Tanya Black.com

It’s been a while.  Pardon my ineptitude.  The second edition of ‘The Paperdoll’ went out today.  If you’re not yet signed up to the newsletter, you can grab your copy here. (Right click and select ’save as’ as it’s a PDF file).

This month’s edition features:

The Barnum Effect: How our self perceptions affect our decisions and the commonalities of what we perceive based on how it is presented.

Drupal: An Open Source Content Management system (article below)

Mastermind Groups: Are the still relevant?

DRUPAL

This month I’ve been learning the art of Drupal.

Most of my regular readers will be familiar with my great obession with Open Source software.  For those who aren’t, I’ll give you a brief description of what Open Source is:

Wikipedia describes Open Source as : an approach to the design, development, and distribution of software, offering practical accessibility to a software’s source code.

Distributed under the GPL License Agreement, Open Source offers the benefits of being ‘free’ to the end user, and the flexibility of further development from either yourself if you are so inclined or by use of modules and additions supplied by the supporting community.

Open Source is gaining momentum and its strengths lie in the supporting communities that embrace these software alternatives.

I find the strength of these communities gives Open Source software an advantage over commercial software.  Bugs are reported quickly and solutions offered by the community.  The platforms are more flexible as the community embraces the software and tailors it specifically to meet their requirements.  Many of these members then share their work with others and the support forums and documentation provides the end user with the ability to rapidly learn and apply systems that may have otherwise been very difficutly to achieve on their own.

I’ve tried several Open Source platforms and many of them have surpassed expectations.
Wordpress -  a blogging platform with a strong community and many additional modules.
Zen Cart- a flexible Shopping Cart
Audacity – Desktop Software for Audio
Joomla – a Content Management System with a strong community and modules available
Mambo- similar to Joomla

The problems I have encountered to date have been in finding the exact combination and solution to offer all the functionality I require whilst still being easy to maintain.

My existing website is run on a Wordpress blog and a Zencart and my mailing list through phplist.

The stylesheets were configured manually to provide a seamless integration.  This is a lot of work for what I wanted to achieve so I have been trialling other solutions and have finally discovered the wonders of Drupal.

Drupal is a Content Management System that is in a complete league of its own.  Joomla and Mambo are often seen as the two front-runners in CMS platforms but I found they were very confusing and had a lot of ‘stuff’ that I just didn’t need and this also caused confusion for the end user.

Drupal is more flexible in that it is a modular platform that allows role specific applictions and allows you to configure what different ‘roles’ see. 

For example, I can create an admin panel for the administrator (the website owner), where they can update their blog and items etc, without having to see what the ‘master’ user sees – ie: site development menus.

Guests can view different content to ‘authenticated users’ or registered users.

The users have a single login and don’t have to duplicate across platforms. Drupal has a passionate community and the documentation and help systems are some of the best I’ve seen.

The other advantage is the Search Engine modules.  Drupal allows clean URL’s (ie, keyword rich), and allows you to specify your own URL path using the ‘paths’ module.

You can build virtually any site adding only the modules that you need for your site. 

Some of the functions available with the modules are:

Shopping Cart
Blog
Newsletter
Integrated RSS Feeds
Polls
Surveys
Social Networking
Forums

The downside is that there is a learning curve.  You will need to know some html and a little about CSS if you want to build your own themes. 

There are also a few concepts and terminology to get your head around but once you’ve learned them, the flexibility and trade off for you time are well worth it.

I’m in the process of completing my first Drupal site which will be up shortly, and will then be followed by integrating my own site across to the Drupal platform.

Further information is available at : http://www.drupal.org or by doing a Google search which will give you endless free tutorials.

I love free stuff!

…now on a personal note…If you’re after a bit of mood lifting motivation, I’ve uploaded the video of my eldest son learning to ride his bike last week. He didn’t get upset once when he fell off.  He just dusted himself off and had another go…

Enjoy

COPYRIGHT NOTICE: All work on this site is the original material of Tanya Black and www.tanyablack.com. Tanya gives her permission for this work to be quoted or distributed in either part or its entirety on the condition of this citation being quoted in full

An entertaining guidebook for managing the crossroads we all face at some point in our lives. ‘It’s Your Life’ draws on business principles to help you decide what you want, why you want it and how to get it and is presented as a series of fun short stories to illustrate the concepts.
Tanya frequently updates her blog and publishes a monthly e-zine “The Paper Doll”. Tanya’s book can be purchased here.

I am very fortunate to have the mother I do. She taught me the value of money, how to budget, save, invest and more importantly, how to challenge myself. I spent my teenage years renovating houses and learning how to paint, tile, run wires, plaster and strip wallpaper. At the time, it didn’t seem like the best way to be spending my down time, but I now value it as an apprenticeship.

I often discuss finances and teach my own children about money, how it’s earned and how it works. Last week, I was telling them about my upcoming exhibit at Somaspace and they were very interested. They asked losts of questions and wanted to contribute a piece themselves.

I set up their canvases and watched as they lovingly applied every stroke. They were so focused on making sure these paintings were perfect because they considered them to be the most important paintings they’d ever done. They didn’t place the importance on exhibiting their work though, I’d told them that if they sold their paintings, they could spend the money however they wanted (at which point they will get a tangible lesson in exchange rates and GDP).

The Bear - Dominic Black

All work will be sold via silent auction. If you wish to place an absentee bid on any of the exhibiting work throughout the month of September, please contact Lou at Bar Soma.

If you would like to purchase my work, arrange a private commission or have my work shown in your own exhibit, I am contactable via the contact form above.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE: All work on this site is the original material of Tanya Black and www.tanyablack.com. Tanya gives her permission for this work to be quoted or distributed in either part or its entirety on the condition of this citation being quoted in full

An entertaining guidebook for managing the crossroads we all face at some point in our lives. ‘It’s Your Life’ draws on business principles to help you decide what you want, why you want it and how to get it and is presented as a series of fun short stories to illustrate the concepts.
Tanya frequently updates her blog and publishes a monthly e-zine “The Paper Doll”. Tanya’s book can be purchased here.

Don’t you just love my ‘Yearbook’ photo.  If you haven’t had a go at Yearbook Yourself yet, have a crack it’s a lot of fun.

Many of my readers have suggested I add some video content to the site or YouTube.  Admittedly, I can be a little camera shy and have been avoiding it. 

Of course, if I’m going to be Wonder Woman and have my own action figure, I should take some measures to overcome this little bit of stage fright but to give you some insight into the inner workings of the mind of Tanya Black, I’ve decided to share with you my very first television appearance.

Hark back to 1988.  I’ve made no secret of my dark past as the school nerd.  Many have doubted me, but here I offer you conclusive evidence – my appearance on the ‘What is it?’ segment of ‘Wombat’ (a popular childrens’ telvision program from the 80’s).

I will try to offer something more recent soon, but this should tickle your funnybone and keep you laughing for a little bit.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE: All work on this site is the original material of Tanya Black and www.tanyablack.com. Tanya gives her permission for this work to be quoted or distributed in either part or its entirety on the condition of this citation being quoted in full

An entertaining guidebook for managing the crossroads we all face at some point in our lives. ‘It’s Your Life’ draws on business principles to help you decide what you want, why you want it and how to get it and is presented as a series of fun short stories to illustrate the concepts.
Tanya frequently updates her blog and publishes a monthly e-zine “The Paper Doll”. Tanya’s book can be purchased here.

Ergonomy optimization

For those of you who follow me on Facebook aswell, you’ll be aware of my artistic pursuits.

I’d like to invite everyone to join me at my first exhibit as a contributing artist to Somaspace at Bar Soma in Spring Hill (Brisbane) on the 2nd September.

Details and Facebook RSVP here

All of the works will be for sale for the duration of the exhibit (September). To download a copy of my exhibit pieces as a PDF, right click here and select ’save target as’.

I will shortly have a gallery and auction site set up on my website for other pieces as they become available. I had spent the bulk of this week building it but alas, a minor disaster without a backup prevailed and I must start again. So, unfortunately, I shan’t have it up in time for the exhibit but will try to get it up and running as soon as humanly possible.

The work being displayed will be sold via silent auction. If you wish to place an absentee bid on any of the exhibiting work throughout the month of September, please contact Lou at Bar Soma.

If you would like to purchase my work, arrange a private commission or have my work shown in your own exhibit, I am contactable via the contact form above.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE: All work on this site is the original material of Tanya Black and www.tanyablack.com. Tanya gives her permission for this work to be quoted or distributed in either part or its entirety on the condition of this citation being quoted in full

An entertaining guidebook for managing the crossroads we all face at some point in our lives. ‘It’s Your Life’ draws on business principles to help you decide what you want, why you want it and how to get it and is presented as a series of fun short stories to illustrate the concepts.
Tanya frequently updates her blog and publishes a monthly e-zine “The Paper Doll”. Tanya’s book can be purchased here.

Ergonomy optimization

Forbes has released its latest list of the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women.

What makes for a ‘powerful’ woman, you may ask?

Forbes quotes it’s ranking criteria as:

“Our annual ranking of the most powerful women in the world measures “power” as a composite of public profile–calculated using press mentions–and financial heft. The economic component of the ranking considers job title and past career accomplishments, as well as the amount of money the woman controls.”

As I aspire to be on this list within the next 10 years, I’ve decided to break it down into key selection criteria and have a little speculation of other notable women who might be my peers when I’ve made the cut.

As far as media weight goes, Politics, News Anchors and Oprah still rank quite highly.

My Local Forbes Peer Prediction in the Field of Media

I think Oprah’s been perched on that list for way too long. I think it’s time Kerry-Anne Kennerly took the podium. Whether she’s plugging a vacuum cleaner, being a human fly with Russell Crowe or interviewing a movie start, KAK’s got the goods.

My Local Forbes Peer Prediction in the Field of Politics

The bulk of the occupants of the list are based in the US, but close to home, former New Zealand Prime Minister, Helen Clarke, sits at number 56, so I’ll use her as the benchmark for my prediction for local politics.

I’m thinking my good friend Hajnal Ban can knock Helen from her spot. It’s inspiring to see women in politics which is an aggressive and very male dominated industry. Hajnal has just announced her intention to run for pre-selection for the new Federal seat of Wright in Queensland. I’m still a bit daft when it comes to the ins and outs of politics, but as far as personal character goes, I’d love to see more women like Hajnal as key decision makers. Could my girl be the first female Prime Minister of Australia? She’s certainly making waves, and takes the controversy in her stride. She’s also got great taste. Some of the best known First Ladie’s of the US out shone their husbands with their style and elegance.

The CEO’s and Corporates take dominance in the ‘Wealth’ category. These are the women I’m up against for my spot. I admire these women, many of whom also manage to have families and well balanced lives whilst maintaining the respect of their male peers in the boardroom.

My own strategy for global dominance is probably a little outside of the square but it’s a lot more fun than being the CEO of someone elses company.

Here’s my play… For many years I’ve been signing off my e-mails as Part-Time Superhero and Oracle of Wisdom. Well, I’ve covered the whole ‘Oracle of Wisdom’ thing with my book (which is fabulous by the way. You should buy it from here…you know you want to).

Once I’ve sold millions of copies of my book, I’ll use my new high profile contacts to do a bit of schmoozing and make all friendly-like with Joel Silver. We’ll be having a casual chat over coffee when I just happen to have the most amazing script for the Wonder Woman movie in my handbag.

Joel will scan the first page and look up at me in amazement and ask “Where did you get this incredible script?”, to which I shall respond nonchalantly, “Oh, I wrote it. It’s just a bit of a scribble really.” (It’s ok to tell a white lie now and then when it’s for the greater good of the planet.)

Joel will buy the script and suddenly take heed of my Amazonian proportions and offer me the lead role…Part-Time Superhero box is then checked.

Now with my dosh, I embark on the next move and gather together my mastermind group of eccentric inventors to create a cost effective alternative energy system that utilises existing technology. I then use my notoriety and marketing budget to spread the word and release the patent as a free-for-all, similar to the open source software I love so dearly.

I therefor effectively save the planet and proudly take my place on the Forbes Most Powerful Women list, and I’ll get Number One position because I’ll have my own action figure.  (Sure Hillary Clinton’s got the nutcracker, but an Action Figure is way cooler.)

Share your thoughts, what women do you know that you’d put in your Top Ten?

The Full Forbes list can be found here

Girl Power!

I had to put the Bill and Hill in here because they’re just too funny…

COPYRIGHT NOTICE: All work on this site is the original material of Tanya Black and www.tanyablack.com. Tanya gives her permission for this work to be quoted or distributed in either part or its entirety on the condition of this citation being quoted in full

An entertaining guidebook for managing the crossroads we all face at some point in our lives. ‘It’s Your Life’ draws on business principles to help you decide what you want, why you want it and how to get it and is presented as a series of fun short stories to illustrate the concepts.
Tanya frequently updates her blog and publishes a monthly e-zine “The Paper Doll”. Tanya’s book can be purchased here.

Ergonomy optimization

Feel free to share this post with your friends.  If you go to the original source article on my website, you can click on the ’share’ bar to share it on any of your social networks.

What is an Investment?

 When most people think of the word ‘investment’ they think of Stocks or Property.

 ‘An investment is a vehicle for creating cash flow or capital gain that delivers a return above the initial capital outlay.’

 The internet is becoming more widespread and is no longer limited to access via a desktop computer but is accessible anywhere in the world on any number of portable devices. In the last ten years, a new market has been emerging as investors and entrepreneurs are realising the value in ‘virtual’ property. 

There are several ways of investing on the internet. 

•  Buy & Hold Cashflow Generating Website Businesses
• Website Renovation and ‘Flipping’
• Domain Name Portfolio Investment for Capital Growth via Secondary Market Sales
• Domain Name Rentals and Leases
• Virtual Reality Games and Businesses

 How can a website or domain name be a viable investment when it has no ‘tangible’ asset value?

Virtual Property, much like Real Estate is in limited supply. Yes, you can register a domain name for little outlay, but when it comes to establishing an online profile, the subject of branding is where the real value lies. When most people think of a website, they think of the extension ‘.com’.  This is referred to as a Top Level Domain. 

 As there are only a limited number of words in the dictionary, most of the best .coms have been taken. By having a common search term in the domain name itself, you can increase the traffic to your website as many people still type the search word followed by .com directly into the address bar.

There are other top level domains such as .net, .org and .info, but the generic standard that takes prime position is .com. Some other highly valued domains are on par with .coms, however they are usually restricted in their ownership to the citizenship or base of the business concerned. For example,  Australia’s ‘.com.au’ and the United Kingdom’s ‘.co.uk’ are showing a solid growth in their demand also.

Markets

 Secondary Market Sales

 As investors are starting to see the value in the accumulation of a Domain Name Portfolio, several markets have started gaining momentum as a means for investors to make a profit from their Domains. One that has been around for some time is the Secondary Market or ‘Aftermarket’. There are several sites dedicated to selling and auctioning Domains and recent sales figures show that this can be a lucrative investment stream. -I use two main sites.  I like SEDO as it seems to have the largest market share but also has the most user friendly platform.  The other service I use is TDNAM (Top Domain Name After Market) which is operated by Godaddy.  The advantage of this site is that it brings in a lot of traffic from GoDaddy
which is the key player in Domain registrations.

Search the largest database for used domain names

Site ‘Flipping’

 Many newcomers to internet investing give up as soon as they see that whilst there are significant opportunities to make cash-flow and capital gains online, there is an enormous learning curve when it comes to planning, producing, developing and maintaining the site as well as monetising the site for passive cash-flow. There are many spruikers selling their overpriced kits on how to make money on the internet, but even using these kits will reveal the amount of work and dedication involved in just getting the site off the ground. 

 As a result, many of the more internet savvy developers have bought poorly built sites on the secondary market, ‘renovated’ them by optimising them for better traffic and conversions and on-sold them to investors who simply want a low maintenance cash-flow stream without the outlay involved in stock trading or property.

The developer gets a quick capital return and the investor buys a positive cash-flow investment. There are several sites that sell secondary market cash-flow websites. By building a portfolio of cash-flow websites, you can replace your income with little maintenance.

If you have some internet know-how, this can be a lucrative income stream.  Some thing that I do for ease of transfer is to host the domain and the site on their own hosting account and transfer it to the new owner.  The most cost effective host I have found and the one I use myself is BlueHost.  The advantage of using their service is if you want to build the sites as add-on domains, you have unlimited domains and you get the most benefits for the least outlay.

 Renting and Leasing

 Another strategy is to invest in the long-term income potential of your Domain via a ‘buy and hold’ strategy and leasing the Domain to another business. The value of a Domain increases over time due to the natural growth in the market as well as other optimisation techniques such as more traffic being driven to a site or and increase in inbound links thus increasing the income potential of the Domain.

 As the market tightens and the cost of obtaining a good quality Domain on the secondary market continues to increase, newcomers to the internet are limited in their options of establishing their web presence, therefore renting or leasing a domain name is a much more cost effective option than laying out a significant amount of capital upfront. Leases can be negotiated by several sites that specialise in this or via private contractual arrangements and can vary from short term arrangements to long term leases similar to commercial property.

Valuing a Domain or Website

 Having a professional web presence is considered a fundamental expectation of any business plan. By utilising a secondary market Domain, you can take advantage of any existing traffic generation and search engine optimisation already in place and have an established market as soon as you launch your site.

 The value of a domain is similar to that of property. Whilst in property it’s all about ‘location, location, location’, in the virtual world it’s all about ‘traffic, traffic, traffic.’ The main traffic generation strategy is to optimise your site for search engine rankings. The optimal position for the best traffic is to get on the first page of search results for the keywords and search terms you have chosen. 

 Some domains have previously been used for sites that are no-longer active or have lapsed, yet they still have other sites linking to them and in turn generating traffic. There are several sites where you can check the amount statistics for a Domain name. Other variables that can increase the value of a Domain or Website for either lease or sale are:

•  High Ranking Keywords in the Domain Name
• Short and Memorable Domains
• Brandable Domains that don’t breach existing copyrights
• A clean Domain history (Has the domain previously had a dubious website on it or been banned on any search engines for illegal traffic tactics or other offences)
• Niche Specific Domains (domains that cater to a particular audience)
• Locality specific Domains

These are the specific ‘face value’ variables to consider. If you are buying a completed and functioning website, other variables and statistics need to be considered to ensure that you are making an educated decision with your purchase.

Statistics:

• Existing links to the site
• Unique Visitors
• Page views
• Growth Rates over Time
• Recent Sales history of similar Domains
• How much traffic comes from Direct Input (natural traffic)
• How much traffic comes from Search Engines
• Keyword Popularity
• Page Rank –  (Google assigns a ranking system to a page which is a good measure of the site’s content and search engine optimisation and ranking)
• Financial Figures  
• Does the site have any existing figures, a profit and loss statement? 
• What are the ongoing costs? 
• What is the Return on Investment? 
• How many monetisation streams does the site have? 
•  Affiliate Income
• Merchant
• .        Advertising
• .        Membership Sites
• .        Newsletter Subscriptions
• Maintenance Required for on-going revenue streams  

The site should either suit your level or expertise or offer a low cost alternative that will ensure it remains cash-flow positive

• Level of Expertise required to operate the site  

Can you maintain the site yourself?  How much time will it take?

• Business Plan and other procedural Documenation  

If you are going to maintain the site, does it come with a hand-over period for training or is there support or procedural documentation. You are buying a business so it is vitally important that if the site is one that requires on-going maintenance, you should have the skills required to do this.

 Things to avoid:

•  Dashes     (Dashes can be viable top level domains but the ones without always have a higher degree of natural traffic)
• Numbers instead of Words unless this is a part of your offline business branding
• Don’t buy it if it’s not a business you would do personally  

Stick with your ethics. If you wouldn’t participate in an industry i.e: gambling or adult content – even if it is a profitable market, stay away from it.

These are just some of the things to consider when you are looking at investing in the web.  If you have an existing bricks and mortar business, it may be cheaper to buy an existing site with links and traffic and simply modify it with your own branding as some sites can cost thousands of dollars to develop.

As with any business or investment, it pays to do your homework.  If you’re a bit eager to get in straight away, to find secondary market domains, or to sell your own, click on the search box below.  Sedo can also appraise your domain if you are not sure what it’s worth.

Search the largest database for used domain names

Enjoy your day

Tanya Black

COPYRIGHT NOTICE: All work on this site is the original material of Tanya Black and www.tanyablack.com. Tanya gives her permission for this work to be quoted or distributed in either part or its entirety on the condition of this citation being quoted in full

An entertaining guidebook for managing the crossroads we all face at some point in our lives. ‘It’s Your Life’ draws on business principles to help you decide what you want, why you want it and how to get it and is presented as a series of fun short stories to illustrate the concepts.
Tanya frequently updates her blog and publishes a monthly e-zine “The Paper Doll”. Tanya’s book can be purchased here.

A few of my readers have messaged me this last week to see if I’m still alive.  I have been a little slack on my blog posts over the last month but I assure you I haven’t been in the Bahamas, I’ve been diligently working on my systems manuals.

Anyone whose read a business book or owned their own business will tell you that the great success of any business lies in how well it’s documented and how easily it can be taught to another person.  Duplication, leverage and outsourcing are what makes a business operate smoothly.

This year I’ve compulsively researched, analysed and applied a multitude of systems, tested and measured them and finally come up with my owm little formula for what I want to achieve and the quickest and most efficient way to get there. 

I’ve learned everything I need to write and communicate clearly, and also as much as I can on current web development and optimisation techniques and have to date been operating on a series of cut and paste notes and mind maps.

As my next book is quite heavy on the content, I felt it was time to create a more formal structure to my processes and rollout before getting started. 

The last six weeks have been spent collating, sorting, indexing, categorising, cutting, simplifying and documenting every system and process I need to duplicate the entire process of research, writing, editing, typesetting and publishing as well as the marketing and web development processes.

So far I’m about half way through.  Meanwhile I’m still eating baked beans and have been tempted to go back into marketing mode but I know the value of what I’m doing will be worth more in the long run. 

I’m still a one woman show but I also know that when I’ve built the systems, the jobs that I want to outsource can be managed with a much smoother transition when the time comes to train someone else in taking over aspects of those roles.

So whilst I’m not in the Bahamas just yet, rest assured it’s on the masterplan, and yes, there is a system and process for that too…

• work out for 3 months
• buy sexy bikini
• take a quick trip along the Amalfi Coast
• meet hot 6ft Italian
• holiday to Bahamas
• live happily ever after in passive solar, self sustaining strawbale mansion on acreage with vege garden, orchard an art studio

If you haven’t got systems and processes for your business or your life, fear not, the process isn’t half as scarey as you’d think.  I’ve got a brilliant system in my book – you should buy it here..  Consider it a $30 investment and the returns on it will be well worth the effort and time if you apply even half of the techniques.

…end shameless plug…

Enjoy your Day

Tan xx

COPYRIGHT NOTICE: All work on this site is the original material of Tanya Black and www.tanyablack.com. Tanya gives her permission for this work to be quoted or distributed in either part or its entirety on the condition of this citation being quoted in full

An entertaining guidebook for managing the crossroads we all face at some point in our lives. ‘It’s Your Life’ draws on business principles to help you decide what you want, why you want it and how to get it and is presented as a series of fun short stories to illustrate the concepts.
Tanya frequently updates her blog and publishes a monthly e-zine “The Paper Doll”. Tanya’s book can be purchased here.

Ergonomy optimization

They’re kind of like the Laws of Attraction, but in this case, you’re actually doing something. 

Last night I attended the Brad Sugars seminar I mentioned in my earlier posts and it was one of the most entertaining seminars I’ve attended.  Brad has a philosophy that if it’s not fun, you’re not doing it right.

I’ll cover some key points from the evening.  I won’t divulge the 28 steps he outlines – you’ll have to attend a seminar for that, but I’ll give you some of the highlights:

• Learn how to play the game of business or it will play you
• Business runs in seasons.  Familiarise yourself with the seasons and learn the business and marketing strategy to optimise each to their advantages – or as the old adage goes “Make hay while the sun shines”
• A quote from Brad’s father “Never argue with an idiot.  You just create Two.”
• Never apologise for seeking and gaining success.  Australians particularly like to tear down anyone who appears ’showy’.  I love that Brad doesn’t apologise for his wealth or hide it.  He enjoys spending on his lifestyle and there’s something sassy about a man who has Sand of Diamonds hourglass cufflinks
• If you don’t recognise and take advantage of opportunities and circumstances – someone else will
• Establish mutliple streams of income and lead generation
• The Australian market is one of the most difficult to crack.  Our taxation system in one of the highest and most complex and our psychological dynamic is very different to many other cultures.  If you can crack the Australian market, think globally and spread your wings
• Take responsibility for your actions and choices – This is a philosophy  I often get on my soap box about but one that so many people just don’t get.  Sure it’s easier to point the finger and blame your shortfalls and failures on others or circumstances but this one little element is what will dictate whether you are in control of your life or if your life is in control of you
• Build your business to do anything you want – Establish your lifestyle goals first, then build your business around that
• Take Risks – Risks aren’t risky if you educate yourself and plan properly
• It’s not hard to run a business – it’s hard to learn to run a business
• Nothing stands still in business – Your business is either growing or dying
• Gratitude and Celebration – Allow yourself rewards and treats along the way.  Celebrate your achievements and Celebrate Life.
• Don’t give a shit about other people’s opinions of you.  Everyone’s entitled to their opinion.  Just get on with your work and let them continue with whatever it is they’re doing or not doing.
• Surround yourself with bigger fish.  Don’t be the big fish in the small pond.  Take the Henry Ford approach and get specialists to take care of what they do best
• Review your plan every 90 days – A business plan is a living document
• Take the time to plan before taking ACTION
• Aim to be the best.  Why would you go into business if you don’t want to be the best?
• Work harder on yourself than you do on your job – Jim Rohn
• Create your life
• You should aim for an end result of putting less in to get out more
• You never get more money than you know how to take care of
• Know the Lifetime Value of your Customers
• Where are your customers coming from?
• Be specific – when setting goals, creating systems, forecasting and budgeting, profiling your audience and writing your advertisements
• Build Relationships – use the internet and social media to build lifetime relationships with your clients
• Take Action

The last one is the other one that people often overlook because they allow themselves to be overwhelmed. 

I caught up with Brad after the seminar.  We’ve been speaking via email and Facebook this year and it was great to finally meet him in person.  Some people have seen me associating with Brad quite a bit on Facebook as I often quote his business philosophies, and they have all had their 5 cents to say about him. Finally getting some facetime has only strengthened my opinion.

When someone offers me an opinion, I run it through two filters.  The first filter is “Sometimes what someone says about another person says more about themselves,” and my second filter is to judge only by my personal experience.

In both of these instances and having seen Brad as a speaker in action, I’d have to say, I’m happy with my choice of mentor, and would recommend that if there are any seats left for the rest of the tour, to get along to see one of the world’s most engaging speakers on the subject of business and life management. 

He doesn’t blow smoke up your arse, he calls it as he sees it and actually gives you practical steps you can use to apply to your business straight away.

Thanks for a great night Brad.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE: All work on this site is the original material of Tanya Black and www.tanyablack.com. Tanya gives her permission for this work to be quoted or distributed in either part or its entirety on the condition of this citation being quoted in full

An entertaining guidebook for managing the crossroads we all face at some point in our lives. ‘It’s Your Life’ draws on business principles to help you decide what you want, why you want it and how to get it and is presented as a series of fun short stories to illustrate the concepts.
Tanya frequently updates her blog and publishes a monthly e-zine “The Paper Doll”. Tanya’s book can be purchased here.

Ergonomy optimization

This morning I’ve been pondering with a friend of mine who is rebranding her business so I thought I’d share with you some of my suggestions as this one comes up quite a lot and many people get a bit lost when they hit this stumbling block.

I ran some keywords using a Search Engine Optimiser because sometimes that comes up with some good ideas. The products of her business are related but also very different treatments. It was tricky coming up with an effective name without being too generic.

So I’ve come up with two options.

Behind Door Number one – pick your highest return product, focus on that as your feature product – i.e. specialty and then have the rest as add-ons for your upsell. Otherwise you have to go for more generic terms or something that doesn’t have the same impact. Yeah, I know BORING!

The other way to go would be to use a make up word with strong branding potential and put the descriptive in your tagline and logo. An example is the name of my old cafe “Domelli’s” That was from my kids name, Dominic and Elijah and then an extra ‘l’ in it to make it look Italianish.

Think of makeup words you could use by meshing names or places together. Then come up with your memorable descriptive tagline and logo. This is the easier method because it gives you more impact and you’ve got more words to play with in a tagline.

Failing that, people love boobs. If you just put boobs somewhere in your ads, most men don’t give a hoot what the brand or ad says and women have a healthy appreciation for scoping each others boobs. Yes, boobs can sell anything.

Well that’s my constructive business advice for today.

Have a good one

Tanya

COPYRIGHT NOTICE: All work on this site is the original material of Tanya Black and www.tanyablack.com. Tanya gives her permission for this work to be quoted or distributed in either part or its entirety on the condition of this citation being quoted in full

An entertaining guidebook for managing the crossroads we all face at some point in our lives. ‘It’s Your Life’ draws on business principles to help you decide what you want, why you want it and how to get it and is presented as a series of fun short stories to illustrate the concepts.
Tanya frequently updates her blog and publishes a monthly e-zine “The Paper Doll”. Tanya’s book can be purchased here.

Ergonomy optimization

As a mother and someone who’s very community minded, I wanted to share with you the work of a friend of mine Chad Kolcze.  Chad has just released his first children’s book.  It’s about getting kids active and based in our very own Byron Bay.

Chad’s a very loving and devoted dad to his two children Maiso-Marlie (aborignal for surf-boy) and Tiger-lily and wrote the book when he noticed there weren’t many children’s books that had sport or encouraged boys to read.  He combined his own boyish adventures of skateboarding and surfing and his love of Byron into a book that has come out just last week.

Chad is yet another great example of someone following their passion and helping others on the way.

I got to read the book when it was a work in progress and loved it.  With the quirky rhymes and great illustrations, he could very well be Australia’s own answer to Dr Seuss.

To buy ‘Byron Bay Locals Skate Session’ or read about how to get your kids active, drop by the Active Kids website at www.activekidsbooks.com.  Support your local authors and encourage your kids to read and get active.

Great work Chad.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE: All work on this site is the original material of Tanya Black and www.tanyablack.com. Tanya gives her permission for this work to be quoted or distributed in either part or its entirety on the condition of this citation being quoted in full

An entertaining guidebook for managing the crossroads we all face at some point in our lives. ‘It’s Your Life’ draws on business principles to help you decide what you want, why you want it and how to get it and is presented as a series of fun short stories to illustrate the concepts.
Tanya frequently updates her blog and publishes a monthly e-zine “The Paper Doll”. Tanya’s book can be purchased here.

Ergonomy optimization