Archive for the ‘Productivity’ Category

The #1 Thing to Remember When Approaching a Mentor

Most people approach potential mentors in completely the wrong way. As a result, most people have a lot of trouble getting mentors to help them out. When you’re approaching a mentor, there’s one thing you need to keep in mind. This one thing is what will set you apart from all the other people competing for their time and attention.

==> How Most People Approach Mentors

Most people approach mentors with a taking mindset. They ask them questions like:

“Can we grab coffee sometime?” (unless you want to date them, avoid this.)
“Will you mentor me?” (seems pretty much 100% about you doesn’t it?)
“I’d really like to pick your brain”  (worse thing you can say… their brain is not there to be picked!)
And so on.

The main focus here is the person asking the question. They’re looking to take value from the interaction. In many ways, this is like a beggar who comes up to you on the street asking for money. He’s asking for something valuable from you while offering nothing in return. Naturally, most people say no, just as most mentors say no. Also, it sets you up in their mind as someone who doesn’t understand the value of their time, and you never want to be ‘that guy’.

==> The Most Important Thing to Remember

(badly photoshopped for sure)

(badly photoshopped for sure)

The most important thing to remember when approaching mentors is that they’re also trying to get to the next level themselves. Sure, they might have a $10 million dollar company. But they’re surrounded by people with $200 million dollar companies. IF they’re not striving they’re dying – plus they didn’t make a $10 million dollar company by relaxing.

Perhaps your mentor’s goals have shifted from the financial world. Many successful people switch their attention from making money to helping the world. In that case, the “next level” for them is philanthropy rather than money.

Here’s the secret to landing mentors: Help them get to the next level.

==> The Art of Giving Value (the golden rule)

If you help your mentors get to the next level, they’ll naturally also want to help you get to the next level. It’s called the law of Reciprocity, and it’s totally ok to implement this when you’re looking to get a mentor.


==> But how do I help them?

You might be thinking: How can you help someone who’s far more successful than you?

  • The answer is to be creative and don’t be afraid to work… hard.
  • If you know they’re interested in education reform, call up the 100 top educators in the country and help arrange meetings for your mentor.
  • If you know they’re looking to acquire small retailers in California, drive through the state and take photos of the different retailers they might be interested in.
  • Go out of your way to help your mentor get to the next level.

Offer value first, before asking for value in return.

==> A Word About Connection

Go out of your way to help out your potential mentors - But do it with people you have a connection with. Don’t just go out of your way to help potential mentors who you haven’t even met yet or you haven’t at least connected with online yet. If you meet a potential mentor at a seminar or an event and have the chance to chat for a few minutes, then try to find some way to add value to their lives. Then and only then should you ask them for mentorship or help.

Next post we’ll dive into how to actually approach, ask, and show even more value for your mentors! And yes – how to have a good time with them too!

hangiwith

Have a mentor? Why not show them how much you appreciate them!

ManageWP Review – Way Beyond WordPress Plugin Managers

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To really appreciate what ManageWP does so extraordinarily well you have to have experienced the tedium of managing multiple WordPress installations. WordPress is a superb program and can be used for every kind of website imaginable, but professionals who run numerous sites have always had the same problem: when updates come along, each has to be logged into individually.

Before ManageWP, one of WordPress’ greatest strengths – the flexibility and power added by using different plug-ins – was also its biggest drawback. If a site has an average six to twelve plug-ins it’s likely at least one or two require updating every month. No problem if you’re running a personal blog, but what if you’re running five, or fifty or five thousand sites? Even at just a couple of minutes each you can see the time and cost penalties large developers face – and that’s just updating plug-ins.

Take a Tour


That’s no longer a problem with this system, because the program allows you to update all plug-ins, across all sites, with a single click. That function alone is likely to save more than the small monthly fee, but ManageWP is much more than just a highly-efficient WordPress plugin manager, it can help you control every aspect of all your installations with unrivaled speed and ease.

What ManageWP does is give you a single, convenient access point for all your dashboards. One click and you’re in, able to control plugins, update themes and – vitally importantly – back up your sites so you have a rapid recovery position in case of attack.

Even then the folks at ManageWP aren’t done. Those with multiple WordPress sites can now monitor uptime from the same interface: if a site goes down you’ll know about it first. The same notification system also alerts you to features that need updating and to sudden rises or falls in traffic. On the one hand allowing you to respond quickly to faults while on the other letting you measure the impact of promotional campaigns at a glance.

Integrating Google Analytics gives you even more business intelligence and, combined with the built-in SEO reporting and keyword ranking tools, gives a fast overview of entire networks so you can identify where to focus efforts for best results.

Should you have been unfortunate enough to run into problems with your hosting you’ll know how time-consuming moving multiple WordPress sites can be. Not any more. Mass migration is yet another feature of this remarkable WordPress management tool. If you need multiple identical installations, that’s a breeze too. Create a “template” site then have ManageWP clone and deploy as many as you need. You can create literally thousands of sites this way, yet still retain that single, efficient, central control.

Of course you can continue to create content, manage comments, etc for individual sites from the same core location, but if you need that same operation conducted across a number of sites you can do so with no more effort than it takes to do it once.

Security is always a concern, particularly with multiple installations, so it’s nice to know the team at ManageWP have not only put in place encryption that exceeds that of WordPress itself, but have also integrated two-factor authorization to ensure only those with the proper permissions can access these powerful resources. Sucuri.net is also an option, so site health checks are fast and easy.

It’s common when a new WordPress tool hits the market for people to find and report on weaknesses. What’s remarkable about ManageWP is the universal praise it has received. “Fantastic”, “lifesaving”, indispensable” and “couldn’t live without it” are common quotes – but don’t take our word for it – take the free trial and prove it for yourself.

Links above are our affiliate link

How to Turn Your Notes From A Conference into an Action Plan!

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“One of these days is none of these days.” — Henri Tubach

The interesting thing about conventions is people invest a buttload of their time, money, and energy to go and learn bleeding edge techniques that they simply do not apply in the businesses. They end up with a bag full of business cards that fade, and a notebook full of fantastic information that, at the end of the day, might as well serve as fire starter because they never look at them again.  You may not be that extreme, you probably fall somewhere in between, but there is a way to optimize your experience at any conference and take things to the next level. This post is designed to give you the kick in the rear you need and to turn that killer knowledge into action and start gets results.

Step One: Make ‘one of these days’, today.

Set aside the time to review your notes WITHIN 24 to 72 HOURS of the conference (tick tock), while the information is still fresh in your mind. Don’t let a backlog of work get in the way, buy out the time. Set aside at least a few hours to put the following steps into action. Find your quiet place and get out your notes, and your business cards.

Step Two: Highlight Main Points.

Pull out your notes and start highlighting the main points, the things you need to focus on. Cut out the fluff, and get very specific.

Step Three: Make Your Notes About You & Your Business.

Re-write the things you highlighted in your notes into first person point of view, and in relation to your blog or business. Instead of “Contact brands related to your blog and ask to do guest posts”, write out “I need to contact XYZBrand and write an article about XYZSubject for their XYZBlog.” Make sure they are actionable items, items that you can start working on today.

Step Four: Connect people to your action items.

Take out the business cards you collected at the event and start writing the people’s names under the different action points you’ve written out if you think they may be able to help you reach that goal. It doesn’t have to be a speaker either, there are a lot of talented driven people at these events, you need to leverage your new relationships.

Step Five: Add in timeframes.

A goal without a timeframe or due date is basically just a pipe dream. Any good goal keeper, not the soccer type, will tell you that it’s the dates that make the difference. Next to each action item and person add a due date, and see if you can’t break it down into smaller steps each with their own due date.

Step Six: Prioritize.

This is probably the hardest part, but you need to put the action items in order of importance to your business or blog. What items if you started on today, easy or hard, would make the most difference?

Final Step: Take massive, deliberate action, don’t rest on your laurels.

There’s a reason why when McDonalds added salads to their menus that sales of Big Macs skyrocketed. Just the IDEA of eating something healthy made people feel better about their health and enabled them to buy the unhealthy choice. You’ve made the journey to BlogWorld, you’ve gone through these steps, it may be tempting to say ‘Wow I did a lot of work! I should take a few days break,’ that’s the last thing you should do. Now’s the time to take the most important step, action.

Lewis Howes said it best during his session at BlogWorld, “If you want to take things to the next level you have to hustle!”. You need to start acting on your action plan today. That includes following the steps outlined in this article. Get out there and start doing, you’ll be amazed how fast things start happening after you take the first step forward.

Bonus Step: Connect with the people you met.

You may have had a great time at the after parties, don’t let that end! Reach out on twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook and connect. Never ask for anything, in fact, if anything you need to offer your help. This step is a whole post in itself, but needless to say you need to keep in contact with those you met at the event!

What steps might you add to this plan? Let me know in the comments!

Three Easy Steps. How to Mass Produce Content for Video Blogging

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Build back links, brand and authority; and save time! So you want to make more video’s, produce them fast, and loose the headache? Follow the steps in the video below and this will become a breeze!

Step 1: Buy Jing Pro ($14 per year!).

Step 2: Visit answer question sites… Yahoo Answers, Quora, Reddit, really any site that they ask questions on.

Step 3: Record your answer to their question with Jing, and upload automatically to YouTube, post it as the answer and post it on your blog! Easy breezy :)

Bonus Guide!

Video Blogging 101: How to Make a Great Video Blog

Some people believe that video blogging, simply means sitting in front of a camera and freely talking about your day. While some may do that, it’s usually not a good strategy if you hope to engage a large number of viewers. Most video bloggers who regularly command the attention of many people on sites like YouTube produce videos that share several characteristics, even if their topics differ a lot. If you want to join the ranks of the top video bloggers, here are four things that need to be in your video blogs.

High quality audio and video

If you want your voice to be heard, it needs to be delivered clearly. The audio and video quality of your work leaves an immediate impression on your viewers. If you want to be received as a great video blogger, the technical quality of your work needs to reflect that. Make sure the room you’re filming in is well lit, the camera is in focus, and that there’s nothing distracting in the frame of your shot. Avoid shooting in rooms with reverb, as it’ll distort the audio. If you have the money, invest in a microphone that captures very crisp sound. Your viewers will be able to focus all their attention on what you’re communicating if the technical aspects of your video are in order.

Clear message

Most people like to know what they’re sitting down to watch. Few have the time and patience to sit through minutes of winding chatter, hoping the video blogger will eventually stumble upon a topic that interests them. They want to know, as soon as possible, what the video blog will be about. Setting up your video with a clear introduction does just that. It also adds some structure to your vlog. Establishing the main ideas of your video at the start helps make it more likely that you’ll guide viewers through a few main points, rather than wandering off topic and potentially confusing your audience.

Conversational tone

You have to be careful not to come off as too scripted, though. One of the reasons people enjoy watching vlogs is that they are a comfortable, laid-back alternative to highly structured TV shows or news reports. They’re more personal and, in some ways, more intimate than traditional media broadcasts. Skilled video bloggers are great at delivering a structured, easy-to-follow message with a tone that makes it all seem off-the-cuff and effortless.

Viewer involvement

Video Blogs don’t exist in a vacuum. They’re often uploaded to social media sites that encourage comments, messages, ratings, and polls. Good video bloggers take advantage of these resources. Some ask questions and request that viewers leave their answers as a comment. Others set up polls. Some may incorporate viewer feedback into their videos. Their strategies may differ, but their objective is the same: they want to involve their viewers. All video bloggers that want a loyal following should take steps to transform viewers from passive bystanders into active participants.

For many, vlogging is about communicating with others. These tips help you do that, without slashing your creativity. Many successful video bloggers with a loyal following seem to have reached that point because they manage to balance the needs of their viewers with their own desire for personal expression. Following these tips could help you join them.

6 Ways to Better Your Blogging

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1. Consistency:

How many times have you visited a site, found the blog, got really excited by the post, and then were extremely disappointed to see it was posted in 2009 and has had no updates since? It is hard to trust a source that is inconsistent and seemingly out of touch. Just like nobody likes a flaky person, nobody likes a flaky blog. If you want consistent followers, you need to give them consistent information.You want people to remember your blog and visit it often. For this to be worth their while it is so important to update consistently, at least a few times a week.

2. Audience:

Keep it personal. Even though there may be thousands of people following your blog (woohoo!), individuals are reading it, and people like to feel important. Give them a reason to feel like you are communicating just to them. Keep your tone conversational, ask questions, provide insights, and most importantly…continue the conversations through comments. There is no greater feeling than knowing someone has taken the time to respond to your thoughts. Engage your followers and you will create fans.

3. Theme:

There should be an overarching theme to your blog that lets the reader know right away who you are, what the blog is about, and why that person should spend their precious time reading it. Having a theme also helps with consistency. When you have a focused goal, it is much easier to find topics to write about.

4. Resource:

Most people follow a blog because it gives them some sort of value. It might make them feel connected, provide them with valuable information, or just be an enjoyable experience. You have to find out what kind of a resource you are and be sure to always give that to your followers. And it doesn’t always have to be heavy, for example I follow The Daybook because she makes me laugh…like when she posts cute pictures of her newborn baby (too cute!). Makes me laugh, makes me happy, keeps me following. Be sure to also include links and information to other resources and blogs where applicable. This will show your readers that you truly are a source of information and value and will keep them coming back.

5. Visual:

People. Love. Pictures. It is a fact of life that we are physical, visual creatures. Anything you can add to your posts (whether it be charts, videos, or photos of cute babies in mustaches) will keep people engaged and interested. Plus, having a visual will also make your blog easier and more enjoyable for others to share via Facebook, Pinterest, Email and any other social media sources.

6. Sales:

Keep in mind: People hate to be sold to directly. As much as your blog can be helpful or even vital to your sales, it is important to not make this obvious. The focus of your blog should still be to provide value to your customers or followers. There are many ways (that we will discuss in future posts) to make your blog profitable without shoving it in your followers faces. One simple tactic for now is to keep your products visible throughout the blog post (usually on the sides) so that your brand and product or service is top of mind.

{Happy blogging!}

Giving The Right Direction

nothin

What You’ll Learn: Motivate team members, outsourcers, or employees to do a task or project well.

Ever assign someone in your company a task and find that they just don’t get it? You tell them exactly how to do it, what it should look & feel like, as many details as you possibly can and yet the results are just not what you expect or need. You can blame them all you want, but you are missing an important part of the puzzle. You need to explain why the project or task is important to the organization as a whole.

You might be tempted to react like Don Draper from Mad Men when someone ask’s you why they should do something.

Think Of It This Way…

Imagine you’re teaching someone a simple game. You tell them they need to throw a ball in a hoop, but you fail to explain to them that they get points from doing this. You just tell them day after day that they need to keep throwing the ball in the hoop. Chances are after a few rounds they won’t find any excitement in throwing said ball into said hoop, they’ll loose motivation. If you add in the details as to why its important to get the ball in the hoop; they’ll win the game, get to go to the conference, get a big shiny metal, you’ll find that they will certainly see the importance of getting that ball in the hoop!

Next time you find your team not finishing tasks the way you want them to follow these three steps and see results:

  • Don’t assume anything. Don’t make the mistake of assuming that just because you know the strategy behind a project that everyone else does. Explain ‘the big picture’, share the end goal.
  • Make sure they understand. Make a quick note on a piece of paper of where your company is now, and where it will be after the project is complete. Post this on the wall, keep it as a guide.
  • Compare to other projects. If the project seems random or out of the blue to your team, try and explain how it ties in with other company projects. Make lists of all the major projects and connect them together with lines & arrows. Make sure they can explain to you why its important.

Follow these steps and you’ll be sure that your team keeps motivated!  Have any other tips on giving direction to your team? Post them in the comments below.

How Your Imagination is Holding You Back

lightside

If you missed the first half of this article about imagination lets do a quick recap.  We’ve been discussing the positive things that our imagination can accomplish – Using it correctly can help us escape a motivational funk and build our ability to focus.  It can also help us solve problems creatively and actually turn problems into opportunities. This leads us to the ‘dark side’ of the imagination, how many today are simply anesthetized by their own imagination. How so?

Are you anesthetized by your own imagination?

Human beings always act and feel and perform in accordance with what they imagine to be true about themselves and their environment.

- Dr Maxwell Maltz

Have you ever been on a camping trip deep in the woods?  Chances are on your first day after spending a few hours setting up camp and enjoying some time by the fire and then you are ready to get some sleep.  All tuckered out you then retire to your tent.  If you’re like most of us who don’t camp all that much you probably spent 5 – 10 minutes trying to get comfortable, and then you lay there trying to fall asleep. All around you you hear sounds, maybe crickets at first, then small twigs cracking. Your heart starts pounding, adrenaline starts pumping through your body, and you imagine that surely something is out to get you. You try and calm yourself by noting how ridiculous the notion is that you are being hunted, but in the back of your mind you’re still imagining a large animal attacking your tent and dragging you into the night.

Only Thing We Have to Fear Is Fear Itself.

-FDR

You may conclude that its natural to react this way, and you’d be partly correct.  It is natural to have a physical response to fear, but the fear itself in this situation is all imagined fear.  Fear that is generated solely by your minds reaction to the environment.  Reality is that outside its just a small animal digging through your garbage.  If you go to investigate the sound and find the small animal, you’ll probably find relief in this new found information.  However if you never took action to investigate, you’d probably spend the next hour trying to calm yourself down and get some needed sleep.

So we can conclude that its really the missing information in this situation that is pushing our mind to imagine fearful things.  There is one more piece to the fear equation, past influence.

Missing Information + Past Influence = Fear

Past influence has much to do with our imagination’s ability conjuring up fear. Going back to the camping example, what else triggers your fear of the noise right outside your tent? How many scary movies have you seen where a band of young campers meet their demise while partaking in a usually fun pastime?  Ever sit around a fire as a child and listen to your dad tell ghost stories?  All of these past influences are there whether you actually bring them to mind or not.  They are in our subconscious mind directing our reactions, this explains why they are at times very irrational.

Imagined fear is holding you back IRL.

Armed with the above information, how does this all apply in your day to day life?  Well, each and every day we are faced with problems, decisions, and conclusions that all require us to imagine the outcome, to draw on past experiences and add in missing pieces to solve the problem. Many of us either don’t give enough thought to the situation and let our subconscious react, automatically making a decision, a ‘rash decision’. Or we over think the problem to death, using our imagination to come up with 100 reason’s why there will probably be a bad outcome.  Either way we’re not focusing on the correct information, we’re focusing on what we imagine to be true. To solve a problem correctly we need to acknowledge both what we don’t know about a situation, and also ponder what past influences shape our current perspective of the problem.

Problems are pure imagination up to the point that you solve them.

If we use our imagination negatively towards a problem, chances are we’re going to make a rash decision, or worse talk ourselves out of taking any action at all. Ever not taken a job interview, or followed a dream of starting your own business because you believe “it just wouldn’t work for me”, or “I’m not that kind of person”?  Its all in your head, as they say, your turning your imagination against you- its not rational thinking. The truth (reality) is that you have no way of knowing if you could succeed in the given situation, you haven’t tried yet.  The truth (reality) also is that you’ve probably had negative influences in this area. Perhaps someone (with good intentions) has told you that you’re ‘great at following directions‘, but ‘just not that great at being a leader‘, depending on who told you this you may have let these “facts” lead you to believe that being a leader is just not for you.

Why imagine that you can’t do something, when you can just as simply imagine that you can?

In any case we need to use rational thinking to draw a conclusion, anything else is just an opinion.  Its an opinion that you can’t start your own business, because its not a fact until you try and succeed, or fail.  Its pure imagination up to the point that you try and accomplish something.  So why imagine that you can’t do something, when you simply could imagine that you can?

How to use your imagination for good, not evil.

We touched on this in the first article about imagination, but there are many more ways we can use our imagination to better solve problems and better ourselves in the process.  In the next article we’ll go deep into our brain, looking at practical ways we can truly harness our imaginations awesome power.

The Dark (And Light) Side of Imagination

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“I reject your reality and substitute it for my own.”

- Adam Savage (Mythbusters)

Whats the first thing that comes to mind when you think of imagination?  No really,  take a second and give some thought to what images and perceptions you have about imagination.  Many people view it as something that should be admired in children, as something creative people use to do creative things.  Its just not practical for me, they might say.  They are correct about it being used by children and creative people, but just limiting imagination to ‘those kinds of people’ can lead to missing out on one of the most important tools any human has.  But there is a dark side that most of us use every day, it holds us back and completely stops us in our tracks.

What is imagination?

Its good to have a base definition of what we’re talking about here, according to our friend Wikipedia imagination is in the simplest of terms:

“Imagination, also called the faculty of imagining, is the ability of forming mental images, sensations and concepts, in a moment when they are not perceived through sight, hearing or other senses. Imagination is the work of the mind that helps create.”

With that in mind, in what ways can we use our imagination? Also, in what ways are we turning our imagination against us?

What ways do you use your imagination?

There are three main ways we use our imagination, and trust me its pretty common since stuff – but its worth examining.  By understanding what we use our imagination for, we can try and use it to do good, not to hold us back.

The Light Side

Escapism – Get past a motivational funk.

The gift that keeps on giving.

If you’re like me, you probably spend a lot of time in the car thinking about your current lot in life.  Considering what big decisions need to be made, what phone calls and emails need to be sent, and what daunting task is still on my to-do-list that I just can’t bring myself to finish.  I start to fantasize about a life with no responsibilities, perhaps on a nice beach somewhere, living without a care in the world.  Before I know it, I’m not so much worried about what needs to be done as I am about how many bay windows my beach house should have.  This is called Escapism, and it in itself is not a terrible thing.

Many demonize escapism as a terrible thing, how many times have you been told to ‘come back to reality’ or ‘get your head out of the clouds’?  Sure it can be detrimental if all we do is fantasize about things that we want, that can lead to living a life of dreaming instead of living a life of your dreams.  In the right amounts though, escapism or ‘day dreaming’ can really help us get motivated.

How to use escapism to help you get motivated.

Perhaps you found this article on ‘Stumbleupon’, a bookmarking site that sends you to random stuff on the internet, chances are you’re looking for a way to distract yourself from a work project or homework that you just simply don’t want to do.  You’re successfully escaping the stress of working, but you’re also not being very successful when it comes to your work are you?  Escapism shouldn’t be confused with procrastination, when its used correctly it can be well worth the time spent exercising this part of your imagination.

Instead of refreshing your Facebook to pass the time next time you’re really in a motivational funk, try this:

  1. Acknowledge that you are just not enjoying what you’re working on, be honest with yourself… For most people putting together a sales presentation or the like is not their idea of ‘fun’.
  2. Turn off all distractions, if your on the computer, close all windows except what your working on- then minimize your project for the next 15 minutes.
  3. For 5 minutes close your eyes, lean back in your chair, and try to calm your mind.  Just relax, as they say.
  4. For the next 5 minutes use your imagination to explore something you really enjoy- perhaps relive a roller-coaster ride in your mind, or sharing some drinks with friends.  Keep it positive and focus on the positive feelings you remember.
  5. For the last 5 minutes, use your imagination to look into the future.  Imagine the last line on your homework, or last slide of your presentation being completed and you moving the mouse button up to File and hitting save.  Focus for a moment on the feeling you get when you’ve finished, clearly its a good feeling.  Much better than having it in the back of your mind bothering you through the whole day.
  6. Now open your eyes and do your best to keep that feeling of successfully finishing in your mind, focus your thoughts on this not specifically on the task your trying to complete (most of the time its something you could probably do in your sleep anyways right?).  Try this, and you’ll be surprised how much longer your attention span will last, after trying this simple technique I’ve spent 4 hours straight zoned out on a single project till it was completed… Not even A.D.D. medications can do that!

Lets be honest, if it we’re this easy surely everyone would just do this when ever they we’re distracted or unmotivated right?  Wrong, in the next article we’ll talk about what most people do when faced with a problem, and ways you can keep yourself from doing it.

Continue to The Dark Side