• More Business Articles

  • How to Start an Internet Business in Five Steps
  • Internet Business Coaching
  • Make Money Online with Focus and Self Discipline
  • Free Stuff for Internet Entrepreneurs
  • Success Mindset Training
  • Organize Daily Work for Maximum Efficiency
  • Join My Blogroll
  • How to Get Other People to Do the Work for You
  • Entrepreneurship and Risk
  • The 80/20 Rule for Entrepreneurs

• Search

A few weeks ago I updated the inspirational-message board that hangs on the inside of my front door. It now reads…

The brief outline serves as a reminder to invert my expectations about achieving or getting happiness. We almost always think of happiness as existing at a distant point beyond initial desires, intentions, and finally… manifestations. The irony, of course, is that such a model really prevents you from ever becoming happy since happiness is forever connected to some outcome or goal. (Even once you’ve reached the goal, another replaces it.)

I decided to really start implementing the “Happiness First” model of living life after a strange but uplifting encounter with an old friend. I was visiting my hometown about one month ago and decided to stop in at a café. Inside, I ran into the friend. We had a brief conversation before parting ways. On his way out the door, quite unexpectedly, he looked at me with a sense of directness and said,

Seems obvious enough, right? Most of us would agree that this simple statement contains profound truth. Yet, in this moment, I reached a new level of understanding about the meaning of “accept happiness now.” There are likely many more similar realizations to come.

Happiness and The Law of Attraction
Much of my writing in the last few weeks has attempted to explain and interpret The Law of Attraction and the intention-manifestation model. These are great tools for inviting positive change into your life partly because they help clarify dreams and partly because they offer a taste or preview of those dreams today. This last component, I believe, is essential.

As a recent visitor expressed in his comment, we must improve our lives and situations from a position of strength. In other words, we must be happy now if we expect to be happy later after achieving a goal or reaching an objective.

I’ve titled this article “Manifest Your Dreams Today” to point out the real power each of us has to create what we want right now – to be happy right now. This is what The Law of Attraction and intention-manifestation is really about: creating a link between the present moment and our future desires.

The classic example for intention-manifestation is a new car. Let’s suppose you want to manifest a new car into your life. That is your dream. If you want to manifest your dream today, you can do so at anytime. Of course, there’s always visualization: Sit back and visualize the car you really want to have. See yourself driving it, feeling good, and looking good. Really focus on the feeling the new car brings into your life.

You may very well wish to have a new car. That can be part of your dream(s). But, in my view, the thing you really want is the feeling the new car will bring - the happiness it will deliver into your life. A big part of this is also having a sense of control. By getting the new car and experiencing the positive feelings, you will feel a sense of control in your life - a satisfying and empowering place to be.

My question is - Why wait until the new car arrives to start feeling good? Why put yourself in a position where you’re always living at Point A and only allowing happiness to exist at Point B? In a discussion about this concept last night, my girlfriend made an excellent point: Why not conceive of a path in terms of Point A, B, and C – where A is your point of departure, B your current position, and C your destination. At least that model illustrates some process or consistent growth.

Manifest Your Dreams NOW
I would take this idea a step further and package all three of these “points” in the present moment… in the NOW. This allows for a greater degree of congruence between all three and is consistent with the true nature of time. After all, where lies the past and future but inside the present moment? It’s wonderful to look back on the past and make out a narrative of progress and growth that led you here, and then to look out on the future and project a similar narrative of progress and growth that will take you further ahead. But the point of departure is always NOW.

Take this concept with you into today. Acknowledge where you’ve come from. Look out onto the road ahead. But remember to live your dreams today. Be happy today. Make that choice NOW.

Tags:now law of attraction manifest intention dreams dream today

In business, making a sale is the ultimate aim. That’s why we do business in the first place – to provide a product or service in exchange for some form of revenue.

Most entrepreneurs and business owners spend lots of time working to attract customers or clients. Without buyers, our businesses would not exist. It all boils down to the back-scratching exchange that benefits both parties.

While it is definitely important to get new customers in the door (or on the website) and make a sale, it’s just as important to get more business from the customers already hanging around.

What is an Upsell?
Think of a restaurant. Once customers are seated and ready to begin their meal, a sales transaction begins. The typical diner will spend an average amount during their stay. The restaurant owner certainly can congratulate herself on winning the customer’s business. It takes a lot of effort to get the customer to the table in the first place.

But the selling process does not end here. The restaurateur’s goal is to “upsell” the existing client. More expensive drinks? Side dishes? Entrée add-ons? Dessert? So on and so forth.

Virtually all business models can adopt the upsell approach to increase sales and keep marketing costs low. Here’s the basic formula behind this concept:

Once you gain the customer’s trust and respect, your upsell marketing costs drop significantly. Upselling may even lead to even greater revenue than generated during the initial sale.

How to Get Started – Ideas for Internet Entrepreneurs
For internet entrepreneurs, upselling is especially important. With millions of websites and products available online, retaining a customer’s business can make or break internet entrepreneurs. What follows is a range of options for getting repeat business on your website. These options are based on my experience in online business, but could apply to brick-and-mortar businesses as well.

• Keep your customer’s attention.

Even if you’re selling a great product, your customers want to know that you’re thinking of them. Newsletters, promotional announcements, product updates, holiday/birthday messages, etc. Customers want to feel important; they want to feel worthy of your attention. Try to make these attention-grabbing newsletters personal and warm.

For creating autoresponse messages and newsletter programs, I highly recommend AWeber. It’s never too late to get started with email updates and announcements. Just be sure you’re effectively collecting email addresses before or after the sale.

• Appeal to the big spender.

If you’re selling a product, you’ve likely priced the item to make the most profit from the greatest possible number of consumers. This is a logical strategy. But once the product is sold, many of your customers will still have more spending potential untapped by that initial sale.

Here’s an example from my own business. My home business startup ebook costs $24.95, including its accompanying bonus package. That book includes all of the essential information a new business owner could want for getting started and finding success. Many readers will be perfectly happy with that material alone. But for those who want to take their business to the next level, I offer business consultation for $100 per session. The product upgrade is intended for the business owner who sees the value in the upgrade. Their $100 investment might help create thousands of dollars more in revenue during the life of their business.

• Personalize an existing product.

Customers will pay an average price for a typical product or service. The marketplace has countless everyday products available at a range of prices. Entrepreneurs who want to upsell the customers ready to buy can easily do so by offering a personal touch.

• Offer smart upgrades.

Think of the last time you bought a new car. Just when you thought the decision-making process was finished, there you were: sitting in the finance office, listening reluctantly to a sales pitche designed to squeeze every last dollar out of your pocket.

In your own business, there are likely some upgrades you could add to the product sales page. These upgrade offers should be so related to the product itself that the customer feels compelled to buy.

Upselling should not be an underhanded business tactic. In the end, the upsell should benefit both the entrepreneur and the customer. Repeat customers are much happier returning to a familiar business than taking their chances in untested waters.

upsell | internet marketing | internet entrepreneur

Reader Toolbox:

642-901 is usually attempted right after 70-620. However, the eligibility criteria can also be fulfilled with 640-863.

Related Articles:

• 10 Cheap and Easy Marketing Ideas under $100
• Wendy Piersall - Mindful Marketing on a Shoestring Budget
• Creating Passive Streams of Income
• Copywriter's Reading List
• The Tipping Point
• The Irresistible Offer

In the first part of this series, I discuss the beginnings of my path as an entrepreneur. For the second half, I focus on my current business model as an internet entrepreneur and provide a glimpse into my vision for the future.

Every entrepreneur takes a different approach to business-building. My intention here is only to offer my work as an example that might inspire you. For that reason, the following article is as much about business modeling as it is a “picture” of my own model…

Finding a Purpose: The Entrepreneur’s Key
I firmly believe that business development and personal development go hand and hand. This is an especially important concept for entrepreneurs. I am my business. The same applies to you.

In my internet startup ebook, I often remind readers that building a business is not just about money. And yet, making money is an important part of being an entrepreneur.

The greatest key to my success in previous and current ventures has invariably been purpose. On a weekly basis, I reconsider and reinvigorate my business plan.

In part 1, I provided my personal purpose as an entrepreneur…

I work to inspire other people to find congruence in personal, spiritual, and financial success. In everything I do, I strive to live congruently, to work with real purpose and intention in my business and personal spheres.

Take a hard look at that statement. The word “I” figures largely. It should be obvious why this is the case. I am the entrepreneur. I am the business.

For most entrepreneurs, the ultimate goal is not self-employment but business ownership. You’ve probably heard the term “passive income streams” countless times. This is exactly the meaning of the term – to disconnect your time (your employment) from your earnings.

With this in mind, I began expanding my entrepreneurial personal statement into a business mission statement. Entrepreneurs are creators, masterminds. Often, we create business operations that take on their own lives.

A business is far more likely to succeed if imbued with its own purpose.

Building a Business: The Entrepreneur’s Creation
With a business mission statement, an entrepreneur can begin developing a complete business profile. The profile can include a variety of things, but here are some essentials with examples from my own business:

• Name: Mindful Write
• Purpose: To create and publish information products that enhance lives by promoting personal growth, entrepreneurship, and success achievement.
• Current Products
• A Life Journey
• Personal development articles and resources
• Mindful Entrepreneur
• Business startup and development articles and resources
• Make Money at Home Selling Books Online
• How to start and run a successful bookselling business
• Future Products
• Begin Meditation (BETA)
• Daily meditations and ruminations
• Various ebook ideas, etc.
• Revenue Streams
• eBook sales, Adsense, Amazon Associates, Text Link Ads, Donations, Product upgrades, etc.

Once I started spelling these things out, I could immediately see a picture of my business and ask important questions about its current state and its future growth. Everything points back to my Purpose/Mission. Any time I wonder about an important decision, I look to this statement for guidance.

Periodically, I review the statement itself as I consider what changes might warrant a change to my overall purpose. But usually the cart follows the horse. My actions as an entrepreneur and the development of the business are both guided by the trajectory of purpose. For me, being a Mindful Entrepreneur is about building personal passion into a business that inspires others and improves their lives.

Tags: business plan | internet entrepreneur | mindful entrepreneur

Related Articles:

• The Mindful Entrepreneur’s Journey – Part 1
• Wendy Piersall - Mindful Marketing on a Shoestring Budget
• Articles on Getting Started for Entrepreneurs
• What is a Mindful Entrepreneur?
• The Tipping Point

I want to begin by referencing Yaro Starak’s blog, Entrepreneur’s Journey. I’m alluding to his clever blog-name for this particular post, so I want to give credit where credit is due. If you aren’t yet familiar with Yaro’s work, check him out today!

*****

The following two-part series offers a closer look at how I became an internet entrepreneur and how I intend to continue developing a mindful online business down the road. Some of this post is personal in nature, but I believe many of you will find it illuminating. Reviewing personal history is a good way to take stock of how things are developing for you and to really consider if you’re headed down the right path. I hope this series inspires you to consider your own personal and business journeys…

The Path to Today
My career in internet business began by surprise. When I started my first online venture, I was still in college. Before the idea came to fruition, I never once thought, “Hey, maybe I’ll make a living online.” If you would have asked me about the potentials of running an online business at the time, I probably would have laughed and made some snide comment about “getting a real job.” Funny how things change.

In college, I took many classes and developed a wide range of interests. I focused my major studies in the English department. A lifelong love of reading and writing made that a natural choice. And the professors in that particular department were outstanding to boot!

While completing my college studies, a few things fell into place that definitely contributed to my current position today. First, during my final year I completed research on blogging as a form of discourse. I fell completely in love with the blogosphere and created my first blog (lost to posterity today). While engaged in this project, I also started developing a website for a student organization on campus. It was my first *real* crack at creating a website from scratch. There were plenty of hang-ups, but I learned a great deal about the web and some basics of computer programming. Someday I’d like to really dig in and learn more. I’m completely self-taught. I actually taught myself Basic Programming at 13 from some old texts my Dad always had on our bookshelves. That said, by no means do I consider myself a techno-wiz. Far from it. But I’m getting better every day.

As the end of my college career approached, I began thinking seriously about life after the 4-year degree. I thought a lot about graduate and post-graduate school, but the job market was bleak. Somehow forces beyond me came to the rescue…

I’ve always loved books. But I never considered making a profit from the hobby. Yet that’s exactly what I started doing several years ago – selling books online. I got my start by selling used books from my own collection. I used Amazon almost exclusively and saw great results! I was turning a small profit when it suddenly dawned on me that I could make a great profit by simply “scaling” the results. In short, with more books to sell, I would turn more profit.

At its all-time high, my online bookselling business was hedging close to $3000 per month. I was immensely happy.

That is, until my life took an unexpected turn - upside down. Just last year, my former wife and I separated. The separation itself was quite civil and loving. The differences that had developed between us were mostly circumstantial and had more to do with the paths we were chasing.

Despite my business success, I was still considering other paths. I wanted to pursue writing more exclusively and had strongly considered graduate schools across the country. My thoughts were not aligned with her desires to travel every summer as a working choreographer while remaining open to options for permanent work elsewhere. Our dreams were just not compatible any longer and neither of us wanted to stand in the way of the other.

With the separation from my wife came a separation from my business. I decided to liquidate the inventory. I sold the entire stock of books and washed my hands of the work I was doing. I began teaching writing classes at a local private college where I rekindled my deep passion for writing.

As time passed, my attention turned again to entrepreneurship and the internet. Initially, I tried to start everything over from scratch to rebuild my book empire. But something kept holding me back. Finally, I realized that returning to the bookselling was not the answer. There was some greater reason for my separation. I started asking fundamental questions about my life purpose. Writing kept coming up again and again. I wanted to write for a living. I wanted to share my talents with other people. But I also wanted to help other people develop their own talents to find greater success and happiness. I wanted to teach.

Everything started coming together. My first project was writing an eBook to teach other people how to find success in starting an online business. I knew others could really benefit from my inside experience in that world. And I wanted to share my knowledge in an accessible way. I wanted to create a partnership with my readers by giving them important information and a real sense of presence in the writing. As I was working to develop the first eBook, I also started this blog, the Mindful Entrepreneur.

If I could sum up my mission as an internet entrepreneur, I would do so in this simple statement:

I work to inspire other people to find congruence in personal, spiritual, and financial success. In everything I do, I strive to live congruently, to work with real purpose and intention in my business and personal spheres.

Related Articles:

• 10 Steps to Writing an Ebook - Part 1
• Keeping a Business Journal
• What is a Mindful Entrepreneur?
• The Tipping Point

In the previous post, I gave an introduction to The Law of Attraction – what it is and how it relates to intention and manifestation.

For today’s entry, I’m offering a spin-off of Steven Covey’s book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (which I’m currently re-reading on audio). I wanted to offer a step-by-step guide for putting The Law of Attraction into action in your daily life. While listening to Covey talk about the 7 key habits for effectiveness, it dawned on me that there are some important relationships between being “effective” and being “attractive.”

Covey’s book is one of my favorites in the personal development genre because the author focuses so much on changing character – really looking at who we are in terms of what we believe about ourselves and other people. Yet Covey’s viewpoint is geared mostly towards really pushing for change in your life. He argues that we should “be proactive” and “put first things first” to make things happen. Don’t get me wrong: I do think these are good ways to bring about change.

But when looking again at Covey’s suggestions for “effectiveness,” I couldn’t help but see how his ideas - with some adjusting - fit quite well within paradigm of “attraction.” I began to realize that habits for effective people appealed more to conscious effort. The more I come to understand the true meaning behind The Law of Attraction, the more it seems to have far more to do with unconscious alignment or harmony with natural forces. I’m not suggesting that attraction and effectiveness are opposites. I think there are key similarities. My approach here is simply to offer a new interpretation of Covey’s classic model in terms of The Law of Attraction.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Attractive People
1. Meditate
While Covey’s list begins with action, I’m beginning mine with nonaction. Meditation is the cornerstone of attraction because it aids in silencing the ego-mind and tuning into a wider range of consciousness.

To harmonize with The Law of Attraction, you can use meditation in a variety of ways:

• Quiet the mind to let go of disruptive & negative thought-patterns
• Focus on a particular intention you wish to manifest
• Tune into the present moment and accept your reality

I’ve practiced meditation for several years now, but only recently started integrating these last two methods. These meditations provide an ideal way to communicate with your unconscious mind, especially if used regularly. Most intentions seem to require unconscious manifestations (which explains why you can’t intend most things right now).

Even by simply practicing meditation to still the mind, you will see results. The more reign your ego has in your life, the harder it may be to get the things you *really* want. (How do you even know what you *really* want if your ego is always getting in the way?)

2. Visualize.
My second habit here matches up nicely with Covey’s “Begin with the end in mind.” Through creative visualization, you can actually bring the end (your intention) into the present moment with your mind.

Next to meditation, visualization is an indispensable life-changing tool. Think about it: when there’s something you want in your life that you don’t have the problem simply lies in your current intention-manifestation model. If you want a new car but you’re not manifesting one, there’s something wrong with your intention. In short, you and the new car are not properly aligned.

When you visualize yourself in the new car, driving the new car, and loving the new car, you send a clear message to your unconscious that positively reinforces the intention.

There’s also a simple psychological benefit here. Many of us want, wish, and desire day-after-day only to find that what we manifest doesn’t actually deliver happiness. When you practice visualization, you begin to get very clear about what it is you want. Every day you’ll probably find the intentions adjusting somewhat as you continue “seeing” the manifestation. I love the new car example, because creative visualization really is a chance to “test drive” your intentions.

3. Put your reality first.
When Steven Covey says “Put First Things First,” he really means make your life important. My spin on this is to put your entire subjective reality first. By doing this, it becomes quite easy to prioritize since your priorities are the only ones that matter.

This isn’t supposed to be a joke. I don’t mean treat everybody in a lousy way and just defer to “Hey, this is my reality, right?” Well, actually you are right. But if you’re treating everyone else like dirt, you’re essentially treating yourself like dirt. After all, you’re creating the negative world which will ultimately begin to make you feel unhappy.

Putting your reality first is a really difficult habit to integrate initially. Blaming, complaining, and finger-pointing are habits deeply ingrained in our culture. But it’s truly remarkable how much the world changes when you change the way you see it. I know this is a cliché self-help maxim, but there’s no better way to express it. Why let other people create your reality for you? Step up to the plate of life and start creating your own world. Make this a daily habit and I guarantee you’ll find waking up in the morning a joyous event!

4. Embrace abundance.
I’m a huge fan of Covey’s Win-Win paradigm. The first time I really acknowledged the possibility of win-win arrangements in life, I began to realize the true meaning of cooperation, interdependence, and abundance.

When I started looking at The Law of Attraction and considering its viability, I had to reconsider my own ideas about competition and success. Like a lot of people, I was harboring really negative win-lose ideas about money, health, and general happiness. We tend to categorize people into the Haves and the Have-Nots. Each of these groups then develops its own attitudes about the other thereby reinforcing the division.

When you start thinking win-win, you become invested in everyone’s success, not just your own. More often than not, when other people find success it truly benefits you even in subtle ways.

5. Believe in attraction.
If you really want The Law of Attraction to work in your life, you have to start attracting it. That is, you have to start by attracting the law in the first place.

However you view reality, that is exactly how reality will manifest into your world. It takes much effort and time to make a Copernican revolution happen, even just in your own mind but the results are staggering.

My suggestion for this habit is to put it into action everyday by suspending your disbelief. Try one month of altering your way of seeing and see how it works. Then, keep applying it every day from there on.

6. Integrate all elements.
With time, I believe habit 6 will happen naturally. But in the beginning, some effort is required. Meditation, visualization, attraction, and abundance will all integrate into your reality paradigm in a manner Covey calls “synergy.”

Essentially, synergy is what The Law of Attraction is all about – lining up your consciousness with the universe and creating harmony between them.

7. Expand consciousness.
Covey’s final recommendation for effectiveness is “Sharpen the Saw” – continue to develop, learn, grow, enhance. Of course, the same applies to intention-manifestation.

Specific approaches to expanding your consciousness will depend upon you. Lucid dreaming might be a good way to work on transforming your vision of everyday life. Exercising and/or changing your diet could help enhance awareness levels. So on and so forth. Anything that moves you beyond the standard ego cockpit experience and into a wider, deeper, higher, more focused level of mind.
Tags: law of attraction | intention manifestation | attraction

— Next Page →