There are people who would argue that success is a natural result of proper planning, preparation and focused action, and that viewpoint certainly holds a grain of truth - but there are also many exceptions to disprove that “rule.” Have you ever wondered how two people can attempt the same objective in the same way and only one of them succeed? Is it sheer luck? Timing? Tenacity? More often than not, it’s a person’s mind-set that determines whether they fail or succeed.

What is a mind-set, anyway? Typically a mind-set refers to your predominant state of mind day to day. It’s what you think about, focus on, and expect from your daily experiences. Think negatively, expect the worst, feel pessimistic about your options and that’s exactly what you’ll seem to draw into your life. Likewise, think positively, expect the best and focus on a successful outcome and you get it most of the time.

Makes sense, right? But how exactly does this work? Why is a success mind-set so important? There are three big reasons:

1.) A success mind-set boosts your confidence and self-belief.

A lack of belief in yourself usually comes along with a sense of powerlessness and futility, which is the exact opposite of a success mind-set. Lack of confidence means you see no point in trying to be successful because it won’t happen anyway. Obviously, this type of mind-set is a recipe for failure in any endeavor.

Having a true success mind-set, on the other hand, means you believe in yourself and your capabilities. You believe you can succeed at nearly anything you try, and you’re willing to give it your best shot. Even better, the more you do try, the more confidence and self-belief you build - until you’re virtually unstoppable!

2.) A success mind-set strengthens your determination.

Without a success mind-set, one failure is enough to convince you that pursuing your goals is a waste of time. Tenacity and determination don’t exist in your world. If you don’t become a raging success the first time you try, you surmise that it simply wasn’t meant to be. Unfortunately, few things worth having are obtained so easily!

A success mind-set, however, strengthens your awareness that a failure is not the end of the story - it’s just one more way that didn’t work out the way you planned. In fact, a true success mind-set makes it obvious that the only true failure occurs when you stop trying.

3.) A success mind-set encourages fruitful actions.

Have you ever found yourself wandering in circles because you didn’t know the best way to approach a specific goal? Perhaps you had an idea of the best course of action but you felt intimidated by some of the action steps required. As a result, you may have kept sabotaging your efforts as you searched in vain for an easier or less frightening way to your goal.

With a true success mind-set, you’ll always know the most effective action steps that will lead directly to your goal. As already discussed, you’ll also have the inner confidence and determination to pursue them - which is a sure recipe for . . . you guessed it; success!

If I had to sum up how to develop a success mind-set into as few words as possible, I’d say this:

•  Go for your dreams.
• Think positively.
• Believe in yourself.
• Believe you can do better.
• Learn, grow and develop yourself.
• Be willing to take chances.
• Give it your all.
• Expect the best in every situation.
• Be willing to fail.
• When you fall down, get back up and try again.

Keep doing that and you can’t help but become successful, from the inside out!

Sincerely,

Filed under: Personal development on March 23rd, 2008 | No Comments »

Yesterday my friend Odinn Sorensen held his 39th birthday and to celebrate the event he has given up his day job to become a full-time Internet Marketer (way to go Odinn!)

Now I don’t know if you aware of this, but in Denmark (where both Odinn and I live) it is customary that the birthday boy (or girl) actually gives everyone else a gift. Odinn has taken this custom to the extreme and is actually offering you over 250 gifts with his “Daddy’s Birthday Giveaway”.

Odinn has now taken the plunge without the safety-net of a J.O.B. and I for one intend to give him all the support I can. If you have already experienced this yourself , then perhaps you remember how “scary” it was in the beginning (I certainly do!).

Please join me today in supporting Odinn’s debut. It won’t cost you a dime and you’ll be helping an honest man to support his family.

http://www.easymentorpro.com/odinn

Even if you are still working a day job yourself, go ahead and sign-up for your free gifts. What goes around comes around and perhaps the next person we can welcome to the IM arena will be you!

Sincerely,

P.S. - The “Daddy’s Birthday Giveaway” is already underway, but if you are interested in getting on board as a contributor, you can use my “back door” link - Click Here - (just tell Odinn that Chris sent you!)

Filed under: Other free stuff on February 18th, 2008 | No Comments »

For the past few weeks, I have been testing the excellent task manager software JetTask. This neat little program sits quietly in the task tray and keeps me up to date on a whole range of timme-related tasks. It uses almost no system resources and jumps to attention with a single click. It can also be miniized to show an LCD clock on the desktop, if you prefer to minimize it that way.

Here are some notes from my personal experience using this software …

PROS:
- Very simple and intuitive interface.
- Nice design.
- Excellent online tutorials.
- In progress timer - makes it very easy to keep track of time used on differnet tasks and projects, eg. client billing, etc. (This little function in itself is worth the price of the software!)

CONS:
- Cannot delete data from the Reporting utility - even if you delete and reinstall the program, the original data is still there. (This could be a problem if you choose to use the program usage tracking utility and you don’t want others on your computer to see where you’ve been surfing.)
- Longest reminder time 2 days (a week would be nice - to remind me to sent birthday cards to friends who live in another country).
- Doesn’t start automatically when Windows restarts.

SUGGESTIONS:
- It would be nice to be able to change the colours/titles of elements (e.g. Out of office, etc.)

PRICE:
$19.95 (Free 30 Evaluation Copy available from JetTask.com)

STARS:
4/5

Take it for a test drive - I’m sure you’ll find it very useful.

Sincerely,

P.S. - You may be wondering why I have chosen to add this software review to the “Free Software” section when it normally costs $20? Well, quite simply - there IS a way for you to get a copy of this software for yourself - Click Here for details!

Filed under: Free Software on February 3rd, 2008 | No Comments »

If you’ve read my book “Understanding The Psychology Of Marketing” then you know precisely how much mind control takes place in our lives on a daily basis.

When people picture mind control, they generally conjure up images of mindless zombies at the beck and call of some evil master or some hypnotic spell over helpless victims created by use of methods such as subliminal messages, hypnosis, drugs, or other more devious tricks.

Well, we’re not talking about any of that here. These so called ‘techniques’ are not only immoral - but in some cases highly illegal. (Neither is recommended!)

The truth is that legal and ethical ‘mind control’ is not about coercing people by force. It is about simply breaking down people’s mental barriers to various aspects of the sales process naturally, by using specific “triggers” inherent in human nature.

You see, human nature is a fantastic predictor of what people will do in various circumstances. Once you understand these circumstances and how people react to them, you can easily and ethically weave these triggers into your own marketing to get your readers to happily take your desired action at will - again and again.

Whether you’re just getting your Internet business off the ground, been around the block for a while, or perhaps you’re already successful online - Using these powerful psychological triggers is certain to explode your business …

Want to learn more?
http://www.easymentorpro.com/IMTriggers

Have a great weekend! :o)

Sincerely,

P.S. - If you haven’t already picked up your complimentary copy of my latest book you can download it right now from
http://www.easymentorpro.com/upm

Filed under: Mind Control on January 26th, 2008 | No Comments »

Filed under: Web 2.0 on December 21st, 2007 | No Comments »

OK, now that you have downloaded and installed your free copy of Camtasia Studio, let’s take a look at what else TechSmith are offering …This time it’s SnagIt, their screen capture software!

In all my years as a graphic designer, I have never found an easier to use professional capture program than SnagIt. It’s absolutely brilliant - not only that, now you can download for free …

1. First of all download the free trial version from
http://www.oldapps.com/download.php?oldappsid=SnagIt725.exe

2. Then hop over to Techsmith’s promo page and fill out the form
http://www.techsmith.com/snagit/ukdn.asp

3. In a few minutes, you’ll receive a software license key from Techsmith.

4. Install the download (from Step 1) and enter the key (from Step2).

Voilá! You’ve got a fully working SnagIt!

Sincerely,

Filed under: Free Software on November 14th, 2007 | No Comments »

Techsmith, the developers of Camtasia Studio (and other excellent software programs) are currently running a couple of promotions in PC magazines such as PC Plus where they are giving away the full original version of Camtasia Studio 3 completely free, in the hope that you will upgrade from version 3 to version 5 for the special offer price of $149.

So, if you could use a full working copy of Camtasia Studio 3, here’s what to do:

1. Download the free trial version of Camtasia Studio 3 from
http://download.techsmith.com/camtasiastudio/enu/312/camtasiaf.exe

2. Go to the following promotion page, complete your name, country and e-mail address and Techsmith will immediately send you the software key to unlock the program.
http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia/pcpls.asp

3. Install the program you downloaded from step 1 above then enter the software key you receive from Techsmith and you’ll have a fully working version of Camtasia Studio 3 on your PC.

4. (Optional) You can upgrade to Camtasia Studio 5 if you want to for just $149 (50% discount).

NOTE: Not upgrading to version 5 will NOT affect your newly installed version 3, but if you do want to save $150 now is the time to do it, while TechSmith are offering this promotion. (You can download a trial version of version 5 from here).

Sincerely,

Filed under: Free Software on October 30th, 2007 | No Comments »

Squidoo has been part of the new Web 2.0 category of internet marketing tools since 2005. Squidoo allows an author to create a lens, a one page website, which focuses on any subject for free. A particular lens can draw information from numerous sources and place it all on one page for easy viewing and reading.

A lens maker can create numerous lenses on a subject, focusing attention on a different aspect of the subject with each lens. On the other had, a lens maker can make numerous lenses that cover many different topics, reflecting the lens makers’ different interests and expertise.

Internet Marketing

One of the many good uses for Squidoo lenses is to use the lens as part of an overall internet marketing strategy. One or more good lenses can help to bring attention, traffic, and credibility to a product or business by providing valuable information and resources. Additionally, the lens can help to establish the author as an expert in their field and a person whose advice should be taken seriously.

The single page websites that Squidoo allows an author to create are called lenses because the finished website focuses on a single subject or idea. This focused attention on a subject is very attractive to users of the internet who are constantly searching for answers to questions or problems. The internet search engines whose job it is to find good, focused websites that will answer the questions or problems are attracted to the lenses.

Therefore, the use of Squidoo lenses has become a valuable internet resource for building and marketing a business.

Basic Modules

There are numerous tools available on Squidoo to build a lens. Most of these tools are called modules. The modules create separate sections on the overall web page. Other tools available on Squidoo include the author’s biographical area, a keyword list called tags, the lens title or headline, a lensroll, and RSS subscription for readers.

One of the basic modules allows the author to write short articles about various aspects of the lens’s subject. Another basic module makes it easy to list and describe appropriate links to offsite information that complements the subject of the lens. For internet marketing purposes the author can use these basic modules to link to their own websites, thereby driving traffic to their own business.

Other basic modules provide links to commercial internet resources such as eBay, Amazon, Starbucks, CompUSA, and many other businesses where the reader can be directed to the author’s own merchandise offerings or to merchandise and information that supports the author’s own business. These modules can also provide some income, as the lens maker earns a small percentage of the sales of merchandise on these commercial websites.

Interactive Modules

Many modules are interactive in nature, which is why Squidoo is considered to be part of the new Web 2.0 category of interactive websites. Readers can respond to many of the modules, adding their own favorites to certain categories. For example, readers can add their favorite YouTube videos to the list of videos on the lens or add their favorite pictures to the lens’s list. Additionally, readers can add their favorite links to a list of links that the author has provided on the lens, or they can add their comments or responses to questions asked by the lens’s author. One of the favorite interactive modules is the voting module where readers can vote on a question by the lens’s author or vote on a listing of favorite resources.

All of the interactive modules have the effect of creating new content for the lens. The benefit to the lens maker is that the new lens content makes their lens more searchable by the many internet search engines. This is an obvious boost to the lens maker’s overall internet marketing strategy.

Syndicated Content Modules

Another category of modules is that of syndicated content that is drawn from other websites. For example, if the lens maker has a blog on the same subject as his lens, he can have the blog posts automatically directed to the lens each time he creates a new blog post. Other types of syndicated content include articles from magazines and newspapers. The lens maker can automatically draw content related to the subject of the lens each time a new article appears in the specified periodicals. Similar to reader interactivity, this constantly changing syndicated content refreshes the lens on a regular basis, making it more attractive to the internet search engines and giving a boost to the lens maker’s internet marketing efforts.

Creating a Squidoo lens can be fun as well as wise. It is fun because the tools produce a lens with a wide range of variety and creativity. And it is wise because the lens will help the lens maker market their business more successfully.

Sincerely,

Filed under: Web 2.0 on September 23rd, 2007 | No Comments »

One of the hottest sites to come out of the Web 2.0 phenomenon is Squidoo. If you are not building sites to Squidoo, you are missing one of the quickest and easiest ways to build free traffic for your website or blog.

Squidoo is a cross between a blog, a mini site, and a My Space page. Squidoo calls the sites “lenses” and the people who produce the sites are called “lensmasters.”

Squidoo lenses are very easy to make, even if you have not ever built a website or blog before. You can have a lens up and running in as little as 15 minutes.

Squidoo lenses are made up of “modules”. Squidoo has dozens of modules to choose from. There are modules for making lists. There are modules for You Tube videos. There are modules for Amazon and Ebay auctions. With a little knowledge of the module system, you can have your lens built in no time.

Squidoo also offers you a chance to make money from your lens. Squidoo makes its money from affiliate advertising with Google AdSense, Amazon, Ebay and several other sites. They keep track of the earnings of each module and split the profits with you 50-50. You can also donate your profits of your module to charity if you wish.

Squidoo is very lenient about allowing you to use third party advertising on your lens. You can promote your own website if you wish or promote your favorite affiliate product. Savvy network marketers often use Squidoo lenses to promote their products and recruit new reps.

Squidoo lenses often rank very high on Google, so it’s a great chance to build some backlinks to your primary company website.

One of the best ways to use Squidoo to build traffic to your primary blog is by using the RSS feed module. You simply load the RSS feed from your blog and the Squidoo lens will update automatically as you update your blog.

The Amazon module is also very easy to use for people that are new at Squidoo. For the case of Amazon products, you simply enter the ISBN number of the Amazon product and Squidoo will pull it directly off the Amazon website, complete with the photo and the price. You can also have the module pull directly from keywords if you don’t want to take the time to find ISBN numbers on Amazon.

Another great Squidoo module is the Ebay module. With the Ebay module, you can select products by keyword or by seller. If you sell a lot of products yourself on Ebay, this is a great way to get free traffic to your auctions.

As you can tell, Squidoo is a great free and easy way to build traffic and make money online. So get Squidooing!

Sincerely,

Filed under: Web 2.0 on August 23rd, 2007 | No Comments »

If you are like most Americans, then you probably are always short of money. Your emergency stash of cash is no longer available and you need to search for a new plan.

A recent study showed that nearly 35% of Americans feel like they don’t earn enough money and a full 40% would like to earn more money to feel “comfortable”.

With the dollar dropping against most foreign currencies and inflation on the rise, it’s no wonder Americans feel like they can’t keep up with their finances. High priced items such as cars, new houses and appliances are being drastically reduced and luxury items are just not being bought at all. While not technically in a recession yet, Americans are finding it more and more difficult to make ends meet.

Not surprisingly, Americans are increasingly looking for alternative means of supporting themselves. Secondary incomes are rapidly becoming the standard while the creativity to find a decently-paying second financial stream that doesn’t take up too much time is increasing. Many people are looking to the internet to subsidize their lives and many people are becoming disillusioned.

While robbing a bank is hardly a realistic substitute, there is a plan that can come in handy on those rainy days when cash is needed. You know, those days when it’s a real emergency.

Emergency Cash Plans was developed over the course of four months and is one of the most researched products I’ve seen in a long time.

The creators of Emergency Cash Plans have been aware of the growing financial crisis in America and set out to help people pickup a little cash.

What they did was search through all the different money making opportunities on the internet and determine which opportunities were legitimate and which were merely over-hyped pieces of junk.

They then took all the opportunities that they found and ranked them based on how long it would take to see a profit. Anything that took longer than a week to make a profit with they threw directly into the garbage.

What was left is the single greatest collection of instant money making opportunities on the internet.

But that’s not all …

The Emergency Cash Plans team took these opportunities and created their Emergency Cash Plans video course. The course shows you not only what exists out there on the internet, but exactly how you can maximize each opportunity to their fullest potential.

To find out more information, go to:

http://easymentorpro.com/recommends/emergency

Sincerely,

Filed under: Tips & Tricks on July 29th, 2007 | No Comments »