Still About Stumble Upon

Stumble Upon is great for searching for information on your personal or professional interests but it can also help you drive traffic to your own website or blog.

Once you have installed the Stumble Upon toolbar you can check to see if your own website is already listed. If it isn't, you can tag and review it and then give it a thumbs up.

Now it will be listed when someone else searches for the related topic. If you have just written a great article or have some great content on your webpage, you will want to get it listed with Stumble Upon. Once your site gets 'stumbled' by other users you usually start to see traffic immediately which can help you establish your reader base and generate exposure.

In order to keep those visitors, make sure you have a good website design and good content. Visitors usually only stay an average of 10 seconds before deciding if your site is thumbs up or down! In order to keep the visitor coming back, be sure to provide a place that is visable for them to sign up for your newsletter and consider giving away special content to subscribers only. Be sure to welcome new visitors and provide great content once your site has been stumbled.

Last but not least, try holding a contest-everyone loves free stuff and it will keep them coming back! Remember, Stumble Upon is a social website. Be sure to build your community and review other users websites.

As you can see, if used correctly, Stumble Upon is another great way to drive traffic to your website and build your social network.

The Training about Stumble Upon

This week I learned about Stumble Upon which is a another social website. What is unique about Stumble Upon is it allows users to experience the internet in a new way.

Instead of searching for things on search engines such as Google, on Stumble Upon you indicate your interests and then Stumble Upon brings the websites to you. You search the websites simply by clicking a button on the Stumble Upon toolbar.

This allows you to go through websites targeted to your specific interest fairly quickly and you are able to give each site a thumbs up or thumbs down depending on what you think.

If you have never heard of Stumble Upon or have never used it, you should check it out.

The Book 'How to Persuade People Who Don't Want to Be Persuaded'

I am reading the book 'How to Persuade People Who Don't Want to Be Persuaded' by Joel Bauer and Mark Levy.

I am only through the first few chapters but it is a powerful book and it provides great information. I heard Joel Bauer speak last week in Orlando and was completely amazed. He is an incredible individual and I learned so much in the two hours that he spoke to our group.

If you ever have the opportunity to hear him speak or attend one of his events I would highly recommend it!

Here is one key takeaway from his presentation: Present yourself in a way that is unforgettable in the first 45 seconds, persuade those who are shut down and don't care, then preserve those relationships for a lifetime.

We are attending one of his two day events in November where he will go into a lot more detail regarding how to market yourself and present yourself as the only logical choice. I will post more about Joel after we attend his event. In the mean time, check out his book.

Below is a picture of my husband and me with Joel.

BuildING Communities with People In Social Networking

So, are you out there building your social media profiles and forming relationships with people yet? If not, go get started now!

I want to reiterate today how powerful these communities and relationships can be. We are at a unique time in history where we have the opportunity to build relationships like never before. How incredible is it that we can build these communities with people that we would not be able to connect with any other way!

Business owners and marketers before us didn't have the opportunity to market through relationships on this kind of level. They had to rely on TV, radio or print advertising which we all know is expensive.

Through social media we can get to know people from all over the world, learn about what they like and tell them about what we like. We can offer them products to solve their problems or give them more information on a topic they have questions about. Plus, we can get the same things-products that solve our own problems and answers to our questions.

These sites are the ultimate win win for everyone. I am going to give you a quick run down of the sites that I have learned about and joined so far: Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, Digg.com, Delicious.com and Technorati.com. Check out these sites and get started!

Of course, don't forget to start your own blog. Even if nobody is reading it right away, start writing about a topic that you enjoy and once you start working with the other sites you can drive traffic to your blog. You will eventually get some readers!

The Powerful Social Media Networking

I continue to connect with friends and family on my social media sites. I can honestly say that I was hesitant to get on Facebook, MySpace, etc.

I thought these types of sites were a waste of time. After all, I keep in touch with my friends and family through phone and email and I don't have a lot of 'extra' time in my day to be playing on the internet.

But, I have a completely different opinion now. I am amazed at how many people I have reconnected with that I didn't even realize I missed. It is a lot of fun to see what is happening in everyone's lives.

There are plenty of people that I went to highschool or college with or even worked with in the past that I knew but not well enough to keep in touch on a more personal basis. These social media sites give me a way to know what is going on in their lives and reconnect with them.

It is also a great way to quickly update everyone on my life. I can post pictures of my kids or tell about a recent vacation without typing in everyone's email addresses and bogging down their email with a bunch of pictures.

Instead of being a time waster it is actually a time saver! Plus, when I have down time, like today at the dentist, I can check my Facebook page and see what everyone is up to-it helps to pass the time!

Opportunity to Receive $10,000 In Value for Under $10

I want to let everyone know about an incredible opportunity. As you know from reading my blog, I started with all of this after attending a seminar called Cash In a Flash with Robert Allen and Mark Victor Hansen.

Well, if you follow this link,
http://cashinaflashsecrets.com/member/?thankyou-page=28
and sign up you will get the first 3 chapters of Cash In a Flash for free!

But, that's not all. Once you sign up you will be given an awesome opportunity on August 25th to receive $10,000 in value for under $10. I can't tell you all of the details but I can tell you that included is two tickets to the seminar that I paid $5,000 to attend!

Now, this opportunity will only be available to a limited number of people but those on my list will have priority. So, go sign up now and watch for an email on August 25th giving you all of the details. Remember, you have to sign up to be eligible. The seminar alone has changed my life forever and that is just part of the package!

My Training about Technorati

This week I learned about Technorati. Technorati is a search engine for blogs. Right now they index about 112.8 million blogs!

If you are interested in using Technorati all you have to do is create an account and claim your already existing blogs. This is basically like linking your blogs with your Technorati account. Once you claim your blog you will be able to take advantage of Technorati's tags which allows you to tag keywords in your blog posts.

Then, when someone does a search for that keyword on Technorati your blog will show up. This is just another great way to drive targeted traffic to your blog!

However, you can also use Technorati to search key words that you are interested in and find out what people are writing on their blogs about that particular subject. So, check it out and let me know what you think!

My Trip in Orlando

I spent a few days in Orlando at a personal development workshop. It was transformational.

Here are a few tidbits of information for you to think about:

How you do anything is how you do everything.

You don't know what you don't know-always be in the process of searching for and learning new information. What you believe to be true is true for you.

Do what you fear most and your fear will disappear.

The moment you become 100% responsible for what you create, you then become empowered to create it differently.

6 Daily Activities to Improve Your Life In All Areas

1. Meditation/Prayer
2. Creative Time
3. Journaling-Recall Activities of the day and record
4. One money making idea everyday
5. Three business contacts per day
6. Exercise 30 minutes every day

Still About Delicious.com

The waiting is over…I am sure you could hardly stand the wait but, here is some more information about why Delicious.com is so great.

When you import your bookmarks into Delicious they are automatically marked as private. After they are imported you can go through your bookmarks and choose which ones you want to share with other people by making them public. You can also see how many other people have bookmarked the same sites you have.

Not only that, but you can also find other popular sites by looking at what websites other people have bookmarked. Delicious.com is full of bookmarks about just about any topic you might be interested in. And, if it's not, add your own bookmarks for that topic! Now, go check out Delicious.com. bookmark your sites and see what else you can find!

The Training about Delicious.com

My mission this past week was to learn about Delicious.com.

This is a pretty cool site. It is a bookmarking site. We all find websites that we like and then bookmark them in the browser on our computer. The problem with that is if you aren't on your own computer or if you get a new computer, you can't access those bookmarks.

Delicious.com solves this problem by storing your bookmarks on the web. Then, you can access them no matter what computer you are using! It also allows you to add to your bookmarks from any computer.

On top of that you can use tags to organize, remember and search your bookmarks. There is so much more to Delicious than just bookmarking. But, more on that later...

'The Book The Power of Focus

Want to learn how to concentrate on your strengths, set better goals and focus on them and actually achieve them? If so, check out 'The Power of Focus'. This book will show you how to achieve more and live a happy and balanced life. A must read!

Enjoy My Happy Week

This past week my family visited us. We live about 10 hours away from them so we only see them a couple of times a year.

My mom and sister were here as well as my other sister and her husband and daughter. Then for two of those days my husband's parents were also visiting. It was a lot of fun to have everyone here. We grilled every night and sat around the fire pit (it was unseasonably cool here).

I pretty much took the week off of any work that I normally do. It was great to just be able to relax and enjoy their company.

Our kids had a great time playing together and my mom and sister's and I enjoyed a couple of shopping trips! I was sad to see them go at the end of the week. But, being so far away helps us to cherish and enjoy the time we do get to spend together.

Beginning Your Social Networking Business & Earn Millions

As you know from reading my blog, I am new to a lot of the Web 2.0 social media stuff and am learning more about it every day.

I am in the process of building a business with my husband with a goal of him being able to quit his job and the two of us run our business from home. I have come to the conclusion from what I have learned so far that everyone who has a business or wants to have a business should learn about and be on these social media sites.

Why? Well, why not? Why pass up the opportunity to be able to connect with people that you would never be able to connect with in any other way? Why pass up an opportunity that doesn't cost you any money to find people who want to learn about what you have to offer? Why pass up the opportunity to 'socialize', something we all enjoy doing, and be building your business at the same time?

The answer seems simple to me...you wouldn't want to pass up on those opportunities!!! So, go back through my blog and look at the sites I have talked about.

If you aren't on them, get on them and start building a community. Even if you don't have a business yet, build that community so that it is there when you do have a business or product you want to promote.

The key to social networking is building relationships so it is okay if you don't have anything to sell right away. In fact, it is probably better! Build those relationships, then offer them something that they will benefit from and you will profit from!

Oh, and keep reading my blog to find out about the other sites I am learning about and participating in. :)

I Have Connected to People In the Past in Facebook

I am really enjoying the process of building my social networks. I have reconnected with several friends on Facebook and MySpace.

I am even using Facebook to keep in touch with family that I don't see very often. I have a 4 year old and a 2 year old so it is fun for my extended family to keep up to date on them through Facebook.

As you read in a previous post, I am also building a business profile on LinkedIn. It has been fun to reconnect with the people that I used to work with and lost touch with. My husband is in athletics so we move around every few years.

In the past that would probably mean losing touch with people. But, in this world of social media it is so easy to keep in touch! It is amazing to think about how things have changed in just the last 10 years or so!

I am glad I am learning more about all of these different sites, not only so I can build my business contacts but also keep up with my social contacts!

What I've Learned From The Training About Digg.com

Wow, Digg.com is a great site. If you have ever been frustrated looking for something on the internet you should check it out because you can find information on all kinds of topics that other people have found useful.

There are thousands of stories submitted each day on Digg. You may even find something you didn't know you were looking for. :) Here is a quote from part of my lesson on Digg.com "Digg epitomizes the value of collective intelligence and community on the Internet in a way that not only brings value to its users, but also to businesses that are savvy enough to take advantage."

So, as a business owner you can find useful information related to your business or you can submit stories that promote your business. If those stories make it to the front page, it could mean massive traffic to your website! Pretty cool, right?

However, statistics show that a select few (100) submit over 50% of the stories that make it to the front page. So, make sure your story is unique and offers something to the reader and that it has an attractive title and description.

Digg is also a social network so make friends and ask them to Digg your stories. Be sure to return the favor when they submit stories. Look for those people who consistently make it to the front page and use the social aspect of the website to make friends with them.

If you have a unique story and they submit it for you the chances of it going to the front page are much greater! I hope this helps you to understand a little more about Digg.com. Now go check it out!

About The 5th Week of Cash In A Flash Training

So, this week I learned about Digg.com.

This is basically a site where you can submit articles and information for other people to 'rate'. If they like it then they 'Digg' it or people can bury it if they think it is lame.

If you submit something that people like and you get to the front page of Digg you can really drive traffic to your website. I am looking forward to submitting some things and learning more about how this site works.

Let me know if you have any experience with it! I will update with more info. as I continue to learn.

The Book "My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Picoult

One of the things I do for fun is participate in a book club.

One of the books we read was "My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Picoult.This was a great book. It is about a little girl who's sister has cancer and has for a long time.

This little girl was basically born so they could use her cord blood to help save her sister. Since then she has had to undergo several medical procedures to help save her sister.

She decides that she is tired of being used in this way and finds a lawyer to sue her family. Be sure to grab some tissues as there are some sad parts.

This book is being made into a movie that will be out in June. Even if you see the movie, read the book too! It is rumored that the ending of the movie will not be the same as the book. The ending of the book is a shocker that you don't see coming-it is worth the read!

Starting My Project

In addition to working on building my social sites, my husband and I are working on a mom/child exercise DVD. We originally filmed the DVD at the end of May.

However, this was the first time we had done anything like this so we learned a lot. When we viewed the rough footage we decided that it didn't turn out the way we wanted it. So, we have been preparing for the reshoot of the video. I have been researching other mom/child exercise DVD's to get ideas of what is out there and how we want ours to be different. We are having several rehearsals this week and I have also been working closely with our web designer. We are refilming at the end of next week.

The goal is to have the website up and running by then as well so that we can start our marketing. We are also working on the possibility of holding a local 'seminar' to introduce our concept to local moms.

This has been an exciting project and a tremendous learning experience. It has been fun working together with my husband on this project!

Making Money Online by Taking Surveys

As you know from reading my blog, my goal is to work from home. My husband and I have several projects that we are working on based on the information that I have learned from Cash in a Flash.

However, most projects don't produce income immediately. If you are looking for a way to make money quickly maybe to make a special purchase or to supplement your income while you are working on another project, check out this product that helps you make money from taking surveys.

You can find companies to pay you for surveys on your own or you can check out this product that provides you with a step by step guide to making money online by taking surveys!

Check it out and let me know what you think.

How I Connected To People In The Past In My LinkedIn Network

LinkedIn is another great social media site that I am continuing to learn about. This site is different than some of the others I have become involved with because it is a business networking site instead of social.

As I continue to work on this site I can see how it will definately be a great way to connect with professionals and a way to have access to resources through referrals that would probably otherwise never happen.

I have reconnected with several people from my very first job. These were people who were friends when we worked together but we lost touch. It has been fun to reconnect with them and see what they are up to now.

As I continue to build my connections on LinkedIn I will find others that I worked with that I didn't know as well. I am taking everything one step at a time-building first with people I knew well and then moving out. That way the people that I didn't know as well will see the others that I am connected with which will help them remember our connection.

The Social Media Training About Myspace

I signed up for a myspace account this week-www.myspace.com/augustfromhome. I am still working on building my profile.

The social media training I have been participating in has definitely taken me outside my comfort zone. Before I became a part of Cash In a Flash and embarked on this 'from home' business venture I hadn't really participated in online social media.

I consider myself a pretty private person so I wasn't interested in putting myself all over the internet for everyone to see. However, I am learning that these sites are very beneficial both for personal and business purposes.

Social media opens up a way for me to connect with people I may never connect with in person. It is a great networking tool. The more sites I become involved in the more comfortable I am getting. It has also been fun to reconnect with people from my past that I may not have ever connected with again.

I am looking forward to connecting with more people on myspace as I become more familiar with the site and continue to build my profile.

(Here is my myspace profile)

What I Have Learned From The 4th Week of Cash In a Flash Training

An important piece of Cash In a Flash event is our core group of 5 people that we work with. We all help hold each other accountable.

We talk on Wednesday nights and report on what we have accomplished in the past week, our goals for the coming week and also what we are struggling with. We all support each other by providing ideas and resources to help the areas of struggle.

We also encourage each other and provide constructive criticism. If you are working towards a goal but not achieving it, it would be beneficial to get together a group like this. It doesn't have to be people you know-our group didn't know each other before the CIAF event.

Maybe you are going to an event and you can meet people there to be in your group. Or, you could join internet groups with similar interests and form a smaller group from the people you meet. Be creative. We often need to surround ourselves with like-minded individuals to reach goals.