Fast Track to Blog Success is Free until Friday!

Last week, Problogger.net announced that Bankaholic,1 Man Blog Sells for $15 Million Dollars.

A story like that is all you need to get some people moving towards launching their own blogs. If you've got a blog, then you know it's true - creating a blog is EASY. Creating a SUCCESSFUL blog is hard!

You should know that I'm a blog pusher by trade. I've helped HUNDREDS of people launch their own self hosted Wordpress blogs over the past two years. However, while teaching my clients the MECHANICS of blogging was easy - there's a LOT more to creating a successful blog than creating random posts.

To create a successful blog, you have to have a plan. So, I created the 8 Week Power Blog Launch to walk my clients step by step through the blog launch process. (I paced it over an 8 week Period because my clients would complain of "brain overload" when I tried to information dump on them!)

When I offered the 8 Week Power Blog Launch to the public, it had already served the intended purpose. One of my clients used the course to achieve a #2 ranking on her desired keywords. Another client had landed a 5 figure consulting contract as a result of her blog. I was happy, my clients were happy so any sales of the product from the site were just bonus.

When I started selling the program to "strangers" a funny thing happened. I started getting emails from people who didn't want to wait 8 whole weeks to finish the program. The buyers of the 8 Week Power Blog Launch program wanted instant results. I understand. I also grew up in an age where 30 minute solutions to life's biggest problems are considered possible thanks to the magic of television.

I was working on a "quick start blog success course" when the Bankaholic sale was announced. There's nothing like a successful case study to illustrate a point, so the Fast Track to Blog Success report includes an in depth analysis of the keyword strategy John Wu used to make the Bankaholic blog so attractive to the buyer, Bankrate.com.

If you head over to my blog at Virtual Impax.com, you can pick up this report for free until Friday, October 10th. After that, the 100% discount code will be retired and you'll pay $24.95 for the report.

The Lazy Ad Executive's Path to Success: Using Soft Core Porn to Sell Cars

• Are you an advertising executive who is struggling for ideas?

• Do you have a client who is being courted by other agencies?

• Are you telling yourself that those other agencies are probably providing high class hookers to steal YOUR account away from you and your agency?

Well my friend, I have the three step answer which will put those fears of losing your agency's biggest client to ease.

ADVERTISING SUCCESS STEP ONE : Define the Target Audience

You may have been told that defining your client's target audience requires time and thought, BUT IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE THAT WAY!

Simply pitch your client that you're creating an "exciting" campaign that will appeal to men age 25-101 who earn $50K or more a year.

Your client should begin drooling immediately. If not, make sure it's not some feminine hygiene product. (You can still sell this demographic to them, you'll just have to exercise a tiny bit of creativity to do so.)

All clients love the high income male demographic. Be sure to stress that this demographic has not been hurt by the recent economic downturn. (If the economy is not in an economic downturn a.k.a. after an election, then emphasize that this demographic won't be hurt by the next down turn, a.k.a before the next election.)

If they're not drooling over the potential of this demographic, don't worry. We'll close them solidly later on.

ADVERTISING SUCCESS STEP TWO: Create a campaign based on soft porn

Present your lewd and lascivious print campaign. (See BMW's example of lews and lascivious advertising here.)

Be sure you find a model who's barely legal for this ad and be sure that she's an aspiring porn star. Remember, you may be telling your CLIENT that the target demographic for this ad is high income men ages 25-101, but in reality what you're going for is a complete lack of blood flow to the brain every heterosexual man in the room.

See, God played a cruel trick when He created man. In essence, He didn't give men enough blood to run both their brains and their genitals at the same time. So, by creating a print ad that effectively drops the IQ of every male executive in the room to 1, you eliminate any resistance to your low effort/low creativity advertising promotion.

If the lady is as lovely in person as she is in print, bring her to the meeting. Be careful not to hide her many "attributes". On the other hand, if she's been heavily airbrushed, then bring in scantily clad 18 year olds who are future Playmates to help launch the campaign.

Remember, the goal is to reduce the IQ of every man in the room to 1. Once that is achieve, victory is yours.

ADVERTISING SUCCESS STEP THREE: Gentlemen, put on your flame suits.

Now you can sit back and reap the fruits of your labor. The women's groups will see your ad and raise a ruckus. Nothing generates more free PR than a bunch of picketers in front of the business.

If your client gets nervous, point out that there's no such thing as bad publicity. Point out how much such airtime would cost if the client were buying that time. Now, try to figure out a way to bill your client for PR services in addition to billing them for the ad.

There you have it, 3 easy steps to pave the lazy ad executive's path to advertising success.

Business Website Design Preparation

It doesn't matter if you're preparing to launch a Blog or a static website, preparation is by far the most difficult part of the business website design process.

Business website design preparation ideally should begin with a complete review of the marketing strategy of the business. After all, most business websites are considered marketing tools, heck they could be classified as an advertising expense.

Notice I said marketing strategy... the business seeking to launch or relaunch a website should not consider the website merely a marketing tactic. There's a huge difference between a marketing tactic and a marketing strategy.

(Read Why the best marketing tactics may fail to produce results for a thorough explanation of the difference between a marketing strategy and a marketing tactic.)

As Shakespeare would say, "Ah, there's the rub!"

The most difficult part of business website design preparation isn't which Content Managment System to use... nor what language to use to code the site. It isn't even deciding upon the design elements tha tis the most difficutl part of business website design preparation.

The most difficult part of business website design preparation is creating the content... the marketing message that the website will be asked to carry.

Every other step in the business website design preparation is based upon the marketing strategy of the business.

Blog Diagnostic Tool to Create a Better Blog

First, WHEW!!! Blogger doesn't think this blog is spam! I was just reading A Newbie's Guide to Publishing: Fuzzy Navel & Help Needed and blogger thought his blog was spam. Which is weird because to a human, his blog doesn't look like spam at ALL!

Most of the web is ruled by machines.... programs really. Sometimes the machines don't see things as we humans do, as is the case of the blog above being marked as spam by Blogger.

However, sometimes the machines can help us to see things more clearly. Such is the case with Wordle. A Wordle is a word cloud with style. Wordle can take the contents of your blog's rss feed and create a beautiful word cloud which shows you what your blog looks like to the machines.

In my post Blog Diagnostic Tool - Wordle: Graphic Illustration of Your Blog’s Content I show different wordles for different blogs. The wordle I created for my book's blog Beyond Niche Marketing shows that I've been spending too much word capital on "free" and not enough on "niche".

It's important to write your blog for the human visitors... but it's equally important to keep the machines in mind. The machines are what run the search engines and the search engines drive a LOT of the traffic on the internet.

If you're blog is struggling to find it's place in with the machines, Wordle is a great tool to let you see graphically what you've been blogging about from the eyes of the machine.

What the Hell is Blogging

What the hell is blogging and why should I want to do this for my business?

Blogging is simply publishing information on the web using specialized software. This software allows you to get your words, your images, your audio and your video onto the internet quickly and easily.

Blogging is really nothing new, but it's recently taken the web by storm because businesses have learned that blogs by nature are more "search engine friendly" than their traditional HTML websites.

For example, a client of mine recently launched a website, Hypnosis and Diet which is actually a blog. You'd never know by looking at it though.

Not only is this website attractive, it's easy for the client to update as well and it's doing well in the search engines to boot!

So if you're wondering what the fuss is about blogging, blogs are easy to use, easy to update and tear up traditional HTML websites when it comes to the search engines.

The Problem with Booksurge

Optimizing Amazon wants authors and publishers to "simmer down" over the strong armed tactics being used by Amazon to promote their POD publishing service... BOOK SURGE.

Here's the story:

Amazon bought POD publisher Booksurge a few years ago and Amazon has been quietly "pushing" the Booksurge PO service.

POD stands for "print on demand". Instead of publishing a book "traditionally" and printing 5,000 or more copies of the book, POD allows publishers to print books as they're sold. There are two "wholesale" options for POD publishing... INGRAM and BOOKSURGE.

Publishers who use INGRAM's services are able to offer POD books for sale via traditional book stores. For example, if you went into Barnes and Nobles and ordered my book Beyond Niche Marketing, Barnes and Nobles could order the book from Ingram and have it delivered to your local Barnes and Noble store in a relatively timely fashion.

Had I chosen Booksurge as my POD printer, that would NOT be an option. Any book buyer who tried to purchase my book through Barnes and Noble would be told it wasn't available. UGH!

That's one problem with Booksurge. The other problem is actually bigger. Authors and publishers who have used Booksurge are often barraged with complaints about the book quality. Frequent issues include pages being printed upside down, pages which fall out of the book and covers that are printed off center are frequent complaints.

Now remember, when Booksurge prints your book, their name doesn't appear ANYWHERE on the book. Your publisher's name appears and some readers will voice their complaints about the book's quality there... but the number one place to complain about a book's quality is... you guess it.... to the author whose name appears LOUD AND PROUD on the book's cover.

Which is why authors and publishers, in general, have chosen NOT to use Booksurge for POD publishing.

The beauty of a free market is that publishers and authors have a CHOICE in the POD publishing service they used.

However, Amazon has decided to embrace "strong armed tactics" to force publishers to use their POD publishing service. Angela Hoy reports on her Writer's Weekly website

When Lightning Source customers speak with the BookSurge representative, the reports say, they are basically told they can either have BookSurge start printing their books or the "buy" button on their Amazon.com book pages will be "turned off."

So that's the deal. Booksurge does a CRAPPY job of providing POD publishing services. Instead of fixing the problems with Booksurge, Amazon has decided to flex it's retail muscle and threaten authors and publishers with the removal of the buy button if they don't use Booksurge.

There is no promise of better service or better quality... just the threat that your number one sales channel will be shut down if you don't use the service.

Here's a list of over 100 sites reporting on the story. Visit the post at Easy Author Websites to add yours to the list.

1. A New Amazon Mandate? Say it ain’t so, Jeff by Morris Rosenthal
2. Amazon Forcing POD Publishers to Make a Hard Decision, Virtualbookworm
3. Amazon Tightens Grip on Printing by Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg, Wall Street Journal
4. Amazon Tightens Noose on Print-On-Demand Publishers; Insists They Use Company’s Own Service by Rafat Ali, The Washington Post
5. Amazon to Force POD Publishers to Use BookSurge by Jim Milliot, Publishers Weekly
6. Amazon changes rules for print-on-demand publishers by Linda Rosencrance, Computerworld
7. Amazon pulls a Microsoft by Robert L. Mitchell, Computerworld Blogs
8. Amazon Puts the Squeeze on Publishers by Betsy Schiffman, Wired Blog Network
9. Amazon Gets Demanding with Print-on-Demand Publishers, O’Reilly Radar
10. Amazon.com puts the screws to small publishers, Valleywag
11. Amazon’s POD monopoly, booktwo.org
12. Is Amazon Getting Greedy? , open…
13. Oh, REAL nice, Amazon.com, Beatlegirl’s Blog
14. Market Report — In Play,MSN Money
15. Amazon Muscles Print-On-Demand Services by Duncan Riley, TechCrunch
16. Amazon & BookSurge, words count
17. Urgent News for Authors, The Holistic Writer
18. Monopoly - It’s Not A Game by Jean-Marie Hershey, Print CEO Blog
19. Of oil lamps, Print on Demand, and e-book machines: Amazon’s Bezos as a would-be Rockefeller by David Rothman
20. Deal Breaker? Amazon - BookSurge - POD - No Choice?, Workboxers
21. Amazon.com’s POD land grab, BookFinder.com Journal
22. Amazon Changes POD Tactics, Removes Velvet Gloves by Kassia Krozser, Booksquare
23. Amazon The Monopoly, PersonaNonData
24. Amazon Muscles Print-On-Demand Services, web2bite.com
25. Use BookSurge or Die? by Victoria Strauss, Writer Beware
26. Amazon/Golliath takes on the little guys by Helen Gallagher, Release Your Writing
27. Amazon Bullies POD to Use Booksurge — or Else., Shadowhelm’s Journal
28. Amazon Says It Will Only Sell Print-On-Demand Books That It Gets To Print, Techdirt
29. Amazon deletes competition, LibraryThing
30. What’s Amazon Up To Now? by Tawny Taylor
31. Amazon Shaking the POD World Big Time, Juno Books
32. A hearty “F$%k you!” to Amazon by Elf M. Sternberg
33. A Call to Bloggers: Stop Supporting Amazon, Inhabitatio Dei
34. Amazon to Force POD Publishers to Use BookSurge, Media Mensch
35. Self Publishers and Amazon, Writerly Stuff
36. Amazon Tightens Grip On Printing, booktrade.info
37. Amazon to Block Other POD Services from Using Amazon Marketplace, Dear Author
38. Amazon trying to screw small presses?, lupabitch
39. Dear Amazon, What are You Thinking? by Monica Valentinelli, Words on the Water
40. Will Amazon Hurt Small Pagan Publishers?, The Wild Hund
41. Amazon and us by Gill Polack
42. Will Amazon Become the Google of the POD Industry? by Deborah Woehr
43. Down with The Zon! by Celia Kyle
44. Beyond the POD grab: The IDPF should fight Amazon’s new eBabel, look for anti-trust violations, and reach out to Google by David Rothman, TeleRead
45. Amazon blocking books of competitive publishers?, electronista
46. We are not amused–veinglory, PODPeople
47. Bully on the block?, The Pearlsong Letter
48. The monopolists: You need to worry about Amazon too by Eion Purcell
49. Amazon owns the marketplace: return of the distributor, Thudfactor
50. Is Amazon trying to monopolize the empowering Publish-On-Demand market?, Chris Boese’s Weblog
51. 500 pound gorilla, Idle musings of a bookseller
52. Bye-Bye “Buy Buttons” for POD Authors?, The Backroom at Dehanna.com
53. Amazon Making a Big Mistake by Cheryl Pickett
54. Amazon to force POD publishers to use Booksurge, Murder by 4
55. Amazon.com’s dirty little deed, pds_lit
56. Amazon’s Stupid Anti-Competitive Move, Principled Profit
57. Amazon Bullying POD Writers and Publishers Unfairly, A-ha
58. A Call to Bloggers: Stop Supporting Amazon, Resurrection Life
59. Amazon.com Is On Drugs, Thought Patterns
60. Amazon launches their weapon of mass destruction, steps on the long tail of independent authors by Mark Riffey
61. Amazon puts the Squeeze on POD Publishers by Easy Author Web Sites
62. An Important Lesson from Amazon on How NOT to Treat Your Customers by Virtual Impax
63. Backlash Over Amazon Monopoly Tactics by Deborah Woehr
64. Amazon plus BookSurge WTF?, by AuthorNation.com
65. Just Remember Amazon.com that karma is a beautiful thing, by Jupiter Gardens
66. Amazon Trying to Screw Small Press by Lupabitch
67. Amazonian bullying, Satima’s Blogspot
68. Amazon May be on Receiving End of Internet Justice, Small Business Trends
69. Amazon Situation Continues and Lesson #1, The Publishing Answers Blog
70. Amazon Chaos by Marshall S. Thomas
71. That Amazon decision, PETRONA
72. POD Publishers Told to Sell Directly Through Amazon, They Have to Use Booksurge, PublishersLunch
73. Maybe Amazon’s problem is obvious?, The Snoozeletter
74. No longer an Amazon customer, The Books of My Numberless Dreams
75. Are They Nuts? by Heather S. Ingemar
76. Amazon not playing fair, Synthstuff
77. Amazon attempting to squeeze POD industry, Terry Heaton’s PoMo Blog
78. Amazon.com Takes On Digital Book Printers, Graphic Arts Online
79. Boycott Amazon!, PlainTalk
80. Amazon.com Hates Small Press? by JM, Fiction Scribe
81. Telling the 900-pound Gorilla Where not to Sit, Quaker Pagan Reflections
82. Dear Amazon, What are You Thinking by Words on the Water
83. Amazon punishes Bloomsbury on terms Publishing News
84. POD Publishers Outraged by Amazon’s New Restrictions by Law X
85. Amazon to Force POD Publisher to Use BookSurge by Publisher’s Weekly
86. Do Not Panic…yet by DIY Publishing
87. Calls to boycott Amazon over greedy, bully-boy tactics on POD by the Red Ferret Journal
88. Amazon to force POD authors to use BookSurge by WWG Blog
89. POD Publishers Outraged by Amazon’s New Restrictions by Law Librarian Blog
90. POD Publishing by Tim Wordstall
91. Amazon coercing publishers to use Book Surge? by right reading
92. Amazon.com’s New POD Policy by Forensics and Faith
93. Is Amazon Seeking to Dominate Small Presses? by Wandering Author
94. Amazon puts squeeze on book self-publishers by Social Media
95. Amazon/BookSurge Issue by Vixen Writer
96. Amazon.com Telling POD Publishers… by Pete Ashton
97. The Eight Hundred Pound Gorilla by Daily Brief
98. Amazon May be on Receiving End of Internet Justice by Small Business Trends
99. BookSurge: The Good, The Bad, and The Downright Ugly by the Writer’s Buzz
100. POD hardball … by Prester Frank
101. Continuing to Update the Amazon/BookSurge Story by Julie’s Web Journal
102. Amazon Flexes Its Market Muscle by Dear Author
103. Amazon.com Telling POD Publishers - Let BookSurge Print Your Books, or Else… by Red Wolf
104. Amazon as Standard Oil: Jeff D. Rockefeller’s telephone crew in action against POD competitors by Teleread
105. Amazon not playing fair by Synthstuff
106. Amazon attempting to squeeze POD industry by Terry Heaton’s PoMo Blog
107. More on Amazon and POD publishing in More Words Deeper Hole
108. Amazon Deals Blow to POD Companies by A Writer’s Life

The Real Truth about Success in Niche Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is HOT! I mean, it's a great way for a blogger to earn some cash by simply raving about a product or service he/she already adores.

Affiliate marketing is a win/win situation for both parties involved. The affiliate gets a percentage of the sale as a commission while not having to deal with any of the customer service headaches which come with doing business online.

Meanwhile, the business running the affiliate program gets to create channels within the target niche.. possibly hundreds of affiliate blogs and web sites promoting a product or service.

However, the truth about being a successful affiliate has a lot to do with not only Niche Marketing, but also building trust.

In order for your readers to trust you, you're going to have to make contact with them on a regular basis. (A blog is a great way to do that. Another option is a newsletter.) You're going to have to give them a reason to believe you.

That means not endorsing every affiliate marketing program on the market.

I once read a newsletter by just such an affiliate "whore". One week, the guy's newsletter was extolling the virtues of Web Product A and then two weeks later, he was completely contradicting his previous views as he extolled the virtues of Web Product B (a competitor of Web Product A).

The reason I was on the list was I had a client who kept referring to the affiliate marketing whore's advice on marketing tactics to the point where I felt I needed to subscribe to the newsletter. When I pointed out the two separate newsletters and their incongruity... he just shrugged. "I hadn't noticed that before," was his only reply.

I know I unsubscribed from the list soon thereafter, his credibility was gone.

I'm sure his newsletter contained SEVERAL hundred less scrutinizing readers who continue to follow his affiliate recommendations.... but counting on your reader's inattention is a horrible business model.

Another client of mine operates from a position of integrity. When she makes an affiliate recommendation, her lists moves and moves quickly. Now admittedly, affiliate marketing is NOT her main source of revenue... but it does provide a nice side stream for her. But only because she is excruciatingly careful in what products she stands behind.