Today I wanted to share a great quote with you that is particularly close to me. I have been reading and studying Burton Kaplan for years and this is one of his most profound quotes. We often times get caught, and wrapped up in what other people think and feel about us cause we would like for them to realize our importance, but this is not the way to live a powerful existence.

“You, me, everybody – we’re all subject to a basic fact of human nature; we all need to feel important and to feel that other people recognize our importance.  This means that when we deal with others, the temptation is always present to impress them.  RESIST IT. – Burton Kaplan

I have three reasons for you that you should resist the temptation of impressing other people. These are simple life truths that we should all take to heart, employ in our lives, and thrive as a result.

1. Not Being Your Genuine Self – Stop short changing the world by being like the multitude of people in this world that is unoriginal. You were created to be your magnificent self and by not doing so, you are actually cheating the world of your existence. How will anyone respect and appreciate you if you are never being yourself.
2. They Can See Right Through You – Give other people some credit. If you are not being your original self, it is going to come across that you are being fake. And the people that you are trying so desperately to impress is more than likely sharp enough to notice a fake when they see it. You will actually lose respect and admiration in the process.
3. You Can Still Earn Respect – Being yourself has gotten you this far in your life and remaining that way is going to take you where you desire to be. If you remain steadfast to who you are, continuously add value to the lives of people around you, and live a life of service, then you will not only impress those that you want to, but also others that you might not even realize is watching you.

At the end of the day, be you; cause that is the only one you have and it is the blessing that world needs.

Enjoy the video!

Check out the video and let me know what you think by leaving a comment below. If you really like it, be sure to tweet this message to your following or share it on Facebook.

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This may come as a surprise to some of you, but if you have seen my I’m Thinking episode when I talk about the failing public school system you will not be shocked. However, I cannot stand the public school system. It is faling us terribly. Now, I understand that it is necessary, so I am not advocating it’s demolition or even supporting school vouchers, but something needs to be done.

Instead of my typical bitching and moaning about the situation, I want to offer some practical, factual steps every parent can take to rid this problem in their homes. This video is dedicated to that aim.

Now, if you are one of these parents that just want to send their children off to day care, I mean public schools, close your eyes and wish for the best, then this might not be the best video for you. Because inside are some actual tips and goals that my wife and I have used to raised what most would call “intelligent” children.

For years it seems, our friends and family have urged us to tell them how we have managed to raise such sharp children in a sea of mediocrity. Well, it wasn’t easy, but now is the time to shed some light on our methods and ideology.

Enjoy the video!

Check out the video and let me know what you think by leaving a comment below. If you really like it, be sure to tweet this message to your following or share it on Facebook.

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I am coming back at you on another Sunday. The 25th straight Sunday in a row that I am reporting my accountability to you. It has been bumpy road being honest with my performance, but I believe it is for the best. It is my hope that my brutal honesty with my progress is encouraging you to find someone to reach out to and hold you accountable for the success and dreams that you desire. I believe everyone deserves so much.

Last Week’s Goal: Complete my taxes

Last week, my goal to complete was my taxes. Did I finish them? No. I didn’t finish them. Let’s just say I there are a bunch of reasons I have why they where not completed, but none rise above the definition of an excuse. So, I will save my excuses for never. 

There is one thing that I love about the fraternity I joined in college and it is their disdain for excuses. The truth is no one wants to hear an excuse and any reason for not completing a task is an excuse. This is still my outlook today. Don’t make excuses, get it done.

I will finish my taxes this week, so they are not going to go back on my accountability list. I am moving on to something bigger, better, and even more important.

This Week’s Goal: Quality time with my boys!

I have two big headed, little boys by the name of Jayel and Freddie 3. These are my little men and I love them dearly. However, over the last few months I think the change in my business, economy, and other concerns has led me to not being in their life as much as I would like.

This week, I plan on reconnecting with them as I have a great opportunity to do so. My wife, Krystal, is out of town for a few days and has been so since Friday. This gives me a great chance to do all the little things that they need to get them through the week, but also gives me an chance to have fun with them and reconnect as well.

I want you to hold me to having fun with them everyday as well as reading with them at night and doing something special this week since it is just the boys. I have somethings in mind, but it is going to a good week.

What have wee been up to?

FT & Boys at SIU vs. UIC B-Ball Game

Well, on Saturday, we went to the Southern Illinois University vs. University of Illinois Chicago basketball game in downtown Chicago. It was great because it was their first time at a basketball game. They won some tickets from their school to go with the school, so it was a really great event. We got t-shirts and was treated to a great game. SIU lost the game 67 to 74, which was a bummer for me because I am graduate of SIU. The boys were pretty happy. We had hot dogs, popcorn, pretzels, soda, and cotton candy to round out the night of junk food and loud noises. It was a great evening.

Other than that, we have been seriously playing some video games. They get a kick out of the old man trying to keep up with them. They don’t realize that I have over 20 years of serious video gaming experience over them, but they have fun trying to beat me. I will admit that in most games, my 9 year can beat me. But if he throws in the old school classic games he doesn’t have a chance.

FT & boys reading on floor in bedroom

Tonight, we finished off the long day of play with reading. We read Freddie 3’s book, “Junie B First Grader”. Although he is only in Kindergarten, he loves Junie B and her big first grade adventures. Here is a picture of use reading on the floor in their bedroom. I love these boys. They are so special and get a kick out literally everything. It is very funny.

Think we will go bowling on Monday. We haven’t done that in a while. They love bowling, plus it will give me a good excuse to hit the lanes. I will be sure to take pictures as well. I need to start a flickr account so I can just integrate my pics into this website. One day, I will get that done.

Who do you need to reconnect with this week? Get to it, relationships don’t work themselves out!

Take this week to reconnect and build with those special people in your life. We work so hard from week to week just to make it. Don’t ruin the special relationships you have trying to provide for them. In these few moments we have on earth be sure to fill them with love and your love ones.

First in the Mind, then in Reality!

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2) Comment Luv - If you have a desire of building a community on you blog, then Comment Luv is a must. This plugin encourages readers to participate by listing their most recent article post (most of the time) beneath their comment. It gives them a better chance of receiving traffic from their comments because their latest article may intrigue another reader enough for them to visit. Thus the increase in potential readers means an increase in comments for you. Besides, I think the Blogosphere basically expects you to have this plugin by now.

3) Keyword luv - This is basically an extension of the comment luv feature and allows your users to include keywords that relate to their site and hyperlink them back to their site. This is again great for community building blogs. But to be honest, I rarely use this feature when I am commenting because I am usually just trying to engage the blogger or get a link back to my site, so sometimes it appears to be a bit of over kill for me.

4) Related Post – If you ask me this is a must for all blogs. The related post plugin provides a list of post that might be similar to the one that the reader is reading. This is great because if the post was eye catching and enjoyable, the reader may want something similar to that one. This plugin gives that to them. You can put this plugin into your side bar or footer, but my favorite place for it is at the bottom of individual post, or on the Single.php page, usually. That is the optimal place for it because if a reader gets all the way through the post, then it may mean that they liked or was intrigued by it….maybe even enough to stay on your site to read something similar or related.

5) WP Print – This is a standard plugin that allows all of your readers to download and print your articles in a printable format. If you are taking the time to produce quality content, many of your readers are going to want to print them out to read later. Everyone doesn’t like to read on a computer screen believe it or not.

6) Sociable – I love the sociable plugin because it allows your readers to spread the word about your great post anytime they want. Usually, you will find this plugin at the bottom of an article so when the reader makes their way through it they will be able to click a button and Digg, Propeller, Stumble, Redd it, Mixx and more your article to all of the best social book marking websites out there. And believe me, all of them are included in this plugin. You can mark a check box next to the ones that you want to utilize or not.

7) Tube Press – This is a great plugin for grabbing relevant YouTube videos and putting them into your blog. I use this plugin a lot when flipping websites as it ads great content, looks very professional, and does the job very well. Did I mention how simple it is to install? No, well, it is and you should be sure to check it out.

8 ) WordBay – Here is another simple plugin that I use on flip sites as well. It could be great for niche sites if you are into them as well. All that is require is you download the plugin, get a free ebay developers account, plugin your account number, and use the WordBay plugin to display relevant ebay auctions right inside your website. When a browser clicks on a listing, they are taking to the ebay website and if they make the purchase, you get the credit. Simple, easy way to cash in on the power of ebay.

9) AW Stats – Yes, everyone and their mother are using Google Analytics, but sometimes you might want some stats that are a little different and right there on your server. AW Stats give you that option. And you can use it as a check to see how accurate GA is from time to time. It is free, so check it out.

10) Contact (cforms) - How are you going to have a blog without a contact form? What if you readers want to contact you? After all, blogging is a contact sport. Download this plugin and you will be amazed how easy it is to implement a customized contact form into your website. There are so many websites out there that do not have a contact for that it is sickening, especially when it is so easy to get. It will take two minutes to put a form into your site and that is if you are being picky!

11) Google XML Site Map – Download this now! Don’t ask questions about what it is, just do it! If you have any desire at all to gain search engine rank positions, SERPs, then this is a must for search engine optimization. Google XML site map keeps the Big G, Google, updated on the site map of your website site. Very important plugin, even if you are not really into plugins.

12) My Page Order – This is a nifty little plugin that allows you to change the order of your web pages. Sometimes you might want more important pages to the left of your page navigation and this plugin will allow you to do that as well. Moving around the pages is so easy with this plugin that I highly recommend it if that is what you are looking for. This is great for personal blogs and interest blogs as well.

13) All in One SEO - Here is another plugin that you should just download right now. Don’t worry about it, just get it. Again, if search engine optimization is anywhere in your future, then you need this plugin. It is the best for updating your title and description tags automatically based on the nature of the content. You got to love that. You can customize further if you need, but this plugin really takes the work out of SEO work in my opinion. It goes into every blog I produce. Must have!

14) Head Space – Head space is another one of these SEO plugins that you can use. I have been using it less and less since really understanding the functions of All in One SEO, but it is another option as well for you to use when customizing the head section of your blogs.

15) Random Post – Random post is great for creating addition internal links within your website and even keeping the reading interesting for your readers as it will suggest random post that they may not have  ordinarily clicked in the first place. Typically, you will find the random post plug at the end of an article, enticing the reader to take another round through your material.

16) Subscribe to Comments - If your blog is about community building and your trying to encourage participation amongst your readers, then you have to take a moment to install this plugin as it will allow your readers to subscribe to comments and receive an email when someone else has said something on a post them might have interest. Again, great for building the community and keeping the participation going.

17) Ozh-Admin Drop Down Menus – This is a must have. You might be thinking drop down menus on a blog is no big deal, but this is drop down menus in the WP-Admin area for your internal use!!! I got hip to this plugin by Joe from ImWithJoe.com and have been addicted to it every since. There is no blogs that I own that don’t have this plugin into it because of how it will increase your work flow and time spent on a site. You might not understand now, but download this one and you will quickly  wonder how you ever got along with out it. Trust me on this one, I will never blog again without it.

18) WP Back Up – Got to back up your material. All it takes is one time to lose everything you have been working on to understand the importance of this plugin. The idea is to never experience that pain in the first place, so download this one now.

19) OIO Publisher - Ok, this plugin cost a little money to use, but if you are after advertisers on your website, then you got to have it. OIO manages the advertising for you and ensures that you are paid before ads are posted on your website, freeing you to move on to bigger and more important issues concerning your blog. Get the OIO publisher today.

20) Easy Pay Pal - If you wan to sell items on your blog, you might have found it impossible to link to PayPal with Wordpress. Well this plugin does the trick for you.

However, since I have started this list, I discovered a way to make this happen without the use of a plugin. If you are interested in that, then check out this article I wrote entitled, How to Link to PayPal Payment from Wordpress without a Plugin.

21) Feedburner Feedsmith - Feed burner Feedsmith is another way to integrate your feedburner and Rss material into your site and syndicated around the world. There is no need doing all of this typing if you are not going to make it as easy as possible for people to use it and enjoy it. Give this one a shot today.

22) Technorati Incoming Links – Technorati has become an important part of the blogging world. If it has taken over your life as well, then consider using the incoming link monitor to help determine how many links you are generating that is coming into your blog that Technorati will give you credit for.

23) Top Commentator Plugin – Community style blogs must have this plugin. It rewards people that communicate in your blog by commenting with a listing on the your site and a backlink to their blog. This back link is counted by Technorati and is a way to generate traffic to the commentors blog as well as encourages participation in your blog. It is a win-win for all parties involved.

24) Gd-Star Rating – Often times, your readers like to rate various comments and your blogging as well. GD star rating allows them to do this. If you are producing practical and useful articles, then you might want to allow your readership to rate your work, but if you are producing crap, then I would suggest that you spare your feelings cause your readers are going to be honest with you.

25) What’s your suggestion? - I like to hear from you. What plugins not on this list would you recommend for bloggers to use? Let’s continue the conversation and I will post some of them here.

Closing Comments

At the end of day, there are hundreds even thousands of useful plugins available for your to utilize. My suggestion would be to find the ones that are doing the most for you and the growth of your blog and try not to use them all. That is the think about the plugin market, there are so many, but too many on your blog will begin to slow it down. Keep this in mind when you are adding every plugin you find to your blog that you need to focus on the ones that will bring you the most benefit and get you closer to your goals. There is no prizes for using plugins, only prizes for using them effectively.

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A lot has been happening in my life and business the past few weeks. So much so that I have not been hanging around here like I planned. But there has been two new readers to the Blog Family that really reminded me why I wanted to get into blogging, media, and the educational training field in the first place.

That new additions to the Blog Family are Matty Byloos and Portland Roofer. They reminded me that everything we do on this Internet has the potential to help someone and create value in their lives. I want to thank them for this simple reminder and let them know that they are appreciated for reading and following along with me. (Big ups to the entire Blog Family cause you guys and girls are special to me as well. These two just gave me the kick in the pants that I needed to reach out and remember.)

Business, Blogging, & Entrepreneurship is all about Value

It doesn’t matter what you do as an entrepreneur. The bottom line of your business is value. If you are not producing or contributing value to someones life, business, or endeavor, then you are not going to be in business for very long. I got to this train of thought because over the last few days I had been thinking of ways I could increase my revenue streams and make more money. Right, who doesn’t want to make more money?

Everyone wants to increase their capital intake, but focusing on money will only lead to more problems. You know it is very easy to concentrate on the lack. We have a tendency to think about and/or become obsessed with what is missing in our lives. In this case, the lack of money. This thinking about the money that we don’t have only leads to more thinking about the money we don’t have. This vicious cycle can continue on and on until you have permanently wrecked your business.

It can lead to the destruction of your business because your focus on the bottom line can lead to an unfocusing on the customer and the final product that you are producing. This product could be content, consulting ideas, or donuts. It is very difficult to produce the best quality product you have if you are not intently focused on every step. This applies to all entrepreneurs from bloggers to general contractors, from independent medical physicians to lawn care experts. You have to be 100% there and focused on delivering for your clients or it is going to show.

Business, Blogging, & Entrepreneurship is all about Value

Well today, it dawned on my that my focus in the wrong place. I don’t need to be thinking about making more money, I need to be thinking about creating more value for clients, readers, and customers. If I do that, then the money will follow. And you should be thinking about the same thing, value for your clients, customers, and readers.

I know these are stressful times, but do yourself a favor…I know I am. Pull your head out of your own ass. Take a moment to identify the needs of your readership, clients, customers. And focus on giving them what they need. I promise that if you do that, then it will lead to them telling others and sooner or later people will be only happy to track you down and share their hard earned money with you.

Today is a new day!

Today is the first of the rest of our lives. And fortunately, we have an opportunity to start the rest of our lives the right way by focusing on our customers, clients, and readers. Focusing so much on them, that our business is actually all about them. I know, go figure, who would start a business that is all about the customers? A successful business owner is who would do such a thing.

And today is our opportunity to be that person. No matter who you were yesterday or in the past, today is the day that you drop that behavior and start caring about your customers, readers, and clients. I know you understand that without them, you and your business have nothing. So, if you understand that point, take off the selfish hat with me and let’s focus on the people that allow us to bring home the bacon…the customer.

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“We must be diligent today. To wait until tomorrow is too late. Death comes unexpectedly. How can we bargain with it?”
- The Buddha

Greetings Blog Family,

My problem isn’t with planning, action, or skill. I think it is more of an arrogant outlook that I will eventually be successful. Not sure why I think this way, but it is just true. I think if I am involved in something, then I am going to come out on top. That confidence has been with me my whole life. My wife says it is because my parents spoiled me rotten and it gave me a complex. Maybe, but I know that I am going to come out on top. Let’s just say that I am confident.

Here is the thing. I am so confident that i don’t have any real urgency or motivation to hurry the process along. For instance, I am a blogger/internet marketer/guy trying to make a living on line/you fill it in. I am going to succeed. I just know it. It is just inevitable. It is going to happen.

I am not saying that I am entitled, should be granted this or anything. I will do what ever is necessary to succeed. I will read, learn skills, practice, study, watch, analyze, plan, and stay up all hours of the night putting in my time to succeed. Despite the work requirement, I will get it done. I have that confidence in myself that I can do it.

Personally, I wish everyone had this confidence, but this outlook leads me to at times just coast and go with the flow. Taking the journey of life and just flowing along. There is no urgency to succeed right away.

I guess this is called enjoying the journey to success. They say afterall that it is the journey that is the best part. This line of thinking is probably true, but no truer than the fact that death cannot be bargined with and it tends to come unexpectedly.

Not to get to morbit on you, but this is just the truth and that one reminder that puts my arrogance in it’s place. Our time to actualize our dreams is not infinate.  In fact, we don’t know how much time we have. Today is the only day that we are promised. Let’s be sure to get it done.

First in the Mind, then in Reality!

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The last couple of weeks I have wanted to launch my next experiment. Now that the first IME #1: Creating an eBook with Help is winding down, IME #2 can come to the forefront.

IME #2: The Power of Crowds

Like many of you. I am infatuated with the power, opportunity, and possibility of the Internet. It is exciting. Everyday I learn something new and grow in my understanding and experiences in the world of Internet Marketing and blogging.

Social networking has become a phenomenon in the online and offline world. The Blogosphere utilizes the concepts of the social networking daily. Then I came across this book. 

“We Are Smarter Than Me” by Don Tapscott explores the power of crowd sourcing. Crowd sourcing is essentially outsourcing to the Internet multitude. Basically, this boils down to creating a community and having them participate in the creation or establishment of your venture.

In the book, Tapscott illustrates how involving the outside world, businesses are able to make giant advancements. Examples come from R&D experiments, customer sells, to banking. Some of the companies discussed in the book were Netflix and Amazon.  The crux of the matter is harnessing the crowd or community’s collective intelligence to move forward.

The Experiment: is Crowd Sourcing Effective at the Development & Monetization of a Blog?

My plan for this experiment involves utilizing my Blog Family for ideas on the design, marketing, and monetization of a blog. I will be opening a niche site to you, Blog Family, in the hopes the crowd plays a part in the success of the site. The request is for specific ideas, tactics, and opportunities to maximize this niche. This experiment will be an open book. I will report on the findings and share the tactics. We all will learn and grow during this process. You are encouraged to take the ideas generated for your blogs. Get it, Take it, & Make it work!

The site: INVEST WITH PASSION! – Real Estate Investing Resource

I have owned this site since late 2005. The blog was added early 2008. yes, it took me that long to realize I needed a blog. Worst is this business began as a physical magazine. Production stopped in June 2008. It has been on and poppin in the blog world since then.

My Challenge is to craft questions for you in a forum to express yourself. I am going to take the weekend to think about it and re-read the book. It has been a while since I read it last and I want to brush up on the details of this book and get this right. It is going to be a great experience for all of us, I think. And I am very excited about kicking it off.

A Question:

After you check the site out a bit, will you consider joining experiment?

It will not require any registration. Just your reading this FreddieTaylor.com, examining InvestWithPassion.com, and placing your ideas and suggestions in the comments below or you can reach me directly through the contact page. I will temporarily summarize the suggestions and ideas that arise during the experiment in future post.

So, who is in and would assist in this undertaking??? Let me know your level of interest in the comments below.

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“The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them.” - Mark Twain

Greetings Blog Family,

You must read. Reading can build your culture, refinement, and understanding. These things are essential to being a great person, blogger, or business owner. Yes, if you don’t read, then you may as well not be able to. This is a true statement.

We are not talking about reading street signs, applications, or the alphanumerics of ESPN or WE network. We are talking about the reading of a research project, case study, a novel. We are talking about the reading that stretches you. That makes you want to reach for more. The reading that makes you want to reach for more. The reading that makes you a better person. Reading that provides fulfillment and makes you a better person.

Doesn’t that sound exciting?

Everyone has their own reasons, but the  point is if you are not reading in this matter, you may as well not be able to. It is like having a treadmill in your home and not using it. Having a Ballys membership  and not going…just paying the monthly fee for nothing. (I will admit it. I am guilty of this at times.)

Reading Fills, Feeds, and Frees 

1) Fills Your Gaps - Your understanding is based on your experiences and people you have in your life. This ranges from parents, friends, superiors at work to teachers and all the experiences between. Reading plugs those gaps and gives you the opportunity to further mold yourself. You even have a choice in what you read providing input into your growth and development.

If your desire is to be a full time blogger and don’t understand community building or traffic generation, you don’t have to remain ignorant. You can pick up a book or even an ebook and learn some basics. But the bottom line is reading. Read to learn something that will make you better 

2) Feeds Your Urge - Inside of every human is an innate desire to learn, grow, and progress. When you get to your quiet space and are honest with yourself, you will admit that you have this urge. Everyone does. It is great in my opinion. It has lead to all of the worlds great innovations. That urge to do, be, and know more. It is inside of all of us.

Reading feeds this urge because it makes you a better person. I am not a big fiction reader myself, but I can appreciate what it does to your imagination, sense of wonderment, and the feelings that it can evoke. It can be really outstanding. My wife is a fiction reader and she enjoys it very much.

My preference is nonfiction. I love to set a goal and acquire the necessary knowledge I will need to be successful in that endeavor. This can be a course, lesson, biography, a reference manual, magazine, website, case study, anything. I want to read for learning and growth. Reading feeds my urge.

3) Frees Your Potential - We all have an incredible potential to be successful in our chosen fields. But the truth is the one that knows and implements the best, will be the most successful. This is just the truth. Reading within your field will make  you better and more likely to advance and succeed. That is undeniable . Free your potential!

Are you ready to accept a challenge?

I challenge you to change your life and ready 1 book a month for the next six months. Any book you like. It will make you a better person, a better blogger, and more informed. Are you up for it?

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