Members Click Here to Login      From: Kenneth A. McArthur Tuesday, 6:42 PM Hi Folks, Here's a quick except from the start of my new print book, The McArthur Action Plan for Making a Decent Living Online. The book isn't quite available yet, but I've put together this site to let people know what's coming and to share some excerpts and great resources from the book prior to its publication date. If you are interested in being notified when the book is available, please signup for membership now. In return, I'll share a number of special reports and resources with you before the actual publication date and you will be the first to know when the print book is available for purchase. Click here to signup for your free membership. Enjoy! All the best, Kenneth A. McArthur P.S. Here's a excerpt to get you thinking ... The McArthur Action Plan for Making a Decent Living Online. Chapter One Think for a second about how you got here.   There were so many steps. Can you imagine telling someone else how to get to the same spot that you are in right now?   Right now, I am sitting in my basement. I’m surrounded by eleven computers of various types. After several years, I got rid of the old folding table that was covered with computers, cables and wires strung in every direction, and I now have a custom-built desk system that wraps around me like a high-tech computer control console and hides the cables a little better.   This morning I took my usual – two flights of stairs – commute to the basement. That’s one of my favorite parts of life after spending a good portion of my life stalled in traffic in hour-long commutes that occasionally turned into half-day commutes.   I grabbed a glass of orange juice on the way down and after a lot of thinking over the last few months, decided to start writing this note to you this morning.   It’s going to be a long note – because I have lots to say – but I’ll try to break it up into pieces that aren’t too hard to digest.   I have a goal that may fall in line with the types of goals that you are thinking about for your own life. I may even be able to help you with some of your goals as I take some action steps towards mine.   Here are two key elements to my success and to yours.    1. Set Your Goals  2. Take Action   My goal is to make a decent living while helping as many people as I possibly can achieve their own goals for a quality life.   In achieving my goal, I want to remember three things.    1. Decent  2. Helping  3. Quality Life   Decent is an interesting word. There are several meanings and I purposefully used that word because it covers several things at once. Definition of Decent Characterized by conformity to recognized standards of propriety or morality. Free from indelicacy; modest. Meeting accepted standards; adequate: a decent salary. Morally upright; respectable. Kind or obliging: very decent of them to lend you money. Informal. Properly or modestly dressed.  I want you to know that you can make a decent living on the Internet.   What’s more, I want to show you how you can make a decent living and still maintain your scruples, keep your ego in check and still be able to face your significant others without shame when you walk in the door.   I want you to be able to walk into your church, synagogue, mosque, your parents or best friends house and still be able to hold your head high and be proud of what you have done and how you make your decent living.   This is not about how you can make a million dollars – although if you do make a million dollars or more using these principles, please let me know – and it’s not about anything easy. Life is hard. Anyone want to argue that one? I didn’t think so.   I recently made over $5,000.00 in one month by putting up one little code snippet.    Was it easy?    Sure, it took me less than five minutes.   Ok, I didn’t count the four years that I spent building up the site that I put the code on. Of course, I didn’t count all of the countless things that I tried that didn’t make me a penny either.   Was it decent?   Whew, that’s a harder question. Anytime you make a bunch of money with “little” effort, it makes a person who is trying to be decent stop and think.    In this case, it was advertising income. I placed some Google AdSense code on one of my sites and Google paid me a good chunk of change for displaying their ads. That sounds ethical, but maybe the content of those ads didn’t make the world a better place.   On the other hand, maybe people clicked on those ads and found the perfect tools for making their life better.    To be honest, I don’t really know whether the world is better because of those ads, but it’s something that I want to think about. In fact I have to think about it if I want to meet my objectives because of that pesky little “decent” word in my goal and that troublesome phrase, “helping as many people as I possibly can achieve their own goals for a quality life,” that snuck in there somehow. Action Step One: “Set Your Goals” Ok, I’ve tried to think it out and I’ve decided that my goal for this project is:    “Make a decent living while helping as many people as I possibly can achieve their own goals for a quality life.”    If step one was setting my goal, so starting now – sitting in my basement – how do I achieve my goal?    Clearly I need to take action.    Jack Canfield, co-creator of Chicken Soup for the Soul, developed what he calls the “Rule of 5” to meet his goal of getting Chicken Soup for the Soul, to the top of the New York Times Best-Seller List. Jack’s “Rule of 5” requires that every day, Jack does five specific things to move his goal to completion.    Completing five things each day doesn’t sound like much, but imagine this: Five pages of writing a day equal seven 250 page books in a year. Five new customers a day equal 1,825 customers in a year.  The list could go on forever.    By the way, Jack met his goal. Chicken Soup for the Soul, eventually sold over 8 million copies in 39 languages.    How did he do it?    He did five things a day.    Maybe it was five interviews or five press releases or giving away five review copies. Jack did whatever he could as long he did at least five specific things everyday to move closer to his goal. The Number One Problem What is the number one problem for people who want to earn a decent living online?    The biggest problem is that most people read, study, think, dream, plan and then …    Do nothing. Action Step Two: Do at least five specific things each day to move myself closer to my goal. So, what am I going to do today to get closer to my goal?   So far I’ve already: Defined my goal for this project Thought up a title for a printed book that will be a part of the project. Started writing  Here’s what else I’m going do today. Write at least five pages for the book Send out an update to AffiliateShowcase.com members and let them know what I am doing Make a list of people that can help me meet my goals Start collecting resource materials for the project Think about ways to pre-sell the book Clear out all of my emails Fix dinner Take my wife out to see a Broadway quality play  I know, it’s more than five things, but I’m addicted to creating things and this is fun for me.   What are you going to do today?   Each of you is in your own spot – not everyone is spending most of their day in a basement – so what you do will be different than what I am doing, but let me make a couple suggestions for today. Set a goal Take action on five specific things to move you towards your goal How to Set a Goal Decide what you want out of life.    Here’s an obvious statement that we rarely consider: Note to Self: You will be much happier if you spend your life doing what you want to do, instead of what you don’t want to do. When the chips are down and you just “have” to work harder because you have absolutely no choice, what do you want to be doing?   Mark Joyner, uses two options – sex or picking up dog poop – when he talks about this subject. For the record most people choose sex over picking up dog poop.   Maybe those two options are extremes, but the truth is still in there. You get to choose how you spend your time.   I can hear you now, “The heck I do!” or some stronger language depending on your linguistic preferences.   If you’re honest, you know it’s true. Maybe you don’t control everything in your life, but you do have choices even though those choices have consequences.   You have choices   If you don’t like your spouse, significant other, parents, etc., you can move out. If you don’t like your boss or your job you can quit.   Will you pay for it?   Absolutely, but you get to choose.   Let yourself dream for a bit and imagine that you are a toddler. You have everything that you need. You have food, warmth, shelter, love and you can express yourself anyway that you like.   If you don’t like the food, you can spit it out. If you aren’t happy, you can scream at the top of your lungs. You have no fear and if you want something, you head straight for it without even thinking for a second about the consequences.   Then as you get older, people start telling you to stay away from things, stop crying, and grow up!   That’s when other people start imposing their dreams on you. You can’t do that Why don’t you think about someone else? Slow down! Stop that! Get a good job! This is followed by: You should really … Why don’t you … You’d be a better person if you only … I really wish you would … Why can’t you … If you really want to get what you want out of life, you need to refocus your thoughts and get rid of all of those tendencies to fulfill other people’s dreams   Note to Self: It’s OK, to have my own dreams   Make a list of one hundred of your dreams. Yes, I’m talking about an actual written list.   At first it will be easy, but eventually it gets a little tougher. Don’t put any value judgment on your dreams. It doesn’t matter if these are good dreams. They are your dreams. Think of it like an “I Want” list.   When you get down to, “I really want to stop writing this list,” you can quit. Action Step Three: “Refine your goals” After you have your list, scan through it and start asking the question, “Why is this on my list?”   Many things on your list may have almost nothing to do with what you really want. One rule of human nature is that we get sidetracked trying to pursue things that are really unrelated to our goals to get to what we really want.   Note to Self: Go straight for what you want, not the things that you think you need to get there.   OK, now you have a list and you’ve done some thinking about why these dreams are on your list. Scratch off any that aren’t the real goals in your life.   Here are two obvious examples that you already know Money does not equal happiness Marriage does not equal love So, if your real goal is happiness, don’t put down “Make one-million dollars.” and if you real goal is being loved, don’t put down “Get married.”    Your list is your own. Don’t put my dreams in your list.    Here are some areas to consider: Artistic Career Education Family Financial Health Pleasure Public Service Religious Note to Self: Dream about what you want to give.   When you start making your list, you may be tempted to dream about things you can get, but also think about what you can give.   There is absolutely no reward that is greater than the reward that comes from giving and you don’t have to wait until you have met all of your other goals before you start giving.   Now all you have to do is condense your real dreams into concise goals and take five specific actions to move you closer to your goal. Action Steps for today Set a goal Take action on five specific things to move you towards your goal Refine your goal End Excerpt ... If you are interested in being notified when the book is available, please signup for membership now. In return, I'll share a number of special reports and resources with you before the actual publication date and you will be the first to know when the print book is available for purchase. Click here to signup for your free membership.