I live in Central Florida and we had the massive power outage all over the central and southern part of the state. The outage made national news. About 8 power plants were down for a few hours. One of the biggest issues with the power outage was the loss of power to many traffic lights. There were many accidents due to the powerless traffic lights. There was also a lot of traffic congestion causing many commute delays.

One thing I realized even more in this situation was how people feel about their passion or their J.O.B. Without fail, everyone that I talked to about the power outages with a JOB was either glad the power was out at their job so they didn’t have to work any more the rest of the day. Or, if the power was on where they worked, they wished it would go out for them so they didn’t have to work.

On the other hand, everyone that I talked to about the power outages that ran their own business and had a passion for what they do were glad they didn’t lose power so their work was not interrupted and they could continue to improve their business. Or, if their power was out, they couldn’t wait for it to come back on so they could get back to running their business that they loved. In fact, many of them that lost power were still working their business in ways that they didn’t need power.

You can really see the difference between those with JOB mentality and those with a freedom mentality. You can also see how people’s passions drive them to have a better business in times like this. It is really fascinating to see what really comes out of people when faced with challenges.

What do you do when the power goes out? Do you use it as an excuse to be lazy or do you look for ways to make the most of the time and still get things done?

- Hill Robertson

Submitting your blog to blog carnivals is one of the best ways to get quality targeted traffic to your blog. I am launching a new type of blog carnival submission service. It is a “pay per post” type of service. It is not a subscription service. This allows you to pick and choose the blog posts that you want to submit to the carnivals and when you want to submit them.

You can get it here:

http://hillrobertson.com/BlogCarnivalSubmissionService

All you have to do is purchase a submission and submit your blog post info in a simple form. Then, just wait for your information to be submitted to various blog carnivals that are related to the topic of your post. You will start to see your links posted to carnivals as they are issued. The links will start trickling in. The more submissions you make, the more links you get.

My service also allows you to stand out by giving you the option to add your own remarks about the blog post. This can be a summary or some sort of “teaser” to get readers to click on your link. This can be a very big advantage over the other blogs posted to the carnivals because most other blog links will just have the minimum information required.

Start sending quality traffic to your blog with my blog carnival submission service by clicking on the following link:

http://hillrobertson.com/BlogCarnivalSubmissionService

Submit your blog posts now.

- Hill Robertson

There really are an unlimited amount of ways you can make money on the internet legally, morally, and ethically. There are a lot of scams out there but there are also plenty of good ways to make money. The problem so many people have is there is too much - too many choices. Is this the problem you have?

It is easy to get paralyzed into doing nothing because you don’t know which path to choose. I have done the same thing many times before. As an entrepreneur, I constantly have money making ideas going through my head. They could all probably make good money, but I will catch myself not even getting started on one because I keep thinking what else I can do that would be even better. The reality is, until action is taken to actually turn the idea into a product, create the copy, and sell it, it is going to make absolutely zero dollars no matter what other “better” ideas are floating around my head. Do you do the same thing?

Until I learned to take an idea and just run with it until it is complete, I kept jumping from one thing to another. It is also easier to just focus on one product and get it done. You will be able to produce every product quicker when you focus on it. Then, once it is done, you can move on to the next “better” product. You will never have a perfect product. So stop waiting until it is perfect.

Just pick an idea for a product that you are passionate about and focus on it until it is complete. Sure, you may make some mistakes along the way but that is how you learn to make the next one even better. You won’t succeed without making some mistakes along the way anyway. So go ahead and get a bunch of “mistakes” under your belt so you can be closer to achieving your goals of success!

- Hill Robertson

Did you miss the password for the last post? Sorry…..

The passwords for private (protected) posts are sent to my subscribers that are subscribed via email (not external RSS readers). They get sent out prior to the private posts.

If you want the password for future private postings, please subscribe at the top right of this page so you will get future notifications. If you do, you will also get other benefits such as early product launches and/or discounts as well as extra little tid bits here and there.

All you need to do is enter your first name and your primary email address. I will NEVER sell or give your information to anyone. I hate spam myself with a passion since I host websites and have web/email servers all over the country and I know what a pain it is dealing with it. You’ll want to use your primary email address to hopefully avoid spam filters that drop so much of the valid mail these days (especially to free email accounts).

You can always cancel your subscription at any time if you want to quit getting emails.

Go ahead and sign up if you haven’t already……….. Do it now.

- Hill Robertson

Every now and then, something in your life just may grab your attention and make you think a bit about what you are doing with your life and what really matters. You’ve probably heard the saying, “Stop and smell the roses.” Generally, it refers to taking the time to appreciate the things around you and embrace life. Be thankful for what God has blessed you with. Slow down a little bit and realize what is really important in life.

Another saying by the great philosopher, Ferris Bueller - “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” Once again, the idea is to slow down and really appreciate life and all of our blessings.

Every once in a while, you get a swift kick in the rear by some life changing event or challenge that makes you really focus on the things you are spending your valuable time on and what is REALLY important. What is really important to you? What should you be doing differently once you realize what your priorities SHOULD be?

It can be easy to lose site on the important things in life when you are trying to build an internet business. You can get so caught up in the busy work of running your business that you overlook your family and other priorities. You convince yourself that they are the reason you are building the business. While this is probably true, you need to focus your efforts on working smart. Do things in a smart way so you won’t end up doing “busy work”. Put systems in place and/or outsource your busy work so you can spend time with your family and do the things that are important. You can always build your business late at night and miss a little sleep. Missing a little sleep is much better than missing out out your family. You only have one chance to teach your children how to ride a bike for the first time - or catch their first fish - or hit their first ball - or FILL IN YOUR OWN LIFE MOMENT HERE. Don’t miss out on all of the little things in life. The little things in life ARE life. Life is a long journey full of “little moments”. You want to experience as many little moments as possible.

Keep in mind, the reason you are building your own business is so you can have the freedom to be able to experience more of these little moments since you won’t have to be working at a J.O.B. You will be able to be where you want to be when you want to be there. So, work smart so you can smell the roses.

- Hill Robertson

Do you have business systems in place that do work for you whether you do anything or not? A business system in place that gives you the freedom to focus on other areas of your business or take care of other matters is one of the key ingredients to a successful business.

Today was a great example of how one of my business systems kept my internet business rolling along while I was unable to. You see, today, I had an appointment with my eye doctor. I was planning on a normal checkup with no interruption to my regular business and family activities. However, it turned out that I needed to have my eyes dilated for some of the tests. Getting your eyes dilated in not fun at all. It disrupts a lot of your routine.

After the procedure, I had to wear 2 pairs of sunglasses (at the same time) to keep the light low enough to not be painful to my eyes. They said my eyes would not be “normal” for at least 3 or 4 hours. As soon as I got home, I got in bed and covered my head so there was no light getting to my eyes so I could have some relief until my pupils returned to normal. I had to wait a few more hours before they felt normal again. In fact, I kept the sunglasses on for the first few hours on my computer (and we’re talking at night) just to stay comfortable.

Anyway, thanks to my business systems in place, I didn’t have to worry about many of my normal functions (such as blog carnival submissions). If I had to submit them myself, my eyes could not have handled it and I probably would be in too much pain to write this blog posting.

So, set up as many business systems as you can to reduce the work you have to do yourself. This will free up your time to focus on other areas of your business (or let you go to the eye doctor and have your eyes dilated).

- Hill Robertson

One of the most important pieces of a successful business of any kind is having a list of “customers”. My email subscription list is basically my list of customers. It doesn’t mean that any of them buy anything. But they do have an interest in the information I post on this blog. In a way it is similar to someone visiting a store and browsing the merchandise. Let’s look at an example…..

If I like model trains, I may visit a particular model train store every now and then to see what new trains are in stock. I probably won’t buy anything the first few times I visit the store but I will probably have a good time since I like model trains. While I visit the store, I may talk with the owner on occasion and build some sort of relationship with the owner. It still doesn’t mean I will buy anything. However, if someone else I know mentions something about model trains, there is a good chance I will mention the store that I like to visit. This is word of mouth advertising and can be very powerful for any business.

I would probably visit the train store many more times since I enjoy it and may learn something new about model trains that I didn’t know before. I will also probably meet some other people in the store that have something in common with me - model trains. This is even more reinforcement for me to return to the store another time.

Then, one day when I finally decide to buy a model train, I know exactly where to go. There is really not much “selling” or “pitching” the owner would have to do since I already have a relationship with the owner and have a sense of trust with him or her. I would probably even pay a little bit more to the store than I would to someone else that I do not know.

Blogs are really not much different. They are your “store” if you will. It is a place where your “customers” return on a regular basis and build a relationship with you and build a trust with you. They will keep coming back to see what is new with you and to hopefully learn a little bit more about what they enjoy.

This is one of the reasons it is so important to build a subscriber list. It allows you to let your subscribers (customers) know when you have updated your “inventory” or have some more words of wisdom to share with them. If you sell something through your blog, your frequent visitors will many times be the first to purchase your products since they already know you and trust you.

So, be sure to have an opt-in form so your visitors can subscribe to your blog and you can keep them informed and continue to build a relationship that will last a very long time.

One of the reasons I have started implementing the private posts is to encourage frequent visitors to sign up for my blog notification subscription so they can be added to my customer list. Subscribers benefit too with valuable information posts that I don’t publish to everyone and also with special product discounts or early releases.

Do you have a list for your business? You should. If not, get started right now….

- Hill Robertson

Think back on some of the things you have been passionate about throughout the years. What hobbies have you had in the past that you really loved? Are you still actively pursuing those passions? Which of those passions have you lost interest in or have otherwise let fall to the wayside?

It can be very important to understand why you lost interest in previous passions. If you can determine the factors involved in letting go of your passions, you will better understand how to stay passionate about something for a longer period of time (or why you may not stay passionate about something as you look a little way down the road).

As we’ve discussed before, you will want to spend more time on things you have a passion for. Your desire will keep you motivated and it will be obvious in your work whether it is in your internet business, family life, hobbies, or just about anything else.

On the same thought, if you recognize the reasons you stuck with certain passions that you have had for longer periods of time, you can better understand what factors are involved in consistently sticking with those passions.

Identify your passions and use them to create happiness and potentially a successful business. Just think about the things you love to do. What would you do if time was not an issue? What would you do if money was not an issue? Those things are the very things that just may give you the time and money freedoms you desire.

- Hill Robertson

The big news today has been the presidential election primaries. Everyone wants their candidate to win for many different reasons. The issues cover just about the entire spectrum including religious beliefs, taxes, health care, illegal immigration, the war in Iraq, the economy, education, and the list goes on and on. When you boil it all down, people tend to vote for the candidate they believe will give them what they want.

What motivates the way you vote or who you want to win? Do you want the candidate that says they will give you everything for free (usually at the expense of others) or do you want the candidate that best enables you to build a successful business of your own? The lines often get blurred as to which side each candidate falls in these areas. Regardless of how you plan to vote (or if you are going to vote at all), you have a choice of how successful you will be.

If you put all of your hope and dreams in what someone else will do for you, whether it be the president of the country or your boss at work, you will end up disappointed. You are the only one that can control the path of your future. While other outside forces may change the terrain of your path and may cause little bumps, pot holes, and maybe even detours along the way, you are still in control of where you drive and how fast you get there.

It really just takes a decision on your part and then consistent action. You can choose to be successful and you can shape your future based on your actions today. Start on your journey of success today. It is YOUR decision. No matter who wins in the primaries or general election, your future is in your control - if you decide to take control. If you take control of your future and take action, the real winner is YOU.

- Hill Robertson