This is probably the cheesiest stock photo I could find.  However, it really does describe how I felt today, and how I tell so many people to analyze a decision that's on the horizon.

Today I was sick to my stomach, and felt like I was 10 years old all over again.  I felt like wanted to throw up, then wanted to eat a Dairy Queen Blizzard, but I didn't, then wanted to go in the corner in the fetal position.

Yes, this is extremely dramatic, but today I finally pulled the plug on a decision I had been toying with for a while, I signed the contract and started making speaker payments for my first ever event.

2015 was a year of knocking out things I didn't have experience with, speaking and selling from the stage, writing and publishing my first book, and putting together a few more courses.  All of these things seemed so daunting and impossible just 12 short months ago, but now they're all a piece of cake, relatively speaking.  So you're right, it's not like I can...

Yep, I did a little podfading, which I'm not happy with myself about.

However, I explain in this podcast, about why it happened.  How I hit a breaking point, and why you may need to start taking just a little bit more care of yourself.

I also give a little insight into what's coming for 2016!

Joshua Dorkin was a teacher who decided to be a real estate investor.  After discovering the market was full of people more about making money than actually helping, he decided to do something about it.

Using a little bit of web design experience from college, he launched BiggerPockets.com.  Over the years, the site slowly grew until it became a full-time income for Joshua.  He shares how he got it rolling, some of the struggles he has faced, and what has made this such a successful site over 10 years later.

How did you start to monetize this business idea going against the grain of the industry?  Joshua was working another job, so he was able to keep the business going in the beginning.  He then started to put ads up with Google AdSense and started to slowly make money.

Talk about the side hustle part of it, when did you decide to make the leap?  Joshua started substitute teaching and on his first job, the teacher he was working for quit....

You find someone who has a similar audience, you love their message, and you think dang, we need to work on something together.  You reach out to them, they love the idea, you love the idea, you put together a course, and all is rainbows and puppies.

But then something goes wrong.....

Now what?  You're not officially in a business partnership because this course or event was created on a handshake.

• Who is responsible?
• Who gets the list of attendees?
• Who is liable?

All of a sudden all of these questions come up, and you're left trying to figure them out far too late in the game.

Yes, even affiliate marketing is an incredible way to build your business.  However, you should set yourself up so you're protected and planning.  So just in case if something goes wrong, you're covered.

Tamsen and I had been asked to cover this topic, and I was excited because I think it's really an important one.

We talk about:

• What to think about before you jump into something...

Carrie and Daniel Himel are not only entrepreneurs, but are married.  About ten years ago, they started their first business venture together, which turned out to be a huge success.  After they worked on a few separate businesses, they decided to start an event called Middle School Match-up, which is a baseball tournament for Middle Schoolers.

You get this idea for an event, what are your first steps in putting this all together?  It wasn't giant to start, and it did start as an idea.  It started as an idea because in Texas football is super huge, but they had a baseball player.  Their son was entering middle school, which can be such a hard time anyway.  Here he was this really great athlete, but no one cared because he wasn't playing football.   So they got the idea to start showcasing baseball players to help enhance the middle school experience.  They talked about it for more than a year, hoping someone else would do it.

About a year...

Dr. Susan O'Malley's story is an incredible journey of beating the odds time and time again.  After dropping out of college, she worked as a secretary for 11 years.  When her life took a drastic change, she decided to go back to school.  It was then when she changed her major from being a nutritionist to being a doctor.

After she was rejected from every medical school in the country, perseverance kicked in.  It took her that long to figure out what her dream was, and she wasn't going to be shut out of it.  She was accepted just a few weeks before school started.

Times had changed, as she found herself pregnant and no husband.  However, she decided to follow through and go to school.

How did you do it all being by yourself, with a baby, and in med school?  Dr. O'Malley got through it one day at a time, and sometimes it was one hour at a time.  Had she looked at graduation the first day of medical school, it would have been too overwhelming....

Master the Start is out and holding strong as an Amazon Best Seller!!!  It's been a journey and a process so beyond the steps it took to write and get it out to the world.

I share my struggles with getting it complete, and all of the things I learned about what needed to happen once you have completed the book.

I also get into things I want to do better next time, and things I wish I would have known!

Speaking can be an incredible way to build your name, brand, and business, and you can also get paid.  Joleene really defines it at three levels, entry, in the middle, and high paid keynotes.

There are three levels (by Joleene's definition).  Entry level is where you begin speaking, and you do rotary meetings, lunch and learns, etc to get your name out there.  You know you're not going to get paid.  Joleene advices not to keep doing them for free for a long time.  The next level is mid levels is where you're making between $1000 and $9000 for a keynote.  Then there is high-level speaking where you can get $10,000 to $60,000 for one speech.  To get that to that realm of high paid, you have to have clout, be well known, and be a celebrity.

Let's start at tier 1, where do you begin asking for $200, etc?  First, there's a keynote between a presentation and a keynote.  What you want to do is look for local associations in your area....

Facebook Groups have become a popular way to build your business.  How it's typically done is where you have one group, and then you make comments, ask questions, connect people, etc. Gary Leland has taken Facebook Groups to an entirely new level and is using it as a way to build and connect the entire Fast Pitch Softball Community in the US.  He gives us some tips and tricks for how he manages it all, and how he is using it also to build his business.

Let's first talk about your group of 20,000, how are you utilizing that?  The main one started when groups started; Gary thought he would start a group.  It's a basic group, and he advertises his business in there.  His rules are that you can't sell anything in there, so he is the only allowed to sell.  Now, as he approaches close to 20,000, there are a lot of people to sell to. He tries not to sell to them all the time.  He does put stuff in there every week or every other week.  The only...

Facebook groups are the latest and greatest way to build a community for your business.  However, as great as they are, you also have to be sure to protect yourself from what legally could happen to you.

Yes, it's not a lot of fun to think about.  However, by putting precautions in place now, you could save yourself a lot of headaches down the line.

What are the general things we should know about Facebook Groups? No matter what type of group you have, there should be general term rules. Basically terms of use and terms and conditions. The big thing is that when they come into the group (especially if it’s not part of a paid program), you make this a pinned post, especially when you’re first starting. Make sure that you make it clear that being in the group isn’t a free for all.

What kind of rules are you making? Be specific, so like a promo day, don’t just say the day it is. Also say what kind of promo it is. You want to let people know if...