Mark Rhodes
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Great job getting started, Jen!
And the “settled” feeling is worth so much for your success and momentum.
Mark
All About Health And Healing
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Thanks, Dana.
I’m always interested in a new tech offering.
Mark
All About Health And Healing
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My #1 activity for the day was to reconnect with a doctor from the past. He had to call me 4 or 5 times as the overseas connection kept dropping.
He, and his doctor assistant, and I use very parallel approaches to helping patients.
I had met him in 2009 and helped him with a couple of his patients, but we had not talked in the meantime. He used our lab some then but has since become their top account. And I’m not at that lab anymore.
Anyway, he is seeking my help in getting a new facet of his business established in the U.S.
I think the combination of what I do and what he does could work out very nicely, providing services to doctors and patients.
Mark
All About Health And Healing
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Julie,
A couple of things I might add…
1. Make sure you put a limit on FREE. For example, 3 pages, 5 pages, etc. So you don’t get set up for a project that never ends. Don’t over complicate it. Some of their later additions you can charge for, maybe even at 1/2 price if you want so your portfolio project will look bigger.
2. If there will be ongoing work like weekly specials, make sure you get paid for it.
3. You said their site was down. If you need to see an archived version, put their domain name into archive.org.
4. Ask for the sites of their main competitors. Compare and contrast.
5. I’ve done custom contract programming since 1986. A portfolio was almost never an issue. I often dropped names of previous clients, but I can’t remember EVER being asked for examples of my previous work. Kind of amazing, and maybe I’m the exception.
Mostly just talk like you know what you are doing. No need to apologize more than you already have. You can do this!!!
All The Best,
Mark
All About Health And Healing
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Some of you may have seen this article on the Warrior Forum. I found it helpful.
The title was “When you feel like quitting, know this,” and it includes a graphic that tried to capture the dip we might feel after some of the original excitement has worn off. Knowing the dip exists can help keep us from giving up.
Mark
All About Health And Healing
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Donna,
Over 17 years, my best one that produced immediate success has been a link to “FREE Phone Call.” The link goes to a page with my phone number and further encouragement to call. For the first 7 or 8 years, it said “20-Minute” call. After talking it over with one of my chiropractor friends, he thought I was giving too much. So I changed it to “Short” call on the link. Both work about the same. I get really sick people calling me, and I convert well over half into clients. The others get a listening ear, some loving, and hope, even if they don’t become clients.
Mark
All About Health And Healing
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On the audio, not that many people like the sound of their own voice. Some of us could listen to a sample and give you our take.
Or is it more of a technical issue?
Mark
All About Health And Healing
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Hi, Jennifer. Good question.
I’m in B and C. I’m reconstructing the fourth iteration of a site that has been around since early 2001. The business was built around that time, too, and has morphed through the years. No surprise that things have changed with time, I guess.
Anyway, plowing through some tech issues, bringing a little bit of existing content back to life, getting my forums set up. Then getting my autoresponder set up…
Then focusing on LinkedIn for engaging with my doctors.
I am a sequence guy by nature. But ready, fire, aim is becoming more my mode these days.
Mark
All About Health And Healing
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My default format through the early years was two-fold.
1. On my home page I had a link that said something like “First phone call FREE.” When they clicked, they were sent to a page that had my phone number and just a little bit more encouragement to call. When they called, I got their name, phone number, email address. I sometimes also got things like height and weight, age, and what they had already tried in their quest for health. I always got health history (to a degree) and pain points, because that’s why they dared call in the first place.
In the earliest years, I wasn’t smart enough to get their email address and put them into my official list. I missed so many! However, many of those FREE callers became clients. That first call became $80 up front for analyzing the questionnaire that I was about to send them, and at least a few hundred dollars over the next few months for pay-as-you-go hormone testing, consultations, and supplements.
I tried to keep the phone call short, but often it would last a looonnggg time. When the woman on the other end tells me that she’s been sick for years, I’m the first doctor that ever really listened to her, and she’s crying.
2. I also had an in-text link that just said the word “newsletter” in a sentence. When they clicked on that, up popped their default mail client in compose a new message mode. The pre-filled subject line simply said “Please Sign Me Up.” When they hit send, I would get an email and manually add them to my list. I would write back a personal note, usually within 24 hours. People thought that was so refreshing compared to a canned autoresponse.
A couple of iterations later, I used no freebie at all. In the upper area of the right sidebar, it just said “SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEWSLETTER.” I copied Dr. Mercola’s wording. No content at all on the site. But I got a few subscribers even so. Perhaps because I had engaged on forums in the past. I’ll never know.
The next iteration, I used the login/register code for bbPress and BuddyPress on most pages and posts. That worked fairly well but also was an open invitation to spambots.
This time around, I’ll stick with the FREE short phone call. I’ll give away (for $1) a full course on “Principles of Weight Loss.” It’s a recording of an interview, nine audio files. It’s somewhat hormone-centric, and ends by sending them to my site and directing them to make that FREE phone call. Likewise, the bbPress and BuddyPress code will be visible throughout the site.
Mark
All About Health And Healing
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Additional thoughts here after Dana’s last comment…
I’ve sold hormone testing for a long time. Most of my patients have been women. Of the men that I’ve had, a significant percentage were sent to me by their wives. Is there a market segment called “get your man back?”
I’ve also had quite a few moms call me regarding their (usually grown) children. Maybe that’s “get your kid back.”
There is definitely a market for “get your elderly parent back.”
These markets should be addressed hormonally, nutritionally, and relationally. I won’t pursue any of these segments directly, but I would help anyone so inclined.
Mark
All About Health And Healing
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1. I bought Sean’s Cyber Monday Special, too. Even if everything in it is in PreneurPal somewhere, the organization was worth a few dollars.
2. Just before that, I bought the Local Directory Script from David Cisneros. I had put together a directory a few years ago with another agenda entirely. This time, I’ll put doctors in, city by city, and include only those I would possibly send my own family to.
That directory will be a subset of my platform for patients and doctors. I’ll act indirectly as the matchmaker! Doctors I like will get leads, and patients can find local help perhaps.
Mark
All About Health And Healing
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Claire,
My first online sale was sublingual B12 vitamins. About a month after I opened the site in 2001. I sent them to a paint store owner in New York City.
The gross was a little over $200. My cost to purchase the product and to send the package was about $110 or a little more. Happy me.
That man continued to buy supplements from me to the tune of $1000+ per month until about 2012. Net $400-500 per month, just from him. Recurring happy me.
Mark
All About Health And Healing
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Scott,
In the near future, I’ll be using a $1 course as an entry point. It will be a real course with multiple audio files. They will need to sign up with a real email address. I don’t know how it will work yet.
Mark
All About Health And Healing
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Julia, I’m not totally sure I understand the question. Is your whole business all about just the one product that isn’t inherently gender-specific?
*****
Here were some of my thoughts. Maybe something in my experience could be a little bit of help…
I’ve been in the hormone world for 21 years now. It leans female for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that women are more likely to seek help.
Anyway, my patient client percentages run something like 80% female. ALSO, even my doctor client percentages run about 65% female. I don’t market the business so much with that in mind. It’s just how it works out. However, I would market a product toward a specific gender when it makes sense. Examples in my world are: hormone testing for men, for post-menopausal women, or for cycling women. I market the products accordingly. Measuring stress hormones falls across gender, as does digestive function. So all my patients get their adrenal/stress hormones checked. I require it.
Big companies differentiate all the time. Just look at the ads around us. Lots of vitamins/magazines/shoes/etc. that are marketed very much toward a single gender. But a vitamin company often will carry a women’s version that may not be too different from the men’s version.
“These stress relief vitamins are made just for women. So that’s why they cost more.”
Mark
All About Health And Healing
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It’s been three years since I offered a $5K coaching program, and even more since I had a merchant account for accepting credit cards. I’ve use PayPal for 14 years without problem. I invoice for consultation payments, but usually not more than $400-500. I may have invoiced for $600-700 once or twice.
That last time I offered coaching for $5K, I offered a two-payment option for $3K+$2.5K, separated by a month. The one doctor that signed up, I just told him to mail me a check. My program did not require instant access as it was spread out for weeks with homework for each week. The worst that could have happened was that I sent him homework for a week without getting paid.
Mark
All About Health And Healing
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I use Webinar Jeo for all my screen capture needs. Designed for presenting webinars, which I do, it does great for screen capture, white board, voice over slides, etc. I just present without attendees and save/download the video.
Mark
All About Health And Healing
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And I just put all usernames and passwords into one database table I’ve used for years. My wife keeps hers in a spreadsheet.
I tried this without success:
http://preneurpal.com/wp-admin/profile.php
Wishful thinking, but it redirects to the core access. I do get your point.
Mark
All About Health And Healing
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I had run a custom/commercial software business since 1986. So, after a college professor showed me a browser in action, it was only natural that I started looking at how to get a site up. My programming assistant put his commercial site up in 1996 or ’97 after we decided to learn HTML. I sort of put up a practice site in 1995. Then launched a real commercial site in 1999. It promoted auditing for electrical power companies. Here is the archived version from 2001:
http://web.archive.org/web/20011128190651/http://www.isauditandanalysis.com:80/
Brings back some great memories…
My money maker was launched in 2001, promoting me as a health expert:
http://web.archive.org/web/20020604142352/http://www.drmarkrhodes.com:80/
and the artistically reworked version that got 3x the traffic for some reason:
http://web.archive.org/web/20050209030001/http://www.drmarkrhodes.com:80/
Anyway, I’m doing a COMPLETE rework now, aiming toward a membership model and not one-on-one coaching except for my bigger doctor coaching.
Mark
All About Health And Healing
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I’ve been at this kind of work for a long time. My answer varies through the years.
I was the first grad student to submit a word-processed thesis to the Graduate School at Oregon State in 1981. They had no policies for anything but hand-typed theses!
I got my first laptop in 1990. Mobility! Life was made much easier as I was showing my software to potential clients at their sites. Around that same time, we could use pcAnywhere to send software updates to clients over the phone lines.
Lots of fun times. No need to bore you any further. 🙂 Skipping ahead to this last year…
Google alerts. I have several set up for my big keywords to help keep up with what is being indexed right now on those topics. I also set up alerts for my own name, a couple of my friends, and the names of my enemies.
Mark
All About Health And Healing
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Norma,
I bought a copy of Dragon and don’t use it. I intentionally got an older version because it was cheap, and I didn’t know if I would ever use it.
A couple of years ago, I downloaded the speech-to-text off of my YouTube videos. Pretty much too silly to edit. Quite funny sometimes. But from about a year ago, YouTube does a fantastic job for me. I’m not sure what changed…my voice and delivery or YT’s software. Of course, that wouldn’t work for day-to-day emails or forum replies. But it helps me put together larger documents from my YT presentations.
I’ve tested dictation.io and liked the output.
Mark
All About Health And Healing
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Claire,
Most of my best business comes out of the blue. Hurting people just find me somehow. That means the most crucial component for me is to be spiritually ready to answer the phone or email with love and a desire to see the broken healed.
I guess that means websites, emails, comments on forums are important, too. Because that is how people find me in the first place. As an example, a year ago, two unrelated people called me for help. Back to back phone calls. In fact, their family members had to call because they were both too sick. The had both seen the same comment I had written 15 years ago on a forum.
Mark
All About Health And Healing
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Doria,
I immediately thought of Venn diagrams.
A simple Venn diagram for you would be two circles that overlap in the middle. One circle is health/wellness/fitness. The other circle is things that interest older women.
The intersection in the middle is really ONE niche: “health and wellness aimed at older women.” It’s beautiful in that you have the interest, AND it’s a huge, profitable market with many ways to benefit your clients. As you conquer that, you can decide whether to spread out into the parts of either circle beyond the overlap.
I’m certainly willing to help you think things through as I have been living in that niche for 21 years.
Mark
All About Health And Healing
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My best annual habit comes from knowing what I need for grounding: Wilderness. I circle the drain when I don’t get my few wilderness trips each year. Fishing in places where I am disappointed to see any human other than the one I brought with me, for example.
My best weekly habit is running the 4-mile loop on farm roads. 3-4 times per week is about right.
My best daily habits center around taking care of family and accomplishing the “one thing” for business.
Mark
All About Health And Healing
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I am a coach, Claire.
My ideal client is a doctor who wants to excel in functional medicine with a focus on hormones. My secondary set of clients finds me somehow: they are patients who have exhausted all conventional and alternative healthcare options AND are still sick.
How have I run my business? It’s not been completely online nor automatic. Besides website, it has required phone calls and mailing of forms, test kits, and supplements.
1. I’ve been a one-on-one coach for doctors since 1997. In its simplest form, they send me their patients’ test results, and I help them over the phone, keeping in mind patient health histories and goals.
The most complex form goes something like this: I give a webinar on a topic and invite doctors to apply for coaching via an online form. We talk on the phone to confirm we are a good match. Then, I have them pay up front and sign a non-disclosure form. Each week for the next 7-8 weeks, I present a video intro of the week’s theme, then give them homework. Homework consists of case studies (health histories and test results) of 5-8 real patients. The doctors have 2-3 days to do their homework, then we go over them via video conference. As a (priceless) bonus, I give them access to me for help with their own future patients.
2. The part of the business that deals with patients began in 2001 and takes a different route. The first short call from the patient comes out of the blue usually and is no charge. “Short” is relative. Ideally, 15-20 minutes should do it to see if we are a good match. However, sometimes it goes much longer. It’s not unusual to have a lot of tears.
For the next steps, I send forms as email attachments: health history, disclaimer, and body systems survey. They fill out and return the forms. The disclaimer needs to be signed. It tells the patient that I do not diagnose nor treat, and it states clearly what my consultation rates are. The body systems survey is a list of symptoms that they tell me how much of an issue each is for them. I analyze the symptom patterns to determine which body systems are in most need of help. I charge up front for the analysis and email the summary. What I charge doesn’t really cover my time, but it gets them in the habit of paying. All other charges are “as you go.”
The next step is to send out test kits to them. They collect samples and mail back with payment to the labs. I get the results from the labs and send copies as email attachments to the patient. Then we set a time for a phone consultation. This is where I make money.
During the phone call, we usually decide on some nutritional supplements. I get payment and send out the products. I don’t make much on supplements really.
I used to take credit cards, but now, I invoice via PayPal.
***The new model for patients will be toward group coaching via membership. I’m in the middle of transitioning now. I believe a membership model somewhat like PreneurPal will allow me to give “free” group coaching, “free” consultations by appointment, wholesale pricing on testing, and deep discounts on supplements. It will be renewable quarterly. Because the benefits compound over time, a month or two just won’t get the patient far enough. Savings to the patient should more than pay for the price of membership.
***The new model for doctors will be toward group coaching via membership. It will include access to me for going over their patient test results. Other facets for the doctor model are in the works. I will still use my high-end coaching that I described above.
Mark
All About Health And Healing
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If you are wired to teach, Udemy makes a lot of sense. Or at least a course platform makes sense.
I certainly am wired like a teacher. When I looked into that idea a couple of years ago, I decided to go with Teachable for a course platform. You don’t get the promotion, but you own your material.
All About Health And Healing
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Great topic, Bruce. I had to make notes to get my thoughts in order.
The selfless part: I’m an encourager by nature, so I’ll try my best here in this active group.
The more selfish parts: I love being in a community of entrepreneurs, active users that engage.
Parts of my main site will be similar to what Sean has put together here. I wanted to see how he uses bbPress and BuddyPress especially, and see how he identifies the “givers.”
I get good feedback on content already, but I lack marketing feedback. I was pretty sure I could get that here.
I was inspired by Sean’s prior courses on big business, helping millions, the platform development class, and the GrenPico predecessor to this site. Likewise, I’ve seen what Josh Umbehr has done with his membership program for delivering conventional medical care. I’d like to take Umbehr’s model a step further and into the alternative healthcare world as an online membership system.
Finally, this site and group comes at a great time for me. I’m working on the lofty goals of (re-)creating inheritance for my kids and becoming world class again.
Mark
All About Health And Healing
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I agree with Bruce, Julia.
Your family’s stories would make a great book. For sale on Kindle or a great download if it fits your website.
Mark
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My patients truly are desperate. Not literally bleeding at the neck, but almost beyond hope often. They have exhausted local conventional medical help, alternative doctors, and often traveled long distances. They have spent a fortune and are still sick.
I give them hope on that first call.
All About Health And Healing
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Jenna,
I listened to the whole recording. 🙂 Two really simple thoughts.
1. I think your voice is so easy to listen to. Soothing even. Which is perfect for your topic.
2. I did hear the audio quality issue you were talking about. However, I might not have given it much thought at all if you hadn’t mentioned it above. I know you said sometimes it gets really bad, but this example is fine. AND the content supersedes the audio issue by far.
Mark
P.S. I sent you a message
All About Health And Healing
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I definitely have a routine here, too. And I come about 6 or 7 days per week. I’m working my way through the Ask Anything posts starting on page 4 and have read nearly every post/comment all the way to the top of page 1.
It took a month to get through. And, it was intimidating in a way. Not personal or competitive. Just a tremendous amount of work to be into the action of the most current threads. I was 98th out of the 104 members. I have not done anything other than read Ask Anything and reply here and there.
I did make a couple of notes on topics I will start myself when I get fully caught up.
Mark
All About Health And Healing
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I tore it all down after the hacking hurt one of my friends (and possibly more). And I’m having trouble getting it all going on a new host. (Me, the techie.)
I’ll put it in my signature when I want people to see it. 🙂
Mark
All About Health And Healing
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My heart aches for you, Brother.
To not clutter this thread, I’ll send you a message.
Mark
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Malik,
I hadn’t bumped into Google Classroom before. Thanks for sharing.
Mark
All About Health And Healing
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It takes about two days to get all the blue color out of your ears. 🙂
All About Health And Healing
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Even just earbuds with no audio seem to work for me. They dampen the noise, yes. But there is also something soothing that is accomplished and allows me to really focus.
Kind of like a baby sucking a thumb.
Mark
All About Health And Healing
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Bruce,
A couple of years ago, I had a piece of paper folded in quarters. Each quarter had a 90-minute block of time written on it. 9:00-10:30 for example. I would unfold and refold it to match the time and stick it under my closed office door so anyone approaching could read it and not just walk in during those times. My wife and son honored it so well that I don’t really need to do it anymore. I just shut the door and get about 80-90% compliance.
Funny, I worked at home for years then got commercial space for 16 years. My wife and son begged me to come back home. Partly because life was pretty quiet there after the three older siblings were married and gone. During those 16 years, we also taught our kids at home and pastored a home church. Home was a major hub of activity.
Five years ago I did move my office back home. The three of us bump into each other a little too much for ideal productivity, but it works about as well as it could. Still, I try to leave the house one day per week, and my wife tutors at the high school for two days per week. It’s a great balance, and we still spend many hours together each week. <3 <3
Mark
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I agree, Bob. This site has been an inspiration.
Mark
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I completely understand.
I do some of my best focused work at a coffee shop or even McDonalds. From 10am to 5pm today, next to the kiddie area in McDonalds: extreme focus. It requires ear buds though. 🙂
Mark
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Don, you bring up fond memories of Three Creeks Lake, which I believe is close to you.
Mark
All About Health And Healing
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Dan Poynter, in his self-publishing manual recommended writing the back page of a physical book first, then writing the book to match. The back page operates as sales copy.
Mark
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Your personal launch idea is unique to me. I like it for high-ticket, and perhaps more for higher-ticket, because it helps develop relationship. For low-ticket, it would present too much management for you I suppose.
For webinars, I’m not all that experienced, but I have done a few for doctors. I try to hit the compromise for my preferred timing and take into account that they are seeing patients all day. The intersection has been 4pm Thursdays Pacific Time. A number of my West Coast doctors will knock off early to attend live late in their work day.
The link I send out is good for the live event and for the replay. Of course, I send out reminders for the replay and get maybe two or three times the audience. I have those interested in my coaching fill out an online form. We set a time to talk to determine if we are a match, so to speak. That would function like a personal launch I guess.
Mark
All About Health And Healing
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Yes, Bruce. That book is what inspired my comment…indirectly. It inspired Sean enough to talk about it. Then I read some of the reviews on Amazon. Between Sean and the reviews, the concept found a home in my brain. Ironically, reading it will never make the top of the list as there are too many other “one things.”
For life habits, bedtime has to be top of the list. My first round of college, I almost always went to bed by 8:30 or 9:00 pm, just when things were accelerating for many others on campus.
Now after many years, my wife and I still try to get to bed earlyish. My sleep suffered greatly following a series of traumas. It’s taken about 6 years to get back to where early to bed is easy again. Second on the life habits worth pursuing list is eating well. We work very hard at that with great benefits.
Mark
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Discernment is the key. Followed by focus.
The “one thing” for business is determined each day or set of days. Today’s one thing will be to read and engage more on this forum. I’m picking up the “one thing” topic Sean has mentioned a lot lately (at least in the trainings I have attended).
Tomorrow’s will be the same.
The one thing over the weekend will be to solve a technical problem I’v having with moving a web site.
Mark
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Way to go! What a system to leverage and repurpose your content.
Are you getting much engagement on LinkedIn? I just noticed that they apparently don’t show article views anymore.
All About Health And Healing
