August 24, 2009

What Children Can Teach You About Success... Do Some
Writing While Traveling and Double Your Enjoyment...
Lessons from the Past Few Months... Some Information
Adaptation Tips for Info Marketers... and More.

I recently spoke with a friend of mine who is a teacher. While sitting around talking about the challenges people face when learning something new, she revealed some interesting tidbits I had to share with you.

While she and I both enjoy learning new things, there are many people, including the children in her class, that simply have a hard time learning new information.

She soon brought up a point that I want to share with you today. She said that there is one thing that children who learn the most throughout the year all do. It doesn't matter if they are sharp as a whip or have a tougher time piecing together the facts. As long as they do this one thing, each and every child in her class has an equal opportunity to progress further.

That one thing each and every child -- and even adults -- can do is to ask a lot of questions.

You see, in her class, some of the ''smart kids'' are too full of pride to ask questions. They don't want to sound like they don't get what's going on. So they toil away trying to figure out things on their own. While these children have time to learn from their mistakes, as you get older, there is less time to spend on trial-and-error experiments. Especially since there is a whole slew of places and people you can turn to when you need help.

Asking questions not only gets you the answers that could help you excel faster, but it also helps you in two other beneficial ways.

The first is that it helps you develop a quick reaction to new information. Asking questions shows that you are thinking on your feet and processing the facts right away. Rather than waiting to figure out the answers, asking questions can help you understand things right away.

Secondly, asking questions is great for developing your networking skills. Many people who have achieved personal success like sharing their tales and tips any chance they get. Asking questions shows that you are listening and can even help you extract some helpful suggestions in the process.

So, while our nation's children are toiling away in the new school year, you can follow their example and ask the questions you want answered. You never know, one of those answers could be the key to your future success.

Most people dream of walking through the streets of Venice, or dining at a Parisian cafe. Traveling to different countries should be something that everyone experiences at least once in their lives. The problem for most people, however, is the cost.

If you want to take a long trip or even a little vacation, you're going to pay a lot of money to get where you want to be.

Airlines charge an arm and a leg for the convenience of being able to fly where you need to go, and then you have the costs of staying in a hotel and seeing the attractions of the city you're visiting.

You would no doubt travel more often and probably for longer periods of time if it weren't so costly to get there. Most people probably feel the same way. Not to mention that a vacation can be exactly what you need to get the cobwebs out. Work can be tough at times, and taking some time away from the stress of daily life can work wonders in soothing the body and the mind.

Time away from work is essential. It is a competitive world out there, and you need to take time for yourself to recharge your batteries. Stress can take a huge toll on you. Every now and then, you need to relax, take your mind off work and enjoy yourself. Your health will improve, and so will your work. After a vacation, you will go back to your job refreshed and ready to tackle anything.

The good news is that there are ways to get around paying the high costs of travel. Now, as with anything, to get a great deal when you travel, you may have to make concessions here and there or do some extra work, but it is well worth a little effort to be able to travel on the cheap.

If you do happen to take a trip overseas, but you're on a budget, you could look into making some money while you're traveling by being a writer. Even if you're not a writer by trade, don't fret. It's easy to put together an article about your experiences. It's like writing in a journal, which you might enjoy doing while on a big trip anyway. So, why not try to make some cash and cover some of the cost of your trip while you're at it?

When you're planning your trip, contact a few publications, both online and print, which have travel content, and ask them if they would be interested in a few articles about the destination you're traveling to.

Pitch your story to them. It's all in the pitch -- you have to sell your idea and your ability to deliver on your promises. Tell the editor that you will find the hidden gems, the inexpensive but amazing restaurants, the fantastic night life, and everything in between. Something unique will sell. Forget about the beaten path; sell your expertise in finding what real travelers find on their journeys, not what the average tourist takes part in.

You will never know unless you ask. You don't need to be a trained writer, but if you do have a background in writing, it will certainly help your cause. You might grab an editor's attention if you sell your article well, and you could have some extra money to spend on your trip, and all you have to do is tell people what you experienced. It's that easy.

If you can save money on travel, then take advantage. That might mean that you deliver a parcel to a business while you're on your journey or you might write an article about your experiences. For the money you will save, it is well worth doing.

Last week, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke offered some reassuring news about the state of our economy. He said that we were pulling out of the recession, and economic growth was right around the corner.

Of course, it's going to be no easy recovery. He expects unemployment levels to remain high as the recovery picks up, but reassures us that better times will arrive sooner rather than later.

This comes as great news, which we've been waiting for far too long. We must, however, remain patient.

As hard as this economic recession was for most of us, it also taught us a number of valuable lessons that will hopefully guide us into the future and help us avoid another disaster of this magnitude. Even with all the bad things that went down, there are some good things that the recession taught us:

Live within your means: So many people were hit hard in this recession because of a reliance on credit. We became too comfortable during the economic boom that many of us were spending money before we earned it, feeling comfortable that the money was going to keep flowing in. When it stopped, people were left with mounds of debt as they stood there and scratched their heads trying to figure out what happened. Because of this experience, it's likely there will be a greater shift towards relative frugality and spending within one's means.

Saving: Since the economy went down, there has been an increase in the percentage of money people who are saving. Before, many people were spending whatever they made, not really caring about tomorrow. Because of the recession, people are once again realizing the importance of saving and making sure they do so. Putting away five percent to 10% of every paycheck helps to ensure that you've got a little something to fall back on when the sky gets a little cloudy.

Community: During this time, many people became more involved in their communities. Because of abandoned homes caused by foreclosures, many citizens came together to keep their neighborhoods safe. They did things like cut the grass of abandoned homes to make them look lived in, spend time outside engaging with their neighbors, and building a solid foundation in their communities. Because many families were going through financial hardship, neighbors came together to talk about their issues, offer help, and develop friendships. Neighborhoods became more about working together, rather than a competition to see who had the nicest car in the driveway. The recession took us back and renewed our focus on the important things in life.

As we pull out of recession, it is important to look not only at the hardships we've endured, but also the valuable lessons that we learned.

** Some Information Adaptation Tips for Info Marketers
By James Burt, Online Marketing Expert

Borrow, rework. Borrow, rework. Borrow, rework.

This methodology of a creative-based work life is familiar to so many people that it's astonishing. Rock and roll guitar players adapting old blues songs for their repertoire; writers examining the paragraphs of everything from pulp fiction to Greek tragedy; the painter who stays in the gallery 'til close with a magnifying glass...

The list goes on and on.

As an info marketer, you are part of this. You are taking information from other sources, absorbing it like a sponge, and putting it back into the public forum with your own personal brand.

A lot of people have asked about this particular step -- where you take a source and adapt it as your own. They have the content creation and writing skills down pat, but they are unsure about how to get over that hump of adapting other sources as your own.

I had the benefit -- or misfortune, depending on who you ask -- of being a university student. You had to hand in a well- researched essay about every two weeks, and adapting other reference sources became almost second nature. Now this might not be the case for you, but don't worry. The tricks to adapting outside sources for your information marketing business are easy. You just have to do some work and be wary of certain laws in the process.

Whether you're adapting digital files, books, or any outside source for your information marketing business, be sure to do the following:

--- Just use what you need: Remember that you are providing information. "Just the facts and only the facts..." or whatever expression the police use. When you are doing your research, omit the sections that are irrelevant to the content you are creating. That's it. Don't include extra information that isn't relevant to the information itself. This will save time and effort.

--- Never Plagiarize: I once did an article on plagiarism -- stealing content that isn't yours and claiming it as your own. Not only is this not well regarded by any of your info peers, but you can also get sued. Even in university, we risked complete expulsion if we got caught plagiarizing and one of my fellow students actually had to defend a thesis once over some content that was alleged not to be his own. In the end, it's always the same: you cannot claim an idea to be yours even if you paraphrase. Never fall off this path no matter what temptations exist. Believe me, if you don't, the problems that arise will not have been worth it.

--- Citations and References: You might be taking info from a close colleague or business associate. Or you are an info marketer who exchanges content with another marketer; e.g. you use his stuff on your web site and he does the same with you, and both of you have links to one another's site. Or you are adapting content from another foreign source. Either way, don't forget to include citations. In high school essays, we used endnotes or footnotes listing the reference source. Remember, you are taking someone else's work and using it as your own. For legal reasons, you need to show the source. As a bit of advice, I would suggest contacting the source. You might work out a content-exchange deal or partnership with little to no cost involved.

--- Be mindful of trademarks: Think you can just copy and paste stuff off a blog onto your own web site? Well, probably not. That stuff has probably been trademarked by its creator. If it has their name on it or a reference to their info marketing business or even if it hasn't, it's best to back off. That said, once you are done all of your content create, trademark your stuff as well. You've been good enough not to steal others' work, so don't let someone else do the same to you.

Adapting, researching, and utilizing pre-existing knowledge is a tough job. But, in info marketing, it's almost a necessity. As long as you play things straight and professionally, you can use content and knowledge that is already out there as the templates to help you see your info marketing business take off!