live your best dreams

I’ve purchased a number of iPods for my wife and my children, but yesterday was the first time I personally used one of these gadgets.

My verdict: What fun, no wonder almost everyone loves Apple’s iPod!

First item of business I installed a copy of our ‘Vemma Scene‘ marketing movie on my new iPod. I used a program called VisualHub to create an iPod video directly from one of my Vemma Scene DVDs. The video quality is excellent! I know I’ll be showing the iPod version of the ‘Vemma Scene’ to quite a few people.

When I last wrote about my use of web browsers and bookmarks in Mac OS X I was actively using Camino, Firefox, OmniWeb, Opera, Safari and testing Shiira. I’m no longer using OmniWeb, Opera and Shiira. Safari has become my primary browser. I use Firefox or Camino, in the increasingly rare circumstance, when I encounter a web site that’s problematic for Safari.

My bookmark management scheme has also changed; I no longer use URL Manager Pro. I synchronize my Safari bookmarks with Camino and Firefox using a nifty little app called Bookit. I maintain 15 links in my bookmarks bar and about a hundred more in my browsers’ bookmarks. These days I’m using WebnoteHappy to keep track of the thousands of other interesting sites I come across. WebnoteHappy is one of those delightful OS X apps that just feels right. It makes you feel, well… happy that you’re using a Mac.

- Take notes and tag web pages
- Find your webnotes with an iTunes-like search
- Integrated with del.icio.us
- Navigate your tags with the Tag Browser
- Organize your webnotes within Folders
- Create Smart Folders - like Smart Playlists in iTunes
- Open the associated web page for any webnote
- Import from Safari to better manage your bookmarks
- Merge duplicate bookmarks when importing from Safari
- Import from and export to XBEL
- Export to a bookmarks file
- Works with all major web browsers on OS X

I picked up a family license for just $29.95. Check out WebnoteHappy for yourself.

I use SuperDuper! to maintain a fully bootable backup of my iMac. A couple of weeks ago my iMac G5 decided it was tired and began to unceremoniously shut itself down. Faced with potential disaster, I simply connected my PowerBook G4 to my FireWire backup drive, booted from the external drive and continued to work as if nothing had happened. My iMac was away for a week; it took awhile because replacing the power supply didn’t help, it was actually a logic board problem. Yesterday, I was back to the twenty inch screen after using SuperDuper! to update my iMac from the FireWire drive.

Many thanks to Dave Nanian and Bruce Lacey at shirt-pocket.com.

My family has owned twenty Macs in the last twenty-three years. My Macs have lived charmed lives, I’ve never paid to have a Mac fixed. I have had three hardware problems; all three occurred in the last six years. My original AirPort Base Station failed and was replaced free of charge long after the warranty had lapsed. My daughter’s iBook had a logic board problem that Apple fixed without cost to me; again, after the warranty had expired. Last week my iMac G5 required a visit to the computer technician (see first paragraph) and was repaired under warranty.

I had a fellow call me today about his “exciting business opportunity.” So, why am I making a big deal out of his phone call? Well, he called me last week about a different “exciting opportunity” and he’s no longer with that one. There are hundreds, possibly thousands, of ‘deals’ out there and, bluntly stated, most of them don’t work and they never will. Sadly, tens of thousands of people are jumping from one deal to the next and they’ve been doing it for many years. Most of these people are broke, or close to it and, often, they didn’t start out that way. I’m convinced these well-intentioned people have become ‘hope junkies.’ New opportunities give them hope, at least for a few weeks, sometimes even for a month or two. Unfortunately though, these folks have real difficulty when the rubber meets the road and they seldom, if ever, earn any money.

My mentor has done three businesses, in the last thirty years, and he has earned millions of dollars.* He chose to leave AM___. The second company unexpectedly declared bankruptcy. He has been building his business with the third one for eleven years. Today, he is actively building a very successful, new, wholly-owned subsidiary.

Consider trying something new:
- before you join a new business, decide to work it for at least one year.

If you have a long-term outlook and are willing to persist, consider joining us; I know it will be worth your time and effort, it has certainly been worth mine!

* You may not do as well.

Multilevel Marketing Millions
By: Brian Tracy

Eight Keys to MLM Success

If you’re looking at a multi-level marketing opportunity, here are eight key considerations.

Look for a multi-level business that has, number one, quality products with a good reputation. Never waste your time trying to sell anything that is not of excellent quality. Quality products are the starting point of your success in business. No successful business can ever be built on an average or mediocre product.

Look For Competitive Prices
Number two, look for a company that has prices that compare favorable with the competition. Remember, nobody’s going to pay more for your product or service if they can get the same or equivalent somewhere else at a lower price. So check the price comparisons.

Demand a Money Back Guarantee
The third thing you look for is a 100 percent unconditional money-back guarantee. In other words, the product must be so good and the company must stand behind it so strongly that they’re willing to give a 100 percent refund guarantee on anything that they sell. That’s a very good rule for starting and building any business.

Carry a Small Inventory
The fourth key in finding a multi-level marketing opportunity is that there should be a small or zero inventory requirement. You should be able to get into a multi-level marketing business with very little money. Not more than a hundred dollars.

Keep Good Records
The fifth requirement is that the company provides prompt delivery and efficient internal bookkeeping. A multi-level marketing business that’s well organized will be able to deliver your products within 24 or 48 hours for you to sell, or deliver to your customers. They’ll also take very good care of the books and give you accurate financial statements each month.

Seek a Strong Support Organization
A sixth thing to look for is a strong support organization. This is perhaps as important, if not more important, than anything else. Look for a support organization that will offer you training, that will give you seminars on product knowledge, that will give you motivation, and give you opportunities for personal and business development. Many people who have started with multi-level marketing companies have gone on to be very successful in their own businesses because of the training they got from the multi-level company. If the company doesn’t have a training system, try to find a company that does.

Honesty is the Best Policy
The seventh factor that you require is honesty and integrity. Make sure that the parent company has an impeccable reputation in the marketplace. Remember it has to be a company that you can be proud of. You should never have to make excuses for the company you’re working for.

Product Should be Consumable
Products should be consumable, leading to reorders and repeat business. You should try to sell a product that people use up on a regular basis, so that if they’re happy with it, they’ll continue to reorder and reorder and reorder. And once you get a customer, sometimes you can have a customer for years.

I’ve just launched 1stWealth.com. If you like highly-automated Internet systems, you’re going to love this.

I’m a fickle Mac browser user. I have the latest versions of Camino, Firefox, OmniWeb, Opera, Safari and Shiira in my applications folder. Safari and Firefox get used most frequently. A couple of my browsers have half-decent bookmark management, but I have also used Bookit, del.icio.us, FURL and URL Manager Pro to synchronize my bookmarks. Just yesterday, I started using WebnoteHappy Lite. Luis de la Rosa, the programmer, a Mac Indie developer, is obviously a very clever fellow; he shifted my bookmark paradigm overnight. I love this little app - import from Safari - one-click URL saves - URL notes from tags to stories - FAST searches - one-click to open the link in my browser - import/export to XBEL. You need to try WebnoteHappy Lite - it’s free! I’ll be purchasing the full version of WebnoteHappy as soon as it’s available.

I loved watching Joe Montana and Michael Jordan. They both have big hearts, love the game and wanted the ball in the final minutes. I prefer proven veterans to rookies. I’ve never been able to comprehend why rookies receive huge contracts. That said, I’ve just paid for TextMate even though I own version 8 of BBEdit. I’ve heard TextMate targets ’switchers’ and coders. I’m not a prototypical ‘PC switcher;’ I started using Macs in 1984, moved to NeXT, then to PCs and finally back to Apple and Mac years ago. I’m also not a propeller head. I do basic text editing and a little (very little) HTML, XHTML and CSS.

BBEdit is deep, feature rich, solid and proven. It has features that I’ve only scratched the surface of. I admire Rich Siegel and the gang at Bare Bones.

TextMate is fun. It feels good and has tremendous potential! I’m impressed by Allan Odgaard.

Question: So… who is going to win the Mac text editor war?
Answer: It’s not a war, but users, like you and me, win!

Macs are beginning to regain lost market share. Impressive new programs are being developed for the Mac and that’s great, but you won’t catch me betting against a veteran with a big heart. I’m looking forward to seeing future versions of BBEdit and TextMate.

My deal is to be happy and to try to help others be happier.

Can computers and computer software help people live happier lives? Although the initial purchase of a computer is almost always an exciting, full-of-promise, time, I suspect that many, perhaps most, people quickly become frustrated with their new machines and eventually lose hope that they will ever become truly helpful devices.

Many years ago, I was uncomfortably using Windows 95 at my medical office and at home; I certainly wasn’t having fun. Almost every day I would receive calls from friends asking me questions like, “What does it mean when it says, cannot find TWAIN.DLL?” or making statements like, “I tried to install a sound card and now nothing works.” My, very tolerant, wife would actually leave the house when I was installing new PC hardware.

Shortly after Steve Jobs returned to Apple I found myself wearing a path in the sidewalk in front of an Apple vendor’s store here in Vancouver. I was contemplating purchasing Macs for my family, but I had a substantial investment in my PCs and my Window’s software, so it wasn’t an easy decision.

News Flash - Computers can be helpful and fun!

Moving to the Mac was the best technology decision I’ve ever made. These days when friends call with questions I say, “I’m sorry I haven’t kept up with Windows problems, I’m using a Mac.”

Consider this simple plan:

1. Buy a new Mac
2. Buy an external FireWire hard drive
3. Buy SuperDuper! and use it every day

Your computing life will never be perfect, but you will enjoy using your Mac and I’m betting that will make you happier. I run my home business with a Mac.

Skype is very impressive. I enjoy making free computer to computer long distance calls. Computer to phone calls are also very inexpensive with ‘SkypeOut.’ You can even get a ‘SkypeIn’ phone number so that folks who don’t have a computer can call your computer.

I’m using a Plantronics’ headset (DSP 500) plugged into a D-Link USB 2.0 Hub that is plugged into the back of my iMac. Mac OS X (10.4.2) makes my computing life easy and fun. Setting up the headset was plug-and-play. I plugged the DSP 500 in and then selected Plantronics Headset as my sound input/output device in Mac OS X System Preferences. That’s was it; less than a minute from start to finish.

If you haven’t already checked out Skype, there’s no better time than right now.