The Best of 2011

Some days, you just don’t need to reinvent sliced bread. :-) We did a lot of great articles over the past year (if I do say so myself), so today I’m highlighting the top 10 for you (the top 10, according to me).

How to’s:

1. How to Synch iCal with Google Calendar – calendar syncing… If you don’t do it, you TOTALLY should. Here’s how (instructions for PC users on there as well!)

2. How to share files using Dropbox – We all know that email is NOT the best way to try and send someone a ginormous file. (and if you didn’t, now you know). Dropbox is the solution. It’s free, and all the cool kids are using it.

3. How to Manage your email (part I) – Productivity takes practice. So does managing your email. Do you get sucked into the email black hole on a regular basis? Does your inbox have more than 0 emails? If so, read this! It will change your life. Or…your email habits anyway.

4. How to manage your email (part II) – a continuation of the email conversation with more details on how to manage it.

5. How to create and publish a blog post from Microsoft Word – This is by far one of the coolest things I learned this year. For some reason, I just prefer to type in Word sometimes. And, it’s easier to drag pictures into my posts too.

Lists:

6. 7 tips on how to be productive – Does productivity elude you? Take baby steps, my friend. Baby steps.

7. 5 things you can do with a teleseminar – My grasshopper, did you know that teleseminars are useful for things other than JUST … teleseminaring?

8. The difference between a teleseminar and a webinar – Teleseminars, Webinars, and Bears, oh my!

My favorite tools:

9. Where does that Short URL Really Go? – Sometimes, evil hacker people will hide malicious websites beneath those weird little short URLs. If you suspect a short URL goes somewhere funny, you can check it out here.

10. Cool Microsoft Word Trick – Ever need some filler text, and want to type something other than blah blah blah? Here’s how.

5 Revenue-Producing Ideas for December

Right about now, people all over the world are thinking: “Oh @#$!. It can’t SERIOUSLY be December already!” Yes, my friend. It is. It’s here. Cold weather; leaves all over the place (well…not in Southern California, but in other places I’m sure); and the holiday craziness that happens around this time of year. For us service-based businesses, it’s also a time when things tend to slow down. Some people think this is a bad thing, but if you take advantage of the down-time in the right way, it can be quite an opportunity.

A lot of people use this slow time as an opportunity to reflect – to review their goal list, rewrite business plans, make resolutions, and just generally wait around for January to arrive so they can start fresh.

I say – why wait for January? And why start over? Chances are, you did some great things this past year, and December is a great time to drag those creations back out. (Plus, everybody loves a sale!) Here are some ideas for ya:

1. Got Teleseminars? If you do teleseminars on a regular basis, now is a good time to gather up all those recordings and sell them. Package them together and put them in your online store, or offer them as a new free download on your site.

 

    2. Got Blog Posts? Did you have a love affair with your keyboard in 2011? Pull out your best, most relevant blog posts and compile it into an eBook. Sell it or make it into a giveaway.

 

   3. Got Products? Comb your hard drive for any live courses you did, and package them up into a home-study. Or, take home-study products or ebooks, and re-launch, bundle them, or put them on sale.

 

   4. Don’t have enough content? Crowd-source it. (That’s where you combine a bunch of content from multiple sources and make them one.) Here is a great examples of a crowd-sourced e-book hosted by socialfresh.com: The Crowdsourced Twitter Marketing Book

5. Got Services? If you feel you don’t have enough time to gather things together, you can always sell your time. If you are a coach, it’s a great time to solicit new business by offering a few laser coaching or planning sessions.

 

So, there you have it. Go forth and be productive.