It’s been a while since I have blogged. I’ve been extremely busy with some new products and other tools.  It’s been crazy.

Here is a quick update and talk about learning and self improvement.

We’ll talk soon…….

- Hill

A little about Harry Potter, our vacation, and the benefits of an internet business……..

Well, after I started noticing twitter being talked about practically everywhere, I decided to take the plunge.  I knew Twitter had really made the jump from being a fad to being mainstream when it was being talked about on just about every popular television show and news cast - even the non-geeky and non-tech-savvy ones.

You can see my twitter page at http://twitter.com/HillRobertson

Twitter can really be beneficial for some great up to date info.  There are many ways that it can be used for internet marketing for both individuals and businesses.  Please subscribe to my posts (top right side of this page) and over the coming weeks, you will learn how you can benefit from twitter.

Later…….

- Hill

A few days ago, I went to pick up my kids from school (one of the benefits of not having a “job”).  After we got home, they had the brilliant idea of setting up a lemonade stand in front of our house by the road to make some extra money.  (I guess they get their entrepreneurship from me.) To me, this did not sound like the best idea since we live near the end of a small private road without much traffic at all.  However, I figured I would let them do it so they learn a little bit about business and “location, location, location”.  They would probably just sit there for an hour or two, drink the lemonade themselsves, have no customers, and that would be that.  I would teach them a little bit about business and they would learn from the experience and never set up a lemonade stand in front of our home again.  Boy, was I wrong.

Here’s what happened………

My kids got out their little folding table and a couple of chairs and set them right next to the road.  They taped some posterboard to the front of the table with a sign that said “Lemonade”.  They had “Mommy” make a pitcher of lemonade and a bucket of ice.  They carefully carried the lemonade and ice to the table and set it up nicely.  They even took some of Mommy’s coffee cups (with lids of course) and had them ready to go.

While I thought they would charge 10 or 20 cents for a cup of lemonade, to my shock, they were charging $2.00 PER CUP!  I couldn’t believe it and I have no idea where they came up with that price.  (No one would buy it at that price, would they?)

Well, it turned out that one of our neighbors a couple of houses down had a party going on in their back yard.  One of the “party attendees” meandered over to the lemonade stand.  He said, “I like to support our local businesses.” and followed with “How much for a glass of lemonade?”  My kids said “$2.00″.  (I was expecting a gasp or some sort of comment about how expensive it was or how it was 10 cents when they were young.)  He simply said, “I’ll take 3 cups.”  He even left a tip in the cup basket.

While I was amazed, my kids faces lit up with excitement as they landed their first sale and saw how quickly they could make money.  Well, this must have energized their little behinds because immediately following this influx of cash, our middle child hops on his bike and starts riding up and down the street proclaiming at the top of his lungs, “Lemonade, two dollars!”,  “Lemonade, two dollars!”.

At this point, our little 3 year old decided to join in and he got on his tricycle peddling as fast as his little feet could go.  Up and down the street he went following his bigger brother.  The bigger brothers taped another leonade sign on the front of the tricycle.  Now, their entire advertising and marketing staff was in full swing.

Shortly after, a woman drove by and also asked to buy a cup of lemonade.  So now, they had made 4 sales all within a time span of about 30 minutes.  I started realizing that they were beginning to understand business and how to make money.  I was getting concerned that they would not be interested in doing their chores anymore or working extra jobs around the house for money when they could quickly sell some lemonade without much physical effort and could make more money in a shorter amount of time.  We’ll see what happens…….

Now, to the point of this story…….

I was right their with my kids to experience this once in a lifetime event.  It was about 3:30 in the afternoon when the lemonade stand opened.  I enjoyed every moment watching the different emotions flood their tender impressionable minds.  I was there for their first lemonade stand.  There will never again be a “first” lemonade stand for them.  I got to experience it first hand because I do not have to be at a job working all day just to get home to see them for an hour or two and being exhausted from working all day.  I was able to be there with and for my kids.  Do you get to experience the lives of your kids?  Are you working all the time and missing out on your family?  Will you have regrets 10 or 20 years from now when your kids are grown and out of the house?  Think about what is really important……

The path your life takes is your choice.  You can choose to work for someone else and miss out on a lot of life experiences or you can take control of your own destiny and enjoy life to it’s fullest.

- Hill

OK.  So you ask, “Hill, you keep talking about making money online but you don’t always give details about how.”

Well, here you go…….  Here is one of many ways of making money online.  The beauty about this method is that you don’t even need a product of your own.  The most common term is “Affiliate Marketing”.  The way it works is as follows….

A merchant has a product they want to sell and they want to get as many interested people as possible to see their product.  They may not know much about marketing or they may not have a good budget for marketing.  Whatever the reason, they decide to let other people become and affiliate to promote their product.  In return, they are willing to give the affiliate a commission (or portion) of the profits for helping them make a sale.  So, it is a good deal for both parties involved.  The merchant makes a sale without having to do much advertising and the affiliate makes money by referring the customer without having to have a product of their own and dealing with the customer.  The affiliate is basically a middleman that get a cut of the action.

So, you can be an affiliate.  Many merchants have affiliate programs.  Sometimes they have different names such as “associates program” or “referral program”, but they generally follow the same idea.  Some merchants have their own programs but many use affiliate networks that make things much easier for both the affiliate and the merchant.  The affiliate network handles the transactions and pays the merchant and the affiliate on a regular basis.  This is convenient for all parties involved.  In addition, as an affiliate, you may decide to promote many different offers within an affiliate network and all of the commissions you make will all be included in your check (so you don’t have to get a bunch of smaller checks.)  Many of the networks have excellent tools for finding offers and tracking your results.

To get started, you need to find some affiliate networks and sign up for them.  You can then browse around their offers and pick the ones you want to promote.  There are thousands and thousands of offers out there so you will probably find something you are interested in.  Typically, they give you a special web link that you can use on your blog, in an email, in a pay-per-click ad, or almost anywhere else you want to put it.  Then, if someone clicks on your link and makes a purchase, you will get credit for the sale and you will be credited your commission in your affiliate network account.  Isn’t that cool?

Many people have mastered the art of affiliate marketing and make millions of dollars promoting other people’s products.  There are all kinds of techniques for affiliate marketing.  Start doing some Google searches for affiliate networks and affiliate marketing and you just might like what you see and make some money along the way………..

- Hill

Even though it has only been 1 month since Christmas, in the blink of an eye it will be Christmas time all over again.  Time seems to move so quickly.  I tease my wife all the time and tell her, “It’s only 11 months until Christmas”.  She sweetly snickers, rolls her eyes, and occasionally mumbles, “Oh, brother….”  Doesn’t it feel like we just had Christmas and it has already been a month?

Where has the time gone this past month?  Have you already abandoned your New Year’s Resolutions?  If you want to improve yourself by the end of this year, start right now.  Whatever your goal may be, get on the path to acheive your goals now or you will be wishing you did in a year from now and making the same old New Year’s resolutions (that you will probably break again next year).

If you want more money, focus on starting your own business now.

If you want to lose weight, start exercising and eating healthy now.

If you want to be a better Christian, start daily Bible studies now.

If you want to be a better parent, start right now.

If you really think about it, you probably already know what you need to do and what you should do to achieve whatever you want.  The key to acheiving it is actually doing it.  We do what we want to do.  Most of the time, what we want to do right now will not give us the long term results that we really want.  Just take a look at debt in this country (and the root cause of the economic situation we are in now).  People want things now instead of doing the hard and not-very-fun thing of earning and saving the money first.  So, people go into massive debt that they can’t afford.  Then with the interest added on top of it, it makes it even harder to catch up.

This is the same pattern for most anything.  Take being overweight as an example.  Exercising and eating right are not very fun and it takes an ongoing effort.  It is much more fun and easy to eat that banana split (my favorite) or go through the drive-thru and pick up a super-sized “value” meal.  After all, there is always tomorrow to start exercising.  However, that tomorrow never comes.  I think you see where I am going with this…..

The bottom line is that it is your choice.  I talk about choices all the time.  Everything you do is a choice and only you can make those choices.  Whether they be easy or difficult, you decide the path of your future.  You are who you are today because of the decisions you have made in the past - like it or not.  And….  The choices you make from this point on will determine who you will become.  You are in control of your future.  Make wise choices and you can the person you want to be.

- Hill

Merry Christmas Everyone!  It has been a wonderful year!  I hope everyone has also had a blessed and prosperous year.  It is truly a blessing to have a business of your own that you can watch grow throughout the year.  If you don’t have one yet, it’s never too late to start.  You can start planning for 2009 so that next Christmas you can be in control of your own financial freedom.

At this time of year, most people are racking up credit cards and getting more in debt.  Most won’t get their credit cards paid off until sometime next year (if even by then).  However, some people that have their own businesses are able to pay themselves large end of the year bonuses that pay for all kinds of great Christmas presents for their family and friends with a lot left over to put in the bank, invest, or whatever their heart desires.

Which type of person are you?  It is in your control.  It is your choice.  You can choose to be financially free if you want to be.  Choose and then take action.  You will choose and act one way or the other.  By choosing nothing, you are defaulting to your exact situation right now.  So, choose wisely.

2009 is approaching fast.  Start making plans and goals for what you want to acheive in 2009 and beyond.  Start now and hit the ground running - no matter what your goals.  You have been blessed with opportunity beyond your imagination.  All you have to do is to take advantage of it.  Don’t focus on the negatives in your life.  We all have negatives.  They will just bring you down and keep you from being all that you can be.  Focus on the positives and what you can be.  The potential is there.  It is up to you to take advantage of it.

Make your 2009 Christmas the best one ever.  Start preparing now.

God bless and Merry Christmas!

…… and to All a Good Night…….

- Hill Robertson

With all of these government bailouts (that we the taxpayers are paying for), it makes you wonder - “Where is MY bailout!”  All of these multi-billion dollar banks, insurance companies, auto makers, and everyone else in line all say that they are going to go bankrupt and need someone to give them money to stay afloat.  Well how about you and your family?

Many people are in debt to their eyeballs and don’t see a way of getting out without a bailout of there own.  Are you in this same situation living paycheck to paycheck? Don’t you wish you could ask the government for a bailout to pay off your debts so YOU can stay afloat?  Well, think again.  The government is not about to bail you out too.

However, hope is not lost.  You CAN have a bailout of your very own.  It won’t be a free handout from the government or anyone else; but you can create your own bailout.  There is nothing to keep you from generating your own income in addition to what you are already making.  There are so many opportunities of making money with your own business.  With an internet based business, your costs are so low, there is virtually no risk.

Don’t get caught up in JOB mentality.  Your JOB does not have to be your only source of income.  You don’t have to stay in your normal rut of going to work, putting in your time (probably doing something you really aren’t excited about doing), and coming home to sit on the couch watching the time-robbing television and falling asleep only to wake up and start the process all over again.

You can create a business doing something you love.  It won’t be easy, but you can eventually build it to replace your JOB so that you can work when you want and doing what you want.  It won’t happen unless you start.  Decide what you love to do and think about what product or service you could sell.  It may be the best decision of your life.

It is your choice….  Keep doing what you have always done and you will keep getting what you’ve already got.  Or, step out and choose to take control of your life and create your very own bailout!

If you want to get started with a website of your very own but don’t know where to start, post a comment on this post.  It will be kept private……

- Hill

Millions of Americans are nervous about what the future holds in this seemingly inevitable economic crash.  There is frantic debate on how to ease the pain of the impending crunch.  From bailout to “hand up”, everyone comes up with different ideas on how to approach it and no one seems to know what will really happen no matter what we do.

Politics has heavily entered the debate and the finger pointing and blame game is more fierce than ever.  No matter what caused it, it looks like we are in for a tough ride one way or the other.  I try to look at the good in everything and here is my positive outlook about the economic crisis……

This could be a good wake up call to all Americans.  It SHOULD get people to take a hard look at their finances and especially their spending habits.  People should realize how much they are spending on things that are really not important.  Most Americans do not save enough for a rainy day if they save anything at all.  In fact, most have quite a bit of credit card debt that was incurred by a “gotta have it” mentality on totally unnecessary expenditures.  Hopefully people will focus on getting their debts paid off instead of eating out every other night and buying the latest cool gadget.

Families all across America would do good to spend some time at home with their kids instead of taking them to the movies and eating at the local chain restaurant.  What ever happened to the good old days of playing catch with your son in the backyard on a beautiful Saturday afternoon or having a make believe tea party with your daughter?  What about having a picnic at the local (and FREE) park?  What about going camping for a family vacation instead of traveling to the nearest theme park and racking up the credit cards on hotels, food and tickets?

A lot of the personal spending issues are due to not planning appropriately.  Do you run to the store every time you run out of something and end up going there three or four times a week?  With gas prices the way they are, that can rack up the bills.  A better approach is to plan out the meals for the week ahead of time and take one trip to the grocery store and get just what you need (and don’t go when you are hungry and tempted to buy everything in sight).  Plan out your budget on a regular basis and stick to it.  Do NOT do any impulse buying!  We could discuss budgets and all kinds of dos and don’ts but that is for another time….

It will take a change in habits but they are all good changes and great for building family values and strengthening the family bond.  Your kids will appreciate it too and learn some valuable lessons and build tremendous character along the way.

This economic downturn can get us all to WAKE UP and get our own finances on the right track.  We cannot directly change the way government wastes our money and has no fiscal responsibility, but we CAN take control of our own finances and families.  It is not going to be total Armageddon and if you get your own act in order and your finances under control, it could actually be the best days of your life if you focus on the importance of the little things that we take for granted.

Use this as a time to appreciate the blessings that you do have instead of focusing on what you don’t have and can’t get.  Stop trying to keep up with the Joneses.  (They are probably floundering in debt and on the brink of bankruptcy wishing they had the life you have anyway.)  Do you have family that loves you?  Do you have food to eat and clothes to wear?  Stop and smell the roses….  They are all around you if you take the time to appreciate them.  Even in tough economic times, we are all so richly blessed.

- Hill

Labor day originated in 1882 as the Central Labor Union of New York City looked to create a “day off for the working citizens”.  Most “working” people with typical jobs look forward to this day off of work.  Frequently you will hear people with a job excited about a day off.

While taking time off from “work” to spend time with your family is a very good thing to do, wouldn’t you rather work for yourself and be able to take off whenever you want and not have to wait for a national holiday to spend time with your family?

Don’t just settle for trading your time for money at a JOB where you will always be a slave to your employer and many times have to sacrifice important valuable family time to fulfill your employers dreams instead of your own.  If you haven’t already, now is the time to start your own business and start paving the way to your own freedom and financial independence.

You can do it.  One of the best ways is to start an internet based business doing whatever you love to do.  Just set up a blog or some sort of web based tool to get your information out there and build up a list of subscribers to your information.  From that list and the relationships you build, you can create a product or service and start selling it.  It’s not as difficult as you may think.  The toughest part is just getting started.  Maybe labor day is the day for you to start forging your path to success.

Happy Labor Day!

- Hill Robertson