I wanted my blog to look a little more legit. I am working on changing up the format, but I really wanted to have the blogspot become a dot com. So I started digging and these are the steps I took to make it happen!
1. Create a Domain name:
There are quite a few hosting services out there, each one claiming it has the better deal. Some of the major companies are
How do you decide which company to go with? I talked to a couple computer guys and from what I was told you will find similar prices and a small variety of features, which you can read some reviews on here! I decided to go with a company that was well known and known for good customer support!
I chose 1and1 for this website, and for my business I just started I set it up through Godaddy.com. So far I have been more impressed with the usability and set up of Go Daddy. 1 and 1 hasn't been bad by any means, I just prefer the Go Daddy. I purchased a website creator through Go Daddy and that has been very user friendly as well, the total cost between the domain and website creator being only $23 annually. I have very little knowledge about websites, but with the website designer package I bought with Go Daddy I have very pleased on how easy it is to make it look nice.
Once you decide on a company to go through you need to sign up as a new customer.
During this process you will need to create a unique website name and decide if you want a .com, .net, or any other. The difference really is the price. The . com seemed to be the most expensive, but only ran $8-10 annually!
2. Set up the Domain for Your blog
Go to your blog and click on Basics under the Settings tab. In the "Publishing" section, click the link to add a custom domain.
Type the url of the domain you've purchased, keeping in mind that it must begin with www in order to work.
Click Save.
You should see an error, and two CNAMEs listed below. Each CNAME is composed of two parts - Name, Labelor Host and Destination, Target or Points to. The first CNAME is the same for everyone, Name being "www" and Destination "ghs.google.com." The second CNAME is particular to your blog and your Google Account, and is therefore different for each person.
You can check out more steps and the website I used to further clarify the processHERE
3. Create a C-Name Record for your Custom Domain
I found this website through blogger that was the resource that helped me get through the seemingly difficult process. Although it appeared to be intimidating, I found that if I carefully followed the each step I was able to finally get it done. Follow the link HERE
After following these 3 steps I went back to my blog, back to Settings > Basics, then I typed in my dot com website under Blog Address, in my case www.howimadeamillion.com, and clicked Save! The 3rd step is the step of confirming you are the owner of the domain name. So when i went back to my blog I could save it as a re-directed address through my domain name that was confirmed to belong to me.
The key was to be careful to follow each step. The steps weren't perfectly written, but It was close enough that even I could get through it and make it happen!
Don't forget to Subscribe to my blog for more posts and updates on how to progress, achieve goals, and business tips and ideas as I learn them
Sunday, December 27, 2015
Resources for the budding Entrepreneur!
My life has recently been consumed by the process of starting a business and becoming an entrepreneur. I will be writing a series of posts on the process of how to go about starting a business so as to help anyone wanting to step into this world.
Before I reveal those posts here are some videos and books that I strongly recommend!
This is a fantastic book that I highly recommend. Although I haven't finished reading it yet, it has inspired me and is very easy and entertaining to read. I love the material from Darren Hardy
This book by John C. Maxwell is a quick and concise read that should be in every successful persons must read pile! I just finished this one and will be providing a book report on it. Amazing and fantastic insights.
One of the first books I read on this topic, this is considered the "Rich Man's Bible" and is again, a must read that no one who wants to be successful should pass up.
On that note I want to leave you with some TED TALKSto help inspire and encourage you in all of your entrepreneurial efforts and dreams! These 5 talks are simply amazing information that will inspire you to accomplish great things even if it's in another avenue of your life!
Many people have brought to my attention their thoughts on how they feel about the acquisition of greater wealth, including:
You don't need more wealth or money, you have everything that is important!
We Should be happy with what we have! I'm comfortable where I am!
It is too difficult to raise kids when you have a lot of money!
YES, all of these statements CAN BE TRUE. I definitely believe that I have everything that is important in my life right now. I have a wonderful wife, beautiful and healthy children, a roof over my head, and a great job. I need to be happy with where I am and what I have in my life, which I wrote about in an article on Being Content, but not Complacent. Raising kids is going to be difficult no matter what you do, so having more wealth doesn't necessarily make it more difficult, but adds another component that you have to be careful and educated about.
However, I wanted to address these thoughts with the thoughts of others and from what I have learned through reading and my own personal experiences.
First of all I want it to be very clear that no one NEEDS WEALTH, but having an abundance of temporal goods provides us with so many opportunities to help others and progress. As said before, With Great Opportunity Comes Great Responsibility!!!
Here are a few reasons why we should all want and work to acquire some degree of wealth:
Get Rid of the Worry!
There is hardly anything more stressful than worrying about money! It is one of the primary reasons for divorce and depression. To have wealth and not worry about bills, debt, or providing the necessities of life is one of my top reasons for acquiring wealth. There is so much good and opportunity in this world that we will miss if we don't have the time or resources to acquire it. Most of our lives are run by money, so why not take back our lives and get rid of the worry and stress.
Education opportunities for ourselves and children.
I have been trying to buy books and go to seminars where I can learn from great people. It takes a fair amount of money to actively participate in such activities. Every cent put towards self investment is well worth it. We grow in value as we increase our knowledge base, and that knowledge base sometimes takes some financial and time investment. Again, it is not necessary to have money to gain knowledge, but there are so many great opportunities that require a financial investment in order to participate.
Often we think of higher education, aka college, when we think of needing money for our children's education. This is one area that yes, we need money for, but what about when our children are younger. Money can provide tutors, classes, and for me I will be traveling to parts of the world for cultural and hands on education. Again, not necessary but the more we can give them now the further ahead and the greater opportunities they will have later.
Opportunities to serve.
With all that is demanded of our time it is often difficult to "give back" to the communities and world we live in. Although it is crucial we serve others, it is often set to the back burner after work and family has gobbled up our time. As more wealth is gained and we learn to have money work for us, instead of us work for money, it allows us the opportunity to walk away from work and serve others. I could be a scout leader and go camping for a week, travel the world in missionary service, work for Habitat for Humanity building a home or providing Physical Therapy to suffering people in under privileged worlds. How would I ever be able to walk away from a job, for any extended period of time, if I lived paycheck to paycheck or I hadn't positioned my financial well being to allow time away from the office.
More time to do good.
We have all seen the movie where the workaholic dad or mom misses their kids recital or game because they were too busy making money. Their values were out of wack and they had to go through some hard knock lesson to change. Well what if you have to work and miss your kids events because you just don't have enough money and you have to be at work. As we accumulate wealth and smarter ways of getting money to work for us we can do more good, not only for our family, but for our community through volunteer work, politics, coaching, and other service opportunities!
More resources to "Feed the Hungry and Clothe the Naked".
There is so much need to help those who are without food or clothes not only in the communities we live, but throughout the world. Here are some interesting facts from FeedingAmerica.org, taken from the U.S. Census Bureau:
Almost half the world — over three billion people — live on less than $2.50 a day. ...\
More than 80 percent of the world's population lives in countries where income differentials are widening. ...
The poorest 40 percent of the world's population accounts for 5 percent of global income.
In the U.S. 46.7 million people (14.8 percent) were in poverty.
In the U.S. 15.5 million (21.1 percent) children under the age of 18 were in poverty.
In the U.S. 4.6 million (10 percent) seniors 65 and older were in poverty.
In the U.S. the overall poverty rate according to the Supplemental Poverty Measure is 15.3 percent, as compared with the official poverty rate of 14.8 percent.[ii]
6 percent of households (6.9 million households) experienced very low food security.
Food insecurity exists in every county in America, ranging from a low of 4 percent in Slope County, ND to a high of 33 percent in Humphreys County, MS.[vi]
No matter where you live there is a need and a responsibility reach out to those lacking. Having the financial resources to buy and donate food and clothing as well as teaching financial skills to others is an opportunity for those that can afford it. Hopefully you are seeing the trend that I am trying to point out that having greater wealth means more opportunities to help our family, friends, and the community. More Responsibility but a better You.
The more we have of anything, the more responsibility that we have towards others. In order to get to a point where we have greater wealth we have to change our poor thinking, poor habits, lack of knowledge, and switch it for something better. We have to push ourselves to become a better person and a more valuable person to our families, friends, and the world. As we gain knowledge, wealth, talents, or anything else, if we don't use it to help our family and then others, what good is it. Anyone can fall in Love with money, which is the root of all evil, but if we remember to be grateful and stay close to God then that temporal prosperity could change lives and the world for the good. while preserving our spiritual well being even with riches.
“When this people are prepared to properly use the riches of this world for the building up of the Kingdom of God, He is ready and willing to bestow them upon us. I like to see men get rich by their industry, prudence, management and economy, and then devote it to the building up of the Kingdom of God upon the earth.” (JD, vol. 2, pp. 114–15.) -Brigham Young-
Andrew Carnegie, one of this country’s great philanthropists, stated his attitude toward wealth as follows: “This, then, is held to be the duty of the man of wealth: First, to set an example of modesty, ostentatious living, shunning display or extravagance; to provide moderately for the legitimate wants of those dependent upon him; and after doing so to consider all surplus revenues which come to him simply as trust funds, which he is called upon to administer, and strictly bound as a matter of duty to administer in the manner which, in his judgment, is best calculated to produce the most beneficial results for the community—the man of wealth thus becoming the mere trustee and agent for his poorer brethren, bringing to their service his superior wisdom, experience, and ability to administer, doing for them better than they would or could do for themselves.” (The Gospel of Wealth.)
This is one of the primary reasons for this blog, to figure out how to become wealthy and achieve my goals. As I figure out how to do it I hope I can clearly communicate my process and help you achieve the same thing.
So far I know I have to accomplish these things to become wealthy:
1. Create residual income: You have to get your money to work for you, meaning in order to open up my time and gain more currency with the 24 hours myself and everyone else has in a day, I have to find ways to earn money without having to be present.
2. Multiplying affect: Because we only have 24 hours in a day and there is only one me, if I try and use my skills to earn money I will only be able to so much before I cap out on how much I can do and achieve in a day. Learning to multiply myself is crucial in removing the cap and opening up endless windows of opportunity. This is why the internet has created more millionaires than there ever has been because one person can create a website that can reach the world. Authors and movie makers have done this for years where they write one book or make one movie that can then be distributed to millions of people. A business owner can train his employees to provide the skill set that he has, thus multiplying his abilities through the training of others. Being able to multiply you and your skills to reach a mass audience is key to being successful.
3.Invest in yourself:Take the time to constantly learn and grow as an individual. As you increase your knowledge base and skill set you will become more valuable, and in turn people will want to exchange currency for your abilities.
4. Invest: I don't know a lot about investments and how to do this, but I found, what seems to be a decent article, on this very topic found here
5. Convince yourself that you are worthy of success: so often we are hindered by self limiting beliefs. Through affirmation statements, positive thinking, and gratitude we can convince our subconscious and conscious mind that we are worthy of achieving anything that we desire.
TAKE IT FROM THE EXPERTS
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
BECOME AN ENTREPRENEUR
To be honest I never thought that I would ever be interested in becoming an entrepreneur. I envisioned it as long hours,pounding stress, and often small rewards. Although this can be a part of it, it shouldn't have to be a long term part. This sadly, is the case for many...but not for me!
Why do you ask? What would make me any different?
Well I'm glad you asked!!!
The key to becoming a successful entrepreneur is Education, Mentors and Trying!
Start by becoming educated through books, seminars, classes...anything you can get your hands on. Apply that knowledge gained with the experience that a mentor can provide. Then your attempts will be calculated and the risk will be reduced.
If there is no action there will be no success. Success comes through achievement and failure. The more you try the more you will likely fail, which in actuality is a learning resource. The likelihood of earth shattering and disastrous failures are slim to none if the decision is based off self education and mentors.
The reason I bring this up is the reason I have been so absent from my blog. I am stepping into the entrepreneur world! At first I was nervous, but now I am totally psyched!!! I have been incredibly busy working on my business skills as I have plans to have my own business set up by next year. The details of that business will be given much later after I have everything finalized, but I couldn't be more excited to start implementing all the ideas and education I have acquired. I have great mentors and am reading amazing books so I will be ready to go.
Then the goal will be to progress toward a functional business that provides residual income! That is the goal and prize for any entrepreneur. A prize I know I can achieve if I surround myself with the right people and right resources and work harder than anyone else!
Books I am or will be soon READING
1. The Entrepreneur Roller Coaster-Darren Hardy-
2. The Spirit to Serve-JW Marriott-
3. Launching a Leadership Revolution-Chris Brady and Orrin Woodward
4. The Nordstrom Way to Customer Service Excellence-Robert Spector
5. The Portable MBA in Entrepreneurship-William D. Bygrave
Monday, September 28, 2015
You have to hang with the big dogs....
How I got the mentors I needed!!!
I had the opportunity to travel out to Chicago on a business trip. I was going to learn from the top business minds in Physical Therapy, how to grow and build a successful company with the right team.
After having a couple opportunities to have one on one time with a couple of business leaders, including a fortune 500 company CEO, I walked away feeling motivated and encouraged with the direction I was heading in business. I learned how important it is to spend time around those who have success oriented minds and those who have achieved great success already. This is applicable to any goal we have, whether it be business, relationships, or improving life in any way!
By spending time with amazing people it gives us the drive and the examples we need to be amazing! It drives you to want to be better. Check out this blog post on FORBES MAGAZINE on that topic!
The other principle I learned is that when I spend time around amazing people you are being given an awesome opportunity to be mentored. At my conference I was able to talk one on one with super successful people because I was willing to approach them and ask them the questions I had. We cannot be afraid to try things outside of our comfort zone. Because I approached some of these successful people I was able to obtain personal contact information so I can continue to mentor with them.
The more we can observe and talk to people who have achieved higher levels of success, the more likely we will achieve success. Every human being has great potential, but sometimes we need others help to guide us in unlocking that potential!
Sunday, September 13, 2015
PUBLISH A BOOK
TIME TO BRIGHTEN LIVES and MAKE SOME RESIDUAL INCOME!
A few years ago I became aware of an author with incredible talent who had never done anything to publicize her writing skills. She was a natural at rhyme schemes and had written many different poems chronicling peoples lives. She approached me in regards to my art skills 5 years ago. I started college as an art major, working toward computer graphics, but decided it was just a hobby. Not that I was ever that great of an artist I did enjoy drawing and even studied cartoon drawing for a time in high school.
Anyway, she informed me of a Children's Book that she had written and was looking for someone to illustrate it. I jumped at the opportunity and started drawing. It took about a year to complete the pictures, and then started the real work of trying to find a publisher.
Where myself and the author had no idea of how to publish a book there was a learning curve. The author went to writing conferences in Salt Lake City to critique her skills and to learn how to publish. She gained valuable knowledge and mentor like connections that offered her any help whenever she needed it. Over 2 years ago she started sending out her manuscript, and through a series of learning events we have now sent the manuscript off to get copyright license and ISBN#, then we can do a self publishing and release it to the world ourselves.
Why self publishing?
Well we weren't able to get a publisher for starters. The author researched publishing companies specific to children's books. She then had to send a copy of the manuscript to each one. The companies take the liberty of saying it can be up to 6 months before they will respond. Our book was sent to over a dozen companies, and none decided take our book.
Does that mean it's no good? No! it could mean that it doesn't fit what they are looking for at the time. It could mean that it is no good, but I have read poorly written children's books and this is not one of them!!! So that is why we are going to do self publishing.
The cool thing about writing a book and living when we do is that you don't need an ISBN number or copyright to write a book and sell it online. However, if you ever want a published print edition of your book you will have to get an ISBN. It costs money and must be done through ISBN.org.
A copyright can then be acquired. It is not necessary but offers a higher level of security for your work. Read more about it here at the US copyright website. We found that LegalZoom offered the best deal for obtaining a copyright, but it still cost over $100.
We are planning on doing the promotion and selling ourselves, mostly online to begin with but then go through a printing company that will print as ordered online. Form more information on Self Publishing check out this website fromLifeHacker.
Currently we wait to get our Copyright. It has been nearly 6 months and we are getting excited to get cruising with our book! Once we obtain that we can start advertising and selling it online and in Printed form. It is very exciting to see this project come together!!! We can't wait to give this to the world, I know people will love it!!! Here is a sample pic that I drew with the book title (it will be much improved on the final copy):
Monday, June 22, 2015
Creating Value Revisiting the principle!
(see my previous post on this topic)
When I first started this blog I was frustrated, angry, and feeling like a failure. As I begin my 3rd month I find myself much happier with my current state and realizing I have so much more than I ever realized.
It is so easy to become focused on what we don't have, so much so it can become all consuming! I still find myself struggling to battle this limiting mind set. As I have began studying for my exam AGAIN, I have found myself completely drug down and thrown back into the battle against depression and negative self talk. Starting my test studies has brought back all of my previous stress that I had work to decrease.
Whenever this type of feeling comes along I start thinking that if only I can make a lot of money it will help me to feel important, successful, and show that this test is not important. As these thoughts have trickled through my mind I have again been reminded of really all I want to do in this life...CREATE VALUE!!!
Yes I would like money, a nice house, and to be successful in a career, but ultimately I only want to be able to create something that helps build others and bring them closer to greater truth.
If I want to be successful in life I need to find ways to create value. Create value at my work, at my home, and in whatever occupation I choose to do. If I create something or provide a service to others that assists and uplifts them, then anything else I want or need in this life will be provided.
I need to daily focus on how can I create greater value in the people and profession that details my life...then as I do so I will be successful in all things that are important to me!
To reflect my understanding of this principle I reviewed and updated my goals to indicate the pursuit of Value Creation to fulfill my affirmation statement and reach my goals
For more information and insights into the topic listen to Darren Hardy on the link below
I have discovered that you cannot achieve success alone. You have mentors, support groups, hanging out with people that think big (rule of 33% in my Mentor post), and now the Mastermind Group!
What is a Mastermind Group
It is a group of 2 or more people that can calmly and openly discuss ideas. Who I choose is very important! They must be someone I can discuss big plans and my inner desires and goals with, without being criticized. Hopefully I can get a variety of people with different viewpoints and experience to bring to the table. In short, the mastermind group is a group of people with similar interests, goals, and desires that can respectfully brainstorm through challenges to take an idea to reality.
Choose your group wisely! Having the right people on your bus is important, having the right people in the right seats is key! Not only do they have to be people with talent and potential, they need to be people that you get along with well.
Set rules and establish the leader! However you decide, the ground rules for making decisions and how the final decision will be determined must be clearly written out. I think that whatever you can make a legal documentation of, whether it's borrowing money, owner of ideas, or job positions/titles, I would document it.
Set goals and practice listening! When working with a group to progress in development of your idea, set a goal, and then work backwards from successful completion to your current state. Identify what obstacles will come up and what objective measures you will use to measure your progress. By doing this you can, as a group, unite in identifying obstacles and working together to resolve them before the stress of a real problem arises. The great advantage to this is then when you do have problem arise you are familiar with the group thinking process you need to collectively solve the situation, uniting your progress toward goal achievement even more.
Have Fun! Life, business, relationships, they should all have a component of fun. I need to enjoy the process of learning, not only alone, but with others as well. Our minds will be more open and more willing to embrace the good ideas of others if we are having fun!
Here is the Master of the Mastermind Principle in his own words
Thursday, June 4, 2015
How to promote my blog
I have been studying and researching how to promote my blog. I kept jumping on google and youtube to find ways to do it. Yes, there are some great ideas and plenty of tips that I'm sure would lead to progress. However, I was having difficulty setting aside time and mustering up the interest to pursue blog promotion.
This is a great example of what can happen when you focus and do the steps I have been doing (see getting started) to utilize the Law of Intention!
My little brother Bryce sent a mysterious text yesterday stating he wanted to talk to me about my blog. He is a very intelligent, flowering individual who is almost done with his MBA through the Marriott school of business. He is currently in an internship learning how to do online marketing.
Knowing that I have started this blog and becoming increasingly interested in blog promotion, he contacted me and asked if he could "experiment" with my blog!
Not only yes but Yes Please! One of my goals is to have 1 million subscribers in 3 years. At the rate I'm going it will be difficult to reach that goal, but with a smart kid oozing with ambition and an incredibly resourceful and creative mind behind the promotion wheel, I'm pretty sure some awesome growth will come to pass!! I am excited to see what he can do with my blog.
I will do my best to provide quality content and document my progress and steps towards achieving my goals, including documentation of what Bryce does to promote my blog!!!
I feel that this was drawn into my life through positive thinking and goal setting!
You can achieve anything you can think of and believe!!!
Remember to subscribe to my blog for updates on how to think big, be big, and achieve all your goals in life!
Monday, April 13, 2015
How to get more money!!!
I have heard this concept before and read about it multiple times, but for some reason it really stuck to me like a velcro strip with glue on it!
I received my daily mentor text from Darren Daily today and as you can see below, it is the idea that money is not real! It's just a piece of paper, but how we view money is what makes it what it is to us. To each person money is a different thing. To some it's a burden, others a bonus, a sign of wealth, happiness, sadness, despair, and the list can go on and on. To most of us we see it as Money, the lifeline to what we want. That is why I love the following, because it clearly defines how we need to change our thinking about money and really gain value, wealth and success!
