All I can say is WOW…
2009 was an amazing year full of many new “first time ventures” for me in the business world. Sticking with my yearly tradition ill be writing here a basic year in review for 2009 and then following this post ill write a “What I want to accomplish” blog for 2010. Like I always say creating “goals” is important if you ever want to actually achieve your goals.
So 2009 took me many places that I have never been before and it also took me into areas of business I have never been involved in until just recently. I met many exciting and amazingly smart people this year and I will certainly outline those below…
2009 Year In Review For Anthony Morrison
1. I started off 2009 continuing my tour around the country teaching Internet marketing. I love it. I have to say my passion for teaching this stuff grows each and every day. There are so many people in this country who spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on education only to get a degree and find out there are no jobs available! When is America going to wake up? Teach this stuff in school! Give young adults a chance to create an income that could maybe help pay back these huge student loans we have to take out just to get educated. I do not understand why we have classes like “tennis” and “P.E.” but we don’t have a real class on Internet Marketing? And no I am not talking about some stupid 10 year old book. I am talking about a real class with real world techniques that young people can use immediately while in college.
2. I met Mark Victor Hansen – Yep how cool is that? Gotta be one of the highlights of my entire year. This man is brilliant. He has sold millions of books and think of how many lives he touched with his Chick Soup book series? Absolutely amazing. He is one of the nicest people I have met in my entire life. The great thing about Mark is he doesn’t have an ego 100 miles high. He’s nice to everyone he meets and he listens when you speak. He’s not intelligent for no reason you know. He pays attention even when I (at only 26) speak to him. He’s treated me with nothing but respect since the day I met him and I am proud to say he is a good friend of mine. If the saying “You are only as good as those who surround you” is true then I feel like I am in pretty good shape.
3. I met Marc Ostrofsky – Yea I know 2009 is full of “i met …” but still these things are very notable. Last year I told you I met Cameron Johnson. It was a highlight for me in 2008 because he is an incredible young entrepreneur. This year I have continued to meet incredible people and it continues to be the highlight of my year! Marc Ostrofsky is the origional owner of Business.com you know the domain that sold for over $10,000,000.00 (yea thats 10 million dollars). That sale landed him in the genis book of world records. Marc is just a great guy. He’s sold over 100 MILLION DOLLARS worth of businesses. Everyone calls him the 100 Million Dollar Man at every event we attend. He is the nicest guy in the world. He invited me to his home in Texas and even took me to New York for my first time this year. I have been really lucky to meet such humble and successful people. Marc is getting ready to launch his book “Get Rich Click” in 2010. You can get the inside scoop by going to www.getrichclick.com. He’s a smart guy. We can all learn from him! I am just thankful to be able to call him a good friend and to help him this year as he launches a book that can and will inspire hundreds of thousands of people around this country and possibly even the world.
4. My 2nd Book Launched – I wrote my second book “Advertising Profits From Home” in 2009. The journey to get this book done was much easier than my first book simply because I have a bit more experience now. The book itself is a real step by step guide to advertising online and how you can generate an income if you do it properly. I think it’s important for people to understand Internet marketing. Our world is changing so fast and we all know everything is being done online it’s becoming more and more important that we all understand the Internet and how to advertise effectively on it. The goal of my new book was to teach people my strategies and my techniques and I think I have accomplished that goal.
5. My New TV Show Launched – If you haven’t seen it already my new show is airing nationwide right now. I was on the “Hansen Report” featuring my new book “Advertising Profits From Home” and discussing with Mark Hansen why Internet marketing is important. Filming this show is actually where I met Mark Hansen for this first time. I said hello my name is Anthony he said well nice to meet you the cameras are on and we are live! He interviewed me when he didn’t know me at all… I think thats what makes the show so great. It’s just real. Two people who didn’t know each other sitting down discussing a book and how it could inspire, motivate and teach people around the country. I had a great time doing the show and it’s now on national TV every single night.
6. anthonymorrisonblog.com Got a New Look – This year we redesigned the anthonymorrisonblog.com website. It was actually one of the highlights of my entire year. I love website design and I love coming up with new things that other people haven’t done previously. I poured myself into the design, colors and layout of the site and overall I couldn’t be happier. We also launched the Live! community where we literally help thousands of people from all over the world network together to learn Internet marketing. I know I get a lot of exposure being on TV and I am simply leveraging that exposure to bring people together to learn. The community is free and it’s just a great place to ask questions and learn about Internet marketing from people all over the world.
7. Speaking Events – This year was the first time I was asked to speak at events other people were hosting. The first event I spoke at was in Phoenix, Az and was hosted by Mark Victor Hansen. Like I said earlier meeting him was a highlight of my year how do you think I felt about speaking at one of his events? It was really incredible. For those of you that know me you know I love to speak, but typically it’s at my own events. This was a new experience for me and I enjoyed every minute of it. I was also fortunate enough to have met Sharon Lechter at Mark’s event. She asked me to speak at her Three Feet From Gold Book Launch event in Ahahiem, Ca. Talk about being a bit overwhelmed for those of you who don’t know who Sharon is she is one of the most respected authors in our country. She has a passion for helping children and she’s just overall a wonderful person. Speaking at her book launch event was certainly a priveledge. I spoke on the same stage that Sharon, Mark, Bob Proctor, Les Miles and many other incredible speakers spoke on that same weekend. It was an amazing experience for me and I am thankful for the opportunity. If you have yet to read her book I highly suggest checking it out at Three Feet From Gold Website.
8. I met Richard Bransen & Paula Abdul – Like I said this year is really full of the “I met…” reviews. This year was really just amazing and I can’t possibly list everyone that I met and everyone that I know is going to positively influence me for many years to come. I do think it was really nice to be able to meet Richard Bransen at his event Rock The Kasbah 2009 in LA. This was the first event like this I have ever attended. It was full of celebrities, the atmosphere was great and it was for a good cause. I was invited to the event by a friend of mine who has really been a great teacher and influencer to me this year (so thanks for the invite). Anyway it was just a really cool event to attend I was able to grab a picture with Sir Richard Bransen himself and even got one with Paula Abdul while I was there as well.
10. A New Found Passion – As you all know I have always had a passion for helping children. My ChristmasForKids.us charity is simply a way to spread the word to people all over the world that children are our future and we should do our very best to give them the means to grow and prosper in a healthy environment. Obviously Christmas gifts are just a small portion of the work that’s needed but I believe every kind gesture helps. In 2008 I wrote about helping some children from the burn center at Christmas since their families were spending to help them heal. That year I was really touched by the kids that I saw and interacted with just for a few hours. In 2009 we found out the number of children in the burn center had gone from about 20 in 2008 to over 90 in 2009. We did our best to pull together and with the help of many caring people we were able to give them all one amazing night of shopping, gifts and fun. Typically I think about this as just provided kids with gifts so we can put a smile on their face. These kids, however, are different. These are kids who wake up every single morning ashamed of the way they look, depressed and unhappy. These are children who have been through such a traumatic even in their lives that they may never overcome it. These are children who need more than just Christmas gifts. They need counsiling, comfort and the means to take care of their burns so they will heal in the best way possible.
This year I was able to get a first hand look at exactly what these kids go through when they get burned. One week after our family and friends took the burn center kids shopping my mother ended up in the burn center. She spilled an entire pan of hot grease on both of her hands, what a freakish and unexpected accident. There we all were literally one week after seeing these kids seeing first hand what people go through. My mom was in and out of the hospital for weeks. She was so traumatised she couldn’t sleep or eat. She was in so much pain she couldn’t think and for burns…. there is absolutely nothing other than time that can take away the pain. It’s one thing to hear about these things but its a whole different level to see it first hand and to have it affect your own life.
I was already committed to helping children in the burn center prior to this incident, but now my passion has only grown stronger. So why do I post this on my “year in review” you say? I am sure your thinking why do you want to remember this for years to come? Well it’s always been my belief that if I can share my story and teach others then I am doing what I am here to do. It’s not always a story about Internet marketing or making money that can change your life. Hopefully from this story you will be more aware that these children do exist and if you have the ability to help them, you should.
That’s about it for 2009…….. Wishing you all a wonderful 2010!
Anthony Morrison