Use Your Journal as a Creative Outlet

Use Your Journal as a Creative Outlet

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Use Your Journal as a Creative Outlet

Like any task, journaling can seem a bit tedious at first. It's a habit you need to cultivate in order for it to seem natural. One way to make this easier is to remember that this is your personal place to use as you wish. Injecting some creativity into your journaling can help to make it more fun for you and increase your motivation to maintain this new practice. Take a look at the tips below for some inspiration on using your journal as a creative outlet.

Add Some Color
One of the easiest ways to jazz things up is to add color to your journal. Use colored pens or markers for title pages or to divide pages into sections. You may even wish to write in colored pens if you really want to make your pages pop.

Add Props
Another easy way to perk up your pages is to use props. Things like stickers or washi tape can be a fun way to insert some personal flair into your journaling. This is especially useful for those who don't like to draw or who feel their artistic skills are lacking.

Doodle and Draw
If you would like to express yourself through drawing, there's no better place to do that than in your journal. Doodles in the margins or in between entries can be a way to flesh out your ideas or just to add a little extra something. You can take the idea even further by creating a section in your journal for your drawings. Take a full page to draw pictures using your medium of choice. This can be quite therapeutic.

Write Poetry
If you like to play with words, perhaps poetry might be your thing. Writing a poem or two can be a wonderful way to explore your feelings, along with getting those creative juices flowing. Give it a shot, if you're so inclined.

Make a Collage
If you want to add some visual appeal to your journal but don't want to draw, why not consider making a collage? Cut photos from a magazine or print images online to use. Find photos or words that appeal to you and glue them on a page of your journal. You can treat this as a vision board or mood board if you'd like. The pictures can help direct your focus to your goals and desires.

This is just a handful of ideas to get you started. Have fun using your journal to fuel your creativity and move you forward. Enjoy the process.

What Should You Write in Your Journal?

What Should You Write in Your Journal?

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What Should You Write in Your Journal?

In yesterday's post, I gave you a couple of simple ways to start journaling. That's only the tip of the iceberg. There are so many ways you can use this powerful tool. While this might seem overwhelming, I prefer to think of it as exciting. Your journal offers a wide array of opportunities for you to learn and grow. Today, I'd like to explore some more ways you can delve into journaling to get the most benefits based on your needs and desires.

Remember, there's no right or wrong way to journal. Feel free to give some of these ideas a try and then switch them up if you need more inspiration. Now let's take a look at some examples of what you could write in your journal.

Break Down Your Goals
A journal is a place for dreaming. A wonderful exercise is to write down some of your biggest goals and break them down into actionable steps you can take each day to make them happen. Keep yourself on track and accountable by checking in regularly and adjusting your plan accordingly if need be.

Take Note of Your Experiences
A journal can be used in a similar way to the diary of your youth. It's a place to write down your experiences and the things that happen in your life. You can take that concept even further and reflect upon your experiences, analyzing what was meaningful and why. Explore the ways you might have wanted things to go different and what made you happy. This exercise provides great insight.

Collect Quotes
Are you a fan of inspirational quotes? If so, it's a good idea to collect some in your journal. You could go on a search for quotes relating to some of the areas where you need the most motivation or you could simply write down interesting quotes when you come across them. A quote can make a good writing prompt in and of itself.

Reflect on Memories
When you find yourself in need of a self-confidence boost, it can help to reflect on a time in your life when you achieved a goal or when you were particularly satisfied. Take time to reflect on these instances in your journal. Doing so can remind you of just how capable you truly can be.

Express Your Gratitude
A gratitude journal is one of the most popular exercises out there. That's because it provides such powerful results. Everyone has something to be grateful for. Even in the most difficult times, writing down three things you are grateful for each day can dramatically change your perspective and lift your mood.

These are just a handful of the ways you can use your journal. Give some of them a try and feel free to brainstorm some of your own. Don't be afraid to get creative and dig deep to discover what it is you want to get out of your journaling experience.

Two Super Simple Ways To Start Journaling

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Two Super Simple Ways to Start Journaling

One of the things that puts people off when it comes to journaling is simply getting started. You might not feel comfortable just sitting down to a blank piece of paper or an empty computer screen. That's okay, and it's completely normal. All new activities come with a learning curve. Just think of something you're now good at, but that took you some time to feel comfortable with. Writing in your journal follows that same concept. It will feel strange at first. Eventually, you'll get good at it. It will become comfortable and enjoyable.
Journaling is a practice. That means it's something you should do on a regular basis in order to gain the most benefits. There are no right or wrong ways to journal. What matters is that you get something from the exercise. There are tons of ways you can use a journal, depending upon your end goal. Journaling can help you to gain personal insight, figure out a problem, clarify your goals, increase your creativity, and more.

For now, let's not put too much thought into the end result. What matters most is just getting started. I'll give you two easy ways to start journaling. You can pick one, or even both, to start practicing on your own. These are both straightforward and simple.

Plan Your Day
One way you might want to use your journal is as a daily planner and motivator. An easy exercise is to determine three goals you have for yourself each day, write about them, and then try to find ways to make them happen as you go about your daily schedule. This is a great way to start your morning. It gets the creative juices flowing and puts you in a positive and focused mindset. Find some quiet time first thing in the morning and write down just three goals you'd like to accomplish for the day. They can be work-related or personal, and they don't have to be major or extraordinary. Once you start to tick these items off your list, you'll be motivated to continue the exercise.

Assess Your Day
Another easy writing exercise to start out with is to simply re-cap your day by writing down three things that went well that day. You could modify this one a bit by writing three significant things that happened during the day or simply writing a quick paragraph about how your day went. Whichever you choose, this assessment can help you to process the day's events and provide material for the next day's list of goals.

There you have it – just two simple ways to start journaling. Give them a try and see if that doesn't help to get your creative juices flowing. At the very least, you'll get a sense for what this whole journaling thing is all about.

Digital Planners: It’s A Love/Hate Relationship!

Digital Planners: It’s A Love/Hate Relationship!

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I have something of a love/hate relationship with digital planners.

As a user, I love the convenience of throwing my iPad in my bag, and being able to take notes and schedule my life and business wherever I am. I do not miss the days of lugging my laptop everywhere, because I can honestly tell you that a 3.5 lb laptop does not feel lightweight when you have been carrying it for 14 hours across a few timezones. I have the bad back to prove it!

So, the digital planner (bless those folks at Goodnotes!) has been a live-saver in many ways, and I think it is a market that will continue to grow, although it is going to be a while before it truly competes with the evergreen demand for printed planners and journals. Especially journals because I think there is still something cathartic about putting pen to paper when digging deep into personal thoughts and musings. And, let's be honest – there is also the cost factor of buying an iPad, versus a paper journal or planner….

But as a “Product Creator”, I am definitely going to be adding digital planners to my product line, because it's a huge market and, just as with paper planners, design matters here, and good designs will definitely sell.

Now to the ‘hate' part of the equation…well, maybe not hate, but I have some definite qualms here….

As a “PLR Product Creator“…I am very hesitant to get into the PLR side of this niche. Contrary to what you may have heard – the best digital planners are not simple powerpoint docs with 4 hyperlinked tabs. They are not even docs with hyperlinks to each month. The best digital planners have literally HUNDREDS of hyperlinked pages. Consider this scenario: You have the standard calendar page in the front of the planner, with 12 little monthly calendars on the page, and each day on that page is hyperlinked to the matching planner page for that day. How many links on that page? Yep a minimum of 365 links….yikes….

We can create the planners, just like we created the interactive workbooks last year (one had more than 10,000 fields, each had to be checked and proofed), but the issue is turning that end-product into PLR, because it is NOT going to be easy to change backgrounds and text without messing something up.

The bottom line is that we ARE working on digital planners, but before you invest time and money into this niche, please do your homework! Check out some of the top sellers on Etsy and see how many links there are in the typical product. Maybe even buy one and dissect it!

I have purchased several now, different styles and features, and prior to doing so, we had planned on adding these to our PLR products, but now, we are not so sure. If we do, you can bet that it is going to be sold with a strong disclaimer that you really need to be comfortable with Keynote, Powerpoint and PDF – and probably best that you are using paid versions of these products rather than free alternatives, because you will need some of the ‘serious' features.

You can create these on your desktop, as long as you have the sizing right, so you do not necessarily have to have an iPad for the design, but I do think it would be very helpful so that you can test prior to selling.

Last but definitely not least – a great course in creating digital planners from GoodNotes own support team:
How To Create Custom Templates With Hyperlinks

I am definitely not trying to be negative or discourage anyone from entering this niche. But I am encouraging everyone to make sure that you really understand this niche before you spend any money. If you are very competent with Keynote or Powerpoint, then you will probably be okay but I do think that there is a fairly steep learning curve here and a great deal more time involved in creating these planners than for the typical Amazon product.

Getting My Book Published: What Are My Options?

Getting My Book Published: What Are My Options?

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Four Publishing Options Worth Exploring

For many people, writing the book is the easy part. Whether you have a body of work ready to repurpose (such as a blog you’ve maintained for several years) or a ghostwriter at the ready, or you just really like to write, getting your book on paper is simple. Publishing and selling it is another matter altogether. You basically have four options when it comes to publishing your book, and each one has its pros and cons.

PDF Ebook.
Probably the simplest method to publish a book, all that’s required with an ebook is to click “Save as…” in your Word document and choose “PDF.” Then you can sell the resulting file on your own website, list it on ClickBank or E-Junkie, or upload it to a number of other ebook marketplaces online.

Ebooks don’t quite have the authority that printed books carry, but if you’re on a budget and don’t have the skills to format your book for print, then this can be a viable option to get you off the ground. It’s also a great way to share your book with advance readers to get those all-important testimonials.

Kindle.
The darling of the self-publishing world, Amazon’s Kindle marketplace makes it easy for you to publish your book. In fact, with just a few minutes of formatting, and a few more minutes spent on their step-by-step uploading system, you can have your book on their virtual shelves in less than an hour.

With its incredible popularity and the ability to offer “free days” during which anyone can download your book at no cost, Kindle is a great way to build a buzz quickly.

Print on Demand.
The best choice for self-published authors is a relatively new technology that allows for a single book to be printed on demand. Until just a few years ago, if you chose to self-publish your book you’d likely have to shell out for hundreds if not thousands of copies up front, leaving you with a garage full of books to sell on your own.

Print on demand is different. Buyers order your book from sellers such as Amazon (whose Create Space arm is itself a print on demand enterprise), and the book is printed and shipped the next day. This makes it easy and cost-effective for everyone to become a published author.

Traditional Publisher.
The most difficult and time-consuming option, getting your book published with a traditional print publisher will also get you the most audience and press. The drawbacks are many, though. To start, it’s extremely difficult to get a traditional publishing house to take on a new author. If you do manage to get the attention of a publisher, your royalties (the amount you earn from your book) will be very small—maybe as little as 8% of the net cost. Finally, the length of time it takes from manuscript submission to final publication can be years. All that said, a book with a traditional publishing insignia on the spine does carry a bit more weight when it comes to press opportunities than does a self-published book.

Many new authors initially choose the ebook format and then move to Kindle and print on demand. Given enough buzz and sales, traditional publication becomes easier to attain as well. The important thing is to get your book written, and then publish where you’re most comfortable. The rest will come naturally.

10 Unique Ways To Use Your New PLR To Drive Traffic To Your Website

10 Unique Ways To Use Your New PLR To Drive Traffic To Your Website

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Of course you already know that you can use it as a Lead Magnet, or break it up into blog posts, so rather than insult your intelligence by suggesting the obvious uses, here's some different ideas our clients have come up with:

  1. Reformat the material into an informational ‘Q & A' format
  2. Translate into other languages for international visitors or customers.
  3. Spin an article into a “10 Best” list like this one.
  4. Combine the content with interviews with local business leaders if you work with brick & mortar clients or industry experts depending on your target market.
  5. Develop additional resouces to compliment the PLR material: Cheatsheets, workbooks, checklists, or spreadsheets.
  6. Break up the information into ‘modules' and create a web-based e-course. If you use WordPress, consider using
  7. Want to sell the PLR as your own product? This works great with ‘Biz In A Box' Products like The Entrepreneur's Guide To Coping With Family PLR FE Sales Page .Use the included Lead Magnet with a PDF brander like ViralPDF to allow your affiliates to custom brand their affiliate link in the PDF. An EASY way to give your Affiliates a super tool to promote your product on social media!
  8. Use it to generate traffic from document sharing sites. Compile the information as a report, in PDF or PowerPoint, with your affiliate links embedded or with links to your website, depending on where you want the traffic to be directed to in the PDF. Submit to doc sharing sites like Slideshare  or Scribd.
  9. Start your own BlogTalkRadio internet radio show, using PLR content as the basis for your show.
  10. Create a weekly podcast that is distributed on the iTunes store or Soundcloud

Now that you have these great ideas
– need more content?

No worries – we have you covered!