So we were returning from a short break and and on the way we decided to take the kids to see the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Now our children aren’t strangers to museums and art galleries and just a few months ago my 3 year old son spent  minutes ignoring an Edwin Landseer (the dogs and horses bloke) painting in favour of watching a bird crap on a window ledge.

Actually I can’t say I blame him there. Sorry Edwin.

So while I’m no art expert I did quite fancy having a good walk and checking out a bit of culture. The park is set in 500 acres of 18th century parkland so a fair bit of excercise is good too.

Here’s a picture of my daughter trying to suss out a Henry Moore

Her hood is up because, being Yorkshire, it was raining. Actually the first photo I took I couldn’t use because my wife pointed out in a slow ‘Tony’s not very arty’ voice, I’d taken it from the back of the sculpture.

Since the thing seemed to have three tits and two arses on both sides it was a little hard to tell.

But to me that’s the whole point of art – it should be fun, not elitist or somehow restricted. (re: grumpy fart next paragraph)

So we walked around the park, enjoying the pieces, launghing at some of them, me not understanding many but being pretty much in awe of the artisits who created them….

We encountered the grumpy old fart.

I should have known his head was firmly up his own backside when it came to art because he was wearing a black beret (no offence to anyone French reading this) and held a cane he obviously didn’t need for walking.

We were looking at a Sophie Ryder work – a huge hare with a naked woman’s body – and my little boy shouted ‘Daddy that Rabbit’s got a big BUM’, which to be fair it did have.

Beret man turned and did what middle class Englishmen do best – he tutted loudly.

It got my back up immediately but my wife gently led me away before I could say anything to him. We followed him round the next few sculptures talking loudly and generally encouraging the kids to have a good time and not take it too seriously. This was revenge enough but when he slipped in the mud and did a sort of ‘river dance’ as he tried to stay upright it was even better.

I loudly explained to my children that they’d possibly just witnessed ‘performance art’ and we left him to it, but to be honest his attitude bugged me for a while and it took me a bit to understand why.

It’s the elitism of certain things that I hate. No I don’t understand art but I like looking at it and surely that’s the point.

Remember the media experiment where they presented art ‘experts’ with a canvas that had been dabbed with paint by a chimp?

Two of the experts thought it was the work of a genius. Idiots.

So bringing it back around to our biz, I was chatting to one of my mentoring clients the other day who’d hired a techy to sort out a webpage. The techy was pretty scathing towards the webpage, which needed some basic formatting and re-aligning.

But the whole attitude could only be described as ’snotty’ and I advised my student to dump him instantly. He eventually got the job done by a much more approachable and much nicer outsourcer.

The main point here is that the snotty outsourcer will probably be doing small techy jobs for a few hundred dollars for the rest of his career while my student is creating and launching his own product.

Here’s how to put it into perspective…

A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick-boxing

Comments welcome as usual ..

This is a non-work blog because I’m taking some time off until the New Year. I just wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas. To the delight of my kids (and the grownups too) it’s snowing and this was the view from our house this morning

Then this afternoon…

The snowman I made this morning looked like he was a candidate for surgery, and I had to remove his hump after my young son burst into tears with fright.

Christmas had had some strange effects on various marketers with some of the HUGE sales I’ve seen around. I’ve picked up some excellent deals on various software and PLR packages that have been sold very inexpensively.

One of my marketing mates told me he’d had some unsubscribers because he’d written ‘Xmas’ in an email or blog post and a few religious readers found it offensive. 

I remember a teacher saying the same thing to me at school but was surprised people still felt strongly about it. Interesting…

After howling like a thrashed puppy while my hands thawed out (snowman’s revenge) I took my netbook into the room that overlooks the garden (marvellous thing wireless internet) and watched the kids play while I checked a few emails and generally got my marketing fix for the day, even though I’m not working

The ‘grapevine’ threw up a couple of very interesting launches which are due in January. The last time I promoted a launch was in October but I’m going to be all over these two Janury launches because they’re VERY good. I’m currently trying to sort out a deal for you because while they won’t be of interest to everyone who reads me emails, they are both seriously good bolt-ons to any business. I’ve already got a review copy of one and you’ll see me using it in my business next year.

As usual I’ll present the facts and you do the deciding.

What else happened today?

I sent for Frank Kern’s free DVD (no contunuity or anything – nice one Frank!) and that should ease me into the marketing spirit when it arrives in the New Year. Then we (me and my family not me and Frank) went for a walk into the village. very Christmassy indeed.

My kids are now both extremely excited about the Christmas season. We bought them some chocolate then walked up past the church to visit the horse in the top field.

It looked bollock freezing to be quite honest, poor animal!

My wife and I watched the kids chatting to it while we warmed ourselves from the 12 year old malt in my hip flask.

We had a quiet bet that the horse would be in Equine heaven within the week- -frozen to the ground.

Actually last Christmas we found a dead cow in a field too. We must be like the ‘Final Destination 2′ of the animal world!

Tomorrow I’m off to a mastermind meeting that is really an excuse for a pie and a pint and to say Merry Christmas to some other marketers., and that’s about it really – if I can get over the moors, we’re due more snow tonight. My usual BIG apology to the Candians and Americans out there who get real snow, but the UK grinds to a stop after a couple of inches. It’s part of the fun.

Declare war on us and we’ll become self-sufficient within three minutes but two inches of snow and the met office declares ’severe weather warnings’

The real reason for posting is twofold. To wish you and yours a very happy Christmas and New Year, and I hope you’ll be around to do the me huge honour of reading my various ramblings, sales promos and opinions next year. You think you learn from me? I learn a HELL of a lot more from you – so thank you.

And finally if you have a spare $17 I want it. Not for me, but for a worthy cause. A charity that you’ve possibly never heard of but is as worthy as any I know. I was asked by Martin Avis to write a short article for an ebook earlier this year, with the aim of selling the book to raise money for the charity.

Now you can get more details here but I just want to say that this is a cracking product – the marketers who have contributed to this are the real deal – people who make their livings online and who know their subjects inside out. There are a couple of my mates in there and a couple of my heroes too. If you fancy a good Christmas read with an internet marketing theme, and you’d like to help out a VERY worthy cause then grab yourself a copy.

ALL the proceeds from this go to charity. I don’t get any sort of payment in any way for this, even thought it looks like an affiliate link, it’s just for tracking purposes. Grab your copy HERE

So that’s it. The support desk will be checked over the holiday period, so you’re not on your own, and like you I’ll probably be unable to stay away from the PC so will be checking my own email on a pretty regualr basis.

Whatever your beliefs or geographical location, Merry Christmas / Happy Holiday / What’s he on about?

I’ll see you in the New Year. As always comments are welcome on the blog….

Just want to leave you with this – a cracker fell apart the other day as I was unpacking them and this was the joke inside it…

‘Did you hear about the Devil Worshipping Dyslexic? He sold his soul to Santa….

Cheers!

This room in my house has been a dining room, exercise room and now seems destined to become an artist’s workshop.

It’s a great room because it’s very light, overlooks the garden and has doors straight out onto it, so for keeping an eye on the kids when they’re outside, or bringing food out to the garden when we’re eating outside in summer it’s wonderful.

But I like it because it’s my perspective changer.

Years ago I used to play in bands and actually earned my living as a musician for a while. I dabbled with songwriting but quickly found that when you’re used to playing a guitar or piano your hands automatically go to the same chord progressions time after time. 

Any muso reading this will know that if you’re writing a song in D (major) then your fingers are going to find their way to A, G, E minor and possibly B flat if you’re feeling daring.

So unless you’re wildly talented (I wasn’t) then many of your songs are going to sound (the dreaded) ’samey’.

To get round this I used to try to write songs in different keys, such as F sharp or A flat so my fingers weren’t as used to the chrod progressions and didn’t head for the same ones every time.

Well guess what – (yep) – internet marketing is EXACTLY the same.

When I sit down at my home office desk I tend to think about things in the same way, and even do things in the same way. Sometimes it feels as thought it’s ’samey’

Which is when I grab my netbook and head off to another part of the house. Wireless networks are a marvellous thing!

For example I was asked to contribute to an internet marketing book last week. The deadline was Sunday – two days ago.

I tried writing it at my desk on Sunday morning and all that came out was….well crap really.

So I made a cuppa and took my netbook to the kitchen table, put the radio on and started to write. I was pretty happy with the result and I finished the whole article in 20 minutes.

I’ll tell you about the book few days - you can get a copy on 1st December and it’s a worthy cause – all the proceeds go to charity and when you see some of the contributors I’m sure you’ll  want a copy

Anyway – the room in the pic above used to be my refuge when I wanted a shift in perspective. Working somewhere else gives me a totally different outlook on things – you should try it.

So I took this picture with some regret because I’m sure when it’s finished and is complete with work tables, drying racks, drawing boards and other things I don’t really understand it will still be wonderful to work in…

…but I’ll probably not be allowed in!

Chris Freville is another of the pro marketers (and a mate) who’ve agreed to make a vid and show you round their workspace.

Check out Chris’ cupboards and you’ll get a glimpse of why this guy makes hundreds of thousands of dollars – look at the amount of training and marketing packages he’s invested in!

Hi Tony,

Here’s my video to add to your blog.

I am a  46 year old Englishman living in Bournemouth on the South Coast of England.

You can find out more about me on My blog
http://www.whoisandrewcollinson.com
Andrew Collinson

Hey Tony,

I finally got someone to take a photo of me at my desk. 

So here it is.

I am originally from Hawaii, but am now living in upstate New York.This is me working at my desk. I work online full time and am the author of “Quit Being a Wage Slave” which is being revamped for an update, as many things in the book have changed since it was originally written 2 years ago.

The new product should be out next year – bigger and better! LOL.

I have been attempting to spend more time on my blog at http://www.junerecommends.com

I have ripped down more blogs than I currently have up and this poor thing was just starting to do well when I had to nuke it all and start it all over from scratch. I had been hacked for the 5th time and was unable to repair it again.

Blogging has never been my forte to begin with, but with the hapa-Hawaiian blood line (that includes Irish, Scott and Welsh) that is running through my veins, the stubborn streak from the Irish-Hawaiian parts often prevails at times when it would probably make more sense to throw in the towel. Stubborn as I am, I don’t give up.

Didn’t plan on writing a book here, but here is the photo. Now your readers and mine will know that I am not only a real person, but crazy as a loon. It’s cold outside with winter storms threatening and I’m still running around in my bare feet.

Aloha,
June (KonaGirl)

Lee kindly put this vid together for me. In keeping with the spirit of this blog, he’s been 100% honest about where and how he works.

If you want to know if it’s possible to earn over $100k a month and still have empty boxes on your office floor, then forget the slick ‘guru productions’ you’ve seen and check out Lee’s vid – it’s a refreshing change, with some great insights….

G’day Tony

Here are some pics of my office which is literally in a corner of my brother-in-law’s farmhouse where my wife and I live in Teven, in the Northern Rivers District of New South Wales, Australia.

This is the desk and associated bookshelves. I use a MacBook Pro 17″ which also drives a Samsung SyncMaster 710v monitor. As well as Mac OS X, I run Windows XP Pro via Parallels Desktop for Mac. I have another Sony laptop which my wife now uses as a basic browse and email device. I have three desktop PCs, unused and back in their boxes until I think of something to do with them.

My brother-in-law has an iMac and a MacBook Pro. There is a laser printer and some inkjets all of which are on a wireless LAN and connect to the net via ADSL.

My desk looks pretty much like yours and I use laptops for the same reasons as you.

It is nice here to be able to go out on the verandah and work.

The views from my office windows are stunning. The farm runs as a wholesale nursery growing advanced and super-advanced magnolias and other plants for retailers, landscapers and councils. There are about a hundred acres of what was once a  dairy hill farm. The plants I can can see are magnolias which will be 5 or 6 feet tall next year.

These views are a distraction – I should block them out!

Finally, there is a picture of me taken with Photo Booth on the Mac.

I retired at 55, three years ago. I needed something to do so I started an arts degree with Open University.

We have four children – three are self-supporting and the fourth at 21 is half-way through her 5-year degree course at Sydney University. We had the chance to move here and took it. Before we moved, I had been looking at online trading and felt I had some usable skills and experience gained from careers in IT, publishing and advertising. So shortly before we moved here I signed up with a coaching/mentoring/hosting/etc/etc/etc company to see what was what. What with the degree study that should keep me out of mischief, I thought. And it has!

So I have been at this since April 2009. I own http://www.allphotoaccess.comand www.healthwise4all.com, both of which are used for traffic trading, though I am in process of converting the latter to an affiliate sales site. I am currently building an affiliate sales site, http://www.gourmetprovidores.com which will soon go live. I have a blog at www.kim1851.wordpress.com and I have put together a Word-
press site for the nursery which I will migrate as soon as my brother-in-law buys a domain. I use Twitter (linked to Facebook) regularly, see https://twitter.com/KimBucknole. If you visit the nursery site www.robertdonato.wordpress.com you can see some aerial pics of the farm and some of the magnolias in bloom.

In terms of income, there has not been much. Traffic trading (using the model I do) used to be ok for say, A$20 net profit per day or A$7000 pa, so 10 simple sites could give you a living with a little regular fine-tuning, but Yahoo and Google have made, and are making it, hard to get consistent results, which is why I am converting one of the traffic sites to affiliate sales.

Short and long term aims? Well, while an overnight killing would be nice, I will be content to see my sites trading at reasonably profitable levels. Come back in a year and see if I have my 10 sites up!

I have an open mind as to how to earn some money on the net. I will give affiliate sales a good shake. I may also try some simple share trading and perhaps some Forex.

Tony, this is, I am sure, more than enough about me, other than to say I was born in Tenterden, Kent and have lived in Australia for about 27 years, mostly at Bondi, NSW and when I say it is cold here I know that it is nowhere near the Yorkshire cold you have to deal with.

Keep Warm!

All the best

Kim Bucknole
www.allphotosaccess.com
www.healthwise4all.com
www.gourmetprovidores.com
https://twitter.com/KimBucknole
www.kim1851.wordpress.com

Hi Tony,

Who is Steve Lorenzo?  Well he’s kind of famous

Thanks a lot…

Be well!

Steve Lorenzo

Get my “Tips to Outrun Your Competition” free on my blog:
http:/KnowHowVault.com

See my latest Power Tweets and follow me on Twitter:
http://Twitter.com/SteveLorenzo

Look for me and add me as your FaceBook friend:
http://Profile.to/SteveLorenzo

Find my professional profile and interests on LinkedIn:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/stevelorenzo

Hi Tony, always nice to hear from you.

If you think you are ugly check this mug out.

You were one of the first internet marketers that I followed when I discovered the internet for the first time almost ten years ago.

I remember buying an ebook on ebay from you I think it was about making money on the internet and I was hooked.

I only work part time on the computer, I’m a brickie by trade and still work when I have to.

  This is where I work from.

I run a couple of sites which came about because they were hobbies of mine.

www.racingcity.co.uk which is where I sell my winning post spreadsheet betting system from.

and www.priceguide-store.co.uk I sell price guides that I create here.

Regards,

 Andy Burton