RSS

Hey everyone! We’ve been getting a lot of new visitors to the site lately and some of you may have noticed that our RSS feed is not working. Specifically, Feedburner has (for whatever reason) suspended our account. So, you’re unable to subscribe to receive updates from this blog.

Note: Want to learn more about RSS & its powers of awesomeness in “Plain English?” Click here!

I’ve been searching the web and feverishly trying to figure out; a.) why the account was suspended and b.) how to reactivate the account, but I haven’t found a solution yet. Google is notoriously not very supportive in their own support forums . . .

So, I just wanted to let you all know that you can still subscribe to the Success Center via Feedburner and our site’s RSS. Simply, add your email address to the text box below and updates will be sent to you via email.

Subscribe to the Success Center

While you subscribe, I’m going to go figure out a way to get our account acting right again. I appreciate your support and as always, stay tuned because we’ve got new articles & videos pouring in every week!

Also, don’t forget that you can follow me on Twitter and Facebook as well!

Rod

P.S. – If anyone out there knows a good solution to getting our Feedburner account reactivated, please email me. Any help is appreciated!

Disclaimer: We will never share your email address with anyone, period.

About The Author

Rod Kirby

Image Courtesy of Kimberanna.com

Remember the feeling you had on the first day of school after summer break? There was that fresh wind of excitement that blew across the hallways. Familiar faces cropped up here and there with tales of summer vacation fun and adventure.

You were eager to learn new principles, techniques, and strategies that would propel you to success in the next stages of your life. And you were equally as excited to being that much closer to graduation and taking your life to the next level.

Well, school is back in session!

Settle down kids . . . the first period bell has rung.

My name is Mr. Kirby, and I (along with others from across the blog-o-sphere) will be your teacher for “Success 101.”

I hope you had an awesome summer break like I did.

This semester we’re going to explore how to be a successful entrepreneur in today’s evolving age of technology, marketing, and through the power of Biblical principles.

This course won’t be for everybody but for those that pay attention and come back often, you’re going to be in a position to succeed like never before!

Since today is the first day of school, its going to be a light day. However, next week the real lessons will begin so be prepared!

To help you get ready for a semester full of learning I’ve assembled a few recommended reading assignments for you below;

Recommended Reading for Technology Success

HOW TO: Make a Mobile Version of Your Blog [iPad Too!]

Top 5 Reasons You SHOULD Buy an iPad for Business [Updated + Video!]

Recommended Reading for Marketing Success

The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Twitter Success

The Biggest Marketing Secret – Ever, Finally Revealed

Recommended Reading for Biblical Success

Does God Want You to Succeed?

My Secret for Proven Business Success

So, welcome back! I hope you’re as excited as I am about exploring new ways you can be successful in business and in life. We’ll see you on Monday for class and don’t forget to share what I’ve told you with a friend or two.

Oh, and by the way, if you want some extra credit check out the complete recommended reading list on the Best Of page. I’m sure you’ll find a ton of great things that will prepare you for this semester. See you on Monday!!

Class dismissed.

Disclaimer: We will never share your email address with anyone, period.

About The Author

Rod Kirby

I'm Getting Married!

On Monday March 8, 2010 I opened up about how hard it was to juggle having a girlfriend, a full-time job, business, and a growing blog. On Wednesday March 10, 2010 I shared a word that I received from the Lord in how to manage it all. The relationship that I was in generated two of my best articles and now, something special is happening . . . I’m getting married!

The date is set for this Saturday April 23rd in our hometown of Memphis, TN. It’s been a long journey but one well worth the trip.

This has been one of the most stressful, happy, fun, tiring, and craziest years of my life. Needless to say, I’m extremely excited and ready to start a new chapter in my life. I’ve been thinking of new business ventures, opportunities, and projects to start with my new partner . . . but, for now, we’re going to take things one step at a time.

I wanted to let you all know that I’m grateful for your well wishes and awesome advice you’ve been giving us via Facebook and Twitter. In the coming days, weeks, and months ahead I’m sure I’ll be calling on those of you who are experts in the subject of being happily married – so be ready.

As you can expect, I’ve been swamped with wedding stuff, client projects, and life in general. However, I wanted to reassure you that the Success Center party is not stopping. I’ve got some great guest articles and contributor articles coming in the weeks ahead.

I’ll be out of the office from April 25 – May 1st and will return ready to rock your socks with great content on May 2nd. So, please, continue to visit the site, check out our great content, and share it throughout your social networks. Also, I’m still looking for more great guest bloggers and regular contributors to join the Success Center team. If you’ve got expertise in entrepreneurship, Christian business owning, marketing, and etc please let us know. We’d love for you to share your wisdom with our community.

If you would like to view our wedding website you may do so from this link.

If you want to bless us with a gift (of any kind) feel free to check out our wedding registry page.

Luke 6:38 says, “Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full–pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.” [NLT version]

So, thank you in advance for your gifts, best wishes, and advice.

Thank you again for staying connected with me and here at The Success Center. May God continue to smile upon us all as we continue to live for Him.

- Rod

Disclaimer: We will never share your email address with anyone, period.

About The Author

Rod Kirby

Want to Write for the Success Center?

I selfishly started blogging to build a marketing platform, generate income, and to grow my speaking business. I was fascinated by Darren Rowse’s story (Problogger.net) and the success stories of countless other professional bloggers. But, God had other plans for my blog. Instead, he wanted to use this as an online destination to connect, inspire, and empower Christian entrepreneurs.

For over a year and a half, I’ve been doing just that with over 100 articles published, 1300 comments, and more than 30,000 visitors to this site. No, those aren’t Problogger, Chris Brogan, or Copyblogger earthshattering stats . . . and that’s not my goal. What you see in those stats are impact! Impact on people’s lives, spiritual lives, and businesses.

Remember, in business, it doesn’t matter how many come through the door . . . just how many leave impacted. That’s the real key to success.

June of this year will mark the 2 year anniversary for The Success Center and I want YOU to be a part of that. If you’ve got wisdom, knowledge, or understanding in any area of Christian entrepreneurship, small business, marketing, finances, and etc; share it with us!

I’m looking for new guest bloggers and regular contributors to be a part of our editorial team and share their expertise with our community. If this sounds like you, then read this guide to writing for The Success Center.

Its readers like you that bless other readers because you all relate to each other and know what you need to succeed. So, if you want to be blessed and be a blessing to others, please, throw your hat into the ring.

I’m calling all speakers, small business owners, serial entrepreneurs, bloggers, authors, preachers, pastors, kindergarten teachers – EVERYONE! If you’ve got a story to tell, a lesson to teach, and are a decent writer this is for YOU!

Disclaimer: We will never share your email address with anyone, period.

About The Author

Rod Kirby

Goodbye 2010!

There are only 10 days left until this year will be shifted from the present and transitioned into the past. The Success Center has seen it’s share of victories this year and they’re all because of readers like YOU! Among those victories, this blog officially turned 1 year old on June 16! We’ve reached a landmark of over 100 posts, 200 subscribers, and 1000 comments. It’s truly been a blessed year!

However, my greatest accomplishments involved the value poured into the projects I started just for YOU;

• The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Twitter Success – This free e-book is still heavily downloaded today and I get tons of replies from people who get so much out of it. Thank you for supporting it!
• The Best Of page – with over 100 posts I wanted to make it easy for you to find the best this site has to offer and I’m proud to continually update it! You’ll find articles on social media marketing, leadership, how to blog, how to be successful God’s way, and tons more. Check it out whenever you get the chance.
• The Resources page – You KNOW I love to share and that’s exactly what I do on this page. Everything from the WordPress plugins I use to ways I make money online; it’s all listed here.
• The Services page – Most of you have known about my coaching services, but not the other things I do for entrepreneurs across the country. So, I made it official this year by putting all of my services, with prices, on one page. You’ll find all the help you need in taking your business to the next level. It doesn’t matter if you need professionally designed corporate identity, help with the development of your web presence, or video production services . . . I’m here for you.

I’ve seen the biggest success come from the web show I started this past summer, The Big Business Show. This project has opened a lot of doors for me, including being issued press passes at events like 2011′s International CES (Consumer Electronics Show).

No, I’m not bragging, but I hope you can get a sense of how excited I am for where this small blog has come from. I’m even more excited for where God is taking it in 2011. Here’s what you have to look forward to next year;

• Greater Attention to the Needs of Christian entrepreneurs – This blog has always been about inspiring, empowering, and equipping Christian entrepreneurs for success, but I don’t think that it’s been conveyed consistently. In 2011, we’re picking up the ball and will be focusing on topics and subject matter that will help you start, manage, or market your business God’s way.
• Regular Contributors – I’m not the only one with expertise in entrepreneurship. Next year, you’ll read articles from awesome men and women of God that genuinely have a heart to help entrepreneurs like you.
  Note: If you want to write for us as a regular contributor or guest blogger, fill out this form.
• Return of the “Success Tips!” Newsletter – I know I dropped the ball on the newsletter. I’m sorry, but, I promise that it’ll be back, in greater effect, starting on Monday January 3rd. The newsletter will focus heavily on marketing techniques, tools, and even feature guest writers as well. Trust me, you don’t want to miss it. If you’re not a subscriber, check out the archives to get a taste of what you’re missing and subscribe now!
• More Services and Tools to Help You Grow Your Business – I’ve got some cool stuff planned for 2011 that will help you take your business to the next level. I can’t tell you everything that’s in store, but I will tell you that one of those is training. I’ve partnered with my good friend, LaTara Ham-Ying to bring webinars and other training material to entrepreneurs like you. Stop by her blog and check out the details for past training sessions and to get an idea of what to expect.
• More Episodes of The Big Business Show – Season 1 is an official wrap for the year and I’ve already started on season 2! You can expect me to cover exclusive events, interview more awesome entrepreneurs, review great technology for your biz, and you might even get a musical performance or two. Don’t forget that you can subscribe to the show directly in iTunes!

If 2010 was any indication of things to come then 2011 will knock your socks off! I’m looking forward to continuing to provide you with valuable content to help you on your road to success. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for your continued support and happy holidays.

Rod

P.S. – If you’re a blogger I’d like to hear how God has blessed you this year and what your plans are for 2011. If you’re an entrepreneur, how has God grown your business this year? Hit any goals or landmark figures of your own? If you’re none of the above, what are your goals for next year? Blast off in the comments below!

Disclaimer: We will never share your email address with anyone, period.

About The Author

Rod Kirby

Yesterday, February 15th was a historic day for The Success Center with the launch of the Entrepreneur’s Guide to Twitter Success e-book. Hundreds of visits to the site, tons of downloads of the book, and plenty of good reviews buzzing around the net about it. What could possibly go wrong?

I made a mistake, a really, really, really, big mistake. I, Rod Kirby, sent out an unsolicited email announcing the launch of the book to over 300 people in my Gmail account. Yes, you heard me correctly, I sent out a spam mail.

Why?

I had been working into the “wee” hours of the morning trying to make sure I had everything ready for the e-book launch, only had around 6  hours of sleep from the night before, and I was having troubles with my Constant Contact account. I needed to send out a quick announcement email and my Gmail account was the only thing I had available – so I sent it.

This mail went out to my 300 contacts, most of which were not on my Success Tips email newsletter list. There were some concerns over privacy, spam, and some people flat-out asked me to remove them from my contacts.

As a result of this mass mail-out, my web host, Fused Network, suspended my account which took The Success Center offline for over 8 hours. This action hurt my traffic, spread of the e-book, and in the end punished those that enjoy this site on a regular basis. I have been in negotiations with them for the past couple of hours and needless to say, they will continue to host The Success Center and I have promised never to do that ever again.

What do I have to say for myself?

I definitely was tired, excited, and very anxious to spread the good news of the e-book, but there is no excuse to sacrificing people’s privacy for self promotion. I am very sorry to the deepest corners of my soul to those I emailed, people who weren’t able to download the e-book, and regular visitors to this site. It was never my intention to send anyone spam all I can say is that I got caught up in my own excitement and didn’t exercise good judgment.

I wanted to address this situation because everything I do here is not about me. I really have everyone’s best interest at heart. To my web host, Fused Network, thank you for giving me a second chance. You guys really are the best host in the world and it would have definitely hurt me to have to move elsewhere. To everyone reading this, you have my word that this incident will never occur again. I have definitely learned a lesson and will move forward with the wisdom close to the future work I do here.

If you have a question, comment, concern, or even a criticism, feel free to leave it in the comments below. I’m a big boy and I can handle it.

Thank you for your continued support.

Rod

Disclaimer: We will never share your email address with anyone, period.

About The Author

Rod Kirby

Rod Kirby, Editor-in-Chief

We’re in the home stretch heading into 2010 and I couldn’t be happier. It’s been a great year – correction . . . it’s been an awesome year. Personally, I’ve taken some big strides with the launch of The Success Center and making a strategic move into becoming a flight attendant. People are still amazed to find out that I serve peanuts and pretzels on airplanes. I argue that I’m a servant leader so it’s by far the easiest job I’ve ever had.

My point in this letter isn’t to relish in the past, but to get you excited about the future. I’ve got some great things coming up for you that I know you’ll love. So, if you’ll loan me your attention for just a moment, I’ve got a couple of announcements to make.

“Win in 2010″ Entrepreneur Fast

Are you ready to take your life and business to the next level? Ready start 2010 off with a bang? Then join me and a multitude of other entrepreneurs in a one of a kind corporate fast. Fasting quiets your spirit and allows God to give you the direction, guidance, and keys you need to succeed. It’s sacrificing something (and in our case, a couple of things!) to receive something awesome from the big man upstairs. Seriously, this is how I started the Success Center. The idea of a blog-a-zine dropped into my spirit after I came off of my fast earlier this year. It’s a powerful tool for anyone who wants to know their next strategic move. Head over to the official announcement post, or sign-up by entering your email below, and get ready to “win in 2010!”

Sign up for our Email Newsletter

Open-Call for Guest Bloggers

My January schedule is filling up fast with the entrepreneur fast, planning some new interviews for Inside the Success, and other things (I’m doing it all for you!). I know a lot of readers here have their own blogs, are writers, small business owners, entrepreneurs, etc. I would love for you to share your wisdom, knowledge, and understanding in your field of expertise. If you’re passionate about social media, marketing, entrepreneurship, being a Christian entrepreneur, or something else business related, I want to hear from you. Email me rod[at]rodkirby.com or use the big orange contact button to the left.

Best of The Success Center 2009

This blog is only 6 months old but we’ve produced some pretty cool stuff, wouldn’t you agree? Here are some of my favorite posts and a few that you have rated as your favs as well. Enjoy!

A Love Letter to Chris Brogan

The Home Depot Guide to Success

The Coach John Calipari Guide to Effective Leadership in 5 Steps [with Pictures!]

Does God Want You to Succeed?

How to Create an Editorial Calendar for Your Blog

Archive Spotlight: How do you define success?

How to Use Social Media to Build Your Brand Locally

4 Secrets to Small Business Success

Repositioning Yourself for Success

5 Keys to Blogging Success

3 Magazine Advertising Strategies for Blogging Success

4 Reasons Why I won’t (and you might) Invest in Network Marketing

Are You Afraid of Success?

Quit Your Job and Make Millions

8 Magazine Strategies that add Value to Your Blog

5 Free Ways to Market Your Business – Introduction

How’s My Driving?

Wanna help me make The Success Center even better for you in 2010? Take this quick 3 minute survey!

See You in 2010!

Well, that’s all I got. Got anything for me? Questions, comments, or concerns? Feel free to share your excitement of the new year in the comments below. I’ll talk to you kiddies in two thousand and ten!

Rod

Disclaimer: We will never share your email address with anyone, period.

About The Author

Rod Kirby

This blog-a-zine has come a long way since I relaunched it in May of this year. This is the sixth month since that time and I’m pleased with the way things are going and excited with where they’re headed. I just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone for their continued support of this site. YOU really make a difference with your comments, linking to articles, and sharing amongst your peers. From the bottom of my heart, I really appreciate the love. The greatest reward I’ve seen from this site is knowing that someone was blessed and helped by something that I wrote. It’s an amazing feeling.

If you’re a small business owner, entrepreneur, or professional with tons of knowledge in marketing, sales, customer service, design, management, or some other facet of business, share your wisdom with our readers. I’m always looking for guest bloggers who will bring something new, exciting, fresh, or give a different perspective on various topics. You don’t have to be an expert, you just have to know what you’re writing and be relative to the audience here. Email me [rod (at) rodkirby.com] if this sounds like something you’re interested in.

Also, I’m in the process of developing a media kit along with advertising rate information. If you’re a small business owner, big business decision maker, or entrepreneur and you want to get the word out about your product, service, or company let me know. Unlike other sites that charge a rate and turn their head, I want to partner with you in order to help  meet your goals. The only thing I ask is that your product or service is, again, relevant to the audience here. Simple request right?

Anyway, thank YOU again for your continued support. I’ve got some really great things coming within the next 6 months (You thought you were just going to read a blog and that be it? Pleaaaassseeee!). Trust me, you’ll definitely want to stick around. I’ll give you a big hint – if you haven’t watched the 17 minute video of How to Create an Editorial Calendar for your Blog then you’re missing out!

Till next time boys and girls. Thank you again, live long and prosper much!

Rod

P.S. - The Success Tips newsletter is going to start going out every Monday morning instead of Friday. If you haven’t subscribed yet, I highly encourage you to do so now!

Disclaimer: We will never share your email address with anyone, period.

About The Author

Rod Kirby