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Showing Gratitude and Appreciation for Online Entrepreneurs 2008

December 18, 2008 // No Comments »

As the year’s end draws near, I thought I would dedicate a blog post to highlight the online entrpreneurs who have influenced me the most in 2008.  I also wanted to express my sheer appreciation and gratitude for connecting with the following individuals this year.

The following online entrepreneurs , bloggers and marketers have made a great impact on my business and success this year, and I would love to share who they are with you.

Go follow these amazing folks on Twitter , and subscribe for their blog feeds (if you’ve not yet done so already).

• Remarkablogger , Michael Martine, @remarkablogger , blog consultant extraordinaire, is someone I’ve recently had the pleasure to connect and work with.  He’s provided solid feedback on my growth as a blogger and is someone I call a friend.  Michael, thanks for all your advice and for your guidance.  You really helped me narrow my focus as a blogger and helped me with SEO. Congratulations on your upcoming launch of SEO Nomicon.  I’m reading it today!  Michael also suggested the title of my new e-book Mindset Marketing , so many thanks!

• Web Success Diva , Maria Reyes-McDavia, @websuccessdiva is someone I closely follow because she is always at the top of her game when it comes to Wordpress blogging and social media marketing.  I’ve learned tons simply by reading Maria’s blog and following her Tweets on Twitter.  Maria, thank you for all the valuable information and insights.  I look forward to all you have in store for 2009 and look forward to getting to know you more personally.  You totally rock!

• Myron Golden , my millionaire mentor, Mr. Golden.  Myron has helped me see the true value in myself and also has helped me develop the mindset of a millionaire.   It was after one of Myron’s Six Figure Business School seminars, this Fall that I got inspired to create my e-book and affiliate program for Mindset Marketing .  I appreciate you for all of your phenomenal training and guidance.  Myron’s not on Twitter yet.  Hey Myron hurry up and join us on Twitter!  You rock, my friend.

• Cenay Nailor , my good friend, mastermind buddy, and Chief Leveraging Officer @cenay .  Thanks for all the technical assistance, as I learn code myself :-)  You’ve been a lifesaver this year, and I look forward to working with you on our consulting blog in 2009.  Cenay is a super savvy online marketer and software developer.  If you’re an affiliate marketer her I Frame Generator affiliate link cloaker is a must. Cenay, you rock!

• Andrea Goodsaid , my good friend, Chief Leveraging Officer, and first accountability partner @agoodsaid .  Andrea and I have been friends for some time.   She has helped me tremendously, especially when I was a newbie who didn’t know a thing about blogging.  Andrea inspired one of my earlier blog posts about the importance of accountability partnerships in one’s online business success.  Andrea , thanks for all the talks and keeping me on track.  I look forward to working with you more closely on our consulting blog.

• Deontee Gordon , my buddy and Chief Leveraging Officer @deontee .  I’m so glad we connected and that we’ll be working more closely in 09 at the blog!  Deontee is a Facebook marketing pro, and I’m really glad we became friends in 2008.  You have one of the most radiant personalities online.  I’m so looking forward to your Facebook 101 product and working with you!

• Anthony Whyms , my friend and host of Moving Forward Marketing at Blog Talk Radio @anthonywhyms .  Thank you for being such an instrumental part of my e-book launch and for having me on your show.  You provided so much great advice and have helped me a great deal.  Anthony , I look forward to our continued relationship and Joint Venturing on many many other projects.  It has been really fun!

• Ed Phillips of Teleseminar Nation and Telesemainar Web Folk @EdLovesSumo .  Thanks for the friendship and assistance in promoting Mindset Marketing.  Ed and I have so much in common it’s not even funny.  I look forward to working with you in 2009, Ed.

• Ray Johnson - New breed Internet marketing and relationship builder extraordinaire @RayJohnson .  It’s been awesome following you and getting to know you.  Congratulations on the launch of Subscriber List Secrets !  I look forward to working with you in 2009.

• Jonathan Gillardi - Thanks for your powerful testimony on Mindset Marketing @Jgillardi .  I am honored to know that an online newbie helped you see from a different perspective and helped you gain more clarity and focus.  I am so humbled.  I look forward to getting to know you a lot better.  I appreciate you a great deal, my friend.

• Paul Cooley - Internet Mentor and Blog Talk Radio Show Host @paulcooley .  Thanks for always commenting here on the blog, Paul.  I am excited about your new blog at Possessing your Land and look forward to joining you on your Blog Talk Radio show in two days.  I’m excited to be working with you too.  Gosh, I’ve met some cool folk leaders year!

• Michael Millman , my copywriting hero @MichaelMillman .  I met Michael, as most of the above people I’m grateful for having connected with on Twitter.  He graciously looked at some email copy for my e-book Mindset Marketing and gave me some phenomenal advice.  I was quite floored he said my copy was very good overall.  Michael, I appreciate you and look forward to learning from you.

• Levi Wardell, my SEO champion, blogger at Serpable , and frequent blog commenter @trontastic .  It’s awesome to have connected…yes via Twitter and here on the blog.  I look forward to your new SEO e-book!

There are many many other awesome folks I’ve met online this year by simply being on Twitter and blogging!  I appreciate all of you.  And I really appreciate you as my reader for taking the time to read my blog and participate.

What’s in Store for Dali Burgado in 2009?

1) More Blogging

• Here and at Secrets to Web Success , with my Chief Leveraging Officers and business partners.
• To cover tutorials on Twitter, Facebook, Copywriting, Joint Venturing, Relationship Building and more!

2) Video and pod casts (yes I’ll be producing some video for ya - I’ve had technical issues here this past week, so maybe I’ll crank out one or two before the year is out)

3) More Information Product Launches - Mindset Marketing on steroids next year.  I’m making it into a course, and I’ll be working my tail off to coach others to create their own information products.

4) Public Speaking -  First here locally in Stafford, VA, but also anywhere and everywhere.

Who are the people YOU are most grateful for meeting/connecting with in 2008, and what are their Twitter IDs?

To a phenomenal 2009!

In appreciation!

Dali Burgado

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Posted in Gratitude

Time Management and Entrepreneurship

October 29, 2008 // No Comments »

Do you ever wonder why some entrepreneurs have excellent time management skills while others seem to work effortlessly and get the same accomplished in less time?

The answer to that lies in the fact that time management is an entrepreneurial myth.

Time is irrelevant when you can concentrate on the core activities that yield profit. In fact, I dare say time is always in YOUR favor.  But you may be self-sabotaging your success and productivity.  Like my friend, Deontee Gordon, recently mentioned…”sometimes we just have to get out of our own way.”  We do not always work in our own favor.

What do I mean by that?  It’s our own beliefs about Time Management that make us shoot ourselves in the foot when it comes to being productive.

Most entrepreneurs have several misconceptions about entrepreneurship and productivity because we’ve been trained by our socio-economic culture to think like an employee.  Employees must always appear busy or else they will get fired, so they think of all the things they can do to stay busy.

Most of the “employee mindset” remains with us when we transition to entrepreneurship.  And it’s a habit that has to be unlearned when transitioning to entrepreneurship.

This mindset surely followed me when I began working for myself 6 years ago.  Most of us feel like we have to work ourselves to death without rest in order to be super successful. In reality that is not completely true.  The beginning stage of entrepreneurship is always the biggest challenge.  However, when you’re an established entrepreneur - most of us continue to believe keeping busy and squeezing the juice out of every second of the day is the way to go.  Uggh.  No sirree.

Being productive is really about managing yourself and your priorities (especially those that yield results).

In order to be productive online you must know which activities yield the most results. Prioritization and focus are critical to your success. You will discover your core activities by trial and error, education, and intuition.

As long as you focus on the key processes in your business – time is your friend!

Your core activities may or may not be so different from mine.  Here are mine:

These activities are creating the most value in my businesses:

1) Blogging and building a relationship with you - my readers

2) Building relationships online (mainly via Twitter and Facebook)

3) Following up with consulting client requests

4) Building my “A List Network” for a Joint Venture project

Have you determined which ones yours are?

P.S. I recently read the following and thought it’d be neat to share:

If you were to be called out of town for a month what one task would you want to get completed?  Start on that task immediately and work on it until it’s done.

To quote Winston Churchill,

“Our greatest business in not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.”

P.P.S.

Make sure to stay tuned within the next few weeks.  I will be releasing an e-book that dispels a few myths about online entrepreneurship.  It will cost, but it will be a great investment nonetheless (and I’m creating an affiliate program for it, so you can make money too). 

Are you overwhelmed?  What prioritization challenges are you facing?  Do you have a few tips you’d like to share with us?  I’d love to hear from you.

Make it a productive day!

Your Partner in Online Productivity,

Dali Burgado

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Posted in Habits of Entrepreneurs, Productivity Tips, Uncategorized

Accountability Partnerships: A Solution to Online Business Productivity and Success

September 8, 2008 // No Comments »

Most Internet Marketers, Affiliate Marketers, or Internet Network Marketers, suffer at some point in time from information overload . It seems as though there is always too much to do and so little time to do it.

There are so many:

• Social media networking sites to participate
• New affiliate products to promote
• Internet marketing products
• Online marketing strategies to implement

Oftentimes we feel overwhelmed because we lack focus and clarity.

We don’t know where to begin.

Sometimes we just like to be involved in every online conversation and get sidetracked from our primary goals.

It can be quite challenging to weed through all the Internet information overload and commotion and put the blinders on to focus on your primary projects.

A while ago I felt that very same way.

Fast forward 6 months…

Today I feel very accomplished and productive in my online endeavors thanks to my finding and accountability partner.

An accountability partner is someone who plain and simply holds you accountable to what you say you will do during any given day. He or she will listen to your goals and your “to dos” and help you prioritize and strategize ways to plan your day effectively.

Ideally, accountability partners speak every work morning and discuss their plans for the day. That evening, or following morning, the accountability buddies check in and report what they completed or did not complete.

Here’s what having Accountability Partner does for you:

1) Motivates you when you feel you are going through a challenging time.

2) Encourages you to continue when you feel like throwing in the towel.

3) Inspires you to be more focused, especially when you see your accountability partner achieve something they set out to do – It inspires you to keep up your momentum to do the same.

4) Provides that accountability you rarely keep to yourself.

5) It is like your business insurance ; if you don’t get something done and forget about it, you have someone to remind you of what’s most important.

The first time I experienced the joy of working with an accountability buddy was with a program called “Call to Action ” at the Human Communications Institute , founded by transformational and motivational speaker, Michael Bernhoff. I had the pleasure of working with one of Michael’s assistants – Gilena – who was my accountability buddy for a full week. I was incredibly productive - so productive that in one week, I completed what I would have done in what seemed like three months worth of work.  (By the way, if you call Gileana and tell her Dali Burgado referred you - she’ll have a cool surprise for you).

I now have an accountability buddy I have the privilege to call a good friend - Andrea Goodsaid .

I have noticed the changes we both have made in our online business productivity.

When we began our partnership, I helped her decide on her most pressing project; we began to brainstorm ways to help her get going and what to complete before moving on to the next project.

Once she became focused things took off and she got the ball rolling on something she had been meaning to do but didn’t quite get around to doing it.

I’ve also noticed great changes in my activity.

Now I don’t focus on filling my days up with any type of work or activity, I’ve become somewhat of an Online Productivity Geek

Today I tend to avoid getting side-tracked by time-fillers.

I also find myself completing tasks a lot faster.  The neat thing is that our accountability partnership turned into a Joint Venture Partnership.

Now this is all fine and Dandy, Dali, But How do I find find an accountability partner?

I’m glad you asked!

Here are some tips on Finding and Choosing the Right Accountability Partner for You

1) Think of people who are motivated and success-driven . You’ll want someone who is reliable and who will really hold you accountable. A great place to find accountability partners are on online forums or social networking sites.

2) Think of someone who might compliment your skills set . i.e. a savvy Internet marketer who has some experience in marketing that you don’t yet have. It is nice when you can exchange marketing tips and mutually benefit from each others’ experiences.

3) Find someone in your niche. Your accountability buddy doesn’t have to be in your particular online business or network marketing company. I met my partner on an online forum. We shared the same philosophies and had several things in common. We also connected on a personal level before we decided to be buddies.

4) Make sure you are both participating equally. Effort must be shown on both sides to make the partnership work.

5) Meet often. Ideally every work day will assist you to be more consistent and productive in your business.

6) Talk about personal goals too. You will both want to make sure you create balance in your personal lives in order to be successful in your business because what affects you personally will affect you in your business.

7) Your partner should be someone you can trust . In the event you have things going on personally, you should feel comfortable speaking to your buddy about it – not necessarily at length, but on a level where they know you are not at 100% that day.

Don’t forget to Have fun – Having an accountability buddy also makes your journey to online success a lot more fun. You will begin to see how two people can co-create awesome experiences by brainstorming and keeping each other on task.

Having someone to connect with on a daily basis who shares your concerns and experience really gives you the added fuel to remain productive and consistent in your business. It’s like having your very own accelerated program for online success.

Do you have an accountability partner already?

Do you have tips on how to make accountability partnerships more productive? Share them with us!

I appreciate you!

Your Partner in Online Success and Prosperity,

Dali Burgado

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Posted in Habits of Entrepreneurs