Dedicated to Freedom » Just for Fun

Ian, Evette and Me ;)

Kathy Dobson — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 00:53:34 +0000

Finally, my first post in 2012!

The holidays are over, the New Year has begun and it’s time to buckle down to blogging and blogging and more blogging. Then of course there is commenting, and commenting and more blog commenting before it’s all done …and, don’t forget the social bookmarking

I am truly excited writing this post because over Christmas, in fact, between Christmas and New Years I got to meet up with one of my favorite online marketers (this guy is a PLR genius)…who has also become a dear friend.

Me and Ian

I’ve been aware for a while now that it would be advantageous for me to meet up with some of the marketers that are in my circle of friends…and even new marketers that I am just getting to know online.

However…because I started my online journey in John Thornhill’s Marketing Masterclass, many (if not most) of my online friends hale from the UK, Scotland or somewhere very near.

Now, that’s not a problem…until you want to meet these folks in person. Cost a bit to fly over that big pond if you are in the US …and it’s just not practical for those monthly meetings that marketer Randy Smith holds that I am dying to attend.

So, because of the obvious distance and large body of water between us, I had not as of December of 2011 met any online marketing friends or just online marketers in general.

Well, all that changed between Christmas and New Years. Ian Ieba (yep…the PLR super coach) and his lovely wife Evette were vacationing in Orlando, Florida for three sweet weeks and although I live 3 hours away in Cape Coral, Florida, I always go to Tampa to spend Christmas and a few days after Christmas with the grandkids. It couldn’t have been more perfect.

Tampa is only 90 miles from where Ian and Evette were and after contacting him, he so graciously agreed to drive the 90 miles to my daughter’s beach condo in Indian Rocks Beach so that we could meet up for a few hours last Wednesday afternoon.

Ian and Evette (how cute are they!)

I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed meeting Ian and Evette and how much fun it was to actually speak and hug another marketer…in person! This was/is very special to me as my first ever meeting with someone I’ve known and admired online…and one that will remain special because of that.

As you can see by the pics, the wind was blowing that day…in fact it was downright cold for Florida…;)…although the sun was out it was probably in the low 70′s with the windchill bringing it down into the 60′s.

After some lovely enlightening conversation with Ian and Evette…and before they left, we took a walk down to the beach for some more shots where the wind really played havoc with us …lol

Ian, Me and Evette

Even though it actually happened late last year…I consider it my motivating factor to get me off on the right foot this year. This is a grand way to start my New Year in online marketing.

It’s only the beginning. I have others planned and hope to meet up with another marketer in February if all things turn out as they should

And, someday…someday soon I am going to surprise all my UK and Scottish Internet marketing friends and buddies and just pop into one of their monthly meetings. lol

But, that is for another day.

For this meeting I have Ian and Evette to thank. Evette and I realized after talking that we work in the same/similiar offline field of work. So we had plenty to share.

They were lovely people and my family enjoyed meeting them also. Next time they must come for a longer stay on the west coast of Florida.

I am hoping that someday Ian and Evette will move to the US as they plan. It would be our gain for sure and how fun it would be to have someone as smart as Ian so close and Evette to play with ;)

In the meantime, I will continue to network…and hopefully make more marketing friend connections in the states where it is just a tad bit easier (at least on my present budget) to plan meetings and go to seminars.

Someday in the near future…I hope to be traveling all over the world and meeting marketers from all walks of life.

Until then…I’ll be forever grateful to Ian for taking time from his vacation to meet up with me. I not only consider Ian a fabulous marketer and brilliant PLR coach…but I now consider Ian and his lovely wife Evette close friends.

Evette, …Shannon, Juliet, Michael…my family and Ian

You can’t start the New Year out any better than that

enJOY…

7 Links Challenge…A Stroll Through Memory Lane

Kathy Dobson — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 14:51:39 +0000

Recently I was nominated by Barry Wells to join the 7 Links Blogging Challenge. Although time seems to be at a premium lately (geez when do you ever have enough time!) I am not one to pass up a great challenge and this one offered a chance to stroll through memory lane as I searched for the best prospects for each category listed.

The 7 Links Challenge seems to be circulating the net right now. Barry was originally nominated by Adrienne Smith who was nominated by…etc, etc. …you get the drift. It’s a nice circle of blogging enthusiasts to be surrounded by and I wasn’t going to pass up this opportunity.

Now that I have located my 7 entries into this Link Challenge, I’d like to add how much fun it was to revisit some of my earlier posts. It was interesting to note my voice and the date a post was written to get a feel for where I was at in my own journey online.

I do hope you find something that offers you value in the way of education, inspiration, motivation or humor!.

May I suggest if you have not yet viewed the video that I have included with my “Most Beautiful” entry that you take the time to watch this powerful, powerful video. I’ve seen it many times and each time it re-inspires me and touches me…it is worth the time.

Awesome Stroke Video : If you don’t take time to view or read anything else in my list…this one is worth the time. If you’ve already viewed it…view it again. You will come away inspired once again I promise.

My Interview With Outsourcing Expert Tyrone Shum: Outside of the structured 100 comment challenge, this post was by far my favorite. It was my first interview…live…and my first time in front of the camera. So this was a huge step for me in many directions.

The topic of outsourcing was a very hot topic and people were exploring possibilities. Tyrone guides us through his educational journey into forming a team of freelancers from the Philippines and gives us plenty of information to pursue this avenue ourselves. Even if you don’t want to form a team, Tyrone supplies plenty of valuable outsourcing informtion…first hand information from his experiences.

Well worth the time

I had to hunt a bit for this one as I have not been too confrontational so far blogging However, that may change this next year as I’ve gained a lot of confidence in myself as a blogger now that I’ve finished Sally’s Learn With Sally class. I am much more likely to be as transparent as I can going forth and this could possibly cause some future controversy

The Fever of Fiverr: As the fever for micro jobs was exploding so was the possibility of running into some not so nice and kosher type ads. Once such ad was placed on a site that offered Camtasia for a ridiculous price. Upon further research, the owner removed it saying it had slipped by. At least he was on it right away when I brought it to his attention. Issue solved

The Evolving Micro Job Sites: The reason I chose this over others is that it seemed to help people realize the choices they have out there in micro job sites rather than being limited to Fiverr alone. It gave possibilities to those who wanted to make money by listing ads and helped others who were looking for help themselves.

There is also alot of information included about scripts (and a link to a micro jobs search engine) that can be used to create this micro job sites…for any entrepreneur who wants to take it a step further

Gmail Undo Email Option

Sometimes the simplest things help the most people. I was actually surprised at the comments I got with this post indicating to me that most people who used gmail were not yet aware of it’s ability to retract sent mail within a 30 second period. This feature is priceless in my opinion and I probably use it daily….so for that reason this post gets my Biggest Surprise post

Haha…found a few of these I thought deserved more attention…but most likely I have no one to blame but myself for lack of traffic to these specific posts. Now I am a trained blogger so watch out

Outsourcing Your Private Life Using the Principles of the 4 Hour WorkWeek

I thought this post brought both education and humor to bloggers. There is much controversy about this book by Tim Ferris …and you can choose to go whatever way you wish…however I absolutely enjoyed reading this book and laughed so many times throughout.

We can all use a bit of humor and the chapter included in this blog post was intended to do just that…even though it is a true story

Kathy in the Buff and the Best Coaching Evvvveeeerrrrr

Another toughie as I feel like there have been a few posts that were milestones for me. But this one takes the cake.

Getting in front of the camera now…I say…”bring it on”

Conquering that fear and knowing that I can speak in front of a camera alone and do it well is huge for me. Now I can move comfortably forward in the world of video.

I so enjoyed my journey back in time…thanks for the opportunity Barry. I learned a great deal about myself and my blogging in this exercise…more than I had anticipated.

Now for my nominations into this 7 Links Challenge:

To keep the record straight…I’ve only heard back from 3 of these nominees for certain…and hopefully the other two will take me up on this challenge

Now I am curious…what blog post of yours came to mind when browsing through mine? Anything particular pop up that you would like to revisit?

Learn With Sally…Thanks for Memories

Kathy Dobson — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 13:58:49 +0000

It’s Thanksgiving Day here in the US as we celebrate a day of gratefulness.

I love Thanksgiving because there are always lots of family members as well as friends in for fun, food and laughter and you don’t have to deal with all the presents but you get the same atmosphere.

It just so happens that today Thanksgiving coordinates with the last day of Learn With Sally Coaching…the latest coaching class that I participated in.

Thanksgiving is a holiday that is not celebrated around the world and because of that, I am saddened because most likely I will not be able to attend the last class webinar…which I just know is going to be awesome!

Because of the time change, the webinar will be at 4 in the afternoon for me…just about Thanksgiving dinner time.

However…I do plan on bringing my computer to my mom’s…and I am going to try and check in and out…if we aren’t actually at the table at that time! So Sally…if you see me go in and out of your webinar…that is why

You know, I can’t remember the last time I was actually saddened by the fact that I had finished a class! I can remember in school being jubilent when any class finished and skipping out of school to enjoy the summer fun.

However…this coaching has been different. Because Sally is different than most coaches. There is a level of caring with Sally that you don’t often get from coaches and because of this she has attracted some quality members…who I also honor in this blog post.

I’ve never had so much fun and learned so much at the same time as I have in Sally’s coaching…

So, with that said…here is my tribute to Sally and all my very supportive teammates.

This is one super group of marketers and if you’ve been considering joining a blogging coaching class then you won’t find a more supportive teacher or group of marketers than is connected with “Learn With Sally”.

Thanks Sally…thanks for turning me into an Action taker. Because of time contraints over the past few months I have many action steps that I need to take yet that are clearly outlined in the webinars and videos. So, although the class and webinars will be no more ;(…I still have lots of work to do

For all my classmates…I could have put so much more into this video…there were so many things that were deserving…but with 3 grandkids in my house loving on Grandma I simply can’t take more time than I have to put this together. I hope you understand that I know of each one of your accomplishments and they all deserve praise.

You are all an awesome supportive group that I am so grateful to know and work with!

For all of you…whether you are officially celebrating Thanksgiving or not…take a conscious moment on this special day to give thanks…

for whatever is overflowing from your heart…

Use Your Tools

Kathy Dobson — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 15:12:04 +0000

As most of you know I am on vacation right now…off in Colorado for family visits and mountain retreats

Although I am not due to return until the 31st of the month, I thought it would be fun to share some pictures from my camping trip to the Gore Mountain Range located within the Colorado Rockies. I am a hiker at heart.

At first I thought it might be fun to create a “flip book” from my assortment of pics (flip books read just like regular books and would make great online picture albums)…but then it suddenly dawned on me that this was a great opportunity to practice my Camtasia and Power Point skills by creating a video presentation with my camping pictures.

This would accomplish a few things…

Allow me to share more about myself and give others a window into different facets of my life and passions.
Put in valuable time practicing on tools…Camtasia Studio 7 and Power Point that will contribute considerably to my presence and ability to share and teach online.
Pushed me to learn how to add my choice of audio mp3 files into Camtasia…a completely new skill for me.
Keep up with “Learn With Sally”…I know they entered into the first video module this past Thursday and although I do not yet know exactly what the lesson covers…at least I am practicing video and it can only help me.

“Use your tools”…any way…as many times a day that you can for whatever application might present itself.

After working online for a few years now I can…without hestation tell you that it is all about practicing and honing your skills…and that includes becoming adept at using your tools.

The only way to become an expert is to be an expert.

It didn’t matter that I was not creating an IM teaching video in this instance. The point is…I had a task at hand and by joining my desire to create a picture presentation with my need to practice and hone my video skills I was able to use my time very wisely and accomplish two things with one stone.

After making the slides in Power Point and importing them to Camtasia, I originally used music files that Camtasia supplies with their software to add background flavor. And, it worked.

But, it was generic and further more, there was a song “Rocky Mountain High” by John Denver..that was absolutely perfect for this application…but…mmmmmm….how do I get it into Camtasia so that I can add it to the timeline and create the video?

I had no idea. I thought it would be as easy as importing the mp3 file, adding it to the timeline and turning it all into an mp4.

Wrong. Of course it was not that easy.

So, I headed over to YouTube to find my way. After a few videos and a couple of tries, I accomplished what I set out to do and the music now matches the video. (I will be teaching what and how I learned to do this in a future blog post…so stay tuned)

I am a very “happy camper”…

I’ll be catching up with class, webinars, modules etc. when I arrive home later this week. And, I must apologize that I will not be able to do any serious blog hopping until then also.

In the meantime, I do hope that you enjoy this little video presentation that I created for you. I have a few camping stories too that I’ll share in the next post.

I say again…“use your tools” whenever the opportunity presents itself…make wise use of all your time and success will come faster…

Check out the results of Barry Wells challenge that pushed all of us a little harder…produced great results and created a platform for all of us to share a bit of what we know. Simply brilliant

Contest Winners Revealed

Kathy Dobson — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 16:32:13 +0000

Yippeeeeeee…..

I just arrived home today from a visit with my grandkids (they are the lights of my life) and even though I am a bit tired from the drive…2 hours north, I am running on adrenaline because I get to announce the winners of my Camtasia Snag It contest.

I have to tell you that in my two years of blogging, this blog post idea might be the most fun I’ve had yet.

Here’s some of the highlights of what I was able to accomplish:

Excitement around my blog
Inspired ideas for my tagline/byline header
New blogging friendships – building my network
An opportunity to create my first Camtasia video – accomplishing and learning something new
Helping those who helped me by linking back to their blogs

and, so much more…

That being said, I want to move right into the winners…and there are two as promised.

Watch the video below to see who the winner of the random drawing for Camtasia 7 and Snag It is.

Now that you know who won the “random” drawing…and congratulations to that person …

I will reveal the person I chose as my personal favorite…and, believe me, this one was tough because there were soooooo many quality entries. I had to read them many times…and still enjoy going over them. But, I wanted the opportunity to give away a second set of licenses so I had to settle on one.

But first let me thank every one who entered. Like I said I had so much fun I am thinking of running Kathy’s Crazy Contest Monthly and give away a Camtasia and Snag It license per month…or something else of value. Staaaaay tuned

Although I have not decided on whether I will use the winner’s entry (remember, the contest was for ideas)…it was the one that most closely represented what I was trying to accomplish by blogging. And, not only did this person have one that I was enamored with, but both his entries caught my eye and imagination…giving him the edge I felt gave him the blue ribbon…

And the WINNER of Camtasia 7 and Snag It bundle is:

David Taylor

David’s entry “Living my dream by helping you live yours” is what I resonate with strongly and felt that he was able to sum up in a few short simple words what others had also similarly expressed, but he just seemed to nail it.

David’s other entry helped him to seal the deal:

“Let me help you to help yourself” I too resonated strongly with these words because I used to sign off on my Auto – Responder emails like this…

“Helping you to help yourself”

Once again congratulations to David and thank you to all you blogging Super Stars who participated. You’ve each given me such wonderful inspiration and for that reason I would like to give a little link juice/love back…

So, here’s a list of all the wonderful participants…you can easily find their entries in the comments section of this blog post:

Join the Fun…Not One but Two Winners!

Soooooo congratulations to David and to Linda…for her lucky random draw. The Universe was on your side today…I know you’re going to love using this software and creating some fantastic videos….they will both be receiving their licenses and directions for download in their emails later today.

No excuses for not exploring the world of video now

To all my blogging super stars…thanks for your participation and once again…stay tuned for details about “Kathy’s Crazy Contest Monthly” if you didn’t win today…there will be another chance

Until the next time…

enJOY every moment,

Join the Creative Fun…Not 1 but 2 Winners!

Kathy Dobson — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 16:03:30 +0000

As I said in my previous post on blogging experts, being interactive is something I am going to implement on my own blog a lot more in the future.

Pictures, contest, surveys…I am going to incorporate all of it.

It’s a way for others to join in and that’s creates excitement and fun.

So, with that in mind, I sat for days wondering how I could incorporate a contest into my blogging. I had a great gift set aside…actually a few of them…it was just a matter of coming up with an appropriate contest that excited others enough to get them involved.

I’ve been working on a blog makeover lately. Haven’t come up with any particular design…that will come but I need ideas for a bi-line.

Bingo…I suddenly realized that I had the perfect audience to help me out

I’ll let my blog readers help me out. They are brilliant, they know my market, they know me, they love to help and they are somewhat craaaaazy….at times. Exactly what I was looking for.

Here’s what I need:

a bi-line representing me. Could be anything from a famous…or non famous quote that you are particularly fond of or that you think applies…to a short branding and description of what I represent such as what you find on Nikki’s blog header:

Nikki’s Search For Freedom

I am a marketer…yes. I love outsourcing and writing about it but I also love teaching people about blogging. And, if you’ve read much about me in the past…you know I am all about FREEDOM…

And, as most of you know, I am highly spiritual. I used to try and keep my spiritual “bend” outside my blogging…but that is a thing of the past.

Part of my new platform is to be authentic…totally transparent. It is very hard to keep my metaphysical views from occasionally finding their way into my posts.

So, from this day forward…if I am not anything else…I am authentic

So, give me ideas…don’t make it hard. Have some fun with it…

Leave a comment on this blog post and you will be entered into the random drawing. Any comment…even about the contest.

Leave me ideas in your comment and you will be entered into the second contest where I chose the winner….both will officially end on midnight of August 4th EDT.

The winners will be announced on August 5th. Simple as that!

The first winner will be the name pulled randomly from the list of all names that commented….this way everyone who comments gets a chance to win.

The second winner will come from my personal favorite…I know this one will be hard but it gives me a chance to give away another prize…based on effort and creativity alone. I want those juices cooking and for those inclined, this will give them incentive.

Two contests…two winners.

I may or may not use any of what is submitted. That’s not the purpose of this contest.

The purpose of the contest is to get ideas…things to draw from.

If one happens to strike a cord strong enough…it just may end up on my blog header

You have nothing to lose and lots to gain by joining the fun.

Okaaaay…that’s a great question

Drum roll please….

A fully licensed copy of Camtasia 7. That’s right…I am giving two winners a fully licensed copy of Camtasia 7…

Full License to Snag It…great screen capture software!

Wow…zeeeee

If you already own and use Camtasia and Snag It you know the incredible value of this contest gift. Camtasia sells for $299. and Snag It sells for $49…which brings the value of this prize to $348 per prize.

Camtasia 7 is the premier screen recording and video editing software and Snag It is a tool I use nearly every day when I am online to capture and correct all types of pages and pictures.

Now, if you already own Camtasia 7…that’s cool…and even better…

because if you win one of these license’s, you can keep it as a second license for a second computer…which we all seem to have these days…

or…you can turn around and give it away in your own online blogging contest

How perfect is that!

Once you win it…it’s yours to do what you want…use or give it away.

Ok…get busy…be creative…

leave me a comment …any comment and if you have ideas include them…if not…a comment about the post will do just fine

If you are so inclined…I want all ideas…titles included…whatever comes to mind…even logos! (if you leave a blog comment the first time…and come back later with an idea…leave it…you will be in both contests …and twice in the random contest More comments…more chances…more ideas…more chances

everyone who leaves me a comment on this blog post will be entered to win… Everyone.
a second prize will be rewarded based on merit and chosen by me…this contest is for those that include ideas.

Good luck to everyone. Have fun!

(my granddaughter Juliet and I at the beach over the 4th of July)

Congratulations to the three winners of Sally Neill’s blog coaching contest…Nikki, Sarah and Barry. I need to stroke Barry’s good luck charm as he has now won in both Dawn’s transcription contest and Sally’s coaching contest lol

Alas…I did not win…life must have something else in store for me.

It’s all good I always go with the flow and trust life without question.

Looking forward to Sally’s webinar coming up and if you haven’t already signed up for it…you can find a link to do so on her blog.

Fourerr and Gigs for Gurus

Kathy Dobson — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 00:04:38 +0000

It wasn’t long after I wrote my last post on “Fiverr” and the clones that are appearing all over the net that I received two notices from other Fiverrr Clone creators.

I love proactive people so I’ve decided to give these two passionate entrepreneurs their proper due by writing a blog post outlining some of the advantages of using these two new sites that were brought to my attention.

First up: Fourerr The $4 Online Marketplace

As the name implies (an you have most likely figured out on your own) this site charges $4.00 for each service performed instead of the $5 fee that Fiverr charges.

Alex Bain the CEO of Fourerr claims they have the same providers (I did not check against the providers on Fiverr but I would not be surprised if many are the same)….but you are charged 20% less at $4 rather than $5 a task.

I am all about saving money when possible so I think this site is definitely worth checking out. Fiverr remains the most popular…it was the first of its kind…but competition is good.

Fourerr is a newer site than some but their traffic is ranked #2 according to compete.com

One more site was brought to my attention and this one has really caught my eye because they are focused on Internet marketers.

Jason from Gigs For Gurus contacted me to let me to inform me of this site that is a bit different than most of these cloned Fiverr sites. If you’ve been to any of these “bargain basement sites” you will have noticed that you can get all types of services on these sites including weird and bizarre stuff.

Now, I see nothing wrong with weird and bizarre but I really like the fact that someone focused on Internet marketing and left the bizarre to the other sites. This site was set up as the Internet Marketing Marketplace…for people to buy/sell their IM products/services at their own price.

As you can see from the screen shot below, they even feature : “Warrior Special Offers” (for those not familiar, these are offers from marketers who frequent the Warrior Forum)

There are not a lot of vendor choices within each category yet. But, as more and more people discover the power and ease of using these sites the choices will grow.

I truly hope this site takes off because I appreciate the fact that you do not have to wade through a bunch of silly stuff in order to get some serious stuff done.

I have no doubt that you will see clones of this clone showing up

Marketing online is a huge niche with more comers every day. I wish these sites had been around a few years ago…it sure would have made those techie jobs that I struggled with a whole lost easier and saved me a ton of stress!

It gets easier everyday to open up shop online in the way of a blog or ecommerce site and these sites make it very easy for anyone to succeed…even through those techie bumps that have sidelined and discouraged others in the past.

If you come online with desire and passion there really is nothing keeping you from succeeding. No more techie excuses or writing excuses…or any excuses. Getting help online is easier and quicker than ever with more choices showing up every day.

Here’s a quick update on that issue with TaskArmy and Camtasia.

Everyone that I know that ordered this through TaskArmy has gotten their money back.

I initially thought that I had not received my refund but it was there in Paypal in “all transactions.”

So, I congratulate Aymeric for returning all the money that would have been earned on something that wasn’t legal. There is proof that he is honest and upfront so I don’t think you will have any problems with TaskArmy.

And, just so you are aware…if you buy a service from TaskArmy that is legal and you change you mind you will only get a credit back to use towards other services. There is no money return on orders unless of course you can prove their illegal existence.

Update from Aymeric:

Just a clarification about TaskArmy.com, you CAN request a withdrawal and get your money back into your Paypal account. Simply click the “Request withdrawal” button. It’s that simple

Enjoy the two new sites listed and let me know if you find any more

Fun Fact:

Did You Know?

Symbolics.com was the first domain name ever registered? First registered on March 15, 1985.

(1985??? I didn’t even know the Internet existed then)

The Fever of “Fiverr”

Kathy Dobson — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 15:23:43 +0000

There’s been a lot of “fever” about “Fiverr” lately…the economy/bargain basement outsourcing site where services are offered for $5.00 only.

Fiverr calls themselves “The place for people to share things they’re willing to do for $5.”

It’s easy to see why such a site would take off in popularity as more and more people realize the value in outsourcing and $5 is an amount that is easily affordable.

Here’s a screenshot of Fiverr’s technology page you can see for yourself some of the services offered:

But that’s only one area of services you can tap into…as you can see from the menu on the right, you can get everything from programming to everyday tips and advice to making video, writing, social marketing and there are even “Fun and Bizarre” services. (you will find yourself browsing when you have time because some of these services really are bizarre )

I do know marketers who have used Fiverr for SEO purposes like backlinking and social marketing services like tweets to twitter and building facebook and twitter fans….and they’ve been successful doing so. I also know marketers who have used video creation services with success too.

Remember…you are only being charged $5 for these services so there are limitations in what you can expect.

As with all successful things, it wasn’t long before the Fiverr script (assuming they were the first) was cloned and similiar sites starting appearing all over the net. Of course this is good for us because we have many more choices…

Here’s a short list of the sites I’ve discovered…some of them allowing services up to $100 or more. These sites can obviously expand your horizons a bit because more services can be offered for $100 than for $5.

JustaFive.com: Services for $5, $10 or $20
Gigbucks.com: Gigs ranging from $5 to $100
Gigswood.com: Gigs for $4, $9 and $1
Zeerk.com: Services for $5, $10, $15, $25, $50, $75 and $100
Jobsfor10.com: Micro-Job Marketplace offers services for $5, $10, and $20. They originally started out with just $10 jobs but have expanded…hence the name
TenBux.com: Services for $5 and $10
7Freelance.com: This site is a little more targeted and offers freelance services for writing, graphics, data entry and web design
Tenyt.com: Services for $10. Nice refreshing format…different from some of the cloned sites above

and just recently I discovered two more:

Gigtask.com: which at the time of this posting was having a bit of difficulty showing on my browser…possibly it will be fixed when you get there. I know it exists because I was just there the other day

Now I want to introduce you to:

TaskArmy.com…another freelancing site that is focused on web development, web design, copywriting, va’s, translation etc. In other words…there are no “bizarre” or “funny” choices here.

This eliminates the fluff found on the other sites and offers services directly related to helping you succeed online.

From what I can tell after browsing the site is that services here can range up to $199.

They do have an escrow service but they have eliminated the bidding and waiting and simplified the process of outsourcing for many tasks that didn’t really require jumping through hoops to get it done.

I personally think this is a great idea because some services are simple enough…but become difficult when you have to sign up at one of those bidding sites and fill out all that extra info.

You can get things done quickly and fairly on these sites and it makes outsourcing a lot more fun. These sites definitely service a high demand niche.

Each one of these sites has their own set of rules and restrictions so make sure you read the policies on each one…don’t assume they are the same.

Most have small fees that are built right into the fee paid.

And now I am going to list a recent bargain that I discovered OR SO i THOUGHT.

Anyone who has been working online for any amount of time will be familiar with Camtasia as the premier screencast and video production/editing software. This sells for $299 on their site.

I personally could not believe the price and so I bought a license and it is working properly. I assumed these licenses were legal (yeah I know…a bit naive and way too much trust in a site)…or this guy would easily be booted off this site and banned from using it.

I wanted to be right…but of course I was wrong…so be careful about what you order and be logical

Update:

These licenses turned out to be “cracked” code licenses…which will get you into Camtasia but you won’t get updates.

I will not be partner to any action like this and have written to him about getting money back.

It’s as all things in life…you get what you pay for and I’ve learned a valuable lesson…that these sites can lead into some bad lanes and you must use your logic sometimes to get past your excitement.

But…it will be interesting to follow up Taskarmy and how their resolution center handles this if the money isn’t refunded by Sanjeev. So, all in all, it is another chapter for my book and it will be a test of TaskArmy’s integrity.

My job is to bring you these fun and money saving tips/sites…but it is up to you to check the validity of their offerings before you purchase. Write them and ask questions.

One may wonder why these people offer services so cheap. It’s the perfect advertising platform as they are allowed to put their business links on their pages so they get traffic and possible new clients in exchange.

As the evolution of outsourcing continues to evolve we’ll see things get simpler, easier to use and much more friendly.

This is outsourcing in the 21st Century

Would love some comments from those who are using these sites or possibly you have purchased Camtasia using this link?

Are You Ready for Success?

Kathy Dobson — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 17:24:48 +0000

Wow does it feel good to be here again

I know it’s been too long since I last posted (January 11th to be exact) but it’s not because I have been playing and not paying attention.

Nothing could be further from the truth…

I have been working harder than ever on a project that I was recently invited into.

This project requires video tutorials and that’s what I have been very, very busy doing.

Every morning and every night…most times way, way past my bedtime.

If you’ve never written a script…let me tell you the whole experience is quite different than writing an ebook. And, that’s where I had to start…

writing the scripts for the videos that I am producing…on the subject of Outsourcing of course

When opportunity knocks…you have to answer and this is opportunity knocking loud and clear and although the time frame was very tight for me…I wasn’t about to pass up this exciting venture.

Which brings me to the message of this post….

Are you ready for success?

Seems like a simple enough question with a simple enough answer…BUT I ask again…

Are you ready for success?

You just never know when success is going to come knocking at your door…will you be ready when your doorbell rings?

This is the valuable lesson I learned the last couple of weeks.

Success has come knocking on my door…

I never saw this coming…nor did I go looking for it.

No one was more surprised than I was when I opened the email to find opportunity knocking loud and clear.

It came in a way I never thought possible.

It was like a shooting star that suddenly appeared in the heavens…

Was I ready? For success yes…

Would I have liked to have a few other things in place that I have talked about for months now? Yes.

So, I want to tell you right now…you never know when success will come knocking…

Get prepared. Quit procrastinating…
Been putting off writing that ebook or e-course that you know you would be great at teaching?

How about all of you who are determined to learn video but you have procrastinated and it is still a vision in your head?

Don’t wait…success could come knocking at any time…

WILL YOU BE READY?

We all put our visions and dreams out there when we take those action steps.

It is the ~~~~action steps~~~~ that fill the image with energy needed to create in the physical realm.

(Remember, the word act…is hidden within the word attrACT….we must act in order to attract

The Universe will answer. But, this answer may not come the way you think it will.

The Universe loves surprises…

It truly is the most exciting thing that has happened to me online.

I am proof positive that if you put enough faith and belief into your dreams and passions and

and you take ~~~~action~~~on those dreams and passions…

they will manifest in this realm.

Remember…in order to attract we must act

Take a hard look at yourself and your online presence.

Are you doing everything you should be so when success comes knocking…

you never have to say…”why didn’t I?”

Are you ready for success?

Before I go…I want to publicly thank the grand Universe for this exciting opportunity and to Chuck who listened to his heart. I resonate very strongly with his voice.

His message is for the 21st Century and I am honored to be part of it…

Thanks to everyone who has helped me pull this off with short notice…

I couldn’t do it without the guidance and help of my friends…so thank you

Curious? I hope so Click the banner on top

With a grateful heart… and excited spirit!

Outsourcing Your Private Life Using the Principles of the 4 Hour Work Week

Kathy Dobson — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 11:00:26 +0000

“Tim is Indiana Jones for the digital age. I’ve already used his advice to go spearfishing on remote islands and ski the best hidden slopes of Argentina. Simply put, do what he says and you can live like a millionaire.”

-Albert Pope, Derivatives Trading, UBS World Headquarters

Anyone who has read “4 Hour Work Week” by Timothy Ferriss will appreciate why I’ve included a link to a chapter in his book with this post. If you have not already read this mind-expanding eye opener then an introduction by way of this chapter will be enough to have you hankering for more…I am sure of it.

For those not in the know, “4 Hour Work Week” the first book written by Timothy Ferriss, was released in 2007 and is now sold into 35 languages after reaching number one on both the New York Times and Wall Street Journal Best Seller list.

But, that’s not what this post is about…you can read all you want about Tim Ferriss and his accomplishments (and, there are many) on his own site…which I am going to link to in a moment ….

Point I want to make here is that there is a movement that possibly originated or at least gained tremendous ground as it exploded out to the consciousness of the masses with the release of Tim’s book…a whole new paradigm of thought about “lifestyle design.”

In the book Tim Ferriss uses the acronym DEAL for the four main chapters. It stands for: Definition, Elimination, Automation, and Liberation.

Another term that has been coined and tied to Tim himself as well is “mini-retirements” and “location independent lifestyle.” Type that term into Google and see what you come up with

As you’ll easily see, there truly is a movement under foot where freedoms reign supreme. You live where you want, travel when and where you want and essentially you orchestrate your life so that your work schedule fits your life schedule instead of the other way around. It is a new age (to use a much over used and yet accurately to the point term.)

All of this came about because of the easy, ready accessibility of the Internet. Without the Internet, we remained localized…communitized (I think I just made that word up) with our business unless we had grown worldwide through tv ads etc…which for the most part only the very well off could afford to use.

There were other avenues like magazine ads and trade brochures, but for the most part businesses made their profits locally.

That is until the Internet brought the world together…spun it into an easily accessible web where you could both receive and send information…globally…worldwide…in a fraction of a second. You could be in business 24/7 with the world as your marketplace. A whole new lifestyle was born out of it.

An independent, free-spirited, financially and personally free life was knocking at the door of anyone who was listening! For the first time, the average individual…could choose to live a “location independent lifestyle” and still make a very lucrative living by setting themselves and their business up online and learning the art of outsourcing.

What was once only available to the very rich…became readily available to the masses… to anyone who was paying attention…with “eyes that see and ears that hear.”

The global economy afforded anyone the opportunity to leverage their time by using the expert skills of others….by learning the art of outsouring. As Tim Ferriss says ”

“Fun things happen when you earn dollars, live on pesos, and compensate in rupees, but that’s just the beginning.”

This is the age of Opportunity~~~

Tim’s book introduced outsourcing to the masses…at least it brought it to the attention of the masses. Both business and personal outsourcing became options. An idea that could not have existed before the advent of the Internet and the globalization of the economy.

The marriage of these two elements created the age of Opportunity…opportunities for anyone to become a millionaire. In fact, more millionaires are being born out of this age of the Internet then at any other time in history.

This chapter is both eye opening and amusing…I promise you will come away thanking me Even if you don’t choose to read the entire book (which is now available online in digital format from Barnes and Noble…I’ve also linked to it here on my site if you choose to order a physical copy. You may even find a used one on ebay or Amazon…something for everyone’s budget.)

“Outsourcing Life” Be sure to read the entire page

I would love to hear your comments after you’ve read this chapter …(not very long but worth it)….

I am seriously considering outsourcing more of my personal life…ha ha…anyone care to take on my stress….:)

Here’s an excerpt from the book to wet your appetite:

“Despite three weeks with my support team, I’m still stressed. Perhaps it’s the fault of Chicken Dance Elmo, whom my son loves to the point of dry humping, but who is driving me slowly insane. Whatever the reason, I figure it’s time to conquer another frontier: outsourcing my inner life.”

But, don’t stop here….check out the rest of that story:

“Outsourcing Life”

Just arrived home this week from visiting my little angel grandsons Michael and Joseph and my granddaughter Juliet…our newest addition to the family. They light up my life

Remember, nothing happens in life until you take “action”…..so, go read that excerpt…you will enjoy it!

Kathy *

Dedicated to Freedom » Just for Fun

Ian, Evette and Me ;)

Finally, my first post in 2012!

7 Links Challenge…A Stroll Through Memory Lane

Now for my nominations into this 7 Links Challenge:

Learn With Sally…Thanks for Memories

It’s Thanksgiving Day here in the US as we celebrate a day of gratefulness.

I’ve never had so much fun and learned so much at the same time as I have in Sally’s coaching…

Use Your Tools

The only way to become an expert is to be an expert.

Contest Winners Revealed

Yippeeeeeee…..

And the WINNER of Camtasia 7 and Snag It bundle is:

David Taylor

Blogging Super Stars

Join the Creative Fun…Not 1 but 2 Winners!

A fully licensed copy of Camtasia 7. That’s right…I am giving two winners a fully licensed copy of Camtasia 7…

Wow…zeeeee

Fourerr and Gigs for Gurus

First up: Fourerr The $4 Online Marketplace

Fun Fact:

The Fever of “Fiverr”

Now I want to introduce you to:

Update:

Are You Ready for Success?

Are you ready for success?

Are you ready for success?

Are you ready for success?

Outsourcing Your Private Life Using the Principles of the 4 Hour Work Week