Month: February 2009

What Prevents Most People From Achieving Success In Life?

Post author By Ethan Theo
Post date February 8, 2009
1 Comment on What Prevents Most People From Achieving Success In Life?

If setting clear goals is so crucial for us to achieve a successful and fulfilling future, then why do so many people fail to do it? Why are so many people allowing the river of life to pull them in all directions?

1) Limiting Beliefs
The first thing that holds most people back from setting goals are their limiting beliefs. Many people only dream about what they would love to have. When it comes to committing to a specific target and plan, they don’t even bother. Something inside them says ‘there is no way’. Either it’s too difficult or they simply don’t have what it takes.

You now know that these are nothing but limiting beliefs. Unless we break past these generalizations about ourselves, we will never dare to design goals that drive us to the next level.

2) They Don’t Know What They Want
‘But… I don’t know what I want!’ This is probably one of the most common responses I get from people. I bet if I gave these people a magic lamp and told them that they would be granted anything they wish for, they will start making up a whole list of things real quick!

It is not that people don’t know what they want. What has truly happened is that most people have stopped daring to dream. I believe that as kids, all of us had fantasies and dreams of what we wanted to have and be when we grow up. However, as we went through life, we meet with so many failures and disappointments that our rational, critical mind has forbidden us to continue day dreaming anymore.

Whenever we get excited about something, our internal voice will rush in to tell us, ‘it can’t be done’ ‘you cannot do that’ ‘ that’s impossible.’ ‘grow up, get real’. (It could even be an echo of our parents’ voice, if we had stern, no-nonsense parents). As a result, this would block our creative juices and deflate our passion – the very elements we need to create and design the life we truly want.

We need to learn how to unlock our imagination and set our creative minds FREE….free of fear and inhibitions so we can dream clearly and with growing excitement of what we truly want out of life.

3) Fear of Failure
This fear of failure, of rejection and embarrassment is what probably paralyses most people from even starting out. I had a participant in one of my seminars who never dared set goals because of her intense fear of failing if she did not achieve what she had set her heart and mind to.

In her mind, she reckoned that if she did not set expectations, then she could not fail!

My mum did something similar when she was sitting for her final O level examinations over 40 years ago. She was sure she would fail maths (which she hated), and so she decided she would rather not take the exam than have a fail mark!

Sound crazy, but many people do the same thing. They believe that it is better not to have expectations so they cannot let themselves down.
Does this mean that people who keep setting goals do not fear failure? I don’t believe so. I think everyone hates and fears the feeling of failure, including myself.

What then gives them the courage to set high goals and go for it? It is how we define failure to ourselves. The only one who can tell us that we failed and make us feel bad is… ourselves.

Yet, this is how we often shoot ourselves in the foot. The moment we do not achieve what we want, even on our first attempt, we tell ourselves we have failed, and feel really bad.

This pain is what prevents us – and this goes for the majority of people – from daring to try for high stakes, to taking risks.

4) Addiction to the Soft Life
Most people are risk averse because they are addicted to a way of life: a soft life, a cushy life with habits and material comforts they are loathed to change or risk losing. Unless that comfy life-style is imminently under threat, they won’t do anything that calls for iron will and discipline.

Setting goals and really going for our goals often means changing habits, sacrificing time spent hanging out with friends. This is why people make half-hearted attempts. As soon as their new path impinges on their old habits, they withdraw…it’s too hard.
A friend who teaches a Detox & Energise self-help program says most people don’t stick to it because even if they believe in its long-term health benefits, they are not willing to work at it….and it is life-long work. They’d rather pop a pill (a drug) and dam the long-term consequences.

There are no short-cuts to success in any area – business/career, health or personal relationships. So, be prepared to make what appears to be ‘sacrifices’ and, if you do, the rewards are there.

Online Business

Top 7 Practical SEO Tips for Solo Entrepreneurs

Post author By
Post date February 5, 2009
4 Comments on Top 7 Practical SEO Tips for Solo Entrepreneurs

Search engine optimization can seem like a big black hole to solo entrepreneurs. On the one hand, the cost of most professional SEO services are beyond our budgets; and it’s difficult to assess the effectiveness of these services before you buy. On the other hand, if we try to do it ourselves, the process can be bewildering! There is so much to learn about: new terminology; a myriad of “rules” for optimizing your website (that change constantly as search engine algorithms change); lots of tools for analyzing and measuring all kinds of things that may or may not be helpful. Below are a few tips I’ve learned over the last several years as a solo entrepreneur optimizing my own site; I hope they help you navigate the maze of search engine optimization, and save some money in the process.

1. Beware SEO services that promise to get you top ranking for a particular keyword.

Aside from the fact that they are often quite expensive, what they are promising is often not even effective. It doesn’t help much to rank highly for “blue ceramic frogs” if only a dozen people search for that term in a month! Also, search engine optimization isn’t a one-time activity; it’s an ongoing process. If you’ve paid someone to do the work for you, and three months later there is a change to search engine algorithms or in your website focus, you’ll be faced with paying for this service all over again!

2. Don’t fall for tools, tricks and “secrets” that attempt to game the system.

Known as “black hat SEO”, these tricks are usually only helpful for a short while; they can also get you in trouble (i.e., lower rank) with the search engines. Examples include “keyword stuffing” (filling your page with keywords to the point that it no longer makes sense), tools that help you build links by blindly pushing content onto other people’s blogs, and automatic link exchange tools.

3. Be careful with accepting paid advertisements on your website.

I learned this one the hard way earlier this year, when I agreed to put 4 links at the bottom of every page on my site. The links turned out to have nothing to do with my website content; Google penalized me heavily for that mistake! That’s not to say that you can’t accept any paid advertising; just get advice from a professional before you do so.

4. Learn your keywords.

Keywords and keyword phrases are the foundation of any SEO strategy. There are many keyword tools available to help you discover and evaluate potential keywords; try a few tools and pick the ones that make the most sense to you. Then use those tools to compare different keyword phrases. Check your website stats (if you don’t have Google Analytics yet now is the time!) to see what keywords are already bringing you traffic, and compare how well different keywords convert (i.e., the visitor buys something, or signs up for your newsletter.) Look at sites similar to yours to see what keywords they are using, too.

5. Write for your audience, not the search engines.

Start with your keyword phrases, but don’t let them overly influence how you write your copy. It’s more important to provide content that is relevant to your desired visitors and easy for them to read. Get feedback and revise and improve; this is a never ending process! Hire a professional copywriter to help you. Even if you never learn anything else about SEO, if you keep tweaking your copy to be better and better for readers, you’ll do well – because ultimately, search engines want to serve up pages that their visitors will find helpful!

6. Keep your content fresh.

Search engines love new content; it’s also what will keep visitors coming back to your site! A blog is an easy and efficient way to do this. If you add new posts often, the search engine spiders will visit more often, too – meaning that your latest post will get attention sooner, too!

7. Get professional help.

Luckily, there are ways to do this that aren’t expensive; some are even free! I recommend the biweekly High Rankings Advisor newsletter, which explains SEO in a laymen-friendly way, all white-hat and practical. And definitely check out George Ajazi’s free search engine optimization consulting for small businesses! A SEO veteran with lots of big-business experience, George knows his stuff, and is willing to help the small business owner. The only thing he asks is for a link back to his site. I’ve worked with George, and highly recommend him.

Business Ideas

Where’s The Next Great Idea?

Post author By Pamela Swift
Post date February 2, 2009
1 Comment on Where’s The Next Great Idea?

Article Contributed by Karen S. Sieczka
Do you know where your organization will be in the next 2-5 years? Will it still even exist? If it does, how will it look? One thing is certain, you will need new ideas to survive and thrive–Ideas for new or improved products, better or new services, and ideas to increase productivity and lower production costs.
So, where’s the next great idea? It could be right under your nose and your employees may hold the key. Your employees can be a potential idea goldmine. We just need to give them the tools, the encouragement, and the opportunity to get the idea process flowing.
What would you do with equipment that only worked at 5-10% of its capabilities? Something would need to change, wouldn’t it? It is estimated most of us only use about 5-10% of our brain’s amazing capabilities. So think about how much potential your employees have. Sometimes we forget to tap into this vast resource.
Most people are naturally curious and imaginative but may not feel comfortable sharing or we haven’t encouraged or given them an outlet for creativity. We haven’t asked them for ideas! What a lost opportunity!
So how do we ask? How do we encourage our staff to let the ideas flow? How do we help them build creative muscle? How do we give staff the creative tools they need to think outside the box? There are some simple, low-cost ways to make this happen.
Create friendly, internal competition
Why not create an internal market for ideas, a competitive atmosphere fostering creative thinking? Pose a challenge. Make a competition out of it. Put up a poster or flyer. Use phrases like… in what ways might we… or how could we…? Communicate this challenge to everyone in the organization, at the least, input across different divisions, departments, from different backgrounds. Give a specific starting point for ideas input.
Some workplaces have taken to using a request for proposal or RFP for ideas. Others use a venture planning tool kit containing a series of questions to start the ball rolling such as: Why should we invest in this idea? What are the potential markets for this idea? Is the idea ethically sound? Is it easy to explain? Will it be short or long term in its effect? Is it financially feasible? Will it bring about the desired results?
Build an idea website
Host the input of ideas on a company intranet site devoted to new ideas. or listed on a common network folder because one of the key elements of an idea campaign is that it is collaborative. When others see the ideas being posted, they can become inspired to build on the idea and create new ideas of their own. Advertise heavily that website is available and ready to be used by all.
Put up an idea board
An idea board is as simple as a bulletin board in a frequently visited area such as a cafeteria or break room and has three basic categories: one for issues, problems, or concerns, one for possible answers, and one for management to put information about ideas that were implemented.
For example, an employee is having a recurring problem with a process, he can post it on the board where all staffers can see it, think about it, and offer suggestions to fix or change the process. At certain intervals, management should make a point of collecting the ideas and updating the board to show what was done or used to improve the situation.
Use examples of others’ creativity, innovation, and idea process as a starter
Creativity comes in many varieties. There are myriad examples of ordinary people facing a challenge or need and coming up with a solution or finding a new, improved process for something—an idea, an innovation. They are often known as inventors. It has happened many times throughout history and still happens today.
Want to jumpstart the creative process? Take a closer look at inventors and innovators, both historic and recent. Get to know their stories. Study their methods. Share stories to start a meeting or begin a brainstorming session. Collect stories of your own to use as examples.
Don’t forget to ask for ideas!
Sometimes we forget to ask for ideas; problem is if we don’t ask, they often won’t tell! Most of us have one thing in common at work and in life—we want to use all of our talents but because of fear, ignorance or simply because we were never asked, we hide our potential, let our enthusiasm get trampled, and just spend the work day going through the motions.
As managers and supervisors, we should strive to create an organizational culture that celebrates effort and embraces positive expectations. When staff know it’s okay to try something new, they are more likely to come up with new ideas. Encourage the flow of new ideas with this simple method: ASK for ideas! And then keeping asking for ideas!
Do something with those ideas! Ideas without execution = 0
For those of you in management, here’s another barrier to ideas, never putting them to use. Oh, it’s great to gather all those grand plans your people come up with but do you look at them (or not) and then put them in the “round” file?
Do a little research and think about some of those silly or small ideas that turned into huge moneymakers. Things like Cabbage Patch dolls or the guy who figured out people would rather buy their bread sliced. Consider: Will this idea fill a niche that no one is serving?
It is silly enough to be a fad? Don’t dismiss fads—they can generate big bucks too. Think Pet Rock. Think friendship bracelets. Think Rubik’s Cube. Think Koosh Ball. Think WWJD. So, how much is this “silly” idea worth??????
Remember, an idea with no execution has no value!
If people offer ideas and they never get executed, you can bet the ideas will eventually start drying up because everyone thinks, why bother? They will probably also go to work for a competitor or go on their own and run with it. Get the picture? Steve Wozniak, one of founders of Apple Computer, left his job at HP, to develop the personal computer, after his bosses discouraged the idea. Their loss, huh?
Ideas = money and happier employees stay around longer and produce more!
Cultivate your human talent. It is ready and waiting to be unleashed. Show staff how to build idea muscle, inspire them, and your organization will mine the creative potential within, uncovering the next great idea.
About the Author
Karen S. Sieczka is a training consultant and founder of Growing Great Ideas.com. Her latest training program is Growing Great Ideas: Unleashing Creativity at Work. The program generates ideas, enthusiasm, and teamwork and can be customized to address particular organizational issues or challenges. This article is an excerpt from her new book Growing Great Ideas: Unleashing Creativity at Work, now available at LULU.com for download or print version.