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Has your blog begun to stall or are you trying to figure out what to do to get it going again? Have you been trying to get your blog started but do not know how to get started? Then this article will provide you with ways to blast off your blog to grow your business.

Basic steps
The first area that you should make sure that you have in place is the foundation for a successful blog (back to the basics). Here are few things that you should keep in mind:

(1) Make sure your blog has a niche topic so you can make a concerted effort to reach specific blog visitors. For example, if you have a hobby such as collecting rare books, then your main topic should be concentrated on reaching web visitors who need a rare book.

(2) Use categories/tags that are sub-topics of your main topic. Going with the previous niche topic, then good sub-topics would be: authors, genre, illustrated, modern, historic, etc.

(3) Content is key to building traffic to your website. Make sure that your content includes the keywords that you want associated to your niche blog.

Next Steps
Once you have the basics in place, then you need to create a “community” within your blog. Building a “community” means that you want to create a reason for repeat visits by your blog visitors. This will help you in the long run to one day setup a membership website. What does it take to build a “community”? Glad you asked. Below is a short list of things you can do.

(1) Create a way for your web visitors to contribute to your blog. This can be done by allowing them to comment on your blog posts or by allowing them to submit content to be considered for posting to your blog.

(2) Ask your web visitors to submit a link for consideration to be added to your “blogroll” in exchange for them putting a link back to your blog from theirs.

(3) Visit article websites such as www.EzineArticles.com and find articles that are in your niche. You would have to give credit to the author of the article but it is a great way to add content to your website.

Final step
Give your blog visitors a reason to come back by rewarding them for continuously visiting your blog.

(1) Give-away freebies to your blog visitors.

(2) Create a way for them to tell-a-friend about your blog.

(3) Have a contest for guest authors in your niche topic to be guest authors on your blog and ask them to share a link to the article on your blog from theirs.

Popularity: unranked [?]

Do you find yourself struggling in your business?

If so, listen up. You need to focus. You may say you already know how to focus, yet if you did, why aren’t you achieving your business goals yet?

You wrote that business plan, yet most likely it’s sitting on your book shelf collecting dust.

Please pull it out. Take five minutes and look at it. Why did you start your business in the first place?

When it comes to building a business, focus on one activity and then put that into writing. More importantly though, you need to understand why you created this business in the first place?

What’s your reason why? If you have a solid reason why, a personal reason, you will be able to focus on this and concentrate on building your business.

The beauty of this is when it is written down, the idea in your head becomes something tangible and real. Now, it doesn’t mean you are practicing some voodoo black magic.

Goal Setting. This is what this is called.

You want a business that produces $1,000,000 a year. That’s great. Yet have you ever handled that much money before? Probably not. There’s nothing wrong with having one million dollars as the end result, yet begin with something smaller in the very beginning.

Have you made $5000 profit each month from your business yet? $5000 a month is a lot more understandable to you and your subconscious mind. It is more real yet can still pose a challenge. It’s simpler and broken down.

Next, break that monthly profit up into a daily target. That would equal roughly $167 per day. Once you break that all done, $5000 doesn’t seem as much as a challenge. It still something that will take effort but quite possible and doable.

Be sure to review this goal or whatever dollar figure it is you wish to make each day and month. The more exposure your mind receives, the better your chances of realizing this goal turning into reality.

Be sure to phrase this goal of yours as if it already exists in your life. Phrasing your goal in the present tense is the only thing the subconscious understands.

Avoid negative words like “won’t”, “don’t” or “stop.” Your subconscious mind can’t understand these kinds of words. When you say “I won’t spend more than $300″ a month on my Internet business expenses, you really tell your mind that “I spend more than $300 a month on my Internet business expenses.”

So, take a few quiet moments in your spare time when you can write down some thoughts as to what it is you want out of life. Design your life and your financial goals around your business instead of letting your business control you. This will certainly reduce stress and frustration in your life and business in the future.

Popularity: unranked [?]

I have always been told, if you want to get to a certain place in life then you will have to seek out someone who has reached were you want to be and associate yourself with them.  So, when I started working online and creating website I was hungry to find resources were I could learn from people that have succeeded in online sales and such.  Well, I found what I was looking for.  The program is call Secrets To Their Success.  Each and every month “Secrets To Their Success” features 2 inspirational web business success stories and one website makeover from which you can learn EXACTLY how these unlikely Internet entrepreneurs do it as well as “steal” their strategies and duplicate their success!”

This month features:

1. Jeff Turner - He had spent his life running successful businesses as both a corporate executive and an entrepreneur — but when it came to his latest venture, he wanted to do something a little different.

2. Jeffrey Braverman - An investment Banker who “Gave Up” His Lucrative Career to Take the Family Business Online Proved He Was Anything But Nuts.

Both are very inspirational stories that will help to elevate you and your business for years to come.

Do you already have an online presence?  An “Secrets To Their Success” membership puts you in the running for a chance to win a $5000 plus free consultation and a make over of your current site by expert Internet marketing professionals.  Just by entering your name and email address you are entered into a drawing done once each month for one lucky member who will get their business plan or website critiqued by the Internet Marketing Center team.

So, don’t delay…  Sign up for “Secrets To Their Success” today to be inspired by the success of others.

This post was brought to you by TTZ Media. Make money online by running TTZ Media ads.

Don’t forget to visit www.marketassociate.comand comment on new posts! For the month of February 08 Top Commenter’s will be rewarded with a link from this site and a $50 dollar gift certificate to Walmart!

Popularity: 14% [?]

How to Overcome Procrastination!

Problem:
People procrastinate because many are paralyzed with fear of failure, loss, pain and some, success! What we fear becomes our reality.

Solution
1. Fear is “False Evidence Appearing Real.
2. 90% of what we fear never becomes reality.
3. The best way to overcome fear is to do what we fear.
4. It helps if you visualize the worst case scenario and accept it as a possibility and realize it will probably never come to pass.
5. Our imaginations exaggerate negative fears completely out of proportion and in most cases never occur!

Problem
Few have a strategy to accomplish their goals.

Solution
1. Make a contract with yourself.
2. Identify specific rewards for positive action.
3. Establish certain penalties for procrastination.
4. Break your goals down into small steps.
5. Schedule a time segment for each activity.
6. Give yourself rewards for correct action and penalties when you do not follow through.

Problem
Many have a lack of discipline. It takes 30 days to break old habits and establish new ones.

Solution
1. Create a Success-Habits-Reminder card with boxes for checkmarks to record your daily activities.
2. Tape it to your bathroom mirror.
3. Stick it on your desk to keep track of your actions.

Problem
Most people do not have a plan or assign priorities.

Solution
1. Create a “To Do” List.
2. Determine immediate, intermediate and long-range goals.
3. Plan the goals that are in immediate reach of your abilities and assign priorities: Important & urgent, Important but not urgent, Not urgent or important.
4. Do the urgent & important tasks first.
5. 80% of your activities are not important to your goals.
6. Only 20% are urgent & important.
7. Learn to eliminate the 80% activities that do not help you attain your goals.

Problem
Many try to complete the most urgent & important activities at the last moment.

Solution
Every day schedule a block of prime time to work on an important activity that is due in the future. Soon you will find the time to analyze and polish your projects many times before they come due.

Problem
There never seems to be enough time to contemplate your decisions

Solution
Schedule quiet time to make important decisions. Listen to relaxing music that balances both brain hemispheres. If you do not schedule time for exercise, rest, entertainment, fellowship and prayer your will spin out of control.

Problem
You are overwhelmed.

Solution
Learn to say, “No!” to activities and individuals that do not contribute to the attainment of your goals. Often, people take advantage of your kindness and generosity without ever realizing you have better things to do with your time.

Problem: Most people do not have a master plan.

Solution
1. Create a master list of all personal, spiritual, physical, emotional and financial goals for 1 year.
2. Assign priorities for each.
3. Predict a date for completion.
4. Write everything in pencil so you can change it.

Problem: Few people use an organizer or daytime planner to coordinate their activities.

Solution
1. Transfer the things on your master list to the correct dates in your organizer.
2. Check off each item as it is completed.
3. At the end of each day, reschedule the things that were not completed.
4. If an item is rescheduled twice, you are procrastinating.
5. Ask yourself, “What if I never do this?”
6. If the answer is, “No big deal!” Delete it.

Problem
Some people suffer from perfection paralysis.

Solution
1. Make the decision that you are not perfect and never will be. Everything you do will be imperfect in some way.
2. Realize that if it is worth doing, it’s worth doing wrong until you get it right.
3. Stop judging yourself according to your accomplishments.
4. Learn to trust yourself by developing intuition and following your hunches. You will find your first premonition is usually the correct one.
5. Discover just how right you are by making predictions and observing how a high percentage of them are correct. (Predict the line at the supermarket or bank that will move the fastest and take action accordingly.)
6. Make quick decisions in 20 seconds or less.
7. Make your decisions the correct ones by believing in your choices and acting with confidence.
8. In difficult situations, flip a coin, choose heads or tails and then observe how you feel about the outcome of the toss. Your response to the coin toss will help you make the right decision.

• Learn to stop procrastination
• Learn to set goals

Popularity: 18% [?]

I posed this question to myself when I started in affiliate marketing, am I going to always hit gold with every website that I build?  When I first asked this question I was pretty naive and I did believe that I would hit gold with every selection that I picked.  But I soon found out that no, I will not always hit gold with every website built.  Even with all the research and testing the probability was still high that I could still miss the mark.

1. Search volume was incorrect - You know I found that some of the results in any of the major keyword research tools does not have the correct search volume.  For example, I used to use overtures keyword research tool often.  I loved that the information provided was free (just starting out I needed tools that were free to survive).  But I soon found out that the keyword amounts included volume from other synonyms or derivatives of the main work.  So, when I put together the site and published I got a rude awakening.  The volume was not their. 
2. Visitors are not buying - Another problem with some sites is that you may have the search volume but no one is buying anything that is put on the site.  Or they may be buying but not enough to keep the site ruining.  Especially, if the search volume is generated from PPC sources.
3. Search volume was to low - Another issue could be that the search volume expected is way lower than the volume received.  For example, say when doing research you found a keyword that has expected volume of 500 clicks per day.  But you soon find out that the real volume is only 10 to 15 clicks per day.  What a significant change.
4. Visitor don’t click any ads - OK, you have the search volume but no one is clicking any ads.  It’s possible..  Especially, with sites like this one.  Visitors to sites like this already know that most of the clicks will pay out.  So, they avoid clicking any of the links.
5. Website did not cater to crowd it was attracting - Catering to the wrong crowd will also not allow you to hit gold.  Lets say you started a site on cake but all of your articles are about pie.  Do you think people will continue to stop by.  Eventually, the site will be a wash.

I said all of these things to keep you encouraged as you build site after site.  No, you will not hit gold on every site but, this business is a numbers game.  One site may not win but the next may.  Keep building the sites and continue working you due diligence and before you know it you would have create a small empire that many will be very envious of.

This post was brought to you by TTZ Media. Make money online by running TTZ Media ads.

Don’t forget to visit www.marketassociate.com and comment on new posts! For the month of January Top Commenters will be rewarded with a link from this site and a $25 dollar gift certificate to Bestbuy!

Popularity: 13% [?]