Convinced you need an iPad to make your life complete? You’re not the only one! The latest estimates say that there are some 7.5 million iPads already being put to use by rabid consumers world-wide, and those numbers are bound to rise even further with each holiday season.

So if you want an iPad, what’s the next step? Here’s what you need to do:

Decide if you want to buy from Apple or from a reseller

I always recommend buying from Apple, because of the added confidence you’ll have in being able to get repairs or a refund if something were to go wrong. Also, if you purchase an Apple product elsewhere than the Apple Store, they will not replace it if there’s a problem. The lower price isn’t worth the hassle; go with Apple.

Decide if you want to buy online or from an Apple Store

With over 300 stores world-wide, there’s a good chance there’s an Apple Store near you. But if you don’t want to deal with parking, lines, and “the mall” (where most Apple Stores are located), you can buy your iPad online with free shipping. Just go to their website or copy and paste this link in your browser to see your choices:

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_ipad/family/ipad

Choose a 3G or a Wi-Fi model

There have been problems with the Wi-Fi model; our next door neighbors barely picks up the household signal, even when their iPhone and laptop are picking up a strong wireless signal. If you plan on using it outside your home at all, I recommend going with the 3G; the monthly data plan is very reasonable, and the ease of being able to pick up a signal anywhere is a huge convenience.

Choose your size

$200 for four times the storage space seems like a no-brainer to me, but I’m one who firmly believes that bigger is better, at least when it comes to hard drives! However, if you don’t plan on using your iPad to store videos or audios, you may find the smaller sizes perfectly adequate. Remember though; just as with closets and garages, if you have the space, you’ll use it. And the more space you have, the more you’ll use your iPad.

That’s it. The only other question you may have is what accessories you’ll want, and if you want to engrave a pithy saying on the backside of your iPad (think of it as an electronic tattoo). The process is painless, as it should be. And setting up your new baby will take even less time than buying it did.

It’s an unfortunate fact of life that if you do any part of your business on the internet (even if it’s just a simple website or blog), then you’re at risk of an attack from hackers. While we tend to read about the large corporate hacking targets most often in the news and think of hacking only in terms of big companies, in truth every business with an online component is a target.

Even if your website doesn’t collect any personal information from your customers, or have any financial assets that could be stolen, it might still have value to hackers. For example, a hacker that compromises your website could gain access to your web server and use that server to send spam, store illegal files or engage in other illicit online activities.

Stay Current on Security Updates

Hopefully you’re already in the habit of staying current on all the security updates for whatever web platform your website is based upon. For example, WordPress users who stay up to date on all of the underlying security updates are generally quite safe.

But the current trend in web business and web commerce (a trend that is continuing to accelerate) is using custom functionalities and custom applications along with the standard web platform. For WordPress users, one common type of custom web application is a “plug-in” that’s used to provide a new function on the website. These plug-ins can take many different forms, and are currently being used by many websites.

WordPress Plug-In Safety

Many WordPress websites use plug-ins that are available either on WordPress’ own plug-in directory, or through the plug-in author’s own website. One advantage of sticking with plug-ins that are available through the WordPress plug-in directory is that you’ll be able to read feedback from other users who have already tried the plug-in.

For this reason, you might want to avoid using any new plug-ins until there is enough feedback for you to feel comfortable that any security risks are minimal. Positive feedback is certainly no guarantee of a secure plug-in, but that feedback should be helpful to your decision-making process.

If your custom application is truly custom (in the sense that you retain a programmer to build the application to your specifications), then the best way to protect your business is to be confident that the programmer or company that’s making the application for you is highly qualified and has created other secure applications in the past.

Test and Verify

In addition, if your business is large then you may have the budget available to hire a computer security consulting firm to review and verify the security of the code that makes up your custom applications. If you’re unable to hire a security firm to test the security of your custom applications, then you can gain some level of comfort by using the various open source tools that are available, including those at w3af.sourceforge.net and www.websecurify.com.

Because your web presence is so valuable, it’s ultimately up to you to be confident that whatever custom applications you include on your website don’t compromise your overall site security.

The term “guerrilla marketing” was coined by Jay Conrad Levinson in 1984, the same year he released a book with the same title. The term refers to performing marketing and promotional activities on a low budget. The unconventional tactics are designed to provide maximum impact while using the most minimal of resources.

Guerilla marketing can take many forms. You can apply these tactics to promote your business both online and offline. This type of marketing can take the form of things you are already doing and are familiar with, as well as things you may never have thought of or are too uncomfortable to try.

With guerilla marketing, you will want to think outside the box and try new things (that don’t cost a lot of money). For instance, you can print flyers and start hanging them all over town.

Another cost-effective strategy is to create something of value and to give it away in order to attract more customers. Have you ever walked into a restaurant or store that had a box or fishbowl sitting by the register, and people could drop in a piece of paper with their name and phone number in hopes of winning a prize?

Try doing this online by approaching websites that offer a complimentary product or service to yours and asking if you can team up with them on a contest. Offer to give away one of your products or services to a lucky winner from their mailing list. The owners of the complimentary website will email their mailing list about your contest and provide a link to a page on your website that includes a form where people can enter your contest. In exchange, you can offer to give them some type of promotion on your website or through a mailing to your list.

Another topic featured in guerilla marketing is public speaking. This is something that many people do not care for. However, if you can get over that fear you can gain a lot of publicity this way. You can do this online by holding free seminars on whichever topics you have branded yourself as an expert in.

Doing this is very easy. You can search online for companies that offer free access to telephone conference lines or web conference rooms. Once you have the date, place, and time of your seminar set, you will want to start promoting it.

You can start the publicity process by emailing your list, putting a banner up on your website, and including a link to your seminar landing page in all of your signature lines. The trick is to promote the fact that you are giving the seminar. You can freely give out the information of the date and time. However, make people sign up for your list before you give out the phone number to dial into or the link to the conference room.

By using some of the guerilla marketing tactics, you will be able to grow your business without spending too much money.

Everyone has times when they lack motivation. On the other hand, you may be so motivated and full of ideas that you lose your focus because you are trying to juggle too many tasks at once. However, multi-tasking may do more harm than good. When your mind is divided by too many tasks, your productivity decreases. Here are some tips to help you stay focused and motivated on your business.

Choose a Niche.

Once you know what your niche market is, you will be able to focus on tasks that will help you with that particular market. Try to narrow your market as much as possible. For instance, if you have a coaching business and want to help people work from home, perhaps you can target a certain field, such as web designers or virtual assistants. You will gain a reputation for being an expert in that field and will be able to help people create specific plans while coaching them to success.

Set Goals, and Write Them Down.

When you set goals for your business, you are defining the direction in which you want to take your business. When you write them down, you are greatly increasing the odds that you will accomplish the goals you have set.

Create a Business Plan.

When someone wants to start a brick and mortar business, they need to create a business plan and submit it to a bank to secure a loan. A business plan is a summary of how a business will be organized and a listing of activities that the owner needs to complete. For instance, a business plan will explain when a business owner expects to make a profit, as well as the type of marketing they intend to do. Creating a business plan for your home business will increase your chances of success.

Stay Away From Distractions.

It is easy to lose track of time when reading email, blogs, and surfing the web. Set aside a block of time in the morning and evening to take care of email. Try to limit your internet during work hours for tasks specific to work, such as research. Wait until you are done with your work to read the celebrity gossip.

Prioritize Your Tasks.

When you write out your to-do list, prioritizing your tasks will keep you working on what is important. Some items may need to be accomplished as soon as possible, while other things can wait a day or two. Take a colored highlighter and highlight the things that need to be done ASAP. When you look at your to-do list, your eyes will be drawn to the items that need the most attention.

Outsource When Possible.

As you look over your to-do list, do you notice items that can be handled by someone else? By delegating tasks to others, you will have more free time to work on things that require your attention.

What would you do if you lost everything in your Gmail account? It’s happened to some people – some Gmail users recently suffered a data loss. Gmail was able to get everything back for them eventually. However, it woke many people up to the possibility of losing everything in their account.

If you use Gmail, chances are your life is stored in those archived messages. So how do you protect it?

A Variety of Choices

There are actually many services you can use to back up your Gmail. Backupify is a paid service that backs up Gmail, Facebook, Flickr, Google Docs, Twitter, and many additional web applications. It’s a “set it and forget it” type of backup security system. Another option is to use TrueSwitch and back up your Gmail into a Hotmail account. Gmail Backup is another free option for backups. If you prefer to have all of your backup data in your possession, rather than stored on an outside server, then consider Thunderbird.

Thunderbird is Mozilla’s free email application. If you use Firefox as your browser then you may be familiar with the application. The steps to backup with Thunderbird are easy.

Step #1 Download Thunderbird

Simply visit the Mozilla Thunderbird download page and click to download. Save the set-up exe file on your computer. Once it is saved, open the file and click “Run” to install.

Step #2 Change Your Gmail Settings

In the meantime, log into your Gmail and change the settings to enable POP for all mail, and set Gmail to keep its copy.

Step #3 Finish Installation

Follow the procedures to finish the installation and set-up for Thunderbird. You can import your Outlook or Outlook Express settings if you use that software.

Step #4 Back In Gmail

On that same settings page “Forwarding and POP/IMAP” in Gmail, you’ll see a link at the bottom of the page. It says, “Configure your email client (e.g. Outlook, Thunderbird, iPhone) Configuration instructions.” Go ahead and click the link. Follow the instructions for Thunderbird and you’ll be good to go. Your information will now be backed up on Thunderbird and you’ll have a second tier of protection.

If you like to have a third tier of protection, consider backing up everything to an online service. This way, if you’re ever hacked and they gain access to everything, you haven’t lost anything.

There are almost 800 million members on Facebook today. With this vast web of interconnectivity, Facebook is fast becoming the leading way for ideas and content to spread on the internet. If you want to go viral, Facebook is one of the main platforms to pay attention to.

Two powerful tools to master on Facebook are Facebook pages and Facebook apps. Both of these are integrated in Facebook’s ecosystem and have access a wide array of tools.

Here’s how to use Facebook’s pages and apps to go viral.

An Idea with a Call to Action

Your idea for a page or for an app needs to have a call to action built into it.

Many of the protests in the Arab Uprising, from Egypt to Libya, were organized on Facebook and/or Twitter. Newly created pages literally got tens of thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands of followers in as little as a week or two.

They grew so quickly because there was a call to action. Share the page and let the world know what was going on. Even people in non-Arabic countries got involved, because of this strong call to action.

For a more light-hearted example, take a look at FarmVille, one of the most successful Facebook games in history. One of the reasons it was so successful was because there was a constant call to action. People were always being asked to share the game with their friends.

Your idea needs to not only be great, but have a call to action for sharing built into it.

Reporting

Facebook has one very unique reporting feature: it tells you about the viral aspect of your posts and of your app, as a statistic.

The statistic measures how often people share your content. If you primarily have three different kinds of content, say polls, videos and text, you could measure each post individually and see which one(s) people tend to share.

If you find that people share videos released on your page four times more often than text released on your page, you’ll know exactly where to focus.

While it’s possible to derive this statistic on other media platforms, generally they don’t give it to you in this clear-cut form. Facebook makes tracking and optimizing for virality easy.

Making It Go Viral

Going viral on Facebook is all about having a great core idea, then testing and testing until you reach the maximum viral velocity you can reach.

It means testing different messages, different kinds of outreach and different call to actions. If you find it extremely hard to get traction, it’s likely that your idea just isn’t striking a cord. On the other hand, if your idea is spreading, then your job is to accelerate the pace and make the idea go truly viral.

Cathy Demers

Is your small business massively successful despite everything – the economy and even your own doubts?

Are you working less and earning more?

Is your life filled with joyful prosperity?

Do you know how to set MAGNETIC goals AND achieve them?

There is hardly anyone who can say yes to all those questions! If you didn’t, then this message is for you…

Magnetic Goals That Literally Draw You Toward the Financial Success You Know You Deserve!

You may have heard that the Small Business Administration estimates that fully 56% of small businesses will fail within four years and even more will fail after that. You don’t have to be a statistic! You CAN have the thriving business you dream about!

Join Award Winning Entrepreneur and Small Business Advisor, Cathy Demers, as she reveals how to set and achieve Magnetic Goals and unleash the potential in your small business. Now is the time to have financial freedom and security while you make a difference in the lives of others.

The no cost Webinar takes place on May 4, 2012 at 12:00 pm ET(9 am PT) and if you can’t attend, register anyway and you’ll receive the replay.

Click Here for all the Details and To Register.

Magnetic Goals

Goal-setting is one of the most critical processes in any small business but few know how to set goals that have true-magnetism and literally pull your thoughts, your energy, and your resources towards success. Magnetic goals define the path you will take, and create the opportunities you need, for full achievement of your vision for your small business and your life.

Cathy is going to share with you what Magnetic Goals are, and how you can use them to draw business success to you while you do what you love.
As an added bonus, Cathy will teach you why it’s important to “measure what you treasure” and give you great ideas on how to “get what you count” in innovative and fun ways. This is a sure-fire and simple strategy to combat the number one killer of focus and motivation – lack of clear and demonstrated progress.

You will be amazed at how easy and effective all this is!

If you want to:

• Secure your business success and your personal prosperity while you serve others, regardless of the economy or other circumstances
• Truly enjoy the process of building your small business each and every day
• Unleash the potential of your business and build fantastic momentum
• Reduce your stress and workload while you make more money
• Learn How To Use Magnetic Goals and Draw Financial Success & Security To You

Sign up for this FREE, LIVE webinar, just by clicking this link.

*** This call will fill up fast – so please register early! ***

Do you have to psych yourself up to make a sales call?

Have you left ‘money on the table’ because you are paralyzed with fear? Do you sometimes miss seeing the opportunities that exist right in front of you?

Why is it so difficult for you to ‘ask for the sale?”

If these questions are hitting home for you, you MUST hear Pat Mussieux in the May Easy Biz Teleseminar! Pat knows about struggles with the sales conversation because she’s been there – the difference between you and Pat, however, is that now she has truly mastered the skills of the sales conversation and closing the sale. And that’s exactly what you need to learn to do. On this call, Pat will share her best success secrets with you so that you, too, can change the way you do business – today!

Pat Mussieux is quickly becoming known as the Business Coach to Canadian Women Entrepreneurs! In just 18 months, Pat created a six-figure home-based business after having moved across the country to a new location. She is an undisputed expert on mindset and marketing, and teaching women how to make BIG money doing what you love – so they can live the life that they want.

Pat Mussieux is a coach, an acclaimed international speaker, and author and radio host. She has been nominated 3 times for the RBC Canadian Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Award and last year was one of only 4 finalists for the annual STEVIE Awards for Women in Business – Best Canadian Entrepreneur.

Join us Thursday, May 3rd at 1:00 p.m. ET (New York, USA) as Janet Slack interviews coaching expert, Pat Mussieux.

We are anti-spam. Your email address will never be rented or sold!

Once you register, you’ll receive notice about each of our upcoming monthly calls. And you’ll be among the first to know about the next week long “Summer School” event in Summer 2012! As a special gift, you will also receive the acclaimed weekly Biz Tips for Coaches, a quick idea each week to keep your coaching business up to date with the latest resources, technology and marketing tactics.

Some people are natural-born writers. They hold a pen up to paper and words start flowing. On the other hand, there are people who struggle to write a few paragraphs. Having a unique writing style will help set your writing apart from others, even if you fall into the group of people that finds writing difficult. Here are some ways to develop your writing style.

The best writers have a love of words, and they are avid readers. Believe it or not, reading is a great way to develop your writing style. The types of things you enjoy reading are probably things you would enjoy writing.

Reading other peoples’ writing will also give you insights on your own writing. As you read, some authors’ styles will seem to pop out at you as very good or very bad. You probably have a writing style similar to the authors you enjoy reading.

What are your writing strengths? Some people are great at writing news-oriented stories, while some people prefer to write reviews and opinion pieces. If you like to teach people things, your writing strength could be how-to articles. If you enjoy coming up with slogans and catchy headlines, you might be a natural when it comes to copywriting. There are many types of writing to explore.

In order to develop your writing style, you need to write. Try to write something everyday. The more you write, the easier it will get. Experiment with different styles and techniques. You will see that some types of writing come easier to you. Blogs and journals are a great way to get writing practice.

These “practice writings” don’t need to be masterpieces, and you can delete what you write if you want. The point is to keep your writing muscles flexed by exercising them a little each day. Your natural strengths will come out as you try different forms of writing.

Embrace your personality and voice as you write. Use words that you would use when you speak. If your writing sounds unnatural and awkward, your reader will be turned off. Let your personality come out in your writing. Have a conversation with your readers as you would with someone you were speaking to face to face. If you like talking about certain subjects, write about them.

Free writing can also help you develop your unique style. Sit down in a quiet place and set a timer for five to ten minutes. Clear your head and start writing what comes to your mind, and keep writing until time runs out. Don’t worry about grammar or spelling. Just write whatever you think of.

When the timer goes off, read over what you have written. It may not make sense, but it can give you ideas for other things to write about.

Credibility is the crux of any marketing message. Without credibility, the best content in the world will simply get passed over. On the other hand, an uninspiring speech by a highly credible person will be met with rapt attention and motivation.

For example, if an Olympic athlete was giving advice about how to lose weight, people would probably listen – even if the advice itself was hard to follow. On the other hand, if a homeless person gave great advice, chances are nobody would listen.

What’s the difference? Credibility. The athlete has credibility, while the homeless person doesn’t. Credibility gets people to listen to you. Credibility helps create emotions. Credibility helps create motivation.

Build Credibility In …

There are three things you need to build credibility.

First, you need to build credibility in yourself, the person speaking, presenting or writing. The more credibility can can build in yourself, the more you earn people’s attention.

Second, you need credibility in your company. Is your company a reputable firm? How long have you been in business? Do you have a recognizable logo? Do you have professional design?

Finally, you need to build credibility in your product. Even if you have a great brand and people trust you, that doesn’t necessarily mean they trust your product. When Coca Cola rolled out New Coke, it became quickly apparent that although they had a very strong brand, people simply didn’t want a product change. New Coke had zero credibility and quickly had to be phased out.

How to Build Credibility

There are many different ways you can build credibility in your product. Here are some of the most prevalent ones.

A demonstration – One of the most powerful ways to build credibility is to show people your product in action.

For example, the “Will It Blend” videos were essentially highly entertaining videos demonstrating the Blendtec blender. Blending the iPhone, marbles, lighters and other materials made the videos go viral quickly, which launched a multi-million dollar brand.

Photo proof – If you’re promoting a wealth product, take a picture with you and your Ferrari. If you’re promoting a health product, use before and after photos.

Use photos to show the results of your product. Photos are more real than similar claims with just words.

Testimonials – Don’t say it yourself. Instead, let other people say it for you. That’s much more effective, as others don’t have an incentive to promote your products. The more testimonials the better, especially if they are from authoritative sources.

Word of Mouth – If a friend hears about you or your product through a friend, that carries massive credibility. How do you generate word of mouth? By consistently putting out high quality products and content.

Before you run with any new marketing message, be sure to have a rock solid foundation of credibility in all three areas.