This is definitely an event I would recommend if you’re looking to take your online business to the next level. Both for the content and the networking.

That’s actually what I’m here for myself…

One of the key points that I’ve been getting out of this event is the structure of systems and processes. How a successful 7-figure business operates. And by the way, from the poll that was taken prior to the event- more than 40% of the attendees are already earning more than $100k/year with their online business.

Earlier today I tweeted a quote from one of the panels, that sums up my focus here this weekend:

“fire yourself… and hire someone that can take your business to the next level”

Tomorrow we’re going to hear from Susan Hill, deemed “The Outsource Enforcer” here at UG6. I am looking forward to her presentation, which is about outsourcing and also how to dominate a niche. I just looked her up on Google and found her guide titled Elance Made Easy -which I am ordering and downloading as we speak. (expect a full review from me on that soon )

I’m interested in strategic outsourcing, but also in finding those few special people to work with as I take my business to the next level. I am starting to get a very clear picture of what they look like and what role they play.

So that’s my objective this weekend, but I’ve also been jotting down a lot of cool notes from various speakers and conversations. I thought I’d share some of those notes with you. And I haven’t had a chance to organize them yet, so I’ll just give them to you as I have them:

• The number of Twitter followers you have will never bring in as much revenue as the same number of email subscribers.

• Where/How are you spending most of your working hours?

• For project management: Basecamp or Central Desktop

• Recommended by several speakers & attendees for higher level business coaching: www.StrategicCoach.com

• Use Twitter search to do keyword searches in a specific area. Go to http://search.twitter.com and use the search syntax “near:zipcode keyword” (without quotes, and where “zipcode” is the actual zipcode of the preferred location.

• Consultants/Service Professionals: Never back down from your strategy or specific offer. It weakens your brand and your reputation to give the client what they think they want, at the expense of results. Don’t give your clients what they want. Educate them on what they need.

• Ask yourself: What does a 6/7 figure business look like? How does it operate, what am I doing? Now ask yourself: What am I not doing now to not be at 6/7 figures?

• Leverage Your Time. Make a list of everything it takes to run your business. Then create a plan to delegate about 95% of it.

• There’s 3 times to sell (a business/website): too early, too late, or the right time.

I’ll work on getting my notes organized, and share some of these points with you in more detail in upcoming posts.

I’ll close now, as I am heading into the next session. I am really glad I attended this Underground Seminar. I’m getting a lot out of it, and I’m having a fabulous time hanging out with @KristenArnold…

Best,

p.s. I enjoyed hearing Gary Vaynerchuk speak this weekend. He definitely crushed it I ordered 10 copies of his book Crush It! just last week, one of which I have with me. I’ll have my review up soon – where I’ll be giving away the other 9 copies. You can sign up below to get notified of new posts so you don’t miss the giveaway:

The most popular advice is to “do what you love”, or go with a niche you are passionate about. This most likely includes a hobby or lifestyle choice.

This is a great idea because you are already knowledgeable and experienced on the topic. You’re also less likely to get bored with it than niches where you don’t have a personal interest.

The second suggestion is to choose a niche where you have professional experience or expertise. Another great approach, except that most people are already burned out on their chosen profession, or still doing it as a day job, and can’t get excited about spending their nights and weekends at it as well…

The third way to select a niche, and one that I recommend a lot, is to choose something you’d like to start doing. A new hobby or lifestyle, or something you’d like to collect or get into.

Since you are just getting started at it yourself, you actually are your target market. This puts you in an ideal position, and gives you insight and empathy with your market – you can easily connect with them on their level.

You’re in research phase, finding resources and discovering what works and what doesn’t – or the best way to do this or that. Sharing all of that information becomes your “content”. And it’s very easy to generate since you’re already actively collecting information on the topic.

Of those top 3 ways to choose a niche, the last one would be my favorite. I have often started a new online business based on new personal interests. I find that it makes work fun, and that fresh enthusiasm for a topic will take you a long way.

With all 3 of these viable niche-selection methods, you are limited to choosing from what you already know or feel comfortable with…

4: What would you do if there were no limits?

Life is full of limits: physical, financial, situations & circumstances, you name it. Often we’ll dream big only to remind ourselves of all the reasons those dreams can never become a reality.

But just for a moment, let’s imagine that there are no limits. Maybe you’ve always dreamed of spending your winters in New Zealand, owning a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes, going on an Alaskan Cruise, or backpacking across Europe.

This is what they mean when they say “think outside the box”.

They are talking about your box.

Your box is your current frame of reference. It includes your personal experience, things you’ve experienced by association, and all of the elements you draw from to make choices and decisions.

Your box is not the same as mine, or anyone else. It’s also not real. We are all drawing from a unique combination of circumstances and experiences. So it’s basically just perception. And perception is not reality.

Let’s do a quick exercise…

Step outside of your frame of reference for a second, and consider everything that the world has to offer. What appeals to you most?

Dismiss any negative thoughts that appear, and allow yourself to just imagine your ideal life. How would you spend your time? How would you spend money if you had an unlimited amount at your disposal? Jot down everything that comes to mind.

(don’t think or hesitate, just jot it down)

Your next step is keyword and market research. Find out if there is interest in that niche, and whether it is a buying market.

This exercise will open up a lot of new options for you, new niches you may not have considered before. And just imagine getting to wake up every day to work on something you can really get excited about!

You may just be amazed at the things that present themselves along the way when you start thinking and working outside of your current frame of reference. Things that were once outside your reach may quickly become real possibilities – and even options.

We’ll go back to the example of New Zealand vacations. You may be a single mother that lives in a small town in Tennessee. You have a work schedule, your children have a school schedule, and New Zealand is just a fantasy place in your mind that you realize you’ll probably only ever see on tv or on the internet…

You do this exercise, your market research, and you start an online business around New Zealand Travel and Vacations (over 57,000 combined searches each month). You see that it’s sort of competitive, hesitate for a second, and then decide to just go for it. This is what you want, and you’re willing to put in the work to grow this business into an online authority.

And you do.

Now you’re in a position to take that trip to New Zealand, and it’s no longer a personal expense. It’s a tax deductible business trip. You meet people, take photos and videos, blog about your experiences. And before you know it, you’re getting VIP invites from airlines, hotels, restaurants etc that would love to be reviewed and featured on your popular travel & vacation website…

See how that works?

Dream big. Choose your niche… and make it happen!

Best,

HP OfficeJet 6500 All-In-One Wireless Printer/Fax/Copier

(Yes I know, I can be slow on these things! )

This particular HP model wireless printer is currently on special offer at Amazon.com for only $125.43 (normally $246), free shipping.

The cool thing is, it was a breeze to set up – and I even did it myself!

It only took me a few minutes from unboxing to ready-to-use. And I have a quick slideshow of the entire process:

HP Officejet 6500 Wireless

HP Officejet 6500 Wireless

HP Officejet 6500 Wireless

HP Officejet 6500 Wireless

HP Officejet 6500 Wireless

HP Officejet 6500 Wireless

HP Officejet 6500 Wireless

I couldn’t resist the great opportunity to use the Slickr Flickr plugin again!

***************

The accessories that you see in the photo are:

• HP Advanced Photo Paper, glossy 8.5×11
• HP Advanced Photo Paper, glossy 4×6
• HP Copy/Laser/Inkjet 3-Hole Paper

That printer paper that already has the 3-holes punched out will come in real handy for all the 3-ring binders I create for the tutorials and guides I download to study.

With as many devices as I have running in my home and office… it only made sense to go wireless. The HP Officejet 6500 Wireless Printer had great reviews on Amazon, a great price plus free shipping, and I am loving it already!

Best,

Nascar - Atlanta Motor Speedway

Nascar - Atlanta Motor Speedway

Nascar - Atlanta Motor Speedway

Nascar - Atlanta Motor Speedway

Nascar - Atlanta Motor Speedway

Nascar - Atlanta Motor Speedway

Nascar - Atlanta Motor Speedway

Nascar - Atlanta Motor Speedway

Nascar - Atlanta Motor Speedway

Nascar - Atlanta Motor Speedway

Nascar - Atlanta Motor Speedway

Nascar - Atlanta Motor Speedway

Details: Slickr Flickr Plugin

Download plugin: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/slickr-flickr/

Note: you’ll need to go to http://idgettr.com to get your Flickr ID to use in the settings of the plugin.

It’s very easy to install and use. I had the example above set up in less than 8 minutes on the first try.

This is a great way to repurpose your Flickr photos.

Up until now I have used Animoto to create YouTube videos out of still photos. Obviously Animoto is still the best option for repurposing your photos into a video marketing campaign, but this opens up a whole new set of options.

You can display photos of course, or you could get creative. Consider using product images, cover graphics, explanatory text images and screenshots in a slide show within your blog posts. Especially on product reviews or demos!

You can use the Slickr Flickr plugin within blog posts, or in a sidebar widget. There are several options, and it’s super easy to use.

Enjoy!

p.s. That was my first Nascar experience, and it was awesome!

Kimmoy asks: I remember thinking during the lanch of the NAMS product, so many of us were posting affiliate links. What if a person clicks on one or more of our aff links, who gets the credit? (1st or last click?)

Also, if I sent someone a link to one Amazon product, they didn’t buy immediately, but the next day they go back to Amazon.com to buy that product or another, do I still get credit?

Hi Kimmoy,

Great question! Each affiliate program is set up differently, so they don’t all work the same. Some of them (very few) work on a “referral for life” system, others track by the first referrer for x days, or they may credit the last referrer…

When you sign up for an affiliate program, they will generally tell you their tracking terms – or how their affiliate cookies are used – in addition to the commission structure for each sale or lead.

Amazon affiliate cookies last 24 hours. If someone follows your link and makes a purchase within 24 hours, you are credited with the sale. If they follow your link and add an item to their cart – and then make that purchase within 89 days – you are credited with the sale.

In this case, since your cookie lasts for 24 hours (or 89 days on items placed in their cart), you are credited with the sale even if they click on another affiliate’s Amazon link during that time frame. So with Amazon, it’s the first click until the cookie expires.

ClickBank credits the last click. They create a 60-day cookie, so if your visitor clicks through your hoplink and purchases that product within 60 days, you are credited for the sale and earn a commission. BUT, if they click on another affiliate’s hoplink in that time then that next affiliate gets credit for the sale instead.

That’s just two examples of popular affiliate programs, but as you can see they all vary quite a bit in how they track click-through’s and sales from their affiliates. Not all merchants use cookies, and computer users can clear their cookies at any time.

Ideally you’ll pre-sell your visitors on the product you are promoting, and encourage them to click through and make their purchase right away.

Best,

p.s. Want to learn more about Affiliate Marketing? See my in-depth overview of the Super Affiliate Handbook by Rosalind Gardner. This is where I learned the successful affiliate model I am still using today!

Zack and I originally met at a local meet-up a couple of years ago. While the group is no longer meeting, we’ve made it a point to keep in touch and meet up for lunch when we can.

It had been close to a year since our last get-together, so we had a lot of catching up to do! It’s always tons of fun because we share the books we’re reading, the resources we’re studying, brainstorm our business models, etc. You may recall that Zack is the one that turned me on to The Power of Full Engagement.

This time we discussed Linchpin by Seth Godin, money mindset, Mac tricks, and more. While you couldn’t be there with us in person, I thought I’d do the next best thing and share the resources we discussed…

I recently ordered Linchpin after it came up in the IMTW Podcast, and Amazon also recommended Path of Least Resistance by Robert Fritz. I grabbed both, and started on the book by Fritz (which I am loving!) and Zack is near the finish of Linchpin.

This of course launched us into an all-out money mindset discussion, as well as just mindset in general – and how we view our business models and their possible weaknesses.

We discussed scalability, outsourcing, getting back into creative mode (vs reaction mode), etc. We shared courses, books, resources and mentors that we were each tapping into on all of these topics as well.

Eben Pagan came up in that conversation and Zack said that the Wake Up Productive and Guru Mastermind programs were both closed, but has studied and recommended Eben’s Altitude program which is still available.

He also told me about Sean D’Souza of www.psychotactics.com, and suggested I would enjoy Sean’s Brain Audit ebook (around $140). Sean is based in New Zealand, which really got my attention. I’ve been looking for a good excuse to plan a trip there, and meeting a brilliant online marketer from NZ is a great start!

Sean has a great blog as well, so make it a point to check that out.

We also had a little chat about naptime (yes, we are both super-productive lazy nappers, ha!) and specifically apps for naps. Zack recommended Pzizz which takes you into and out of power naps or full sleeps for the best possible rest & recovery.

The conversation took lots of twists and turns, and somehow we went straight from Naps to Macs. Luckily I had my handy dandy shiny new Macbook Pro in tow!

(The real question is: do I leave home without it at all?! )

I confessed to Zack that I had not yet figured out how to shut down or restart my Mac and he politely showed me how – with a bit of a grin, no doubt -lol.

I took the opportunity to ask him a few newbie questions on iMovie as well. Like how in the world do I work with this chain of connected video snippets that iMovie seemed to have run all together as one big crazy clip?!

Of course, it was an easy fix, and I came straight home and uploaded a few video clips with the click of a mouse. Nothing especially exciting, except this one – mainly because I like the way Ben eats his noodles:

My next project is to learn transitions, dropping in photos between clips, and creating something a little more entertaining to watch. Although, you gotta admit – noodles is a good start!

Also on the topic of Mad Mac Skillz, Zack recommended Lynda as a great beginner’s learning resource. He also recommended Screenflow, Video Cue, Episode Mac Encoder, and Crucial Memory System Scanner for ordering & upgrading memory – which I plan to max out since the mac is for mobile video editing.

Two more resources we discussed: the MaxBlog Press Ninja Affiliate Plugin and Chris Garrett’s ARC Secret. Oh – and Vimeo, and specifically how you can use it to create private members-only videos with an upgraded account.

We also talked about real estate, events we’d attended recently, our upcoming event schedule, local meet-ups and probably a million other things besides. It was a fabulous afternoon that ended with a page full of notes, a big hug – and of course plans to meet up for Sushi again in a few weeks.

Zack has something super cool up his sleeve that I’ll share with you soon. He has me bound to secrecy for now, but I’ll let you know about it as soon as he gives me the green light to share the link!

Best,

p.s. I used Zack’s links to all of the resources that he shared with me yesterday. Some of those may be his affiliate or referral links, which I thought was a kind way of showing my appreciation for the wealth of information he shared with me

Hear Ryan’s top 3 tips for growing your online business, and why copywriting is an important skill for all bloggers to learn!

Hi Ryan! You have an impressive history of working online as a copywriter for the last 8 years. What was it that inspired your transition to working online?

When I went freelance back in 2005, I had already been doing a lot of online marketing for the company I worked for. Plus, online advertising was exploding. So it seemed to make the most sense to focus on helping online businesses to improve their marketing.

Of course, I’ve been fortunate to have been involved with a few off-line projects as well. But to this day most of my work is online.

In addition to being a highly referred Direct Response Copywriter, you’re also known as a Business Growth Expert. Do you focus mainly on the growth of online business?

Yes. I help online businesses get more sales from their current advertising efforts. If they’re making 1 sale for every 200 visitors, I want to help them make 2 or 3 sales from the same volume of traffic.

Most times I’m hired to write a direct response sales letter. Sometimes I’m hired to do a copy critique or write emails or run some split-tests. Every situation is unique.

I’ve also helped a few off-line businesses in the sense that they generate leads online and close them off-line. Or vice versa: They generate the lead off-line (through direct mail or space ads), then bring them online.

With every year that passes it becomes harder to define businesses strictly in terms of “online” or “off-line.” Many businesses choose a hybrid approach. And why not? There’s money to be made in both places, and it’s silly to cut off one or the other “just because.”

What 3 tips would you share with ClickNewz readers to help them grow or improve their online business?

Only three?? Just kidding.

Here are three tips that come to mind…

Improve Your Online Business Tip #1:
Master the Execution of Fundamentals

The fundamentals of building and growing an online business never change. The basic formula is:

Targeted Traffic + Conversion + Remarkable Product = Sustainable Online Business

What have you done today to get more targeted traffic to your site? What have you done today to improve your conversion rate? What have you done today to make your product better?

You don’t necessarily have to tackle all three areas in a single day. But I believe you should be doing one of these things every single working day.

It’s work — but it works.

Improve Your Online Business Tip #2:
Automate What Can Be Automated

If you were a door-to-door salesman, you’d have to knock on dozens of doors every single day to have even a fighting chance at earning a living. This is not something you could automate. You’d have to do it yourself.

One of the advantages of running an online business is that many sales functions and even fulfillment functions can be automated.

For instance: You can load up an autoresponder sequence with quality content and a few sales messages mixed in. The emails will be sent out automatically on the schedule you determine.

Surely I’m not telling you anything new. Most people who’ve been online for more than a couple months understand the importance of an autoresponder sequence. And yet very few people actually build out their follow-up sequence like they know they should.

This gets back to Tip #1. You need to become an expert at execution.

Here are a few things that can be automated: follow-up emails, opt-in processes, delivery of electronic products, delivery of physical products, etc.

If you begin to automate your business, you get to do the work once and then enjoy the fruits of that labor for a long time. (There is almost always a degree of ongoing maintenance involved, but it’s minimal compared to the initial work.)

Somebody will point out: “But Ryan, you’re a copywriter! You’re just trading hours for dollars!”

Point taken. And it’s something I continue to work on: Shifting my income away from activities that pay only once and toward activities that generate income for the long-term.

Improve Your Online Business Tip #3:
Avoid Unnecessary Distractions

There are a million and one things demanding your attention when you’re online.

There are emails, Facebook updates, news alerts, RSS feeds, tweets, etc. If you’re not careful, an entire day can flash by — without you getting a single thing done to advance or improve your online business.

So whereas the first two tips I shared were “offensive,” this one is “defensive.” It’s imperative that you stay focused and cut out unnecessary distractions.

Do you have email alerts turned on? Turn them off. Does Tweetdeck run in the background alerting you to every new tweet? Turn it off.

Half the battle is usually just managing and controlling the tyranny of the urgent-yet-unimportant things that crop up every day.

Do you feel copywriting is important to bloggers, since they don’t create products & sales letters?

Absolutely! After all, every blog post title has to “sell” people on taking the time to read what follows.

(I’ve actually studied the most popular posts on my blog and on other people’s blogs and have made some interesting discoveries, particularly about blog post titles.)

One commonality among all top bloggers is their ability to write well and be entertaining. Too many blogs have no life in them, no passion. They just bore me (and everybody else) to tears.

Plus, there’s much to be said for learning how to engage people. By studying copywriting, you can learn a lot about how to capture people’s attention and engage them — both important skills for bloggers.

You offer a Free 39-Point Copywriting Checklist on your blog. Who is this checklist best suited for, and can you tell us what to expect from the download?

The check list is specifically designed for people who are selling things online. But affiliate marketers and bloggers can pick up a few good ideas as well.

When you get the check list, you’ll see that each item is phrased as a question. And there is a check box next to it. After you read the question, you can then check it off if it is complete.

For instance, the first question is, “Does your headline enter the conversation that’s already happening in your prospect’s mind?” There’s a check box to the left of the question so you can check it off.

There are 38 more questions like this. And while there isn’t a precise order, the check list is organized so that things you should think about first are at the top, and things you should think about later are at the bottom.

The 39-Point Copywriting Checklist is available for free (with opt-in). Or feel free to simply peruse the 200+ free articles on my business growth and copywriting blog.

Ryan M. Healy

“““““““““
TELEPHONE:
Open call-in hours 2-4 p.m. MST,
Monday-Thursday: 720-344-7788

“““““““““
WEB SITES:
Blog – http://www.RyanHealy.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/healymonster
Copywriting – http://www.CopywritingCode.com

Can I share a secret with you? I have a marketing technique that, when used properly, can generate an ENTIRE YEAR’S worth of sales in 10 days or less! This secret marketing strategy will create a tidal wave of sales, all while increasing your brand and position within your market.

How do you turn an average product release into a viral sensation? By creating an “event” around your launch. Like most online product owners, your marketing plan probably looks something like this: 

You may have good traffic sources, great sales page, and yet only get 5% of your visitors to buy(if you are lucky)!

The question is, how do you improve your sales conversion rates? By changing the way you market your product. Do you ever wonder how these guru’s make six or seven figure sales days look easy? How do they get thousands of buyers and hundreds of marketing partners? The difference is not in the product, the website design, or even the quality of traffic. They have an advanced marketing system that converts better…

With this knowledge, they create insanely viral videos, emails that hypnotize the reader, and content that converts groups of prospects into buyers like that frenzied crowd at the “Black Friday Sale” (if you are not from the US, you may not understand. Picture a stampede of thirsty bulls, tearing through fences to find water, and you have the general idea.) These super effective sales components are just pieces of an Event Product Launch.

The first ingredient in successful product launches is the message.

Lets be honest, when was the last time you actually read a sales letter that was 10+ pages long? Probably…umm…never, right? Unless it was your own

Most people, like yourself, do not have the attention span to listen to your entire message. This is a problem for product owners. How do you solve that problem? Instead of expecting people to read all 17 pages of your sales letter, try to deliver one or two pages at a time.

Everyone needs to be educated on your products benefits. You need the opportunity to overcome their objections, provide testimonials, and give glimpses of the product itself. Using a time proven sequence, your sales letter is delivered in manageable sales bites. Everything a typical sales page does, the sequence does better.

Imagine the possibilities: If you could increase the amount of people viewing your entire sales process by 50%, how many more sales would that produce?

The second ingredient to successful product launches is the delivery.

In its simplest form, the product launch delivers your multi-page sales letter over a period of time, starting with a gentle sales message, and ending with a call to action. The process steadily warms the prospect up. Not only do they get to know your product, but they get to know you!

This period of time is called “pre-launch”. The goal here is to pre-sell them on the product before it becomes available to buy. Another advantage this delivery has over the traditional sales letter is flexibility. You can publish each sales message using any available forms of media.

This will keep viewers interest high, and retaining more people deeper into the sales process. The more they hear about your product, the more likely they will become a buyer. Email is used to notify your list of new content, with links to external sales messages like blog posts, video, and teleseminars.   

The third ingredient for successful product launches is scarcity.

One major difference between traditional marketing and an event product launch is true scarcity. In most cases, an event launch has a set beginning and a firm ending. We are not going to just opening the shopping cart to accept orders. The time to take action is limited.

In addition to the scarcity of time, there is also a limit to the number of copies of your product. It is critical that you have scarcity that is real and believable. Without it, you will fail miserably. Here are some examples of great scarcity statements you can use:

• “I pride myself in the level of customer support I provide each buyer of my product. To ensure my tradition of excellent service, I must limit this product to x copies”
• “This training course will be delivered over x weeks by x method. The technical restraints on x delivery method limit me to x spots”
• “This technique is so powerful, I want to make sure I do not flood the market. Copies of this product are limited to x to ensure each product owner will enjoy the same results I do”

True scarcity might be a new concept for you. Don’t worry, it is easy to execute and is very effective. Even though you are “closing” your offer after a launch, you can easily re-launch your product weeks or months later. And the hard work will be done. 

Scarcity can also be used with bonuses. Add a “Quick Start” or “Early Bird” bonus will ensure your product launch starts with an explosion of sales. Offer these bonuses to the first x number of buyers. But don’t stop here. Stack additional bonuses by offering, for example, first ten buyers four bonuses, first twenty buyers three bonuses, and the rest of buyers two bonuses.

By adding these elements, in combination with the other two ingredients, will result in people asking for your order button before you finish your pre-launch sequence.

Are you ready to have successful product launches? You now have the recipe with my proven ingredients for a very successful event. 
 

 
Brandon Hartman is a Product Launch Manager and an aspiring cryptozoologist. His newest video series, “Five Deadly Product Launch Mistakes” reviews the advantages of this highly effective marketing strategy.
If you would like a free copy, visit www.MyProductLaunch.

If you use a traditional blogging format, several posts show up on the main page of your blog. You can set the number of posts that display under Settings > Reading.

This setting will not only control the number of posts that show on the main page, but also on the category and other archive pages. The excerpts that display on those pages are not controlled by the More Tag. They show the excerpt you create for each post (or automatically create an excerpt for you by default).

While WordPress will create an excerpt for each post automatically, you should create your own excerpt for each post. This gives you the opportunity to write a custom snippet that compels visitors to click through and read the entire post.

You do this by typing in your preferred excerpt for a blog post just below the composition window, in a box labeled “Excerpt”:

Tip: use your keyword phrase in your excerpt

The excerpt is different than using the More Tag, and you can learn more about it’s uses here: http://codex.wordpress.org/Excerpt

In addition to creating custom snippets for your category and archives pages, the Excerpt is used in Aweber’s Blog Broadcast to give your email subscribers a snippet of what each blog post is about. Using a custom excerpt can dramatically increase your click-through rate from those email notifications.

How Many Posts Should You Display?

I currently have ClickNewz set to display the six most recent blog posts, but you should set yours according to what works best with your WordPress theme. Ideally you’ll coordinate it with the length of your sidebar. This allows you to balance the content on your main page and eliminate too much “white space” either in the content area or the sidebar area.

(Since my excerpts have been a bit longer than usual lately, you’ll notice more white space below the content in the right sidebar. Not ideal.)

If you are displaying full posts instead of excerpts on the main page of your blog, that page could get quite long if you have it set to display more than one. It’s best to use ~5 post excerpts so that you can give your visitors a quick view and a sampling of your most recent content.

Using the More Tag

# more – WordPress tag that breaks a post into “teaser” and content sections. Type a few paragraphs, insert this tag, then compose the rest of your post. On your blog’s home page you’ll see only those first paragraphs with a hyperlink ((more…)), which when followed displays the rest of the post’s content. source: writing blog posts

The More Tag is used to control the way your posts display on the main page of your blog. You’ll find this tag in the menu bar at the top of your composition window. You can also type in the More Tag using this code:

(!–more–)

(you’ll need to replace the ( and ) with < and > in the code above. So it’s a bracket, explanation point, two hyphens, the word “more”, two hyphens, and an ending bracket.)

There are two things consider when using the More Tag: how much content you want to display, and creating a lead-in to compel visitors to click through to read the rest of your blog post.

Since the More Tag is used only on the main page of your blog, this is a great way to offer new visitors a teaser of current posts and get them engaged enough to click through and read a specific blog post.

When I blog, I know that I am going to use the More Tag, and so I write my posts to lead into that More Tag. Here’s a recent example of a blog post as it showed on the main page here at ClickNewz:

The use of images before the More Tag will draw your readers eyes to the post, and a compelling statement or lead-in to your topic just before the More Tag will encourage them to click through and read the rest of the post.

Your blog post & page display formatting is important. Make good use of both Excerpts and the More Tag, and use them strategically to lead your visitors deeper into the content on your blog.

Best,

p.s. Want more great blogging tips? See http://www.probloggerworkbook.com

You can click that link to see an overview, but don’t sign up there. Bonnie is offering ClickNewz readers a special deal where you can access everything for 3 full months… for only $15. No recurring fees, no strings attached – just a generous special offer!

I’ll give you that link in a second, but first I’d like to share some of what I found inside the members’ area of Article Submission Sites.

At first glance you may think it’s just a list of sources to syndicate your content, which is valuable enough in itself (definitely worth $15!)… but there is actually much more included.

For example, there’s a list of paying markets. This is great for those of you interested in writing for pay, or freelance writing. There are also resources for doing Article Marketing as a service for paying clients.

All of this plus a variety of resources for those of us who do Article Marketing for website promotion, marketing/exposure, and to get quality 1-way inbound links…

Also included are sample query letters for magazines, About.com and other authority sources. You also get the $49 Articles That Sell guide (at no additional cost – it’s right there in the members area). This guide goes into great detail with article formatting, creating article titles & bylines that get attention, an article submission checklist & log, etc.

This is a special offer you won’t find elsewhere, so if you’re at all interested in getting your content syndicated more widely you’ll want to take Bonnie up on this incredible deal: http://www.articlesubmissionsites.com/special.html

Bonnie has been specializing in Article Marketing and content syndication for years, and she has put in a lot of time to collect the best resources in the field. You’ll have an opportunity to tap into her sources, as well as the complete training modules that she has created to make it all easy for you.

You need to get your content out there, both online and offline, for exposure and inbound links. Imagine what it would mean for your online business to be published on authority sites, or in industry publications. Or to get top search engine rankings and have a consistent stream of quality visitors that are searching for what you offer.

You can do all the work yourself, or you can spend $15 and tap into all of the work that Bonnie has already done for you…

Outsourcing tasks like this? Great! Let your assistant log in and get to work on your content marketing & syndication strategy

Whether you’re a freelance writer, a do-it-yourself online marketer, a virtual assistant looking to expand your services, an expert marketer with a virtual team of assistants… you’ll find this to be a valuable resource.

Actually, there’s something for all of us. And you can’t go wrong for the price. Particularly with the special offer Bonnie has set up for us! The link for that again is: http://www.articlesubmissionsites.com/special.html

Best,

Disclosure: this post was sponsored by ArticleSubmissionSites.com

I started out online with a service-based business myself, and did well with Affiliate Marketing on the backend of that service model.

I ultimately stopped offering my web dev services and became a full-time Super Affiliate. I did that for personal reasons – mainly because my life demanded more of my time for a spell, and a source of passive income became necessary.

Those of you who run a service-based business online can benefit from my previous model, as you can dramatically increase your profit potential and make your clients even happier with your services at the same time!

How to Create Passive Income Opportunities In A Service-Based Biz (Without Pissing Off Your Clients)

You’re already charging premium rates for your services, or you should be. Does the idea of selling your clients even more products & services make you cringe? For most home-based service providers, it does. In fact, most have a hard time just charging competitive rates much less premium.

Keep in mind that you aren’t necessarily getting paid for what you do. You’re getting paid for what you know. And if you’re good at what you do, you’re saving your clients from getting ripped off by less experienced or less professional fly-by-night providers.

Don’t undercut yourself. It’s much easier to lower rates than it is to raise them.

While we’re on the topic, I’ll throw in another pricing tip for you that will be invaluable in your service-based business: include a fuss fee. Obviously you don’t reveal this on an invoice, you simply pad it into your rates. It allows you to work with high maintenance clients with a smile – and without hard feelings. To go the extra mile for all of your clients. And it also gives you room to offer discounts and create special offers.

Working Affiliate Recommendations Into Your Model

Affiliate Marketing is one of the easiest ways to create passive income in a service-based business model. While you may think of it as “selling”, you’re actually doing your clients a favor by making recommendations. It’s a simple shift in mindset – from selling to serving your market.

Your clients come to you because you’re the expert at what you do. They trust you, and they depend on you to handle things they cannot or do not want to do themselves. In order to truly serve your market, and each individual client, you want to go that extra mile to meet their (other) immediate and long-term needs.

You’re actually doing them a disservice if you don’t offer your recommendations!

Your first step is take a few minutes to get into the shoes of your ideal client. Who are they, and what are they working on? What products and services are they going to need (aside from yours) to reach their goals?

Make a list of everything they may need, and consider your top recommendations. Also think back over your past conversations with clients to the most frequently asked questions. Do you find yourself recommending certain products/services on a regular basis?

Create a resource sheet listing each of your recommendations, and why you recommend them over other options. You can save this as a swipe file to refer to during client communications, use it to create an optimized FAQ page on your website, and you can also convert it to a PDF file to include in follow-up email correspondence with your clients.

Each recommendation in your list should include an affiliate or referral link if one is available. But go the extra mile – include every resource you feel your clients will need, affiliate link or not.

Your clients will appreciate you for this additional service. Most of your clients are probably struggling with all of the decisions they are faced with to complete their project. Not only will your recommendations earn you additional income, they will create happy clients that refer even more paying clients to you!

To give you a tangible example, I was in the web development business myself. I did corporate web design jobs, as well as marketing plans & ecommerce consulting. When I sat down with a new client I would asses their overall online marketing needs. I followed up with a customized quote for my services, along with a list of other services they would need. This might include a hosting account, mailing list manager, payment processor, custom script written, etc.

I was either an affiliate for, or partnered with, preferred service providers. Having my clients work with the people or companies I recommended made MY job easier, as I was experienced with them already and had to work it into my designs and/or follow-up training.

I also offered my services in setting up any of those recommendations. I would set up the hosting account and mailing list manager for them, for example. So in addition to earning commissions, I also earned on the additional tasks.

This was one of the most appreciated services that I offered to my clients. Over and over I was thanked for “doing the thinking for them” and handling all of the associated tasks that went with the project.

You might earn $100 on the extra work (which is easy enough and probably something you can do in your sleep), but you also earn $125 for the hosting referral and a recurring commission on the monthly fee for their mailing list manager. Just as one example.

To make your affiliate income even more passive, you can work recommendations into both your set-up process and your follow-up strategy. You are following up with your clients, right?

It could be as simple as a personalized note 10 days after you complete services for your client. For example:

I wanted to check in with you to see how your new ___ is working out for you. I thought you may have questions by now, and wanted to let you know I’m only an email away if there’s anything I can help you with. I also have a list of the most frequently asked questions on my website at -link- that you may find helpful.

The best thing you can do is consider what your clients most need, and incorporate that into your business plan. How can you better serve your market, and in turn increase your bottom line per client?

Tip: Look for affiliate programs that pay recurring commission. You’ll earn a continuous passive income on your work long after the actual work has been completed.

Other Passive Income Opportunities To Consider

What else can you offer your clients? Ideas might include:

• ongoing training/tutorials that you can create upfront and then offer in a drip-style system
• ongoing service, where the service work is outsourced
• private networking community for your target market
• paid directory for your clients, or their vendors

The ideas can get endless, depending on your target market. Get creative and brainstorm how to create passive income opportunities in your business model!

Best,

p.s. At some point I am going to (yes, finally!) release my Passive Income Guide. I have not yet decided how, when or in what format… but you’d be smart to get on the list and be the first to find out!

Interested in learning more about Affiliate Marketing as a business model?
See my Affiliate Marketing Tips

Before you start any marketing for your home business these days, you need to do your keyword research. And while there is a lot of information about keyword research, many still struggle choosing the right way or the right tool to find profitable keywords.

First of all, let’s remember that while it’s important to do your keyword analysis, it’s more important to take action! No amount of keywords will help you grow your business if all you do is keyword research…

With that said, today we’ll see how we can use Shopping.com to enhance our quest to find the right keywords and phrases for a specific niche. We all know and use the free WordTracker & Google keyword tools, and those are great, but there are other ways to see your niche from a different view.

Shopping.com is a great place to research physical product keywords. Let’s walk through how you go about finding your key phrases. Once you are at the Shopping.com site, click on the “See all” link on the top navigation. As soon as you do that, you’ll be taken to a list of the products sold at this site (as seen in the image here).

Let’s say we are looking for knitting keywords: we click on the link that says “Craft Supplies”. On the next page you’ll see “Knitting and Crocheting Type” with several categories specific to knitting, and if you scroll a little bit you’ll see a subtitle for “Craft Supply Type” with a link going to “Knitting and Crocheting”. All those are starting points for keyword research: those are things that people buy now.

And if you want to dig deeper, you can do that. Click on the link that says “Yarn” and on the next page, at the top, you’ll see some very specific key phrases that have lots of searches.

Now go to the free WordTracker keyword tool and see how many times these key phrases are searched for. I did just a small sample for you here.

• caron simply soft yarn 82
• sock yarn 187
• red heart super saver yarn 32
• ribbon yarn 46
• bulky yarn 37

Of course, don’t stop there. As you search these keywords on WT, you’ll see many more variations for your new found keyword phrases. The possibilities are endless, and all you need to do once you finish your keyword research is to start using them: write some articles for your blog, some for distribution, check some of your older posts and add tags to them, create a Squidoo page, a Hub page, etc.

–>Affiliate marketer Adriana Copaceanu has been successfully marketing online since 2004, and recently decided to share her Online Business Journey She loves doing keyword research so much she offers some up for free on her blog every Friday.

The flight is more than 24 hours each way, so I brought some of my new gadgets with me on the trip. My Macbook Pro (which was very popular here for some reason ), my new Droid, and the Aiptek ActionHD handheld video camera. I figured a week with my devices would give me a chance to become good and familiar with them.

The event was absolutely incredible, both in content and in connections. As always, Ed Dale was a fabulous (and entertaining) host.

Sessions included talks on outsourcing, content development, search engine marketing, business structure, blogging, monetization strategies, offline marketing and much more. One of my personal favorites was the Hot Seat sessions where a hand-picked panel did live site reviews on the spot…

I joined the panel for the blogging and social media session alongside Darren Rowse, Yaro Starak, James Schramko and Ed Dale. We discussed the concept behind and the need for a “Third Tribe” as well as our thoughts on the history and evolution of Social Media.

I also joined the 3 Hot Seat sessions to participate in the site reviews, which I thought was super-productive and full of brilliant insights. It was a real pleasure to work alongside some of the top brains in the industry.

Speaking of brains, Leslie Rohde also made the trip over for this event.

Leslie spoke on Saturday and in addition to his Free Traffic strategies, he talked about mindset and processes. Later that evening we had a chance to talk, and he walked me through some very simple solutions to issues I’ve been struggling with in my business for awhile now.

The timing couldn’t have been better. I spent the better part of my 24 hour trip over working on those very issues, and mapping out potential solutions. I made excellent progress on it, but still didn’t have those few missing pieces to make it all work like it should. Ironically, it took my own advice coming from someone else (Leslie) to pull it all together.

All said and done, the weekend was a huge success. That one (major) breakthrough will undoubtedly lead me into the best and biggest turning point in my life and business yet. I already have things in motion, and will be flying home with a major sense of accomplishment – and relief.

Of course, there was more to the event than work. I also got to hang out with Jen (@PPCmom) and Leigh (@HireMyMum), both Elite Members at SSWT. We all stayed in the beautiful Crown Tower & Casino in Melbourne, and had a fabulous time!

It’s nice to have friends all over the world. Even better when you get to sit down and have a few meals together.

Definitely a highlight of my trip!

Ed devoted an entire session at the Coming Home Seminar to video editing with iMovie. I was especially interested in this session as that’s the reason I bought a Macbook Pro recently – for mobile video editing.

I have a way to go to get to Ed’s expert level on iMovie. I have just finally figured out how to copy & paste on the Mac! -lol But I did find a great magazine in one of the local shops: The Ultimate Mac Guide (left). It’s only available in Australia & New Zealand so that was a super lucky find before I headed home! It’s chock full of very detailed tutorials. I’ll give you a video walk-through of it when I get home.

Until then, keep working towards your goals and stay focused! I have lots to share when I return, and also look forward to getting back to our usual topics and Q&A sessions!

Best,

p.s. I have more pictures and video to share. I still have to download them and see what I ended up with. I’ll probably add them to Facebook to make it easy.

Update: Album added to Facebook, and check out this great video with @Ed_Dale and @BrentHodgson -lol:

Find events in your area! Go to www.GeekTrax.com

I’ve been traveling quite a bit lately, so the recent IMTW Podcast with Ed Dale and Paul Colligan is the first I’d heard of the buzz about Third Tribe Marketing.

It’s a new community launched by Darren Rowse (aka Problogger), Brian Clark (aka CopyBlogger), Chris Brogan and Sonia Simone. Third Tribe membership is $47/month, and already has over 2,000 members.

I’m actually traveling again this week, to Australia. I’ll be on a panel with Darren Rowse at the Coming Home Seminar in Melbourne, and on this topic, so I decided to sign up and check it out.

The concept behind it is that there are basically two tribes: the dirty internet marketers who monetize everything online, and the social media evangelists that want to protect the social space from marketing clutter and spam.

Third Tribe is a meeting ground in between, where all groups can come together to discuss the topics and learn from each other…

The link is: http://thirdtribemarketing.com

There is a discussion forum of course, but the members area also contains high quality content. There is a live training seminar every month, plus two Live Q&A calls for members. This month the topic is Building A Business Around A Blog. You get the one-hour audio, the PDF transcript and the Next Action Worksheet – along with a list of the links mentioned in the audio for easy access.

You can then use the forum to discuss the training topics, and specifically how you can best implement the ideas in your own business.

Another thing I like about the Third Tribe community is The Niche Corner. This is a great place to discuss niche-specific topics, or network with other bloggers or online business owners in your niche. It’s an ideal place to meet people for things like interviews or guest posting.

While there are many public forums on the net, there is something to be said for a private community where the members have qualified themselves as being serious enough about their business to invest in growth & networking.

And of course, if you’re from the dirty internet marketer tribe (lol) you already know the value of being involved with a group of people that each have an active PayPal account – and are paying $47/month to be there.

On a side note- I can only guess why Ed Dale wanted me on the panel for this topic alongside Darren Rowse, Dan Raine, and Yaro Starak. It shall be an interesting panel indeed!

So far I am really impressed with Third Tribe. The 4 people behind this community are well-known both for their integrity and quality of content. And the forums are a goldmine of resources and networking opportunities.

This definitely met the criteria in my filter for making an investment in my blog and business. I know the value of just one connection or guest blogging opp goes far beyond the $47/month to be a member.

I am also seeing a lot of familiar faces inside Third Tribe. It will be a great space to communicate openly but privately, and also meet some cool new folks in the space.

Here are some great links if you’d like to read more about the launch & buzz of the new Third Tribe Marketing community:

Is Your Tribe Holding You Down? by Sonia Simone

Third Tribe Marketing is Live by Sonia Simone

What Third Tribe is About by Chris Brogan

Some Of The Third Tribe Conversations by Chris Brogan

The Third Tribe – Launched [My Back Story] by Darren Rowse

Best,

Some of my “IRL” friends have accused me of being obsessed with my work. They just don’t get it. I’m not driven by status or money, I just LOVE what I do. There’s a difference…

A BIG difference.

Last year I talked about Falling In Love With Your Business All Over Again. That post was made on Valentine’s Day, and so again this year I’d like to share a little inspiration with you about creating a lifestyle and business that you can truly love…

I can tell you in all honesty and from personal experience that it’s always going to be a work in progress. Always. Any successful online business is going to continue to grow and evolve, and if you’re smart – you’ll take complete control of the direction it goes.

This month marks the beginning of my 14th year in business. It also marks my 2 year anniversary in my new home – the one I closed on with ONE affiliate check. And this year, it also marks a decade since my marriage ended unexpectedly.

Over the years I have experienced many great successes, my fair share failures and disappointments and frustrations, and a lot of growing pains. Like most people, I didn’t walk into this role of entrepreneur fully prepared, and have learned some hard lessons along the way.

An important thing that I discovered, that I imagine we all have to find out for ourselves: It’s true what they say. Money does not buy happiness.

When I first went into business, making money was the primary goal. It had to be at that point, as it is for most new entrepreneurs. I had a family to support, and later two children to raise on my own as a single mother.

Eventually I met my financial goals and found myself managing a successful business with a consistent income. And what a great place to be! But then I had to create new goals, which I found quite challenging.

With our immediate needs met, I then had to sit down and plan my future. And not only did I need to create a vision for where I wanted to be in 10 years, I also needed to decide how I wanted to spend my life. Starting then, and each day after.

That’s the important part: deciding how you want to spend your time. Once you figure that out, everything else falls into place. You’ll know how much money you need to earn to achieve that goal. You’ll know what you ultimately want to outsource, so that you can spend your time doing the tasks you enjoy.

And you’ll know how to strategically grow your business in the right direction to achieve all of these goals. Or at least have a great starting point for figuring it out.

Today is a day for chocolates and flowers, and for love – and appreciation of love. Take today to celebrate the things in life that make you the most happy. When you’re ready to get back to work, consider how you can create success. True success, which includes loving what you do – not just the results.

Ask yourself:

• Where do I see myself in 10 years?
• How do I want to spend my time every day?
• How do I NOT want to spend my time?
• What does my ideal lifestyle look like?
• What are my truest priorities in life?

Answering these questions will help you create a business model you can actually enjoy. One with less stress, and many more rewards. Like I said earlier, it will always be a work in progress. Particularly as your business grows and evolves over time. I’m amazed at how my life has changed over the last decade, and how much a role enjoying my work has played in that.

There’s nothing better than waking up every morning with a sense of gratitude, looking forward to your life and your day’s work. Well, maybe chocolates and kisses. But we’ll get our share of that today if all goes well.

Don’t search for, or wait for success and happiness. Create it!

Happy Valentine’s Day…

Best,

p.s. I want to help you achieve what I have in my life and business. From financial success to lifestyle design. I am not for hire and don’t offer personal coaching or consultations, but I do have a free discussion forum where we can talk.

You’re welcome to post technical questions you need help with, resources you need – or want to share, discussions on various ways to work online, success topics, etc. Or just join us and say Hello. I hope to see you there!