Not using the Internet to generate leads for you

The Internet is such a powerful tool yet most businesses don’t realise how to utilise this powerful resource to generate leads for them. Some have pretty looking Websites but have no idea how to capture the traffic that visits their Website.

If you are serious about building your business, it is essential that you understand how to utilise the power of the Internet, capture the traffic that visits your site and learn how using cost per click campaigns you can drive targeted traffic to your site. You might want to check out https://adwords.google.com/select/ where you will discover a step-by-step process for setting up a ‘cost per click’ campaign.

If you haven’t seen this before, it is essentially like paying for an advertisement where you only pay for the responses you get. Imagine what it would be like if all the major magazines conducted their advertising programs in this way.

- Keith Banfield

“Each morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most.” ~ Buddha

We’re several days into the New Year, and many of us are still basking in the glow of a fresh start.

Every year, January brings renewed optimism for change, for a better life, for a better you. And that’s a wonderful thing.

It’s wonderful, because this fresh start gives us a chance to reinvent our lives and ourselves. It allows us to reinvigorate ourselves, to shed the baggage of the previous year and do anything. Anything is possible!

That is a gift, my friends, and I suggest we make the most of this gift. Not just by creating and sticking to resolutions (here’s my guide for doing that), but by reinventing the way we live.

Here’s how.

1. Let go.

Many times we are held back by the tangled web of previous failures, commitments, emotions, barriers. We cannot change careers because we’re used to what we’re doing and it’s too hard to change. We cannot find time to get healthy and fit because we have all these other things to do. We cannot find time for our loved ones because we have too many commitments.

This is all old baggage. A fresh start demands a clean slate. Let everything from the past go (easier said than done, I know). Clear your plate and your palate.

Let go of attachments to what you’ve been doing for the past year, or years. Let go of failures. Let go of fears you’ve built up. Let go of reluctance. Let go of your ideas about what your life has to be like, because that’s the way it’s evolved so far. Let go of long-held beliefs and habits.

You have a fresh start. Let go of last year, and start anew.

2. Decide what matters most today.

Forget about your goals for all of this year. Instead, decide: what do you want to do today?

What matters most to you, to your life? What are you most passionate about, right now? What excites and invigorates you? What would give you the most fulfillment?

Often the answer is in creating something, making something new, helping other people, becoming a better person, working on a project that will be an accomplishment to be proud of. But whatever your answer, have it clear in your mind at the beginning of the day.

This might be something you work on all year, or it might just last a month, or it might last a week or a few days, or just today. It doesn’t matter. What matters is today — that you’re going to work on this with all your heart, today. Tomorrow … we’ll decide on that tomorrow.

3. Clear away distractions and focus.

Clear away email and Facebook and Twitter and your favorite blogs and news websites and social forums, clear away the iPhone or Blackberry or Android or cell phone, clear away all the little nagging work and chores and errands that pull at your attention, clear away the clutter that surrounds you (sweep it off to the side to deal with later).

In fact, if you can, shut off the Internet for awhile. You can come back to it when you take a break.

Now, find focus. Even if only for 15 or 20 minutes at first, but preferably for 30-60 minutes. You can take a break and check your email or whatever after you’ve focused. Focus on the thing that matters most. Do it for as long as you can, until you’re done if possible. Feel free to take breaks, but always return to your focus.

When you’re done, focus on the next thing that matters most, and so on.

4. Find happiness now.

Don’t look at happiness as something that will come when you’re done with this goal, or when you’ve attained a certain accomplishment or certain amount of wealth or material goods. Don’t look at happiness as a destination, something that you’ll get later.

Happiness is possible right now. Always remember that. When you push it back until later, it’ll never come. When you learn to be happy now, it’ll always be here.

When you’re doing whatever you’re passionate about, whatever matters most, whatever you decide is worthy of your time and heart and focus … be happy! You’re doing what you love. And that is truly a gift.

5. Reinvent yourself, every day.

Every day, you are reborn. Reinvent yourself and your life, every day. Do what matters most to you, that day.

It might be the same thing that mattered most yesterday, or it might not be. That isn’t important. What’s important is today — right now. Be passionate, be happy, right now.

You’ll have a fresh start every single day — not just on January 1. And that, my friends, is the best thing ever.

If you liked this guide, please bookmark it on Delicious or share on Twitter. Thanks, my friends.

Be clear about what you value in life
Do you value health over success? Family over career? Business over friendship? Spirituality over social life? What are your values? Most people don’t have a clue.

As a result they live wishy-washy lives, devoid of clear direction and power. As Confucius once said, ‘He who aims at nothing… is sure to hit it!’

Take half an hour to think about these areas of your life, and then list them in order of importance: Business, family life, social life, health, spirituality. Which is number one in importance? Which is number five? Once you’ve worked out what you value most, ask yourself whether you are currently living your life in accordance with that values ladder. If not, change your life.

Living a life according to your values is truly one of the great secrets to happiness.

The key really is in: Apply, Rinse and Repeat.

Your Well is in your Words

They have a better mindset because they asked better questions. Because they used better words.

-Richard

To find our well of wealth, we not only need to Ask the right questions… we must also use better words. Next time you have a conversation with someone, stay alert and notice how people react differently to these words: “should” “could” “would”, then try replacing them with “shall” “can” “will”.

Learning is a game after all, so make this one of the many games in life!

Your Well is in your Words

Not telling potential customers what they want to know

Since we were talking about business cards in the last example, let me continue on the same subject, since virtually all businesses have a business card. At least 50% of all business cards that I am handed miss out the vital information that’s important to me, the person receiving the card. Take a look at the business cards that you’ve received and you’ll see what I mean.

They have a persons basic details on, a pretty logo and in most cases that’s about it. Oh dear, that will be costing that company money in lost business, lost opportunity and ultimately lost profits.

So what is the vital information? The answer is, what can you do for them? So your business card needs to clearly state on it what the receiver will get if they contact and work with your company. If you think about it, isn’t this really the only thing that they are interested in?

As well as telling someone what they will get from being a customer of yours, the second thought is to remember that you want someone who has your business card to remember you. Now we all remember names to a degree, if however you really want a potential customer to remember you, put your photograph on your business card. Do you remember faces more than names? I know I do.

Finally, make sure that you use the back of the business card too. This is a place where you could add a powerful marketing message. How many do you see that are left blank?
- Keith Banfield

The principle of compassion lies at the heart of all religious, ethical and spiritual traditions, calling us always to treat all others as we wish to be treated ourselves. Compassion impels us to work tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of our fellow creatures, to dethrone ourselves from the centre of our world and put another there, and to honour the inviolable sanctity of every single human being, treating everybody, without exception, with absolute justice, equity and respect.
- Charter for Compassion

Certainly, the data shows that the market ‘cooled’ by 3.8% from its peak in February 2008 to its trough in December 2008. But the results for 2009 are clear – despite (or perhaps because of) the uncertainties surrounding the world economy, Australian house prices continue to grow robustly.
- Investor Finance

What we should all learn from this is that the media does not tell us all the facts, and that we should never bet on the future =)

Novembers Success Tips issue is now available here.

Check it out and have a peek at what Chris Gray looks for in buying property.

By nature, leaders are decision-makers. The more influential the leader, the more consequential their decisions will be. Leaders are out in front because they have proven their ability to choose the appropriate course of action when faced with big decisions.

However, when a leader begins to rely solely on personal observation and intuition, that leader is headed for trouble. Even the wisest among us has a limited perspective, and we will miss important decision-making clues if we become entirely self-reliant.

In this edition of LW, I am indebted to the brilliant thought of Dr. Saj-nicole A. Joni in her book, The Third Opinion. An extremely well-written text, The Third Opinion makes the case for the value of outside insight to the performance of a leader. In her book, Dr. Joni identifies four signs that the time is right to consult decision-making advice.

• When multiple decisions need to be made, and you don’t have the required amount of time to focus fully on each one.
• When the implications of the decision are far-reaching, and you know your organization will be in serious trouble if you don’t do the right thing.
• When you lack the expertise to tackle the issue on your own, regardless of whether you have the time.
• When you are capable of taking action, but you know the decision will be better off if you consult the experiences and insights of someone else.

As a leader, once you’ve determined to seek advice, how do you go about doing it? How can you most effectively glean insights from the thinking of advisors?

To Successfully Engage Others to Gain Insight Requires …

1. The Security of the Leader
2. The Credibility of the Process
3. The Quality of the Questions
4. The Ability of the Team

The Security of the Leader

“Advice is seldom welcome, and those who need it most like it least.”

– Dr. Samuel Johnson

Leaders can be stubborn when it comes to seeking advice. Insecure leaders who worry about their status, position, or power tend to reject the ideas of others, protect their turf, and keep people at bay. It takes a secure leader to admit their assumptions may be wrong, or to defer to the expertise of another.

© Copyrght CreateOne Pty Ltd. 2008

www.createone.com.au

The most important single quality of success is self-discipline. Self-discipline is having the ability within yourself, based on your strength of character and willpower, to do what you should do when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not. Character is the ability to follow through on a resolution after the enthusiasm with which the resolution was made has passed.

Persistence is Self-Discipline in Action

Perhaps the greatest display of self-discipline is persisting when the going gets tough. Persistence is self-discipline in action. Persistence is the great measure of individual human character. Your persistence is, in fact, the true measure of your belief in yourself and your ability to succeed. Each time that you persist in the face of adversity and disappointment, you build the habit of persistence. You build pride, power, and self-esteem in your character and your personality. You become stronger and more resolute. By persisting, you become more self-disciplined. You develop within yourself the iron quality of success, the one quality that will carry you forward and over any obstacle that life can throw in your path.

Get Going and Keep Going

Orison Swett Marden wrote in his book, “There are two essential requirements for success. The first is ‘go-at-it-iveness’ and the second is ’stick-to-it-iveness’” Referring to the quality of persistence he wrote, “There is no failure for the man who realizes his power, who never knows when he is beaten; there is no failure for the determined endeavor, the conquerable will. There is no failure for the man who gets up every time he falls, who rebounds like a rubber ball, who persists when everyone else gives up, who pushes on when everyone else turns back.”

“Accomplish More in a Month Than Most People Accomplish in a Year”
Your ability to discipline yourself “to do what you should, when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not,” is the key to becoming a great person and living a great life. When you develop the habits of self-discipline, you will accomplish more in a month than most people accomplish in a year.

Persistence is Your Greatest Asset

Perhaps your greatest asset is simply your ability to stay at a task longer than anyone else. B.C. Forbes, who founded Forbes magazine and built it into a major publication during the darkest days of the Depression, wrote, “History has demonstrated that the most notable winners usually encountered heartbreaking obstacles before they triumphed. They won because they refused to become discouraged by their defeat.”

Adversity is What Tests Us

Throughout history, great thinkers have reflected on this paradox and have concluded that adversity is the test that you must pass on the path to accomplishing anything worthwhile. Herodotus, the Greek philosopher, said, “Adversity has the effect of drawing out strength and qualities of a man that would have lain dormant in its absence.” The very best qualities of strength, courage, character, and persistence are brought out in you when you face your greatest challenges and when you respond to them positively and constructively.

Action Exercise

Your greatest successes almost invariably come one step beyond your greatest failures, when everything inside you says quit. Think of failures in terms of how you can make them successes.

Learn more from Brian Tracy here at Your Success Club.

Some of the reasons slow works, besides forming a groove:

1. Mindfulness. When you do something slowly, you can pay more attention to what you’re doing. I highly recommend that when you make changes, you do them mindfully, with full concentration. This increased awareness is necessary in the beginning, when you’re still forming the groove. Later, it’ll become automatic, but at first it’s anything but. You need to pay attention, and you can do this better when you do it slower.

2. You hold yourself back. Holding ourselves back is often considered a bad thing, but it’s not. It’s the best thing we can do, if we want changes to last. When we start a new change, often we are full of enthusiasm. But then we go all out and use up all of that enthusiasm, and run out of motivation or energy or get distracted by something else. But when you hold yourself back, you build up enthusiasm and keep it going for much longer — through that dreaded 2-3 week barrier when people often quit. So even if you want to run 3 miles at first, start with walking and then run-walking (in intervals), and only do a mile or so. You’ll want to do more, but stop yourself. Save that enthusiasm for next time.

3. You learn it right. Doing something slowly means you can learn to do it correctly, without being erratic, and later as it becomes second nature you’ll do it the right way. The importance is obvious in something like martial arts, but it’s also true in any physical activity. And every activity is physical (and mental).

4. Increased focus. When you do something slowly, you tend to do just one thing. It’s hard to multi-task and do something slowly — they don’t mix well. When you single-task, you can focus, instead of always being distracted. This leads to increased effectiveness.

5. Calm. Slow is calmer. Fast is hectic. Go slow to get rid of the chaos, and find peace.

“Slow down, everyone. You’re moving too fast.” - Jack Johnson