When you start off your website on the world wide web, you are like a tribe in the middle of the Amazon. Chances are that no-one is ever going to know about you . Maybe just the odd person who stumbles upon you when they are lost. You are in the middle of nowhere and you don’t exist on any map. If you want to be found, put yourself on the map.

Starting to look at your website like this can open up a whole new philosophy of Internet marketing . When I first started out I was angry because nobody visited. I was angry with all the Internet users in the world. Then suddenly one day it clicked… it’s not their fault. 99.99999% of them don’t even know I exist.

I then started to think of a website like a club or village or city in the real world. There are some cities in the world that are world famous. Everybody knows of them and there is a reason, they are full of attractions and things to do. If you look in a travel book they are there. They have major highways, train links and airports. They stick out on the map. There are signposts to them everywhere. You can’t miss them. These are like the super-bloggers such as ProBlogger and John Chow.

Of course not everybody wants to be Mayor of New York. Some people are just happy running a small exclusive club. Whatever you do though, you have to think about how and where you will find your customers and make sure you are where they are looking. The more places you are referenced and the better your venue is signposted, the more visitors you are going to get. When they arrive you want to make sure you have what they want as well.

Hold a party, strive to please your customers and start to spread the word. If you keep your venue smart, are friendly and welcoming, the visitors will keep coming back. Try to beat their expectations, just as in the real world. If you want more visitors, then you need to build more attractions to keep them interested and you need to make sure these attractions are advertised.

When you go to a party, there is always the one person who everyone seems attracted to. This is the person who is approachable and most of all passionate. Remember that, people are attracted to passion. They are also drawn to a person who smiles. Don’t be the person sitting in the corner hoping someone comes over to them, be the one going over.

This metaphor could go on in a million different directions, but the point I am getting at is that the Internet is not that alien from the real world. Think about things in relation to the real world. Use what you use in the real world.

You will find success.

.

One of the things that has suddenly clicked in my head, is the idea that if you are dependent on one source for the majority of your income then you are pretty much owned by that person or that company. If you rely on an employer for most of your income then you are a slave to them and their ideas.

Having a diversified portfolio of income gives you independence and gives you the power to choose how and where you get your money from.

It also cushions you from the ups and downs in one line of business or in one company.

• If you rely on your savings account for the majority of your income, what happens when interest rates fall?
• If you rely on your property, what happens when you can’t rent it out?

I think it is a simple philosophy, but the benefits of diversifying your income are easy to see and is something everyone should start thinking about doing today.

My mission from now on is take make sure that I am never again reliant on one source of income for more than 33% of my income (we shall make that living income). That could be anything, whether a job, a bank account or my own company. I don’t want my fate tied so closely into one thing.

I want the power to choose and I think diversification gives you that.

What do you choose?

Amongst all that was going on around me and the situation it was pretty difficult, but I am also a pretty simple person, so I like things as straightforward as I can make them. I like a simple method I can follow, because the simpler it is, the easier it is to fall back on. This is how I dealt with the upheaval.

The first thing I did was to accept that I couldn’t alter what had happened and so put that behind me. Why waste time on if’s and but’s and things you can’t change? The situation was done, it wasn’t going to change, no matter what I did. So…

• Rule 1: You can’t change what has already happened, don’t waste your energy.

The second thing I did was decide to see what the positive side of being laid off was. Or what it “could” be. As they say, you attract what you focus on, so I started to look at the opportunities for change that it gave me, the new possibilities.

Once I started doing this I actually became pretty upbeat and life started moving in a positive direction again. Then the momentum effect began to take over, it’s important just to get the ball rolling.

• Rule 2: Look for the opportunities the change has created.

I believe Winston Churchill once said that “some people see difficulty in all possibilities while some people see possibility in all difficulties”. I think this is something to bear in mind. When change happens, train yourself to focus on the possibilities.

Having seen the opportunities that being out of work had given me, somethings that I had been blind to previously, I quickly started to feel more positive and decided to pick my fight. Where was my energy and focus going to go?

For me, it wasn’t going to be to fight the change. It was going to be to fight for a better future. The result being that I have now found myself a better job and also have set about more time for myself to update me skills.

• Rule 3: Pick your fight wisely, then put all you energy into it.

Of course, you can choose to fight the change (if you are sure it is a change for the worse and it’s of a benefit to be fought) or you can choose to fight for new openings and new opportunities.

This is my simple story. This is my simple method of dealing with change. I hope you can take some optimism from this and start to believe that all change isn’t bad. Find your own way of coping and turning it into a positive experience and make it a habit.

The hard work has been done for you. Take a look. It’s that time of the month now where I host a carnival to help people show off all the great articles they have written. I received a lot of submissions and it took me a while to sort through them all to make sure they fit in with the site and are of appropriate quality. Bearing that in mind, many thanks to all the authors for their hard work and the many words of inspiration and new ideas for my readers.

So here it is, a whole host of articles arranged around 3 themes related to this site. The themes are the ideas of self help, inspiration and mind hacks. Please enjoy

General Self Help

Arin Vahanian presents How to Build True, Lasting Confidence posted at Super State (editor says: an interesting look at how to build confidence and how very close you are to it)

FitBuff presents How to Speed Up Your Metabolism posted at FitBuff.com’s Total Mind and Body Fitness Blog (editor says: learn how to speed up your metabolism and receive the many health benefits)

Silicon Valley Blogger presents My One Money Advice: Be Prepared For That Rainy Day posted at The Digerati Life (editor says: you’ve heard it before, but never forget it)

Matthew Spears presents The innocence of anger posted at Loving Awareness (editor says: a look at a positive process by which to use anger)

Todd Goldfarb presents Why Your Smallest Actions Define You posted at We The Change (editor says: a reminder that the small things add up, so don’t let your standards slip… even for a second)

Alex Marlin presents Most Educated People Have No Social Skills posted at Life Improvement Tips For Thin and Small People (editor says: it’s among the most important things for success, take the time to learn and use it)

Albert Foong presents Love, Sorrow, and Attachment posted at Urban Monk (editor says: shows how nothing is permanent, learn how to cope with change through love)

John Crenshaw presents Are You Proactive or Reactive? posted at Dominate Your Life (editor says: a reminder to think ahead so you don’t spend your life just reacting to situations)

Inspiration

Bradley Woods presents Defeat Is Only Temporary posted at Conceive, Believe, Achieve (editor says: the greatest people in the world share one thing… perseverence)

karen alonge presents relationship life preservers posted at postcards from nowhere (editor says: some very sound advice on preserving a relationship)

Tupelo Kenyon presents Choose the Companionship of Positive People Who Inspire You posted at Tupelo Kenyon (editor says: learn how to get more positive energy and relationships in your life)

Nubby Twiglet presents The 5 Secrets to Success posted at Nubby Twiglet Art & Design (editor says: a straight forward guide to point you in the direction of success)

Ronit presents If You Think You Can or Think You Can’t, You Are Right - The Story of Marina posted at Ronit Baras (editor says: as it says on the tin… eye opening case example)

Jennifer Mannion presents Heal Pain Naturally: Self-Talk posted at Heal Pain Naturally (editor says: Jennifer has an interesting story, this part is on the effect of your internal dialogue)

Tina Su presents How to Fight Your Fears posted at Think Simple. Be Decisive. (editor says: 5 ways to fight your fears and empower yourself)

Mind Hacks

Uni presents Personal Brain Revitalizer:Take Advantage of Your Brain Cycles posted at You Deserve More (editor says: an interesting method by which to select the hemishpere of your brain which you want to use)

Bert presents Attention posted at Ask-Bert (editor says: nice article from a new blogger on how to keep your focus)

That’s the selection for this edition. Hope you found some words to keep you going up the road to success. If you submitted an article then please take the time to check out the other author’s work and leave a comment.

If you want to submit your blog article to the next edition of the carnival of inspiration and self help using our carnival submission form, please do it now.

Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page. If you want to be a host, just leave a message

Technorati tags:

carnival of inspiration and self help, blog carnival.

Before I went away I was beginning to drift, so I want to add the focus back to what I was doing, so I am going to introduce some themes for the week. These are:

• Monday-Tuesday: Self Improvement
• Wednesday-Thursday: Finance
• Friday-Saturday: Blogging & Marketing
• Sunday: Links & Everything Else!!

I am also kind of embarrassed by the look of my site, so I am going to try and work it around a cleaner theme. Fingers crossed that I can make it look a bit more appealing