Are you an athlete? No? How about a corporate athlete? Do you compete
in the corporate world while sitting at your desk? Still no? You are an
athlete! You have to understand, I see an athlete as someone that uses
their body to compete. An athlete’s body must be a highly tuned, well
functioning machine. Still, many corporate athletes have forgotten that
they need their bodies to work as well as possible in order for them to
perform at their highest level… even if they never leave their chair.
Many corporate athletes have bodies that are not working the way they
should, even beginning to break down and leave them dealing with
regular aches and pains as a part of their normal day. Why do our bodies
break down? Typically, you can trace most of your body’s
musculo-skeletal problems to imbalances, posture, and overuse.
Imbalances are easy to identify, if you know what you’re looking for.
Take a look at the movements and activities you do during an average
day you will see that you basically do the same things each day. Over
and over again. Day in and day out. Not much variety, and not much
balance. Balance would mean that you do many activities involving
muscles of your front as well as your back. Good balance would also
involve movements on the right and left sides of your body.
The computer user keeps their hands in front of them all day, head
pushed forward and eyes glued to the screen. They keep this nearly
identical posture as they drive into work, and when they drive home,
before resuming this posture again at the dinner table and the couch.
How many hours in a day are they imbalanced in a forward position?
Eight? Ten? Sixteen? Is it any wonder that their muscles, ligaments, and
tendons start to change shape?
Bad posture is also easily identified… usually on someone else. Have
someone take a look at you while you work at your desk. Is your monitor
up high enough or are you looking down at it by bending your neck? How’s
your chair? Does it allow you to sit up straight? Are your shoulders
hunched?
What about the position of your mouse, where you put the papers you
are reviewing, how you hold your phone, the angle of your wrists… it can
be a lot to look at! You want to make sure that your body can stay in
as much of a good, well-balanced posture for as much of the day as
possible. Having a friendly co-worker take a look at you and your body
position can allow you to address potential issues before it’s too late.
It only takes a minute, and you can return the favor by observing them
at their workstation.
Overuse injuries come from doing any movement over and over again
until the body part just plain wears out! These injuries can occur over a
shorter period of time when imbalances and poor posture are also a part
of that movement. Trauma is usually easy to identify when it involves
falling down or a car accident. What about repetitive trauma, also
called micro-trauma?
Micro-trauma is not so easily noticed until symptoms start to appear.
The same movement or action that caused the injury becomes painful to
do. That should be your red alert that you cannot keep doing that
movement in the same way. Even treatment will only temporarily relieve
the pain if you go back to doing the same thing the wrong way again
every day.
The symptoms of your body breaking down are not always pain. Other
warning signs can be there for years before pain shows up. Bad posture
is already a warning sign that trouble is ahead. The typical shoulder
slouching head forward posture is rampant in our society! You likely
don’t have to leave your house to find someone living with this posture.
Bad posture leads to further imbalances and a speeding up of the
overuse injuries. If you take a look at someone with this posture,
you’ll notice that muscles in the front (like the chest muscles) start
to become shorter, while the back muscles start to become longer. This
is not just a visual change, but a physical change. Your muscles are
actually becoming short in the front and long in the back, a serious
imbalance.
Another symptom is a loss of range of motion, or a loss of the normal
ability to move the spine or any other joint through all of their
normal movements. Does your head turn painlessly right and left to the
same degree? Can you move your head forward and back easily, or just
forward? What about your low back or other joints like your wrists,
elbows, and shoulders? Compare side to side and see if they are equal.
Of course they could both need help, but this is a good starting point.
The good news is that most of these problems can be helped without
surgery. Of course, every person is different and when they decide to do
something about their problem is also very important. Wait too long and
you may eliminate many conservative treatment options. Catch it early
and make some changes to your workstation and you can avoid many painful
lessons later.
For now, concentrate on your posture and evaluate your work station.
Seek out activities that will allow some balance back into your
movements, including weight workouts and stretching. If you are already
experiencing pain, now is the time to do something about it. These
problems rarely resolve themselves on their own. You must act by seeking
the assistance of a qualified health professional.
Dr. Natalie Cordova is a posture exercise expert, chiropractor, and health educator. More information can be found at his website at http://www.postureconfidence.com
k
3/11/2014
3/10/2014
Top 5 Off-Site Optimization Strategies for the Newbie
Good Search Engine Optimization (SEO) involves both on-site and
off-site strategies. These strategies involve several procedures geared
towards building backlinks which is critical to you ranking highly in
the search engines. However for this article I will be looking at off-site optimization strategies.
As the name suggests, off-site optimization is employing procedures off
your website itself that relates to how the site is linked to external
pages. A link that points back to your site is known as a backlink.
Some procedures of off-site optimization include the following:
Post your site on web directories
Submission of sites to web directories is an old off-site SEO strategy geared at obtaining more backlinks. Submissions have to be done manually and based on my own experience it’s a tedious and time consuming job so, if you can outsource this function I suggest you do so. With all the recent updates by Google to their algorithms this optimization strategy has lost some of its importance. But it’s still considered a good method of improving your page rank. You should bear in mind though that you need to post only to high ranking and reputable directories. Be careful of less popular and possibly blacklisted sites, they can actually hurt your business.
Video Marketing
Creating videos about your business and or products and then posting them on video sites is a great way to help with your off-site optimization strategies. You should then embed the code on your own site. Video sites like Youtube are seen as an authority site and will provide you with high quality backlinks. Another advantage from this optimization strategy is getting even more traffic if your video becomes popular.
Social Media: Facebook
Did you know that the Social Media can be a form of Off-site SEO? Bet you didn’t. Links from Facebook won’t carry much weight where Google is concerned but with proper use of Facebook you can attract tons of visitors to your websites. You can do this by creating Facebook Fanpages, Groups, and Events.
Don’t waste your time on reciprocal linking
Reciprocal linking is basically you linking to someone’s site and then having them link back to yours. It’s actually an old SEO strategy of trading backlinks which is seen to be ineffective these days as it’s rather time consuming and doesn’t produce the desired results. So it’s not recommended as it can actually do more harm than good to your off-site optimization strategies. What you want to do instead is concentrate your energies on getting links from relevant sources where you can chase the links.
Perfecting your techniques
You need to stay on top of your SEO game to get the most from your off-site optimization strategies. How do you do this? By always, always, questioning yourself and your methods. You should test different methods and try new things. If there’s something you can’t figure out take the time to do some research and learn all you can about the area. That’s one of the purposes of the internet, to teach you.
Off-site optimization strategies are extremely important and shouldn’t be underestimated. It takes constant vigilance to be successful at your optimization strategies and the results you desire won’t come overnight. But if done right, you will get that high page ranking and the traffic will come, making a huge difference to your pocket. For easy an SEO guide containing more off-site optimization strategies click this link
Some procedures of off-site optimization include the following:
Post your site on web directories
Submission of sites to web directories is an old off-site SEO strategy geared at obtaining more backlinks. Submissions have to be done manually and based on my own experience it’s a tedious and time consuming job so, if you can outsource this function I suggest you do so. With all the recent updates by Google to their algorithms this optimization strategy has lost some of its importance. But it’s still considered a good method of improving your page rank. You should bear in mind though that you need to post only to high ranking and reputable directories. Be careful of less popular and possibly blacklisted sites, they can actually hurt your business.
Video Marketing
Creating videos about your business and or products and then posting them on video sites is a great way to help with your off-site optimization strategies. You should then embed the code on your own site. Video sites like Youtube are seen as an authority site and will provide you with high quality backlinks. Another advantage from this optimization strategy is getting even more traffic if your video becomes popular.
Social Media: Facebook
Did you know that the Social Media can be a form of Off-site SEO? Bet you didn’t. Links from Facebook won’t carry much weight where Google is concerned but with proper use of Facebook you can attract tons of visitors to your websites. You can do this by creating Facebook Fanpages, Groups, and Events.
Don’t waste your time on reciprocal linking
Reciprocal linking is basically you linking to someone’s site and then having them link back to yours. It’s actually an old SEO strategy of trading backlinks which is seen to be ineffective these days as it’s rather time consuming and doesn’t produce the desired results. So it’s not recommended as it can actually do more harm than good to your off-site optimization strategies. What you want to do instead is concentrate your energies on getting links from relevant sources where you can chase the links.
Perfecting your techniques
You need to stay on top of your SEO game to get the most from your off-site optimization strategies. How do you do this? By always, always, questioning yourself and your methods. You should test different methods and try new things. If there’s something you can’t figure out take the time to do some research and learn all you can about the area. That’s one of the purposes of the internet, to teach you.
Off-site optimization strategies are extremely important and shouldn’t be underestimated. It takes constant vigilance to be successful at your optimization strategies and the results you desire won’t come overnight. But if done right, you will get that high page ranking and the traffic will come, making a huge difference to your pocket. For easy an SEO guide containing more off-site optimization strategies click this link
Afraid To Take A Vacation? Put Your Business On Cruise Control
“I started my business so that I’d have freedom, but I’ve never felt more trapped….”
I come across a statement like that at least once a day on a forum post or in email. You start your internet business because of the freedom of being your own boss and working on your own schedule and then promptly sit on your hind-end for 12 hours/day EVERY DAY. No wonder you feel burnt out. And no wonder family and friends are feeling neglected when all you can think and talk about is your business.
Freedom sounds pretty miserable to me if it means freedom from fun and the ones that I love.
So, how do you break free?
Start by taking a good look at your business and getting your goals and priorities straight. Don’t worry, it’s not nearly as complicated as it sounds. I’ll walk you through it right now. Ready?
Grab a pen and a piece of paper or open your favorite word processor. Divide your page into four columns.
Now you’re ready to brainstorm. Write everything down as it comes to mind. Don’t overthink this. Just start writing.
First, figure out what is working. Whatever it is. It may be one of your websites, your ecourses, a joint venture, a certain marketing method. Where is the bulk of your money coming from, currently? (If none yet, where do you believe will be the place where the largest profits will come from?) Write those items in column #1 under: “Do More”.
Second, figure out what is not bringing in money. Is it hanging out on forums or posting classified ads to freebie sites? Is it endlessly checking your stats, or email? What are your daily time-suckers? Write those under column #2: “Do less”.
Third, figure out what could work better. Do you have upsells in place? Are your websites designed to bring you cash from every visitor? Make a list of ideas in column #3: “Improvements”. (If you don’t know yet, don’t worry. There are plenty of ways to improve your business as you learn and grow.)
Fourth, figure out what can be automated. Which tasks are repetitive and boring, albeit necessary? Many of those types of tasks can be automated with simple tools. For instance, if you’re submitting articles to directories by hand, there are tools and services to do that for you. Add these to column #4: “Automation”.
Now that you’re armed with your list, it’s time to get to work.
Look at your list in Column #1: “Do More”. Those are the tasks that you should focus your energies on. It’s a good idea to tackle one or two of the tasks on that list first thing in the morning – every morning. Believe me, it’s much more productive than checking out your favorite blogs or logging into twitter. And you’ll be amazed at how much you can get done quickly when your mind is fresh.
Look at your list in Column #2: “Do Less”. These activities should be forbidden until after you get your #1 list done, if you do them at all. For instance, hanging out on Twitter is fun, but do not do it until everything in column #1 is finished for the day.
Now, go back to Column #1, 3, and 4. Your “Do More”, “Improvements”, and “Automation” lists.
Look at all of the items that are on those three lists. Now, circle each task that you …
• Can’t Do
• Don’t Have Time to Do
• Don’t Want To Do
Those are the tasks that you’ll outsource.
Freedom means a lot of things. It means freedom to do the things that you want to do. However, it also means freedom to NOT do things that you really dislike doing.
For me, it’s graphics. I have outsourced all of my graphics since 2001. I don’t have the time, patience or inclination to learn how to make my own graphics. I have more important things to do, like write this article and then go on a bike ride with my son. Perhaps when I get back from my bike ride, my graphics will be waiting for me in my inbox.
Now, that’s freedom to me.
Want to outsource but don’t know where to start? Nicole Dean and Jimmy D. Brown invite you to http://www.OutsourceWeekly.com where you’ll learn how you can get free time (and earn more money) while others run your business for you.
I come across a statement like that at least once a day on a forum post or in email. You start your internet business because of the freedom of being your own boss and working on your own schedule and then promptly sit on your hind-end for 12 hours/day EVERY DAY. No wonder you feel burnt out. And no wonder family and friends are feeling neglected when all you can think and talk about is your business.
Freedom sounds pretty miserable to me if it means freedom from fun and the ones that I love.
So, how do you break free?
Start by taking a good look at your business and getting your goals and priorities straight. Don’t worry, it’s not nearly as complicated as it sounds. I’ll walk you through it right now. Ready?
Grab a pen and a piece of paper or open your favorite word processor. Divide your page into four columns.
Now you’re ready to brainstorm. Write everything down as it comes to mind. Don’t overthink this. Just start writing.
First, figure out what is working. Whatever it is. It may be one of your websites, your ecourses, a joint venture, a certain marketing method. Where is the bulk of your money coming from, currently? (If none yet, where do you believe will be the place where the largest profits will come from?) Write those items in column #1 under: “Do More”.
Second, figure out what is not bringing in money. Is it hanging out on forums or posting classified ads to freebie sites? Is it endlessly checking your stats, or email? What are your daily time-suckers? Write those under column #2: “Do less”.
Third, figure out what could work better. Do you have upsells in place? Are your websites designed to bring you cash from every visitor? Make a list of ideas in column #3: “Improvements”. (If you don’t know yet, don’t worry. There are plenty of ways to improve your business as you learn and grow.)
Fourth, figure out what can be automated. Which tasks are repetitive and boring, albeit necessary? Many of those types of tasks can be automated with simple tools. For instance, if you’re submitting articles to directories by hand, there are tools and services to do that for you. Add these to column #4: “Automation”.
Now that you’re armed with your list, it’s time to get to work.
Look at your list in Column #1: “Do More”. Those are the tasks that you should focus your energies on. It’s a good idea to tackle one or two of the tasks on that list first thing in the morning – every morning. Believe me, it’s much more productive than checking out your favorite blogs or logging into twitter. And you’ll be amazed at how much you can get done quickly when your mind is fresh.
Look at your list in Column #2: “Do Less”. These activities should be forbidden until after you get your #1 list done, if you do them at all. For instance, hanging out on Twitter is fun, but do not do it until everything in column #1 is finished for the day.
Now, go back to Column #1, 3, and 4. Your “Do More”, “Improvements”, and “Automation” lists.
Look at all of the items that are on those three lists. Now, circle each task that you …
• Can’t Do
• Don’t Have Time to Do
• Don’t Want To Do
Those are the tasks that you’ll outsource.
Freedom means a lot of things. It means freedom to do the things that you want to do. However, it also means freedom to NOT do things that you really dislike doing.
For me, it’s graphics. I have outsourced all of my graphics since 2001. I don’t have the time, patience or inclination to learn how to make my own graphics. I have more important things to do, like write this article and then go on a bike ride with my son. Perhaps when I get back from my bike ride, my graphics will be waiting for me in my inbox.
Now, that’s freedom to me.
Want to outsource but don’t know where to start? Nicole Dean and Jimmy D. Brown invite you to http://www.OutsourceWeekly.com where you’ll learn how you can get free time (and earn more money) while others run your business for you.
How to Outsource Parts of Your Internet Business
One of my favorite topics to discuss is outsourcing.
You’d be amazed how thinking about outsourcing and where to begin outsourcing flummoxes everyone from the newest newbies to the seasoned gurus and everyone in between.
Buy why? Why is it so very confusing? Most of us manage to outsource quite nicely in our day to day lives.
I oftentimes pose these questions to my coaching clients -
When you go to a restaurant, do you head back into the kitchen and cook your own food? (That’s just silly.)
And, if your appendix burst right now, would you go online to find out how to remove it yourself? (Please say “no”.)
Of course not!
But, why do we think it’s ok to do everything ourselves in our businesses?
I can’t figure out what it is, but I think I’m starting to narrow it down.
* Fear of losing control.
* Not knowing who to outsource work to. (Needing a recommendation.)
* Not wanting to take the time to outsource. (You think: “It’s quicker to do it myself.”)
* Costs. (Oftentimes, though, you can get help for a lot less than you think it’ll cost.)
* Lack of confidence in ourselves.
* Lack of confidence in the potential of our business.
No matter which of those it is, there comes a point with all of us, where you HAVE to outsource — at least if you ever want to be able to go on a real vacation where you leave the internet behind and relax with your loved ones.
I know. I know. If you’ve been following me for any amount of time – you’ve heard this song and dance before. BUT! While outsourcing isn’t perfect, it’s a heck of a lot better than putting the chains on your wrists from a job that you’ve created for yourself – one where you can’t escape.
Start small. Don’t go crazy. But, when you find someone who you work well with – build on that relationship so you have access to great people who know your style and who you’re comfortable working with. When I need a project done, I have my own personal rolodex of fabulously skilled people who I turn to on a regular basis. Not only does it save me time – but it also helps me to get great prices because they already know what I like, they know that I’m easy to work with and that I pay on time.
I hope this inspires you to start outsourcing in your business.
Nicole Dean can help you to get more done in your business without going crazy in the process. Yes, you can have a business AND a Life! Check out OutsourceWeekly.com and sign up for her free “Outsourcing Mistakes” lessons on the top of the page to get started.
You’d be amazed how thinking about outsourcing and where to begin outsourcing flummoxes everyone from the newest newbies to the seasoned gurus and everyone in between.
Buy why? Why is it so very confusing? Most of us manage to outsource quite nicely in our day to day lives.
I oftentimes pose these questions to my coaching clients -
When you go to a restaurant, do you head back into the kitchen and cook your own food? (That’s just silly.)
And, if your appendix burst right now, would you go online to find out how to remove it yourself? (Please say “no”.)
Of course not!
But, why do we think it’s ok to do everything ourselves in our businesses?
I can’t figure out what it is, but I think I’m starting to narrow it down.
* Fear of losing control.
* Not knowing who to outsource work to. (Needing a recommendation.)
* Not wanting to take the time to outsource. (You think: “It’s quicker to do it myself.”)
* Costs. (Oftentimes, though, you can get help for a lot less than you think it’ll cost.)
* Lack of confidence in ourselves.
* Lack of confidence in the potential of our business.
No matter which of those it is, there comes a point with all of us, where you HAVE to outsource — at least if you ever want to be able to go on a real vacation where you leave the internet behind and relax with your loved ones.
I know. I know. If you’ve been following me for any amount of time – you’ve heard this song and dance before. BUT! While outsourcing isn’t perfect, it’s a heck of a lot better than putting the chains on your wrists from a job that you’ve created for yourself – one where you can’t escape.
So, my #1 tip for outsourcing is to try it.
Choose something small and work from there.- Submitting some articles that you’ve written to the article directories.
- Finding blogs to guest post on and contacting the owners.
- Answering some emails regarding customer issues.
- Graphics to promote your products.
Start small. Don’t go crazy. But, when you find someone who you work well with – build on that relationship so you have access to great people who know your style and who you’re comfortable working with. When I need a project done, I have my own personal rolodex of fabulously skilled people who I turn to on a regular basis. Not only does it save me time – but it also helps me to get great prices because they already know what I like, they know that I’m easy to work with and that I pay on time.
I hope this inspires you to start outsourcing in your business.
Nicole Dean can help you to get more done in your business without going crazy in the process. Yes, you can have a business AND a Life! Check out OutsourceWeekly.com and sign up for her free “Outsourcing Mistakes” lessons on the top of the page to get started.
Mastermind Your Way to Success
What do Mark Victor Hansen, Robert Allen, Anthony Robbins, Andrew
Carnegie, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and Ben Franklin have in common?
They all leverage the power of the mastermind team.
The mastermind works on the concept that two (or more) heads are better than one. When you gather a group of like-minded people and focus on one particular problem, a funny thing happens. Not only do you get intelligent feedback on blind spots you may not have noticed. But a truly phenomenal thing also happens with a mastermind group – the psychic aspect.
“The human mind is a form of energy, a part of it being spiritual in nature.
When the minds of two people are coordinated in a SPIRIT OF HARMONY, the spiritual units of energy of each mind form an affinity, which constitutes the ‘psychic’ phase of the Master Mind.” — Excerpted from Think and Grow Rich
See, when a group is united in the same purpose, the number of ideas in the room balloons off of other people’s ideas. I witnessed this personally last month at a networking meeting lead by Jim Bunch of Six Figure Practice. In groups of 6-8 we brainstormed how to raise $10,000 in three days. The ideas were mind boggling. As we got more and more excited, our ideas became more and more bold. One group said they weren’t stopping at $10,000. They wanted to raise $1,000,000!
So how do you harness this kind of power for yourself? Masterminds are rather subjective in that you must do what works for YOU and your lifestyle ultimately. I have been in my mastermind for a year now and I couldn’t be happier. My business has hit an all-time high. And I credit the habit of masterminding with the lion’s share of my success. Here are some of the qualities that work for us.
Make a wish list of people you would like to be in your mastermind. Write out the qualities you would like to see in the ideal candidates. Be specific.
A word of caution – be very picky about whom you choose to make this commitment with. You will likely be together for a long time. Make it a goal for this year to be a part of a mastermind team.
by Copywriting guru Lorrie Morgan-Ferrero has been helping entrepreneurs and copywriters get their marketing messages razor sharp since 1999. Get free access to 5 tips to turn your “blah” sales message into red-hot copy that ROCKS… at http://www.RedHotCopy.com
They all leverage the power of the mastermind team.
The mastermind works on the concept that two (or more) heads are better than one. When you gather a group of like-minded people and focus on one particular problem, a funny thing happens. Not only do you get intelligent feedback on blind spots you may not have noticed. But a truly phenomenal thing also happens with a mastermind group – the psychic aspect.
“The human mind is a form of energy, a part of it being spiritual in nature.
When the minds of two people are coordinated in a SPIRIT OF HARMONY, the spiritual units of energy of each mind form an affinity, which constitutes the ‘psychic’ phase of the Master Mind.” — Excerpted from Think and Grow Rich
See, when a group is united in the same purpose, the number of ideas in the room balloons off of other people’s ideas. I witnessed this personally last month at a networking meeting lead by Jim Bunch of Six Figure Practice. In groups of 6-8 we brainstormed how to raise $10,000 in three days. The ideas were mind boggling. As we got more and more excited, our ideas became more and more bold. One group said they weren’t stopping at $10,000. They wanted to raise $1,000,000!
So how do you harness this kind of power for yourself? Masterminds are rather subjective in that you must do what works for YOU and your lifestyle ultimately. I have been in my mastermind for a year now and I couldn’t be happier. My business has hit an all-time high. And I credit the habit of masterminding with the lion’s share of my success. Here are some of the qualities that work for us.
- Keep the number small. My group is 4 people but we could comfortably increase to as many as 6.
- Meet regularly. We meet by phone once a week to go over successes and challenges. Plus we put one person on the hot seat for special focus. Then we also meet in person for an all day retreat a minimum of 3-4 times a year.
- Don’t make anybody wrong. There is no such thing as a bad idea. As soon as you begin attacking the creativity of the mastermind, the ideas will shrivel up. Keep the brainstorm going and you’ll be astounded at the new levels of insight you reach.
- Treat each meeting as if you paid $100,000 a year to be a member. A mastermind meeting isn’t a coffee klatch. The only way it can truly be effective is if everyone takes it seriously and shows up ready to focus.
- Hold one another accountable. Got a goal? When do you expect to have that done by? Your mastermind team wants to know. There is great power in verbalizing your intention.
Make a wish list of people you would like to be in your mastermind. Write out the qualities you would like to see in the ideal candidates. Be specific.
A word of caution – be very picky about whom you choose to make this commitment with. You will likely be together for a long time. Make it a goal for this year to be a part of a mastermind team.
by Copywriting guru Lorrie Morgan-Ferrero has been helping entrepreneurs and copywriters get their marketing messages razor sharp since 1999. Get free access to 5 tips to turn your “blah” sales message into red-hot copy that ROCKS… at http://www.RedHotCopy.com
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