However, I am passionate about my faith and share my experiences with anyone who cares to pull up a chair and a coffee. With that in mind, my OBS tip for this week comes from the Bible. The Old Testament in fact.

The Broken Walls of Jerusalem

After living in exile in Babylonia for 70 years, the Jews were finally allowed to return to a broken and burned Jerusalem. They were instructed to rebuild the city walls and the temple, and settle into life as a united people. The temple construction went well, but by the time the people started on the city walls, they were listless, slow, and tired.

Defenseless and Tired

The city was vulnerable to attack without fortified walls, but the people were too pooped to pop and became disorganized. Work ground to a halt.

Nehemiah: One Smart Cookie

Nehemiah was the Persian king’s cup bearer, and a Jew. He heard that the walls were still not finished and became greatly distressed. King Artaxerxes had pity on him, and sent him to Jerusalem for 12 years as a governor to oversee the rebuilding of the city walls.

Read this account of what happens next and see if you can pick out Nehemiah’s business strategy.

“When Nehemiah arrived at Jerusalem, he spent three days surveying the lay of the land before taking any action. Then he made a night trip around the city to assess the situation. It was only after this trip that he approached the leaders of the community with the job he had in mind. As he did so, he presented it as a problem of which he was part and proposed a common solution. He gave evidence that his solution would work by showing what God had done to that point.

Once he got agreement on the proposed solution, Nehemiah organized the forces in such a way that each of the groups felt an identity in their part of the project. Each family or professional group worked on the section of the wall closest to their houses or places of work. The different groups appear to have been set in competition with one another. As the work progressed and opposition arose, Nehemiah never lost sight of the objective. As a result, they were able to build the walls in 52 days.

First, let me point out that rebuilding the walls of the city was no small task. For two years, the work on the walls crawled along with little progress. He was able to turn the situation around in just over 6 weeks.

Nehemiah’s Business Strategies

I could tell you what strategies I see hidden in these words, but what fun would that be? In nursing school, we were taught the best way to learn something is with hands-on experience. With that in mind, I’m going to post my take on Nehemiah’s strategy on Friday and give you a few days to think it over.

If you’re brave or like a challenge, leave your ideas in the comments, or email them to me if you’re not so brave. I’ll add them to Friday’s post and we’ll see what our collective brain soup looks like.

*By the way, as a double disclaimer, the above quote came from the Promise and the Blessing by Michael A. Harbin. And this blog and the OBS tips contained therein are not endorsed by Naomi Dunford or Itty Biz in any way. In fact, I doubt she knows we are doing this. So if you hate my tips, please direct all hate mail to me, not Naomi or Jamie Dunford.*

To help you succeed, we’ll be gathering here to share tips, ask questions, and just gab about the courses. I think Naomi is planning a forum section at some time, so if that opens, we’ll move the party to Itty Biz.

The first tip I have for OBS students has to do with tried and true study tactics. If you can’t recall the information from OBS when it comes time to put it into practice, well, what’s the point?

Study Tactics to Improve Your Recall

I’ve been in school a long, long time. I have two degrees and am working on my third. I’ve picked up a few habits along the way that cut down on my study time and greatly improved my recall, and am willing to share my brain and my cookies. (Chocoalate chip is the flavor of the day, we’ll have ones with sprinkles next week for Dave.)

These habits can help you succeed with OBS if you apply them. They do you no good if you read them and leave them looking pretty on the screen. Give it a try, you’ll be amazed.

1. Know your learning style. Most people are visual learners. This means you retain more information by reading or watching a video. Fewer people are auditory learners. They learn best by hearing the spoken word. Most of us have adapted enough to use a combination of styles, but knowing your strengths will help you get the most from the course.  Naomi and Jamie provide recordings, PDF transcripts for reading, and tutorial videos to meet everyone’s learning needs. Focus the majority of your time on the media that suits your individual learning style.
2. If you have an iPod, put it to use. The audio files are in MP3 format so they will transfer with a sync. Listen to the files in the car, while you exercise, while you sleep. Listen over and over until you can hear Naomi’s voice telling you, “You can do this. I’m handing you the freakin’ tools, go build your dreams.”
3. Read, rinse, repeat. The next tip for improving recall comes from John MacArthur. (You don’t have to be a Bible scholar, a MacArthur fan, or even a Christian to use this one. No worries.) Mr. MacArther tells his students to read one book of the Bible from begining to end, in one sitting, everyday for 30 days. This creates a visual imprint of the written words on your brain. At the end of 30 days, you will know that material forward and backward, inside and out because you can picture the words in your head. Do this with the Online Business School transcripts.

Give these a try and stop back or email me if you you find something that works for you that you want to share.

Next up is a tip for all current and potential business owners that comes from one of the greatest building projects ever undertaken.

“Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion.”~ Jack Welch

I’ve covered some wonderful topics here on blue Duck Copy. We’ve talked about writing skills, integrity, inspiration, and regrets. Each of these topics has weighty value for a writer, and I believe they serve as a firm foundation for reaching for the stars. However, there is more to building a business than feeling good and looking pretty. Online business is hard work. Competition is fierce and the wolves will eat you alive unless you face reality.

Getting Down to Business

Despite poplar opinion, money will not fall from the sky simply because you bought a domain name and write well.

Thinking good thoughts and believing that your website will make money helps you avoid ulcers, but it won’t fatten your checkbook.

Making money requires marketing, promotion, analysis, networking, planning. You need to know about branding, self-promotion, buzz words, social media, advertising, website coding, time management, organization, taxes, business law, communication, how to handle difficult people, setting goals, making a business plan….. and a whole slew of other universal and niche business principals. If you want to make money from your writing, your writing becomes your business. Treat it accordingly.

(This doesn’t mean you have to stop writing form the heart, it just means you need to work smarter if you want results.)

The Kicker

If you’re not willing to give your business your all, find another line of work. Save yourself a boatload of time and money. There are no quick and easy shortcuts to a paycheck.

If you are willing to work hard, step out of your comfort zone, read until your eyes burn, and type until your fingers bleed, you can make money writing. But you have to be willing to go that far.

For those who are still reading, there is hope and help.You can achieve your dreams with two steps:

1 )Go here.

2) Then go here

Step one is entering a terrific contest sponsored by Men With Pens. Through sheer generosity and a belief that building your dreams is possible, they’ve put together an absolutely phenomenal package of prizes to help you get your business started. James, Harry, and Charlie know what it’s like to start out with nothing but a dream and desperation. They want to help.

Step two is Itty Biz’s Online Business School. it will cost you a few dollars, but if you’re serious about building an online business, you need this information. Naomi’s been where you are now and she can help you get out of that rut.

Dream Big. Work Hard. Get Help.

P.S. If you order Online Business School, please email me or leave a comment saying so. We have a small group forming that will gather to discuss the course and brainstorm together.