Michele Scism is the founder of Decisive Minds, a site dedicated to helping online entrepreneurs and small business owners achieve rapid results strategically. In her former life she helped to run a family owned trucking business, and credits this experience with helping her to become the savvy entrepreneur she is today. After the business was sold in 2007 she found herself longing to start a new business venture.

Michele has distinguished herself as a leader in social media, and is also an author, speaker, and coach. Her insights on using the various social media platforms is the most strategic I have ever been made aware of from anyone teaching this topic. She was kind enough to offer a free gift to listeners. It is a three-part video series on using social media to build your online business. I know you will enjoy learning more from Michele.

As I think back over the past few years I see just how much I have grown since becoming an online entrepreneur. I was not used to accepting failure in my previous life as a classroom teacher and real estate appraiser. Back then any little setback was devastating to my self-esteem and many times I would just give up. Nowadays I anticipate failure, learn from it, and course correct to keep moving forward. I was reading an excellent post on Geoff Hoff’s site that made me give this more thought.

An example I will share is my reluctance to write. For as long as I can remember I have wanted to write. I can trace this back to grade school, when I wanted to write something for our school’s newspaper. Back then I would allow myself to get discouraged very easily, and when one of the other kids told me my idea for a story was a stupid one, in front of several of my friends, I held back the tears and knew that I would never write that story to see what anyone else thought. This attitude, and lack of confidence, followed me through high school and into college. When one of the instructors said that my writing lacked depth, I dropped the class and gave up my dream of being a writer for good.

When I think back to this time, I see that I wasn’t even taking enough action to fail. Instead, I was giving up before I started. This is inexcusable in my thinking today, when I take every challenge when it comes to writing, and even teach my own students how to get started so that they can achieve the success they want and deserve in their endeavors as online entrepreneurs.

Are you failing on a regular basis? If not, then work harder, take more risks on a daily basis, and stretch outside of your comfort zone as often as possible. My life has changed in amazing ways because of my willingness to make mistakes, take chances that do not work out at all, and implement everything I learn almost immediately. You can change your life, and your bottom line, by embracing failure and making it work for you.

When I think of Nicole Dean PLR (Private Label Rights) content is what first comes to mind, but Nicole is about so much more than that. She has been online for more than ten years and has now become a good friend and someone I wish to emulate in my own online business.

In this picture, Nicole is in the middle, I’m on the right, and one of our mutual students, Adrienne Dupree, is on the left. This is another one of Nicole’s best traits – being someone who can share well in her business. That is extremely rare these days. Nicole is not only a savvy marketer and business woman, but also someone we all love to spend time with as well.

Nicole got her start as an affiliate manager for one of the biggest names on the Internet. During those years she worked hard, learned all that she could, and began building her own business. I was one of the newer affiliates who asked her questions about how to set up my affiliate promotions, and she spent the time with me to make sure I understood what I needed to do.

In this podcast we discuss how the 9-11 disaster played a part in her coming online when her children were very small, and how she continues to see life as an adventure every single day. We also discuss the role guest blogging has played in her business over the past few years. She even created an excellent training course on the topic of being a guest blogger, and you can pick it up for only seventeen dollars at Guest Blogging Secrets.

Nicole Dean is someone you want and need to know, and I know you will enjoy hearing our conversation here. You will pick up some tips and secrets that we share on how to build a successful and profitable online business in a way that resonates with your message and the lifestyle you want to achieve. And, if you haven’t already, please be sure to subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking on the link in my sidebar.

During the spring of 2007 I made the conscious decision to become a writer. I had been blogging and writing articles during the previous year or so, but needed to make a commitment that would change the way I conducted my online business. I strongly believed the way to do this was with article marketing. Tips on how to write and market articles were very common at this point, but I needed to do more than simply write articles that contained 10 tips on how to do something. That’s when I challenged myself to write 100 articles over the course of 100 days.

It was not easy for me to do this because I was not a writer at that time. However, I was determined to turn myself into a writer and made the commitment to write an article each day over the course of my challenge. Even though the article directories only required your articles to be 250 words at that time, I was still struggling to get my thoughts and ideas out of my head and on to the screen. Then something interesting happened right around the end of the third week; the writing began to flow more easily and it felt funny if I did not write each day. I was turning into a writer!

I completed my challenge in just 78 days, and immediately began repurposing what I had written into short reports, eBooks, online courses and training  programs, paperback books, and books for Kindle (Take a look here to see what I’ve published so far). This gave my business the boost it needed to take what I was doing to the next level. By the summer of 2007 my business had grown to the point where other online marketers were beginning to take notice and reach out to me with new opportunities. Within a few months I was asked to speak at an Internet marketing conference.

The idea of an article writing challenge took off and many people began their own challenges. Even Ezine Articles went on to offer six HAHD (hundred articles in a hundred days) article writing challenges, and I completed most of them. By then my business had taken off in a big way and writing each day was a part of who I was and what I did each day.

To mark the five year anniversary of writing my first hundred articles in one hundred days I again challenged myself to do this. I was behind almost from the very beginning and I had to take a look at where my life is now compared to five years ago to see why this was occurring:

• My business has grown considerably during this time and requires a different level of involvement than it did previously
• I’m currently writing my 10th book and that writing is a priority each day
• During this most recent challenge I took several trips, including ones to Thailand and China
• Article directories now require a minimum of 400 words for each article you submit

Even with all of this I was able to write my 100 articles in 96 days. Meeting a challenge is important to me, as are all of my goals and deadlines for my business. To date I have written more than seventeen hundred articles with more than 700K views and you may take a look at them here. You can do the same thing if you are willing to work hard and focus on what you wish to achieve.

Are you writing and marketing with articles? What questions may I answer for you on this topic?

Karon Thackston knows about copywriting, SEO, and keywords. With over twenty years experience in this field, she was the person I most wanted to speak with on this topic. I first met Karon in person in Atlanta at the NAMS event a couple of years ago and we have been friends ever since. She has been a dominant force in helping NAMS to get prime search engine ranking over these past few years.

We discussed the best way to find your keywords – something we all struggle with as we build our online businesses – and why it’s so important to use a professional keyword tool for your research instead of just using Google’s free tool. Karon is a member of Wordtracker’s Expert Academy and writes for them regularly on the topics of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and keyword research.

You can connect with Karon at her site, MarketingWords, to see just how SEO copywrting can help you to grown your business and to join her list for even more tips and specialized information. This is an area you definitely want to be more familiar with as your business grows.

Karon is also an author and trainer, so be sure to check out her Copywriting Course to get started right away.

Attending live events as part of my continuing education was a big part of what I did while I was a classroom teacher, but it wasn’t until 2008, after I had already been working exclusively online for almost two years, that I first went to an Internet marketing conference to begin my continuing education journey for my online business. It was the Big Seminar, one of the largest events of its kind at that time. There were seven or eight different speakers each day during all three days of the event, and each one was selling a two or three thousand dollar package after they spoke for ninety minutes or so.

These events are not nearly as common these days, with people being more interested in attending workshops and seminars where they are actively involved in the learning process. Two people are the best at doing this – David Perdew and Dennis Becker – and I happen to be speaking at both of these events this summer. I am proud to be a part of the teaching process to help new online entrepreneurs, as well as those already established on the Internet, to move forward with their businesses.

August of 2011 was the first time I attended the NAMS event. Atlanta is a perfect city for this because it is somewhat easily accessible for people coming in from all over the world. David has set this up like a university, with several different ‘tracks’ for the students to choose from. The instructors – more than 40 right now – take turns presenting information on their area of expertise.  This is a no-pitch event, so the only thing for sale is the next NAMS event. NAMS is held in August and February each year. This year it is August 3-5.

Anyone who attends through my affiliate link is entitled to additional training from me, as well as being able to network with me and our group on Friday night in Atlanta as part of my Roundtable Mastermind. I’d love to see you there!

Dennis Becker’s event is slightly smaller and held in Las Vegas each year. This year it will be August 10-12. This event – the Earn 1K A Day Seminar – originally began with Dennis inviting the people he knew the best to share their marketing strategies and tips with people who were just getting started. These people were all a part of his Earn 1K A Day Forum, where I have been a member for the past two years. Take a look at the speakers he has lined up for this summer and see if this is what you need to take your business to the next level. On Friday evening I’ll be having dinner with everyone who comes through my link as part of our Roundtable Mastermind.

I learned from my own experience that working from your home computer as you build your online business keeps you isolated from other small business owners and entrepreneurs. This leads to seeing your business in a bubble, keeping you out of touch with your prospects and clients. It also keeps you from the powerful interaction that comes with connecting with other like-minded people in person on a regular basis. Make the decision to attend at least one event every year and I’m sure you will notice a difference in your bottom line.

In observance of Independence Day I decided to interview myself for this week’s podcast. I’m Connie Ragen Green, and I’ve been online since the end of 2005. My story begins like that of many other online marketers; I wanted to change my life in a big way and realized that I could do that my becoming an entrepreneur. By 2006 I had resigned as a classroom teacher and had given away my best real estate clients in favor of pursuing my dream on a full time basis.

In the picture of me on the left, I’m at the beach in Santa Barbara working from my iPad. This has become a regular part of what I do, and there are many people there who will stop to talk and ask me about their own online endeavors as they make their way down the beach. Santa Barbara is a city I have spent time in since the 1970s. I love the artistic and creative nature of the people, and for the past several years it is now my second home. I am inspired by the ocean and the gentle breezes and have done some of my best writing right here at the beach.

In this podcast I share how I have been able to change my life, and how you can do the exact same thing if you are willing to learn as much as you can and choose a niche where you will become a problem solver for those you come to you for trusted advice. Yes, this is hard work, but it’s the hardest work you will ever love because of the impact you can have on other people’s lives.

The book I refer to in this call is called ‘What Color Is My Parachute‘ by Richard Bolles and continues to be a bestseller as it helps people to find their life’s passion in their work. I highly recommend it if you or someone you know is searching for a new and meaningful life direction.

If you haven’t already, please click on the link in the right-hand sidebar to subscribe to my weekly podcast series.

When you mention the name Karyn Greenstreet, mastermind groups are what come to mind, but she is quite a savvy business woman in every aspect of what she knows. Her site is Passion For Business, and she says that being self-employed is the best lifestyle she knows, but that most people are more in love with what they do than in the day to day details of running their business. She has owned a variety of businesses since college, including a portrait studio and online businesses. Karyn stresses the idea of building a business as an asset so that it may be sold or passed on to family members in the future.

I had first heard of Karyn around the topic of Masterminds, and she explains how she started with this years ago. This began at the corporate level when she and others started a group based on author Stephen Covey’s ‘7 Habits of Highly Effective People‘. She credits her great success with this process of masterminding with others over the years, and now helps others to put together and facilitate their own mastermind groups.

Karyn and I discuss what makes a mastermind group work, how to find the right one for you, and how to sustain it as a meaningful part of your business on an ongoing basis. We also explore what works best – exclusively online or in person groups. During this podcast she even does a brainstorming session with me to help guide me towards a group that would best suit my current needs. You will enjoy listening to this process as you dig more deeply into how this will fit into your growth as an entrepreneur.

Another service she offers is one where she helps you find others to start your own mastermind group, as well as being able to join an established group or become a group facilitator. They are not only for business’ Karyn has put together masterminds for people from all walks of life, including scouting, the leaders of a city’s fire department, and a variety of non-profit organizations. Sometimes the group members become JV (joint venture) partners, even though this is not the focus of the group originally. She explains how the group becomes a powerful one in your life because their intention is to help you achieve success.

She is also a business coach and SEO (search engine optimization) expert, so you will want to connect further to see how she may be able to help you move forward with your business. Be sure to visit Karyn Greenstreet at her site, check out her blog, and pick up your free eBook on the biggest marketing mistakes.

Are you creating ‘multiple streams of online income‘ for yourself and your family? When I think about how I have set up and built my online business over the past few years I realize that I’ve created eight separate profit funnels that bring me multiple streams of income on a regular basis. This was not my intention in the beginning, but as I continued to learn and implement what was available to me as an online entrepreneur these were the eight areas I resonated with and added to my funnel one at a time. Each funnel brings me a profit stream that has helped me to be successful on the Internet with a lucrative business I can run from home, or from wherever I happen to be.

These Multiple Streams Of Income include:

• Affiliate marketing
• Local business marketing
• My own products and courses
• Services I offer to others
• Membership sites
• Niche sites
• Amazon
• Coaching

Affiliate marketing was the very first way I was able to earn money online. Because I had no product of my own and was just starting to blog and write articles, it made sense for me to recommend the products and courses I was benefiting from to others who were also getting started online. I earned my first affiliate commission in April of 2006 and have never looked back.

Then, because I was learning how to market on the Internet and honing my skills, I began helping a friend to market his insurance business and a family member get started as a handyman. This was my first attempt at local business marketing and since that time I have even created a course where others can learn how to do this as well. Small businesses everywhere need our help so they can stay in business and thrive in any economy.

By the end of my first year online I had created my first product and added this to my profit funnel. This first product was a four part course on how to use blogging and article marketing to increase your visibility, credibility, and profitability. It sold for ninety-seven dollars and taught me that having my own line of products would increase my affiliate income while also adding another stream of income to what I was putting in place.

Helping others get set up online led me to my next area of income production. Soon I was offering my services to others, such as installing plugins and setting up WordPress blog. Even though this involved trading time for money, I saw it as an opportunity to start outsourcing some of the tasks to others.

In 2008 I added membership sites to the mix. I learned that I could add information and training each month to a membership site and that many people would be willing to pay by the month to receive this information. I continue to use the membership site model in my business.

Niche sites soon followed, and I still enjoy the process of choosing a hobby or interest of mine and setting up a site that will earn income for years to come. There are so many possibilities for this. I even have family members who earn online income based on their interests in model trains, skateboarding, fashion accessories, and relationships.

In 2010 I wrote and published my first book, Huge Profits With A Tiny List: 50 Ways To Use Relationship Marketing To Increase Your Bottom Line. This book is available on Amazon and Barnes & Nobel in both paperback and Kindle formats. This led to my writing several more books as I saw the profit potential and personal satisfaction of creating an income stream with Amazon.

I also run a coaching program. I refer to this as mentoring, rather than coaching, for a few reasons. A mentor takes a few people under their wing and helps to guide them towards success. I only work with twelve people each year and love the way I can be a part of the progress someone makes over time.

Which of these profit funnels are you already using? I recommend making a study of what is possible as an online entrepreneur and then jumping in to get started.