A Habit, An Addiction Or Both?

This month's poll question was, "When you go online, is checking your email the first thing you do most of the time?"

100% of those who voted said, "Yes."

There were also some comments.

• "yes - it's usually the first thing that I do."
  
  
• "Yes, email is the first thing I check when I get on my computer.Every time!!! I have a 'thing' about mail. I'm not able to drive pastmy snail mailbox either! I pick up snail mail and then check myemail!!"
  
  
• "and then it's "which email account do I check first?"
  
  
• "Of course, because I have to look for your mail! :)"

Of all the comments received however, Mitch had the best since he shared the secret of how your email should be read.

• "I check it, skim it actually, but only for a message from someone who may be on my list. Everything else is put on hold until I finish my work pertaining to my sites, etc. Trying to read all that mail is a huge time waster. I think it's why many folks never make it on-line. They get distracted joining one new thing after another and never have the time to implement any of it. They kill their own success. Any mail after a couple of days should be deleted. It takes away any attempt to 'catch up' which isn't going to happen. There is no doubt, another one covering the same thing that just came in." Mitch

Now I want you to read the last comment again and this time pay close attention to the second paragraph because Mitch is right on target.

Breaking the habit of reading your email first is hard since we adopt the misconception at a very early age that we must check our mail immediately or we'll miss out on something important. As a child we ran to our parent's mailbox to get the mail in the hope that someone had sent us something.

As adults, however, you know that your mail consists of bills, advertising and occasionally a personal card or letter. You learn to collect it, sort it and fill it accordingly.

Then you go online, get an email account and revert back to your child like dream that someone is going to send you something good and you must read everything immediately. This is especially true when you get your first email account and not much email.

When you're only getting 10 or fewer emails a day it doesn't take much time to read them all and it may even give you some pleasure knowing that at least 10 people know your email address and want to send you something.

But soon hundreds of people know your email address and all of them want to send you something. Some of them may even be sending you multiple emails every day. Suddenly you realize that your inbox is filling up and you need to keep it cleaned out. Nobody wants a cluttered inbox!

At this point it's time to apply your snail mail method of checking and filing your mail to your email inbox. Like Mitch, you need to see if there's an email from a subscriber or a customer that requires an immediate response and then leave the rest of them alone until you've finished your assigned business task for the day.

To help you sort and file your email you may want to set up some folders and have your email sorted automatically. Most email readers allow you to create sub-folders and will automatically sort your incoming email.

If possible, you should create a folder just for your subscribers, customers, affiliates and jv partners. This will help you identify the email that requires an immediate response.

You may want to create 1 or more folders for some ezine mailings since the you always want to read them. (Like mine, I hope!) Others may be routed to a generic type of "read when there's time" folder since these senders only send "good stuff" occasionally.

As for the rest of your email, these can wait until you "really" have nothing else to do since you're probably just going to delete them anyway.

Once your email is sorted you must learn to only read the "really important" ones at the beginning of your work day. The "really important" ones are those from your subscribers, customers, affiliates and jv partners because they are the ones helping you with your business.

As for the rest of your email, read them according to the priority you have given the folder where it's been filed and only after you have finished your planned task.

After a few days you may find that you're getting a large backlog of email in some of your folders and unsorted email. Then, again at the end of your work day, you should spend a couple of minutes to do some massive deleting since you will never have the time to read it all. Sure you can skim the headlines and check some of it. If you find something good then keep it but I am betting that 99.99% of it will go straight to the trash.

Here are a couple of questions to help emphasize how important it is to not read all your email when you first logon.

1. When are you the most productive, at the beginning of your workday, the middle of your workday or at the end of your workday?
   
   
2. Of all the email you check when you first logon, how much of it was worth reading and how much went straight to the trash after you'd wasted your time checking it out?
   
   
3. How hard is it for you to stop reading your email before you've looked at all of them?

Many find that reading email is like an addiction because once they have read one they want to read another and then another and then ...

So as much as I hate to say it, if reading your email is the first thing you do when you go online, stop!

Stop wasting your most productive time with the mindless activity of reading all your email and undermining yourself and your business.

To Your Success,
Susan

Where In The World Are You?

Last week I was reading 1 of my favorite blogs and thought "Wow, what a great idea!"

As a FriendsWhoCare reader you already know we publish a little information for my subscribers like where your site is located and your ads.

Unfortunately we don't get much of chance to know much about you. So this week we're going to change all that and start getting acquainted with each other. We'll start by telling each other where we are located.

And I'll even give you 2 incentives for sharing your location.

1. You may find you have 1 or more FriendsWhoCare Members living nearby.


2. You can include a link to your site or blog.

So post a comment and tell us where in the world you are located. Please include your first name. Your last name is optional. And definitely include a link to your site or blog.

In case you don't know how to make a link in a blog comment here's a simple example:

-----

Hi,
I live in Fort Scott, Kansas.
Susan Carroll

The code for the link looks like:

<a href="http://www.friendswhocare.us/join.htm">Susan Carroll</a>

Just replace the link with your own and my name with the words you want to show in the browser.

-----

See how easy it is.

So please post a comment with your location and let's start learning a little about each other.

To Your Success,
Susan

Free Advertising Tools

Free Advertising is all over the internet but much of it is ineffective and may be wasting your time! So what do the informed readers of the "FriendsWhoCare
Newsletter" use?

Today we've introduced a new page at FriendsWhoCare.us to help you find some good, free advertising resources and even share yours. It's called "The Best Free Advertising" and it's where you can find out how we get traffic to our sites.

Take a look. And if you don't find your favorite free advertising method please add it.

Right now it's totally free to add your favorite free advertising secret.

To Your Success,
Susan

5 Things I've Heard And Always Remembered

It seems there are quite a few blog memes (a game of blog tag) going around the web. Because I’m always up for a new game and this one sounds like fun, let’s start our own game of blog-tag at FriendsWhoCare.

Here are my 5 things I’ve heard and always remembered:

1. “If you're going to do something do it right the first time.” My mother said this to me so many times I think it must be stamped onto my forehead. I don’t think she meant it in a bad way but rather was her way of saying, keep trying until you master it and then keep doing it the right way.
   
   
2. Walt Disney once said, "If you can dream it, you can do it." These words inspire me to keep trying even when I’ve failed at something several times.
   
   
3. When I had a job, a maintenance engineer friend told me “If it's not broke don't fix it.” This sounded like good advice to me.
   
   
4. “Chocolate may not make your problem go away but it will make you feel better.” This is something I said and believed before it was scientifically proven. I said it so many times to my kids as they were growing up it’s probably my fault they love chocolate as much as I do.
   
   
5. When my youngest daughter got married and moved out she called 1 day and asked a question I’ll never forget, “Why didn't you warn me that it was so hard being grownup?” Since no one warned me, I didn’t know I was suppose to warn her!

Now, it's your turn. Post your 5 things you've heard and always remembered on your own blog.

Gaida Rodgers, Pam Triick, Manoj R. and Leeuna Foster ... Tag, you're it!

Let's have some fun,
Susan

Tag, You're It!

It seems there is always something new to learn and a few days ago I learned about blog memes. And while they may not be new to you I'd never heard of them before.

So what is a blog meme?

Simply put, it's an idea that is shared and passed from one blog to another blog. The most common form of a blog meme is a question that is asked on 1 blog and answered on many other blogs.

The way a blog meme gets started is 1 blogger will ask and answer a question on their blog and then "tag" other blog owners. Those who have been "tagged" then put the question and their answer on their blog and then "tag" other blog owners. There is no set rule on how many bloggers may be "tagged" however, 5 and 7 seem to be the favorite numbers for the current blog memes being circulated right now.

Now there are some rules for participating in a blog meme and they are:

• Don't "tag" a blogger that you don't already have some kind of prior relationship with.
  
• When you "tag" someone you must name those you are "tagging" and provide a link to their blog in your meme post.
  
• If you're "tagged", don't just "ignore" the tag. Always respond to the blogger tagging you.
  
• Unless you have a really good reason for not participating, you should always participate in the meme.
  
• When you participate you should provide a link and a trackback to the person who tagged you.
  
• If you know who started the meme, you should provide a link and a trackback to the originator of the meme.

Because Blogger doesn't provide trackback capability and many bloggers don't use them you can post a comment on both the originator's and the blogger-who-tagged-you blogs with a link to your meme response.

The reasons for participating in a blog meme are fairly obvious and they are:

1. Increased exposure and visibility for all the blogs involved.
2. Increased link popularity.
3. Increased traffic.
4. Another reason to post.
5. It's fun.

Blog memes work across all niches. Just make sure the questions are fairly quick and easy to answer and try to make the topic interesting or fun. When you name your meme you should think in terms of "headlines." Remember to include the names and links of those you're "tagging" and either a trackback or a comment to those you "tag." To get a better response from those you "tag" you should email them to let them know they've been "tagged" and either provide an incentive or explain the advantages for passing on the meme.

Blog memes are a fun form of viral marketing. They can spread across the internet as fast as email chain letters except a blog meme carries the link to your blog with them.

Because memes are fun and I have a blog, I am going to start 1. Read "5 Things I've Heard And Always Remembered" to see my meme and see if you've been "tagged."

To Your Success,
Susan
post tags: blog meme, blog tag

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day From
FriendsWhoCare

Hope you find your pot of gold soon,
Susan
PS To add this message to your site simply copy 1 line of code and paste it inside the
<body> ... </body> tags.

<script src="http://www.friendswhocare.us/irishgreeting.js"></script>

More About What's Stopping You?

This week's tip was about the invisible barriers we build that hold us back from reaching our desired goals.

Because thinking you know what you can and can not do before you start something is one of those barriers and is a big factor in how well you will succeed, I would like you to watch a video another online marketer shared with me.

I hope this video will make you think twice the next time you tell yourself you don't know how or can't do something.

Don't give up on YOU.

Believe in yourself.

I do and and have high hopes for your success.

To Your Success,
Susan

PS If you would like to share this video with others just paste this code onto your site.

<script language="javascript" type='text/javascript' src="http://www.susancarrollhome.com/cansucceed.js"></script>

What's Stopping You?

"If you always do what you've always done,

you'll always get what you've always got."

—Author Unknown

If you're trying to do internet marketing you must believe the above quote... at least to some degree.

You're tired of going to the same job year after year. You're tired of living paycheck to paycheck. You dream of having enough time and money to enjoy your life and family.

So you enter the world of internet marketing where all you have to do is get targeted web traffic to your offer and convert visitors to buyers.

It sounds easy doesn't it?

But then you discover the real truths:

• You need your own web site.
• You need to build your own web page.
• You need to build your own list.
• You need to automate.
• You need to get traffic.
• You need to write good copy to get conversions.

And the list goes on and on and on...

And since you don't know anything about what's needed to do internet marketing you start learning. You read. You study. You take notes. You try to learn as much possible so you can achieve your dream of having a successful online business.

And then ...

You Put Up An Invisible Barrier that stops you and your business dead in it's tracks.

What is the invisible barrier that's stopping you?

It's different for different people.

• Some stop before they ever get their own site online because they think they're not ready to build a web page or don't know how to upload one to a host.
• Some stop when they need to build a list because they don't know what to say in their messages or don't know how to put a form on their site.
• Some stop when they need to automate a task that is taking so much of their time they can't do anything else because they think they can't make an automation tool work or upload a script.
• Some stop when it's time to drive traffic to their site because they think they don't know how or they don't have the money to pay for traffic.
• Some stop when their first sales page attempt doesn't perform well and they think they can't write good sales copy.

And the list goes on and on and on...

If you've built your own invisible barrier that allows you to see what's possible but is stopping you from achieving it you need to ask yourself 2 questions.

1. Why have you built a barrier to keep you from having your own successful online business?
   
   
2. What can you do to tear the barrier down?

The most common answer for the first question is - FEAR. You're afraid of actually performing the task that needs to be done. You doubt your own capabilities and think you'll either not be able to do it or you won't be able to do it right.

The second most common answer for why you've built a barrier is - You Don't Want To Do It. Sure you want a good site that gets lots of targeted traffic and makes a ton of sales but you don't Want to do what it takes. You know what must be done but look at it as a task that you Must do - not a task that you Want to do.

So how do you tear down the invisible barrier you've built? It's not easy because you have to change how you look at yourself, your business and the tasks that need to be done.

To make your invisible barrier come crashing down and to open up all the opportunities that lie before you have to:

• Discover your own inner strength and determination to become successful. You have to believe in yourself even when others think it's a waste of time and call you a fool for trying. When you need to do something you've never done before you have to learn what you can and then try it. Maybe you'll do it right and maybe you won't. If you get it right, congratulate yourself and remember how you did it so you can do it again. If you don't get it right then learn from your mistakes and keep trying until you do. Be glad you're becoming an internet marketer and not the first person who attempted to fly. And keep reminding yourself that you are not happy with what you've got and want more. Let those who don't understand and support you keep getting what they've got while you drive yourself to a better place.
  
  
• You have to change your way of thinking about the tasks you must perform. Don't look at them as jobs that must be done. Instead look at them as things you want to do. No one does the things they don't want to do in a timely manner or to the best level possible. But, when you want to do something you do it as soon as you can and put all your energy into it. And that's how you must face every internet marketing task - as something you want to do.

Does it sound almost impossible to tear down your invisible barrier? It's not because you've done both of those things before. You just don't remember.

When you were small and learning to walk do you think you actually wanted to learn to walk? It's doubtful. What you really wanted to do was to get somewhere to do something and walking was the task you had to learn how to do to make it happen.

Did you walk the first time you tried. Some do but most don't.

Did your family encourage you to try again. Probably, but then they didn't know why you were trying, did they? Had they known you wanted to chase a ball out into the street or go visit the neighbor's dog by yourself they may not have been so encouraging. And after you learned to walk did you family still encourage you to walk everywhere you wanted or did they try to stop you? We all know they tried to stop you and that you kept trying until you were old enough to understand the reason for the barriers they put up.

The barriers you've put up that are stopping you from having a successful online business are your barriers. You built them and you can tear them down. All you have to do is find that inner strength, desire and determination you had as a child and use it to do something different and achieve different results.

To Your Success,
Susan

Are You Affected By The New DST

Beginning in 2007, Daylight Savings Time (DST) in the US and Canada will start three weeks earlier on March 11, 2007, and end one week later on November 4, 2007, resulting in a new DST period that is four weeks longer than previously observed.

Depending on where you live and which time zone you have selected, it is possible that the time zone settings for your computer's system clock may be incorrect during this four week period unless certain updates are applied to your computer.

While the change in daylight saving time applies to U.S. and Canada, the change may impact customers based outside North America.

Rather that repost all the information about who is affected by the new DST, I am giving you the link to a Microsoft article that identifies who needs to update and provides the tools they have developed for their customers to address the DST change.

When I downloaded the updates I did find that I already had the XP update since I have automatic updates turned on. However, there is an update for Outlook users and it had not been automatically downloaded.

You can go here to read the article and update your software if necessary.

http://support.microsoft.com/gp/dst_topissues#A1

To Your Success,
Susan