Do you have a 90 Day Plan to Freedom?

It’s the Fourth of July, a very special day here in the U.S. – a day where we celebrate our independence and freedom. As I took time today to reflect on and be grateful for the incredible freedom I have in my life, I realized I had to share this day of celebration with you.

We may not have met, but you and I are very much the same. We value our independence and freedom to such a high degree that we are willing to step out of our comfort zones tto create true freedom. Total time freedom, freedom from financial worry, the freedom to REALLY do what we want, when we want. I commend you for your efforts, and encourage you to continue to do what others are not willing to do, to live a life of true freedom and independence that only a few achieve.

I want to share a 90 day plan that I am beginning 2 days from today. This will bring tremendous growth and create a snowball of momentum in my business. I encourage you to give some thought to doing the same for your business.

It’s called the 90 Day Blitz, and consists of a 3 month (give or take a few days) commitment to income producing activity. In my case this means speaking to prospects. How’s it work? This is my plan of action:

• I have set a start date of July 6, and counted out 90 days from here (to October 3)
• During this period, I will devote at least one and a half hours, 6 days each week, to engaging in one income producing activity.
  
• I have chosen to spend this committed amount of time speaking with business prospects
• The weekly schedule I have set for myself is to work my 90 day plan Monday through Saturday each week, and to take each Sunday and any holidays that occur during my 90 day blitz off
• I will track the number of people I speak with, the ratio of people who are open to looking at my business, and the ratio of people who join my team – and report these numbers daily in an accountability group my team has set up
• At the end of the 90 days, I will take a full week off, then begin my second of 3 90 day blitzes

I’ve learned some tremendous strategies from network marketing trainer Tracy Biller, and will be incorporating all he has taught me into this 90 day plan (which I also learned from him….). After discovering Tracy’s material I was so impressed that I’ve added a special bonus to my opt in offer on the right of this blog post. This is a free, downloadable mp3 audio produced by him entitled “10 Factors for Network Marketing Success”.

It’s really remarkable, and I invite you to claim your free copy and share it with your team. Just add your name and email address to the boxes below my offer graphic and you’ll be directed to a page containing a download link. Enjoy!!!!!

Do you know how to write goals that will “stick”? Did you know that when you have clearly defined, planned goals success is almost inevitable? Disclaimer here – Action IS Required

I must admit, I used the same strategy discussed in the video above several years back, and did NOT have the much anticipated results I was searching for. Hindsight is always 20/20, and of course today I realize it was my own fault. At the time I really didn’t know what to do to make my dreams a reality, so I missed the second most important part of the equation – taking effective ACTION!

Here I am once again, with many of the same goals but a much better mindset, a definitive plan of action, and more knowledge than I had ever even imagined being able to fit between my ears.

If you don’t really know how to write goals, success will probably be nothing more than an elusive dream. No, there’s nothing at all wrong with dreams, but personally I prefer the ones that we transform into reality!

When taking on this important task there are some fundamentals that will help you to claim a better, brighter future. Let me share a few of them with you:

How To Write Personal Goals

Imagine your ideal life. How is your health? Your fitness level? How do your relationships look with family and friends? What’s your family life look like? Where do you live, and what does your home look like? How do you spend your free time…..and just how much of your time is “free time” (hint, if time freedom is one of your goals, this should be plentiful)? What kind of car do you drive? Have you used the financial and time freedom you’ve created to help others? How have you chosen to do this?

Obviously this list could go on and on. The bigger the better. Think of every aspect of your life and write away. As you create the story of your life, be sure to reflect on and record the feelings that come along with your success. Revel in your greatness and put all of those feelings onto paper.

How To Write Professional Goals

Again, when you learn how to write goals effectively, your plan will be incredibly detailed. What business are you in? Do you have business partners, and if so, who and how many? Do you work from home or go to an office? How much money do you make each month (be sure to shoot for the stars here….)? What does your typical work day look like – an hour, 8 hours, do you outsource work, have employees, or manage your business totally independently? What (besides the large amount of money you make) do you love about your work?

Again, this can be very long, and should be as detailed as possible.

How to Write Measurable Goals

Many of us have not been taught how to write measurable goals….yet this is key! Consider this question: which goal is more likely to come true?

• I will make a lot of money….or
• Six months from now I will be making $10,000 or more each month

If you were to set out on a road trip to visit your great aunt Lucy in Las Vegas, you’d probably never get there unless you knew her exact address, right? I mean Vegas is BIG – and there can be many shiny obstacles that will take you off track….you really need to know exactly where you’re going!

Some of the specific details you want to consider include:

• Beginning and end date
• How much, how many
  
• How will you measure your success
• Exact plan of action
• Small, manageable steps

Let’s take for example a goal to “lose weight”. Which goal is more likely to come to fruition?

• I want to lose weight……or
• I want to lose 20 pounds between today and (2 months from today). This will require me to lose two and a half pounds each week. In order to do so, I will walk 3 miles, six days a week and consume between 1500 and 1700 calories each day. By (end date) I will weigh (goal weight) and fit into a size (desired size) jeans.

Sounds like a ridiculous question, right? Maybe….but really, many of us have never learned how to write goals that are specific and detailed – and many of us have suffered from this seemingly simple omission.

How to Write Goals – Don’t Miss This One Crucial Step!!!

It’s all about the story. As I’ve shared in the video, you will reap amazing benefits when you take the crucial step of weaving all of your goals into a story….Your story.

Take as much time as you need to create a beautiful, picture perfect image of your life just as you want it, and commit it to paper. Write it in the present tense. Record the details, your thoughts and feelings, and make it incredible. I went out and found a beautiful journal just for this purpose.

OK….you’re almost done. It’s on paper, but will soon become a part of you when you take this final step. READ IT, on a daily basis! Even if you take just a few minutes every day to read a few pages, this is powerful. As you read it, envision yourself living this glorious life, feel the feelings you’ve associated with your new success, and believe it is possible.

Now go out and make it happen!

Please share this post with others who will benefit from knowing how to write goals that Will become reality. Thanks….and if you have any goal setting tips you’d like to share, we’d love to hear them.

Online marketing experts do not become experts by chance. They take focused action, act consistently, and follow a winning formula. The first two are entirely up to you, but I can help you with the formula.

When you follow this 5 step marketing process over and over (yes you could even say consistently…), you will become the master of your own destiny.

Step 1: Create Great Content

Kind of a no brainer, right? If you don’t know what to write about, consider any of these great ideas:

• Book reviews
• Product reviews
• Tutorials and How To’s
• Interviews with others in your niche
• “Top” lists (top 10 things to blog about…)
• Technical info
• The latest and greatest (fill in the blank…)
• Personal stories, reflections, views, etc.

Step 2: Ping It

When you ping your material, it sends a message out to the search engines that you have new content. This helps your site to get ranked quicker, which will bring you more traffic. There are several sites that will ping your material to multiple search engines, including:

• http://www.pingomatic.com
• http://pingler.com
• http://pingmyblog.com

Step 3: Social Bookmark It

Online marketing experts know the power of social bookmarking. It not only brings you greater visibility but also provides backlinks to your blog. And we all know that backlinks bring better search engine rankings.

You want your visitors to bookmark as much of your material as possible, so please do make it simple for them to do so.  You can do this by adding plugins such as:

• Sociable
• Simple Facebook Share Button
• Digg This Button

And my favorite, OnlyWire for WordPress. This is such a useful plugin that I have devoted an entire post to it.

Step 4: Submit To Multiple Directories

For each blog post that you produce, you should create an article and submit it to multiple directories. Make sure your article is not self promoting. You’ll want to provide nothing but value (or entertainment) in the content, and use the authors box to link back to your blog post. Many article directories allow you to include 2 links.

Some of the more popular article marketing directories include:

• http://www.ezine.com
• http://www.ArticlesBase.com
• http://www.buzzle.com
• http://www.searchwarp.com
• http://www.articlealley.com
• http://www.goarticles.com
• http://www.web-source.net
• http://www.articleset.com
• http://www.webpronews.com
• http://www.amazines.com

For more information on article marketing, check out my post.

Step 5: Build Links On An Ongoing Basis

Again, the more backlinks you have to your site the better. This includes internal links (often referred to as anchor tags) as well as external links. Along with backlinks posted in the authors box in your articles and those provided through social bookmarking sites, you can build backlinks through:

• Social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook
• Press Releases
• Reciprocal links with other bloggers in the same niche
• Videos posted on sites such as YouTube

Follow these steps closely and consistently, and you will find your place among the online marketing experts.

If this has been of value to you, please let me know by posting a comment in the box below, and share with others by retweeting or social bookmarking. Thanks

When I first learned about blogging, I was taught to encourage my readers to add their information to my RSS feed aggregator. You know, that funny looking orange symbol, which is sometimes accompanied by text which reads “Subscribe to News”, or something like that…

Apparently, it was a good thing for people to join my RSS news feed and to sign up for my free newsletter – except I had no idea that I had a newsletter. I certainly was not going through the task of creating a weekly, or even a monthly, new publication for my readers! Led by blind faith, (which is how I performed many of my online activities…) I invited my readers to use their rss feeder to become my loyal fans, with absolutely no clue as to what I was talking about!

You may be much more tech savy than I was when I first came on the scene….but If you can relate, I have a simple explanation for you that will help to demystify yet another seemingly complicated issue.

An RSS feed aggregator is nothing but a software program which allows your blog visitors to keep track of your new blog posts. How does it work? When they join your rss news feed, they are notified via their rss feeder each and every time you post new content to your blog. This notification is your “newsletter” – and it goes out on autopilot, as a result of code that is inherent in your blog. Is that a beautiful thing, or what?

RSS – short for really simple syndication, is an efficient method for searching, organization, categorizing online content. Those who have favorite news sites or blogs they like to frequent can easily keep up to date with new content posted on those sites, all through the use of one simple rss feed aggregator. All they have to do is join the rss news feed for each site they are interested in, and to tap into the power of an rss feeder.

Some of the popular RSS feed aggregator programs include:

• Google Reader
• FeedDemon
• Bloglines
• Blog Navigator
• SharpReader

Beautiful for the end user, and perhaps even more beautiful for bloggers.

I’m really interested in hearing if this was helpful to you, or if it was too “low level”.  We all join this game at different levels of expertise, and I’m making an effort to provide as much value as I can to as many of you as possible. Your feedback is very much appreciated….happy blogging!

Google Adwords Campaign Management Webinar Blows Us Away!

OMG, Jonathan Budd has totally over delivered in a major way tonight. In his usual giving fashion, JB just held a webinar for all past and present students who have sought his advice on Google Adwords campaign management through his PPC class.

Here, before our very eyes, Jonathan introduced us to Brittany Lynch, a former Google employee who shared some Adwords advice that even our internet marketing rock star friend had not heard. So, if it’s good enough for JB to drool over (and yes, I do believe he was drooling…), I am excited!

And you should be too, because I’m about to pay it forward and share some of the Google Adwords secrets that Ms. Lynch has so graciously imparted to us. Be ready to take your Google Adwords campaign management to an entirely new level! Enough with the small talk, and on with the show….

Google Adwords Advice – 10 Google Adwords Secrets

1. Create separate, highly targeted ad groups by focusing each ad group on only 1 keyword, and include that keyword in the headline, title tag, H1 tags, meta tags, and description line (search network)
2. Within each ad group, create 2 ads that use the same keyword (search network)
3. Use your keyword in your ad once and if possible, twice
4. It’s no great secret that Google loves to give readers what they are looking for, so it only makes sense that one of the best pieces of Adwords advice is to make sure your ad, landing page, and keyword are all relevant and will provide your visitors with the content they are looking for
5. Once your ad is written, use the Adwords keyword tool (just do a search for adwords keyword tool) to check to see if Google will view your landing page as relevant; simply place the url in the box provided and click to view the keywords that Google associates with your page
6. Ads should include a benefit to the visitor and a strong call to action
7. Create a keyword specific landing page for each ad, with SEO optimized meta tags on the landing page
8. Build backlinks to your landing page (we know that Google loves backlinks, so it only makes sense that this will help with Google Adwords campaign management…)
9. Include a privacy page, about us., contact us, sitemap, terms and conditions, and blog links at the bottom of your landing pages
10. Your goal in Google Adwords campaign management should be to achieve a 10 out of 10 quality score; this will result in a 30% discount on your Adwords campaign

Many thanks to Mr. Jonathan Budd for this tremendous share, and to Ms. Brittany Lynch for exposing these phenomenal Google Adwords secrets. I think we’ll be hearing much more from Britanny in the coming months. Be sure to check out her blog at http://brittanylynch.com, and to inquire about her new Gmail marketing ebook!

So, let’s get out there and rock our businesses with a new, fresh perspective on Google Adwords campaign management, and make JB proud!!!

This is priceless information, and your tweeps will love you for sharing! Be sure to click the green Retweet button, and share on your Facebook wall by clicking the blue Facebook share button…thanks!

Let’s face it, as marketers our most valuable asset is our list, so we need to take every possible opportunity to capture opt in leads. No doubt you have an opt in advertising campaign on your blog, but many haven’t yet begun to incorporate this strategy into their Facebook profiles.

The video above (youtube is in maintenance mode…check back on Tuesday) provides a visual demonstration of the steps I took to add this useful yet subtle “pitch” to my facebook page. In order to help you follow along I’ve added the steps below, along with the code that I’m using on my Facebook page to produce opt in leads.

Your code may look very different from mine, but the basic principles should be the same.

1. Resize your opt in box graphic to a maximum of 180 pixels & upload it to your blog
   
2. Copy the opt in leads capture code from your blog into the HTML Profile Box in Facebook
3. If the code contains a video, delete it (start at the tr tag and delete through the /tr tag)
4. If your code is set within a table, change the table width to 180
5. Edit the code that places the image in your opt in, to a width of 180
6. Change width in form code section to 180 (2 edits should be made here)
7. Replace image url with the url of the newly uploaded (resized) image
   
8. To decrease the size of the boxes in your form, change name widths to 150 & input widths to 110
9. Edit padding values – change last number to 0 (I also changed value preceding this to 20
10. Change form margin to 0

Viola…..you should now be able to capture opt in leads straight from your Facebook page!  Please let me know if this has been helpful to you and thank you for retweeting (just click on the green Tweet button)

Mind Map software has helped me save precious time like nothing I’ve ever seen. It’s one of the greatest tips for organizing business that I’ve received, and I’m happy to be paying it forward to help you in your business as well.

Many thanks to fellow tribe member Eric Goldstein for leading me to this awesome mind mapper tool and sharing his expertise with mind mapping online. I hope you find this tip to be as valuable as I have. If so, be sure to pay it forward by clicking on the green Retweet button or sharing with others through the OnlyWire button on this page. Thanks!

ps – To easily access the mind map download, click here

OK, so being on board a cruise ship during a Santa Claus Vacation was really awesome. Apparently Santas from all over gather every January to unwind after a cold, busy December. And this year they just happened to be cruising on the same ship as us – how cool is that?

What made this special event even better, though, was the opportunity I was able to take advantage of.

Against my husband’s advice, who told me I’d never find a chair on the crowded  “adults only” Serenity deck, I strolled down to that special place in search of a little piece of heaven. Yes, every chair was taken but as I scoped out the situation I noticed a man getting up and gathering his belongings – SCORE! Law of attraction at work, without a doubt!

Anyways, I just happened to have my camera and flip videocam along with me and was delighted to realize that the large group of people hovering together in the center of the deck were taking pictures of a group of Santas that were enjoying the hot tub.

After marking my territory (the much coveted deck chair) by placing my belongings on it, I ventured over to the group with camera and video cam in hand, only to witness the joy of a Santa Claus vacation sing-along. Complete with a frolicking “trop rock” group and cookies and milk, this scene is sure to bring a smile to your face – whether you believe in Santa or not!

The morale of the story: it’s a wonderful thing to be at the right place at the right time, but it’s oh so much sweeter if you also happen to have the tools you need to make the best of every opportunity.

If you’re an online marketer and are searching for the tools you need to create amazing success in your business I invite you to check out my recommended resources page.

Oh, and please let me know if you’ve enjoyed my Santa Claus vacation video…thanks!

Part 3 of my Search Engine Ranking Improvement Series is devoted to giving you an HTML anchor tag tutorial.

If you haven’t done so, you’ll want to be sure to check out my previous posts in this series:

• Search Engine Ranking Improvement Part 1 – Keywords
• Search Engine Ranking Improvement Part 2 – Backlinks
  

An HTML anchor tag is simply a link that you place within your site to link to another page on your site or to a specific area on the same page. Anchor tags help with search engine optimization in several regards:

• They enable search engine spiders to easily move throughout your site; the more anchor tags the better

• They identify a common theme throughout your site; very important for search engine optimization

• They help to improve keyword density

HTML Anchor Tag to A Different Page

These anchor tags are not only helpful for search engine ranking improvement, but also help your visitors to easily find information that will be useful to them. And, when they remain on your site longer and visit additional pages this also sends a very positive message to the search engines and will help increase your rankings.

Examples of using the HTML anchor tag feature can be found at the top of this post, where I’ve provided links to additional posts in my Search Engine Ranking Improvement series.

The code for anchor tags that point to a different page within your site is the same that you would use to link to a page outside of your site:

<a href=”http://www.yoursiteurl.com/pagename”>Name of Your Page</a>

For best search engine optimization, be sure to use the keywords you’re ranking for within the link itself (this should have been done when you named the page you’re linking to), as well as in the text that the HTML anchor tag will display as the link, i.e., Name of Your Page.

HTML Anchor Tag to Text Within the Same Page

These anchor tags are used to direct your visitors to a specific section of the page they’re reading. Again, use your main keywords in the HTML anchor tag for maximum search engine ranking improvement.

These anchor tags require 2 separate lines of code, one that identifies the location that you want to bring your visitor to, and one that provides the text link. Examples can be found on this page, where I included an HTML anchor tag to bring you to each of the different subsections of this tutorial.

When you click on the text link that reads “specific area on the same page” your browser window will drop down to this section. As discussed above, I’ve utilized 2 sections of code to create this desired effect:

• Create the HTML anchor tag
  
  Anchor tags identify the section of your document that you want the browser window to jump to when your visitor clicks on the text link. In this example, I wanted my text link to bring readers to this section of the page. In order to do so, I created and named the tag “html anchor tag same”, and placed the appropriate code around the section header. My exact code looks like this:
  

  <a name=”html anchor tag same”>HTML Anchor Tag to Text Within the Same Page</a>
  

• Create the text link
  
  The text link contains the word or phrase that the reader will click on, and contains an HTML tag that identifies the anchor tag that the reader will be directed to when he or she clicks on the link. The code I used is:
  
  <a href=”#html anchor tag same”>specific area on the same page</a>
  
  

In this example, you’ll notice that I’ve used my main keyword, HTML anchor tag, as the tag identifier – giving my page a little bit of extra help in terms of search engine ranking improvement. Once the anchor tag was set up, I simply added the # sign before the tag name that I assigned, to direct the text link to use the anchor tag.

And that, my friends, is one of the elements of proper search engine optimization. A little help here, a little help there – many different strategies that when woven together can create SEO magic.

In part 2 of my search engine ranking improvement series we’re going to be discussing backlinks. If you haven’t read part 1 of the series I encourage you to click on this link to do so before jumping into this post.

There are many methods of obtaining free website traffic which when combined can drastically improve your Google website ranking. I recommend that you perform a series of actions every time you post a new blog entry or web page.

This strategy will not only help you to advertise web site posts and drive traffic to your site, but it will also help with search engine ranking improvement.  The search engines look very favorably on sites that have many other sites that link back to them, so the strategy I suggest is to use a variety of sources to build backlinks to your site.

• EZine Articles

  Ezinearticles.com is a free article directory that is very highly rated and has a great deal of daily traffic. It rates number 57 in the United States of all websites worldwide, and is known as an authority site.

  The technique that I use is to submit an Ezine article that compliments each new blog post I produce. I use the same keywords, but always mix up the content. Duplicating web content is frowned upon and will never help search engine ranking improvement.

  This is such an important, profitable strategy that I’ve devoted an entire post to the subject. Check it out here.

• YouTube

  YouTube is the fourth most popular website on the Internet, and is an excellent source for driving traffic to your site and providing backlinks, which will help with search engine ranking improvement.

  Once you’ve posted a video, be sure to add a link to your website in the Description box, include quality keywords, and add the video to your blog or website.

• Commenting on Popular Blogs

  If you take a look at the Comments section under this post, you’ll notice a “CommentLuv” image below the Submit Comment button. Many popular blogs are built with this feature, which helps both the commenter and the blog author.

  Every time you submit a comment on a blog that contains this plugin and enter your name, email, and URL, CommentLuv will automatically search for your latest blog post and add a link below your comment. Not only does this give you a free, high quality backlink to your site, but it also has the potential to drive traffic.

  Always be sure to read the post that you’re commenting on, and offer thought provoking comments.

• Link Exchange Programs

  Link exchange programs can help boost your Google website ranking, as long as you follow some important guidelines.

  The first thing to realize is that link exchange pages, sometimes referred to as “link farms”, will not help with search engine ranking improvement. These are typically pages that contain many links but no valuable content, and they are frowned on by the search engines.

  The best link exchange programs offer backlinks to information that is relevant to the linking site’s content. The more popular the originating site is, the more beneficial the backlink will be.

  One way links (site A has a link to site B, but site B does not have a link to site A) are more advantageous than two way links (both sites link to each other), so the best theory is to find a link exchange partner who is willing to offer you a one way link.

  You might consider thinking out of the box and forming a link exchange partner co-op, where site A links to site B, which links to site C, which links to site A…

• Site Directories
  
  Directories provide a simple, free source of backlinks to your site. The most popular directory is DMOZ.

• Participating in Forums
  
  Looking for backlinks that can drive very targeted traffic back to your site? Forums are a great source. Just get involved in conversations that are relevant to your niche, and use the signature box to add links to your site.
  Self promotion and spamming are not allowed here, so be sure to offer valuable information, insights, etc, and limit the advertising to the signature line.

• Social Media Sites
  Links from social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter , and Squidoo can greatly enhance search engine ranking improvement.  Google loves these sites!
  

• Social Bookmarking Sites
  
  These sites (the most popular of which are delicious and digg) contain tons of great articles that users can bookmark on their computers. You can submit your own content to social bookmarking sites, but an even more effective technique is to have it submitted by another user. This might be a good time to find a  link exchange partner, who will submit your content in exchange for your submission of his or her content.

When you combine many or all of these ideas together, search engine ranking improvement can be accomplished easily and for free. The keys are to take a systematic approach and provide quality content on a consistent basis.

If you’ve found this post to be helpful I would appreciate your comments, retweets, or social bookmarking submissions. Spread the love and it will come back to you tenfold!