Marc's Blog

7 Reasons Why You Need To Be On Squidoo

July 5, 2014 by Marc Guberti 2 Comments

Squidoo is one of the most popular sites on the web, and it continues to grow as the days go by. A website that once got over 1 million daily visitors went down to 200,000 daily visitors once Google changed its search engine policy. However, Squidoo has proven to be a very resilient website. After consistently bringing in 200,000 U.S. daily visitors, Squidoo’s U.S. traffic increased by over 30% in one month. Squidoo’s traffic has seen anywhere from a 10-19% increase every week which means Squidoo is growing. Squidoo can end up getting to 1 million daily visitors again by the end of the year. It got there before, and there’s no saying Squidoo can’t get there again, but by joining Squidoo now, you get to become a part of the movement. While joining a movement is nice (who wouldn’t want to do that), these are seven reasons why you need to be on Squidoo.

Being on Squidoo boosts your SEO. Creating Squidoo webpages (they call their webpages lenses) and adding a link to your blog on those webpages will boost your SEO and make it easier for people to find your blog. In addition, some Squidoo webpages get hundreds of daily visitors which are hundreds of daily visitors that you would have never had…and those visitors can also visit your blog.
You can make revenue with Squidoo. Not only do you get more visitors on your blog, but you also make revenue based on Squidoo’s tiered system. There are many people who make over $100 every month on Squidoo while others are making thousands of dollars every month while growing their blog traffic.
You can write about (almost) anything. No matter what your niche is, you can write about it on Squidoo. I decided to create some Squidoo webpages about getting a targeted Twitter following, a targeted Pinterest following, getting more eBook sales, and reducing bounce rate.
Squidoo has a great community. Remember how frustrated you were when you were struggling to find a way to contact Google, Amazon, PayPal or any of the other big sites? That does not happen on Squidoo. All of the members interact with each other, and the people in charge (yes, the people in charge) actually respond in under 24 hours. If you have a question, it is okay to ask, and you will get an answer.
You can use their Amazon and eBay links to make a commission. If you are not an Amazon Associate or eBay Affiliate, you can use Squidoo’s Amazon and eBay links to promote products and make a commission. You get a little more than 4% of each Amazon sale while the eBay Affiliate links range between 2-4% (that depends on the product that gets sold on eBay).
Squidoo was founded by Seth Godin. Seth Godin happens to be the #1 marketer in the world, so if you were wondering if Squidoo can really make a comeback (and get 1 million daily visitors again), just know that Seth Godin is the man with the steering wheel. He also does some interaction in the Squidoo community.
You get to donate your earnings to charities. Unlike other websites similar to Squidoo, you can donate your earnings to charity. Whether you feel like donating all of your earnings to charities or 7% (basically, you can choose any number), donating to charities will further strengthen the thinking process that you are making a difference. Imagine being able to make money for yourself and then have Squidoo donate some of that money to the ASPCA (that’s what I do).

Squidoo is going to be back to getting over 1 million U.S. daily visitors (and over 2 million globally) by the end of the year, and you can be a part of that movement while helping out in a charity’s movement. If you want to be on Squidoo and be a part of the movement, join now.

10 Ways To Get More Organized

July 5, 2014 by Marc Guberti 4 Comments

Organized Desk

Organization is the key to being productive. If you work in a workplace where papers are scattered everywhere, then you are not being as productive as you could be. Not only can being organized prevent your productivity from dipping lower, but being very organized also has the ability to enhance your productivity. In order to get organized, follow these 10 steps.

Look at what is on your desk and see what can be removed. You don’t need to have a vase on your desk. Your desk is a place to work, not a place for clutter.
Have sticky notes at all times. If you don’t have a lot of clutter on your desk, then sticky notes get more attention. Sticky notes are a great way to stay productive and identify what you have to do for the day. Here’s how you can optimize sticky notes and get the best results possible.
Put inspirational things on your walls instead. It’s great to have an inspirational quote of Vince Lombardi, but why not put it up on a wall instead of leaving it on your desk? The more things you have to look at on your desk, the less work you will be able to get done. Your goal is to be able to look anywhere on your desk and either find a sticky note, a scorecard, or the material that your desk is made of.
Move all of the clutter to one room. There is even clutter in the best of the clean freaks’ houses. In order to prevent this clutter from getting in the way of your productivity, you need to place all of this clutter in one room that you almost never visit anyway. Moving all of the clutter into one room will make all of the other rooms in your house–including your office–much cleaner.
Record important data. Don’t you wish you remembered how much money you made four months ago? Recording the important data will allow you to remember how much revenue you generated in certain months. There are also other types of data that you have that are important enough to be recorded. Instead of trying to find your important data in the data hairball, you need to record your data using Word/Pages documents on your computer. Choosing to record this data on your computer also prevents it from getting lost or becoming a part of the clutter.
Everything on your desk needs to have a purpose. Some people have iPads on their desks for no apparent reason. Those are the types of iPads that need to be taken off desks. Other iPads are on desks because videos are getting sent from an iPad to a Mac. Those types of iPads are the ones you need to have on your desk.
Have more folders. Even if you don’t get clients and have to keep track of their reports, you still need to have folders. I use folders to store all of my scorecards so I can look back, learn from my mistakes, and identify my big strengths. There are plenty of creative ways you can use folders to store data. Just make sure there aren’t too many folders that end up on your desk.
Have more envelopes. Envelopes can be used to store data and information that folders cannot store. I store all of my past sticky notes in envelopes. Although this particular use of envelopes is a clever idea for a giveaway, there are other ways that you can use envelopes to your advantage.
Have a notebook. Instead of having 10 pieces of paper scattered on your desk, you can write on 10 pages in your notebook. All of that information stays in one place so you don’t have to search for it later. You can also get a subject notebook so you are able to separate different sections in your notebook for different topics.
Have a desk with drawers. If your desk has drawers, then the likelihood of clutter developing on your desk decreases. However, you cannot just think of desk drawers as a way to remove clutter from your desk. You need have organized desk drawers so you can access more information quicker.

Being organized is one way to boost productivity. By implementing these 10 tactics, you will have a more organized workplace which means you will be able to get more done faster. What are your thoughts on the list? Do you have any additional tips on getting and staying organized? Please share your thoughts and advice below.

5 Ways To Make Your Business Run On Autopilot

July 4, 2014 by Marc Guberti 2 Comments

Autopilot Business

Wouldn’t it be cool for your business to run on autopilot? Imagine being able to take a four week vacation and know that you are still going to make a strong income from your business. Nothing falls apart when you step out of the driver’s seat. Instead, everything keeps on moving forward and moves forward even faster when you go back to the driver’s seat. However, that four week vacation was definitely nice. In order to have more four week vacations by having your business run on autopilot, these are the five things that you need to do.

Make sure you don’t have to ship out anything. If you have to drive to the post office to ship out your product to a customer, then you are never going to have a business that runs on autopilot. You need to have other people take care of the shipping for you. If you have an eBay business, hire someone to look after it while you are gone. If you publish your own book, self-publish it on CreateSpace or get it published by someone who will take care of the shipping for you. If you have a training course, make sure the technology involved with making the sale runs smooth enough that you don’t have to intervene in order to make the sale. You should be able to make the sale, and the customer should be able to get what he wants without you doing anything.
Hire assistants to do the hard work. If you self-publish 1 Kindle eBook every month, hire a ghostwriter for that month. You still get the final say and get to edit the book so it reflects your style. However, hiring the ghostwriter saves you the time of writing the manuscript. How else can you use assistants to save you time?
Schedule content in advance. I schedule my blog posts weeks into advance. The reason I do this is that I have more time to write longer blog posts (like this one). However, I take multiple vacations in the summer (including a two week vacation). It is at these times when having scheduled blog posts is really helpful. Instead of rushing to write a blog post so I can enjoy the vacation, all of my blog posts are already scheduled for that entire week (or two).
Don’t work alone. This is why hiring assistants is very important. If you work alone, then you will never be able to have your business run on autopilot. It’s okay to ask for help. In fact, it’s also okay to ask for a lot of it. I’m sure you would save hours of time every day just by hiring 10 assistants.
Be very effective when you are in the driver’s seat. If you are an effective leader for your business, then your assistants will know exactly what to do when you take the four week vacation. In addition, the more productive you are when you are in the driver’s seat, the less you will have to worry about during that vacation (hopefully nothing at all).

An autopilot business is the entrepreneur’s dream. Hours that could never be opened up before will suddenly become open for you to interact more with the most important people in your life. What would an autopilot business do for you? Do you have any additional tips on turning a business into an autopilot business? Please share your thoughts and advice below.

Celebrations Connect People Together

July 4, 2014 by Marc Guberti Leave a Comment

celebration

The 4th of July does a really good job at connecting Americans together. Friends get their friends together, watch fireworks go into the night sky, and talk about America. They talk about where the nation is going as well as what it took to get independence. They also talk about other things that occur in their daily lives and have long conversations with the people who are important to them. Some also have a big feast of potatoes, chicken, hot dogs, and hamburgers.

The 4th of July brings Americans together with the people they care about. The reason this happens is that the 4th of a July is something that Americans celebrate in unison. The celebration reminds us of our values and allows us to strengthen our connections with one another.

Why not make a celebration of your own that connects your tribe together? The 4th of July brings Americans together because they celebrate their own independence. What kind of celebration can you come up with to bring the people in your tribe together? Maybe a free giveaway of your book that is awarded to the 10 person who asks you good questions related to your book’s content. Maybe your celebration can be a teleseminar that your tribe knows about (and causes it to spread) where you offer your expertise.

The 4th of July is one celebration that connects people together. Christmas, Memorial Day, New Year’s Day, and Easter are other celebrations that connect people together. Coming up with a celebration of your own that only matters to your tribe. Some people can’t stand the Indy 500 while others are sitting on the couch watching every minute of it. Your celebration won’t please everyone. It will only please your tribe, but pleasing your tribe is what encourages communication and new members.

The Biggest YouTube Blunder That Everyone Makes

July 3, 2014 by Marc Guberti 2 Comments

Or at least almost everyone makes this blunder. I just thought the title would be more catchy.

A while ago, I got a comment on a YouTube video from someone who was inspired by one of my videos who said she would try to find me on Facebook.

Do you see the mistake? This person ended up finding me on Facebook because she really enjoyed my YouTube video, but that is a rare example of someone taking an extra step to hunt down your Facebook Page. We had a good conversation afterwards through Facebook messaging, but I knew something was wrong. She had to look for my Facebook Page. Why couldn’t my Facebook Page have been in the description for my YouTube video in the first place.

While your YouTube video’s description is a key way to tell people what your video is about, it is also important to include links to your social networks and your blog at the start of your YouTube video descriptions. If viewers were brave enough to click the like button for a YouTube video, then they will also be brave enough to click the like button on a Facebook Page, the subscribe button on a blog, and the follow button on Twitter (or any other social networks with a follow button).

That only happens when you include links to those places in your description. Having the tiny icons on your channel is not enough to get more followers. Some people only watch your video and won’t even go to your channel. Including links to your blog and social networks allows you to keep the connections you get when people view your YouTube videos. In addition, implementing this tactic will strengthen Circular Viralocity and boost your chances of going viral.

One final note. When you include the URL’s to your blog and social networks, you must make sure to include the “http” part of the URL. Including the “http” allows people to click on the link. A link in a YouTube video description that does not start with the “http” can’t be clicked on.

What are your thoughts about this blunder? Have you made this blunder in your YouTube videos? Are there any other blunders that people make in their YouTube videos? Please share your thoughts and advice below.

7 Habits Of Highly Productive People

July 3, 2014 by Marc Guberti 16 Comments

Completed Checklist

There are some days when we get our work done, and there are other days when we do not get any work done. While most people go through not getting their work for a majority of the time, others are able to get their work done on most days. These are the highly productive people. Those are the people who others envy when they can’t finish a project on time. Productive people come in many shapes and forms, but they all share these seven habits that allow them to be more productive than the average person.

They plan their day out the night before. Remember when it was bad in high school to start the big project the night before it is due? That problem does not apply to productive people when they plan out their days. Most productive people plan out their days right before they go to bed. If you plan your day in the afternoon, then you are losing time that you can be productive in. Your productivity wanes as the day goes by, and since productivity is at its lowest at nighttime, productive people use this time to write down their goals for the next time.
They give themselves closer deadlines. Highly productive people give themselves 1 week to accomplish the same goals that take a month or two for the typical person to accomplish. A closer deadline gives these people less time to procrastinate and make mistakes. This allows highly productive people to realize how valuable time truly is. You may have read on this blog before that time is our most valuable resource or heard it from someone else. Giving yourself closer deadlines will allow you to fully understand why time is our most valuable resource, and with less time there is less fooling around.
They write down their goals for the week. Highly productive people take one week at a time. They write down the goals they need to accomplish for the week and then use a tally/checkmark system to indicate how close they got to accomplishing everything on the list.
They give themselves bigger goals. As the goals on the list become easier to accomplish, highly productive people challenge themselves by giving themselves bigger goals and less time to get those goals accomplished. The bigger goals further establish how time is their most valuable resource and gives them less time to procrastinate.
They barely watch TV. Television is productivity’s greatest villain. The average American spends 32 hours every week watching TV. There’s so many things that can be done in those 32 hours other than watch TV shows (and some can be very depressing or teaching immoral lessons), and highly productive people know that very well. They take full advantage by limiting the amount of time they spend watching TV every week so they are able to find more time in their days.
They wake up early. In a sense, productive people start their work “before life happens.” There are not nearly as many things to do at 7 pm as there are things to do at 7 am (other than work). In addition, the earlier someone wakes up, the more willpower that person has. Willpower is a big source of productivity that wanes as the day progresses. Waking up earlier allows you to tap into your full willpower and get the best of it.
They don’t think they have enough time. Highly productive people do not think they have enough time to get their goals accomplished. Highly productive people are continuously raising the bar higher and making it harder for them to accomplish all of the weekly goals. As a result, when something unexpected happens to the time schedule, these highly productive people feel uncomfortable losing all of that time. These highly productive people may be doing seven or more hours of productive work every day, but they feel as if they never have enough time to accomplish all of their goals.

Those are the seven habits of highly productive people. By learning to implement and develop these habits overtime, you will become a highly productive person. What are your thoughts on the habits? Do you have any additional habits you have that keep you productive? Please share your thoughts and your own habits below.