This week I asked our panel of experts…

“Other than web hosting & your autoresponder & shopping cart, what are a few things that you pay for monthly or annually that you're glad you do?”

I think you'll find the responses interesting.

Dennis Becker of Earn1KaDay says:

Although I don't use it all that often anymore since Google Hangouts came around, I pay for GoToWebinar, and when I do use it, it's a great thing to have.

I also pay for several PLR sites, including CoachGlue of course.

Since annual payments count, there are also a few things like GoToMyPC, Carbonite, and Survey Monkey.

Lynette Chandler of Tech Based Marketing says:

1. Outright. They just changed their name to GoDaddy Online Bookkeeping so I guess I should start using that name. I have an aversion to doing books and for a really long time, I paid good money to have it done manually but Outright does all this automatically for me at a much lower price. The other neat thing, it tells me how much quarterly taxes to pay.

It does take a little bit of setup, but the setup is less if you did it at the beginning of your financial year or as close as possible, not at the end.

I started somewhere in March so it wasn't too bad. For the first few months you have to tell it what to categorize but as the months go along it does a pretty good job of auto categorizing. I've tried many tools that claim to do this and they do, but this is by far the most accurate I've tried and I'm sticking to them.

You still have to go in every month to eyeball things and take care of a few transactions that it cannot understand. Some are recurring payments but it usually is just a handful. Much better than hundreds of lines every month. I also love that it emails me a weekly profit report.

2. Marketing Graphics Toolkit.

Because I lack design skills but love great design, I go there weekly to seek awesome graphics for everything I need. Max does such a great job. There's always new content, sometimes every week and it's very affordable. The extended developer licensing is also pretty sweet.

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

You know, there's not a lot that I pay monthly for, not even my shopping cart, which I paid a one time purchase or my autoresponder. However, there are a few monthly payments I cannot live without:

1) Dropbox. I store everything I have on it so it's available no matter what device I am using.

2) Good outsourcing.

3) Good PLR. I'm lucky as I have found a couple of good PLR sources (Thanks, Nicole) that are so good I get a monthly subscription. Although I don't use every single piece, I get an idea of what the hot trends are and to expand my own knowledge, if needed.

On another note, what I'd love to pay monthly for is a good coach/mentor. Haven't found the right one yet who can take me on, but I know that person will come when the time is right.

Kelly McCausey of Solo Smarts Podcast says:

Here's what comes to mind for me right now with approximate prices…

Time Trade. ($49.00 per year) This has saved me a lot in Virtual Assistant expenses since my clients can book themselves into my schedule now.

Box Shot King. ($69.00 per year) I love having the ability to create a beautiful ecover graphic from any computer or even my iPad Mini.

Coach Glue. ($15.00 per month) I'm a Monthly Instant Expert Templates member and love it!

Sell PLR Plugins. ($17.00 per month) I signed up for the Monthly Membership there as soon a they came out. I love those plugins. They make great bonus gifts for my products.

Adobe Connect Pro ($55.00 per month) Sometimes I feel like I live in my web conference room. I use it for coaching as well as webinars.

I wouldn't give up any of these things!

Debbie Drum and Amy Harrop of Recycled Riches say:

Here’s what we spend money on:

Great & Smart Writers – We are constantly creating content so we need a really great writer for

1) Blog posts for new content on our blogs – We’ve gotten to the point where we ask our writers to research content that would be good for our blogs (on the topic of our niche, which is Book Publishing) – and they write the blog post for us too! We constantly need smart people who are capable of doing the research and the writing the makes sense for our business.

2) Book Publishing – Gone are the days where we write a single word in the books that we publish. When I first started (Deb) I would use a combination of PLR plus my own writing to publish books. YOu can’t use PLR anymore in Kindle Books, so everything has to be unique. We provide the writers with the article topics and they just write away…

3) Article Rewriters – Oftentimes we find great content, but we need to spin it to make it unique. No, we don’t use article spinners (huge waste of time) – we use a real person who knows what they are doing when it comes to rewriting things to make them unique and original

Another area where we spend money is:

Graphic Designer – I like to create banners because they are really simple. I also like to use web based photo editors for my facebook and google plus posts – but designing every cover and every graphic for a membership site just became too overwhelming. What happened was I was so busy pounding through my to do list that creating a cover great enough for kindle and other publishing platforms slowed me down because you really have to change gears to put on your creative cap – and that’s not always easy to do. I found someone who would create these quick graphics for us where creativity to them is like writing this blog post to me – EASY PEASY

Nicole Dean of .. here! .. says:

Wow. This took more effort than I thought to track all of these down. Here's my list. I will update if I missed anything.

Project Management.

If you work with service providers, this tool can be very helpful to manage your team.

• Basecamp– Allows me to track projects and who is working on each one.

Computer Backups.

You NEED offsite computer backups if you’re running a business. Backing up to CDs or DVDs or an external drive is not enough.

• Mozy– Keeps my computer (and therefore, my income) safe. (Try it free.)

File Sharing.

• Easy Safe File Sharing– Allows me to work with writers and editors and keeps all my files safe and secure. (You can start with this one for free, too.)

Webinars. 

• GotoWebinar  (click here to try it free)– I also use this, although not as much as I really should. It’s a great tool, though, if you want to record webinars – as that’s what it’s designed to do best. Here’s a cool blog post about making your webinars ROCK: Key Tips for Profitable Webinars.

Social Sharing for Additional Exposure & Traffic Generation.

• Social Buzz–  I upgraded to the BASIC ($99/year) option so I can share less and still get lots of exposure. (The lazy option.)

Learning Resources.

• Monthly Mentoring Club – I pay for Terry Dean's Monthly Newsletter.
• Earn 1k a Day – I was paying for Dennis' Earn 1k a Day forum, but upgraded to a lifetime membership after the first month. If I hadn't, though, I would still gladly be paying.

How to Avoid Frustration.

As far as tips go for managing your subscriptions, these are mine.

1. I prefer to pay with paypal when given the option. It's much easier to cancel if the person does not deliver or if I decide that I no longer need the service.  If the service ONLY offers credit card payments and not paypal, I usually pass. It's sometimes too hard to cancel otherwise.

2. I normally will try a subscription on a trial or monthly basis before I decide to upgrade to annual or lifetime options. That saves me from making a costly investment into something that I might not use.

3. If there is an affiliate program for a subscription that I LOVE LOVE LOVE and it's recurring, I will share that program. It helps to reverse the cost. Of course, I test programs that are recurring before I'd ever recommend them. And, only a few make it past my “this totally rocks” filter. (You'll see those above.)

4. I reassess my expenses on a regular basis. In fact, I found and cancelled two programs while writing this blog post.

If you're not using a membership, figure out why.

Is it you? Is it them? Or is it just not the best fit?

If it's you…

Set a calendar reminder to go get the content if it's something downloadable. Go download it (or have a VA do it for you and put it into dropbox for you). Systematize your learning.

If it's a program that you're not using because you haven't learned how to use it yet, then learn it. Schedule time to just dig in and learn how to use the darned thing.

If it's them…

Is the material being presented in a way that you just won't consume? Know yourself well enough to know what you will and will not actually use. If they only offer files in mp4s, but you want mp3s for listening to in your car, then ask them if they will offer it in both formats. If they say ‘no”, then cancel.

If it's not a good fit…

Cancel. You can always go back later – although it may be a higher price, it's better than wasting money on a program that you're not using.

My homework for you. 

Take inventory of your monthly and annual programs. Go through them and schedule time to USE those investments.

What about You?

What programs do you pay for on an monthly or annual basis that you love? Let me know!

Warmly,
Nicole Dean

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.

One of the questions that I ask my coaching clients often is “How else are you planning to use that content that you just worked so hard to create?”

Sometimes, I see a sparkle in their eyes. I know I just made their day. Other times, I get the deer in headlights look. So, we back up a bit and THEN they get the sparkle.

And – it's a question that you need to be asking yourself regularly.

You know how I feel about having both financial and lifestyle goals. Well, one of the ways that I'm able to earn money while I'm off with my kids is that I make the most of the content that I create.

I use it.

Then I use it again.

And, I use it again. (Get the picture?) 

Well, one of the courses on my “Stuff to do” list is to create a course about Repurposing Content. But, a few weeks ago, I got an email from a new friend, and she asked if I would like to contribute to her new product “Recycled Riches“. I told her, of course…. as long as it was ok if I reused the content that I created for her in other ways, including my own Repurposing Training. (Did you expect anything less?)

Fast forward and the course was just launched.

You can check it out here -> Recycled Riches: Experts Share how to Reuse your Content

It's good. Very good.

Do I think you should buy it?

Probably – especially if you're a blogger, are creating products, and/or have a list that you're building.

Definitely if you're a Virtual Assistant who helps those types of people, too.

So here's what I've done to help you decide if this course can help you.

1. I included an interview with Debbie Drum (one of the product creators) to see why she created the product and who it is intended to help.
2. I recorded a tour (sneak peek) of the members' area – so you can see what exactly you get if you buy it.

On that note, I'll introduce Debbie.

Nik: Hey Debbie. I love your new course. But what inspired you to create a course on this topic?

Content is a very hot topic. Most people who do online marketing are always in need of great content. Many people struggle with things like:

• Where to get content
• What to do with content they already have
• How to create content faster
• How much should to spend on outsourcing content
• Where to outsource content to get back the best quality

With some of the systems that Amy and I have developed in our own business, we are taking just ONE SINGLE PIECE of content and stretching it so far that it works day and night for us in so many different ways and we wanted to share that with people.

We also wanted to hear from other experts who are repurposing content in ways that are working really well for them.

Nik: What was one surprise when you were creating this course and working with all of these different people?

First off, we felt very honored that so many of our contributors got back to us so fast with a “YES I WOULD LOVE TO” message. That was the best part!! We knew this was a real winning topic so we were happy to have people on board with us.

I would say a pleasant surprise was that all of our contributors went above and beyond what we asked them to contribute. They provided so much of their valuable information and went way beyond the call of duty and overdelivered. That is why when most people look inside, their jaws literally drop because there is so much value in what we (as a group) are delivering.

Nik: Why should my readers who are in online business buy your course?

To market anything online, you need quality content. Once marketers understand this and they make systems for themselves to take content and strategically spread it around the web with their money links – then that is when the skies light up and magic starts to happen.

Without content, you can’t get the traffic you need for more exposure to gain sales and subscribers.

Once this is realized, how can you strive to create less or WORK LESS, but still have all the traffic, exposure, sales and subscribers you desire?

Well, that is where Recycled Riches comes into play because we show you how to do that by essentially taking one piece of content and repurposing it so you are not wasting a bunch of time or money generating content yourself or outsourcing.

All of our contributing experts work smart and not hard when it comes to generating the content they need to grow their business. We throw around this term a lot but it is so true.

If you realize that just having ONE EBOOK is all you need to get MASSIVE exposure. You don’t need 10. Eventually have 10 is great, but that all comes with time!

Another thing is that as publishers, writers, product creators, or affiliate marketers, whatever we are doing, it’s easy to get in a rut with one modality. For example, “I’m a writer, so I don’t do videos.” The problem is that it’s easy to miss out on a large chunk of your targeted audience if you aren’t presenting your content in different formats. And with the training in Recycled Riches, it’s easy to repurpose content without having to be an expert in every type of content creation.

Here's the link to check it out -> “Recycled Riches“.

Here's a sneak peek into the members area that you'll have access to once you buy.

Click here to check out “Recycled Riches“.

]]> https://nicoleonthenet.com/15931/recycling-your-content/feed/ 2 https://nicoleonthenet.com/15715/self-improvement/ https://nicoleonthenet.com/15715/self-improvement/#comments Wed, 21 Aug 2013 20:16:45 +0000 http://www.nicoleonthenet.com/?p=15715 It’s another Expert Briefs, where I ask really smart business owners to answer your burning questions.

This week I asked our panel of experts about improving ourselves.

After my podcast with Justin Popovic, I got to thinking about some ways that I want to “better my brain”.

So, how about you, my successful friends? Are you learning a second, or fifth language? Do you read self-improvement stuff?

Dish it. Inquiring minds want to know.

I think you'll enjoy the responses. I always do.

Connie Ragen Green of Affiliate Marketing Case Studies says:

I love self-improvement and look for every chance to improve my brain. Some of what I do is a conscious effort on my part and some of it is simply spontaneous.

Last year I decided it was finally time to learn Finnish. I had been spending time there (in Finland) for almost twenty years without learning more than a few phrases. I now practice almost every day in the car or at home, and I can speak more than I ever thought I would be able to. It's fun to surprise my family with phrases such as “Mikä tapahtuu?” (What's happening?) or “Haluan jäätelöä jälkiruoaksi.” (I want ice cream for dessert.)

I also spend time each morning in quiet contemplation. Some people call this meditation, but I just think of it as my ‘quiet time' to gather my thoughts before I start my day.

Connie knows Affiliate Marketing!

click here to learn her secrets
(use coupon SECRET) for 100% discount on this product that normally sells for $27

Kevin Riley of Maximize Your E-Mail Marketing Profits In 2013  says:

Well, first off, I moved to Japan 16 years ago – knowing only “arigatou”, “konichiwa”, and “wakarimasen” from having watched James Clavell's “Shogun”. The first year was a definite struggle, as I had no time to study and just learned from non-English-speaking carpenters. Now, I speak in a local dialect, read all hiragana and katakana, and a lot of kanji. It was a difficult learning experience, but massively rewarding.

I've treated my whole life as one long learning experience, so I'm continually learning new things. As someone who creates and sells products on the Internet, keeping up with the changing technologies and new sites, software, etc. is a never-ending exercise. I'm continually learning some new software or other tool I can use. Recently, I decided to learn how to use Animate to create animated videos, and had my local Kinko's (yes, we have one in Osaka too) print out the massive manual.

I maintain a subscription to National Geographic, as I value the ability to keep learning about new places, cultures, habitats, animal behaviours, etc. etc. I'm continually finding new things that make this world we live in such an amazing place.

Life is a learning experience. Walking down a street in Osaka, I'll see new things every day. It's all about being conscious of your surroundings. One reason I never walk with an iPod (that's just for at the gym).

You can learn about email marketing from
Kevin here ->  Maximum E-Mail Marketing Profits In 2013

Kelly McCausey of Solo Smarts Podcast says:

I've fallen in love with listening to podcasts that feature successful people, whether they are a success in business or in sports or life as a whole. I love hearing them talk about their experiences, especially their mistakes and the lessons learned.

Lately I've been picking up Kindle books that will challenge my point of view. You know we have a tendency to only read things and listen to things that will support our current opinion, right? Right now I'm reading a book that challenges everyone's point of view in one way or another. ‘Drunk Tank Pink: And Other Unexpected Forces that Shape How We Think, Feel, and Behave‘ points out how we are influenced by things (colors, symbols, cultural ideas) we're not aware of.

Finally, I have dedicated the first part of my day to Bible study. I pick up a new devotional every few months and study it through to the end, trying to pull every good thing I can from its pages. Some of them challenge my historical knowledge, while others challenge me on a personal level.

Being challenged in life is what keeps our lives (and us!) interesting. I hope I never shrink away from it.

Need Focus?

Check out The Power of a Focused Business

Barb Ling of Social Curation Ignition says:

Not reading but *massive* research – seeing how the world outside of IM views the same “in the trenches” marketing techniques we tackle every day.

It's *extremely* eyeopening….

Barb thinks differently than anyone I've ever met.

You can peek inside her brain in her Social Curation Ignition course (click for details).

Lynette Chandler of Tech Based Marketing says:

As part of our curriculum, my daughter wants to learn Mandarin. I speak other Chinese dialects but not Mandarin – the most important one and so, I've promised her we'd learn together this school year. That's going to be interesting.

I've also been spending a lot of time lately exploring hard sciences related to evolution and creation. It's amazing what has been learned on both sides in the last 100 years or so. Some of it is mind boggling and a little over my head but that just makes all this stuff so intriguing.

On the business related side, normally I tend to choose self-help books but more and more, I find myself wrapped up in books about behavioral economics and psychology. Truly fascinating stuff.

Here's the funny thing about learning all this stuff. The more I do it, the more content ideas tend to pop up.

Want techie help?

Check out Lynette

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

Focusing On Speed.

There’s always room for improvement. No matter how old you are, you can always try to get better at something.

It has been quite a while since I learned to read. I have fond memories of reading out loud to my mom at the kitchen table as she cleaned the dishes after dinner. Unfortunately, I was never taught to read properly. I was taught to read one word at a time which is completely wrong. The end results is slow reading and slow reading leads to lack of attention which leads to wasting time because you are not comprehending what you are reading!!

I consider myself more of a visual and audio learner. That’s how I learn the quickest. But, there are times that I need to read things and I want to interpret faster and get through it faster….so I am focusing on getting better at this skill.

I started with 1) Cool Technology and 2) Free!

I downloaded an app called Acceleread Speed Reading Trainer. I’ve only just begun but it describes the exact reason people read slow and it also tells you that you CAN GET BETTER just with a little unlearning and practice.

The app has an entire day by day course for you to learn the skills to become a faster reader. At first, it is pretty crazy. The main mind shift is to start to group words together and read and interpret (and visualize) groups of words as opposed to the individual words on the screen. I am absolutely having a blast and I know that this is going to make me a faster reader.

Another cool and free tool I am using is Lumosity. You can play it on the computer as well as download the app. Lumosity is filled with games designed to better your brain as far as analytical skills, problem solving, think better on your feet, concentration, and memory.

I like this app because you can’t get sucked into playing it all day. They open only a certain amount of games per day to make your brain stronger and that’s all you need! It’s perfect.

I love these tools because you can use them anywhere – standing in line at the bank, waiting for someone you are picking up, and a little downtime if you need a break. Instead of wasting time on Facebook, better your brain because it will pay off!

Meet Debbie. (She's really smart!)

Check out how to

Turn ONE PIECE OF CONTENT into 21 Sources of Income

Nicole Dean of .. here! .. says:

Well now I'm really inspired. And, a little bit embarrassed that I didn't have a good answer planned.

Here's what I've been up to. It's nothing revolutionary, but small baby steps in the right direction. I hope they add up over time.

1. Got apps? Si!

I decided to relearn Spanish, which I used to be conversant in (not fluent, but able to communicate). In order to do that, one of the things that I did was to download some iPhone apps that have games on them for Spanish vocabulary.

The one I'm using the most is “Basic Spanish” but I also have been using “Duolingo”, too.

I'm also considering getting another program to go through. My daughter is starting Spanish classes at school, so the time is right. Anyone got recommendations? I see there are lots of options and strong opinions on many of them.

2. Exercising my Brain.

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I'm also enjoying Lumosity.com – which is a brain training program. I’m doing it, along with my kids and we’re competing by score. I'm pretty impressed at our progress. My memory has improved tremendously already.

3. Learning in the car and at the gym.

I've signed up with Audible.com to listen to books in the car and at the gym (on my phone). I've also got several new podcasts to listen to, but I just can't get into them as much. I prefer the structure of books better than the freeflow of podcasts.  The other thing I regularly listen to is the CDs that come in my Success Magazines – which I just love.

What about You?

Got tips? I'd love to hear what you have to say.

Best of luck.
Nicole