As it’s my lady’s birthday today, I want to point your attention towards the issues that matter most to her.

Heena writes passionately on her blog at www.HeenaModi.com, and actively communicates these issues on Twitter and Facebook.  Her blog posts are also regularly featured on YouReportTV.

Today I share with you 5 articles from Heena’s blog that illustrates her character.

Heena Cares About Education

As a primary school teacher, Heena cares deeply about children’s education.  She is also the National Union of Teachers (NUT) representative for her school in South Harrow, to ensure that teachers are supported well in their careers.

In The best thing you can do for a child is encourage them to be independent, Heena outlines areas of focus to set the foundations for your children to gradually grow into responsible young adults.

Read the article at: http://www.heenamodi.com/2009/02/26/the-best-thing-you-can-do-for-a-child-is-encourage-them-to-be-independent/

Heena Cares About The Environment

Forever running around after me turning off light switches, Heena pushes hard to share ways in which to raise more awareness about the impact we are having on the environment, and what we can do to lighten our footprint.

In Everything is Disposable, Heena give practical suggestions on shifting from the ‘dispose everything’ mentality, into thinking how we can encourage more ways to ‘reduce, reuse or recycle’.

Read the article at: http://www.heenamodi.com/2010/02/05/everything-is-disposable/

Heena Cares About Animal Welfare

For a number of years, Heena has rescued abandoned cats by adopting them from animal shelters. A couple of years ago, she recognised the amount of violence that is involved in the dairy industry. As a result, she became vegan. To support other vegans, Heena regularly contacts food manufacturers to check whether everyday products are vegan-friendly, and then publishes the response on her blog.

In When your diet affects others. What do you do?, Heena explores some of the social considerations of following a vegan diet and how to overcome some of the challenges when dining with family and friends.

Read the article at: http://www.heenamodi.com/2008/10/09/when-your-diet-affects-others-what-do-you-do/

Heena Cares About The Local Community

Over the years, Heena has regularly participated in support groups that look out for the local community. She has served on the committee of a residents association and worked closely with local police on the Safer Neighbourhoods Team.

In Do you know your neighbours? What are the benefits of saying hello?, Heena opens our eyes to some of the shocking situations that are experienced by those living next door to us, and reminds us of our duty to ‘Love Thy Neighbour’.

Read the article at: http://www.heenamodi.com/2008/10/21/do-you-know-your-neighbours-what-are-the-benefits-of-saying-hello/

Heena Cares About Spiritual Growth

Having been brought up in a Jain family, Heena has taken a deep interest in her spiritual growth and progress for those around her.

In Jain Bhavnas / Reflections, Heena introduces twelve incredibly powerful contemplations from the timeless Jain tradition that cultivate equanimity through detachment.

Read the article at: http://www.heenamodi.com/2009/08/07/up-and-coming-posts-about-the-jain-bhavnasreflections/

Wish Heena a Happy Birthday!

To wish Heena a very happy birthday, tweet her @HeenaModi, message her on Facebook or drop her a note via the contact form at http://www.heenamodi.com/contact/.

Better still, read one of the recommended blog posts and leave a thoughtful comment on her site.

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In the Tim Ferriss interview with Michael Gerber (author of The E-Myth Revisited) on Escaping The Entrepreneurial Seizure, Michael introduces the three step process for building an automated business system.

As an entrepreneur, the focus here is not on working in the company (being the technician), nor is it about managing the company. The entrepreneur steps outside of the process and works ON the company rather than IN it.

Albert Einstein certainly had the right idea when he said “Problems cannot be solved by thinking within the framework in which the problems were created.”

So here is Michael Gerber’s 3 step process (with commentary from me) for building your very own business system…

Step #1: Intentional Dreaming

With this foundational step, take the time to dream, formulating your vision for your business and the impact you want to make on your immediate surroundings and the wider world. What is the purpose for your business? Who will it serve? How will it serve them now, and how will it serve them 10 years from now? Dream big, and dream outside yourself. Dream so that this system can continue without you, and will live strong way beyond your own life span.

Step #2: Intentional Organisation

What is the specific product or service that your client will receive, and how will your company get it to them? How will the company operate? Conceive, build, and perfect the automated client fulfilment systems that make up how your company operates.

Step #3: Intentional Growth

Once you’ve dreamed up what the business will do, and you have perfected the system that delivers this product or service, the final step is to conceive, build, and perfect the operating systems of the company that focus on lead generation and lead conversion.

Lead Generation: How are you going to tell potential clients about the business and how are you going to get them to come to you?  What is the marketing effort that needs to take place to attract your ideal clients to your business?  How can you automate the whole process so that you are leveraging technology and other people’s time to drive more business to your company?

Lead Conversion: Once your prospects come to know about your company and the products or services it offers, how are you going to help them take decisive action and give you money for the products and services that you are offering?  What are the barriers to securing the sale that need addressing? How can you leverage technology and other people’s time to automate this sales process?

All successful entrepreneurs seem to follow this simple 3 step model for building their very own automated business system.

Over To You

So what do you think of this 3 step process for building a business system? Where else in your work can you apply these very principles? How would you adapt them to make them work better for you?

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When you know that something hot is happening right now and you want to support it, here’s how you can get a good looking, self funding, great work promoting website up and running within a day.

In the example, we’ll use www.oneandonlymadonna.com, which is the site we have set up for our friend Evelyne Brink, who is currently on her way to winning the BBC1 prime time show hosted by Graham Norton: “The One and Only”. When she wins, she’ll have the opportunity to take her Madonna tribute show to Las Vegas for three months!

Here’s a 10 step plan on how you can create your very own site just like it…

Step #1: Get A Domain Name

Think up a domain name that you know people will be searching for. In our case, we chose www.oneandonlymadonna.com because our intention was to promote Evelyne Brink and help her get to Vegas, and the phrase “one and only madonna” was certainly catching on – Evelyne is most certainly the “one and only Madonna” on that show! See our article on Descriptive Domain Names for guidance.

Then go to GoDaddy.com and purchase the domain name that you think is ideal for your promotional campaign. You can pick one up for about £5. Sometimes you can even get a discount of 10% by searching Google for “godaddy promo code“and entering that code when you make your purchase. Hey, every penny counts!

While you’re getting this domain, you’ll need to point it to an external web host such as Dreamhost, by entering the relevant name servers – in this instance, you’ll need ns1.dreamhost.com. ns2.dreamhost.com, and ns3.dreamhost.com

Step #2: Get A Hosting Account

Next you need a place to actually host your website. We recommended Dreamhost for their hosting package, and you can get a terrific deal of approximately £60 for a year’s worth of hosting an unlimited number of domains.

Step #3: Add Your Domain To Your Hosting Account

Once you have opened your hosting account, you can add your new domain to be hosted at your new Dreamhost account. At this time, also create a new FTP account to upload files where necessary, and an email address to receive email correspondence specific to this campaign.

Step #4: Load Up Your Content Management System

The next step is to install the application on your host that lets you design and add content to your website quickly – for this you’ll be installing WordPress, which is commonly used for blogs.

When logged into WordPress, along the left hand menu, select Goodies –> One-Click Installs, and proceed with the instructions for setting up your new WordPress site on your domain.

Once installed, you’ll want to log in to your new WordPress website and set up the permalinks to show URLs with the full date and post name, as well as set the title and description for the site.

Step # 5: Install A Decent Looking Revenue Generating Theme

Now that you have the core website set up, you want it to look good and set up in a way that it generates revenue for you through contextual adverts such as AdSense and Amazon Associates – you’ll need to sign up with these services and enter the codes it generates into your theme.

The quickest way to find a decent theme that achieves this is by searching “adsense optimized wordpress theme” in Google, downloading a theme you like, and following the instructions given to you on how you can install the theme on your site.

Another way to make further revenue is to sell affiliated products – i.e. products that other people have either created or are distributing, and you are simply referring people to them and making an affiliate commission on each sale.   You can set up your very own affiliate store by signing up as a My Affiliate Store member.

Step #6: Add A Mailing List

Set up a mailing list on the site that can capture your visitors’ name and email addresses so that you may keep in touch with them and send them regular updates by email about the artist, to keep them engaged on the site. We recommend you use Professional Cart Solutions.

Step #7: Add Quality Content

When the look and feel of the site is set up, you’ll want to start adding relevant content. In our case, we located videos from YouTube, pictures of Evelyne as Madonna from Flickr, and Diva Eve’s music from the Last.fm playlist.

Evelyne has many fans around the world, so we have also been in touch with some of her most dedicated fans who are more than happy to write about Evelyne and how she progresses in BBC1′s The One and Only show with Graham Norton to be selected to perform as Madonna in Las Vegas for three months.

If you’re asking other writers for content, you may even want to create an account for them on your site so that they can contribute content as and when they are inspired to write.

Step #8: Help Visitors And Search Engines Find Your Site

To let search engines know that your site exists and ask them to list you, simply send them a request to add your site to their database. With Google, just go to their Add URL page.

You’ll also want to further optimise your site so that your description and keywords meta tags have something useful in them for search engines to pick up when visitors are searching for your content. The plugin we recommend that you download, install and configure is the Add Meta Tags WordPress Plugin.

Step #9: Get Fans To Rave About The Site

Finally you want fans raving about this promotional fansite by telling all their friends about it on social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook. Help them do this by installing the I Love Social Bookmarking Plugin.

When fans are on your site, you can build stronger relationships with them by leveraging comments. Read our article on 6 WordPress Comment Plugins To Build Stronger Relationships With Site Visitors.

Step #10: Sit Back And Enjoy

So there you have it – get your very own buzzing money making promotional website like www.OneAndOnlyMadonna.com up and running within a day. Now sit back, watch your favourite performer being helped along the way by their fans, and see some money coming in to make up for the time you spent building the site.

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One cool, affordable, and effective way of marketing your services is to run a free teleconference for your current or potential clients and customers.

By running a seminar, you put yourself forward as an expert in the field, whilst reaching many many people at once. This certainly raises your profile, and allows you to serve more clients better.

Here’s how a local plumber can do it…

Step #1: Plan Your Teleseminar

What are the top 10 questions your existing clients ask you about their plumbing or central heating? List the questions and write a few paragraphs for each answer.

Locate and register with a free teleconference solution to run your seminar over the telephone such as www.freeconferencecall.com

Set up a webpage with a registration form where those interested in listening in on your teleseminar can register for it. Once they register, they will receive an email with the details of your teleseminar.

Step #2: Announce Your Teleseminar

Determine a date and time to run your seminar which will be convenient for you as well as the majority of your target market.

Prepare an email which announces what your teleseminar will cover, why it’ll be useful to them, when it’ll be run, and the web link for where they can register for free. Give it a decent descriptive subject such as “Free Teleseminar On The Hottest Plumbing And Central Heating Questions For Your Home”, and then send it out to all your current and past clients, offering them opportunity to invite their friends and family to it too.

You’ll soon see registrations trickling in. 24 hours before the seminar, send all those registered a reminder of the details for the call.

Step #3: Run Your Teleseminar

Simply call in to the number you are given when you register with the teleconference service, ensure enough people have arrived on the call, and aim to start on time.

If it’s a one hour call, use the first 5-10 minutes introducing yourself, where you are based and what services you offer. This’ll help to pad out the time in case there are any late comers. Then use the next 40 minutes to deliver your seminar over the phone – as simple as 10 questions, 4 minutes per question. You can ask a friend help you run like a question and answer session, with you as the expert. Use the final 10-15 minutes to address any other questions that arise for your clients, and then round the call up with details of how they can easily contact you to take up your services.

Hey presto, you’ve now helped a large number of homeowners with their most pressing plumbing and central heating questions, as well as letting them know that they can give their plumbing and central heating work to you. All this exposure for your company and services for just 3 to 4 hours of work from your end.

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In line with Mik’s September 2007 post on Using Descriptive Domain Names To Drive Relevant Traffic To Your Web Site, here is a terrific resource called Good URL Bad URL that helps you understand:

1. what a good URL is and what a bad URL is using examples from existing sites
2. what would be a good URL for your own website
3. how to present your URL in your adverts

Check out www.goodurlbadurl.com before purchasing your next domain name for your online marketing campaign.

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If you’re a young company, or a solo-preneur, you naturally want to keep your startup costs as low as possible.

Here is a terrific resource that lists and describes 30 essential pieces of free to use software for Windows.

http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2006/12/01/30-essential-pieces-of-free-and-open-software-for-windows/

It includes web browsers, email clients, complete office applications, media players, image editing applications, and even games!

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On Tom Johnson’s blog titled “I’d Rather Be Writing”, he has pulled together a very valuable selection of usability tips for when you are setting up and adding content to your blog.

At Twenty Usability Tips for Your Blog — Condensed from Dozens of Bloggers’ Experiences, Tom expands on each of the following tips:

1. Pick a topic for your blog.
2. Encourage comments.
3. Make it easy to subscribe.
4. Include an About page.
5. Present your ideas visually.
6. Keep posts short and to the point.
7. Use subheadings for long posts.
8. Link abundantly.
9. Make headlines descriptive.
10. Archive by topic.
11. Include a list of related posts beneath each post.
12. Allow users to contact you offline.
13. Present your real viewpoint.
14. Write for your future employer.
15. Include a Top Posts section.
16. Provide an index.
17. Get your own URL and match it to your blog’s title.
18. Include a Recent Posts section in your sidebar.
19. Reward commenters for commenting.
20. Post often.

Incredibly useful for new bloggers, and naturally a gentle reminder for the more experienced!

Highly recommend you check out Twenty Usability Tips for Your Blog — Condensed from Dozens of Bloggers’ Experiences and then get in touch with us for any technical amendments you want for your blog.

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Our client and good friend Kavit Haria had a very bemused look on his face earlier this week – the kind of look that you find when someone asks himself “How in the world did I manage to do that!?”

You see, it had only just gone noon on Monday afternoon, and he was sipping away on his honey and lemon hot drink while working away on the laptop. We’ll let Kavit tell you the rest of the story…

Today, at about 12.15, when working and drinking honey and lemon, I spilt it over my laptop by serious mistake. The laptop now doesn’t turn on. I called Dell quite a bit and they have arranged for someone to call me tomorrow to give me a quote for repair and then they’ll pick it up if I agree.

My literature review is the most important file on there – it has taken time to write and I’ve got a deadline to meet in 2 weeks time. However, I remembered that 3 weeks ago I signed up to www.mozy.com as an online backup service and now, luckily, all my files are backed up and the version from last week 6th Nov is saved online. I am now using another computer and have just downloaded my file here. I had only written 4 new paragraphs earlier today so I can rewrite that, rather than 8 pages of scientific stuff!

Anyway, I will wait for the repair quote tomorrow. If it is too high, I’ll just have to pay a bit extra and I’ll get a new laptop as I don’t need any other files as everything of mine is backed up online luckily.

I am now leaving the laptop to dry till later this evening and will try again to see if it works.

This email was just to inform you…

Kavit

P.S. Check out www.mozy.com for home or office!

I’ve just had news from Kavit – his laptop is still kaput, so looks like he’ll most likely be ditching this laptop and getting himself a mac this Christmas. What’s great is that all his files are backed up remotely and now retrievable.

So the message here folks is back up your files frequently. Simply mozy on over to www.mozy.com for all your online backup needs!

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When you have two or more people who want to attend a meeting and are working out each other’s availability, sending emails across to everyone and getting schedules to align can get pretty taxing.

Not anymore!  Doodle‘s here – this simple cool free online application helps you plan a meeting time or location that suits everyone best, without the mess of sifting through emails to work out who’s available when.

So the next time you’re planning a meeting – tap into the power of www.doodle.ch.

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Whether you’re working on a common project, writing an article, or preparing a presentation, one of the coolest exercises you can do is to place your main thoughts about the topic into a mind map.

Last weekend I was preparing a presentation to deliver to a group of charitable individuals. This was to raise funds towards drilling a borehole in East Africa so that the communities there could get fresh clean drinking water without having to walk 7km each way every day to fetch water.

Before I created the PowerPoint presentation file, I logged onto my free account at www.Mind42.com and mapped out all my thoughts about what inspired our family to take on this project, how we’ve been collecting funds so far, and some details about the location where the borehole will be drilled.  Click here to see an example of the mind map I created.

Having mapped these out, it was so simple to knock all the details into a PowerPoint presentation. The mind map served as a complete visual reminder about what I wanted to communicate.

Now here’s the cooler part. Through it’s collaboration feature, Mind42.com even allows you to share your mind map with your friends, colleagues and clients, so that you can work on this together, even if you are located in some of the remotest parts of the world. Try it out – see it revolutionise the way you remotely work on common tasks.

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