Listen, I kinda went on sabbatical, and I've been coding and doing some other related stuff ever since so that's why I haven't posted on this blog for so long.

Anyhow, a colleague was supposed to post here months ago and let you know about it, but he forgot, and I was too distracted to notice. LOL.

My single-minded focus thing sometimes keeps me from noticing a lot of things. He was supposed to tell you that I wouldn't be promoting anything for a while due to preparation for a product launch, and that I wouldn't be sending out my newsletter, that I would be kinda out of touch in general …

I guess I kinda made it optional, but he was even supposed to continue posting periodically …

(What do you think? Should I can him?)

Oh well. My apologies. But as I told him at the time, I would be back if something came up that I thought was truly worthwhile or that truly needed to be said. Or something like that. I don't remember my exact words.

Okay. So here it is, something truly worthwhile — but wait, let me just say that I have no idea if this will be truly worthwhile or not. But I said I wouldn't be back this soon unless it was. So, you know, I'm sending mixed signals here. LOL!

Well, okay, here's the thing. I haven't had the time or the inclination to check this out in detail yet, so my opinion on this is based on past experience with Mike rather than an actual evaluation of the offer.

So keep that in mind.

But as I'm sure you know, past experience is often a good measure. One can't always rely on it, but I believe this is going to be the real deal, and I would be remiss if I didn't tell you about it. Er, or give it my personal recommendation (since you've probably heard about it already anyway).

I do know that the last major training course Mike came out with was very worthwhile. So hopefully this will be as great as it sounds. (If not, it's being sold through Clickbank so you can always ask for your money back if it doesn't look right, okay?)

Anyhow, I've got lots to do yet on that launch and otherwise, so let me get on with it. I know you're going to want to check this out once you know what I'm talking about.

Oh wait. Everyone you should be following is promoting it already, so you probably already know what I'm talking about: Mike Johnson's Profit.FM.

So I'm not going to waste any more of your time here. If you haven't checked it out (because you were waiting just to see if your most trusted adviser — why, me, of course! — was going to promote it), then it's time to go to:

http://www.mythospheres.com/recommends/fm

My bonus? Well … how about free admittance to the launch of my own product? It will be a couple of months yet, though. Maybe more. And I can't tell you what it is yet. LOL.

Some bonus, huh? (Yes, it will be, actually.)

Oh well. I gotta get back to it.

I don't care (much) if you buy through my link or not. It will be your loss if you don't, of course, but I can't worry about that right now. I just thought I should let you know about it.

Profit.FM may not turn out to be anything special. Then again, if past experience can be trusted, it just may turn out to be one of the very few MUST HAVES this year.

I hope you will check it out:

http://www.mythospheres.com/recommends/fm

Either way, it will probably be a while before you hear from me again, so continued good luck with your endeavors and take care.

To your success!,

Richard D. Farley / MythoSpheres Development

Weekly, maybe? We'll see.

The length and quality of the writing, as well as of the information, may vary considerably. It will depend on what else (and how much) is going on with me, but I'll simply postpone and omit if I feel it's necessary.

So … this may eventually become a full-blown marketing newsletter. But for the immediate future, I expect it to be fairly short and to-the-point articles about various aspects of online marketing (and perhaps offline, too, occasionally).

My subscribers will find resources that pertain to the discussion (when available and when I feel comfortable recommending them) at the end of these soliloquies. (Soliloquies? Fancy word, yeah?) I will be putting these resources at the end so as to not interrupt the flow.

Some of this information (and the aforementioned resources) may prove to be "old hat" to some of my subscribers. Since I don't have a very complete picture about how much or how little experience various folks have, I have to go with the basics at least some of the time, right?

But if you are, or become, a subscriber and are patient with me. I know, sooner or later, I'll get around to providing some information that even the most seasoned marketer will find extremely valuable. Just don't expect it every time out.

Okay?

This will be for my subscribers ONLY and will not be published here, at AWeber, or elsewhere.

So if you haven't signed up yet, please do so and watch for my next email, most likely in about 12 hours or so, in which I will begin by discussing …

Don't you just love cliff-hangers? LOL.

To your continuing success!,
Richard D. Farley / MythoSpheres Development

Hope so. I mean, after all, why not?

Today Greg's taking it one step further and showing you a full, interactive demonstration of the complete Monster Mage software suite.

http://www.mythospheres.com/likes/monster

If you ever wanted to know EXACTLY what you will get when it is released to the general public on Tuesday then I strongly suggest you check out this video right now.

Not everyone will show you the the guts of a system before you invest.  I firmly believe Monster is the most complete and comprehensive system out there on the market today. I want to encourage you to give this a "good look" to see if it's right for you.

Even if it's not, it doesn't ever hurt to stay FULLY informed of EXACTLY what kind of tools some of your competition may be using.

There is no optin required to watch this.  Simply click on the link.

Who knows, maybe you'll decide to join me and be a Monster, too.

Anyone remember the old Dr. Pepper ditty? It's going around and around in my head right now, only with different words — I'm a Monster, she's a Monster, wouldn't you like to be a Monster, too?

http://www.mythospheres.com/likes/monster

I'm being very silly now, I know. Hope you'll forgive. I'm a little dizzy. An old friend dropped by yesterday and spun my head a little bit. It's been a long time coming I guess. I'm just overwhelmed with too much information right now!

Anyhow, Monster Mage is serious business. Hope you'll take a few minutes to check it out:

http://www.mythospheres.com/likes/monster

To your success!,
Richard

P.S. – At the bottom of the page is a little form where you can get on the "early bird" list. If you like what you see, I strongly suggest you sign up there because on Tuesday Greg is releasing only 500 copies of Monster and these will most likely be sold out to those on the early list. If you think there's even a slim chance you want it, then you need to be prepared to act quickly.

http://www.mythospheres.com/likes/monster

If not, what's the deal? It's not like you have anything else to do besides pay attention to these things, right?

Okay. Just kidding around. Believe me, I understand busy!

So anyway, whether you've seen the hype or not, you may be wondering what is Monster Mage?

Already being a Mage, I happen to already own it, so I can tell you.

Or can I?

It's for autoblogging, but it's a little more complicated than that.

Very shortly after Greg Jacobs started WP Mage in late 2009, I was one of those out there testing it and a lot of Mages, including me, were full of questions, not the least of which was "will this really work?"

The answer to that question turned out to be … er, maybe.

Some of us found a lot of success with WP Mage. There's no arguing that. Assuming you measure success solely in terms of fast money.

Over time though, I realized Greg Jacobs philosophy, i.e., how he recommends his customers approach the use of WP Mage, just wasn't for me.

Why?

Greg kinda takes what some call the "shotgun spam site" approach to his tools, but I prefer being more judicious in their use. I like to build things to last, including my websites.

Greg's philosophy is more about creating a lot of (some would say, low-quality, spammy) sites and making just a little income on each one.

The WP Mage plugins are fantastic, and that strategy can certainly work, perhaps especially now that Monster Mage will offer several new tools for making content unique and for further monetizing WP Mage sites.

Some of us have experimented a bit and seen our profits double using some of the new tools found in Monster Mage!

But wait.

Okay, some of you who are already in the know, I hear you: Greg Jacobs demands such a hefty price!!

Yes, he does. And I don't feel it is my place to tell you it is or is not worth it. It is clearly worth it to some of us, but you certainly shouldn't spend the money if it's going to create any hardship for you or your loved ones. There are a lot of other good, less-expensive tools out there now if you want to try your hand at autoblogging.

And I don't really recommend completely automated blogging anyway. Blogging can turn into a lot of hard work, and some automation can be very helpful, but you really need quality, unique, useful content if you expect your organic search traffic to last.

But let's forget all that for a second. Here's what I really wanted to tell you: one of WP Mage's best plugins is the Affiliate Mage plugin, and now … until the launch tomorrow,  i.e., July 12th, you can get the Affiliate Mage plugin absolutely FREE!

This plugin has created 9.5 million dollars in commissions in the last 2 years!

Whether you think you have a use for it right now or not, you just gotta get this:

Check it out here:

http://www.mythospheres.com/likes/affiliatemagemonster

And those of you who are interested in finding out more about what Greg has to offer (and why some of us are so excited about it), be sure to stay signed up to his list thru the launch.

Until next time –

– to your success!
Richard D. Farley / Mythospheres Development

With Google's recent Panda updates, I am feeling somewhat vindicated.

The Panda updates have hit many IM sites very hard.

Of course, a lot more than Panda has been going on lately:

• AdWords has canceled the PPC accounts of thousands;
• PayPal has closed many IM-ers' accounts;
• Other payment processors are about to disallow IM vendors;
• Clickbank has recently de-listed hundreds of IM products;
• YouTube has dumped thousands of make-money-online videos;
• Amazon has pretty much ended PLR ebooks being sold on Kindle;
• Sales of IM-related products are down, refunds are up.

Am I okay with all these changes? Not exactly. But I do understand that this is what happens when some "opportunists" misbehave.

It is this way in all walks of society it seems. Because some abuse the system, everyone has to pay the price. It's not fair. It's not just. But it is the way things are.

The only thing we "good guys" can do about it is to work that much harder and hold ourselves to higher and higher standards.

As the old saying goes, "when the going gets tough, the tough get going."

So . . . are you ready to offer more value to real people? Are you ready to care even more about the quality of what you teach, what you sell, and about the quality of your web sites, pages and posts?

No? Then rest in peace with the dinosaurs. They couldn't adapt either.

Yes? Then welcome to the post-Panda, post-wild-wild-West internet marketing world. Time for everyone to grow up.

My sincere apology for not updating this blog sooner, but I don't like outsourcing it and sometimes my life stuff just gets in the way.

Anyway, if you follow this blog, thanks for your patience, and I hope you will find that what I am about to recommend to you is well worth the wait.

If you are just starting your online business venture or if you feel your business effort has been going off track lately, I'd like to recommend something 'holistic' in terms of building your business the right way.

(I just wish something this good had been available when I was starting out.)

So here it is:

• Michael Christon's Personal Fulfillment Machine

This is not a script or plug-in or marketing robot or tool or marketing course.

Yes, those can be valuable in the right context.

But no.

This is something very, very special.

But first, a little background.

I have listened to and viewed various success and motivational programs over the years. As a result, every now and again I've been prompted to do a little brainstorming about where I'm trying to go and why.

It's always been a kind of re-envisioning, and it has often been just after these brief interludes that I've been my most creative, productive and fulfilled.

Knowing from my own experience how helpful I've found such opportunities, I was understandably …

Well, I don't know how to say this without it sounding hyped, but I was very "excited," or "wowed" or "impressed," or something that sounds a little bit over the top like that, to discover Michael Christon's Personal Fulfillment Machine training.

If you've sampled the combined works of various motivational and business thinkers as I have, old and new, e.g., Tony Robbins, Brian Tracy, etc., then you may think you've already heard much of what Michael has to say.

I pretty much felt that way myself at first. So why am I now so excited about this?

Because Michael has a compelling talent for presenting the information, old insights and new — a way that offers new perspectives, eliminates the extraneous, and systemizes and explains the essentials of how to build a more fulfilling life and business.

I feel as if he has burned away the fat, leaving only the condensed, concentrated, lean, mean, and useful behind — yet he has also kept the information palatable and easily accessible.

And there is nothing cookie cutter about Michael's approach either.

He teaches a methodology — a manner of thinking and of structuring your thinking about yourself, your life, your values, your goals — that allows you to create your own custom template that can help you build your ideal, and very personal, future.

I've been through the course, and I know it's worth going through again and again.

I believe you, too, will agree it is going to be helpful to contemplate, again and again, what Michael has to say.

Frankly, most of us need that kind of repetition to really "get it" (whether we will admit it or not). By following — more closely each day — what Michael has to say, I am certain any of us would be better able to align our business goals with our values and have a much more fulfilling life and a more successful business.

Because I believe the bottom line is that that is what we all want, I'm recommending PFM to you. And because:

• I believe it's for those just starting out.

• I also believe it's for those who need to get their business and life back on track.

• Actually, I can't think of anyone in business, or anyone hoping to start a business, who this training couldn't benefit.

Briefly, here are just a few of the questions and considerations you will be exposed to when you decide to take a journey toward your Personal Fulfillment Machine with Michael Christon:

•  Where are you now?

• Where are you going?

• How are you going to get there and are you 100% sure you want to?

• Moment of truth: how's your mental, physical and spiritual health? Are you achieving soul-destroying success?

• What's your 'bucket list?'

• How to have something exceptional in your life and in your business.

• How can understanding yourself and your values make your business effort easier and more profitable?

• How your business can become your personal fulfillment machine and why it's absolutely imperative that it should be.

• Your life's blueprint: using imagination and visualization, coupled with your values, to "walk around" your life's blueprint, and why doing so can empower your life and your business.

• Why is becoming richer in every other way ultimately more valuable than becoming financially rich, and why the former makes the latter that much more possible and satisfying?

• Purpose and structure: why becoming uncommonly successful has so much to do with ways of thinking that may seem initially to have virtually nothing to do with your desire for success.

• How to break the impossible down into the possible.

• How to supercharge your business's mission statement, and why you must.

Far too many start businesses without a clue. They know not where they are going nor how to get there. Michael reminds us that starting a business is about far more than just making money or being your own boss. This kind of training — this kind of thinking — is far too often neglected, yet it is by far the most important. I cannot recall having ever recommended anything more potentially valuable than Michael's Personal Fulfillment Machine.

This is the stuff that our dreams are made of.

Trust me, this will inspire you today and, applied, it will have an enormously positive impact on your life and business for decades to come:

Michael Christon's Personal Fulfillment Machine

Thank you for your time and for considering my recommendation.

To your success!,
Richard D. Farley / MythoSpheres Development

Who wants that? Why would anybody take risks when the costs can be so great, when there is so much to lose?

Part of the answer of course, is that an unwillingness to take risks, when they are appropriate, can in and of itself be the biggest risk of all.

Life is dynamic, always changing, and risk opens opportunities to grow with change rather than be victimized by it. Taking a risk means you are making things happen in your life rather than just letting life happen to you.

Self discovery, new ideas, new skills, new and exciting experiences, new interests, renewed confidence and previously unrealized talents can all be rewards of risk.

And a life without risk can easily become a life that is lived primarily in fear — and sometimes without interest, without enthusiasm, without exhilaration, without, well, a sense of being truly alive.

But why talk about this?

Because my observation and experience suggest that the fear of taking risks — or too much eagerness to take them without sufficient thought — are the two characteristics, the two extremes if you will, that have diminished far too many lives.

And whether I can succeed in this or not, I want to do what I can to keep any of that from happening to the people I know and care about, i.e., my family, my friends, my business associates and my customers — you.

But of course, I don't mean the mundane risks we take every day, the ones we don't think about because we can't see their potentially life-changing effects (even when they are there) because we have become so inured to them.

What I am really talking about are the big ones, the ones that we know are big and that we face only a handful of times in our lives, the ones that we may even know can make us, or even break us.

Of course I don't want to suggest that there aren't at least a few guidelines one can use to evaluate these risks.

Certainly, if a potential outcome is very positive and the potential downside is very limited, that's probably a risk worth taking. And contrarily, if the potential downside is great, but the upside is relatively modest, many would rightfully question the wisdom of taking that kind of risk.

With some thought, of course we can all take calculated risks, considering our finances, our circumstances, our strengths and weaknesses, our health, our relationships and our sense of fulfillment.

All that said though, there really are no magic wands or crystal balls that can tell us what risks are right for us, or are worth taking, or when.

Still, it is worthwhile to remember that not stepping up to the challenges in our lives can sap our spirits, drain our energies and make our own personal worlds smaller, darker, flatter and far less fulfilling.

So … if you've had any trouble taking risks up until now, or have had any trouble with having faith in yourself, or in investing in yourself, I hope you will think seriously about the potential rewards of risk, and not just the perils.

As we all know life doesn't come with any guarantees, except, maybe, for one. When death comes, it is not likely to be the chances we took that we will regret, but the ones we realize we should have taken.

Are you going to be okay if what you remember most about your life are the missed opportunities, the times when you plodded along in safety and listened to your fear?

Or are you going to feel a lot more okay about your life knowing that when it really mattered, you went for it? Sure, maybe, sometimes losing — but sometimes winning wonderfully even against the odds?

So what are you willing to risk? If not now, when?

Remember, your time on this Earth is limited. Are you going to look back one day and wonder what your life might have been? Or are you going to put yourself out there, put your dreams on the line and go for it … while the achievement of at least some of those dreams is still a possibility, while you still have the chance?

But if you've yet to take advantage of what article marketing can provide for your business, you're missing out. It proved itself years ago, and it still does wonders for your business today. It is not only an effective method for traffic generation, it has other benefits as well.

Given the dynamic nature of the internet and online marketing, it's not surprising that there are so many ongoing innovations, some worthwhile and some not.

There's always something new having an impact on how marketing and advertising are done on the net, but article marketing remains extremely effective. It can still give exceptional results if you're willing to put in the work.

Of course you will still need to work and do things the right way.

Here are just 3 of the many benefits to be found in article marketing:

• Your articles can be immediately accessed by people from hundreds of different countries.

People from all over the world can find your articles and visit your website. You are not limited by miles, national borders or time zones. Article marketing can be used for promoting any type of product or service to people everywhere.

• Another major advantage to article marketing are the relevant backlinks you can accumulate if your article gets published by a directory and as your articles subsequently get republished on different sites on the web. You will get traffic directly from all the instances of the republished article as well as from the rising rank of the article and its relevant links in the search engines.

Further, the sites that republish any given article will nearly all be relevant to your topic.

That is an important point — relevant and targeted backlinks can help improve your search engine ranking quite a bit.

So not only do you gain all these advantages from such articles (when they are of high enough quality to circulate widely), none of it will require any additional work or expense on your part.

• Last but certainly not least, one of the most obvious benefits of article marketing is that your targeted audience will begin to see you as a guide, or even an expert, that they can rely on.

The effectiveness of article marketing has withstood the test of time, and it doesn't seem to be going anywhere any time soon. The results can be very powerful, if done right — results that have staying power.

Of course the new approaches can have merit, too. But if you haven't given article marketing the attention it deserves, let this post be the impetus (the kick in the pants) that helps get you going.

It is my firm belief that, if you are willing to learn how to do it right and are willing to put in the work, you won't be disappointed in the results.

Don't judge me now; I love music of almost every kind.

And I'm thinking about how so much of the internet marketing niche is about giving you information in theory … then adding in some imagery and lots of enthusiasm mixed with a few endorsements and some scarcity claim that you just know (usually) isn't true …

But it's all about hope, isn't it. While there's hope, there's life, or maybe the other way around. I don't remember now how it goes.

Anyway, someone used to say something like that, and it's true. With every new product, with every new training course, with every new sales letter, the newbie hopes: maybe this is the one that will put me over the top, help me build that beautiful life I've always dreamed of …

But that's not how it works. That's called good copy writing. It's called marketing. But anyone who's been around a little while knows that's not how it goes.

A recent disagreement I had with an associate illustrated (for me at least) how tenuous a little wisdom in this business can really be.

How many products and courses out there are actually excellent, but if and only if you already have a large list? Or if and only if you already have fifty or a hundred or a thousand profitable web sites up and running smoothly? Or if and only if you already have a wide network of contacts you can joint venture with? Or if and only if you already have a lot of cash to sling around (excuse me, I mean "invest") on advertising or outsourcing?

How many? A lot. A whole lot of those products and courses are excellent, or if not excellent, per se, at least potentially profitable, if they happen to apply to you and your business and are exactly what you need at the moment.

Just for example (in case my point isn't entirely obvious to everyone) if you already have a thousand successful cash sites and some product or strategy increases your traffic or conversions by only 2%, it can still mean a considerable amount of increased revenue.

But how many of these same products and courses are essentially useless, too? I hope we all know the answer to that.

Because if you don't have those, er, prerequisites already mentioned … well, exactly how much does 2% more of nothing amount to?

(My math skills aren't what they used to be, but I don't think it's very much.)

Let me just pause and say a much-needed vacation might prove a far better investment for many.

And this is one of the reasons those new to the business become so jaded. They become convinced everything's a sham, i.e., it's all a con.

And unfortunately, in a lot of cases, they're not exactly wrong.

Because too many online marketers use the one-size-fits-all approach to their promotions. It's not exactly the shotgun approach. It's more like the Gatling-gun approach (if you'll allow me that very antiquated reference).

It's like they think to themselves, if I just fire everything out there something will hit a target buyer, and who really cares whether that particular customer needs it or not … ?

But it's no wonder they do it that way. It's tempting. It's easier, and internet marketing is often tough enough work as it is.

(Yes, for all you newbies, sometimes it's easy, and you make some major money and you make it fast, but more times than not, there's a whole bunch of work behind those moments …)

In any case, the Gatling-gun approach isn't serving those new to the industry very well, is it? Because it takes considerable time and experience just to begin to understand what is and is not appropriate to one's current needs, goals, effort, understanding and so forth.

Of course, I've promised something a little different, haven't I?

How's it going so far? Not as well as I'd hoped. I've asked some on my list two or three times now to write to me and tell me a little bit about their goals, their experience (and all that aforementioned so forth stuff) — but, though many have opened and read these emails, very few have actually taken me up on the offer.

It's too bad. Because I can't very well help most of them so long as I don't have any idea what most of them need.

And maybe that's why I've been more about warnings lately, instead of recommendations …

Warnings are useful of course, but suppose I know something that would benefit you, i.e., my list member, and I'm just keeping it to myself because of this feeling that I just don't know what you need … ?

So, if you join my list, please consider this an invitation. An important one. A sincere one. Write to me. Tell me how it's going. Tell me what you need. Even if you don't know, tell me what you at least think you may need.

Well, with much of the above in mind, I will be recommending some things soon, i.e., in my next email to my list, coming very soon. It will be what I believe are truly worthwhile recommendations for those on my list who:

• are just getting started;

• are still very confused or haven't found or understood the big picture yet;

• have seen the big picture, but are having trouble with all the details;

• have up to now been too afraid to invest anything in their dreams and truly begin to get their feet wet.

And I do encourage those who feel comfortably experienced at this, please keep in mind: I am not recommending these products to you.

I'll get to that too sometime soon, but not in my very next email.

Until then, consider signing up to my list. And watch out for all the shiny new objects all over the road. You generally want to steer around those #%&@! things …

I don't know about you, but sometimes it starts to sound a little absurd. Doesn't it? Kinda like this:

#

Here's a way to make HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of dollars online, and it only takes a few days to implement!

-

But wait, here's a way to make MILLIONS online, and it takes only a few hours to set up and then works automatically year round while you're on vacation!!

-

But wait, here's a way to make BILLIONS online and REVERSE TIME AND GROW YOUNGER while I do all the work for you…!!!

#

Okay, I'm exaggerating. I admit it. I haven't heard any hype lately that goes quite that far. But close. Yep, kinda close.

(I know, I know. You wait eagerly with the greatest of expectations for each and every precious word I post (right? I mean your very destiny hangs in the balance), and it's been way too long between posts — but I've been BUSY! And better eventually than never, right?)

But anyway, putting my delusion of grandeur aside (just for the moment), it's Monday, the start of a new work week! So let's ignore all the hype for a sec and get serious. Here's how to make money, online or off:

• Get in touch with your passion. Find a related need and fill it. Unless you are mentally ill, no matter what your passion is, it is very likely that someone out there has made a successful business out of it — or something closely related. Why not you? Why be halfhearted? Why not be passionate instead? Especially since much of your success (or failure) may depend on it.

• Develop a clear and compelling vision of your business goals. Know what you are setting out to accomplish. If you have a clear vision of what you want to achieve, you are already ahead of 95% of the competition. If you don't, you're already falling behind. If you are pursuing goals you haven't even defined, you are wasting your time and energy.

• Do. Take action. Do the work. At your first inkling that you may be over-educating and over-preparing, stop. Then do what you already know. Just do it. Now. Don't be afraid to fail. Fail fast and fail often. Learn by those failures and enjoy them. Enjoy them? Yes! Celebrate! Jump up and down, do a little dance and pat yourself on the back. Heck, go ahead and gloat. With every failure, you're learning and growing! Learn to understand and appreciate that.

• Understand the power of your own mind. Don't hope for success. Expect it. Positive expectation is far more powerful than hope. Unlike hope, expectation does not include a consideration of the possibility of failure. Be positive, stay positive, pursue positive. Avoid negative people and negative influences and negative self-talk. Focus on developing strong belief in yourself and your vision. Remember the vision? Focus on that, not on what you are having to go through to get there. Know that the vision is worth it.

• But keep initial day-to-day expectations realistic. Stop striving for perfection. If you're just starting out, start out walking, begin small, be patient.

• But be prepared and willing to learn and grow and run.

• Don't be afraid of the competition. Today's competition may be tomorrow's customer or partner.

• Network with successful people, and remember, companies don't do business with one another, people do.

• Know your subject. Don't scatter your attention too broadly.

• Refocus daily on your top two or three goals, and stick with that focus until you are sure you have maximized potential.

• But be flexible. If something isn't working, be willing to change course, even be willing to re-envision and refocus if necessary. Be willing to cut your losses. If a strategy is failing, drop it. Move on.

• Be willing to invest — your time, your energy, your money — whatever you have. And be willing to outsource. Unless you enjoy and get a great deal of satisfaction out of the work, outsource what is not making you money or drop it, and spend the majority of your time and energy on what is.

• Document your successes. Any approach that works has the potential of becoming a system. Systems are easily repeatable. Replication of a successful, working system will often be the best possible return on your investment. But don't be afraid to tweak and test the system. Just because it works doesn't mean it can't be improved over time.

• Celebrate your successes, too (not just your failures) — but be willing to re-invest. Sure, go ahead and reward yourself for a job well done. You deserve it. But don't be too eager for lavish celebrations that will simply eat up your earnings. Re-invest a reasonable portion to ensure your long-term success.

• Work steady but stay balanced. Balance your work and your schedule. Don't lose sight of who and what all the hard work and money are for. Be willing to take time off for your health, and your family and friends, and (sometimes) just to play.

That's it. Everything else is a tool. There are useful ones and useless ones and all-shiny-and-new ones, but they are all nothing more than tools.

And we're all just tools when we let ourselves believe anything else.

Let's all try to help each other remember that.