then try achieving each stage and getting used to the incremental successes. Others will not notice any huge changes in you either and they may be less demanding in their expectations. Before you know it you will be comfortably enjoying deserved success where you previously feared to go.

Set the bar where you know it should really be and rise to your challenges in the way that is best for you. All roads lead to Rome.

I'm Andy Pope and I am committed to helping individuals and organisations develop more effective face to face communication skills and personal development. I hope you enjoyed this article.

Check out more information and resources on my website at http://www.eryrglas.com

Sign up for my free newsletter at http://eepurl.com/e9T-Q

See you there soon!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andrew_D_Pope

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The 12 Commandments of Personal Goal Setting

Many people have an idea of what they like to obtain in their lives. But, somehow, they fail to achieve them. Why? Is it because they failed to set clear goals?

Having a general idea on what one wants to achieve is not enough because the human mind does not efficiently work with generalities. If you are not specific about the things you want to get done, the creative part of your brain can not help you in obtaining your true objectives.

Here are the 12 commandments in goal setting.

1. Decide what you really want to achieve. Your goals must be very specific and detailed. If you want more money in the bank, how much would you deposit every month? If you want to look for a different career or job, describe and characterize that new career or job.

2. Set an ideal deadline for each step you take in reaching your goal. Basically, anything you do that is associated with achieving your goals should have a deadline. Your goal is merely a dream or a wish if a date of accomplishment is not set.

3. Figure out if the goals you set are believable to you. You need to feel that the things you have written down can be realized. If you feel that your goals are impossible to accomplish, you will not do anything to turn those goals into reality.

4. Assess yourself. Determine where you are right now. Figure out your current situation in terms of financial, emotional, physical, psychological, and mental. You need to know where you stand at the moment so you will know how far you need to go. Also, you should assess the skills you have, the skills you need to possess, and the skills you need to improve.

5. Determine any potential obstacles you need to overcome. Figure out, list down, and describe the things that may give you a hard time while you are working with your goals. Then think of ways that will help you overcome those hindrances.

6. You need to figure out what knowledge you need to acquire. Find out if you still need to take certain courses, attend classes or training. Do you need to read specific books and other publications, or surf the Internet?

7. Identify all the benefits you can get from achieving your goals. Write down as many rewards and good results as possible. The longer your list, the more inspired you will be in reaching your goals.

8. Figure out if you need to associate with certain groups or organizations. Know if there are groups of people that can help you accomplish your goals then learn how you can become a member.

9. Develop a good and effective action plan. Identify definite steps that you will need to reach your goals. Begin at the realization of your goal and then work backwards.

10. Imagine yourself achieving your goals. Visualize yourself in clear details as if you have accomplished your goals already. If you want to be financially free, picture yourself having no more debts. See yourself like so many times in a day until it becomes an essential piece of your subconscious mind.

11. Take day-to-day actions. Anything that you desire in your life definitely requires actions. You need to take consistent actions every single day.

12. Commit and decide you will never give up. Make a firm decision that whatever happens, you will not quit until you reach your goals.

Now that you have learned the 12 commandments in personal goal setting, visit this site to learn more, and get your free 7-day e-course training.

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How To Escape The Newbie Zone, and Eliminate Bad Habits

Whenever we try and do something new, we always start as a newbie, or a new person starting something new from scratch. Starting an online business for the first time, well you're usually a newbie. Yea sure, you may know some technical things like setting up a blog, but making money online is new to you and you're still a newbie.

As a newbie, you often feel confused, lost, anxious, fearful and hesitant. This causes paralysis by analysis. Or rather, too much stuff going on at the same time which causes one to get overwhelmed and do nothing. You're at the beginning stage where you're taking on so much information at once, that you get paralyzed and end up doing nothing. That is one of the biggest hurdles that you must overcome, and that is to take action. Forget about waiting til everything is perfect before you take action, start now. The person who is a newbie, often times quits before they even get started and set up their first blog. Most folks that join any online business will fail because the simply don't do anything, they get stuck.

How to Break Bad Habits

Usually in any new venture, if we simply have a mentor, or a way of copying a successful person, then we are way ahead of the game. However, as a newbie, we carry a lot of preconceived notions about things and tend to create that monkey chatter of defeat within ourselves. And we do this before we even give it some effort.

We must learn how to break the bad habits, the ones that are keeping us from succeeding, and instead, create new good habits. So then, if we can just replace a bad habit with a good habit, then usually after 30 days we will have eliminated that bad habit. For example, for a long time, I could remember that it was tough, or should I say impossible, for me to wake up early to exercise in the morning. This is because I was lazy and didn't feel like going to the gym at 6 am before work.

I decided that my health was a priority and made a decision that I was going to replace my bad habit of, not getting up early and sleeping in, to a good habit of getting up early and forcing myself to get to the gym. Yeah the first few days were tough. I thought I was gonna die. My muscles hurt, my stomach was in knots and I felt nauseous. At the beginning, I already felt like giving up. My bad habits, sleeping in, were pretty strong and urging me to quit and go to bed.

However, a funny thing happened. After that first week, 7 days, I started to feel amazing and getting up early was becoming much easier. It was becoming a good habit. I pushed through the bad habit zone and created a new good habit to replace it. After 30 days, getting to the gym at 6 am before work, well it was a good habit and it was easy.

The same holds true for getting out of the newbie zone.

You first need to suffer a little bit through converting your bad habits, into good new habits. So start with creating a good new habit, like blogging every day and creating value. Replace your bad habits, as a newbie of being overwhelmed and doing nothing, to taking action and having good habits. If you focus on the simple things that are consistent and measurable, then you will see results fast and experience the reality for yourself of making money online.

Tyler Jaysen loves working at home. Discover how you too can start a legitimate work from home business in your spare time, Click here Now to find out more.

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The Trick in Finding A Legitimate Work From Home Business

Some of you may have been working a full time job for the past 5 years or so, and you now have reached a point in your life when you are looking at starting a legitimate work from home business. If you're anything like me, you started to look online for a way to make money from home, and soon you discovered that there are many ways to start a business at home. The trick, is finding a home business that is legit.

I finally decided that I wanted to live a different lifestyle for myself and spend the time working from home to really have the time freedom. Have the time to do whatever I wanted, was much more important to me than the money part. Having that luxury to just wake up every day and think, hmmm what do I want to do today. The internet and working at home, allows you to live that lifestyle. This is possible because you aren't trading your time for money, like with a regular job.

At a job, you work your 40 hours a week and get your checks twice a month and then taxes get taken out and subtracting all the expenses you have on a monthly basis. So subtract all the gas and car repairs and daycare and when you're left with that amount of money to finally pay all of your bills you are finding out that you're pretty much broke at the end of each month. Many of us start to get a little tired of the same grind day in and day out to only keep your head above water. We realize that there is a better way to spend your time to build a business and therefore build wealth.

Starting a legitimate work from home takes work and takes time. When we finally make the decision to start our own work at home business, we know that it is going to cost some money. You have to realize that any business opportunity involves some money to get the ball rolling. This is also why you know it will be a legitimate work from home business that you will take seriously. When you try and build a business at home and do it for free or on the cheap, well your results will be the same.

So you need to invest some money and resources for advertising, but you must also work on building it up and keep it running too. This isn't like you just spend a little money and sit back and do nothing you have to work at it and build up a buzz. Your first priority to building your business then, is to start with something that you can plug into, one that already has the site setup, and the graphics, and the sales videos, and the sales funnels, and the capture pages, and the upsell products and on and on. This way, once you plug into a system that is already proven to work, you then just spend your time on the marketing part of things.

Tyler Jaysen loves working at home. Discover how you too can start a legitimate work from home business in your spare time, Click Here Now to find out more.

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10 Steps Forward, and 10 Steps Backward

I think about one of the important mindset aspects that successful entrepreneurs talk about. And that is, taking 10 steps forward and 10 steps back. What this means is, most people live their entire lives working at a job where their entire days consists of yep you guessed it, taking 10 steps forward, like from the cubicle to the boss's office and then 10 steps backward to their cubicle. You stare at your computer all day wondering, "Is this all there is to life?" Waiting for your boss to tell you what do to and how to spend you day and what to think.

This is all about being mediocre in life and not trying to pursue ones dreams. We all have to make a living and bills need to be paid, however, we've been sold the same dream for the past 50 years. And that dream is, work your but off 8 hours a day in school, and then work your but off for 8 hours in college, and then graduate and work your but off for 8 hours in a job and then do that for the next 40 years til you retire.

While there are many variations of this story, in reality, this is what is being sold to the average Joe and to our kids today. But this is a pipe dream, and the reality is, that the old way of doing things to make money and build wealth doesn't work anymore.

All you need to do, is look at the stats from the past 40 years and look at how folks have very little money saved for retirement. By the time they are ready to exit the job force and start their retirement, most of them have very little to support themselves. What's worse, is that a majority of the money when you're 65 is used for medical expenses and health care.

This old way of thinking, this mindset, is rooted in mediocrity. All that you will get in life if you follow this system, is being a normal regular guy. Most people who follow this train of thought, graduate college with a huge amount of debt to pay off and work a job that pays $13 an hour. So you end up slaving away at a job day after day, eeking out an existence and barely scraping by. Living a life of hand to mouth and just barely 1 paycheck away from becoming homeless.

Maybe 2 generations ago this philosophy actually worked, but these days there is a much better way to live life for those that are not afraid of change and want to take chances. Too many people want to coast through life and not take any chances, living safely all the way to their grave.

It's like the story of the wild bear that was captured in the mountains and taken to the zoo. At first, when the bear was put into the cage, he growled and went crazy trying to escape. However, no matter how hard he tried, he could not get out of that cage. So after a while, the bear realized it was hopeless and stopped trying. Then once they finally got the bear to the zoo and put him in his home area, he paced back and forth trying to find a way to escape. However, after discovering that he could not get out, he gave up again. Now the zookeeper brings the bear his food everyday, and the bear spends his days waking up, walking 10 steps forward, eating his food and walking 10 steps back.

Now one day the zoo keeper tried a test on the bear and moved the gate out a little bit, so the bear could walk more than 10 steps. The bear was so conditioned to only take those 10 steps, that he never even tried to venture out past those 10 steps even though he could. This is how most people live their entire lives.

Tyler Jaysen loves working at home. Discover how you too can start a legitimate work from home business in your 

spare time, Click here Now to find out more.

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The Trick in Finding A Legitimate Work From Home Business

Some of you may have been working a full time job for the past 5 years or so, and you now have reached a point in your life when you are looking at starting a legitimate work from home business. If you're anything like me, you started to look online for a way to make money from home, and soon you discovered that there are many ways to start a business at home. The trick, is finding a home business that is legit.

I finally decided that I wanted to live a different lifestyle for myself and spend the time working from home to really have the time freedom. Have the time to do whatever I wanted, was much more important to me than the money part. Having that luxury to just wake up every day and think, hmmm what do I want to do today. The internet and working at home, allows you to live that lifestyle. This is possible because you aren't trading your time for money, like with a regular job.

At a job, you work your 40 hours a week and get your checks twice a month and then taxes get taken out and subtracting all the expenses you have on a monthly basis. So subtract all the gas and car repairs and daycare and when you're left with that amount of money to finally pay all of your bills you are finding out that you're pretty much broke at the end of each month. Many of us start to get a little tired of the same grind day in and day out to only keep your head above water. We realize that there is a better way to spend your time to build a business and therefore build wealth.

Starting a legitimate work from home takes work and takes time. When we finally make the decision to start our own work at home business, we know that it is going to cost some money. You have to realize that any business opportunity involves some money to get the ball rolling. This is also why you know it will be a legitimate work from home business that you will take seriously. When you try and build a business at home and do it for free or on the cheap, well your results will be the same.

So you need to invest some money and resources for advertising, but you must also work on building it up and keep it running too. This isn't like you just spend a little money and sit back and do nothing you have to work at it and build up a buzz. Your first priority to building your business then, is to start with something that you can plug into, one that already has the site setup, and the graphics, and the sales videos, and the sales funnels, and the capture pages, and the upsell products and on and on. This way, once you plug into a system that is already proven to work, you then just spend your time on the marketing part of things.

Tyler Jaysen loves working at home. Discover how you too can start a legitimate work from home business in your spare time, to find out more visit:

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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7305904