Are you bleeding all over the internet?

I just wrote a couple of articles on online reputations. Most of you watch over your reputation in life, but have you really thought about it online? Do you know if there is a video of you floating around out there that was taken a few years back or did you in an impulsive bolt of rage leave a scathing comment on someone’s blog that may be tied back to you?

You may think that your professional online life is safe, but have you done a search for your name under Google images? You might be surprised to find your name and alias may just pop up as the same person.

Click here to read tips on how to check up on your reputation and then come on back and let me know if you find anything that you didn’t know was out there.

Keeping on task

Have you started your blog, yet?  If you haven’t leave now and come back after you have your blog.

Now that you have created your blog, done your social marketing and developed your brand you need one more thing.

You have to focus.  Creating an online presence is not a casual endeavor and I know you already believe that, but working at home takes discipline and not having a boss looking over your shoulder can cause the best intentions to go awry.    Besides at work you don’t have kids running around or dirty laundry piling up or friends IMing you or the dog whining because she has to pee.

Keeping track of the time you  are spending and using it wisely can be a challenge.  It is so easy to start on one website and follow a link and before you know it, you are watching a video of an cat playing with a grocery bag.    Don’t laugh, I know you’ve done it, we all have.  There is just so much “good stuff” on the internet that it can be very distracting.  It will keep you from your goals and before you know it, you haven’t done anything to work towards your blog nor the pile of dirty clothes in the next room.

Ideas to keep you on track:

Get up and get going in the morning.  Make your coffee and have your breakfast.  Yeah, it’s great to work in your pajamas, but if it helps you to focus and get in the mood for working, then dress before you sit down at your computer.

Make a list of what you need to do every single day.   Such as, reply to emails, visit social marketing websites and blogging.  Designate how much time you need to do all this during the day.  If you want to, you can reply to emails and social marketing in the morning and save the blogging till after the kids are in bed.   Put it down on a calendar, such as 8am-9am reply to emails, 15 minute coffee break and pee break for the dog.  9:15 am to 10:00 am, social market, and yes, even include housework in your schedule, if you want.   Hearing the dishwasher droning in the background can be both musical and satisfying.

Bookmark websites that you find valuable information from and inspiration and fit them into your calendar.  It is time well spent as you will gain information that you can use.

As you are emailing and surfing the web, keep a notepad and pen next to you.  It will help you stay focus if it is waiting for you to write something down.  Inspiration is everywhere on the internet and already knowing what your brand is and having the mindset of working towards it, will help you stay focused.  Incidentally, you should have a big sign of exactly what your brand is, posted right next to your computer so you see it all the time.  Glance at it every now and then, to keep your focus.

Just this morning I watched an inspirational video (a good way to start your morning routine by the way and I highly recommend it-email me and I can tell you a website where you can watch one every morning)  replied to emails, did a phone consultation, visited several social marketing sites and checked my earnings.   I followed my calendar and kept on track and ended up with 3 ideas to write about along with a fourth one that is this article.

I will spend the evening writing up my articles ideas on Text Edit which helps me steer clear of the internet till I am done.  I have completed my goals for the day and have finished the day with a feeling of accomplishment and subsequently earnings and that’s exactly what keeping focus will bring you.

Have you come up with ideas that keep you on task?  Let’s us know.

Marketing your eBook as a CD through eBay

Every morning I sit down and start doing research on building my market.  I have everything woven together.  My eHow profile has my Examiner.com links and my blog links and vice versa and most of that is all linked up to RSS feeds so where ever I am it gets posted on my blogs, such as this one (see bottom left hand column for example).  I social market everything I do and spend time talkings to others on forums.   But, I am always looking for something else that will help promote my online business.

I started to remember a while back where you could purchase  eBooks on eBay, but back then I wasn’t selling any eBooks.  I have some now and maybe I could find a whole new market by going back to eBay and selling again.

Things are a little different now, eBay won’t allow you to sell a downloadable book, personally I think it’s a shame, because who wouldn’t wanted to be able to do that, but you can sell your eBook as a CD.

If you haven’t done it, get on the ball and start it now.  Heck, you can list it on eBay right now and once it sells, then you can turn it into a CD.  What are you waiting for?

Resumes for Online Entrepreneurs

You probably have an online resume, most of us do, but did you know that if you are an online entrepreneur that your current resume may not be right.

For example, let’s say you have a standard resume that lists all the brick and mortar places that you worked at and when and where, but since you have been an online entrepreneur, when is the last time you have used it?   If your are running your own website or blog this resume will not work, you need something different, something more like an entertainment resume.

Entertainment resumes list your accomplishments.   What project you worked on, who directed it and what your part was.  Your online resume needs to be about the same.  What project you worked on, who it was for and what part you did.  Just one line, no one wants to know every detail because if they do, one click on the hyperlink will tell them all they need to know.  You can post this online resume on the internet and give the link out as needed.  You can take a look at my online resume to get an idea what I am talking about:

But, this is not all you need, you should also have a bio and possible several bios if you are working on different projects with different themes.  For example, if you want to apply for freelance writing jobs you need a bio that concentrates on that aspect.  You don’t want to add that you are the webmaster of toolsRus.com as that will only complicated and muddy up your resume. If you want people to know about it, then do a separate bio for that theme.  Add, any media attention you have received and you are done.

Keep samples of your best work.  If you are a independent videographer you will want to have video samples, if you are a freelance writer, you will want writing samples.  Have short and longer samples of your work, and in different subjects.  For example, a website may want a 500 character example of an article on health insurance, where a newspaper may want a 350 character example on the restaurants in your home town.

Lastly, keep several different headshots of yourself.  Some serious, some smiling, so you can mix and match depending on the subject.

Pick a day or a couple of days next week to get this all together, so you’ll be ready for the next opportunity that comes your way.  Believe me I haven’t missed an opportunity since.

What obstacles are keeping you from being an online entreprenuer

First, I will need help from everyone.  Let me know what obstacles your are finding as far as making money on the internet.  Is it finding websites to earn money, is it difficulty in marketing, is it not having enough time to write. Whatever it is, let me know and I will start writing on that subject and give you some ideas on what to do to help.

Becoming an Online Entrepreneur

When I was younger, I thought how cool it would be to be an entrepreneur.  Thinking it was only for those who had a lot of money to back them up, I never thought about it again it till recently when I started freelance writing on the internet.  I realized then I had become an entrepreneur, but online.

What I like about it all is that I can take something that I love and can write about it, market it and make money from it, all while sitting at home.

This blog will teach you how to become an online entrepreneur, too.  As you read articles and others comments and questions, this will be your one stop place to learn how to take all that information on the internet and make some sense out of it, to become a success.