Becoming an entrepreneur of any type is simply not for everyone. If you are used to having a traditional schedule, weekends off, and a regular paycheck you may not care for having your own business. If, on the other hand, you look forward to being in charge, having the opportunity to earn as much as you want to, and love taking risks on a daily basis, entrepreneurship could be exactly what suits you best. Having an online entrepreneur blueprint helps you to get things going quickly.

Your Online Entrepreneur Blueprint

I was a classroom teacher for twenty years, and also worked as a real estate broker and appraiser on the side during that time. That meant working six or seven days a week, only taking a vacation every third or fourth year, and never feeling like I was living the life I was meant to live. When I discovered that people were making a living on the Internet with information products, affiliate marketing, and online training I knew this was for me.

The question I had to ask myself was this: “Am I willing to do what it takes to become an online entrepreneur?”

Over the next six months I was tested time and time again as I worked hard to put the pieces in place. There was no boss or supervisor checking to see what I had done each day. I earned no money in the very beginning, yet I was having to spend money on domains, web hosting, the teleseminar service, and an autoresponder account. Would it all be worth it?

The answer was a resounding Yes! And now I teach others how to get started with their own Internet businesses.

In order to build a successful business online you must be willing to do what it takes. This means setting up a quiet workspace for yourself at home, scheduling the days and times you will be at work, creating content for your blog and websites, and connecting with others both online and in person. Of course, this is after you have chosen a niche in which to specialize and made sure it is one that will hold your interest for at least the next year.

Next, you must find out what your competition is already selling to this market. Competition is to be respected because this means that people are ready, willing, and able to spend money on a variety of products and services. Join the list of everyone who is currently serving your market to see what they have to say, and become an affiliate for them if they have such a program.

Now it is time for you to make a name for yourself in your chosen niche. Blog as often as possible and say what you think. It’s better to be controversial and speak your mind than to be wishy-washy and go along with everyone else. Read everything you can on your topic, and not just from online sources. Visit your public library and bookstores. See what you already may have on your bookshelves at home. Focus on becoming as knowledgeable as you possibly can on your niche topic, as this is the path to becoming an expert or authority.

The final step is marketing your new online business, and that’s the glue to keeping it all together. I like to market every single day, even weekends and holidays because it makes my business stronger and increases my income. Remember that a single tweet on Twitter is marketing, and that much of your online marketing can be automated, so it’s not like you’ll be sitting in front of your computer seven days a week.

Have fun with the marketing and it will serve you well. Send out email messages to the people who join your list, including links to your blog posts, affiliate offers, and excellent resources. Be active on the ‘Big Three’ social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn) and share your blog posts and other content there as well. It won’t be long before you are thought of as an authority in your niche, and your online business begins to skyrocket. Doing what it takes is your key to success.

I’ve committed myself to doing a three day juice fast. I had watched a movie called Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead about a week ago and it inspired me to get moving with my health and fitness regime in a bigger way. This film is a documentary and the narrator, Joe, goes on a sixty day juice fast to lose about a hundred pounds. Even though I need to lose even more than that I thought I’d better begin with something more doable for me, so a three day juice fast will suffice to get me going on this long road ahead.

On Sunday morning I ate a banana and headed out to get my fruits and veggies. I went to my local Farmer’s Market to pick up everything I would need to make my juice. In Santa Clarita they only have a small one, I’m sad to say, as opposed to Santa Barbara where they have a Farmer’s Market seven days a week with lots of choices and a thriving business with lots of clientele. Anyway, fifteen minutes and twenty dollars later I saw that I would have to stop by the grocery store in order to get everything I had on my list. I arrived home with five large bags containing only the fruits and vegetables I would be juicing to drink over the next three days. I was now prepared to reduce about thirty dollars and twenty pounds of produce into a gallon or so of delicious and healthy juice.

Actually locating my juicer was not as easy as I had imagined it would be. It didn’t seem that long, but after enlisting the help of two family members we came to the realization that it had been almost two years since I had made juice. Where did that time go? Putting the juicer all together was a comedy of errors as I was determined to make two pieces fit together, only to finally figure out that one piece belonged to my ice cream maker. That piece had been near the front of my storage cabinet because it has not been two years since I made ice cream.

My counter was strewn with vegetables and fruit of all kinds, including apples, lemon, ginger root, cucumbers, golden beets, spinach, kale, celery, carrots, and even two Asian pears. The plan I’m following calls for approximately eighty percent vegetables and twenty percent fruits, with the emphasis on leafy greens like kale and spinach. I assembled my juicer and got to work.

Because I have juiced sporadically over the years I was keenly aware of a few facts; juicing can be messy, so you must wear old, dark clothes while you work; it’s also loud, so animals and small children must be moved to a quieter area of the house until you are finished; and, don’t do too much tasting while you juice or you’ll make yourself sick. I once juiced apples, carrots, and beets and drank about a quart of it while I worked. I was sick for two days and didn’t make juice again for at least a month. My final tip is to use golden beets instead of red ones because the red beets can permanently stain many things.

It took me about an hour to make a gallon of juice and clean everything up. Next time (I’ll need more juice by tomorrow night) it won’t take as long because I will be better prepared. The juice is very tasty and I had an eight ounce glass to begin with.

So I’ve made it through almost a full day of my three day juice fast. My head hurts, I’m starving, and I have to stay near the bathroom. I’m going to stay positive and hope for tomorrow to be a little better. I can use your encouraging words to keep me on track and moving forward. Also, the next time someone offers you a glass of fresh juice know that it took lots of time and effort to do it and be sure to thank them profusely.

Alice Seba is someone I have followed and learned from for several years now, and I was finally able to spend time with her in person when she attended NAMS in Atlanta recently. Her background includes teaching special education, which explains why she is so skilled at teaching online entrepreneurs how to build their list, create content and more. She came online in 2002, when he son was just a toddler. Now Alice is able to balance work, family, and more because of her online success.

My first experiences with Alice were around the PLR (Private Label Rights) content she creates, and it didn’t take me long to become totally hooked. I now have a lifetime membership for her marketing and business PLR and I use it in just about every aspect of my business.

During our interview I asked Alice many questions about how private label rights content is created and how we can have her and her team create PLR for us on topics we are interested in. We also discussed how she is able to ensure that the content others create for her in truly original. She is a true professional when it comes to helping entrepreneurs and small business owners grow their business with fresh, relevant, and high quality content.

Alice also shared her ideas on how you can get started if this is your first year working online. We all started out at some point, so it’s a great opportunity to hear another person’s perspective. She has a unique take on this business, having been online for more than ten years now.

She was kind enough to offer a complimentary package of her marketing PLR when you sign up at her main site. I highly recommend everything Alice has to offer, including her training courses, programs, and of course, her private label right content.

I’ve been teaching how to profit with freebies almost since I first came online in 2006. Working online as an online entrepreneur is something that many people around the world are doing. There are many benefits to online marketing such as the fact you can work exactly when you want to, doing what you enjoy, and there isn’t a limit on how much income you can earn.

One of the things you will spend a good deal of time on is thinking of different ways you can increase your profits. One way to do this is by taking advantage of the different resources you have.

Just a few resources you have are:

• The things you are good at and think of as strengths (the different skills and knowledge you possess).
• Different technology and software for running an online business with more efficiency. Things like Aweber (or other autoresponder services), article management systems and software to help with invoicing are all things to help run your business more efficiently and easily.
  • Time management tools like your calendar and an organizer.
  • Relationships – family, friends, business partners, etc. These people are considered a resource because they can help you manage not just your life but your business too.
  • The Internet. This can be huge resource for you giving you access to both free and paid opportunities to help you grow your business. For example you can network and build relationships via social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. You can pay to be a part of a mastermind group where you have access to a mentor and other like minded business people.
  • And last but certainly not least, don’t forget the content and products you have created. These are definitely excellent resources as well.

Each of these resources provides different opportunities for you to grow your business which in turn leads to increased profits. And if you look at the last couple listed, you can use those to create different giveaways and freebies for more income.

The idea of this report is to show you how to profit from freebies, both ones that you have already created and ones that you can find online.

What are Freebies?

More than likely you’re probably already familiar with what a freebie is but I’m still going to spend some time explaining this topic and how to leverage it to your maximum benefit.

In the online marketing world, freebies are simply those things that marketers give away. Often they’re even known as a ‘bribe’ in exchange for someone’s name and email address.  In the offline world, you’re probably more familiar as a consumer with the different freebie marketing tactics you see retail stores doing.

The idea behind freebie marketing is to either charge an extremely low price or give away an item that is fully salable to generate a continual market for another item, and that item is normally disposable.

For example, you’ll see freebie marketing in action when you buy a certain brush and get a pack of ponytail holders free. Or you buy a large bottle of body lotion and get a trial size hand lotion free. Or free mouth wash or a toothbrush when you purchase toothpaste. Or it can even be something like getting a free tube of lipstick if you give the makeup company your information (name, email, etc).

Now, let’s talk about freebie marketing in the online marketing world.  It’s the free eBook you receive after signing up for someone’s mailing list. Or it’s the free 7 day trial someone offers to their membership site.

Free is no longer considered just a marketing tactic, it’s become a full-fledged economy and people have pretty much come to expect it, so be prepared to offer it.

Take a minute to think about this:

• Craigslist – you can post free classified ads on their site
• Google – you can get a free email account through
• Hulu, YouTube and big networks – they provide you with free video and programming options
• Zappos – they give you free shipping
• Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites – these platforms give you the opportunity to network for free
• Match.com – free dating connections
• The New York Times – free content (when you access their paper online)
• Membership sites – some offer free memberships

And of course you can’t forget all the different content that websites provide – blog posts, articles, videos, audios, checklists, reports and eBooks. You can pretty much find information online for anything you want.

You’re probably wondering, but how do they profit from doing these things?

One way is by giving away these free resources and then teaching people how to best use them. There is a saying that ‘you don’t get rich by writing books; you get rich by teaching your book’s content’. This is similar in that you will provide your readers and prospects with everything they need, without going into the details of exactly how to best use what you are recommending.

I also profit with freebies by giving away something from another marketer that ‘cookies’ me in to their affiliate program. Examples of this include:

• when you sign up for the free NAMS weekly calls
• opting in to receive a free eBook from Earn 1K a Day
• picking up some free tutorials from a new site

Think about how you can profit with freebies to build your online business and increase your income dramatically.

If you have been searching for the top WordPress plugins for business, you will be thrilled to know that Adrienne Dupree and I have just released a training on this topic. This comprehensive training is the result of both of us being asked so many times which WordPress plugins to use to build a profitable online business.

Instead of simply adding every new or existing plugin as soon as you hear about it, as I did when I was just getting started with my online business, this course explains the purpose and value of only adding the plugins you need in the beginning. We also go into great detail about our top 20 favorite WordPress plugins and what each of them will do for your business.

The Member’s area contains the detailed guide, and we have also included some short videos to make sure you are able to find, install, set up, and configure any plugin you decide to use on your site. Both of us have extensive experience with WordPress and plugins and know how important and useful they can be.

And because everything on the Internet is not free, we also include information and details on a half dozed paid plugins we are both using in our businesses. This helps you to make an informed decision before you purchase anything, especially from people you do not know. We believe this inexpensive course will make a huge difference in your business success and plan to expand the course over time to include even more valuable information. Get in on the ground floor of Top WordPress Plugins for Business now while it’s still at the low introductory price. Please leave a comment here if you have more questions on WordPress, plugins, or getting started online.

The following is a guest post from Cassandra D. Wright of Natural Green Oasis.

Starting and running an online business can be a very exciting endeavor. Just the thought can evoke images of thousands of dollars and lots of online fans.

But in reality, building an online business into a profitable one can be quite daunting. Having a “reason why” you’re building your business can make all the difference in how much success you achieve.

Your “reason why” can provide you with essentials you need to succeed. Three of them are:

•  Resolve

Building a profitable online business is hard work and for most of us doesn’t happen quickly. It takes patience and a willingness to learn.

There may be times when you think you’ll never get things working the way you want them. Having a “reason why” will help fuel your determination to get it done.

• Focus

Although you set goals for your online business, life can bring about distractions that can cause you to lose sight of them.

It is inevitable that the unexpected will happen. Some of these occurrences may be of vital importance and must be dealt with immediately. These emergencies are usually short term and you can get back on track rather quickly.

However, there are those distractions that aren’t very important but can cause you to lose sight of your goals. Before you know it, days or even weeks have gone by. As a result, you’ve lost that momentum you gained while you were on track.

A “reason why” can keep your destination in sight and – if you veer off course – lead you back to your chosen path and steer you in the right direction.

• Commitment

Have you ever found yourself interested in something but as soon as the novelty wanes, your interest does too? Your “reason why” can prevent this from happening.

It will take you beyond the excitement and newness of building your business and give you the sustenance you need to persevere.

So, if you want what it takes to successfully build a profitable online business, know your “reason why.”

The Productivity Mastermind is a series of five classes I’m teaching to help new online entrepreneurs with time management, accountability, and productivity. I decided to add Session 3 to my podcast series over at iTunes and to share some of the highlights of the topics we are covering in the course.

Getting started online is easier than it was when I began back in 2006, primarily because of the availability of information and social media. That also makes it more difficult as we must make huge efforts to rise above the din and find our voice to get our message out to the world. No matter when you got started on why you are seeking out a life as an online entrepreneur, productivity is the key to your success. These are just some of the recommendations I have made during the course:

• Spend twenty minutes each day reading something that will enrich, educate, and enlighten you on your journey to successful entrepreneurship
• Find others to connect with, either virtually or in person, who will listen to you and be honest and open about the steps you are taking to achieve your goals
• Spend time each day in quiet contemplation of the life you are seeking
• Maintain a dynamic ‘to-do’ list, evaluating what you need to do yourself and what can be outsourced
• Set up a strategic planning session with your accountability partner
• Decide exactly what you want out of life and write it down
• Always ask yourself: “Is the action I’m taking right now moving me closer to my goals or further away?”
• Believe in yourself and take massive action

Entrepreneurship is a gift that must be nurtured and encouraged each and every day. Run your life like a business and you are sure to surpass any goals you have set for yourself or imagined in your wildest dreams. Move forward quickly by taking action and implementing what you have learned. Manage your time, stay as productive as possible, and find someone to be accountable to make sure you are moving in the right direction for what you’d like to achieve. The Productivity Mastermind is here for you.

Take A Look At The 2013 Productivity Challenge

Justin Popovic, PLR creator and motivational speaker is my guest for this podcast. I’ve been following Justin for almost two years now, ever since I purchased one of his quality PLR (private label rights) packages through our mutual friend Dennis Becker. During the summer of 2013 we finally had the opportunity to meet in person while we were both speaking at Dennis’ Earn 1K a Day event in Las Vegas.

Justin and I discuss the motivation for someone wanting to become an online entrepreneur and he shares how he started out by working for a prestigious firm in Canada for seven years after graduating from the university. Over time he realized his heart was not in it and he began to read and study and learn about what was possible with his life. In 2007 he saw the movie The Secret, as many of us did, and finally made the decision to leave the corporate world behind and become an entrepreneur. Having a wife and children made this even more risky for him, but he knew it was the right action for him to take at that time in his life and he had their full and complete support.

We then discuss how he formed his current company that creates high quality PLR packages in several niche areas. One of these niches is time management, and I shared with Justin how I used ideas and information from his PLR to write my bestselling book. Remember that you cannot use private label rights content directly to write and publish a book, but you can do what I did and build an outline, get more ideas, and flesh out your book so that it will be a contender among many books on the same or a very similar topic.

I know you will enjoy this podcast with Justin, and be sure to check out the very special offer he’s making just for my community. This is a full and complete package you will love. The topic of time management fits well with so many niches and you’ll be able to create blog posts, articles, eBooks, information products and more using this quality content as a springboard to your success.

Be sure to subscribe to hear all of the calls in my Podcast Series.