Hi Lynn, I’ve been to many Internet Marketing seminars and they all say to find a mastermind group.

I just had another addition to our family last month and I’m really serious about being successful.

Can you please tell me how or where to find a MM group. I’m also looking for a success group for accountability. -Jim

For many years I worked completely solo. The only interaction with other online business owners I had was on public discussion forums. And while I managed to grow my business on my own, it was when I started joining brainstorming & accountability groups that it really took off.

There’s something incredibly powerful about the feedback and ideas that are exchanged, the energy in a great group and how it fuels your creativity, and the motivation from being accountable for your goals.

You never really know what it can do for your business, and for you personally, until you experience it for yourself…

Of course, these groups don’t always pan out like you hope. I’ve been involved in groups that were unproductive, or that dissipated over time. Sometimes a very short time, even – lol. It happens. The key is to know when to move on, and to keep looking for that ideal group that is a great fit for YOU.

My Private Brainstorming Group

For more than 6 years now, I have been quietly running a private brainstorming group on my discussion forum – which has been going strong since 2003. I have rarely mentioned this private group, and you won’t find any big red headlines or sales copy. It’s simply a quiet, but incredibly active group of action-takers brainstorming around the clock. We also meet live five times a month for Brainstorming Hour sessions in my webinar room.

We do community site reviews, usability tests, brainstorm ideas and domain names, help each other with technical issues, etc. Discussions range from setting up a blog step-by-step, to the details of creating & selling info products – and everything in between.

There are monthly challenges, accountability threads, live case studies, and of course the archives of all our past Brainstorming Hour sessions.

If you’re looking for a great Mastermind Group, or people like you to brainstorm with and/or get help from, I invite you to join us. Just register at the forum if you haven’t already, click the registration confirmation link in your email, and then log in to the forum. Once you do that, look for the Private Brainstorming Group section in the middle of the page and click the link to become an Elite Member and join us.

What better way to kick off the New Year than to jump on board with a group of serious action-takers that can help you take your online business to the next level?

See you there!

Best,

p.s. My private brainstorming group is the only place where I do ANY type of “consulting”. It’s the best way to take advantage of my 15 years of experience.

Since then I’ve talked to several people that do Video Marketing for a living, or that are looking to hire someone for video creation, or editing & marketing services.

A local business owner I know, for example, was looking to get some exposure online and they were given a quote of $600 to have a video created for their business. It was a basic slideshow type video with narration, by the way…

In addition to working with offline businesses, there are also many people working online that are looking for someone to do this type of work. Just this week in my forum Adina posted a request – and there are plenty more just like that all over the web. Here’s an example of a video I outsourced myself awhile back:

Video services are HUGE right now, and for only $37 you can put yourself in a great position to have a very profitable online and/or offline service-based business.

It really doesn’t take a huge investment in software or equipment like you might imagine, either. It’s more about knowing all the right resources – royalty free graphics & music, free software, etc. You don’t even need a Mac.

That’s exactly the kind of thing Oliver teaches in Speedy Web Videos. That, and a whole lot more! It’s a very detailed course, including Video Marketing (as well as creation & editing), and it’s currently only $37. Hard to beat that.

If you’re still looking for your “niche”, or you really need to earn money a little more quickly – while investing time & energy into your affiliate or passive business models – a service based business really is the fastest and easiest way to make money online. Something to think about. This may be just what you need!

Best,

I’m not bound by location, make my own decisions, create my own schedule, choose my own income level, etc – there are SO many perks!

One of the best perks though, is that I have the option to make dramatic lifestyle changes anytime I please. If I want something, I’m in a position to MAKE it happen, whether that’s more free time (or more specifically, something that fills that free time) or more money – or, fill-in-the-blank.

Maybe I want to take a random vacation, buy a car or close on a home. I simply look at my options and figure out how to make the amount of money I need – and take the steps to earn it. That’s not something I could do if I had a traditional job and earned the same paycheck no matter what – and I’m grateful for that.

Whether you’re in this same position yet or not, that’s what you’re working toward: financial freedom, creative freedom, complete control over your lifestyle & future.

All of this sounds great, right? Unfortunately, instead of prioritizing our ideas to achieve a very specific objective, we’re often paralyzed by our ideas – or simply overwhelmed with the sheer number of them! I’ve been in that boat myself for the last couple of months, and finally had a breakthrough this week…

I’m sure you can relate…

It has names like “information overload” or “analysis paralysis”. But whatever you call it, I was working through it like a mad woman. So many ideas, and each idea has it’s own set of ideas, and these ideas get jotted down or recorded in a variety of places – on paper, a sticky note, on a white board, in Evernote, on the palm of my hand even (which is stupid considering how often I wash my hands -lol).

So what do you do?

You do a Brain Dump. You do a brainstorming session. You get all of your ideas in one place and organize and prioritize them to death. All the while coming up with new ideas, sparked by the ones you’re already trying to tame, and before you know it… your brain simply implodes and malfunctions and you’re staring at a big fat mess of ideas that all seem to blur together!

No starting point. No ending point. Just endless ideas, and tasks that go with those ideas. And complete overwhelm on how you’re *ever* going to accomplish it all.

Especially when your days already seem so full…

Taking a step back from the drawing board…

I decided to give my brain a much needed rest from the chaos, and took a time-out on the back deck with a hot cup of coffee. The biggest thing perplexing me being how I was going to get it all done, and even where to start. That’s when I asked myself three very important questions:

• How do I spend my time?
• What’s working and what’s not? (And why?)
• What else can I outsource?

Keeping a “Time Log” works wonders for me. Especially when I get into one of these creative “idea phases”, or when I’m in a massive planning session for the year ahead. Or really, anytime I find myself NOT achieving the things I most want to achieve, and want to regain control over my time & productivity.

A time log is as simple as it sounds: you just log your time. It works best if you keep a notepad (or use Evernote) and jot down everything you do throughout your day for three straight days. It’s incredibly enlightening. Right away you’ll start to see where you’re most productive, what’s wasting time unnecessarily, or things you’re doing that you could easily (and inexpensively) outsource.

The time log worked, and answered Question #1. Which brought me to Question #2 – I looked over the things I do each day, and decided what was a total waste of my precious time – and what I was doing right. Which brought me to Question #3, which I promptly took care of.

Where I was, Where I am, Where I’m headed…

Through this entire process (which was dragging out *entirely* too long), there were times I was being unreasonably hard on myself. “After all, self, you know this stuff inside and out. You’ve been doing this for almost 15 straight years. Get it together already – you have no excuses.” (etc -lol)

After berating myself for days (um, weeks) on end about where I was NOT, and why, it finally occurred to me how foolish that was. And counterproductive, no less.

I can’t recall what it was exactly, but something sparked a memory of my past. I found myself thinking back over the last 10+ years, which turned into a “lifestyle timeline” type daydream – a reality check about where I was, where I am now, and where I intend to be next (which I’m very excited about, by the way!).

Having a strong vision of who you want to be (ie, what you want your life to be like, specifically) is one of the keys to actually turning that vision into reality.

You have to be able to see it, feel it, smell it (?, lol), and most importantly – believe that you can ACHIEVE it. It’s not about CAN I do it, but HOW can I do it?

I’ve been fortunate in two things: 1) having that strong vision, and 2) having experienced the vision-to-reality transition already (more than once).

I know I can do it. Whatever “it” is. I’ve done it before.

So, being overwhelmed like I was with all of my grand ideas, that line of thinking (which again happened on my obviously magical back deck) brought me to my next question: “What exactly did I do to get where I am?”

Surely the answer to that question would also be the answer to how I will get from where I am, to where I want to be next. Right? Right.

The answer, as usual, is pretty boring:

I did the tasks. Not great big monstrous undertakings mind you, but those boring little mundane tasks. One task at a time. One day at a time.

That’s how I got things done. That’s how I went from broke to vision=reality. It’s kinda the same way you raise children. You can’t have a baby and turn them into beautiful well-balanced young adults overnight. It takes a couple of decades. And a lot of exhaustion, emotion, doubt, and yada yada yada.

Thankfully nothing I currently want to achieve is going to take me 20 long years. Though I do look at my 20 year old son and think, “man, what an achievement!” I mean, he is one handsome fellow with a brilliant mind and an exciting future!

I did good there.

Back to the point though (sorry, proud mama moment), the things I want to achieve are fairly easy. In fact, I can accomplish everything I currently want to do in 12-18 months. Nice! (and much easier than raising a man child -ha!)

It was a nice reminder that it’s just a string of tasks. It’s not an overnight job. It’s not something I can get done today, or even this week. Heck, this month even!

Whew – that really takes the pressure off…

Choosing my Top 3 Priorities

So I came back to my desk, and back to my massive Brain Dump with all it’s little ideas and tasks – and my unsuccessful attempt (so far) to prioritize it without having a total meltdown… and I looked at it from a different perspective.

I decided what my top three priorities were for the next 12-18 months.

What do I most want to accomplish. And why?

(That “why” is incredibly important. It’s what pushes you forward day after day, no matter how far out your goals seem in your mind.)

I listed those three things at the very top of my Brain Dump.

Talk about simplifying! Everything else is either a task that relates to one of those priorities, or something that can wait. Period.

Then I made a decision, based on my past experience with what got me where I am today: being consistent and persistent. That decision was this: “I will do at least one thing every single day, for each of my three highest priority goals.”

Pretty simple, huh? It really is. Planning is easy. Brainstorming is easy. DOING is where most of us fall short (myself included at times). Maybe because the tasks seem as boring and meaningless as changing the toilet paper roll. But you know what? Each small task takes you one step closer to the end result.

To state the obvious: NOT doing the tasks takes you nowhere.

Planning time is over. I have my goals sitting squarely in front of me. Now it’s time to do the boring work – or do the boring task of outsourcing the boring work.

One day a time is what it takes. And for me, what has always worked best, is to do those priority tasks FIRST each day.

Start your day by knocking out the one thing (or in my case, three things) that will take you closer to your goal. Even if it only feels like you’re one centimeter closer – it’s that daily consistent action that will get you there.

It’s how I got here. And it’s how I’ll get there.

And it will work for you, too.

Sure, a “magic pill” answer would be nice.

That’s what we all want, right? The truth though, is that the tasks are simple. It’s easy enough to “do the work”. The hard part is in choosing your goals, and staying on track toward those goals. There are so many options and so many ideas! We absolutely must prioritize our true goals, our biggest desires, put everything else on the back burner – and focus 100% on making it happen!

Alright, enough rambling for today. I have to get back to work, and I’m sure you do as well. I hope this proves useful as you analyze your own “master idea list”, and prepare to buckle down with an awesome Action Plan for the year ahead!

*cheers*

I absolutely love my hyper-productive phases.

Sometimes I’ll start my day at 4am, whiz through work at light speed, and celebrate with a nice long two-hour nap while everyone else is still struggling to get through their tasks for the day.

Today (this week, this month even) has not been one of those days.

It seems there is a bad case of the Blah’s going around. Have you had your Blah Shot?? (LOL, if there was such a thing I’d be first in line for it!) Seriously, I’ve talked to a number of close friends lately, and it seems I’m not alone. Creativity, motivation and focus are down across the board…

Blame the time of year, change of weather, seasonal allergies – whatever the case, the stars just don’t seem to be lining up lately. When these phases hit, I often say “the moon is in Uranus”, which is like Mercury Retrograde – but worse.

You can’t be “ON” all the time.

There’s no way to maintain that hyper-productivity non-stop. You’ll have your ups and downs. Productivity and Recovery. Being in a crazy good hyper-productive phase day in and day out would ultimately do you in. Nobody can maintain that high an energy level without having a break to give your brain a rest.

Creativity comes in cycles. True creatives (writers, artists, etc) have their brilliant moments, and their struggles. It seems when you’re in a down phase there’s nothing you can really do to spark brilliance, or even focus or motivation.

Except wait it out.

My solution has been to “ride the wave”. When I’m in hyper-productive mode, I ditch the routine & schedule and just go for it – do all I can do while the energy is high. And when I’m NOT in productive mode, simply allow myself to rest. It’s during these times that my business goes into “maintenance mode”. And that’s where I’ve been lately, simply maintaining.

(The key is to do all your “money work” while you’re in productive mode, which will float you through your recovery time.)

It can be frustrating though, because I prefer – and really miss – that high energy phase. Where everything you touch turns to gold (instead of everything you touch falling apart -lol). And I’m talking about big ideas or creative projects, not the usual daily tasks. Though those can be hard to get through when you’re head is just not in the game too. Hard, but not impossible – so the key is to just work your way through the easy stuff – and then take necessary breaks.

Anyway, I’ve heard from a number of people lately who are in a bit of a funk and struggling to get back in their groove. It happens. I’ve been going through that lately myself. I thought this might be a great opportunity to share some of my posts on this topic from the archives:

• Get Your Focus! How to Beat Distraction
• Dealing with Burn-out, Staying Motivated
• Getting Back On Track When You Feel Derailed
• Working From Home & Self Motivation…
  (and see the links at the end of that post, too)

I would love to hear what’s going on with you lately, how you deal with your highs and lows – whether it’s creative highs & lows, or just typical life stuff (distractions, etc) – and what motivates you, or helps you achieve a breakthrough when you’re in a bit of a rut…

Best,

Food for thought…

I’ve been very “productive” lately.

For awhile now RIM has been relatively quiet in the mobile application world, coming up in a distant third place behind the AA duo of Apple and Android. However with a fresh new smartphone lineup and the debut of the Playbook tablet, Blackberry seems ready to properly crash the mobile party.

Foursquare – Geo-Social Networking
Cost: Free If you’re a marketer by profession then you most likely have lots of clients locally. Foursquare is one of the hottest social networks outside of the big three (Facebook, Twitter, G+) and imperative for companies whose customers skew largely local. After all what does it tell you that Facebook recently axed it’s Foursquare competitor Places?

Having Foursquare on your Blackberry will allow you to keep tabs on client activity and see things from a regular user’s perspective, checking business information and verifying specials. You’re also probably an early adopter and it certainly doesn’t hurt to lead by example when it comes to local check-ins.

e-Mobile Planner – Calendar/Organizer
Cost: $19.95 I’d bet you’re very busy. Between your 10+ clients, meetings with clients, meetings with staff, your personal life and god knows what else you’ve got going on. It’s probably damn near impossible to keep track of everything.

Enter the e-Mobile Planner application by e-Mobile Software. With e-Mobile Planner you can plan out your schedule by day, week and month while configuring your entire agenda. The interface isn’t the simplest I’ve ever seen but let’s face it, this is an app for power users that want to get the most of their device and aren’t afraid to tackle a crowded user interface.

That’s not to say it’s hard to use because the functionality is quite streamlined and if you take the time to learn it, you’ll never miss another appointment.

XPRSS – Daily Reading and Article Management
Cost: Free We all have it, that list of 5 or so websites that we visit daily, religiously. Savoring every article as if it’ll reveal the secret of life we’ve been searching for, or at least the latest batch of Blackberry tips to show off to your friends. In any case, being on the road is no longer an excuse for not being up to date.

We all find ourselves with 5-10 minutes throughout our day which just happens to be the perfect amount of time to digest a random article.

XPRSS is one of the easiest and cleanest ways to get your new content regularly. It also lets you do some pretty slick feed organization and has built in social sharing options.

As everyday marketers we just can’t afford to fall behind much in the latest tech developments so do yourself and your clients a favor by getting your daily dose of info.

WordPress – Content Creation /Site Management Cost: Free

If you run a blog then you know there’s nothing worse than being struck with a brilliant post idea only to have no real way of recording the idea.

You’ll never have that problem again with the WordPress app (presuming you have your phone on you). As a marketer myself I’ve found that there’s always an article that needs writing on my to-do list. With WordPress in your pocket you’ll never have to worry about getting stuck away from your computer for a length of time since you can be productive from anywhere you have a signal.

UberSocial – Social Networking
Cost: Free Twitter is one of my favorite mobile apps on any device and Blackberries are no exception. Depending on your follow habits I suppose this app could either be great to have or a huge distraction.

If you’re like me, you only follow a careful selection of people that are mostly related to business. I follow the people behind my favorite websites (remember business related people) and a few more influential people that I know only share quality content worth reading.

This allows me to stay up to date with any essential reading going around, it also lets me keep a tab on clients. Of course Twitter isn’t only about consumption, it’s always worth while to throw out a tweet or two to remind people why they’re following you. Just remember friends, there’s such a thing as over doing it.

While some people will opt for the official Twitter app, UberSocial is the pick for savvy marketers that value enhanced functionality.

Black Track – Time Management and Recording
Cost: Lite – Free, Full – $14.99

Black Track isn’t cheap but if you’ve got a bunch of clients or even a handful of different projects, time management and productivity are going to be essential skills to have.

Black Track splices all your mobile phone activities and delivers up reports that provide insight into how you spend your time and on which projects, it also allows you to figure a productivity quotient and helps you make goals to improve on.

If you spend a lot of time making calls, messaging, browsing or networking using your Blackberry for clients then you’ll likely find this application hugely helpful. The good news is that there’s a Lite version of the app for you to try out and decide if you think it’s worth the premium price before shelling out any cash.

So there you have it and for those of you that are wondering, you can also tether your BlackBerry to your BlackBerry tablet PC, the Playbook, to run all of these apps as well. I’ve no doubt that there’s a ton of incredible apps that I skipped over with this list and you’d be absolutely correct in thinking I want to hear about them.

Sound off in the comments below and thanks for reading!

About the author:
Neil DuPaul is a Virtual Assistant for the Sugarrae SEO Consulting firm. You can can catch up and connect with him on Twitter.

You can nominate your favorite small business, and also enter your own small business (or small business idea) in the competition. Now is the time to name your dream business, enter it in the competition, and cross your fingers for a win!

I entered the Love A Local Businesscompetition myself. Why? Because I started my first business on a shoestring budget more than 14 years ago, and have been growing slowly but steadily ever since.

While I am doing well, I am still operating solo. I would love to build a team, increase my outreach, and start making a real differencein local communities by helping people start a legitimate profitable online business.

Vote for ClickNewz here just by saying what you love about it!

What I Would Do With a $25k Small Business Grant from Intuit

While I have enjoyed building my business from the ground up, and flying solo all these years, there are so many things I would love to achieve that I simply cannot do on my own.

The first thing I would do is put together my Dream Team. People who have a heart for my mission, and the skills to make things happen.

My ultimate goal is to reach & teachas many people as I can, and help them successfully start an online business. Not by selling high priced courses, or looping them into endless funnels, but by getting out there hands-on and making dreams come true.

I would love to host free local workshops, low-cost ongoing training & support, and have my hands in as many Success Stories as I possibly can. Particularly in economically depressed communities where people NEED this opportunity most.

While I love my work online, and know that I have helped thousands of people over the last 14+ years, right now – more than ever – there are people offlineall over the world that need a safe entry into what we’re doing. Unfortunately their introduction into Online Business is mainly scams and less than ideal business models – at outrageous prices.

I would love to change that.

It would take money. And it would make money. But not at the expense of turning the market into victims, like so many other models do, with substantial funds invested and no clue what to do next.

Justin Brooke said: “In our industry, ClickNewz and Lynn Terry are the shining lights of hope. It is the place where you know you can rely on honest information and training that works. Helping Lynn means helping thousands.”

What about you?

What would YOU do with a $25,000 Small Business Grant?

Supporting Small Business Owners

There are over $1 Million in grants up for grabs, and your votes help decide who will receive them. You can nominate YOUR business, or vote for your favorite business. If your favorite small business is not yet listed, you can even nominate them!

Each month Intuit will give away $25,000 to small businesses around the country. This is a great opportunity to make someone’s day, and help them achieve their dreams, or to start YOUR dream business – all thanks to Intuit.

Starting a small business is no easy feat (as many of you already know). There are so many people out there with BIG dreams and with great business ideas. Businesses that could change the world, or make a huge difference in their local community.

It’s time to make some of those dreams come true.

Be sure to enter, nominate or vote – your choice. But do something! This is a great opportunity, and a wonderful campaign by Intuit. Let’s make the most of it!

Best,

It’s been very exciting starting my own business, so I’m curious to know: What dream business would you love to start? By replying you will be entered to win an iPad 2!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Intuit’s Love A Local Business competition. The opinions and text are all mine. Contest runs August 10 to September 1, 2011. A random winner will be announced by September 6, 2011. Official Contest Rules

Do not give up hope as there are many real companies that hire people to work from home both as employees and as independent contractors. This is a list of the top 5 best companies who have work at home positions.

These companies made the list because of their reputation, their job openings, the ease to apply and get started as a work from home employee…

1. Alpine Access

Established in 1998, Alpine Access has built a solid reputation in the work from home industry. The company has a reputation for hiring home based agents in a variety of roles, plus they’re currently set to open positions in Canada so expect an international market soon.

The Financial Positives:

• You are hired as an employee of the company so you do not have to do your own taxes, have a tax ID number, etc.
• You are paid by the hour not by how many calls you receive.
• You receive a paycheck that is direct deposited into your account.

2. Arise

With Arise, their motto is to give you the freedom to work when and how long you want while earning a paycheck from home. They are a virtual call center which employs thousands of work from home agents for positions all across the board.

When you become a certified agent, you choose the companies you would like to work for and your weekly hours. They offer free live information sessions on their website so you can get more information before applying.

The Financial Positives:

• You are your own boss when it comes to how much you earn once you are accepted by Arise. You work as an independent contractor and you can choose which companies to work for and your hours.
• You can deduct expenses on your taxes for your home office and other fees.
• The potential to earn more based on the quality of your work.

3. West At Home

A leading provider of communication solutions, West At Home hires hundreds of home agents to work on an array of projects. This company has a brick and mortar location as well for agents to work at the call center, however, the main focus is the (At Home) branch.

With West, you are considered an employee and will earn a steady income. They offer paid training and a full interactive guide on their site about working from home.

The Financial positives:

• West offers both an hourly rate and a pay per call rate. The greater of the two is what you will be paid. This is beneficial as if you have a slow day with calls you will still receive a hourly rate, but if you are having a busy day, you will reap the benefits of a per call system.
• West offers discounted Medical and Dental insurance through a provider.
• You have the option of direct deposit or a Pay Card if you do not have a bank account elsewhere for immediate access to your paycheck.

4. Liveops

As one of the largest employers of work from home agents, Liveops has an established reputation within the industry. With over 20,000 agents and growing, they are always seeking new contractors to join their team.

Liveops is a BBB certified company and has been featured on news outlets such as CNN and Forbes Money. Working as an independent contractor means you are your own boss and can control your personal growth with the company.

The Financial positives:

• You are generally paid 25 cents per minute of talk time while some companies pay a base rate and a bonus for commission if you are working a sales geared company. By being a contractor, you can choose which companies you work for and therefore influence your pay.
• You have the freedom to work for other companies at the same time as you’re not an employee. This gives you ultimate financial freedom as you can earn with other positions at the same time.
• You are paid 2 times per month usually by direct deposit or by a check sent in the mail.

5. Working Solutions

A force in the Work at Home industry since 1996, Working Solutions has contracts with many leading companies in the US to provide a 24/7 call center experience. Working Solutions employees thousands of work from agents that are highly educated and who are leaders in their chosen fields.

You’re hired as an independent contractor and have the freedom to choose which projects you work with. Due to the level of experience being higher than other companies, the pay is also much higher with up to 30$ per hour depending on the type of work.

The Financial Positives:

• By specializing in a certain field, you have the potential to earn much more than usual at home positions.
• There is a paid referral program where you can earn for referring successful new hires.
• You are paid every 2 weeks and you can choose a Check or Direct Deposit when you have work completed.

As you can see there are several good options when it comes to finding work at home jobs that are both reputable and well paying. The trick is to look at the options and compare the different companies and what they offer in terms of actual work, hours, pay and the policies each company employs.

I hope you’re one step closer to figuring where you want to apply and which work at home company might be right for you!

- – - – -
This guest article was written by Missy who works at home for various clients, including SEO Gareth, a freelance SEO Consultant. When she’s not writing for the web, she loves to walk, run, scuba dive and bike along the lakefront.

I am worried about all of the identity theft, scams and such that have been going on and putting my personal information in when signing up for a domain name. I have heard also that sites have been hacked and certainly would not want that to happen. I would love some reassurance that this is safe. Thank you for any answer. -Stephanie”

I received this email from Stephanie yesterday, and decided to bring up the topic for open discussion. I’ll weigh in with my own thoughts as well, but would love to hear your thoughts. Any advice for Stephanie?

“Hi Lynn, I found you quite by accident. I am a TOTAL beginner and I’m debating on how to build a website. I see many recommend doing a blog while others doing the traditional way. What’s you take on that ? Thanks, Martin”

Hi, Martin Welcome to ClickNewz!

I started out creating traditional HTML websites, but that was way before WordPress ever hit the scene.

Now I use WordPress to create ALL of my websites – whether they are blogs, or have more of a traditional website look & feel. I recommend this to everyone asking how to build a website, simply because it’s very simple and very inexpensive.

But there are other great reasons to use WordPress as well…

Why WordPress

• WordPress is FREE
• There are many free themes/designs available
• It’s heavily supported so you can find free help & tutorials easily
• WordPress is very simple to install and customize
• It comes with an RSS Feed, making it easy for readers to subscribe
• You can use it to create a blog (Posts), or a website (using Pages)

By the way, I’m referring to WordPress.org – or using the self hosted version of WordPress on your own web hosting account. This is not to be confused with WordPress.com, which is a free hosted blogging solution (more for personal or hobby bloggers), with many limitations for someone starting an online business.

How To Build A Website With WordPress

I have a 7-Step Checklist for How to Start a WordPress Blog, which is where you’ll want to start. It will walk you through everything from registering your domain name to customizing the details of your blog or website.

If you don’t yet know what type of website you want to create, or what kind of business you want to start, read How to Make Money Online for Beginners.

For a live example you can view the Case Study for my new niche affiliate site, which will walk you through how to build a website from start to finish.

That should get you started. If you have any questions you are welcome to leave a comment below, or you can join us at the ClickNewz Forum. It’s a fun community and a great place for brainstorming, technical questions, feedback, resources, and more. We would love to see you there!

Best,

p.s. Be sure to subscribe below to continue to get free tips & tutorials from ClickNewz on starting & promoting a business online:

I was having a “brain stall” this morning – actually for the last two days in a row – and thought I would share with you how I break out of the brain stall and get things moving back into a positive direction again.

Overwhelm can be brought on by a number of things. Distraction, change, technical issues, confusion, or simply having too much on your plate and not even knowing where to start. It’s frustrating, especially when you just want to get back into productivity mode…

My first thought is always to sit down and organize my task list, or do a brain dump. And while that usually sparks great ideas and gets me motivated, it’s not actually productive. And I know me – a sense of accomplishment is what will really get me back on a roll.

So instead of rewriting a task list, or organizing all of my tasks in a pretty little software program, I take the list and figure out what I can mark off first. Why organize things I can just eliminate NOW. Right?

That sparks the sense of accomplishment, and also leaves me feeling less overwhelmed – with all those little easy tasks marked off and out of the way. From there I can prioritize the other things that need to be done, and dig in.

I start by closing out all distractions. Things that don’t normally bother me can become very distracting when I’m already feeling overwhelmed.

I turn off the phone ringer, turn off my mobile, turn off Skype and any other online notifications, and even turn off the sound on my computers. I also close out all tabs and all browsers, except those I need to work on, and save the links in a file in Evernote so I can go back to them later.

Then, even if I have to take a deep breath and force myself to focus, I pick one priority task and just get it done. That alone usually breaks my “brain stall” and gets me back into productivity mode.

It’s one thing if you’re just tired or not feeling well. In those cases I sleep, or take a break. But when you get into a true state of overwhelm, you have to break out of it if you’re going to keep your business moving forward.

I’m curious what YOU do to break out of a state of overwhelm?

Best,

Hi Lynn, I’m sitting here in my PJ’s at 12.30pm working from home and I thought of you – how you often mention working in your PJ’s in your blog posts. I wondered if you could tell me how you do this without feeling guilty. I feel like I’m doing something wrong and even a bit anxious (weird eh?).
Cheers, Trish

I had to smile when I got this note from Trish. As you can see in the photo above, and her reference to other posts & pictures I’ve shared in the past, I’m often working in my comfies – and curled up with my great dane on the chaise, even!

Do I feel guilty? Not in the least! But there was a time that I did…

That time was years ago, mind you, when it was less accepted to work from home – which I’ve been doing for more than 14 years now (since the late 90′s).

I remember about 10 years ago when I was working poolside all summer. I forwarded my business number to my cell phone, which was sitting on a cooler beside my lawn chair.

This was back when I was still doing service-based business, and if a client called I would quickly quiet the kids who were splashing in the pool before I took the call.

I wouldn’t necessarily say I felt “guilty” about it… but I did feel like my clients probably wouldn’t pay my rates if they knew about my (awesome) work environment. LOL. Personally I didn’t feel my surroundings affected the quality of my work, but there’s a little thing called perceived value that concerned me…

There was one time that was particularly funny, when I had taken a phone call from a brand new client I really wanted to land. We were in the cabin when the call came in, and I gave the children my usual “this is work” hand signal and took the call.

My daughter, 5 years old at the time, knew that any questions had to wait until I got off the phone.

All of a sudden I hear this loud popping and snapping and see lightning coming out of the kitchen! Knowing my daughter had gone in there, I dropped the phone mid-conversation and ran in there to rescue her.

It turns out she had put tinfoil in the microwave. Sweet that she was making her own lunch. Sweet that she didn’t ask questions, though she told me later she wasn’t sure if she could put it in there but knew not to ask while I was on the phone (lol).

I got her out of there and stopped the microwave, and just busted out laughing. You had to see the look on her face standing there watching it explode before her little eyes. LOL. Then I remembered the phone…

I picked the phone up off the floor where I’d dropped it and heard the lady laughing hysterically. We both had a good laugh over it when I told her the story, and she said it was neat that I was able to work from home with my children. I got the contract too, by the way.

Of course, now it’s much more accepted to telecommute or work from home, and home based businesses have gained more respect. It’s not something I ever really think about any more at all.

It doesn’t matter where I am or what I’m wearing. The quality of my work speaks for itself. I might be curled up in bed with the flu in my PJ’s, or sitting in an airport doing email from my smart phone. But most of the people I’m communicating with… are receiving my content or email in the exact same conditions on their end.

All said and done, it simply doesn’t matter. It’s certainly not something to worry over or feel anxious about. Obviously you wouldn’t go into a corporate job dressed in your bathrobe, or lounge around with your feet up on the desk while working through tasks in an office, but hey – that’s the perks of working from home!

What about you – do you have any reservations about your home office environment or your work-at-home dress code? Do you hide the fact that you’re at home when talking with clients or merchants?

Best,

Above is the Media Desk in my home office. I thought it would be fun to give you a virtual tour of the Media Desk, and around the rest of my home office…

Starting from the left you’ll see:

• Macbook Pro with Turquoise Speck Cover
• Plantronics Wireless Headset
• Apple iPad w/Griffin stand & wireless Apple keyboard
• HP 20″ 2010i Monitor (hooked up to Macbook)
• Blue Yeti Microphone
• Lenovo M90z Touch Screen ThinkCentre
• HP Officejet 6500 Wireless Printer
• Canon Vixia HD Camcorder & Tripod

My home office is set up in a large sunroom on the back of my house, which leads out to a covered deck. As you can see in the picture above, the back door is open – which is typical most days.

Slim and I like to come in and out throughout the day, and enjoy the sounds of birds or a nice rain on the tin roof.

More often than not Slim is lounging on the back deck, or right here beside my desk while I’m working. But he’ll hop up in a second when I’m ready for a morning or evening walk! He is a 2 year old Great Dane, just under 110 pounds, and without a doubt my best friend in the world.

I have two desks in the office: my primary work desk (below) where I do most of my writing & research, and my media desk (above) which I use for creative/multimedia work.

I’m running several computers and quite a few devices. I use different computers & devices for different things, which I’ll explain in more detail…

This (left) is my original and main workstation. A very small and simple “no clutter” desk for max productivity. That’s a new Dell tower which is hooked up to Dual HP 20″ Monitors.

I have a third 20″ HP Monitor on my Media Desk, which serves as an external monitor for my Macbook Pro.

The Dell doesn’t sit on the desk of course – I took that photo prior to hooking it up last week. It’s a new replacement. I’m a big fan of Dell and their excellent customer service & support. And before you make any Mac-Lover comments, I started my business and achieved my first 10+ years of success on PC’s.

Here’s a current shot of the PC Desk (mess and all!):

If you ignore the shelves and cords (lol) you’ll notice I keep my desk space clear. This is my spot to sit and write, to focus, and to plan. The less distraction the better.

The chair is super comfy too – it reclines, swivels and rocks!

My network currently includes two PC desktops (the Dell and a Lenovo M90z Touch Screen ThinkCentre), two PC laptops (one Dell, one HP), two original Apple iPads, two Apple iPods (one Touch, one Nano), a Blackberry, a Droid X, a Wireless HP Officejet printer, and a Macbook Pro.

In addition to the computers & portable devices, you’ll notice the
Blue Yeti Microphone, which I use for podcasting – and a Wireless Plantronics Headset which I use to host webinars and for Skype chats/interviews.

The tripod to the right of my Media Desk holds a Canon VIXIA HF S20 Dual Flash Memory Camcorder, which is what I’ve been using to create all my recent videos.

Here’s another shot where you can see the Canon HD Camcorder up close, as well as the Blue Yeti Microphone in the background. The mic is in front of the external monitor and beside the iPad. That’s my new Griffin iPad Stand, by the way…

There are also two (very full) bookshelves, a 4′ fishtank on a stand (currently empty), a media stand stacked with things I need to go through and put away (no telling how much mail is in that pile -ack!), and an old green recliner in the far corner that seriously needs to make it’s way out the door – to be replaced by a big fluffy chair & ottoman, when I get around to it.

I’m in the process of replacing my white boards with maps and photos. My home office is the room that gets the most attention – it’s always a work in progress.

^ This end of the Media Desk gets the most use. I use my Macbook Pro for video editing, podcasting, and of course grab it and go anytime I want to work mobile.

The external monitor usually has Things for Mac on the screen (my task list & project manager) so I can “keep an eye on things” (heh).

My Apple iPad is probably my least-used device. Shocking, I know. I do use it for mind mapping – I love the iThoughtsHD app. I also use it to read and watch movies, with the Kindle & Netflix apps being my two favorites.

The second iPad I mentioned is being used by my daughter. I won it in an affiliate contest, and it was a great way to keep her off of mine!

The Lenovo M90z Touch Screen ThinkCentre sits just a half-turn to my right at the Media Desk…

I originally wondered just how much
I would use a touch screen PC… but
I am finding it a lot more convenient (and fun) than I imagined!

My next venture will be to install Camtasia and Audacity on the ThinkCentre and try my hand
at touch screen audio & video editing.

That should be fun!

The Wireless Printer

I shot a quick video featuring the HP Officejet 6500 Wireless Printer. If you have as many devices running in your office as I do mine… you’ll definitely want a wireless printer on your network!

-

“Which Computer Do You Use When, For What??”

I get that question a lot.

I bought the 13″ Macbook Pro specifically for mobile video editing. It’s such a handy little laptop (perfect size!) so I retired my HP laptop – to my daughter’s room – and use the Macbook exclusively when I need a laptop. Whether I’m traveling to the other side of the world, or just the other side of the house.

As I mentioned earlier, I use my iPad for mind mapping (something I could never get the hang of on a PC). I also use it quite a bit for movies and reading. The Kindle app is particularly awesome because it syncs with the app on my Droid X – so no matter which one I have with me, I can pick right back up where I left off!

I use my PC Desk mainly for bookkeeping and writing, as well as for planning… and often for music because it has great speakers (lol).

I like that clear space as a focus spot.

The touch screen PC on my Media Desk is new, and at first was mainly “a toy”.

But once I realized how efficient it was, and got used to the one large screen, I installed all my programs and files on it.

It has quickly become my most-used PC…

I love my setup and all the versatility it offers. Basically I use the best machine for the job at any given time. Or just the machine closest to me. LOL. I particularly like the versatility of Mac & PC and iPad/iPod & Android.

It’s the best of both worlds!

And you know what I *really* love? Cross platform programs, like Evernote for example, that work on every computer and device – and sync across every computer and device. Things like that make my life MUCH easier.

That was fun!

Now get out of my office so I can get back to work

One last note though. As you’ve noticed I used a lot of “conflicting equipment”. A Droid and an iPad?! Yes. I catch a lot of crap over that from both camps. But you know what I say? It’s not the equipment you have… it’s how you use it.

Best,

p.s. I forgot to mention the Zune…

Also see these two recent Interviews about my Home Office:

Lynn Terry Discloses What And How She Uses Technology

What Technology Do You Use To Work From Home?

-

Does this sound familiar?

You’ve got a great idea for a business with the perfect product to sell. You can see the light of success, knowing that your online business is just a few clicks away.

But you haven’t done anything about it. And you’re wondering how to start an online store, and when you should…

How about now? There’s no time like the present to open your online store. You simply can’t ignore the boom of ecommerce and the money being made online. According to a recent article from Internet Retailer, the web is trumping sales by many brick and mortar companies, even big chains.

Of course, just like any other business, timing is everything. Fortunately, that time is now. The late spring and summer months give you the chance to lay the foundation for your online business and be ready for the holiday shopping season.

Here are a few things to think about as you consider starting an ecommerce business during this prime time.

Summer Work Equals Holiday Sales

Don’t give in to the temptation to have a lazy summer and put the ecommerce business on the back burner. This is the perfect time to get ahead of your competition by putting in some extra effort. There are several things you can focus on now to jump-start your business success.

1. Get to know your ecommerce software platform. There’s always going to be a learning curve, no matter what platform you choose. For example, you’ll have to become comfortable with uploading and updating inventory, processing orders, running reports and more.

If you’re looking to learn how to start an online store, a solution like Volusion gives you plenty of help and lays it out for you with a user-friendly administrative panel. The last thing you want is to open a store before you learn how to operate it. Thus, starting now allows you to be fully prepared when those orders start pouring in.

2. Think about design. First impressions are critical to your online success. That’s why it’s important to remember that website design doesn’t happen overnight and there are lots of elements to consider.

• What type of color scheme, fonts and overall “look” do you want?
• What message do you want your site to convey to customers?
• Who is your target audience (the people you’re trying to sell to)?
• What products do you want to feature?
• What calls to action do you want the homepage to offer?

Take some time to think about these and other design questions now. This will help you get exactly what you want before launching your store.

(Special hint: It’s also a good idea to pre-plan for holiday graphics for your site when that season rolls around!)

3. Start thinking about a marketing plan. There are many ways to market an online store. There are traditional tactics like print media and advertising, word of mouth or mailing postcards and newsletters. While these are usually enough for retail stores, marketing an online business is different and requires patience, time and knowledge of some key tools.

The most important ways to market your online store are through search engine optimization (SEO), paid search ads (PPC), social media and e-mail marketing. It’s very important to start learning these methods and start implementing some of this work on your online store now.

By beginning your marketing push now, you’ll give search engines time to find you before the holidays. Additionally, you’ll give yourself time to make an impact in social media by getting Facebook “likes” and followers on Twitter.

The last thing you want is to start marketing your online store too late!

As crazy as it sounds, there are many online retailers already preparing for the holiday shopping season. As you read above, there’s a lot to think about, and the longer you wait, the more your competition will speed ahead. Jump in now and let professionals help you get started on the right track.

The moral of the story: stop sitting on your idea and make it happen. (Like, now.)

A company like Volusion has the right tools you need to learn how to start an online store, and start an online business today. They have the support system in place to help you design and market your online store too. They’re a company worth checking out as you embark on this journey of selling online…

** Guest Post by Volusion **