alaahassan

My 4 Favorite Stretching Videos to Relief Neck, Shoulder & Back Pain for Those Who Sit at A Computer All Day

October 19, 2014 by alaahassan

Stretching Videos for pain relief

16+ years using a computer for over 7 hours a day can truly have a negative effect on your body.

I’ve been dealing with neck, lower & upper back and shoulder pain for a while. It has to do a lot with me not caring about my posture while sitting at my desk.

Recently, I’ve discovered a really effective stretching video series on Youtube.

I tried them a couple of time and I can say that they really help!

Stretching Youtube Channel You Need to Follow

I discovered a channel called PsycheTruth.

They have many great videos but one thing I like about them is that there not really hard to implement.

My Favorite Stretching Videos for Beginners

The instructor is Jen Hilman. Her videos are truly perfect for those sitting at a desk all day long!

Why I Accepted An $8.00/hr Job And Will Never Regret It

October 18, 2014 by alaahassan

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Yes, I used to make $8/hr and had a Computer Science Degree! Talk about being underpaid 🙁

But you know what, it was my own personal decision.

I really wanted to work there but there were no openings available for a programmer like me at this company. It was 2001 and I had just finished my 3 year computer science program. I was expecting to get paid at least $35 000/year (that’s what my professor told me).

What I Was Hired To Do for $8/hr (minimum 40 hrs/week)

Some web programming (didn’t really know much about the web at that time)
Lots of data entry (I hated it!)
Some experimenting with web graphics (testing my creativity)
Networking & IT (I hated dealing with computer networks)
Database queries (I hated that too!)
Learn how to sell products online (eCommerce)

Why I Accepted the Job

As you can see, I had to do many things I really didn’t enjoy doing but you will notice the last bullet point…..

I accepted the job because there was an opportunity in eCommerce. It was in the early days of online shopping and it seemed somewhat very interesting.

Whenever I hate doing something, I still put an effort in trying it because I might change my mind.

I didn’t enjoy the classes, the teachers or even the projects. That’s why I disliked databases & networking.

I Saw Opportunity but My Dad Saw Something Else

He wasn’t happy about my decision. He felt I deserved more money (I somewhat agreed with him). But I saw something he didn’t.

I saw an opportunity to learn about an emerging industry that wasn’t taught in school
I saw an opportunity to gain valuable experience learning about everything related to eCommerce
I saw growth potential, for myself and the company since it was selling a product which was in demand

What Happened the Next 3 Months?

The first 3 months were crucial. I had to prove myself.

I was first in, last out.

I said yes to everything and completed tasks as expected even sometimes (most of the time) above expectations.

I sacrificed my weekends, my evenings and just about any time I had for having fun to complete projects or do overtime.

I wad dedicated, committed and……hungry for knowledge!

Was it Worth It?

Yes it was!

I learned soooooo much, more than I even expected and the best part….I was actually having fun!

I loved my job and loved the fact that I was able to learn so many new things.

Guess what? I also started loving databases, networking and everything in between.

OMG…Guess What Happened After 6 Months?

The head of eCommerce decided to leave!!!!!!!!

The owner of the company didn’t know what to do. Should he hire someone to lead the business? Should he bring in an agency to help out? Finding the right talent for eCommerce during that time wasn’t really easy.

Who came to the rescue? I did!

I was ready for the challenge. I was ready to take control. I was ready to grow this company of 5 employees with $1million in sales a year.

Let me show you what I can do!

So What Happened in the Next 10 Years?

If you haven’t guessed which company that is………it’s www.iNetVideo.com (I’m currently the Vice President)

My dream was to take this company up! How high? Didn’t know and didn’t care. I just wanted to grow it to its full potential.

Want some stats?

Grew sales from $1 million in 2001 to $19.5million/year in 2011
Grew from 5 employees to 57
Used to ship 150 packages / day to over 4000 /day
Made the list of Internet Retailer Top 500 & Inc 5000
Sold not just on our website but over 12 other marketplaces (we were early adopters!)
I speak at many eCommerce conferences about our experience

and…….I still love what I do!

4 Things You Can Learn from My Experience

Look beyond money
Be ready to learn
Give it all you’ve got!
Don’t expect immediate results (be patient)

One Last Thing

In case you’re wondering, I did get a raise 🙂

Your turn: How much did you make at your first job?

3 Reasons Why Following An Expert Can Demotivate You

October 14, 2014 by alaahassan

When I decided to launch my agency, the academy and even my new blog passionTribe, I searched online for the experts within each industry (conversion rate optimization, eCommerce, blogging).

I wanted to follow them and learn as much as possible from everything they’re doing, tried and accomplished. I was convinced by what people usually say, “Follow the footsteps of those who have already done so and you will be successful”. I wanted to get inspired & motivated to accomplish my own personal goals.

Recently, I’ve noticed I’ve been getting somewhat demotivated by following all those experts (I also call them my virtual mentors).

For example:

Gary Vaynerchuck recently launched numerous #AskGaryVee Youtube videos and a podcast within a couple of weeks. He was able to get immediate results, has all the right resources to create professional looking videos and seems somewhat always ahead of everyone else in terms of how he goes about marketing himself.

I’m happy that I launched my podcast before his but I got kind of demotivated when I see how fast he’s able to get results for himself while it might take me a very long time to even get noticed.

I have many similar other experiences following other experts like Michael Hyatt or Pat Flynn but I think you get the point.

Here’ are 3 reasons why I get demotivated from following them all of them:

1. They’re Always Ahead of You

Those experts are established already. They have people helping them. They’re always looking for new opportunities and ready to try new things to drive more revenue or engagement. By the time you decide to do something they did, they already launched something else. It seems you can never catch up to them but I guess you simply need more time.

2. They Have More Resources Available to Them

I wish I had more of me. Someone to write, podcast, create videos, acquire clients and more. When your team is small, you need to push even harder. Those experts not only have the money but also access to all sorts of resources such as virtual assistants, full time employees, professional equipment and software. I mean they didn’t start at that level but you know what I mean. I demotivates you sometimes having to look for help.

3. They Get Instant Results Whenever They Launch Something New

Most of those experts have established a big network or community of followers. They truly leverage that asset whenever they launch something new. Gary did just that when he decided to launch his videos & podcast. It allowed him to boost his results and overall performance by announcing to everyone his latest initiative. For some of us, that isn’t possible since our network is very small but growing.

Don’t get me wrong, I love following those experts or sometimes I refer to them as my mentors. I learned a lot and was able to launch many things after executing what I learned from them. They saved me time & money that’s for sure.

I think the problem is that I follow them way too much and that’s why I get sometimes demotivated.

Tell me, who do you follow and why do you them?

3 Things You Should Do Every Morning Before Grabbing Your Phone

October 12, 2014 by alaahassan

If you’re like most people, the first thing you do in the morning as soon as you wake up is grab your phone. You start checking your emails, followed by your Facebook notifications, Instagram likes and maybe your latest tweets. From there, you might get up and go about your morning rituals.

Before, we used to simply wake up, snooze the alarm clock (now replaced by our phones), head to the bathroom and simply get ready for work or school. Some of us might grab the newspaper and eat a quick breakfast.

Times have changed!

If you’re like me, I tend to spend 15-20min in the morning just going over notifications and updates on my phone.

I was at Inbound 2013 in Boston, a conference hosted by Hubspot.com, where Arianna Huffington spoke about how she doesn’t bring any electronics in her bedroom when she goes to sleep.

I tried doing that but couldn’t do it. Instead, I started charging my phone a little further away from my bed.

I started doing this as well:

Things I Do As Soon as I Wake Up

1. Take a deep breath (5 seconds) and exhale (Do this 5 times)

It’s the best way for stretching your body while still in bed. It wakes up all your organs by injecting lots of oxygen!

2. Be thankful for being alive

That puts a smile on my face because this means I have another day to make a difference in this world.

3. Kiss your significant other – or yourself 🙂

My wife is the first person I’m nice to in the morning.

What's Another Word for Nice?

October 11, 2014 by alaahassan

First, what is the meaning of being nice?

It means being pleasant, agreeable, satisfactory – Google Definition

In case you’re wondering what’s another word for nice, here’s a couple:

Be good
Be agreeable
Be enjoyable
Be gratifying
Be delightful
Be marvelous

Such a simple 4 letter word and not difficult to implement. Don’t you agree?

But why is it hard for people to be nice sometimes?

What causes them to act the opposite (unpleasant, nasty, improper, unattractive)?

Could it be…

Bad weather
Stress level
Bad mood
Being tired (lack of sleep)

Here’s how I truly believe the world would become a better place:

Try being nice to one person a day. Do something that will make them say….”Thank you!”

That’s 365 people you can be nice to a year. Now that’s a lot. It’s not difficult at all.

Try it for the next 30 days.

5 Best Project Management Tools for Online Business

October 10, 2014 by alaahassan

While it’s necessary to have someone in charge of planning what things need to be done, setting goals, and delegating tasks, it is also important to have software that makes this easier and all in one place. Having an organized, user-friendly tool can free up more time to focus on marketing and design for you brand. Below are five tools that will help make your projects easier to manage and keep them organized.

1. Basecamp (my favorite)

Basecamp is a great place for communicating tasks to be accomplished, by using the to-do feature, as well as for uploading files and messaging. Through this online management tool, items can get checked off of the list once tasks are completed, and all final drafts of work can be compiled into one organized area. Whether you have one or twenty employees, everyone can come together and see what personnel are assigned to which tasks and when they are completed.

Visit website: http://www.Basecamp.com

2. StrikeBase

Keeping deadlines and tracking time is made easier through StrikeBase, which provides users with a virtual project board and cloud collaboration. This tool also allows you to chat among team members from a desktop or mobile device. Staying connected with your business’s team and managing tasks is just as important as staying connect with social media and your followers.

Visit website: http://www.Strikebase.com

3. Trello

The ultimate organization tool is offered by Trello, in a glance you are able to see what projects are in progress and who is working on them. Using this task as more than just an online management tool is what Trello hopes for its users. The system is designed for it to be used as a community bulletin as well. While it may not be practical to give public access to your plans and documents, taking photos or captions of the work in progress helps keep your followers and customers in the loop. It shows that you are keeping up with what people want and makes things more personal.

Visit website: http://www.Trello.com

4. Zoho

Zoho can help your business from idea inception to project completion. It has Dropbox features, forums for chatting about project progress and other business management tasks, and can be used on mobile devices. Another feature is its compatibility with Google Apps, whether it’s documents or Gmail messages, all of it can be downloaded for your brand’s use.

Visit website: http://www.Zoho.com

5. Wrike

This management tool also allows for syncing work in progress from various locations such as Apple Mail, IBM Connections, Google App, Gmail, and many others. Offering real-time updates and project management, Wrike also provides online document collaboration. This means that files are compiled all in one place based on the content and can be edited online without have to re-download files…which will definitely come in handy when sorting out the newest products, documents, and data management.

Visit website: http://www.Wrike.com