What’s Content Curation? I have joined Kelly McCausey’s Curation Challenge this month. I was unclear as how curation was different from blogging, and have learned that it is short, concise, brief, pithy, and to the point! If you are not familiar with Kelly, start with a complimentary course on the power of having a focused business and you will see why she is one of the best online marketing coaches working today.

Kelly explains her Curation Intensive Challenge in this post, and I look forward to seeing you in the group.

Listen to my podcast with Kelly here.

Recently my friend and colleague Leslie Cardinal asked me to write a chapter for her new book, I Hate Being Late. Knowing that I am an expert in the area of time management strategies for entrepreneurs and even have a book on this I co-authored with Geoff Hoff, Leslie wanted me to share some insight on my experiences with her readers.

I thought back to my days as a classroom teacher, when so many of the teachers were perpetually late. It disrupted our entire day, and having to be accountable for thirty or more additional students was not easy for any of us. The students were embarrassed for their teachers, knowing that these adults had more important priorities than being there one hundred percent for their own students. The phrase ‘she’ll be late for her own funeral’ came to mind on more than one occasion.

So, why are so many people late on a regular basis? I believe it is due to a lack of planning and organization on their part in many cases. The idea of respecting time, whether it is your own or that of someone else is a trait and habit worth developing. Even though I have always had the trait to be on time, I continue to have rituals and routines that make this an easy part of my life. When I come home, whether I am in Santa Clarita or Santa Barbara, I have a hook on which to place my keys, and an area for my purse and jacket and another hook for my sunglasses.

When it comes to my business, I manage my time by working from what I refer to as a ‘dynamic to-do list’. This means that the list is ongoing, and as every task is completed, delegated, or deemed no longer necessary I cross it off. This is done on a mini (5 by 8 inch) legal pad. When a page is completed I simply tear it off and tuck it in at the back. I never write on the back of the pages and when the pad is used up I save it in a file. This has worked extremely well for me over the years. I have so much time to accomplish what I want to do and never feel rushed.

What are some time management strategies that work for you as an entrepreneur?

Are you a marketing consultant who gets real results for yourself and for your clients? This can be a lucrative source of income if you know what you’re doing. I’ve been consulting in the areas of marketing, social media, content creation, and online visibility for individual entrepreneurs, small businesses, and corporations for several years now and can tell you that being a marketing consultant requires more knowledge and intuition than you might think.

If you’re an entrepreneur, small business owner, or decision maker for a corporation, here’s why you probably shouldn’t hire a marketing consultant until you do more research because:

Contrary to popular belief, marketing consultants are not magicians.

Many entrepreneurs and small businesses hire consultants because they are looking for miracles to change what they have already created. The truth is that no consultant is going to take a business that is doing very poorly in revenue and quickly turn it around.

You see, consultants tend to specialize in one aspect of business, such as content creation, driving traffic, or paid advertising. But if you have a bad or low quality product, a low converting site, or an offer that just doesn’t make sense, driving thousands of visitors to your website or creating massive content won’t fix your business.

In other words, you will need to figure out how to create a sustainable business on your own. That’s what being an entrepreneur is all about. If it were easy, everyone would do it instead of working at 9 to 5 jobs.

You must lay the foundation before you build further.

Creating a business is like building a very tall skyscraper. If you tried to erect an seventy story building without laying a solid foundation, you’d create an unstable structure that would collapse very soon after being completed.

The same goes for your business. Without a good product or service offering, your business is bound to fail after a short time. To prevent that from happening, you need to figure out how to create a business model that allows you to get paid for solving other people’s problems.

Remember, your business does not have to be unique. It just has to be slightly different from what else is currently available. For example, when I began consulting with corporations, I was far from being the first in this space. The difference was that I only took on a handful of clients so I could offer more personalized services, while my competitors focused on taking on as many clients as possible, offering cookie-cutter services.

Once you figure out a business model that works for you, marketing your business will become much easier. Even the best marketers can’t turn around a poorly thought out business, which is why you will need to focus on creating a great product or service before you talk to a marketing consultant.

Start off slowly and then escalate over time.

Consultants are quite expensive, and you don’t want to pay them to sit around and ponder. You want to be able to move extremely fast when you bring them on as you are either paying them by the hour or have them on a monthly retainer.

In order to ensure that a consultant can help you grow your business at a faster pace, you need to be prepared. Handle all of the basics and test the waters.

What I am saying here is that you have to try to market your own business first. From optimizing your pages for the search engines to building your social media profiles and implementing your content marketing, you need to test out these pieces on your own.

Here’s what I recommend you do to get started:

• Optimize your pages for the search engines
• Speed up your site
• Start blogging
• Get involved with social media

If you aren’t able to do all of the things I’ve listed above, you can always hire an intern or someone still in school to help you out. Again, you are not looking for a consultant, but instead for someone who is:

1. Technical – able to make changes to your website.
2. Good at reading – able to follow the guides I linked to above.
3. Good at following instructions – able to implement the steps outlined in the guides.
4. Fast at executing what should be done – able to work efficiently.

How to know when it’s time to hire consultants:

Once you test the waters and try to grow your business on your own, you can consider hiring a consultant. Make sure you hire him or her for specific tasks instead of all your marketing needs.

If you are looking to accelerate your growth and you know where you can use help, you can always consider reaching out to a consultant. But if you are looking for someone to solve all of your problems and turn your business around, a consultant won’t be able to do much for you.

Carrie Wilkerson is a force to be reckoned with. The daughter of a career military father who later became a preacher, this Texan is truly a ‘people person’. The picture on the left is from the NAMS event last year where we were both speaking. I’ve been following Carrie for seven years now and was thrilled when she agreed to join me for a podcast interview. Whenever our busy paths cross and I see her in person at an event, she is the first one to call my name and rush over to give me a big hug. I love that about her and know that you will learn a lot about growing your business from this interview.

We discussed how much we have in common, having both been classroom teachers before coming online and both feeling overwhelmed at times when surrounded by too many people at a live event. But Carrie handles her life in a professional way that I aspire to emulate more and more as time goes on.

We talked about many things, including how she became known as The Barefoot Executive. Carrie is the foremost expert in the area of list building, and I recently went through her course not once, but twice on this topic. Building a list is crucial to your success with any business.

Also, be sure to check out Carrie’s bestselling book, The Barefoot Executive: The Ultimate Guide for Being Your Own Boss and Achieving Financial Freedom. I’ve read this book twice and learn something new with every chapter.

What will you learn from Carrie? That depends entirely on you, but once you find out she preserves and ‘puts up’ her own preserves from her garden and local produce co-ops you’ll realize the possibilities are endless.

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Getting Started Online: Online Marketing Tips Podcast

Getting Started Online is a wonderful way to build your business for now and the future. Are you focused on building your business on the Internet as an online entrepreneur? People around the world have discovered that starting an Internet business is the fastest way to achieve both time and financial freedom, as well as to great success in your life, and you need help to get there quickly. That’s why I started this online marketing tips podcast for my community.

Getting started as an online entrepreneur can be confusing and overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be that way. In this episode of the Online Marketing Tips Podcast With Connie Ragen Green, my newest marketing training podcast series, I discuss in great detail how I was able to get started back in 2006. I share exactly what I was thinking and doing that allowed me to move forward so quickly. I also discuss the importance of growing a list and increasing your visibility to build your business as an online entrepreneur.

I take questions from those who attended the live recording, including why coaching and mentoring is so important, my 10K Laser Coaching program, and how to decide just how much personal information to share when you become a public figure online. Also, when I am asked how to start earning right away I share the details of what I did that very first year.

I also discuss how I have created a lucrative business online without having a business background or any previous experience in this area. Someone asks me what to do with the ‘hundreds of ideas flying around in their head’ and I address the importance of focus and clarity as you grow. We also discuss my next live event in Las Vegas (The Weekend Marketer: Affiliate Marketing) and why I’d like for you to be there.

The program I discuss is one that offers a monthly package that can quickly and easily be turned into an information products to sell online. I do this regularly and the sales are a part of my income as an online entrepreneur. Getting started online has never been easier. Just two or three sales and you have recouped your expenses and you’ll be earning income for months and years to come.

This online marketing tips podcast, as well as all of the calls in my podcast series is intended to teach you and other new online entrepreneurs how to take your business to the next level quickly and effectively, and as a way for me to share my exact Case Studies, secrets, and advice on creating a profitable and lucrative online business using the ‘multiple income streams’ approach. You will see that each session is first recorded live as a teleseminar, and then repurposed into a podcast to extend my reach to the world. Please join my list to be included on these calls, and be sure to introduce yourself and share your site for optimal exposure for years to come!

Also, you can now pick up my popular training on winning affiliate contests and other online marketing tips for only seven dollars at Affiliate Contest Secrets. Use the discount code CONTEST to bring the price down to $7. This training has been completely updated for with the latest information, strategies, and Case Studies for you to use in your own business.

Subscribe To My Online Marketing Tips Podcast Today!

Marketing lessons for online entrepreneurs can come from most anywhere. During a recent Retreat I hosted in Santa Barbara our group made keen observations related to many businesses, including the Farmer’s Market, a weekend holiday festival, and even the hotel where we were staying. It turns out that marketing is the one aspect of business that can make a huge difference in your bottom line.

We visited the Farmer’s Market on a Saturday morning to get our in the fresh air and purchase some flowers and vegetables. Over the course of two hours we met many small business owners and entrepreneurs who depend upon this venue for their livelihood. It was interesting to observe their unique approaches to marketing their goods and selling them to others.

Some vendors offer a free sample of what they are selling and we sampled strawberries, peaches, and cheese, whereas others had no such offer. One man talked our ears off about himself and the book he was writing, and never took the time to tell us more about what he had for sale!  

It was the weekend of Summer Solstice (June 20-21) and the city of Santa Barbara sanctions a Solstice Parade through downtown and a two day long fair in a park at the end of the parade route. Our group attended the parade and then had a meaningful discussion about how the city gets the word out to others, both locally and to those living out of the area. They depend on local magazine and newspaper marketing, and do very little to entice those from other cities.

The hotel where I was hosting the Retreat, the Hotel Santa Barbara, does an excellent job of marketing themselves to the world. You can read about this establishment far and wide, and that is why they are always sold out or filled close to capacity.

What about your business? Are you marketing and selling in a way that will increase your bottom line steadily over time?

Top Ten Blog Post Ideas

The question I hear most often these days seems to be: ‘Where do I get ideas for what to blog about?’ I decided to provide some ideas for you here. These ideas might seem obvious at first, but when you’re stuck nothing seems obvious, or easy, for that matter. At least, not for me.

Borrow Them!

Now I’m definitely not talking about plagiarism here. Instead, I’m talking about visiting your favorite blogs, making a list of your favorite posts from those sites, and then writing about the ideas presented there by giving your unique take on them in the form of your own post.

If you copy any content for a quote or reference, be sure to give credit to the author. This can help to forge a relationship with the other blogger that could lead to bigger things for both of you.

Writing Contests

Everyone loves a contest. Either start your own writing contest or enter one, or do both.

Google: “Writing Contest,” explore the various topics and make a list of the topics you’d enjoy writing about for reference. This can give you even more ideas for future posts.

Book Reviews

I especially love it when people review one of my books on their blog. I get a Google Alert for my name and dash over to that blog to thank them and leave a comment. Other authors have done this for me as well. Write book reviews and turn them into standout critiques that help potential readers decide which books to read.

If you write stellar reviews on a regular basis you’ll become considered an expert reviewer, admired, respected and, well, in some cases, hated. You’re not going to love every book you review, but that’s okay, as long as you are professional and honest in your review.

Make A Top Ten List

Whatever your niche, how about making a top ten (or 20, or 30, or whatever) list of blogs related to it. Other lists you might consider are your top ten favorite business books, inspirational movies, classic rock albums, artists, and anything else worthwhile you can think of.

Make your list more interesting by providing useful information about each item. When I created the list of blogs, I also included links to what I considered the best posts from each of those blogs.

Interviews

If you’re not sure who to interview, consider interviewing bloggers within your niche or bloggers who write about closely related topics. The key to getting interviews with top bloggers is to ask them. It’s really as simple as that – just ask!

Who knows, you might even land interviews with the top of the top, such as those people you admire most in your niche.

When I started my podcast series I wanted to interview leaders in the online marketing space. All I did was ask them. Now it’s your turn. Choose someone you admire and ask for an interview.

I have one more tip for you about asking for interviews, have your questions prepared before asking. I usually include the questions with my initial request.

Quotes

Make a list of your favorite quotes. Famous, inspirational, motivational or whatever kind of quotes you like. Just Google for this and you’ll find lots of sites to draw from. Many of them are even organized by category and topic.

How To Do Something

Do you know how to do something? Well, of course you do! Because you’re awesome like that. Write a detailed post teaching others how to do it. Do the same thing for everything you know and you’ll soon be regarded not only as an expert and authority, but also as a generous expert.

How-to posts are not limited to what YOU know. Perhaps you hired someone to design a book cover and you learned a few things from the experience.

Share Your Adventures

Everyone I know loves to travel and they all love to research places they are going to visit. Where have you visited, why did you go there and what did you learn?

I’ve done this with my trips to Europe, the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, and my trips with Rotary to China and Thailand.

Ask Fellow Bloggers To Guest Post

Set up guidelines for guest posters and only approve the very best. If you have an area within your niche that you don’t write much about, ask guests to fill the gap.

I’m always looking for people to write a guest post for me that my readers would enjoy.

Answer questions

If you answer a question in an email or comment that you know is relevant to the rest of your readers, consider writing a detailed post about it.

I hope these top ten blog post ideas have been helpful to you. Leave a comment and share your own ideas for what to blog about as you build your online business.

I am currently rereading Grant Cardone’s fantastic and thought provoking book The 10X Rule – The Only Difference Between Success and Failure and have decided to apply these concepts to blogging for your business. In this book Cardone defines ‘the 10X Rule’ as a two part process, where the first part involves assessing the level of effort necessary to realize a goal and the second part being to adjust your thinking so that you dare to dream at levels previously unimaginable.

Because I firmly and wholeheartedly believe blogging to be an integral part of success as an online entrepreneur, let’s take a closer look at exactly how the 10K Rule applies.

The fatal mistake I observe all too many bloggers make is that they are not focusing on their area of specialization. If your blog’s topics and categories are all over the map and readers are never quite sure what to expect from you, then it’s probably not worth their time to stay subscribed or to ever visit your site again after their initial visit.

Think about this: There is something you know so well that if you were to write interesting and helpful posts about it on a regular and consistent basis you would attract a very specific readership and you’d become viewed as an expert in that field. And that is exactly what you want – a specific group of readers interested in what you’ve got to say on your topic.

What do you know better than anything else? What can you write about day in and day out, or at least week in and week out? When you figure out the same answer for both questions, blog about that for at least the next six months and see what happens.

Remember and believe that your audience is waiting for you. They need you to share your knowledge and understanding and experiences with them. Teach them what you know and believe. So even though it’s normal when you start blogging that you want to attract as many readers as possible, the mistake is believing that writing about any and every topic will help build your readership.

Grant Cardone would recommend that you apply the 10X Rule to your blogging by having the pure domination mentality, where you think ten times the thoughts and take ten times the actions of what others bloggers do on a regular basis.

Having a small group of niche readers follow your blog can become a very large group fast. If even one percent of people in the world are interested in what you have to say that would be seven million people! The more you narrow down your niche topic you’ll increase your ability even further to attract the right people to your blog. By being more specific it helps your readers make a choice by letting them know what’s in it for them.

Make a huge effort to stay focused, write regularly, and be open to building your business and growing it exponentially, in accordance with the 10X Rule.

I’m in Santa Barbara this week, where I live half of the time. Today I visited two of the restaurants and one of the museums where I will be taking my clients when they arrive next week for my Santa Barbara Business Retreat. I’ve hosted groups of three to five people in this way six times previously. This Mastermind Retreat is a part of my Platinum Mastermind, an elite group I work with exclusively to help them build successful businesses both online and offline.

Many times my students do not know exactly what to expect when they schedule their week with me and the others here in Santa Barbara. That’s perfectly alright as I prefer they not show up with any preconceived notions of what they will get while they are here. The idea is for them to be open to whatever happens and to know that their lives will be forever changed by participating in this small group Mastermind in the beautiful setting of Santa Barbara.

We begin the Retreat by giving each person a chance to share more about themselves with the rest of our group. They explain why they want to build a business, how long they have been trying to do so, what their business model is currently, and some of their challenges and successes along the way. What they have in common is a desire to become successful entrepreneurs, a willingness to help others in the process, and a determination to make it all happen in a timely manner.

By the end of our week together these incredible people have found new ways to accomplish their goals, discovered a more powerful ‘reason why’ and connected with people they will know for years to come.

Success After Attending The Santa Barbara Business Retreat

You may be wondering about the level of success people achieve after spending time with me in Santa Barbara. The answer is that it varies, depending upon where each person was when they first arrived. I have some people who come to me with only an idea and dream, but with no website, products, or marketing skills. Others arrive with an already established business that just needs fresh ideas and insights into how to move seamlessly to the next level. In either extreme, or with anyone whose business falls somewhere in the middle, this is a week well spent.

What seems to make the difference is the degree of action and implementation is put forth in the days and weeks immediately following the Retreat. Those who hit the ground running are much more likely to find success than those who continue to think about what they wish to do and to search for different answers to the same questions.

If the Santa Barbara Business Retreat sounds like something you would like to be a part of in the near future, please join my list and connect with me to explore how we may work together to build your business in a way that works for you.