It’s no secret that Pinterest is rockin it on the world wide web.

Pinterest took off last year and it shows no signs of slowing down. Men, women, and children, people of all ages, nationalities and interests spend hours on the site each day pinning images they find useful, interesting, or just plain fun.

Pinterest is a fantastic way to create a visual representation of your company and strengthen your brand. Additionally, it’s yet another social media tool you can use to help build a connection between you and your audience, and also drive traffic to your website

So how do you go about creating a Pinterest page for a business? While in many ways creating your company’s Pinterest page is like creating your personal page, there are some significant differences.

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The official “day” may have passed, but there’s still soooooo much we as human beings can do to protect and respect our earth. Recycle, reuse, re-purpose…and in the spirit of our Operation Business Cleanout, we can put the kibosh on junk mail.

One thing that tends to irk me is the onslaught of junk mail that seems to get worse every year.

Halt Paper Junk

Electronic junk mail is an inconvenience, and various software can prevent it; but the paper junk mail that fills your mailbox is another matter. It is not just an inconvenience; many are concerned about the negative effects on the environment that so much junk mail may produce. Of course, trees are required in massive numbers to produce the enormous volume of junk mail (approximately 41 pounds or 1.5 trees per household per year) that takes up so much space in your mailbox and home.

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How has the first four months of the new year been going for you and your business?

Are you looking for new ways to add money and profits to your business? Do things seem to be floundering a bit or even slowing down?

If you’re seeing your profits plateau, it can be a concern, and spring is good time to look ahead and plan for the upcoming months and your future. Let’s explore a few ways to brainstorm monetization ideas.

#1 Mind Map It

A mind map is a brainstorming and planning tool. You place your central idea or goal in the center of the page. In this case it would be monetization ideas. You then create branches, like spokes on a wheel. Each new branch or spoke extends to an idea or idea category. For example, you might create the following spokes: customer needs, affiliate income, information products and so on. You can then list specifics under each category. Mind maps are useful brainstorming tools. When you use a simple pen and paper, a mind map encourages creative, non-linear thinking.

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Have you ever stood in front of the display cabinet at a bakery and just felt overwhelmed by the choices?

What happened? Did you settle for something much less than you wanted or came in for? Did you just walk away without buying anything?

Many studies have been done on the less is more buying trigger. It seems that when people have too many options, instead of making a choice, they make no choice at all. They don’t buy anything.

In fact, when too many options are available, many people will simply walk away. They won’t even stop to take a second glance or to try to make a buying decision.

Why Does This Happen?

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Spring is such a great time to take a fresh look at the status of your business. It’s also a good time to note if your business is struggling and your efforts up until now have not panned out. If this is the case and your business is struggling to make a profit, it might be time to take back control and do some reinventing and Spring Cleaning…

Many businesses have taken a hit in the past few years. If what you’ve been doing isn’t working anymore, it might be time to make some changes. Instead of focusing on changing the little things, which often has little impact, how about reinventing and re-evaluating your whole business? It’s time to really shake things up and get your stale business moving again.

Here’s some ideas:

Change Your Business Industry

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Spring is in the air! Finally we have hopes of seeing green grass and bare pavement instead of TONS of snow.

All the impending Springtime has me wanting to do other things (spring cleaning, walking outside) instead of writing. But I also know that if I want to stay visible in the search engines, I need to being creating continuous content online.

The more content I share, the better chances my prospects will have the opportunity to find me and get to know me as the go-to expert in their field. For all on-line marketers, creating consistent content enables you to not only increase your visibility, but your credibility as well. And all of that builds a powerful presence that people will want to do business with.

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Do you have a blog about interesting pet outfits? How about a telesummit to promote hiking outdoors? Speaking on at a business conference? You have an opportunity to make more money by getting sponsors.

Really, anyone can get sponsored for just about ANY project. Yet it’s not a always an easy process, nor is it for everyone. Gaining sponsors takes hard work and understanding the big picture of how business, partnerships and relationships all work together to provide value for everyone involved. Here are some of the things you need to know:

1) Not Everyone Gets Sponsored

Sure, anyone can be sponsored, but not everyone gets sponsored. Anyone can put out a request for sponsorship, but not every letter is read. Are you beginning to see the pattern here. Sponsorship is a great thing and it should be a win-win situation for everyone involved. Just because you have written a hundred letters requesting sponsorship doesn’t mean you are doing it right – it doesn’t mean you are doing it ALL wrong either.

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As part of the series the ABC’s of Motivation, the final part is here: S-Z!

S – Stop procrastinating.

T – Take control of your life. When you hold the reins, you have more to look forward to!

U – Understand others. This is about listening to others. You never know when or where your next inspiration may come from.

V – Visualize it. What does success look like to you? It’s not all facts and figures, you know!

W – Want it more than anything. You’ve got to really want it if you want to make it happen.

X – X Factor is what will make you different from the others.

Y – You are unique. No one in this world looks, acts, or talks like you. Value your life and existence, because you’re just going to spend it once.

Z – Zero in on your dreams and go for it!!!

I’ve think networking is a lot like dating. And lately, I decided to start ‘dating’ again locally. Not just to grow my business and find new prospects, but to find colleagues that relate to being a solo entrepreneur. (Frankly, it’s a little lonely sometimes.)

And just like dates, sometimes first networking encounters go sour. Sometimes you’re just not compatible personality-wise; other times it’s the expectations about how far you are willing to go, and how fast, that bring a potentially good relationship into a creepy situation.

The latter happened to me.

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As part of the series the ABC’s of Motivation, here’s L – R.

L – Learn to love yourself, faults and all!

M – Make things happen. Motivation is when your dreams are put into work clothes.

N – Never lie, cheat or steal. Always play a fair game.

O – Open your eyes. And see reality for what it is! Dreams are great, but be realistic in how you can get them!

P – Practice makes perfect. Practice is about motivation. It lets us learn how can we recover from our mistakes.

Q – Quitters never win. And winners never quit. So, choose your fate – are you going to be a quitter? Or a winner?

R – Ready yourself. Motivation is also about preparation. We must hear the little voice within us telling us to get started before others will get on their feet and try to push us around. Remember, it wasn’t raining when Noah build the ark.