I can see you! No really. I can see when, how and for what you are here on my site right now, as you read this post. I know, old news right. Tracking software is old news. Well, for a lot of people I know, it’s a brand new concept, or at least something they haven’t seen the value in as of yet. For those of you who pay special attention to what you are being found for on the world wide web, then tracking software is a vital and important part to your marketing campaign.

Allow me to introduce you to the tracking software I currently use to monitor visits to my site. It’s called Mint at haveamint.com. It’s a simple, self-hosted tracking software integrated into your blog or website that shows you real time statistics for your site. Here are a few things it gives you:

• Your most Recent visits. Including the key phrase they searched for to reach your site. This includes a link to click on to see the search engine they used or referring site.
• Keywords of Key Phrases you are most commonly found for.
• Images your were found for.
• An hourly record of unique visits and page views along with an archive of your weekly, monthly and past years traffic results including easy to read graphs.
• A list of up to the past 72 hours of the most visited pages on your site.

Mint is a software designed to give you useful information about your site at a single glance. And sure, there are things it doesn’t do and services it doesn’t compare to, but by a simple click on an icon in my bookmarks Toolbar, you have access to how your site is being seen and found on the net.

I have had Mint installed for over a year now and I believe it was $35 US but has now been reduced to $30 US. It is a one time fee. There are no recurring monthly fees, which is nice.

I can tell you that I have been found for some pretty interesting key phrases recently. I get found for:

• David Allred
• Home based business
• Inspirational Transformers quotes
• How old is Amy Allred
• How to become a millionaire
• Employee of the Month
• Funny Cubicle Signs
• Time Freedom

The list goes on and on and on. And there you have it. Have fun with it. I know you will find it useful, however, I need to attach a bit of advice.

Question: The following statements are true of false:  The longer you stare at your stats, the better they get. The more often you look at your stats the more they improve.

Answer: False! Simply looking at your stats will not improve your stats. You must not get addicted at always checking. Do the work and know that mint will do its part and tell you your results!

I am a basketball fanatic. If I were to choose between all sports, basketball would be at the top of the list. Not that I don’t enjoy any of the others, I just know the sport of basketball and like to consider myself pretty good at it as well. Well, I guess that directly depends on the physical shape I am currently in. I have recently noticed that it really does make a huge difference in your game if you can barely run up and down the court once before collapsing. Heaven forbid you might have to jump during the whole process!

Recently I came across some old high school basketball footage. Talk about awesome! These tapes were used to critique ourselves and our performance during our past games and to get a little insight as to how the other team plays. Although we had these videos, I don’t recall ever having access to those tapes. During my entire High School basketball career, we didn’t spend any time critiquing ourselves. We just moved forward to the next game. I guess our coach didn’t see the importance of it.

Now let me ask you all a question, and tell me if you think this would be beneficial to you. If you had a recording of your games, would it benefit you to review yourself in action? Do you think it would give a difference perspective on how you perform?

You know, it is said that we are our own worst critics. And if that saying is true, as long as you are being constructive about it, wouldn’t it benefit you to watch yourself in action? I say absolutely yes! As I watched myself in these old recordings of my past High School games, I saw the areas of my game I was slacking in. Most areas I was slacking in have changed since then, but some I can still see myself doing and I am now conscious of those areas. Because of my awareness, I can now correct those bad habits. These tapes would have been so valuable to me when I was in the during, instead of the after stages of that time in my life. Yet, would I have noticed my faults then? Would I have been critical enough?

The best way to help someone recognize their faults, and then to change them,is not to tell them or show them, but to allow them to see them for themselves. That is the most effective way. Me telling you that your actions of having a job that barely pays your bills, is a waste of your talents, time and in general, your life, won’t inspire much change. But for you to tell yourself, that’s power. It’s all about awareness. Once you are aware, you can then decide to change or not. But that awareness is and will always be there to remind you. From that point, it’s up to you on whether or not you would like to take the easier path of not changing, or you can take the more difficult yet most rewarding path of change. At least you are aware of your options.

Now obviously it is much easier to simply film your basketball game than it is to film your entire life, so here are a few ways to keep “footage” of yourself:

• Keep a Journal!
• Start a Blog.
• Spend time with people you respect and ask for feedback or constructive criticism!

If you think that keeping a journal is solely for your ancestors to find out about their great, great, great great grandpa well after you die, think again. That’s one reason. It’s for you, to track your progress, to record wins, to look into as a reminder of how good or how bad you have been doing. It’s a source for you to critique your performance in life. A blog can do the same thing without as much personal details. I have noticed how much I have progressed in my mindset and writing skills since the beginning of this blog. And always be willing to ask and then receive constructive feedback from people you respect.

Don’t ever let your pride get in the way of you becoming better than you were or currently are. There is ALWAYS room for more……YOU!

Email Marketing is a great tool that can increase many areas of your business including residual income, repeat purchases from current customers, lead generation, education to your current customer base and if your into network marketing like me, find future distributors and business partners.

For those of you who are brand new to the term, “email marketing,” it’s a way to create a following, or a list of people that have opted in to receiving emails from you or your company. In a sense, you are building a list of emails from people who might be interested in what you have to share. Now, you can probably agree that most don’t sign up for your email campaign to receive daily sales pitches to their inbox. That is the less effective way to email marketing. Just as it is with blogging, the way to promote your product or service is to offer something for free that is of value to your readers. They get something out of the deal first. They you can subtly offer your product or service.

Most people in your list will simply enjoy the “Free Value” of your efforts while others will take further action. And example offering a free newsletter with tips about making money from home. As you can see, I have an “Empowering Quotes” opt-in form to the right. There are many things you can do to offer something free and something of value.

Recommended email marketing software

But I’m not here to teach you how to do an email marketing campaign, there are tutorials all over the internet that can do that for you. I simply wanted to give you three different options, all with at least a 30 day trial period, to start your email marketing with. Each is unique in design and functionality.

1. AWeber – AWeber is the easiest one to use in my opinion. From creating emails to contact forms, the ease of use is second to none. They have tutorials guiding you step by step along the way. The first month is $1 and depending on your email list, the price starts at $20 per month.
2. Constant Contact – I just signed up for the trial. Most email marketing sites have a standard “enter your email” form that leads to a separate subscribe page where the subscriber can enter more details about themselves. This is one of them. I was referred to this one through my web hosting company, Ipower.com and has a free 60 day trial period.
3. Rate Point – This one is very similar to Constant Contact with a free 30 day trial.

In the income opportunity I am involved in, I use a tool called NorthStar to manage my email marketing campaign. It is only available to those who are part of my business. If I had to choose between the three listed here, Aweber is my choice over the other two and there are probably more options on the net. Do your research, get started on building your list of contacts and watch your business grow in ways it wasn’t before! Have fun with it and be creative in your marketing approach.

Alright everyone, if you have noticed in the right hand sidebar of this blog, I have a way for you all to subscribe to a daily dose of empowerment delivered to your inbox. These quotes are all hand selected by yours truly. They come from various locations around the web and all have provided an added level of inspiration to my life. Thus, I am sharing them with all of you.

If you are a quotes junkie, like me, here are a few more places in addition to mine….let me reemphasize, in addition to mine! I’ll give you two of my favorite sites to visit and subscribe to. One is a site based on true values and can be found at Values.com. The other is a site devoted to personal growth and is found at MorningCoach.com.

To subscribe to Daily Empowering Quotes, you can either fill out the form in the right hand sidebar or click on “Daily Empowering Quotes.

More quotes lists coming in the future. One of which will be Inspirational Movie Quotes!

This is going to be a topic of common sense that many of you are already aware of. But quite frankly, so many people lack common sense. What seems clear to one might be completely confusing to another.

Many of the terms we use in the English language are simply descriptions for the absence of something or the lack of something. These “terms” are ways to describe things that exist but are not tangible, yet, at times you can see them and feel them and at times these “terms”, if allowed to, can effect your thoughts. Now we all know that thoughts are energy and will eventually turn into action should the thought remain consistently.

Here’s an example: Darkness! It exists. You can see it and one might say that the darkness was so thick you could feel it. I think we would all agree that darkness can definitely effect ones thoughts and actions. I know full grown adults that still will not go out in the dark by themselves to take out the trash. It is something that generates that state if mind that we all know too well, it’s called fear. Darkness restricts movement, vision and ones ability to act normally. So what is darkness? Darkness is simply a term used to describe the absence of light. Light is the measurable factor here. Without it, there is darkness.

Another example: Debt! Debt definitely exists. You can see it in your life and we know that a significant amount of debt can effect ones thoughts and actions. In speaking with people about starting a home business, their main goal is to get out of debt. Debt instills fear in people. Fear of losing their home or not being able to make their bills. If it is bad debt, it restricts people in their ability to live a happy and fulfilled life. But what is debt? Debt is simply the absence of cash flow, or money! With money, debt doesn’t exist.

So here’s my point: A goal to get out of debt is a goal trying to get out of nothing. The real goal is to make money. So set that goal to the amount you desire. Getting out of debt is part of the process. Setting a goal to get out of debt is like saying, “Can you please take away the darkness?” We don’t say that! We just say, “Hey, can you turn on the lights?” The darkness goes away as part of the process.

You can’t take away the darkness without the proper actions and tools. You are required to get your butt up, walk to the switch, flip the switch on and have previously paid your electric bill. It works the same way with debt. Simply wanting to get out of debt won’t work. You’ve got to take the appropriate actions with the correct tools in order to fix your status of being in the “Absense of Money!”

If I can teach you anything, learn this one thing…debt is only the lack of money in your life. So instead of focusing on NOTHING (debt), focus on something. Focus on the things you want AFTER you have created the income that will, along the process, relieve you of the “absence of money.”

Are you truly fit for Entrepreneurship? I stumbled across an article while surfing through Entrepreneur.com, so they deserve the credit for these questions. The title of the post was “How to Start a Retail Business.” Ask yourself in an honest assessment if you are truly fit for Entrepreneurship. These questions are related to starting a retail business, but the same still applies.

1. Are you good at multitasking? In your own business, you have to be willing and able to do everything yourself. When you work for someone else, you are usually responsible for just one thing and have limited control. You are supported by others with expertise or experience in different roles and functions. In retail, every day can be a stretch, as you encounter customers, employees, vendors and landlords. You can’t say, “That’s not my job.” It’s all yours.
2. What is your risk tolerance? In a startup retail business, you worry about being in the right place at the right time with the right goods and services for the right people at the right price. Do you adjust quickly to unplanned events or prefer more predictable, organized projects? Do you see risk as a threat or an opportunity?
3. Do you count on a paycheck? New business owners can rarely count on a regular paycheck. Startups frequently require more capital than planned. Something’s bound to go wrong or change even though everything is penciled out in your plan. If you break out in a cold sweat if you aren’t paid on the same day every month, you may want to rethink going out on your own. Most of the money you make will go right back into inventory and other costs of doing business.
4. Are you a self-starter and comfortable being alone? Or do you draw your energy from being around others and count on colleagues for support and advice? In your own business, you must lead, knowing what to do and when to do it, and be fully accountable for everything that happens. The buck stops with you. Sometimes that’s a lonely place.
5. Do you value predictability or prize diversity? Not only are there laws against discrimination in hiring and business practices, but America is a multicultural society. When you open your store or service company, you will be interacting with a wide spectrum of customers, vendors, advisors and employees. Retailers need to be people-oriented, flexible and good-natured. Can you manage conflict, see things from others’ point of view, and cater to their taste, not yours?

I can tell you, as an entrepreneur myself, these are right on the money. So if you are someone who is thinking about starting a business, whether a home based business or brick and mortar, make a very honest assessment of yourself and your abilities. Desire can only take you so far before you actually have to start thinking and acting like an an entrepreneur.