ok. This is my  morning so far. Not off to a great start, but I want to show you that I don't sit in my swivel chair for 12 hours/ day. I have a real life, too.

1. Got up.  Gathered up my daughter so she and hubby could head off to school. Hubby reminded me that his car was in the shop so I'd have to drive them. I reminded hubby that our son had a doctor's appointment at 8:30 and it would have been nice to have been reminded before we needed to leave. Threw son in the shower, headed out to drop off daughter and hubby. Of course we were late dropping of my daughter so I had to go into the school to sign her in. And, also of course, I hadn't planned on being seen by the general public so my attire was not exactly appropriate, nor fetching in any way, shape, or form. ((SIGH))

2. Swung by the house, grabbed my son and drove him across town to his doctor's appt. Got that handled. Made sure to get a Doctor's note so I wouldn't get chastised again by the Deans at the school.

3. Drove son back to school, jumped through hoops to get him checked in…

4. Headed home. Made eggs with smoked salmon and watched one episode of a show on Netflix while eating and decompressing.

5. Sat my butt down in this chair.

6. Sent out the mailing for FreeAffiliateArticles.com for the week.

7. Chatted on IM with Susanne for a few to brainstorm.

8. Got sent a sexy picture on IM from my friend, Tracy Roberts. It's from an awesome movie called “Lost in Austen”. She sends me fun stuff during the day to keep up my spirits.

9. It is now 11am. Time for real work to begin.

My priorities for the day are…

1.  Quickly post a pic on here for Marketing Monday. Hopefully it will spur on some conversation.

2. Plan my mailings for this week around the promos that I have scheduled.

3. Finish last 3 lessons for BlogCPR.com so that I can write this month's lesson for IncomeCPR.com

4. Be done by the time my daughter gets off the bus.

5. Run daughter to after school activities.

6. Hopefully do some form of exercise and get in a shower at some point today.

How about you? How's your day going? What's on your agenda?

Please post your to-do list for today as well as your progress. Looking forward to it!

Hugs and high fives,
N

Here's how I spent my day on Tuesday of this week.

Posted recorded podcast interview with Susanne Myers on this blog.

Posted one other blog post: How to Motivate Affiliates

Sent a note to EasyPLR list and customers about new PLR.

Emailed my affiliates about an EasyPLR.com affiliate contest to get them promoting.

Posted on a private forum that I visit – and my links are in my signature file there.

Asked for feedback on same private forum regarding a blog post of mine.

Hopped on Twitter for about 10 minutes of interaction, twice today.

Wrote an article for David Perdew to include in a project that he's working on – more exposure.

Swung by my Facebook Fan Page to check things out and post updates.

Answered a few questions in a written interview and sent it to an affiliate to post on his blog.

Started my next post for a Cross-Blog Conversation that I'm doing.

Did you notice something? Only the first two items are activities that were done on my own web property. The rest are getting exposure outside my websites. It's called marketing and it's where the money's at.

You'll notice that most of what I focused on involved writing today. I focus on what I do best and on what I actually WILL get done.

Some things you'll probably not see on my to do list.

• Adwords. If you want to make money with Adwords, you're following the wrong lady. At least at this point in time.
• Writing software. No interest at all.
• Listing items on eBay. Not my specialty.
• Scheduling Interviews for my Podcast. I leave that up to my highly capable Personal Assistant, Tracy Roberts.
• Installing Scripts. I outsource that to save my sanity.
• Designing Graphics. I outsource that because I can't design my way out of a paper bag.
• Recording a webTV show, like iCarly. Uh… no.

Why do I tell you this?

Because there are a million ways to make money online and to market your online business. You do not have to do everything. Choose what you're good at and work to those strengths rather than beating yourself up about all of the things that you are NOT good at.

You won't find me crying in my beer because I'm not a talented graphic artist. You'll see me thanking my lucky stars that I've got talented people in my circles who can keep me looking good.

Have a fabulous day!

Warmly,
Nicole

PS. I also attended a special Thanksgiving breakfast at my daughter's school, took my son to karate, played with my puppies, cleaned the kitchen, and am about to do my exercises – all before 5pm. You've got to make time to play, too!

I'll be speaking at Kelly McCausey‘s Hot Summer Seminar in a few weeks and she needed a new pic of me.

I'm having a hard time choosing a photo since I feel like I look like a dork in all of them.

Here are the ones that I sent to her. Let me know which one you feel makes you “get” who I am — smart, somewhat silly, and sensitive – nurturing with “mad business skills” as my Tracy Roberts friend says.

Here are some choices… try not to laugh too hard.

Option 1:

Option 2: Lookin' at My Boy, Thinking How Sweet He Is for Taking all These Pictures of Me, and Telling me That I Look Pretty. (I think, in hindsight, he wanted a raise in his allowance.)

Option 3: Muscles

Option 4: This is what I look like without makeup when I'm on a bike ride at the beach. (I can't believe I'd let you see me like this!)

Option 5: Pondering Business Decisions.

Option 6: The Coach.

Options 7: I look like I'm trying very hard NOT to smile here. Weird.

I asked Einstein, my puppy and this is what he said…
(A very good friend had fun with photoshop and this pic – I'll let her “out” herself if she wishes. lol!)…

So he was no help.

I have a bunch more, but we'll see what you say first and I'll go from there.

Now that that's done. I'd better go make some money!

Thanks for reading!
Nicole

PS. Don't forget to leave a comment on my latest podcast. You can win a List Building course worth $197. (Check it out here –> Shannon Cherry talks about Success.)

You can see them here:  Pictures from Willie Crawford's Birthday.

I've got more, as promised. Of course at the event, I woke up late (from being up all night talking with Lynn) so my hair is straight outta the shower. I guess the “throw the sunglasses on quick as a headband” look didn't go the way I'd hoped! Scary!!!

Now you know just how much I love you guys!

Nicole Dean meeting the amazing best-selling author, Shel Horowitz. We're chatting about business ethics. GREAT man!

Elizabeth Ashe, Lynn Terry & Kathleen Gage are in the background.

Nicole Dean & Paul “the Media Czar” Richardson.

A heck of a business man — I look forward to making lots of money with him. (More on that soon…)

Sam “Every Day is Saturday” Crowley.

I think this may be the only time I've seen him NOT smiling like a goober. He's an extremely energetic force of nature. To know him is to love him.

Me & My Tracy Roberts Friend laughin' our butts off. (It's my blog. I can say “butts” if I want!)

You know it. That's the one and only Stephen Pierce teaching the “Mo Money” gang calls. If you haven't seen him speak yet — find him and go. He's phenomenal. Both times I've seen him, I've laughed my butt off. (There I go again with the “butt” thing.) lol.

Me and Tracy Roberts brainstorming with Laura Fenamore.

Lynn Terry, Yvonne Lyon, and Me.

Hope you enjoy!
Nicole

All photos were taken by the talented ElmerHurlstone

I've been a jet-setting queen the last few weeks — off to StomperNet Live 7 in Atlanta in early March and then down to Willie Crawford's 50th Birthday Bash in Orlando last weekend. (I might just be crazy enough to go to another event later this month!)

I've been asked about both events — if I had fun, who I met, and how they were overall.

Here's the scoop. The two events were complete opposites, so I feel that I benefited differently (and greatly) from each.

StomperNet Live 7

Where: Held in Downtown Atlanta in a Hyatt.

Who: I'd estimate about 200 people there, but could be totally off.

What: Friday – Saturday speakers from 9-6 each day.

My Roomie:  Tracy Roberts, my awesomest  Virtual Assistant and friend.

Speakers included: Dan Thies, David Bullock, Perry Belcher, and the amazing Stephen Pierce, as well as others from the Stompernet Faculty.

Content provided: Actionable internet marketing advice. Solid online tactics. Left with a to-do list a mile long.

Pitches: None. There was nothing for sale. Just solid content.

Networking: I'm not sure if it was the size of the crowd or the types of businesses that the others had, but I didn't find the networking to be very personal. Went to bed fairly early. No major “love” connections. (I'm married. I mean for my business!) Although I did meet Mr. George Williams who will be a long-time friend.

Highlights: Perry Belcher's speech was inspiring, informative, and entertaining to the tune of almost peeing my pants. Yes, it was THAT good.

Feeling afterward: Like I'd just finished my Final Exams and found out that there was another round. My brain was tired, but I also knew that there's more work to do. However, very excited to have actionable items on my list.

How was the Sushi? Excellent! I discovered a “Las Vegas” roll that has a jalapeno on top. YUMMY!

Photos: none

Willie Crawford's Birthday Event

Where: Held in Downtown Orlando in a  Crowne Plaza.

Who: I'd estimate about 40 people there, but could be off.

What: Friday – Saturday speakers from 9-6 each day.

My Roomie: Lynn Terry – Yes, THAT Lynn Terry. I was so nervous meeting her, but we were just like old friends in no time.

Speakers included: Felicia Slattery, The Niche Prof, Kathleen Gage, Rob Canyon, Mark Hendricks, David Preston, Sam Crowley, Kevin “Mr. Ebay” Johnson, Shel Horowitz, Laura Fenamore, and again, the amazing Stephen Pierce.

Content provided: Not really any advanced internet marketing information overall. More business sense and overall motivation strategies. However, I did leave motivated and ready to kick butt afterwards, so it's something that benefited me hugely, obviously.

Sales Pitches: Yes. Oddly, every speech (except Lynn's) ended with a pitch for an item around $2000. I guess I don't understand the speakers' circuit very well.  I would have easily dropped $100-300 on each of at least half of the speakers, but the larger packages that were offered were just “too much information”, mostly videos (which you guys know that I don't do) and would require my time — something that is worth more to me than money. Rob Canyon was the exception as he offered a really cool business coaching (one-on-one) plan that appealed to me very much.  So, I'll probably go check out some of their products and see if there's anything a bit more “bite-sized” for me.

Networking: Phenomenal. Seriously. I got to hang out with Bob the Teacher (who rocks!), Felicia, Lynn, Sam, Rob, and Willie Crawford (of course). I also got to meet Elizabeth Ashe (who I've known and emailed online for at least a year), Paul Richardson & Elmer Hurlstone the Photographer/Writer/Editor. Plus, my Tracy Roberts friend was there, too. And, that's just a few of the amazing, creative people there. I got to meet one of my affiliates who will now be helping me with some of my blogs. (Total sweetheart.)  I got about 4 hours of sleep every night and several times laughed until I cried. Leaving was very hard, almost like the last day of summer camp.

Feeling afterward: Like I'd been on vacation. Came back focused, energized, and ready to double my income. Feeling like a ROCK STAR!

How was the Sushi? Excellent! I discovered DEEP FRIED sushi! YUMMY!

Photos: Oh yeah! Coming soon… In the meantime, here's one to hold you over. This is me, watching Lynn's presentation onstage. (I'm the ponytail with the ears!)  Tracy is next to me in the blue shirt.

Note: I ran out of Twitter copy/paste energy. Those who aren't linked above, feel free to mention your Twitter URL and give your thoughts about the conference below.

More pics soon!

Nicole