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Developing Yourself To Take Action

take action

Have you ever spent any time studying very successful people? Do they seem to you to have something in common? There seems to be something about them, but it’s somewhat elusive, not easy to define.

Maybe you think it’s all due to lucky breaks….?

But have you ever heard the expression, “I find that the harder I work, the luckier I get.”? Something to think about, and, of course, it’s not just working hard, it’s also about working smart.

The most successful people share certain secrets. Any idea what they are? Call them ideas or call them traits, people with power or success or money seem to have these things in common:

  • The power of persistence
  • The power of passion
  • The power of self-control
  • The power decision and action
  • The power of creativity

So, let’s have a look at them and see what these superpowers can do for your life.

The Power Of Persistence

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We all know and admire people who have failed and gone on to great success. Before he invented the electric light bulb, Thomas Edison failed more than 1000 times. He never saw it as a failure; he saw it as one more step towards succeeding.

Henry Ford is another example. He came from a poor background with no education, but he looked at the horse and buggy, and saw the amazing cars we drive today.

Abraham Lincoln failed in business and in running for government several times, but we all know how he ended up.

Persistence will carry you when intelligence and luck do not. Many of us give up too soon. Winston Churchill, a hero in horrible times, is well known for this phrase,” Never, never, never, never give up.”

 Call it persistence, perseverance or grit; do you have it? And if not, can you develop and nurture it because it will definitely help you when the going gets tough (and we know life has a tendency to put obstacles in our way from time to time).

The Power Of Passion

taking action

You’ve probably heard the expression, “if you can believe it, you can achieve it.” That’s telling us that a good idea alone is not enough. You have to believe in it. I’ll bet you know people who are very intelligent but have never risen very high in life.

And I’ll bet you know other people who haven’t had much going for them but have succeeded despite obstacles. It’s very likely due to their determination to achieve their goals despite anything that comes against them. To the extent that you can acquire this attitude, you will succeed.

It’s pretty obvious that if you don’t enjoy what you are doing then you are much more likely to give it up because it doesn’t light a fire inside you.

Can you develop a passion for something? Of course you can, but you need to stick with it long enough for that passion to develop and this is where the point above about persistence will help.

The Power Of Self-Control

Developing Yourself

As you probably know, entrepreneurs have a lot of power over their jobs and careers, but if it’s used incorrectly, it can lead to failure. The power of self-control in business is really about the way you handle your thoughts and your emotions.

As you start to take action instead of procrastinating to manage any drivers that keep you stuck, and to focus, you will increase your ability to succeed.

The way you think can have a huge effect on the way you act and being able to exhibit self-control is an incredibly valuable superpower to develop and nurture.

The Power Of Decision And Action

take action

Studies have shown that one of the greatest causes of failure is lack of decision. Along with that, procrastination is the most common thing that holds people back from achieving their full potential.

Studies have also shown that millionaires make a habit of making decisions promptly and then only changing them when necessary.

Decision-making is not just about the ability to do it promptly; it’s also about having the correct information on which to base the decision.

You may need to rely on others for help or information but base your decision on the most accurate facts possible. Once you feel you have those, take action.

If you don’t take action, then any amount of planning and preparation is completely useless, and you will never reach your goals.

Action creates traction and is absolutely crucial to any type of success in life whether that be health, wealth, relationships etc.

You must be decisive and take action as quickly as you can and don’t be afraid to fail forward because this way you will at least be making some progress and you will be constantly learning what does and doesn’t work.

The Power Of Creativity

taking action

This quality know as creativity, is seriously underrated. No doubt about it. Creativity does not just apply to writing a novel or painting a portrait; it applies to the life you create for yourself and the business you create for yourself in all their aspects.

And so much of your success will depend on how creative your solutions are.

Have you noticed? Almost every great success story in business begins with one good idea.

If you can’t think for yourself and imagine possibilities, you must depend only on what others before you have done. That might not be right for you. That might not be your best.

At its best, your plan of action will combine all these “success” qualities or traits to create a completely rewarding plan for yourself.

And when you develop these superpowers you are much more likely to create a plan of action and more importantly, to take action!

And don’t forget to enjoy the journey along the way. So many of us are totally fixated on the end result that we forget to enjoy the personal growth and achievement that happens along the way.

If that’s you then please check out this training that will encourage you to embrace the process and enjoy the journey so you can feel fulfilled before you even reach your goals which is a real win-win situation 😊

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email marketing

How Often Should You Email Your List?

email marketing

Is there a right or wrong way on how often should you email your list? We all know that your list should be treated as if it is a goldmine. Think about it. How would you react if you were bombarded with emails that provided no real value with the sole purpose of getting you to buy something?

Would you say that once a week or month is enough. You certainly do not want to inundate your subscribers with too much information, but at the same time you do not want them to forget about you either.

Why It is So Important To Frequently Send Emails

email marketing

If you get it wrong when sending your emails, you could border on being annoying, in which case your subscribers will unsubscribe from your list. On the other hand, if you communicate often enough at just the right times and frequency, you have a better chance of making more money than the average marketer.

Some marketers recommend that you stay in touch by sending your list a weekly newsletter. While others say twice a week is not a bad idea as an absolute minimum.

When would it be considered as wrong to send out scheduled emails? Randomly sending out emails is not such a good idea. Say, you send emails 3 times per day over a 4 day period, then you decide to send out 2 per day for a week.

The problem with this is that your mails would not be expected, and would most likely be ignored as a result. This is not the way to do it. You do not want to annoy your list to the point where they unsubscribe from you.

If you carefully consider what is needed to foster a positive relationship between you and your subscribers, once a day would be regarded as a good start. Provided you share very useful information in the form of free videos, mini reports or something that has real meaning in their lives. It must be new, exciting and content that has not been shared previously.

When you establish frequent contact you will start accomplishing some important factors that are needed to grow your business, such as:

  • Strengthen your authority in the Niche that you are in
  • Establish credibility and trust with your readers
  • Demonstrate that you are here to stay
  • Increase your chances of being foremost in the mind of your subscribers when it comes to purchasing your offer
  • Fully showcase the benefits of making use of your products or services

Most importantly, when looking for an answer on how often should you email your list, you should bear in mind that your subscribers should be treated like family. This can be done by sending them an email where you simply state how much you appreciate them, then give them valuable information that will make a difference to their lives. All this without any strings attached.

Things To Avoid When Sending Emails

email subject lines

Do not shove all kinds of marketing messages in the face of your subscribers to try and twist their arms into buying this or the other from you. Unless, of course, you do it in a tasteful manner where they get to realize the value in owning a particular product you have.

You should rather concentrate on getting your subscribers to trust and value your opinion. Doing so will ensure they stay engaged and ready to respond to any future offers coming their way.

Some marketers go all out to promote anything and everything for the sake of making money. Avoid doing this. Send emails that focus on useful information and list sources that will add value to the life of your subscribers. Never think that you are bothering your readers if you have something of value to share with them.

Should You Broadcast Messages Or Send Autoresponders?

email subject lines examples

If you intend making a special announcement, then a broadcast message as a one off email would be ideal. On the other hand autoresponders make the lives of internet marketers so much easier.

All they need to do is set up their series of messages upon which subscribers will be informed on a regular basis about news and events that is of importance, or any other informative material.

Which one of the two would be better to use?

There is no right or wrong answer in this regard. Below are a couple of guidelines to help you along:

Broadcast messages – If you are a very organized individual who are able to send broadcast messages consistently on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, then this would the way to go.

Autoresponders – Most people and business owners already live a very hectic life, and would therefore prefer making use of autoresponders. This way you can keep in touch with your prospects for months if not years. All this without even being there. All that is required of you is to do the work once, then set and forget about it.

The only problem is that too much automation can become impersonal to the point where people do not feel valued. It won’t be a bad idea to relate a story to your subscribers every now and again. You should mix it up a little. Make use of an autoresponder, but also broadcast something of importance every now and again.

For instance, on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday you could set your autoresponder to do its thing. Make a point of personalizing your messages on all the other days, which would include making use of broadcast messages.

Your subscribers will see you as a real person and not think they are dealing with a robot. This is the kind of approach that is highly recommended.

Back to how often should you email your list? The fact of the matter is that this question is answered differently by every business. You should email as frequently as you possibly can without annoying your subscribers.

Test it by taking a closer look at how often your mails get opened, etc. If you experience too many unsubscribes, then it is a sure indication that you are overdoing it. Close monitoring is the key to your success.

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profitable niche

7 Tips For Choosing A Profitable Niche

profitable niche

There are thousands and thousands of niches out there and picking one to blog about can be overwhelming to a beginner.

  • Do you choose a niche you’re passionate about?
  • What if you’re passionate about minimalism? How will you sell anything?
  • How can I be sure my niche is profitable?

These are just some of the many questions that many beginners have. Choosing a niche is not rocket science. There are just a few simple criteria to meet and you’ll be able to spot a good niche within 15 minutes or so.


By the way, if you are serious and want to take your blogging to the next level, check out the Rapid Blogging Blueprint. This is a premium level training that takes you through each and every step of setting up your own highly profitable blog and profiting from it. You can check it out here.

It’s imperative that you pick a niche that’s profitable if you want your blog to make money. You can’t turn a donkey into a racehorse… and you can’t turn a losing niche into a winner.

1. Is There Money Being Made In Your Niche?

profitable niche

This is the first and most important point to consider. For example, if you’re planning to blog about model airplanes, your first step will be to do a Google search for your main keywords and see if there are other bloggers in the niche and if they’re selling/promoting products. If you see competition, that’s a good sign.

Secondly, you’ll need to check if there are products to sell in your niche. In this case, it may be model airplane sets, magazines, acrylic paints, etc. The more products you have to sell, the better – and the more variations the product has, the higher the chances it’s a profitable niche.

Thirdly, you should analyze if the products in the niche are actually selling well. There are several niches with products that don’t sell well. Visit Amazon.com and do a search for the popular products in your niche.

Look at the number of reviews and you’ll get an idea of the quantity of merchandise being sold, and you can ascertain the profitability and viability of the niche.

2. Do The Niche/Products Solve A Problem?

profitable niche

Generally, if the niche revolves around solving a pressing problem, you can bet that it will be profitable. The ‘make money online’ niche and sub-niches are highly profitable because millions of people have a NEED for more money in their life.

The ‘get your ex back’ niche is very popular because jilted lovers are in pain and will do anything to salve their broken heart.

The same applies to the health niche. In fact, the health niche is the most popular niche of the lot, because when one is in discomfort, they’ll willingly pay to end their pain/discomfort. Weight loss, migraines, back pain, teeth whitening, etc. are very profitable niches because people have problems that need solving.

3. Is The Niche A Sub-Niche Of A Bigger Market?

profitable niche

Ideally, you should pick a niche that’s a sub-niche of a huge market. For example, picking a niche such as ‘keto diet for weight loss’ will allow you to niche down and dominate the niche… and after that, you still have room to grow.

You can promote fitness programs such as yoga courses, resistance training programs, etc. The people who want to lose weight with keto will be interested in exercise too.

So, your blog has room to grow in future. A micro-niche might be easy to dominate but will not have potential for growth.

4. Pricing

niche marketing

The price of the products you’ll be promoting and selling will indicate potential profitability.

The higher the prices of the products in your niche, the more money you’ll make from sales and commissions.

Many people tend to be afraid of pricing products too high, but you don’t want to undervalue your products so don’t be afraid to experiment at different price points; you may be pleasantly surprised at the results.

5. Keyword Competition

niche marketing

When choosing a niche, it’s a good idea to do some keyword research and analyze the competition.

Using a keyword tool such as Ahrefs will give you an understanding of the lay of the land and whether you can beat the competitors.

If there are lots of keyword opportunities and the criteria mentioned in the earlier points are met, this could be a profitable niche.

If authority sites are dominating the search rankings, you might want to niche down further or just find another niche.

6. Trends

niche marketing strategy

It would be a good idea to check on the trends of the niche. Some niches are flash in the pan trends that crash fast once the fad dies. Think Pokemon Go and fidget spinners. There was massive demand for a while… and now, it’s crickets.

Choose a niche that’s stable, evergreen and if possible, trending upwards. 

Anything to do with wealth, health and attracting the opposite sex are good places to start as they are always popular and trending in the news, social media etc.

7. Can You Drive Traffic?

niche marketing strategy

Last but not least, are you able to locate your target audience? This is very important because you’ll need to drive traffic to your blog. If you can’t find your audience or they don’t hang out online, you’ll have a major problem here.

Check if there are other websites, forums, Facebook groups, Pinterest boards, Instagram accounts, YouTube channels, etc. dedicated to your niche. These are all possible avenues for you to siphon traffic from in future.

Are there others advertising in your niche?

If you see other companies advertising for products in your niche, that’s a sign that you can reach an audience. Just pay attention to the longevity of the ad. Some ads are here today and gone tomorrow because the advertisers lost money. So, you’ll want to look for winning ads that stand the test of time.

These 7 criteria are easy enough to check for and will give you an excellent idea if the niche you’re looking at is worth getting into. Once you’ve determined the profitability of the niche, you’ll just need to get started and keep going. Don’t hesitate and brainstorm for too long. Action is the key to success.

“If you want to learn to swim, jump into the water.” – Bruce Lee

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Email Subject Lines

7 Email Subject Lines To Increase Your Open Rates

Email Subject Lines

Your email’s subject line is the gatekeeper of your email campaign. When you invest hours of work into getting the segmentation right and nailing the email copy, you absolutely want your email to get read!

The average person gets dozens of emails every day – and this may include coupons, newsletters, social media notifications, password resets, lead nurturing emails, invitation to parties, and so on. It’s a lot of material to sift through, never mind open, and most people open the emails based on how effective the subject line is.

Granted, there are a few more elements of an email that determine whether or not you’ll open it; for instance a familiar sender name, but for the most part, the subject line determines whether or not you’ll pay attention to the email.

People’s inboxes are always full of messages so it’s all too easy for them to hit Delete without a second thought; yet email can be a powerful tool when used to market your business. Subject lines that convey a sense of urgency tend to have higher open rates than say, those that offer freebies, and the use of first names has been found to increase the open rate by a small margin.

But there’s a lot more to subject lines than first names, and knowing which factors affect open rates can help you draft effective emails. Here’s a quick guide to get you started:

1. Localize And Personalize

Email Subject Lines

You’ve probably come across basic personalization in email marketing- “Hey John, would you like..” It’s pretty common nowadays and perhaps a little overused but that does not mean you shouldn’t personalize your subject lines. You get a better effect when you use customer attributes and actions to tailor your emails. Remember the following:

  • Use first and last name
  • Modify the subject line based on the recipient’s location
  • Mention their actions on the website- favorite features, what they’ve been up to, etc
  • Clothing stores are very specific to gender when highlighting products

2. Be Very Specific

Email Subject Lines Examples

Whether you’re sending notifications or direct updates, you need to be clear about each campaign and your objectives. However, being upfront doesn’t necessarily mean revealing everything the email is about, but assuming you’re targeting specific segments, then you need to point that out in the subject line.

Cold emails are the most challenging because you have to explain how you got the recipient’s contact information, win them over and then present your sales pitch.

It might sound counter-productive to let people know why you’re sending them emails but it’s actually the best way to get their attention and get click-throughs.

3. Take Time To Build Momentum

Email Marketing

Auto-responders are very effective at sustaining a life-cycle email marketing campaign. The series makes it easier for you to present yourself to the recipients and allow you to build momentum, because you shouldn’t just email people out of nowhere.

Informative subject lines can be used in a series to build momentum and increase your email conversions but unfortunately most businesses send less emails than they could for fear of annoying their recipients. If the emails are relevant and helpful, you shouldn’t worry about annoying the readers.

4. Test Everything!

Email Subject Lines

You may have read that short subject lines are more effective at boosting opens: it’s one of the many marketing quotes thrown around but the truth is you can never be sure how true that is for your own audience. Subject lines are relative to your audience and there really isn’t any hard rule when it comes to length.

The best approach here is testing. Draft the best subject lines you can and play around with long and short lines, capitalization, funny characters, etc. Testing is important in every aspect of marketing so apply it to your subject lines to get a clear picture of what works.

To give you a better picture of what works in subject lines, here is a compilation of 7 email subject lines people went crazy about:

1. ” Hey”

When handling inbound marketing, simple subject lines have the best results. This particular example is not about a smart or short subject line, but rather the effective combination of casual personalization and the sender name paring- for instance if you received an email from the president with this subject line, you’d be curious to find out what he has to say.

Pairing unlikely subject lines and sender names is very effective at getting people to read the email.

You may also try paring a goofy mascot with a serious subject line.

2. “As You Wish”

Learn what makes your audience tick and employ a few psych principles to get their complete attention. For instance, this subject line was taken from a movie, The Princess Bride, and UncommonGoods used it on their buyers for a more personalized effect.

The company knows their buyer persona very well and they knew that referencing that particular movie would get their subscribers’ attention.

3. “Where to Drink Beer Right Now”

Okay, so not everybody loves beer, but imagine receiving this in your inbox at 18:45 on a Wednesday night? I mean, think about it: you’ve been holding it together since Monday and now you need to decompress with a few of your buddies before the weekend gets here; and then you get a notification just as you’re about to head out and it says “Where to Drink Beer Right Now”.

The timing alone makes this subject line a winner.

4. “Not Cool, Guys”

We’re not all equipped to be snarky writers but you can play around with the subject line and find a way to make it stand out.

Most email platforms make it easy for you to edit the preview text so utilize that extra space to win over more subscribers and boost your email stats.

5. “You’re Missing out” 

You may have heard about FOMO, an acronym for fear of missing out; which is actually a big deal now in our interconnected society. Naturally, people don’t like to miss out on things, and a smart marketer will exploit this vanity by initiating an effective marketing campaign.

6. “DO NOT Commit These Facebook Atrocities”

No matter how reserved or down-to-earth you are, nobody likes to do things wrong.

Why not work on that simple and natural human tendency on your email subject line? Learn to dramatize your words for effect.

This line spells out “DO NOT” using full caps for effect, so that way readers will notice the message in their inbox.

7. “What Can You Afford?”

This is an interesting and somewhat encouraging angle; showing your audience a bunch of products that are RIGHT on their budget. Its also kind of competitive, your audience pitting cash against what’s available on the market.

You have to play off emotions to get people to read your emails.

You needn’t be a psychologist to play this game; just pay attention and you’ll see a number of opportunities. Remember principles such as scarcity, urgency and social proof, and see how they boost your conversion rates.


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Productivity Tips

5 Quick Productivity Tips For Online Marketers

Productivity Tips

If you’re a beginner or even an intermediate online marketer, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of work you need to do. There’s the tendency to become discombobulated and discouraged thinking about all the tasks that need your attention – not to mention the courses you’ve bought but have not started on.

To make matters worse, you’ve heard all the quotes on being productive instead of being busy. You’ve even bought a few books on the topic – which of course, you haven’t had the time to read yet.

You want to be productive, but you don’t know where to start. The good news is that this article will give you 5 tips which will increase your productivity and your sanity too – if applied.

Put It ALL On Paper

Productivity Tips

The first step to becoming productive is to make a list of ALL the things you need to do/complete. Write it all down. It doesn’t matter how menial the task is or how difficult it appears to be.

Pending tasks, courses to complete, websites that need building, content that needs to be written, etc. It all goes down on paper.

Once you’re done, you now have everything in black and white right in front of you. You no longer have to use up mental energy constantly thinking about these commitments. All you need to do is refer to the paper… which brings us to the next step…

Prioritizing

Productivity Tips

After studying the list of tasks you have in front of you, it’s time for prioritization. Let’s follow the Eisenhower Matrix..

  • All ‘important AND urgent tasks’ will need to be done FIRST
  • All ‘important BUT not urgent tasks’ will be done SECOND
  • All ‘not-important BUT urgent tasks’ will be DELEGATED
  • All ‘not-important AND not urgent’ tasks will be ELIMINATED

By categorizing your list of tasks, you’ll know exactly what needs to be completed first and so on. And that means…

Following A Daily Routine

Productivity Tips

You MUST have a daily routine that is productive and focused. Thousands of beginner marketers try to wing it and decide on a daily basis what they will do. This haphazard approach does not bode well for business success.

You’ll need a to-do list daily, and this list of tasks should come from what you wrote on the paper earlier. You do not need to do it all at once, but your daily work must make a dent in your big list. If not, you’ll always be behind the 8-ball struggling to catch up.

Having a to-do list alone is not enough. You must ‘Eat That Frog’. Wait, what?

In his book, “Eat That Frog”, author Brian Tracy, emphasizes doing the most difficult and unpleasant task of the day FIRST.

This point has been reiterated in another quote by Dale Carnegie, “Do the hard jobs first. The easy jobs will take care of themselves.”

Very often, the tasks you do not want to do and constantly keep thinking of procrastinating are the ones you MUST do. These are the tasks that matter. They may seem distasteful or unpleasant, but you’ll need to summon up the discipline to do them anyway.

This is what separates winners from losers. Being able to step out of your comfort zone will help you reach success in business and in life. The kite always rises against the wind.

Timeboxing

tips for productivity

Timeboxing is a term used to describe a technique where a specific slot of time is set aside to complete a specific task/s. This method will help you stay organized while keeping the main thing the main thing.

For example, if you’re a writer and most of your working hours is spent on research and writing, you may timebox 30 minutes at the end of the day to check your emails.

Assuming you timebox (4 – 4.30 PM) to check emails, that is EXACTLY what you’ll do during this time. You’ll not need to check your emails during your deep work sessions where you’re writing your best content.

At the same time, your email inbox will not become a mess because you’re spending 30 minutes daily keeping it in order. This is how timeboxing keeps your daily schedule AND your business organized.

Timebox any tasks that are important in the day to day running of your business, but not so important that they take priority over work that actually BUILDS your business.

Delegation And Automation

tips for productivity

Automate whatever you can. This could mean the emails to your list, or using apps like Tailwind to post on your Pinterest board, or scheduling posts to your Facebook group one week ahead.

Batching your tasks and automating them will save you a lot of time. Once you’re making money online, set aside some of your budget to outsource the mind-numbing tasks you’re currently doing.

These could be answering support emails, or posting content on your social media properties, or proofreading, etc.

Delegating the burdensome and repetitive tasks to others is worth every cent you pay. You’ll not only conserve your energy for work that matters, but you’ll get more done and have more free time.

Apply these 5 productivity tips in your business as soon as you can and you’ll discover how fast your life and work gets easier and better.

“It’s not always that we need to do more but rather that we need to focus on less.” – Nathan W. Morris

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