Guidance: You are the only one who can find your passion – It’s inside you and just has to be uncovered. Use the below to explore what lights you on fire. Don’t rush through these. Go somewhere quiet, with no internet and dedicate at least 2-3 hours to developing your answers. Some may apply more than others. That’s fine. Allow your mind to run wild. These questions will only be useful if you allow them to.

It’s time to start living with passion!

1. What makes you happiest in your life? What excites you?

2. What do you do that makes you feel invincible?

3. What do people thank you for?

4. What are you ridiculously good at? What are your precious gifts?

5. Who do you look up to? Who are your mentors? Who inspires you? Why?

6. When was the last time you massively over-delivered on something? What was it and why did you work so damn hard?

7. When was the last time you were in a state of flow, in the zone and totally lost track of time? What were you doing?

8. Imagine you won $158 million in the lottery. It’s now three months later. How will you spend tomorrow?

9. What would you do if you knew you could not fail?

10. If you could have or do anything, what would it be?

11. What topics do you find yourself continuously arguing or defending with others? What beliefs does your stance represent?

12. What makes you most angry about the state of the world? With unlimited resources how could you fix it?

13. What are you most afraid of for the next generation, whether you have kids or not?

14. What do you love helping people with? How do you most commonly help others?

15. What’s your favorite section in the bookstore? What’s the first magazine you’d pick up at the grocery store?

16. When was the last time you couldn’t sleep because you were so excited about what you had to work on? What was it?

17. If you trusted that your art (your creativity) would support your life, How would you live?

18. Out of all your current work roles, what would you gladly do for free?

19. If you were able to be a member of the audience at your own funeral (in 100 years or so) what would you want to hear people say?

20. What do you want to be remembered for – what dent do you want to have put in the world?

21. What do your friends always tell you you’d be good at, that you should do for a living (i.e. “he’d make a great…)? If you don’t remember, then go ask five of them.

22. What are you naturally curious about?

23. If you had a free hour to surf the internet, what would you explore?

24. Think back to when you were 5 or10 years old. What did you want to be when you grew up? Anything goes. What skills and metaphors do these represent (i.e. pilot may be a symbol for freedom)?

25. If you could write a book to help the world, that is guaranteed to be a best seller, what would the title be? What’s it about?

26. What careers do you find yourself dreaming of? What jobs do others have that you wish were yours?

27. What 3-5 dream jobs or businesses can you imagine that would firmly embody your core beliefs about the world. Sky’s the limit.

And a bonus…

28. What revolution do you want to lead?

Scott Dinsmore has created a FREE 2012 Goal Setting and Action Workbook that you can download here. I have!

The WishList team is doing just that for all their WishList Member customers.

Anyone who buys WishList Member before Dec. 31st, 2011 will get a whole bunch of extra gifts (valued at $400+) at no extra charge.

This gift package includes:

1) 1000+ Custom Drawn Icons
2) Custom Membership Site Graphics
3) Our Top 3 Kick-Butt Plugins
4) 3-Module Membership Site Basics Course

It’s an awesome package and people are loving it. And who doesn’t love getting what we call in the Deep South, “lagniappe”. (A lagniappe is a small gift given to a customer by a merchant at the time of a purchase (such as a 13th doughnut when buying a dozen). This is some serious lagniappe!

…BUT…

This gift package is only available for those who purchase BEFORE December 31st, 2011 @ 11pm PST.
I run multiple membership sites for my clients and for myself and ALL of them are build using Wishlist Member.

We wish you a safe, happy, healthy and PROSPEROUS New Year!

Your Partner In Success,

Denise Griffitts

One Facebook tip that I shared with our audience is how I clean out my Facebook friend list. It is a lot easier than you would think to hit that 5,000 friend limit and once you are there, you have no option but to either remove “friends” or create a Fan Page. So here is how I handle it.

Each day when I login to my Facebook profile I go to my home page and click on the birthdays for that day. By visiting each page listed I have the opportunity to see if this is really a connection that makes sense or if it was somebody that I accepted just because they asked way back in the day when I was first building up my Facebook presence. If that person is somebody that I am connected with at some level and who is active in my FB community, I wish them a very Happy Birthday and then go to the next page. If the next person is somebody that I have never connected with in all my years on FB, or who is using their page largely for personal connections or playing games like Farmville or Mafia Wars, I unfriend them and free up space for people who will have more in common with my business goals. Now before you start yelling at me, I see nothing at all wrong with playing games on Facebook if that is what you enjoy, but I am there for business, so my focus has to stay on social networking. The truth is, that when you have 5,000 connections on FB there are simply going to be some that don’t meet your networking criteria. Mentally wish them well and move on.

2011–Your Best Year Yet

I am a true believer. Each Christmas I notice everything printed with Believe or I Believe. Cards, calendars, ornaments, pillows – you’ve probably seen as much as I have or more. Well, I do believe. I believe in positive energy. I believe in persistence and mental toughness. I believe in myself and in others. I believe in YOU.

Each January brings the opportunity for a fresh start. We’ve passed through the gate of the New Year and have the chance to make 2011 YOUR BEST YEAR YET. Grab hold of this chance and run with it. So what if the first day of the year has passed. It’s never too late to start getting better. Whether you’re looking for dramatic change in your life or the chance to get 1% better each day, now is the time to be renewed in the spirit of new beginnings.

Keep reading for my personal list of actions and reminders that pack a potent punch and are sure to make a positive difference for you. Read each one. Implement a few or many. Find your favorites and go deep to discover the secret buried within. Then get ready for your best year yet!

83 Ways to Make 2011 Your Best Year Yet

1. Be the most positive person you know.
2. Get 1% better everyday.
3. Define your “game-changing” move in 2011.  Then get it done!
4. Take more risks.
5. Do something that scares you everyday.
6. Be a team builder, regardless of your title at work.
7. Remember that business is about relationships and connections.
8. People need motivation, accountability, and know how. Deliver it.
9. Write your eulogy and then live your life backwards.
10. Know your Big 5: the 5 most important things that need to happen by the end of the year to make 2011 feel like it truly has been the best year of your life.
11. Read your Big 5 every morning.
12. Post affirmations on your bathroom mirror.
13. Don’t focus on making money – focus on creating value.
14. Lead by executing and getting results. No excuses.
15. Strive to be ‘World Class’ in all you do.
16. Read The 4 Agreements by Dom Miguel Ruiz.
17. Train like a pro athlete – exercise more.
18. Eat higher quality foods.
19. Get a massage once a week.
20. Attend a destination spa vacation each year.
21. Have at least one other “dream” vacation each year.
22. Remember – no one has ever regretted a great workout.
23. Be obsessed with learning.
24. Join a Mastermind Group. It will accelerate your results, improve your mindset, and provide you with fertile soil in which to grow.
25. Be impeccable with your words – don’t complain, gossip, or be negative.
26. Be careful with whom you surround yourself. Just as much as the right people can pull you up, the wrong crowd can bring you down.
27. Plan as if you will live forever but live as if you’ll die tomorrow.
28. Say please, thank you, and I love you more.
29. Give someone a massage.
30. Write love letters like you used to.
31. Call someone you always wanted to talk to but never thought you could.
32. Call an old coach or teacher and thank them for positively impacting your life.
33. If you want to resolve a conflict, use the phone instead of email.
34. Write a hand-written note to a client or customer.
35. When you travel, send letters to your kids on hotel stationary.
36. If you want more, GIVE more.
37. Do or do not – there is no try.
38. The way you do one thing is the way you do everything.
39. Journal. What are you thankful for? What are your intentions for the day? Who is in need of prayer today?
40. Where were you outstanding today?
41. Clarity precedes genius. Find clarity in writing and solitude.
42. Track your success.
43. Slow down in order to speed up.
44. Be willing to fail. It’s the price of greatness.
45. Spend at least 10 minutes every morning in quiet time, prayer time, or meditation time.
46. Listen to inspirational music. Create your favorite play list for chilling out as well as working out.
47. Listen to books on tape and podcasts.
48. Read The IMPACT! Body Plan.
49. Read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey.
50. Read The Leader Who Had No Title, The Greatness Guide, and The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari by Robin Sharma.
51. Watch a Rocky “marathon” with your kids on a rainy day.
52. Do what you do best and hire the rest.
53. Sometimes good is good enough.  Don’t let “perfectionism” rob you of getting things done.
54. “Color code your life,” says my mentor, Wayne Cotton.  Green machine, blue sky, red tape, and mellow yellow. Visit http://www.nobrowndays.com/ for more information.
55. Complete a 90-Day Wonder. What have I accomplished in the last 90 days? What are my current challenges? What will I accomplish in the next 90 days?
56. Remember the 10,000-hour Rule. It often takes about 10,000 hours or 10 years to be recognized as an expert.
57. Success takes time. Be patient, but continually invest in yourself.
58. Work on your business, not in your business.
59. Your big ideas typically come when you are sitting on a beach or skiing in the mountains.
60. Hire only “A” players to build a winning business.
61. Replace the bottom 10% of your players each year.
62. Everyone in an organization should be considered a “leader.”
63. Always believe in your dreams, even when they seem impossible or others doubt you.
64. Focus, focus, focus!
65. Water people everyday – lift people up instead of tearing people down.
66. One quick “No” is better than 10 “maybes” or “I don’t knows.”
67. Win the day!
68. Remember what Walt Disney said, “Everything speaks!”
69. Be more spontaneous.
70. Block out the noise and focus on the signal.
71. Develop a hobby.
72. The bigger the dream, the more important the team.
73. Run your own race – be authentic and original.
74. Speak more. Write more. Read more.
75. Turn OFF your TV!
76. Eliminate excuses.
77. Organize your time more effectively.
78. “Eat that Frog,” says Brian Tracy.  Do the things that you don’t like to do or want to do but have to do early in your day.
79. Get your mind right!
80. Do more of what you love to do.
81. Action is like gas in the car. Without it, you will not go.
82. Be humble…be hungry.
83. Create IMPACT everyday. Live by the mantra, “… And then some.”

Implement any single item on this list and you will create change. Combine a few to really rock your world and the world of those around you. Explore, experiment and find your favorites. But remember, there’s more to it than implementing a list of action items. YOUR BEST YEAR YET will require something deep within YOU.

You’ve heard me talk about the power of  “theme-ing” a year. In the days and weeks ahead, spend some time alone with your thoughts to find the theme that’s right for you – the single most meaningful, overarching and powerful pledge you can make to define who you will be and what you will do in 2011. Find it and treat it like an oath. It will deliver.

For weeks now, I’ve been doing this kind of thinking. I searched for and found my theme for 2011. Ironically, when I looked deep enough within and examined my soul, I found it there. 2011 is my year of “S.O.U.L.” I am making a very public pledge to nurture and go deep with my Spiritual development and inner life, to seek Outrageous fun and adventure, to create Unbelievable value and innovation in my work, and to step up and Lead in all areas of my life.

It’s January 11th my friend. We’re through the gate and ready to run. Lace up your shoes and let’s go. After all, 2011 is going to be YOUR BEST YEAR YET!

Peace and love,
Todd

About the author

Todd Durkin, MA, CSCS, is an internationally recognized performance coach, personal trainer and massage therapist who motivates, educates and inspires people worldwide.  He is the owner of Fitness Quest 10 in San Diego, CA, where his wonderful team of 35 focuses on personal training, massage therapy, Pilates, yoga, sports performance training and nutrition to help transform the bodies, minds and spirits of a broad clientele.  Todd trains dozens of NFL and MLB athletes, including 2010 Super Bowl XLIV Champion and MVP Drew Brees.  He is the head of the Under Armour Performance Training Council and is a featured presenter on the Perform Better educational circuit.  He is a two-time Trainer of the Year (IDEA & ACE).  Additionally, Todd provides motivational talks and programs to companies and conferences worldwide.  

Men’s Health recently named his gym, Fitness Quest 10, one of the Top 10 Gyms in the US.  Todd has appeared on 60 Minutes, ESPN, NFL Network and has been featured in Sports Illustrated, USA Today, Business Week, Prevention, ESPN the Magazine, Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, Men’s Journal, Stack Magazine, Self, Shape, Fitness, the NY Times and Washington Post.  Todd has authored 35 DVDs on strength and conditioning, functional fitness, massage/bodywork and business/personal growth.

His new Todd Durkin Mastermind Institute for personal trainers and fitness professionals starts January 15th, 2011.  You can get all the information at www.ToddDurkin.com.  His new book, The IMPACT! Body Plan debuted in September 2010 and is a 10 Week program designed to create world-class fitness and life performance.  You can sign up for Todd’s FREE award-winning Ezine newsletter, the TD TIMES, at www.FitnessQuest10.com or www.ToddDurkin.com.

Todd Durkin, MA, CSCS, Owner, Fitness Quest 10
Head, Under Armour Performance Training Council
Author, The IMPACT! Body Plan

Do you ever feel like you’re on a perpetual first date with your prospects? You focus on wearing the right outfit, saying the right things, knowing when/if to ask for a second date, and avoiding getting broccoli stuck in your teeth.

And if things don’t go well, you have the heartache that comes with rejection…or in this case, the pain of lost revenue.
Well, I may not have the answer to your dating struggles (not to say you’re struggling). But our friends at Infusionsoft do have a proven way to convert leads into customers, turn customers into raving fans, and build quality relationships that last a lifetime. (And before you ask if I am an Infusionsoft customer, I will tell you that I am. And a very happy one!)

When you apply the principles of dating to your business, you begin to remember that your customers are people. Then you can analyze your marketing practices:

• Do you have the same canned lines for all of your dates (a generic marketing message)?
• Are you too pushy on the first date (asking for the sale too early)?
• Do you forget to call back (poor follow-up)?
• Are you taking your relationships for granted (not taking care of existing customers)?

These are common mistakes made by many business owners (and certainly many, many people in the dating world). But you can do better!

The Infusionsoft team has created a fun new video that shows one of the common mistakes businesses make when trying to connect with prospects. And when you’re done watching it, you’ll have a much better idea of what you can do to WOW your customers from the beginning.

Watch the video now.

Find out how to make a lasting impression with your customers.

(And we’ll be here to tell you if you have broccoli in your teeth…honest.)

To your success!

The host of the show does have the ability to kick or ban a user from their chat room. Just click on the user name listed in the right panel of the chat box. This will bring up a small box of options to choose from. If the host clicks on the Ban option, they will then have the option of selecting the duration of the banning.

If you continue to have problems with nuisances, just email support from this page. Send them a copy of any chat comments or messages that you receive from unwanted users and they will look further into the situation for you. In my case, I took a screenshot of the repeat offenders comments and emailed them directly to the help desk when they responded to my message. You won’t be able to do this from the contact form, but hang onto the screenshot so you can send it via direct email if it becomes necessary.

Now, you can upload Word, txt, rtf, html and other files directly to PubIt!, which will convert the files and make them available as an e-book. The e-book will be available within 72 hours of its upload.

The company will take as their royalty rate 35% of books priced between $2.99 and $9.99, and 60% of books priced below $2.98 and over $10.

The new service will compete with Amazon’s pioneering Digital Text Platform (DTP), which many writers have turned to for distributing their works to the Kindle and other devices that run the Kindle Reader software. Sony, too, has a DYI option for its Reader Store, and Apple is now allowing self-publishers to distribute their e-books in its iBookstore thanks to a deal with Smashwords, a start-up that specializes in DIY e-book creation and distribution.

Will PubIt! make e-books even more popular with readers – and writers? We shall see!

If you use PubIt!, send me an email and tell me about your experience. Good luck!

Table of contents for Article Marketing

1. Can Your Business Benefit From Article Marketing?
2. 5 Steps to Marketing Your First Article
3. What Makes Quality Content?
4. What Kind of Articles Work Best?
5. Offline Article Marketing Secrets
6. How to Find Article Writers and PLR (Private Label Rights) Articles
7. How to Write a Killer Resource Box
8. Top 10 Article Directories
9. Five Tips to Marketing Your Articles to Get Them More Exposure
10. Tracking Your Article Marketing Results

What Makes Quality Content?

“Language is the apparel in which your thoughts parade before the public.
Never clothe them in vulgar or shoddy attire.” ~  George Crane

Whether you write about the virtual assistance industry or scrap booking, there are key ingredients that go into the creation of a good article. Providing quality content involves providing website visitors and readers with information they find useful and informative. While the details will vary, depending on your topic and article structure, there are some common ingredients of quality content:

Answer a question.
People visit your website and your blog for one simple reason. What is in it for them?

• How can you help them find answers to their questions?
• What answers are people in your niche market searching for?
• What are the frequently asked questions in your niche?
• Are there subject areas in your niche for which few articles have been written?

Find out what readers in your niche are looking for and write articles that will answer those questions. Brainstorm a list of questions and topics. Providing the answers that readers (and potential buyers) are searching for will help to establish you as an expert who meets their needs.

Do the research to find out what your readers want answers to.

• Place a poll or survey on your website or blog. Survey Monkey offers a free Basic plan. Google “free online polls” to find other services.
• Send an appeal to your list and ask them what they want to know. People are genuinely disposed to be helpful and you will be surprised how many great answers you receive. Email marketing services like Constant Contact offer online polls as part of their service.
• Go to Facebook, Twitter and Linkedinand do some research on your niche. There is a wealth of information there. Join groups on LinkedIn, Facebook Fan Pages and target people in your industry on Twitter and follow them.

Write clearly and accurately.
Minimizing – or eliminating – grammatical and spelling mistakes is essential to good, high-quality content. Before submitting any article for publication, run spell check and proofread it to catch any spelling and grammar issues. If possible, have another set of eyes look at the article to catch anything that you missed. I always hand off my articles to my assistant to see where I might have missed something. Another tip is to read your work out loud to catch awkward phrasing or repetitions.

Include a compelling title.
If your title isn’t interesting, no one is ever going to get to your beautifully crafted article. Scan a few newsletters and blogs and see what articles and posts grab your attention. When in doubt, consider possible titles that include “5 Ways to…” or “10 Tips for… or “How to…” Such titles always attract readers who expect short tidbits and quick reads for their time. Good titles require some effort, but since the title is the first thing potential readers see, it’s worth your time to craft a strong one!

Be concise.
Online readers prefer short articles, ideally those between 300 – 500 words. There’s a fine line between providing enough content to answer your reader’s quest for information while not providing such a long article that they don’t make it to the end to click on your resource box. If your article is too long, consider breaking it up into a series as I have done with these article marketing tips.

What makes quality content? It’s content that a reader is looking for, that answers questions, offers information a reader wants and promises more of the same if they click on your link. Quality content is what will attract visitors to your website and make your article marketing efforts work.

Resources

Free Report: 5 Steps to a Big-Profit, S.M.A.L.L. Report Business by Jimmy D. Brown

Easy PLRis a wonderful resource that will help you find an ongoing supply of fresh content for your blog or article marketing efforts. However, I highly recommend that you edit and re-write these articles in your own voice. Use them as a jumping off point and then take it from there.

Need an Article. When you need well-crafted and well-written content for business, for website, or for personal reasons Need an Article has the solution to your writing needs. Again, the same suggestions about editing and re-writing these articles in your own voice applys.

Be sure to signup for our newsletter so these articles arrive in your email box when they are published.

by Rosalind Gardner

You already know how to install a blog.

You also know which plugins to use to make it functional and how to make it look great with a pretty professional WordPress theme.

You know which pages are must-haves on any blog.

AND you understand the benefits of blogging in terms of getting free traffic, as well as how to use PPC at the local level to reduce advertising costs.

So, why not make money using your knowledge to help businesses in your local area either set up a new blog, or improve an existing web site?

Surely, you’ve come across a few local businesses that could benefit greatly from your blogging knowledge.

I run across awful local business sites all the time.

For example, most of the small resort, motel and private RV park/campground sites I find when doing travel research are just downright ugly. Most of them look like they were designed in 1997 and haven’t been updated since.

Read the rest of the article here: Rosalind Gardner’s Net Profits Today

If you want to brush up on your WordPress skills and be able to increase the professional fees you command take a look at these two programs.

Go For Your Dream WordPress Training. The next live WordPress Website Workshop begins next month, October, 2010. Be sure to register for the case study replays from their last workshop and get on the list to be notified when the new course starts. I work closely with Ben Cope and Kimberly Bohannan on many projects and highly recommendtheir WordPress trainings!

WordPress Mastery. They offer 3 free brief, but powerful videos that will let you find out more about the complete, step-by-step, multi-video training series. This course is perfect for people who are fairly new to WordPress and need to get the basics down pat.

My web development company, Your Office On The Web builds WordPress sites for clients each month. In fact, we may have as many as 8 -11 in production at any given time. Once you are confident that your WordPress skills can be considered “expert” I would love to see your portfolio!

Do you need to clean up or manipulate images quickly and easily? Unless you are a whiz in Photoshop or Picasa, reworking images may be something that you don’t even try to tackle on your own.

Picnik is an online image editing tool that provides a variety of textual and visual embellishments such as themed graphics to personalize photographs and even provide scrapbook-like polishes.

You can crop and resize images, sharpen or soften lines, adjust layers for optimal contrast and saturation and implement other everyday polishes.

Users can also learn tips, tricks and discuss finished photos in the forums, find information about tools and features in the topically-organized in-depth FAQ section and even give feedback to the site developers using the contact sub-portal in the Help menu.

While this is a free resource, I do recommend that you go with Picnik Premium. For as little as $2 a month you get more features and content:

• More effects
• Beauty tools
• More collages
• More fonts and stickers
• Advanced editing tools
• Unlimited history
• Unlimited connections
• Priority feedback
• Ad-free and full screen
• Layering and more…

Be sure to come back here and share some of your new images!