This post is to wish you a successful 2009 AND give you a couple ways you can guarantee it.

To give you an example from my life, I have a story that started small but eventually netted me a five figure check!

I was closing out my books for 2008 and found an old check stub. At the time, it was the biggest check I had every deposited and the culmination of the most unlikely string of events.

After watching the Matrix with some friends, I was captivated by the cinematography, the characters, and most of all, the premise found in the movie.

After leaving the movie, we were bantering back and forth about the daunting images of human power plants and the rat-pack revolutionaries of Morpheus and his crew.

It was 1999 and my first thought was “what if we could take conversations like this one to the Matrix - online?”

I ran it by my fellow fans and their resounding “yes!” encouraged me to get started. Within six months, TheMatrixOnline.com was born in 2000.

Remember the year 2000, or Y2K as it was called for a very short time (though die hard advocates still roam the speaking circuit), it was a great time for Internet businesses, especially those providing advertising. Fandom, Thirsty, UGO, and many others sprang up during this period to capture the massively growing market of online users.

Then came 2001 and 2002.

9/11 and the advertising bubble burst for Internet startups. Bankruptcies were rampant. Things were changing on the web and I wanted to know my options. Advertising rates had plummeted and were not enough for the model envisioned.

Chris S., an entrepreneur friend of mine who knew what I was doing volunteered to setup a meeting with Jim Moloshok, the President of Warner Brothers Online at the time.

There were probably a thousand people who wanted to be in this meeting with Jim, Chris, & I but they were not. I was there because I followed through on my desire to create a place to talk about The Matrix, online.

Jim and WB had a bunch of copyright issues to work out and it was clear we had little to offer each other so the meeting seemed like a waste of time to me.

Thankfully, that wasn’t the end of the story.

I continued to publish news, reviews, and other articles on the site and encourage others to get involved. One in particular fan took me very serious. During the filming of Matrix Revolutions (part II) at an abandoned military base in Alameda, California, she and/or her husband would fly their Cessna over the runway-turned-freeway set and snap photos of Trinity’s motorcycle chase and other scenes.

I still remember the feeling when I saw those pictures in my email inbox. Amazing! Or the time when I received actual 35mm film strips from the promotional trailer in the mail (I still have a bunch if anyone is interested).

Since advertising had bombed and WB was out, I partnered with a local theatre (Lowe’s at Universal Citywalk) for their Matrix at Midnight promotion. The line was so long the first night they asked me to continue and gave me free tickets to bring others at will.

The site wasn’t making much money but these perks were sure nice!

Things changed with UGO, a network of entertainment sites contacted me and asked if I would consider being their “Matrix Hub.” This was real money for doing what I had already been doing.

This led to more promotion, more users, and ultimately to a lawyer’s email to negotiate the sale of TheMatrixOnline.com for $10,000. Turns out Jim Moloshok took notice and thought the new Matrix game ought to be called “The Matrix Online.”

I love this story as it has the most unexpected and unlikely events that propelled my dream forward. Many things I thought would didn’t and others I thought should flopped. From the encouragement of my friends and the unlikely availability of “thematrixonline.com” after the movie had been released for at least two months to the chance meeting with Jim Moloshok, it was a great journey with lots of challenges, victories, and lessons.

Here are a few lessons I learned and a single recommendation below so you can write your story soon too!

1. Pig Headed Discipline (nod to Chet): My sale in 2003 only came after I made it through the pains of 2001 & 2002 putting one article, post, and image in front of another.
2. Ask For Help: I never realized my seeking help would yield a meeting brokered by a friend that would later lead to the profitable sale.
3. Unplug: Most of this journey looked like things were just going the way of most fan sites of the time: rise, fizzle, flatten, and disappear. Things are not ONLY what they appear to be.

To your success,

Jon Cline

p.s.
Prior to the sale, I moved the forums to www.thelastfreecity.com to keep them alive as they are to this day.

p.p.s.

Using a computer for six years should be a somewhat rare occurrence but it is not. Data loss is all too frequent and is estimated to cost $2,900 per incident. Ouch! This is foolish when the problem could have been solved for under $300. Even more, hard drives have been failing at an increasing rate as we depend more and more on our computers - sometimes as high as 15% in a single year!

Especially in this economy, fully depreciating (and then some!) our assets is a high priority but so should avoiding a catastrophe.

I encourage this attempt at cost savings as long as you are managing your risk well.

Doing so includes:

• Automated data backups with multiple versions
  Examples: Mozy for Mac, Carbonite for Windows, Bacula for Linux
• Routine and scheduled Hard Disk replacements & reuse the old drive
  Example: Within the estimated life of the Hard Drive, often called MTTF, or every three years
• Contingency planning for downtime
  Example: Have a secondary computer or shared computer just in case.

Here is what has enabled me maximize my hardware investment while minimizing my risk.

1. I buy only Macs. Since Intel is inside, I can use Windows using a superior hardware setup. You don’t have to, but this is what I do.
2. I have Mozy unlimited backup my hard drive automatically, a little bit every day for about $25.00 a year.
3. I religiously replace my hard drive every 3 years and install a fresh version of Mac OS X.
   (Disclosure: Actually, I hate losing little screws so I buy a hard drive for $109.00 and have Jordan at my local Mac shop, Di-No Computer do it for me for $50.00.)
4. I put the previous computer hard drive inside a reusable portable hard drive enclosure that cost me $62.00.
5. I plug in the hard drive using the enclosure via Firewire
6. I use the Apple Migration Assistant to migrate all the relevant files, applications, and preferences (including my entire Windows installation inside Parallels) over to my new machine.

Total time: 4-5 hours

Time invested: 17 minutes to walk through the Apple Migration Assistant.

Total cost: $25 + $109 + $50 + $62 = $246.00

Peace of mind of low risk and having a Plan B just in case: Priceless

For Windows users, moving your previous PC is probably not desired due to performance issues and for Linux, Ubuntu has a Migration Assistant but mostly from Windows to Linux in the unlikely event you are moving in that direction.

p.s.

I migrate users from Windows to Windows on Mac all the time. I’d love to consider the benefits of this option for you. Let’s connect.

If you’re in business for yourself, hell, even if you work for what you once considered a sound company, it’s pretty scary when all you read in The Wall Street Journal or see on CNN is a barrage of stories about layoffs, people walking away from their homes, corporate losses and the declining stock market.

For small and mid-size business owners, the times require careful financial planning, aggressive marketing and good financing (if you can find it).

Meditation helps, too. I do a lot of that these days and reflect on these truths: What comes must eventually go. What falls must arise. All is impermanent.

Another morale booster, particularly for small business owners and entrepreneurs, is reaching out to peers for advice on how to weather this storm. Recently, in search for some assurance of my own, I went to the Small Business Leadership Summit in New York, held by Moran Media Group.

The event was attended by NYC and US officials in charge of small business affairs, a number of private companies that serve small businesses and a good number of small businesses themselves. They had come to share knowledge on everything from the state of small business and future trends to tips on raising capital and cutting costs.

In a morning session, Jim Blasingame, radio host of The Small Business Advocate Show, posed a somewhat jarring question: “Is capitalism as we know it today dead, and if not, is it on life support?” By day’s end, entrepreneurs and small business owners in attendance provided an answer: ‘Capitalism has the flu, yes, but it hasn’t yet bought the farm, and small businesses will be a major force in getting the system back on its feet.’

I believe it. How do I know? Adrian Guglielmo. She’s founder and CEO of Diversity Partners, LLC, a Brewster, NY, firm that teaches companies about marketing to various communities “through social responsibility and diversity,” she said. Adrian was at the summit doing fund-raising consulting for the Veterans Support Foundation, a non-profit organization that aims to improve the quality of life for deserving veterans and their families.

Bubbly and outspoken, Adrian popped up out of the audience during a panel discussing the state of credit from the government and banks for small businesses. She grabbed the microphone and told the audience about her struggles raising capital and offered this advice: “You don’t have to rely on banks and the government.”

Yes, Adrian got loans from all the usual sources, including the Small Business Administration and credit card companies. But she also got loans from family, her brothers. And she met an “angel” investor — someone who believed in her business and ponied up $2 million in financing.

I was impressed, and so were a lot of people in the audience. Impressed not so much by the $2 million she got, rather by her guts, determination and entrepreneurial spirit. She needed money to keep her business growing, and she made a move “out of the box” to do it.

I think we’ll be seeing a lot of Adrians from small businesses taking similar steps to keep this economy alive and move it forward.

I’m hopeful. What do you say?

Don

Mr. Don Munro is a business copywriting expert from NYC. He works with clients such as American Express and Success Rabbi. He is an avid tennis player with a great sense of humor. Mr. Munro publishes regularly to blogs including his own at writingthatsells.biz.

I had client meetings with others in Pasadena, Philly, Seattle, West LA, and Florida this week. All without driving anywhere past my nearest EZ Lube, Starbucks, or Coffee Shop.

You are feeling the pain of this economy and so am I. Even $50 a month saved can make a significant difference if used effectively.

I am in the business of helping make others successful so here is what I do to remain competitive as a small business owner and entrepreneur. I coach, train, and support others as they walk down this journey toward competitive advantage with technology.

Vons, EZ Lube, Hospitals, & Apple Stores: Unexpected Resources
Once you commit to mobilize your office, remaining connected on the go becomes a much higher priority. It used to be that this lifestyle required a cellular card for your computer that could run up to $100 or more per month.

Not so today where you can actually reduce costs by getting out of the office.

This is possible because most business needs some form of Internet access. Many businesses don’t utilize the bandwidth they pay for or want to provide an incentive to visiting customers who may have to wait for services such as EZ Lube. These businesses setup a wireless network that their customers - and you - can access easily with any portable computer with a wifi card. All macs and most other portables sold in the last three years have these built in.

So, once you know Internet access is available in the wild, the next step is find it when and where you need it on the go. Most computers will have utilities that automatically search for networks you can join. If you want to plan ahead or get more info, here are some tools I use that will get you started.

• The iPhone Jiwire Page is an iPhone formatted web page at http://iphone.jiwire.com that allows a quick lookup by address or area code. It has links to maps and contact information to help you check hours and locations via map. Just point Safari there and bookmark it or save it as a shortcut in your Applications screen.
• WiFinder.com is a great service that lets you type in an address or zip code and set a radius - say five miles - to search in. It provides an integrated Yahoo map and contact inforation for locations.
• Wi-fiHotspotList.com provides the usual data but allows you to limit results to a provider such as AT&T. It providies an integrated MapQuest map.
• YouCanWorkFromAnywhere.com provides a great list of additional resources so you can be prepared and realize the benefits of working from anywhere.

In addition to the free and paid wifi hotspots listed above, the FCC is considering creating nationwide wireless with a newly released band of spectrum.

Your comments are always welcome below and please let us know if you have found a tip that worked for you.

See you in Starbucks,

p.s.
That $50 could get you 60 mins of coaching to give you the confidence and skills to not just survive but thrive.

I had client meetings with others in Pasadena, Philly, Seattle, West LA, and Florida this week. All without driving anywhere past my nearest Starbucks or Public Library.

You are feeling the pain of this economy and so am I. Even $50 a month saved can make a significant difference if used effectively.

I am in the business of helping make others successful so here is what I do to remain competitive as a small business owner and entrepreneur. I coach, train, and support others as they walk down this journey toward competitive advantage with technology.

An Email Revolution
Email and text based communications are becoming the most critical forms of communication today. This can cause an overwhelming deluge if not managed well. I will offer a few suggestions based on what I have found to be successful.

A Real Estate client of mine was using a popular service for hosting an MLS integrated website for listings and news. This service also came with email at their domain which really filled a need. The drawback was that email had to either be read via a web browser like Firefox or downloaded to their local machine via Post Office Protocol, or POP, which deletes the message on the server once saved for a time on their local PC. Both of these methods can be very slow and are cumbersome if email is going to be used on more than one device such as two computers or a mobile phone and a PC (read: say no to email syncing between machines).

Given the larger service area many Realtors and agents are covering, getting email on a mobile device is almost standard.

I made the jump for myself earlier this year and enabled my client using the same technology.

The key solving this problem begins with how email is able to be accessed. I mentioned POP earlier as it acts like a Post Office. You go in, get your mail, and take it home. Another method is Internet Message Access Protocol, or IMAP for short. Much like a Public Library with books, IMAP lets you can go in and view messages by title and then open up the one you want to read without saving them to your local computer.

This enables you to have any number of devices such as a Treo, Peek, Blackberry, iPhone, Laptop or desktop PC have equal access to your email without worry that any will be out of sync with the others as long as you use IMAP.

What is a revolution here is how accessible this has now become.

In 2006, you either had to go along with whatever email system you had or hire costly IT help to setup a new mail server for you and manage it over time.

Not so any longer although their oversight is recommended.

• Google Apps for my Domain is a service that can enable IMAP for free for your organization. A simple setup process creates the account and you just need to forward a couple ways to verify ownership of your domain to your IT team, setup your users, and update the DNS or behind the scenes routing of messages.
• Email friendly devices such as an iPhone, Blackberry, or Peek can use this new server to access email from any location and any changes you make to messages will be reflected on your computer.
• Embracing SMS texting from your phone will give you greater communication opportunities with successful folks in the younger generation (generally < 35) and is much faster than email.

There are numerous how-to guides on the web for setting up Google Apps for email.

I will talk about shifting free consulting and when free is expensive in future parts so stay tuned.

Your comments are always welcome below and please let us know if you have found a tip that worked for you.

To your success,

p.s.
That $50 could get you 60 mins of coaching to give you the confidence and skills to not just survive but thrive.

I had client meetings with others in Pasadena, Philly, Seattle, West LA, and Florida this week. All without driving anywhere past my nearest Starbucks or Public Library.

You are feeling the pain of this economy and so am I. Even $50 a month saved can make a significant difference if used effectively.

I am in the business of helping make others successful so here is what I do to remain competitive as a small business owner and entrepreneur. I coach, train, and support others as they walk down this journey toward competitive advantage with technology.

Working In The Cloud
The Internet is quickly becoming the new railway of business. Many business activities rely heavily on it and this is just reality. Resisting it is like resisting the use of credit cards. You can do it but it will cost you much more than its worth. For example, I won’t even shop in a store that doesn’t accept Visa or Mastercard.

In the same way, there are tons of Internet tools available to you that will translate into hundreds and even thousands of dollars saved or used for innovation and marketing. These are just a few I have found to be stellar. I may go into them more specifically in later posts.

• Skype w/ Skype-In & Call Recorder enables me to pay a flat monthly fee for unlimited calls in North America and deep discounts elsewhere. I use the SkypeToGo feature to call Israel on my iPhone for what many businesses pay to call across the street. With decent Internet access (read: Public Library), audio quality is better than my iPhone with a Shure headset and can be recorded as a .wav file with a single click. I love the human element and prefer tech that helps me maintain it which Skype does. A single click starts a video call which can also be recorded and looks like it does on CNN & FoxNews. Very cool!I also have rent a phone number for Skype so I have CallerID and my in-bound calls are not rejected as “call center” calls. This also enables me to answer your call via Skype when I am connected.
• RingCentral enables me to have a “big company” phone system for a few dollars a month. Professional answering messages can be recorded and all messages are delivered to me as .wav files. A big win with iPhone 2.0 which can now play them from my email messages and I can forward the original message when delegating tasks. RingCentral also eliminates the need for a fax machine or services like WinFax and eFax as it provides a simple program to send outbound faxes with email confirmation. I could use this as a phone on my mac but I prefer Skype for the video and it is cheaper if you make many calls.
• AdobeConnect Free is a fairly recent service that uses flash in a very user friendly way. I am a big fan of GoToMeeting but most of my meetings were 3 people or less which is free with AdobeConnect. It is much simpler to have others share their desktop with you as well and offers a great human element feature of sharing my webcam with the other attendees in the interface. It is still in beta but they are also charging people already so who knows how long it will remain free.
• Vyew is a service similar to AdobeConnect and GoToMeeting. It is not as user friendly but offers many more features. I use this one when I need more than 3 people on the call and the attendees are tech veterans.
• FreeConference offers a simple but effective free conference call service. They offer more that I don’t use. They give you a dedicated number and pin that you can use for every call. No more scheduling and notifying ongoing clients. Same number and pin every time - nice and easy. I use this with Skype to enable easy re-connect in case someone gets dropped which lets the conversation continue.
• Google Apps provides lots of services but gives the basics of Excel/Numbers, Word/Pages, & Keynote/Powerpoint in a browser. Great for collaborating on a doc with others and offers the safety of versioning so you can rollback changes you didn’t like with ease. This is great in a pinch when you need to put something together fast and your PC is down and out due to spyware. I wish that were a joke.
• Salesforce.com has a free trial and starts at $99 a year for a single user. Your client list is the most valuable asset you have and many don’t even back it up. This tool has transformed my business life since 2004 and continues to break ground for business.

There are many others but what you need most is a commitment to overcome the common fears related to using these services. Just because you can can touch and feel the computer holding some software does not make it better, more safe, or more reliable. In fact, I would argue that storing just your client list on Salesforce and neglecting the other 99% makes it preferable to ACT!, Outlook w/ BCM, Excel, or the numerous other ways people mishandle their goldmine - pun intended.

Most tools or apps in the cloud, often called “web 2.0″, are very focused on solving a specific problem like making faxes digital or providing online collaboration so you can take your first jump on something that will save you lots of time and give a big reward.

See a large listing at go2web20.net >>

I will talk about shifting your email tech, mobile devices, and finding free wifi in future parts so stay tuned.

Your comments are always welcome below and please let us know if you have found a tip that worked for you.

To your success,

p.s.
That $50 could get you 60 mins of coaching to give you the confidence and skills to not just survive but thrive.

I had client meetings with others in Pasadena, Philly, Seattle, West LA, and Florida this week. All without driving anywhere past my nearest Starbucks or Public Library.

You are feeling the pain of this economy and so am I. Even $50 a month saved can make a significant difference if used effectively.

I am in the business of helping make others successful so here is what I do to remain competitive as a small business owner and entrepreneur. I coach, train, and support others as they walk down this journey toward competitive advantage with technology.

Local Public Libraries
Long the domain of the academics, Public Libraries offer a tremendous opportunity for small businesses looking to improve their tech savvy and efficacy. My local library provides quite a few business savvy amenities thanks to taxpayers like myself:

• Private meeting rooms complete with data/power equipped table, 4 chairs, whiteboards and Internet access. In fact, 98.9% of Public Libraries have Internet Access which is becoming the new railway of commerce. This opens up the use of web phone, collaboration, and communication services within the private and quite rooms. I have even recorded Podcasts in these rooms with great success.
• Current business books are on the shelves with 2 week checkout times and a phone in renewal for another 2 weeks. Additionally, they often have liberal checkout policies so you can use all the books you need. How often do you really read it a second time anyway? Need a little motivation? Read the book before its due back!
• Current audio books are available for checkout. A great compliment to your new walk or bike commute to the library.
• Numerous periodicals in reference. From the local business journals to the NY Times, BusinessWeek to Entrepreneur, you can read it and take an article copy for a dime.
• Web enabled computers are available. Even if you don’t have a slick macbook pro yet, you can just use the computers at the Library. This maximizes a future tip related to web apps like Google Docs.
• It is a relaxing and focused environment to work in. My local library offers a great outdoor area with tables and chairs when I need a break. My fellow visitors are all generally intentional and focused on learning which is a great environment to work in and probably a positive change for many.

Why buy when you use and borrow for free?Find a Library near you at PublicLibrary.com >>

I will talk about shifting your email tech, mobile devices, and public libraries in future parts so stay tuned.

Your comments are always welcome below and please let us know if you have found a tip that worked for you.

To your success,

p.s.
That $50 could get you 60 mins of coaching to give you the confidence and skills to not just survive but thrive.

I had client meetings with others in Pasadena, Philly, Seattle, West LA, and Florida this week. All without driving anywhere past my nearest Starbucks or Public Library.

You are feeling the pain of this economy and so am I. Even $50 a month saved can make a significant difference if used effectively.

I am in the business of helping make others successful so here is what I do to remain competitive as a small business owner and entrepreneur. I coach, train, and support others as they walk down this journey toward competitive advantage with technology.

AT&T Wifi @ Starbucks
Most Starbucks offer wifi. This service used to cost $40 and more per month via T-Mobile which made it a luxury for only the most mobile professionals. Since switching to AT&T, the tables have turned so you can use this service FOR FREE! Just buy something once every 30 days with a registered Starbucks card and you get at least 2 hours free wifi every day - even the days you don’t buy anything!

More info from Starbucks.com >>

I will talk about shifting your email tech, mobile devices, and public libraries in future parts so stay tuned.

Your comments are always welcome below and please let us know if you have found a tip that worked for you.

To your success,

p.s.
That $50 could get you 60 mins of coaching to give you the confidence and skills to not just survive but thrive.

Mostly from the non-geek crowd which tend to have the most to lose when it doesn’t work.

Tech stuff tends to cost more and in this economy, fully utilizing what you do have and making it last longer and work better could make a big difference in your success.

To make this valuable information available to a wider range of people, I have begun a podcast that will focus on the digital coaching aspect of my business.

Focused on new and creative ways to use what you have rather than fixing and solving problems which requires a bit more attention.

For example, podcasts like mine are a great way to stay healthy by walking more while learning about cooking, law, or how to make better use of your iPhone. The latter is the focus of the first episode “iPhone Gets Podcast Hungry” which focuses on a recently released upgrade to the iPhone related to podcasting.

Your ideas on what you would like to see covered are always welcome. You can comment below or send them to podcast [at] successrabbi.com.

You can see this one and subscribe to future episodes on Blip.tv:

http://successrabbi.blip.tv/file/1507829/

More soon.

jc

Please read the entire post before opening any attachment or following UPS/FedEx directions via email.

An email that resembles this has been circulating recently:

From: UPS Packet Service
Subject: UPS Paket N0328795951

Dear Sir/Madam,

Unfortunately we were not able to deliver postal package you sent on July the 1st in time because the recipient’s address is not correct.

Please print out the invoice copy attached and collect the package at our office.

Your UPS

---

Unfortunately we were not able to deliver postal package you sent on July the 25 in time because the recipient’s address is not correct.

Please print out the invoice copy attached and collect the package at our office.

Your FEDEX
www.fedex.com

You can verify the accuracy of this threat via Snopes and UPS.