If you do want to be inspired to face the hard stuff and do it anyway, keep reading.

My friend, Kelly McCausey, wants you to get over the things that are holding you back. And, for just $2.99 purchase (Kindle) or paperback version of her new book, you can get into her $497 coaching program that will guide you to do just that.

It all starts with 19 stories of women — including me — who share the stuff that TRIES to hold us back. And how we get past our sh(poop).

You'll hear from me and my friends how we do the hard stuff, even when battling things like anxiety or addiction or horrible events from the past that try to define us. The stories are raw and honest and inspiring.

In mine, I shared how I've dealt with anxiety and depression for over 30 years — and still get on my computer to do the hard/scary things (most days… except when I don't).

Kel and I hopped on a Zoom call to talk about the book. It was supposed to be audio-only but we had so much fun we decided to publish the video. I apologize for looking like I just crawled out of bed, but I did. lol!

I couldn't talk about getting past the stuff holding you back and then say “but don't publish the video because I look goofy…”  So I said “Oh hell, go ahead.​”

As I mentioned, if you buy the book (either Kindle or paperback), you'll get a $497 coaching program for free. 

In the coaching program, you'll discover…

• Session One: Why Your Sh*t Isn't Special
• Session Two: What is Ego & Essence
• Session Three: How to Prioritize Your Stoppers
• Session Four: How to Create A Hit List & A Sh*t List
• Session Five: What are the First Steps to Get Past Your Sh*t Behind You Every Single Day

Here's what to do next if you're interested in the book and want the coaching program, too…

Step One:

Click here to grab your copy of either the print or the Kindle version of the book.

Step Two:

After you buy a copy of the book, go here to claim the bonus coaching program.

If you already have a story about getting over your stuff, I'd love to hear about it in the comments.

Much love,

Nicole Dean

FAQ: 

Is this book just for women? Hell no.

Is this just a bunch of sob stories? Ummm… no. It's stories of overcoming some big stuff.

Got Other Questions?

Let me know in the comments. I do read them all.

In fact, John J. Ratey, M.D., of “Spark! How Exercise will Improve the Performance of your Brain” went as bold as to say…

“I tell people that going for a run is like taking a little bit of Prozac and a little bit of Ritalin because, like the drugs, exercise elevates these neurotransmitters.”

 

– John J. Ratey, M.D., Author of “Spark! How Exercise will Improve the Performance of your Brain”.

The problem is time. Unlike someone like a pre-school teacher who is on her feet all day, us “computer folk” don't have an active job to keep us moving. In fact, speaking for myself, if I'm not careful, I can get pretty stagnant. I have to make time to exercise.

Because as I said, it's good for my mind. I can directly tell that it helps lessen my anxiety and depression and it helps me to be more focused during the day. Plus, I sleep sounder and that's always good thing, too!

I'm about to share what my friends said about how they fit exercise into their busy days.

But first, since we all KNOW that exercise is important but so many of us still do not prioritize it, I dug up this old pep talk from my good friend, Scott Tousignant, to share.

What’s your ROI on Exercise?

by Scott Tousignant
MetabolicMasterpiece.com

Time is our most precious commodity, which is why it’s so important to prioritize the tasks that you perform throughout the day to ensure that you are doing the tasks that give you the greatest return on your investment (ROI). Unfortunately not many online entrepreneurs are aware of the ROI on t

heir daily tasks and they spend their day being busy rather than productive and wonder why they continue to struggle growing their business.

Every business is different and certain tasks may produce a greater ROI for certain businesses compared to others. There is however, one task that will provide an incredible ROI for every online entrepreneur. That task is physical fitness. Ironically, it’s the one task that many online entrepreneurs will brush off and say they don’t have time for.

Let’s take a look at the ROI on exercise:

• Increased energy: Keep up with your kids and live life to the fullest
• Increased focus: Your mind stays on target with the task at hand
• Increased productivity: Get more done in less time so you have more time to do what you enjoy the most in life.
• Increased Creativity: Your mind becomes more open to ideas and solutions
• Increased confidence: The benefits of this are limitless in business and life.
• Increased self esteem: Enhances your belief in your abilities
• Increased networking opportunities: You become more approachable and you are more willing to “get out there” more.
• Increased sense of well-being: Feel great about yourself and your actions
• Improved sleep: When you exercise you enjoy greater quality sleep and wake up feeling rested and ready to take on the day at hand.
• Reduced Stress: It becomes easier to handle the challenges that life throws at you.

With all of these benefits how can you possibly avoid exercise?

Yes it’s hard work, but it’s hard work with a huge ROI.

I challenge you to find any other task in your day that provides more benefits than exercise.

I encourage you not to fall into the trap of, “As soon as I finish this project, I’ll start to exercise.” I’ve got news for you… there will always be new projects and with this mindset you will never make the time for your health and fitness.

Another trap is waiting until you achieve a certain level of business success before you make your fitness a priority. “As soon as my online business takes off and these PPC campaigns start turning a profit I will have the freedom to workout more often and the finances to get a gym membership.” With this mindset, money is more important than your health.

Now let’s say that your ROI on PPC becomes so great that you finally have the freedom that you and your family deserve, but then out of nowhere Google slaps ya! Your income stream stops and you scramble to find another method of traffic. Let’s say that within a few months you find that banner ads become your new #1 profit machine and life is all good and happy again.

But what if LIFE decides to slap you with diabetes or a heart attack, because you placed your health at the bottom of your priority list?

What if life slaps you and cuts your life short by a year or two?

That’s time that you can’t get back. That’s time that you could have spent creating more memories with your family. Sure you had some great trips and vacations in the early days because you focused on business and money, but there was a hidden cost that didn’t reveal itself until it was too late. Was it worth it?

Everything in life is a choice. Your current situation is a result of all the choices that you’ve made in life. Your choices are often influenced by your values. Right now, you have a choice to bump your health to the top of the list of your priorities, or continue putting it off and hope to have the time to make it a priority down the road. Do you value your health? Before you make that decision, remember… time does eventually run out.

Thanks, Scott!

So that lead me to ask my smart friends this:

As an entrepreneur, I end up sitting on my butt a little more than I should. I'm always coming up with ways to get more movement into my day. How do you fit movement into your daily schedule without guilt? What kinds of exercise do you do? Any tips for sneaking it in?

This post is a compilation of responses from my friends.

I hope you enjoy this post. If so, please share!

Brian T. Edmondson
InternetIncomeCoach.com

I'm a huge believer that there is a correlation between diet, exercise, health, energy and business success.

As someone who has been working from home “living the laptop lifestyle” for over 10 years I've literally have had days where I haven't left the house or seen the light of day – not good!

These days I make it a point to make sure I don't spend hours and hours (or days) just sitting in front of the computer screen.

Here are two things that work really well for me:

1. Schedule my exercise into my calendar

Just about everything I do (business or personal) gets put into my calendar. If it's on the calendar then it's going to get done, period.

– Monday 11:00 am one-on-one coaching call – check
– Tuesday lunch meeting with a potential new private client – check
– Thursday blog post writing block from 2PM to 4PM – check
– Friday 7:00PM movie of the latest Marvel comics movie – check
– Saturday afternoon watching my Penn State Nittany Lions crush Michigan, Ohio, or Wisconsin – double check!

And of course, my one hour workout at the YMCA is scheduled into my calendar as a recurring event. It's on the calendar and very rarely is there anything important enough to bump it off the calendar – mostly everything I do is scheduled around my exercise schedule.

Unlike in the past, I get out of the house at least once a day (hello sun!) to get my exercise in.

2. Apple Watch stand reminder

Of course when you're sitting at a desk and computer all day it's easy to get into the groove and go hours without standing, which isn't good as well.

I generally work distraction free for 50 minutes, then will stop to take a break, stand up, walk around the house, and drink some water or have a snack. Sometimes I'll even squeeze in some extra jumping jacks or pushups just to get the blood flowing.

One of my favorite gadgets is my Apple Watch (yes, I'm an Apple Fan Boy) and a nice feature is every 50 minutes it will remind you to stand up and take a break if you haven't already done so. Of course you don't need an Apple Watch to do this… I used to use a simple kitchen timer in the past.

By scheduling exercise into my calendar and making sure I take frequent stand breaks throughout the day (and hydrating properly) I find that I have a lot more energy, focus, and am much more productive.

Lain Ehmann
FastLain.com

After a period of inactivity, I committed to getting back to a regular workout routine this year. For a long time, I told myself I was “too busy” to workout!

In January, I started going to Orangetheory, a group exercise class with 30 minutes of cardio and 30 minutes of weights. You wear a heart rate monitor to make sure you’re working out at the right intensity. Everything is tracked, from heart rate to calories burned. I geek out on those metrics!

I started out a few times a week. Now, nine months later, I hate missing class.

I feel better, I look better, and it’s now a regular part of my day. First thing in the morning, Mon-Fri, I drop my daughter off at school and then head over to the gym. I sometimes have to force myself to take a day off. And the more I push myself physically, the more confidence I have. That’s good for me AND my business.

Carol Little, Public Speaker, Trainer and Coach
LittleTrainingCompany.com

Working out is essential for me, not only for my physical health but for my mental health too. I can think better when I feel good in my body. I find I’m more creative too. That may sound strange but it’s true. I often walk around a lake in my neighborhood not for the exercise but for my peace of mind. I come up with great ideas out on that trail! So, my tip is: if you have a problem you’re trying to solve, rather than sit at your desk and stew, walk your way to a solution. It’s more fun and you get some movement in when you would otherwise be sitting.

Personally, I love working out first thing in the morning. Nothing conflicts with an early morning workout. No phones, no emails, no clients…nothing. Plus, there is such a sense of satisfaction that comes from having my workout done by 9am. I keep things interesting by alternating my workouts. I do yoga, cardio (treadmill, elliptical or I ride the bike.) and weights. It doesn’t really matter what I do as long as I do something everyday. I consider it a bonus for my business too since, as a speaker, feeling comfortable in my body is crucial to feeling comfortable in front of the room.

Well, there you go, my thoughts on working out.

Karon Thackston
MarketingWords.com

As a girly girl, I have never liked exercise. That meant I would have to get hot and sweat, and that’s just gross! The exercises I did for years were based on videos, the majority of which were 30-minutes or less. Frankly, following the same DVDs over and over felt robotic.

Then I discovered pickleball about a year ago! (Google it.) A friend kept asking me to try it and I kept putting it off because (1) we play outside… in the heat. And (2) we sweat… a lot! No. Thank. You.

Shockingly, that turned out to be my thing. I adore it! I play typically 2-3 hours at a time, 4 – 6 days a week. Therein lies the “trick” to getting more movement in my day. I had to find something I loved, and that I wanted to do.

When it rains, I feel cheated because I couldn’t play that day. I miss the game, the people who I get to interact with face-to-face, and the time in the real world away from any screens.

Angela Wills, Digital Business Coach
LaptopLifestyleYouniversity.com

Once really easy and non-negotiable new movement in my daily schedule is walking my daughter to and from school every day. Our family has one vehicle and now that my husband works days we have no choice but to walk. It's about 25 minutes twice a day for me so some nice consistent movement I hope will pay off!

If you don't have a kid to walk to school, maybe you can borrow one? haha! Seriously though I bet there's a mom out there who'd love it if you did walk her kid to school every now and then. Or maybe there's another activity you have to do regularly that you can make yourself walk to instead of driving? I actually really enjoy the forced walks now, though!

Otherwise another thing I LOVE to do is Pomodoro Method of working. I learned this from the book “How to Live a Good Life” by Jonathan Fields. In it he suggests working for one stretch of time and then breaking for a short period of time and doing something “FUN” on that break, something that gets you moving. I like to work for 52 minutes (which I'm actually doing as I write this) and then break for 17 minutes. During the breaks (I do about 4 per day) I usually do things like flip on some dance music, throw a toy for my dog Shadow or try to learn a new move on my weighted hula hoop. The music is my go-to and then I do try to get creative.

As a bonus tip I can sometimes get a quick wash and dry of dishes in when doing Pomodoro and not feel like household stuff distracted me or threw me off track.

Dvorah Lansky, Bestselling Author and Course Creation Specialist
ShareYourBrilliance.com

How do you fit movement into your daily schedule? What kinds of exercise do you do? Any tips for sneaking it in? Or for making it more efficient?

While I love to dance and move and walk and ride my bike… I find that I often get so busy with my work projects that exercise and movement take a back seat. Here are some tips that help me to make movement a priority.

From the following list – I do one or more of these each day. Just think how fit I'd be if I did them all!

1. The computer does not go on in the morning until I've “earned it” by dancing or exercising or going to a walk.
2. When I look outside in the morning and think “it's so beautiful out” I use that as a prompt to get my shoes on and go for a stroll.
3. Some of my neighbors go for a walk around the neighborhood, every day, rain or shine or sleet or snow – they're like the postal service. I see them in the summer with their shorts and water bottles and in the winter with their parkas and mittens. I walk with them from time to time – however I recently made the commitment to walk with them daily for at least 90 days! They go at the same time each day so I can easily schedule it as a priority in my calendar.
4. In the afternoon when I'm winding down from work, I play with my cat on the front steps. Once she's ready to go inside, I head off to take a short walk to a specific spot in the neighborhood. I especially enjoy doing this around sunset.
5. There's a cafe about a mile from my home. More and more I budget time to walk there instead of drive there in the morning. I'm trying to figure out a way to carry a light book or some work with me as I love hanging out there, but don't want to carry a lot of weight – hmmm maybe I'll try a light backpack.
6. I have two sets of weights in my living room. I put on motivating music and lift the weights. Lifting weights makes me feel so strong. And for some reason my cat (Princess the Wonder Cat) loves hanging out with me when I'm working with the weights.
7. We have community dances in a nearby town each Saturday night. I used to go religiously and I loved it. Haven't been in a long time, however I promised myself that I'd begin going this month. Dancing makes me so happy.
8. Can't wait to see what our others experts in this Expert Briefs series have to share.

A tip I'll share is… look at your calendar and choose a dedicated time each day or many times each week where you can put on music and dance, or go for a walk or lift weights. Commit to daily exercise for 30, 60 or 90 days and you'll likely be hooked for life!

Another tip – go through the suggestions shared by the contributors in this series and jot down all of the ideas that inspire or intrigue you. Then circle three of them that you'll incorporate into your life. Keep the list somewhere handy so you can participate in more of these activities when you're ready.

Kelly McCausey
LovePeopleMakeMoney.com

One of my favorite ways to exercise is to swim laps but the local women's only gym with a pool has passed hands three times in three years and appears to have closed for good this time. It's frustrating because swimming didn't feel like ‘working out' and I am going to miss that opportunity to make exercise fun.

I just caught myself in an old story! Truth is, even ‘non-fun exercise' is fun these days. Since having bariatric surgery a year ago, I've lost 90+ pounds and built up strength I haven't enjoyed in many years.

I recently rejoined Anytime Fitness. I love their 24 hour access and there's a location within easy reach for me. I am tackling a weight machine workout that really stretches my abilities and lets me get in and out fast.

At least once a week I take my granddaughter out for an adventure. She's two and a half and has boundless energy. Whether we're covering every square foot of the grocery store or lapping through the pet store – I'm enjoying her so much I hardly notice all the steps I'm getting in.

Candice Davis, Author Coach
CandiceLDavis.com

I once gained twenty pounds over the course of a month because I was so focused on bringing a project in on time. Not good!

After that painful lesson, I made sure I found some ways to move my body every day.

I added an app to Google Chrome to remind me to get up from my desk at set intervals. (Stand Up! Timer is free.)

I also used inexpensive kitchen pantry shelving and some zip ties to create a desk on my treadmill. Now, I can walk at a very slow pace and work at the same time. Just stepping on the treadmill reminds me to pick up my free weights and do a short strength-training routine before I jump into work.

Lastly, I developed some small habits, like pacing while I'm on the phone, walking every aisle in the grocery store, and having active dates with my husband to make sure I sneak in some of the daily movement the human body was designed to enjoy.

Nicole Dean, Awesome Human, Author, Business Consultant, etc.
From here!

First of all, let me give kudos to my buds.

You’re all awesome! Whether you realize it or not, you’ve inspired me.

We live in a world where “busy” is worn like a badge of honor. And “I'm too busy” is frequently an excuse to not fit self-care into our days.

The quote I started with from John J. Ratey of Spark says so much:

“I tell people that going for a run is like taking a little bit of Prozac and a little bit of Ritalin because, like the drugs, exercise elevates these neurotransmitters.

It’s a handy metaphor to get the point across, but the deeper explanation is that exercise balances neurotransmitters — along with the rest of the neurochemicals in the brain.”

– John J. Ratey, M.D., Author of “Spark! How Exercise will Improve the Performance of your Brain”.

For those of us who are the CEOs of our own companies, our brains ARE our livelihoods.

When we're depressed, anxious, or fuzzy-headed, we can't tap into our genius, creativity or productivity as effortlessly.

Why sit in the struggle when a quick walk can literally reboot your brain?

So doesn't it make sense that exercise can actually INCREASE the bottom line of your business? 

In fact, I would be hard-pressed to think of any people who I really look up to who don't prioritize their own health.

So… argument one. Exercise leads to productivity which leads to increased profit.

On top of that, as entrepreneurs (bloggers, authors, speakers, consultants, service providers, and coaches), we spend our work time sitting in front of a screen.

In a world where sitting is the new smoking as far as danger to ourselves goes, we have to make it a priority to move frequently and consistently.

“Sitting is more dangerous than smoking, kills more people than HIV and is more treacherous than parachuting. We are sitting ourselves to death, The chair is out to kill us.”

– James Levine, a professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic, in an interview in with the LA Times.

Now that may be a wee bit dramatic but something has got to get people moving!

And, if for no other reason, as a yoga teacher, I do know that most back pain starts in the butt. So sitting is definitely not helping your back pain.

Let me share a few things that have helped me to make exercise actually happen over the years..

1. My best friend, the timer.

I use a timer when I work. Pretty much always. It is my lifesaver. So, for instance, I set the timer for 45 minutes of work, then I take 15 minutes to walk around, do laundry, exercise, head outside for a bit, whatever. It may not seem like much, but it really works on helping me stay focused!

When I get back to my desk, I am refreshed and usually have some solutions for the issues that I was feeling stuck on, plus, I come back to my desk with some great clarity.

When I need to lose some weight or I feel like kicking my own butt, I break up my day so that I do focused work for 40-50 minutes, then do physical activity (like squats or situps – or the One and Done One Minute Workout) for 10 minutes then a quick break to do something around the house (check the mail, get more water, let out the dogs, or move the laundry) and repeat. If I can do that 1-3 times in my day, that helps to keep my metabolism up all day long.

2. Wearing running shoes.

I find that it’s silly, but if I put on my running shoes first thing in the morning, I move more during the day than if I’m barefoot. Plus, I can’t climb on the couch or in bed for a nap as easily. (ducking and running)

3. Don’t work weekends.

I try not to work much on the computer (if at all) on the weekends, unless I’m launching a big project (or if something major happened during the week- fun or otherwise). This gives me permission to not sit as much and instead, be gardening, doing yardwork, organizing the house, doing batch cooking, going on a hike or paddleboarding, or any number of activities that do not involve me sitting.

4. Outsourcing.

I know, it’s not directly related to exercise, but it keeps my butt out of the chair, which helps.

5. Exercise 7 Days/Week.

I used to plan exercise days and plan my “recovery” days back when I was a gym rat. Now, I aim to exercise every day so that when life gets in the way and I miss one, I'm still way ahead.

But to me, exercise, just means choosing to do something to move my body. Go on a hike, go to a yoga class, swim in the pool during a break, hop on my bike, go paddleboarding.

6. “1 Minute Workouts”.

I have been doing a program called “One and Done: 1 Minute Workouts” that is basically 20 seconds of hard effort followed by another 2 minutes of active rest (not just recovery but actually doing a planned movement). You repeat that cycle 3 times which adds up to only 1 minute of all out effort. I was surprised how sore I was once I started doing it.

You can create your own workout, or this is the one I'm doing. One and Done Workout

7. Yoga is the Double-Up Workout for Me. 

I meditate daily because it's good for me and it is helping me to be more in touch with a lot of crap that needs to bubble out. (Fun, right?)

I do yoga because it's exercise, stretching, strengthening, balance, and meditation. To me, it's the whole shebang.

I try to go to class every day, but if I don't make it, I'll do another form of exercise, like the “One and Done” workout I mentioned above.

8. Finding wasted time and making it useful.

When my daughter was in chorus and dance classes in downtown Pensacola (a 15-20 minute drive from home), I found myself sitting around for an hour to an hour and a half several times per week while she was at practice. I was too far from home for it to make sense to run back, so I'd sit and play Words with Friends or watch Hulu. So, after a year of that, I realized what a colossal waste of time it was. #duh

So, the next year, I joined a gym right near where her rehearsals are. I found that, in the hour or so from when I drop her to pick her up, I could get really sweaty. I had just enough time to run to the gym, park, get inside, and get a good workout. It's not ideal, but it worked for me. (Exercise without guilt is a good thing.)

So that's the majority of what I do to sneak in exercise.

But how do you actually make yourself do it? 

For that, I would highly (highest recommendation) recommend you read or listen to Atomic Habits by James Clear.

He has studied how to make habits stick more thoroughly than anyone else I've ever read. It's fascinating if you dig that stuff.

Quick Muscle-Building Workout. 

I also wanted to share this quick muscle building workout as I have done it a lot when I had a gym membership last year. I could get in and out of the gym in a half hour. No, it may not be the MOST effective workout in the world, but I do believe in “done is better than perfection”. And this was something I was able to commit to.

That's it for me. Now it's your turn. How do you find time to exercise in your busy day?

Warmly,

Nicole Dean

PS. I love reading this when I feel like I just can't do something or I feel intimidated or overwhelmed.

“No more excuses! Do it or don’t do it but don’t make excuses. Stop using your incredible brain to think up elaborate rationalizations and justifications for not taking action.

Do something. Do anything. Get on with it! Repeat to yourself:

‘If it’s to be, it’s up to me!’

Losers make excuses; winners make progress.

Now, how can you tell if your favorite excuse is valid or not? It’s simple. Look around and ask, ‘Is there anyone else who has my same excuse who is successful anyway?’ When you ask this question, if you are honest, you will have to admit that there are thousands and even millions of people who have had it far worse than you have who have gone on to do wonderful things with their lives. And what thousands and millions of others have done, you can do as well—if you try.”

~ Brian Tracy from No Excuses!

And I oftentimes rewatch this when I feel like I'm backsliding or not making progress fast enough. #DUDE

I've been thinking that our followers oftentimes think we are somehow “lucky” in business or smarter than they are. So, this week, I asked my awesome friends to share a fail, disaster, or total miss from their businesses. And, to let us know if there was a lesson or some good that came from it.

I'm totally teasing with the title. These aren't “Massive Fails“. My point is to show that at the time they probably felt like it, but you can see that every single one was or is just a step on the path to more awesome things.

I hope you enjoy this post. If so, please comment and share!

Brian T. Edmondson
InternetIncomeCoach.com

When it comes to getting “lucky” in business (or anything else in life) I always think back to one of my favorite quotes from the Roman philosopher Seneca who said, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” Even those who win the lottery had to actually go out and buy a ticket and realize that they were taking a gamble and ran the risk of (certainly) losing money.

Lucky for those of us in business (no pun intended), the chances of success are much higher than hitting PowerBall, but we should realize that there is no guarantee of success and most likely we'll have to lose a lot before we find a winner. Whether running a new paid advertising campaign, launching a new product, etc. we'll have to test several different headlines, copy, audiences, etc. and fail quite a few times before we find a winner. For most people who fail in business it's not because they aren't lucky enough or smart enough, it's because they just didn't persevere long enough before they could succeed. It's the classic Acres of Diamonds story.

I could give endless examples of where I've failed and continue to fail, but the key is I embrace the concept of failing fast and failing forward. A big example of what many people would consider to be a big failure was when I declared personal bankruptcy at the age of 25 while pursuing my dreams of building an online business. A traumatic experience no doubt, but I came out of that experience a better person in so many ways.

Just recently I sank around $1,000 into a Facebook ad campaign to promote a product and didn't make one single sale. Losing $1,000 and having a big crush to my ego (I'm supposed to be a marketing “guru” right?) wasn't pleasant, but the lessons learned on what worked and didn't work were priceless.

Don't be fooled by anybody that tells you that starting an online business and making money online is easy and doesn't take hard work, dedication, and sometimes, yes… a little bit of luck.

Karon Thackston
MarketingWords.com

I have had numerous fails during my 20 years of owning MarketingWords.com. Every time I’ve made a mess of things, I’ve learned something – even if it was to never, EVER do _____ again.

One of the biggest mistakes I made (and one of the hardest to get over) was not outsourcing. In my mind, outsourcing was an expense that I could not afford early on. I thought I needed to do as much as possible myself to save money. Here’s how that worked for far too many years…

I’d need to set up a new funnel (or do some other techy thing, or install and configure some funky plugin, or whatever). I’d spend hours trying to learn how to do what I needed, digging around the ‘Net for free tips and whatnot. Then, I’d fail at my first 3 or 4 attempts. It finally dawned on me that I was losing money hand over fist by not outsourcing.

When I realized how much I could have been making in the 5-7 hours I struggled and did not even accomplish what I wanted, I was shocked. All the while, I could have paid a pro to setup the {whatever God-awful, techy thing you think of} and it would have taken them only minutes because they do this sort of thing all day, every day. I wasted time (when I could have been making hundreds of dollars) in order to save $50 or $75.

I head slapped myself and began looking for help the same day I had this realization. Not only did it free me up to make more, it also alleviated a LOT of stress.

Lou Bortone
“The Godfather of Video”
LouBortone.com

Share a fail? There are too many to keep track of! As entrepreneur, the only profession with a worse “failure rate” is baseball, where you only have to hit the ball 3 out of 10 times to be a superstar.

In fact, there are definitely times when I’m only batting 3 for 10 when it comes to promotions, selling products or selling coaching. Fortunately, those 3 “hits” are usually enough to run a successful business, and the “public” rarely knows, nor cares, about the 7 ideas that flopped.

I remember one embarrassing “dry spell” when I was participating in a “selling” program with a highly regarded “guru.” Our mission was to make 50 sales calls and close as many as possible, using their “foolproof” sales script. I made dozens of calls and was literally zero for 50. Nada. The big, fat goose egg. Epic failure. Not. One. Sale.

The lesson: Sales “scripts” are not for everyone, and some selling “systems” simply don’t work for introverts or less assertive personalities. I was a square peg trying to fit into a round hole. But once I dumped their “foolproof” script and put my own personality into client conversations, everything changed for the better. Skip the script. Follow your gut. You do you!

Angela Wills
Digital Business Coach
LaptopLifestyleBusiness.club

A total miss happened very early on for me. I was DESPERATE to leave my afternoon-shift factory job and I wanted to be gone in a flash. The ONLY thing on my mind was getting out of there. There is so much to a business than replacing one income for the next, which I was able to do by taking on Virtual Assistant clients.

I quit my job and moved into my business role but the total miss became evident about four months later when I was basically tied to my desk morning, noon and night. I had quit my job to be home for my son, to create a life I loved and to love what I did and I had none of it. The only thing I'd done was trade one boss for about 15 (or up to 25 at times) and I was so stressed out, overwhelmed, overworked and just could not even see or think straight. It was a serious problem!

I fixed it, of course, and it's now eleven years later and I make it my mission to NOT see others get caught and stuck in the same trap as I did. I now live with the kind of freedom that lets me do what I want, when I want and where I want.

That did not just happen. It had to be designed. It had to be thought about, planned about, worked on and tested until it became a reality. And I love that. I love that we CAN create exactly what we want, if we get really clear on what that is.

Kelly McCausey
LovePeopleMakeMoney.com

I have tried a lot of things in my business that didn't work over the years. I'm willing to fail, even spectacularly, even publicly, if it means I'm stretching and growing and have the chance to love people and make money. That means I could tell you any number of stories

Like the time I decided to tackle the whole launch formula thing.

I was selling an array of products easily and profitably but a lot of smart heads said I should have a ‘signature product' that sells for a higher price. So I retired a lot of individual products, went into my virtual work shed to create a really big product with modules galore. Then I studied the process of having a big launch. I planned out videos and emails and crafted the best sales page I could imagine – which wasn't easy because the product was now sooo big I didn't know what to say about it. I reached out for affiliate support – which did not come in droves.

The launch week arrived, everything was ready. Freebies every day, new videos every day, awesome follow up planned. And pfffffzzzffffzz.

I made sales. About $10,000 in total. Hurray? Not really. For all the time and effort, it didn't increase my overall sales. My expectations were that all this extra hoopla and the big course price, together would create at least $25,000 at launch and keep making me big chunks of cash for a long time to come. That isn't what happened. Turns out, it's not simple to sell expensive products that include everything but the kitchen sink.

I dropped it. I don't sell it anymore. I GIVE it to my coaching clients to support them in whatever area they're needing extra information in.

In some ways I don't regret giving it a try because I had to know. In another, private, deep down in my heart way – I wish I hadn't done any of it. It sucks to fail.

I took my lessons from it though. I rock at creating, marketing and selling smaller products that meet very specific needs. I am in my genius zone with I deliver group coaching programs and challenges. I keep my focus on these things and continue to love people and make money.

Candice L. Davis
Author Coach
CandiceLDavis.com

Every time I'm asked about a business failure, the same story pops into my mind. It was the kind of painful moment that lays a groove in your brain so you never forget it. Four years ago, my business partners and I put weeks into building our first digital product, an online course to help people write, publish, and market their nonfiction books. We were proud of the course, and we invited some of the experts we knew personally to become affiliates for our big launch day.

They had the audience. They had the engagement. They sold nothing. In fact, they did little or nothing to promote the $1500 product.

The problem: We'd reached out to experts who'd never been involved in affiliate marketing, had no idea what it entailed, and didn't really have an interest in promoting affiliate products. They were lovely people who wanted to do us a favor, but a post or two on their Facebook business pages didn't move the needle for us. Our affiliates didn't know what they were doing–and neither did we.

The lesson: It's a lot easier to work with experienced affiliates for a big promotion, but if you're just introducing your affiliates to the concept, it's wiser not to rely heavily on them for your marketing efforts. (It seems like common sense now, but we were caught up in the excitement of building something new!) Make the effort to get the newbie affiliates' buy-in, and make sure they have all the information they need to do a great job as an affiliate. A few months later, we did just that, and we enjoyed our first multi-five-figure day with one webinar for a single affiliate.

Terry Dean
MyMarketingCoach.com

Well, this is a toughie, because I have so many failures and mistakes. Where should I start?

Here's a good one. I had a flash of brilliance. It was an incredible idea that was going to make a fortune.

Create a step-by-step marketing course designed specifically for local business owners. Perfect. They all need this. I disappear into my man cave and work on this for 6 months. It was a masterpiece. Over 300 pages packed with A-B-C instructions, checklists, worksheets, and more. The crowd cheers, “He is finally done and ready to launch this game changer.”

Launch. Silence. A few sales trickle in, but nothing like the stampede that was expected.

Six months down the drain. What was my mistake? No one identifies themselves as a local business owners.

Local business owner is too general. They're dentists, chiropractors, CPAs, physical therapists, gym owners, martial arts dojos, restaurateurs etc.

I was able to make the project profitable by editing the product and sales copy to dentists. Then going after that specific audience.

But this miserable failure has an even better silver lining to it. Around half of my one-on-one coaching clients sell B2B in these exact types of niche markets. A portion of their success has been built upon my failure.

The big takeaways here are to do your research before running with a big product idea. What are people currently buying? What do they want to buy? What solutions are they searching for?

Everyone wants a custom solution just for them…even if the answer is 95% the same as other related markets. Becoming more specialized is a way to set yourself apart.

And even painful failures can be a stepping stone to greater success.

Note from Nik: If you're an intermediate to advanced marketer and you sell your own products – be sure to check out Terry's My Marketing Mentor Program

Nicole Dean
Awesome Human, Author, Business Consultant, etc.
From here!

Well you already know my motto. “You don't have to be perfect to be profitable'. (You can even tell from this image circa 2012.)

God knows that I'm not. I manage to screw things up often enough to prove that.

My biggest failures and what I learned.

I would say my biggest failures over the years always come from (lack of) confidence and (lots of) fear.

I'm scared to do something and I don't take action and I miss my window of opportunity. (You have no idea how often this happens.)

I WISH I had more failures, but I have the opposite problem. I don't have enough. Because I do the things that I know are safe and easy. Which isn't always a bad thing in my position. But it sometimes is.

I mean, I do preach to my coaching clients and we brainstorm what would be “fun, easy, and profitable”.

And that's true. That's where I like to spend 90% of my time.

But… sometimes a good stretch is needed as well.

Along the same lines, I've oftentimes been scared to let go of something so I hold onto too many things and I dilute my energy.

I've failed to let go of tons of stuff, even though every year, I commit to doing it.

Every year, I make a list of websites that I need to sell or give away.

Every year, I think how much easier my life would be if I would just do it.

But I don't do it. This mistake has literally cost me hundreds of thousands of dollars – simply because I'm not 100% focusing enough on my ‘money' projects.

The funny thing is that, if I looked at my business and my life as if I were my own coaching client, I'd kick my butt!

I would never let one of my coaching clients hang on to this much baggage. It's not practical and it's certainly not the most profitable plan.

It's not even that I really spend TIME on most of the “extra” stuff. It's just a mental drain and sucks my soul. (Not to be toooo dramatic or anything. lol!)

I keep justifying that the extra websites and projects are just “sitting there making money” – which is true for a lot of them. But, how much risk and wasted mental energy do I really need in my life?

If I were to let them go and focus on my Focal Point – the profit that I would get from that would so squash the small amounts that some of those small sites bring in every month.

Over the years I have worked hard at simplifying, but it's still not enough. 

1. No more junk mail. (I've eliminated most of my junk mail.)

2. No more telemarketers (we turned off the ringer on the home phone years ago).

3. I'm dumping all unnecessary things – even if it only involves a few minutes per month.

4. Heck, I even had laser hair removal on my legs so I don't have to waste time shaving anymore. lol. (Too much information? Probably.)

It's time to file this away for good and to put my chronic overwhelm from mental clutter to rest.

Lesson learned. All things come with a price. Even good things. I don't need this much “stuff” in my life or in my head.

My Epic Fail. 

But if I were to say one EPIC fail that I had, it would actually be a co-epic fail with my friend, Kelly McCausey who shared above.

We host Beachpreneurs Conference / Workshop events.

And, because we are smart, we rely on experts. So, for our hotel event, because there's so much risk, we used an Event Coordinator.

That was a smart move.

But we still ended up with miscommunication between us and the hotel, which cost us money – and a LOT of stress.

Kelly read the contract. (And at this point she'd already hosted a few events, so she was pretty knowledgable.)

I read the contract. (I used to write Bank Manuals for a living so I know how to pick apart words!)

The Event Coordinator read the contract. (And this is what she does for a living.)

We all misunderstood one word.

It was a costly word.

The result from this mistake?

Since then, Kelly has become pretty freaking smart in negotiating with hotels for events. Both for us and for her own events. It was also a great test of our partnership AND our friendship (not really) AND we learned some things about communication AND in stress management (really). lol.

Thankfully we have a great hotel now for our Beachpreneurs events. And we love going back every year. (Join us!)

Talk to me.

1. Do you have a failure that you would like to share? And a lesson learned?

2. Did one of my friends' posts resonate with you?

3. Do you suffer from mental chaos? What are you doing about it?

As always, I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter.

Warmly,
Nicole Dean

PS. If you like this post – share it and check out my friends’ sites. That’ll make me happy! Appreciate you!

Luckily my bestie Kelly McCausey came over to help clear it up.

Before I hand over my blog to Kelly, though, I want to make sure you  know what content creation is. Kelly explains it like this.

Content Curation is…

Cultivating a collection of content based on the topics represented or the community it serves.

It's basically sharing content that you find that is relevant and interesting to your audience. The benefits are many and it's fun.

This is a guest post from my good friend (if I could choose a sister, she'd be it) and partner in creating Bold Breakthroughs at the Beach, Kelly McCausey.  She also was one of my first mentors online and still makes the world a more awesome place every day.

Kelly has a full course on using content curation to your advantage and has brought us a meaty taste of how it serves our content goals.

Here's Kelly's brilliance.

I'm approaching curation in a few different ways but the core strategy I’m using involves curating a collection of market focused content on my site.

If you're like me, you want to be THE source for your people.

Curation is a Supplemental Content Strategy.

I’m not interested in only pointing to what others say and I doubt that would be engaging for others.  I generate unique content for my market.  I write blog posts, record podcasts, and publish original learning resources based on my experience with business.   My readers respect my curated content because they’ve grown to respect my overall unique opinions.

My target market is made up of solopreneurs running online businesses and they're interested in content that helps them work smarter and be more profitable.

They love outsourcing but they're not interested in building a staff.  They love business tactics that lend more flexibility to their day and tend to move away from things that gobble up large amounts of time.

They love user friendly tech, social media time savers and information that helps them better reach and establish relationships with their chosen markets.

So that is just the sort of content I'm looking to curate on Solo Smarts.

What Exactly Am I Doing?

I monitor a large number of news sites, blogs, podcasts and social media, keeping an eye out for things that shout ‘solopreneur friendly' to me.

My preference is to subscribe to as many RSS feeds as possible so that I can decide when to pay attention to them.  If that’s not at all available I will subscribe to an email list.

When something grabs my attention and I know I’ll want to share it, I either bookmark it to curate later or jump straight on it – depending on how time sensitive it seems.

Most of the time I'm following a simple curation strategy.

1. Create a curation post on my blog, writing a brief original introduction that tells my reader why I'm sharing the info.
2. Sometimes I pull a meaty text quote from the item and insert it into my curation post.
3. I link back to the original source so that they can go explore it in full for themselves if they wish.

This post for example has an attention getting quote in pulled out text.

I don’t always quote something from the item I want to link to – if it’s not necessary to the sharing I’ll simply tell me readers why I think they’d like to check it out, like in this simple post.

See how brief and to the point my curations are?  There’s no need to write long introductions or explanations in most cases.

Most Of Us Are Curating Already.

You find an interesting post featuring a new useful WordPress plugin and post a link to Facebook, saying ‘Hey, cool new time saving plugin!’ and a few people like it and share it and even comment on it, saying ‘Thanks for the find!’

By the end of the day, that post has drifted down the river of social media and it’s gone.  Those who appreciated the find may or may not later remember that it was you who offered them the connection.

With just a little more effort – I can take that find and turn it into fresh content and traffic for my site.

I find that interesting post featuring a new useful WordPress plugin, grab a small quote, start a post on my site, add my own thoughts as to why a solopreneur will want to know about it and click publish.

Now I post the link to the curated content on MY site to Facebook, Twitter, G+, LinkedIn, etc.  I get the same likes, shares and thanks – but each person that clicks through to check it out has been exposed to MY brand along the way.

They associate the find with ME because they’ve been on MY SITE.  While there they can’t help but notice I have other great content for solopreneurs like them.

Have I’ve Piqued Your Interest?

Will you consider curating great content for your market?  I hope so!

Curation holds other great benefits for you, like getting exposure for you.

• Social Bookmarking sites with a strong topic focus like (BizSugar.com and Inbound.org for Business & Marketing content) are easy to submit to.
• List.ly is a fun way to co-create a curated list.
• And here’s something new for women only: LadyPens.com

Nicole and I recently recreated Lady Pens to be a curation community for women and we want you join us.  Submit small portions of what you've created and link back to the original content on your website so our readers can enjoy it and connect with you.  We have fun plans for the site, including a podcast that features the content that catches our eye.

Well, that's my friend, Kelly. I told you she is awesome!

What do you think? Are you game for increasing your reach by curating? Questions? Comments? Let me have them. I read them all.

Hugs and high fives,

Nicole

PS. If you want another example, you could write about this blog post on your blog, and then link to it. Voila!!!

This week I asked our panel of experts…

“Do you survey your customers? If so, do you have any tips for making the surveys work better or examples of what is working right now? Got lessons learned to help my readers avoid mistakes?”

I know that you'll find the responses helpful.

Terry Dean of My Marketing Coach says:

I LOVE surveys!

You can get your customers to tell you what to create…and they'll even give you the language you use when you sell it.

I've done multiple different kinds of surveys. The easiest is to simply come up with a list of product titles you're considering offering and asking subscribers which one they're most interested in buying. That's an easy way to get started on your first survey.

But the most common survey I've done includes at least 3 questions. I've asked many more questions at times, but you will get a lower response as the questions increase.

1. What is the single most important question you have about ________________?
2. Why do you say the above? Why, specifically, would that be important to you?
3. How difficult has it been for you to find what you've written about above elsewhere?

The first two questions are open ended where they give you the answer. The last question is a multiple choice with 3 possibilities: Very Difficult, Somewhat Difficult, Not at All Difficult.

• The first question finds out what people want (to help you find or create the product)
• The 2nd question finds out WHY they want it (also giving you ad copy for your website)
• The 3rd question lets you know if others are offering something similar (If people say it's not difficult to find it actually lowers the value of their answers in the overall survey).

Now let me give you the biggest mistake I've made with surveys and one I see others make all the time.

You must survey the traffic source you plan on using!

For example, I surveyed my list and created a product. The product sold like crazy to my list, but the moment I went outside my list to other traffic sources it did poorly.

I'm going to chalk it up to my subscribers being much smarter than the average online marketer. Once I went out to other audiences, they weren't ready for that product.

On a recent survey, I surveyed my list. I also got a regular JV partner to send my survey to their list. And I purchased Facebook ads to my survey targeting some of the same interests I plan to go after later.

Each survey was tracked separately giving me information for both developing the product and changes I can make to the promotion as I reach different audiences.

Survey the traffic where you plan on offering the product.

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

I am not much for surveying in the traditional sense of the word. Like many people, I find lackluster results using a traditional poll. That's because you are asking (or begging or bribing) others to do you a favor.

Instead, I poll my community in a different way: by giving something – my smarts. We all know that – like it or not – people really want to pick your brain when you have something to share. I capitalize on this by hosting an open Q & A session every so often. I let them ask me anything, and I answer honestly without selling on the call. And I make sure people don't have to be on the call to ask their question (which I will still answer live on the call).

This not only shows my value in a tangible way to people thinking about working with me, but I also get great fodder on what their pain currently is and where I should focus my efforts in terms of product development and promotion. It's a win-win.

Dr. Mani of How to Set Goals says:

Here are my tips:

a. Keep surveys really short (under 2 min. for user) – and tell them
b. Offer incentives to encourage participation
c. Offer to share results with the group – and follow through

Kelly McCausey of Solo Smarts Podcast says:

I have surveyed my community a few times in a traditional way, using a form on my website. If I can get enough people to respond, which takes a lot of effort, I do feel like I get valuable output to use. I'll keep doing this every few years I'm sure, but in the meantime, when I really want to know what my people are thinking about – I have another way.

I've been offering ‘Open Phones‘ for a few years now. In a nutshell, I announce a window of time and invite my community to call me for free advice and answers. Sometimes it's wide open to all questions and a few times I've focused on something specific.

The information I gather on these calls is pure gold. Fears, technical road blocks, specific sticking points, the real felt needs of my target market are spilled out in my lap. Call after call I'm jotting down ideas about blog posts, podcast topics, products ideas – you name it. For me, being able to ask clarifying questions and plainly ask the caller if they'd be interested in _____ product is a gift. Because we're chatting casually, they don't say ‘Yes' or ‘No'. They say ‘Well, if it ____ and ____ for me and ____, yeah – I'd buy that.'

I can't make decisions based on one person's thoughts, but it does inspire me and often leads to great projects.

Learn how to Offer Open Phone Lines. Click here for info.

Connie Ragen Green of Affiliate Marketing Case Studies says:

I survey my high-level mentoring students regularly to get their feedback and to make sure I am providing them with the tools they need to become
successful.

Many times I am surprised at their responses, and would not have had the opportunity to serve them with what they want and need from me unless
I had asked.

Felicia Slattery of Signature Speech Secrets says:

I have surveyed my folks from the very beginning and their answers have shaped my entire business.

I have always liked Survey Monkey, but I also actively use and monitor the answers I get on social media. But when you use social media to survey your people, you've got to be careful. For example, if you use Facebook, like many of us solo and home-based folks, you're likely connected with not only customers and potential customers, but also high school friends, college friends, past co-workers, neighbors, family, colleagues, and more.

In case you haven't noticed, EVERYONE on social media has an opinion and when you ask for it, they will give it to you. When asking about things related to your business, however, pay the closest attention to what your customers say – they are the ones who will be buying from you!

Nicole Dean of .. here! .. says:

Well everyone gave such great info, I'm off the hook.

So, as I'm about to get ready to have guests of to watch the Packers game, I'll keep it short and sweet.

I love surveying my audience (and also giving feedback) when a few things are taken into consideration.

1. Make it short.
2. Have most (if not all) questions be optional.
3. Give a space for typing in suggestions.

If it's fast and easy to do, many of your people will gladly participate. And, if you make certain questions optional, and don't force them to choose if nothing applies, then they'll answer the ones that they feel strongly about and leave the other alone.

Plus, you want to allow a few open ended questions for those who have ideas for you that you hadn't thought of.  It's a great method of finding out what your market needs from you to serve them better.

And, the final step of course, is to actually USE the info. Don't file it away. Use it to improve your business and give your peeps what they need.

There are lots of different methods of using surveys. If you want to get fancy and provide people with solutions that are customized to their needs, check this one out for ideas. http://nicoledean.com/likes/marketing-quiz/

Talk soon. Big hugs.

Warmly,
Nicole Dean

This week I asked our panel of experts…

“What is your most productive time of day?

How do you optimize and plan for that?”

I think you'll find the responses interesting.

Lou Bortone of Video in a Day says:

I'm a night owl and usually get a second or third wind at 11pm. By then the kids and dogs have finally settled in, the house is quiet, and I can hunker down for a couple of hours of productive time. I set aside the late shift for creative work like copywriting or video editing – stuff that requires the focus I don't usually have during the day. (Did I mention that I have the attention span of a gnat?)

Terry Dean of My Marketing Coach says:

My most productive time of day is late morning before lunch – usually 9 to 12 AM.

Since I'm an early riser, I will usually handle client emails before this. Then I'll exercise, eat breakfast, and get ready.

Then depending on the day, usually I spend that entire 3 hour period writing on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays. On Tuesday and Wednesdays I do phone clients.

Any ‘routine' activities are usually done in the afternoon.

Everyone always seems to tell you not to do email first in the morning, but that all depends on your energy levels. I find email works well for me first thing and then run my most creative periods a little bit later in the morning.

You need to find a system that works for you personally, and then flow with it instead of forcing yourself into someone else's model.

Kevin Riley of  Blogpreneur Training says:

I find myself most productive at either mid-morning or late night. When I want to take advantage of this productive time, I do one of the following:

Walk away from my computers and go somewhere quiet to write. This may be my kitchen floor, on the roof of our building, or on a train to one of my favourite hiking spots.

Hop on the computer at my studio (the only Windows computer I have – exiled from my Mac-only office, but loaded with my old MX Flash software) and draw the character drawings I need for my new videos.

Do whatever is on my ToDo list.

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

I am definitely best in the mornings. I love working from 7am to 12pm.

Some of the ways I optimize are:

– I aim to go to bed before 10pm so when I wake up, I feel rested and ready to go.

– I have my to-do list written out the night before so that I can hit the ground running when I get to my computer.

– I aim to have healthy and nourishing breakfast foods on hand so there's no wasted time thinking about what to eat.

– I don't schedule any phone calls or interviews during that time.

– I do my best not to check email in that period.

– I schedule all of my hardest tasks from 7-12, and do the hardest one first, while I have the most juice.

Kelly McCausey of Solo Smarts Podcast says:

My productive times are split. I'm highly functional between ten in the morning and two or three in the afternoon, then I'm back in action after eight at night. In between I may nap or run errands, read and poke around websites ‘for fun'.

I've found it important to embrace the flow of my focus. If I try to push through and work in the afternoon, the work product is not going to be great.

There are exceptions. Sometimes a project is so exciting I can't turn away from it no matter what the clock says. Follow your bliss I say!

Tiffany Lambert of Work Life Balance says:

For me, I have a split level of productivity.

I am most productive on menial tasks in the morning, having coffee, checking email, checking sales stats, etc.

I am more creative and productive with products in the evening.

So I go with the flow on that. I work early and then break for lunch and sanity and then get back to work in the evenings for fun stuff I enjoy doing, like working on my Kindle fiction.

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

I'm a morning person… I always have been. So I work on my most creative tasks in the morning (the ones that need a lot of thought). I plan my week very carefully to optimize my time. Things like social media posting are automated so I only pop on while waiting for the school bus or another time when I am doing something else.

People ask me all the time how I get so much done in my business working only 15 hours a week. It all comes down to this: I choose to make the hours I work as productive as possible. I've created a video with some tips on how to be more productive:

Nicole Dean of .. here! .. says:

I am so NOT a morning person that it's not even funny. But, I've always been that way and love being a night owl.

That said, my optimal working time is between 10am-6pm. Of course, I don't work that straight through though. I come and go from my computer depending on other obligations: kids, puppies, husband, appointments, eating, and overall energy level.

This means that I schedule all interviews between 10 am-3 pm. That works best for me hitting my peak brain time, without conflicting with family time. I've made the mistake of recording interviews in the morning and WOWZA. I had major word soup. Just not a great idea.

I also know that I work really well in bursts so I'm ok with that. However, the bursts are usually determined by me, and not the people around me. If I have interruptions while I'm actively trying to focus, I am not as productive.

What do I mean exactly?

Well, I got on the computer this morning around 10 am, and worked a bit on CoachGlue.com stuff. Now it's noonish and I just took at shower and came to sit down and finish this post. When it's done, I'll reward myself by getting out of my office and checking in on the kids or seeing if some laundry needs to be moved, or checking the mail. Then I'll head back to write my email and get it scheduled, too. I may take a few minutes to check in with Facebook or catch up with texts/calls on my phone, take a bathroom break, get a big glass of water, and  head back to my desk for my next big task – or I may call it a day and work on stuff around the house that's more important.

That works really well for me – and my family can usually handle not interrupting me during those spurts.

What does NOT work, as I mentioned, is constant interruptions.

Thankfully my kiddos are old enough to know that I'll pop out of my office in a bit, after my interview, or my writing spurt is done and they'll leave me to work.  Whatever they need, they can usually get on their own, and things like their friends asking to come over can wait 20 minutes. But, that also means that I choose to ignore my phone while in a work burst unless it's a “911” text from a family member or close friend. They know I'll ignore phone calls while I'm working, but if there's an emergency, to text me “911” and I”ll call them back immediately. That's for instances where it's time sensitive and they feel I need to know right away. Everything else can usually wait and can't come ahead of me making a living.

I used to try to sit here in front of the computer and work all day, but I found that I wasn't nearly as productive as when I work in those focused bursts. I've given myself permission to come and go from my office, as needed, rather than forcing myself to sit here so I felt “busy”. Busy and productive are not the same things – especially when running a business.

So, I sprint, recover, sprint, recover, and sprint again. It's what works best for me.

What if I'm working on a BIG project?

Well, when I wrote my book, or when I created larger courses, I break them down into “single sitting' pieces. If I know all I need to do is knock out one chapter or one module or one webinar and then I can go to lunch with my hubby, I can do that. To sit and say “finish this book” – yeah, that's not going to happen.

I hope this has been helpful. Now comment, share, and then do a money task so you can do something fun to reward yourself.

Warmly,
Nicole Dean

Recommended Resource:

The Unstoppable Productivity Software Can Help You to Quit Spinning Your Wheels and Double Your Productivity!

When you use Unstoppable Productivity, there’s no complicated time-management ‘system’ you need to learn or remember. The goal behind our software is simple: To give you a way to visually structure your day in a way that you feel absolutely compelled to focus, take action, and get things done, once and for all!

In addition to being built around a system designed to motivate you to take more action, the interface helps you get absolutely clear about your day, allowing you to easily visualize your time and accomplishments at-a-glance.

Here’s How This Software Can Help You:

• Plan Your Day In Less Than 30 Seconds – Unstoppable Productivity comes pre-loaded with dozens of common tasks, and you can add as many of your own as you want. With all your tasks readily available, you’ll have your day planned in no time!

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• See Your Day With More Clarity Than Ever Before – Instead of your day being some blurry, abstract ‘thing’ of stuff you need to do, Unstoppable Productivity uses various graphical elements to help you actually visualize it, making it more real and more achievable to you

• Feel A Stronger Sense Of Accomplishment – As you finish tasks using Unstoppable Productivity, the interface will provide you with visual feedback of their completion, giving you even more momentum to continue moving forward

• It’s Your Full-Time Coach – Unstoppable Productivity is a very lightweight application, meaning it takes up very little of your computers’ resources so you can use it all day every day knowing it’s not standing in the way of getting other things done on your computer

• Plenty Of Room, Even For Your Busiest Days – With the ability to display up to 12 timers at once, from 5 minutes to 3 hours each, you’ll always have plenty of flexibility to manage and plan even your busiest days

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PS. Remember, if you want me to keep getting awesome smart peeps to answer questions here, go check out their stuff.

• Lou Bortone – Video in a Day
• Terry Dean – My Marketing Coach
• Kevin Riley –  Blogpreneur Training
• Rachel Rofe – How To Get Never Have a Bad Day Again
• Kelly McCausey – Solo Smarts Podcast
• Tiffany Dow – Work Life Balance
• Shannon Cherry – Learn How I Get *Paid* to Attend Events

This week I asked our panel of experts…

“We all at some point have to deal with a time sucker in our industry. It may be someone who we started a friendship with who wants more time or information than we can realistically give, a family member, or it may just be a friend who you've outgrown.

How do you value your time, set boundaries, and still be the best YOU possible?”

I think you'll find the responses interesting.

Lou Bortone of Video in a Day says:

This was always a really tough one for me, because – like most of us – I love helping people and I hate saying “no”.

However, I've learned that “access” to me is my most valuable asset – and now when someone asks “Can I pick your brain?” I say, “Sure, I charge $300 per hour, how much time do you need?” I can also refer them to my online scheduler, where they can purchase a quick consult.

Terry Dean of My Marketing Coach says:

I honestly don't have to deal with this problem much anymore. But I had it BAD years ago. I wasted hours every day in unpaid conversations by email and phone with people who never even became customers.

The disease I had was “Nice Guy Syndrome.”

One of the subtle symptoms is a feeling of responsibility to answer every email and every phone call that comes in personally. It meant I invested myself in thousands of people…many of which had never even purchased anything from me.

I thought all this free advice would really help people, but the reality was I simply didn't understand human nature.

Rarely do we value what's given for free. For example, have you ever tried to give business advice to a friend of family member?

Sure, you may have that rare gem who takes what you share with them and runs with it, but much more common is the nodding head where they then walk away and do what they wanted to anyway.

I had it so bad back then that's one of the reasons I had to take a break from the Internet completely for 18 months.

But I haven't had to deal with this issue much in years.

And it's because that experience was so miserable for me that I figured out what I had to do to escape the possibility of this ever happening again.

The first thing you have to do is value your own time. Just by setting up an hourly consulting rate or an organized coaching program, you've solved half the battle. Because now you can point to your consulting or coaching whenever anything veers into that territory. Once you value your own time, others will start valuing it as well.

On the rare occasion a business friend or client goes a little too far… you can and should set clear boundaries. This is important! Make sure to set the boundaries BEFORE you're aggravated by it. Don't respond in anger and frustration. Once that's likely to occur, you've waited too long.

Instead, it's good to remind people of how you operate. For example, with new clients I always tell them how and when I will respond. If I'm on vacation or something changes, I let them all know in advance how my schedule is changing.

I do the same with joint venture partners and business friends. They know when they can expect a response from me and when they can't.

A lot of this comes back to knowing what you want your Lifestyle to look like. If you're not clear on this yourself, how can you explain it to anyone else?

Kevin Riley of  Blogpreneur Training says:

Fortunately, I don't have any offline friends who are time suckers. My best friend, outside my wife Rieko, is my old buddy from my house-building days, Toriu. We get together about 3-4 times a year. The rest of the time, we are rarely in contact. That's normal here.

However, online, I could easily be time sucked by a few things: The rare customer who fires off question after question, Facebook, and YouTube.

By setting aside a short (10-15 minute) window of time in my mornings to answer e-mails, I don't allow any customer to suck my time, yet they receive an answer to their query (making for happy customers).

As for Facebook and YouTube, I don't always win the battle – allowing myself to lose time to fun. But then, that's why I do what I do – so I can have fun.

Rachel Rofe of How To Get Never Have a Bad Day Again says:

As a recovering people pleaser, I can see why this is such a great question to ask.

And that being said, I think a lot of people in the personal development world can be quick to say they've “outgrown” someone, or that they're “further ahead” than people they once loved.

I don't know if that's always the truth.

With that said, I'm going to answer this question from the perspective of someone who's considering leaving a friendship that was once fulfilling.

So… my answer:

From experience, I've found that unless someone is mentally unstable, having an honest conversation (coupled with diplomacy, grace, and humility) is the best policy.

I like to think that people are smarter/more emotionally available/willing to grow WAY more than most of us give them credit for – especially when we're in a space of being annoyed with them.

So I'd look at having a conversation with my friend. It starts with however I'm feeling, and might sound something like:

“There's been something I've been wanting to share with you. I've been holding it back out of fear that I'll upset you, when really, I just want us to be able to understand each other better. Would you be OK with you if I share some messy thoughts?”

After you get their buy-in, share that you know where they're coming from. I might say something like: “I know that you're in a place with your business where you're really wanting to grow. I admire your focus and excitement for getting things done, and you're making real strides forward. It's awesome to see.”

Then where I'm coming from: “And from my perspective, while I love your business enthusiasm, I'm feeling like you want more information than I feel good about giving. I find that we talk about business more than I desire and I leave feeling drained.”

Then ask to come to a solution together: “I would love to find a way where we can both feel really good about this friendship. Can we talk about what that might look like?”

In most cases, if you are completely honest, share both perspectives, and look to find a solution TOGETHER — you'd be absolutely amazed at what can happen. You may end up deciding that the friendship has worn its course, or you may find that you have a newfound container for a more fulfilling friendship where you both feel even closer.

The main thing is to give BOTH people the opportunity to have a voice instead of just writing them off.

Of course, if this is with someone you were never really that close with in the first place, a simple “I've scheduled time to work on some things that are really important to me and unfortunately don't have free time to chat” also works.

Kelly McCausey of Solo Smarts Podcast says:

I've a friend I've seen potential in for ages. Over the years I've invested a lot of energy into encouraging, equipping and pushing her into action. When I'm not actively motivating her, she drifts off into the demands of every day life.

Last year I finally admitted that I wanted it far more than she did. I had to let go.

I love her so much, I didn't want to lose our friendship. I went to her and apologized for pushing. I promised to leave it alone and just enjoy our personal friendship from now on. It was important to me that she know I don't need her to be entrepreneurial to be my friend.

This is an area of issue for me in a lot of relationships. I often want someone else's success more than they do. I'm working on it!

Tiffany Dow of Work Life Balance says:

I've had to do this a lot lately. This is the first time I've put strict boundaries on my time and space. I've gotten to where I'm just blunt or more apologetic about doing what's in my best interest.

I grew up a people pleaser. Never wanted to come across as “rude.” But it's not rude to get your work done before chit chatting with a friend. That was all in my head.

I have found it very freeing to tell people honestly, “I have to focus on work, so I won't be able to visit much until (whatever time).” Nothing at all rude about that.

And truth be told, if someone didn't respect my boundaries, I wouldn't feel very valued by them.

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

Of course, this happens to everyone. ​ And sometimes the lines blur so much that you have difficulties seeing the issue until you realize how bad it really is.

That recently happened to me and it got to the boiling point. A friend, was consistently asking business questions, which at first I didn't mind answering. But soon, I was realizing that any advice I gave her was disregarded. (She was a ‘bright-shiny-object' type who jumped from idea to idea.) I was getting annoyed to say the least. It was time for ‘the talk'. Essentially, I shared my concerns and more importantly how I felt. It cleared the air and we have remained friends who only focus our chat about your lived, not business.

Although that one has a happy ending, not all do. I find this especially true when it comes to social media ‘friends' (those who only know you online). Of course, it starts innocently – a quick question about something, but soon you might find yourself coaching or consulting (something you get paid for). Here's what I've done to help stop this:

1. I make rules for myself and keep them. For me, it's answering one question and that's it.

2. I've created canned responses so I don't have to fumble for words when feeling awkward. For example, on reply is this: “I appreciate your trust in my advice, and I value our relationship. I want you to know that what you are asking is something I get paid to do. It's how I make my living. And because you know how limited availability is, I need to focus on paying clients with my time. However, here are a couple of blog posts that may help…”

3. If all else fails, ‘Bless and Release', meaning wish them the best and ignore them, block them or whatever you have to do so they don't suck your time.”

Nicole Dean of .. here! .. says:

I'm so glad my smart friends sent in so much great insight for this post.  I know that I, along with my coaching clients, have struggled at times with this issue over the years.

Like most, I'm much better at telling others how to regain control over their time than I am sometimes in owning my own.

But truly the thing that I end up saying oftentimes when I'm talking with them is “YOU ARE NOT A VICTIM HERE! So QUIT IT!!!”

Don't pull the “Nobody respects my time” line, if you haven't set the rules first. Otherwise, it's not their fault. It's yours.

Draw the line in the sand and have options for people who want more of you. Options that you are comfortable with.

Granted, I failed majorly at this initially. I'd be resentful of people who were “using me” until I realize that it was my fault!

1. They didn't know any better because I hadn't told them, and

2. they didn't have a legitimate option for paying me for my time. DUH.

Once I realized that I was putting THEM into a pickle, I kicked my “woe is me” mentality to the curb and I took control of my time.

What did I do to fix it?

1. I created a coaching page.

2. I wrote and published my book.

Now, people who ask about making money online are referred to my book. And, people who want ME are referred to my coaching page. Easy peasy.

Granted, I still do find myself slipping at times, and I have to put up barriers in those instances.

I think the thing that I finally figured out is that EVERY moment of EVERY day that I give to someone else is a moment that I'm taking from taking care of me, spending time with my kids and my Joe, or being with my family and friends.

Your time (as with your energy) is like a bank. And, the minutes go where they are allocated. Make sure you're INVESTING them wisely.

My favorite quote for over a decade has been “The days are long, but the years are short.”

I encourage you to think of that when you're giving your time to others. Because we blink and a year passes.

It's a lesson that's been one that's taken me a while to learn, so I hope this perspective helps.

Warmly,

Nicole Dean

Recommended Resource:

If you need an energy boost – check out Energy Jet Pack by my friend, Lain Ehmann.

PS. Remember, if you want me to keep getting awesome smart peeps to answer questions here, go check out their stuff.

• Lou Bortone – Video in a Day
• Terry Dean – My Marketing Coach
• Kevin Riley –  Blogpreneur Training
• Rachel Rofe – How To Get Never Have a Bad Day Again
• Kelly McCausey – Solo Smarts Podcast
• Tiffany Dow – Work Life Balance
• Shannon Cherry – Learn How I Get *Paid* to Attend Events

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/

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.