What I’m talking about is the next G-Slap; be ready for big changes from the monster of search engines around the first of the year. They’ve already been tinkering with the algorithms and are definitely trending away from current PR and content rich based results.

Early next year, though you may have noticed it already if you’re sharp enough, the big G will display rankings based on the intent of the searcher.

This means that your content will be less relevant if you’re not:

1. Geo-targeting (G is doing this already based on users IP whether the user is signed in or not)
2. Relevance - generically speaking, if a room full of searchers were to type java into the query box, some would be looking for software, some would be looking for drinks and yet others would be looking for travel sites.
3. Using video on your site
4. Preparing for the changes NOW.

Getting prepared for the next ominous  G-slap is an adventure in speculation. One line of thought says that if you concentrate your marketing on single keywords you may want to offer content for the other possible synonymous uses of your keywords.

It means a shift in methodology, but for the studious and adaptive marketers out there that can make the necessary changes and move ahead of the trend it can be the difference between having top ranking for you kw’s today and being off the chart completely overnight or keeping your top listings by adapting and overcoming.

The proliferation of “scraper sites” and “spam sites” that steal the top rankings by virtually scraping the content from its competitors and republishing it, most times without proper credit to the original authors, has prompted the change. They have managed to skew the results based on current trends at G and the other major search engines.

When you think about it, this change will mean even more success for the marketer that is savvy enough to ride the wave. It’s kind of like the analogy for marketing to baby-boomers; the bowling ball in the garden hose.

Baby-boomers make up the vast majority of the demographic of buyers that Internet Marketers target. When those boomers pick up on a new trend it’s like a bowling ball in a garden hose, thus the .com millionaire boom of the 90’s. Get in at the upswing of the trend and you’ll ride a very profitable and somewhat predictable course.

Transfer that thought over to this looming change and you can see how the change SHOULD actually bring even MORE targeted traffic, intent on BUYING your products. Wouldn’t you rather have the searcher that was looking for your new java software product be the first at your site?

This change will ultimately alter the way that Internet Marketers promote products. The question is whether or not we should do anything at all. This new way of presenting search results only make a difference by weeding out those less targeted results for a particular searcher based on their search and usage histories. I think it will be a win/win/win situation.

 The biggest part of today will be spent behind the scenes working on putting together three packages that I’ll be offering.

I’ve secured a number of products that I’ll be packaging together and just need to make sure that everything is where it’s supposed to be, and functioning the way it’s supposed to as well.

I’m convinced, after looking through the multi-hundred pages of manuals that go with  John Delavera’s TurboMarketing with JVManager2 and Fantasos that it IS the right choice for me to move my business to the next level. John’s commitment to excellence and his helping-hand demeanor are the two biggest reasons that I’m so sure that this will all work out fine.

Look for some action over at http://60-day-challenge.com by mid-week. I should have the packages all put together and ready to present by then.

The majority of today is going to be spent behind the scenes working on my first offering, which will be available by Tuesday 11/11.

What I’ll be doing today is working on the actual engineering of my offer. I’ve got my main product chosen and I’m in the midst of making some changes to the sales letter and finalizing my graphics. What I need to do today is to decide what my OTO, upsell and downsell’s will be.

There’s not much production in thinking, but it makes the majority of the moves that you DO make more sure-footed ones. We can only read, analyze and formulate for so long tho. That’s where I find myself today. I’ve spent the better part of the last two years reading everything I could get my hands on that would fill knowledge gaps in my thinking.

Notice I said to “fill the gaps”. All of us have led diverse lives; no two of us have experience the exact same circumstances as another. With that, there is no single business model or plan that will work across the board, right out of the box for everyone, without being affected by the body of knowledge that each of those individuals holds. We all must figure out for ourselves where our own shortfalls are inside any business model.

The areas of our weakness are the first areas that should be considered for outsourcing. If you force yourself to do each and every job necessary in order to get a particular task done, you’ll both frustrate yourself and burn yourself out. Find someone to help you (pay them if you must) complete the mundane and difficult (for you) tasks and you’ll leave yourself in a much happier, more productive place.

Stay tuned, tomorrow I’ll give you an update on my progress behind the scenes and some insight into what next week’s product offering will be.

See you tomorrow !!!

~John

THIS MORNING’S TASKS:

1. Post a morning update. DONE
2. Choose a Mini-Site and upload it. WIP (work in progress)
3. Put some content on the new site over at http://60-day-challenge.com DONE (tho not visible yet)
4. Start a MySpace. DONE
5. Start a Facebook. DONE
6. Tweet the process. DONE
7. Post an evening update. IN PROGRESS

Well, I was a little late getting out the evening update, I aplogize for that.

For the remainder of this week I’m going to leave everything as it is here at THE RISING PATH, but starting Monday, the 60 Day Challenge will move to http://60-day-challenge.com and there is already a blog (empty for today) at http://60-day-challenge.com/blog

Also, it seems that in the evolution of MySpace and Facebook you are forced to use your name as your profile, or some arbitrary number assigned by them, so look for me under John Melanson at both sites.

I feel pretty good so far about this challenge. The biggest commitment is to myself. By completing this, I’ll prove to myself that I can meet any challenge that I come up against in life. You all get the vicarious enjoyment of watching me do it so you don’t have to. On the other hand, if you decide you WOULD like to work this plan, simply write me and let me know that you’re doing it. We may be working on individual goals, but combined thoughts and energies can make both jobs much easier.

That’s it for today……see you tomorrow!!

~John

**NOTE** This challenge will get double coverage, I have secured domain and hosting for the project, and you’ll be able to watch it also over at http://60-day-challenge.com very soon !! **END NOTE**

Today’s post will be a split post. I want to lay out what my plan is for the day, and then I’ll post again tonight to let you know just how successful I was with my game plan. Keep in mind that as of now, this is a fly by the seat of my pants adventure. I came into this project with no visible means of support. I’m the “chief, cook & bottle washer” of this outfit and with that, every step that I take is on my own. I don’t have the $$ to outsource ANYTHING right now, so I’m putting my eclectic skill sets to task to assure my own success.

This could turn out one of two (basic) ways. I’m either going to be hugely successful (that gets my vote) or I’m going to fall flat on my face. Either way, whatever is supposed to happen, will happen. I learn from my failures an even more valuable lesson than those that I learn from my successes. Each and every failure in life brings us one step closer to realizing how close we are to success at that moment of failure. The difference is what you do in the moment AFTER a failure. Do you pack it up and toss it away or do you analyze, improve and move forward?

Many times success comes to us because we properly utilize the tools and resources at our fingertips. In my mind that makes a good technician, not necessarily a successful one. In any of my businesses, I’ve never asked my workers to do something that I wouldn’t (or hadn’t) done myself. The very best way to know how a machine works is to have built a few. One way to know if someone is doing their job properly is to have walked a mile in those shoes.

A successful Internet Marketer needs to be a “jack-of-all-trades”. If you can “master” a few of the tasks necessary to move your business forward, you will establish yourself amongst your peers and customers as someone who is serious about providing high quality goods and/or services. Take that one step further and do more than your customers expect and you build yourself a reputation as someone who truly cares about the successes of each and every one of them.

…OK, back on task. Here’s the plan for today:

1. Post a morning update.
2. Choose a Mini-Site and upload it.
3. Put some content on the new site over at http://60-day-challenge.com
4. Start a MySpace.
5. Start a Facebook.
6. Tweet the process.
7. Post an evening update.

Check back tonight and see how I made out…

Ok, here’s the thing. This blog, up until this week has been a place where I put my thoughts together about Success and Success Principles. For the most part, that won’t change. On the other hand, while it has enjoyed a somewhat surprising rise in the serps to PR2 (at the time of this writing), it has left me feeling somewhat empty and unfulfilled….like there was something more I was supposed to be doing with it.

My, “Rising Path Toward Sucess” seemed to be stuck in a “valley experience”. Like many before me who had started on-line in order to maybe make a few extra dollars, I found/find my expenses exceeding my outlay. Now it doesn’t take a psychic to know that too much of that will turn a person’s life upside down. My intent was to turn it around…NOT upside down. Not to be deterred, I kept on keeping on. If there’s one core fact to succeeding in life it is to never, ever quit. Quitters never win and winners never, ever quit.

I have the most wonderful friend/lover/life partner in the world. She would never in a million years ask me to stop doing something that I have such passion for. For now, our bedroom is also our shared office space, so every marketing video that I watch or teleseminar that I listen to, she’s right there beside me, taking it all in. She may not need to do the actual tasks that are called for in order to understand the concepts behind them.

I’m the technician. I put these methods and tactics into play within our businesses. But it’s a great benefit to have a partner who actually understands where we’re at and where we want to be, and is ready to discuss the next best step to take in order to get there.

We have been talking over the past few months about exactly which “Business System” we would follow in order to achieve our own level of success. Over much thought and debate, we’ve decided that we would give John DeLavera’s TurboMarketing with JVManager2 and Fantasos a real go of it. I’ve never been more impressed with the comprehensive and VERY numerous tools at my disposal, put there in order to help me succeed.

Where else can you begin on Day 1 (more on that in a minute) without a product or a website and march step by step through a proven and successful system that can have you promoting products (until you create your own that is) at a whopping 95% commission? Sounds like a win/win/win situation to me.

Needless to say, I was completely smitten with the whole idea behind John DeLavera’s TurboMarketing.

As such, I have put down a 60 DAY CHALLENGE to myself, but you’re welcome to join me if you’d like. Simply put your info in the boxes below and you can join the challenge yourself.

I’m going to journal the entire process through Twitter, YouTube and the Rising Path’s Forum and it is my sincere hope, intent and goal to get my internet business(es) from where they are now (operating in the red by about $50/month) to a $5000/month level BY YEAR’S END !!

Chronicling this journey will eventuall become a product in and of itself that will be offered after the project is complete. (In fact if you participate, you can sell the case study/video/ebook and keep 100% of the profit)

8 Secrets To Success | Richard St.John @ TED

As an Internet business owner, finding new ways to increase website traffic should be one of your absolute top priorities. There are literally hundreds of ways to successfully generate traffic. Some methods are free and some can be quite costly. The free methods are fine to use if you don’t have a lot of money starting out. But when the profits start coming in, you should invest some of that money back into your business with some great paid traffic generation methods. Below are some vital things you must do if you want to get and keep quality visitors – before you even think about paying for your traffic.

One of the most effective ways to be successful in increasing your website traffic is to offer original, quality content on your site. You should have information on your site that visitors cannot find anywhere else. Make sure the content is useful as well as being uniquie. Give out information that will help your visitors solve a problem, achieve a goal or be entertained. Update your site at least weekly with more quality information to keep it fresh.

Another way to get website traffic is to focus on keyword related content for your site. This is called search engine optimization or SEO. The importance of proper SEO cannot be stressed enough. Don’t just stuff a bunch of keywords onto your site and think that you have optimized it. You want to make sure the keywords you use flow naturally within the content. Be careful not to overdo it with too many keywords because this can result in very low search engine rankings. SEO is a fine balance of the right keywords, in the right amount, placed in the right areas on your site. Become proficient at SEO and you will be unstoppable. Find balance and you will find success.

Now that you have your search engine optimized site up with original, quality, content, it’s time to get linked. This is a very powerful way to increase website traffic. Exchange your website link with other sites that are closely related to your site. Just be careful to only exchange links with high quality sites. You don’t want to ruin your online reputation by having links to junk sites on your website. By exchanging links with a website that is already doing a lot of traffic, you can get a lot of traffic of your own. This method is free and it works fast.

Finally, you need to advertise. There are hundreds of ways you can advertise your website. Find out ways to advertise from a reputable Internet marketer. This information will be like gold to you. Use the methods that he or she recommends and you can have thousands of visitors to your site each day.

Getting website traffic may seem like an impossible task at first. But the more you learn about traffic generation methods, the easier it will become. One thing that any website owner has got to learn is patience. Traffic doesn’t usually appear overnight. It builds up over time. As long as you are seeing a steady increase in the amount of traffic your site is getting, you are doing things right.

If you’ve been looking for simple, yet powerful ways to drive more traffic to your website - without spending a lot of money to do it - then you’re in for real treat.

For a limited time, internet marketer Justin Michie is giving away a free report that shows you how he generates 100’s of thousands of unique visitors each month and how you can do the same.

For more information, or to download your free copy, please visit: FREE TRAFFIC REPORT.

The secret really is, to begin with your goal in mind and think backwards from there.  As an example, if my goal is to earn $250,000 this year, it may seem daunting at first, but once you break it down into bite sized little chunks it’s actually quite digestible.  In order to earn $250,000 a year, I’ll need to earn just under $21,000 per month which again breaks down to about $5,200 per week.  If we break that down even further, and base it on a 40 hour work week we need to charge an hourly rate of $130 to reach our goal of $250,000 this year.

If we translate this idea from a monetary one to one of gaining subscribers perhaps, just decide how many subscribers you would like to have on your list this year, break that goal down, backwards into bite size chunks as well.  Once you have a traffic system in place that will guarantee you visitors you can grow a list of 100,000 subscribers by breaking them down into only about 12 subscribers per hour for the whole year.  While 100,000 subscribers seems like an unreachable goal, if you look at it as trying to get to the point of 10 to 12 subscribers per hour it doesn’t seem quite so impossible does it?

While many equate success with owning the large home and the boat and the second home and a large SUVs, they have found very little fulfillment in those objects and until they can find personal success, they will never feel truly successful.  Take the time to work yourself, being a well-balanced individual, physically ,mentally and spiritually, and you will find your path to success in business much easier to handle.

Every aspect of our business should be a reflection of ourselves.  If you can take pride in who you are and the way you represent yourself to the world you can also take pride in your business and the way it represents itself to the world.

There are few things more aggravating for a business owner than hiring someone to work from home and finding out they don’t have the proper equipment or software. Worse yet is when someone has the equipment, but doesn’t have a clue on how to use it. Don’t be one of these telecommuters!

If you are a telecommuter, you need to equip yourself for success with the best must-have gear available. The actual equipment and software you need will be dependent on the type of work you perform, but the following list of barebones minimum requirements should help you get started down the road to work-at-home success.

Computer
It is critical that you have a superior computer system if you plan on telecommuting full-time. Computers are a lot cheaper these days than they once were. It is worth the investment to have a system that doesn’t crash constantly, can access the internet at high speeds, and can process documents rapidly.

Good Quality Printer
Consider investing in a laser printer. With professional quality proposals and documents, you’ll be stunned with how much more effective you can become as a telecommuter with a quality printer. Definitely recommended!

Fax Capability (fax machine or online fax service)
Whether it’s an inexpensive online fax service like j2.com that allows you to send and receive faxes using the internet or a traditional fax machine, having fax capabilities will be invaluable to you as you create a professional image with your customers.

Second Phone Line (if using dial up access) or use Cable / DSL
If you must use dial up access, rather than have a cable modem or DSL high speed, then you need to have a second phone line. There is nothing more frustrating for employers than to try and reach a telecommuter and cannot because they are online and there’s a busy signal. Remember: the faster your internet access speed, the more money you can make!

Software You Can’t Live Without
Part of what will make you very good at what you do is handling all the stress on behalf of your customers. They don’t need to hear “No, I’m sorry. I don’t have that software, so I can’t do that project you needed done yesterday.” So, make a concerted effort to have a wide assortment of software at your disposal. To save money, consider buying used software. You can keep an eye on local newsgroups to see what people are selling that they don’t need anymore. Also check out eBay.com and Bidz.com for software deals.

Microsoft Office, especially Word and Excel, can set you up to handle just about any telecommuting need. Data entry, research, technical writing, web design, graphics…pretty much everything you’ll typically need to do can be done with this one set of software.

A Good Web Browser
Obviously, you need a good web browser, like Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator, but you also need to know how to use it effectively!

WinZip
As you know, size isn’t everything, but when you’re talking files and download speed, bigger isn’t better. WinZip opens files that are sent to you or downloaded, but more importantly, it is used to compress files that you need to send to your clients. Why is this important? Simply put, with zipped files, your clients won’t have to painfully watch their email being downloaded with large file attachments. Spare your clients the pain, download WinZip for free from http://www.winzip.com.

Adobe Reader
Put simply, Adobe Reader allows you to view .pdf files. Without it, there are very few documents that you will be able to read, including many eBooks. You can download the Adobe PDF reader for free (http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html).

HTML Editor
You will need a good and simple html editor. This allows you to modify sites and website templates, but more importantly, you can take on projects that involve working with html files. The more variety in projects you can take on, the better for your bottom line!

Graphics Program
Even if you aren’t planning to be a graphics designer, you should definitely have a decent graphics program. No matter the reason—whether it’s resizing, changing a file type, or making a minor modification—you will need a graphics program.

Your Own Website
If you don’t have your own website, you’re seriously hurting your chances of getting the work you deserve! A web site shows the business world that you are serious, professional, and ready to get to work on their project. A telecommuter without a website is like a business without a building. Start building yours today!

As you know, to be a successful telecommuter takes hard work, dedication, and a commitment to excellence. When it comes to equipping yourself with the right stuff, make sure you get off to the right start by equipping yourself with the gear you need to succeed. To your success!

 
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This article is excerpted from “You Can Work in Your PJs”, a real world guide to telecommuting. Sylvie Fortin works from home full time and wrote this book to share her unique techniques with others. You can download your copy of “You Can Work in Your PJs” by visiting You Can Work in Your PJs =================================================

Okay, so you’ve been giving it your all.  Well, maybe not your *all*, but a good portion of your all.  And you’re not seeing any progress.  So now what?  Are you doomed to failure and never to succeed?  No!  Keep reading.

One thing that you need to understand is that failure is an event, not a person.  It doesn’t define you as a “loser” for the rest of your life—unless you let it.  Failure happens to you—it isn’t who you are.  You’re not a victim, but it also doesn’t define you.  So when it happens (notice I didn’t say “if”), pick yourself up and get ready for the next event in your life.

You must adjust your attitude as you recuperate from a failure.  You will rise to your own expectations.  Psychologists call this a “self-fulfilling prophecy,” and we are suckers to believe our own words.  So adjust your attitude to the positive side of things.

Remember the guy who came up with the brilliant idea to change Coke?  Back in the 80s (for those of you who were mere babes during that decade), someone had a stroke of genius—or so he thought.  The Coca Cola company decided to compete more with Pepsi, and changed the formulation of their signature product—Coke.

 They called it “The New Coke.”  It bombed.  No one enjoyed the new taste and the calls were immediate to bring back “the old Coke.”  After a few months of hemming and hawing, Coca Cola executives brought back the original formula of Coke and ditched the new stuff—and its creator. 

So what happened to the guy whose idea this was?  He left Coca Cola and began to look for new work.  The trouble was, his name was well known in the business community and everyone connected him to the failure that New Coke was.  He finally landed an interview in which he got a fair shake:  the interviewer asked what he had learned through the problems the New Coke had created. 

Naturally, he indicated that he had many lessons learned from the fiasco.  He didn’t let failure define him, and he ended up landing the job for which he was interviewing.  Good for him, right?  But good for the company that hired him, too.  They were willing to take a chance on a creative risk-taker who had a very public failure on his record. 

Many of those who are considered to be “successful” have had failures dot their lives.  Rush Limbaugh, the king of daytime talk radio, was fired multiple times from different radio jobs.  He also filed for bankruptcy—twice.  So you can see how Limbaugh didn’t permit failure to define him.  Those failures were events from which he recovered and moved on.  And you should take the same tact when confronted with something that didn’t turn out like you hoped it would.

Thomas Edison failed more than 10,000 times before finally succeeding with his light bulb. Where would we be today, if it wasn’t for his persistence. The point is, we learn from our mistakes and improve upon our failures. Those that are willing to stick to their dream and see it through are the ones that will be ultimately successful. Stay on task, see your dream through and you may discover your true purpose.

This process is called masterminding and is one of the most effective success tools you can adopt! It is a powerful way to support your dreams and bring unlimited resources to your business and personal life.
Participating in a mastermind group has been critical to me. I can’t imagine achieving all I have without one, and it certainly made my goals happen much faster.

A Process for Accelerating Your Growth

The basic philosophy of a mastermind group is that more can be achieved in less time when people work together. Sometimes called a “dream team” your mastermind group is made up of two or more individuals who voluntarily come together on a regular basis – weekly, biweekly, or monthly – to share ideas, thoughts, information, feedback and resources.

Your group can be composed of people from your own industry or profession or people from all walks of life. You can focus on business, increasing each other’s income, building a business, raising better kids, or solving a social problem.

Within your mastermind group, you benefit from the other members who empower you and draw out your full talents, resources and abilities. They trigger you, stimulate and motivate you to become all you are capable of being.

Creating Your Dream Team

Regardless of its purpose, the key is to choose people who are already where you’d like to be in your life – or who are at least a level above you. In forming your mastermind group, start by carefully enrolling another friendly, on-purpose, like-minded individual. Start by meeting together and then adding other selected, unanimously agreed-upon individuals who will work in total harmony for the good of each other and for the good of the group.

1. Your Dream Team should consist of 4-8 people. Most people find that 6 is the ideal number.

2. Meet weekly, if possible, for an hour to an hour and a half. This meeting must be held sacred as a life-enhancing priority. The meetings should be upbeat, enriching, encouraging and beneficial to each individual and the group’s purposes. I always start our meetings with a prayer or an invocation. You could also start with an inspiring story.

3. Each member must agree to play all out — to openly share ideas, support, contacts, information, feedback, and anything else that will help advance the individual and group goals.

4. Start by having each member share something positive and good that happened since the last meeting.

5. Next, have each member share an opportunity or problem they have experienced since the last meeting and ask for whatever support they would like on it. Appoint a time-keeper to make sure that everyone gets the same amount of time. This is important if you want your group to last. Everyone must get value at each meeting.

6. End by sharing appreciations and acknowledgements.
You’ll find one of the real values of a mastermind group is the accountability factor – other members checking up on you to make sure you meet your stated commitments. It’s one way to ensure you’ll accomplish a lot more!

For more details about masterminding, read Success Principle #46 in The Success Principles book or utilize the mastermind worksheets found in The Success Principles 30-day Audio Course.
© 2006 Jack Canfield
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WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE?
You can, as long as you include this complete statement with it: Jack Canfield, America’s Success Coach, is the founder and co-creator of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul and the nation’s leading authority on Peak Performance. If you’re ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at www.JackCanfield.com

It’s not necessary to have a PhD to be successful, in fact you don’t need a degree at all! I can think of at least one person with an advanced degree that has gone to waste. Education is worthless without the attitude and aptitude to do something with what we’ve learned.

Whether your choice is to be the Dean of a University or Mr. Greatwrench, there are specific educational criteria necessary in order to do that job well. That advanced degree is worthless without the desire and ability to inform, encourage and educate others. That six foot tall, stacked toolbox, full of the latest techno-gadgets is nothing but a half ton paperweight without the knowledge of how to apply the tools to the needed repairs. Without the proper education it is impossible to reach your fullest potential and be truly successful in your field.

Some career choices don’t necessarily require any form of formal education at all. Professional sports for example gives young, gifted athletes with miraculous aptitude the opportunity to forgo their education and begin a very lucrative career, sometimes right out of high school. These youngsters are loosely encouraged to get an education to fall back on, but most are blinded by the lure of dollar signs and bright lights.

On the other hand, consider the young athlete who received a degree in business management while attending and playing through their college years. This athlete is in a much better position for a secure and successful future if fate or circumstance were to deal a career ending injury. Even without injury, and heading for retirement, the second athlete is better prepared for life outside of sports.

The thing that drives us to become educated in our skillset is motivation. In order to achieve success on your career path you must constantly be in pursuit of the education necessary to excel. When we stop learning, we start losing.

When the three traits of attitude, aptitude and motivation are combined with intent, there is nothing that can stand in the way of success. These are the basic tools of any success in business or in life. Apply these principles for yourself and watch your life change before your eyes.

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You don’t attempt even the smallest of construction jobs without a plan, and yet many people work in a field they just happened to “fall in to” because someone suggested it, or a friend was doing it, or even worse—they didn’t have anything else to do.

Wandering through your career can be just as deadly as wandering through a desert without a compass and canteen—in both places, you can die a slow death of thirst and exhaustion.

You must know where you want to go in order to set a direction for your life and career. You’ve probably heard the adage, “No one plans to fail, but they do fail to plan.” So determine where it is that you want to go (i.e., what you want to do) and set a course for it.

I recommend doing something you love. Not something that you can tolerate or achieve a reasonable pension from after 30 years of work (do pensions even exist anymore?), but something you are truly passionate about.

If it’s music, think about how you are gifted in that area. Do you sing? Would your singing chip paint off a house? Do you have an ear for pitch and tune? Do you play an instrument? Consider the field of professional golf for a moment. Do you love to golf? Would you be willing to commit days, weeks, months, and years to bettering your game to the point when you could hit the pro-circuit?

Do you have a means to support yourself (and your family) while you work on your dream job? Would you be happy and content doing whatever you chose—for the rest of your days, if need be? These are all questions you should ask yourself as you try to set the direction for your life, and ultimately, for your success.

Now that you know where you want to go, you must plan and prepare for your destination. As you plan and prepare, it’s fair to expect that you will achieve that goal—expectations play a large role in success, no matter what the field. If you plan well and are committed to the work involved, then and only then, can you expect to achieve the desired results in your life.

Why relationships? Because we are human beings, designed to interact with other human beings. This, by default, entails relationships. And also by default, if you don’t have appropriate skills to manage your relationships, you will fail miserably at whatever success you’re aiming for.

The first relationship you must consider is the one you have with yourself. If you don’t like yourself, chances are great you will project that dislike to others and your lack of self-appreciation will not propel you to success in any given field. The higher your integrity is, the more you will like yourself. The more you like yourself, the better your relationships will be with others—from the inside out.

Your family relationship is the next thing to examine. The most successful Harvard Business graduates (class of 1949, by percentages) had several things in common:

They had wives who supported their work and endeavors; women who were intelligent and able to share ideas and be a sounding board
They built their personal, family, and business lives on a foundation of integrity

Family relationships are extremely important as you consider your path to success. If you fail here, you will not succeed elsewhere—we’ve already covered that in depth.

Business relationships follow closely behind family relationships. They play a major role in the security and productivity of every individual involved in them, as well as the success and growth of the company.

You must also learn to manage your frustration as you deal with relationships. Because we are all human, we all have problem-areas and “sticking points” that will irritate and inflame others. If you can manage your frustration and turn a bad situation with an individual in to something you can learn from and make profitable, you will be that much farther ahead on your road to success.

Consider also, that the next person you meet is important. He or she might look like someone who cannot help you in your field, but then again, looks are deceiving. You never know when the person you assist might be able to assist you or report back to your boss what a great job you’re doing!

You should be able to see how healthy family relationships, a willingness to go above & beyond at work, and an ability to consider the next person as important can have a monumental effect on your path to success. We cannot do it alone, and that mere fact means we must deal appropriately with people and relationships!

Today I want to talk about why they work so
well, and how you can make the most of them to
explode your online income.

Traditionally, JVs are most common between two
people who have created a product and are
selling it online. But that needn’t be the case
and I will tell you shortly of a way in which
you can get all the benefits, traffic and sales
of a JV without even having a product of your
own.

But first lets look at the principals of it:
What actually happens in a JV cross-promotion?

Webites promote other websites for two main
reasons:

1. To earn income from commission sales.

2. To pay, or earn favors.

The first of these you might expect, the second
is more intricate.

You see, when you’re running an online business,
your options and your growth are restricted if
you try doing it all on your own.

Sure, there’s pay-per-click advertising, article
marketing, traffic exchangers, and a variety of
ways you can draw traffic to your site by paying
for it.

But nothing beats personal recommendation.

Its human nature: We all prefer to buy through
personal recommendation than by enticing
advertisements.

And JV’s, or cross-promotions are all about
personal recommendation.

The only thing is - as every super-affiliate
knows - even if you’re offering attractive
commission rates, the site that’s getting
promoted always gets more out of the deal than
the JV partner who’s doing the promoting. Look
at this comparision:

The JV partner doing the promotion gets:

1. A ‘notional’ favor from the site it
promotes.
2. Commission payments, hopefully paid in good
time but always at the discretion of the site
owner.

The site being promoted gets:

1. Lots of new list members
2. Lots of Sales
3. Lots of recognition

Which would you rather?

Can you see now why the benefit isn’t split
evenly in a JV deal?

This is one of the reasons why it is more
difficult than many people think to get JV
partners promoting for you.

No matter how attractive your commission
percentages are, you will always be getting more
out of the deal than your JV partner. Especially
if your landing page is a list-building squeeze
page.

But there is an option available. Especially if
your aim is to build a list.

You could run a MyViralSpiral site.

MyViralSpiral is a webserver script that gives
you a complete solution for building a list and
a business online.

One of its features is that it turns the above
JV example on its head to provide more of a win-
win for both parties. Here’s what you can do
with it:

As a listbuilder, you can offer a squeeze page
for your JV partner to promote. He then sends
his list to the squeeze page, where they sign up
to your list. Then, this is when it gets
interesting:

Your JV partner can decide which offer page his
signups are directed to after signup.

Gone is the traditional method whereby once his
leads have signed up to you they’re yours, to
direct wherever you like. With MVS, your JV
partner can choose what to show them *after*
they’ve joined your list…

It might be to his own product, or an affiliate
link somewhere else - or he may choose to use
his affiliate link for your product (in keeping
with the normal method).

The point is, your JV partner has more say about
who benefits from his promotion and how. And
that kind of power makes all the difference when
it comes to getting others to promote for you,
and build your list.

This is one of many characterisics of
MyViralSpiral that make it well worth a good
look if you want to start building JV
relationships.

http://tinyurl.com/5sfrpu

If you go to all the work of achieving success, you don’t want to mar it with a lack of character that will make people pity you as you age and become less than you were intended to be.

Character equals integrity. Integrity is doing the right thing all the time, even when no one else is watching. You don’t have anything to fear when your integrity is in tact, because you have nothing to hide. You experience no guilt and no fear. And without those two traveling companions, it’s much easier to climb higher and farther, faster!

What does this mean in a practical sense? It means that you will put the right philosophy (the golden rule) in to practice in all that you do. You will not step on someone else to climb the corporate ladder; you will not stack bodies in order to reach the CEO position that you desire. You will treat people with respect, honesty, and trust. You will behave towards others how you want (and expect) them to behave towards you.

You will be the model of “doing the right thing” in your office, even if it isn’t appreciated or understood. Chances are very good that if you’re the only one doing the right thing, you won’t last where you are, but you will find something better where your integrity is appreciated and applauded.

Character realizes that the most important things in life are not office- or work-based. They are family and a sense of responsibility to that family. Character will not sacrifice your family on the altar of “I’ve got to finish this project,” nor will it tell you children, “Maybe next time, hon,” when asked to play catch.

Your character will shine through as you put your family before your work, as you purposefully schedule time with them (and then keep those appointments you put in your planner), as you “date” your spouse and remember why it is you got married in the first place, and as you set an example that your spouse and children can be proud of.

The most important thing to remember as you consider character is that your children will grow up to be just like you. John Maxwell once said, “We teach what we know; we reproduce who we are.” So as a person who is full of integrity and character, you will reproduce those same traits in your children as you climb towards success in your life. And isn’t that really what it’s all about, anyhow?

The “advance man” of our true selves
Has inward roots but outward fruits
Is our best friend or worst enemy
Is more honest and more consistent than our words
Is an outward look based on past experiences
Is a think which draws people to us or repels them
Is never content until it is expressed
Is the librarian of our past
Is the speaker of our present
Is the prophet of our future

Your attitude, or your willingness to think positively, affects many people—from your family to the stranger you smile at in the grocery store. An optimist will see opportunity in difficulties, while a pessimist will see difficulty in opportunities.

You must choose which you will focus on: if you choose poorly, you will doom yourself to never achieving your goals and being successful. Count on that.

So how do you begin to think positively if you’re a natural pessimist? I don’t really believe there ARE natural pessimists, just people who have been taught how to consider the darkest side of every cloud.

You cannot change the fact that a problem exists, but you can do a lot to determine what opportunity is within that problem. Begin to see that problems are a fact of life and that your job is to find a way over, around, under, or through them—as quickly as possible. When you’re upbeat and consider how quickly a problem will be behind you, it’s easy to be optimistic.

Cynicism is another killer when it comes to attitude. It’s a cousin of pessimism—it considers everything suspect and everyone as having an ulterior motive. It never looks at someone handing you a piece of candy just to be nice, it always considers that there is a reason you’re being handed the candy and the motivation of the person who’s giving it.

Cynicism comes from having unrealistic expectations. Many people expect great and wonderful things to happen to them with little-to-no work on their parts. They expect things to fall from the sky in to their laps. When it doesn’t happen as they expect, they become suspicious of others who have achieved success and ultimately, cynical.

You must harness the power of your thoughts and words when setting your course for success. Use positive affirmations daily: remind yourself that a stumbling block is temporary and that you will overcome it; admit to yourself that you are courageous and able to move on when others cannot; agree with your vision for your life and your goals.

As you discipline yourself to do this, you will find optimism and positive thinking chasing you down the street. And who couldn’t use these two friends when we’re aiming for success?

There are many choices one can make as far as a life/career path. The key to success lies in choosing one that is in alignment with who you are and what you truly believe. You can spend your whole life doing something that provides a decent wage and a comfortable existence. Just because there is no specific job description out there yet to match what it is that you love to do doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be doing it. In this ever changing universe that we live in, it is our adaptability to change and the willingness to do so that keeps us moving forward. If your dream job doesn’t exist yet…CREATE IT !!

Why are you here?

Each of us is here, existing on this planet for a reason. Although sometimes it seems that certain people exist more to suck up energy than to contribute it, the fact is that we are all here to contribute to the betterment of mankind. If you don’t know exactly what you’re called to do, perhaps now is a good time to consider it. If you look back at your life you can certainly point to times when you felt “completely alive”, as though everything were happening on a stage and it was the performance of your life. That sense of purpose, that sense of direction, that sense of fulfillment all came from doing something that you LOVE to do.

As impractical as it may seem to you right now reading this, if you put forth the intent to move your life in a direction more in line with the highest and best purpose for your life, changes WILL occur. Once you begin to move in the direction of your true reason for being alive here and now, all of the synchronicity and circumstance will collaborate to reassure you that you are doing the right thing at the right time.

What do I do now?

In order to find the direction that you need to move outwardly, you must look inward. Examine your life. Look at the circumstances and lessons that brought you to who and where you are today. Let go of preconceived notions of what you should be doing and start to follow your heart to your life’s true vision and calling.

Align yourself with other positive thinkers. Begin to create the environment that will allow your vision to flourish. Nurture your vision and see it to fruition. You have something to contribute that no other person on this planet can bring in the manner and fashion that you can. Prepare to receive all that the world has for you as well. When you move in the flow of life that was meant for you there is abundance and prosperity. Know that you deserve it and that it is meant for you to have and to enjoy.

Life is Good !!

JG8D69D

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Every chance that you have to interact with another creature is a reason to be grateful. Whether it be a hawk soaring above you in a cloudless sky or your dog gently curling up around your feet as you sit, a flower in your yard that bloomed in the time it took for you to fix breakfast or your loving spouse, partner or child hugging you and sharing their love, you should be grateful for the lesson brought, the energy shared and the knowledge passed. To interact is to learn. When we stop learning, we begin dying.

Our souls chose the body that we inhabit for a reason. You and I are here for a purpose. Do you know what your purpose is? The quest for that somewhat elusive purpose is the holy grail for some people. It is a thing that they strive for but can never really grasp the essence of, and can therefore never find.

Therein lies one of the keys to discovering your own purpose. Once you can appreciate the “essence” of a thing, you can begin to manifest it into your life. Now in this modern age, what most people want most is that shiny new sports car or the twelve thousand square foot home on x-hundred acres of land. There is nothing wrong with wanting those things in your life, but they are more easily attained if you understand the essence of success.

The essence of owning that “thing” comes from gratitude. Don’t imagine the feel of the steering wheel under your hands (though that is a thrilling thought), don’t even imagine the luxury and opulence of the rolling acres of your new estate. Instead focus on the immense sense of gratitude that comes from knowing that in order for you to own those things, you have helped many, many people and that your success is a shared one. The opportunity that you have in each moment, the energy and potential contained in each and every moment, can ultimately lead to your success.

Once we begin to understand success from this or a similar perspective it makes the small choices that we make moment to moment all that much easier. When we cherish the very essence of life itself, whatever your essence may be, we are already successful. Follow your small choices to your big successes. Make each moment count knowing that the more people that you help along the way, the more people that you can assist in their own success, the fuller and more complete your own sense of gratitude and accomplishment will be.

Don’t you find that life seems to always come back to ageless truths? I believe it’s because, that which holds truth is ageless. Truth is not prone to change like the weather or the wind. The “Correct Philosophy“ will be spoken of differently by different speakers, but it always tends to come back to the “Golden Rule“, the same message conveyed in unique ways, so that the many different types of people in this world might understand it.

Anything at all that you would like to have in your life is completely available to you and the easiest way to manifest that into your life is to continually assist others in achieving what THEY most want to achieve.

Don’t get the idea that this is only some ethereal, spiritual mumbo-jumbo. This is solid practical advice that you will see manifesting in all aspects of your life, business and personal, because they are tied together. You will see personal growth and financial success.

Most people really want the same things in life; happiness, health, the comfort and security of a home and family, good friends, abundance and prosperity all of which bring about the ability to have hope and peace in their life.

We all need our basic needs met before we are able to flourish. After our basic physiological needs are met, A.H. Maslow describes how we then move on to our needs for safety, love, self-esteem and ultimately “Self-Actualization“ in his “Hierarchy of Needs“. His text is really just another fancy way of saying what I said in the first sentence of this paragraph,“We all need our basic needs met before we are able to flourish.“ This is the first realization on the road to success.

The “Golden Rule“ exists in one descriptive form or another across all of the world’s religions. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.“ Some may put it this way, “Treat people as you would want to be treated.“, but my personal take on this is, “ Treat people the way that THEY want to be treated.“ The last is the most difficult to understand and put into practice, but when you do you will realize the key it holds to your success.

As you realize these things and put them into practice you not only set yourself up to have the necessary help around you when you require it, but you learn that through helping others achieve success, you too achieve success. Surround yourself in an aura of gratitude for all that you have and present yourself with a servant’s heart and an entrepreneurial spirit.

Having the correct philosophy will equal success for you and all of those that you help.

by: John Melanson

http://therisingpath.com

john[@]therisingpath.com

© 2008

Only after Rhonda Byrne wrote, “The Secret” did it become so popular and widespread. Her book, “The Secret” is filled with stories and testimonials from some very influential people. Read it to learn more about their stories of greatly improved or miraculous changes in health and even more spectaclular growth in the wealth that they’ve enjoyed.If you would like to reduce or remove the amount of stress, feelings of depression, anxiety or funk in your life, then learning to use the law of attraction will enable you to draw to you all that you desire and deserve.

It is truly a matter of focus. Those things that we think about draw our energy. As we think about positive things, we magnetize that positive energy to ourselves and then draw to ourselves the “essence” of that good thing. The flipside is that when we dwell on negative thoughts and emotions we will inevitably draw negative circumstances. Here is a story which aptly describes the dual-principle behind the law of attraction: