Solo Entrepreneurs - Effective vs Efficient

Normally I leave my rants out of things (yeah, this year!) but
while looking at the number of posts I've written here for
2009-this will make 159. Why it's strange...

For the first couple years, I pushed myself to post any and
everything I thought would help a solo entrepreneur, working at
home alone. Well, it took me the middle of year 3 to realize
this blog wasn't making any money and my readers soon got
distracted by the new flashy, shiney what-the-hell-is-it-for gadget.

So I decided going forward to only post when I felt like it,
instead of being the poster child for 'helping people who don't
want help'...in other words I stopped posting for a while.

Yeah, I did what the 'pro' bloggers said:
Post every day or at least 3 times a week.
Give good information in your content.
Don't be a whore for links or comments.

By following that advice I got a blog out here in cyber space
with 2 readers and a lonely damned cricket.

I think to be effective with your blog, the first thing you need
to decide is how it helps you make an income and then figure out
where that income will come from...does that make sense?

Having a Wordpress or Blogger or Typepad or any other platform
you like to use for blogging is one thing. They, like Twitter, are
useful tools to get something going online.

But what separates them from having a static website that makes
you a couple bucks with Adsense if you don't monetize it?

It doesn't matter how good your content, how pretty or
entertaining your video nor fun it is to post on your blog, none
of it has anything to do with making you money.

You can have thousands of people hanging on your every word, but without a way to make money from your work, you're a sucker who knows how to write.

Harsh? I'm beginning to think not. Claude Diamond told me this
years ago and it has proven true: If you're giving all your
information away for free, when someone would gladly pay you for
it - then you're a sucker. Ouch!

Where is this blog going? Who the hell knows at this point.
Yes, I'll like continue to share tools and tips I find that
might help some of you.

But...and this is to cover my ass with the FTC, FBI and anybody
else with a 3-letter moniker: I will be including affiliate links
from time to time and if you buy something, I'll get a few
bucks.

Since I don't want your email address, don't put it in a
comment because whoever else gets it has nothing to do with me.

What have I missed...
Covered making money finally with this blog - Check!
Covered your email privacy - Check!

That about covers my turn around to being effective instead of
efficient, don't you think.

That's it for today and I leave you with this -

There is a time to let things happen, and a time to make things happen.~ Anon

Solo Entrepreneurs: If You Are NOT This Passionate -QUIT!

Don't panic, my coffee supply didn't run out, but I watched this
and decided you needed to see it too.

Many of you are worse than a crackhead - you're picking up anything
to make money online and even though your brain is telling you it's a
scam or downright unprofitable, you're still spending stupid money
chasing the illusive...Millions In A Minute Program.

Watch the video, I need more coffee!

Solo Entrepreneur - Internet Tools & Affiliate News

Lots going on this month, so hang on to your seat!

Affiliate Convention
December 3-4, Los Angeles California. Got this one late, but if
you register before November 5th - you'll pay $595USD. Before
November 27th and it goes up to $675USD, which is still a bargain
compared to registering at the door $850USD!

Hotel this year is the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in 'lovely'
downtown Los Angeles.

I'm not going, saving up for Affiliate Summit West 2010 in Vegas!

Now for the tools, which is what you came to see.
1. Swagly
Is another 'word of mouth sorta' social media site with a slight twist. They
make it possible for users to buy products they see in their "friends"
photos or videos. If you're promoting with video or using merchant photos,
this might be something to take a look at.

There's a hiccup though and you won't see it until you go to their FAQ:
Your users have to join to vote on a product. It's still in Beta and for
US or Canadian affiliates at the moment.

2. Zaypay
If you've been considering using mobile marketing and need a way to accept micro payments on your sites but couldn't figure out how to make it work - this might be your solution, especially if you live outside North America.

Essentially, it uses one API to track everything all your sales but make sure
you click on the payments tab! Because it only tracks payments made by phone or text message. I have no experience using it but the only thing that would concern me is how you would handle the privacy issue, not to mention how you prevent fraudulent orders.

3. Faststone Capture
This is a nifty but powerful, full-featured screen capture tool that allows you to easily capture and edit anything on the screen including windows, objects and even scrolling windows/web pages.

It also allows you to record screen activities and sound into highly compressed video files then you can save your files in BMP, GIF, JPEG, PCX, PNG, TGA, TIFF and PDF formats.

At only $19.95USD for a lifetime license, no adware or spyware you can't go too far wrong getting a copy.

That's it for today and I leave you with this -

It is not enough to just do your best or work hard.
You must know what to work on ~W. Edwards Deming