Jorge Olson
A “how go” guide to life and happiness

Do you know what your daily, weekly, or monthly traffic is for websites and blogs? If you don’t you should not have a website. Why do I say that? One of the main purposes of having a website is for some kind of promotion; for Self Promotion, marketing, selling a product, service or company. The rule of marketing is “If you can’t track it, it’s not marketing”. So if you don’t know how much traffic you get and where it comes from you are not doing marketing, so, turn your website off!

I say this with a smile, as today was a breakthrough in one of my blogs. My www.LinkedInForMarketing.com blog received 905 visitors yesterday after only 2 months of operations. I may beat that number today but I’m not sure. Yes, I know where the traffic comes from, almost every single visitor. This way I can replicate the marketing efforts.

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Find out how to use LinkedIn For Sales, Marketing and Self Promotion in this Blog Talk Radio free teleseminar.

http://linkedinformarketing.com/linkedin-audio-training-recording-on-how-to-use-linkedin-for-sales-and-marketing/

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How paranoid are you? We’re all a little paranoid, maybe we don’t know it, maybe we don’t think it, but we are. Are we taking it too far? Is it out of control?

Here are 7 tip-offs to watch for that will let you know if you are getting a little paranoid. Or maybe “a lot” paranoid. By the way, I have all 7!

1. You teach your children anti-kidnapping strategies, and you practice them with weekly drills

2. You always stay 10 feet away form the car in front of you in a stop light “ready to make a quick gateway” because you think they’ll come and kidnap you or carjack you

3. When you drive your car you look at your rear view mirror and wonder “Is That Car Following Me?”

4. You rather walk in the middle of the street than in the sidewalk just in case someone is hiding behind a parked car or corner “ready to get you”

5. You look both ways before you cross the street, 3 times each way!

6. While in a restaurant you always want to sit with your back to a wall and face the door because you want to see who comes in and how you can quickly get out

7. Your afraid of the crooks and you’re even more afraid of the cops

I was born and raised in Tijuana, Mexico, one of the most dangerous cities in the world according to Forbes magazine. These 7 points are more like strategies than tip-offs if you grew up there!

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There are many areas of skills - general skills that you can look into to improve and attract success. I am here to tell you some of the skills you can look into to improve yourself and put you on the road to personal success.

Project the voice of success! Articulate clearly, express yourself in a confident and authoritative manner, be it to an audience of 1 or of thousands; this is crucial if you want to convince people of your success. Be more comfortable, more confident, and more attractive to be around. Being able to speak effectively means you can sell anything - products, of course, but also ideas, ideologies, worldviews.

If success depends of effective action, effective action depends on the ability to focus your attention where it is needed most, when it is needed most. In order to keep focused on the important things, you will need to have strong organizational skills, a strong sense of discipline, and a firm effective sense of productivity. The bridge that leads from analysis to action is effective decision-making - knowing what to do based on the information available. You need to find a balance between being overly analytical and not being analytical at all. Indecisiveness is a definite hindrance that you should avoid having as a habit. Being able to take in the scene and respond quickly and effectively is what separates the doers from the wannabes.

Pen with the hands of the successful! Writing well offers many of the same advantages that speaking well offers: good writers are better at selling products, ideas, and themselves than poor writers. Given the huge amount of text generated by almost every transaction - from court briefs and legislation running into the thousands of pages to those foot-long receipts you get when you buy gum these days - a person who is a master of the written word can expect doors to open in just about every field.

I think before we can discuss all this is the simple fact that to improve yourself comes from an inherent desire to improve and a desire to want to change for the better. Don’t look back into the past and what it has done or not done for you but always look to the future. Try to get yourself out of the rut through positive thinking and keep reminding yourself that all this work is for an objective - an objective that will allow you to tap into your potential and be the person that you have always dreamed of.

This is by no means an admonishment for you to register for some exorbitantly priced self-improvement course. Anyone can do this and normally the effect is highly varied from those who do so because they want to and those who do them because they feel they need to or are listening to someone else. ‘Want’ is the big idea behind self improvement, because no matter how many doctors you visit, how many psychologists you seek advice from - it will all come to naught if you do not have a desire to turn your life around.

Social networking, we have all likely heard of it before, but not everyone knows what it means?  If you were asked to define what social networking was, would you be able to give an accurate definition. Unfortunately, most people cannot, even though they have join and sign up to social networking websites, especially online.

Social networking is defined as the grouping of individuals together into to specific groups, often like a small community or a neighborhood. Although social networking is possible in person, especially in schools or in the workplace, it is most popular online. This is because unlike most high schools, colleges, or workplaces, the internet is filled with billions of individuals who are looking to meet other internet users and develop friendships.

When it comes to online social networking online, websites are involved. These websites are known as social networking websites.Social networking websites are just like an online community of internet users. Depending on the social networking website, most of these online networking community members share a common passion, whether that passion be hobbies, religion, or politics.Once you are given access to the social networking website you register with, you can begin to socialize.This socialization include reading the profiles or profile pages of other members or even contacting them. 

Social networking is often grouping specific individuals or organizations together. While there are several social networking websites that focus on specific interests, there are others that do not. These websites are often known to be traditional social networking websites.  These types of websites typically have an open membership. This means that anyone can join as member, no matter what their hobbies, beliefs, or views are. However, when you sign in to this online community, you can start to create your own network and eliminating others that do not meet your criteria.

There is much to learn about social networking and how you can use social networking to promote your products and services. In this modern day, even politicians use social networking in their campaigns and they have proven to have been successful in providing candidates information, creating relationships and even winning voters online.

Social networking has infact become become part of the New Wave Marketing Principles used by many businesses, online as well as offline companies to learn and search for new markets.

There are many social networking sites available online and it is important to know which ones are suitable for your market. You can download a Free copy of Social Networking Directory of over 400 Social Networking Sites for your reference and learn how you can make full use of these social networking sites with Internet Marketing Specialist to enhance your business performance online at www.BOBmarketing.com

Effective Ways to Build Self-Esteem in Children

As parents, one of the main things we need to do is boost up and build our children’s self-esteem level. We need to teach our children to have a strong sense of self worth, both in themselves and in their talents. This can be difficult to do because as parents we need to give them ’space’ to find out certain things on their own and yet be there to guide them along the way too.

If we show a certain level of disinterest, giving them too much freedom, then that can lead to rebellion but if we are too strict, then that can also lead to problems and hinder them from developing independently.

Self-esteem can be encouraged and developed anytime in a persons life, that is why it’s always good to begin early with your children, so they will learn to trust in their abilities and talents. There are several things that parents can do to help develop a healthy self-esteem in their children.

1. Teach self-affirming statements

Have them stand in front of a mirror and say what a great person they are, or you can begin for them as they look at themselves in the mirror, until they get comfortable doing it by themselves. It may seem childish, but it works, and even some adults do it in order to boost their confidence for the upcoming day or event. You don’t even have to stick to the mirror process. Or you, can create your own as long as you stick to the basic, which is the saying words that are used in building self-esteem.

Create a mantra that your child can easily remember, one that goes to a familiar tune they already know. When they get up in the morning, you can sing the mantra to your child and have them sing one to you. The mantra should be about each other; such as saying I love you in the morning or telling each other how great the other is.

You can be creative, by showing your love and acceptance you can never go wrong. Feel free to come up with even more songs, or poems; as long as they encourage your child in what makes them so special.

2. The Positive Trait Game

Another activity that you can do with your child, that will not only boost their self-esteem, but also help in building his or her vocabulary, is the positive trait game. In this game, you will each tell each other the positive traits that one sees in the other. The catch is that the trait should start in a specific letter of the alphabet.

The positive trait game is a wonderful way to teach your kid to think positive thoughts and to acknowledge the traits and talents that make him or her unique. The more often you play this game together, the better chances they will always remember it and the good qualities they have, that they can be grateful for.

3. Do activities that they love

It is good to introduce new activities to them so they can find out which ones they enjoy and feel they are good at. One great way to do this, is through summer programs, where they have all kinds of things for kids to do. For instance, if he is good with drawing and crayons, it does not mean that he will not be good in music. It’s ok if they don’t like something at first, you may just need to encourage them to try it for a few more weeks to make sure.

Either way, if they really don’t want to continue, at least they were able to try something new and learn a little about it. Helping them discover the things that they love to do and the things that they are good at is a great way to boost your childs self esteem in the younger years of life. After all, when children are enjoying what they are doing, they become very enthusiastic and they are open to developing their skills further.

Something that all of us want but does not come easily is happiness. Happiness is definitely that we may need to work on. We have to find ways to be able to learn happiness regardless of the things that happen in our lives. It really is something that we are able to do and able to do well. It is not necessary for us to worry about what other people may think because we only get a single chance to make the most of our lives and after all it is our life and not anyone else’s.

The Method

There are some methods that you can try so that you have all the happiness in life that you deserve. It is going to take some work and a lot of effort, but you can do it and once you see the way that you feel, you will know that it is worth it and that you have made the right choices in life.  Taking these methods into consideration is very important.  You need to make things work for you so that you are able to do well in life and to get all your goals achieved.

1. As human beings, a life without happiness is really meaningless. For happiness to be truly felt, we have to set goals. Once we have established the goals we want in life, then we will know what we want and will then have to figure ways in which to achieve those goals. We will need ways to make the things we want happen for us so that we will have what we deserve. We should make our lives special to us so that we will be able to feel happiness of completing an achievement. When goals are set in our lives and we move towards accomplishing them, we will have the feeling of happiness as we will have a meaning and a goal to reach for.

2. Second, we need to remember that we have to live for today. We need to make sure that we are using our best intentions and making the days that we have worthwhile. We need to of course think about our future and make sure that we are making the right choices so that we are safe and secure, but we also need to bring some fun to our life and to make sure that are succeeding in all our goals.

3. Another thought is to think about what would make us lose our happiness. What could happen in our lifetime that would make us feel badly about who we are and not be happy anymore?  These are things that we defiantly need to stay away from. We have to make sure that we are able to keep the negative things out of our life so that we are able to make good choices without risking looking our happiness. We need to make sure that we are able to make these things work for us and to continue to stay happy.

4. The fourth thing we have to ensure is that we are healthy in order for us to be happy. We should remain in good health and that we should make the right health choices to that we can stay happy and healthy regardless of what we do. We need to eat the right way and consider the food choices we make for our body. We should refrain from making choices that will cause us to be unhealthy and sick. We have to remove the negative things that affect us so that we stay in good mental health so that we are both physically and mentally happy at the same time.

5. The last thing we need you ensure is to keep the good feelings in our hearts and mind. We need to keep these feelings with us so that we are able to give it back to others when they need it. We should be pleasant and as much as possible try to be happy. The more pleasant we are will show to us that we will be able to stay happy and that we will be able to make others happy too. We should strive to make others happy and bring joy to them as this will give us a way to feel good about how we affect others. Do not let events take you down emotionally as we may unintentionally bring down others too.

Blogging is “The Other Platform”. It is a must have for all public speakers both professionals and amateurs.

If you are a starting public speaker or professional keynote speaker you know the value of presentation, speaking and communication. Maybe you make your living as a speaker or maybe you are a toastmaster wanting to better yourself and your communication skills. Ether way you are telling others about your ideas, your point of view, and your stories.

With a blog, you are doing the same thing. You are telling the world about yourself, your ideas, and your stories. It is a must for any public speaker.

If you are a professional keynote speaker a blog is the second most important tool to get business besides your speeches. Get your core message across, find new readers, get customers for your books and products, let people communicate with you and create a relationship by reading about you.
Best Blog Software
Now, what software should you use for your blog? This is an easy question. The best software out there is WordPress and you can download it for free at www.WordPress.org This software is easy to use and will get you traffic (and it is FREE). The search engines like it and will list every blog post very quickly. Word of caution, don’t use the hosted version, host it yourself with your hosting company. If you don’t know how just go to www.MarketingMarbles.com and they will install it for you and give you 1 year of hosting all for $77. Why host it yourself? If you don’t all that traffic will go to waste, you have to bring traffic to your website, your blog, not just to the WordPress site.
Videos
Don’t forget to upload videos to your blog. You can record them in your house or in your toastmaster meetings. If you are a professional record them live during your keynotes. After this you can upload them for free to YouTube.com and then copy paste them to your blog. It’s all free.

Best Directories of Blogs on Public Speaking

The Public Speaking Blog
http://blog.ericfeng.com/psbs-10-most-influential-bloggers-on-public-speaking/
Follow this link to find a list of the 10 most influential bloggers on public speaking. It is a great resource and directory.

Great Public Speaking
http://greatpublicspeaking.blogspot.com/  
This includes the largest collection of articles on public speaking, and they are all free.

Six Minutes - A Public Speaking Blog
http://sixminutes.dlugan.com/2008/01/04/public-speaking-blogosphere/  
Directory of 106 blogs all on Public Speaking. The best directory in town!

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Unselfish Self Promotion is very useful when applied to social networking. If you use an unselfish strategy in all your web 2.0 you will grow your network, attract new connections and accomplish your personal and business goal. If, on the other hand, you are just constantly talking about you, your products, your services, you will be ignored and your emails deleted.

Here are some great tips by Mike Fruchter you can find the whole article at http://www.louisgray.com/live/2008/11/sharing-self-promotion-always-two-way.html?disqus_reply=4012679#comment-4012679

Just starting out?
Self promote as often as possible, express restraint and etiquette on how you self promote. If you don’t take the first step of informing the world that your blog exists, no one else will.

Self promotion starts with promoting others first.
Promoting your brand (you) and your content is the first step to getting noticed. This is easier said than done.

Find, establish and continually grow your network.
Building your network is not about adding as many followers on Twitter and Facebook as humanly possible.

Your network is a family and team, treat them as such.
Your core network online should be treated as a family. Always keep them on your radar, and be informed of their activities.

You never get a second chance to make a first impression.
When starting out, make sure to promote your best content only. People’s first impressions need to be reserved only for your home-runs.

Use the best tools possible to facilitate promotion for self and others.
Sharing starts with RSS. Google Reader is the main workhorse for sharing your content. It is also the place where your networks, team members content resides and gets promoted. Besides being the most easiest and common way to share content, it also takes it a step further by allowing you to add notes onto the content you share out.

My new book, the unselfish guide to self promotion explains how to use unselfish self promotion strategies for business, for work and for life.  You can find the book at http://www.UnselfishPromotion.com

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