In the internet marketing arena, it seems like there has been a chasm between what experts and authors teach and what most of us need to make personal and financial progress toward building a business.  You’ve read the books, clipped the articles and attended the seminars.  You get all hyped up, and eagerly try the newest techniques and methods.  Somehow the latest “secret sauce” superduper program is going to turn your ship around.  Ten days later, you’re asking yourself what all the excitement was about.  And, you’ve found another “secret blueprint” that doesn’t seem to live up to its claims.  Your “ship” still isn’t moving very fast.

Michael Cheney, a veteran internet marketer, has produced a video series that helps bridge the gap between wanting and getting.  He clearly lays out what you need to do, how to think, what to eat and most importantly, how to “feel.”  I think this is the first time I’ve run across a well-known marketer who sticks his neck out and actually discusses the more esoteric aspects of becoming successful. 

It’s clear Michael understands the inter-relationships of health, energy, attitude, knowledge, self-discipline and responsibility.  He’s managed to put these concepts in bite-sized pieces (under 5 minutes) that anyone can view, enjoy and understand.  He’s actually quite funny and his messages are on target.  You can view what he’s produced to date at getmomentumtv.com.

If blogging is your passion, then the FireFox + ScribeFire duo is an excellent platform to further your pursuits. ScribeFire 1.4.5 is the latest update to the FireFox add-on that can be used to “remotely” post to your WordPress, Blogger or Windows Live blog while sitting on another web site. It is a call-on-demand tool that remains hidden under a small icon on the FireFox status bar. Unless you know where to look, you’ld pass it up thinking it was a status icon.  But, when you press the button, blogging gets a whole lot easier.

Once you’ve set up your blogs (ScribeFire can handle multiple blogs and has an automated blog setup feature) making a post is as simple as clicking your blog’s link, entering your title, typing your post, then hitting “publish.”  That’s all there is to it.

ScribeFire automatically pulls in your latest posts, the current blog’s category list, and all the “pages” (static pages) from your blog.  You have the option of creating a new post, editing an existing post,  creating a new static page, or editing an existing page.

If you decide to edit an existing page, ScribeFire puts a “Publish as Edit” button at the bottom.  A nice (and smart feature) that will help keep you from “blog confusion” is the “Publish Button.”  When you create a new post, the text on the publish button says “Publish to “YourBlogsName.com”" so you can see where the post is going.  (As you work with ScribeFire and do more of posting without being anywhere near your blog, you’ll appreciate this feature.

Version 1.4.5 added a drop-down font list, support for Wordpress’ “< ! - more - >” tag, and a confirmation dialog before deleting a note.

Screenshot of ScribeFire in action.

Low unemployment rate hides rise in long-term jobless

Now there’s a headline you don’t see everyday! I’ve been talking about this for months with friends. Some feel the pain of losing their job to “offshore” workers. Others, living in oblivion, haven’t been affected and think the shift of American Jobs to overseas locations is just another part of business. Worst of all, they think there is nothing they can do about it.

I constantly try to remind them that corporations have been doing this for years (selling out the American worker.) In the mid-80’s Emerson Electric (St. Louis) made a big push to build plants and infrastructure in Mexico and other offshore locations. A few years later, they began moving production lines across the border and closing factories in the US. Today, most of their products are made on foreign soil.

Now, in this article, some one is finally putting some of the numbers together.

Just call me a softie  (as in soft-in-the-head.)  I was browsing thru Liz Strauss’ blog “Successful and Outstanding Bloggers” (SOB’s for short) and ran across her 2006 article “10 Skills Critical …” and thought to myself, no way. 

I don’t think I could muster all those skills in a lifetime.  It would be nice, but my brain would have a functional and personality meltdown!  My choice — have Scottie beam me back to 2002 or earlier when I at least thought I knew what was going on.

Take a gander at her list of “required” skills:

1. Deep independent thinking and problem solving.
2. Mental flexibility
3. Fluency with ideas
4. Proficiency with processes and process models
5. Originality of contributions
6. A habit of finding hidden assumptions and niches
7. A bias toward opportunity and action
8. Use all available tools, including the five senses and intuitive perceptions in data collection
9. Energy, enthusiasm and positivity about decision making
10. Self-sustaining productivity

These are the skills she says we’ll need going into the 21st century. 

Ouch!  I knew I had a long way to go, but now I have to get out my dictionary and hit a few wiki’s just to figure out what I don’t know.

Now before you assume this is going to be a bashing article, keep a few things in mind. 

• First, I think Liz is an excellent author and communicator.  I don’t know her personally, but I’ve been reading her blog for the past few months.  And have enjoyed her insights and viewpoints.
• Second, I do NOT consider myself an author, or a writer, and I’m probably a lot less than an “average” communicator.  My claim to fame is being able to use spell check most of the time, and I can fix complicated equipment - usually.  So you have to realize I’m speaking from a “shaky” personality base and working with a really limited skill set.

Here’s my problem.  That list of traits seems like an impossibility.  I don’t know if I would ever be able to conjure up the fortitude I’d need to start developing the skills on the list.  I guess this is really a case of being out gunned when it comes to having a large collection of “mental marbles.”  My sack feels half-empty compared to Liz’s 2-1/2 sacks!

I do know one thing.  If you’re going to accomplish anything, no matter what the area, you have to stay focussed.  So, instead of figuring out what I can do to develop the traits listed above, I’ll stay glued to the projects at hand.  At least that way I won’t feel so out-classed.