Personal Improvement

If you were handed a million dollars, how would you live the next year? After you bought a new car, maybe a big house, gave some money to charity, and so forth, how would you spend your time if money were no object and you had complete freedom to do what you want?

Would you quit your job?

Would you move to another state?

If you had no need to work for a living and could do whatever you like with your days, how would you plan and use your time? This is really important, so please take a few minutes to be honest with yourself.

If you still find yourself crunching the numbers, wondering if a million would really set you free, make it ten million. The point of this exercises is: What would your life look like in terms of your regular activity, lifestyle, and commitments if were 100% free from any financial or work-related stress?

Create a detailed vision that reflects your answer. Ideally you’ll write this down.

And once you know what you would do if time and money were not pressing concerns, you’ll need to answer my next question:

Why aren’t you already doing all the things you want to do right now?

Understandably you might not immediately be able to invest in your $300,000 dream car. But remember, this million dollar question is really about your daily work, activities, and lifestyle.

So if your first answer was “I’d quit my job”, I think it’s only right to ask yourself why you’re keeping a job you obviously don’t like.

Especially in the U.S., and from what I can tell in many other places as well, people suffer their entire lives under the burden of obligation. They work a crappy job they hate because they need money to live on, or they get married because their parents tell them it’s sinful to have a mate who isn’t under contract.

It’s both amazing and sad what people are willing to put themselves through in the name of obligation. According to Dr. Nick Hall, an alarming number of med students openly admit during their final years of training that they have little or no desire to be doctors; they are committing their entire lives to a career their parents wanted for them!

The same kind of perverse nonsense can be seen in most military academies or basic training depots. Many people join the armed forces because their fathers and grandfathers served, and they have been pressured since childhood to do the same.

On a less dramatic scale, how many people do you know who have told you hundreds of times how badly they hate their jobs, and yet they keep going back! Maybe you’re in a similar situation yourself.

Think about how crazy this is.

There is tremendous social pressure to think and act in a manner consistent with some vague idea of what it means to be a “good citizen”. As a result, millions (billions?) of people are going through the motions of life, dead in every sense  of the word long before their heart stops beating.

Look again at the things you said you’d do with a million dollars. Compare this to your current life and demand of yourself a good answer for why you should keep leading a life that’s not what you want.

As I’ve said many times before, heaven and reincarnation are both fine ideas but there is no proof of either. This could be your only shot at being you, so I urge you strongly to make the most of the experience!

People make such a big, dramatic deal of small decisions like leaving a job or ending an unhappy marriage. Honestly if someone is that determined to suffer I guess they’re entitled to their misery.

But because most people actively complain about the negative circumstances in their life I am compelled as a writer to continuously make these simple points:

1. Life is about being happy right now. Waiting to have a fulfilling life is ludicrous and depraved.
2. You should be living from your true values, and not by principles that please other people.
3. Finding your life’s purpose is mission critical #1. From their it’s all fun and games!

To be fair, I realize many of my readers are already living on purpose and doing exactly what they want. So please don’t take this post as condescending in any way.

I believe most of us, even when we are living our bliss, can benefit from the “million dollar question” exercise. I play a variation of this little game with myself often just to be sure I’m on track.

The version I use is called the “magic wand game”. I ask myself: if I could wave a magic wand over every area of my life and have things exactly as I want them, what would the results look like?

This helps me be certain I’m not settling for “reasonable” or “realistic”, and that I’m indeed pursuing my heart’s inspiration. I hope this concept resonates strongly with you, and that you’ll find ways to enhance your life using questions and games of this nature.

Most entrepreneurs fail because they don’t think like businesspeople. Especially online, those who say they want to make money think and act more like desperate homeless people than savvy marketers. A prime example is how a majority of start-up entrepreneurs look for what they think is a killer product first, when indeed they shoudl find their potential customers before even considering a product or service!

Naturally you’ll want a great product, but that comes later. The first order of business is to identify a group of people with a very specific want or need.

This is called finding your niche market. And it takes only a small amount of focus and effort to achieve.

Your first step is to list a few general areas you’d like to explore. Start with things you like, know something about, or simply find interesting.

For instance, do you enjoy camping, playing the saxophone, the latest and greatest DVD releases, or fixing up old cars? Make a list of anywhere from 10 to 25 general areas you want to explore.

Once you have a basic idea of the kind of market you might want to explore, you’re ready to find some numbers and data to back up your initial idea. Thanks to the invention of keyword research tools, it’s actually quite easy to figure out what people are looking for online.

All keyword research tools work from the same basic interface. This is a form where you enter a word or group of words and click a submit button.

The keyword tool then finds data on how many times the terms were queried at sites like Google over the past 1 to 30 days. Good keyword tools will also come up with a list of terms similar to the keywords you entered, and this of course will lead you to ideas you may not have even considered before.

Your goal with basic keyword research is simply to get a better idea of what people are looking for relative to your initial list of concepts. You may have to spend some time brainstorming or looking into the suggested terms that come up during your research before you really hit on anything solid.

As an example, let’s say you know something about remodeling kitchens. You might start your keyword research with terms like “kitchen remodel”.

The tool you are using could indicate people are doing a good deal of searching for terms like “kitchen remodel under $1,000” or “remodel kitchen cabinets” or “do it yourself kitchen remodel”. As you begin to sift through more and more specific data you will see an emerging pattern and come up with a more refined idea of what people are looking for in terms of information about remodeling their kitchens.

Ultimately, you’ll want to make a list of the more popular search terms. And you’ll want to go to your favorite search engine and do your own direct searches on these exact terms.

The results pages will tell you whether or not a substantial amount of competition currently exists in these areas. By finding out what information and services currently exist you’ll be able to determine where you can fit into things; i.e. you’ll get an idea of where your potential niche might be.

You can also browse sites like Ebay, Amazon, and Buy.com to get an idea of what people are currently spending money on, relative to your area of focus. And you can browse popular blogs and forums to discover what Internet users are saying about the current marketplace.

In particular look for questions being asked. If you can identify a few core questions being posed in a variety of places you will be well on your way to finding a solid niche market.

It’s beyond the scope of this article to go into complete detail about the research process, but just by following the steps above you’ll be able to target a potentially profitable niche market. Once you understand what people are looking for, all that remains is to figure out how you can offer these people what they want and/or need.

Recommended Resources

For an in-depth, easy to follow blueprint on how to generate great money-making ideas and find winning markets and niches I strongly recommend my Idea Goldmine special report. Also, once you’re ready to think about owning your own site be sure to review this free article on basic Webmaster tools.

Whether you’re an entrepreneur or just want to use the Web to communicate more effectively to your personal contacts, owning a Website is a fun and powerful way to get connected. Of course you can hire a pro to tackle the whole project for you, but many people enjoy the process of getting hands-on and putting their own Web presence together.

I have a background in professional Web development and marketing, so I’ll be including some really great tips on this blog to help people get rolling with their own Websites. But first let’s take a look at some basic tools you might need.

BASIC WEBMASTER TOOLS TO HELP WITH YOUR WEBSITE PROJECT

There’s no need to spend a fortune on quality Web tools. I’ve owned an online business since 2005 and many of the resources I use are very affordable or even free.

Here’s a quick list of essential Web tools I use and recommend.

HTML Editor - Obviously you’ll need a good editing software to build and update your Web pages with. You’ll use this tool to construct your Web pages on your computer and then upload them to the Web (your host) once the changes are complete.

You can get a great, free HTML editor called 1st Page from this site.

FTP software - An FTP, or file transfer protocol, tool is what you’ll use to move files from your computer to the Web and vice versa. It sounds complex but it’s really not.

You can download a free - and very good - FTP utility at Core FTP. Be sure to get the totally free version and not the free trial!

Web Effects Software - It’s also nice to have a special effects wizard to help you easily generate cool features like dropdown menus, image rotators, frames, and other cool stuff. These tools basically prevent your having to learn and remember complex javascript code, and allow you to make all kinds of groovy effects with a few clicks of your mouse.

Please accept a free copy of the Black Label Web Wizard from me by hitting this link. Be aware, however, this item only works with Windows software (executable file); sorry Mac users, I’ll try to find something for you as well.

Domain Name - This of course is your Web address. You can register a good domain for around $10 per year, and I recommend Lots More Hosting for this service.

Hosting Service - A Web host is the service that stores the files and data that actually make up your site. You’ll get access to a powerful server that runs 24 hours every day, and you’ll upload all your Web pages and other files to this server. Then you’ll synchronize your domain and server by setting the DNS (most hosts explain this in their welcome email); once this is done an Internet user can type in your domain name and connect with your host machine.

Again I recommend Lots More Hosting for your Web hosting service.

This list of essential tools will get you off to a solid start. I’ll post some tips for actually building and running your site over the next few weeks.

As you’ll see, being a Webmaster is nowhere near as difficult as many people think. In fact it’s both easy and fun once you get the hang of it.