Career Ramblings

Motivation. Motivation is not something that you should have every now and then. Motivating yourself to excel at what you do, or to be an example for others, is something that a true entrepreneur or dedicated employee will always be doing. It’s an ongoing process that includes all aspects of your professional life. Your attituide, appearance, spiritual well-being, and interactions with others all come into play.

Staying motivated is much easier than you think. “Experts” would charge you a pretty penny to “lay down the law” to professionals and entrepreneurs alike, conveying a road map for motivational success. I’m going to tell you something interesting: you don’t need to pay anyone anything to learn the secrets to staying motivated. Well, unless you want to pay me. I think I’d be fine with that.

But in all seriousness, the question certainly remains: how do you do it?

Simple. Follow five steps, and what the changes as they happen.

• 1) Maintain a Positive Attitude

- There’s something that you should know. Life is 10% about what happens to us, and 90% about how we react. Think back to every argument you’ve ever had and try to imagine something that you could have done to defuse the argument while it was in its infancy. Chances are it has something to do with how you reacted.

We, as people, are responsible for our own actions. When you are around people that are positive, you’ll find it much easier to act in hte same way. You’ll have more confidence in yourself, you’ll smile more often, and your “problems” will be easier to solve. The same can be said for your workplace: enter the office with a smile on your face and a hop in your step and you’ll create the mood. Watch how quickly others follow suite.

• 2) Leave Personal Problems at Home

- Life can get you down. We all know that, as we’ve all experienced one thing or another that has “sank our ship”, so to speak, and left us feeling less than ecstatic. Your problems don’t belong at work, so when you enter your workplace turn your attention (and energy) to your job. This has the added benefit of, along with making you a much easier person to deal with, giving your mind a mental break from whatever your problems are. You know how a lot of people say that stress isn’t good for your health? They’re right, so give your mind a chance to chill out.

• 3) Create Positive Affirmations

- Close your eyes and think of three great things you’d like to do or accomplish. Write them down. Now, open your eyes and read what you wrote. The reason why you write your goals and objectives down is because it’s the first step in making them tangible. Having your goals recorded on paper will allow you read them whenever you want, and having them written down means that they are unchanging. Short of destroying the piece of paper, there’s not much you can do to change what you’ve written, is there?

Try coming up with a few new affirmations every couple of weeks. Make them things that are attainable and valuable, such as “I know I’ll make good use of my time today”. Repeating them out loud is always a great way to reinforce what you’ve written.

• 4) Take a Break

- Are you one of those people who works during their breaks? Stop immediately. It may be hard to believe, but your mind needs time where it can relax and unwind. Taking regular breaks will allow you to focus better, as well as give your mind to digest any challenges or problems that you may have. Taking breaks relieves tension, and if you’ve been working on a computer, gives you a prime opportunity to move around a bit.

• 5) Exercise

- I already know what you’re thinking, “oh no, here he goes again preaching about exercise”. Yes, yes I am preaching about exercise, and there’s a reason for it. Exercise is kind of like cigarettes: at first, your body doesn’t know how to handle the stress, and as a result you’re sore. After a little while, however, exercise becomes that sweet, soothing rush that helps you relieve stress and cope with your emotions. Every mile on the treadmill burns calories, strengthens muscles, and gives your mind the physical stimulation it needs to be healthy. There’s a reason why health nuts say that working out is more addictive than crack: because it is.

At least this addiction won’t eventually kill you.

All it takes on your part is concentration. Stay motivated, stay positive- it always leads to success.

Recommended Resources:

• 100 Free Business Cards
• Debt Genie
• GooglePro (Recommended)

A long time ago I was in the habit of writing articles about workplace politics and drama. Though I don’t intend to revisit that series of articles (nor that mindset, ugh), I do wonder if having work “friends” is a good idea career-wise. The problem is that an office often becomes something akin to a schoolyard playground, where several packs of “kids” form and segregate the general population. While it may be more polite and professional in an office, there’s no denying that the effects of being alienated from an entire group of people are just as real (and juvenile).

But, that being said, no one wants to have to exist completely on their own. Everyone enjoys having friends, and everyone likes to have people that they can talk and relate with (or just “hang out” with every now and then). So the trick here is to find some kind of universal balance. The problem is that your work environment is where you’re going to be spending nearly 35% of your conscious time for the rest of your life. It poses a real problem if you begin to develop unfavorable relationships with people, as eight hours of each working day is going to be spent in the same environment as them.

And, unfortunately, we all know what happens to people when their work lives begin to shift in a bad direction. Suddenly, their work life blends with their home life, and all of the feelings, resentments, and frustrations carry along with it, transversing the divide between work and home without a care in the world. It breaks people, destroys families, and even leads people to do crazy things. We certainly don’t want that.

Because of this I have always had friends at work, but I’ve never had close friends at work. I will talk about my day, what’s exciting in my life, or what my plans for the weekend are, but that’s where I’ve always ended it. My more personal thoughts and feelings are kept between myself, my family, and the close friends that I know I can trust and rely on.

But, that’s just me. I’ve never really experienced life-altering workplace drama, and I’d like to think that I won’t have to. I’ll keep you all posted and let you know how that one goes

Recommended Resources:

• 100 Free Business Cards
• Debt Genie
• GooglePro (Recommended)

Well, hasn’t today just been crazy! I recently moved across the country, so I’ve been jumping through hoops today to get things done. Sorry for the lack of meaningful posts the last couple of days. I promise to get something up tomorrow!

- Cam

Working on your resume and having a hard time making it all “stick” (so to speak)? It can be hard to create the perfect resume, especially when you consider the fact that you’ll be lucky to get more than 10 seconds from someone looking it over, so it’s important to do it right the first time! Here is a plethora of links that all have great information to help whip your resume into shape!

CareerRamblings - Know Your Audience
CareerRamblings - Clearly Defining Your Objective
CareerRamblings - Don’t Deal, Do!
CareerRamblings - Customizing Your Resume for the Job
Career Ramblings - 10 Resume Blunders
Monster.ca’s Resume Section - A Great Read!
College Journal’s resume section. Loaded with great articles!

There is enough material in those links for anyone to write a stellar resume! Good luck, and remember to treat your resume as the tool that could land you a serious full-time income!

Recommended Downloads:

• Free Business Cards.
• Free Business Plan Template.

Due to some carpal tunnel problems I’ve made an audio post. This rambling, literally, talks briefly about my interaction with successful affiliates and with the industry in general. Enjoy!

P.S. - I am aware that I posted this 4 days after I made the video.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, despite all of the posts that I’ve made about post-secondary education and it’s benefits (and sometimes, lack of), I’ve bit the bullet and registered for classes. Not regular classes, as I’ll never do that again, but continuing education classes. Now, before you go “what the hell is the point of that?” (as my father did), there is a method to my madness.

First, growth is important to me. Just as I like to watch my affiliate stats grow (as opposed to shrink), growth as a person is important. I decided a few days ago that it was important to me to continue my education in a direction that provides me the largest benefit. Instead of taking a predetermined degree program I’ve decided to try a different approach: pick and choose the classes that I want to take.

One thing about becoming a university student that I never enjoyed was the amount of time I had to invest in classes that I had absolutely no interest in nor saw any career benefit from. Unfortunately, these classes are often a required portion of a degree program and are impossible to avoid if you ever plan to graduate. This realization, coupled with the cost of supplies, tuition, and textbooks, makes taking these classes inconvenient at best, and a pain in butt otherwise.

But continuing education… I see a lot of value there. For example, this “semester” I am taking an economics class, an accounting class, and a negotiation fundamentals class- all things that I personally find interest in and have a clear career advantages. Everyone should know the theory behind economics, learning accounting is always a good thing, and who doesn’t want to be able to negotiate better? Exactly, value.

Of course, taking a bunch of continuing education classes will not get you a degree, but then again, they often are not the same classes found within the general curriculum. The real beauty of continuing education classes is that they are often designed to cut the fluff and get straight to the point- they are geared towards professionals, people looking to expand their qualifications, and people that do not have the time to dedicate to attaining a degree through conventional means. The classes get started, convey the material that they need to convey, and conclude. If you are taking a class about negotiation, as opposed to learning about the theory of negotiating, the mechanics of language, and other somewhat relevant but not crucial information, you’ll learn about the variables of negotiation, how to control the situation, and understanding the other parties to further your negotiation advantage. Now that, that I like.

If you find that you have some time in the evening that you are currently dedicating to video games or the television, why not pick up a few con-ed classes? The advantages are numerous, and it just might open your eyes a little. The last time I took con-ed classes (this time last year) it proved to be the inspiration I needed to launch a successful business that has since netted me nearly $40,000 in profit passively- well worth the $250/class cost of admission as far as I’m concerned.

Go on- live a little.

Recommended Downloads:

• Free Business Cards.
• Free Business Plan Template.

I want to apologize to everyone who is making comments that aren’t being posted. Our spam protection software sometimes picks up comments that are legitimate and labels them as spam, and unfortunately in order for me to rectify the issue I have to go in and dig through hundreds of spam comments to find the ones that are legitimate.

If your comment has appeared after a couple of days I either haven’t gone through the spam box yet or it’s be accidentally removed. Unfortunately, due to the thousands of spamming affiliates out there I don’t see this coming to an end any time soon

January 4th arrives in 2 hours (for me, anyways) and I was thinking: what are YOU doing to do it up in 2008? I really want to know, not only because I have some massive plans for this year but also because I always feel refreshed and ambitious come the start of a new year. It’s kind of like washing your plate (and scraping off all of that stuck-on crud the dishwasher always leaves behind)- January 1st comes around and suddenly I have 365 days to make it big, to make it happen.

Now, it sounds cheesy, but I’m a firm believer that cheese is great for the body and even better for the soul. Last year around this time I told myself that I was going to make it happen, that I was going to be big, and that I was going to do it up on the internet.

Guess what happened?

Without bragging, I earned high $XX,XXX on the internet in my spare-time, bringing my income for the year well over $XXX,XXX. I swore to myself that it was going to happen, and it happened. I worked, I fought, and I struggled, and I made it work. This year, as 2008 comes around, I plan on fighting and working twice as hard as I did last year. Funny thing I’ve noticed… the harder I work, the luckier I seem to get (thanks Jon for that one).

But it’s true, and that’s what really strikes me. How HARD are you willing to work? How MUCH are you willing to work? And, most importantly, how much is it all WORTH to you?

So let’s hear it: what are YOU doing for 2008?

Recommended Downloads:

• Free Business Cards.
• Free Business Plan Template.

How I wonder who you are?

Do you ever think back to your high-school or college days and wonder what all your friends (and enemies) are up to? Applications like Facebook, Classemates, and MySpace have certainly made it easy to recreate old connections and bridge gaps that have been created between former friends, but there’s always a few questions that linger in the back of your mind, right? Or am I the only one?

I was talking to a few of my high-school friends on MSN and AIM a little while ago and I realized that after high-school I really did take off in a whole different direction. Most of my friends went on to college and university, a few took on trades, and one of them even won the lottery for $38 million, but I still managed to fly off to somewhere else entirely.

Most of my friends went to college and university. By now they’ve all graduated and found decent jobs (I’m sure) and are working hard to make room for themselves in our crowded modern society. I went to university, but I never graduated. I never felt the motivation to actually attend class and finish what I had started, and so after spending nearly $15,000 I am no further ahead than I was when I started (according to my friends and family, anyway).

Yet, looking entirely from an income and overall job satisfaction level, most of my friends make decent money (around $50K a year seems to be the average) and are decently satisfied with their work. I make good coin (more than all of my friends) and love what I do, yet ALL of my high-school chums constantly remind me to “get a real job” and finish my degree. I don’t know if the jokes on them (it’s too early to tell), but right now I’m happy doing exactly what I’m doing.

But, out of everyone I went to school with, there’s one woman who has really taken off. She has her degree, her own business, a private jet, and just about every car I could ever dream of, and she started with nothing. What I find really funny about all of this is that during high-school she was really average in every way- average grades, didn’t really participate in school events, and just managed to coast through high-school without making too many waves. Now she’s a multi-millionaire by her own design.

I love how ironic life can be.

Recommended Downloads:

• Free Business Cards.
• Free Business Plan Template.

Oh how the market has taken this downtrodden turn, slowly but surely creeping property values down (and the emotions of owners with them). For an investor, this signals a great opportunity to get into the real estate market with style and increased spending power.

After all, we all know that real estate fluctuates, but there is always one absolute truth: there are few things in this world that isn’t being made any more, and land is one of them. Real estate is probably one of the most secure investments you can make (assuming you play your cards right), and getting your hands on a few good pieces of property when the market’s in a bit of a lull can lower your initial investments and increase your overall profit margins.

Sweet.

Ideally, if you’re looking to get into real estate you already have your ducks in a row, so to speak. You aren’t financially stricken, you aren’t using your last dollar in an effort to make this work, and you’re prepared to make a serious financial investment. Sound a bit like you? Awesome, buy a house!

Values are low, people are eager to sell, and if you’ve got the financial backing, many properties will be available that will appreciate in value as soon as the economy gets itself together. That $210,000 house you just bought might hit $310,000 in a year or two. If you think it sounds too good to be true, well, you probably shouldn’t be investing in real estate then!

PS - I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays. I enjoyed mine, and I promise that updates will get back to normal now!

Recommended Downloads:

• Free Business Cards.
• Free Business Plan Template.

I own around 10,000 domain names, and 9500 of them are “parked”. The other 500 I use for real sites (like CareerRamblings.com). Domain parking is a way to make money from any unused domains that you own. The way it works is that you turn over management of your domain (you still keep ownership of it though) to a domain parking company like Traffic Valet and they create a page for it consisting of link results from a major search engine (Like Google or Yahoo). Everytime a site visitor clicks on one of these links, the domain parking company pays you money. A good example of this is my domain FindJobs.com . 5-6 Years ago I made it into a meta job search engine, where it searched job listings from dozens of sites all on one page. This site cost a lot of money to build and maintain and made very little income, even though it was popular. I shut that down and I now just have the FindJobs.com domain parked and it makes $1000/month, and I do no work to run it. So, I am happy with that.On the other hand, many people would look at a great domain like FindJobs.com and say making $1000/month from it is nothing because it could be built into a big brand and be one of the top job sites, so parking it is a waste. And, they may be right. But, my point is that you should never just let you domains sit there unused. Domain parking is a great way to earn income from a domain until the time you decide to actually build a site on it.

If you’re someone who’s fond of lifestyle changes and sudden career decisions, relocating for a new job is the perfect way to bring them about. Conversely, if you’d rather not venture outside your front yard, relocating for a job is the last thing you should do. The changes brought about by relocation affect not only you, but all members of your family, right down to the family dog.

It goes without saying that you should definitely consult with your family before you move.

Everyone has their reasons for relocating. Now I don’t need to hear yours, and it’s not because I don’t like you (I’m sure you’re a very nice person), but simply because you don’t have to justify yourself to anyone other than yourself. Yep, that’s it.

Generally, some good things to think about when relocating are…

• Your career path - Will relocating help further your career? If not, will it bring about more job satisfaction and a better sense of accomplishment? If not, is it at least going to pay you more? All of these things factor into your overall satisfaction with your chosen career, and being satisfied with what you’re doing is important, trust me.
• Location, location, location! - Do you like where you’re relocating to? If not, why are you moving there? What’s the point of being paid a bit more or doing some great new job if you hate where you’re living? I’ll tell you one thing (from experience), if you hate where you live you sure won’t be enjoying life all that much. Trust me on that one.
• Your family and the impact the move will have - Before you relocate, make sure that your family won’t fall apart because of it. Everyone will have to move eventually, and kids deal with it just fine, but that doesn’t mean that you should pull little Johnny out of his baseball league for an extra $6,000 a year. Sure he’ll make new friends, but it’s a long and painful process to do so. Okay, maybe that’s an over-exaggeration, but still…
• The job itself - Unless the job is paying a lot more or is much more satisfying, what’s the point of relocating?

Remember, relocating can bring about lots of stress for a while. If the new job is worth it, great, have fun packing and enjoy the trip! As well, always remember that just because you relocated doesn’t mean the job is guaranteed no 100% secure.

Have fun!

Recommended Downloads:

• Free Business Cards.
• Free Business Plan Template.

Every office has “that” guy. You know, the guy that everybody hates for (insert reason here), or the guy that everyone ignores because (insert reason here). Regardless of the reasoning behind it, there’s certainly nothing to be gained by being “that” guy. What’s odd is that every office seems to have a guy (or girl, don’t think you’re invincible ladies) like that. Take a second to think about it and I can guarantee that you’ll know exactly who I’m talking about.

More often than not there’s a reason why that person is “that” guy, be it some particularly annoying traits that they have or their overall attitude and presence. Whether or not you agree with the way that guy is treated, the reality is that there is no benefit to becoming him (or her). When you go to work, start a new job, or transfer to a new department within your current company, employ a few common-sense mannerisms to avoid being negatively branded:

• Greet people warmly - But avoid sounding insincere. Say good morning, have a smile on your face, and leave whatever problems you have outside of work at the door. Being approachable is one of the most effective ways to be liked, even if it’s not immediately. More importantly, as work isn’t always about making friends, it’s easier for people to work with you if they know they can approach you without having their heads torn off.
• Be constructive and helpful - Rather than contradict everyone and challenge the rules all of the time, contribute to the environment by being constructive and thoughtful. Offer your opinion when it is warranted and don’t be afraid to express your concerns and beliefs when they are called for.
• Pull your weight - Pull your share of the weight. Don’t rely on others to pick up your slack as it’s both unfair and one of the main reasons that your coworkers may grow to resent you. Do what your job entails and do it well- this leaves no one a reason to complain about your performance.
• Avoid office drama - Office drama is going to happen, so do your best to stay out of it. Don’t take sides, don’t spread rumors, and don’t facilitate them either.

At the end of the day it’s your job to get to know the people that you are working with and to find a way to coexist peacefully. Then again, so long as you are considerate and good at what you do, there’s no reason for a problem to arise. Have fun

Recommended Downloads:

• Free Business Cards.
• Free Business Plan Template.

The last point I’d like to address is that business is hard. Yes, the monetary and personal rewards can be immense, but neither of those things come for free or come without hard work and a serious commitment to the job of making the business grow and expand. Many people view their business as their baby, but I feel that label to be inappropriate. I see a business as a tool, a means by which personal and financial success can be achieved.

When I see a successful business I also see all of the hard work that went behind it, and what makes me laugh is when I see people parading around promoting multi-level-marketing schemes and proclaiming just how easy their program is. I’m not going to get into my opinions on multi-level-marketing or whether or not I feel it’s a legitimate business in this article, but I am going to say that it’s a guarantee that the people at the top of the MLM structure are also the ones that have worked the hardest.

Needless to say, two and two go together.

The concept of “easy money” is one that a lot of people are attracted to. I know that if I could find a way to replace my income with a method that required less emotional investment and less work I’d run with it, but that’s about as likely as purchasing a winning lottery ticket or finding a leprechaun that was willing to give me his pot’o'gold.

Business is hard. That’s something that will always remain true, regardless of the economic situation or societal preference at the time. What makes a successful entrepreneur is someone who’s willing to tackle that and conquer it. After all, I said business is hard, not impossible.

Recommended Downloads:

• Free Business Cards.
• Free Business Plan Template.

What baffles me the most about a lot of business owners is how little thought they seem to put into their projects, yet many of them experience great success with their businesses. I’ve seen millionaires make multi-million dollar deals over a three minute cell phone call, pitched (and sold) website creatives to massive web development firms via brief face to face meetings. All of these observations have taught me one extremely valuable lesson: think less, do more.

The reason that someone might be able to sign a deal so quickly is because they know that it will come through as expected. A good business-person knows that they can’t handle every aspect of their business, so it becomes crucial to outsource whenever possible. I’ve noticed that my inability to trust others to do what they say they will do has saved me from being burned a few times, but it’s also prevented me from really taking advantage of an excellent opportunity or killer business move.

I’ve read my fair share of “self help” business books. For legality reasons I’m not going to name any, but let me say that my father was neither rich nor poor, and that I am not very good at making deals. Unfortunately, the books that I’ve read haven’t solved either one of those problems. Instead, what I noticed was that I was buying more books and learning a lot about how to get motivated without actually doing anything. It was a beautiful circle, and I imagine that the publisher of those books just loved it.

It took some time, but I finally realized that I could read all the self-help junk that I wanted and I’d never be any further ahead. My decision to stop buying and reading those books helped me develop a successful business. I took a few weeks to plan out my approach, how I was going to make it work, and then I put it into action. Once I was satisfied that my research was adequate for what I needed I didn’t hesitate any longer.

Hesitation cost you money. I guess we’ll call that point number two.

Recommended Downloads:

• Free Business Cards.
• Free Business Plan Template.