Good Plum » Your Business

Making Money Using Tutorials

Erin McKellar — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 20:05:34 +0000

Why are tutorials so important for making sales? Because most great marketers agree that educating your customer while also selling to them is very effective.

How do you educate them? By offering free “how to” advice related to the product you are selling. Even though you aren’t giving away your most valuable information, you are still providing good quality advice they can use.

When most marketers give away free information, they just throw together a bunch of useless bonuses to make their product appear more valuable than it really is.

This is not how to do it. Instead, you want to offer great value. This way, your customers will be thinking “if the free stuff is this good, I can’t imagine how great the product must be!”

What kind of tutorials are the most effective?

There’s really no right or wrong answer to that. The best marketers generally use a variety of outlets. For instance, write an informative blog posts along with your email course. Also submit articles to online directories. Post “how to” videos on YouTube. These are all great methods of getting good free information.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t sell. At some point you obviously want to tie the free information into your product. Don’t stop educating, but now focus on why the product you are selling is the best option for them.

How do you focus on your product?

First attract people by giving them free information. Do not give them the entire solution to the problem, but more than enough to get them interested. You leave out a piece of the puzzle, which is the product you are selling. Then you explain why they need to invest in it to get the whole story.

For instance, if you have an information product on how to play better golf, you might have ten really great tips in your product. You wouldn’t give those in your free emails. Otherwise people will just ask for a refund when they find that the information they’ve bought is the same.

Instead you might have an e-course on the “top ten mistakes golfers make.” This at least helps them know important things they can avoid doing on the course, even if it doesn’t give them the whole solution.

The bottom line is that if you say nothing worthwhile in your sales letter or emails, people are going to think that what you are selling can’t be that great either. Your free information doesn’t have to give away any of your valuable secrets, but it should provide enough value to generate interest.

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How To: Make Money with CPA Networks

Scott Reynolds — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 13:08:50 +0000

There is a lot of interest in learning how to earn with CPA networks. There is also some confusion about how these programs work. Here is an explanation of how you can make money with CPA networks.

CPA stands for cost per action. When you join a CPA network, you earn money for getting prospects to take a specific desired action. Some possible actions a prospect might be asked to take are to download a free report, request a free sample of a product, or ask for free information to be mailed to them. Each time someone takes that particular action, you earn a commission.

Online and offline companies use CPA offers to build quality leads for their business. This is why they are willing to pay you for the leads you generate. The company anticipates converting the leads you send them into long-term paying customers.

In a way, a cost per action program is similar to an affiliate program. You are paid a commission for your referral. However, there is one big difference between affiliate programs and cost per action programs.

With an affiliate program, you earn a commission when the prospect decides to spend money and purchase the product. With a CPA offer, you earn not from making a sale, but from convincing the prospect to take an action that doesn’t require a purchase. They only need to fill in a form with their information. If there is a purchase involved, it’s usually at a very low cost, such shipping and handling for a free product.

For this reason, it can be easier to make conversions and earn your commission. While people put a lot of thought into their purchase decisions, they are usually more willing to give out some of their information in exchange for something else.

To get started making money with a cost per action programs, you first need to register for one of the CPA networks. When you’re accepted, you choose the products you would like to market. If you already have a website or a mailing list, you can choose products that would be appealing to the visitors you already have. If you’re just starting out, choose products you would enjoy recommending.

Once you’ve chosen your products, you will need to direct prospects to your CPA offer. If you already have a website or blog, you can put buttons or links for your offer. If you don’t have a website yet, this is a good reason to start one. You can also advertise it to your opt-in mailing list.

For an experienced internet marketer, joining a CPA network can be a way to add another stream of income to your business. Those just starting out in internet marketing can be successful too, since you don’t need a lot of traffic to earn from a CPA network.

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Is the iPad a Good Investment for You?

Elliott Kosmicki — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 18:36:26 +0000

I remember watching intensely as Steve Jobs walked out to introduce the iPad. I also remember my hope sinking when I realized what it was… a big iPod Touch. I was disappointed because I hoped it would be different somehow – video conferencing maybe? An actual WORK tool? Who knows… but what I did know, was that besides the larger screen, it was for all intents and purposes, a big iPod Touch.

Then… slowly… the emotion started to build again as bloggers started picking the new gadget to pieces. Oh, the possibilities! My insides started to tickle as I imagined holding the beautifully sleek and useful piece of technology on opening day.

I started counting the things I could do with it… read websites like they were newspapers, read books (oh, how bad I need to do-away with my ancient Kindle 2!), play games in HD, read email with great effects upon selecting and deleting an item… how was I going to live without this?

I wasn’t going to live without it. I was now convinced I had to have it.

As an early adopter of technology, both web and the physical gadgetry, I can easily rationalize “needing” a piece of hardware. I mean, each new thing that comes out it “supposed” to be better than the last great thing, right? While this is sometimes true, there is always room for some common sense. And with this particular topic – I decided to inject some.

Reading books: one of the biggest new features from Apple, the iPad allows you to buy and read books. I’ll be honest – it was easy for me to give up paper books for a Kindle. It’s much more of stretch for me to give up the ease and readability of a Kindle for a glossy screen version. Games: I have PLENTY of things to play games on between an old iPhone 3G (which I don’t use anymore), PS 3, etc. Apps galore: yes – the apps are probably going to be the one thing that make the iPad “worth” it for many, but when will that turning point be for me?

I’m one who’s seriously excited about the productivity and creative value of the rumored Microsoft Courier (See Engadget for a great overview). I’d even hold the possibility of replacing my 3-month-old Blackberry 9700 for a new iPhone if the rumors of multi-tasking and a speedy processor are true.

It comes down to this: what do you need a piece of technology to do for you and how much are you willing to spend in a given year for that technology? We need to keep in mind that in 3 months, something else will come along and do one particular thing better than the iPad. What if the one thing you need is mobile video conferencing? You’ve just blown your load on a really cool iPad that doesn’t do the one thing you need it to.

For me, I need a place to brainstorm, clip notes, hold ideas and memories, check email and feeds – and I need it to be portable. The new Courier holds those possibilities in a way that no other device does.

The iPad would not be a good investment for me, personally. Is it a good one for you?

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Customer Service: a Big Deal for a Small Business

Elliott Kosmicki — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 14:13:40 +0000

Almost every company, whether they’re big or small, has a customer service department – or at the very least an owner who wears the customer service hat on a daily basis.

A small business can actually become big based on their customer service. Before you start laughing at the idea, let’s take a look at the differences we see in small business customer service versus the customer service we see in the larger companies.

The bigger they are – the harder they fall. This rings true with the larger companies and their customer service. Call a big company with a complaint and you’ll rarely get a satisfactory resolution. In fact, you might hang up before you even reach a human because they keep you embroiled on their automated system until you finally feel defeated and chalk it up to a lesson learned.

Customers can lose interest in a company fast if they don’t get their complaints taken care of in a timely manner. A small business owner can offer personalized complaint resolution in a timely manner.

Policies are a pitfall. The larger companies generally have some kind of policy in place to protect themselves – the fine print you forgot to read when you bought the product.

The smaller business owner tends to stand by his product or service, or is so intent on growing his business that he delivers above and beyond your expectations to ensure that you remain loyal to his brand.

Make sure you treat every customer the same and provide the kind of customer care you’d want to have if it was you on the other end of the line making the call. Sometimes, you might lose a customer based on his or her dissatisfaction, but don’t let it cause you to tarnish your reputation by being rude or negative with them. Continue being polite, because even though you didn’t meet their needs, they could recommend someone to you in the future whose needs you will meet.

Customer service is meant to help support the customer whenever they have questions or problems. When you address them as a person and not a case number they’re more likely to come back and do business with you again.

The small business owner has the advantage in this respect. Their business focus is on their customers and getting them to come back. Larger companies have the luxury of seeing an influx of new customers every day, so they’re sometimes not as concerned with keeping the old ones happy. Take advantage of your small business status and go big on customer service or it could be the one thing holding you back from achieving growth in your company.

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Thanks For Your Business: How Do You Say It?

Elliott Kosmicki — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 13:40:12 +0000

The thank-you note has gone away like the paper it was once written on. I don’t mind an email, or god forbid, a phone call – to thank me for using a service. The problem I have is that I don’t get any of those anymore.

I bought my first home last spring. I couldn’t count on all my fingers and toes the number of service providers we’ve used to fix-up the house and lawn, but I can tell you exactly how many of them have stayed in touch with me…

One.

I met my real estate agent at a networking breakfast 2 years ago. We exchanged information (I wasn’t even looking for a house) – and she kept in touch regularly. As soon as I needed a house, I didn’t even look for other agents – I just called her and set up a meeting. I already “knew” her, she was even a “friend.”

(If anyone is looking for a house in the Madison, WI area – let me know and I’ll forward her info.)

See? I even tell everyone I know about her. The reason is simple – she’s a real person who cares about relationships. I’m sure she cares about other things – like making money – but I can guarantee you that she’s more interested in helping you out.

Do you know why this is? How in God’s name could a business owner not have profit as the number one thing on their mind? Because she knows that if she’s good to you, you’ll tell someone else.

That’s it. It’s networking at it’s most fundamental level. It’s the reason why word-of-mouth is still recognized as the best marketing program ever. It’s why affiliate programs have made millionaires out of people who refer people. It’s the concept that you don’t need to sell anything to anyone – all you need to do is be nice to people and make sure they know what you do.

That’s it. That may be the one line that all of us should read, re-read, post on our mirror, and repeat to ourselves 10 times per day.

“You don’t need to sell anything to anyone – all you need to do is be nice to people and make sure they know what you do.”

How To Thank People

Saying ‘thank you’ after you provide a service is expected (even though that rarely happens anymore either). Calling someone on the phone to say thank you is great too. A follow-up can clear any bad air that people might be experiencing. You know it’s common that people have questions after-the-fact but don’t have the time or energy to call and ask about it, right? When they don’t get a follow-up from you – the next time they need your service, they go back to the yellow pages instead of your entry in their address book.

The best way, in my opinion, is to follow up with each and every person you come in contact with by mail. Yes, good ‘ol mail. A thank you note/card can make an immediate – and lasting – impact. Add your own handwriting to the card and the impact doubles. Add a picture of your contact/customer to the card and the impact doubles again.

This is Too Much Work

You may feel like this process takes too much time for the amount of return. The process can be slow to heed results, but you have to remember that networking is a long-term deal. This is your business for life. Work on this for 6 months and it’ll be easier, a year later you won’t remember not doing it, a year after that you’ll be having so much fun and rolling in so much money you’ll look back and laugh that you didn’t start this earlier.

Make it Easier

I use a product that does most of the hard work for me. I log-on to a website, pick a greeting card, write a note in my own handwriting font, add a picture if I have one and click send. The card is printed, stuffed into an envelope, stamped, and mailed for me. I can even create campaigns with several cards that send out over time – it’s like an email autoresponder for the ‘real’ world.

If you want to see how this system works, you’ll have to contact me and let me know because it’s a closed system. I promise I’ll make time for whoever takes the initiative to contact me about this. It’s THAT important.

No Matter What, Say Thanks

Even if you don’t take the steps to write notes or make phone calls, at LEAST say thank you to the people that do use your business or buy your products. We live in an age where whatever we need is at the tip of our fingers on a search page. People don’t need to remember you when they can just as easily find a provider with another search.

MAKE them remember you next time. Especially in a down economy, don’t let yourself get stressed out – or worse yet, go out of business – because you’re short on sales. There is PLENTY of business out there for the people who have built relationships. You just need to make sure you are one of those people.

Just remember it’s never to late. You can choose right now to turn your business around by creating lasting relationships with your customers and contacts.

Do it.

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How To Create Replication in Your Business

Elliott Kosmicki — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 18:11:08 +0000

If you’re running a home business that relies on replication, there are a few key things you should not overlook. Whether you’re working with a network marketing downline, training new sales people, or managing an affiliate program – these keys can help produce not only a successful team, but could help you become financially and professionally rich.

NEVER do anything you wouldn’t want your team to do.

This is practical in almost every situation. If you don’t want your team wasting hours on designing business cards, building new marketing systems, or watching television – you shouldn’t be doing those things either.

Assuming you’ve got yourself into a business that has usable marketing systems, think hard before you try and create “your own thing.” Could your downline or team do this? Could they also then teach it to others? The chances are likely that using the systems in place – whether you think you can build a better one or not – is the best method. This not only creates replication, but it creates focus and limits distraction.

The build-in system may not work work better than a system you would customize, but replication creates more success than you could ever produce by yourself.

For real replication, keep it simple.

For each step you add to the process, you severely decrease your teams chance of replicating success. Whether or not there are 20 possible things to do, you need to focus on the core THREE. This, again, creates focus.

If someone above you hasn’t already done this, break the business down into 3 major parts. Practice, teach and preach these 3 parts with everything you have. You can always add more complex branches to this later, but limiting yourself and your team to 3 or 4 primary tasks every day creates habits and core success. Three tasks a day for your group is the recipe for replication soup. ;)

Create what you want replicated.

Similar to the first item, if you want something to be replicated – you need to DO it! If you want your team to support their team via phone calls and emails, make sure you are doing the same. Does your team have your cell phone number? Do you call them every once and a while to check their progress? This not only creates a supportive atmosphere, but accountability. This support is then passed down to their team, and so on. THAT is replication.

Replication is action that creates action. This new action can never be sparked by inactivity. It’s rare to find someone starting their own home business who has COMPLETE self-motivation that creates action. If you want your team to succeed, you’ll be the catalyst they need. Replication, then, will follow.

What are the best ways you’ve found to create replication in your business? Let us know in the comments.

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8 Ways to Cut your Overhead Expenses from Minimal to Practically Non-existent

Lauren Fairbanks — Tue, 19 May 2009 16:43:29 +0000

Being a home business owner is tough road to travel. Along with taking on the hefty tasks of branding and selling, you have to organize and manage the administrative aspects of your company too. Luckily, there are a million products out there designed to help you streamline your projects and keep your operations running smoothly. But oftentimes these products can be expensive and unnecessary, significantly cutting into the bottom line. Even though home businesses typically have low overhead, there are always ways to keep cutting corners, and in this financial environment it’s never a bad idea to keep a strict eye on administrative costs.

A smart business owner is constantly researching ways to trim your overhead costs to make sure their business is as profitable as possible. Make sure you’re at the top of your game by implementing and taking advantage of all the free and low-cost options there are out there for small business owners.

1. Accounting Software — If you’re really handy with the spreadsheets, you can build and keep track of your business finances in Excel or Google spreadsheets using simple formulas. But if you’re more of an input and go type person, you can try Intuit’s Quick Books Simple Start Edition which was built specifically for small businesses whose accounting is pretty straight forward. You can download it here.

2. Advertising costs — If you haven’t already, try your hand at online advertising. There are many a good deal to be had on the web. Research websites or blogs that cater specifically to your niche industry or target demographic. Facebook offers great advertising deals by exposing you to a vast marketing audience and letting you set your own cpm (cost per thousand impressions) or cpc (cost per click) price and setting a daily spending limit. You can run a two week advertising campaign geo-targeted to your location for less than $300. And seeking out niche websites and blogs that have a very specific focus and audience can yield you even better results.

3. Administrative Assistance — If you need basic admin help, a virtual administrative service like Guru or eLance could be the answer. A friend of mine runs a highly successful online food venture and uses a virtual assistant to help her tackle her inbox and respond to the hundreds of queries she gets every day, schedule appointments, write weekly newsletters and contact vendors. In addition, the assistants are pre-screened and make bids for your work, so you’re able to get a qualified candidate for a price that fits nicely into your budget.

4. Freeware — There’s way too much free software online for people to spend hundreds of dollars on expensive programs. If large corporations and publishing houses can switch over to save overhead, so can you. Need basic formatting and spreadsheet programs? Try Google Documents (which you can save and send as Word files). Looking for a database to keep track of your client list? Try Base, a free database management system from Open Office.

5. Skype It — If you sit in a home office all day, there’s really no reason to pay for a land line for your business when you can take care of all of your calls via Skype. If you normally use your cell phone to take care of business, you can cut down on your bill and daytime minutes by taking advantage of free (or extremely low priced) online calls. Skype allows you to pay $2.95 a month to make phone calls to land lines and cell phones. Their free service is limited to other Skype users.

6. Office Supplies — Forget the overpriced Staples and Office Maxes of the world. Switch your focus to online. Computer related purchases can be had for a fraction of their sticker price at newegg.com. You can snag computer monitors, memory sticks, USB keys, and pretty much anything else tech related for pennies on the dollar. Forgo buying writing, office and paper supplies at office supply chain stores which typically charge a higher premium and check out your local Dollar Store or Wal-Mart to find cheaper supplies. Or if you really want to go all web 2.0, nix paper altogether and run a completely digital business – just don’t forget to backup all of your data on an external drive ($46.99 at Newegg).

7. Health Insurance — If your healthcare isn’t covered by a working spouse, look into freelancing unions to find affordable healthcare. Another alternative is to look into any state sponsored programs like New York State’s Healthy NY programs.

8. Legal Counsel – The cost of getting sound legal advice can wipe out a small business, so if you need a second opinion on something, there’s no reason not to take advantage of pro bono legal services. For writers or people who work with online creative projects, you can contact Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts — a nonprofit legal organization that takes on pro bono work to help settle issues with almost anyone working in a creative field, be it journalism, dance, theatre, fashion, design or visual arts. Although they’re located in New York, they typically take on cases from all over the U.S. You can also check out the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service for general advice and to get set up with pro bono counsel, if needed.

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Blogging as a Business – a Blueprint

Elliott Kosmicki — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:11:37 +0000

I’ll be honest with you, I’ve had so many blogs fail I wouldn’t even be able to list them by memory. I’ve tried niche blogs, broad-topic blogs, news blogs, and business blogs… but there was a reason they all failed.

I came across Yaro Starak, a crazy-haired Australian blogger who does very well for himself over at his Entrepreneur’s Journey blog. He’s turned his blog into a $10K/month business over the last several years with discipline and a blueprint (and a little luck, I’m sure). In my case, the one thing I was missing was a good, proven blueprint.

I don’t find it a coincidence that shortly after learning about Yaro’s blueprint in October 2008, Good Plum (which had just started) began taking off quite considerably. I all of a sudden started writing regularly for Mashable, I had people emailing me daily with questions I could help them with, my weekly newsletter started seeing new subscribers every day… in just a few short months. I’m of course not making thousands of dollars here, but there is no doubt that I will as I continue to follow my (& Yaro’s) blueprint.

There’s a reason why I advertise his material on Good Plum’s sidebar – it’s because I use it and find it extremely useful (I do NOT advertise anything I don’t use myself).

If you’re not familiar with Yaro Starak and his blog, and are looking to start a blog as a business, I’m happy to pass along the link to download Yaro’s blueprint which I have adopted as my own. Better still, this is completely and utterly free – no strings attached!

Keep in mind, that it’s rare that blogging alone brings someone enough to live on. In my case, Good Plum is simply here to serve a single, grand purpose: to be an outlet for my knowledge so that other people can learn from me. Along the way, I hope to gain loyal readers and partners who will follow me through any business I might decide to take on.

Back to Yaro’s blueprint, I wanted to give you a list of the chapter titles included in the free e-book so you can see just how powerful this stuff is. Here’s the link again to download Yaro’s Blog Profits Blueprint for yourself.

Yaro’s Blog Profits Blueprint table of contents:

How To Make Money Blogging
Blogging as a Business, Not a Job
What’s Next?
Who Is Yaro Starak?
What Is A Blog And Why Are They So Popular?
How Blogs Make Money
The Two Key Ingredients For Attracting Attention
Why Do You Blog?
How To Choose Your Blog Topic – Passions Vs. Profits
Let’s Talk Tactics
Content + Marketing = Traffic
What Is A Pillar?
How Do You Create A Pillar?
How To Market Your Blog
Time vs. Reward
Most People Are Lazy
Communication Channels
The Power of Leverage
Compound Effects
Think Big Picture, Work Little Picture
Traffic Tactics
Peer Relationships
Network Effects
Start With Your Peers
Bigger and Better Content Pillars
It’s Time To Make Money
Can Blogs Be A Stable Income Source?
The Holy Grail of Blog Monetization – Recursive Affiliate Income
The Next Best Option – Direct Advertisers
The Problem with Google AdSense
Other Monetization Options
My Top Blog Monetization Methods
Turn Your Blog Into A Business
Why Most Bloggers Fail
Do You Have Enough Information To Succeed?
Congratulations! – Now Get To Work
Advice For Beginners, The Lost And Confused
Would You Like Me To Coach You?
Thank You For Your Attention

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HOW TO: Survive the Twitter Effect

Elliott Kosmicki — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 17:02:59 +0000

“The Twitter Effect” – also known as The Mashable Effect or The Digg Effect – as become a topic of conversation lately due to a handful of blogs being taken offline from the amount of traffic instantaneously sent to them from Twitter.

The basics of the effect are this: a link is posted by someone on Twitter, that link is “retweeted” (forwarded, in email-speak) again and again and again. If it’s a popular or timely topic, this can cause a surge of traffic to that one page on your site almost instantly.

At Good Plum, we’ve been lucky enough to have a couple of these situations in the past week – both started by @Mashable‘s Pete Cashmore linking to a couple of the posts here, as well as guest posts I’ve written for Mashable. The flood of visitors added up quickly and at one point, there was many hundreds of simultaneous readers on 1 or 2 pages of the site. Server logs show a spike, but no where near peaking our processing power. How did we survive this?

This amount of simultaneous visitors trying to access the same content on a blog can take many servers down temporarily. We have a couple basic tools in place that help prevent this from happening and we’d like to share:

Tip 1 – Grow Up
Get OFF your shared (or grid) server. I really don’t care much what technical people tell me about how their shared system grows with my site, etc. — I’ve had too many experiences where the accessibility is way too unpredictable.

We use a virtual private server (VPS) from ServInt here at Good Plum. A virtual private server gives you dedicated resources (drive space, processor power) to keep your site and database running smooth. It’s essentially giving you a full dedicated server for a fraction of the cost.

A good VPS from ServInt is only going to cost you about $49 a month to start – probably about double what you might pay for a decent shared server – but the long-term benefits are clear. Flexibility, reliability, and performanace. Who wants to lose out on hundreds and thousands of potential readers/visitors just because we have a cheap web host?

Tip 2 – Cache It
On your WordPress blog (which MANY people reading this are using), do you know the amount of stress a lot of visitors at once has on your database? It’s amazing if you monitor database activity during a high-traffic rush. WordPress performs so many queries that it’s difficult for it to perform those queries hundreds of time, all at the same time. The effect is that it shuts down and you lose your traffic until you get the server reset (or, much worse, you actually go over some of your host’s imposed limits and they shut you down).

The ultimate tool to prevent WordPress overload is…..

WP Super Cache. Super Cache is a WordPress plugin that actually caches (stores) copies of a dynamically generated page. It then allows subsequent visitors to view that stored copy, instead of having to generate the page all over again for the next visitor, and the next, etc.

Once you activate the plugin and someone visits a page, the page pulls what it needs from the database just like it normally would. But then it stores that page to a folder on your server. Next time someone visits that page (or hundreds of people at once), it has the cached version of that page to display instead of having to pull it from the database again! I can’t stress enough how much this saves your server.

Of course, if you update the page or someone comments on an article, the cache is cleared so the new version is available to the next person.

–
Are YOU prepared for the Twitter Effect? You never know when someone with some social juice will start a retweeting avalanche that could either shut you down, or bring you a thousand new fans!

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Living Your Reality

Elliott Roberts — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:46:36 +0000

After a long day when you go to bed, right before sleeping, what is the last thing in your mind?

When you wake up in the morning, what is the first thing you think of? It totally depends on what you do and who you are. For most of us, those last and first thoughts are related directly to what is a problem in our lives. For a mother might be things like what to cook tomorrow, how to cope with teenager hormones and moods, or perhaps, how to pay for that gift that is really out of the budget.

For so many people, those last and first thoughts are directly related to their jobs. Many are worried of loosing that income, even though they can’t stand working there. Many are working extra hard to get that promotion, to improve their performance, to be in a better situation.

But what can drive you to be a better worker if you don’t like what you do?

That’s the reality that brings you down. You need the money to support yourself, to support your family, to pay for the mortgage, to pay for the bills, and yet you daydream about having a different job, better paid, a job that makes you happy.

There’s a song by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young that says: “If you can’t be with the one you love, Love the one you’re with.” To fall in love with something you don’t like already is very difficult! But if you give it a try, maybe then you will start liking what you do.

The trick is to enjoy what you do, to take your job as a hobby, and then you will never “work” again, simply because you enjoy it so much, it is not a “job” anymore. To make money doing something you love, is the ideal situation for every human being.

Of course not everybody can be the official taster at Hershey’s Chocolate Factory, or testers for mattress and comfortable chairs. But if there is something in your life that gives you satisfaction, something you really enjoy and you are good at, why not try to make that special thing your main income?

Accepting your reality means sacrifices, means doing things that might not be what you wish. But don’t give up your dreams. Try to find an outlet, and make your reality a life worth living. After all, happiness is not a destination… It’s a journey.