David Beairsto

How To Do More With Less

personal development, personal productivity No Responses »

Apr 262011

Controlling Yourself In Time – Learning To Do More With Less Time

Your financial situation may dictate that you do more with less. Budgeting your money teaches you to live within certain boundaries. Budgeting yourself in the time you have each day can help balance your productivity with the other personal goals you have.

Almost every task that occupies your time from the moment you wake until you go to bed has the potential of exceeding acceptable boundaries. Schedules can be made flexible but the principle of overextending a task is similar to overspending in your financial budget; reserves are limited.

One of the greatest challenges to working at home is the potential for distraction. The choice to work at home usually revolves around a commitment to family. Without clear boundaries you either end up never spending time with your family or sacrificing your business productivity at their expense.

Budgeting Personal Productivity – Do More With Less Time

Not every task needs to be performed every day but if the task is important enough to schedule on your weekly planner then consider the following:
1.    What is the best time of day for this task and will that vary?
2.    How long did you allow and how much time did it actually take?
3.    Is there a better place to do this particular task?

I like to write in the morning. Even before having a cup of coffee. I’ve tried writing later in the day and it takes almost twice as long to accomplish.

A budget is meant to be reviewed. You learn to do more with less by comparing your plan with the outcome. This is the first step in searching out better ways of accomplishing more, including changing when or where you actually perform different tasks.

Sequential Success

If you’ve ever seen a large movie production taking place it would be hard to watch the process and follow the story. The scenes aren’t usually recorded in order and both time and money are closely budgeted. The process takes far longer than the hour and fifty minutes that survive the editing room.

Your weekly schedule should always be a smaller part of a greater vision or mission just as each day is a smaller part of your goal for the week. The order in which you accomplish things isn’t nearly as important as the outcome.

Every step in your process is important and the overall plan may read like a story from beginning to end, but the steps should be numbered for optimum proficiency.

Productive Planning

Much like the schedule that is carefully reviewed, the master plan should be compared to your daily and weekly progress. Anticipating an event that is going to require more time than previously sanctioned is easier when you step back to see the bigger picture.

Working smarter will always increase productivity more than working faster or longer but working smarter requires careful examination. Assessing outcomes is what makes a business more profitable.

You can do more with less by consistently comparing expectations with results. Planning allows the mystery of what worked to reveal itself along with what didn’t work. When it comes to a fixed commodity like time, improving production depends on how we operate within that guideline.

If you have learned to do more with less… whether it be time, resources, education or anything else that presented itself as a challenge please share your experience so that others can find encouragement. Life is a continuous journey involving learning and growing. Share this with others who might be looking for ways to stay productive despite their apparent lack of time.

What A Self Centered Mindset Prevents

Leadership, Lifestyle, personal development, working at home 1 Response »

Apr 122011

Do Self Centered Thoughts Prevent Growth?

The unfortunate result of a self centered mindset is that it cuts us off from the flow of social nourishment necessary for emotional and physical health. Fortunately the opposite is also true. Soul, body and spirit are strongest when our focus is on meeting the needs of others ahead of our own. Selfless behavior leads to an abundance of wealth, health and wisdom.

When truth is universal it can be found in various cultures, literature, religions and even within our families. Even without psychological definitions or formal training a mother knows how to encourage her child to share because harmony in relationships depends upon it.

There is no character trait inherent to us all which is so abhorrent when seen in others as pride. Unless we’re willing to acknowledge that this condition can ensnare us, the very thing we loathe to see in others will deceive and infect our minds. A lifestyle immersed in selfish pursuit is unsatisfying and antisocial.

Rewiring Our Minds

Unless we condition ourselves and consciously attach emotional significance to giving as the highest social order, we’ll continue to behave according to our natural inclinations. I don’t know who came up with the slogan, ‘Look out for number one’ but it wasn’t really necessary to train our minds to think this way; self centered thoughts are natural.

We naturally want, need, desire and seek to acquire but must be taught to provide, sacrifice and subjugate ourselves. There is no secret to learning how to be selfless and the reward is equal to the action; love.

Love can be defined as self sacrifice. We can deceive ourselves into thinking that the emotional reward for true selfless love is also self serving. In reality, even if the motivation isn’t pure, the action still produces the same positive effect.

Getting Out Of Your Own Way

Everything that is stopped, halted or hindered by a self centered mindset is instantly released when we change our minds. The conscious decision not to feed the greed allows us to put someone else in our place.

Transferring your energy toward meeting the needs of someone else can be called the personal growth fast track. That growth can be accelerated even more by learning to give just as generously to someone else, what you’d give to yourself.

Using positive and negative motivation at the same time for the same purpose brings a balance to our perspective. Trying to ignore our natural way of thinking, which is to put ourselves first, robs us of the keen insight that we usually have much more to give than we’re willing to admit.

Letting It Go

Some call it, ‘Paying forward’ because they expect something in return. Letting go of our expectation of reward allows us to reap the greatest outcome. Holding onto those expectations isn’t really letting it all go, it’s self centered.

As I mentioned before you may not have the right attitude or motivation but until you’ve made the decision to be giving, you won’t appreciate that attitude or understand the motivation. By practice your acts of giving will slowly bring clarity and if your mind is made up to continue being selfless, eventually your attitude toward others will change.

People everywhere are looking for a kind stranger, a compassionate person, a gracious gesture but they aren’t found by searching. Love is attracted to love and a self centered mindset prevents love from being expressed and received.

The Company That Cares Isn’t Self Centered

Why is it hard to find people who are completely satisfied with the company they work for? Why are broken relationships in real life and on TV depicted as both comedy and tragedy where everyone seems to want to get their way yet no one wins?

Leaders that start with a selfless worldview form those companies that people love to work for. The employees can’t do enough for the owners or the customers. The atmosphere is contagious and so is the behavior.

Customers and clients immediately sense the difference when an organization is infused with generosity and warmth. They can’t get enough, or say enough about how it makes them feel. The truly satisfied customers always come back.

Having A Bigger Vision

From childhood ‘self’ is only focused on immediate gratification. We may recognize how immature that type of behavior is, but changing it requires seeing more than the present view.

It’s amazing how easy it is to change your mindset when you get emotionally charged by a very clear vision. Growth for an individual, a family or a community requires both passion and vision.

A self centered mindset doesn’t see any potential other than what it can grasp. Even if that mindset leads to abundance it never finds pleasure because it always wants to grasp for more. Greatness in human development and achievement are the result of a mindset that clearly sees a grand vision and leads to passionate pursuit.

If you’re searching for an opportunity to work with some of the most successful, selfless people you’ve ever met while working at home this is your chance. If you’re surrounded by self centered people this is your opportunity to connect with a different crowd.

Social Media Manager

internet marketing, social media, social media marketing 1 Response »

Mar 192011

Social Media Manager: New Career for a New Industry

Whether the engineers behind the first online social networks ever imagined they’d be creating an industry or replacing one, social media has impacted how business owners communicate with the public so profoundly that the social media manager has become one of the most sought after roles in internet marketing.

Earned media is a relatively new term with an extensive history. The intention of every business is to grow and growing through word of mouth required a great deal of money in the age of paid advertising. The problem business owners face today is exactly the same problem social media answers; how to grow.

Once Upon A Time

From the perspective of the TV audience the explosion of cable and satellite service made staying home far more entertaining. Dozens of channels makes it easy to find something of interest to almost anyone at any time day or night and recording devices eliminate or allow viewers to skip commercials.

Although the price of commercial airtime has drastically reduced, one very interesting commercial that never aired before is worth noting. Stations now advertise the potential advantages of advertising with them. Why is that?

In truth the likelihood of catching your target audience at exactly the right time of day in the hopes that they won’t change the channel when your commercial is on are slim. The more obvious problem is that no one is waiting for a commercial on radio or TV before they decide to make a purchase.

Why People Buy

Why people buy is far more important than when they buy. We all have a deep emotional connection to why we buy anything from food to houses. We decide to finally make the purchase when we find what we’re looking for.

Failing to make the emotional connection first is why interruption marketing costs far more than it’s worth. Business owners are leaving this model in droves because regardless of how many millions of viewers they can dazzle with a commercial they have no way of first establishing an emotional connection.

Everyone loves watching the Superbowl commercials. They vote on favorites and have contests. What amazes me the most is when those really ambiguous spots run for millions of dollars and everyone in the room says, “What was that for?”

Social Media Is Emotional

Right out of the gate people are engaged emotionally because that’s what social sites are all about. Earned media is the initial step when launching a marketing campaign on a social network.

This isn’t a three pronged approach or a complicated scheme. You don’t have to select your audience or sell them anything. Simply enter the virtual world of people who share an emotional connection to your products and services.

The atmosphere breeds the sharing of experience and provided you continually offer a valuable or rewarding experience, more people will hear about you. From the small business on the corner of Main Street, to the global reseller who works from home the benefits of a well managed social media marketing campaign are worth far more than it ever costs.

Timeless and Continuous

Speaking strictly in terms of how Facebook works the links that lead potential customers directly to your website are never hard to find. Posts that are shared can start going viral immediately because every single friend in that person’s network has the ability to post to their respective network.

The like button affects far more than the compulsion for others to read what their friend likes, it begs an emotional response, “Click like to agree with me!”

At one time called ‘Business Pages’ then ‘Fan Pages’ now ‘Like Pages’ Facebook now brings it all back into the same context. You like many of the things, including a business page, that your friends like, and they like what you like. And those pages you like are remembered conveniently in the left hand column (for now).

Professional and Social

How about the businesses that are looking for professionals to network with both online and in person? Social media managers help arrange the details of corporate events while giving them the friendly flavor that makes work more enjoyable.

Expanding your client list through exclusive social media networks is far more practical than the old school method of mailing out invitations. While email invitations may be a practical step to reminding people of upcoming events the real kicker is:
1.   An online video presentation of the event
2.   A detailed layout of the location
3.   Links to the hotel or conference center
4.   Online registration and booking
5.   Details of the events agenda

Images of a golf course, spa or restaurant go a lot further toward engendering an emotional reaction to a business event than text copy on a folded piece of paper.

Integration of Social Media

For those of us who always looked at social media marketing as one of the important aspects of an overall marketing strategy, the social media specialists have become far more valuable of late. At one time the challenge was simply to fuse business websites and blogs with social sites.

Now the challenge involves mobile communications and e-commerce within the same social setting. If you have a customer who’s ready to make a purchase you don’t want to send them to another store, you want to close the deal.

The bigger sites also want the same thing which is why they want users to have the ability to find whatever they need, schmooze, make a purchase, learn something new, or watch a funny video while riding the train home from work at night; all on a single app.

Tying It All Together

In an effort to make it all manageable for the common mortal companies are now developing sites that attempt to roll it all into one place meaning you can post to multiple sites from one location. If the intent is just to make an announcement that would be fine but imagine having to carry on the same conversation in 20 different locations with hundreds of different responses. Suddenly it doesn’t sound so easy.

Not to knock these companies because they do answer many important needs except for needing someone to manage it all. The obvious advantage of being able to post content in one location and have it hit multiple sites means that you only have to post it once, but what happens to all the responses that go unanswered? Not only is that not a good thing from a business perspective, it isn’t very social.

I’ve been asked whether a company should have their own SEO specialist and the short answer is yes. SEO and social media aren’t necessarily exclusive but they’re both critical in the online business world. I wouldn’t hire an SEO specialist that isn’t aware of the valuable part social media plays anymore than I’d hire a social media manager that doesn’t understand SEO.

The Big Picture

Marketing includes every aspect and every department associated with business and I’ve said before that you construct a business model with your marketing plan. If the marketing plan includes commercial advertising that no longer provides an adequate ROI the business model falls apart.

Like a building that has been damaged it is necessary to remove part of that structure in order to save the building. If you’re tracking the ROI of your print ads, radio and TV spots and they’re still effective, great. If you can’t track them it might be necessary to weigh their importance based on growth over the last 5 years.

Any paid advertising campaign whether it’s social media or billboards along the highway should be measured against growth. Businesses don’t advertise to sustain the same results or keep the same client base.

Why It Works

We’ve established that social media allows businesses to integrate themselves into the framework of specified society. You don’t have to invest in reaching people that are not interested in what you offer.

You have an opportunity to introduce yourself, your brand, your product, your service and your vision where you can expect a warm welcome. If done correctly you become popular and everybody likes you.

Outsourcing or hiring an employee to handle this aspect of your business isn’t going to be a choice for long and for some businesses it isn’t a choice any longer. Many companies are handing this responsibility over to current members of their marketing department. While most of the work done by your social media manager will involve consistently engaging your ‘friends’ they’ll still face the challenge of keeping up with the changes and developments affecting how the process works.

Join the discussion and share with your friends… Social media users and business owners both benefit from knowing the potential of what can be done.

You Need More Family Time

entrepreneur, home business, Lifestyle 1 Response »

Mar 092011

I Need More Family Time Also!

What Is The Secret?

Regardless of whether they’re married, have children, travel for business or have reached retirement, everyone has a burning desire for more family time. The secret to finding it is directly tied to personal freedom or the lack of it.

Bending the Rules

Mixing business with pleasure isn’t a substitute for a real family gathering but it does accent the fact that more businesses are realizing how important family recognition is to the health of the company.

Allowing mothers to keep small children with them in their office does solve the problem of separation anxiety not to mention the cost savings in childcare. For businesses that are able to allow this it enhances employee moral and presents the company favorably to the public.

The 12 hour work day shortens the work week by a day but in most cases the loss of time at home during those 4 days negates any benefit of having an extra day off. Unfortunately an employer will never adequately provide the personal freedom most people crave.

Breaking the Bank

Overcompensation costs families considerably especially when:
1.   they make long, expensive trips to spend short periods of time together
2.   try to overcome guilt from neglect with gifts (endless cycle)
3.   sacrifice income in order to spend time together (unpaid absence)
4.   they go over budget on vacation expenses because…

We have a deep relational need to attach positive emotions with the experiences our families share and unfortunately marketing professionals know that. “Just this once…” from the lips of a loved one is usually all it takes because our need to attach positive emotions is greater than our fear of debt.

The cycle that usually follows individuals who over extend themselves trying to secure quality and quantity time together with their families, is a widening budget gap that requires more of their time away from home.

The Secret

Those that enjoy the greatest amount of personal freedom aren’t only wealthy but have the ability to generate revenue without sacrificing 40 to 80 hours a week. The ultra wealthy have the most personal freedom even if they choose to spend their time in pursuit of more wealth.

Contentment can be elusive unless you’re able to decide exactly what your ideal situation would be. Simply saying you want to earn more money so that you can have more time isn’t exact; it isn’t even a plan.

The secret to finding more family time is partly in knowing how much time you want to spend working, and how much time you want to devout to them. The economy, your situation or any other circumstances aren’t a reason to keep you from having what you desire. The second part is in pursuing every opportunity you can find until you discover the one that will provide the solution; and persevering until the problem is solved.

If you’re still searching for we’d love to present you with an opportunity that is currently working for people all over the world. We’ll give you all the information and all the time you need to decide but you owe it to yourself to at least know what is possible.

Using Picnik For More Than Fun

podcasting, video marketing 2 Responses »

Feb 092011

I’ve only done a couple of videos on using Picnik although the creators have a bunch of videos they aren’t the same. For some reason it’s nice to see people without a degree in graphic design manipulating an online tool to create professional looking images.

Making A Promise

One of my earlier posts related to how promising yourself you would do something carries more wait than calling it a goal. So having made the goal to make more videos about using Picnik, I’m now promising myself and everyone else that I’m going to do so… soon.

Online Blogs for Business - Building a Blog In 3 Steps

home business blogs, internet marketing, internet presence, SEO 1 Response »

Jan 282011

Building a blog is becoming easier and online blogs continue to serve as the cornerstone for establishing an internet presence. Even larger companies realize they leave too much SEO potential on the table if they don’t utilize business blogs in their online business world.

First Step – Your URL (Domain Name)

Carefully deciding what to call your blog is essential if you’re hoping to optimize the potential of a specific keyword phrase that is unique to your business. Every good building starts with a plan and the domain name you choose can support every page and post.

If you don’t have a hosting account look for one that offers unlimited domain names as well as the first one free with your account purchase. Savvy business owners will utilize multiple blogs to serve specific areas of their business.

The first step is actually completed when you’ve purchased a hosting account and your domain name. You’ll typically receive a c-panel login ID and password to access your account.

Second Step – Installing The Software (WordPress)

Tech support is a feature of almost every hosting company although the quality of that support may not be the same, they should be able to assist you with any questions you have as long as you know what you want to do.

If you tell them that you want to install WordPress on your new domain they’ll either, walk you through it, refer you to a video or email the steps to follow. The most important step is to select the logon ID and password to access your blog.

During this process you’ll either install the script into the root of your domain or to another location if you want the blog to appear on another page in your website.

Third Step – Choosing a Theme (CSS)

You can either purchase a theme or select from dozens of free themes that are available within your blog. Most themes are robust and allow for a lot of customization even though they’re free.

The learning curve actually begins here when you start to feel your way around how the author designed the interactive menus of their particular theme. The more you understand about how your theme works, the easier it will be to manipulate.

Although building a blog is that easy the real work depends upon what you expect your online blogs to do. Your pages and posts should always reflect the central theme that your name suggests. The appearance should be attractive to the audience you want to engage.

Are you building a blog for business or do you have online blogs that you want to improve? Visit ‘Free Online Home Business Training’ for more tips and information on how to optimize your SEO efforts.

Top 3 Family Marketing Tips

home business, home business blogs, internet marketing 1 Response »

Jan 222011

As internet marketing has grown in popularity the gurus have been busy teaching home business owners to stay away from family marketing and marketing to friends and neighbors. While I fully understand their sentiment and sympathize with everyone who’s had to listen to a loved one trying to pitch a new business opportunity there are and will continue to be both business opportunities along with products and services that appeal to the people we know best.

Tip #1 – Relevance

Understanding relevance is one of the home business guidelines that applies to most of the online business world. Your niche market begins with knowing your audience and any content you post online should reflect their interest.

The same principle applies to family and friends. If they don’t already have an interest in your products and services they shouldn’t be considered a prospect.

Likewise if they have no interest in generating extra income or building a home business they aren’t qualified to hear your opportunity.

Tip #2 – Professionalism

Now that the overall category of people we already know has been narrowed down we can focus our attention on what we’d call a warm market.

Warm market prospects already have a relationship with you which eliminates that step from the your business plan.

When you approach them to finally share either your products or a business opportunity, that meeting should follow the same professional outline you’d use for someone outside of your warm market. They need to see the professional side of you and make the connection between you their friend, and you the business leader.

Tip #3 – Consistency

Don’t mistake this for persistency. If you’ve been turned down by a family member or friend it’s no different than a lead that had no interest; you move on.

The unique quality of a close friend or relative is that they will still have that relationship with you and if they’ve expressed any interest before they’ll remain a warm market prospect. They need to see a stable and long term dedication to your business.

Successful home business owners regularly build their teams through family marketing especially when the relationships with extended family are very tight. Those we love can always tell when we truly love what we’re doing and will always want to understand why.

Calling Your Goal A Promise

goal setting, Leadership, Lifestyle 1 Response »

Jan 192011

The subconscious mind knows that your goal has a limited potential for success so it naturally works toward self preservation by lowering your expectations. By calling your goals ‘promises to yourself’ you can enlist the aid of your subconscious mind to fight along side the battle until success is achieved.

Playing the Percentages

Our mind picks up on the number of goals we see missed in sporting events or games not to mention those we set for ourselves. Loftier goals have lower percentages of success while easier and less risky targets yield better results with less significant outcomes.

There’s a very clear psychological reason why ‘goals’ are met at lower ratios closer to 60 to 70 percent of the time. Our subconscious mind reacts to that term anticipating the potential for failure 30 to 40 percent of the time. Our conscious mind is competing with a proven presupposition.

A promise, on the other hand, has the support of our subconscious mind with the opposite affect. Subconsciously and consciously we’re aware of how emotionally pressing it is to fulfill our promises; synergistic thoughts, actions and purpose.

What We Tell Ourselves

If you accept the premise that we think and act in accordance with our self-belief, you’ll also agree that we’re influenced by what we tell ourselves.

Positive reinforcement isn’t just a game it’s the process of improving our self-belief or building our self confidence.

When we don’t achieve a particular goal we set for ourselves, that experience speaks to our subconscious minds even if we never utter a word. The emotional impact of failing to accomplish the goal we set imprints that reality in how we view ourselves.

What We Believe

By calling it a goal our conscious mind has to work overtime convincing our subconscious self that this is one of those times when we can succeed.

By calling it a promise success is instantly anticipated. Our subconscious mind begins to work hard to keep us motivated because it believes we’ll succeed.

Instead of trying to convince yourself that you believe you can obtain your objective, your inner resolve is activating supporting memories to assist in accomplishing your task.

Powerful Words

We invest a great deal of emotion and mental energy in those things we purposely set out to accomplish. The words that are anchored in memory have a great deal of influence upon our thoughts and actions.

There is nothing inherently wrong with the word goal but whether you’re into sports or not you understand that not every shot goes in; time is wasted thinking otherwise.

Since the reason for setting your sights on acquiring that which you desire is for the purpose of obtaining it, you should give yourself every advantage possible. Calling your goal a promise ensures your heart, soul and all of your mind will be working together for success.

Is your goal for this year to obtain financial freedom? Are you willing to promise yourself that you’ll have it? Contact me today if you dream of an abundant lifestyle marked by personal freedom and I’ll help you reach your goals.

Is Early Retirement The Only Lifestyle Choice?

Lifestyle 1 Response »

Dec 212010

Most people want to retire or enjoy the early retirement lifestyle but forces beyond their control are making it difficult and in some cases impossible.

Something Even Better

Success is inevitable when a person knows exactly what they want and is willing to do what is necessary to accomplish their goals. Regardless of pitfalls and obstacles, having the correct mindset and the vision to see beyond what is to what will become is the key to endurance.

Online home business opportunities have been described as ‘Better than Retirement’ because the lifestyle they provide is more vibrant and exciting than any other alternative. You work far less generic with a greater return and become instantly attractive to others because you’re lifestyle becomes an example of everything they want.

Being able to meet positive encouraging people from all over the world and having the ability to go wherever you want for as long as you want does sound like early retirement. This is the exact lifestyle enjoyed by some who were looking to retire or had already retired but had to find an alternative because ‘the economy’ negatively impacted their portfolios.

SEO Is The Number One Question

internet marketing, SEO 1 Response »

Dec 082010

Say Internet Marketing and SEO Is The Typical Response

The local ‘ActionCOACH’ organization along with a nearby resort sponsored a ‘Knetwork and Knowledge’ event last night and as I introduced myself over and over again to other local business owners the very first thing they thought of after hearing ‘Internet Marketing’ was SEO.

Advertising online is still one of the most powerful direct response methods for doing business but searching continues to explode in a number of ways:

Searching from mobile devices
Searching on multiple engines
Searching within directories
Searching to verify public opinion
Searching to scrutinize an ad or the company in the ad

Business owners like everyone else love to buy things and online business owners are the most active online customers. The role SEO plays in E-commerce will only escalate because people feel empowered by their ability to find exactly what they’re looking for wherever they happen to be.

Becoming Number One

When the Action COACH asked who wanted to increase sales everyone raised their hands. Why not?

I scribbled ‘page one’ because that’s the ultimate goal of anyone wanting to do business online. When you get to page one on the popular search engines you automatically increase traffic to your sites which increases the number of sales.

Fancy advertising and powerful ad copy are useless unless the traffic is streaming steadily onto your website and SEO is responsible for making that happen.

The Number One Answer?

My ‘take away’ last night was a subtle reminder that the end process of someone searching a keyword or phrase is to find exactly what they’re looking for.

However, my goal is that they find what they’re looking for and buy from me (or my client if I’m setting up SEO for another business).

You see SEO will get the potential customers, leads, prospects or clients to your site, but unless you convince them that the benefit of buying from you is the right choice, the investment for SEO isn’t cost effective.

How you provide valuable solutions to immediate needs and convey the unique benefits you offer is the ultimate goal at the end of the SEO quest.

SEO is like the ultimate power tool for building your business online but it takes a set of tools to complete any job.

Share your thoughts and comments but more importantly share your value!

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