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AoL 038: Yoga, How to Measure Creativity, and Being a Better Human with David Rachford

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Being in business for yourself has many different labels. Solopreneur, Expert, Entrepreneur… the list goes on. Many times we’ve found out that these particular names might not necessarily mean anything other than you have a passion for what you do and you happen to make income doing it.

Most of us go the long way of doing that. Going to school for one thing and then making our business from something else.

I frequently ask myself, could I have learned what I know today about online business without going to school? Would I have been able to help people they way I do today?

While I think that I might have been able to shortcut the process, the truth of the matter is simply this: I wouldn’t have the experience to be able to help people at the LEVEL that I help people today.

The same goes for today’s guest, David Rachford.

David started his career in the military after being an athlete for years in several sports. After getting out of the military, he went to college to become an accountant. Growing tired of that world in 10 years, he found himself at a position that he could do something that utilized those accounting skills, but at the same time, he didn’t want to make that his whole career.

That’s where his interest in teaching others about Yoga and starting the Better Human Show came from.

In this session, we’ll learn exactly how a kid who was too husky to be in youth football started playing all kinds of sports, How his yoga journey started, how he “measures creativity”, and why he started doing his podcast.

Listen to this episode if you’ve ever found yourself bouncing from one thing in your career to the next, thinking about starting a business, or you’re simply curious in what it takes to sit with “strong determination” like monks do in meditation.

SPECIFICALLY, YOU’LL FIND OUT MORE ABOUT:

  • What kind of sports David played growing up despite being too big to play football. (10:04)
  • How David got into Meditation, Yoga, and eventually learned how to sit in “strong determination”. (13:48)
  • David’s advice to someone who says they get migraines when meditating. (20:42)
  • Why he left the accounting world after doing it for 10 years. (22:50)
  • How Dave measures creativity. (26:22)
  • Why Dave focuses on established entrepreneurs for his ideal clients (29:00)
  • How the Better Human show came into being. (34:38)
  • Which talks on his podcast have stuck in his mind the most. (38:18)
  • What’s an occurring theme that he’s gotten from his guests. (42:20)
  • David’s thoughts on falling back on a safe job (45:07)
  • What purchase $100 or less has most affected David’s life. (50:43)
  • What are three truths that he wants to share with others (53:10)
  • Who are David’s three favorite teachers (56:55)
  • What Dave recommends in spreading your message into the world (1:03:34)
  • … and MUCH more!

Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer.

ITEMS and PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

SHOW NOTE EXTRAS:

Installing a Retargeting Pixel on Your Website:

https://www.facebook.com/rachford/videos/1550197105273045/

Travel Yoga Poses on KKFX News:

Couple Yoga Poses on KKFX News:

David’s Norwegian Lundehund, Nikolina checking out a T-Rex!

Thanks for Listening!

Thanks so much for joining us again this week. Have some feedback you’d like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below!

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of the post.

Also, please leave an honest review for The AoL Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and we read each and every one of them.

If you have any questions feel free to email them over via the email mentioned in the show or by our contact form.

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and/or Google Play Music. It’s absolutely free to do so.

A huge thank-you to you guys for joining us!

Cheers!

Getting Started on the Web

Getting Started on the Web: Choosing the Right Website Building Platform for Your New Business

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When starting an online brand or business you might be wondering one simple question that has a complex answer, “Where do I get started?”

There’s several parts to the answer of this question, but one of them is to start building your presence online in the shape of a website.

Back in the early days of website development and really even today, you had to have some tech prowess to do it on your own. However, I’d say that using digital devices in general takes a little bit of tech “can-do” attitude.

I think what it really breaks down into is this. What level are your own tech abilities? How much are you willing to pay to make up the difference between what you can make on your own vs what you visually see your site doing? The bigger and more functional the website, the more likely you’re going to have to hire some outside help.

Basic Techie Skills Needed:

I think the first thing to consider when you’re wanting to start your own online business is to ask yourself “how techie” am I? Because really, you’re going to be putting content onto something that REALLY is still based off of techie work. The internet is built on nerd power. Period.

Whether you have those techie skills yourself, or you have to hire them out is going to be a big question in what hats you’re going to be wearing in the early formation of your business.

So let’s look at some of the traits I think that you need possess in order to build a website:

Can See the Big Picture:

Have you seen a site that you really want to emulate? Perhaps you’ve seen a few that have different parts that you’d like to include into your own?

Unlike where you might have last worked, it’s up to you to think how you’re going to from nothing to something.

What’s that path look like? Have you created a roadmap for yourself? I’m strictly speaking about your site here.

You have to think with the end in mind. So, know what that ending looks for you.

Got it? Good.

Moving on…

Online Searching Skills:

Now that you have the target in front of you, you’ll have to figure out how to get there. In the world of the modern day entrepreneur, no one is going to tell you exactly what you need next as you’re getting your business off ground. That’s going to be up to you.

Personally, I didn’t have much of a reason to have website creation skills when I was in school. In fact, everything that I have ever learned about doing website stuff, I didn’t know at one time. Most of what I know now about website development I’ve learned as I’ve needed it since I graduated from college in late 2009.

How did I learn all this is such short of time? Well, for one, I had to utilize the skill set that I had going through school. Using Google and YouTube to find answers I had questions for. I also followed Pat Flynn as he built SPI to what it is today. I remember when he was still working on the site when he was holed up into the side of his apartment.

Figure out the Details:

Pat and people like him (including more recently the squad over at Fizzle) have helped me shape my roadmap. However, it’s up to me to figure out how I’m going to get from Point A to Point B. Can I walk? Can I take a car? Or do I need a plane?

As you build your roadmap back from the final target, you’ll need to figure out the mode of transportation that works best for you:

Highly detailed work – Mostly everyone can walk. But it’s going to be slowest option. Details that are at this level are usually reserved for those that are highly analytical and want control over every little piece of their project.

Detailed Work – Why walk when you can drive? This is about as fast as you can go on your own. However, just because you can drive doesn’t necessarily mean you should all the time.

Hire Someone Else – Most people can’t fly a plane – but you need a result faster than you could do it! In this case, you can call in a specialist to do the heavy lifting for you. But it’s going to cost you.

 

What type of “transportation” you’re going to use will be based off the next two traits…

Fortitude:

This trait is essential when working out the details on your own. You must realize that going into a project you’ve never done before will result in something that isn’t perfect. There’s a good chance you’re probably going to break something as you learn how to use it. The thing with software and most hardware, these days, is that you can always reset things if you start going in the wrong direction.

Also, as you learn from past attempts in doing something, you get a larger and larger picture of what it is that you need to do to make something do what you want it to do.

From something as complex as coding all the way up to something as simple as dropping in graphics to your site, all of these things need some amount of “I’ll try again if I screw this up” thinking.

 

Patience:

I think one the of biggest traits that goes hand in hand with fortitude is patience. Not only with the process, but with yourself. If you’ve never been a technical person, you have to give yourself the time to become one… at least to the level that your site is going to need you to be.

 

Take Consistent Action:

As your site starts to take form, you’ll need to keep working on it until it’s done. For me, it took me about a month or so to get New Inceptions exactly where I wanted it to before I started writing.

Likewise, if you’ve never touched the backend of a website, then you’re not going to know what you’re looking at. It’s going to take some time to figure out what you need to know versus what’s just extra. If you’re familiar with Cpanel, most of the things that are in there I haven’t touched. However, there are a few things that I’ve used plenty of times and know what they do.

Your ability to how much you can work on the site initially (and when things come up) along with the other traits listed above are the factors that you need to consider when choosing an actual solution to what you’re going to build your site’s foundation on.

Remember when choosing one of these solutions, you’re essentially going to have on one side a ton of flexibility to other side, a simple solution that you can simply just plug things into and call it a day.

 

Let’s look at some of those solutions real quick.

Website Development Solutions

HTML 5 Website Development:

“From scratch” sites (using HTML 5 , CSS, and PHP). This is definitely highly detailed work. To get a finished result, this is going to take a ton of all of the above traits. You’ll have to learn how to code or learn how to use a program like Dreamweaver (or something else) to do precisely what you have in mind. While this might give you all kinds of flexibility and is the backbone of today’s internet, it’s probably not going to be useful for you – unless your business is making websites for other people. Then you might want to get familiar with some of this.

Wix.com: If you want to use more of a drag and drop approach to building your website, I’d check out Wix. While I wasn’t a big fan of it back in 2008 when it was still using Flash, they’ve moved over to using HTML 5 as their base platform.

I will mention that Wix is a freemium solution, but you’ll have to pay for many of the features that you’d get free in CMS Solutions – such as WordPress.

Here’s the Wix Wikipedia page for more info.

 

Content Management System (CMS) Solutions:

WordPress: Ok, so you’re totally happy with giving up some flexibility so you don’t have to start from scratch. Cool. There’s plenty of solutions that will still give you tons of flexibility. Most of the time what you’ll find out there is in the realm of content management systems. Here’s a list of all the solutions that are out there.

Out of all of these, WordPress is by far and away the most used one out there. This is the option I chose. There are several reasons why:

  • Opensource
  • Flexible
  • Inexpensive
  • There’s information all over the net in how to use it.

That said, you’ll probably have to have a high level of all the previously mentioned traits to be successful at using WordPress. I will say that you’re interested in going down this path, it’ll take a bit of detailed work to get things done. In fact, it might take a month’s worth of time to design, create and master your site. If you have that kind of time, I highly recommend it. If you don’t, you’re in a rush, and have some money to spend, then I’d go to another solution.

 

Squarespace and Kajabi

Squarespace and Kajabi are also popular CMS solutions. However, I haven’t had the opportunity to play with them too much.

Both are much more expensive than WordPress in the long run (especially for business) and they might not have as much flexibility as you like. That said, if you want to get rolling quickly or are already making some kind of income doing what you’re planning to use them for, they might be good solutions for you to “just get on the web”.

For more info on Squarespace, you can check out this Wikipedia entry.

And here’s the entry for Kajabi.

 

Action Steps:

For you to figure out what you want for your website, you’re going to have to have a true conversation with yourself. If money is an issue, I’d go with WordPress and learn what you need to to get a basic site up.

If time is an issue and you want something up, but you don’t have the resources for something custom, I’d go with Kajabi, Wix, or Squarespace. (If you’re in the information industry, I’d go with Kajabi.)

If you’re wanting the cream of the crop, want something custom, or simply don’t have the time to build your own site, then you’re going to hire someone. If you don’t know a developer personally, the best place to do that is over at Upwork.com

If you already have a website up and going, let me know how you made the process in choosing the platform you’re using and some of the pros and cons of using it!

 

Do I Need a Plan B for my Business?

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One thing that I notice that people ask their mentors is this simple question: “should I have a plan B in case my business idea doesn’t pan out?”.

And really, it depends on who you ask and what the meaning behind your question is.

As I was doing the research for this piece, the answers I found were all over the board. Some said, “Yes, it’s irresponsible not to have a Plan B.”. While others suggest that you need to burn your bridges. Their thinking is that, like Aeneas of Roman mythology, that there is no going back. Having a plan B means that you have a back door – an escape plan of doing great things.

While I’m a huge believer in being prepared and planning in general (I mean, I’ve been trained to think like an engineer, right?), I think the bridge burners have some points as well.

So which is it?

When President Kennedy wanted to take us to the moon, as impossible as the goal was, we were able to craft a plan to get it done. With a ton of engineering, we were able to accomplish it – even with the primitive computers they had at the time.

However, because they were engineers, they probably had a plan B, C, AND D.

With this in mind, you can see that even the most responsible amongst us are shooting for the stars. However, it might take multiple tries to actually get you there.

 

Fire and Adjust

This past weekend, I was listening to a podcast in where the host, Michael O’Neal, was talking about branding. One of the ideas that he suggested for starting a new company is to use a name that your audience would know, but not necessarily other people. In this instance, he was talking about a friend of his (or client) who was wanting to start a military based podcast for success. The phase “Fire and Adjust” seemed to fit the bill of veteran entrepreneurs.

When I heard that phrase, it made me think of this Plan B issue again.

In the military, they have an objective. They have overarching goals. However, the tactics that are used to achieve the big picture goal might change depending on the circumstances.

For example, for the Angles of Lattitude Podcast, I originally wanted to have 3 regular hosts that would be discussing topics in entrepreneurship and having guests on. Those three were Brian, Jonathan, and myself.

However, life happened to both of them about the same time. Jon got sucked up by his senior year at college. Brian had a new kid which he now spends part of his days caring for.

So I had to do something quick.

What did I do? Instead of having the same co-hosts every week, I’d have guest co-hosts who were actually past guests themselves. That way, if someone was interested to know more about a particular co-host, they could go back into the archive and find out more about them.

So far, it seems to be working. Which means, I’m still going to have a co-host based podcast, but now it’s almost as if I have multiple guests at the same time – which is something that I don’t hear many podcasts doing. You never know what you’re going to get!

 

Great story, JC – but how does that apply to me?

Well, in your particular instance, I’m not sure. But there are 4 takeaways that you can get out of it and apply to your own situation.

Commit

This is where the bridge and boat burners got it right. Say what you’re going to do and do what you said you were going to do. Sure, you might not be literally going to the moon on your own, but if you want to build a business that provides for you and your family that utilizes a passion, then you’re going to have to do some work.

If you’re still working a day job, you might not have full-time commitment. However, I’m not saying to quit your job. (In fact, sometimes, quitting your job might have a negative effect on a new business.) When you do have the time to build your dream (which you’ll more than likely have to prioritize to get the time in), you need to have a steady focus and intensity that tells your subconscious that “this is important to me”.

Take Small Steps

One of the things that I’ve noticed many people that I’ve been working with lately start their dream job is that they’re overloading themselves with all the things that need to be done to have a fully functioning online business.

“I need a logo. I need Mailchimp, I need to learn how to put videos on YouTube. I need to learn how to use Snapchat… and… and…”

This is one reason why I highly recommend Fizzle to everyone who starts their first online business. Before Fizzle, I always thought it’d be cool if there was a ONE place where people could go to to get the education to build an online business for a relatively small monthly fee. That’s what Fizzle is. A community built by entrepreneurs for new entrepreneurs to get their business going. Think of it as inexpensive online mentorship.

Anyway, without being in Fizzle, I’d say that you need to build your own Roadmap starting with the end in mind. Ask yourself, what does success look like? Not just when you have a successful business that’s actually in the black, but on the way to that point. Are there examples of businesses that you can model up to the “end point”?

This applies to all of your business, not just the tactics.

When you start seeing results, and you feel confident that going at it 100% of the time will be as rewarding as the day job that you’re in (monetarily and emotionally), then go for it! Plan and execute a transition. Choose a date for your “Freedom Day” – the day that you’re able to pursue your dream full time. Between then and now, research, learn, and build the foundation of your future business. DON’T try to do it all in one month! Hell, it’s taken me a year to get up to this point!!

Network and Leverage Relationships (Like Mad!)

How do I expand my influence?

Read the following in Gary V.’s voice. (He didn’t actually say this… I just imagine he would!)

Meet. New. People.

Why? Because each person you’ve ever met has had an impact in how you think today. Cause and Effect. Where there’s an action, there’s a reaction.

Whether they were a positive influence, or a negative influence, you’ve thought about them for a least a second. If they were a positive influence, you might have thought “How can I use what they said in my life?” If they were negative, you might have thought “Oh, I don’t want to be like them!” or some other type of reaction.

Lack of meeting new people means not only lack of you getting the right influences in your life, but it also means lack of opportunity.

One thing that’s really been making me scratch my head recently is people who must keep their Facebook account limited to real lifefriends. It’s like they’re trying to play golf and going for the lowest score to… I don’t know what the point is. Minimalism perhaps? Trying to keep “positivity” in their feed? Not quite sure.

Here’s the problem with this. They’re not expanding their influence in either direction. They’re not allowing the doors to be open to new opportunities (and in Facebook’s case, new Groups) and they’re not influencing new people.

Think about this. The friends that they have on their account now, were at one time strangers. Even more, those friends probably also have a particular view of this person who’s trying to radically change their life. Chances are pretty low that those friends are going to be going along on the same journey. So, person, who is building influence online… How are you going to build influence online if you don’t and CAN’T even utilize one of the easiest ways to do that?

Pages? Pages can’t network. They can’t get into Groups. They can’t actually build influence. They can keep it going, sure. But when you’re just starting, you need to be shooting for that 5000 max friend score. By then, you might have enough traction for your “Fan Page” to actually have a following.

But using a Fan Page in 2016 to build a following is going to require investing money for advertisements.

If you’re against using Facebook to build your network, there’s other tools that can do that for you. Instagram, Twitter, and what I highly recommend you figure out: Snapchat.

You keep asking questions, we’ll keep answering them. Gary V. out!

Embrace Your Inner Multipotentialite

 

Don’t fall into the false belief that you have to do just one thing. There used to be a time when you could take advantage of Google and call your website something that people would search. This is where websites like Smart Passive Income originally came from. From there you’d talk about whatever that topic was. That was (and still is) called building a niche site.

However, Google’s changed since then. You can name your business whatever you want. It’s the actions and your engagement that are going to build it.

If Google and the rest of the world is changing all the time, why shouldn’t you?

Not too long ago I talked about the difference between niche marketing and niche product development. This also applies to your career. Just like you can market your business to multiple audiences, you can also do the same for yourself and the dreams and careers you choose. Maybe go-getter millennials don’t pay attention to you. That doesn’t mean that you can’t focus on other audiences and serve them!

 

Action Steps

So until next time, let’s think about a couple of things here.

Do you need a Plan B? Not if you’re committed to your goal. At this point, as a beginner, just remember that you want to plan a transition to your next career. If you’ve been laid off and thinking that building an online business is quick money, it’s not. Go get a job that complements what you’re wanting to do in the future with this online business.

Now build a roadmap. Having trouble doing that? Not sure what one is? Subscribe to Fizzle and use theirs. Find some people that are on the path to that destination. Add them on Facebook if possible, get to know them a bit.

From there, start working on one thing at a time. Rome wasn’t built in a day!

If you’re not a beginner, how’s your plan going? Did you have to change things up a bit to get to where you are? Would love to hear what caused your plan to change. Also, I’d love to get your feedback my thoughts above!

Daniel Postma

AoL 035: A Mission of Exploration – How Daniel Postma Became a Serial Entrepreneur by Age 20

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The current education system is broken. It’s hard to deny it. With college professors suggesting that students aren’t ready for college, and employers saying that graduates aren’t ready for the real world, there’s really too much evidence that something has to be done.

For me personally, I did what I was supposed to do. Go to school. Get good grades. Graduate.

What didn’t happen for me was the “Get a Good Job” part.

I would say that it’s partly my fault. By the time I was finally looking for a job, I wasn’t really interested in being another cog in the machine. In fact, I knew that I wanted to work at a startup.

However, most startups that I spoke with seemed like they were fish out of water. They approached entrepreneurship like a job. They didn’t have much of a reason why that they were doing it. They just knew that they were good at what they did. Maybe it was because it’s what they did before the recession of 2008. Maybe it’s because they thought they could make more money on their own.

Whatever the reason was, it didn’t seem to be working.

I think a big part of that was that the school system that most of us have grown up with program us to be followers. However, we need new leaders more so than ever. Be it in government or in the private sector. One way to get there currently is to homeschool students. Another way is to be mentored by people that are already leading.

Today’s guest, Daniel Postma has done both. Which means he’s well on his way to be one of tomorrow’s leaders.

 

In this session, we’ll learn all about homeschooling and find out how he was able to acquire the mentorship he’s had in his life. We’ll see what his time as an of apprentice of Dane Maxwell did for him. And we’ll also discuss how he got into the business of medical massage therapy.

 

If you’re interested to know more about homeschooling, experiential learning, or simply need some guidance in what you should do after you graduate, I think you’ll get a lot out of this conversation.

SPECIFICALLY, YOU’LL FIND OUT MORE ABOUT:

  • How being homeschooled has been a big help in who he is today. (9:07)
  • What homeschooling looks like from the inside. (10:51)
  • Why his parents opted for homeschooling him. (14:47)
  • How he believes homeschooling prepares students. (16:37)
  • Why Daniel chose not to go to college. (22:57)
  • What’s his thoughts on different kinds of education (25:17)
  • What kind of mentorship he’s had in his life (30:01)
  • His experience as Dane Maxwell’s apprentice for a month (34:11)
  • When Daniel knew he wanted to start his first business (39:59)
  • Why Daniel enrolled in The Foundation even though at that point it was icing on the cake (41:54)
  • How he’d reach out to others to get out of their comfort zone (43:56)
  • How he got into Medical Massage Therapy (46:48)
  • How his family has been able to help him with business (44:55)
  • Why Daniel’s superpower is being able to utilize everyone’s strengths in his life (52:35)
  • What he’d tell the younger versions of himself. (58:08)
  • …and MUCH more.

Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer.

ITEMS and PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

SHOW NOTE EXTRAS:

What to do After College (NSFW) – Gary V.:

What Daniel Got out of Being Around Dane Maxwell in 3 Minutes:

Daniel and Terril Interview Clay Green:

Daniel Singing in Snow… Winter in April:

Thanks for Listening!

Thanks so much for joining us again this week. Have some feedback you’d like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below!

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of the post.

Also, please leave an honest review for The AoL Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and we read each and every one of them.

If you have any questions feel free to email them over via the email mentioned in the show or by our contact form.

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and/or Google Play Music. It’s absolutely free to do so.

A huge thank-you to you guys for joining us!

Cheers!

backup a wordpress site

UpdraftPlus: A Simple Tool to Backup A WordPress Site

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One of the things that people struggle with all the time when it comes to hosting their own site is backups. How do you backup a WordPress site? Why do you need to? The simple answer is that for one reason or another, data can be lost or corrupted – even on big hosts.

In New Inceptions’ lifetime (which officially has been since 2010), I’ve had malware installed on the same server as mine before. That malware can affect everything and everyone on the storage space of the server.

I was reminded of this in the past week.

You might have noticed that I didn’t have a blog post last week. However, I did write one. It was 2000 words of awesomeness about the things I’ve been learning and relearning about email marketing.

Obviously, it wasn’t posted – and here’s why: after I made the post, I saved it as a draft. Well, something didn’t go right on my particular install at the time. So just as my screen was coming up from “saving”, I scrolled through to see if there wasn’t anything else that might need changed. As I did this, I realized that two-thirds of my post had disappeared!

Needless to say, I was somewhat furious.

I’ll probably eventually redo the post as I get more results from what I’ve been learning. However, in the meantime I’m just going to tell you that it’s going to become a primary focus of mine in the foreseeable future. Up to my first 10k Subscribers – at least!

Long Story Short

I don’t know if this has anything to do with with it, but the install of one of my clients had been hacked into last weekend. No traffic was getting to their site and that meant no revenue for me. Bad times!

In the meantime, I didn’t realize that this was going on. And the next thing I knew, malware started causing issues on my site as well. I didn’t have any idea that this was possible. I always thought that if it was a different install of WordPress, then we wouldn’t have that issue. Not so.

The particular issue that this malware was causing me was CRAZY amounts of traffic – at least for my site. This ended up being bot traffic, and to make matters worse, it was causing my site to call for a ton of Cron jobs. These particular kind of jobs eat at the number of how many “processes” that your host provides you. Hostgator usually limits each shared host customer to 25. Not bad – mainly because you can typically keep it under 10 if your site is humming along without any problems.

Well, as soon as I realized how many processes these jobs were taking up and in how slow my site was acting, I figured that it had been corrupted and I needed to take it offline. I did and thought to myself “well, looks like I’ll have to build the website back up from scratch”. Why? Because that’s what I had to do the last time my site got hacked. In fact, that was when I thought it was a great time to buy Enfold as my theme.

If you’ve never had that feeling, it’s a bad feeling to have. Hopefully what I’m about to say next will prevent you from having to feel that too many times yourself!

One Last Shot

It’s funny, but my engineering training always shows up one way or another. Especially when I have problems with technical things. Where many people might start panicking, my brain just flips to a logical step by step troubleshooting mode.

In this particular instance, when I realized I was going to have to shut down the site, I dropped in a maintenance plugin – actually one that collected emails to let people know when it was back up.

As soon as I activated that plugin, I noticed that the Cron Jobs were dropping and I was able to actually navigate around my site. (Even if this wasn’t the case I know that I can manually cancel processes by going into Cpanel and manually stopping each one. (This is why it’s good to have a large monitor or in my case, multiple monitors. You can do multiple things at once. In grad school it was research on one monitor and write on the other. In this case it was stop one process in Cpanel, and then move to another page. Stop a couple more and move to another page.)

Not too long ago, I had to move my site from its previous installation to where it is now on Hostgator. You’d think this would be somewhat easy. Just like people copy videos on YouTube or Facebook – download from one account and upload on another.

It’s not that simple when transferring a WordPress install.

What you have to do is actually download another plugin that will download all the pieces of WordPress. This includes the files that you upload, but it also takes in account the database (that keeps track of your posts and any links you have on them), the theme, AND the plugins.

Well, I knew I didn’t want to backup all that information. I wanted something that could save just the files I wanted. My old plugin put everything into one archive folder. That simply wasn’t going to do.

I wanted something that could separate the files apart. Because more than likely the affected files were going to be in the theme OR in the plugins.

I eventually found a solution that was going to give me this option.

My Solution for Malware

UpdraftPlus was the backup software that allowed me to separate all these files into compartments. Here’s how the restore went down.

  1. Installed UpdraftPlus.
  2. Create New Backups.
  3. Download the parts that I want. In my case it was the Database and Uploads parts. (FYI: Uploads houses the information for Enfold – so technically I’m keeping my theme settings!)
  4. Write down list of plugins being used.
  5. Create a new install of WordPress.
  6. Re-install UpdraftPlus.
  7. Restore (upload) the Database and Uploads which I just downloaded.
  8. Reinstall the theme and each plugin that was on my list.

And there you go.

This process took me a matter of 2+ hours with a site that part of the time was fighting me. However, I’d rather put in that time compared to having to redo the site again.

Action Steps

So that you’re prepared when your site gets hacked, install UpdraftPlus in your site right now. It’s free for what I used it for. You can have it save your backups on a number of remote servers – I’m pretty sure Dropbox and Google Drive are part of that selection. Not sure what the premium version does.

Also, make sure you install the plugin from McAfee so that your site is being scanned on a regular basis for malware. Even though it didn’t show up this particular time with McAfee, the last time I was hacked, McAfee saw it. Having the plugin installed alerts McAfee right away instead of them having to randomly access your site.

David Picciuto Podcast

AoL 032: Making It as a Full-Time Online Woodworker with David Picciuto

/by

There are multiple ways to make money online. Most people know of information entrepreneurs. These are your Thought Leaders, your Teachers, and your Mediapreneurs. Others might think of software makers – called engineers. Or even more, you might think of someone who has a store and sells other’s items – these are Retailers. These are all part of the 10 Archetypes.

One type that I didn’t know too much about was The Maker. How does someone that makes a living producing crafts get online besides selling their physical goods online?

That’s where today’s guest, David Picciuto, has been able to make the connection. He makes YouTube videos showing how to make stuff!

Rather fascinating guy that I’m glad I got to know more about him and his craft.

In this chat, we go into how he got into woodworking as an online business, explore his successful YouTube channel and podcast, and why he believes it’s necessary to diversify your brand online.

If you love working with your hands and have been wondering what might be a good idea for an online business, this talk is just for you. (If you’re like me and have other ideas, you’ll get plenty out of this talk too. David is actually a lot like many of us when he first began!!)

SPECIFICALLY, YOU’LL FIND OUT MORE ABOUT:

  • How David stumbled into woodworking as a business.
  • Where his creative flair came from.
  • One way to get through the imposter’s syndrome.
  • When he realized he had to “grow up” and get something other than a job at Target.
  • How he knew it was time to strike it out on his own from a great job as a developer/designer.
  • How he makes an income doing YouTube videos.
  • Why he changed the name of his business from Drunken Woodworker to MakeSomething.TV.
  • What lead David to write his Bandsaw Box book.
  • What David does with all the products he makes on his show.
  • Why it’s important to diversify your brand online.
  • How and why he has such nice looking videos.
  • How the podcast ended up coming together.
  • What he is or is not looking forward to in the future!
  • …and MUCH more.

Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer.

ITEMS and PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

SHOW NOTE EXTRAS:

Ask Me Whatever #3

How to Price Your Work:

Checking Out David’s Shop – MTV Cribs Style:

Making It Podcast: $2000 to Start Over

Thanks for Listening!

Thanks so much for joining us again this week. Have some feedback you’d like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below!

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of the post.

Also, please leave an honest review for The AoL Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and we read each and every one of them.

If you have any questions feel free to email them over via the email mentioned in the show or by our contact form.

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and/or Google Play Music. It’s absolutely free to do so.

A huge thank-you to you guys for joining us!

Cheers!

intrapreneur brian glassman

AoL 031: Entrepreneurial skill development, Intrapreneurship, and the Importance of True Passion with Dr. Brian Glassman

/by

Most people, I’d believe, really want to live a life that they’re proud of and do work that fuels their fire. The lucky ones have jobs that give them this work. They feel as if they’re really good at whatever is they do AND they love it! However, a lot of people simply don’t have that opportunity. So they continue to work in a job they do simply because it pays the bills. If they have money coming in, they get by.

To me, I feel that I might as well be in a jail if I was doing a job I didn’t love doing for 8+ hours a day. Having to get up day after day and be a cog in someone else’s machine that I probably don’t even know? I couldn’t do it! I think that’s one reason that I knew that entrepreneurship was going to be my future and that’s why I opted to get it as my focus in grad school.

While I was there, I met this session’s guest, Dr. Brian Glassman. Brian is one interesting and traveled guy. At the time that I had met him, he was working on his doctorate, but already had plenty of grad school under his belt.

What really struck me back then, and continues to this day is that he usually has a different perspective on everything.

Just when I thought I had all these definitions defined about how the world works, he hits me with a new view of what Intrapreneurship is and how one can use it to step into a role at a larger company. In other words, working your way across into a job you love, instead of starting it all from scratch.

In this discussion, we also talk further about Entrepreneurship vs Intrapreneurship, why it’s important to stay focused when you’re set on becoming an entrepreneur, why Brian decided to go the Intrapreneur route, and we even talk a bit about work life balance.

If you’re the type of person who thinks like an entrepreneur, but doesn’t want to have limited resources when starting out, than perhaps being an Intrapreneur might be a path you might consider after hearing our chat.

SPECIFICALLY, YOU’LL FIND OUT MORE ABOUT:

  • The difference between Entrepreneurship and Intrapreneurship.
  • What Brian’s learned from his Entrepreneurial students regarding what kind of skills budding entrepreneurs need.
  • Why it’s important to stay focused when picking up entrepreneurial skills.
  • What a college graduate should consider upon graduating when it comes to starting a business or finding a job.
  • What the transition was like to go from academia to working as Intrapreneur.
  • How you can learn a new skill set outside of academia, even if you’re working inside a corporation day after day.
  • Why Brian decided to become an Intrapreneur instead of an Entrepreneur (at least for right now!)
  • Why it’s important to care more about working smart and working in your passion area – especially when it comes to work-life balance.
  • Why routines and habits are so important in life.
  • Why people skills are much more important in the long run than simply being smart.
  • What the three types of entrepreneurs are.
  • Why Sam Walton is Brian’s example of success.
  • …and MUCH more.

Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer.

ITEMS and PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

SHOW NOTE EXTRAS:

Fizzle Show: 5 Reasons Why I Quit My Business to Pursue My Dream Job

What is an Intrapreneur?

Be the Change You Want to See in Your Company – Tedx Presentation by Gib Bulloch

Intrapreneurship in Walmart

Thanks for Listening!

Thanks so much for joining us again this week. Have some feedback you’d like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below!

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of the post.

Also, please leave an honest review for The AoL Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and we read each and every one of them.

If you have any questions feel free to email them over via the email mentioned in the show or by our contact form.

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Stitcher, and/or Soundcloud. It’s absolutely free to do so.

A huge thank-you to you guys for joining us!

Cheers!