Entries in " life "  

Peter For President - Help Me Get Elected

I was recently contacted by Channel 3 news.. Here is the story they put together.

I am seriously considering running.. Any input?

Technorati Tags: comedy, election, peter for president, president

Wanna Know Why Defeat Is Your Friend?

It is damn near impossible to reach huge success without going through multiple set backs. Doesn't matter whether you come from a poor family or rich family. In the end, we are all human and all humans make mistakes. Aside from myself, there are no perfect human beings out there. Ahem.

Want to know how to turn defeat into a positive?

What happens when you hit some sort of defeat or setback? One of these three things happens:

You Quit - You are so defeated that you totally give up. You accept that you just aren't good enough and run away. Sissy!

You Accept - Again, you accept the defeat but you don't run away. Instead you just continue with the status quo and will probably continue to be defeated in your future plans. In other words: You live life on your knees!

You Fight - You accept this setback, but know it's not permanent. You get up, figure out what went wrong and try again, usually with huge success!

Study your defeat and try to learn what caused it. 99.9% of the time your setback is a direct result of one of your actions.

It's similar to scientists studying any illness. Find out the cause and stomp that out in some way.

So next time you fail at something, don't get down on yourself. At least you tried, which is more than most people do! Instead take the failure as a learning experience. Build off that to educate yourself so you don't make the same mistakes in the future.

When you're knocked to the floor, if you can't get yourself back up, how can you possibly move forward?

I just finished reading the book The Magic of Thinking Big by David J. Schwartz. There is a chapter dedicated to this exact subject and it really hits the nail on the head. The book is an excellent read, although it can be a bit slow in some places. It was originally printed in the 50's and the style reflects that, but I still highly recommend it.

Technorati Tags: business, defeat, fight, life

David Beckham Proves He's A Choke Artist

Sorry, the headline is misleading. I actually think he's a great player, but I needed to make sure and grab your attention ;)

Last night we went to the LA Galaxy game where they hosted the Columbus Crew. LA was up 2-0 at half time. Some how they allow Columbus to score 2 points early in the 2nd half.

You can see the end result in the video below (taken with my new Casio Exilim that was a gift for fathers day)

As you can see, David Beckham did choke on that last play. Wide open shot... could have been the hero of the game. Coulda, woulda, shoulda.

That was my first MLS game and I have to admit, it was a blast! I never really got into soccer until my oldest began playing 2 years ago. She's now finished 4 seasons and my youngest daughter has played 2 (I coached her team in the last spring session). Watching a pro game live was so much fun and I definitely plan on attending many more games.

Technorati Tags: beckham, choke, futbol, la galaxy, mls, soccer

The Business of Blogging And Why You're Missing Out

This blog is more of a personal blog and I only write about things that interest me. You can tell from the limited, and specific, categories I have for this blog that this is more of a "small town" blog and I hope it has a "small town" feel. The reason is I want to be able to connect with any of my readers. I would like them to feel like they know me a little bit and get a handle on my personality. I am basically the same person on and off line. The good, bad and ugly.

Blogging is a big deal now a days. More and more companies have blogs as they really help build the brand for that company. But you don't need to be a company, or even a business, to blog. You may still work for "the man" but you may be missing out on a lot of opportunities that can come from blogging.

Everyone has a passion, hobby, set of interests, etc. Why not blog about it. You can blog on a dedicated subject or bounce around through all your interests, like I do here. It's not too hard to build a following (even if it's a small one, like I have) for a blog. Tell some friends, use widgets like BlogRush and post a little in forums and people will read your stuff. Give quality content, and they will be back.

So what are you missing out on by not blogging? Quite a few things actually. Opportunity to network with people who have similar interests. Money. There are many ways your blog can generate income for you. The various ways are out of the scope for this post, but advertising, affiliate sales, contract work, etc. are all common ways to earn a buck by writing a blog.

If you are a business, it's an excellent way to build a rapport with your client base. You can keep them updated on your company, or service, status. You are able to interact with them via the comments and answer questions in lengthy detail with a new post. This is a priceless function for a business and even though it's becoming more common I am still surprised at the lack of company blogs for so many online businesses.

Heh, and in all fairness, this blog serves as the "company" blog for my companies SmartJabber and JumpLaunch. As they grow, we will make sure to have a dedicated blog for each of them (maybe we should already?)

Blogging can be time consuming but it's worth putting in the effort. Even though my posting frequency has been pretty, well, shitty lately it isn't too difficult to keep up with and manage your own blog. It's inexpensive to run and there are tons of free software packages and platforms out there.

If you aren't currently blogging then you should be. If you have no plans to start any time soon... why not?

Technorati Tags: blogging, marketing, networking, writing

Let's Go Lakers!!

Just wanted to say that tonight, as always, I will be rooting for my Los Angeles Lakers! As someone born & bred in LA, I've been a Lakers fan for as long as I can remember. This is going to be one hell of a series!

The rivalry between the Lakers and Boston Celtics goes back decades! From Magic & Bird to Kobe & Garnett it's been an awesome history between these two teams and this years finals looks to be just as great as the previous matchups.

My prediction.. Lakers will win tonight (game 1) and lose game 2. Then win 3 of the next 4 games to win the championship in 6 games! A lot of people call me crazy, some agree. Let's see how it plays out!

GO LAKERS!!

Technorati Tags: basketball, celtics, finals, lakers, nba, sports

Working From Pismo Beach, CA

The wife and I decided to spend the weekend in Pismo Beach this Memorial Day weekend. I've been super busy with work lately and I really needed this break! That has also been the reason I haven't been posting as much as I would like.

Even though I am out of town, I still will spend an hour or so each day working. That's the great thing about running businesses that operates online. You can work from basically anywhere. With a laptop and an internet connection, you're office is wherever you are. Right now I am writing this from my hotel room. We are preparing to go explore the shore and sand dunes on the coast that Pismo Beach is famous for.

The internet has completely changed the landscape for entrepreneurs. While I still need to show up to the office most days it's totally fine if I want to escape for a few days and take a breather. Since my businesses are all run online, they continue whether I am there or not. As long as I can make sure things are still operating fine, then things continue to run and I continue to make money. Even while riding dune buggies along the awesome California coast line ;)

That's what being you're own boss is all about!

Technorati Tags: being your own boss, business, entrepreneur, independence, internet

No, I Am Not Slacking Off

Word on the street is that I have been slacking off and that is why I haven't been posting much on my blog lately. I wish that was the case but the truth is I have been super busy with work. My partner and I are launching our new company/service this weekend at a seminar here in Los Angeles this weekend. I will announce it next week to the world via this blog, of course!

Launching 2 companies in 4 months is not an easy task. It's been a lot of work and a lot of slow progress but we are very positive it will all pay off, and soon!

As you can imagine it is serious crunch time right now. Days away from the launch of our new service and still putting the finishing touches on small design changes, etc. Oh, and the mixup with our servers hasn't helped either. We were shipped the wrong servers, built to the wrong specs, and have been running ourselves ragged trying to resolve this and get these machines provisioned in time.

Anyways, hang in there. I will post more frequently soon enough. I need to get past this weekend and take a few days to decompress... Wish me luck!

Technorati Tags: marketing, business, tired, entrepreneur, internet

Well, I Survived Cancun

After a few days in the sun and a whole lot of alcohol I made it home safe and sound. Cancun is an awesome place but I was disappointed how "Americanized" it was. In the "normal" parts of town it was classic Mexico but where the resort areas are, it looks like the vibrant section of any major American city. Lots of bars/clubs, restaurants (T.G.I. Fridays, wtf!), etc.

I have lots of photos that will go up on my Flickr account soon. There were lots of hot chicks and it turns out that it was spring break week down there so a lot of college kids were floating around. Some of the things I saw were quite.. well.. "amazing". The details would make even a dark skinned man like myself blush.

In any case, I am back and it's back to business as usual! I was able to keep my composure and the only time I broke my marriage vows was in my head ;)

Technorati Tags: cancun, hot chicks, mexico, spring break, vacation

Off To Cancun...

Quick note that I will be out of town for the next few days. I am heading off to Cancun with my business partner and some of his sales guys. Sort of a reward for them and all their good work the last few months. So I may take me a little longer to respond to email, etc. You know, due to being intoxicated and/or hung over most of the time.

See ya next week!

Technorati Tags: cancun, email, mexico, vacation

Learn From Nike - Just Do It!

I came across this post today by a guy named Matt Heaton. It's about how so many people have great ideas but are afraid to pursue them. Here is a an excerpt that is the meat & potatoes of the article.

"Successful people based on my observations are usually successful over and over again. They have great ideas. They learn what it takes to implement that idea - which by the way is 90% more than what most people do, and then they do what so many people won’t. They DO it!

You can’t do something that you don’t know how to do, but learning is a means to an end. The end goal is ACTION. Its so easy to talk about wat you want to do. Its entirely another thing to do it. You all know the person who talks about what they want to do their whole life but never does it. Don’t be that person."

I wrote about giving yourself a gut check and how it can be beneficial to live outside of your comfort zone before. There is a lot to be said about a person who has the guts to go for it. Some call them crazy and others admire their gusto.

Right now I am in the middle of launching 2 companies. One is active and doing business right now, the other we hope to be live by the end of March. As things get more stable I will give more info out about these businesses. I hate that I waited so long to go after an idea — regardless of the reason.

So while I am no where near where I want to be in life, I feel like I am finally on the right path and and will get there in time.

If you are waiting to get started with your idea for business, or pleasure, my only advice to you is that you should listen to Nike.

Technorati Tags: business, gut check, just do it, matt heaton, nike

Living Outside Your Comfort Zone

One can learn a lot about themselves when they are put into situations that they are uncomfortable with. How many times have you come up with an idea that you loved but stopped yourself from following through with even a modest attempt? If you're like me, quite a few. The reason is we are a little afraid to step out of our comfort zone.

What is outside your "comfort zone"?

The real definition here will be unique to every individual. A general definition would be: Knowingly placing yourself in a situation that you feel mentally, emotionally and/or physically uncomfortable with.

A good example would be a job interview for a newer or unfamiliar position. When I started working in IT my first job was doing tech support (ugh, for AOL even). After a few years I went out and tried to get a Linux sysadmin gig and since I had no professional experience I was very nervous and uncomfortable going into the interview. Because I was uncomfortable, it made me prepare more which helped boost my confidence and I ended up giving a great interview and got the job.

Many years later I was tired of the sysadmin stuff and wanted to move more into a full time development position. Again, I had no experience as a full time developer so I brushed up and landed a new gig writing code for a living.

Leaving your comfort zone

Whenever you are considering a new idea or venture there will always be the naysayers who will try to discourage you. But sometimes the biggest barrier you have to cross is yourself. Don't let your reservations stand in the way of your personal success.

Once you have stepped out of your comfort zone you will probably surprise yourself. Most people will rise to the challenge when faced with adversity. The fact that you will mentally prepare yourself for this challenge will give you a jolt and you will hit the ground running.

The benefit of being uncomfortable

Sometimes you just have to follow what your gut is telling you. Sometimes that involves leaving a very happy & comfortable situation. As Steve Pavlina puts it: "Intuition is just as important in business as it is in other settings. You’d be amazed at how many gigantic corporate deals are green-lighted or red-lighted because of some CEO’s gut feeling."

When thinking about a potentially life changing decision one will usually do some research and follow all the appropriate steps to making the decision — and then never actually make that decision.

If you choose to step out of your comfort zone you may or may not succeed. Regardless of the outcome you will benefit from the experience. The education it provides will be invaluable through out your life time. It will help you in future attempts at risk in your personal and professional life.

Conclusion

Right now I am personally out of my comfort zone. Building a new business is exciting, fun and a very scary. I am very confident I will succeed but if I don't, I am very happy for the experience. I've wanted to start a company for as long as I can remember but never had the guts to take that first step.

I'm sure a lot of you out there feel similar to how I did. Don't continue to hesitate; take that first step — even if it's just a small one — out of your comfort zone.

Technorati Tags: business, comfort zone, confidence, success

Walking Before You Run

Neil Patel wrote an interesting post about how much experience should you have before going out on your own. In other words, how much time spent walking is needed before you can actually run?

Neil says he didn't really walk at all when he first started out and failed as a result. However the education he gained in trying was worth "millions."

My opinion is that you need to have a general idea of how to proceed before doing so. I don't mean 5 years interning (or whatever) at some corporate office before going out on your own. More like a lot of reading and some rational planning. Everything else is just guts and making correct decisions quickly.

Your personality will play a role in your success as well. People who are more assertive generally are able to make things happen easier. They aren't afraid to ask for — or demand — what they want. While that seems easy, it's a little more difficult for most people. Myself included.

Other personality traits will come into play as well. Are you a social person or more of a recluse? Obviously this can play a role in your real life networking, which is a part of practically any business.

Discipline is very important. It is one thing to manage other people but it is a much harder task to manage yourself. Are you able to stay focused and motivated when it really matters? We all find ourselves distracted during the day. Email, IM's, RSS feeds, etc. all cause us to take a break many times a day. This break also takes you out of the "zone" when you are focusing on actual work. You must be able to avoid, or limit, those distractions as much as possible to ensure that you are getting your job done. Your success can (does?) depend on it.

Confidence can make or break you and your new venture. You have to truly believe in yourself and your idea/product. Lack confidence and you might as well wear a sign saying so. It's already written all over your face anyways. If you don't feel confident in yourself, why would anyone else?

I feel that if you prepare and plan correctly then give yourself a real gut check, you have a good shot at making it. Walk a little before your start to jog. Get a good pace and begin to run!

P.S. The comments on Neil's article have many good opinions. I suggest you read them.

Technorati Tags: business, confidence, discipline, neil patel, planning

Super Tuesday - Go Vote!

For those of you in the US, today is an important day. It is our national primary (essentially) and will decide our candidates for the presidential election later this year. Just wanted to post a reminder for everyone to go out and vote today!

Technorati Tags: history, super tuesday, vote

Million Dollar Goal - January Update

This is a quick recap of my progress for January. I made a crazy goal for this year and so I am keeping people updated here.

Business

The company I co-founded is doing well for our current stage. We are live and actively getting subscription sales. We are right on track for the volume of business that we are currently able to handle. One negative is our customer up selling. It's progressing slower than we would like but we still need to put together a proper training system for our only sales guy. I am still not ready to announce the company name / website; maybe in the February recap.

My affiliate marketing efforts fell a little behind because I was super busy with other projects. I have been spending my personal time catching up and tuning campaigns, etc. I still made slightly more than 6K profit for the month. I am positive if I had more time to focus on these efforts I could have squeezed out another thousand or two. These are small numbers compared to others, but I am very happy with my progress in these ventures.

Personal

One thing that has been really tough is my dieting. Well, the issue is, I haven't been dieting! Prior to this year I had been working from home for quite a while and got used to the convenience it provided in terms of making a healthier lunch, etc. Now that I am commuting into Los Angeles again, lunch is usually the nearest place selling a hamburger. Not good.

February Goals

I will spend more time on my affiliate marketing efforts. I do have a full plate on my hands this month but I will make the time to tweak my campaigns and try to up my profit for the month.

I am also starting on a new project that should have a beta available by March. It should be ready for full public consumption by the end of March. I don't want to say too much about this yet, but it will be a service to help with visitor conversions. More on this later.

I will continue to hit the weight racks every morning. I need to design a new work out routine, as it's been far to long since the last time I switched it up. It's generally smart to switch routines every 6-8 weeks to keep your muscles guessing. I will also focus on running a little more, though my left knee has been pretty sore for the last week.

I have to start eating better. My usual lapse here is my lunch. I have to make the effort to get a lunch ready the night before and take it into work with me. If I could drop 10 pounds of fat I think I would be satisfied and try to maintain at that point.

Wrapping Up

That's a basic recap for January on my progress of hitting the $1 million dollar goal I have for 2008. When I announce more about the company I co-founded I will give more details in terms of financial gain, etc. Will I hit my goal of a million bucks this year? I don't know, but I sure will try! Regardless, it is shaping up to be a very good year in my life. A life changing year.

Technorati Tags: affiliate, business, make money online, marketing, weight lifting

How Safe Is Your Day Job?

I was reading TechCrunch and found this post about Yahoo cutting it's workforce by 20%. It references this article from Silicon Alley Insider, which has written an updated story and things do not look good.

I have a friend who works for Yahoo in the Burbank offices and he says that those rumors began floating last week. He isn't too concerned about his specific department, but worried about the direction the company may be heading.

I've been in corporate gigs before where layoff's were rumored and eventually occurred. I'll never forget that uneasy feeling; wondering if myself or a team member was going to be cut. Morale was low and the environment sucked! I ended up leaving that company because things just continued to get worse and worse.

Another job later I decided that that was it for me in the cubicle world. I bounced around doing consulting gigs for a while then took at job with a startup. It was a much more enjoyable environment and I felt more productive because of it. Still, I felt it wasn't a good match. I wrote earlier this month about how I plan to make this a life changing year and I am still on track for that goal.

Being your own boss is quite a feeling. Sure I could spend the day lounging and still make enough to cover my monthly bills, but then I would come no where near my goal for 2008. This means that I am working longer days than normal and getting home later than I would like but sacrifices are required for anything worth while.

This Yahoo trouble is just another reminder that you are not necessarily more secure at a 9-to-5. I am not saying to go out and quit your job but you should weigh your options and make a rational decision about how you can improve your "working" life. An improvement there will usually be a positive factor in other aspects of your life as well.

P.S. This post is sort of a rambling. Probably shouldn't blog while watching the Chargers-Patriots game ;)

Technorati Tags: job security, layoffs, yahoo

How I Plan to Make $1 Million Dollars in 2008

2008 will be a landmark year in my life. As of today, January 7th 2008, I am my own boss. I have resigned from Groovr for various reasons, leading me to take the jump and be responsible for my own income. This is a scary and exciting time for me but I will make the best of it!

How will I make $1 million dollars?

Well, I probably won't quite reach that goal but I sure will try! I have been trying my hand in internet and affiliate marketing in my free time and have already seen some success. Enough success to sustain my bills and keep my head above water. I figure if I dedicate a larger chunk of my time and work smart, I could earn a pretty penny.

I also have a few idea's I am working on. Generating leads for niche markets that, as far as I can tell, are basically competition free! I can't tell you exactly what that is of course ;) As my methods and techniques get more fine tuned, my revenue will grow. I honestly see no reason why I can't make $1 million dollars in the next 365 days.

Make a million with only affiliate marketing?

I don't pretend to be that good—yet! While there are people who do generate millions of dollars per year using affiliate marketing techniques, I know I am no where near that level. I also have something else in the works.

A few months ago I was approached by a friend to co-found an internet related company. This company is more of a service provider than a "Web 2.0" style startup. My friend is already a millionaire internet entrepreneur and successful business man; it was very important that I consider his offer.

After a month or so of thinking it over—and after I made my decision to leave Groovr—I agreed to help co-found this new company. I will give more info on this later as the company progresses.

My buddy, and new business partner, is already an established affiliate/internet marketer and is actually a fairly well known person in the community. We have other ideas that we plan to team up on to generate income. Each of us brings to the table something that the other lacks and the combination of our skill sets is proving to be a profitable one.

Blogging

I plan to post a lot more often to this blog. Not only to give progress reports on my goal but to also write valuable and useful posts related to marketing, software, tech, etc.

Also I realize that this blog is a big part of my "brand" online. I have gotten work from it before, but I never really took the time to cultivate it into a larger following. I will try to do that in 2008.

If you haven't done so yet, now is a good time to subscribe to my RSS feed so you can stay up to date with this blog.

Other methods of earning income

I happen to have a small leg up on most of my competition in the Affiliate world; I am able to write my own software, manage my own servers, etc. I've been doing that for others for a decade. Of course they have more marketing experience than I do, but I am a quick study. Luckily I also have my buddy to turn to for help and advice. I also have a few ideas in the works that will actually help other marketers and allows me to turn a profit at the same time.

My goal is to automate as much as possible with custom software so I can focus about 75% of my time on the new company and the rest on my various projects. This is a pretty easy thing to do with my lead generation sites, but not so easy with other things I am working on. So I will need to dedicate a chunk of my day to the affiliate stuff.

In a pinch I could always do a little consulting or projects for various companies to help boost the income that month. Luckily I have made a lot of contacts through the years and I should be able to find decently paid short term projects pretty easily. I would rather not use this option but it's always there as an alternative.

Family

On top of all this I also need to make some time to spend with my family. My daughters both play soccer (basically year round if you count all-stars and tournaments) and I have a lot of fun at their games. But they still need to practice and I make it a point to help them with that. My wife is obviously a large part of my life and will be helping me out as much as she can. We still need our evenings out and personal time together, etc.

Personal Health

I believe that you need to keep your mind and body healthy. For the mind I try to read a few books a month. Usually anything that is NOT computer/internet related, though lately I've been reading books on writing and marketing.

For the body I work out 5 days a week with a full body weight lifting routine. I do cardio exercises 3 times a week as well. I refuse to give this up and I generally go to the gym at 5:30am, so this shouldn't interfere with my work days anymore than it currently does.

Whew!

So that's it. My basic outline for 2008. Whether or not I make $1 million dollars isn't the point. It's the fact that I am shooting for the stars that will make this a special year for me. What are some of your plans for the year?

Technorati Tags: 2008, affiliate, business, internet, marketing, one million dollars

Happy Holidays

Just a quick note to wish everyone a happy holiday season. Enjoy your time with your friends and family, because they really are the only people who matter!

I, once again, made the journey to Albuquerque to spend the holidays with my mother, brothers & in-laws. My dad stayed behind in LA. It is good to see everyone again. I even had a chance to run into old friends. Some of them I haven't seen in 3-4 years so it was nice to catch up with them.

I've been thinking about my new years resolution and it will involve this blog a lot. I will post about that before the new year and give a little more detail.

Anyways, everyone have a fun time this season. Next year we go back to life as we know it...

Technorati Tags: albuquerque, holidays, travel

Beating Up 5 Year Old Kids..

This is just great. What's YOUR score?

Technorati Tags: 5 year olds, beathing up children, fight

No More MingleNow

MingleNow is a social network built around the night life of major metropolitan cities. You can find events, view photos, etc. They usually have their photographers at the events snapping photos of the crowd and singling out the hottest chicks. You know, the usual. The difference was that their events were usually quality events. When I wanted to find something to do I would always check MingleNow to see what was going on that night. I always found something fun to do whether I was here in LA or in San Diego or Vegas...

Well, according to this post on the MingleNow blog they are shutting the service as of Jan. 7th, 2008. Yahoo recently purchased a company called Blue Lithium, which happened to own MingleNow. In the MingleNow post they sort of push you to use other services in place of MingleNow; All them owned by Yahoo.

Now I am all for business. I assume that Yahoo has a good reason to shut down MingleNow (again, assuming that this was Yahoo's decision). But the alternatives offered are not up to par with MingleNow.

For one, MingleNow has everything I was looking for in one place. Now they are suggesting I use Flickr, Upcoming and 123out.com; Are you kidding me?

I am willing to bet that most MingleNow users will not head over to those services for their nightlife adventures. Another service will pop up and take MingleNow's place at some point. Maybe sites like ClubPlanet will eat up it's user base.

It's also a good guess that maybe MingleNow just wasn't turning a profit. It's very possible that all their ideas didn't pan out and the "gods" decided it was time to pull the plug.

I don't know. I just felt like ranting about this. So long MingleNow, I'll miss ya.

Technorati Tags: minglenow, nightclubs, nightlife, party

Thanksgiving Getaway

So we snuck away for Thanksgiving. We ended up going to Big Bear Lake, Ca. It was a little cold but not too bad. The best parts were our hikes. It's fun to see my 4 year old tackle a 7 mile hike, that's rated "moderate to difficult", with ease. We've pretty much gone through all of the hikes up in Big Bear (that the kids can do) so we need to start hitting some of the harder trails in Malibu or some other place relatively close.

One thing that was a nice surprise was a little restaurant called Cowboy Express. I had the Tri-Tip steak and it was freakin' awesome! It's no Mortons or Ruth's Chris, but it was an excellent steak. Definitely on my must visit list when I go to Big Bear in the future.

You can see the photoset on my flickr account here.

Technorati Tags: big bear, family, mountains, thanksgiving