I’m going to ask you a very simple question and I want you to answer it as honestly and in as much detail as you can. Okay….are you ready for it? Here it is. How do you pick an apple?

I know….tough question right? So take a moment to think about it.

So what was your answer? Just for fun, let’s see how you measure up to the answers of others. The most common answer to this question would go something like this: Well, I stand under the tree. I reach out with my arm, open my hand, grasp the apple firmly and yank the apple downward. That my friend, is how I pick an apple!

So was that somewhere close to your answer or were you a bit more analytical in the exact same process? Maybe your answer wasn’t even anywhere close to the same. Maybe yours involved a longer process, the true process of picking an apple.

So here’s the correct way to pick an apple:

1. You pick a spot of land. Preferably on your own land.
2. You dig a hole.
3. You buy the tree.
4. You put the tree in the hole.
5. You water the tree.
6. You fertilize the tree.
7. You brace the tree up to protect it from the wind.
8. You put a fence around the tree to protect it from wildlife, such as Elk and Deer.
9. You spray it with chemicals to protect it from insects.
10. You trim the tree from time to time.
11. You then repeat steps 5 and 6, until one day, your tree finally produces apples.
12. You then, stand under your tree, reach out and pick the apple!

That, my friends, is the way to pick an apple! Would it have been easier if I had given you another question as an example, such as: How do you become wealthy? You don’t just reach out an grab the money. There is a process that comes before you “pick the apple”, or get the money.

So many people, in fact the majority of people, prefer to just simply “pick the apple.” They want someone else to take care of the “process” for them, which is exactly why most people will never get to pick the apple or become wealthy. You can’t just skip to the end. That’s a fairytale. Luckily, with modernization and grocery stores, we have people who take care of “process” so that we don’t technically have to pick the apple. That’s their way to create wealth and unfortunately, you can’t just pick up a box of wealth at the store like you can an apple. You must go through the process of creating wealth for yourself.

I teach others how to go through the process, but you must be willing to put in the time and effort before you can reap the reward. But, the process is proven….meaning, it works. I, along with thousands of others, have done it. It’s a lot like picking an apple, but with a few more steps along the way. If you can follow steps, bring a little creativity and a lot of ambition, you too can become wealthy!

From time to time I like to give little tutorials about how I set things up right here on my blog. I get a ton of questions asking how to do something on their own blog, so this is a great way to:

1. Avoid questions. Time preservation!!
2. Assist people with questions.

So it works out pretty well.

Now, anyone who is anyone know that if you are serious about blogging, then you must also be serious about commenting. Not only getting comments on your own blog posts, but also commenting on other blogs in your niche as well. Commenting does a few things for you and your blog:

1. It increases your traffic as you link your name to your blog. Along with the owner of that blog, others will click on your name, leading them to your blog.
2. It also increases your rankings in the search engines of you leave a keyword in place of your name. (Be careful though. You don’t want to be considered a spammer. Leave value in your comment. Look for a future post, this week, on how to include your name AND a keyword linked to your site!)
3. You start to be recognized as a frequent visitor to your favorite blogs and will eventually be rewarded for it in some way, shape or form.

I had a pet peeve about comments on my blog. They didn’t have a picture attached to them like everyone elses blogs did. So I fixed that through a site called Gravatar.com. It’s very simple to set up and it associates your email address with your picture. So as you leave a comment on another blog, use the email with the picture you want posted on that site. Simple…..and it’s completely free!

And as you can see below, that is if anyone has commented, there are pictures next to comments. It’s nice to know who is following your blogs and makes things a bit more personal. So, before you leave a comment, make sure you have a gravatar at Gravatar.com.

The great Personal Development mentor and coach, Jim Rohn, left this world last week after a long struggle with pulmonary fibrosis and as much as I could tell you about how he died, I would much rather tell you how he lived. Although I didn’t know Jim personally and was never able to attend one of his events, he went with us everywhere. We carried his audio cd’s with us as we traveled. He was and always will be, in the books, on of the best inspirational speakers and mentors in history. With his unique style and his christian background, I completely related to Jim and his message. His humble beginning as an “Idaho farm boy” is a testament to everyone that anything is possible for those who believe in something greater for themselves.

If you don’t have any of Jim Rohn’s material, get some. You’ll love it. I don’t think I have ever heard common sense in such an inspirational and useful way. Jim has a talent for allowing you to use the commonalities you already know to drastically improve your life.

There are very few people that can truly look back on their lives and see the millions of people they have directly and indirectly inspired and assisted. Jim’s message is one that will continue to inspire and uplift and I am grateful that I was here and alive when he walked this earth.

If you would like to check out some of Jim’s websites and material, there are plenty of places. Here are a few:

http://www.yoursuccessstore.com/

http://tribute.jimrohn.com/

http://video.success.com/featured/jim-rohn-tribute/

Jim’s Facebook Page

In closing, I’ll leave you with the quote on the header of his site:

“I wish for you a life of health, wealth and happiness; a life in which you give to yourself the gift of patience, the virtue of reason, the value of knowledge, and the influence of faith in your own ability to dream about and to achieve worthy rewards.” ~Jim Rohn

I just got off a conference call with leaders based in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United States and the list could go on and on, where we discussed a plan of action to propel not only this opportunity, but the entire industry of direct sales. Topic of discussion was creating more unity between the leadership of this opportunity that will allow us all to work more closely with each other and inspire a much larger team environment.With advancements in technology, our international business capabilities just increase and the income opportunity we offer is becoming streamlined.

Flourishing International Markets

For those of you looking for a truly unique, international income opportunity, now is the time to get involved. Our company originated right here in Arizona and within the last few years has gone completely international. We have customers and distributors in over 150 countries worldwide and growing. The areas that have experienced the most growth have been Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Canada, the US and coming up in the wings is South Africa.

The beautiful thing about this business is the fact that your income is not dependent on your local economy. In fact, I rarely even speak to people in my own zip code. I get calls from all over North America, Germany, the UK, all over Africa, India, Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, and I think you all get the point. Our business is creating wealth from home by using a simple way for average people to offer the best products in Personal Development, Positive Media and Entrepreneur Education.

Look for updates on future documentaries put out by our company. We are going to be the source that truly changes the face of this planet and I am proud to be part of it.

To learn a bit more about the Personal Development industry, you can visit my Personal Development page. To learn more about the income opportunity, you can visit The Opportunity page.

This is a real quick post as a follow up to the Want to Start an Email Marketing Campaign post I did last week. In that post I had mentioned “Constant Contact” as a source for your email marketing campaign. However great the service, they do not accept accounts from certain industries. Some of these industries include Network Marketing, Online Medical supplies, Mortgages and Loans and many others. The list is pretty long and in my opinion, they should have just made a list of all industries they do accept. It might have been a shorter list!

I did come across another site, MailChimp. I signed up, of course, and created an email campaign based on motivational, inspirational and empowering Movie Quotes. Feel free to subscribe. MailChimp is a great service for the beginner as it is very simple to use and it can be used for free. You can send up to 3000 emails per month for free, forever, as long as you have less than 500 subscribers. It has an easy to use custom form builder for forms that can be embedded onto your website or subscribe page. Setting up an email template was very easy and simple to use. It took me less than 10 minutes to sign up, set up an email campaign, design a logo for my emails and enter a few quotes.

I still consider myself a newby in email marketing but know the effect it can, is and will have on my business. For those of you involved in Network Marketing or online marketing, have your leads go to an email marketing system that you can customize to your marketing ideas. You own your lead list. Use it with care, use it wisely and give value to your readers!