The process works like this. For twelve days in December (the odd days) you can download free gifts here. You will find all sorts of incredible products that normally sell every day of the year on other sites. But during this special giveaway, the contributors have donated these special gifts to help you grow your business.

The contributor list includes such legends as Mark Hendricks, Michael Rasmussen, Kevin Riley, Jim Straw, Criss Cobb and Karon Thackston, Jeanette Cates, Kevin Hogan, Harry Crowder, Melissa Galt, Lex Edmonds, Ellen Violette, Connie Green, Jeff Herring, Joel Orr, Joe Marsh, K Smith, Don Richter, Albert Grande, Willie Crawford and myself, Cindi Dawson. And it continues to grow throughout the month of December.

Products include reports, ebooks, videos, templates, systems, and again, the list continu8es to grow.

You just have to check it out. Click here to take advantage of this great offer.

And Merry Christmas!

Take last weekend, for example.

My good friend, David Perdew, was hosting NAMS 6 (Niche Affiliate Marketing System) in Atlanta but I wanted to spend the weekend celebrating my mother’s birthday in Texas. So I opted for family time and stayed connected with NAMS via frequent phone calls and voice mails.

Why am I mentioning this if I didn’t even GO to NAMS? Because I would have gone if circumstances had been different.

In fact, there were TWO people that I truly wanted to meet, get to know, have dinner with, and “talk business.” Those two people were Paul Evans and Tony Laidig. I will finally meet them both next February at NAMS 7 but in the meantime, I asked Joe Marsh, my business partner, to do me a favor.

The video below is what Joe did. Thanks, Joe, for being a great friend and business partner. And thanks, Paul, for working with me.

David, I can’t wait till next February. Check out NAMS 7 but don’t wait too long. It fills up FAST! And I do mean FAST!

*C*

And then the economy “changed.” (No comment here; it is what it is.)

But I have some exciting news for you. It can be like that again … meeting people, going to a conference, and KNOWING you will get it right because you’ll get hands-on in-person real-life having-a-good-time experience for FR*EE. (Well, practically fr*ee. There IS a condition … but it’s easy.)

Click here to get ALL the details.

My good friend and mentor, Mark Hendricks, has done something astonishing. I’m agog, agape, aghast, shocked, surprised, and generally wowed out. You’ve just gotta check this out. Mark hasn’t done something like this in 4 or 5 years. In fact, when I heard about it, I wanted to let you know asap so he couldn’t back out.

Get all the details here before it’s too late.

But you’ve gotta be QUICK. It’s only 4 weeks away so check it out now before it sneaks up on you.

Oh, and something I forgot that’s VERY important. I am not only attending this event but will be speaking with my business partner, Joe Marsh. It’s our very first time to share the stage. This should be fun.

And if you’re able to attend, please send me an email letting me know you’ll be attending. I’ll introduce you to everyone, including Mark (even Joe), and have a meal together to get acquainted.

If you live in or around (close to) Orlando, this is a no-brainer.

Can’t wait to see you there.

YOU can do this!
*C*

Do you have a mentor? And why in the world do you want one? Much less need one? Excellent questions all. So let’s look at them, shall we? Let’s. (Who were the cartoon characters who used to say that? Chip and Dale?)

To be completely honest, you could teach yourself internet marketing and probably even succeed all on your own. So if that’s true, why bother with aligning yourself with someone who can mentor you?

Because they can …

• Motivate you to get started when you don’t feel like it
• Explain things in a way that will make more sense
• Keep you hungry for more when you get discouraged
• Share your personal ethics
• Inspire you to go just a little farther than you thought you could
• Provide honest feedback on projects
• Steer you away from dead-ends
• Introduce you to people you would never have met
• Provide testimonials when you create a useful product

My mentor is Mark Hendricks of the Internet Success System. Not a day goes by that I am not thankful that I joined ISS. Mark has been a great mentor and friend.

If you are looking for someone to align yourself with and learn from, I can whole-heartedly recommend Mark. In fact, I’m so convinced that Mark can help you that I will personally introduce you. Just send me an email, let me know you’d like to meet him, and I shall “make it so.”

YOU can do this!
*C*

Here are a few places to look …

• Forums — especially those where you spend lots of time naturally
• Live conferences — if you’re both interested in the same conference, it’s a pretty good bet you’ll like the same topics and find it easy to get acquainted
• Referrals — if someone introduces you, take advantage of the opportunity. Google them and see if you have common interests.
• Facebook — this is so easy it’s almost embarrassing. But think about it for a second … when was the last time you actually KNEW every single person who is your friend on Facebook?
• Google — just Google the topic you’re interested in and see who surfaces. If you like their work and want to know more, send them a short email or PM on Facebook. If they respond, great. If not, you’ve only invested a few minutes reaching out.

The whole point is, pick those people that you want to spend time with … those who are positive, upbeat, and get something done. Life is too short to invest in people who distract you from your goals, don’t believe in you, and don’t speak your language.

Concentrate on those who fit your goals and lifestyle. And enjoy getting to know new people.

YOU can do this!
*C*

Obviously it must be working well or you wouldn’t continue to work with this person. That shows a lot about your ability to “work well with others” as well as your ability to pick the right person to partner with.

My business partner is Joe Marsh. You may have heard of him. We have done lots of projects together — software development, product creation, and in April of 2011 we will be sharing the stage literally presenting together. (That’s going to be interesting, to say the least.) LOL

The reason why we’re discussing business partners is because they can be extremely helpful in growing your business, increasing your customer and client reach, and just making yourself a better person. But finding this person can be a bit of a challenge.

Here are some ways to screen and choose a great business partner.

• Find someone who has the same goals as yourself.
• Choose someone who is HONEST and will be honest with you no matter what.
• Although they may have the same goals, it’s best if you partner with someone who does NOT approach things the same way you do.
• They should have strengths that you don’t have and vice versa.
• It is imperative that you share ethical values. This is a MUST.
• Geographic locale is not a problem but living close to the same time zone is helpful as well.
• When you find someone you think you want to partner with, choose one project and see how it goes. If it works well and you feel good about it, try a second one. Take each project as a new test and keep going as long as you’re succeeding together.

Having a business partner can keep you focused, on track, and motivate you to get things done faster and better.

Thanks, Joe, for being such a GREAT business partner. (Don’t tell him I said that.)

YOU can do this!
*C*

And you can do such a good job of it that they will spend money with you even thought you have never met?

That’s what webinars can do for your business. And for you, too, as a matter of fact.

Technology has come a long way just in the past 3 years and now webinars are ass easy to produce as presenting a PowerPoint and talking. In fact, you could even interview someone, let them present a PowerPoint with their answers, and you have a webinar.

So what do you need to present a webinar? Excellent question.

If you’re going to present the webinar live, you’ll need a webinar service. You can use a free service such as GVO Conference but the big kahuna of webinar companies is Citrix, owner of GoToMeeting and GoToWebinar. You’ll use the webinar service to present your webinar.

Plan on making the webinar available later … the ultimate in repurposing. So you will want to record it to have available for editing and upload to the internet. GoToWebinar provides a way for you to record your webinar but you will need to save it on your own computer. You can also “attend” the webinar on a second computer and record it on a different computer. Of course, not everyone has a spare computer to do this.

Next you’ll want to edit the webinar. My webinar editing software of choice is Camtasia. You can download a free 30-day trial and use it while you’re learning. That way you won’t have to pay for it until you have a webinar product on the market.

Truthfully, you might not even have any editing to do except for cutting off the pre-webinar chatter and cleaning up the end. So this is an optional step.

Then upload the finished file to the internet. If you want to store your videos without having to pay a huge amount for the disk space and bandwidth, Amazon S3 is the way to go. Extremely reasonable.

So there you have it … my recommendations on webinars. In the next few months you’ll hear LOTS more about webinars from me. In fact, I’m currently using webinars more often than teleseminars. I know, you’re shocked! LOL

The reason why I have moved to webinars is because they carry more credibility in the teaching and training venue. People can see your content AND hear your passion for the topic. The best of both worlds. And if you edit them down, they make GREAT short promo videos for YouTube.

Just something to consider …

YOU can do this!
*C*

P. S. Some of the links in this post are affiliate links which means if you click on the link and purchase the service or product, I will make money. Just to be completely clear.

Procrastination might work for a time, especially if you’re putting off something unpleasant, like going to the dentist. But it can really hurt you when you’re trying to reach a goal or get something done in business. So how do you stop procrastinating? Excellent question.

Jeff, a friend of mine, says, “The next time you’re tempted to procrastinate, put it off.” I LOVE that statement because it’s so true. But what if you can’t do that? What if procrastination is driving you crazy and you just can’t seem to get going? How can you move forward? Here are some ways to hopefully get you started.

1. Don’t allow excuses to sneak into your thought process.
2. Make a list of positive ouotcomes if you don’t “put it off.”
3. Set a small goal and set a date to reach it.
4. Admit you’re not perfect and you don’t need to be.
5. Delegate when possible and do only the parts of the task that you are best suited for.

OK. Get out there and take action!

YOU can do this!
*C*

I bet at some point in your life you have considered it but it was just too much work or you weren’t sure where to start, how to put it together, where or how to market it. Right?

Well, fear not anymore. Your objections are about to get much less debilitating.

Why not create your book out of thin air with your very own voice? Here’s how.

Start out by writing an outline for what you want to say in the book. It doesn’t have to be extensive. Just a topical outline with headings and sub-headings will do nicely. Try to come up with about 7-11 major headings.

Now take the outline apart, listing each major heading on a separate piece of paper. Each major heading will become a chapter.

On each piece of paper, list your sub-headings and create bullet points under each. These sub-headings will be your smaller topics under each chapter. Getting the idea?

When you’re finished listing everything you want to include and each major heading is on a separate sheet of paper, add any quotations you want to use at certain points, even if they’re your own quotes. Quotes are always a good key to making something more interesting.

Now you’re ready for the fun part.

Dial in to your favorite free conference line and start recording.

Pick up your first heading page and announce the chapter number and title.

Now start talking, using your pages as notes for your presentation. Don’t worry if you make a mistake speaking. It won’t matter. Just keep going. If you say something you don’t want, just say, “Take that out and replace it with this.” No matter what, KEEP GOING> Don’t stop and don’t edit yourself as you speak. Just deliver all the content inside your brain.

Record one chapter at a time so as not to overload yourself. You don’t want to kill the project before you’ve finished it, after all.

Once you’ve finished recording one chapter, find someone who can transcribe it for you and hand off the chapter to be transcribed while you continue with the next chapter.

Keep this up for each chapter until you are finished with your outline. When the transcripts come back from the transcriptionist, you’re ready to edit and start revising.

And that’s IT. Seriously, that’s all there is to it. You have just written a book without writing a single word. No writer’s block, no long hours pouring over your computer. Just speaking in your own voice, saying things you have known for years.

How do I know about this technique? Our Aging Loved Ones was born from this very idea. The only difference is that I didn’t know the content I wanted to write about so I found 12 experts who did know what I didn’t. I asked them each questions about their area of expertise and the book was born. All I did was ask questions and they gave all the content. Incredible but true.

If you’d like to write a book, get out some paper, create your outline, and you’re on your way.

YOU can do this!
*C*

It’s true.

People like Henry Ford, Rockefeller, and others whose names you would easily reocnize were in masterminds. Even Napoleon Hill was in a mastermind. So what can you get out of a mastermind?

• Honest feedback on what you’re working on
• Answers to questions you haven’t been able to find
• A solid group of colleagues who are there when you need them
• A way to give back to those who are helping you
• The opportunity to grow your business exponentially

So how do you find people to be in a mastermind group with? Just look around, ask people if they know of one you can join, or better yet, start one yourself. If you’re interested in being involved in one, probably others are as well.

What better way to get your name out there, get something started, and grow your business at the same time.

I am in a mastermind with 3 other guys … David, Roger and Martin. We meet every second and fourth Tuesday night of the month. I’ve never laughed as hard as I do with them but I have to add that I’ve seen these guys take ideas out of thin air and convert them into money-making businesses. They have helped me so much that saying “thank you” doesn’t even begin to say it. (So I gave up long ago.)

Think about the potential and get started today.

*C*

P. S. Oh, something important I forgot. Masterminds are TONS of fun and they keep your mind laser-focused. After all, you don’t want to give those who are depending on your sound advice bad information. After all, they know where you live. LOL