Promote ANYTHING Online

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Today, I’ll talk about a system I used and one I’ve started using. Both were quite handy for maintaining focus and managing time more effectively, but in different ways.

The first (more…)

Like I said in my last post, there’s loads of online tools. Of course, I can only vouch or not vouch for those I’ve used myself. One I’ve probably used the most is Simpleology.

It’s not just a cool name, it’s a very usable tool with some very unique features. (more…)

There’s possibly dozens upon dozens of online tools and resources too numerous to mention for peak productivity, maximum time management and fearsome focus.

There’s also a pretty good OFFline tool that’s worked for quite a few over quite a few years. It’s called a pen and paper.

From Ben Franklin’s famous pros and cons decision making process to mindmapping techniques now being taught to kindergarteners, the pen (or a handful of markers) when coupled with an ordinary piece of paper has proven itself one heck of a sword against the dragons of time, effort and distraction.

Personally, I’m a big fan of a three-tool approach – one black pen, one red marker and one or more sheets of plain white paper, preferably mounted on a clipboard. Maybe that’s FOUR tools. A legal pad is fine too.

I write what I intend to do that day on the paper with the black pen. Writing down too many things will scare the dickens out of you and then you won’t want to do anything on the list.  Three to five items is manageable.

Prevailing wisdom claims that listing the toughest and/or least enjoyable task first with the purpose of tackling it first will make every other item seem like cake, because you did the worst first.

I say do that if you can. If nothing else, it’s worth a real try. I’ve discovered that I still balk at doing the toughest task at the top of the list, but I know that if I don’t do it then or by the end of the day, it’ll be carried over to the next day anyway. After seeing it for a few days, it gets done even if mostly out of a sense of shame than anything else.

Now the best part…the red marker. When you finish a task on your three to five task list, resist the natural urge to scribble or cross it out with your black pen. Reach instead for that red marker.

There must be a scientific study or two somewhere about the benefits of this technique, but here’s how it goes. Pop the cap off your red marker and make one strong straight line all the way across the task you’ve written on your list. Don’t scribble and don’t be dainty. Draw it like you mean it.

(If you’ve got a nice broad-tipped red marker, so much the better!)

Doing that will produce the most “DONE” feeling you’ve ever experienced, aside from collapsing after that marathon ten years ago. Both you and your brain now know for a fact that you have completed that task and it felt good. Really good. Good enough to make you want to do it again. You and your brain also know that the feeling will only happen again if you actually complete another task and then do it.

Another benefit is that you and your brain will feel increasing amounts of that “DONE” feeling as you mark off each new item.

Want to keep that feeling going? Save those daily sheets with those beautiful red lines through those completed tasks for at least a week and even a month or more. That’s solid visual proof that you did something on the way to reach your goals.

Your habit of DOING will grow stronger every day!

Sometimes it’s like being the target of an old Three Stooges routine when you’re wrestling with focus, productivity and time management.

Image from Wikipedia

I’m currently looking at getting my act a little more together, especially now when I’m also looking at shorter and fewer work days in the near future (and not always by my choice).

During this week, I’ll tell you about different things I’ve tried, some I may have just heard about and (more…)

I’ve been active on different niche forums for a while and have successfully made sales from forum marketing efforts. I know it works and you can see how by downloading the first lesson of Promote ANYTHING Online: Your Online Marketing Action Plan. That’s all, just download it. It’ll cost you absolutely zip!

Because I do know this firsthand, it really, really saddens me to see people do it so very WRONG. I’m long since past getting ticked off about these things, but it does bum me out. (more…)

While we’ve been talking social networking so far, you may have wondered how you attract more of the kind of followers you want effectively in terms of time and money.

A friend of mine literally stumbled across a way to do so. After it worked for him, he created The Twitter Technique that uses just three totally free Twitter applications you can apply in under half an hour to increase your follower base AND maintain its quality.

Easy is good, quick is good, but effective is even better.

In the wonderful world of social networking, there’s your followers and those you’re following. That’s what they’re called on Twitter, but they’re known as friends on Facebook (or fans if you set up separate pages outside your main profile). There’s more names than that, but it all comes down to those you’re watching and those who are watching you.

Having lots of followers and following lots yourself must be the way to go, right? After all, it’s SOCIAL networking, so you should connect with as many people as possible…shouldn’t you??

Only if the thought of completely losing your mind appeals to you.

Those you follow are preferably those from whom you most want to receive a particular benefit: education on a topic of their expertise or entertainment most often. You may want to follow people with similar likes and interests as your own. You DON’T want to follow any others with either no benefit or nothing much in common: they’ll just became very uninteresting or annoying in short order and you’ll have to take the time to unfollow them. Usually that’s easy, but why spend time doing somthing like that if you choose wisely at the outset?

Size, literally, doesn’t matter in terms of how many people follow you. The more important issue is that they are engaged and interested in you and what you offer to them. People who care are more apt to pay some attention to you and your messages and interact meaningfully.

Don’t worry about building a huge following on social networking sites. Concern yourself more with developing a binding relationship with those who chose to follow you as well as those you choose to follow.

Make your motto “Quality before quantity” and your social networking efforts will be much more rewarding for everyone involved!

Everywhere, it seems, you hear or read about social networking sites that are all the rage online: places like Facebook and Twitter.

We’ll be discussing social networking sites like these and what they mean for you and your business over the next week.

Speaking of Twitter, I’ll be speaking with my buddy Alan Petersen about how I used Twitter myself for my most recent fundraiser for autism research, which resulted in a threefold increase in regular donations and one very welcome surprise.

It’ll be part of a product he has in the works about using Twitter effectively. If I can charm a copy of my interview from him, you’ll see it here soon!

Here’s a video with a lighter look at Twitter in particular:

I hope the I Am An Article series has been helpful, informative and most especially inspirational.

It’s inspiration and creativity alone that brought many of these methods to life. (more…)

Today marks the end of the I Am An Article series about repurposing article content. According to Jeff Herring, there’s 21 ways to do so.

Sadly, I only managed to find and list a mere 20. Please accept my humblest apologies.

BUT… (more…)