How ADD/ADHD Affects Your Business (Part 2)

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Important Disclaimer- Please Read This : The following information is not intended to provide any type of professional advice nor diagnostic service. If you have any concerns about AD/HD or other health issues, please consult a qualified health care professional in your community.

Last week I included an excerpt from an article written by David Giwerc, MCC, where he stated that, "...it has also been my observation that a majority of all entrepreneurs have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or AD/HD." And I also included a statement made by Terry Matlen, MSW, ACSW, "All adults have some symptoms of ADHD."

Now since we all supposedly have some of the symptoms of ADD, even if we don't have the disorder, I thought you should know what some of the symptoms are.

12 Symptoms of ADHD:

• Distractibility
• Impulsivity
• Hyperactivity
• Inattention
• Difficulty staying on task
• Having many projects going on at one time and rarely completing any of them
• Irritability
• Fail to give close attention to details
• Don't follow instructions carefully and completely
• Losing or forgetting important things
• Feeling restless, often fidgeting with hands or feet, or squirming
• Difficulty falling asleep and difficulty waking up

Having some of the symptoms doesn't necessarily mean you have ADD because these same behaviors can also be caused by our hectic and overstressed lifestyles.

And as an online entrepreneur responsible for everything in your business, the ideas, the work and the end results, it's no wonder if you experience some stress.

So today let's talk about 8 of the these behaviors and some of the things you can do to overcome them.

• Distractibility - Life is full of distractions especially when you're working at home. The best way to avoid some of these distractions is to make a quiet space for your home office and a work schedule. Share your schedule with those you live with and ask that they allow you the quite time you need to be productive. Then while you're working, work. Don't waste your time checking your email every hour or playing games.
  
  
• Impulsivity - It's very easy to get caught up in reading about all the new services and products being launched every day and to pull out your credit card. And since I sell things too, I am not going to tell you to never buy anything. But, before you make your next purchase, stop yourself and ask yourself these 3 questions:
  
  Do I really need this?
  Will it help me learn more about something I need to know now or help me do something I want to do now?
  Will I really use it?
  
  If your answer isn't yes to all 3 questions, put your credit card away.
  
  Also, many people join affiliate programs impulsively because they think the more the better. Actually, joining only a few and learning how to do affiliate marketing successfully will lead you to having a successful business faster.
  
  
• Hyperactivity - Many suffer from hyperactivity when they are under a great deal of stress. If that's the case for you then you need to do whatever it is you do to relieve your stress. Take a walk, play a game of tennis, jog, watch a movie, etc. You are not going to be productive when you're suffering from too much stress anyway so do something for your mental health and relieve the stress.
  
  
• Inattention - If you're like me you have days when you just can't stay focused. For me, it usually means that I am either coming down with something or I've taken too much cold medication. Not being able to stay focused can really slow you down and the way I get through times like these is to work in short intervals. Rather that try to write an article, I make notes about what I want to say - take a break. Write 1 or 2 paragraphs - take a break, etc. I find that taking more breaks and letting my head clear allows me to be very productive in the short intervals I do work. Also, by having the notes of what I want to say or the list of tasks I want to do keeps me moving in the right direction.
  
  
• Difficulty staying on task - Some tasks in internet marketing seem very big or very complicated and that makes them hard to complete. Other tasks seem to take forever and are boring which makes them hard to finish too. But just about all tasks in online marketing can be broken down into smaller tasks. So if you have trouble staying on task, break that task down into smaller, more manageable work items. Then as you complete these items, reward yourself somehow. For some, the reward can be as simple as drawing a line through the completed item. Others may require something more like getting off work a few minutes early. And then, when all the work items are finished and the big task is completed, you can give yourself a real reward.
  
  
• Having many projects going on at one time and rarely completing any of them - Although this behavior is a symptom of ADD it is also a characteristic of a personality type. (Yes, I've taken personality type classes.) You see, some people get great pleasure when they finish projects while other get their pleasure from starting projects and don't find any satisfaction from finishing them. So if you happen to be a person who likes to start things but doesn't get around to finishing most of the things you start you need to do 1 of 2 things. You can either get a partner who can work with you and likes to finish things when you move on to another project or you can learn to finish your important projects. If you're the one who has to finish the things you start here are some suggestions to keep you on track.
  
  When you're hit with a new idea for another project, write it down on your list of future projects with brief notes about the ideas for this project. Keep this list handy so you can jot these inspirations down quickly and easily. Do not use sticky notes or scrap pieces of paper for each idea. Use a steno pad, a notebook, a whiteboard or something else that's big enough to hold lots of ideas and can be found easily.
  
  Do not start the new project when the idea comes to you. Instead, use the reward system and the above list contains the reward you get when you've completed your current project.
  
  When you get to a difficult part of your project and think it would be easier to quit and start another, put that idea out of your head and turn solving your problem into your new project. You've identified a problem, so start thinking of new ideas for solving it. (Putting these problems, possible solutions and what worked into a notebook is also a good idea because it will help you remember how you fixed a problem the next time you encounter it.)
  
  Trying to modify a characteristic of your personality can be difficult however it can be done. (While it's possible to only change it for those things that pertain to your online business, you may find that if you change it a little in other areas of your life, others may quit nagging you so much about when you're going to finish cleaning, painting, fixing, building the ???.)
  
  
• Fail to give close attention to details - While we all make mistakes, if you find that you have trouble with details then get someone to help you. Your helper doesn't need to know how to do what you're doing, they just need to know how to check your work. In other words, if you make a lot of spelling and grammatical errors in your writing, get someone to proof read your copy. If you have trouble remembering to upload all the files and images for your site, have someone visit your site, look around and tell you if they find missing pictures or links that don't work. Having another person check your web pages, articles, autoresponder messages, etc. is always a good thing even if you do pay attention to details because they will almost always find something that needs to be corrected.
  
  
• Don't follow instructions carefully and completely - I am not sure this symptom is written correctly for internet marketing since the instructions we get are pretty sparse and sometimes are either incomplete or incorrect. I would think "Doesn't write instructions carefully and completely" would be a better symptom.
  
  However, if you have trouble following the instructions for doing something then print out the instructions, give them to someone else, let them read each step to you and have them watch you do it. Then if it doesn't work there will be 2 of you who think the person who wrote the instructions has an ADD symptom - not you.

From time to time we all experience some of the symptoms of ADHD. However, these experiences don't have to control you or your business if you recognize them and know how to work around them.

To Your Success,
Susan

P.S. Please feel free to leave comments about this tip and offer any additional suggestions on how to work through some of these behaviors.

Tags: internet marketing, ADD, Attention Deficit Disorder

How ADD/ADHD Affects Your Business (Part 1)

All links in this article open a new browser window to display the page where the information was found.

Important Disclaimer- Please Read This : The following information is not intended to provide any type of professional advice nor diagnostic service. If you have any concerns about AD/HD or other health issues, please consult a qualified health care professional in your community.

It's widely known and accepted that ADD/ADHD is not a childhood problem. In recent years, study results have shown that between 30 to 70% of children with AD/HD continue to exhibit symptoms in the adult years.

In 2006 the Attention Deficit Disorder Association (ADDA) conducted the "ADHD In The Workplace" survey to correlate ADHD prevalence to specific professions/occupations and other demographic categories. This survey concluded that:

Copied from “ADHD in the Workplace” a survey of adults in 14 common professions"

Occupations freer from constraints and office work tend to be more likely to exhibit behavior that is consistent with the symptoms of ADHD Tradespeople(Plumbers, Carpenters, Electricians, Gardeners, etc.) Entertainers (Actors, Comedians, Musicians)􀀠Elected Officials Healthcare Professionals (this group might be anomalous. Arguably this may be due to their diversity and higher level of awareness of the ADHD symptoms.) Construction Workers More structured working environments, high disciplined fields of work, and those who essentially have to “serve” others tend to be less likely to exhibit behavior that is consistent with the symptoms of ADHD Teachers Lawyers Law Enforcement Agents Media Professionals Office, Bank, and Retail Store Clerks

As an online business person working your own hours in your own home, you are free of the constraints of an office worker. And in an article written by David Giwerc, MCC, it states that:

"People are literally waking up to the idea that they can work for themselves and make a lot of money doing it. And, while there are as many types of entrepreneurs as there are businesses, most entrepreneurs share some common traits. They tend to be visionaries. People who go into business for themselves tend to be risk takers. After almost a decade of coaching entrepreneurs, it has also been my observation that a majority of all entrepreneurs have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or AD/HD. They may not be taking medication and many of them haven't even been diagnosed..."

Now I am not saying you have ADD and I am not saying that if you have ADD you won't succeed. What I am saying is that "All adults have some symptoms of ADHD." (After working in a highly disciplined field for more than 20 years even I have some of the symptoms! I also think having small children around causes some of these symptoms just like it causes early senility.)

So how does ADD/ADHD affect your business?

It affects your business in 2 ways:

1. As the owner who is responsible for getting everything done and grow your business, some ADD symptoms will hold you back until you learn to manage them. So next week I'll identify some of the ADHD symptoms that hinder the growth and success of your business and offer some suggestions on how to manage them.


2. Because those in your target market also have some symptoms of ADHD, you must learn some of the techniques that will overcome their symptoms. So in Part 3 I'll discuss some of your site visitors possible symptoms and share some of the methods used by online marketers to reduce the loss of conversions from those displaying ADD symptoms.

Knowing the 2 ways that ADD/ADHD affects your business is important because ADD isn't just for children anymore.

To Your Success,
Susan

P.S. You'll find the link for the quick online test I took to find out if I had ADD symptoms here. Feel free to share how you did on the test. I scored 23 and you'll see what that means when you check your own score.

Tags: internet marketing, ADD, Attention Deficit Disorder

It's All About Focus

One thing you must learn quickly if you are to have a successful online business is that everything you do must be focused.

You must stay focused to complete your projects and your projects must be focused to meet your goal.

And 1 of the first things you do when you start an online business and you continue to do as your business grows is create landing pages.

And because landing pages must be focused on the 1 thing you want people to do when they land on them...

Today I am giving you a free ebook that tells you:

1. What a Landing Page Is


2. How the Landing Page System Works


3. What You Need To Create an Effective Landing Page


4. How To Write an Effective Landing Page


5. 2 Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Landing Page


6. Some Examples of Good Landing Pages

In addition, you also get the giveaway and Master Resale Rights for this "Landing Page Success Guide." Sorry, there is no squeeze page or sales page provided but you'll know what it takes to create your own after you read it.

Here is the download link.

To Your Success,
Susan

P.S. How did you like this tip (gift)? Please leave a comment.

Tags: landing page, squeeze page, lead capture page, sales page, squeeze page web

7 of my Internet Marketing Mistakes

When you started your online business you made a big (and maybe a scary) decision because you decided to venture into a realm where you probably didn't know everything you needed to know to succeed and you didn't have the money to hire others to create your web page, write your ad copy, create a product, etc.

I know what you're going through because I've been where you are. In fact, there are times when I still experience the "What should I do?" or "Should I try to ...?" feeling even though I've been doing business online for more than 4 years.

And I know how hard it is to leave your comfort zone of doing what you know how to do and trying to do something new and different. Every time you venture into a new area of internet marketing you worry that it might not work or you'll do it wrong. You worry about people seeing your mistake or losing money or getting complaints from unhappy customers or subscribers.

I really do understand because, like you, I often have the same worries. Plus, while I don't like admitting it, I've made plenty of mistakes, lost some money and have received complaints.

But...

Even though I've done all this, my business is alive and well.

Why?

Because we learn by trying. We learn from watching others. And we learn from our mistakes.

So today I am going to share 7 of the mistakes I've made in the past and the lessons I learned the hard way in an attempt to help you not make these mistakes and to give you the courage to leave your current comfort zone and take 1 more step toward building your online business.

My very first mistake was to try and build an online business in an area I didn't know or care to learn about. Because I wasn't motivated to spend time learning about this niche and because I was busy learning how to build a web page and get traffic, my first attempt failed miserably.

Lesson Learned: Either know about your niche or spend time learning about it. People are looking for "expert" information for a specific topic and don't want general information they already know.

A few mistakes later, I tried pay-per-click (ppc) advertising. And although I got clicks and even built a list, I hadn't learned my first lesson very well since I again was doing it in a niche I didn't really know or care about. As you may have guessed, it too failed and this time I lost money. (Losing money will make you really learn your lesson.)

After the ppc experience, I decided to stick with my true niche and avoid ppc, at least until I had more money to lose.

That decision lead me to 2 more of my mistakes which were: I bought solo advertising for affiliate products and used the pre-written sales material in the ads. I paid enough for my ads to go out to hundreds of thousands and got 0 sales. (There were no blogs or social networking sites back then so your results using these things may be different however, I'd still avoid using the pre-written sales and review material.)

Lessons Learned: Don't pay to advertise your affiliate link and don't use the pre-written sales material.

Now I might have made some sales if I hadn't used the pre-written material however I didn't have enough money then to try again so I didn't.

Not willing to give up, I decided to leave my comfort zone and create an actual ezine with information about my niche. This was a big and definitely scary step since it required knowing "expert" information and writing.

And of course writing content on a regular basis puts you at risk of sounding foolish and making grammatical and spelling mistakes. So guess what. While I've not been accused of being foolish, I've made plenty of grammatical and spelling mistakes. You've probably seen some of them.

Lesson Learned: If you provide good information and don't make too many mistakes in grammar and spelling your readers will accept that your not 100% perfect and only human. And this lesson can be applied to your web site too. (I've seen errors on "guru" sites and in some of their mailings, haven't you?)

Since then I've made other mistakes like waiting too long to try something new like using scripts to automate some tasks or site feature, wasting time on modifying a script that was way to big and complicated and forgetting to upload a thank you page. (Did the last 1 just yesterday.)

Lessons Learned:

1. Always keep learning and growing your business. If you've figured out how to build and upload a web page then you can figure out how to install and use a "small" script package or start a list.


2. Some tasks may require more time than you have to spend and need to be outsourced. (These tasks may have to wait until you have the money to hire someone.)


3. Always make it easy for people to contact you in case you make a mistake. Most will be nice when they write and they will allow you to correct your mistake. If they aren't nice, then fix the problem in a nice way and drop that person from your list. (You don't have to associate with rude people on- or off-line.)

Yesterday I again stepped out of my comfort zone and announced the FriendsWhoCare Christmas GiveAway. Since it has no affiliate program because there are no offers inside the giveaway and because most of you don't have a list to share our giveaway with, I am taking a gamble that many of you will decide to start a list and those who do have a list will donate a gift. I am also gambling that you will share our giveaway with others so lots of people can join our ad-free giveaway. Just like you worry when you try something new, I am worried that I am making a mistake, it won't work and I'll end up looking foolish.

But until your online business is as big and successful as you want it to be that's what having an internet business is all about. You have to venture out of you comfort zone. You have to take a chance. You have to have some successes and failures. You have to keep learning, growing and trying new things until you get to where you want to be.

To Your Success,
Susan

P.S. If you would like to take part in our giveaway but have never been a partner in a giveaway before and have questions about what to do or how to do it, contact me.

P.P.S. Feel free to leave a comment.

Tags: internet marketing mistakes, 7 internet marketing mistakes

How To Write Free Online Articles To Get Free Traffic To Your Website

You've undoubtedly heard that writing free online articles is 1 of the best ways to get free traffic to your website. Unfortunately, while free articles are 1 of the best free ways to get traffic, many people either don't write them or don't write them the correct way.

So how do you write an effective free online article that will be read and get you some of that free traffic to your website?

As you probably know, there are 5 things all free online articles must have:

1. Article Title
2. Introduction
3. Article Body
4. Conclusion
5. Resource Box

But did you know that there are 4 very important elements that must be included within those 5 things for every free online article that you write to get free traffic to your website?

And the 4 important elements to get free traffic to your website are:

1. Keywords and Keyword Phrases
2. Keyword Density
3. Good Content
4. A Link to Your Website

Let's examine each of these elements and how to use them effectively in your free online article.

Keywords and Keyword Phrases

Before you write your first word for your free online article you should find some keywords and keyword phrases that are relevant and use these keywords and keyword phrases within your article's title and text. The use of keywords and keyword phrases makes your free online article search engine friendly and easier for people to find.

Keyword Density

Keyword density is the number of times a keyword or keyword phrase is used within the title and content of your article. The number of times you use your keyword or keyword phrase will vary depending on the length of your article and should not be too high or too low. If you use your keyword too few times the search engines may ignore your free online article. If you use your keyword too many times the search engines may consider it a spam article and not display it.

Good Content

Obviously no one is going to take your free online article seriously if it doesn't contain good content. Likewise, you need to check your spelling and grammar. If you want readers to believe and trust you, you must provide good information in a well written way.

A Link To Your Site

If you're writing a free online article to get free traffic to your website then never, ever, forget to include a link to your site. For articles placed on your site, blog or social networking page, you can include your link within the text of your content. However, many free ezine article directories don't allow links within the article's content but do allow you to place your link in your resource (bio) box that appears at the end of your article. When people read your free article and like it some will click the link you've provided.

Writing free online articles is 1 of the most effective way to get free traffic to your website when done correctly. And doing it correctly isn't hard. It just takes knowing how and practice.

To Your Success,
Susan
http://www.friendswhocare.us/newsletter

P.S. When I write an article to get some free traffic to my website I use a tool that helps me find my keywords, research the topic, measure the keyword density and submit the article to ezine directories. You can read more about this tool at http://fwcreviews.blogspot.com/2007/05/instant-article-wizard-vs-article.html

P.P.S. Please feel free to leave a comment about this tip.

Tags: free articles, ezine articles, free traffic, website traffic, write articles to get free traffic, how to write articles to get free traffic