I have recently come out with an ebook that I would love to pass on to you. It is a book that is all about quick tips (101 to be exact) to getting major traction in the search engines. There is (obviously) a link on the right side of this page that will allow you to get your copy.

You now hold the key to getting your site seen!  The major search engines work hard to bring their users sites that contain relevant content and links.  So, why should you not work hard to do the same? When you use the tips in the book, you are helping to make the Internet a better place and in the process you will improve the way that search engines rank your site.

Couple Points of Interest:

1. The tips are quick and easy to understand. I didn’t want to expand too much on each one, but gave plenty of information about each one to give you some ideas about how to increase your chances of success in the search engines.
2. I will be making blog posts in the coming weeks about some of the more important points brought forth in the ebook. While most of the information in the ebook is self explanatory, I want to (and will) go into more details about some of the different points and how I have used them in some of my businesses.
3. If you have other points that I have not thought of (I am sure there are plenty), please comment in the section below. I would love to hear your thoughts.

Go ahead and sign up to the right. You will receive a copy of the ebook instantly.

To Your Success,

Brandon

I think it is very interesting to think about what makes people do what they do. I used to think that the only running I would ever do would be on a basketball court. I would often ask myself -  “Why would anyone want to go out and run for running sake?”

Then one day, for reasons that I can’t quite remember, I went out for a jog and the next thing I knew I was training for the Bolder Boulder, the Freedom Run and even the Loveland half marathon. Cami would often question me as to why, and it was just one of those things that I enjoyed at that point in my life.

I think we all have certain tendencies and certainly desires to do things in our lives that others would question. This is fine as it is what makes us unique and interesting. There are many things that I would love to do that other people would just shake their heads at. I would love to go on an extended, open ended world tour. It’s not happening anytime soon (if at all). I have a little notebook that I carry that has a list of lifetime goals I want to achieve all written down and when I get an idea of something else I want to do (like hit a hole in one), I jot it down.

But where do we draw the line. Or maybe a more appropriate question is, do we draw the line. I think for some (myself included) there is a definite line that needs to be drawn.

There was an article written in the September 1996 issue of Outside Magazine that was called “Into Thin Air“. It talks about one man’s personal account of his summit of Mount Everest and what happened in the weeks leading up to it and the tragedy that followed. Even without the imminent risk of losing your life or limbs, I am not sure what people are thinking when they decide to attempt the summit of Mount Everest.

Anyways, the author talks about how he was given 4-5 times as much space to write the article then is typically given in a magazine, but he still did not feel like it did justice to the events. He wrote a book by the same name that I got for my birthday last week that goes into a lot more detail about the whole experience. If you are looking for an interesting book, this is one I would highly recommend.

So, this begs the question and I want to hear your responses. What is one thing that you want to do that others would think “What are you thinking?”

For me, I would sail around the world.

Ever since I was on my mission and had the chance to meet some Brazilians, I have thought it woul be neat to see the Amazon river. I read an article tonight that made me think about how simple my ideas are as compared to others.

This is a story about a man who swam through great rivers like the Mississippi, the Danube (the 2nd longest river in Eurpoe) and the Yangtze (the longest river in Asia, third longest in the world). He also was the first person to swim from Africa to Europe (in 29 hours, 36 minutes). Completely insane. Insane but awesome.

Well, last year he swam the entire length of the Amazon river. All 3,274 miles of it. Incredible.

(Sidebar: I was at a pool in California a couple years ago and saw a lady swimming laps for about 45 minutes and thought to myself that it looked relaxing and like something I would enjoy doing. I came home, got a membership to a club with a pool and hit the lap lane. No problem right?

It was the hardest sport I have ever tried. Hardest by far! I went down the lane and back and thought I was going to puke. I tried it again and was in so much pain I had to stop.

I kept practicing though and after a couple months I got to where I could swim about 5 lengths of the pool before puking my guts out. I gained a new respect for swimmers.)

So anyways, he not only had to deal with the physical part of the swim, but imagine having to deal with the other junk – the snakes, spiders, piranha’s, aligator, larvae, bull shark, candirú (a very dangerous fish which lodges up human orifices with a razor-like spike and then sucks your blood) and oh yeah, Pirates.

No thank you.

But he did it, and lived to tell about it.

Tonight for family night we decided to clean the basement a little bit then we went to the dollar store. The boys like to go there and pick out a toy or treat and think it is pretty cool that:

1. Everything costs a dollar, and
2. we tell them they can have whatever they want, and
3. they can just roam the store (for the most part) without us following them around.

It is a treat for them to go there.

Tonight Koby got an orange sword and Spencer got a pack of recorder flutes. There were two in the pack and as soon as we got to the car Koby called the blue one to be his, even though they were both Spencer’s to begin with. Spence, being the agreeable kid that he is said “okay, you can have the blue one” and Koby made out with two toys out of the trip. (It totally would have been something Cami would have done as a youngster.) I guess that is why we love them.

I happened upon a book that I am kind of excited about. It is called “Often Wrong, Never in Doubt”, by Donny Deutsch. I had to ask Cami a couple times if she was sure that it was only a dollar and she assured me that it was. It is hard to believe that you could find something like that in the book section at the dollar store. Now, I am not sure how good it will be. I usually don’t buy a book without it coming recommended in one fashion or another, but it was a buck at the dollar store. If and when I get to it, I will update with my review. According to the reviews on Amazon.com, it looks mostly good, but we’ll see.

I recently picked up the last two John Grisham books and read them both in the last couple weeks. I really enjoy reading his books and the last two, Playing for Pizza, and The Appeal were good. They are both totally different styles.

The Appeal took about two weeks to read. I thought that it was a little slow starting, but as I read more and more of it, it made sense why it started as it did. The stage and story line were being set up and  the characters were all being introduced. On the jacket cover, it is mentioned that while fiction, it will make you have a different look at the legal system and the way the supreme court justices are nominated, among other things. I am still not totally sure how I feel about the book. I liked it and found it interesting, but somewhat depressing in how it turned out. This is not necessarily a bad thing, because like life, things do not always work out as we wish they would. That’s how life is.

Playing for Pizza was a great book, in my opinion. While most of Grisham’s books are legal thrillers, I was kind of tired of that style of writing and enjoy his books that take on a different style.
The story is about a third string NFL quarterback that happens to get in the game in the NFC Championship with his team up by something like 20 or more points. He goes on to throw a couple interceptions and some other crappy plays and his team loses the game. He is hit hard on the last play of the game is ends up in the hospital, unsure of what exactly happened. He is booed out of town and his agent ends up finding him work in Italy with a team in the Italian NFL. The characters are easily likable and the story is easy to follow. Overall, I thought it was a great book (even though it only got an average of 3 out of 5 stars on Amazon). I read the book in about 3 days.

Well, I would recommend them both. If you are a reader, you will probably like them. I read an interview with John Grisham and he said that his plan is to write a legal thriller type book every year for the next several years. I look forward to adding them to my collection.

I just finished reading “The Magic of Thinking Big” by David Schwartz and wanted to comment on a few points in the book that I found interesting.

First off, I found this book in the recommended reading section of “The Four-Hour Work Week” by Timothy Ferriss. I enjoyed the 4HWW and trusted his recommendation.

It wasn’t a real page turner like I hoped it would be, but there were some interesting things like how to increase productivity, how to stop making excuses (cure yourself of excusitis) and how to use and set goals. I have read a lot of self help books and this one didn’t stand out as anything different than most other ones.

Some Good Points:

Here are a few of the good points that I marked in the book and some thoughts on them.

• In the first chapter, he talks about believing in yourself and your ability to succeed. As you go into a new project or phase in life or business, you must have the belief that you can succeed. If you enter with the right attitude, there is a chance that you will succeed, whereas if you go into the situation with the attitude that you will not succeed, you certainly will not.
• Action cures fear – I believe that this is one of the problems with most people that are afraid, they do not take action. I am guilty to some degree of being too afraid of something to take action, and this was one of the strong points of the book that I got out of it, Get over the fear because if you don’t, you are no better off than before. Sure you may fail, but you are not going to succeed by sitting around not taking action. Successful people fail more often then non-successful people, they just have the courage and strength to get up and keep moving forward.
• In a chapter about how to build confidence, Dr. Schwartz talks about 5 things to do to increase your confidence:

1. Be a front seater
2. Practice making eye contact
3. Walk 25% faster
4. Practice speaking up
5. Smile big

• Goals – In every success book that I have read (the good ones anyways) there have been numerous chapters dedicated to goals. Why is that – because they are vitally important to our success. This book is no different. While it didn’t give me any new convictions about goals or any new ideas on how to set or track goals, it gave the typical advice on the importance of goals. We have all heard the saying that a ship without a rudder and a destination can not get to where it wants to go, much less out of the harbor and the same principle applies to our goals. I believe in the setting of goals and the importance of them in our lives and believe that everyone should have worthwhile goals that they are working towards and striving for.

Some Better Things

Here are a few things that I really liked about the book:

• At the end of every chapter there was a recap of the important points that were discussed. I thought this was a great thing because it reminded me of the things that were most important that I just read. I think that instead of reading the whole book again, I would read the chapter summaries instead.
• There were numerous case studies that were referred to throughout the book. I question that they all actually happened or were just used to illustrate the point of the chapter, but it really makes no difference to me. They were cited to illustrate a point and I think Dr, Schwartz did a good job of that. I enjoy reading about how people apply principles in their situations rather then reading about theory that may or may not actually work.
• There is a point towards the end of the book that Dr. Schwartz talks about the importance of spending time in thought. I really believe that this is a useful tool that we all can use to increase our problem solving skills. We live in a society where we have to have constant interaction and connectivity with the outside world, but it does the mind and body good to turn off the radio, internet and cell phones, etc. and allow our minds time to step back, relax and think about ways to solve our problems. Take time out of our schedule and meditate – its a great idea and strategy that we all would be better off utilizing.

Overall, I thought the book was good and well written. Nothing really groundbreaking or new was presented and nothing was really presented in a new way or light. Like many other books, there is some useful and helpful advice about how to think big and get the life you want.

I would give it 3 of 5 stars.

I wrote a quick post a few weeks ago that was short and to the point but as I read many other opinions about The Four-Hour Work Week, by Timothy Ferriss, I have come to realize a few things that some people seem to have missed in the message of the book.

There are a tons of customer comments (426 at last count) on Amazon.com talking about the book and what Timothy teaches. Most of them are very positive which is apparent by the 4.5 star average. This is a message to those that seemed to have missed the point of the book.

One of the most important, perhaps the main point of the book was to build a “muse” (in Tim’s words) that provides you:

1. A consistent source of income
2. With as little work as possible – Through automation and outsourcing among other things

I think the biggest complaint that people had about the book was that this type of strategy just isn’t applicable to their business. This is where the point of the book was missed.

What I got from it was we can either make our current jobs consistent with the above, or create another business that provides us with the desired results. Many people say that it is unrealistic for people to create “automated cash machines” or such businesses and I admit it is not easy, but it IS possible. It takes time to think about possible markets, products, etc but if you want to live the “4-Hour Work Week” lifestyle, it is essential. People in general are very lazy and quite happy to work as little as possible and come home to watch tv and drink until the next day.

I say get off your couch and spend time with your family and enjoy life. Then when the kids go to bed, take some time and think about these things. Get up early in the morning and think some more. Study those people that have accomplished the things that you want to do in life and emulate them. I am usually up past midnight each night and up by 6:00 or earlier each morning.

Is it hard? Sure.

Is it worth it? It will be.

I’ll be able to sleep in then, but now when I am young (relatively speaking. I am 31.) I can afford to live with 5-6 hours of sleep to create a business that provides me with enough extra income to support my family and require very little time.

It will take a little more time, but it will happen.

This will be the place I chronicle my journey.

(If you were wondering, I would recommend the book)

Here is a new book that is easily one of my all time favorites.

The Four Hour Work Week, By Timothy Ferris

In it it talks about how to automate your entire life and how to achieve your ideal lifestyle design.

Amazing.

I have more books to read right now then I can handle (which is how I like it). Here is a list of what I am reading now:

1. The Book of Mormon – I have read it many, many times and as soon as I finish it this time I will start right over again from the beginning. If I could have only one book in my library, this would be it.
2. The Success Principles, by Jack Canfield – At any one time I am reading at least one motivational non-fiction book. This is the first time I have read it and to be honest, I really like it.
3. Ultimate Sales Letters, by Dan Kennedy – This book has changed the way that I have thought about marketing and conducting business.
4. The Purple Cow, by Seth Godin – This is my "bathroom book" or one that I pick up when I just have a minute or two to get some good insight into how to be remarkable.
5. Start Late, Finish Rich, by David Bach – I think that he is full of garbage ad far as financial advice is concerned, but sometimes it is not about the quality of the information, but the quality of how you market yourself and your business. As far as a marketer goes, he is one of the best.
6. Approaching Zion, by Hugh Nibley – A collection of discourses by Hugh Nibley. I have changed the way I think about many aspects of my life because of this book. It is quite amazing.
7. Tin Cup Dreams, by Michael D’Antonio – This is my feel good, escape from reality book. Every once in a while I like to forget about life as I know it and dream of the "what if I was a professional golfer" possibilities. Unfortunately, I think that reading this book is about as close as I am going to get.

I have a few more that I pick up and skim through from time to time, but right now, these are at the top of the pile, but they will filter out shortly and will be replaced. At which time I will update again.

I am in the process of creating an eBook or eCourse that details the complete college funding steps as well as some tips and strategies to getting the most money for college. I am not sure if I should create it as an eBook of eCourse. There are advantages and disadvantages of each. Both will be fairly similar in content.

Right now I am leaning more towards the eCourse for one main reason.

1. When most people read a book, they read it and maybe take a few notes in it, but then they put it down without taking action. In the eCourse I am going to give specific assignments to complete after each course and specific steps to take to complete them

I will have it ready to go and online in a week or less. Perhaps as a bonus to the course I will include a the eBook so if you want to look through that then you would be able to.

There are many good books out there for parents of college bound kids. Lets face it, it is an overwhelming process.

The one that I use nearly daily and would recommend to parents is called Paying for College Without Going Broke, by Kalman Chany. It has a wealth of information and like I said, it is a good one and well worth the price. It is put out by the Princeton Review, which is a great resource for preparing your children for the future. You can only get it at Amazon.com and it costs only$13.60.

Let me know what you think.

I have been reading an eBook by Seth Godin called Bootstrapper’s Bible  and another hard bound book by Godin called The Purple Cow. They have both changed the way I think about running my business.

Here is a excerpt from the Bootstrappers Bible that I found especially inspiring:

I am a bootstrapper. I have initiative and insight and guts, but not much money. I will succeed because my efforts and my focus will defeat bigger and better-funded competitors. I am fearless. I keep my focus on growing the business – not on politics, career advancement, or other wasteful distractions.

I will leverage my skills to become the key to every department of my company, yet realize that hiring experts can be the secret to my success. I will be a fervent and intelligent user of technology, to conserve my two most precious assets: time and money.

My secret weapon is knowing how to cut through bureaucracy. My size makes me faster and more nimble than any company could ever be.

I am a laser beam. Opportunities will try to cloud my focus, but not waver from my stated goal and plan – until I change it. And I know that plans were made to be changed.

I’m in it for the long haul. Building a business that will last separates me from the opportunist, and is an investment in my brand and my future. Surviving is succeeding, and each day that goes by makes it easier still for me to reach my goals.

I pledge to know more about my field than anyone else. I will read and learn and teach. My greatest asset is the value I can add to my clients through my efforts.

I realize that treating people well on the way up will make it nicer for me on the way back down. I will be scrupulously honest and overt in  my dealings, and won’t use my position as a fearless bootstrapper to gain unfair advantage. My reputation will follow me wherever I go, and I will invest in it daily and protect it fiercely.

I am the underdog. I realize that others are rooting for me to succeed, and I will gratefully accept their help when offered.  I also understand the power of favors, and will offer them and grant them whenever I can.

I have less to lose than most – a fact I can turn into a significant competitive advantage.

I am a salesperson. Sooner or later, my income will depend on sales, and those sales can be made only by me, not by an emissary, not by a rep. I will sell by helping others get what they want, by identifying needs and filling them.

I am a guerrilla. I will be persistent, consistent, and willing to invest in the marketing of myself and my business.

I will measure what I do and won’t lie about it to myself or my spouse. I will set strict financial goals and honestly evaluate my performance. I’ll set limits on time and money and won’t exceed either.

Most of all, I’ll remember that the journey is the reward. I will learn and grow and enjoy every single day.

I have always wanted to write a book. I have thought a lot about it and think that it would be good for me, more then anything, to feel the accomplishment of studying and writing a book. I believe that I have a knowledge that could help other people in their life and help them plan smart decisions for their future.

It is still in the concept stages, but I am on my way. I have a rough outline and some ideas for the publication (probably electronic format) and I am excited.

It is through the process of study and then teaching that we tend to learn the most. I am interested in helping other people and I believe that I can do it through an ebook format. It will be a learning experience and something I look forward to.

I will be the first person to admit that I am not the best writer and make more then my fair share of mistakes. I am looking into having a ghost writer put my ideas together, but I am still toying with that one. I am not sure what to do, but am analyzing my options. It will be a journey and I look forward to the learning process.

Back in June I heard of a new book that would be coming out by a guy named Bob Castiglione, owner of LEAP Systems, Inc.
I have been anxiously awaiting the release and arrival of it and heard
today that they are being shipped. He is personally signing the initial
orders that were in the first release.
If you know of Bob Castiglione, or know anyone who does, you probably
know that people either love him or can?t stand him. I feel that he is
a genius and a true asset to the fiancial planning industry. He is the
only one that speaks the truth and has an economic model to back him
up. All the other ?guru?s? are out trying to sell a product or service
that has no economic backing to it. It is all just ?hype? that will
hurt the public at some point, possibly not for many years down the
road.
I will keep you posted when I receive the book and what I think about
it, but I can already tell you that it will be the best financial book
written in a long time.