Yesterday I spent 1 hour playing outside in the snow with the kids. We had a snowball fight and we built a snow fort. Since we only built one snow fort it morphed into a snow creation with 5 tunnels that met in the middle, and included a lame gargoyle on top. The only reason I can say that it was "lame" is because I built it. This is how a kid's mind works....

After we finished the snow creation? Mallory asked me if we could take the puppies out there and put them in the tunnels. These are the same very small, fragile, 5 week old puppies who shiver at a house temp of 70. These are the same $1000.00 puppies that we are sitting. Read - not owning but puppy sitting. The same puppies who can only be wiped off occasionally because their skin is so delicate. Yeah, that sounds like a great idea but "no".

Christmas is over, New Year's Eve is coming and I'm in need of a workout routine. How will this year be different than last year? Will it? In some ways I really want this year to be different.

Tina had 2 major surgeries in 2009 - Let's go for zero in 2010
I made less money than 2008 - Let's go for double in 2010
We moved and remodeled our house - Let's stay put this coming year

In some ways I want this coming year to be the same.
I am loved by my immediate family and I adore them.
My itunes addiction grew and my tastes developed
My website business did better than last year

Now it's only to figure out what can be improved.

On the Sunday before Thanksgiving my pastor asked everyone in the congregation to take a piece of paper and write what you're thankful for on it. I wrote about how thankful I was that my wife survived and thrived her brain and spine surgery. Then he pulled something unexpected out. He asked that we write what we want God to do for us this coming year.

I wrote two things - that I would be closer to my kids and that my business would be successful.

I tucked that piece of paper in my Bible and forgot about it. 3 weeks after they were written on a small piece of paper, both are happening. With the kids, I'm really trying to appreciate their differences, their strengths, their hobbies. I've disciplined my time better with work stuff and family stuff. When you work at home it's much tougher than you think. Work is always a room away, not that I would trade my lifestyle for anyone else's.

With work, I have more business than I've EVER had. It's amazing what is happening. After months of slow business prospects, everything seems to be breaking out. People want websites and marketing and consulting. It's like the fresh perspective of January 1st has come early this year.

My suggestion to you is to try the same...what do you have to lose? If you read this post and write something on some paper please let me know by posting a comment.
Thanks,
R

Day after Day

Do you ever feel like success in one manner or another is waiting at your door? I've had this optimistic feeling for a year now and still success (in my mind) eludes me. I guess it's important to know what I'm talking about.

In this post I'm only talking about business success.

I've tried to help people by building websites this year. I've tried to start a ring of sites that are all connected. I've tried to work on my old established site. Nothing is really blowing me away. Just OK isn't good enough because my friends are succeeding in a big way.

A friend of mine, Chris Dibble, saw this old barn in Franklin, Indiana and decided to stop and look inside it. He found an old Porsche in that barn. He looked in the dash compartment and found the owners phone number. When he called them they told him that they would sell it for $1000. The car had been sitting in that garage for 26 years. He bought it and listed it on a Porsche only site. He sold it in 15 minutes for $10,000. There were other people interested but he took the money and ran. True story.

You might think that is an unusual story but it isn't. Chris found another barn and did the same thing. This barn had 4 Mustangs in it. There was a 68 California Special, a 66 Fastback, a 66 convertible and I don't remember the last car. He's currently in talks with the owner, who lives in Florida about buying them.

Another friend of mine, Jim Cockrum, posted an auction on eBay saying that he would write a book for someone. When the bidding was finished someone paid him $36,000 to write a book about internet marketing. Jim has a huge mailing list of over 100,000 subscribers so people were willing to pay for that kind of exposure.

Where is my break? When is my time? I keep trying and I keep staying positive but it hasn't happened yet.

Ron