Something a Little Different…
Mar 11th
It’s been busy here for a while now and I’ve neglected this blog a little while. For those returning visitors, I apologize!
To make up for it, please enjoy this beautiful piece of music and excellently shot music video:
This band is tipped for big things this year and I can see why.
Keep a look out for the next blog post, and I’ll be telling you why strategy, mind games and positioning are critical in business. It’s a lesson I have learnt the hard way.
Keep on trucking, I hope you’re being all that you can be and succeeding.
Take care of each other.
Are You Covered? (A Guide to Setting up a Legitimate Business)
Mar 6th
I am the worst blogger in the entire blogosphere, World, Galaxy, Universe and probably the multi-verse. If you are looking to make money from, or learn how to blog for a business, then you don’t want to be paying attention to what I do on this blog. I post at all the wrong times (like late Saturday night in the UK) I hardly ever search engine optimize these posts/this blog and I hardly ever ping it or anything like that. I am already a few sentences into this post, and the keywords in the title haven’t even been mentioned once!
If you’ve been reading this blog long enough though, you know it’s just a place for me to document my journey from rat race worker to, self-employed successful entrepreneur. So far, I have achieved self-employed entrepreneur status, but the biggest piece of the puzzle is still missing; the “successful” part. As I go a long though, if I learn something cool, valuable or worthwhile, I will also make a post about it. This is one such post. Today we’re going to talk about covering your ass and it will be particulalry useful for those of you who reside on the European side of the pond in the UK.
We’re going to talk about professional insurance, the use of mailboxes, registering businesses and covering your ass legally. If that doesn’t sound fun to you, that’s just tough, because you really need to hear what I have to say. Let’s get stuck in.
Get Core Influence (and maybe change your life)
Mar 1st
You might recall in my last post when I went on and on about the meaning of my life and my goals etc I mentioned Frank Kern and his Core Influence videos. I even linked to a couple of videos.
By coincedence, he is launching a new product called “list control” and as part of that, he is giving something away for free…..Core Influence.
It’s a two hour life changing presentation, that I thoroughly enjoyed and I think you might too.
If you hit this link—–> Core Influence I will have “referred” you. This doesn’t mean I get any money, but if I refer 10 people (and if you do to) then you get access to another very new video and sequel to Core Influence. I’d appreciate it if you do decide to check out the video, if you used my link. If not, it’s no biggie. As long as you see the video, I think it will really have an incredible effect on you. Just a theory.
Go check it out and feel free to come back here and comment on it some time down the line.
Peace.
New York City and the Meaning of Life
Feb 22nd
*Authors Note* I read this back a few times after I originally published this, and thought it didn’t sound too much like me. I also thought the post was a little bit weird and maybe preachy (it’s not meant to be). However, a good friend of mine; Robin Tabari posted on his blog that he tried some of the stuff I suggest here and it changed his mood and perspective after being very down. Since it had that effect on one person, I thought I’d just say ” to heck with it” and leave this up anyway.
Before I go any further, I am going to warn you this post is going to be slightly on the “self-centered” side, but there is something in it for you too. I am making this post for two reasons. The first is that I really wanted to express, share and talk about my New York experience. Now I can talk till the cows come home about this trip with friends and family, but I am going to say some things here that I don’t think I could say face-to-face to people I know in my “everyday life”. The second reason I am writing this post is because I genuinely believe it *might* help some one out there. This blog is not known for it’s massive traffic, but perhaps 15 years from now, one soul out there might stumble on this post and maybe, if I do my job right here, it might just hep them.
So here’s what’s in it for you…
In this post I am going to share with you how to find the meaning of YOUR life (how to discover the purpose of your life) I am going to share with you 3 books you need to read to help improve your chances of being successful at ANYTHING in life and hopefully this post will inspire you to chase your dreams as well. There will be a couple of other nuggets in this post, but for now, I’ll keep those hidden for you to find yourself!
NYC Trip
Feb 12th
Hi folks.
I thought I would write a little update here for those that may/may not be interested. I am off next week to spend a week with my family in New York City. It’s the second time I have been to the States( Last time was in Washington DC) and I am really excited about the trip. I’ll be staying in a nice hotel in Times Square and can’t wait to get there.
I am going to be online some times throughout the week and will be responding to any comments and possibly posting updates now and then. This trip also means I have an opportunity to get some good pics to spruce up this rather dry blog with!
Anyway, to update people on progress, I got the ball rolling on setting up 2 bank accounts for the new ventures. I think it all went smoothly so far, and I find out whether it all went to plan when I get back from the holiday. I have also met another couple of potential clients this week and completed and sent a load of client update reports. It’s been a decent week, but I am ready for a holiday now, and it’s really my first proper holiday in almost two years.
Anyway, as luck has it, my other two business partners are on holiday skiing next week as well, so we’ll all be back very refreshed and ready to work very hard in the coming year. Anyway, I’ll say good bye for now and give you an update next week.
Take it easy.
How to Get 13 Months in a Year
Feb 8th
Would you like to add another month to your year? Would you like to have 13 months instead of 12 to help you fulfill all your ambitions goals and desires? If I told you there is a secret that anyone can implement to live a 13 month year in the space of a 12 month year, would you want to know how to do it? Or might you just think I am a raving lunatic? Thankfully, I can’t hear your answer, I am going to assume you’d be interested to know how to do this, so I am going to go ahead and just tell you.
Setup My First Company
Feb 7th
It’s official. I am in business.
I formed my company with companies house on the 5th February 2010. I received my certificate of incorporation the next day on the Saturday. I’d love to scan and present a copy of the document right here, but I don’t want to give away too many of my personal details away quite yet.
I am now officially a company Director and Shareholder of two companies. (I setup a company for some friends, a company I have a minority share in, but I am also a Director in). It’s pretty exciting. I can’t wait to see where I will be a year from now.
Having made this company has made everything a lot more “real” for me. It’s exciting but pretty scary at the same time. It’s time to grip the bull by the horns, take some action, a few small risks and start making dreams reality. I have had such a busy week this week, flying all over the country to meetings. Some of them resulting in more work and more clients, with some of the meetings seeming to be a complete waste of my time, money, effort and petrol! I am not seeing any staggering profits yet, and I am still working very hard, but I know I can give more and feel like I am on a bit of tipping point.
I am mindful that I wanted to maintain this blog to help people whilst simultaneously sharing my “journey”. With that in mind, I will post a summary of my business plan to give people a better idea of what I am doing (although I have touched on it a little in previous posts). Anyway, take care and speak soon.
New Clients and New Blog
Jan 30th
This is just a really quick one. My new online marketing consultancy/agency got it’s first clients this week (touch wood it’s all going ahead) and I am traveling to three different cities next week all around England to meet with some prospective new clients. I’m also off to hold a difficult meeting with the web designer’s of our new social network to discuss why it is currently looking so poor and why it is so late. I have also got a job interview for a position that 6 months ago would have been my dream position in a company. I doubt I’d accept if I made the grade, but I figure there is no harm in finding out more about what is on offer and I always like to stay open to opportunity.
The more regular visitors here may have noticed a few changes to the blog. New theme, new topics (categories) and some new sidebar widgets. It’s all a work in progress, so you may see some changes here and then from now and again. Let me know what you think to the developments in the comment section. Are they an improvement or a step back? I like the sleeker/cleaner look of the site now but let me know what you think.
I hope ou are having a great weekend. I am just having a quiet celebratory drink or two at home to celebrate getting my tax return done on time and the new developments in my business.
Take care.
A Really Cool Message: Favorite Quotes
Jan 28th
Just saw this posted on one of my Facebook friend’s status’. They didn’t create it or come up with it themselves, but they threw it out there on Facebook and I felt like I needed to share it a little bit more. So here it is:
Never Lie, Steal, Cheat, Or Drink. But If You Must Lie, Lie In The Arms Of The One You Love. If You Must Steal, Steal Away From Bad Company. If You Must Cheat, Cheat Death. And If You Must Drink, Drink In The Moments That Take Your Breath Away.
Thats some gourmet food for thought right there, and never seems to fail in cheering me up. The quote comes from the Will Smith movie “Hitch” but I am sure something so profound must have originally have come from some where else? Maybe I am wrong, but if you know the answer to that mystery or want to a share a quote of your own, feel free to drop a comment just below.
Cold Calling, Tickled Pink and a Social Network
Jan 22nd
Happy Friday.
I’d like to discuss three things in this post (as you might have guessed from the title of this post). I’d like to chat about my cold calling training and adventures this week, the reason why I am tickled pink/slightly annoyed and I’d like to give you a little peek with what I am doing with my time at the moment.
Cold Calling
I’ll start this off with a bit of background. About a year and a bit ago, I met a chap from down South who had written a few books, one of which had been a best seller a couple years ago when it was published. He writes about business and has run a few business outfits himself as well. I was actually trying to help him break into the Internet marketing industry with some of his material. Long story short, I was doing the work for free and making very little traction with it (this was back in 2008). I took a job in online marketing and as you know, parted company with that particular outfit in December ‘09. Having left that company, I re-contacted my friend and he mentioned he was now selling a training program to companies with large employee numbers. The problem was, he really needed a sales force that were skilled in getting leads and getting selling the course.
Having done a *tiny* amount of training and assessment in B2B sales in London, and having a bit of time on my hands I decided to offer my help. We agreed between us that I would make a few calls for free, and if I got anywhere with it and sales emerged from my efforts, then I would earn a commission. It is high-margin stuff so it’s worth my time looking into it and having a go.
Long story short, I spoke to a chap on Skype for an hour this week. This particular guy is a professional “1st contact” sales specialist. Drop around 10k USD and he’ll guarantee 10 meetings with company execs and decision makers in the industry you are targeting. He is good at what he does and runs his business and his life from a very exclusive location in Europe. He said; “If you have to be on the phone all day, it’s a good place to do it from”.
