MrTweet | “The one I use for finding people to follow is MrTweet although I don’t actively use it. When I do, I find nice matches. I find that I do get a lot of followers through it, too.” [There is a Firefox Plugin for MrTweet but when I installed it, it seemed to not be working correctly so I uninstalled it. However, Mr. Tweet is still in beta. The plugin looks cool, so I’ll try it again at a later time. -SQ]

Friend or Follow | “I’ve started using Friend or Follow actually to see who I follow who isn’t following me back to actually strategically unfollow people who I don’t really need to be following. There are some people who I will continue to follow who don’t follow me back such as celebrity types where I have no expectation of reciprocity or social media luminaries whose tweetstream is of interest to me.

“Another thing I do to find people to follow is to note who those that I already do follow are frequently retweeting or referencing in their tweets. If I like following one person, I reason that their constant mention of someone could be a good sign that the person is worth following as well.”

Thanks, Aliza, for your suggestions. And now, here are some of the tools that I found and added to my arsenal of useful tools for small business entrepreneurs (and everybody else):

WeFollow | This is a Twitter directory and search for finding people to follow. I think this is probably one of the slickest directories I’ve seen. Search according to hundreds of tags such as, entertainment, socialmedia, mom, entrepreneur, coffee, startups, facebook, homebusiness, atheist, green, podcast, motivation, graphics, science, zombies, and many more. Also, be sure to add yourself to the site so people can find you.

Twannabe | This site is very cool. It makes it so easy to see who people are following. You simply type in a Twitter name and you can easily see everybody the person is following that you’re not following. However, due to a Twitter “api request limit”, you can only view the first 2000 contacts of anyone you check on—which isn’t a big deal to me. I like this site for finding people to follow; it’s pretty user-friendly.

Twubble | From the site: “Twubble can help you expand your Twitter bubble—it searches your friend graph and picks out people who you may like to follow.” I always find it interesting when a program makes suggestions based upon who you’re already following. I typically get some solid hits. It’s worth running Twubble every now and then when you want to find new people to follow. It makes for a richer Twitter experience and can expand your social IQ.

TwitterSearch | This is likely not a new tool to most avid Twitter fans. You can type in any phrase or topic and see recent tweets that included what you’re searching for. It’s a good tool for research, following trends, and also finding people to follow who seem to be talking about common interests.

TwitterCounter | With Twitter Counter, you can type in any Twitter user name and get statistics about them. This is fun and interesting. The results show Follower trending for the user, Update statistics, and Friends data as well. Put your own Twitter name in and you can view your worldwide rank according to how many followers you have. It almost feels like you’re spying on people; it’s really cool and fun to use. When you check the data on a user, you will also see a list of some of the people that user is following who you may also be interested in following. Big thumbs up for this tool.

FollowCost | What does it cost to follow a specific person? This tool analyzes a Twitter user name that you provide and gives you some quick and easy stats about their tweet habits. If you’re very judicious about who you follow because you don’t want to be overwhelmed with too many tweets, this tool will tell you how many Tweets to expect everyday by the person in question. It’s a simple tool with limited usefulness but may prove meaningful from time to time.

Last but not least, this next item isn’t a search tool but rather a list. From Business Week online, 20 People Every Entrepreneur Should Follow on Twitter. I added a few to my Follow list.

To close this Web Candy, I want to share a final observation from Aliza Sherman: “My advice is do not overdo the automation and do not overdo following others. Be selective based on your objectives for using Twitter. And never autofollow anyone no matter what. [That] completely destroys the integrity of your Twitter account and becomes a fire hose of useless information that you’ll choke on.”

What are the Twitter tools you’re using that aren’t on this list?

There are a ton of resources on the ‘net that can help you get the information you need to launch your business successfully. Here are a few you may not have found yet. If you know of other resources that would help other Quitters, share them in the comments section.

Internet Business Mastery Podcasts:

Here are some goodies that you can get your hands on without joining the Academy. These podcasts focus on starting an LLC:

• Episode 71: Protect Your Assets, Build Your Wealth and Save on Taxes with an LLC, Part 1
• Episode 72: Protect Your Assets, Build Your Wealth and Save on Taxes with an LLC, Part 2

Legal Matters

There’s a ton of useful (and free!) information at  Nolo.com to help you make sense of all the legalities of starting your own business. The writers there are practicing attorneys and the information is presented in a way that even I can understand. Go figure! You’ll find information on business entities, accounting, taxes, and a lot more.

How-To Articles and General Small Business Information

• You can find some good free information from the folks behind the “for Dummies” series of books. Here’s a link to their Business & Careers Articles
• US Chamber of Commerce Small Business Center: Check out the Small Business Library in the sidebar.
• Here’s a good blog & podcasts maintained by a fellow IBM Academy student: Startup Daddy

Accounting and Finances

Wow, it just doesn’t get much more exciting than this. Ok, so bookkeeping may not be what floats your boat, but it is a necessary evil if you start your own business. Here are a few resources we’ve found helpful:

• Tax info. for Businesses, from the IRS
• Bean Counter’s Accounting & Bookkeeping Tutorial Site: Lots of free information here. There’s also more in-depth tutorials on various accounting topics. Click here to view more details

We’ll be bringing you more resources as we go through the Academy courses, so stay tuned!

If you’re working on starting a business – especially an internet business, there will come a time when you need some artistic creativity. Maybe you need to design an eye-catching website, create a logo, or even come up with a new business card design. The artwork you use says a lot about you. It’s part of your branding. It’s the image that will stick with your customers and become your identity in their minds. So, what do you do if you’re not the artistic type? Simple. Use someone else who is. Today’s web candy is all about helping you get some cool artwork without breaking the bank.

Visual appeal is critical whether your business is brick-and-mortar or a website. It’s the first impression you make on your customers. Before designing your “look” you should have a good idea of what you want to convey with your artwork. Do you want a slick “corporate-looking” logo or a more web 2.0-ish look? Either can be done in a professional-looking way, but each will give your customer a distinct impression of who you are and what your business is all about. Here are a couple of resources we’ve run across to help you make the perfect first impression.

Caricature King

If you want a whimsical, friendly, inviting, personal kind of feel for your website or business, check out the artists at Caricature King. There are 7 artists to choose from, each with their own unique style. You can check out samples from each artist and choose the one that matches your taste. The caricatures you see on A Couple of Quitters, in the header and our Gravatars, were created by Brian at Caricature King. We simply sent him our photos and a description of how we planned to use the images. Obviously, we were very satisfied with his work, and the cost was extremely reasonable (their prices start as low as $40). They do everything from Gravatars to logo design.

A Gravatar is a “Globally Recognized Avatar,” which is a fancy way to say it’s a customized picture you use to represent yourself (or your business), that follows you around the web. Once you register your Gravatar, it will be displayed when you comment on blogs or forums that have the Gravatar plugin enabled. Registering your Gravatar is free, but in order for it to work, you’ll need to go to the Gravatar website, upload your image, and register it as your Gravatar. On A Couple of Quitters, if you don’t have a registered Gravatar, you automatically get a robot-looking thingy. We want to see your personal thingy! So, after you have your Gravatar, come back and post a comment so you can see it in action and show off your new persona! If you want to see some examples of Gravatars at Caricature King, you can check them out HERE – and if you scroll down you’ll see my Gravatar as an example of Brian’s work. We also made an appearance on The Caricature King Blog (check out the April 30th entry). Yep, we’re pretty famous.

If you do decide to use Caricature King, we’d appreciate it if you’d use our affiliate link so we get a little piece of the pie. Here it is again: Caricature King.

99 Designs

This resource is one we were introduced to through Internet Business Mastery Academy, and I’m going to be trying it out pretty soon. Go to 99 Designs and check out some of their logo and website designs. The way this works is really cool. You can launch a project, which is kind of like a design contest. You create a “design brief” describing what you need, and post it to the site (this costs about $40). You determine up-front how much you want to pay for the design, and then artists submit their designs. You pick the winner, pay the artist your pre-determined cost, and you have your artwork. I love this idea! Where else can you get to choose from a bunch of artists’ designs for a price you set yourself?

Hope you find these two resources helpful in creating your business or personal image! If you know of any other good resources, feel free to share them in the comments!

Two Suggestions

When you ready yourself to read the first post of the series, please consider two suggestions I have on how you should read it. 1) Before you actually buy your next domain name and throw together your blog, read the entire series. This should absolutely be step one, long before you’re ready to open your blog to the public so you can follow the suggestions right from the start. 2) If you already have a blog going, don’t worry about it. While reading this series, you’re going to realize that there are some things that would have been helpful to know ahead of time. But if you already have your blog going, I suggest you read the entire series with an eye for improving your blog so that you can smartly tweak it for increased traffic. Some steps are related to things you can do outside of your blog to attract more visitors, but on the whole, it’s all about increasing traffic to your blog.

Aside from this excellent series of posts, the financial information found on this site is endlessly helpful, but my focus for this Web Candy is specifically the “How to Get Your Blog to 100,000 Visitors and Beyond” series. Unless you’re an experienced blogger, this series will likely give you some real meat to chew on if you want to get more traffic to your blog. But that still leaves the question, what’s a series like this—about increasing traffic to your blog—doing on a website that’s all about money and personal finance? I eventually figured out the connection that I missed initially; many people are starting blogs as a form of a micro business with the hope that they can sell a product or service using their blog as the vehicle. Whether you’re in that group or not, you’re going to want to give your blog the best chance of reaching the most people. With that in mind, read this series and, by all means, enjoy the rest of the blog while you’re at it.

Got any suggestions for increasing traffic to your blog that are not covered in this series? We’d like to hear about it…leave a comment and share your ideas.

What does it take to create a product or service that will capture the attention of the people who are already interested in the niche that your product fills? Godin, in this 2003 TED talk, presents examples of people have done exactly that. It wasn’t that their products were so unique or innovative, it’s that they were presented in a remarkable way so that the people who cared about them took notice. This is excellent training ground for all entrepreneurs or anyone who is trying to get a business of any size going. Watch it and take notes (there may be a quiz later).

Warning: Do Not Read This Post!

If you are struggling to make progress on your goals; if you’re trying to start an online business or quit your job to be self-employed, you might be better off skipping today’s Web Candy. If you ever hope to be a successful entrepreneur or a work-from-home guru, I urge you to go get something done instead of reading this post!

Still with me? Okay, you’ve been warned.

I would like to report that no brain cells were harmed during the research for this web candy. However, that would be a lie. I’m not going to sugar coat this and tell you I never get sucked in by a clever game or any online time-wasting sites. That would be a lie. But I do want to warn you of a virus you can get while playing online games. This virus doesn’t affect your computer, if affects your mind.

[cue horror music]

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Right? We can’t survive on work alone. True? We must, for our sanity, take a break from the stresses of work in all forms. Even we, who are trying to become rat race renegades, must shake off the stress and unwind now and then. It was for this reason that I decided that I would revisit some of my old and recent haunts on the Internet where I’ve found some of my favorite, brain-numbing games and share them with a few of you hard-working, soon-to-be-self-employed entrepreneurs, work-at-home mom’s and dad’s, members of the new rich, and everybody in between.

That was my plan, but as a result of my research I stumbled across something new and was almost hospitalized due to a virus I got while playing the game. It seems that one of the games I tested had some kind of mental virus that hypnotizes you; it sucks you in and won’t release you until you’ve spent several hours of unbroken playing time on the game. Not to mention, the countless brain cells that were pushed to their feeble maximum threshold of focus and processing power. It got very ugly. I woke today up with a list of things I wanted to get done. Unwisely, I chose to start with the research for this post. Several hours later, Tammy had to dial 911 and paramedics had to use the Jaws Of Life to pry me out of my computer chair. When I regained consciousness, I could barely remember where I was or how I got here. After finally remembering who Tammy was and what I had last been doing, I decided it was critical for me to warn everyone about the dangers of playing games instead of working toward your self-employment goals.

Though I’m still severely dehydrated, having withdrawal symptoms, and have moments of PTSD, I’m going to warn you about a few gaming sites to stay away from, otherwise, you risk catching the same mental virus that I caught. Here is the list:

FUN ONLINE GAMES SITES TO AVOID IF YOU DON’T WANT TO COMPLETELY DESTROY YOUR PRODUCTIVITY

• MiniClip Games ~I haven’t played here lately, but they’ve got a ton of games you can play online or download to your computer. Whatever your genre, you should find something you like.
• NeoDelight Online ~ This one is very much like MiniClip.
• Instant Action ~ This is where things start to get really dangerous. For fast-action, slick-looking games, and Internet-based play against friends or strangers, at Instant Action, they have some online-only, multi-player gaming going on here. Very nice graphics, solid playability and it’s free! Last time I checked, I has the fastest time (among all online players, worldwide) on one of the levels in Marble Blast. Looks like they have a few new ones since I logged on last. Whatever you do, don’t look at Rokkitball or Fallen Legions if you want to actually get some meaningful work done!
• Combat Arms ~ War is hell…but this is some serious fun! Combat Arms is another free, but really cool online-only game. I’ve spent more hour than I can count playing this games with family members around the country. We would meet up on the weekends and kill each other and have a lot of laughs along the way. Can you say, family-bonding? They recently added an game mode called Infected in which a couple players become zombies and the rest have to survive until the clock reaches zero. This mode is new and a bit tricky. But I’m certain there is a mental virus in this game so stay very far away from this one. It’s way too fun and would definitely prevent you from achieving goals.
• Pop Cap Games ~ Remember Tetris? Well, now there’s Bejeweled. When I first discovered Bejewled (thanks to my wonderful wife, Tammy), I could feel myself aging right before my computer screen. Then Pop Cap Games came out with Bejeweled 2, which led to more aging, more time wasting, more hours I can never get back…insidious! After Bejeweled 2, Bejeweled Twist has arrived. I played the free version but never got addicted to the paid version. This is mainly due to attending Bejeweled Anonymous for several months. Now I’m just taking it day by day.
• Fantastic Contraption ~ OMG! If you’re into robots or science, stay away from  this game!! If you’re not into things scientific, still, stay away! It’s called “a fun online physics puzzle game!” This game is based on a simple premise. Get your key object (a uniquely-colored circle, or block) from region one (the blue section in the picture) to region two (the “goal” or pink section). You have an assortment parts that you can combine to make a little machine that you use to move your object. The tutorial shows you how it’s done and you learn by doing. The little machines are very easy to construct, a child would have no trouble. Each “map” is arranged differently and has obstacles that you have to work around, climb over or whatever. In the picture above, you can see the simple zig-zag machine I created to go over blocks. Imagine a NASA team tying to construct a very simple robot that will climb over loosely-stacked rocks using only thread spools, sticks, string, and chewing gum. It’s kind of like that. Very easy to learn and play but extremely addicting…at least it was for me. But be forewarned, this was the game from which I caught the mental virus recently and became zombified for hours in front of my computer screen while trying to do some research for this post. Don’t go there!

I realize that I may actually be saving some lives here. Please post a comment if you think your life has been improved by the information contained in this post. Thanks to me, and this list, you can go forward in life having no fun but being rewarded by getting important things done. Trust me, you’ll thank me later.

What’s a Niche?

The word “niche” is  a popular buzzword when it comes to planning your internet business. You gotta’ have a niche. So what exactly is a niche? Well, your niche is “your thing.” It could be:

• An area in which you have specialized skills and/or education. Maybe you have 10 years of experience designing websites or fixing cars, or you have a degree in supply chain management.
• Anything you’re passionate about. Maybe that’s animal rights, saving the environment, or reality TV.
• A hobby. If you know how to grow bonsai trees, crochet, restore furniture, or take great photos, that could be your “thing.”
• Personal Experience. If you’re lucky enough to live in a really interesting place, or you’ve done a lot of traveling, that could provide you with a good niche. Or, maybe you have personal experience overcoming a certain problem that a lot of people have. There are a lot of people with problems out there, and providing solutions could be your niche.
• Something you’re interested in learning. Let’s say you don’t know much about astrology, but it’s something you’ve always found interesting and fascinating and you’d love to learn more about it. Maybe that could be your niche.

Theoretically, any of these things could be your niche; something that you could potentially develop into a profitable business. Why then, do so many people (myself included) get so damn hung-up and stuck on finding a niche??

We are studying Course 2 at Internet Business Mastery Academy, and I’m ‘bout to sprain my last few brain cells trying to find my damned “thing.” So far, I’ve come to the conclusion that I must be the most unskilled, passionless, boring/bored, apathetic person in the galaxy. Finding my niche is something I’ve tried to do before. I knew I’d have to go looking for it again when we joined the Academy, and I’ve been dreading it! Now, it’s that time and my damned “thing” is still doing a hell of job hiding from me.

Why I Can’t Find My Niche

When you’re finding a niche for your business, you should be looking for something that you’re interested in, good at, and willing to spend time on, so it won’t bore you to tears, right? Oh, and you should be able to come up with some good possibilities for monetizing it. Like a membership site, info product, newsletter, etc. So why is so hard for some of us to find our niche (assuming it’s not just me)? Here are some conclusions I’ve drawn about myself:

• I’ve spent most of my life pursuing the wrong job skills and education. I wrote about this in a two-part post called My Career In A Nustshell. Basically, what it boils down to is that I have started numerous academic pursuits (mostly in healthcare) – not because I was interested in it, but because it would presumably prepare me for a high-paying career someday. Because I wasn’t really interested, I repeatedly dropped out and/or changed my major and never finished any of those degrees. Same thing with my career history, which has been almost entirely manufacturing jobs. Not that I’m so in love with making stuff, but it’s a good-paying gig for people like me who are too confused to choose a major and follow through on getting a degree. I did finally get my BS. Why? Because my employer paid for it. Seemed like a no-brainer at the time. One little catch, though. My major had to be job-related. Yeah. I had to study something closely related to a job that I took only for the money and that was sucking the life out of me. Yay me. So, now I have a degree in Operations Management and Quality Management. That’s right, I AM in fact, hard-headed enough to get a double major in a field I chose for all the wrong reasons. Now would be an appropriate time for someone to hit me square in the face with a shovel.
• I haven’t made time for hobbies and interests. I’ve been much too busy pursuing the wrong education, the wrong jobs, etc.
• I’m not really what you’d call a “passionate” person. Currently, I’m passionate about getting the hell out of my job. One day, once I’ve successfully quit the Rat Race, I suspect that’ll be my niche. I have a lot of great ideas for that niche, but it’s a little premature right now, considering that I’m still punching the time clock.
• Like a lot of you, I’m stuck in a job that drains my energy, squashes my motivation, kills my creativity, sucks the life out of me, and leaves me whimpering in a twisted heap of bitter disappointment and frustration. What…too harsh? Maybe a little, but you get my drift. It’s hard to find things like passion, motivation, and excitement when you’re spending 40+ hours every week doing something you dread.

Resources to Help You Find Your Niche

Ok, I’ve rambled enough. Thanks for attending my pity-party. What I really wanted to do was give you some resources that I’ve come across in the search for my thing. So, here’s the good stuff. If you’re having trouble coming up with an idea for a niche, you can use these websites and tools to get some ideas and hopefully find your thing.

• Look at the titles of magazines. If there’s a magazine dedicated to it, there’s a market with money to be made. Go to a bookstore, or check out the magazines at Amazon. If you want to “explore” some different interests, you may want to consider MagHound – a unique magazine subscription service. You can get 3 magazines subscriptions for 4.95/month, change your magazines whenever you want, and even receive “substitute” magazines during the months when your regular subscription isn’t published. There are details about other options and features available at the website. Don’t forget industry-specific Trade Magazines (you can get a lot of these free). TradePub.com has a pretty good list to choose from.
• Look at the topics of “How-To” books. Probably the most popular is the “Dummies” series. The publishers of these books have already done the research and found niches that people are interested in reading about. Also check eHow.com to see what information people are looking for. At the time of this writing, there’s a list of the “Top 10 eHows” in the left sidebar, and a list of “Popular Categories” in the right sidebar.
• Surf online forums. If there are active forums about a topic, chances are it’ll be a profitable niche. You can also “lurk” in the forums of your niche to find out what your target market wants and needs. Make an info product that gives them what they want, and you’ll have a successful stream of income! You can Google [topic] + forum, or keep an eye on BoardReader.com to find forums.
• Check out 43Things.com to find out what goals people have. If you can help people achieve a goal, you could make a niche for yourself. Look at the tag cloud on the website and click on “popular goals.”
• Find out what people are searching for. Try Hot Searches at AOL, Google Trends, and Yahoo Buzz. Dogpile’s Search Spy is a real-time “ticker” of some of the things people are searching for on that search engine.
• Google’s Wonder Wheel. This is a really cool thingamajigger that a lot of people overlook. Go to Google, and type in a search term. Use a broad topic you’re interested in. When you get the search results, look at the very top of the listings (right above the Sponsored Ads) for a “Show Options” link, and click on that. A menu of options will show up in the left side bar, and near the bottom you’ll see a link for “Wonder Wheel.” Click on that and have fun exploring!
• Find out what people are buying. Try Shopping.com’s Consumer Demand Index.

I’m sure there are a ton of other idea-generators out there. What’s your favorite? These resources have helped me brainstorm some possibilities, but I still don’t feel like I’ve really found “my thing” yet. So, if you have other ideas for finding a niche, please post them in the comments. You may just save what’s left of my sanity.

In the Works:

• Product Review: Affiliate Elite
• Quitter Profile
• Throwin’ Mo Money Atcha’

The Small Business Trends Radio website (which is, in itself, a great site) selected their 100 Best Small Business Podcasts for 2009. What’s great about having a small business, is that you can have one employee (yourself) and still make as much money as much larger businesses. But how do you reach that level? Well, you can start by browsing the list of podcasts that are sorted according to the following categories: Leadership and Management, Marketing and Sales, Operating a Small Business, Tax and Finance, Startups and Starting a Business, Home Based Business, Small Business Technology, Business Opportunities and Franchises, “All Around” Small Business Podcasts, and Business News and The Big Picture.

Starting a business takes a lot of time and requires much knowledge and ongoing education. This list is truly a priceless resource. Throw a few podcasts on your mp3 player and take advantage of time spent driving around town or mowing your grass. You can be educating yourself while grocery shopping or while out on your morning walk or evening run. I’ve checked out only a couple off the list so far…the list is so huge that I’ve focused only on podcasts that spoke to my needs right now. But I know that I can add more podcasts to my regular listening routine according to where I am in my business planning.

If you are already listening to any of the podcasts on the 100 Small Business Podcasts for 2009 list, let us know, in the comments, what you’re listening to and what you think about it or if you check any podcasts out, come back and let your fellow Quitters know about it. Happy listening!

Listening to the early episodes of the Internet Business Mastery podcast, I was initially excited about finding such a gem that was also very popular. It was clear that these guys, Jeremy Frandsen (a.k.a. Sterling) and Jason Van Orden (a.k.a. Jay), were also inspired by Tim Ferriss and his classic book. But after a few months of listening, my interest began to wane. A lot of their material seemed like it was a retelling of the Ferriss material and at the time,  I believed that Ferriss offered a better delivery. However, those were the early days for this duo. They were very likable guys and it was obvious that they were dedicated to providing the best content that they were capable of delivering. But eventually, my iPod play list moved into a different direction and I put the Internet Business Mastery guys on the back burner.

Fast forward to the present…

Though I wasn’t listening to their podcast regularly, I was still on their mailing list. I couldn’t bare to delete their emails, even if I wasn’t reading them, simply because it seemed like they were on to something good. So one day, not long ago, I skimmed an email and got sucked right back in. I was so intrigued by the content of the email, I decided to throw some recent episodes of their podcast onto my iPod…and I LOVED IT!!

What changed? A LOT! Now these guys were for real! Every podcast episode I listened to was not simply a rehash of The 4-Hour Work Week. Each episode offered unique information that clearly came from Sterling’s and Jay’s actual experiences. It’s very clear that they have learned a lot and are now teaching from their own experience—these guys are experts, no doubt! Not to mention that Sterling and Jay have an awesomely successful Internet-based business which I’ll talk about in a minute. These guys offer valuable insight on everything related to starting and running a successful Internet-based business. On their website, you’ll find plenty of free information, links to resources and stories of successes that teach and inspire. Links to every product, service or program they discuss on their podcast can be found here as well. But it doesn’t stop there. You’ll find videos and guidance from choosing a domain name, selecting a web host, setting up a shopping cart, hiring Virtual Assistants and much more. [In fact, their podcast two-part series on Virtual Assistants—Everything You Know About Outsourcing is Dead Wrong, Part 1 and Part 2—will leave you thinking of VAs in a whole new (and improved) way! Don’t miss this!] If that isn’t enough for you, they offer a product that goes into even greater detail on everything…

Internet Business Mastery Academy

Over the past few years, Sterling and Jay have launched the Internet Business Mastery Academy, which is a special subscription-based membership program. Members have access to many, many hours of audio and video material on all aspects of starting and running an Internet-based business. Some of the videos actually take you step-by-step through various processes showing you exactly how to do it, one click at a time. From launching a blog to setting up an account through which to receive payments, you’ll find it covered in their many valuable courses and tools designed to help you set up your own Internet-based business so you can escape the 9-to-5 work life.

About the Academy:

The Internet Business Mastery Academy helps you escape the 9-to-5 and design the lifestyle of your dreams by giving you step-by-step tutorials for turning your life’s passion into an extremely profitable Internet business.

The first step in the Academy is to help you design your ultimate Internet lifestyle. Then, through a series of online, step by step courses, you’ll discover how to use social media and other proven Internet marketing strategies to maximize your business success. Plus, our innovative “multimedia Rolodex” is another breakthrough designed to help you find the best services and vendors to help you reach your business goals as quickly as possible — and achieve your ideal lifestyle.

Though I haven’t yet signed up for their 30-day, no-risk trial membership (which I will be doing soon), this is a great way to test-drive the Academy for 30 days before you make your first payment (if you decide to continue your Academy membership). From what I’ve heard, it’s awesome. I’ve heard stories of people joining the academy, launching an Internet-based business and making money before their 30-day trial is over. I don’t know how common this is, but I do know that there are lessons in the Academy will help you find your passion or niche, develop and launch a product and begin to design the lifestyle of your dreams. Sterling and Jay have done it; members of their Academy have done it, so I know it’s possible. I’m planning to sign up for the Academy in the very near future. But I want to make sure my time will be open enough to take full advantage of all their content, which I understand is essential.

Free Audio eBook: The 3 Pillars of Designing Your Ultimate Internet Lifestyle

If you’re interested in checking these guys out, I suggest you sign up for their Free audio ebook, The 3 Pillars of Designing Your Ultimate Internet Lifestyle. This will also put you on their email list, which is a very good thing.  You’ll get weekly emails that give you a heads-up on new episodes of the Internet Business Mastery podcast, as well as valuable links and tips on escaping the 9-to-5. Additionally, check out their podcast and listen to every episode…again and again.

I’m really stoked about these guys and what they’re offering at Internet Business Mastery. I can’t wait for each episode of their podcast to hit iTunes and I’m looking forward to trying out their Academy. If you want to escape your day job and replace it with passive, work-from-home, Internet-based income, you’re really going to love the Internet Business Mastery. Check ‘em out and please stop back here and leave your own review or first impressions in the comments. We would love to hear you opinion.