Let’s talk about success today.

After all, I HAVE built my personal brand around inspiring people to unleash success in their lives.

In doing that, I have talked a lot about determination, perspective, how to handle your dreams…I’ve even shared some social media management tips, business building concepts, communication strategies and mindset practices.

But, what I realized last week, was this: I haven’t really addressed success in the simplest form. What I mean by that is looking at it from a defining standpoint, and digging into what it really means for you as an individual.

See, I have been going through some serious self assessment these last few weeks, which is one reason why I haven’t posted any new information. I do this periodically in life, just to check my path and make sure I am still headed the direction I want to head with my life, my business, etc. This time though I purposed to do it deeper, to do it stronger, and to really dig around deep in my heart to make sure I am on the path I want to be on.

What Is Success?

See, success means different things to different people.

For one person it may mean a fine career with benefits and a pension plan. To another, it may mean a loving family with the basic needs of life met. To another it may mean reaching an educational milestone or attaining some sort of distinction in their chosen career path. To another, it may mean building a successful corporation with millions, or even billions of dollars in assets and revenue.

Success, by way of Webster’s definition is “the act of achieving or accomplishing”, and “to reach a desired end”.

I think the definition of success runs much deeper than that though. What you equate with success and what I equate with success may be two completely different things.

I believe success is really found when a person is happy and fulfilled doing whatever it is that they are doing. Success is not measured by how much a person achieves or accomplishes in life, as most people believe.

Your success can only be measured by you. Do you feel successful? Did you reach or achieve the goal that you had for yourself? Are you happy and fulfilled doing what you do? If you answered yes to these questions, then you – my friend – are successful.

No other person on the planet can define success for you, you must define it for yourself.

How Do You Define Success?

So in order to define success for yourself, you must ask yourself a few questions, and be brutally honest when you answer them.

1. What is your personal definition of success?
2. What does success look like to you?
3. Do you feel successful? If no, why not?
4. What needs to change in your life in order for you to feel success?
5. What do you believe you need in order to have peace and meaning in your life?
6. What do you do each day that brings you joy and fulfillment?
7. What makes you feel energized and motivated?
8. How often do you do those things you listed in items 5-7?
9. What prevents you from doing more of those things?
10. What steps can you take to ensure you have these things in your life?

Once you have answered these questions as honestly as you can, then you will have a pretty good idea of what success looks like for you, personally.

Next, you want to FORGET everything you have ever heard or learned about success from anyone else, including your family and closest friends. You have your very own perspective of success, and now you can begin living YOUR life, the way YOU want to live it in order to see those things YOU deem important, fulfilling, and meaningful manifest.

Success Scenario in 4 Simple Steps

Finally, to really make this real for yourself, you can write a personal success scenario. This is really easy to do.

1. Think about what success looks like for you.
2. Write it down in story format (this can be as long or short as you wish, as long as it reflects what your personal picture of success would be).
3. Read it and think about it each day.
4. Express gratitude to God for bringing you to a place of personal success in your life

Now, because I truly care about your success, and helping you get there.  I decided to go the extra mile for you today. 

Seriously…to make this process a little easier for you, I created two downloadable worksheets you can use to walk yourself through these steps.

You can access them here:

Defining Success Worksheet 1

Defining Success Worksheet 2

I would love to hear your thoughts on success.  Drop down below and leave me some comments.  As always, if you found value, re-tweets, bookmarking, and facebook shares are always appreciated!!

Always Supporting Your Personal Success Goals!!

PS. If you found these resources helpful, you will LOVE Krista’s 7 Day video series on “Secrets to Unleashing Success”. You can get it for free…just fill in your name and email in the box at the top right of this page.

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How Do Thoughts Impact Your Life?

The thought patterns we live with day in and day out have extreme influence into the direction our lives take.  Essentially, our thoughts can make us or they can break us. Eliminating negative thoughts and thought patterns is crucial to your success and happiness in life.

Now this concept is nothing new to those who are familiar with the Law of Attraction and the principles that surround it.   There are a lot of one liners that originated out of this movement that point to such.  Some of these include quotes such as:

“Thoughts become things.”

“What you think about, you bring about.”

These concepts are valid and true. Scripture even supports them when it says:

“As a man thinks in his heart…so is he” (Proverbs 27:3)

So, with this knowledge comes the understanding that the direction of your thoughts lead to the direction of your life.  Therefore, it is important that you maintain a complete awareness of what you are thinking.

Studies reveal that the average human has approximately 60,000 thoughts per day.   And for those, like me, whose brains never stop working…there can be even more than that!! 

Because there are so many thoughts running through your mind each day, it is next to impossible to monitor them all, but you can monitor the climate of your thought life by being aware and attentive to your feelings.  Thoughts influence your feelings, therefore if you are feeling bad, angry, depressed, or frustrated, this can be a “red flag” for you to pause and trace that feeling back to the thought processes or patterns that led you down that path to begin with.

Left unaltered, negative thinking can lead to negative living.  The reason for this is simple – negative energy creates or attracts more negative energy, and ultimately – negative outcomes.  Therefore, once identified, it is essential that you consistently practice taking immediate and focused action to correct your thinking and bring it back into alignment with the direction you want your life to take…a positive peaceful and focused direction.

Techniques  To Eliminate Negative Thought Patterns and Change Your Life

There are many techniques you can use to refocus yourself, eliminate negative thought patterns, and bring balance back to your thought life.  Some of the techniques I personally use and have found to be most effective are prayer, meditation, breathing exercises, and self-talk (aka: affirmations or desire statements).

All of these help me recenter my thought patterns and bring my thoughts into alignment with my intended goals and desired direction for life.

For the purposes of this post, I want to focus on one of these, and we will save the others for future discussions.

Self-Talk and Your Thought Life

To really demonstrate the power and effectiveness of self-talk, I want to share with you a small portion of my personal journey with this technique.

Millionaire Mentors: Steven Thompson, Krista Abbott, Brad Hager, and Susan Walsh

I first began using self-talk about a year ago after a millionaire mentor of mine (Brad Hager) shared with me the importance of how it had impacted his life.  As is typical with most “new habits” we try to form, it faded away after about two months.  Amazingly, this happened even though I was seeing positive results with the actions I was taking with self-talk.  There are lots of reasons this can happen, but again that’s another post for another day…on with the story!

About a month ago, I began to notice a significant increase in negative thought patterns, so much so that it was impacting my motivation to pursue those things I am most passionate about.  Immediately, I sat down and started to write out some positive self-talk that would help me combat these things.  And, within two weeks, I had instant results of overcoming and eliminating that particular thought pattern in my life.

I have seen the power of self-talk and I know it works. If your self talk is negative, then your results will be negative.  If your self talk is positive then your results will be positive.  If you really want to have the outcomes and results you desire in your life, then you MUST recognize and eliminate negative thought patterns, and replace them with new ones.

This is called “Renewing Your Mind”.

“…be transformed by the renewing of your mind…” (Romans 12:2)

I would encourage you to identify areas that you are know you are struggling with positive thinking in and write out your own self-talk for those areas you are most passionate about.  It’s easy to do this, I’ll give you a few easy steps and some examples here:

10 Easy Steps To Creating Your Own Self-Talk

1. Get about 10 index cards (3 x 5 size),  a piece of scratch paper, and a writing instrument
2. Draw a line down the middle of the scratch paper
3. Think about the things you want to see manifest in your life and jot those down in column one of the scratch paper.  For example:  I want to make more money.”
4. Think about the negative thought patterns you have that block those things from coming into your life and jot those down in column two of the scratch paper.  For example, “…why can’t I ever seem to get ahead in life.”
5. Repeat this until you feel satisfied that all you want to manifest in your life is represented in column one and all the things that block you are in column two.
6. If you have more than 10, then you may want to narrow your focus and identify the Top 10 and save the rest for later.
7. It is recommended that you categorize the 10 items if possible.  For example: using cateogories such as “feelings”, “mindset”, “finances”, “relationships”, etc.
8. Next, take your 3 x 5 cards and one by one begin to write a positive statement that addresses the desire you have written in column one and counteracts the negative thought patterns you have identified in column 2.  For example, “I am a money magnet, money flows to me easily and effortlessly.  It feels great to be able to give generously and help others with my excess money.”
   
9. Make sure you use “feeling words” as much as possible to support the visualization that goes with your self talk.
   
10. Repeat this until you have your 10 cards written.

What To Do With Your Self-Talk Cards

I make it a habit to read each of my cards each morning when I wake up and each night before I go to sleep.  The reason for this is that scientific studies have shown that these are the times when your brain is most open to receive and retain the information presented to it.  So it is very important that the first thing you think about each day and the last thing you think about each night is positive.  Then these thoughts can work into the deeper and more influential portions of your brain.

Now, when reading them practice reading with these steps:’

1. Read silently to yourself and think about what you are reading
2. Read it out loud so that you can hear yourself saying it.
3. Pause and purposefully feel how the manifestation of that statement will feel when it arrives in your life.
4. Hold that feeling for at least a minute.
5. When ready move on to the next card and repeat until finished.

Keep your self-talk cards handy and accessible throughout the day.  Frankly, you will want to keep these cards with you as much as possible.  I actually carry mine around in my computer bag (which goes with me almost everywhere I go). Anytime you identify some feelings that are counter-productive to the positive energy you want to generate in your life, you can pull out these cards and read through them.  It is best to read them aloud so that you hear yourself saying them…this helps solidify the belief and build your faith.

“…faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word…”  (Romans 10:17)

If you are in a public place or around a lot of people and are not able (or not comfortable) reading them aloud, then that’s fine.  Read them silently to yourself and focus all of your energy on feeling what that statement would feel like when those things manifest in your life.

Examples of Self-Talk

Category:  Feelings

I am aware of my feelings and when they are moving me away from my goals.  I quickly redirect my thoughts to achieve positive, winning, and profitable outcomes.  I enjoy being open and receptive to the gifts and abundance flowing into my life.

Category:  Belief System

I live a “no-limits” mindset.  I believe I can have, do, and be anything I want.  There are no limits to the level of success, happiness, money, love, relationships, good opportunities, or blessings that can come into my life.  It feels great to live so free and abundant.  I believe!

Category:  Gratitude

I notice all of the abundance and beauty around me.  I feel gratitude for the abundant blessings in my life and for all of the resources available at my finger tips.  I receive all of the gifts and good things God brings into my life.  I freely and generously share with others who are in need.

Category:  Passion

I live my passion every day.  It feels amazing to love what I do and to have people pay me for it, and pay me well.  I am fulfilled and successful because I follow my heart and live my passion daily.

Summary and Call to Action

Well my friends, I know this has been a long post, but I felt the need to share this information with you to help you on your journey to success.  I encourage you to take an hour out of your day to take these action steps outlined above and create some positive self talk for yourself.  Create a habit in your life and watch your mind get transformed and your life changed.  I truly believe that if you do this, and do it consistently that you will see the results and the manifestations of the things that you desire begin to come into your life faster and easier than you ever imagined possible.

If you have found this post helpful, I ask that you bookmark it, digg it,  share it, re-tweet it, and leave some comments below.

Passionate About Your Success!!

If you would like to receive more from Krista on how to achieve success in your life, sign up for her FREE 7 day video series on Secrets to Unleashing Success.  Click Here to Get it Now!

If you would like to learn more about Krista’s personal one on one coaching services, Click Here Now!

The Gulf Oil Spill

A Child’s View…With Nora

The Gulf Oil Spill, Deepwater Horizon, has finally reached the Florida coastline.  Being a native Floridian, living near the coast this environmental crisis hits very close to home.  The President of the United States, Barak Obama, visited Florida last week to see the impact this disaster is having on our our coast, and afterwards addressed the nation from the oval office.  Once again, our region has been thrust into the international spot light as a result of this tragic event.

Kids seem to have an innocent and candid expression of how this crisis is filtering through their thoughts.  This week, my seven year old niece was visiting and began expressing her thoughts (unsolicited) about the oil spill.  As she talked I realized the impact this is having on the world as she understands it.  I asked her if she would be willing for me to video tape her sharing her thoughts with me.

She was very eager to do so because she “…wanted to try to help save the animals.”

She also knows I blog, and use videos on my site to speak to my readers and friends.  So, she asked me if I would show her video to my friends so that maybe they could get their kids to help too.

So, please take a moment and watch this video to see what Nora has to say about the Gulf Oil Spill from A Child’s View.

There you go folks!  The impact of the Gulf Oil Spill through the eyes of a seven year old. I think we have ourselves a future blogger and philanthropic entrepreneur on our hands here!  (She takes after me, of course…) 

Since Nora gave her call to action to all kids in the nation to join her in donating to help the oil spill clean up efforts, I thought it only fitting that I provide a resource here for you to check out.  So, I’m sharing a link from Network for Good which provides a variety of organizations that you can donate to in order to help with the clean up efforts.

As a result of her love for animals, Nora’s primary concern was for the sea life and birds impacted by the tragedy, therefore she chose to donate to an organization assisting the animals threatened by the oil spill.(…and of course the beaches at St. George) 

CLICK HERE TO VISIT NETWORK FOR GOOD AND GIVE

If you or your child would like to join her, visit Network for Good and find an organization that coincides with your primary concern and give to help minimize the damage as much as possible.

Wishing Success For the Clean Up Efforts!

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Talk Fusion Breaks The Mold And Takes Video Marketing To The Next Level!

If you have been following me or my marketing strategies for any amount of time, you know how much I absolutely LOVE video marketing.  I truly believe it is the absolute best way to connect with your audience, develop relationships with your readers, your prospects, and potential business partners.

Why is that?

Well, it’s been known for years…and you’ve heard it said, “A picture is worth a thousand words”.  Imagine how magnified that concept becomes when the picture, is not static, but moving, talking, smiling and interacting with the person viewing it.

Well, that’s what Talk Fusion has done for email and video marketing.  In fact,  check out the image in the top corner of this post.  That is an actual screen capture of a real video email I sent out to a business partner just last week.  Imagine my partner’s surprise when they opened the email and saw a video of me talking with them rather than a dull text message (remember the 80’s?…LOL).

I have been completely blown away by the value offered through this service.  When one of my Empowered Tribe partners contacted me to share this amazing resource, I was interested, but like most busy entrepreneurs thought my plate might just be too full (so full in fact, it looks like a platter instead of a plate…LOL).  But less than three minutes into checking this thing out, I was back with my partner, asking – where do I sign?!?!

Seriously, unbelievable.

What Is Talk Fusion?

Talk Fusion is the next social media giant!! This platform enables you to engage in relationship marketing at it’s absolute best.  I truly believe every single internet marketer and network marketer on the planet needs this!!  The product alone is a complete “no-brainer” for marketers, businesses, and even individuals who just want to step up their emails to friends and family.

Offering, video emails, video autoresponders, video blogging, video sharing, and video conferencing – Talk Fusion is on the cutting edge of social media and network marketing. In my opinion, it is the ultimate bridge between network marketing and internet marketing.  And, it’s so stinking easy to use that my second grade nieces can use it.  (They love videos as much as I do).

The product alone was enough to sale me on Talk Fusion, but when I found out it was also a network marketing opportunity I was “all in”.

Now, before you completely tune me out…let me say that I have never promoted a network marketing product or company on my blog, although I am a network marketer, with a solid and stable primary opportunity already in place.  You can look around my site and you will not find that primary opportunity promoted at all…anywhere.

But I feel so strongly that this one is so important to network and internet marketers everywhere, that I honestly felt like I would be doing a disservice to our industry to not share it with you.  Seriously. So, for that reason, I am going to be in your face with this one.  Not because I’m a pesky, aggressive, network marketer…but because I genuinely care about your success and the success of your business.

If you have any interest at all in building your business (whatever that business may be) or personal brand (whatever that brand may be) on-line, then, friends – YOU NEED TALK FUSION!!

Are you serious about taking your marketing to the next level?  Then contact me  at any of these places (or all if you are really serious):

Email: info@kristaabbott.com

Phone: 928-377-KRIS (or 928-377-5747)

Skype: destalrad

On-Line Form: Click Here, complete the form and I will contact you!

All For Your Business Success!!!

Communication in your home, your business and your life can make or break you.

It seems every leadership or personal development book I read talks about communication.

And…with good reason.

It happens – nearly every time something goes awry at home, in business, or in life – someone, somewhere, blames it on poor communication, miscommunication, or (God help us) NO communication!

We all know it is true, because we have all experienced it.

See, I am a very communication oriented person, and I make every effort to communicate openly, clearly, and thoroughly (maybe sometimes too thoroughly).  So, imagine my frustration when I realized everyone is not like me!!  (Say What?!?) And, worse yet…some of them hear something completely different than what I am saying.

Wow!  How’d that happen?

It took some time, but by studying things like personality theory and communication theory I soon realized that there are techniques that can help minimize the frustrations often associated with failed communication.

I have successfully used the concepts and techniques that I am about to share with you, in several of my personal and business relationships, as well as corporate and team building.  As a result of my own implementation of these things, I have found them extremely effective and helpful in both areas to:

• avoid misunderstandings

• increase collaboration

• build team relationships

• facilitate increased productivity.

Speaking  Their Language

In trying to build teams and lead others, you have to be able to speak their language (and I’m not talking about English, Spanish, Japanese…or any other cultural or societal based language as we know it).  By “language” I am referring to their preferred style of communicating and how it interacts with your particular style.

Since most people tend to communicate, mentally process, and respond based on their personality type,  the first step to more effective communication is to figure out WHO you are dealing with.

Personally, I am a big fan of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).  It is, in my opinion, the most comprehensive and helpful personality information, and really helps with understanding how to deal with the various personality types.

Human Metrics has a free on-line assessment, Jung Typology Test, which you can use to determine what primary personality type you are.  You can also use this with your friends, family, and your business partners or team – that is, IF they don’t already know what their type is.

You can find that on-line assessment HERE. It only takes about 15 minutes to complete.

Plan your approach to asking them to complete the assessment carefully, based on what you already know about the person.

If they aren’t familiar with it, explain to them that it is a relationship building tool that will help each of you communicate better when you understand the other person’s  frame of reference.  And, be willing to share your primary type with them up front and make it fun – like an adventure.

Most people are intrigued by personality theory and want to “learn all about themselves” anyway, so it’s rare to run across someone who will not “buy-in” to the process.

There are some out there, though who may become defensive or offended by the request.  In that case, don’t push it; just observe them, study the way they interact and engage with others, then after a little while (and some trial and error) you can usually figure out what their style is based on their reactions and/or responses to varying circumstances.

Now that you know their personality type – what next?

After you discover their personality type, you can use this information to more effectively communicate with them.

If you aren’t already well versed in each of the primary types, then you can read up on them on-line.   The Human Metrics  Jung Typology Test will have some information after the assessment is complete that you can review.  For deeper study, you can continue your search through on-line resources.  Just type in the primary personality type in your preferred search engine (Google for me) and go to town learning all about  them and their preferences.

How does this help with communication?

Once you learn about the personality type of the person you are communicating with, and they learn about yours, mutual understanding increases, and the approach in communication can be modified so you more evenly “gel with” each other.

If you like “cheat sheets”, I found a nice little quick reference guide from the Change Zone on Communicating with Different Personality Types.

You can download it HERE and keep it handy as a quick reference any time you need it:

Understanding the crucial components of communication can save you a lot of trouble in your relationships at home, in your business, and in your life.  Taking the time to learn about people, and how to best interact with them is a critical business skill every leader must develop.

What techniques have you used to help improve communication in your home and business relationships?

I welcome you to share your thoughts and comments below so we can all learn from each other.

To Your Communicative Success!!

Motorola Droid

I Love My Droid

I have had about seven people ask me, just this week, how I like my Droid.  So with all the questions, and many cell phone users ready to upgrade, I thought I would share my thoughts on the Droid here.

I have the Motorola Droid.  Now this is, obviously, not the only Android smart phone on the market today.  There were a few before the Motorola and there have been a few since.  I can’t really speak to the value behind those phones, but I can speak to the awesomeness of this one.

I do have a couple of friends who have taken the HTC Incredible for a spin and they are more than happy with their phones.  One of those friends even traded in his iPhone for the Incredible and another ditched his BlackBerry Storm 2 for it.

While iPhones have the appeal of pop culture and what I like to call “the Mac Cult” I actually enjoy my Droid very much and like it better than the iPhone.  Initially I thought about getting an iPhone, and almost did, but I am pleased with the Verizon network and didn’t want to change carriers just so I could be a kool-aid drinking iphone user.  So, I waited it out hoping Verizon would get that iPhone contract they were rumored to be in negotiations for.

In the meantime, the Android phones hit the market.  Skeptical at first, I watched – and waited.  After hearing nothing but good reviews from the Motorola Droid I had to venture into the store and check it out.  I was captivated by the sleek and sexy design and the high quality, sharp images from the screen, then there was the smooth glide of the touch screen – well let’s just say it had me at hello!   (Obviously, I have a thing for gadgets…what can I say)

I like having options.  So, being able to choose between a virtual QWERTY keyboard and the slide out QWERTY was very appealing to me.  After a few attempts on the slide out board though, I found myself much more enthused by the virtual touch one.  (and had less typos too).

As far as comparisons with the iphone, they really run neck and neck in my opinion with features and specks.  You can see a full breakdown at Mashable by clicking here.  In reviewing the Mashable comparison though, it is worth pointing out that this was created back in October when the Droid first came out.  The Droid has picked up quite a few apps since then, and I have found more than I will ever use in the Droid Market, so I’m certainly not complaining about limited choices in the app department.

I’ve been very impressed with the quality of video that I’ve been able to capture with the video camera and enjoy the thrill of being able to capture a full recording and stream it live if I wanted to.  Essentially, my Droid has replaced my video camera, my still camera, my ipod, my GPS system, and my cell phone, and if I really wanted to I could replace my laptop with it (but I don’t want to) 

Of course there’s the cool features associated with smart phones of this caliber…like instant uploads to Facebook and You Tube and then there’s the Google features. Need I say more?  Having full access to all of my Google applications has been an invaluable tool as an entrepreneur.  I never feel like I am tied to the desk or the laptop to get some work done.

As far as why I picked the Droid over BlackBerry, well that’s simple.  The BlackBerry is a great gadget if staying up on your email is the most important thing.  Having used the BlackBerry previously,  I can tell you the browser function on the is not the greatest.  Personally, I need both a power browser and good reliable email access.  I found both in the Droid.

All in all, I love the Droid and would recommend it to anyone interested in a smart phone that is as good as, if not better (in my opinion – better) than the iPhone and BlackBerry.   If you are considering getting an Android phone then I say “Go for it!”  I absolutely love mine and think you will be equally as pleased.

If you don’t want to take my word for it, then you can judge for yourself.  I have included below some video demos and live comparisons for your viewing pleasure.  Enjoy!

To see a Motorola Droid Demo Click Here

To see an Incredible Demo Click Here

To see a video demo comparison between the iPhone and the Droid Click Here

To see a video demo comparison between the BlackBerry Storm 2 and the Droid Click Here

To Your Mobile Success!

So, do you have a smart phone of choice?  Share your thoughts below…

How to Handle Lost Dreams that Resurface in Your Life.

Have you ever had a dream escape you?

You know, one of those deep desires of your heart that you sought after, and believed for and worked hard for…maybe even you prayed fervently for it – but one disappointment led to another…and another…and another…until one day – you surrendered that dream.

You didn’t necessarily give up on it or quit…you just accepted that maybe it wasn’t meant to be, and although disappointed, and heartbroken you moved on with your life and started creating and realizing new dreams for yourself.

I have.

I have lived through the heartache and disappointment of broken dreams, released dreams, and forgotten dreams. I’ve also lived in the excitement and satisfaction that comes with embracing new dreams – realizing them and living them. This seems to make the loss of the broken (or escaped) dreams more bearable.

Recently, I’ve been confronted again with one of my lost dreams – a dream that, well frankly, when lost caused me a great deal of heart break and many tears. I had completely released it and moved on, quite successfully, with my life. It was, honestly, at the time, one of the hardest decisions I ever had to make – to release that dream and walk away from it.

Events over the past few months have led to new developments that I never expected to occur, and I now find myself face to face with that dream again. I can’t begin to explain or place into words the variety of emotions that have filtered through my heart and spirit over the last few weeks. I can tell you they have ranged from sheer elation, to extreme gratitude, and then to raw fear.

The vast majority of the time, I am a person who chooses not to live in fear, but trust my destiny and the course of my life to God. So elation and gratitude, I am accustomed to – fear is a little more challenging for me to deal with. So, I really had to dig deep in my psyche during moments of meditation to discover why I was feeling this particular emotion.

Finally, after much thought and an “ah-ha moment” today, it occurred to me – I have been feeling fear because I have been afraid of the dream itself. Not because it’s a bad thing, but because of the disappointment it caused me in the past.

The fear is that if I embrace this dream again, I risk disappointment. And it’s not so much that I “can’t” go through that again, it’s that I don’t want to go through that again.

This realization left me standing, in the middle of my office, staring into space as I understood the magnitude of the choice I have to make. Do I embrace this dream once again with the hope of a different outcome this time, or do I play it safe and continue on with my successful life and new dreams?

What did I decide? Well, in a moment of complete transparency and authenticity, I created this video to share with you, my faithful readers, the answer to that question, along with my decision process.

Disclaimer: Be forewarned, this is my most personally revealing video to date, so watch below to find out what happened with this “recycled dream”.

There you go, my friends. That’s what I have decided to do. I have no idea how this is going to work out….but I will trust and believe for the desired outcome.

Have you had recycled dreams?

How did you handle them?

What would you do if you encountered a lost dream again in your life?

Leave me some comments below and let me know your thoughts.

Believing YOU Find Success in the Pursuit of YOUR Dreams!!

Enjoying The Next Level of Video Marketing

As most experienced internet marketers know, there are a multitude of marketing techniques that can be leveraged to drive traffic to your website and generate leads to your on-line business.  While I do use a variety of techniques in my business, I admit video marketing is one of my favorites.

Let’s face it.  We are a media driven society.  And, in a media driven society, video stands out.  For the first several months of using video marketing in my business, I used the same software a large majority of my colleagues use and recommend, Windows Move Maker (WMM).  This is actually a great FREE software application that comes standard with most PCs today and for the price (free) puts out a pretty decent quality video.  In fact all of my video posts prior to this one were created on WMM.

Recently, however, while trying to step up the quality of the video production for a very special project I was working on for a friend, I decided to give Camtasia a try.  And boy am I glad I did!!!

Since, video editing concepts are similar regardless of the software you are using, I didn’t anticipate a huge learning curve, but I was surprised at exactly how easy it was.  After a quick five minute tour around the navigational buttons I was off to a great start.  I found Camtasia very user friendly and the quality was way better than what I’ve ever gotten from WMM.  For the most part, I found the transition from Windows Movie Maker to Camtasia to be relatively seamless.

And…since I’ve gotten my feet wet with Camtasia, I have to say I will find it hard to go back to WMM, although I’m sure I will pay WMM a visit every now and again when I need a quick edit or two.

For now though, I will have to say goodbye Windows Movie Maker…hello Camtasia!!!

So…here it is…my FIRST Camtasia project.  The friend I completed the project for was very happy with the outcome, as was I.

Check it out…

Disclaimer:  This Video May Contain Spiritually Nourishing Content!! 

So what do you think?

What are some of your favorite marketing techniques?

Do you have a favorite video editing software that you enjoy using?

Leave some comments below and share with the community here your thoughts on video marketing, WMM, and/or Camtasia?

For Your Eternal Success!

PS.  Re-Tweets, Shares, and Comments Always appreciated!!

How to Make Sure the Foundation Your Blog is Built On Is Not Shaky Ground.

Last year, when I first started exploring the wonderful world of self-hosted WordPress blogging, I contacted my host Go-Daddy to ask some questions and get started. Their wonderful technical support agents directed me on how to install the WordPress application in my GoDaddy back office, set up my database and all of the other “behind the scenes” technical mumbo jumbo that goes along with blogging.

There was, however, ONE VERY CRITICAL piece of information, GoDaddy failed to point out to me and that is WordPress is incompatible with a Windows Platform. So, for the past 6 months (2 months of pre-launch development, and then subsequent launch and maintenance) I have earned a “frequent flyer” designation with GoDaddy technical support.

Still with multiple calls and several hours of going back and forth with technical reps and administrator support (that’s who you get to talk to when the technical reps can’t figure out what’s going on) I was experiencing problems that my other blogging friends never had to deal with.

What?!!??

Seriously, I was starting to think GoDaddy was messing with me. Even my friends were starting to make comments – like “Why does GoDaddy hate you so much?” or “What is the deal with you and GoDaddy?” Realizing of course, GoDaddy couldn’t possibly “hate” me, because well….I’m so darned adorable, that just couldn’t be it.

It wasn’t until recently when I was in the process of transitioning my radio show website to a self-hosted WordPress format and these same problems started to surface again that my blog designer convinced me that I needed to figure out what was causing all the blog drama. So, I decided to Just Ask Kim,  my techie guru friend and blog syndication partner.  After a short conversation Kim revealed the nasty little secret GoDaddy kept from me – WordPress runs much better on a Linux platform!!!

Ahhh!!!! Are you kidding me Kim?  Nope!!!  She was right on spot.  So last week, Kim Castleberry and I spent some “quality time together” working on getting all this straightened out.  We backed up my blog and database (everyone should do this on a regular basis by the way….learn how HERE) and we deleted everything, changed platforms and reloaded it all again….working into the weeeee-hours of the morning!

I am extremely happy to report, that I am writing this post from my newly transferred blog, on my new Linux platform. 

I’m all smiles.  Many of the headaches I have experienced in my blog lifetime are no longer a problem.  Now, I admit initially I was mad with GoDaddy, but after I calmed down, and forced my mind to embrace the proper perspective I was able to let all that go.

See, I learned many valuable lessons from all this blog drama.  I gained a lot of technical and troubleshooting expertise from my many conversations with GoDaddy’s technical and administrator support  as well as from the conversations this week with my personal techie, at Just Ask Kim.  And now, I can pass that knowledge along to you my friends and loyal readers, as well as  my social media coaching clients.

I don’t think GoDaddy did this to me on purpose, I think it was a simple oversight with a lot of unintended consequences.  GoDaddy does have great (and very patient) customer support.  My only recommendation to them is to make sure all their technical staff know to tell WordPress application users that they need a Linux Platform rather than Windows if they want to use syndication friendly plug-ins, and avoid problems down the road.

While WordPress will still work on a Windows platform, there are a lot of issues with plugins that will require work-arounds, time, and research to resolve.  And if you have any hair left after you’ve resolved them all, you will likely decide to do what I did…and take the plunge for the transition.  My blog was down for a whole week to get this complete.  But I am glad to say now that it is over, it is done and it’s time to move on.

Lesson learned and now maybe I can save someone else from making the same mistake and spare them the drama!!

WordPress + Linux = Peaceful Bliss

&

WordPress + Windows = Blog Drama!

Now, please help me spread the word to spare other bloggers the drama…re-tweet, bookmark, and share this post.

Much appreciated! 

All For YOUR Blogging Success!

PS.  Do you have any of your own blog drama stories?  Share them with us in the comments.  As we share our “hard knocks” with others, we can build a thriving community of knowledge sharing and help each other avoid the same problems we have walked through.

Peggy McColl is launching her brand new book, Viral Explosions – Proven Techniques to Expand, Explode, or Ignite Your Business or Brand On-Line, on Tuesday, April 13, 2010.

I have had the privilege of being one of Peggy’s students for the past several months, and I have learned things that will revolutionize my on-line marketing tactics.  Peggy is a high energy author who has used internet marketing techniques that have taken her books to Best Seller status in 24 hours or less.  This week, I get to watch her do it again with her new release, Viral Explosions.

In Viral Explosions, Peggy shares her secrets for internet marketing success and takes the reader step-by-step through her proven formula for results.

The super cool thing about buying one of Peggy’s books on her campaign day (Tuesday for this book) is that she gives an INSANE amount of FREE bonus gifts. It’s one of the most amazing demonstrations of “Go-Giver” action that I’ve ever seen.  The book is well worth the $14.95 you pay on Amazon anyway…but on top of all of that, you get a TON, and I do mean a TON of FREE bonus items.  Peggy has really OVER-DELIVERED on this…as is typical of her.

In order to get these freebies, you HAVE to buy the book on Tuesday!

Because I offered up a free bonus for Peggy to use in her campaign, I have been able to get a sneak peak at the Bonus Page for this book, and all I can say is I was COMPLETELY BLOWN AWAY at how much valuable information is being GIVEN away just for buying her book. Wow!  I will DEFINITELY be sitting at my computer midnight Monday so I can grab my copy of Viral Explosions and all those FREE bonus gifts.

If you are serious about marketing on-line, you NEED this book!!!  Go HERE right now to find out more…(and to see all the crazy awesome freebies you can get your hands on).

To Your Viral Success,

PS.  In case you are wondering what my FREE bonus gift was for Peggy’s campaign…I am giving away a webinar and “over-the-shoulder” demonstration of Tribe Syndication Tactics.  You can only get access to this webinar by buying Peggy’s book.  But there’s one little catch….You HAVE to buy on Tuesday. So set yourself a reminder in your calendar and whatever you do, don’t miss picking up your copy at Amazon on Tuesday.  Again….go HERE to learn more.