Can You Make Money with Your Passions? Find out with Gary Vaynerchuk's Crush It!

I just finished reading Gary Vaynerchuk's new book, Crush It and was really impressed. For me, a successful book needs to get me thinking and dreaming, and Crush It did just that! 

Gary talks about passions... any type of passions:  shoes, ball caps, peanut butter, or car parts, and how these passions actually can be profitable for you!  What is a passion to Gary? Well, if you stay awake at night thinking about your passion, you can talk about your passion to anyone that will listen, and you can do what you are passionate about all day and night without getting bored or tired, then you have a true passion.  As long as you have a true passion, you can follow Gary’s formula to cash in on it and Crush It! Gary tells you how to do so in his book.

For example, Gary explains that if you are doing what you are passionate about, you will be willing to put in the long hours to build a strong brand and an online platform. With the advent of social media, we no longer have an excuse for not following our passions. Starting conversations online with individuals that share your passion could not be easier with the popularity of twitter, facebook and u-tube. However, he warns you that you will need to work hard but you will be happier than you have ever been.

If you are living your passion, following your dreams and completely happy, the money will follow and you will be CRUSHING IT.

Go here to find out more about his book Why Now is the Time to CRUSH IT! Cash in on Your Passion.

We want to hear what your passion is! How are you CRUSHING IT!

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Struggling with Writing a Big Book? Find Out Why a Little Book is Better!

Do you want to write a business book but the idea of writing a 300-400 page book seems overwhelming? Yet, you know that writing a book is important to be seen as a business expert and a published author. If that is you, you should seriously consider a little book format for your book.

 While it is important to have a book to promote your business, it will only help promote your business if someone wants to read it. Today, people are so busy that they want fast, easy to read information. What a better way to provide that information while promoting your business in a succinct, little book. Here are some reasons why you may want to consider writing a little book:

 If the book was little, with condensed information, it would be more attractive to a busy reader since it could be read in a shorter period than a big book. After all, if you were trying to understand a business concept, would you want to sit down a read a thick, 300 page book? Just looking at a big book may be so overwhelming that you may decide you don’t have time to read it even before you pick it up. A little book doesn’t project that overwhelming image.

 Typically a book can be easily condensed. Readers Digest understood the busy individual and started condensing books in the 1950’s. They provided the essence of their books. You too, can do that with a little book by providing the essence of your topic, providing enough information that your reader is educated, but also leaving a hunger to want more from you. 

 A little book can be easily carried in a pocket, briefcase or purse and used as a reference. Just think. If you could provide valuable information to you clients that they could carry with them, would that increase your credibility? A mom could carry the parenting book and read it while in the car pool; a health conscious individual may carry eating tips with them to the grocery; a business owner could carry a book on SEO with them when they sit down to blog.

 A real life example: Leticia Dominguez, a life coach and author, wanted a personal development book that could be easily read and start an individual’s life journey without intimidating them with too much information. Her book, The Little book of Luck, Luck is Simply a Choice, inspires the reader to make simple choices that will improve their life. She not only is a published author, uses her book for her clients, but now is building a national following just by having her little book

To find out more about writing a book   FREE REPORT   Discovering How a Book Will Improve Your Credibility and Make You an Expert in Your Field 

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Are You Afraid of Failure? Try EMBRACING Failure Instead!

Are you afraid of failure? Do you feel that if you fail you can never be successful? Are you one of those people that feels that to be successful you should not fail? The truth is that you can not be successful if you have not failed first. As a business owner you must embrace the small failures and learn from them. Failure should be seen as a way to refocus on your target goals and reevaluate your plan.

We were conditioned as a child to see failure as bad, so we live our life afraid to try new things because we might fail. However, if you think about it, holding yourself back from trying new things is the ultimate failure.

I have learned to love challenges and embrace change. Here some ways you can embrace failure and learn to improve your business, marketing campaign or life goals.

Accept that you will have failures.  Everyone will have setbacks and failures. If you think it will not happen to you or your business, you will be paralyzed when it happens. Know that it will happen and embrace it. It will give you a chance to make necessary changes in your path.

Keep your goals in focus. If you have your long term goals in your mind, you will be able to deal with the failures that come along.  If you review your goals on a regular basis you will be able to use the failures to readjust your plan and rethink your plan. Keeping your goals in focus allows you to adjust your path as failures occur.

 “Success is going from failure to failure without loosing enthusiasm” Winston Churchill. Learn from each failure and turn it into something positive. You can use any setback as an opportunity to learn new ways to do things. It is from failure that some of the most famous people have achieved great things. They used there failures to change the formula slightly to find a new and better way. 

“If you want to increase your success rate, double your rate of failure” Tom Watson. If you think about this quote it makes perfect sense. If you are in sales then you need to make a lot of sales calls to get a sale. You will get a lot of “nos” before getting a “yes”. A “no” can be seen either as a failure or one step closer to a success.  

"Would you like me to give you a formula for... success? It's quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure. You're thinking of failure as the enemy of success. But it isn't at all... you can be discouraged by failure -- or you can learn from it. So go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. Because, remember that's where you'll find success. On the far side." -- Thomas J. Watson, Founder of IBM

How do you deal with failure?  Do you have an example of how you turned a failure into a success? Please share with us your failure into success stories.

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Do You Have A Business? You May Be Liable and Not Even Know It!

At the request of Members of Congress, the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) once again (for the 4th time!), extended the Red Flag Rule enforcement deadline until June 1, 2010. The Red Flag Rule sets up requirements for financial institutions and creditors, subject to enforcement by the FTC, to address the risk of identity theft.

Basically, The Red Flag Rule requires all such covered entities to develop and implement written identity theft prevention programs to help identify, detect, and respond to patterns, practices, or specific activities – known as “red flags” – that could indicate identity theft. As a covered business or organization, you need to implement a written Identity Theft Prevention Program which is set up to detect the warning signs (red flags) of identity Theft in your day to day operations. Although the rule is in place for financial institutions, one of the main sticking points is what businesses or organizations are actually covered, and therefore required to implement this policy.

For example, the FTC applied this rule to doctors and lawyers offices which take credit. At the beginning of this year, the American Medical Association tried to argue that doctors' offices and related health care providers were not “creditors” and therefore did not have to comply. The FTC responded “that the plain language and purpose of the Rule dictate that health care professionals are covered by the Rule when they regularly defer payment for goods or services. We also believe that implementation of the Rule will help reduce the incidence of medical identity theft; and that the burden on health care professionals need not be substantial”. The FTC felt that Medical Identity Theft, when a patient seeks care using the name or insurance information of another person, can result in both false billing and the potentially life-threatening corruption of a patient's medical records. Shortly thereafter, other associations, including the American Bar Association, also tried to argue that lawyers not creditors and were therefore exempt.

This controversy is what caused the delay in implementation for small businesses such as doctors, accountants and lawyers. There are several bills in Congress attempting to opt-out such businesses. However, by doing so, they will be weakening a law which is set up to protect consumers.

So, do you own a business? If so, are you covered and need to comply? Basically, under the law, businesses that allow customers to purchase goods or services on credit must take reasonable and appropriate steps to make sure that they are extending credit to a real person and not an identity thief. Does that include you? If so, then you must comply with The Red Flag Rule! Even if you are in a lower risk class, you still will need to take some steps such as those listed here.

For more information and to find out whether the rule applies to your business or organization, please check out www.ftc.gov/redflagsrule. 

If you want to find out more about Identity Theft, The Little Book of Identity Theft is an excellent resource to find out what it is, how you can take steps to prevent identity theft, and what to do if it happens to you. Check it out now.

Slow to Get Going? 7 Ways To Get Motivated!

Are there times when you have trouble getting motivated to tackle a project? Do you find that these times happen more than just occasionally? Although work can seem overwhelming and it can be difficult to maintain enthusiasm to get started, you know some people who never seem to get stuck. What is their secret? And once you have lost your motivation, how do you get started again?

Here are some simple ways to kick start your motivation:

1. Make a deal with yourself. It is easier to talk yourself into getting started on a project if you give yourself a reward at the end of the project. I can usually talk myself into doing any undesirable task if I promise myself a nap afterward. I love naps so that is very motivating for me. What would be motivating enough for you to get started?

2. Act like you want to do the task. It is strange, but if you act like you want to do a tedious task you can often get in the mood to get started.

3. Write down your goals and reasons for working towards them. Post your goals where they can be easily seen; such as, on the wall above your computer, on the bathroom mirror or on a card in your calendar. You will be able to remind yourself of the important goals which will improve your ability to stay focused.

4. Do something small to create a work flow. I often clean my desk off and get ready to get into a more intense work task. A small easy “to do” task can get you into the flow of work allowing you to begin the bigger project. However, be careful not to get distracted by the other activities and use them as an excuse not to get started!

5. Do the toughest task first. If you do your least desirable or hardest jobs first, the rest of the day will be much easier. If you save the hard task for later you will begin talking yourself out of doing the task and by the end of the day you won’t be able to motivate yourself to do it. A great book discussing just this fact is Brian Tracy's Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating. You might as well eat that horrible tasting frog first and then everything else is gravy!

 6. Break it down. If you can break the project into smaller tasks, you can focus on one small task at a time. As you succeed on one of the small steps you will be more motivated to continue. After two or three completions (successes) you are in the flow!

7. Have fun. This may be the most important tip! If you can make the task more fun it can be easier to get started. Turn on some music, or if possible, take your work to a new location.

How do you keep yourself motivated?

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