HP OfficeJet 6500 All-In-One Wireless Printer/Fax/Copier

(Yes I know, I can be slow on these things! )

This particular HP model wireless printer is currently on special offer at Amazon.com for only $125.43 (normally $246), free shipping.

The cool thing is, it was a breeze to set up – and I even did it myself!

It only took me a few minutes from unboxing to ready-to-use. And I have a quick slideshow of the entire process:

HP Officejet 6500 Wireless

HP Officejet 6500 Wireless

I couldn’t resist the great opportunity to use the Slickr Flickr plugin again!

***************

The accessories that you see in the photo are:

• HP Advanced Photo Paper, glossy 8.5×11
• HP Advanced Photo Paper, glossy 4×6
• HP Copy/Laser/Inkjet 3-Hole Paper

That printer paper that already has the 3-holes punched out will come in real handy for all the 3-ring binders I create for the tutorials and guides I download to study.

With as many devices as I have running in my home and office… it only made sense to go wireless. The HP Officejet 6500 Wireless Printer had great reviews on Amazon, a great price plus free shipping, and I am loving it already!

Best,

Nascar – Atlanta Motor Speedway

Nascar – Atlanta Motor Speedway

Nascar – Atlanta Motor Speedway

Nascar – Atlanta Motor Speedway

Nascar – Atlanta Motor Speedway

Nascar – Atlanta Motor Speedway

Nascar – Atlanta Motor Speedway

Nascar – Atlanta Motor Speedway

Nascar – Atlanta Motor Speedway

Nascar – Atlanta Motor Speedway

Nascar – Atlanta Motor Speedway

Nascar – Atlanta Motor Speedway

Details: Slickr Flickr Plugin

Download plugin: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/slickr-flickr/

Note: you’ll need to go to http://idgettr.com to get your Flickr ID to use in the settings of the plugin.

It’s very easy to install and use. I had the example above set up in less than 8 minutes on the first try.

This is a great way to repurpose your Flickr photos.

Up until now I have used Animoto to create YouTube videos out of still photos. Obviously Animoto is still the best option for repurposing your photos into a video marketing campaign, but this opens up a whole new set of options.

You can display photos of course, or you could get creative. Consider using product images, cover graphics, explanatory text images and screenshots in a slide show within your blog posts. Especially on product reviews or demos!

You can use the Slickr Flickr plugin within blog posts, or in a sidebar widget. There are several options, and it’s super easy to use.

Enjoy!

p.s. That was my first Nascar experience, and it was awesome!

A 40 year-old unsolved murder mystery. Strange cryptic codes in a bible. Sweden, sandwiches, and many, many cigarettes. The badass-est female protagonist since . . . forever. And an author who has, posthumously, caused quite a ruckus in the book world and in the minds of conspiracy theorists everywhere.

Yes, I’m talking about The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. If you haven’t heard of it, the rest of us are inviting you to come out from under your rock. Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest) is topping bestseller lists as we speak and the theatrical release of Dragon Tattoo hits the U.S. next week.

I had the good fortune of screening an advanced copy and, of course, my mind went blog, blog, blog. Because that’s what blog obsessed people like us do. So here are the blogging lessons I learned from this tattooed ‘girl’ . . .

Gasoline feeds a fire, but first there has to be a spark

At one point in the movie, a man lies under a car. Having just flown off the side of the road, both he and the car are demolished, gasoline is spilling out everywhere . . . and he waits, watching, trapped. Finally there’s a spark . . . and then fire, total combustion.

So often we have all of the ingredients, right? The design is just right, the writing is perfection, the research says that there’s a need for the content . . . but then, nothing.

No traffic, no comments, no buzz. No combustion. What’s missing?

There has to be a spark.

Maybe it comes in the form of a new partnership, a referral, or an outside event (like a shortage of light bulbs) that makes your product (candles) suddenly burst into high demand.

Maybe you have a life-changing event that triggers your passion. Maybe you read a book that causes something to click in your brain or your heart.

And then, there’s no stopping the heat.

Nothing more, nothing less

Lisbeth Salander, the girl with the dragon tattoo, is a woman of few words, but they’re always the right ones. She communicates through her gestures, carefully chosen words and even her silences. To some people around her, this is maddening. But others totally get it and they pay incredibly close attention to her. They listen closely . . . and they also watch.

As a blogger, what you don’t say can be as important as what you do say.

Do you find the positive in challenging situations, gleaning lessons and inspiring others? Or do you bitch and moan, spreading negativity?

Do you stick to your topic? Or is your blog scattered, full of everything under the sun?

Do you promote everything that could be remotely related to your blog? Or do you bow out of a big launch that, for one reason or another, isn’t quite right for your readers?

What is the significance of what you leave on the blogging room floor?

Document everything

In the movie, as Blomkvist and Salander try to solve the mystery, they are aided again and again by the record-keeping of other characters, the police, the newspapers, and themselves.

It’s the last, ‘themselves,’ that holds the lesson.

Working to uncover this decades-old secret, the investigators look for the needle in the proverbial haystack. With so much unknown, their path to discovery lies in documenting every thought they have, literally pinning them to the wall for examination — and never, ever brushing aside even one moment of insight or possibility.

Ideas for blog content, joint venture partnerships, promotions, ebooks — and even tweets and Facebook updates — often shoot through our brains at a fast and furious pace.

Blogging fodder is everywhere. It’s in the conversation you have with the souvlaki guy outside your building every day at lunch, it’s in the color of the car that just drove by, it’s in the ad that you saw for hairplugs.

If you don’t grab these ideas as they fly by, they will keep flying. Trust me.

Write it all down. Nail it to the wall. Even the thoughts that seem impossible, unreachable, or just plain ridiculous.

The clue to your own success will lie in your own observations and insights. Don’t lose them.

It’s hard to be brilliant all by yourself

The story’s protagonists bounce their ideas off one another — and often hear brilliance in their partner’s ramblings.

Blogging is about community. Who can you bounce ideas off? Who might hear your mumblings and, in turn, grab you by the shoulders and tell you that you’re actually onto something? Who can you help by being a sounding board?

You might have someone’s missing piece in your back pocket.

Like a tattoo, things are permanent on the internet

Lisbeth has many tattoos, including a dragon covering her entire back. Getting ink like that is a serious commitment. Yes, you can have laser surgery to get a tattoo removed, but from what I can tell, it never completely disappears. A scar is left behind. And I’m told the process is neither pleasant nor easy.

If we really want to get deep here, we can go so far as to say that your memory of the tattoo can never be removed.

Blogging is also a commitment. We commit our time, we commit our creativity, we commit our resources. And every time we hit ‘publish’ we commit to our ideas.

The internet is a pretty permanent place and it’s hard to ‘take it back’ once the words are out there. Yes, you can go to the trouble of having something uncached — but again, it isn’t pleasant or easy. People will remember your post, they may have even printed your words on paper. We’re time-stamped and cached, linked to and quoted, and even scraped.

Be as sure as you can be each and every time you share.

Don’t underestimate anyone

Played perfectly by Noomi Rapace, Lisbeth is mysterious, tattooed, and pierced. She’s also tiny, often mistaken for a skinny, 14 year-old boy and underestimated because of her small size.

But she’s able to fight off grown men — both physically and mentally — time and again. I believe the appropriate term here would be scrappy ass-kicker. And it works to her advantage. She has surprise on her side and she’s impressive, even to those who don’t particularly like her.

With a blogosphere more crowded than a Twilight premier (and some days with just as much screaming), it’s a phenomenal idea to stand out.

It’s the old case of man bites dog. What can you do, how can you say it, where can you share it so that it lands like a snowman in a cranberry bog? (That is: with a splash, much coolness, and bright by contrast.)

Lisbeth is also the underdog. To be honest, she’s the runt.

But a few people look beyond that (or don’t even see it at all) and take a chance on her. It helps her, of course, but it also helps them. They don’t see her size, her income, her appearance, her odd personality, her history. They see her skill, her brilliance, her dedication, her inherent goodness.

How many Top 10, 25, 50, 100 lists have you seen that tout the best bloggers, the best writers, the twitterati?

Sadly, many people get caught up in these lists and think that these people are the only ones to do business with or read, because they look good on paper. But we all start somewhere.

Chris Brogan just wrote that it took him 8 years to get 100 subscribers on his blog — and look at him now.

As bloggers we can only help each other and the quality of the blogosphere by discovering new talent, sharing what we know and giving people a chance.

No matter how small and skinny . . . no matter how many tattoos.

About the Author: Julie Roads invites you to join the Dragon Tattoo Blog HUNT — an internet wide scavenger hunt tied to the feature film launch of bestselling book The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

You can win great prizes — free movie tickets, books, movie soundtrack, posters and more. To join the contest, start at the beginning of the HUNT by visiting www.dragontattoofilm.com/contest for full details and the first clue. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is in theaters near you starting March 19th.

THE NEXT CLUE: Rachel Bilson & Christina Ricci are celebrity supporters of this national network that fights violence against women. Their strong volunteer program just goes to show that when kindness RAINNS, it pours.

Kimmoy asks: I remember thinking during the lanch of the NAMS product, so many of us were posting affiliate links. What if a person clicks on one or more of our aff links, who gets the credit? (1st or last click?)

Also, if I sent someone a link to one Amazon product, they didn’t buy immediately, but the next day they go back to Amazon.com to buy that product or another, do I still get credit?

Hi Kimmoy,

Great question! Each affiliate program is set up differently, so they don’t all work the same. Some of them (very few) work on a “referral for life” system, others track by the first referrer for x days, or they may credit the last referrer…

When you sign up for an affiliate program, they will generally tell you their tracking terms – or how their affiliate cookies are used – in addition to the commission structure for each sale or lead.

Amazon affiliate cookies last 24 hours. If someone follows your link and makes a purchase within 24 hours, you are credited with the sale. If they follow your link and add an item to their cart – and then make that purchase within 89 days – you are credited with the sale.

In this case, since your cookie lasts for 24 hours (or 89 days on items placed in their cart), you are credited with the sale even if they click on another affiliate’s Amazon link during that time frame. So with Amazon, it’s the first click until the cookie expires.

ClickBank credits the last click. They create a 60-day cookie, so if your visitor clicks through your hoplink and purchases that product within 60 days, you are credited for the sale and earn a commission. BUT, if they click on another affiliate’s hoplink in that time then that next affiliate gets credit for the sale instead.

That’s just two examples of popular affiliate programs, but as you can see they all vary quite a bit in how they track click-through’s and sales from their affiliates. Not all merchants use cookies, and computer users can clear their cookies at any time.

Ideally you’ll pre-sell your visitors on the product you are promoting, and encourage them to click through and make their purchase right away.

Best,

p.s. Want to learn more about Affiliate Marketing? See my in-depth overview of the Super Affiliate Handbook by Rosalind Gardner. This is where I learned the successful affiliate model I am still using today!

There’s a wonderful European-style market and bakery in the Oak Lawn area of Dallas. They serve everything from made-to-order salads and sandwiches to chef-prepared, ready-to-eat meals.

But what I love most about the place is the sign on the door when you leave. It’s classic.

The sign doesn’t read “Please Come Again” or “Thank You for Your Business” or some other typical exit sign platitude.

It says . . .

“See you tomorrow.”

That kind of confidence is compelling and downright sexy. Sure, a fantastic product, service, or experience is the starting point from which confidence comes, but too many people play it scared and safe even when what they offer is truly great.

I’m not talking about arrogance. Arrogance is an indication of fear, not assurance.

Too many people, however, approach copywriting from a defensive mindset. You’re already back on your heels from the start, instead of proudly sharing your excellence with the people who can benefit most from it.

After all, if you’re not confident in your product or service, why should anyone else be? Confidence is a strong attractor because it assures people they’re making the right choice.

So, check out these tips for confident writing.

And we’ll see you tomorrow.

About the Author: Brian Clark is founder of Copyblogger and wants you to know that Thesis + Scribe = SEO Made Simple. Get more from Brian on Twitter.

Want lots more tips for producing confident copy and content? Sign up for the Copyblogger newsletter. It’s free, and it’s the smartest way to get the very best advice about how to effectively market online.

Bloggers have a distinct disadvantage.

When someone hires an expert in — oh, let’s say marketing — that expert can dispense the same information she did for the last client.

And the client before that one. And the one before that.

Not bloggers. Blogging is about breaking down everything you know into bite-sized chunks so that people can learn it all over a period of time. If they look back through the archives, they can often see the entire breadth of your knowledge.

Then one day, your well runs dry.

This is a scary moment for any blogger. It’s not like running out of inspiration or having writer’s block. This is when you’ve said it all. Your blog contains absolutely everything you know.

And let’s be fair — it’s a lot of knowledge. But you simply don’t have anything new to say.

What do you do?

Go get yourself some new knowledge

I’m always amazed by how few people continue to educate themselves on their topic after they’ve become an acknowledged expert in it.

Hey, everyone knows me as the number one guy on naked mole rats! Clearly, I know everything there is to know!

But as an old coach of mine used to say, you’ll never know everything there is to know in your field of expertise, and there’s always something new to learn. People make new discoveries and innovations every day. You have opinions about those innovations. You agree or disagree with them. You try them or manage to take them a step further.

Of course, if you don’t find out what those discoveries and innovations are, you don’t have anything to say about it. No wonder you’re stuck for posts.

Actively pursuing new knowledge about your area of expertise has a side benefit: it provides more value for your clients. You may find the inspiration for a new ebook or web course to help newcomers understand and benefit.

New knowledge could be the next big thing for your business — if you go out and find it.

Doctors are one of the few professions actually required to update their knowledge of their field of expertise continually. If a doctor doesn’t know the latest innovation in surgery, his next patient might die from the lack of that knowledge. That’s a huge incentive for the doctor to always be learning and for the patient — and the medical board — to insist on that continual education.

No one is going to force you to attend conferences or read books or take courses, but you’ll be much more respected as an expert if you continually update your knowledge. Your client’s life may not be on the line, but their business, their financial goals, and their happiness probably is — at least, their happiness with your products and services.

Where can you find new knowledge?

Well, you may not have heard about this gizmo called the internet, but it’s pretty handy for that sort of thing. It seems silly to mention using the internet to upgrade your knowledge on an online blog, but shocking numbers of people don’t use it for this particular purpose — even those who practically live online.

Libraries are an awesome (and free) resource for new knowledge too, and so is your local bookstore. Go pick up some new literature and get someone else’s perspective on what you do.

Magazines and trade journals, of course, are terrific for more recent innovations and information. Find ones that focus on your area of expertise and stay on the lookout for new ideas that sound interesting or innovative. Once an article grabs your attention, go do some independent research on that topic and find new resources to pursue.

Actively pursuing new knowledge won’t just make you a better businessperson — though that’s reason enough right there. It’ll also pretty much guarantee that you’ll never run out of blog topics ever again.

About the Author: For new knowledge that makes you a better businessperson — and that helps you hit the bullseye of success for your freelancing career, check out Men with Pens — or better yet, grab the RSS feed here.

Guest posting is the “in” thing. It’s the newest craze. All the kids are doing it!

You’ve heard it time and time again — guest posting is the best way of promoting your work. So why haven’t you become part of the hip crowd yet?

I know why. You’re scared of rejection. You’re not sure if you have the chops.

I can understand these feelings, but don’t get yourself down just yet.
I’m going to show you a surefire, bulletproof, unshakable, watertight, virtually guaranteed (insert as many hyperboles as you see fit) method of putting together a guest post . . . and it getting accepted.

But wait, there’s more! (Here comes the added bonus sales pitch.)

Not only will it get approved on just any two-bit blog in your niche, but on the most highly subscribed top A-list blogs themselves!

OK, let’s begin.

1. Visit your favorite A-list blog and read their guest posting guidelines

They’re at the top of your RSS reader and you read their posts every day, but did you even know there were guidelines for submissions? It might be a good idea to check them out before you do anything else. You never know what type of obscure archaic rules have been handed down by the high and mighty overlords.

Like proper grammar. Spelling. Having a clue. You know . . . really weird stuff.

Whoa! Let’s back up a small step. Do they even accept guest posts? Oh, good. They do. Let’s move on.

2. Study the focus of their content and the target audience of the blog

Your favorite blog covers the movie industry. You write about ice fishing. It’s a perfect fit, right?

Of course not.

Before you put pen to paper (virtually, of course), figure out the type of reader your favorite blog attracts. Generally, successful blogs try to serve content that’s consistent.

How does that blog fulfill their reader’s needs? Focus your guest post idea on what matters to those readers.

Your favorite blog may or may not be in the same niche you are. If not, what specific expertise do you have that fits in and would be useful? Find a way to bridge this gap between the two worlds.

Has there ever been a movie released about ice fishing? Wait . . . actually, it looks like there has been.

3. Skim through the past 2-3 months of posts

No one likes reading about the same exact thing every day (unless you’re a tech blogger). Writing about a subject that has been handled ad nauseum won’t add much value to the readers at the current time.

See what specific topics the blog has been hitting recently. See which areas in which they’ve been lacking the past few weeks. Read some comments and find out what their readers want to know more about.

Mold your idea by focusing on the blog’s immediate needs. You’ll have a much greater chance of hitting a nerve and having your guest post accepted.

4. Write the guest post. Don’t ask. Just do it

I’m serious here. This is the most important step. Take your idea, sit down and write the post. Yes, in full.

Don’t pitch the idea. Don’t ask for permission. Don’t solicit. Just write the best post you can.

It’s a very fast-paced world of short attention spans. A-list bloggers are extremely busy.

The whole process of submitting your idea, exchanging pleasantries, getting correspondence back, creating the post, submitting that, sucking up a bit, receiving feedback, editing a final draft, submitting again, sucking up some more, having it approved, formatting sub headers, adding links, inserting an image, entering a bio, final suck-up, and scheduling the post . . .

It’s really time-consuming.

Eliminate more than half the chain of events by simply writing the post as if it’s getting published as is. The A-list blogger will highly appreciate the fact that you’ve made it easy on him or her. If your content is indeed useful, pertinent and written well, you’ll dramatically increase your chances of it getting green-lit.

You’ve given the blogger all he or she needs to do besides e-mail you back with a resounding “yes!”

What’s the worst case scenario? It’s declined. Pfffft! Your work still has value. Submit the guest post elsewhere or put it on your own blog.

5. Come up with a creative post title that looks appealing and clickable

We all remember some of your last few gems: Stuff I Like, Where I Had Lunch, and Things to Do.

Let’s not repeat those failed post title attempts.

Numbered titles work. Hyperboles work. Questions work. Action words work. Utilize a highly recognized and search-heavy keyword or two if you can.

If you need some inspiration, the best method is to look at the blog’s past post titles, especially those listed as the most popular. Get a sense on how the A-list blogger prefers to title his or her posts and take their lead. Imitation is the best form of flattery, right?

6. Search your favorite blog’s past content and link it to your post

Old blog posts are so . . . yesterday! The world changes quickly, so why would any of your favorite blog’s past 728 posts even be considered relevant today?

You might be right, but all I know is that Google loves ancient history.

I just realized this today . . . all the search results that come up are from the past!

According to many SEOs (yet not others — apparently, the acronym SEO stands for “Seriously, Everyone has an Opinion”), it’s beneficial to link to old posts in new content for search optimization purposes.

More important, it provides proper context to the ideas included and gives readers a sense of back story on a topic. Help them understand the subject in greater depth.

Throwing in some links to the blog’s cornerstone content helps the A-list blogger as well. It saves them time (as discussed in step 4) so they don’t have to miss a second away from the secret ninja meetings conspiring with all of the other A-listers.

7. Add your own short byline to the bottom of the post with a link to your blog

Why bother? A prominent back link from a PR6 site with 100,000+ subscribers probably doesn’t mean much to you, right?

Oh, I forgot. That’s one of the primary reasons you’ve written the guest post in the first place. Silly me!

You can always just have the A-list blogger write the byline. They have tons of time to check out your site and figure out the best way to describe what you do. Maybe they’ll even get your name right.

Or you could play it safe. Write a short sentence or two that simply describes your blog and who you are. Nothing outrageous or over hyped. Unless you’re Johnny B. Truant.

Shamelessly self-promoting yourself is fine, but making it out that your blog “ToTaLLy roXorZ 4 LiFe!” is overdoing it just a bit. Remember, it’s going to be perceived by the reader as the A-list blogger’s voice — so if you can’t imagine him or her saying it, then you’ve gone too far.

8. Submit your guest post via the preferred method of contact

Using the A-list blogger’s geotagged location and delivering the post via bike messenger as they’re walking back from lunch — that’s just a bit too forceful downright creepy.

There’s no need to try and surprise the blogger in your creativity in getting the post to them.

This is where the guest posting guidelines come in handy. It’s very likely they’ll tell you exactly where to submit the post. When in doubt, the contact form on the blog itself is always the best bet.

Include nothing extraneous to the actual guest post content, other than a very short introduction showing your intentions.

Remember step 4? Of course you do. Don’t take the A-lister’s time for granted by droning on for 17 paragraphs about yourself, your blog, your thought process, your broken childhood, your aversion to baked beans, or your last trip to the Andes when you survived 72 days in the frigid cold by feeding off the dead bodies of your fellow Uruguayan rugby teammates.

Sucking up, on the other hand, is okay. Trust me.

9. Find a friend with a connection

If you’ve been a good little blogger, you’ve been using social media platforms to connect with peers in your niche. Although you desperately try to get attention by retweeting every single post of the bigger fish, it’s better to aim for someone lower down in the food chain.

B and C-listers love helping out the “small fries” because it makes them feel like an A-lister!

Skim through the target blog’s last few months of guest posts and see if there are any familiar names as authors — ones who you have developed a relationship with online. Well, now it’s time to call in a marker.

Don’t be shy, but don’t be pushy either. Tell them you’ve submitted a guest post to the blog. Simply ask them if they wouldn’t mind giving the blogger a quick “heads up” about it. There’s no need whatsoever for a glowing endorsement.

Popular bloggers are pitched post ideas all the time — a majority from people who are complete strangers (many they’d like to keep that way). Your goal is to just have your name recognized and stand out a little from the pack. That’s all.

10a. Bask in your glory

If you were able to pull off the first 9 steps, congratulations! You’re one of the few people who actually implement what they read. Of course, the A-list blog will probably publish your guest post on a “filler” low-traffic day. C’mon, you’re a blogger — you always need something to complain about!

10b. Live to fight another day

The A-list blogger still passed on your guest post? Don’t worry, you can always pitch it somewhere else or put it on your own blog.

First though, you must write an inflammatory post that knocks the A-lister off his or her fancy pedestal. They obviously don’t appreciate their community if they’re unwilling to accept your undisputed brilliance.

[Editor’s note: You guys do know he's kidding, right?]

While you’re at it, send me a really nasty e-mail bemoaning my advice. As a concession, I’ll put up your work on my blog. I’m sure my visitors would love to read your guest post titled: “7 Things I Like To Do When Ice Fishing For Dead Bodies In The Andes”

About the Author: Jordan Cooper is a 13-year professional stand-up comedian who showcases his sarcastic humor with videos and written rants about blogging, social media & marketing at Not A Pro Blog.

Zack and I originally met at a local meet-up a couple of years ago. While the group is no longer meeting, we’ve made it a point to keep in touch and meet up for lunch when we can.

It had been close to a year since our last get-together, so we had a lot of catching up to do! It’s always tons of fun because we share the books we’re reading, the resources we’re studying, brainstorm our business models, etc. You may recall that Zack is the one that turned me on to The Power of Full Engagement.

This time we discussed Linchpin by Seth Godin, money mindset, Mac tricks, and more. While you couldn’t be there with us in person, I thought I’d do the next best thing and share the resources we discussed…

I recently ordered Linchpin after it came up in the IMTW Podcast, and Amazon also recommended Path of Least Resistance by Robert Fritz. I grabbed both, and started on the book by Fritz (which I am loving!) and Zack is near the finish of Linchpin.

This of course launched us into an all-out money mindset discussion, as well as just mindset in general – and how we view our business models and their possible weaknesses.

We discussed scalability, outsourcing, getting back into creative mode (vs reaction mode), etc. We shared courses, books, resources and mentors that we were each tapping into on all of these topics as well.

Eben Pagan came up in that conversation and Zack said that the Wake Up Productive and Guru Mastermind programs were both closed, but has studied and recommended Eben’s Altitude program which is still available.

He also told me about Sean D’Souza of www.psychotactics.com, and suggested I would enjoy Sean’s Brain Audit ebook (around $140). Sean is based in New Zealand, which really got my attention. I’ve been looking for a good excuse to plan a trip there, and meeting a brilliant online marketer from NZ is a great start!

Sean has a great blog as well, so make it a point to check that out.

We also had a little chat about naptime (yes, we are both super-productive lazy nappers, ha!) and specifically apps for naps. Zack recommended Pzizz which takes you into and out of power naps or full sleeps for the best possible rest & recovery.

The conversation took lots of twists and turns, and somehow we went straight from Naps to Macs. Luckily I had my handy dandy shiny new Macbook Pro in tow!

(The real question is: do I leave home without it at all?! )

I confessed to Zack that I had not yet figured out how to shut down or restart my Mac and he politely showed me how – with a bit of a grin, no doubt -lol.

I took the opportunity to ask him a few newbie questions on iMovie as well. Like how in the world do I work with this chain of connected video snippets that iMovie seemed to have run all together as one big crazy clip?!

Of course, it was an easy fix, and I came straight home and uploaded a few video clips with the click of a mouse. Nothing especially exciting, except this one – mainly because I like the way Ben eats his noodles:

My next project is to learn transitions, dropping in photos between clips, and creating something a little more entertaining to watch. Although, you gotta admit – noodles is a good start!

Also on the topic of Mad Mac Skillz, Zack recommended Lynda as a great beginner’s learning resource. He also recommended Screenflow, Video Cue, Episode Mac Encoder, and Crucial Memory System Scanner for ordering & upgrading memory – which I plan to max out since the mac is for mobile video editing.

Two more resources we discussed: the MaxBlog Press Ninja Affiliate Plugin and Chris Garrett’s ARC Secret. Oh – and Vimeo, and specifically how you can use it to create private members-only videos with an upgraded account.

We also talked about real estate, events we’d attended recently, our upcoming event schedule, local meet-ups and probably a million other things besides. It was a fabulous afternoon that ended with a page full of notes, a big hug – and of course plans to meet up for Sushi again in a few weeks.

Zack has something super cool up his sleeve that I’ll share with you soon. He has me bound to secrecy for now, but I’ll let you know about it as soon as he gives me the green light to share the link!

Best,

p.s. I used Zack’s links to all of the resources that he shared with me yesterday. Some of those may be his affiliate or referral links, which I thought was a kind way of showing my appreciation for the wealth of information he shared with me

When I first had the insane brilliant idea to start a business and get out of the alleged safety of the corporate world, I started by reading everything I could find.

I wish I could remember where the thread started for me. It might have been Dan Kennedy, it might have been Michael Port, it could very well have been the Personal MBA.

Each good resource led to three more. At some point, I found Copyblogger and Problogger and Seth Godin.

Hundreds of books and thousands of dollars in information products later, I’ve given myself an education. Was it expensive? Sure was.

But no more expensive than anyone’s education. Even an education that’s completely free is expensive in time and effort.

And just like a college senior ought to be able to get more out of a class than his freshman counterpart, I’ve gotten very good at efficiently extracting the information I need, leaving aside what I don’t, and avoiding the information that’s just not worth my time.

(Because yes, I still study compulsively, all the time. There’s always more to learn.)

Most of us who run online businesses get an education pretty similar to mine. We get some free stuff from our favorite blogs, we might pay for some information in a home study course or an ebook, and we cobble together a lot from pure observation.

Today I’m going to talk about what I’ve learned, so if you’re a little earlier on the path you can avoid some blind alleys.

It’s always about the fundamentals

Maybe you’ve heard of the Pareto Principle. (It’s also called the 80/20 rule.) It’s the observation that, in an amazing variety of circumstances, 80% of the output comes from 20% of the input.

Which means that 20% of your customers provide 80% of your revenue. 20% of the time you spend behind your computer provides 80% of your best work. And 20% of that great meal you had last night provided 80% of the pleasure. (It was the chocolate mousse cake, wasn’t it?)

Because of the Pareto Principle, there’s always a “20%” you should be spending your time on. And in just about every discipline, it’s known as the fundamentals.

Most people race through the fundamentals so they can get to what they consider the fun stuff — the esoteric, “advanced” weird material that no one knows.

Do you think the fundamentals in your topic are kind of boring? In that case, how do you feel about mastery?

The fact is, real masters of any endeavor get scary good at the fundamentals. Read the biography of any massively successful person you admire, from Michael Jordan to Warren Buffett, and you’ll discover someone who got freakishly good at what the wannabe hot shots look down on as “the boring basics.”

Understand Pareto’s 20% in your field, and work on it over and over again.

Then work on it some more.

Inspiration is great, but execution pays the bills

There’s one guy in particular whose stuff I find wonderfully inspiring.

I always feel energized after reading his paper newsletter or listening to his CDs. I’ve got a renewed sense of enthusiasm for my profession, I’m filled with hope and energy, I’m ready for anything.

And all that is fine. The problem is, it lasts about 20 minutes.

Enjoy the inspiration, but don’t stop there. Instead, use the energy from all that inspiration and translate just one idea into an action (it can be incredibly small) you’re going to take to move your business forward.

Then take that action. Really take it, don’t just intend to.

Which leads to:

Just one thing

If the book, membership site, ebook, or home study program you’ve got is any good, you’ll probably have more to act on than you can actually get done this week, this month, or possibly this year.

It may be helpful to remember a piece of advice given by David Allen. You can’t do a whole project. You can only do your next action on that project.

Whether or not you’re a devotee of Allen’s productivity cult Getting Things Done (I am), the idea of the “next action” is critical if you want to move forward on anything complex.

Writing a rough first draft for your email autoresponder is a next action. Spending 20 minutes brainstorming ideas for cornerstone content (and putting them someplace you can find them again) is a next action.

“Learn how to start an online business” is not.

Don’t neglect little things because you’re looking for big results. Big things are made up of the execution of many, many little things.

Education for its own sake can be inspirational and fun (and I would have happily stayed a college undergraduate forever if that had been an option). But if you have practical goals beyond learning, remember to keep those goals front and center.

Revisit the most valuable stuff

Human beings are a novelty-seeking monkey. We’re so attracted to what’s new and different.

But keep an eye out for those rare resources that are worth visiting again and again.

When I had a commute, I used to listen to the same marketing CDs over and over again. They burned a neural pathway in my brain. The information became second nature, as automatic as changing the channel when Leno comes on.

Reread the classics in your field. For me, it’s Robert Cialdini’s Influence, Seth Godin’s Permission Marketing, Eugene Schwartz’s Breakthrough Advertising, and a handful of decidedly old-school books on copywriting.

When you can get unabridged audio versions, pick them up in addition to the print versions, and listen to them when driving or on the train.

In the digital realm, I keep going back to Gary Bencivenga’s Marketing Bullets, our own Teaching Sells (I was a student before I ever dreamed of being a partner), and Jeff Walker’s Product Launch Formula.

I’m not looking for radical new insights. I’m looking for one small thing I can add to what I’m doing now.

Be ready to get bigger than you thought you would

When I started out with all of this self education, all I wanted to do was to convince people to hire me for copywriting gigs. I was good at that and I liked it, and I was itching to get out of that corporate job.

But by the time I figured out how to market my freelance writing, I realized that copywriting was a small subset of what I really enjoyed doing, and I wanted a bigger picture.

So if you’re going to expand your thinking, build new skills, take on a new mindset, and start making new neural (and social, and financial) connections, you may find your life shooting off in an amazing new direction that you never really thought was possible.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Ready for some high-quality free information? We’ve got you covered. Check out our newsletter, Internet Marketing for Smart People. It’s a crash course on the fundamentals that will let you build a better online business.

About the Author: Sonia Simone is Senior Editor of Copyblogger and a co-founder of Inside the Third Tribe.