I was reading in Philippians today and Paul was again writing how it is important to behave. Seems that when he was in town, everyone around was cool – had their Christian hat on. But when he traveled, people would watch to see him leave, to see the sail of his ship glide over the horizon, then off came the hat and back to their uncool ways they would go. And I wondered this isn’t a thing that is cultural.

Being your best is something we’ve been battling for the ages. But the way we’re wired, we slide right into being full of us, when Paul says we should be helping others. When you think of what would happen if we were robots, all helping each other, we’d have a beautiful place. Turns out we’re set here with choices and the easy choice is to curl up in the corner and take care of us.

Plus I don’t see anyone lining up to be a robot.

So one of the biggest challenges I see, from day to day, hour to hour, is centering oneself to a position of servant. And don’t go thinking of the worst servant you’ve seen. Think of someone who serves at one of those mansions; you know what I’m talking about. The kind whose bosses take them on vacation to be company. That kind.

But really, you don’t even have to go there.

Just do what you know is right. Discipline your mind not to wander. I really believe that when you help others, things in your own life that need help get worked out. God has a cool way of keeping order and that includes His kids.

What do you think?

Ready for another shocker?  Take a look at dynasties, say, in the Bible and you can easily see that great leaders and not by birth.  Yes, it helps to be in the bloodline.  Because that way, you’re probably going to end up getting training needed to become a great leader.  But nothing is guaranteed.

Your ability to negotiate, influence, communicate, and persuade others to do things is one of the key things you can master in your life.  And, the most effective people are those who can organize people to accomplish significant goals.

I mean, think of it – everyone you meet has different values, no?  This is why there is such a grand human tapestry.  And also why it has never been a simple thing to get diplomats to lead people into a world goal.

OK, so you know leaders are made and not born.  I am constantly learning more on Internet marketing because I’m a big fan and it’s treated me well.  So I learn by following what other excellent Internet marketers are doing.  This way I become more proficient.  It’s the same with learning to be a great leader.  Follow the great leaders you know.  Study them.

And here’s a key.  Find out what are the motivators and behaviors of other people in the team or circle that you want to lead.  What are their hot buttons and how can you use that to lead them?

It’s not always going to be easy as a leader.  Look at history.  Ugg.  But you need to go back to your “Camp David” and reexamine your values and goals.  Look at your activities and assignments and your responsibilities.  Be more concerned with what’s right rather than who’s right.  Great leaders are determined to perform in excellent fashion – not to please everyone.  Yet, all know that getting everyone to work together in harmony is the key to their success.

A team leader will get those on the team all working toward a common goal.  It’s your skill and influence that will persuade.  Show your values and standards for the team and strive to keep those in line.

And finally, don’t fall into the trap of comparing yourself to others.  Compare yourself to your past accomplishments.  Set high standards and see if you live up to them.  Keep trying.  Your ability to put a team together and them lead them to high performance will enable you to skyrocket your career and reach your goals faster than ever before.

What a catchy title. You know, we’ve been discussing home based businesses and mainly because of the times, plus the fact that it may be a challenge for some to enter back into the workforce. But my research led me to find some interesting facts.

More than 80 percent of self-made millionaires in America began with nothing. And I totally thought that was bogus. I mean – the media makes us think that most fortunes are handed down.

But it’s gotta be true. Just think. Not long ago many of us were always running out of money before the end of the month. We may even get a little raise, but it is quickly absorbed into our mounting bills. We’re a nation of people in debt, sadly.

People are so strapped, that almost always when opportunity knocks, they can’t take advantage of it. My son is a great example, and I hate to pick on him, but he’s always just making it – or asking for a loan from the bank of Dad. Recently, on his video lifecast, he claim how life would be much better with a cool digital camera to take stills. And he’s got quite a following. So one chap from California said he’s not using one of his old cameras – he’ll pack it up and send it along as a gift.

Wow! That’s nice!

When my son got the camera, it still had some pictures on it. Turns out this fellow from California is one of the founders of MySpace and these pictures, I’ve seen them – are people even you would know.

All that to say you never know when opportunity is going to come to you. And when it does, if you are simply existing, with no funds in the bank, you probably aren’t going to be able to take advantage of the situation.

As I began to study financial successes and people who made millions on their own, I found that almost everyone around me was pretty much broke, too. Yes, I wanted to strike it rich, so I kept dreaming – but it was a distant dream. Are you in the same situation I was, with more bills than money?

You’re probably going to want to run away to Smoothie King or the back of some quiet cafeteria where you feel safe when I mention the next item – but it must be addressed. To me, anyway, stats are scary – unless they’re leaning my way. But listen up – “check it out” as Randy Jackson says – of 100 people (you and me) who reach retirement age, only one will be wealthy. I read that from some insurance statistics. And four out of 100 will be financially independent. 15 of the 100 will have “some” savings put aside.

Guess where the other 80 percent end up? Well, you’re right. Broke!

Now how in the world does this happen in this country? We’re smack-dab in the middle of the most affluent society in the history of mankind.

Two reasons, I believe.

First – these 80 percenters just never decided to retire rich. Oh, sure… they wished and hoped and prayed. But they never once made a firm decision that they were going to “do it”.

Second – even if they do decide to make a move, they’re so late at it – it becomes an impossibility. These folks always have some good reason for putting off getting it into gear to become rich.

If you, my friend, want to beat the odds – if you want to achieve financial independence and retire “wealthy” I guarantee you can do it by following four critical steps. Of course these are cool because they all start with the letter “D” like “Dave” so you’ll remember them. Today the crossing guard called me “Dick” – and I thought – at least it starts with a D.

Here we go. Step one, Desire. You gotta want it bad enough to make a huge commitment and be willing to make sacrifices. Step two, Decision. Make a decision today that you’ll do whatever is necessary – go anywhere – do anything – pay any price – to reach your goal. Step three – Determination. This is stamina to go on in the face of all obstacles. Four is Discipline. You must master habits that will take you to financial independence.

So make that decision right now that you ain’t gonna retire poor. You’re going to be financially independent no matter what obstacles you face short term. Write that down and make a plan. Work your plan every day.

Don’t ever give up. Keep moving forward every day until you reach that goal!

Talk soon,
Dave

Since I started discussing a business you could do from home, some of you have taken specific interest in that and the way my blog is designed there is a “marketing” category. So, I’m putting everything there so you can enter there and browse just those posts.

But for those of you on my newsletter list, you’re getting this feed, too, and may not want it. Not sure, but I thought everyone would be interested in multiple streams of income. In any event, I don’t want to bore you with something that is of no interest to you, so I promise to create a title so you’ll know right away that I’m talking about the work-at-home industry. OK?

I was approached by a marketer who I know through one of my other websites, Monetize This, who heard of my quest to find a business-in-a-box and honestly, I’ve been wading through a lot of these “programs” for years. I wish they were all winners, because we’d have “end of discussion” let’s get you to work and be over with it.

So I promised I’d take a look, and I honestly said a prayer before I started reviewing this one, because my heart wants so much for something like this to work for the masses. You see, what happens is someone will create a large email list and market to that list. But many things they market will “only” work if you market them to a large email list. They won’t work if you put up a web page or two and wait for the $ to roll in.

Initially, with this system, Ewen Chia’s (from Singapore) Working From Home – 3 Quick and Easy Ways to Make Money from Home on the Internet – I wasn’t impressed. But that’s simply because “way” number one was to sell on eBay. We all know how easy that is and there wasn’t any “eye-opening” stuff to discover. It tells how to open an account and where to find goods to sell, including a list of drop-shippers. Pretty nice.

But then Ewen goes onto “way” number 2 – affiliate marketing. Now this is where you create a little website and send visitors to it and you’re selling someone ebook, or other product. But most of the time it’s an ebook. The ebooks are reports on varied topics – which are found at a website called ClickBank. But before you go running over there, let me tell you how Ewen claims this is a business model he’s made millions at.

Want to know how? So did I.

Yes, I’ve heard of affiliate marketing before, and at first I didn’t think much of it. But when you think it through, it really is a great way of marketing something. For example – say you have a website that talks about how to buy scrap gold and sell it at a nice profit. Your ebook you sell is $34.00.

But in order to get this thing marketed on the Internet, people use affiliate marketing. Plain and simple, I build a site sort of like yours, about buying scrap gold, and send people through a special link to your web page to buy the book. Because I sent you the sale, you are going to give me 50% of the profit. Nice!

So it make sense for me to try to get people to buy your ebook on gold scrap because for each sale, I get $17.00. And I didn’t even write the doggone thing! This how the thing goes viral – people trying to send traffic to their sites in order to sell your book to make 50% on it. Sweet!

Ewen explains in detail how to do this and even if you have very little web experience, you can get this up and going. He tells you how to go to ClickBank to find products and how your web page promoting these products should look.

ClickBank has a little of everything. They aren’t crappy because they require the people selling these ebooks and such to pay a fee for using the site. Sort of weeds out the junk.

Sounds like a dream and I am convinced it will work if you treat it like a business. For more information on this work from home on the Internet deal, please visit Ewen’s Working From Home site and let me know what you think.

Talk soon,
Dave

I am totally amazed at my wife.

She’s turning into a new person and it’s simply because she has taken control of the area of fitness.  She is an inspiration and simply having her around you makes you want to become more like her.

Lately, I’ve been counseling someone who was off the scale when it came to stress.  Ever find yourself there?  Days seem so short and you are working your hardest just to put out fires.  You know how you got there and you are hoping one day you will wake up and stress will be gone and people will be sending you bushels of money in the mail like on the late-night TV commercials.

To manage stress you must take complete control over the activities in your daily life.  The big, bad word “planning” is involved.  You must plan, and set priorities to those plans.  And guess what else is so key here?

I bet you thought I was going to say time management – and you’re right – to an extent.  The biggest problem I find people have is just getting to the point of concentrating – focusing with laser-like focus – on the “one” thing – that most important thing and doing it – until it’s done.

Yesterday I talked about listening and how tough it was to stay concentrated even when someone is so boring you start thinking of the monarchs that migrate to Mexico each year and how beautiful that must be.  This is just as hard because of two things – 1. The way we are wired – I mean, it’s really hard as humans because there are so many inputs, senses, that tear us from one thing to another.  Again yesterday I was happily sitting in my home office typing away when the smell of cookies started wafting in through the hallway.  Guess where my concentration went then?

OK, 2. We’re living in a world of information overload.  I’ve addressed this before.  You only need to walk into a traditional supermarket and look in the canned food section to see what your mind is going through with the Internet and TV and radio and mail.  Oops – I forgot phones.  Everything is screaming for your attention.  Notice the colors of those cans at the supermarket.  Each designed to be different from and better than the competition.  I am so glad we don’t come with fuses.  Or maybe that’d be a good thing.

So, I don’t blame you a bit on this one – if you take a while to learn how to concentrate on one single thing until you get it done.  It’s hard!!!

But help is here.  I learned something with Tony Robbins that is very cool.  It’s called “chunking.”  You have a few hard challenges here.  One, you gotta concentrate.  Two, tasks generally take large portions of time, no?  So we need to organize our days in such a way that we allocate these chunks of time so that we can do the jobs upon which our success depends.

Did you get that?

That is the whole key to de-stressing and taking back control.  Should I write it again?  People pay big money to learn this over three-day weekends.  Maybe I should be charging for this… ha!  But seriously -

Say after me:  I need to plan and organize my day in such a way that I allocate chunks of time so I can do the jobs upon which my success depends.

Thank you… I’m going home now…  Good night!

All right – but really, that’s it in a nutshell.  And here’s something that will make it even greater and more powerful and fun:  When you set priorities and concentrate single-mindedly – when you do these two things – I promise you – you will begin to feel a tremendous sense of control and well-being.  And, when you start working toward accomplishing your most important tasks – guess what!!?  You will start to feel a flow of energy and enthusiasm.  When you finish something that you know is key, you will feel a burst of energy!  More self-esteem!  You feel you are making a big difference.

My wife tells me that is the single, most important motivator she felt when she started her fitness plan; that she felt she was moving toward her goal and she was making a big difference in her health.

Oh, and to give you a reality check, think about those small tasks you do every day – low priority items that you busy yourself with.  They make you more and more stressful.  Even if you finished a hundred of these little jobs, you get no enjoyment or accomplishment.

So think about what one thing, if you did it quickly and well, would have the greatest impact on your work?  That’s what you need to tackle.  But make sure you chunk it and plan it!

And when you go off chasing butterflies to Mexico, tell yourself out loud – Get on track, Get on track, Get on track!  – Focus until you’ve got it done.

I’m cheering you on!
Dave

When my first brood of kids got out on their own, and even before, I must confess, I heard more than once, that I was an excellent selective listener.

Naturally, I defended my position exclaiming that I was probably the best multi-tasker they would ever meet.  And I still cling to that to a degree – but I do know I can improve my listening skills.

What I shudder to think is how many opportunities I’ve missed because I just didn’t listen well enough.  There are tons of books, even websites on improving your listening skills.  These are all helpful, but I have for you the key skill you need to become an excellent listener and will teach you now.  So, listen up. 

The best advice I can give you about listening is to listen attentively.  Lean towards your prospect or friend and face them squarely.  Your attention should be focused on the persons face – look right at his or her mouth and eyes.

Make sure you listen without interruption.  Remember those movie scenes where you see the actor hanging on to every word?  This is how you must be – listening to every word like you were going to be given a test on it.  Better still, think as if this person was on the verge of giving you a million dollar order.  I challenge you to listen as if there were no one else in the world to whom you would rather listen to – and to what they are saying.

OK, you’re really captivated by the person now.  But let me give you the gem that will tie this altogether.  Practice paying close, uninterrupted attention to a person when they are speaking.  This is the greatest listening skill.  And one you’ll have to work at – because it is the hardest facility to develop – but this one, my friend, is the most important of all.

It requires a lot of practice and great discipline and it’s hard to do.  Especially in this information overload day and age – we have to do all we can to keep our mind from wandering.

Let me tell you, though – the payoff is tremendous.  You will be rewarded for practicing this and you’ll get better at it.  Note that great people are good at this and you want to become a great listener.  The neat thing is that you can.  It’s a skill you’re never too old to develop.

Practice this skill and let me know if you, too, had challenges with the kids and your “selective listening”.

Talk soon,
Dave

I know. I haven’t written in a few days. There are two or three things going on and I see it happening everywhere. Some people don’t want to acknowledge it, and that’s fine. My motto is don’t fret about things you cannot change.

What I’m referring to is the spirit of the people here in the United States.

Yes, we say that we are strong and I believe everyone will work through this cycle (some call it a recession); but can’t you feel it in the air?

I am a firm believer in the transmission of “vibes”. Things you can easily pick up from other people or groups of people – without them muttering a word. You know, I grew up with the animal kingdom close by, and they are so attune to these kinds of things.

Dogs are great examples, no? They can sense things about people, other dogs, animals, and put that to their advantage. Ever notice how a dog can tell something about a stranger that you probably miss the first time around?

Well, anyway, some of my Flickr photos are from a vacation we took a few years ago to Grand Cayman. That’s where I keep my millions. (kidding… ok) Hurricane Ivan hit the Caymans real hard in 2004 and guess what? It is still a mess there! And one other thing that is even more interesting, there is a feeling of depression among the residents.

They’re not over the loss, yet!

And that’s OK. It was major and I would never wish a hurricane on anyone. I am worried for them, that another storm will hit and they will just feel worse. But see, even if we saw no destruction, we could still feel it in the air.

And I think that’s what Americans are going through. It’s a slippery slope, I say, from being “OK” to totally sliding into depression about what may be happening to you. People don’t want to talk about it (unless you’re in the media, right?) But it affects everyone.

I’ve still been studying a way for you to work from home. I think most of you are too busy to take on anything new. Too busy putting out fires in your financial life and in your home life. And it’s so easy to think that the day is SO hard that Sunday night is great for Extreme Makeover Home Edition. Monday night you have Dancing With the Stars. Tuesday you escape to American Idol and elimination of a couple on Dancing (you “do” have Tivo, right?). Wednesday you find who gets voted off of Idol. Thursday you’re glued to Survivor. And Friday/Saturday you escape to some real family time, maybe.

So basically, for many of you, this coming season of turmoil will be the hardest thing you will ever go through. Do you deserve it? Well, no. But some are working their tails off brainstorming ways to make this time the biggest fortune in their history. I just don’t know why you keep coming up with excuses?

We all make mistakes. And guess what? We’re going to keep making them. Yet you need to demand change in your life to make it through the coming 12 months. This time will require extreme discipline. Things will get harder for those who don’t reinvent themselves.

And that’s why I am doing my part to come up with a business in a box that you can work on your PC from home and make money. So far I am thinking it will involve Google AdSense, websites, and some marketing of Affiliate products (selling other people’s stuff with your web page).

But I want to know if you’re interested. I want to know if you’re serious. I want to know if you’re in.

I promise I will create something where you simply connect the dots. It will be that easy. It won’t be free, but it will not cost a fortune. But it will require treating it like a business and working on it probably each day. It will build slowly like most businesses, and I am pretty sure you will have fun doing it. If not, you can opt out at any time.

Comments? Questions? Concerns? Write them below, and kick it off.

Just to let you know, in 2006, I was making $1000 (one thousand dollars) a day doing this and now am into creating web video tutorials. So I know what I’m talking about.

Talk soon,
Dave

Yes, I must admit, I am not the best when it comes to organizing all of what needs to be organized – in order to save a ton of time and maybe a good chunk of change come tax time.

But some people are.

And I’m the sort of person, the one who will buy 10 books on how to organize documents for your taxes – but I have to admit – I have yet to find one I would recommend.

Why?

All the ones I have are written so they cover every detail on the planet.  I’m guessing it’s so the author won’t get sued or taken to court later for leaving out “that little detail”.  But I could be wrong.

One book I haven’t read and I am willing to bet is the book for me (unless you know of a better one – please comment) is the “Dummy” series.  I bet there is a basic/simple list and then a much more detailed list with what else would be great.

I need the simple first – don’t you?

What do you do to get organized with all those receipts?

I subscribe to two newspapers; the Wall Street Journal, and USA Today. I love what I can find in them because they pretty much follow the trends. And today USA Today had an interesting article about online videos, about how they are becoming the next big thing.

Now Wednesday I told you that I would share about something that may interest you in the field of affiliate work. And I only keep this discussion going because the majority of you have written me asking questions that lead me to focus more on hardcore “things” we can do, rather that the “believe it will happen” that I’ve been preaching.

I still preach that.

But I felt it time to get into the meat of some of these ideas many have floating around yet never had the drive to put them on paper and turn it into something that could work and put bread on the table.

And I am positive that for the majority of you on the newsletter list, you will be rewarded with something that will really benefit you when we refine these things and get into product creation.

Now, I know that sounds like we’re going to come up with something physical, and I want to tell you right now, that the product will probably be in the form of a PDF file that you can download and online videos that you watch – and if you follow them – you will be on your way to making some money by using the Internet as a place to market.

And before I close, I want to say something about value.

I know I’ve discussed this umpteen times before but it is worth repeating.

If what you do brings no value to someone, they will lose faith in you and they’re on to something else. You must bring value to the people you are trying to sell to, to create a relationship with.

Last night I watch Steve Guttenberg chat with Donny Deutsch on the Big Idea on CNBC (my favorite show on a good TV network). And Steve said he has been blessed with his life and what he’s done, and I thought – man, here again these people, entertainers or whomever, simply bring something of value to us. Whether it be a warm moment or some great entertainment, we somehow need it and are willing to continue to watch it, to plunk down $$ for it.

So be thinking that way. You want to bring value in what you do. Don’t just re-hash what someone else has done and think the public is going to like it – unless you bring a whole new spin to it and offer something, convenience, etc.

Take care and we’ll talk soon about the affiliate thing. In the meantime, I want to hear from you about whether you would like to participate in some beta testing or hang around for the final product that I do believe will benefit you. Leave your comments.

Well, if you’ve followed the blog the last couple of days, I’ve been posting about coming up with a business-in-a-box sort of thing that anyone could afford and when put to work they could make some money from their effort in the online arena.

I wrote an email to my good friend Roy who is a major player in Internet marketing and he did write me back.

Roy said that any effort online that involves making money should be treated like a business. And that there isn’t a free lunch and he doesn’t know of any make money for free deals.

I was disappointed.

So I wrote him back and said that I guess I wasn’t clear. That people have time to do the work, they simply want direction. We’ll see what he says and I’ll post it later here.

I’m working in a totally different area that is just real exciting. It involves teaching online and it was born out of my work with my website The Resume Secret. A few of you are members there and know the quality I’ve been putting out.

I thought – why stop with that? And so my mastermind group has been meeting twice a week now for the past month or so as we are making the new project a reality.

And when it launches, or gets to a point I can tell you about it, I certainly will. Well, first off we will be needing some beta testers – people who will volunteer to go through the course and give us a ton of feedback. (So we can improve, naturally.)

OK, I sent out an email a week or so ago about creating a forum, and while many thought it was a nice and fun idea, the majority said they would rather not see it – mainly because they have seen what other forums have spiraled into. I agree. So no forum for now.

And I’m still taking ideas for this biz in a box thing. I have some ideas, but would love to hear yours. And no, I don’t have $10k to pay you for your winning idea. But I am sure we can work out a profit-sharing deal, ha!

Really, all I want to do is make this happen. The time is so right and if I don’t hear from anyone or if any of my “guru” friends have no ideas – I am going to put together something myself and that will be my effort at it, anyway.

Do you think that’s a good idea?

I’m typing by the light of the computer screen, but just wanted to let you know to read the blog about a new project I want your help with.

I’m creating a product to allow you to work from home and make some money.  Good timing, right?  I thought so too!  So look for an update daily here and please submit ideas for what you believe would make a great business-in-a-box.

Talk soon,
Dave

I wrote one of my best Internet marketing friends a few weeks ago.  He used to communicate with me all the time – but of late, we fell out of contact.  We got too busy it turns out.  Sometimes I look at my schedule and think, am I really on track here?  Or just putting out fires?

Turns out Roy was busy as well.  Here’s a guy who makes millions off the Internet and somehow a few years back we became friends.  So my request was first – hey, Roy, where are you, buddy?

And this morning he wrote back.

It was like getting a reply back from tossing a bottle out in the ocean.  I scurried when I saw his email in the batch that came in.  “Woah, Roy wrote!” I remember thinking.  And he asked if I were looking for him.

So I replied, because I totally have this as a life-project, that if he had a minute I would like to send him some ideas on what I feel could help a lot of people.

If you’re totally lost in this conversation, let me explain.

I was raised on the mission field of Brazil.  From 1966 to 1973, I was in Amazonas, the largest state in Brazil, home to the mighty Amazon River and one of the most interesting cities on the planet, Manaus.  Manaus is cool because it was came through a time of unusual prosperity during the late 1800′s when rubber started being used for everything.  There are stories that people lit their cigars with $100 bills.

But my parents and others served there for years.  And when I came back to the U.S., I found that a lot of older missionaries could use a little more money to make ends meet.

Heck, I find today that many people write and want to know how to make ends meet.

These elder saints have a lot of time they can and do spend online.  And so I want to get the best heads together in Internet marketing to come up with something inexpensive that would show them step-by-step how to make money online.

Wouldn’t this be of interest to you?

Just think if you followed a 90 day plan and at the end of 90 days I could almost guarantee you you’d be making some good money?

Something like that is needed, so I asked Roy – put out my heart-felt plea – to help brainstorm with me to make this a reality.

I’ll let you know what he says, and I’ll write some other folks as well.  Please write me if you have any input at all.  And if you want to get in on this, just stay tuned.  You’ll be the first to know.