There was a bug in the last version of amProtect that affected the login widget. It has been corrected in version 3.0.0.08.

So I thought I would take this opportunity to talk a little bit about the four widgets that now come with amProtect.

The Four amProtect Widgets

Login Widget

amProtect Login Widget (Top)

This widget shows a login screen for your members and a signup link if your visitors are not yet members.

When they do login it greets them with their first name and gives them links to their member page, their profile page and a logout link.

amProtect Login Widget (Bottom)

It can also display a second widget with the list of all of their products /subscriptions from aMember. If you’ve configured those products with a product URL then the title of the product will be linked so your members can very easily navigate to their product and consume it.

Everything is configurable. You can change all of the language and you can decide whether or not to display specific pieces of the widgets.

Drip / Incremental Content Widget

amProtect Drip Widget

This widget used to be part of the login widget but recently I’ve separated it out so that it can be placed separately from the login widget, perhaps in other sidebars.

This widget will only display if you are using the amProtect drip content feature on your posts or pages or if you are using the Incremental Content plugin from aMember. It works with both. It only displays if the member is logged in and if any drip / incremental content is available for them to view.

It displays a list of the drip links with the title and link to the content. You can decide how many links will be displayed and you can decide to display them alphabetical or reverse chronological order.

This is good, for example, if you wanted to title this the “Recent Content” widget and only display the last 5 links with the most recent on top. As time progressed each member would see those links at different times but to them it would appear as fresh content.

Protected Text Widget

amProtect Text Widget

This widget works exactly the same way that a text widget works with the exception that it has aMember protection on it. You can show or hide the widget to very specific subscribers. Or you can elect to only display the widget when the member is not logged in which works great to entice visitors to become members but not bug them once they do.

So for example, you could display a text widget to your Gold members only which advertises the benefits of your Platinum membership level and invites them to upgrade. Once they do, that widget won’t show to them any more.

Protected Menu Widget

amProtect Menu Widget

WordPress 3.0 has a new feature for you to be able to create custom menus. Once you do, they can be used in sidebars with their Custom Menu widget.

The amProtect Menu Widget is exactly like their widget but with aMember protection capabilities just like the text widget mentioned above. So you can display the menu to specific members and hide it from others or just display it to non-members.

A good usage of this would be to create a set of “Dashboard Links” for each of your member levels by creating specific menus for each one. Then you can add one of these protected menu widgets for each level and only show it to the right level and/or hide it from the others. That way the sidebars can become dynamic depending on what products / subscriptions your visitors have or have not purchased from you.

This is the widget that makes it necessary for you to upgrade to WordPress 3.0 before you upgrade to this version of amProtect.

The latest version of amProtect (3.0.0.06) can hide links to pages and categories in the new custom menus introduced in WordPress version 3.0.

The theme must be using these custom menus in order to take advantage of this feature.

You can have dynamic menus for your logged in visitors.

Also introduced in this version are two new kinds of custom widgets for amProtect: protected text widgets and protected menu widgets.

I have uploaded a new video that shows you how to set up protected text and menu widgets.

A lot has been going on in the world of WordPress and membership sites.

WordPress 3.0 came out late last month.

WishList Member very recently announced a new version of their plugin. It has file protection among other things.

And I’ve been trying hard to keep up with everything and make amProtect be all that it can be.

So today I released version 3.0.0.05 of amProtect with some bug fixes and a couple of really nice new features everyone has been wanting. Namely drip content and hiding links to protected posts and pages from navigation.

You can download the latest version of amProtect or purchase it if you haven’t already.

There were a few bug fixes.

I made it possible to change all the words on the member login widget which makes it more compatible with foreign languages.

There are a few new videos on this site now to demonstrate a couple of very new features in amProtect:

1. How to install, configure and upgrade amProtect.

2. How to hide protected content links from WordPress navigation with amProtect.

3. How to set up drip content posts and pages with amProtect.

Enjoy!

- Ken Gary

Today while I was working on a site I went to my WordPress Admin Panel -> Tools -> Upgrade and noticed that version 3.0 was ready to download and upgrade.

I clicked on the upgrade automatically link and so far so good!

I did some preliminary testing of amProtect v2.9.2.07 and all looked well.

Let me know if you find any problems after you upgrade.

The next version of amProtect that comes out will be v3.0.0.01 when I have something new to add to it or any bug fixes.

By popular demand I just updated the aMail for MailChimp plugin to be able to pass custom fields.

You can check a setting to automatically send the signup info (Userid and Password), the member address info (Street, City, State, Zip and Country in one Address field) or any of the additional fields you’ve added to aMember that you choose.

This is great for customizing your autoresponder messages to your members!

You have to add these merge fields to your MailChimp lists but the instructions included with the plugin walk you through those steps.

To order the plugin or go to your download link if you already own the plugin and are signed in please visit the aMail plugin for aMember page.

I started out this morning planning to fix some bugs and write a new report on a site I’m hoping to launch soon for membership site analytics.

As things will go, I actually ended up spending the day fixing those bugs by updating my amProtect plugin instead.

So here is a list of the new features that I added to amProtect today:

- You no longer have to edit the wp-settings.php and wp-config.php files because it will automatically detect and use the aMember session. So amProtect will not stop working whenever you upgrade WordPress if you forget to re-edit those files.

- You no longer need the additional aMember WordPress plugin because if a member is logged into aMember and does not have a user created in WordPress it will automatically create one for them. (The exception here is if you are doing something extra with WordPress roles like integrating with SimplePress…but a future update may take care of this too.)

- Visitors will automatically be logged into and logged out of WordPress/aMember together all the time no matter what if the amProtect widget is used in the sidebar.

- If the member changes their password in aMember then the next time they log into WordPress through the amProtect widget it will update their password there.

- amProtect now includes a fully customizable all-in-one member login widget, product/subscription link widget and incremental content link widget.

- It is possible to exclude one group of incremental content links from showing up in the incremental content widget list of links.

- You can sort the incremental content links alphabetically or by the most recent first.

- You can limit the number of links it shows in the incremental content widget list of links.

- If you combine sorting incremental content links by the most recent first along with limiting it to the last XX number of links, you have yourself a “Recent Content” widget for your drip content!

So now, amProtect pretty much has it all!

I wanted to share my experiences upgrading aMember from version 3.1.8 to version 3.1.9 so I made a new video.

I also demonstrate some of the features that are new to version 3.1.9.

The video is posted in the membership site training videos section.

Click here to watch how to upgrade aMember from 3.1.8 to 3.1.9.

It took me a while but I have finished testing and updating all 20+ of my aMember plugins with the new version.

I’ve also upgraded this site to run on aMember 3.1.9 PRO. I’ll be putting up a how-to video pretty soon to share more about that experience.

This new version of aMember doesn’t have any critical updates to it so if you’re happy with v3.1.8 of aMember then there is no rush. But it does have a lot of small bugs cleaned up and a few nice new features.

The one thing that it does have, that I ignored and worked around and did not incorporate into my version of aMember or my amSalesPages plugin (yet) is the new tab feature on the member page.

I do think they are cool. In fact I had already started working on a version of that for my amSalesPages plugin, which may be partially what got me into trouble. You see I am using the Thesis Theme for WordPress and I have my aMember templates integrated with the same look-and-feel. It already has tabs at the top for navigation and the styles for those tabs and the new aMember tabs were in conflict, so the aMember tabs didn’t work or look good. I spent a little bit of time trying to make them work but I gave up and just left any changes for those out of my upgrade. Some day I hope that I will tackle it again and make a version that will work. Like I said, I think they are rather a nice way to display everything on the member page.

aMember Upgrade Steps

A quick summary of what I did was:

1. Paid aMember $40 because my upgrade privileges had expired.

2. Downloaded the upgrade kit for 3.1.8 from my member page.

3. Compared any upgraded files with the files on my system that I’ve modified.

Wherever there was an upgraded file that I had modified I re-applied my mods to the new version and put that in a separate folder to use in step 6.

The biggest issues during an upgrade are usually in the template files because they are typically the files most modified.

You can read what I did with them a little later in this post.

4. Uploaded the files from the upgrade kit (with the exceptions noted below).

5. Ran the /amember/admin/upgrade_db.php script.

6. Copied any modified files over the upgraded files.

7. I had to download the new version of the Incremental Content plugin from aMember. You will get a warning if you need to do this.

8. Copied the new version of all of my plugins to the /plugins/protect/ and /plugins/payment/ folder.

9. Tested…tested…tested!

What I Did With The aMember Template Files

When Upgrading from 3.1.8 to 3.1.9 these are what I did with the template files:

Deleted (no significant change since 3.1.8):

- /templates/footer.html
- /templates/signup.html

Kept as is:

- /templates/fatal_error.html
- /templates/aff_guest_failed.html
- /templates/aff_month_stats.html
- /templates/js.country_state.js
- /templates/unsubscribe_link_inc.html
- /admin/ (all)

Merged with my plugin update:

- /templates//cc/cc_info.html

Did Not Copy Since I Did Not Want The Tabs:

- /templates/aff_links.html
- /templates/aff_member.html
- /templates/aff_stats.html
- /templates/aff_payout_info.html
- /templates/aff_stats.html
- /templates/member.html
- /templates/member_add_renew.html
- /templates/member_main.html
- /templates/member_menu.inc.html
- /templates/member_newslatter_archive.html
- /templates/member_payment_history.html
- /templates/newsletter_archive.html
- /templates/newsletter_archive_more.html
- /templates/profile.html
- /templates//css/amember.css
- /templates//css/arrow.png

Kencinnus aMember Plugins Are Ready for aMember 3.1.9 Pro

I would say that the majority of my plugins worked with aMember 3.1.9 Pro without any real modifications. I updated the revision number anyway because that is what I do to signify that the plugin has been tested with that version successfully.

While I was in there testing the code and comparing it to 3.1.9 a few plugins got a tweak or two that make them better.

Most notably in this area is the aMail for AWeber plugin. It will be a lot easier to integrate with the AWeber email parser now because I’m using a different rule that no longer involves the admin email address. So things like weird characters or invalid reverse dns, etc. should not stop it from subscribing your members. If it is working you do not have to change your email parser. This is really just for new installs.

If you’re wondering whether or not the Kencinnus plugins you’re using HAVE to be upgraded, the rule of thumb is that if they involved modifying templates or core aMember code, then yes, you should treat it just like a new install after you upgrade and go back over every single instruction, reading them from the latest readme.txt file, and at least double-check every setting and edit just to be sure.

Even plugins that did not have any file edits to go along with them may have new features now.

Today on the aMember forums Alex announced a new version: aMember Version 3.1.9 Released.

Release target: bugfixes, improvements, new plugins

Changes since 3.1.8

1. member.php (Membership Information Page) inteface improved with “tabs”
2. “Rebuild Db” now handling data in chunks, this improves work with big databases;
3. Fixed issues with PayPal plugin (new PayPal accounts);
4. Recurring billing implemented for PayPal Pro plugin;
5. Google Checkout plugin fixed and improved for recurring billing;
6. Single-login fixed in vBulletin4 plugin;
7. Added ability to export expired users;
8. PHPMailer library upgraded to 2.0.4;
9. Added ablility to e-mail more than one notification about not-completed payment;
10. Verotel plugin has been fixed;
11. More than 200 small fixes and improvements to the core source and plugins;

What this means to me and you is that now I’ve got to go through all of my aMember plugins and make sure they are compatible with the new version so they are ready for anyone who wants to upgrade. That’s going to take me a little while.

Many of the files that have been upgraded are files you have to modify for my plugins.

I’ll keep you updated on my progress and I’ll try to make some improvements to my plugins while I’m in there if I can.

I put version numbers in my plugins so you will know what the last version of aMember was that was tested with them.

For instance you might see a version of 3.1.8.6 which tells you that it was last tested with version 3.1.8. So when you go to the download page for one of my plugins and it says it is version 3.1.9.0 then you will know that I’ve tested it and updated it if I had to so it will work just fine with 3.1.9. Until you see that version however, there is no guarantee that it will indeed be alright. When it does happen, look for some special instructions to be sure that there isn’t something important to do when you upgrade.

I’ll post more on this later as I go through my plugins.

I’ve finished writing (the first version of) the aMail for iContact plugin to work with aMember Professional Membership Site software.

As I mentioned before in a previous post I will give my Everything bundle members the first chance to use this new plugin. If you are an Everything bundle member then you can download the iContact plugin here.

In this case that link will also work for anyone who has previously purchased any version of my aMail plugin. If you want to test it out or switch to iContact from your current email service provider then you are more than welcome.

The iContact API has a lot of nice features and it allows me to do quite a bit more than I’ve been able to do with most of the other autoresponder services.

It does not require double opt-in so that is a barrier that has been taken care of.

It allows me to automatically create custom fields which makes the setup easier than the other plugins. I’ve taken advantage of that to automatically create a lot of custom fields and populate them because it also allows me to update them in iContact when the member record is updated in aMember.

You can use these custom fields to segment your list(s). So for example one of the fields I’ve populated which will stay updated in iContact is the member status which will be set to pending, active or canceled. So when you want to send a message to just the pending members you can create a matching segment and send just to them.

Unfortunately for now the autoresponder feature of iContact does not utilize segments. That is really too bad and I’ve asked the developers to try to find a way to make that work, but they did not sound too keen to do it.

If that had worked you would have been able to get by with simply creating one list and adding everyone to it no matter what and then use your segments to control your autoresponder series. So we are all stuck with still creating separate lists for each product and one master list of all paid customers and one list of prospects and then attaching our autoresponders to those lists.

One other fatal flaw that just about every email service provider has and iContact is no exception is the ability for the list owner to control the status of the member on their lists. In other words even with the API we cannot unsubscribe someone when they stop paying and then re-subscribe them if/when they renew their membership. Just like AWeber, once a member is unsubscribed they are gone forever unless they personally go back to their site and re-subscribe themselves.

So I’m recommending that you just check the box in the plugin to not ever unsubscribe someone so that you don’t accidentally lose them.

We need to have control over this as the list owners.

The reason they don’t give us that control of course is that it would be abused. The member would unsubscribe themselves and then we would re-subscribe them even if they didn’t want to. I understand that and I agree that we should not be able to unsubscribe a member who does not want to be on our list. So I’ve asked the iContact developers to give us another status such as “suspended” that we can move a member to if we need to for any reason and then back to normal when they are in good standing.

Actually A LOT of other people have asked them for the same thing on their developer forums. They have said that they plan to do something to accommodate this in a future release of their API but would absolutely not commit to any time line for getting this done. (I’ve been underwhelmed by their responses in this regard and their lack of answering questions on their developer community forums.)

You can move them non-destructively from one list to another list manually in the admin interface. That would be another option for making this work by setting up a suspended list but you cannot do it through their API…yet.

Once that gets fixed this may be the holy grail of aMember/Autoresponder integrations.

I hope so.

Today I made two significant updates to the amProtect plugin for WordPress that allows you to protect your content with your aMember products.

1. Protect Entire Categories

The first improvement is pretty straightforward. Now you can protect entire categories.

It works just like protecting an entire post or page. When you add or edit a category you’ll notice a new section at the bottom of the page with checkboxes next to all of your aMember products. You can just check off any product/subscription that should protect every post in that category.

amProtect Edit Category Screen Shot

The same rules apply as if you’d checked those products on your post. But you can still edit the post to add even more product/subscriptions and/or also use the amprotect tags to protect portions of the content. It is all cumulative.

2. Show Alternate Content

The second improvement may not be as easy to understand at first. I’ve added an else condition to the amprotect tags.

Sometimes the replacement text phrases are not enough to show to non-members or members who don’t have a particular subscription. Sometimes you just want to show alternate content to the protected content. Maybe you need a way to do something in a different language that cannot be covered by the replacement text phrases.

But here is my favorite use of this new feature…

Imagine having a video in WordPress that is protected for your paying customers. But for anyone who is not logged in and/or has not purchased that video you want to show a free shortened preview teaser of the video. Now you can do that with a new tag:

[amelse]

You’ve made two versions, one paid and one free and you have your embed code. Here is how you would edit the post:

[ amprotect=xxx ]
  Embed code for paid version goes here.
  Put a link to the download link or any related members-only content here too!
[ amelse ]
  Embed code for free version goes here.
  Put a link to your sales page here too!
[ /amprotect ]

(Please note that I put extra spaces in the tags for demonstration purposes that do not normally go there.)

If they are signed in and have paid for the video then they get to see that version. If they are not logged in and/or have not paid for that video then they will see the free version.

It’s that simple. One URL in WordPress that can now be used for both your prospects and your customers!

The possibilities are huge here for what you put before the amelse tag and what you put after.

If you haven’t picked up a copy of the amProtect plugin yet you can get it here.

(I definitely need to make a new video for amProtect soon!)

If you like the sales copy that’s on this site, and you’d like similar copy for your membership site, then definitely let me know.

I can put you in touch with the direct response copywriter who has written most of sales copy you see on Kencinnus.com.

Here are some of the things my copywriter can handle:

• Short sales copy for a series of products (similar to this site).
• Long sales letters for your core product or service.
• Autoresponder sequences for prospects or new members.
• Email broadcasts to promote your products.

Anyway, just shoot me an email letting me know you’re interested. Put “Direct Response Copywriting” in the subject line. Please also include your name, phone number, and web site.

Thanks!

-Ken Gary

Membership Academy is one of the very few membership sites I’ve ever joined that I am still a member of and still feel good about when I pay my membership fee month-after-month.

David Moskowitz has helped countless membership site owners set up their sites, fine-tune their sales and retention processes and optimize their membership sites to make their members come back month-after-month. He provides new material constantly and has videos and checklists that you’ll refer to again-and-again.

The forums are also an invaluable resource for when you get truly stuck on something or want to discuss a new idea and see what other membership site owners think about it.

Plus his bonus package when you sign up is truly terrific … even if I say so myself!

Here’s the deal: You’ll get a coupon worth $30 off any plugin I sell when you join Membership Academy. Basically, you’ll get a coupon that you can use on my site to save $30.

Why would I do this?

Simple. When you join Membership Academy, I’ll get a commission. This commission helps off-set the cost of any plugin you buy. So in a round-about way, I’m actually crediting my commission back to you in the form of a discount on my plugins.

The way I see it, the more you learn about running a membership site and making money from it, the more you’ll see the value of my plugins. And so long as you’re a member of Membership Academy, you’ll be getting that ongoing education.

I hope you’ll give Membership Academy a try.

-Ken Gary

Today I was notified by the folks at WishList member that I have passed my certification test #3.

That makes all three tests now so I guess I’m officially going to become a certified WishList Member installer whenever they get around to formally announcing it and giving me their certification seal to put on my web site.

Each of us in the certification program had to go through a series of 3 tests where we built web sites according to the “client’s” specifications.

Building the sites would show that we had mastered the material that we went over in the membership training course and the certification modules as well.

Each of the three tests got progressively harder and utilized more-and-more of the WishList member features.

My first test was Trevor’s Widgets:

http://kencinnus.com/trevorswidgets/

My second test was for Ronald McDoogle’s online eCourse: The Awesomeness!

http://kencinnus.com/ronaldmcdoogle/

My third test was for Billie and Bobbie’s Male Grooming Products and Beard Course:

http://kencinnus.com/billiebobby/

It will cost you $1 to see the content there! It is connected to my PayPal account which is one of the payment systems that works with WishList Member.

It was a lot of fun to build these sites. I learned a bit more about Wishlist Member and even more about things you can do on your membership site, whether you use WishList Member, aMember or anything else.

Stay tuned for more information about the differences between aMember and WishList Member.

Today here on my moon base on the dark side of the moon I started working on a version of my aMail plugin for iContact.

I think that iContact has just about the best API of any email service provider I’ve worked with so far. It looks like this plugin for aMember is going to be very, very tight. It’s going to solve a lot of frustration I’ve had with the limitations of other companies that I’ve made plugins for.

If you’re interested watch this blog. The finished product will hopefully be available in a week or so. I might need some beta testers, although I usually give that opportunity to my Everything Bundle customers first.

If you already have tried iContact and you like it or you don’t like it please comment below.

I’ve updated my amProtect WordPress plugin to help you protect content that you only want to show to non-members.

Right now I don’t think there is any other plugin that is doing this. WishList Member does not do this…yet (but they probably will some time).

Ok, so you’re probably wondering what this is for and how it works.

Normally, when you are using amProtect, you are protecting content on a page so that it only shows up if someone has purchased the product/subscription that matches the product id you put on the amprotect tags.

If they are not logged in they get a login or register link that you get to format.

If they are logged in but have not purchased that product then they get an upgrade message that you format.

But with the new update to aMember you can also put in an entire sales message in place of the content for when a member is not logged in at all.

To do this you would just wrap your content around the message with these tags:

[ amprotect=nonmember ] your content goes here [ /amprotect ].

(I’ve put some extra spaces in the tags above so they would show.)

If the visitor is not logged into aMember then they see that content. If they are logged into aMember then they don’t see that content and there is no replacement message either. It is like you used the amsilent parameter on the amprotect tag.

Here is a live example:

If you can see this message then you are not logged in.

Depending on whether you were logged in or not and on what you purchased, you would see different messages above. Let’s break it down further…

Let’s say you have a site with Free, Silver and Gold levels. The product ID for the Free level is 1, Silver is 2 and Gold is 3. The price group for the Free level is also 1, Silver is 2 and Gold is 3 as well.

Here is what a post would look like that was just for Gold Memberships (and remember I put some extra spaces in the amprotect tags so you could read them here):

[ amprotect=nonmember ]
This is my sales message to someone who needs to log in and either buy silver or gold. Of course I would encourage them to buy the gold. This content will not be displayed at all if they are logged in. I would probably tell members to sign in using the login in the sidebar and then, for non-members, I would include a link to my aMember signup page for just the Gold product like this: /amember/signup.php?price_group=3&product_id=3.
[ /amprotect ]

[ amprotect=1,2,amsilent ]
This is my upgrade message for someone who is either at the Free or Silver level but they are logged in. They would be the only ones to see this and because of the amsilent that I added, if they were not logged in or they were Gold they would not see anything in its place. It would point them to the member page for the gold upgrade product (or better yet the fancy order page that comes with amSalesPages): /amember/member.php?product_id=3&price_group=3
[ /amprotect ]

[ amprotect=3,amsilent ]
This would be the actual private protected Gold level content that I was providing for my Gold members. If they were logged in they would see this. If they were not logged in or if they were only at the Free or Silver level then they would not see this content or any message because of the amsilent tag. Otherwise they would see whatever message I configured the amProtect plugin with for the case when members are logged in but are not active on a required product. And of course a non-Gold or non-logged in member will see one of the two previous pieces of content instead.
[ /amprotect ]

So I hope this explains how this new feature works and when you might want to use it.

Get more information about the amProtect plugin here.

For hundreds of years, intelligent men sought to transform lead into gold. Alas, it was all in vain. The best alchemist could never accomplish the feat.

Yet who could have ever guessed that one day you would be able take bits and bytes — fragments of electricity — and convert them into cash?

This is the “modern miracle”: That you can turn your words into the coin of the realm.

What’s more, you may be just one letter away from wealth beyond your wildest dreams.

Advertising history is rife with examples of sales letters that have generated millions of dollars in profits. Some of these letters were 10 pages long… and some were only two!

Here’s the bottom line: With the right training, anybody can turn words into wealth. And my friend and colleague Ryan Healy shows you how to do it here…

http://www.CopywritingCode.com

Who Is Ryan Healy?

Ryan is a good friend and colleague of mine. We actually used to work together back when we both had jobs. And we still meet at Chipotle for lunch every week.

Here’s what you should know about Ryan. Since he quit and became a freelance copywriter, he’s worked with 75+ clients, written hundreds of sales letters, and thousands of emails (literally).

More importantly, he’s discovered what it really takes to generate sales on the Internet. (He’s written almost ALL the sales copy for my plugins — and while I can’t disclose any specific numbers, I can tell you they’re selling well.)

The tips and training information Ryan shares in his Copywriting Code membership site is excellent.

He teaches you how to write better headlines, how to discover your ideal customer, how to build a million-dollar swipe file, a fast and easy way to “write” a sales letter — basically all the copywriting secrets you need to…

Sell More Memberships!

If you would rather not hire an expensive copywriter — and would rather learn how to write copy that sells and do it yourself, I highly suggest signing up for Ryan’s Copywriting Code.

Not to mention, you can’t beat the price. (Just $19.95 a month.)

Also, in the interest of full disclosure, you should know that Ryan and I are business partners, so I will earn a small commission if you sign up through my link.

Either way, I endorse Ryan’s work and think you should check it out.

-Ken Gary

P.S. CopywritingCode.com is in its early stages of development… which is why it’s so inexpensive right now.

And Ryan tells me that if you sign up now, you’ll lock in your low rate for as long as you remain a member — even as more content and features are added to the site.

Click here to check it out.

Recently I decided to change the name of my amMemberSignup plugin to amSalesPages.

This half-plugin-half-pre-packaged-customization for aMember re-arranges and updates your signup and member pages to solve several common problems that I’ve found while doing membership site customizations for my customers at Kencinnus.

Now I’ve added the capability for you to easily pop-in additional sales copy and even testimonials directly on the signup form, login page and member page.

You can have different sales copy for each product or price group you set up and it will automatically display the appropriate sales copy to your customers based on how you send them to the sign up page from your landing pages.

The signup page could BE your landing page now!

That’s why I’ve renamed it to amSalesPages.

I’ve also finally gotten around to making a video that explains everything this plugin does.

Watch the video here.

-Ken Gary

Looking for Thesis Theme Integration? Then you’re in the right place.

The Thesis Theme is one of my favorite themes for WordPress. It’s super-flexible — which means you can easily customize the design to make your blog look unique. Plus, Thesis is “SEO optimized” to help you get better rankings in the search engines.

Out of the box, Thesis offers more options — and more publishing “fire power” — than just about any other WordPress theme on the market today.

Since I’ve now installed, upgraded, and tweaked Thesis on at least four different web sites, I’ve become a bit of an expert at “dialing in” the theme just the way you want it.

I’ve added fixed-width graphic headers. I’ve added all kinds of plugins and widgets. I’ve switched up color themes, learned how to use the media box for videos and opt-in forms, and even integrated WordPress, Thesis, and aMember to create membership sites.

Here’s the deal:

Since I have a Thesis Developer’s License, I can get a copy of Thesis for $40 when you hire me to do your Thesis Theme Integration. I then charge $80 for my time. That includes installation of the theme, installation of up to 5 widgets, and some basic web design (colors, number of columns, etc.).

So for a total of $120, you can get the Thesis Theme fully integrated into your WordPress blog. Click the link below to order Thesis Integration now.

Order Thesis Theme Integration Here.

-Ken Gary

A couple weeks ago, I told you about a new plugin called amInterests that could help you give your prospects exactly what they want. That plugin is now ready for sale. You can watch the video to the right to see what it’s all about.

If you prefer to read, here’s a quick summary of what this plugin does:

• amInterests allows you to ask a question at the beginning of the signup process. You can then offer a relevant upsell based on how your prospect answers this question. (If you’d rather not make an offer, you could simply present relevant information based on the answer.)

• If you are marketing business to business, and you have multiple products available, you might ask, “Are you more interested in growing your business or implementing systems to free up your time?” Based on the answer, you could make a relevant offer or present specific information. (This question-and-targeting method can be used in any business.)

• The placement of the question is included naturally in the signup process using amInterests. See the screen shot below for an example.

Just add a simple question to the signup process, then provide a relevant offer or information based on the answer.

The screen shot above is from a membership site that teaches people how to write effective sales copy. But there are two distinct groups of people who want to learn how to write copy that sells: online entrepreneurs and freelance copywriters.

By asking the prospect to identify himself, the owner of the site can now make an offer relevant to who that person is. For instance, you might offer business owners a copy critique and offer freelance copywriters an information product about getting more clients.

One of the questions I’ve been getting is this: “How is amInterests different than the amStrategy plugin?”

The biggest difference is that amInterests is used at the beginning of the signup process while amStrategy comes into play at the very end of a purchase.

While amInterests allows you to ask a simple question to better target your offers, amStrategy allows you to ask a whole series of questions — post-purchase — so you can follow up with a phone call.

The purpose of this phone call is usually to see if the new customer is a good fit for your higher-priced programs and services… those that are too expensive to be completed on a web site.

Most online buyers have a threshold of what they will spend without talking to somebody first. This threshold is usually around $3,000. If the price is higher than that, it’s good to get on the phone to answer questions, objections, etc.

This is where amStrategy can be a big help to you because you can ask a number of qualifying questions and get the answers before you get on the phone.

As you can see, amInterests is a much simpler plugin, but highly effective if you know there is a natural division among the prospects that are coming to your site.

The cost of amInterests is $249. But for the next 48 hours, you can get it for just $62.25. Please use the special link below to get your copy of amInterests for just $62.25 (offer expires Saturday at 12 noon Mountain time).

Buy it here now!

Ken Gary

If you’d like to be able to peek inside your customers’ brains… discover exactly what interests them… and then offer them exactly what they want, I promise you’ll want to read every single word of this brief blog post.

Because I’ve developed a new Amember plugin called “amInterests” that allows you to design a “smart” upsell offer funnel and give your prospects exactly what they want — without ever having to pick up a phone or talk to them!

Better still, the process is completely automated, and it generates more sales from every new customer that comes in your “door,” which of course increases your revenue and profits.

Here’s how it works…

• amInterests allows you to ask a question — or series of questions — at the beginning of the signup process. You can then offer relevant upsells based on how your new customers respond. (If you’d rather not make an offer, you could simply present relevant information based on the answers.)

• If you are marketing business to business, and you have multiple products available, you might ask, “Are you more interested in growing your business or implementing systems to free up your time?” Based on the answer, you could make a relevant offer or present specific information. (This question-and-targeting method can be used in any business.)

• The placement of the question is included naturally in the signup process using amInterests. See the screen shot below for an example.

Just add a simple question (or questions) to the signup process, then provide a relevant offer or information based on the answers.

The screen shot above is from a membership site that teaches people how to write effective sales copy. But there are two distinct groups of people who want to learn how to write copy that sells: business owners and freelance copywriters.

By asking the prospect to identify himself, the owner of the site can now make an offer relevant to who that person is. For instance, you might offer business owners a copy critique and offer freelance copywriters an information product about getting more clients.

Let’s Look at Another Potential Scenario…

Imagine for a moment that you run a membership site for dog lovers. And also imagine that you have information tailored to owners of different breeds. You could ask a simple question to tailor your sales message instead of the offer itself.

What breed of dog do you own?

• Golden retreiver
• Labrador
• Poodle
• Shih Tzu
• Pug
• Boxer
• Doberman Pincher
• German Shepherd
• Bichon Frise
• Terrier
• Basset Hound
• French Mastiff

Based on how your prospect answers this question, you can present a sales message customized to that individual person. In all cases, you might be selling the same product: a membership to your site.

But — you can now customize the sales message to persuade a higher percentage of your prospects to become members.

Now Let’s Go Even Further…

amInterests is not limited to “one question, one offer.” You can actually build out an entire upsell offer funnel based on how your new customer answers a series of questions. Take a look:

This chart shows how you can build an entire offer funnel with amInterests.

As you can see, what makes amInterests so powerful is the ability to customize your offers to a person’s interests. This alone will cause your conversion rates to spike.

You can ask an unlimited number of questions during the signup process, and you can have as many answers to each question as you want with only one answer allowed, or even multiple answers allowed. (Although the more possible answers you have, the more complex your offer funnel becomes. So it’s good to strike a balance.)

Don’t Have Enough Products? Then Offer Affiliates Products Instead!

If you don’t have any products to upsell… or you only have one product to upsell, and you want to have  more upsells in your offer funnel… then consider using amInterests to sell affiliate products.

You can still ask questions during signup and then push your customers through your affiliate link to products that match their interests.

One client I have is doing just this. We built his entire offer funnel using amInterests, and every upsell is to an affiliate product.

You could actually use this technique even without an initial product to sell. You could offer a free membership to your site, then have upsells included during signup!

In the right hands, this new plugin is like having the ability to…

Eavesdrop on Your Prospect’s Most Intimate Thoughts.

Indeed, it’s market intelligence of the most valuable kind! Because once you know what your customers want, selling them more stuff will be like shooting fish in a barrel.

One of the questions I’ve been getting is this: “How is amInterests different than the amStrategy plugin?”

The biggest difference is that amInterests is used at the beginning of the signup process while amStrategy comes into play at the very end of a purchase.

While amInterests allows you to ask a series of questions to better target your upsell offers, amStrategy allows you to ask a more in-depth series of questions — post-purchase — so you can follow up with a phone call.

The purpose of this follow-up phone call is usually to see if the new customer is a good fit for your higher-priced programs and services… those that are too expensive to sell on a web site.

Most online buyers have a threshold of what they will spend without talking to somebody first. This threshold is usually around $3,000. If the price is higher than that, it’s good to get on the phone to answer questions, objections, etc.

This is where amStrategy can be a big help to you because you can ask a number of qualifying questions and get the answers before you get on the phone.

Design a “Smart” Upsell Offer Funnel

If all you ever use is amOffers to upsell your customers, you’ll be far ahead of the competition since most online entrepreneurs don’t ever get beyond the first sale.

But the advantage of amInterests is that it allows you to design a “smart” upsell offer funnel… one that fits a customer’s interests. By using amInterests to gather intelligence first, you get to make even more sales during the upsell process.

The cost of amInterests is $249. But for a limited time, you can get it for just $62.25. Please use the special link below to get your copy of amInterests for just $62.25. (This offer may be removed at any time.)

Buy it here now!

Ken Gary

P.S. When I first designed the amOffers plugin, I was really excited because I knew that it could totally transform a person’s business. But I’m even MORE excited about amInterests. And that’s sayin’ somethin’!

How would you like to turn every sale you make into two or three sales, automatically?

Now, you can, with the amOffers plugin for aMember.

The amOffers plugin lets you easily upsell, cross-sell, and downsell each and every new customer who purchases a product from you.

When new customers purchase Product A, you can automatically offer Product B, and maybe even Product C, if you want.

Design Your Offer Funnel, Then Sit Back and Profit!

Using the amOffers plugin, you can create a series of upsells and downsells that will be triggered by a) what your customer buys… and… b) how your customer responds to subsequent offers.

For instance, assume that your new customer has bought Product A for $49. When this sale takes place, you can have amOffers automatically present Product B for $499.

If the person declines this offer, you can then offer Product C (a scaled down version of Product B) for $299.

In this scenario, Product A is the initial sale, Product B is a new product offer, and Product C is a downsell – a fallback position if your customer declines Product B.

This is just one hypothetical scenario.

If the person had said yes to Product B for $499, then you might choose to present a third option – we’ll call it Product D – for $1,995.

How you design your “offer funnel” is totally up to you.

Even better, you can have up to 5 offers in your offer funnel. You can set up different products to trigger different offer funnels – or have all products trigger the same offer funnel.

Best of all, the plugin is smart enough to know what products your customer has purchased, so your customer will never see an offer for a product they’ve already purchased – no matter if that same product is included in your offer funnel or not!

Do you sell more than one product through aMember?
Do you plan to sell more than one product?
Then you need the amOffers plugin.

If you’re using aMember, and you are selling more than one product (or would like to sell more than one product), then you need amOffers.

It’s easy to install. It’s easy to use. And it’s the fastest way to get your new customers buying more of your products and spending more money with you.

So let’s recap what amOffers does…

• amOffers helps you create an offer funnel.

• You can create up to 5 sequential offers to be automatically presented after a customer’s initial purchase.

• This plugin is ideal for one-time offers, related products, unrelated products, upsells, downsells and cross-sells.

• Select as many products as you want to trigger the offer funnel. (Conversely, you can leave the offer funnel turned off for certain items, e.g. consulting services.)

• The aMember scope and product requirement logic is used to make sure your customer is not offered something they are not qualified to purchase – or have already purchased in the past.

Your cost? Only $249.

Limited-Time Special Offer! As part of a marketing test, you can get amOffers for just $124.50 when you request it today.

This discounted price includes FREE lifetime upgrades and unlimited use on sites that you personally own.

Ken Gary

P.S. If there was one aMember plugin that would easily pay for itself within the next week, this is it.

P.P.S. This is one of the most valuable plugins I’ve ever created. There is no guarantee the price on this page will be the same when you return.

P.P.P.S. Some people have asked me, “Ken, what’s the difference between the amUpsell and amOffers plugins?”

This is a great question, so let me try to explain…

amUpsell lets you upsell just one thing at a time on the thank you page after a person buys a product from you.

If somebody bought a digital camera, you might offer an extra memory card.

But amUpsell is only good for one upsell. It does not let you create an entire offer funnel with multiple products.

This is what amOffers does.

So which plug-in is best for you?

Well, if you have only two directly related products, then you will probably only need amUpsell. But if you have multiple products (directly related or only indirectly related), then you will probably need amOffers.

Click Here To Watch how easy it is to install this plugin.

Click Here to Order Now!

How would you like to turn every sale you make into two or three sales, automatically?

Now, you can, with the amUpsell plugin for aMember.

The amUpsell plugin lets you easily upsell each and every new customer another product or service.

When new customers purchase Product A, they will automatically be offered Product B, and maybe even Product C, if you want.

An Instant 122% Increase in Revenue?

Let’s say you’re selling a $49 product. And let’s say you have a $299 product you’d like to sell to your new customers after they get the first product.

With amUpsell, you can automatically present your $299 offer to new customers.

Let’s assume 20% of customers decide to accept this second offer. How much does that grow your revenue?

Here’s the math:

          100 new customers at $49 = $4,900

          100 new customers x 20% = 20 upsells

          20 upsells at $299 = $5,980

          Total Revenue = $10,880

Did you catch that? In this example, you’d make more money on upsell offers than you would on your initial offer!

Even more shocking, the upsell offer creates a 122% increase in total revenue!

This is not a gimmick or some technique that’s going out of style. Upsells have been used with great success not only in online businesses, but also in infomercials, retail stores, and even restaurants.

“Would you like to supersize that?”

McDonald’s has created a super profitable franchise business with a few key techniques. One of those techniques is the humble upsell.

When you order a meal, you will likely be asked, “Would you like to supersize that?” When you order just a sandwich, they might ask you, “Would you like some fries with that?”

Simple questions. Powerful results.

And this is exactly what amUpsell does for you. It lets you automatically ask the simple questions that add fat profits to your bottom line.

If you’re using aMember, and you are selling more than one product (or would like to sell more than one product), then you need amUpsell.

There is no faster or easier way to make more money every time you make a sale.

So let’s recap what amUpsell does…

• amUpsell helps you automatically offer more of your aMember products to new customers.

• If your customer buys Product A, you can offer them Product B on your thank you page. (Normally hard, now EASY.)

• You can use one upsell product B for as many trigger product A’s as you wish. Chain them together.

• You specify the sales copy that is shown when the upsell is offered. It can come from the trigger product, the upsell product, or both.

Your cost? Only $67.

Thanks,

Ken Gary

P.S. If there was one aMember plugin that would easily pay for itself within the next week, this is it.

P.P.S. Click Here To Watch how easy it is to install this plugin.

During July 2009, more than 60 business and personal development experts are presenting some of their best content… for free.

The month-long event is being sponsored by MaestroConference as a way for them to showcase their technology.

What makes MaestroConference so special?

1. Breakout Groups — During each call, participants can be split out into breakout groups where they can answer questions, share insights, and get to know each other in a small, intimate environment.

2. Hand-Raising — Have a question? Just press #1 on your phone to raise your hand. The call host will see you have a question and pass the mic to you!

3. Orderly Q&A — Ever been on a call where people were talking all over each other to get their questions answered? This problem goes away with MaestroConference. Each person gets a turn — without being interrupted.

I’m a big fan of MaestroConference, and during MaestroMonth luminaries like Jack Canfield, Michael Port, Deepak Chopra, Mariann Williamson, Terri Levine and many others are presenting.

Remember: These aren’t just presentations… you actually get to engage with experts… talk to them… ask them questions… in a fun, interactive environment.

I promise you, you’ve never experienced anything quite like a MaestroConference.

So what are you waiting for? Click the link below to register FREE for MaestroMonth so you can connect with these experts during July…

http://maestroconference.com/

By itself, aMember membership software is good; with aMember plugins, it’s great.

As you might already know, aMember protects your private membership content areas and manages your membership subscriptions. I’ve not been able to find anything better. But when you tack on a few aMember plugins, it becomes a supercharged internet marketing platform…

Amazing Internet Marketing Plugins for aMember

I’ve written an entire suite of plugins for aMember that will help you automate things like upsells, offers, physical product delivery, shipping costs, email integration, enhanced thank you page and more.

amUpsell: Upsell Individual Related Products

amUpsell: Upsell Individual Related Products

• amUpsell helps you automate up-selling more of your products in aMember.
• If your customer buys Product A, you can offer them Product B on your thank you page.
• You can use one upsell product B for as many trigger product A’s as you wish. Chain them together.
• You specify the sales copy that is shown when the upsell is offered. It can come from the trigger product or from the upsell product or both.
• Purchase amUpsell Today!

amOffers: Sequential Offer Funnel

amOffers: Sequential Offer Funnel

• amOffers helps you create an offer funnel.
• Tack on up to five sequential offers after initial purchase.
• Good for one-time offers, related products, unrelated products, upsells, downsells and cross-sells.
• Select as many products as you want that will trigger the offer funnel on the thank you page when they are purchased.
• The aMember scope and product requirement logic is used to make sure your customer is not offered something they are not qualified to purchase.
• Purchase amOffersToday!

amStrategy: Collect Customer Intelligence So You Can Make Smarter Sales Calls

amStrategy: Collect Customer Intelligence
So You Can Make Smarter Sales Calls

• amStrategy helps you automate a Strategy Session Survey that your call center can use to offer the right premium products to your members.
• Set it so that when certain products are purchased the Strategy Session is shown before the thank you page during checkout.
• The results are stored in the member’s profile and emailed to as many email addresses as you specify.
• When a member completes the questionnaire they are taken back to the thank you page where they get to see their receipt for the purchase they just made.
• You can hyper-link directly to the survey page in emails too so members can fill out the survey at times other than when purchasing.
• Purchase amStrategy Today!

amThankYou: Thank You Page Enhancement

amThankYou: Thank You Page Enhancement

• amThankYou shows your customers all of their products and receipts that they have purchased during the current visit, not just from the last order.
• It shows the product URL, additional URLs and incremental content links for every product.
• Your customer does not have to go to their member page first to use the products they’ve just purchased.
• You can display a piece of “thank you” copy that is unique to each product. This could be a “poor man’s upsell”, download instructions, Google AdWords code snippets or anything you need to put on the thank you page for that particular product.
• If the amUpsell or amOffers plugins helped them make multiple purchases then the receipt for each and every purchase that day will be displayed, not just for the last order.
• Purchase amThankYoul Today!

amSalesFunnel: Includes amOffers, amStrategy,
amThankYou and amUpsell

• amSalesFunnel gives you four amazing marketing and business plugins at a reduced price: amOffers, amStrategy, amThankYou and amUpsell. (See individual descriptions above.)
• These plugins all work together to make your aMember-driven web site more automated, more user friendly and hopefully more profitable.
• Save money when buying these four plugins in this bundle instead of separately!
• Purchase amSalesFunnel Today!

aMail: Synchronize Member List with Email Service Providers

aMail: Synchronize Member List with Email Service

aMail is an aMember plugin that keeps your members subscribed and unsubscribed at your favorite autoresponder: AWeber, MailChimp, AutoResponse Plus, etc.

• Automatically subscribe your members to the list that you specify when they purchase your products.
• Automatically remove them from the same lists when their subscriptions run out or if their subscription is cancelled by the member or the admin of your site.
• Allow your members the ability to unsubscribe themselves on their member page. You can also unsubscribe them from the admin page.
• Purchase an aMail Plugin Today!

Get a coupon worth $30 off of an
aMail plugin when you join Membership Academy!

aMail for AWeber

• Integrates aMember with AWeber.
• Handles one global default active list and/or active list per product.
• Can import login, address and custom fields into AWeber.
• Option not to send unsubscribes because when a member is unsubscribed only they can re-subscribe themselves by going to AWeber personally.
• Purchase an aMail Plugin for AWeber Today!

aMail for AutoResponse Plus

• Integrates aMember with AutoResponse Plus.
• Can manage separate pending, active and cancelled lists for your entire membership and on a per-product basis.
• Option not to send unsubscribes because when a member is unsubscribed and then are re-subscribed it adds a new member record to your list or is ignored depending on your ARP settings.
• Purchase an aMail Plugin for AutoResponse Plus Today!

aMail for MailChimp

• Integrates aMember with MailChimp.
• Can manage separate pending, active and cancelled lists for your entire membership and on a per-product basis.
• Can subscribe, then unsubscribe and then re-subscribe your members to your lists with no trouble.
• Purchase an aMail Plugin for MailChimp Today!

amProtect: Integrates Content Management System with Member Protection

amProtect: Integrates Content Management System
with Member Protection

• amProtect is a WordPress plugin.
• It let’s you protect individual posts and pages one-at-a-time.
• Just check a box next to the product(s) that allow access to that post or page.
• Mix-and-match which aMember products give access to your content.
• No group hierarchy to worry about. You can create mutually exclusive protected content.
• Simple setup. No additional WordPress or aMember plugins are required to make this work.
• Use amProtect alongside the aMember WordPress plugin seamlessly if desired. It will not interfere.
• Purchase amProtect Today!

amPhysical: Integrates aMember with Disk.com for Automatic Physical Product Delivery

amPhysical: Automate Physical Product Shipments

• amPhysical is an aMember plugin to help you automate physical product shipments through a service like: Disk.com, etc.
• It works with one-time product shipments as well as recurring payments for programs like a DVD-of-the-month product.
• Set it up and forget it!
• Currently there is only a version for Disk.com, but you can request a new version for your favorite fulfillment company.
• Use this with the amShipping plugin to completely control the shipping costs associated with your physical products.
• Purchase amPhysical for Disk.com Today!

amShipping: Add Domestic or International Shipping Charges to Your aMember Order

amShipping: Add Domestic or International Shipping Charges

• amShipping allows you to set up domestic and international shipping charges on any of your products and applies that fee to the order during checkout.
• You can specify which countries should be charged at domestic rates.
• All other countries will be charged at the international shipping rates.
• It is a good compliment to the amPhysical Plugin.
• Purchase amShipping Today!

amAnalytics: The Future of aMember Reports

amAnalytics: Business Intelligence for Membership Site Owners

• Do you know the month that most of your members drop out?
• If you did do you think you might be able to offer an incentive at just the right time to keep them in your program?
• These are the kinds of answers amAnalytics, a monthly web reporting tool, will be designed to give you.
• If you are interested in being notified when this program is available please sign up here.

A lot of people are use to the way that the standard aMember WordPress plugin works with hidepost and the more tag to give away some teaser content while still protecting the rest of the post.

They want to know if that is also possible with my amProtect plugin.

The answer is definitely yes, and in fact it is much easier since you do not have to use hidepost or any other plugins. This post is an example of how to do it.

If you want to read the rest of this post then you must first purchase my amThankYou plugin. Don’t worry, because if you do not already own it you can get it free right now. Just use coupon code B635F06FE0 and order your free amThankYou plugin for aMember here and then come back and read the rest of this article.

Ok, well if you are reading this then you’ve ordered my free amThankYou plugin and have signed in. That right there shows you what it is like to read blog posts protected with amThankYou. Now let me show you how to set up your WordPress posts with amProtect.

Step one is to decide when you are writing your post how much of it you want to show on your home page and in the archives and on the search page. Usually you’ll write a very enticing introductory paragraph that will make your readers salivate to read the rest. Then after that paragraph you will insert the “more” tag.

This picture shows you what that looks like when you are editing your post. You can click on it to see it more clearly.

Put the more tag where you want to start protecting content.

Everything above the tag will display on your home page when you make your post. Everything after it can only be read when they click the continue link. That is when the amProtect plugin kicks in and makes sure that they are a) one of your customers and b) has an active subscription to one of the products you specified on your custom title tag.

Here is how you go about protecting a post to work with a certain product or products. You add a Custom Field to your post called “amember_products” and you type in the product number from aMember. My amThankYou plugin that I required you to purchase before you could read this post is number 54. So here is a screen shot of what it looks like when I set up the post to only be read by people who own product 54 in my aMember installation.

This is how it looks when I add product 54 to the amember_products custom field.

You can enter more than one of your aMember products separated by commas like “54,55″ for example if you want to allow more than one group of customers to have access to your content. It works on pages too. amProtect makes it easy to control exactly who sees what content. The advantage it has over the normal “group” method of protecting WordPress content with aMember is that you can create mutually exclusive content for different groups of customers if you want to. You can still use the old method along with amProtect if you want to also.

But getting back to the topic at hand…

One other thing you should do to make your teaser text show up in the archives, categories and search results is to use the Excerpt field. You can re-use the same introductory paragraph or craft something in particular to show up when the blog post is shown on a category, archive or search result page. WordPress will use your excerpt instead of the first so many characters of your post.

Put your teaser text into the excerpt field for archives and searches.

It is actually good practice to write a great summary of your article that makes people want to click into it and put that in the Excerpt field even if you aren’t protecting it.

So now I hope you have a better idea of how to use the amProtect WordPress plugin for aMember and how it can help you better integrate WordPress with aMember.

>> You can watch a video that shows you how to install the amProtect WordPress plugin for aMember here.

It’s a great deal on a great plugin so please purchase a copy today…

PS: One reason I wrote this article today was to make sure that the amProtect plugin still works with the new version 2.8 of WordPress…and it does!

amThank you is an aMember plugin that makes your Thank You Page simply amazing!

amThankYou: aMember Plugin for Thank You Page Enhancement

Do You Use aMember to Sell Products?

Now You Can Create Intuitive “Thank You”
Pages with the New amThankYou Plug-in!

When you process orders through aMember, your customers will typically see a thank you page that looks like this…

Do you just want to show your customers this?

Notice that there is one receipt, and that the customer must now log-in to the Member Area to access his product.

There is nothing inherently wrong with this… but it can be much better.

So here is what the amThankYou Plugin does…

Wouldn't you rather show your customers all of this?

At first glance you might miss the improvements. So let me point them out.

First, notice how there are multiple receipts listed. If a customer purchases more than one product or membership in a single session, all receipts will be displayed, not just the most recent one.

The customer can see each individual product and how much he paid for it. Much clearer and easier to understand.

Secondly, notice how there are links at the top directing the customer to each of the products he has purchased. He doesn’t have to go the Member Area first. He can simply click the product link to go directly there.

This process is simpler and less confusing for the customer. Plus, it eliminates the step of going to the Member Area first; he can access his products in one click instead of two.

Thirdly, you can display “thank you” page copy that is unique to each product. For instance, you can add a product description or special post-purchase instructions to each product. Whatever you write will appear on the thank you page after a purchase is completed. (Not shown on the example, but it would appear in between the links and the receipts.)

So let’s recap what amThankYou can do…

• Provides individual product links and receipts for each product a customer has purchased during a single session (not just the last product that was purchased).
• Gives the customer direct product links so he doesn’t have to go to the Member Area first. (Access products in one click instead of two.)
• Displays unique descriptions for each product on the thank you page. Automatically show product descriptions, special post-purchase instructions, or whatever you like.

Your cost? Only $20.

Don’t hit “refresh” though… this offer could be gone by then.

Simply enter the Coupon Code “B635F06FE0” during the order process to get it free.

Why am I doing this? Because, quite frankly, I want you to start using this plug-in and earn your trust so that I can have the opportunity to sell you the other aMember plug-ins I’ve developed.

It’s that simple.

With that in mind, click the button below to get amThankYou for free right now.

Ken Gary

P.S. Installing the amThankYou plug-in is a snap. I show you how in a short 8-minute installation video included with your purchase.

One of the big questions after you install your first WordPress blog is, “What are the best WordPress plugins to use on my blog?”

There are plugins to accommodate just about any need you might have. WordPress plugins help you automate tasks, get more subscribers, insert video and audio into your posts, hide content from non-paying members, get better search engine rankings and the list goes on-and-on. With the right plugins you can turn your blog into a podcasting machine, or a shopping cart, or a photo album. With WordPress at the core of your site as your content management system and with the right kind of plugins the sky is the limit and the world is your oyster.

Ahem.

You can find free plugins at WordPress.org which is where you can download most of the suggestions I give below.

So what are the basic plugins everyone should have, no matter what? Here are a few suggestions to get you started based on my experience with WordPress so far on my own sites and on the many client sites I’ve helped set up.

Akismet – This plugin comes with your WordPress installation and it’s the first one I recommend that you enable and configure. It helps prevent comment spamming on your blog automatically and you gotta love that. It requires a WordPress.com API key that you can sign up for and get for free. It’s great to check into your WordPress Dashboard and see “Akismet has protected your site from 42 spam comments already, but there’s nothing in your spam queue at the moment.”

If you want to add another layer of comment spam protection you can also install WP-SpamFree. It seems to stop some SPAM that Akismet misses.

All-In-One SEO Pack – Since you’re spending so much time, money and effort on your blog you want people to read it right? Well that means getting it ranked well in search engines. The All-In-One SEO pack provides you with easy ways to fine-tune the way your posts appear to the search engines. It lets you specify the exact keywords and phrases you want the search engines to rank your posts for. I think this plugin could be one of the main reasons that WordPress blogs get ranked so quickly and so highly.

WordPress Duplicate Content Cure – Another plugin to help you with SEO. Duplicate content cure is a very simple, yet effective SEO plugin that prevents search engines from indexing wordpress pages that contain duplicate content, like archives and category pages.

Google XML Site Maps – This is another plugin to help your blog get indexed and ranked well, this time specifically for Google. The best way to tell Google about your site is by putting an XML sitemap on your site formatted to their specifications. This plugin automates the process for you so you don’t have to know XML or the Google specs. Each time you update your blog this plugin updates your site maps and that tells Google precisely what they can find on your site. It gives you an edge over your competition in the search engines if they are skipping this important step of site building.

Ultimate Google Analytics – Another great plugin to help you if you are using Google Analytics on your site. (You ARE using Google Analytics, right?) Besides being a quick way to put the Google Analytics tracker code on every post/page of your blog without updating any templates, this plugin can also help you track the use of your admin pages and keep track of your downloads and how many people use your external links which is what I like best about it.

Register Plus – This plugin lets you customize the WordPress login page. If anyone besides you uses your blog to login and make their comments or if you allow other people to post on your blog this can allow you to make the login page look like it is a real part of your site. You can add a custom logo, let people pick their own password, use a captcha to keep out those pesky robots, add additional profile fields for your users and more.

cForms – You don’t want to expose your email address to spam harvesters but you do want your visitors to be able to contact you, am I right? cForms allows you to easily put a contact form on your web site. It can handle much more than that though. You can set up any number of forms for any purpose you have. The only downside to this plugin is that they are constantly updating it with new features, which is great, but usually you can’t just click the automatic upgrade button to install the new version. They usually make you disable, install and re-enable it after you download it, unzip it and FTP the updates to your site. But I find that it is worth it for what it can do.

FeedSmith FeedBurner – Google has acquired FeedBurner so if you have a Google account you can get a free FeedBurner account. FeedBurner and the FeedSmith plugin allow you to redirect your WordPress feed into FeedBurner and that allows you to know how many people have subscribed to your blog via RSS. You’ve probably seen these little graphics on blogs that say how many readers they have. This is how you get that.

Action Comments – This is not a free plugin but it is worth every penny if you are building a list with your blog by using an autoresponder service like AWeber. This plugin adds a checkbox to your comments form so that when visitors comment on your blog posts they can choose to be subscribed to your list automatically at the same time. If you have a popular blog that generates lots of comments then you could potentially build a big list very quickly. They say the money is in the list! You can purchase this plugin by itself or it is also sold as a bundle with two other plugins: Action Popup – pops up your list subscription form when they try to leave your site, and Action Optin which allows you to change your regular on-page form with a version that submits the form in the background so the visitor does not leave your page when they subscribe to your list. All three are very powerful.

My Affiliate Link for Action Comments: http://kengary.actioncomments.com.

The Regular Link for Action Comments: http://www.actioncomments.com.

MemberShip Academy aMember Widget and Incremental Content Plugins – If you are using WordPress as a part of a membership site that is being protected with aMember then I highly recommend getting these two WordPress plugins for aMember from the Membership Academy. The aMember widget allows you to put a member signin on your blog pages. Once the member is signed in they are greeted with their name and they have links to their profile page plus you can configure it for them to see the products they’ve purchased from you so far with links to them which makes it easier for them to consume your products which makes them happier customers. The Incremental Content widget can show your members their next months lessons as you release the content incrementally to them. Get it? They are both available once you join the Membership Academy, which I highly recommend for anyone with a membership site (if you want it to be successful that is).

My Affiliate Link for Membership Academy: http://www.membershipacademy.com/

The Regular Link for Membership Academy: http://www.membershipacademy.com

amProtect – This is a plugin I myself wrote and I sell it here on this site. It works with aMember to completely hide and protect posts and pages from non-members or members who have not yet purchased a specific product. It is best for those situations where you do not want anyone to know about content that they have not purchased yet.

I use a lot of other plugins too for things like adding videos to my posts, keeping track of how many views each post gets, and other “application specific” tasks that I need for each of my blogs depending on how I use it so I won’t go into all of them here. Suffice it to say you can get a plugin for whatever you want and if you can’t find a plugin to do what you need then let me know…maybe I can write it for you. And remember, if you need any help installing or configuring plugins for your WordPress blog I provide a WordPress Plugin Installation Service right here at Kencinnus Web Site Development.

I’d love to hear what your favorite WordPress plugins are so please tell me in the comments below.

And, oh, until the technology catches up I have not yet found the plugin that would allow you to send a different designer scent of your choice for each post to the reader’s Smell-O-Matic enabled browser. But I’m sure it’s coming and will be available first in the media console of your flying car.

amPhysical is an aMember plugin that helps you automate your physical product delivery through Disk.com.

amPhysical: aMember Plugin for Disk.com

If you are mailing CDs, DVDs or other Course Material such as Books, Notebooks or Binders … anything that you can arrange to be mailed through Disk.com to your purchasers, subscribers or members then this plugin will automate the fulfillment tasks.

• It fully integrates with aMember and Disk.com.
• Works with one-time products as well as recurring products like “DVD-of-the-month” programs or monthly lessons.
• Keeps track of what has been shipped to each customer on their customer record in aMember.
• Prevents sending duplicate physical products.

>> If you would like to have the amPhysical plugin for aMember automate your physical product delivery using Disk.com you can purchase it here.

amProtect is a plugin for WordPress that allows you to protect posts and pages with aMember subscriptions.

amProtect: WordPress Plugin for aMember

Create Customers-Only Content in Seconds!

The New amProtect Plugin Allows aMember and WordPress to “Talk” So You Can Create Customers-Only Content on the Fly!

If you sell digital products through aMember, then you’ll find amProtect to be particularly helpful in delivering post-purchase information to your customers — and to ONLY your customers.

amProtect is perfect for:

• Providing additional tutorials and training to people who purchase your products.
• Delivering bonus reports and articles to purchasers of a particular product.
• Offering “surprise bonus” reports to new customers.

Every product in aMember has a unique product ID. By using amProtect, you can get WordPress and aMember to “talk” to each other using the product ID.

Here’s how it works:

First, install and configure the amProtect plug-in in your WordPress blog. Then, when you write a new page or post, select the unique product from a list of all of your aMember products. Save your work.

Once this is done, only customers who’ve purchased the product associated with the unique product ID you’ve used will be able to view the page or post.

If the purchase of more than one product should trigger access to the content you’re protecting, you can select multiple products on your post or page to give different groups of customers access to it.

Example:

Let’s say you’ve created a series of blog posts that demonstrate how to use a software program you sell. You only want customers of this software program to see or have access to your instructional blog posts.

So… if your software is called “My Software,” then you would check the box next to “My Software” in the list of all of your aMember products when creating your customers-only WordPress posts.

Until somebody purchases “My Software,” they will not be able to see or read your tutorials. Although they WILL be able to see the “teasers” when they search your blog or go to your categories page.

Good news! Search engines will be able to “see” and index your teaser copy, too. If you craft really compelling teaser copy, you may be able to bring in new customers who want to get access to your customers-only content!

So let’s recap what amProtect can do…

• Gives you the ability to protect individual posts and pages so they are only accessible to customers who’ve purchased a certain product(s) through aMember.
• Allows you to create mutually exclusive protected content. (There is no group hierarchy to worry about.)
• amProtect is a WordPress plugin so it is very easy to install. No additional WordPress or aMember plugins are required to make this work.
• No need for any users to ever be created in WordPress with amProtect.

>> Watch a video that shows how amProtect works.

Ken Gary

P.S. So long as your customers are logged into their primary aMember account, they will automatically be able to access all customers-only content they qualify for. There are no additional passwords to worry about — a huge time saver for you!

>> See an example of a post protected with amProtect that shows how it is done here.

>> If you would like to start using aMember to sell and protect your products then purchase it today.

aMail is an aMember plugin I wrote that syncs up your members with your AWeber lists.

• It automatically subscribes your aMember customers to the AWeber list that you specify when they purchase your products and subscriptions through aMember.
• It automatically removes them from those same lists when their subscriptions run out or if their subscription is cancelled by the customer or the admin of your site.
• It optionally allows your customers the ability to remove themselves from your AWeber lists from their member page.
• It gives you control over which pieces of customer information from aMember gets imported into custom fields in AWeber to further personalize your emails.

We all know that email deliverability is crucial for the success of a business. “The money is in the list!” Even though aMember has some pretty terrific email and list capabilities built right in, most people who own that software and install it on their server know better than to make heavy use of those features.

Keeping your server from being blacklisted for SPAMMING is a full-time job that is better left up to somebody else and we all know that the somebody else who is best is AWeber. We like the fact that they spend their time making sure our emails can get delivered to our customers even if they can be a pain about the rules sometimes.

The Story Behind The Plugin

When I first started using aMember myself I immediately wanted it to integrate with AWeber. So did many of my clients. It was puzzling to me that there was a spot on the aMember site for an AWeber plugin but it said,

“Unfortunately we have found a few problems in existing AWeber integration, so downloads are suspended. Once the problems are resolved, new version of integration plugin will be released.”

But it has said that for years. The scuttlebutt was that AWeber didn’t like the plugin and so aMember took it down.

I spoke with AWeber and they said they didn’t have any problems with their plugin. So I spoke with aMember and asked really nice and they gave me a copy of the plugin. I began to learn how it worked and to install it on a my client’s sites and I could see that it had a few problems as far as I was concerned.

First of all it didn’t get the main job done very well.

That job is to do what every aMember owner wants which is to automatically enroll their customer into the proper AWeber list when they make a purchase. Of course the customer has to complete the double opt-in process as well…always will.

With the plugin from aMember, once the customer completed their purchase, they had to perform one more step and submit the AWeber signup form. Sure, that form was automatically generated by the plugin and appeared on the thank you page with all of the fields already filled out so all the customer had to do was click on the submit button, but most customers would ignore it and your list would remain empty.

That was the biggest complaint I heard from my customers about the old plugin.

Sure, there are ways to automatically submit the form with Java script but does that actually stay within the spirit of what AWeber wants you to do in regard to letting your customers know they are being added to a list?

No.

Not only that but then you lose control of your thank you page for customer receipts or up sell code and one-time-offers that can be based on the purchase they just made from your site. That is too high of a price to pay.

I had other complaints besides that too.

My first problem was that the plugin was supposed to let you specify a different list for every product…but it really didn’t.

There were some bugs in the code that prevented that from really working properly which was no big deal for me to fix but it was a little frustrating to discover that at first. But what if you had the option turned on for multiple products per order in aMember and you wanted the customer to get put on a different list for each eligible product? This is especially important if the information you are sending out in your AWeber list IS the product! It didn’t work. You could only have the customer subscribed to one list per order and the automation rules at AWeber, while terrific, would not always be able to necessarily get you out of this jam.

The second thing that really confused and angered the customers which in turn causes problems for site owners was the aMember newsletter subscriptions checkbox on the member page.

When your customer checks a box on your site that says, “Unsubscribe from all e-mail messages.” then they do NOT want to get another email from AWeber. That just makes them angry and they’ll report it as SPAM in a minute. They don’t want to hear you try to explain to them about how that checkbox only controls emails from the aMember program, blah, blah, blah.

So a lot of my customers have asked me to remove that section from the member page. I always thought it would be better if it was integrated and could control AWeber.

Another thing that was impossible but would have been nice is if you, the site owner and admin, could unsubscribe someone from one spot.

Customers don’t read the bottom of their AWeber emails and follow the instructions to remove themselves from your lists when they want off. They reply to the email or they come to your site and say, “Please take me off of your list.” So you have to go into aMember and check the unsubscribe box in their profile and then you have to go to AWeber and look them up there and stop their subscription. Sometimes they have multiple subscriptions so you have to sit there and go through all of your lists. You have to do that because if they want off you have to honor their requests because you are a good Internet citizen, right?

Those were my biggest complaints so I decided to do something about it and write an aMember plugin I would be happy with and proud to sell to others with the same problems and desire for total integration between aMember and AWeber. I wanted to be sure it would meet AWeber’s high standards for deliverability and that it would be something they would be happy with and approve.

I sat down and wrote the first version before I spoke with AWeber. I still feel it was the best way (and I won’t tell you how it worked) but when I discussed it with them they shot it down and said they didn’t want subscriptions coming to them like that. They pointed me to their email parsers and explained how it worked for PayPal and Authorize.net and other shopping cart systems like that. I took their criticism and advice and completely rewrote a second version to their specifications. Now I had something that would subscribe a customer to whatever list you specified when they purchased from your aMember program.

The next thing I did was apply how AWeber allows you to unsubscribe customers from lists via “remove” emails. I tapped into aMember newsletter controls and solved the integration problems with unsubscribing as successfully as I solved the ones for subscribing.

For good measure I fashioned thank you page templates that improve the chances of your customer actually performing the double opt-in process that AWeber requires so that you have a much higher number of customers receiving your emails. One set of these thank you pages work within the aMember purchase process and the other set can be integrated with AWeber’s normal web form and subscription confirmation process so you can get the same results for opt-in pages you might still have for free lists on your web site.

But does AWeber allow this?

There were some who were skeptical that AWeber would ever approve of an aMember plugin that utilized the email parser because of the issue with having an audit trail of the customer’s IP. But they allow it from PayPal, so why not aMember I thought? Besides they are the ones who told me to use their email parser.

Since I honor the “unsubscribed” flag that the customer decides to set or unset during the signup process, and since I send the admin payment confirmation email through the AWeber email parser just like their other pre-defined parsers and since I include the subscriber’s IP address as a custom field in AWeber for proof, plus as a bonus since I allow the customer to unsubscribe them self when they want to — I was sure my plugin would be allowed for anyone if they follow all of my setup instructions.

I went to AWeber one more time and asked for complete assurance that this would be alright with them. I did not want them to come back later and say that they had a problem. I showed them the customers who were subscribed to my AWeber lists through the aMail plugin on my servers and their email parser and this is what they emailed to me:

As long as these people understand that they are being added to your mailing list, it is okay to set up a parser for them. We do understand that subscribers sent to us through a parser will be from the same IP address – that is not a problem.

Go for it!

Regards,
Nick Moore
Customer Solutions Specialist
AWeber Communications, Inc.
http://www.aweber.com

Think You Can’t Do Email Marketing?
Let Us Show You How… Live!
http://www.aweber.com/blog/live-webinars/

AWeber will let you play as long as you follow their rules.

>> If you would like to start using AWeber to build and manage your email lists then get an account today.

>> If you would like to start using aMember to sell and protect your products then purchase it today.

>> If you would like to have the aMail plugin integrate the two of them then you can purchase it here.

The video I include in this post shows how it works and how to install the aMail plugin into aMember and integrate it with AWeber.

A.J. Brown is the CEO and Founder of Trading Trainer. When A.J. needed someone to do some heavy-duty web design and programming, Ryan Healy, his copywriter and a friend of mine, suggested he talk to me. A.J. approached me about a job redesigning the user interface for a brilliant online tool his developer had created that makes using covered calls as easy as 1-2-3. Normally I’m the one doing the programming and not the designing but this was a fun challenge that turned out to be the beginning of a great relationship between Kencinnus and Trading Trainer. We’ve since collaborated on a number of other projects.

Kevin Smith was the programmer of the Black Box Easy Money System. He works for A.J. on his Trading Trainer membership site where they have a number of tools for the serious options trader. Kevin developed this latest tool and to keep him doing what he does best A.J. made the smart decision to find someone else to “pretty it up” and integrate it into the design of the rest of his membership site.

In the video I’ve included in this post you can see the before-and-after as I explain a bit more about the web design and programming elements of this project. Besides using some nifty tricks for displaying the reports in a good looking table with tool tips, the whole thing uses PHP and Smarty templates to make it easy (for someone like me) to integrate with the PHP tool it was created with and to update it and add to it.

While the Black Box is separate from his site’s main member’s area, it is still integrated into his site’s aMember membership program which controls access so that only current subscribers can use the tool. It includes video training specific to the tool, a support desk and affiliate program that is shared with the rest of his site, plus he has a fantastic invite-a-friend script attached to the tool in order to help his subscribers spread the word for him. They’re happy to do it for the returns on their money they are seeing from using the system.

A.J. Brown

“Before working with Ken, we were presented with an opportunity that had huge potential (adding ~500 qualified buyer leads to our list per week, and ~$200K to our bottom line per month) but no way to implement it online. Immediately after being introduced to Ken he prepared a conceptual solution for us to approve on how to make it happen. It was as if he could read our minds. They say programming can be high quality, fast or inexpensive — pick any two. Ken proved them wrong. He’s the complete package: problem solver, project planner and manager, and programmer. He kept working night and day till it was perfect. He came in under budget. Within six months, because of working with Ken, our bottom line will be exploding with profits.
-A.J. Brown, President of Trading Trainer”Click the play button above to listen to A.J. Brown’s testimonial for Ken Gary.

When the Black Box Easy Money System project was complete I also helped Ryan Healy launch the product. Ryan wrote the sales copy for the optin page, email campaign and sales letter. A.J. created a series of videos showing the prospective subscribers exactly how the system works. I created the web pages with all the bells-and-whistles you could imagine for the product launch.

If you’d like to check out the Black Box Easy Money System product launch pages click here.

I appreciate my friend and copywriter Ryan Healy for recommending me for this project. If you have a similar project you’d like to hire me for please use the contact form to get in touch with me.

Thanks,

Ken Gary

In this video I show you how to change your WordPress blog’s RSS feed into a FeedBurner feed.

Transcript of Video

Hello. It’s Ken Gary from Kencinnus.com. Today I’m going to show you how to install and setup a FeedBurner Feed for your WordPress blog. And a WordPress blog…it has an RSS feed, which is great for people who are interested in your website to be able to sign up and whenever you post a new blog post, they get notified of it in whatever reader they’re using – a real popular one is Google Reader.

And that’s great. People can subscribe. They can get your updates, but you really don’t know what’s going on. That’s where FeedBurner can come in because it can tell you how many people are subscribed to your feed. It can make it easier for those people to subscribe to the feed, and it can do some other amazing things too. I won’t even talk about all of them, but it can automatically ping Technorati, if you wanted to set it up that way.

But I think besides telling you how many people are reading your blog and giving you an idea of who’s listening, if you happen to have to change your blog at any time, like from one place to another, all you have to do is go into FeedBurner and change the address of the blog, and boom, all your new stuff’s going, and you don’t lose any subscribers.

So what we’re talking about though is to be able to put a little ‘chicklet’ like this on your website. This is Step 2; but it will give you some social proof on how many people are reading. I’ve got five whole readers on my “scrapbook” kinda blog, kengary.com – but this is what we’re after.

So the first thing that you want to do when you are going to set up a FeedBurner feed is go to FeedBurner.com. Get an account, which I’ve already done. Sign into your account, which I’ve already done, and I’ve already set up a few of these. But what’s really great is one account sets up as many feeds as you want, for as many websites as you want.

Again, I’m going to show you WordPress, but this will handle any kind of RSS feed. Here’s a subscribed feed for our RSS. Down in the left-hand corner of the screen, you’ll see that it says trubalanceknives.com/feed. That’s the typical address of a WordPress blog is just ‘/feed’. But whatever your RSS feed is that’s what you want to do there. If you are only a podcaster, then maybe you’d check this. But I find that I don’t like to have it checked, and it’s something you can change later if you want.

So you click ‘Next’, and you’re going to go through some different steps. Now here is where you can customize. Now it’s picked up the title of my blog, and it’s trying to cram it all together for me. I’m going to make one little change here. You can make it say anything you want, and as long as it’s not taken, you’ll be able to activate. If you’ve got a unique web domain, then probably this will be unique to you too.

Good. I’m all ready to go on that. That’s now my new address for the feed that I want to tell everybody about, and there will be some steps you’ll have to do to make that happen. We click ‘Next’ because we’re only at Step one of 2. We definitely want to click ‘Track to Click-Throughs’.

And that’s another good thing about FeedBurner. It gives you some statistics. You can even upgrade to a pro account and get a lot more, and if you get really going with it, you might want to do that. But being able to tell what’s going on with your blog and how effective it is, is great. If you’re going to do any kind of marketing at all, you must have analytics and trackers.

All right. Now we’re there. We’ve got a few other steps that we want to do. We know what our feed detail is. We know that it’s http://feeds2.feedburner.com/TruBalThrowingKnifeSociety. We might want to optimize the ‘Smart Feed’. ‘Smart Feed’ knows what the person’s reader normally is, and I’ll show you that later.

Now that’s all we have to do. We can go back to our WordPress blog, and depending on what theme you’re using and what plug-ins you might have, there are some different ways to convert over. The one thing that you’ll want to do is go get the FeedBurner plug-in: FeedBurner FeedSmith Plug-in. You can google that, download it, and upload it to your blog. I’m assuming that you already know how to do plug-ins with your blog authorize.

Now once this is set up, one of the things that you first do is go to the ‘Settings’, and then go down to the FeedBurner ‘Settings’. Here it will remind you what you do here. Type in ‘Feeds’, ‘FeedBurner’, and ‘TrublancedKnives’.

‘Trubalancedthrowingknives’ actually is what I called it. And if you want to you can set up more feeds for your comments and everything, so that you can also push that through.

Now that this plug-in is filled in, anytime I use Kencinnus.com/feed it’s really going to go through FeedBurner. Now if I show you the home page, this ‘Subscribe’ link hasn’t changed down there. I’m using the ‘Thesis’ theme. So there’s one more thing that we need to do under ‘Appearance’.

We need to go to the ‘Thesis options’, and down here is a ‘Syndication Feed’ for if you’re using a service like FeedBurner. So he’s all ready for that. So if I do ‘http:’ and put in the feed there, I’m going to leave it as ‘Subscribe’. I’m going to go ahead and leave that link up there, although in the future, I’ll probably show you a different way.

Now on my home page, when I go to ‘Subscribe’, it’s going to go through the FeedBurner. You see it down there in the lower left-hand corner. But how about getting this ‘chicklet’? And how about we put it right here? There’s probably a way we can put it up there. We can edit the template and do that. If you really want it up there that would be fine, but I’m just going to put it down here for now.

The way we get that is we go to ‘Publicize’, and we get the ‘feed count’. Now here are the default colors. I’m really going to want it to match my site. So I’m going to go with black and white, and then I’m going to a activate it. And when I activate it, it’s going to give me the code that I want. And now what we can do is we can go to the ‘Widgets Editor’. Now in the ‘Thesis’ theme, there’s ‘Sidebar 1′ and ‘Sidebar 2′, so I want it to go into ‘Sidebar 2′.

So I’m going to change this over to ‘Sidebar 2′, and I’m going to show what I have in that. And what we do is add a ‘text widget’, and we edit it. For now, we just call it ‘Subscribe’. You can get as fancy and as great as you want on that. Put the code in there, hit ‘Done’, and we save the changes. So now what we have, if we refresh this, is our ‘Subscribe’ button. If we don’t like where it is we can, of course, put it up there, or down there. I think that’s where I want it. It’s kind of the standard I’m going for.

And so now, we have the ‘Subscribe’ button now. I’m sure there are some reasons not to put it up there until you get some decent readership, but let me show you what happens when you click onto ‘Subscribe’. This is for RSS, right? Did you see how that changed? It’s the Smart Reader. It knows that I always use Google to subscribe.

So I click that and add it to my Google Reader, and voila – it’s in my reader, but it’s going through FeedSmith. And it takes a while for this to update, but eventually, it will update. It will show me the number of readers and give me lots of statistics. You can check out as much of this as you want. Now that’s the basics.

Now the next thing I’m going to show you is how to add an AWeber email form that does two things: It will update the counter on your FeedBurner. Plus, it will update Twitter for you.

So see you next time. Thanks.

I really like how Perry explains How To Make Money With Social Media. He really makes it clear and simple so if you’ve been wondering what all this new stuff is about that you’ve been hearing about lately watch this video.

If you like it too then go on over to DrivingTraffic.com and sign up for their Internet Traffic Report. That could be your first foray into Social Networking!

I finished setting up two WordPress installations today for Gail Daniels. She is a professional female voice talent and radio personality recently of WDEN fame. She has hung up her own shingle. Moving herself off of MySpace onto her own domains with her own blogs and more makes her professionalism really stand out.

I’ve loaded her site with WordPress plugins to really accelerate her search engine rankings, usability and performance. She can even upload voice samples and have them play in her posts so that potential clients can listen to her talents.

She and I are discussing several potential upgrades to her site that will skyrocket her business capabilities plus we may even be partnering on some new projects in the future if our plans work out. Stay tuned.

Here are her two sites:

http://www.gailforceproductions.com/

http://www.gaildaniels.com/

“Thank you so much for great work you did on building my sites. As a busy mom and wife I just didn’t have the time to sit down and figure out all the in and outs of building a web-site. You took the suggestions I gave you and ran with them. You did all the work and now I get to have all the fun! Everyone keeps asking me how I did it. I just tell them I am a genius!”

– Gail Daniels