Photo by vramak.

In the past hidden talents have commonly been defined as things you are great at but nobody knows about, or things that you would be immediately great at if you tried them, skipping beginner and progressing to intermediate in an instant. The first definition is useful mainly in movies, the latter is not really useful at all (arguably more myth than reality).

Your hidden talents are the things you could do that would make you happy. But you don’t know it yet.

This is not just about work, but speaks to the whole content of your life. I’ve already written about the psychological evidence that shows that when people do work or activities that make them feel good and involve skills, either mental or physical, live happier lives.

This is just common sense, and it’s probably nothing you haven’t already heard before. But I don’t think many people actually take the next step and give themselves the opportunity to discover all of their hidden talents.

Read More…

Photo by Sidi Guariach.

If you’ve ever thought about freelancing part-time but never done it, this post may help you. Most people never follow through on those thoughts because they are overwhelmed and confused by the process of starting a freelance business. The aim of this post is to provide a step-by-step guide to launching a part-time freelance business in 30 days, going from zero to taking on your first client.

The format for this challenge was inspired by the excellent 31 Days to Build a Better Blog program, which concluded recently. I really like this approach because it offers concrete, practical steps with a measurable result. Sometimes ‘do this, do that’ advice is more useful than theory. My hope is that you can follow the steps here, putting one foot ahead of the other, and find yourself with a little freelance business at the end of the process!

The program is designed to be completed while you are working full-time, either by dedicating a couple of hours in the evening or mornings, or working on the program over the weekend. It should be combined with daily hands-on practice in the skill you want to freelance in, particularly if you are a novice in that skill. If you are a novice, don’t delay the program until you feel you are ‘good’ enough. The emphasis is on selling a very specific skill that you can become good at in a short period of time. 30 days practicing one hour a day is more than enough time to develop a specific service that you are good enough at to sell.

Read More…

Photo by Dreamscape Photographs.

Viral articles are game-changing content that can fling your blog, website or portfolio into the stratosphere. Viral articles get links, retweets, social media votes, comments and lots of traffic. The success of a viral article is usually followed by a powerful subscriber jump. Once you learn the strategy to create viral content, things will never be the same.

In this post I want to show you how to create a viral-ready post, customized to your niche, in exactly two hours. This is a plan anyone can follow. If you have some spare time now I urge you to read this article and then set aside a couple of hours to follow the steps outlined here. If you’re short of time, bookmark this post and come back to it when you next sit down to write. I’m confident that the final result of this exercise will be one of the most popular content items you’ve ever created.

Read More…