–> Remember, these posts are better with your involvement, so please share your thoughts in the comments.

Every year, I share my latest method for making sure that summer is productive for me and for my kids. The kids are home. I have to get some work done, although I typically only work an hour or two each day during the summer. Still I don't want to be constantly interrupted or feel like the house is falling apart while I'm on the computer, right? That's not exactly a great boost to your creativity or productivity.

My kiddos are now 13 (daughter) and 18 (son), so things have sure changed in the many years that I've been sharing our summer plans, but this is the general system that we’ve been using since they were each toddlers. Why? Because it’s the closest thing to sanity that I can come up with here.

We have a daily checklist that the kids must complete before the TV goes on, the computer goes on, phones come out, or any game systems get turned on. They also must complete their daily list before friends are allowed in the house. I found that, if I left the time limit open, that the lists wouldn’t get done. However, if they know they can work through their tasks faster and be free of my tyranny – they work through it better. Of course, it is flexible if we make fun plans or if they have some sort of camp or we're traveling. This is just the day to day schedule.

Here’s their list that I posted four years ago when the kiddos were 9 and 14. It’s changed quite a bit since then as you'll see in a bit as they've gotten older. You can click on it to view it in pdf format.

I printed it out weekly and they just checked off the days as they went through them. If everything got done during the week, they earned bonuses.

For instance, my son has a Gamefly account. He keeps it as long as the backyard is cleaned up daily. If there is an issue, he gets downgraded from 2 games/month to 1 and then to zero. It really never becomes an issue. He’s really very self-motivated when he knows the rules. My daughter on the other hand… is a bit more stubborn.

Why were these systems so important to me when the kids were younger?

1. The kids knew what the expectations were in advance. They were better equipped to succeed and we were less likely to fight.
2. My husband and I were on the same page, because the rules were in black and white. (Again, less of a chance for misunderstandings.)
3. I didn't spend the days chasing the kids around saying “Did you brush your teeth?” or “Have you cleaned up the backyard?” I looked at their chart and it was right there in front of me.
4. It taught the kids that habits are important. And, that a family works on routine. And that running a home is a group effort. All good stuff.

So how has this changed over the years?

1. Now that the kids are older they have better habits. They brush their teeth on their own now and don't need to be reminded.
2. I want them to be their most awesome selves and I know that the days are long but the summer is short so if we don't plan and set goals at the beginning of summer, then we'll blink and have wasted an amazing opportunity to get more awesome.
3. My daughter will be going into Algebra in 8th grade and will be in a lot of honors classes. My son is going into the honors program in college. I want to do as much as I can this summer to help them to grow in a variety of ways to learn new skills and to sharpen their existing ones so that when life gets crazy again in the fall, they'll hopefully be a bit ahead of the game and won't have to be as stressed.
4. I still need to work a little bit during summer — even with a houseful of kids and friends over.

Here's what I've come up with…

The daily lists for the kiddos are now more about their own personal growth and their responsibility to the family this summer. As I said, they're old enough to remember to take their vitamins and brush their teeth. But I do want to help encourage them to become their best selves.

On that note, here's what I've come up with.

• 13 Year Old Daughter's Summer List (pdf)
• 18 Year Old Son's Summer List (pdf)

As you can see, my daughter is going to be working on her Algebra a bit this summer on Khan Academy while my son will be refreshing his calculus (since he's majoring in Physics, and he is expected to have his skills polished going into the fall). He also will be going through codecademy.com as he wants to learn to code and do some work for me.

My daughter is also taking a few classes through Florida Virtual School. She's taking Guitar and hopefully PhyEd, too. She wants to take  their photography course, too, but that might have to wait until next summer.

One last tip for battling the crazy. 

I've also added a sheet of House and Pool Rules to the front door so that all neighbor kids and friends know the rules without me having to go over them or deal with messes after the fact. Less stress for me, less misunderstandings, and I get to relax and enjoy the kids more.

• Dean Summer Rules (pdf)

Is it perfect?

By no means. But it does help me to get on the computer, do my work and more importantly get OFF the computer. It also helps me to have less stress, the house to be quieter and happier overall, and for me to feel like a better mom than I would if I was running around after everyone all summer.

I hope this gives you some ideas to make your summer run smoother too.

Warmly,
Nicole Dean

PS. What books would you recommend all teens read for personal success and growth? Help me add to our list:

• 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens

PS again.  Another way to survive summer when you're not able to work as much as you'd like is to use PLR to help you to get your content written easier. Too subtle? lol. Click here for some that's running low and on sale.

This week I asked our panel of experts…

“What tools do you use to backup your business, including your docs, sites, etc.”

I think you'll find the responses interesting.

Rachel Rofe of Work Less to Live More says:

I'm pretty low maintenance.

Ever since my computer got stolen (and didn't get backed up properly!) a few years ago, I've just been putting EVERYTHING onto Dropbox. I can access everything super-easily that way, and I don't worry about what happens if another computer gets stolen. It's all right in there.

Lynette Chandler of Tech Based Marketing says:

For websites that run 100% on WordPress and have nothing else on them, I use the BackupBuddy plugin. I have it save to Amazon S3 so it is off site and can be retrieved even when the server is down.

For mission critical sites where the shopping cart is on, where there are non-WordPress systems like forums or static HTML pages, I use AutoSiteSaver. This is a solution we created that will grab everything there is to grab on a cPanel account.

Most WordPress plugins only get WordPress. While BackupBuddy can get non-WordPress stuff, I run into strange issues with it on occasion. That's when we run AutoSiteSaver. On top of that, AutoSiteSaver also gets your emails. So if you use an email address that runs on your domain and save them there, it grabs them too.

Another thing that is often a pain with plugins, you have to log into each WordPress site to set up and manage your backup. Even with systems like ManageWP you have to install the plugin on each site first. Depending what I'm doing, I often find backing up multiple sites on AutoSiteSaver much easier.

Here's why. If you have a reseller account and above, you will get access to something known as a WHM. In our system, all you need to do is enter the WHM credentials one time and it will grab every single site on that account. From there, I can choose to backup all, or not backup some.

It also saves all your backups to our system so you can access them when your own host is offline as well. That is important to us. Of course, you can also download those backups anytime to store where you want.

When it comes to my computers. I run BackBlaze for continuous offsite backup. As a safety net, I also use Time Machine. Then, there is AeroFS.

Aero is not a backup solution but it can be handy when one computer goes down unexpected. It is more like a personal Dropbox. It doesn't store your files but it will sync between computers. You can get started for free and because there is no data storage involved, you never have to worry about that.

Kelly McCausey of Solo Smarts Podcast says:

I've been a Carbonite subscriber for a couple of years now. It backs up all of the files on my computer every night. What a lovely peace of mind that gives me!

I'm using Backup Buddy on my WordPress sites. I have it configured to send backups to my Amazon hosting account so if my hosting server crashes, I'm not too far from being back up and running.

I still have to do manual back ups of things like my Amember and member forum database – which is surely the most important thing! This reminds me to contact my smart tech partner about how to automate that.

Lynn Terry of Niche Success Blueprints says:

I'm a big fan of off-site backups that are automated. While I use solutions that are not, such as manually backing up source files to Dropbox, or an external hard drive, my primary sources are both automated AND off-site. In a worst case scenario, such as a flood or fire, you'll lose any devices (and files) stored in your home or office. And when it comes to manually backing up files, well… we've all experienced that moment of shock and (oops!) regret, right? Not fun!

I've been using Mozy for years to do automated backups, and it works great. I always say the real test is in the “restore” – and I've had to restore files from Mozy a number of times over the years. It was a total breeze. In a worst case scenario you could grab a new laptop, log in to Mozy, restore all your files and be back in business in short time. Definitely recommended.

That said, I now work across a variety of computers and devices – Macbook, PC, Android phone, iPad tablet, etc. Almost everything I do now is based in Evernote, which is a free “app” that is cross compatible. I have it installed on every computer/device and it automatically syncs between them all and is also always backed up.

I use Evernote to create products, for example. So I can move between devices, editing or adding notes/ideas, or working on the project. I may be sitting at my desk on my PC in the morning, grab my laptop and work from the deck in the afternoon, think of an idea while I'm out & about and add it from my mobile, etc.

Last year when my Macbook hard drive crashed, I was right in the middle of several big projects. Fortunately all of the sources files and notes were in Evernote, so I didn't miss a beat while it was off getting repaired. I simply logged into Evernote and everything was right there where I left it.

It's free, it's cross compatible, it syncs automatically – it's perfect!

I use it for everything from my task list, grocery list, goals & ideas… to writing my info products and webinar outlines.

Tony Shepherd of ‘Inside My Five Figures A Month IM Business‘  says:

Hi Guys,

I'm slightly nutty about backups since losing some sites in a hack attack several years back.

I'd (stupidly) assumed that they would have a backup of my sites.

Nope turns out they didn't

It was MY responsibility to back them up and one of the most important lessons I learned – take responsibility for EVERY aspect of your business.

So my my backup runs like this:

1. Main sites backed up weekly by my PA. She sends one copy to me and keeps another in a secure HD that I bought for her at her house too (not good to back up everything to one place) and another copy to cloud storage too

So that's my main sites and blog, niche sites, membership areas and sites from other businesses.

2. I back up my main content (newsletters, courses etc) once a month in the same way.

3. My lists from all the autoresponders I use are backed up every Monday, again one to me, one to my PA and one to cloud.

4. I do a BIG backup of what I'd call ‘everything I need' twice a year. I do this myself, manually and it takes a full day to complete including the next night too, for everything to download and copy. This 24 hour period usually involves at least one bottle of wine and takeout food being delivered more than once as I lock myself in my work room.

Strangely enough I find this really productive because it gets me back in touch with products, sites and content that maybe I'd neglected of even forgotten about and can re-market AND while I'm waiting for uploads and downlaods I watch all the traiing vids and stuff that I never seem to get around to on a normal week.

The backup from this goes to my HD at home and I store another copy at my mum's house. I can't stress how important it is to store a copy AWAY from where you work. If (God forbid) there was a fire at your home or office you'd lose everything if you stored your backups there too. Think cloud and physical storage AWAY from where you work, at the home or workplace of someone you trust.

I also have a personal folder on these external drives for photographs and videos of family life etc that I need to keep safe too. In terms of Software I don't really use any. I put procedures in place so my PA knows what to download and how.

I don't have much faith in software that puts it's own extensions on my files and then restores them itself. I prefer to grab HTML files and folders that I know how to work with and can just FTP right back into place should I need to

It takes longer and it costs me more in terms of employee hours, but I feel safer and it;s an area of business you really can't afford to scrimp on.

Alice Seba of The 30 Day List Challenge says:

I use SugarSync to back up all my files and my site back ups are handled through a service.

For my file back ups, SugarSync automatically backs up all my files within minutes of my creating them, so I don't have to remember to do anything. If I create a new folder, SugarSync will also back that up…I don't have to tell the software which folders to back up. Files can also be uploaded and synced via email.

What I really love about SugarSync is how easy it makes collaboration. I can give my assistants access to the folders and files they need and when they update them, the changes are automatically saved to my computer. I can also set it to have people view the files only, so they can't make any changes or I can share certain files or folders publicly (with an option password) if I prefer and they don't need a SugarSync account to access it. I have complete control over who can do what.

Much like other services like Dropbox, I can access all my files from my iPhone, iPad and pretty much anywhere I go. That means I can leave the laptop at home and still get stuff done on the go.

I don't just consider SugarSync a back up tool, but a productivity tool as well.

Shannon Cherry of Learn How I Get *Paid* to Attend Events says:

If there is one thing that always surprises me, is when a client says they have no backup plan. After all, if you work online, your assets need be secured… and as current as possible.

Let me give you a recent example why it's so important to backup. Last week, a client's website got infected with BaDoink! a security issue that redirects Apple devices that are viewing your website to a porn site. (We like mobile friendly, but not THAT friendly, right?!?) She contacted me in a panic. Previously, my site was infected but because I have automated backups, it was easy to go back to where the code was not tampered with, then fix the ‘leak' so it would not happen again. When I explained this to her, she began to cry, because she had not ever backed up, and her host didn't do it either. Basically she had to hire a security expert to remove the porn code and then remove the leak. A very costly mistake. However, I've heard of much worse scenarios.

There's a lot you can do to protect yourself when it comes to backing up.

1) Consider a webhost that does automatic backups. Just remember that that is a stop-gap. The best backup plans are the ones you do yourself.

2) Dropbox is my BBF (best backup friend). Everything is on it in the cloud, including all my files from websites, my computers, tablets and iphone. Since it does it automatically, I don't worry have to worry about it!

3) Speaking of websites, if you are using wordpress, I recommend backup buddy. It backs up your site automatically and you have a choice where the backup will be housed (for me Dropbox an on my webhost server). I purposely create this backup 3-4 days after my webhost's weekly backup.

4) Don't forget your lists! Aweber is my email service and I have a backup (essentially a file created by aweber) weekly. Again, this is saved to Dropbox.

Nicole Dean of .. here! .. says:

Wow! As usual, I got tons of great information. Thanks everyone.

I definitely agree that you should backup your documents, your pictures (including your family photos), your websites, and every other part of your business in an offsite location.

Having been through floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, and lightning strikes in my 40 years, I'm kind of realistic about how stuff can happen when you least expect it.

However, if everything you just read went completely over your head, you may be interested in my 20+ page guide that walks you through the hows and whys and includes printable checklist to put together an Emergency manual for your business, too.

If you'd like more info, check it out here (BUT DON'T BUY IT):

For a better deal, grab a copy of my course BlogCPR
which will help you to make blogging easier
and you'll now get a copy of the “Avoid Disaster” ebook free.

Warmly,
Nicole Dean

PS. Please support my friends who contributed their vast knowledge in this post:

• Rachel Rofe can teach you to -> Work Less to Live More
• Lynette Chandler is a whizz at-> Tech Based Marketing
• Kelly McCausey talks to Solopreneurs on her -> Solo Smarts Podcast
• Lynn Terry is a Super Affiliate who knows how to create Niche sites in her sleep. She's revealing her -> Niche Success Blueprints
• Tony Shepherd is a hilarious, smart do-er who takes you -> ‘Inside My Five Figures A Month IM Business‘
• Alice Seba wants to help you with -> The 30 Day List Challenge
• Shannon Cherry loves to -> Get *Paid* to Attend Events

This week I asked our panel of experts…

“About” pages. What is your #1 tip for a great ‘About' page on your websites?”

I think you'll find the responses interesting.

Kristen Eckstein of Get Published on Kindle in 30 Days says:

A PR expert once told me to sprinkle testimonials throughout my lengthy bio on my About Page. I did that by taking screen shots of social proof and inserting those throughout. I've gotten many compliments from people who decided to hire my team because I was gently guiding them through why they should hire me.

In addition, I recently added a super fun graphic as my headshot on the page.

I got the idea partially from the word clouds that used to be so popular on websites and my VA, Natalie Collins, who was playing around with adding words to her photos. I created a really fun graphic that captures exactly what I'm all about in a way that draws visitors in and makes them stay longer, then of course, want to get to know me better.

What I've learned is an About Page should never be stuffy, unless that's the market you're trying to reach. Being myself on my About Page, even when it was sometimes against the better judgement of some critics, has helped me build my business in the way I want and attract the types of clients I want to establish a long working relationship with.

Lynn Terry of How to Get Social Marketing Results in Just Minutes a Day says:

I'll make this short & sweet. My top tip for your About page is to make sure you include a call-to-action on that page! Put yourself in the shoes of your visitor. Click on your own About page and read it. Now – what should you do next? What do you _want_ your visitor to do next, after reading this page?

Make sure that “next best click” is very clear and super obvious!

Tiffany Dow of Work Life Balance says:

My #1 tip for an About page is to weed out your non-audience by being highly transparent. I like an About page that uses first person, not something that reads like a sterile biography someone else created, such as, “Tiffany graduated from…” Boring!

I love to use a combination of video and text. Video is GREAT for an About page because it helps people get a feel for your personality better than plain words on a screen.

When I create my About pages, I don’t just talk about what I offer – I talk about what I don’t, or why the visitor may NOT like me. Why do I do that? Two reasons.

First, it helps those who will get offended by me leave early so we don’t have to end up arguing about anything. Second, it helps those who like my style instantly appreciate that I’m going to be myself – and not phony.

On one of my About pages, I specifically tell them upfront “I’m motivating for many people and offensive to a handful.” I tell them I’m blunt.

Tell people what you’re like in terms of teaching – what do you share, why do you do it, and how? Give them a reason to love or hate you – but most of all, avoid being boring and middle of the road. Nobody is attracted to that.

Lou Bortone of Video in a Day says:

I think “about” pages represent a huge opportunity for business owners, but I also think many people miss the boat on this opportunity. An about page is a chance to show off your personality, and give prospects and partners a better sense of what you're all about. An about page is also the perfect place for an “about me” video to show off your skills and connect with your web visitors. My tip for entrepreneurs is to make the most of your about page, and don't settle for the typical (boring) bio and head shot.

I have a ‘one page' website, so my opt-in video doubles as my about video, but I also use a pretty cool LeadPage template that serves as a “bio” page.

Alice Seba of The 30 Day List Challenge says:

Even though an about page is about “Me” or “Us”, it's like any other marketing piece you put together. It has to be about the reader. So while you may be singing your praises and giving some more insight into who you are, you have to show how this benefits your audience. The goal of your about page should be to show your visitor why they should pay attention to you and stick around to learn more.

I cover this in our Persuasive Writing Course and here is an excerpt from that course:

—- START EXCERPT —-

If people are thinking about doing business with you, they’ll often look at your About Me page. They want to know who they’re dealing with and if you’re qualified to help them with what they need. If you don’t have an about me page…make one. If you do have one…let’s see if we can make it better.

Start with a headline other than “About Me” – what can you do for your visitor? What’s in it for them?

Focus on your reader and not you. Obviously, you’re still going to talk about your qualifications and experience, but you’re going to relate that to your reader. So if you have a degree or background in an area, you’re going to show why that matters to them.

For example, “With 20 years experience as a personal chef focusing on healthy foods and promoting weight loss in my clients, I’ve brought together some of my favourite recipes and approaches to meal planning, so you can follow your own path to nutrition and optimal health.”

Include a call-to-action. Where should they go next? I’d recommend sending them to an opt-in offer. Something they can get for free to get to know you better before they buy anything…but they also get on your list, so you can email them some more.

A lot of About Me pages are in the third person and I think that can work, but personally, I think it’s a bit dull and puts a space between you and your visitor. Speak in the first person and use words like “we” and “I” and more importantly, use the word “you.”

In most cases, you can have fun with it…share your own opinions and personal philosophies. Show your personality and let them get a great sense of what you’re all about and why they should stick around for more.

—- END EXCERPT —-

Sorry, I think that was more than one tip, but they all fall under the main idea of showing your readers what they want to know.

Connie Ragen Green of Affiliate Marketing Case Studies says:

My best tip for an effective and memorable ‘About' page is to always think of it as a work in progress. I like to share a little about how I came to be an online entrepreneur, but I also include up to date information and details about where I will be speaking, my latest published book, and other activities I am involved in. We are so much more than what we do in our businesses, and readers want to know more about our activities away from the computer.

I recommend setting up your ‘About' page with a picture that really looks like you, along with a couple of paragraphs that explain something about your background. Keep it light and informative. Don't let your page get bogged down with details of a job you had during the 1980s! Use this as a starting point to share as much or as little as you are comfortable with to the people who are interested in getting to know you better. I have two main sites and strive to keep both of my ‘About' pages current and interesting.

Kelly McCausey of Solo Smarts Podcast says:

Whenever some great web content grabs my attention, I jump over to the site's About Page to learn more about the site and the author. Knowing I do that, I'm pretty sure lots of others do it too, so I've taken time to keep my own About Page updated. I want to make sure it's ready to represent me when someone comes to learn more about Solo Smarts and me.

I've decided to keep the opening focus of my About Page on how I got started in an online business. I'm trusting that many of my About Page readers are new and seeking hope and resources. By sharing how I started small and found success, I'm trying to make a connection.

After my opening, I share a testimonial from a customer. I change this out every so often.

Then, I move into sharing links that I'm proud of under these headings:

• Kelly is Hosting Events: (Beachpreneurs, Exposure & Profit)
• Kelly is Speaking: (Live in person events)
• Kelly is Guest Blogging
• Kelly is Featured

It might seem odd to link out to other sites from my About Page, but I see it as opportunity to show social proof that other smart marketers think I'm smart.

Finally, I invite my readers to curate me. I link to articles and videos they're welcome to take and republish on their own sites and encourage them to do so with an affiliate link back to my site. I'm planning to plump up this area of the page with fresh content that promotes my new courses. Curation is a popular practice these days and I want to make sure my community realizes how easy it is to curate me for profit.

P.S. You can learn more about curation from my course, Smart Curation Skills.

Shannon Cherry of Learn How I Get *Paid* to Attend Events says:

I hate most ‘About' pages. Why?

Too many people use it to brag, when an about page is clearly a selling tool.

You see, you should have different about pages that target different audiences. It is impossible that one size can fit all your audiences' needs. If you are a coach, for instance, you should have an about page for your potential clients. It should tell them why they should hire you. But if you also speak, your about page should be geared to those who are looking for a speaker. And if you want media coverage? It needs to show a journalist you have got the right stuff to be interviewed.

For example, here is my about page for my blog.

And here is my info directed at event hosts and those who hire speakers.

Do you see how they focus on the audience needs?

Also, did you see that the bios I shared have separate calls to action? After all, this is a selling tool, so you need to work it!

The bottom line is to remember: it's not about you, it's about the audience.

Yes, some of the information will overlap. But if you have focused on the AUDIENCE's needs, you are more likely to get the response you want.

Nicole Dean of .. here! .. says:

One of my goals for this week was to polish up my “About page” on this site. Mission accomplished – although I know it could use another bit of elbow grease to be even better. Hence the reason for asking this week's question.

Here's what I've come up with as of today..

The intro with my main goal for anyone coming to my sites, buying my products, or hiring me as their coach.

I then lead into my Official Bio to show off my mad skillz. 

Then I go directly into the “here's me in real life” pics, like this one:

And on to… 

Where I’ll Be Speaking Next:

• NAMS- Atlanta

Events I’m Hosting:

• Beachpreneurs Live – Daytona Beach
• Beachpreneurs Retreat– Pensacola Beach

Then some of my favorite testimonials that I've gathered over the years – 

A way to connect with me on Social Media – 

Connect with me here:

And I finished with the most important part…

All of the above is important to me, but this is my “Why”:

I'm thinking I'll switch things around a bit, but I'm already much happier with it than I was before.

What about you? Care to show off your “About” page or share someone's that you enjoyed reading? I'm all ears.

Talk soon.

Warmly,

Nicole Dean

PS. If you're interested in this topic, I wanted to tell you about a PLR package that we have at CoachGlue.com about “About Pages”.

It's called “From Lackluster to Blockbuster: Revamp Your ‘About' Page for Increased Credibility and Promotion” and it comes with the following:

* Report: From Lackluster to Blockbuster: Revamp Your “About” Page for Increased Credibility and Promotion (15-pages, 2983 words)
* 10 Checklists to help you revamp your “About” page

Note: This IS PLR. We just call it “Done for you Content” over there.

And, the price can not be beat. Whether you plan on reading this and applying it or creating a coaching workshop around it, it's a steal.

Check it out here:  http://coachglue.com/coaching-content/revamp-your-about-page/

The checklists that you'll get include:

* Your Blockbuster About Page Call to Action
* Your Blockbuster About Page Checklist
* Your Blockbuster About Page Inspiration
* Your Blockbuster About Page Killer Headline Brainstorm
* Your Blockbuster About Page Links and Resources
* Your Blockbuster About Page Opt-In Offer
* Your Blockbuster About Page Social Media List
* Anatomy of an About Page Testimonial
* About Page Video Script
* Your Blockbuster About Page Vision

Here's that link again: http://coachglue.com/coaching-content/revamp-your-about-page/

This week I asked our panel of experts…

“Working at home with kids (summer time). If you have kids at home – how do you manage your home during the summer to actually get work done?”

I think you'll find the responses interesting.

Lynn Terry of Get Social Marketing Results in Just Minutes a Day says:

My youngest child just graduated high school. I've been working from home for more than 17 years though, and started my first business when my two children were just 5 months and 5 years old.

My daughter (the youngest) was on my hip or in my lap through much of that first year. When it comes to babies, you'll do best to work with their schedule. Work or rest when they're sleeping (your rest is important too, Mom!) and learn how to type one-handed.

With older children, I found two things worked really well for me. The first is the “if/then statement” such as “If you clean your room(s), then we'll go to the pool.” It's very simple but very effective. This only works if you always stand by it, meaning you only do your “then” after they do their “if” – and you always move to the “then” after they've completed what you asked. It can't be something abstract like “if you're good” but rather something tangible and measurable. Works like a charm!

When my children were younger, I woke up earlier than them by a couple of hours to knock out my priority tasks for the day. That gave me a lot more free time with them to get out and do things during the day. I often made up for those hours with an afternoon nap, while they also had some downtime reading or watching a movie.

Of course there are times you need to work, and that's where the second tip comes in: I used an egg timer. While there are many programs and apps that do this now, nothing beats an old fashioned egg timer sitting right on your desk in plain sight. I believe my children were 5 and 10 years old when I first started using this method of “time management” and it worked beautifully!

When the kids would walk up to my desk to ask me a question (like “Where's the red ball?” or “Can we go to the park?” or – the questions are endless as you know, lol) I would simply say, “I have 23 minutes left on this work I'm doing, and then ___ (“we can discuss it” or “I'll help you find it” or whatever the case). After just a few days of this, they started waiting to ask questions until they heard the timer ding.

The key is to always be available after that “ding”. This accomplished two great things for me. It taught me to work in “time blocks” which forced me to focus on getting tasks done in a set amount of time, which I found much more efficient than “winging it.” And it also took all of the “heat” off of me – and put it on the egg timer. The children never asked “when this” and I never had to say “in a minute” (which is *never* just… a minute!) again. They simply looked at the timer, and waited for it to go off. It totally got me off the hook and made our lives SO much easier!

Working at home with young children is a challenge, but being a full time parent and having a successful career – under the same roof – is such a great thing! It's definitely worth it. Above all, clear communication is the best thing you can practice in your home. The if/then statement and the egg timer both worked well because they were clear and easy to understand. They also both really helped me to strike a good balance between being a good parent and running a business.

Tiffany Dow of  Work Life Balance says:

I have two kids at home this summer – a 9 and 14 year old. I also love to spend my summer working less, but oddly enough, I get more done. Might have something to do with not having 2 hour carpool treks anymore.

I try to relax about my schedule more during the summer. Some days, I work hard so we can play hard on other days. Some days are a mix. If I know we want to go swimming the next day, I will wake up early and get a bunch of work done by mid-morning (from 6-10 AM for example).

Then we’ll go swim, and come home around 3-4 o’clock. I might do a little more work that evening if necessary – or just relax. It’s important to have things for your kids to entertain themselves with.

My kids love arts and crafts and video gaming (my oldest runs a gaming blog). My youngest writes stories and uses stencils to create fashion stories.

If I invest in anything, it’s outings for the family (we recently went to an animal wildlife center and a wax museum) – or, toys for them to play with.

In the evenings, since we don’t have to wake up super early, I try to have family time every night – a movie, grilling out, and some chocolate fondue.

Summer is my favorite time – especially with my babies! We need to practice lots of self care and relaxation during these moments.

Alice Seba of The 30 Day List Challenge says:

I actually love summer because it's much more relaxed. I don't have to get up early to rush people off to school. There are no lunches to prepare ahead of time or homework to worry about. Still, keeping business running through summer does take some planning.

Here's what I do to get ready:

• Ramp up my outsourcing. I give more hours and responsibilities to my VAs, which not only helps free up my time, but usually increases my profitability at the same time.
• Work in batches. When I’m getting ready to go on vacation, I will write all my emails at once and schedule them. Then I’ll do blog posts. I find working through blog posts and checking off the items off a to-do list very motivating and I can get through everything quite quickly.
• Plan my distractions. I know I'm not going to work all week long, so I plan trips to the beach, for a hike or whatever I want to do ahead of time. Then I know how to plan the rest of my week accordingly.
• Bring my laptop. I know some people won’t do this and it requires some discipline, but it works if you can manage it, bring your laptop on vacation. I find bringing my laptop to catch up on about 15-30 minutes of well-defined tasks daily means that I can get away more often and I’m not running myself ragged trying to get everything done beforehand.

All in all, it's a balancing act of work, chaos and fun. Having a plan and help on hand means I can get through it with a smile on my face…at least most of the time.

Nicole Dean of .. here! .. says:

My kids are 12 and 17 but this is the system that we’ve been using since they were each toddlers. Why? Because it’s the closest thing to sanity that I can arrange here.

We have a daily checklist that the kids must complete before the TV goes on, the computer goes on, or any game systems get turned on. They also must complete their daily list before friends are allowed in the house.

I found that, if I left the time limit open, that the lists wouldn’t get done. However, if they know they can work through their tasks faster and be free of my tyranny – they work through it better.

Here’s their list that I posted three years ago. It’s pretty much the same today.You can click on it to view it in pdf format.

The other benefits are this…

1. The kids know what the expectations are in advance. They are better equipped to succeed.

2. My husband and I are on the same page, because the rules are in black and white.

3. I’m not chasing the kids around all day saying “Did you brush your teeth?” or “Have you cleaned up the backyard?” I look at their chart and it’s right there in front of me.

4. It teaches the kids that habits are important. And, that a family works on routine. All good stuff.

I print it out weekly and they just check off the days as they go through them. If everything gets done during the week, they earn bonuses.

For instance, my son has a Gamefly account. He keeps it as long as the backyard is cleaned up daily. If there is an issue, he gets downgraded from 2 games/month to 1 and then to zero. It really never becomes an issue. He’s really very self-motivated when he knows the rules. My daughter on the other hand… is a bit more of a battle.

My kids also take some classes through Florida Virtual School to which keeps them busy.  I challenged my son to work through Codecademy.com this summer (and he will receive a bonus if he does it on his own.)

Plus, they both have the opportunity to do some work for me in our business, but I’m not utilizing them enough yet.

Also during summer, I try to limit work to 1-2 hours per day – Monday-Friday. Some days, I work 10 minutes – just to quick check email for emergencies. Others are closer to 3 hours Am I letting some things drop? Yes. But, I’m finding that the important things, like getting a pedicure with my daughter – are getting done. And, it really helps me to sit down and FOCUS on projects and tasks that make me money.

Please share your tips. I’d love to hear them.

Warmly,
Nicole Dean

PS.  I’m working on a book about working from home. So stay tuned for that soon. 

Remember, if you want lots of posts like this, check out my friends:

Lynn Terry – Get Social Marketing Results in Just Minutes a Day
Tiffany Dow – Work Life Balance
Alice Seba – The 30 Day List Challenge

I was in the second hangout and there was a lot of great info discussed so I wanted to share it with you.

You can join us in Toronto next month through this link: Exposure and Profit

The smart people featured in the video are all attending Exposure and Profit and are Advisors and Speakers.

They include:

• Alice Seba
• David Perdew
• Justin Popovic
• Ronnie Nijmeh
• Dan Morris
• Derrall Eves

The only speaker who wasn't able to make it on this call was Connie Ragen Green. She was on the call the day before, though, so she wasn't slacking or anything.

I hope you enjoy the discussion. I did!

Warmly,
Nicole Dean

PS. If you enjoyed that and want to learn lots more about content marketing and also get a big hug from me, be at  Exposure & Profit, Toronto, Canada – Click here for Details.

If you’ve missed past Expert Briefs, you can click on the undies to see them all –>

This week I asked our panel of experts about a topic we hear discussed in the internet marketing world a lot…

One of the most difficult decisions in running an online business is choosing a shopping cart / payment processing system.

So, which one do you use to power your business?

Do you like it? Why or why not?

The funny thing is that I just returned from a weekend event hosted by JVZoo and no one mentioned them. I'll see if I can track down a few more responses to see if we get some feedback on their system, to be fair, as well.

Note:  There are no right or wrong answers here. Just perception and personal experience.

I hope that this week’s expert responses will be helpful in making this decision for your own business.

Dennis Becker of Earn1KaDay says:

I've used lots of shopping carts over the years, from a plain old PayPal button to Clickbank, PayDotCom, RAP (Rapid Action Profits), WSO Pro, a dime sale script that I installed on my own server, and Amember, and I wasn't totally happy with any of them.

I was always looking for a cart that would make affiliates love me, and one time when I promoted for Jason Fladlien, who used Infusionsoft, I did OK for the promotion but what intrigued me was a few weeks later I got paid for something I never heard of.

Holy moley! What's that all about? So I investigated and found out about cross platform tracking and “lifetime cookies” and said to myself “I got to have me some of that for my affiliates”.

In looking at it closer though, I noticed the price (ouch) and noticed that Jason didn't accept PayPal for some technical reason, so I looked further for something similar but better, and found Nanacast.

NanaCast

I use Nanacast now for virtually everything, and though it was not quite so intuitive to set up my first product there in the beginning, now I've got it down to a matter of a few minutes to add a new product, link in the upsells, attach the proper email list, link to the downloadable files (which are automatically secured), and create the buy button to put on my sales page.

I can and also do CPA type offers where I pay affiliates for sending people to download a free report or opt in to a list. I've used the split testing feature (not so great, but it's there) as well.

My affiliates seem to be very happy, especially when they get paid for products they've chosen for some reason not to promote.

I do also use DAP (Digital Access Pass) for a membership site because of the way it allows me to drip feed content, but I don't use the shopping cart or affiliate tracking features of it.

Learn and Earn from Dennis at 

Earn1KaDay 

Alice Seba of The 30 Day List Challenge says:

Over the years, I have tried a lot of different systems. Many people take so much time to decide on a shopping cart, but hold themselves back from getting started. The only way I was able to find out what I liked best was by trying a variety of options, so for anyone looking, I recommend just digging in and figuring it out as you go.

After all this time, I have settled in with Amember as my absolute favorite.

Amember

I like Amember for a few reasons:

* No monthly payment:

While I see the attraction in a 3rd party system that automatically does the software upgrades for you, I don't think the price of many of monthly payment shopping carts is really justified. Sure, profits can pay for this monthly fee, but if I can keep more of that profit back in my pocket, that's good for me.

* All-inclusive:

Amember includes my shopping cart, membership system, affiliate program and mailing lists…all in one place. I have always preferred all-inclusive systems because it allows me to segment lists and ensure better targeting with my market. It also avoids a lot of duplication if you happen to have your bits in pieces all over the place.

* Customization and control:

I love that I can control how Amember looks and functions. I've had a number of customizations developed that have allowed me to improve my email marketing, product delivery and more.

I know Amember isn't for everybody though. It is a little more complex than other systems and some people complain about the “extra steps” they have to do to set up a product. I have no problem with the extra steps because, ultimately, they are the things that allow me to have control over the way Amember functions.

Check out Alice's The 30 Day List Challenge 

Terry Dean of My Marketing Coach says:

I've tested and/or have direct experience with a lot of shopping cart systems including 1SC, Clickbank, Paypal, Amember, RAP, Infusionsoft, and others.

1ShoppingCart.

1ShoppingCart

The one I personally use is Netofficetoolbox.com which is a private label of 1shoppingcart. The reason I like it best is it integrates everything into one system including processing both credit cards and Paypal, your affiliate program, upsells, and more.

Since they've been around for years, they have had ups and downs. There were periods where their autoresponders couldn't get delivered and other points where they didn't integrate well with recurring billing on membership software like Amember. For me at least these problems have been solved and have been running well for the past 12 months+.

I use both my own merchant account and Paypal for processing orders through them.

So, that's what I use to run my primary business.

Clickbank.

Clickbank

I also use Clickbank for digital products I release in other markets other than my main one. I've found if you're in niches you can often recruit additional affiliates just by getting into their system and getting a few affiliates selling for you.

This also means I have a secondary system in place in my business in case there were ever problems with one of my accounts. I have money coming in 3 different ways (merchant account, Paypal, and Clickbank) in addition to the affiliate programs I promote.

Be sure to learn more from Terry here:

My Marketing Coach

Lou Bortone of Video in a Day says:

I have a love/hate relationship with my shopping cart. I love that it's so powerful, but I hate that it's so complicated. Because with great power, sometimes comes great complexity. Can you guess which service I use?

Infusionsoft

 It's Infusionsoft, and I realize it's much more than just a shopping cart. I only wish that I was able to use it to it's fullest potential, but that's my own dang fault! Kidding aside, Infusionsoft does what I need it to do, and more. The best part is that the Infusionsoft folks have a great conference every year!

Lou is the man when it comes to video. 

Learn more at: Video in a Day 

Shannon Cherry of Learn How I Get *Paid* to Attend Events says:

Like many people, I've looked for the perfect shopping cart for me. It had to be both easy for the customer, easy for me, and have an affiliate program built in. Oh, and when I say easy for me, I meant it means to be intuitive to set up and run. If I have to think about it too much, it probably isn't worth my time.

Lately, I am in love – and I mean serious love, with a new membership/shopping cart solution which I have been beta testing for some time and has now been released to the public. It's a premium wordpress plugin called InstaMember and its creator has thought of just about everything. You can use it for single (one-off ) purchases, fixed term memberships, or traditional memberships. It has it's own email software and helpdesk built in, but you can also easily connect it with your own if you already have. (For me, I use Aweber and it works seamlessly.)

I also like that there is no recurring fee with this affordable plug-in. So far, this has been the best solution to date for me.

Note from Nik: InstaMember doesn't appear to currently be for sale to the masses yet. I'll update this when it is.

Shannon gets paid to attend Conferences and Fun Events Learn How She does it Here 

Just added:

Debbie Drum of Turn ONE PIECE OF CONTENT into 21 Sources of Income says:

We’ve been using JVZOO for processing our payments for a while now. The founders / developers are internet marketers themselves so they understand the needs and wants of people who sell products online.

Other payment processors have so much red tape and long approval times and with JVZoo, it’s so easy. You could sell a product on jvzoo the same day you put it up!

JVZoo 

My top 3 favorite things about JVZoo are:

1) Integrates Directly with Go To Webinar:  When people buy a product i can automatically register them into a webinar if that’s part of the product they buy. One less step for buyers!

2) Funnel Setup: If your product has multiple levels, then JVZoo makes it really easy for you to set that up.  if you are selling a product, you should always have the future in mind so take advantage of the funnels inside of JVZoo – have an upsell and even a downsell for your customers to purchase on the backend.  It’s so easy to setup!

3) The people: E. Brian Rose – one of the founders is a cool guy and a great internet marketer!  Chad Casselman, the programmer was my very first IM friend! Woot!  Bryan Zimmerman is always so helpful on the Facebook page! And Rich Wilens is my buddy and sugardaddy (inside joke – lol)!

I highly recommend using JVZoo to process payments for your next product!

Nicole Dean of .. here! .. says:

Well, I asked the question, so you know that I have opinions, too.

Having been an Affiliate Manager for several years, I’ve worked behind the scenes with most of the carts mentioned above and even a few that weren’t mentioned, too.

Plus, with my own infoproducts, I’ve used … eek! SEVEN different carts.

Which seven? Well, one of them is out of business and two others I do NOT like so they shall remain nameless. But, I will share the ones that pass muster.

There’s a lot to take into consideration when choosing a cart, but it really comes down to just three main factors –

1. Your Needs – Now and in the future as you grow
2. Your Customers’ Experience – Will the ordering process be positive for them?
3. Your Affiliates – Will They Be Treated as you Wish?

Whew, right?

Let’s start at the bottom, since that’s the easiest, in my opinion.

1. What’s best for your affiliates?

I will tell you this. I earn the MOST money (as an affiliate) when I promote people who are using either Amember, Infusionsoft, or Nanacast. Hands down. Just from a tracking standpoint.

Amember

NanaCast

Infusionsoft

Disclaimer #1: That is making one big assumption and that’s that the person that I’m promoting has multiple products for sale – and they are actually telling their customers about them so that you can get repeat sales. But, I know that the sales track and I get repeat sales – both of which are hugely important in getting and retaining loyal affiliates.

Disclaimer #2: I do not choose what to promote based upon the cart, but if two products are equal in all ways, I will at that point, recommend the one that’s running on either Amember or Nanacast first.

Most of the other carts do not track referrals as well.

What about Clickbank? Is that attractive to affiliates?

Clickbank

Clickbank can either be really good in this area or really bad. Depending on the niche you’re in, it may be more difficult to get loyal affiliates, since affiliate theft is so easy. What this means is that I can, as an affiliate, promote a product on Clickbank. Some people who go to purchase (upon my recommendation) will replace my affiliate ID with theirs to get a discount. While this is frowned upon in most circles, Clickbank does nothing to monitor this. This can make it more difficult to get good affiliates to promote you – if you’re on Clickbank, simply because marketers who know what they're doing will avoid Clickbank for that reason.

On the other hand, Clickbank has one very distinct advantage. They DO pay on time, every time. Unfortunately, it’s becoming more and more common for people to just think they can NOT pay their affiliates (which is theft) – and get away with it. It’s very frustrating as an affiliate when you have to ask where your commissions are – and it just should not have to happen. Plus, affiliates talk with each other. I’ve been in a number of conversations in the past few years about who not to promote – because they don’t pay their affiliates. However, when you promote someone on Clickbank – you know you’ll get paid – because Clickbank is in control.

2. Customer Experience.

This is another tricky one. If you sell multiple products (and you darned well should) – it’s very helpful to have a “members area” where the customer’s purchases can be accessed for years to come.  It’s also handy if your customers don’t have to enter ALL of their information every time they order and can just log in to quickly order from you. Again, Amember wins here, in my opinion.

If you’ve only got one product at this point, then Clickbank has a nice smooth and easy ordering process. Plus, they automatically process credit cards, which frees you up to not have to have a separate merchant account, which is nice, too.

In fact, most of the carts have a nice ordering process. The only thing that stands out is if you’ll have repeat customers – in which case, having a members area is very nice for them to continually order and access their purchases at any time.

3. Your Needs as a Merchant.

Finally, the third big consideration is what you need as the product seller. Here’s where it is SO important to know yourself, your resources, and your business.

If you’re just getting started, are completely non-techie and/or you are unsure about your niche – then I’d recommend Clickbank or JVZoo. You can always leave that product there as you grow and also set up a separate cart down the road once you get rockin’. From a merchant perspective, there are a few weaknesses with Clickbank that are easily overcome with Easy Click Mate – a program that I use on three of my sites. It enables you to run several products from one Clickbank account.

If you’ve got a solid business (and are totally non-techie) and want something a bit meatier that you have more control on, 1ShoppingCart is solid. It’s super easy and can be set up and running very quickly. Plus, as Terry mentioned – the upsell capability is huge. The downside is price, of course, paying monthly for your cart as opposed to paying once. And, affiliate tracking is less than desirably, in my humble opinion.

Of course, there are as many options and scenarios as there are people, but that’s just a quick suggestion for you.

There are a few carts that have not been mentioned that are also viable options. E-Junkies is fine for beginners, but is not the best for attracting affiliates. It’s a very cumbersome process for affiliates to get links, and you can’t get them for the affiliates as there’s no clear pattern to how they are created.

If you're a more advanced marketer and are reaching the limits of one of the “beginner” carts, then take a look at the others recommended here or just ask me for a recommendation for what exactly you need.

So what do I use?

Enough chatter, right? What do I actually use in my business – RIGHT NOW?

On EasyPLR.com, I use 1ShoppingCart. It’s fine, and I like the upsell feature.

Powered by 1ShoppingCart

On  YummyPLR.com, I use Clickbank along with Easy Click Mate.

Powered by Clickbank & Easy Click Mate

For the rest of my projects I use Amember.

Powered by Amember

Time for Feedback!

So, what about you? Are you stuck on this decision? Or do you have a cart you recommend? Please join in the discussion!

If you’re at the point right now where you need to change carts for some reason – let me know. I’ll recommend a cart for you based upon your needs.

Warmly,
Nicole Dean

Resources RECOMMENDED in this Article:

• Amember – All in One Membership Site Software
• Clickbank – Hands off. For non-techies. Includes a marketplace to recruit affiliates for you. (Use Easy Click Mate to make it more powerful.)
• 1ShoppingCart – Powerful cart.
• NanaCast – Another powerful options with a lot of features.
• JVZoo – Fast and easy. Great integration.

This week I asked our panel of experts…

We all reach plateaus.

What do you do to burst through yours?

I hope you find this information helpful and inspiring, especially if you're stuck in a rut right now in your business.

Karon Thackston of Step-by-Step Copywriting Course says:

When I hit a plateau in my business, I reorganize.

For instance, I hit one not too long ago and needed a way to break through to the next level. So I began looking around my business to see how to accomplish this quickly.

One of my previous products (“Writing With Keywords“) was due for an update. I'd just done an interview with Google's Matt Cutts about how much keyword optimization has changed since Panda and Penguin so I organized that interview with a bunch of examples and other new material and took “Writing With Keywords” from an ebook to a mini-video series. Within a matter of about 2 weeks I had a totally revamped product to sell which has brought thousands of dollars (and growing) into my biz f-a-s-t!

Another thing I do to overcome financial plateaus is re-evaluate my affiliate offerings. I keep a running list of affiliate products I sell. Sometimes, for whatever reason, a handful of them can fall to the sidelines. Reviewing the list is a good reminder to promote the ones that I might have gotten slack about.

If we're talking about emotional plateaus, what works best to get me over the hump is time off. Even if I'm not in a position to take an entire week off completely, sleeping late in the mornings or taking a long weekend can give me the break I need to rejuvenate and come back fresh.

Want to Learn Copywriting from Karon?

Check out more from her here:
Step-by-Step Copywriting Course

Dennis Becker of Earn1KaDay says:

When I've hit plateaus in the past, I've found it was due mental conditioning.

For example, inside my 5 Bucks a Day book, I talked about setting a daily income goal in the beginning when I was tweaking my 5 Bucks a Day strategy.

I've always posted my daily goals on a post it note which is stuck to my printer, which is beside my monitor, always in range of my peripheral vision.

When I reached my first daily income goal, I raised the number quite significantly in fact, and started working towards my next goal.

When I reached that number, I forgot to change the post it note, and I was stuck for weeks, until I realized that my subconscious was satisfied because it had reached the goal that I had set.

Once I changed the post it note again to a higher number, things started to improve again.

The mind works in mysterious ways, but who am I to argue?

I always like to talk about the fact that I settled on the name of Earn 1K a Day for my site, because it's all about the glass ceiling concept, and I was inspired by what had happened to me, but also because of the Roger Bannister story.

Roger was the man who first ran a mile in less than 4 minutes, and back in his time scientists swore that it was physically impossible for a human to run that fast. Roger didn't listen, did it one day, and not long after that, other runners achieved the same result of a sub-4 minute mile.

Plateaus are meant to be stepping stones, ceilings are meant to be broken through, and goals are checkpoints so that our mind keeps us on track.

Want Dennis to Help YOU to Set a Daily Goal?

Join his community here-> Earn1KaDay

Tiffany Dow of The Guide to Shiny Object Syndrome says:

When it comes to business plateaus, I love it when I hit these because it means I’m about to break through to a new level of either financial success or personal satisfaction.

I usually realize I’m in one of these when I start feeling boredom. When I recognize it, I start looking at my business and I’ll see that everything’s at a plateau – comments, income, satisfaction, etc.

I like to sit down and map out my business on paper with a pen – just crude drawings. It might have PLR Store, minisite eBooks, Kindle, Squidoo, Affiliate sites, etc. on it.

I quickly look to see which ones are thriving and which might be dipping in traffic or sales or just leveled out. I also gauge my interest in each one at that moment (because I’m fickle and sometimes I show more love to some parts of my business than others).

Once I zero in on whatever it is I want to work on to break through it, I look at coming up with a new way to recharge the income or enthusiasm or attention on that business model.

For example, I recently realized I had stagnated with my PLR store – so I categorized all my packs according to topics so I could see how much I had in stock for each one. Then I decided to start a series of 72-hour sales where I create 10 new pages and sell them for $7 (customer gets discount) and then add on some existing packs that I had categorized as freebies (customer gets something for nothing).

The sales are going amazing, I’ve broken through a stagnant phase and everyone’s happy! I also wanted to do more with Kindle, but I wanted to incorporate something with my daughter, so we’re building a series of kids’ books and I’m very excited about it.

Plateaus are always about analyzing where you’ve grown complacent and then energizing yourself to do something new or different.

“Love this post? Pin it!”

Think Tiff is Terrif?

Check out more from her here:
The Guide to Shiny Object Syndrome

Kelly McCausey of Solo Smarts Podcast says:

I can't say that I've been at a business plateau in recent years, I've had too many challenges to deal with and have spent a lot of time just trying to dig my way out of a valley. I did recognize towards the end of last year that I felt like I'd hit a ‘people plateau'. It'd been awhile since I had met someone ‘new' in my business.

With nearly ten years of podcasting under my belt, I'm used to meeting new people all the time. I believe I'd begun taking it for granted there'd be someone new around every corner. Alas, I turned a corner and ran into the same faces and voices.

It's a big world but we tend to live in small neighborhoods, even here on the world wide web.

I determined to break out of the rut and pursue new neighborhoods, new people and new experiences. One of the ways I've done it is by being more involved in content curation. I made an effort to find new people, subscribe to their blogs and podcasts and engage them in their circles. It's been powerful.

Another thing I've done is to get out from behind the desk. I'm traveling more this year than ever before and trying to say yes to as many opportunities to meet new people as I can. I should finish the year with lots of new friendships that open exciting new doors.

Whatever plateau you might be dealing with, I bet it could be busted by reaching out to new neighborhoods and forging new relationships.

Note from Nik: I'm thrilled that Kelly will be joining me at Dennis' live event in Vegas in a few weeks.

Join us? Details are here: Earn 1 K a Day Seminar.

Think  Kelly is Cool?

Check out more from her here:
Solo Smarts Podcast

Alice Seba of Step-by-Step PLR Guides says:

When I think of plateaus in business, I think of two things:

• Getting to a place where you’re not sure what to do next
• Reaching an income plateau where you can’t seem to get to the next level

Both of those can be very frustrating, but that’s when it’s time to sit back and get away from the computer for a bit. This is usually where I grab a paper and pencil and write down everything I have going on. My plateaus often result from being overwhelmed by everything that’s going on and sometimes I just need to take stock of everything to see a clearer path. This is the time to evaluate what’s working, what isn’t and what could be better. I often use a mind map app on iPhone for this process as well. I personally don’t find reading mind maps helpful, but I do find the process of creating one makes it easier for me to compartmentalize the different parts of my business so everything is clear in mind.

After writing everything all down, it’s time to come up with a few action plans that include:

• A list of activities or projects that aren’t fruitful and should be discontinued.
  This isn’t always easy, but if we want to keep moving forward, we have to be able to let go of things that just aren’t helping us grow.

• A list of things that need to be done to improve my business.
  I particularly look for ways to connect things together, so I can sell more of our products and services to our customers, no matter how they found us.

• A list of necessary tasks that are dragging me down.
  These are tasks that will be outsourced to a VA or other qualified professional. I often find a plateau comes from my taking on more things in the business that I just don’t enjoy doing or I simply don’t excel in.

I know a lot of people beat themselves up over plateaus. They just sit in front of the computer and wonder what to do next or they just keep doing what they’ve always done, hoping to make a breakthrough. For me, I find if I’m in any type of rut that is the most critical time to give myself a break and do more thinking for a while. Then I can start working again when things are clear in mind.

Awed by Alice?

She's got shortcuts that you can use in your business here:
Step-by-Step How To Guides

David Perdew of NAMS says:

Got the MullyGrubs?

Here in Alabama, we have our own language that creatively stretches words and meanings that are not really found elsewhere – to my knowledge anyway. And I’ve lived all over the world.

One of my closest older friends (he was 76 when he died a few years ago) was a born-and-raised Alabama hellion. He had a fiery temper and a heart of gold. Never was he depressed.

So, when I noticed he wasn’t all that perky one day, I said, “Tommy, what’s wrong with you?”

“Got the MullyGrubs,” he said.

“Huh? What’s the MullyGrubs?”

“Ain’t nothing right. Ain’t nothing wrong,” Tommy said. “I just got the MullyGrubs!”

I completely understood that. It was his word for when we’ve hit that spot that just seems like we’re stuck in goo. It might be emotional or business or social or even spiritual goo, but it sure has us stuck.

Stuck, and we’re not sure why?

At least, that’s the way has been for me.

It’s a really uncomfortable place for me. And it shows up as inertia. Something just isn’t moving in the right direction. And as my spiritual hero, Albert Einstein, said,

“Nothing happens until something moves.”

So, to get unstuck, or climb off that plateau, I’ve got to move.

If it’s a spiritual plateau, I start investigating new writers and new ideas – expanding my mind.

If it’s a relationship plateau, I plan a getaway – some way to spend some intense time with my honey talking, planning, resolving. (I personally like long, captive car trips.)

If it’s a business plateau, I look for three things that need to change and find the right people to help me change them ASAP. This year, I focused on:

• Tripling my income
• Building real assets
• And exploding my list

My list size has remained the same (give or take 20 percent) over the last two years. It’s an awesome small community that is very responsive and loyal, but I had been completely and totally focused on delivering commissions to my affiliates and not growing the list except by adding buyers to our membership sites. (Not complaining, a list of 40 percent buyers is pretty great.)

But this year, I’m focusing on additional list building opportunities – not just affiliates. (Love affiliates, but I don’t want to wear them out…)

I was obviously stuck. So, I started the MyNAMS 30-Day List Building Challenge with just a few days of planning and diving right in.

I set bold goals and published them.

I opened my business to about 320 people showing them exactly what I was doing. I worked like a demon doing 3 webinars a day creating lessons, tools, content and challenges to the folks.

And, of course, I’m creating an awesome crew of JV partners through our 30 expert interviews for the launch (at a much higher price) during the post July 4^th weekend.

Movement! We have movement. My list is growing. Income is increasing. And I’m building more assets.

And guess what? I don’t have time for the MullyGrubs.

There’s too much work to do climbing this mountain at the end of the plateau. I’ll see you up there.

Digging My Friend, David?

Check out his free training here:
Free Weekly Webinars

Nicole Dean of .. here! .. says:

Great minds think alike.

Here are a few things that I do regularly to avoid plateaus and to overcome them.

First, I take a look and see where my income is actually coming from.

Then I look to see where my time and resources are being spent.

The quickest way for me to get over a plateau is if I can spot a place where there's little money coming in with lots of resources going out (time, money, and/or energy).  I usually let those projects go. (Although sometimes I get stuck because my heart is still in a project or it needs work before I can sell it off… in which case, sometimes I really need a boost to release it.)

Another strategy that works really well for me is that I grab pen and paper and go sit outside and plan what I want the next year to five years to look like. I basically brainstorm with future Nicole and see which path that I can take to make me happiest, and most profitable at the same time.

I also have my “big hairy” goals on a post-it, like Dennis suggested. The number originally scared the pants off of me, but now I'm thinking of increasing it again as I know that I can blast past it.  Having earned more in a month than a lot of people earn in a year has really shown me that I wasn't thinking big enough at the time that I wrote down that number. So, I'm on to bigger and hairier things.

This basically comes back again to my “R.E.A.D.” system.

1. Ruminate.

2. Eliminate.

3. Automate.

4. Delegate.

But it all starts with the Ruminate part – which is the planning stage. Without having a clear picture of where you stand and where you want to be, you can work your little butt off, outsource your heart out, and still be sitting on that same plateau in five or ten years, wondering why everyone else has blown by you. And, we certainly don't want that!

Your turn.

What are your tips? What are your struggles? Talk to me.

Best wishes, as always.
Nicole

PS. Remember, ya'll. If you want me to get awesome people to answer these questions, you've got to be leaving comments, sharing and checking out their sites.

Here they are one more time:

• Karon
• Dennis
• Tiffany
• Kelly
• Alice
• David

Today I have something a little different for you. My friend, Vera Raposo interviewed me yesterday on her podcast. I asked her if I could share it here, too, so that my iTunes listeners would have access and she generously agreed.

The topic we talked about was “Lifestyle Design”  and some of the questions that Vera asked me were:

1. What does having a “lifestyle & biz by design” mean to you?
2. How is it even possible?
3. What are 3 key things that you do to ensure this happens?
4. What are some things you’ve been able to do because of your biz and how you run it?
5. Do you have any advice for the work-a-holics listening in?

Even though Vera is interviewing me this time, let me tell you more about her:

Vera Raposo is the founder of YourCreativeBiz.com and her blogs have been featured on Entrepreneur Magazine, eHow, America's BestCompanies, Dell, Logoworks by HP and more.

YourCreativeBiz.com is devoted to teaching women entrepreneurs around the world how to push all limits in their life so they can have the business
of their dreams. Vera also shows women how to put their marketing on autopilot and cheerfully create a highly successful and meaningful business that fits their lifestyle.

The audio recording of our interview is in this blog post. Just look for the “play” button and listen. It’s free! Also, be sure to check out all of the resources listed below.

Step 1:  Check out the Resources.

• Your Creative Biz – Vera's Site
• Solo Masterminds – The Networking Group where we Initially Met

Step 2: Listen to the Interview.

Be sure to listen to the entire interview.

Prefer to Read?

If you prefer to read the interview, here is the transcript – a free pdf version.

Click here to read the transcript.

Step 3: Share the Love.

If you liked this interview, don't keep it to yourself. Share the link with some friends. (Pretty please.)

Step 5: Make Sure you Don't Miss a Thing.

Either sign up for my blog updates over there –>

Or grab my feed on iTunes so you can get lots more free interviews just like this one. (Please leave a glowing review while you're at it.)

Or Subscribe and Listen on Stitcher

Step 6: Get a free link on my blog

Please post your comments below after you listen to the interview.

What is your biggest frustration in finding balance?

Plus, of course, you can include your URL and your Twitter ID in the appropriate fields when you comment, as always.

Thanks again for being part of my business and my day. I'm looking forward to hearing what you think about this interview.

Warmly,
Nicole Dean

Would you Like to Start a Podcast like Mine
and Have Cool People on your Show?
If you can make a telephone call, you can have a podcast, too:
Click here -> How to Start a Podcast

This week, I have Alice Seba with me.

The audio recording of our interview is in this blog post. Just look for the “play” button and listen. It’s free! Also, be sure to check out all of the resources listed below.

If you’re not familiar with Alice yet, learn more here:

Alice Seba is the owner and creator of Contentrix. With a focus on using content to create relationships, loyalty and results from writing, she loves helping online business owners get more bang out of their content.

Find Alice on the web at AliceSeba.com.

Step 1:  Check out Alice's Sites

Head over here to check out Alice's stuff –

• DIY “How to” PLR Content – PLR content with screenshots
• Contentrix. – learn to use your content more effectively
• All PLR Content – niche PLR content

Step 2: Listen to the Interview.

Be sure to listen to the entire interview.

Prefer to Read?

If you prefer to read the interview, it is available on Kindle.

A Conversation with Alice Seba

Step 3: Check out these Essential Tools and Resources for Online Business Success Mentioned in this Show:

All links will open in a new window and not interfere while you're listening to the audio.

Essential Tools:

• WordPress.org
• Google Analytics
• Social Media
  • Me on Facebook
  • Alice on Facebook
• Autoresponder:
  • Alice uses ARP Reach
  • I use Aweber
• Sugar Sync
• iPad

Other Resources Mentioned:

• NAMS in Atlanta (Alice and I will both be there)
• Solo Masterminds – the community where I got started.
• Google Hangouts

Step 4: Share the Love.

If you liked this interview, don't keep it to yourself. Share the link with some friends. (Pretty please.)

Step 5: Make Sure you Don't Miss a Thing.

Either sign up for my blog updates over there –>

Or grab my feed on iTunes so you can get lots more free interviews just like this one. (Please leave a glowing review while you're at it.)

Or Subscribe and Listen on Stitcher

Step 6: Get a free link on my blog

Please post your comments below after you listen to the interview. Show Alice the love so I can continue to get great guests like her.

Plus, of course, you can include your URL and your Twitter ID in the appropriate fields when you comment, as always.

Thanks again for being part of my business and my day. I'm looking forward to hearing what you learned and will apply from this interview.

Warmly,
Nicole Dean

Would you Like to Start a Podcast like Mine
and Have Cool People on your Show?
If you can make a telephone call, you can have a podcast, too:
Click here -> How to Start a Podcast

PS.  Here are the links to Alice's sites again for your reference:

• DIY “How to” PLR Content – PLR content with screenshots
• Contentrix. – learn to use your content more effectively
• All PLR Content – niche PLR content

This week I asked our panel of experts to name names…

What web host(s) do you use to run your business?
Yes, I want to know Who has the Host with the Most?!

The best way to know what to use is to ask successful people, right? So that's just what I did.

Before I share their responses, I feel I should clear up a few things.

1. What is a Server?
A web host like Host Gator is really nothing more than a building with a bunch of computers in it, just like the computer in your own home. Each of those computers is called a “server”. Each one of these servers runs many websites from it.

2. What is Unlimited Hosting?
Unlimited hosting means that for one account, you can have many of your websites hosted for one price. I was shocked when I went to NAMS one time and a lady told me she was buying a new hosting account every time she set up a new blog. eek! Nope. A simple upgrade and you can host all of your sites in one account – assuming that your sites aren't filled with tons of huge huge files. If that's the case, then you may have to upgrade to a bigger account.

3.  What is VPS?
VPS stands for Virtual Private Server. Several of my friends below talk about having a VPS. What that means is that you are the ONLY customer on that computer at the web hosting company. Instead of sharing the computer at say Host Gator or Mom Webs with 100 other people, you have it all to yourself. There are definitely big benefits to doing this, but there are higher costs,  as well. This is typically something that people grow up to, and don't buy a VPS right out of the gate. One BIG benefit is that you can block all IP addresses but yours from logging into the control panel (also known as the cpanel). This can help to keep you safer from hackers.

Now that, hopefully, that is cleared up, let's see what my friends are using to run their businesses.

Karon Thackston of Step-by-Step Copywriting Course says:

Several months ago I moved to a virtual private server (VPS) on Host Gator. It's much more secure than using off-the-shelf hosting where my sites would share a server with many others.

Because of a security scare with my Marketing Words Blog and Step-by-Step Copywriting Course sites, I decided to take whatever preventative measures I could.

Karon Uses:

Rachel Rofe of How To Get Every Book You Write Onto The First Page Of Kindle says:

I use HostGator. They're fast, cheap, and customer service is always excellent.

Rachel Uses:

Tiffany Dow of Gathering and Structuring Ideas says:

Hosting is something where I don’t risk my business by simply going with a slightly cheaper price. Hosting is cheap enough as it is –and I have used Host Gator since I started online with absolutely zero regrets.

There have been times when people would say, “Well this other hosting company is $2 a month cheaper,” but $2 is worth my peace of mind.

I love so many things about Hostgator. They’re affordable. You can get a little hatchling plan, move up to a baby plan or go with a business plan as your online efforts grow. They’re a household name, not some company poised to go out of business any day.

But more than anything I appreciate their customer service. Hosting is technical, and therefore it’s intimidating to me. Anytime I have what is probably a really stupid question, I just log into cpanel, click on Live Chat and someone’s there 24/7/365 to walk me through whatever it is that I need.

I’ve seen so many people freak out if their website is hacked with malware or something. With Hostgator, you just get on Live Chat, let them know, and they fix it and email you when it’s right again – which is really fast.

Tiffany Uses:

Alice Seba of Step-by-Step PLR Guides says:

Next month, it will be 9 years since I’ve been with Servint. I have used a number of other hosts over the years (and still do use one other currently) for small projects, but my core business is on Servint.

They offers VPS (virtual private server) and dedicated server services, rather than regular shared hosting. In 2004, I chose them for a few reasons:

* When my business partner at the time, Linda Stacy helped me research, we found they had a stellar reputation above other options we investigated.

* I owned a very busy website that was already starting to tax my current web host and I just didn’t want to deal with those issues anymore.

* I was also concerned about SEO issues and not wanting to be associated with any bad sites I was sharing hosting with.

It was a move I’m definitely glad I made and have no intention of moving anywhere anytime soon. I can host as many sites as I’d like, there’s tons of bandwidth, the support is 24/7 and they are very security conscious. That last one has become very important to me in the last year, especially with hacking issues.

It turned out to be a very good choice to use the VPS because I’ve run a lot of sites over the years and many at the same time, so the server always made it easy for me to manage that. Add to that, the support is fantastic (although there have been some changes over the years and I’ll get into that in a second) and they often go above and beyond the call of duty.

A VPS has other benefits including:

* It’s more powerful than shared hosting, but you get much more support and help than you would with a dedicated server

* A VPS has more power and can handle unusual strains on your resources including spam and DDOS attacks…you aren’t sharing resources with other hosting clients

* You get root level access to your server, which gives you much more opportunity to adjust settings, manage permissions and install software to your server

* You can host a mail server, FTP server or other similar services

When I first signed up with Servint, their support was lightening fast and everyone was extremely knowledgeable and they always seemed to know how to help me when I had no idea what I was talking about. These days, there is no longer the 5 minute response time (amazing, hey?), but if you ever need to phone them, they answer right away. I also find that the front line of support isn’t always as knowledgeable and so I have to be more specific than I used to be…but things work out well too. And no, I don’t mean I have to be super technical because I have limited knowledge when it comes to technical issues…I can’t tell you how many tickets opened that have the phrase, “I don’t know what that means, but can you help me?” or “I have no idea how to do this. Can you help me?” I also find have to be a little more persistent than I used to be. I’ve had a few tickets where I felt I was being brushed off when I detected a potential issue, but if I persist and then ask them to escalate the ticket, I do get the help I need without any further issues.

I wanted to mention that because about a year ago, I was starting to feel a bit frustrated with them because the relationship was different than what I had with them in 2004, so I needed to learn how to communicate with them. After all, a company that has grown over the years like Servint has will experience a change in the type of service they provide, so as a client I had to adjust a little too. So if anyone reading is using Servint or is thinking about it, I wanted to provide some pointers on how to approach communication with support. Don’t ever feel like you’re on your own because if you ask the right questions or simply ask for escalated help, they will provide it to you. They continue to go above and beyond…all you have to do is ask and I think this sets them apart from other VPS providers.

I am actually up to hosting two VPS’s with Servint now…and it’s possible we’ll have a third later in the year. The uptime is great. I only remember any noticeable downtime in about 2005 when a fibre optic cable was cut somewhere, but everything has been shipshape since. Definitely not going anywhere.

Alice Uses:

Susanne Myers of  Daily Affiliate Tasks says:

I first started out online after my husband and I came across an ad in a magazine that offered 2 years of free hosting if you registered a domain with them. From there we’ve grown our online business to include some shared hosting with a few different hosting companies including Host Gator, BlueHost, and MomWebs, a virtual dedicated server with Reliable Webs and 2 different dedicated servers.

From a logistical standpoint, it’s a bit of a nightmare keeping up with what’s hosted where and what’s billed on Paypal and what by Credit Card. But there’s reason behind the madness. I like to keep our various web properties spread out. One reason is SEO. I’m sure you’ve heard that it helps to have sites on different c-classes when you are linking from one to the other.

The main reason though is that no matter what things are going to go wrong. A server can go down and sometimes even the best backup plans fail. When (not if… but when) that happens, I don’t want it to take down my entire online business at once. That’s my main reason for spreading things out across a variety of different web hosts.

I also like to check out different hosting companies that I come across by purchasing a small shared hosting plan, putting a site or two on there and just see how things go for a little while. It gives me a chance to check out their uptime and support before considering moving a larger site over to them.

Susanne Uses:

Kelly McCausey of Solo Smarts Podcast says:

All of my sites are hosted with MomWebs.com and full transparancy here – this is the hosting company I own together with Nicole Dean.

Way back in 2002 when I first set up my first site, I ended up being left in a lurch by the person I trusted for my hosting.  I had no idea at the time that there were such a thing as a ‘reseller' host but that's what he was.  When he let his hosting bill go late, all of his client sites went down.  It was pretty disturbing to say the least!

I was rescued by a smart gal who ran her own (non-reseller) hosting company and later she sold her business to someone else.  I was nervous about trusting the ‘new guy' but soon discovered I was in very good hands.  I so often referred others to him that I asked him if he'd consider setting up an affiliate program.

The idea of running an affiliate program was not appealing to him so ultimately I decided to pursue the creation of a new hosting brand where I could offer a residual commission affiliate program (http://www.momwebs.com/affiliate-program/) and he would run the tech side of things for me.  That is where MomWebs.com came to be and it has been a successful project ever since.  We have around ten servers servicing several hundred clients at this time. I have SoloSmarts hosted on our VPS hosting and my other sites are on a semi-dedicated server.

Kelly Uses:

Nicole Dean of .. here! .. says:

Over the years, I've been through a few different hosts.

The things that are most important to me at this stage are:

1. Reliability. 
The host can't be going down for no reason – as it costs me money.

2. Customer support.
If I have an issue, I need it fixed and explained to me in little words.

3. Security.
Make sure backups are being done and that the hosting is locked up and safe.

Because I'm not one to take risks with my business, I do spread out my business between two different hosts.

I use:

I use HostGator for a bunch of my niche sites.

I also use MomWebs.com which I started using years ago. MomWebs.com specializes in helping moms and the non-techie to get their sites running.

They also help people who are currently using Blogger.com to move their blogs to a self-managed WordPress site to build an ongoing business.

What about you?

What's your experience been with web hosting?

Are you happy with your current web host?

Do you have any questions about web hosting that we can answer for you?

Thanks for reading – as always.

Warmly,
Nicole