That’s right! We’re celebrating the holidays a little early this year by having a massive giveaway! Enter for your chance to win a
If you’ve been a follower of The Blogging 911 for any length of time you know that technology is our mainstay. You’ll never hear me say, “I wish we still had landlines” or “I wish we still did it the “old” way”.
I use it constantly and life would be so much harder not to mention a whole lot more boring without it. I mean come on where would we be if we couldn’t share what we ate for breakfast in a swoon-worthy photo on Instagram or create an email sequence that will explode your following or even sell those amazing products without that shopping cart.
In today’s world, you cannot even begin to build a business without mastering at least some of the basics of technology. Some people hate it, some love it, but EVERYONE has to use it.
For the last few months, I’ve been working on a fun, new quiz that will lead you down a path to your “technology-personality” hence the name “Tech-Nality” quiz! At the end of the quiz, you will receive a .pdf with your technology personality and a collection of things that can only help you in your day-to-day business.
I’ve created 3 unique personalities and embellished them with attributes which I feel are important to you. Each personality has been born to make your life simpler, give it more style, & help you create the lifestyle with which to build a successful business.
First off, there’s Serephina:
Serephina is a free-spirit and lives to create. She’s authentic & brave while being honest & resourceful. Meet Serephina:
Next is Addison (or Addi for short):
Addi is all about productivity. She is driven & self-sufficient, but also caring & strong. She is not afraid of hard work and knows that some things are worth fighting for.
Meet Addison:
& last, but certainly not least is Isabella.
Isabella is tough, independent but not afraid to gamble on a good idea. She trusts with all of her heart, but she’s nobody’s fool. Meet Isabella:
Which one is closest to your personality? Have you taken the quiz yet?
Want to know what sets the uber-successful apart from the wannabe entrepreneurs?
It’s not money, or brilliant ideas, or even powerful friends.
All of those things (and more) are nice to have, but they’re not a requirement of success. What is a must-have, though, is a good attitude. Without the proper mindset, you’ll constantly be battling your own brain, and that’s exhausting.
And before you know it, you’ll have talked yourself right out of launching your new program, asking for a JV partnership, or writing your book. In no time at all, you’ll be back at your day job, working away on someone else’s business because you don’t have the confidence to create your own.
But a simple mindset change can make all the difference.
Ladies, this one is for you. When we work at home, it’s easy to fall into a habit of wearing sweatpants and T-shirts to the office. After all, why dress up just for the dog?
But if you’re looking for a quick and easy way to instantly shift your mindset in the right direction, ditch the yoga pants and break out the lipstick. You’ll suddenly find you feel more professional, more confident, and sexier, too. (That last one won’t help your business, but it might just help your love life, and that can’t hurt, can it?)
Too many would-be entrepreneurs operate with a scarcity mindset rather than approaching business from a place of abundance. Rather than telling yourself that you can’t afford to hire a virtual assistant or work with a coach, try reframing your thoughts.
Rather than thinking, “I can’t afford to attend that event,” ask yourself, “How can I earn the money to invest in this trip?”
Rather than saying, “I have to do everything myself because I can’t afford to hire a VA,” remind yourself that your hourly rate potential is much more than you’d pay a virtual assistant. Then fill those hours you’re saving by outsourcing with money-making tasks of your own.
By reformatting your thoughts, you’ll turn that negative money talk into positive solutions that help you grow.
If you updated your website in the past few weeks you should have seen WordPress 4.9.6 and with that update came brand new privacy features to correspond with the GDPR updates that became law recently. I thought I would take this time to point out some of these new features.
Logged in commenters will be given a choice whether their name, email, address, or website information is saved in a cookie on their browser.
Site owners can now designate a privacy policy page. This page will be shown on the login and/or registration page.
Site owners can now export a .ZIP file containing a user’s personal data, using data gathered by WordPress & plugins.
Site owners can erase a user’s personal data, including data collected by participating plugins. Site owners also have a new email-based method that they can use to confirm personal data requests.
95 updates were made in this latest WordPress update. Here are some of the highlights:
Google analytics…when I mention those two little words I usually get one of two reactions.
I am a geek, I admit it, I love looking at my Google analytics account. There are so many stories to be told in the middle of the bars, graphs and pie charts. You just have to learn to speak the language first. Dimensions, metrics, properties they all mean something in GA and over the next month I’m going to show you how to track your own success in Google analytics.
Google Analytics helps you find answers, but it isn’t THE answer. It’s only a tool. You’re using analytics data to tell a story.
Once you decide on the purpose of the website break it down into the things that directly generate income (MACRO GOALS) and the positive activities that don’t directly produce revenue (MICRO GOALS). You can have up to 20 goals.
Pretty much any marketing activity can be tracked within Google Analytics.
Last month, I became a Certified Google Analysist after many months of studying culminating with a huge test to get my certification. I now offer those kinds of services here at The Blogging 911! If you’re interested in checking out my services visit the Analytics page.
Have you ever thought about what would happen if you were to become incapacitated in some way? Maybe you’ve gotten sick or been in an accident whatever the reason, what would happen to your online business, Facebook groups, or your website?
Would all of your hard work go down the drain within weeks, leaving your readers wondering what in the world happened to you? Sponsored posts have gone unwritten, affiliate earnings abandoned, subscriptions canceled for non-payment and the list goes on.
The effects could be felt for months, even years to come. As a caregiver, I have to worry about these kinds of things all of the time. Not my website, but my life in general. Who can take over in case I can no longer do it. What happens if I get sick or hurt?
There has to be a safety net in place long before that emergency happens or everything you’ve worked for could just disappear. Believe me, I know this first hand. If you haven’t read my story check out my About Page In my personal & business life I use a book called Cellphones Don’t Work In Heaven written by Mark C. Pope & Beverly R. Thompson. It’s a wonderful book and talk about a story! Whew, watch this video! The book covers every aspect of your life, but as a blogger or online business owner, we have another layer of need that just isn’t covered.
So the first step is to make a plan & I’m here to help!
I define this as anything needed to keep your website/business up and running. Everything from your website login credentials to the course you bought. Everything on the list may not be critical, but it’s nice to keep track of everything in one (two, or ten different places). I keep one online and one in my file cabinet.
Make a list, make several in fact, but start off with sections such as:
Your website, Social Media, Advertising & Analytics, Scheduling, and Other. You can use any system that works, but remember to include EVERYTHING so it may take you several days/weeks to get it all together. For instance, media storage would include things like Dropbox or Google Drive, but also Evernote, Onedrive, etc. A little bit here, and here, and there. It adds up.
Are you like me and get hit with shiny object syndrome sometimes? I’ll admit this, but only to you. I sometimes all the time sign up for great services or cheap offers *shush don’t tell my husband!* with all of the greatest intentions in the world and then after chasing two-year-olds, following mom around shutting doors and turning off appliances, working on my clients work, working on my own business goals, plus cooking, laundry, bills most of the time I’ve forgotten by bedtime. Wait, bedtime what’s that? I have courses I’ve bought and never had time to open them up. Tomorrow never comes and pretty soon your inbox rivals your local library in quantity.
I also have two pretty cool tips that can help you keep control of the number of companies allowed into the prime real estate that is your email. The first one is a website called deseat.me. Enter your email address and you will see a list populate with every company that you’ve given your email address to and some that you may not have. Then it gives you a link to go in and delete the account if you choose.
As you can probably guess my email can sometimes get overwhelming. Trying to keep up with several different threads at once confuses my poor damaged brain. (I think that’s why I struggle so much with Facebook! My brain can’t keep up with it.) My friend Nesha from NeshaWoolery.com asked a question in her Facebook Group the Shelancers if we had a plan if something happened to us. It got me thinking about it A LOT I mean face it “we aren’t spring chickens anymore”. She also gave me another hot tip when she shared the tool unroll.me
It will change your life! You sign up for a free account and it will gather every single thing that you are subscribed to. Seriously, every newsletter, every subscription, and roll it up into one big newspaper or magazine. You have the opportunity to unsubscribe from multiple accounts, keep the ones that you want, and have the rest rolled up into one email delivered once a day or even once a week at whatever time you choose! How awesome is that!
My inbox is now full of the people who should be there…my clients. I can still get the newsletters I want. It just keeps them from coming one after another and creating that overwhelmed feeling I mentioned earlier.
Picking the right person is a trickier matter. You need someone who is both trustworthy & tech-savvy. Maybe you already have a webmaster or V.A. and that would be the perfect option. They already have all of the information right at their fingertips. They should still have a contingency plan in place or you will be playing catch up from the very beginning.
If you don’t have access to an admin or web tech then you are going to have to train someone to literally be you in case of an emergency. I chose my daughter not only because of the top two reasons above but she’s the only one close enough to me that even knows how to turn a computer on and log in! I kid you not! My husband can operate two computers; an ATM and the self-checkout at Walmart.
Keep in mind that they are going to probably be flying blind so hitting them with everything that has to be done in your everyday online business life will most likely have them throwing up their hands in sheer brain overload.
Think of it this way. When an ambulance gets to a wreck they triage the situation. Who is in the most danger or hurt worse. So figure out the bare minimum that can be done to maintain your space and all of your hard work. Teach them starting with the most important and work your way down. At first, I would keep it to your top 5 most important things. Do it for a week at a time and have an alternative. You can always add more in small doses if you have someone willing to go above and beyond. You will owe them big time when all is back to normal for sure!
Just remember THE BARE MINIMUM, they will go back to the real world eventually. Teach them to maintain it, keep it safe, and keep it from having that abandoned feeling some sites whose creator has just ghosted…
Not only should you leave a detailed list of exactly what needs to be done, but you should also schedule some time to show them step by step how to maintain the basics of your website and your business. Use visuals such as calendars or even maps. Blog post→ → Facebook → → Instagram. Whatever works!
Keep your content scheduled AT LEAST a week in advance. I’m not always successful at this, but I do try. I’ve started using “batch days”. I’m sure you’ve seen or heard these words in the last few months. If not, it means to set aside a certain day every month or week to create. One day for content, one day for graphics, or one day for scheduling social media. That way you can stay ahead of the game and if you use the same day every month or week you will never run out!
My problem is trying to think of things that will bring you true value. I know how valuable your time and inbox are and I want you to feel that it was worth it every single time you click that button!
It not only gives you peace of mind, but it feels like a fresh start. Clearing out the old and making room for the new. I want to add that I keep a paper copy of the Critical Information Guide, but I also keep an online version as well. I use LastPass, if you haven’t tried it check it out. Sometimes you just need to see the password, but it’s locked deep in our computer’s memory banks and all we get are ***************. It’s easy with LastPass, also free! It’s a Chrome extension so it’s simple to set up! If you struggle coming up with strong passwords try this free tool by TheBestVPN.com. You can generate strong, unique passwords by simply clicking a button and it’s also free!
That’s it for now!
*This post contains affiliate links. I will earn a small commission of the Cell Phones Don’t Work In Heaven.
