Author: Mark Adams

How to Decide on a Home Business for Parents?

woman, working, bed

Over the past year, many people have been affected by the devastating effects of the global pandemic, which left millions of people without jobs. This was a knock-on effect from the limitations imposed on businesses, forcing many to close their doors. We all saw firsthand how quickly things can change in the world, and affect our financial stability. These changes forced many people to redefine what financial freedom is and seek new ways to earn and secure their money.

Many parents found themselves stuck at home without work or sufficient income. This created a need to seek out home based business opportunities leading parents to look for ways to work from home, and still be able to assist their children with their schooling.

One trend that has happened since the pandemic is that people are purchasing more online than ever before. This is what Statistica states about the trend in e-commerce over the past few years:

“Over the last few years, e-commerce has become an indispensable part of the global retail framework. Like many other industries, the retail landscape has undergone a substantial transformation following the advent of the internet, and thanks to the ongoing digitalization of modern life, consumers from virtually every country now profit from the perks of online transactions.

As internet access and adoption are rapidly increasing worldwide, the number of digital buyers keeps climbing every year. In 2020, over two billion people purchased goods or services online, and during the same year, e-retail sales surpassed 4.2 trillion US dollars worldwide.”

Statistica goes on to explain the impact of the Pandemic on online retail:

“In June 2020, global retail e-commerce traffic stood at a record 22 billion monthly visits, with demand being exceptionally high for every-day items such as groceries, clothing, but also retail tech items.”

The pandemic and the global lockdown has motivated a massive shift in the economy that has changed the way we work, do business, and how our children learn.

The biggest challenge has been for parents working from home and having to educate their children. This has been both a challenge and an opportunity to find new solutions to new challenges.

It is a great time for anyone looking for opportunities to earn an income online. Everyone should start investing in digital skills and knowledge. The better you understand the digital world, the better you will understand how to build a business online. You will be in a stronger position to adjust to the strong digital transfermation that is taking place.

Where to Start?

There are a few ways to approach this answer. The simplest place to start is to list your passions and experience.

Let us dig into this question a bit deeper.

Start with Your Passion?

The easiest place to start is with things you passionate about? I will use an example to help you follow the process of establishing what your interests are, and how to dig deeper into those interests.

Lets say you have an interest in health and wellness. You might enjoy learning and sharing health tips to positively impact peoples lives.

Find sub-categories of your Passion

Now that you have settled on a passion, start brainstorming the various aspects of your passion. Break down the subject into sub-topics and exploreit further.

  • Healthy Foods
  • Supplements
  • Exercise Advise
  • Coping with Stress
  • Herbs
  • Treatments
  • Natural Remedies and more…

Once you’ve broken down the topic into sub-topics, take some time to research each one on Google, and see what products and services are available online. This will give you some perspective on what other people are doing.

How could you monetize Your Passion?

Once you have your lists, start brainstorming what products or services you could sell within each topic and sub-topic. Again, you might have to take some time to research this deeper.

For example, one of our sub-categories is Supplements. So you could find products that you’ve used or interest you and list them as possible products to sell or promote.

In this way, you could slowly structure a business plan around an interest you have. Once you have an idea of what field of interest you want to build your business around, you can then research the demand around those products. If your interest is something very unusual that isn’t in high demand, you might find it harder to grow your business.

Once you’ve decided what you want to do, the next big question is:

  • Are you going to create your own products?
  • Are you going to sell vendor products from an online store?
  • Are you going to promote affiliate products?

Depending on how you answer these questions is going to take you down a different path.

If you going to create your own products, the next question is:

Are you selling a digital product or a physical product?

PHYSICAL PRODUCT

You going to need to have to figure out the costs involved in creating that product in the volumes you need.

  • What kind of capital will you need to create your first amount of product?
  • You will need to know how profitable it will be to produce your product.
  • You need to know who your competition is and the demand for such a product.
  • You will need to know what the cost of shipping your product will cost.

Essentially you will have to do a lot of research and make sure you have the numbers in front of you and will need money upfront and take on all the risk if your business fails.

DIGITAL PRODUCT

  • What kind of digital product do you want to create?
  • What skills do you need to create your product?
  • Is it content based product?
  • Does it require coding and advanced technical skills?
  • Or are you selling your knowledge or skills?
  • What kind of capital will you need to create this product?
  • What is the possible sale price of your product?
  • What is the demand for your digital product?
  • How will you distribute your product?

You will have to do research to determine the viability and how to position your product against your competition, the deeper you go the better prepared you’ll be.

If you are ready to take action to build an online business I would highly recommend Six Figure Mentors, designed to help guide you through building your own business online with a step-by-step blueprint.

Good luck!

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The Best Ways to Learn Digital Marketing Online?

Often we don’t have the knowledge, skills, or experience to execute what we want to achieve. When it comes to starting an online business this is more often than not a reason many shy away from even starting. The digital world requires a unique set of skills and this can be a hurdle to overcome. We look at how you can learn digital marketing skills online, and why a mentorship program can save you time and money.

Here are four approaches to learning Digital Marketing?

1. Google It!

The simple way to learn anything these days is using Google to search for topics you are interested in. You will no doubt find a plethora of information at your fingertips. YouTube also can be a fantastic resource for learning about any subject in a visual way.

Disadvantages

One of the biggest challenges most people find when researching a broad topic is the accuracy and credibility of the information. One has to do thorough research and double or triple-check that everything people are sharing is true.

Another is fragmentation. The internet may be a library of information at your fingertips but it’s not organized. That means you will find yourself doing a lot of duplicate reading and watching to extract all the information you need. This can waste a lot of time and be very frustrating especially when learning new topics.

2. eBooks

Books are a great way to learn, they can present information in a way that is both organized and practical. In contrast to researching online, books can present information in a format that is more organized than researching online.

Disadvantages

Although books are a great way to learn, they are not for everyone and can be difficult to grasp concepts that are more technical. If you’ve ever tried to study a new subject and get to sections that you really struggle to understand it can be frustrating which often leads you to abandon your learning.

3. Online Courses

There are many online learning platforms that can help you get started in any subject. There are some platforms aimed at specific industries and many courses by people within certain professions selling courses based on their real world experience.

Disadvantages

An online course will give you a good foundation of knowledge but might not give you all the tools and steps to start building your own online business.

4. A Mentorship Program

A mentorship program is a consolidation of the above strategies into one organized system. It takes sound knowledge and presents it in a step-by-step way to help you through a preset learning path. This makes learning easier, structured and saves you time in figuring out what to do next. It also offers resources to expand your knowledge on subjects. On top of this, it offers a community of people that you can learn from and share with.

Disadvantages

A mentorship program will require commitment from your side to gain the maximum value and best results. Nothing is achieved without effort, and that is not actually a disadvantage but rather a requirement for learning any skill.

Do you feel stuck and need guidance in what to learn? Or do you want to find a better way to start on your path to digital freedom with a step-by-step guide to help you through the process?

Take a look at Six Figure Mentor’s program to see how they are helping people start and run an online business.

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How to spend your money to grow your wealth?

Unless you have unlimited financial resources, which is unlikely, you will no doubt find yourself reaching limits in the amount of money that you have available to spend. All of us have a salary or income that has a ceiling. This means that what you spend your money on, is probably the single most important choice you have to advance our financial independence. Every day, month, and year you have expenses that have to be paid. Some are fixed and others are variable. This will affect the amount of money you save or whether you even have any money to grow your wealth.

Make sure you have a budget in place, if you not sure where to start, check out our article: 8 Ways a Budget Helps Achieve Financial Success.

Assess your expenses and the value they add?

In order to control their finances, most people will resort to reducing their expenditure as a strategy to create savings. The problem with this methodology is that 9 times out of ten, by cutting expenditure you might well create a shortfall in another area of your life.

For example:

Let’s say you decide to cut spending on your mobile phone. So you cancel your contract and migrate to a pay-as-you-go service. Initially you save the dollars you were spending, but now you find that on your pay-as-you-go service, you have less capacity to communicate. On top of that, your costs are higher when phoning or using data.

This can happen for a variety of different expenses. This is why it is important to calculate the cost-saving vs the alternative cost for not spending on that service or product.

Another example:

You decide to move to a cheaper residence. It’s further from your work and from your children’s school. On paper it looks great, you going to save a packet of money. Then you move to your new apartment. Suddenly you see your fuel costs skyrocket. You didn’t factor in all the additional trips and extra driving required to do what you would usually do for less in less time.

Do a cost analysis before making financial decisions

The key is comparative cost analysis is to determine if your cheaper option is truly cheaper! There are always hidden costs and these need to be assessed or you might just find yourself spending even more than you budgeted.

If you decide to reduce expenditure on anything, assess how will this affect you. If it is a non-essential product or service you can live without, drop it! If you going to incur more costs in the long run by saving a buck now, then its not worth doing.

Ask yourself the following questions:

Do I need this product or service?
What will it affect if I don’t spend money on this?
What is this expense saving me in other areas?
What expenses will I incur by not having this?

Identify whichever expense you can live without and remove them from your list. Then consider investing the savings into areas where you need to build better resilience.

What other strategies could you use to build financial stability?

One option is, instead of obsessing about saving money, spend your money on things you know you always need. You know there are monthly expenses you cannot live without. Expenses like food and groceries, pet food, school fees, or whatever is an essential expense.

Instead of operating from fear and trying to save, focus on spending your money on what could save you down the line. Purchase more items you can’t live without.

For example:

You purchase one jar of coffee each month. So this month buy 2 or 3. Then do the same on other items you can afford, start small. The key is getting ahead of your expenses, you can’t get away from spending money, so use it to leverage capacity.

Wealth is not purely about how much money you have in the bank, wealth goes deeper than that. It is about capacity and what you can do:

  • How long can you live without needing income?
  • How long can you live on the resources you already have?

By being ahead of your expenses will give you the room you need to deal with the bigger financial issues, like paying up any debt. It will also allow you to save up for larger financial goals you might be working toward.

Break down your expenses into two sections:

Fixed Expenses: Expenses like rent, home loan, policies, etc. that have a fixed monthly amount

Variable Expenses: Expenses like groceries, fuel, entertainment, etc. that can fluctuate.

Now assess your variable costs and find opportunities to invest in areas that are critical.

  • Categorize your expenses from high to low.
  • Start with the lowest expenses first.
  • Assess which of these you could go without and commit to not spending money on them.
  • Now for one month invest in one or more of these items.

By investing in things you always need and having several months’ worth in stock will allow you to invest in other items next month.

You can repeat and apply this to higher and higher value items until you have grown your capacity to a point wherein a few months you can go a full month without paying for many or all of those items.

This will free up money for expenses that you are not able to currently afford. It could give you the needed sum of money to settle an outstanding account that has been pending for months!

Control Your Spending or you will Waste Money

Spending money is not the problem, we all have to spend money to purchase goods and services we need every month. The problem lies in how we choose to spend that money. If you spend it wisely and grow your investment in the things you need, you will make more money available for the things you truly want.

The true secret to growing your wealth is not necessary just increasing your income. It is even more important to evaluate how you are spending your money! Are your expenses growing your financial capacity or are you being wasteful in your spending?

How important do you thinking your spending decisions are in your progress to achieving financial success?

Want to learn more.

Check out our tips to improve your financial independence:

7 Strategies to Improve your Basic Financial Literacy

6 Great Alternative Investment Options To Supplement Your Strategy

What happens if you don’t have enough money for retirement?

How to Manage Two Jobs and a Family?

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How To Choose A Domain Name For Your Business?

In the old days, well, pre-internet age at least, the world was a different place. Going to the shop meant you would visit a local store and buy what you needed. Today you have the internet, and that has lead to a radical change in how you search, find, visit and finally purchase goods and services. You now build virtual businesses on a domain, which is a digital place where you place your website and this allows anyone from anywhere to immediately find your business!

What is a domain?

A domain is what you type into your web browser to go to a website. The full domain name of this website is:

launchdigitalfreedom.com

You also have what is called your TLD (or Top-Level-Domain) which is the last part of the domain, in our case:

com

There are many TLD names you could use for your domain, for example, if you operated a business in South Africa, your TLD could be :

co.za

The [co] stands for commerce.

And [za] stands for South Africa.

There are more and more Top-Level-Domain names being added, here are some that you might or might not have seen:

  • .art
  • .law
  • .biz
  • .info
  • .app
  • .dev
  • .coffee
  • and many more.

How to Choose a Domain Name for Your Business?

If you are starting an online business or even looking for a domain to setup a website for your local business, it is well worth having a look for available domain names with different TLDs.

This might help you stand out and if you select a clever domain name it could also become a great way to market your business as it is easy to remember or even just quirky, to grab people’s attention.

Another important consideration is using keywords that hold high ranking value in your domain name. This could offer your business an advantage over other domains if your website has good design and you apply proper Search Engine Optimization tactics to your content.

It’s a good idea to spend time thinking about how best to structure your domain name, and what other companies are using the same name on different TLDs. This will give you an idea of who your possible competition is if those businesses happen to sell the same products and services that you.

Where Do You Register A Domain?

Okay, so you ready to start doing your research and find the right domain for your business, where do you go?

Well, most internet service providers offer domain registrations and hosting, and its as simple as going to their website, and going to their domain or hosting pages and searching up domain names you have decided on.

They will be able to tell you straight away whether or not a domain is available. You will be able to immediately claim the relevant domain, but I suggest you don’t postpone purchasing it for too long, as domain names are in high demand. They are being registered all the time, the longer you wait the more chance you might just lose out on the opportunity to register the name you want.

Conclusion

Once you’ve registered your domain name you are ready to start planning your website and building the digital building that will house your content about your products and services. So don’t hesitate and register that domain you’ve been wanting to buy and start working on your new online business!

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How to get Started with Search Engine Optimization?

The internet is an unimaginable library of information and media. It’s a never-ending rabbit hole. An unrelenting landscape of information that can distract us from our lives. But it is also a fantastic resource of knowledge that we can use to grow what we know. Its fragmentation can keep you running in circles at times but it’s a treasure trove of anything and everything. And its here that the search engine is the indispensable tool that helps us find the information we are looking for. Its not only an enormous expanding index of information, but an intelligent tool that uses artificial intelligence to figure out what exactly you looking for and what information best suits your request.

Today our response to most questions is to Google it, and our phones are the primary device we use to search.

You see, search engines have become the interface for us to interact with the web and find what we want. So now lets flip that on its head for a moment and ask the question:

If I want to build my website for my online business so that people can find my content or website, how do you do that? Well, that leads us to Search Engine Optimization.

What is Search Engine Optimization or SEO?

In short it is the skill of structuring your website, content and building authority for your website. It includes both content related techniques and technical aspects that can enhance your websites content for search engines and help you rank higher.

Keywords the Sign Posts for Search Engines

One of the starting points for enhancing your SEO relevance is using words called keywords. These specific keywords can help to improve how Google ranks the content on your web pages. But it also helps search engines rank the relevance of your content in order for them to show your web page in the search results when people search for related information.

Keywords are like road signs to search engines. They give them an idea of what the content is about and help build a ranking for your content. Search engine use these keywords to understand your content and to position the content against other content using similar keywords. Google wants to show you the best content for your inquiry.

  • Each keyword has data about the amount of times its searched for monthly, called search volume.
  • Each keyword has a ranking difficulty, for how difficult it is to rank for that keyword in search engines.
  • Each keyword has a paid search ranking, for example how in demand that keyword is in demand to use for advertising.

Also to take keywords a step further, using longer phrase keywords can help rank for more specific search intent and qualify higher quality traffic as not everyone searching using a specific keyword will have the same intentions.

For example:

  • One person will use “dog” in there search query looking for dog related products.
  • Someone else might search to find images of dogs for a wallpaper?
  • Another person will search for dog breeds as they decide what kind of dog breed to buy.

A very important part of using keywords is not just the word, but the reason why they are using that word or phrase to search. This is referred to as “search intent”.

Keywords you can use to better rank your content the more effective your content will be, and the better it will rank. Unfortunately its not just as simple as loading keywords into your content and expecting your website to pop up on the first page of search engines. Keywords are critical part of writing content and is a critical aspect of SEO, but is definitely not where it ends.

There are numerous keyword tools available with a simple search on Google you’ll find many to try out.

One of the things that helps Google rank the importance of pages on your site is the number of internal links to a specific page. By linking internal pages allows for a better user experience and a quicker way to your content. This will improve the ability for visitors to get to your content and will allow Google to find your pages.

Another way to build authority for your site is back-links, they are links that come from other websites and can improve your SEO Ranking if those back-links have high SEO Rankings. You see, if high quality sites link to you then you gain SEO authority as Google will believe that those sites must regard your site as authoritative or trustworthy on some level.

Back-linking can come in various forms, for example:

  • A guest post on a magazine site, industry blog or news site.
  • A business directory you have listed your business on.
  • A suppliers page, or vendor you are registered with.
  • A local news blog.

Depending on your business and industry it might be more or less challenging to achieve some of these, with business listings being the easiest.

Be aware though, that you don’t want to list you business on any directory site, as there are many that have low quality content, SEO ranking and will negatively affect your SEO if they are not good sites.

Quality is always better than quantity. Take a look at the business directory site before diving in and listing your site. Often it is possible to determine a site quality by the layout and type of content, and the number of ads. If there are more ads than you can keep up with, it’s probably not going to do much to promote your business.

Social Media as an SEO Indicator

Social media can also affect your ranking on Google, for example, if you are very active on social media Google will rank your social media page when people search for you or services relating to your keywords.

Social Media will give you exposure and improve the traffic to your website. Sharing content from your website on your social media pages is a way to build visibility and to encourage people to visit your site. The more people share your content the better for your brand, or project. So in a way social media shares and mentions can be an indicator to Google of your popularity.

Conclusion

Search Engine Optimization is a highly technical field, but there are basic steps you can take to help improve how search engines see your content. If you want to improve your SEO on a deeper level you will need someone knowledgeable in the field to truly get into the technical aspects of your website. Hopefully, you know a little more about what SEO is and how you can begin to improve your website.

Want to grow your knowledge of Search Engine Optimization and how to grow your business online, I recommend the Six Figure Mentors program for learning and growing your business online. Take a look at what they offer, you can even sign up for free to get an overview of their program before committing to it.

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Affiliate Marketing as a Passive Income Source?

Everyone dreams of the “ultimate financial freedom” and making money while not working. It’s a dream we’ve all had, and well, probably constantly have! Unfortunately, many people online have realized this and take advantage of people, trying to sell them get rich quick programs. Today I will discuss affiliate marketing and how it can be a source of passive income. The truth is that to gain passive income you need to have invested in something! The money must come from somewhere and it can’t just fall out of the sky! There has to be some real value invested somewhere to gain a return.

Examples of passive income:

  • Dividends from stocks you’ve invested in.
  • Rental income from a property you own.
  • Profits from a business you own but don’t run directly.
  • Profit from renting goods you own.
  • Royalties from books, music, or any other intellectual property.
  • Income from ads generated through viewing your videos on YouTube.
  • Commission earned from promoting affiliate products.

Each one of the above examples is a passive income source! But as I’m sure you realize, none of these are get-rich-quick solutions, nor are they going to pay out income overnight. You have to put the time, money, and effort in to see a return down the line.

One of the ways to build passive income through the internet is by promoting affiliate products. It still requires, time, effort, and money but, requires far less than any of the other passive income strategies.

What is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate Marketing is promoting other people’s products in return for a commission. So when a visitor clicks on a banner promoting a product and purchases it from the vendor, you earn a commision.

Instead of selling the product directly to customers, you are acting as a gateway to the vendors products.

For example, one of the products I use myself is Six Figure Mentors. It is the program I have been using to help me build my affiliate marketing business. This program offers me many resources that I find incredibly useful and has saved me a stack of time.

It offers me educational resources for learning how to build an affiliate marketing business. It gives me a blueprint to help me design my business from zero to profitable! It also offers me a mentorship program to encourage and guide me through the process.

So because I am using this product and it has helped me start my online business, I am able to share with you what this program is about and that I have found it indispensable.

The question is:

  • Are you ready to commit to building a successful online business that can earn you money from anywhere, at any time?
  • Are you ready to start building a business on the side or even full-time?
  • Where do you start?

If your answer is yes, and you want to change your financial path, make a start and sign up for a business program that can give you the tools and resources to start building an opportunity to earn money online!

Find out more about the Six Figure Mentors Business Program and how to start your online business today!

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Learning Is The Key To Online Business Success

The biggest challenge facing anyone starting an online business is figuring out where to start. Many people want to start, but just don’t have the skills or experience to do so! They find themselves struggling because they have no structured framework to plan a successful business. And if you plan to make money in the long term, you need to have a good strategy! First, I will explain the basic principles of how people generally make money on the internet.

What is an online business?

In “principle”, an internet based business is no different from a traditional business. It needs to sell something to make money. It could be a digital product or a service. The difference lies in the nature of the business. The internet is the digital space where your business exists, and this does have advantages over a physical business.

Your laptop and mobile phone are the portals through which you and your customer connect, communicate and transact. It makes accessibility to your business instantaneous. This can make setting up your business and getting started easier than a traditional business, depending on what you plan to do.

In the digital world, your website is where your customers can find you. Its your digital shopfront. Its where you can showcase your products and services, as you would in a physical shop. It is accessible to anyone on the internet from across the world, and this is where digital businesses can have an edge over physical businesses.

Everything in cyberspace is digital, this means it is possible to monitor the performance of various aspects of your business that would be quite difficult in the real world. For example, you can monitor which exactly what products are getting the most attention, or find out where your site visitors are based. There are numerous metrics that can help you monitor your website, this can help you to gauge how your marketing is performing and adapt or change your strategy as required.

If you are selling digital products and services that means there is no need for physical delivery. This cuts out huge logistic costs and administration usually associated with delivering physical products or services to customers.

So in contrast, a digital product is immediately deliverable to your customer, and this can save time and delivery expenses. It also means you are not limited to sell to only customers in your country. Now your products are available from anywhere.

Here are some examples for products and services that you could sell online, depending your knowledge, skills, interest and resources.

Digital Products you could Sell:

  • Desktop Software
  • Mobile Apps
  • e-Books
  • Music
  • Online Education
  • Movies
  • Games
  • Domains
  • Document Templates

Digital Services you could offer:

  • Web Hosting
  • Web Design
  • Digital Marketing
  • Software Development
  • Graphic Design
  • Email Marketing
  • Video Editing
  • Animation
  • Social Media Management

Now perhaps you not sure where to start, and even though the internet is in no short supply of information, you can still find yourself running in circles! The issue is that much of the information on the internet is fragmented and all over the place. When you starting out it’s hard to piece it all together. You need accurate information that is organized in a way that leads you from one subject, to another in an orderly way.

Learning and Mentorship

The key to success with anything is knowledge and experience! You need to know the fundamentals in order to get started. You can then slowly build your experience and but confidence. At the core of your online business should be a constructive learning program, that can help you consistently develop your knowledge. This is a long term strategy that can build your skills that will always be in demand.

One of the educational tools I use is Six Figure Mentors, which is a goldmine of information. It offers access to over 6500 online courses, taught by top industry professionals. The courses are easy to digest, even for beginners and will help you develop the skills required to run your own digital business.

The courses available cover the most relevant skillsets required in the digital world, and include:

  • Business and Leadership
  • Digital Marketing
  • Technology
  • Software Applications
  • Software Development
  • Creative Skills

All courses are self paced, and can be completed when and where possible from almost any device including: Desktop Computer, Laptop, Mobile Phone, Tablet or SmartTV (if the app is available).

The interface is easy to use and has the ability to navigate effortlessly from start to finish, or even revise a chapter if you feel you need to go back. This makes it incredibly easy to access and can make the learning process more enjoyable.

I would suggest having a note pad ready and make notes so you can revise the material later. This can help you build your own summaries of the courses and help you absorb the information. Another way is to watch the courses on your phone and make notes on your computer which you can build into a resources for yourself. You can refer to it, and add to it as you learn more.

If you make time to do this weekly, you will soon build skills and knowledge you can apply. The success you achieve will solely depend on the effort you invest. If you are serious about learning new skills that can help you build your business, I would highly recommend that you invest in a learning program like Six Figure Mentors.

Not only does it offer learning courses but also gives you a blueprint of how to build your business step by step, and leads you through the process. Most of us don’t start because of fear, and often we are fearful because we don’t have all the answers. That is exactly why a structured program that helps bring knowledge, skills, planning, and strategies together, can help you focus on what needs to be done.

Summary

  • Educate yourself.
  • Create a strategy.
  • Apply what you learn
  • Set goals.
  • Monitor your progress.
  • Adapt and Change where necessary
  • Be persistent!

Remember, your business is a process, it takes time, and effort, and learning!

If you are interested in learning more about Six Figure Mentors, to start working on your new digital venture, click on the “Get Started Today” below.

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How to be More Productive at Work?

Work, is well, work, and no matter what you do for a living, you going to have days you going to feel like it’s a struggle to be productive at work. We spend, on average, forty hours a week at work, and if we don’t find ways to enjoy our work there is a good chance you won’t have the energy to maintain your productivity daily

For most of us, our pay depends on productivity so this is a key leverage point for success, and having a job that you don’t enjoy can increase stress, anxiety and lead to depression in the long term.

So, if you’re not having fun at work, it can be bad for your wallet and your health, thankfully there are ways to improve your productivity at work, here are eight things you can do today.

1. Take a Time Out

One of the best ways to improve your productivity and reduce stress is by taking a break. If you working at a desk all day, it can do wonders if you get up and take a walk around and breathe some fresh air and move your body. Why not take a walk during your break, not only is it good for your health, but it is a great way to clear your mind which improves your focus.

Whatever you chooce to spent your break doing whether walking, snacking or just getting some time away, taking regular breaks can help you disengage from your work long enough to feel ready for the next challenge. If your work involves looking at a screen all day, then it is even more important for you to spend some time some time away.

2. Brighten Up Your Workspace

If you have a desk or designated working area, then you should focus on making that space as comfortable and fun as possible. Being surrounded by things that make you happy will help elevate your mood and energy. A picture of a furry friend looking at you when you look up from your work can be enough to brighten your day?

So, decorate that workspace as much as you can, and surround yourself with pictures of people you love and improve your mood at work.

3. Develop Positive Relationships

I have to admit that I’ve been guilty of this, but we all have to stop sweating the small stuff. There are only 40 hours in a work week and sometimes that means that some projects don’t get done right away. So, that email that you sent to the team that has a typo in it should not drag you down. We often beat ourselves up over the smallest mistakes and add stress to our lives unnecessarily.

So, let go of what is outside of your control and stop being so hard on yourself, focus on what you can do and watch your energy and attitude improve.

My previous job was very stressful, but you know what kept me coming in every day with a smile on my face? My co-worker Lauren did. We developed a positive relationship and supported each other during stressful work periods that helped keep me motivated to get through the day.

Also, having good relationships with your work colleagues is also helpful when discussing questions you may have but may not want to go to your boss about.

Co-workers make great friends because you see them every day, and they know exactly what you’re going through at work because they are going through the same thing.

5. Leave Your Work At The Door

This is probably the most challenging to do, and it is simultaneously the most effective to reduce your stress levels. When you come home from work, make sure you turn off your laptop and stop answering your phone.

Sometimes this isn’t possible if your job is on-call, but make sure you find time away from work to decompress without stressing about what tomorrow will bring. With more people working from home these days, leaving work at work isn’t all that easy. To combat this, set up a designated workspace in your home and only work in that area. Then, when the workday is done, walk away.

If you want some pointers to help you declutter your brain from a hard day at work, read our article 6 Tips: How do I declutter my brain?

6. Get In The Groove

Not all employers will allow their employees to listen to music, and with some jobs it’s not possible. If your employer will allow you to, then take advantage of the opportunity to create a positive work environment.

Listening to your favourite songs while working can definitely change your mood which can increase your energy and ultimately your productivity, a little music can go a long way to elevating your workspace.

Anyone that’s had a long list of chores to do at home knows that listening to your favourite tunes can lighten the task at hand, the benefits are easy to recognize. Find out more about music in the workplace in this BBC article : Does Music Help Us Work Better? – It Depends

So, put that power playlist on and watch your workday fly by.

7. Start A Competition

Sometimes to be more productive at work all we need is a little motivation, and a workplace competition can do exactly that. No matter how your work is tracked, it is always possible to find ways to create a competition. It might be that the office competes to complete specific predefined criteria:

  • Project by a Specific Date
  • Number Units Sales
  • Service Response Time
  • Services Delivered
  • Positive Customer Feedback
  • Territory Coverage

Honestly, it doesn’t matter how you choose to measure the competition, as long as it is fair and offers a prize and recognition, it will motivate people to do their best.

8. Get Active at Work

Taking time to exercise during your workday is great for your physical and mental health. If you have already eaten, then don’t be afraid to exercise during your lunch break. Whether it’s a walk around the building or something more intense, exercise can help elevate your energy level and give you the drive to get through the day.

Most people tend to leave exercise before or after work, but you should really do it when you have the most energy. For a lot of us, that’s the middle of our workday. Use your lunch break for a cardio workout and see how good you feel. It is always important to listen to your body and not to exercise when you feel unwell or fatigued, it might be a sign you need rest.

9. Remember to Rest

When it comes to improving how you feel at work, rest is by far the most underrated and ignored strategy. No one’s a ray of sunshine when they stressed out and short of sleep, it’s a combination for a disaster, and can seriously compromise your focus and increase the accuracy of your work.

Rest is also critical for recovery from exercise and to assist in your balancing all your body systems.So now you have a good excuse to give yourself a break, see taking time to rest and recover as a necessity to maintain long-term health and productivity.

Make The Choice!

As human beings, our energy and focus constantly ebb and flow and maintaining a positive mindet is a daily challenge! If you have strategies as outlined above, you can make your work experience a more enjoyable one.

Remember the choice is yours, you can’t change other people choices, but you can choose how you respond. No matter what the situation, there is always something you can do to improve things at work.

Do you want to be more focused?


We all want to achieve more in life and business, but to achieve more you need focus, and to be focused you need to know what prioritize when! If you want to learn how to do exactly that, follow the link below to get the low down no getting things done:

What is Focus Time – 5 Ways on How to Achieve More

7 Ways to Maintain Self-Discipline

How to maintain self-discipline

Maybe you’re trying to lose weight. Maybe you’re thinking about a promotion, a career change or a bigger bank account. But why learn how to maintain self-discipline?

Self-discipline can help with all of these goals. It’s one of the pillars of a productive lifestyle, and like a real pillar, it can support much bigger architecture for health, wealth and happiness.

What is self-discipline? How can you build it and channel it for a better life? Not everyone can do it, but if you think that you might be an exception, read on.

What is self-discipline?

Self-discipline is basically self-control. It means that you have enough control over your thoughts and actions to identity good behaviours, resist bad ones and work towards whatever aims that you have for the future.

How can self-discipline improve my life?

Self-discipline can improve everything from your eating habits to your efficiency at the office. It can help you sleep better, work harder, run farther and accomplish greater things. It’s one of the foundational skills involved with setting goals and seeing them through.

Three Cs of Self-Discipline

The best way to look at self-discipline is to memorize the three Cs:

  • Commitment: not giving up even when things get hard
  • Conscientiousness: accomplishing tasks thoroughly and competently
  • Confidence: believing that you can do anything that you set your mind to

Without all three of these cornerstones, self-discipline will fail. For example, if you don’t have conscientiousness, you might take shortcuts on your work or have lots of cheat days with your diet. If this is the case, can you really say that you’re a self-disciplined person?

7 Ways to Maintain Self Discipline

Now that you’ve learned about self-discipline and what it can do for you, it’s time to work on developing and maintaining it. Like anything else, self-discipline is a skill, and it needs to be sustained to keep it strong. Think of it like a muscle that will atrophy if it isn’t used regularly.

While there are many, many ways to cultivate self-discipline, here are just a few tried-and-true techniques.

1. Set Goals

The first step of any self-improvement routine is to establish what you actually want to get out of it. Is it health, happiness, money, friendship, confidence or something else entirely?

Once you’ve figured out the end goal, the next step is creating smaller goals to help you get there. Something that’s often used in professional project management is the SMART method:

  • Specific
  • Measurable
  • Assignable
  • Realistic
  • Time-related

Under the SMART system, rather than just saying “I want to lose weight,” you would say “I want to lose five pounds by next month, so I’m going to exercise at least three days per week and cut back my calories by 500 per day.”

2. Establish a Routine

Your brain loves routine. In fact, if you don’t give it routines, it will create its own, and these might be unhealthy, unproductive or just plain gluttonous.

Change your habits by changing your routines. For example, if you want to improve your sleep schedule, start waking up and going to bed at the same time every day. Do this consistently every single day of the week until your body starts to anticipate your routine. When you start naturally waking up a few minutes before your alarm goes off, you’ll know that the routine has taken effect.

Read this blog on how I maintain my Daily Routine. (DMO)


3. Remove Temptations

With enough self-discipline, temptations aren’t a problem. You’ll have the willpower to ignore them even when they appear.

If you’re just starting out on your self-improvement journey, however, you might not have the physical and emotional strength to resist temptations just yet. They might manifest as cravings, distractions or general enticements that prove too much for you.

There’s no reason to make self-discipline any harder than it has to be, especially when you’re just starting out. Take the chips and sodas out of the kitchen. Remove the television from your workspace. Install browser extensions so that you can’t access social media from 9 – 5. If the temptations aren’t there, you can’t indulge in them.



4. Know Thyself

Retro instagram style image businesswoman hands holding white card sign with it starts with you! text message isolated on grey wall office background

What are your weaknesses?

This isn’t a job interview. You don’t have to dance around the subject or try to spin negatives into positives. Be honest: What bad habits do you have, and how will they impact your quest for self-discipline?

Once you’ve identified your weaknesses, it’ll be much easier to counter them. For example, if you’re on the disorganized side, you can invest in a good daily planner to manage all your tasks and projects. If you tend to lose track of time while working or taking breaks, you can start setting alarms for better time management.

There’s a way to conquer every bad habit. You just have to find it.

If you have a fear of failure you are welcome to check out 5 Ways on How to Overcome Your Fear Of Failure.

5. Track Your Progress

Tracking your progress is a great way to stay motivated, especially if your goal is something slow or not easily seen with the naked eye. It’ll be a real, tangible record of your efforts, and it’ll serve as physical proof that you are moving towards whatever finish line that you’ve set for yourself.

Here are just a few ways to track your progress:

  • Notebooks and journals. These are nice and private, and you can also customize them with colors, doodles, stickers and more.
  • Apps. Apps like “Stride” and “Way of Life” are multipurpose goal-setting programs that will allow you to make notes, generate graphs and give yourself rewards for a job well done.
  • Calendars. These can be hung on the wall for daily, visible motivation as well as a reminder of how far that you’ve come.

6. Have an Accountability Partner

This is a trick that’s often touted by weight loss gurus, but it can also be applied to work, school and anything else that requires self-discipline. The premise is simple: Have someone that you report to about your progress.

It could be a trainer or a lifestyle coach. It could be a friend who has the same goals as you. If your ambitions are work-related, it could even be a boss.

The psychology behind this trick is that it’s easy to underperform when no one knows that you’re performing at all. Once you put actual expectations on your performance, however, you might be motivated to perform well.

7. Refresh Your Motivation Regularly

Motivation isn’t a magical, inexhaustible resource. Like anything else, it can fade or get less effective over time, so it’s important to replenish it just like you’d replenish oil in a car.

Maybe this means finding new affirmations to post around your mirror. Maybe it means changing up your diet and fitness routines so that they stay fresh and invigorating. You can always find new clothes to buy, new food to try, new celebrities to admire and new goals to set.

The important thing is not to backslide into old habits when you realize that you’ve lost motivation. This is a completely normal part of the process, and it isn’t a sign of failure, weakness or a lack of willpower. It isn’t a sign that you should give up. It just means that you need to find new motivation to keep you going.

Bonus Tip

Being able to focus on one thing for a well-defined period produces better work. It also helps get the work done quicker. With less noise, you also tend to have less stress and worry. If your mind is in a stress-free environment your creativity booms.

To be focused means you need to have goals and objectives defined. Once you know where you are going you can organise your time around achieving the goal in short, focused bursts. Learn more about Focus Time Here.

Final Thoughts

It’s hard to have self-discipline. There’s no getting around that. If it were easy, everyone on the planet would look like a supermodel and have a million dollars in the bank.

It takes time and effort to have self-discipline, especially in the pursuit of specific goals. It takes inner strength. It takes a person who is really, genuinely seeking self-improvement.

Is that you?

Practise makes perfect, Positive Phycology lays out some Simple Exercises to Build Your Self-Control Muscle

If you like this article, you may want to learn the 5 Secrets to Ending Perfection Paralysis

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8 Ways a Budget Helps Achieve Financial Success

How to stick to a budget

Budget is a smart way of managing available finance. Coming up with one allows you to shop for specific items that are essential and utilizable at that period. Sticking to the planed list when purchasing goods and services has proved to be a challenging exercise, and many give up and spend money aimlessly. Impulse buying remains the primary cause for failure to stick on a budget. Emergencies and forgotten items are two more reasons people spend funds in ways they had not planned. We’ll show you how to stick to a budget.

Spending your finances without a management plan can seem justifiable, but it destroys your financial status, throws you off balance, and you lose control. Unbudgeted spending can be disastrous as it requires you to go back for your savings. When you have depleted your savings, the left option to finance your spending is loans. The pile of debts creates financial stress, and before you know it, you become financially insecure.

8 Successful Ways on How to Stick to a Budget

1. Do not Spend more than you Have

Every fraction of your income is allocated to its purpose on a budget. The amount of money assigned to complete a particular activity should be enough to support it. When the funds are inadequate, you go back to your budget and re-evaluate if you aimed too high or minimize the number and some commodities forgone to keep the account in line. Resist the urge to source finances from external sources to boost your funds. Do not compromise on your savings to finance other personal projects unless that is the planned intention for saving. If what you have at your disposal is more than enough, you can always add to your saving in case you urgently in the future.

2. Shop Online

Shopping cart isolated on the computer keyboard. Online shopping concept

Users who buy items online have little or no interaction with marketers online. When navigating with a cart, promoters have no interruption who persuade you to carry more items compared to local stores. A customer does not have a chance to try different things, limiting their option in selected commodities. Physical absence is a significant factor in eliminating impulse buying. Online items are also offered at low, relatively competitive prices, and commodities are high quality. Free shipping services provided by online sellers will help you save on your time, fuel, and energy. If the shopping exceeds your budget, you do not have to initiate a purchase. You have an option of temporarily abandoning your cart and cone save it later when your finances are in order and finalize the purchase.

3. Lower your Credit Limit

Limit the maximum amount of money that your financial institution allows you to use before maxing out. Consumers who have fewer credit card funds will be strict on their budget to avoid running out of credit. You cannot spend beyond your limit. Eventually, this will amount to less debt when paying back for the credit service to your financier. Exceeding the limit set would provide relief but impact heavily on your credit scores and the vastness of the debt. Find out more about Basic Financial Literacy, it will help you to make the right choices.

4. Think Long about your Purchases

Rushing your shopping process can make you pay for unnecessary items that you pick along with the required items. Since you paid little thought to the things you choose, you spend more money than budgeted. To avoid this error, take your time as you budget, which will help you narrow down to only essential items. The shopping list will guide you throughout the shopping process. If you encounter a new product and are somehow moved to purchase the item, take your time, and think before buying it. Evaluate its uses or applicability; it might have no utility in your home and save you an extra coin.

5. Eat at Home

A meal prepared at home has a variety of benefits. Besides the healthy ingredients, the homemade meal will save you money. Buying foods from restaurants and the food market is expensive. You do not pay for only food but for all the other services, including renting and maintenance expenses. You do not have control over the portion you are served and could keep o ordering until your stomach is full. Make your meals and leave your house after you have eaten to avoid feeling hungry in the streets. If you are working in an office, make it a habit to carry your lunch from home and brew your coffee in the office other than buying in the streets.

6. Use Cash (run out of money, you are done for the week)

Prefer cash transaction to credit cards. When you transact using cash, you avoid funding goods or services that do not make sense. Losing money on unimportant issues could be a somewhat painful experience. You calculate on every purchase and rethink because you are parting with such a massive amount of your cash and end up holding to it more. As a buyer, you will get better deals in the market if you are using cash. Negotiate the price to the amount your money in the pocket can finance. Cash also allows you to portion your money and carry a tiny amount with you on your shopping activities.

7. Compare Brands (Find Cheaper)

Make it a habit of comparing prices from different stores before you make your purchases. You will realize that different stores price their commodities differently. Some stores have fixed prices while others can offer discounts to their customers on purchases. Second-hand stores have refurbished or older gently used items to get at low prices and still serve the purpose. ensure you get the best deals out of every purchase that you make. Do not compromise on quality as you go for cheap commodities; it could be expensive in the long run.

8. Go Minimal

You do not have to quit shopping altogether to save money and stick to the budget. Minimizing the number of commodities, you buy in a shopping exercise can help you stick to the budget. Going minimal allow space for priority goods and services. You are more focused on the vital products, and the process of allocating the scarce resource becomes simple. If you have different commodities that are not useful around your home, you can resell them and retain more money. Perishable things will go bad if they are not utilized on time. There is a possibility of items going out of fashion, and if you had concentrated on purchasing maximum items, it would be challenging adapting to the new lifestyle.

If you want to learn more about minimalism, check out this blog on the 8 Essential Principles of a simple lifestyle.

In Closing

Becoming financially independent can be tasking but rewarding to a patient and focused individual. If your income is under your control, then you can enjoy a stress-free lifestyle. The benefits of budgeting and sticking to it are not to be underestimated as they create more balance in life. Your savings are essential in times of emergencies, retirement, and re-investing. When you take your time to manage your finances, the chances of spending money that you do not have and accumulating a considerable number of debts on unwanted goods are eliminated. Manage your money correctly and track your expenditure and account for every dollar spent.

Learn ways to save and invest using traditional as well as alternative investment strategies.

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