Wow! What a hiatus! Summer vacation indeed. Although, my month-long absence from the blog is not entirely intended. The truth is, I’ve been working on lots of tools & techniques for automation, so this sort of thing doesn’t happen again.

Where to start?

I know…I’ll start by recalling what things I’ve learned and done that will be of value to you (ie…you should do it too!)

1. Education, education, and more education!

This should always be ongoing, but the last month has found my brain deeper in the learning process. Books, podcasts, webinars, etc. There is so much to learn and so much FREELY available to teach us, that we should be constantly learning. Whatever you do, don’t find yourself at the end of watching some lame summer-TV-slot reality show wondering why your life is not improving. (The same philosophy applies to talk-radio and/or an ipod playlist being played for the n-teenth time!)

If you are looking to improve your business life online, here are some books/podcasts you need to take in:

- The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman (book)…I’ll come back to this in a minute

- Click by Bill Tancer (book)

- Crowdsourcing by Jeff Howe (book)

- Tuned In by Craig Stull (book)

- The Internet Business Mastery Academy (podcast)…whether or not you subscribe to their course, the podcast is enlightening

- Magnetic Sponsoring by Mike Dillard (ebook)

That’s just part of the list, but that should keep you busy enough for now : )

I actually read The World is Flat back in 2005, but it wasn’t till earlier this year that I finally took action on one its profound insights…outsourcing! What an amazing to improve your business, business skills, and mindset. (More on that in a soon-to-come entry)

2. Focus

As I’ve been swimming neck deep in the world of social media, I’ve found myself spread rather thin. There’s tons of info & opportunity coming our way & its hard to take it all in. Let me give some advice on this…Its WRONG to take it all in. Plain & simple. Don’t try it. It’s overwhelming because it is too much to process at once. I’m speaking specifically to those who are trying to use social media to build a business & find themselves looking at some new opportunity everyday. (If you’re on Twitter, or subscribed to some safelist or ad-exchage, you know exactly what I’m talking about) Don’t worry. You’re not missing out as much as those ads say you are. Think of those barrages of emails as the fliers on your windshield that appear while your shopping…you don’t run those down, do you?

Stick with what brought you here. Are you trying to build a network-marketing business? Then get leads. You want to leverage that lead-building-traffic for affiliate sales? That’s a good strategy as well. Beyond that, don’t get distracted. There’ll be time to expand business, when the money starts coming in.

3. Spend your time wisely

This one’s closely related to “1. education” I’ve been all over with my family this summer & its been wonderful. If I haven’t been business building, I’ve been coaching, camping, biking, fishing, swimming, yard-working, cooking, teaching, reading, and just-plain-playing with my wife & kids. Don’t waste time on things that give you NO return. After all, why are you building this greater business in the first place?

I hope you’ve had a good summer as well. Just as we soon approach back-to-school, it’s now time to get back to work! Start by doing your homework! (see above)

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