How to Instantly Kill Laziness and Boost Blogging Productivity By Bamboo Forest

Something terrible happened.

I got lazy and stopped attending to my daily writing and reading duties as an online entrepreneur. On one of my blogs I haven’t written a single post since December 2nd. To say I’ve dropped the ball is a massive understatement.

What the hell do you do when you have a few sites going that have tons of potential and are even gaining momentum, but suddenly, a mad scientist injects you with the lazy bug?

Do you just sit there and watch it all go down?

If you want to ensure your online properties have any hope for the future you can’t allow yourself to be sucked down the whirlpool of complacency and indifference. Doing so is guaranteed to make anything you’ve worked hard on go absolutely nowhere.

But that’s NOT what we’re in the game for, right? We’re not doing this for our health. Let’s be honest here, we’re writing post after post, reading books and blogs and all the rest of it so that we can gains tons of readers and make the bloody mula.

You with me on this?

Laziness can hit anyone

We may enjoy what we do. But that’s not enough. Let me tell you something… the lazy bug can infect any and all people regardless of passion. And if you let it, it can destroy your dreams. I wish I could say this laziness and complacency that overcame me was a result of my busy schedule, but the reality is, it was due to my lack of will.

To be perfectly honest, I hit rock bottom. Not on drugs or alcohol mind you. But on incessantly watching YouTube videos, reading tweets, and in general, wasting time like my life depended on it.

Hopefully you’ll never get as bad as I was. And luckily there’s a technique that can get you out of laziness and into productivity even if you haven’t reached rock bottom.

Overcome resistance to work with this technique

The solution to inertia is putting yourself in jail. Not the kind of jail you go to when you steal a Twix bar from the local 7-Eleven, of course. What I’m talking about is called the ‘jail of productivity’. This jail, my friend, will guarantee that you get serious work done. And the best part is, it won’t let you out until you’ve actually accomplished something.

All you need to do to put yourself in the jail of productivity is simply set a timer and work non-stop until it sounds. This technique permits no excuses and leaves you with nothing in its wake except hardcore productivity.

How setting a timer saved me from laziness

Realizing I was letting days go by without getting much work done, I committed myself to setting a timer every day and working non-stop until it sounded.

By doing the above, I eliminated all outs available to me. I couldn’t watch another YouTube video, I was on the clock! I couldn’t check twitter; that’s not allowed while the timer’s running. Using a timer took me from rock bottom laziness to becoming a diligent worker.

I began my laziness recovery program with setting a timer and reading important blogs for 20 minutes each day and writing 30 minutes each day. The timer guaranteed I got 50 minutes of focused work in every day. That may seem small to you, but it’s a testimony that I’m on my way to full and complete recovery from my laziness addiction.

Why setting a timer is the best way to get you to work

If you’re in the planning stage of getting to work, this can last for hours. “Preparation” can consist of watching YouTube videos, reading the news, eating, TV, almost anything.
But we all know the truth… the “preparation stage” to getting to work is nothing more than procrastination disguised as necessity. Setting a timer, on the other hand, kills preparation. Setting a timer gets you right to work!

It also makes the work you do concrete. If you merely say you’re going to work on something, you have no idea how much time you’ll be investing into working. When work time is undertermined, your mind gets discouraged because it begins wondering how long and dreadful it’ll end up being which leads to procrastination.

But when you set a timer, committed to working for an allotted time, you’ve created a time frame that’s absolutely concrete. There’s a glorious light at the end of the tunnel which continuously entices you toward completion of your goal.

Where to find an effective online timer

I’ve actually created an online timer called Tick Tock Timer.

It’s specifically designed to kill your procrastination and get you to work without all the nonsense. I know it’s ironic that the very creator of a tool to beat procrastination fell into a whirlpool of non-productivity.

But it just goes to show you, any tool at your disposal, no matter how effective, is useless when you’re not using it.
If you’ve contracted the lazy bug, putting yourself in the jail of productivity (setting a timer) just might be the solution.

Give it a try.

About the Author: Bamboo Forest created Tick Tock Timer, an online timer that helps you stop procrastinating, get to work, and stay focused.

Website Building, Size Matters: Tips on Font, Color and Text Size

It's the little things that people over look when they are building their own website like text, size and color of the font. You have to take into consideration the "mood" of your website and who your target audience is. These will be the customers reading all about you and your fantastic business! Some fonts come across more casual where others are more formal. Most do it yourself website builders have a large array of fonts to chose from. Do not fall into the habit of mixing your fonts just because you can. It makes your content harder to read and may send a mixed message. (Indecisive anyone?)


I can not stress how important readability is for your website. Contrast is very important so you need to assess your background color compared to your font color. Size is a big factor as well so please stay away from tiny font. Anything over 10 point is good but I really like to use size 12.

You can have color in your eCommerce website builder you just need to use it in the 'right' way. It can help establish your identity especially if it matches the colors used in your other marketing tools/materials such as your logo, business cards and brochures. You can also use color (and font styles such as bold) in your website to highlight important information for your visitors.

The great thing about designing and building your own website is that you are in full control and its your personality alone that will shine through as you add pages, photos and articles for your visitors to read and then, hopefully, be inspired to connect with you.

Building Your Own Website: Simple Tips for the Beginner

Before you start with your eCommerce website builder you should consider your target audience and the purpose of your website. The entire reason for having a website is to be found and once found, your clients or customers to learn more about you, your products and your services. It is important to keep this in mind when you are choosing a website builder because often times your products and/or services may change or you may want to add new updates in order to keep your site fresh. You need a website builder that you can easily navigate, understand and change as needed.


When you are building your own website keep in mind that although your audience may like to see large images, video and listen to audio clips it may be hard for them to enjoy if they have an older computer. Usually older models take quite a but of time to download or open to pages that are heavy with photos. Also remember that balance is key when you are designing your site. You will want to have your home page visually balanced and pleasing to the eye. Making it simple and strait forward is a must when you want to keep your visitor on your site and not become frustrated because there's just too much going on and they are finding it hard to navigate from page to page or find the information they are looking for at a glance!

Next we will talk about font and color when designing your website!

Can I Afford to Have a Website?

I am often telling new clients about products or services that will help them launch their way into cyber space and hopefully make their own business successful in the process. One of the very first things that needs to be done is build a website. Yes, you can hire someone to build a website and maintain it for you however this option could cost you thousands of dollars. If you have a little time you can build your own website and easily maintain it by yourself. Sound daunting? It really isn't with a do it youself website builder that are located all over the Internet. These are what I use when my clients hire me to put together a simple, clean and manageable website with their specific company in mind. But is it affordable? Well, let's look at what makes a website unaffordable first:


A site is unaffordable when it's difficult to update because it takes too much time to figure out how to make changes or you have to hire someone else to make each change as you add a service or product.

A site is unaffordable when it doesn't work the way it should and your visitors become frustrated or annoyed which will certinaly make them lose all interest and leave your site.

A site is unaffordable if it looks unprofessional. Remember that your website is most often the first contact your clients or customers have and the first impression needs to be professional to reflect you, your products and services and your business as a whole.

A site is unaffordable when it's not search engine friendly, because you need to be easily found.

A site is unaffordable when it does not reflect what you are trying to convey to your potential clients or customers at all times.

People hire me to help them chose an eCommerce website builder because I am so familiar with the process but you can do this yourself. In the coming weeks I am going to post some tricks and tips when building your own website and hopefully this will inspire you to raise the bar and take control of your clients online experience!

Is Your Coporate Blog Sabotaging Your Business? By Lisa Barone

The experts have long agreed: Creating a corporate blog is an important step in giving your company a voice, building brand, and establishing that all-important thought leadership.

Your blog is to be your hub, the place where all the rest of your social media marketing connects. It’s an opportunity to encourage users to connect and form attachments over their affection for your brand and what you represent. All of that is true and awesomesauce. Well, until your corporate blog attacks your business, kicks your customers in the face, and quietly sucks your sales dry. What, you didn’t know that could happen?

The surge in blogging over the past few years has resulted in some problems for business owners who blogged first, asked questions later. Because, for all its strengths as a communication platform, blogging can also help business owners shoot themselves in the foot if they’re not careful. Here are a few ways your blog may accidentally sabotage your business.

You dilute your link profile

If you’re reading this, you’re either someone who understands the power of search engine optimization and Internet marketing, or you just got very, very lost on the Internet (we’re sorry). Assuming it’s the former, you probably understand the importance of keywords and attracting links with a purpose.

You’re very deliberately trying to build links to your site and to your services pages to help them rank better and bring more awareness to your users. So imagine what it does to your link profile when you acquire 10,000 links to your home page for the very-useless term [lisa barone]. Imagine how that might throw off your rankings for the terms you actually wanted that page to rank for. Yeah. Welcome to me getting scolded by nearly every boss I’ve ever had.

One reason people pointed so many lisa barone-laden pieces of anchor text toward previous home pages was because there was no Lisa Barone page on the sites I blogged for. When someone wanted to reference me, they linked to the company that I worked for. Understandable, but counter-productive. Also make sure that you’re not diluting your own link profile by linking to your home page when you should be linking to your personal About page. Before you start a blog, take into account how the links coming into your site may affect it and have a plan for tackling that.

You make your blog your home page

When a new visitor lands on your site, they are there for a purpose. They’re looking for information about who you are, what services you provide, how you get the job done, why you’re different, what your rates are, and how they’re supposed to get in touch with you. The purpose of your home page is to answer these questions, show relevance, and to entice them to click and enter your conversion funnel. New visitors to your home page are not looking for your latest blog post. Serving them that will confuse them and leave them with no information about your business or what you offer.

Some businesses will make their blog their home page because that’s the page mostly frequently updated and where all the conversation is happening. However, it doesn’t mean that page best addresses your customers’ needs. And that’s what your home page should do. Instead of serving up your blog as your home page and making users figure out where they’re supposed to click, how they learn more, and who, exactly, you are, give them the home page they’re looking for.

It’s disconnected from the main site

Corporate blogs work best when they’re a natural extension of the rest of your Web site. When the content found on the blog serves to give more information/street cred to your services. And to do that, readers need to be able to see the connection that exists between to the two entities.

Your corporate blog fails when you put it on a separate domain and make it hard for people to tie back or access your site. It fails when your blog doesn’t link to any other pages on your site or reference your service offerings in any way. Sure, blogs shouldn’t be overly-promotional, but never mentioning your products or services is actually more awkward than giving people useful information as it’s relevant. If you treat your blog like a totally separate island, consider what value it’s really bringing to your company.

Your blog becomes your business

Blogging is a lot like working out – once you take to it, it’s addicting. You have to blog every day and you have to blog harder than everyone else around you. And that’s great if you’re a professional blogger and blogging is how you make money. But for most people, blogging is not their business. [Even professional bloggers have to worry about things like branding these days.] It’s one facet of much larger marketing strategy. Don’t forget about the rest of your marketing strategy just because your blog talks back to you.

Remind yourself about how your blog relates to your business, what its objective is, and what it’s supporting. If you’re involved in catering marketing, your blog may be one part of that. But you still have to figure out the rest of social media, network within your industry, and then, you know, find time to run your catering business. Don’t let your blog become a distraction, either because it’s more “fun” than your other work or because you like the way it makes your ego feel.

You don’t commit to it

As a small business owner myself, I can certainly understand how time consuming (and exhausting) it is to continually be producing content to publish so that you can publish it on your blog. However, showcasing a blog that you update once every you feel like it may not give the best impression to potential customers. It shows them that you do things without a plan and that you’re not always the most reliable service provider. If you can’t commit to blogging a regular basis (even if it’s just once a week), consider if it’s worth doing at all. What are you planning to get from it?

You don’t play well in the sandbox

As Outspoken’s Chief Branding Officer, I often recommend companies take on corporate blogs as a way to get their voice out there and to establish personality and a POD. If you can hook someone to your blog, you’re giving them a direct line to your company message and your way of thinking. Assuming they connect with that, you’re able to significantly lower the bar to winning them over as a customer.

Unless, you’re a jerk. One of the most awesome ways a corporate blog can sabotage your business is when you use it to attack, alienate, and annoy other people. If you don’t know how to play well with others and the idea of occasionally smiling for diplomacy offends you, then maybe a blog shouldn’t be your best friend. Because as Vitaly Borker found out, “crazy bully” isn’t a long-term business strategy. It’s only beneficial to let people “see the real you” when you think there’s a chance they’ll actually like the real you.


Lisa Barone is co-founder and chief branding officer of Outspoken Media, Inc.







 

Happy New Year! Bring on 2011!!

We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day. --Edith Lovejoy Pierce

Happy New Year!

Sharon LaMothe
LaMothe Services, LLC and Infertility Answers



Happy Holidays to You and Yours from LaMothe Services, LLC

Every piece of the universe, even the tiniest little snow crystal, matters somehow. I have a place in the pattern, and so do you…Thinking of you this holiday season!-- T.A. Barron

Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season!

Sharon LaMothe
Infertility Answers and LaMothe Services, LLC



The Best of 2010 LaMothe Book Reviews:Surrogacy and Embryo, Sperm, & Egg Donation: What Were You Thinking?: Considering IVF & Third-Party Reproduction by Theresa M. Erickson

I was very excited to receive my copy of Surrogacy and Embryo, Sperm, & Egg Donation: What Were You Thinking?: Considering IVF & Third-Party Reproduction by Theresa M. Erickson. What I expected was a book filled with guidelines and tips for those who are venturing for the first time into the unknown territory of Third Party Family Building and I was not disappointed!

Education and research is key when considering any third party reproduction route and there are several books out on the market that can assist Intended Parents in making a sound decision. But along with reading books like Surrogacy and Embryo, Sperm, & Egg Donation: What Were You Thinking? visiting website's and researching all options, it is wise to surround oneself with seasoned professionals in the field of Assisted Reproductive Technology. Theresa Erickson is one of those highly sought after reproductive attorneys that can provide sound advice and guidance just as she provides in her books.
    
Surrogacy and Embryo, Sperm, & Egg Donation: What Were You Thinking? is divided into four 'fertility options' as stated in the title but there is so much more to be discovered here. With chapters on Disclosure, Reproductive Tourism, Agency vs Independent and Online Matching, Trust and Escrow Accounts, and much more, this book is a must read for any Intended or Recipient Parent considering working with a third party to build their family.

About the Author Theresa Erickson:

Theresa M. Erickson is one of the few attorneys in the United States who practices exclusively in reproductive and family formation law. The managing partner of Erickson Law, APLC, she is also the Founder and Chair of Conceptual Options, The Surrogacy and Egg Donation Center, and lives in San Diego, California.

The Best of 2010 LaMothe Book Reviews: One More Giraffe by Kim Noble

One More Giraffe by Kim Noble is such a sweet little book...and I do mean little...perfect for small hands and short for the easily distracted toddler. Nine pages, illustrated by Stephanie Gibson, bring home the struggles of two Giraffes who want to have their own family but no matter how hard they tried they just couldn't do it alone. Then a "lady giraffe" comes along and offers them a very special gift and from there, with the help of a kind doctor and a long wait, they have their family.


This book introduces the simple concept of egg donation to the very young and opens the door to the telling their own story.

I highly recommend any new parent via egg donation to have One More Giraffe by Kim Noble on their little ones book shelf.

The Best of 2010 LaMothe Book Reviews: Delivering Hope: The Exraordinary Journey of a Surrogate Mom by Pamela MacPhee

Delivering Hope: The Exraordinary Journey of a Surrogate Mom by Pamela MacPhee is truly inspiring. Although her story starts in 2000, little has changed within the surrogacy world especially for those carrying for their relatives. As Pam is telling her own story she is also sharing the very important steps needed to start and complete such a venture. She very candidly tells of her medical and psychological screenings, legal proceedings, the medications and embryo transfer as well as her relationship with her cousin and his wife plus other family and friends. Although not every woman who has ever experienced surrogacy has the same tale to tell, any reader will get an exceptional overview of all that surrogacy entails. Being a past Gestational Carrier myself (twice), I can honestly say that each surrogacy experience has it's own challenges and rewards!