Which means you’re included, if you want to be.

Here at my company we’re in the midst of doing a lot of stuff designed to serve our readers and customers better.

One of those things is a project to simplify this site. We’ve now stripped the design down to the bare bones and will only add things back as they are needed.

Who decides what is “needed”? Hopefully, you.

Would you take just a moment to share your thoughts on the new design? Do you like the new “minimalist” approach? The LiveFyre comments?

Or is there something you don’t like or wish we would add or change? Please comment below and share your feedback. Thanks!

This morning, while thinking about all this, I remembered a delightful piece written by Robert Fulghum called “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarden”. It seems to me this piece by Fulgum provides some good starting points for how to approach online community:

Play fair.

Don’t hit people.

Put things back where you found them.

Clean up your own mess.

Don’t take things that aren’t yours.

Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody.

What would you add to the list?

I get higher readership, more comments, and more reactions with shorter posts.

What may not be obvious is this: it’s often harder to write the shorter posts. This is especially true if you’re trying to write conceptual, idea-based material (a non-issue if you’re simply posting links, for example).

So, shorter posts it is.

It’s a good question. I believe that writing frequently and consistently is key to your blogging success.  A few months ago I committed to writing daily as an experiment, to see what the practice would yield. I won’t share the detailed results in this post, but I will say it has been well worth the effort, and I plan to continue.

Here are my best tips on how to manage writing a blog post every day:

Write in batches. It’s rare for me to write a single blog post at a time. Instead, I schedule a block of time (usually an hour or more), and write several blog posts in a row. This may not work for everyone, but it works for me. Once I’m in the flow of writing, it’s better for me to keep on writing.

Write shorter posts. The best reason for writing shorter posts is very straightforward: people read them. I’ve carefully observed the activity on this blog and noted that when I write longer posts I get fewer reactions. So I know for certain that my readers prefer it when I write shorter posts. This has the advantage of allowing me to write more of them–making it easier to write something every day.

Keep a list of possible titles. I have a text file on my desktop that contains nothing but blog post title ideas. I get these ideas from a variety of sources: magazine covers, book titles, intriguing phrases I encounter when I’m reading, questions that I get via e-mail or this blog, and from other blogs I read. I capture these ideas when I’m on the go by entering them into Omnifocus on my iPhone, which automatically synchronizes with my MacBook Pro. Having this list of titles makes it easy to write when those scheduled blocks of writing time come up on my calendar. I’m never sitting at the keyboard wondering, “What shall I write about?”

Stay one week ahead. While I am not perfect at this, I do my best to stay a full week ahead in my post writing. This gives me the advantage of being able to write something topical if I want, but never being “squeezed” by deadlines. At times, I’m as much as 14 days ahead of schedule. This relieves a great deal of stress in my writing life.

Those are a few of the tips that allow me to produce a blog post every day.

And just in case you think one post a day is impressive… while I was writing this post, I found an article by Chris Brogan on how to write three blog posts a day. As a writer, I’m always interested in what other writers have to say about this subject. So please add your thoughts below.

The Art of Discipline

I Am a Reverse Paranoid

Your Hour of Power

Become a “However” Person

7 Things That Make Customers Love You

Business Panic and How to Deal With It

Triple Your Productivity Instantly

Tonight, We Try To Take Over The World

7 Reasons Why You Must Start a Business Now

5 Fundamentals Of Bulletproof Business Profits

Strength: The Secret Power of Achievement

And here’s the latest podcast – remember, if you want to ask questions we now have a “request line” phone number: (509) 713-2679

Podcast: BS Lies That Hold You Back

Featured Product:

Disputes of almost any kind always seem to devolve when one party questions the motives of another party.

The funny thing is, it’s virtually impossible to know for certain someone else’s motive for any given action or statement.

“Thought experiment” to see if I’m right: the next time you think you know why someone says or does a particular thing, stop and see if you can come up with 2 or 3 other explanations for why they may have said or done that same thing.

An even more interesting (and instructive) “thought experiment”: try coming up with explanations that are only positive in the motives you attribute to the other person… and then come up with an equal number of explanations that are only negatively motivated. Compare the two lists, and ask yourself: which ones look like the motives I most often instinctively ascribe to other people?

What did you learn?

But as Jonah Lehrer observes in his book “How We Decide”, the evidence suggest our decisions are based on completely irrational factors. We do, it turns out, judge books by their covers.

In the context of marketing, this fact is fairly important to remember.

While none of us like to think we salivate on command like one of Pavlov’s famous dogs, we do act impulsively in response to certain colors, language patterns, and page layouts.

The question to ask yourself is: what response does my current marketing elicit? Buying behavior – or something else?

I suggest that in most cases, the answer is the latter.

If you think you’ve got this all taken care of, watch what “regular people” (aka your customers) do when they visit your site… and be prepared to be shocked.

What people actually do at your website is probably quite different than what you think they do.

The kind of exercise I describe above is called a “usability study” – and they can be quite expensive if you have a professional conduct the study.

The good news is you can conduct a “do it yourself” usability study inexpensively.

Jakob Nielsen is the guru of usability, and has a very simple “discount usability” model you can follow.

It’s worth the effort.

I’ve suddenly realized that is an important problem that could become an urgent one in the blink of an eye.

But wait. It gets worse.

I own HUNDREDS of domain names, and have DOZENS of live, active websites. You can see that this multiplies my problem. Not only can nobody log into my blog, they also can’t log into my other sites.

Obviously, as the subject line of this email intimates, “dead men don’t blog”.

And they also don’t market.

Or Twitter.

Or Facebook.

So I’ve got some work to do, preparing for the inevitable day when my keyboard will go silent.

Why Am I Even Writing About This Today?

Well, I’m not being morbid. And I don’t mean to depress you or weird you out. But I was reading a post over at Dave Winer’s blog, about how he’s maintaining two online archives for relatives who have passed away.

Reading Dave’s article on this subject made me realize…

1. If I die and want my work to live beyong the next hosting bill, I need to have a post-mortem plan for my blog.
2. If I die and DON’T want my work to live on, there needs to be a plan for how to get it OFF the web (some of my hosting is paid WAY in advance or is on auto-pay).

Regardless, I Need A Plan. And So Do You.

What about your sites?

Especially if you have a business (and even if you don’t), you need to have a plan.

At the very least, you could create a simple set of instructions and a list of your logins.  My plan, in case you’re interested, includes the following steps:

1. Create a list of all my domain/blogs/hosting accounts login URL’s and passwords.
2. Specific instructions about what needs to be done with each site.
3. Create some “post-Ray” emails that will let any readers or subscribers know what the status of the website is.
4. Create instructions about what to do with any merhcant or payment systems that are set up for the sites.

That’s just the rough draft of my plan, written on the fly. I’m sure I’ll refine it. It’ll take some time. But it will save someone (probably someone I love) a lot of work and frustration.

It is also good service to my readers and customers.

What about you?

Do you have a “Dead Man Plan” for your websites? Do you have suggestions for something I should add to my plan? If so – add your voice to the discussion below.

Failure to live up to this rule could get bloggers fined up to $11,000.

Per violation.

There are lots of questions about what this means for affiliate marketers, if anything.

It really seems to me that the best policy is also the easiest to implement: if you’re being paid to promote something, say so. End of story.

Where it gets murkier is what the FTC’s rule will mean for those who run affiliate programs – are they now going to be held responsible for what their affiliates do? That seems like a responsibility most business owners are going to be unable or at least unwilling to bear.

What do you think about the new FTC rules for bloggers? Has the FTC killed affiliate marketing in one fell stroke? Or are paranoid marketers blowing this all out of proportion? Post your thoughts below.

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Every piece of your website is a link in the sales chain.

Each link leads to the next, and at the end of the chain is the sale – and profits for you and your business.

Of course, as we all know, any chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

One way to get quick sales boost is: find the weak or broken links in your sales process and strengthen or repair them. And almost every website has at least a few week or broken links. I’m not just talking about hyperlinks, here… I’m talking about any crucial part of the sales process.

No website is perfect – no website is ever optimized fully. There’s always room for improvement. In most websites I look at for clients, there are some basic fixes that can pay off in a big way.

Here are three examples of things you might want to do on your own website:

• Fix Broken Links. The most obvious example is actual broken links. These are frustrating at best for your visitors, and for many it will kill the sale instantly (“if they can’t get their links fixed, what must their product be like?”).
• Remove Inconsistencies. In the world of direct mail, there’s a proven response boost when the message on the outside of the envelope matches the message on the headline of the letter inside; the reason this is so is, we are wired to respond positively to consistency. We like getting what we expect. Even seemingly small inconsistencies send a subconscious signal to your prospects that all is not right. Some specifics to look for: different typefaces or look & feel on your pages; lack of consistent layout from one section of your site to the next; jarring differences between your major sales pages (opt-in page, salesletter page, order page, thank you page). Get fanatical about consistency.
• Remove “Mind Stoppers”. Some things just cause us to “stop our mind” when reading a website. For example, strange or unnatural wording can cause us to stop in the flow of reading and ask “What? Huh?” Even though these “Mind Stoppers” may only cause a pause of 1 or 2 seconds, they interrupt the flow of your sales message. Avoid “Mind Stoppers” at all costs. The best way to find them: read your copy aloud, to another human being, in a natural tone and at an easy pace. Then have them read it aloud back to you. In each case, mark any section that causes you to pause or stumble. Re-write those sections and remove the “Mind Stoppers”.

When you forge stronger links in your “Sales Chain”, you’ll increase your sales results. And that means more profits for you and your small business.

Back in my radio days, one of the shows I was in charge of was a morning radio team.

And this particular morning team had a regular feature where a couple of psychotherapists woud come on each week.

When I say a “couple”, I mean it. They were actually a COUPLE, and they were both actually THERAPISTS (can you imagine the dinner table conversations?).

Anyhow, I knew this couple only as characters on this particular morning show. “Judith and Jim” was how I knew them. And I knew only their voices.

Fast forward a few years later.

I had left the radio business, and was at an Internet Marketing seminar.

During one of the presentations, I noticed this couple sitting near the front, and I noticed  they were asking lots of questions. And their voices sounded familiar. And their names were… Judith and Jim.

We connected for the first time in person, and we’ve been friends ever since. (Okay, so it was “funny” as in “coincidence” and not funny as in “LOL”).

To continue my story…

I discovered that Jim and Judith ventured into online marketing just four years ago. Along the way, they had to overcome their technical deficiencies and learn to make friends with their computer. Even more so, they had to, in their own words, “open our minds to an entirely new way of being in the world, a whole new and very different mindset-a marketing/business mindset”.

But there was a problem. As they attended lots of marketing conferences, they felt something was wrong.

According to Judith and Jim, “We always felt a sense of displacement, a feeling of not belonging, of somehow being outsiders.”

As they connected with people at those same  conferences they learned that others had the same complaint. And they noticed a pattern: All those who voiced this kind of discomfort were service providers, care-givers, change agents of some kind, men and women who had dedicated their lives to helping others-heart-to-heart.

“It became clear that there was a segment of the Internet marketplace that was not being served,” says Judith.

Jim chimes in, “That segment is peopled by soft sell marketers-all of us who are care-givers and life-change artists as distinct from accumulation artists whose focus is money first and foremost.”

And now these two friends of mine have written a book on the subject of soft sell marketing for service providers… and for people who don’t like hard-sell approaches. I recommend you get a copy of The Heart of Marketing.

It needs to be relevant – in other words, you need to write about stuff your market cares about.

Most bloggers (and newsletter/ezine publishers, and speakers, and authors, etc.) don’t have a clue what their market cares about.

Oh, they think they know what the market wants. That’s the problem. Don’t be too upset if this has happened to you, because I’m about to give you 5 easy ways to always know exactly what’s on the mind of your market.

It’s almost as if they were wearing signs around their necks proclaiming, “Here’s what has my attention right now…”
This is going to seem brain-dead simple.

Just find out what they’re already talking about, or what they’re already paying attention to, and give them more of that – but with your own unique spin.

And of course, in a way that adds value to their lives (and at the same time leads them to your door).

So here are the “5 Easy Ways”… really they are 5 websites that are like magical marketing x-ray machines. Just look at the screen, and see what’s inside the mind of your market.

http://del.icio.us
http://digg.com
http://answers.yahoo.com
http://stumbleupon.com
http://google.com/news

Of course, it’s up to you (or your copywriter) to figure out how and why today’s hot topics matter to your market. And how they relate to your message about who you are and what you bring to the world.

We’ll be talking more about exactly how to do this at my upcoming workshop in Las Vegas (there are only 5 seats left, so you might want to take a look and see if it’s right for you).

Where is this money – and how do you get it?

Most businesses have many hidden opportunities for discovering “windfall profits” – but I want to focus on just one of those opportunities in this article.

That “opportunity pocket” is: marketing and advertising.

In my experience, almost every business – whether it be retail, service, professional practice, or “business to business” in its nature – is unconsciously letting profits slip away.

Your biggest opportunity most likely lies hidden inside your underperforming sales copy (copy that isn’t selling as many units/contracts/ memberships as it potentially could be).

If you want to make more sales without spending a single dime in additional ad costs, this article might be the most important document you read this year…

Make Piles of Money With “Upside Leverage”

“Upside Leverage” is a concept I learned from marketing genius Jay Abraham.

We all know what leverage is: using other people’s money to build your business, or other people’s efforts (through delegation, for instance) to increase your own productivity.

“Leverage” involves using one asset (the lever) to increase the value or power of another. The only problem with using “leverage” is the potential downside: if you use financial leverage to borrow money for a business project, the project could possibly fail, and you would be forced to pay back the money. If you use the leverage of delegation in order to make yourself more productive, there’s a chance the person you’re relying on might let you down.

“Upside” leverage is leverage that involves little or no potential downside.

It’s my belief that underperforming sales copy is the most potentially profitable of all forms of “upside leverage”.

Please read that sentence again, because it’s too easy to let the profound meaning it contains slip past you:

Underperforming sales copy is the most potentially profitable of all forms of “upside leverage”.

Think of it this way: any ad or promotion costs the same whether it performs well or not, right? If you spend $100 on an ad, and you get $500 in business as a result, you made a 5-1 return on your investment. That’s a good return. You did what you set out to do, you made a profit.

But… what if you could take that same ad, and change it in some way that made it 10 times more effective?

What if now it returned $5,000?

You spent the same $100 for the ad… but you got back $5,000.

Instead of a 5-1 return, now you’re getting 50-1! That, my marketing friend, is “upside leverage”!

Change Your Copy, Change Your Income

There is so much bad copy on the web, it’s almost laughably easy to be better than most of your competitors.

Why is that?

I believe there are a number of reasons, but here are a few of the common ones:

1. Some people just don’t realize their copy is bad. They wrote it themselves, or their brother or their niece wrote it. They think it’s wonderful – but in reality it stinks like a dead skunk.

2. Others don’t realize how important their sales copy is. This is a naive belief, and it astounds me that so many people hold it – but they do. Some people seem to think that as long at the copy has “just the facts”, that’ll be good enough. It never is.

3. Some people are just cheap. They spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to start a business, buy furniture, hire staff, provide benefits, etc., but when it comes to the one piece of communication that might actually cause someone to buy from them – they don’t want to pay for it. They “delegate” this crucial task. Big mistake.

Are you making any of these mistakes? If you are, this is your wake-up call.

Take advantage of the potential “upside leverage” that exists in every ad or promotion. Make sure you ads are performing – that they are making you sales every day. And that they are making you more sales this week than they did last week, etc.

You do this through constant improvement and testing/tracking.

You also do it by either hiring a copywriter, or investing in educational materials that will teach you how to write your own copy. Either one can work – it’s up to you. If you love to write, and you think you have a knack for it, then by all means get a good home-study course on copywriting and do it yourself.

Don’t put it off – do it right now. Otherwise, you’re throwing money away that rightfully belongs to you.

I should be working on other stuff.

For instance, I have 8 more small business profit boosters to write for you (I’m up to #13 and I promised 21). But…

I felt compelled to write this post instead.

I’ve been reflecting on who I owe my success to in the copywriting and internet marketing world. Because you know, none of us do this on our own. I’m not an island. I’ve been helped by a number of people along the way. And as we move into the new year, I want to publicly thank and acknowledge a number of them.

Disclaimer: making a list like this always opens up the risk that I’ll leave someone out. If you have helped me, and I somehow forget to mention you, remind me privately and I’ll add your name to the list.

Armand Morin. Armand is the guy who has taught me the most about Internet Marketing, and he pushed and prodded me to create my own info-products (I went from zero to over 20 in less than a year) and to get serious about my speaking career. Without a doubt, I recommend Armand’s Big Seminar and his Internet Marketing Newsletter.

Alex Mandossian. Alex taught me how to use Teleseminars to build my business (even though I was a copywriter at the time, my first year using Alex’s techniques easily made me over $100,000). He’s also a man of deep integrity.

Brad Callen. One of my top clients, I am actually involved in a site with Brad and his brother Matt. These guys have been with me as clients for a long time now, and have been a great encouragement to me.

Willie Crawford. One of the first friends I made in this business. Willie and I had some pretty amusing adventures together.

John Carlton. Possibly the world’s greatest living copywriter. I have learned so much from John, I can’t even begin to tell you. I attended a seminar once just so I could buy his “mother of all offers” where he sold a $5,000 box of his materials. Pay attention: I went to a seminar so that I could spend $5,000 with John. That ought to tell you something. I had the privilege of hanging out with John in Vegas recently, and it was the highlight of my trip.

Harlan Kilstein. Killer copywriter and Carlton’s top student, Harlan is also a master of hypnosis and NLP. Harlan taught me how to get paid what I’m worth as a copywriter. Seriously. After attending one of his seminars, I TRIPLED my fees. Thanks Harlan.

Matt Bacak. One of my top clients, Matt was one of the very first people to hire me to write copy. We met because I saw him sitting in the bar… with his laptop! I knew he was a kindred spirit. We’ve done some great things together (recently we did a $3.5 million promotion), and I’ve learned a lot from Matt. He’s also been a good friend.

Mike Litman. Mike was the first Internet Marketer to pay me for copy. He paid me a scandalously low amount of money. When he ordered 2 more sales letters from me, he coached me on raising my prices – on his project! His was the first IM event I ever attended, and it’s where I met my long-term friends (and now clients) Armand Morin and Matt Bacak.

Mike Stewart. Mike showed me “lifestyle business” at its best when he invited me to spend a couple of days at his lake place in Georgia. We played around on the lake, ate a lot of good food, and created a new video product (on copywriting) in his home studio (said product to be released soon).

Frank Kern. I’ve learned a lot from Frank, and he’s hired more than once to write copy for him. Frank gave me my all-time favorite testimonial (it’s a bit off-color, so I won’t quote it here). It’s through Frank I first met John Carlton, Sarkis, Neil Strauss, and a bunch of other “fancy people”. And Frank recommended me to Tony Robbins for some copywriting work – so how could I not acknowledge Captain Kern?

Ed Dale. I actually met Frank Kern and Ed Dale at the same time. They had hired me to write copy for their Underachiever Conference before we ever actually met. What endeared me to Ed first was his love for all things Apple. Instant bonding. And Ed actually gave me the testimonial that ties with Frank’s for my all-time favorite. Since it doesn’t contain the “F Word” I’ll quote it in full: “Ray, I bless the day your copy met my bank account”.

Jeff Walker. The creator of the Product Launch Formula, Jeff taught me the art of Product Launches. I was one of the first customers for the original PLF, and ended up in Jeff’s high-end Platinum Coaching group. Jeff coached me through my first launch (of my own product). Jeff had made me… well, a lot of money. And he’s also a good friend. Jeff credits me with being the first person he’s ever actually paid to write copy for him. I can’t thank him enough for all the guidance, encouragement, and generosity he has shown me.

Jon Walker. Jon is Jeff’s brother. I actually got to know him before I got to know Jeff, and I count Jon as one of my very favorite people. He’s kind, diplomatic, and has a razor-sharp business mind. He is truly one of those “guys behind the scenes” who is responsible for some big stuff in the online world. Jon has given me some invaluable counsel, advice and insight on my own business, and he’s one of the people I love to bounce ideas around with.

Michel Fortin. One of the first people I got to know in the copywriting world, I owe Michel several debts of gratitude. I’ve learned a lot from him about copy, marketing, and online technology (Michel convinced me to migrate from Movable Type to WordPress, for instance… and was at least partially responsible for getting me hooked on Photoshop). He’s also helped me navigate through a couple of difficult situations, and has unselfishly helped me grow my business.

Sylvie Fortin. Sylvie is one of the most vibrant, determined and principled people I know. She has the courage to speak her mind even when it might be unpopular to do so. I am astounded by her willingness to share personal challenges publicly so that others may benefit. And her keen insight played a crucial role in rescuing me from total burn-out in 2008. Really. I love Sylvie Fortin for these reasons and more.

Craig Perrine. Smart, funny, intelligent, and willing to encourage me in my tendency to sit in the back of the room and cause trouble, Craig is a great friend and a smart marketer.

Kirt Christensen. One of the first people I bought an information product from, Kirt agreed to meet with me not knowing for sure whether I might be a stalker. We ended up become friends and business partners. Kirt helped me form my pursuit of the ideal business: working 20 hours a week and making $100,000 per month. That’s not too much to ask, right?

Eric Graham. I’ve never met a person more dedicated to rigorous scientific testing of copy, marketing tactics, and web page factors. Eric takes the “voodoo” of marketing and makes it science. From him I’ve learned discipline and tenacity. Plus, he flies stunt planes. Yep, upside down, loop-the-loops, and all that stuff.

Christina Hills. Christina is the CEO of “Shopping Cart Queen” – a company that educates online businesses on how to use their shopping cart software. They also teach a lot more stuff, including other software and systems. Christina was crucial to my first product launch coming off well, and she’s helped me in a pinch on more than one occasion.

Stu McLaren. Stu was one of my early clients. I wrote the copy for his Idea Incubator Seminar. I was so excited by it I decided to attend. Stu and I became friends, and through him I met Stephen Pierce, David Frey, Alex Mandossian, Jeff Walker and many others. Now Stu not only is a big-shot Internet Marketer but is now working with his wife Amy to change the world. Bravo!

Mike Filsaime . I met Mike before he was “famous”. We had a conversation outside the seminar room in Denver where Mike told me the story of this new product he was creating called “Butterfly Marketing”. We have remained friends over the years, and Mike recently had me work on the “7 Figure Code” launch with him (which was a blast).

Tom Beal. Tom and I were in a Mastermind Group together for a while, and when we met through that group I only had a vague idea that he worked with Mike Filsaime. Tom and I have laughed together, hung out in the back of many a seminar room, and worked together on a few projects. I count him as both a friend and a great marketing mind.

Joel Comm. Joel and I knew each other a while before we ever did any work together. Joel has been a true friend, and has done a lot to help me as a person and on a business level. Joel got me my publishing deal, invited me to be a guest expert on The Next Internet Millionaire, hired me to write copy, and has been a true supporter.

Andy Jenkins. You know him as the StomperNet guy – and so do I. I’ve written some copy for the Stomper guys (Andy and Brad Fallon). Andy has been encouraging, enthusiastic, and promoted me in places where it counted.

Rich Schefren. Controversial, smart, challenging, and able to wear you down. And that was just my first dinner with Rich! Rich is not only a client, he’s one of the people I’ve learned some of my most valuable business lessons from.

Brian Johnson. You may know him as Schefren’s right-hand guy. I know him as a trustworthy friend and tireless supporter. He’s also a guy who will be there to get the job done, even when other people have gone home.

Ryan Healy, Ben Settle, John Angel and Daniel Levis are all part of a secret mastermind group I belong to. The weird thing is we’re all copywriters. And it’s one of the most profitable and enjoyable groups I’m a member of. This group has been referred to as “The Five Horsemen of the Copywriting Apocalypse”.

Jeanette Cates. She’s organized, she’s diligent, and she’s one of the best teachers I’ve ever met. She’s also fun to hang around with.

Dave Bernstein. One of the first products I ever created, I created with Dave. He’s absolutely nuts about all things audio. And he is smart enough to live where it’s warm all year.

George Callens. George works with Armand to run a $25 million dollar a year company and makes it looks easy. He’s on top of things, he’s in charge, and he’s one of the most stunningly competent people I know. George has helped me sort through some important challenges in my business.

Chris & Jim Howard. I’ve been friends with Jim & Chris just about as long as anyone in this business. They are a continuous inspiration, and “go to” people when I need help or advice.

Dr Mike Woo-Ming. He’s a friend, he’s a client, and he’s an International Man of Mystery.Remember that time you rented that house in Vegas and we all hung out there? That was awesome.

Howie Schwartz. One of the smartest and funniest people I have ever met and someone I am proud to know and call friend.

Yanik Silver. Brilliant marketer, tireless entrepreneur, and peerless promoter. I love the Underground Seminar, and his YSS is brilliant. I’m also inspired by what he’s been doing with the Maverick Brand.

Dan Kennedy. What can I say about Dan that hasn’t been said? I think he mostly invented the info-product/coaching business. He’s a writer’s writer. He lives the life he chose to live. And he seems to be a true genius when it comes to this stuff.

Jason Moffatt. Jason and I are probably about a much alike as East and West – but I count him as a friend, a keen marketing mind, and one of the very best salesmen I have ever met.

Tracy Childers. Tracy and I have held a few late-night brainstorming sessions involving large quantities of what another friend of mine calls “barley pop”. Every time I talk to him, I get about two dozen new ideas. And Tracy is inspiring in his ability to get products created, and his integrity and kindness.

Marlon Sanders. The first marketing product I ever bought was “The Amazing Formula”. It blew me away. Since then I’ve had a chance to get to know Marlon as one of the funniest, most intelligent, and most interesting people I know. Plus, have you seen this guy’s hats?

David Frey. He’s the “gentle giant” of Internet Marketing, He’s been an encourager, a good teacher, and someone I’ve felt inspired by since we first met at Stu McLaren’s Idea Incubator.

Ken McArthur. One of my favorite clients, Ken has been another ardent supporter of mine. He’s someone who is universally loved by everyone who knows him. And he invited me to speak in Orlando in February (Disney, here I come).

Clayton Makepeace. One of my copywriting “heroes”, Clayton is one sharp guy. And Clayton is the guy about whom I have the strangest “how we met” story of all. Sorry, I’m not telling. Not today, anyway.

Mary Mazzullo. She took the pictures that make me look good. Of course, that ‘s what she does. She also got me into the mysterious “Club 33”. And she’s a true friend.

Bob Bly. The copywriter’s copywriter, a scholar, and a gentleman. Bob really got me started down this road, and one of the highlights of my career was being quoted on the cover of “Secrets of a Freelance Writer”.

Mari Smith. First she was my student (in copywriting) and now she is my teacher (in Social Media Marketing). Thanks Mari!

Seth Godin. Some of the most intense learning I ever did, I did at Seth’s office. Thanks Seth!

This post grew as I was writing it.

The truth is, there are so many people I should thank I probably could never write it all down. So please, if you don’t see your name here, don’t take it personally. I love and appreciate you — and if you know me at all, I hope you know that’s true.

Bear with me, I have a couple more acknowledgments: my business could not exist without the support of my family (both near and far).

My wife and son are the two most important people on earth to me. I love you both with complete and reckless abandon.

Finally, and most importantly, I would be nothing if not for the love and grace of Jesus Christ. Every good thing I have (or ever will have) comes from Him.

I met Yaro Starak at Jeff Walker’s mastermind meeting in Las Vegas recently. I’ve been reading his blog for quite some time, and after meeting him in person I realized he is one sharp guy. I mean, how many people do you know who make six figures strictly from blogging? So I’m delighted to have Yaro contribute a guest slot on my blog.

10 Blog Traffic Tips
by Yaro Starak

In every blogger’s life comes a special day – the day they first launch a new blog. Now unless you went out and purchased someone else”s blog chances are your blog launched with only one very loyal reader – you. Maybe a few days later you received a few hits when you told your sister, father, girlfriend and best friend about your new blog but that”s about as far you went when it comes to finding readers.

Here are the top 10 techniques new bloggers can use to find readers. These are tips specifically for new bloggers, those people who have next-to-no audience at the moment and want to get the ball rolling.

It helps if you work on this list from top to bottom as each technique builds on the previous step to help you create momentum. Eventually once you establish enough momentum you gain what is called “traction”, which is a large enough audience base (about 500 readers a day is good) that you no longer have to work too hard on finding new readers. Instead your current loyal readers do the work for you through word of mouth.

Top 10 Tips

10. Write at least five major “pillar” articles. A pillar article is a tutorial style article aimed to teach your audience something. Generally they are longer than 500 words and have lots of very practical tips or advice. This article you are currently reading could be considered a pillar article since it is very practical and a good “how-to” lesson. This style of article has long term appeal, stays current (it isn’t news or time dependent) and offers real value and insight. The more pillars you have on your blog the better.

9. Write one new blog post per day minimum. Not every post has to be a pillar, but you should work on getting those five pillars done at the same time as you keep your blog fresh with a daily news or short article style post. The important thing here is to demonstrate to first time visitors that your blog is updated all the time so they feel that if they come back tomorrow they will likely find something new. This causes them to bookmark your site or subscribe to your blog feed.

You don”t have to produce one post per day all the time but it is important you do when your blog is brand new. Once you get traction you still need to keep the fresh content coming but your loyal audience will be more forgiving if you slow down to a few per week instead. The first few months are critical so the more content you can produce at this time the better.

8. Use a proper domain name. If you are serious about blogging be serious about what you call your blog. In order for people to easily spread the word about your blog you need a easily rememberable domain name. People often talk about blogs they like when they are speaking to friends in the real world (that”s the offline world, you remember that place right?) so you need to make it easy for them to spread the word and pass on your URL. Try and get a .com if you can and focus on small easy to remember domains rather than worry about having the correct keywords (of course if you can get great keywords and easy to remember then you’ve done a good job!).

7. Start commenting on other blogs. Once you have your pillar articles and your daily fresh smaller articles your blog is ready to be exposed to the world. One of the best ways to find the right type of reader for your blog is to comment on other people’s blogs. You should aim to comment on blogs focused on a similar niche topic to yours since the readers there will be more likely to be interested in your blog.

Most blog commenting systems allow you to have your name/title linked to your blog when you leave a comment. This is how people find your blog. If you are a prolific commentor and always have something valuable to say then people will be interested to read more of your work and hence click through to visit your blog.

6. Trackback and link to other blogs in your blog posts. A trackback is sort of like a blog conversation. When you write a new article to your blog and it links or references another blogger”s article you can do a trackback to their entry. What this does is leave a truncated summary of your blog post on their blog entry – it”s sort of like your blog telling someone else’s blog that you wrote an article mentioning them. Trackbacks often appear like comments.

This is a good technique because like leaving comments a trackback leaves a link from another blog back to yours for readers to follow, but it also does something very important – it gets the attention of another blogger. The other blogger will likely come and read your post eager to see what you wrote about them. They may then become a loyal reader of yours or at least monitor you and if you are lucky some time down the road they may do a post linking to your blog bringing in more new readers.

5. Encourage comments on your own blog. One of the most powerful ways to convince someone to become a loyal reader is to show there are other loyal readers already following your work. If they see people commenting on your blog then they infer that your content must be good since you have readers so they should stick around and see what all the fuss is about. To encourage comments you can simply pose a question in a blog post. Be sure to always respond to comments as well so you can keep the conversation going.

4. Submit your latest pillar article to a blog carnival. A blog carnival is a post in a blog that summarizes a collection of articles from many different blogs on a specific topic. The idea is to collect some of the best content on a topic in a given week. Often many other blogs link back to a carnival host and as such the people that have articles featured in the carnival often enjoy a spike in new readers.

To find the right blog carnival for your blog, do a search at blogcarnival.com.

3. Submit your blog to blogtopsites.com. To be honest this tip is not going to bring in a flood of new readers but it”s so easy to do and only takes five minutes so it”s worth the effort. Go to Blog Top Sites, find the appropriate category for your blog and submit it. You have to copy and paste a couple of lines of code on to your blog so you can rank and then sit back and watch the traffic come in. You will probably only get 1-10 incoming readers per day with this technique but over time it can build up as you climb the rankings. It all helps!

2. Submit your articles to EzineArticles.com. This is another tip that doesn’t bring in hundreds of new visitors immediately (although it can if you keep doing it) but it”s worthwhile because you simply leverage what you already have – your pillar articles. Once a week or so take one of your pillar articles and submit it to Ezine Articles. Your article then becomes available to other people who can republish your article on their website or in their newsletter.

How you benefit is through what is called your “Resource Box”. You create your own resource box which is like a signature file where you include one to two sentences and link back to your website (or blog in this case). Anyone who publishes your article has to include your resource box so you get incoming links. If someone with a large newsletter publishes your article you can get a lot of new readers at once.

1. Write more pillar articles. Everything you do above will help you to find blog readers however all of the techniques I’ve listed only work when you have strong pillars in place. Without them if you do everything above you may bring in readers but they won’t stay or bother to come back. Aim for one solid pillar article per week and by the end of the year you will have a database of over 50 fantastic feature articles that will work hard for you to bring in more and more readers.

I hope you enjoyed my list of traffic tips. Everything listed above are techniques I’ve put into place myself for my blogs and have worked for me, however it”s certainly not a comprehensive list. There are many more things you can do. Finding readers is all about testing to see what works best for you and your audience and I have no doubt if you put your mind to it you will find a balance that works for you.

ANOTHER NOTE FROM RAY: This article was by Yaro Starak, a professional blogger and one of my blog mentors. He is the leader of the Blog Mastermind mentoring program designed to teach bloggers how to earn a full time income blogging part time.

To get more information about Blog Mastermind click this link:

www.BlogMastermind.com

I think one of the real tricks of success is to simply recognize these things you tend to do, and then find ways to make these tendencies support your success. In fact, I think most people are miserable because they fail to do just that. Instead of working with their tendencies in order to succeed (almost effortlessly), they identify their tendencies as the problem and vow to change.

That, my friend, is called swimming against the river. And while you may get credit for working your tail off while doing it, you’re not going to make much progress relative to the shoreline.

Case in point: for the longest time I was worried about my information addiction.

And make no mistake… I am an info-addict.

Just this morning, I read the six magazines I bought yesterday. Read part of a book. Checked out the over 1,000 new items in Google Reader. Watched a brilliant little video by Ed Dale over at the Thirty Day Challenge site. And sifted through 52 emails (it was early, and it’s the day after a US holiday, so email was light this morning).

I have dozens of PDFs in my “To Read” folder on my Macbook Pro. I have dozens more videos and audios to go through in my “To Listen” and “To Watch” folders.

And once upon a time I thought something was wrong with me because of this kind of behavior. So I struggled against it. I read books about it. I read articles about it. I listened to self-help material about it. Is anyone other than me seeing the irony yet?

One day I stumbled across an article by Dan Kennedy in which he detailed his working habits… and I was shocked to discover they were identical to mine (at least when it came to info-consumption)! And Dan saw it not as a weakness to be changed… but rather as a strength to be nurtured.

That was life-changing for me.

It gave me a way to stop struggling against my natural tendencies, and to embrace the way God made me. That tendency to process large quantities of unrelated information allows me to form connections between ideas, concepts, and methods that I would not possess if I limited my information intake. So now I structure my work and my routine in such a way that my behavior in this regard in strengthened, reinforced, and nurtured — and then put to profitable use in my writing.

I look for ways to channel that stream of information so that it’s not wasted.

For instance, I found this excellent piece by Chris Brogan on focused blogging just this morning. You can bet I will be implementing many of Chris’s suggestions in my own routine.

Another source of inspiration and information on effective ways to channel my own natural tendencies is at the blog of my new friend Brian Clark (we met in Vegas last week at a blogging/marketing get-together). Brian’s site, Copyblogger, is an excellent resource no self-respecting copywriter or blogger should ignore.

So what does this all mean to you?

In my experience, it means that if you find yourself fighting the same old battles (chronic lateness, procrastination, forgetfullness), you’ve probably unwittingly been holding yourself back by resisting your own gifts.

If you have trouble with authority, why work in a job when it’s clear you’d be happier as an entrepreneur?

If you are always late for appointments — why not just stop making appointments (Arnold Shwarzenneger reportedly refuses to make appointments with anyone, and he seems to be doing okay running the state of California).

And if you have tendencies that are frowned upon by others — for instance, sleeping during the day and staying up all night — why not look for a way to turn the tendency into an asset (for instance, by working via Internet with clients or companies in a different time zone… where suddenly YOU are the early riser!)?

My friends Frank Kern and Jason Moffatt are both self-admitted “lazy surfers”… yet they’ve managed to turn these personality “quirks” into a financial asset. Frank and Jason both market products and information to other people who are drawn to the very personal traits that would be frowned upon in most business settings.

Just because certain tendencies, behaviors and attitudes are not “acceptable” in one context does not mean those qualities are “bad”. It simply means — at least in my experience — you need to find a different context! And that decision — how you live your life — is (for most of us) entirely a choice.

(And to ward off the inevitable objections to my premise: yes, I recognize that there are behaviors and “tendencies” that are illegal, immoral, and unethical. That’s not what we’re talking about here, okay? Anything that falls into those three categories should be jettisoned from your life. ‘Nuff said on that.)

Now take a moment to think about this…

In what ways could your “limiting tendencies” become strengths?

How could your re-arrange your life to make it so?

If you can find positive, proactive ways to answer those questions, you just might find yourself more productive, profitable, and happy.

Ray Edwards New Teleseminar Toys

But… we are taking Tim Ferris’s recommended “mini retirement” (taking your retirement now… while you’re still healthy enough to enjoy it).

We’re just into the third day here in Sedona, Arizona.

So far, the schedule seems to be: I work for about 5 hours in the morning, and then we go do cool stuff the rest of the day. Today we went for a hike and went to a cool Chapel up on a mountain. Not a bad lifestyle. Here’s the video:

Click Here To Watch The Video.

I refuse to tolerate it any longer in my life.

This week my wife and I hauled off several small truckloads of clutter to Goodwill (and some to the dump). We’re got more to haul away — but we’ve at least identified it all and we know what we’re doing about the clutter conundrum.

Next on my clutter-blusting list: paper.

Man, do I have a lot of paper. And I have found the solution (I think). If you haven’t read Ken Silver’s post on the Paperless Office, go read it now.

In his article, Ken says:

Here’s what I do each day to win the paper war:

When paper of any kind…a magazine article I clip, an invoice, notice or bill… gets to my desk, I run it through the ScanSnap which is permanently on.

The item shows up on Windows Explorer in the supplied Adobe Acrobat 6.0 program as an untitled PDF file. I name it immediately in a COMPANY NAME – DOCUMENT NAME – ITEM – DATE format and drag it to the appropriate folder.

I have only 2 folders for all my files, marked BUSINESS and PERSONAL. The Business folder has sub-folders, each labeled as a financial year… 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003 etc. There is one other sub folder which I’ve labeled PROJECTS.

Since my scanned files are shown in alphabetical order in Explorer – and that’s the way I retrieve them too – there’s no need to get any more complicated than that.

I ordered my Scansnap today and it should arrive tomorrow. I’ll have more to say about this soon — but for now check out Ken’s article. If you’ve had any experience with “going paperless”, let me know by posting your comments below.

This myth has always struck me as false — or at least only partially true.

I believe that when it comes right down to it, you must have some writing talent. If you don’t, your copy will not be brilliant. It may not even be good. In most cases, it will just be bad.

I see plenty of evidence that the last is the most common result.

There is another myth that if one studies enough of the right manuals, or attends enough of the right seminars, one can learn to write well. Frankly, if you don’t have some native talent — a “knack”, if you will — I don’t think all the classes, courses, or seminars in the world can help you much.

Stephen King would agree with me, I suspect. In a recent article he penned for the Washington Post, King wrote: “The only things that can teach writing are reading, writing and the semi-domestication of one’s muse.”

So there it is, then.
My opinion is that not everyone can learn to be a great (or even good) writer. Everyone is born with a certain aptitude (or lack of it), and they’re pretty much stuck with that aptitude. They can take classes or be taught to make the most of it, but they are always limited to a certain range in the development of their craft.
What do you think?

The winners are shown in the screen cap to the left. Remember, it was about quality and not just about numbers. There was a tough call to make… Jeff Wells worked his tail off and did a lot of posting, but Cheryl Antier wrote some brilliant posts that were long and thoughtful. It was a tough call. So I’ve made a decision to award BOTH of them the Grand Prize. They’ll each get a copy of the Robert Collier letter book plus the two products from me.

One decision that was challenging was to decide what to do about Ed Erickson, whose posts were also of very high quality. As much as I would like to give away copies of Robert Collier to everyone, I can’t really do that (not at $100 a copy!). So Ed gets the Runner Up nod, meaning he gets copies of both my products. Nice work, Ed!

The remainder of the list will get a copy of one of the products I showed in the video.

So if your name is on the list, please send an email with your name and shipping address to copycoach [at] gmail [dot] com. That’s the only way I will know where to send your package — so please do it now. If I don’t hear from you before December 20th, I’ll assume you don’t want your prize. Fair enough?

New Contest, New Prize Worth $1,497

This contest worked out so well, I’ve decided to do another one.

This one lasts a little longer… from now until Friday January 4.

The prize is full access to my Web Copywriting Explained course on writing persuasive sales copy. The course has been selling like crazy for $997. In fact, you can’t currently buy it on the web — it’s only been for sale via speaking engagements and webinars for the last few months.

The best part is that if you win you also get access to the upcoming new version of the course, which includes live interaction with yours truly, this spring. That version of WCE will be selling for $1,497. What’s in the course?

This course is, in my belief, your absolute fastest, easiest and most economical way to do all of the following…

	Live the lifestyle you’ve always dreamed of, with no bosses and no commute.
	Use sales letters (and other sales copy) to bring in record profits (and no, salesletters are not “dead”).
	A step-by-step system for profit-pulling copy that make sales.
	Use the latest Web 2.0 design elements to boost sales overnight.
	Motivate and persuade prospects to buy faster, with less hype.
	Exactly what works now – in 2007-2008 – and not “yesterday’s tactics”.
	How to use audio, video and interactivity in the world of Web 2.0.
	Learn how to hire a copywriter without getting ripped off every time.

So What’s The New Contest?

Simple.

Make regular comments on the blog (this one!).

Your comments don’t have to be lengthy, but they need to be quality (no comments like “great post!” will be counted). Say something in your comment that contributes to the conversation. You certainly don’t have to agree with everything I say.

The winner will be selected by someone other than me (takes the heat off Uncle Ray, see?).

The criteria for winning: the person with the highest number of consistently quality posts will win. Period.

Jeff Wells did a great job this last contest. His comments were short, but they showed that he had read the posts and thought about his response.

Cheryl’s comments were much longer (they could have been posts in themselves!), but they were far fewer in number.

I think the winner of the next contest will be someone who finds a happy medium between those two approaches and takes the time to comment once every day or two. For a guideline, take a look at Ryan Healy’s comments lately.

Here are some sites I think are worth spending time with:

• Shoemoney blogs on making money as an affiliate.
• John Chow makes money online telling people how to make money online.
• Ryan Healy writes about copywriting and his writing is so good it makes me envious.
• Ben Settle is one of the most methodical and deadly effective copywriters I know.
• Dave Winer blogs with personality, controversy and integrity.
• Mike Sansone has a great blog about blogging — I always learn a lot from Mike.
• Michael Port knows the secrets of getting booked solid (great if you’re a service professional).  And the header on his blog is very cool. I’ve never seen that done before!

The tools, tactics, and technology available today give you the power to literally create an empire from your kitchen table (thanks Jeff Paul).

I’m not engaging in hyperbole.

Google was started in a garage.

I have clients in Australia, the UK, India, China, Japan, Mexico, St. Lucia, Canada, Mexico, El Salvador… and I run my business from a tiny corner of the Northwest US. The Internet gives each of us the power to do what we will, from where we will.

That’s freedom.

It’s something I’ve come to think of as “The Freedom Lifestyle”, and the Formula for achieving that freedom lifestyle will be my focus in 2008. I touched on it briefly, and outlined some of my basic thoughts in a free call I did for my email subscribers earlier this week.

In this FREE “no-pitch” (there’s nothing for sale) call, you will learn:

• What works for making money online — NOW.
• Mistakes I made in 2007 and how you can avoid them.
• The emerging trends that you can leverage for massive profits in 2008.
• The SHOCKING real secret to “passive income” online (and no, it’s not porn.)
• The never-before-revealed “FLF” — and how it changes lives.

I thought you might like to hear the call… so here it is:

Click here to get the audio.

After you’ve listened, maybe you’ll share your own thoughts on the Freedom Lifestyle… you can do that below.

I look forward to hearing from you on this: if you have tools, tips and tactics that have worked for you please share them. And if you have questions or problems you’re trying to solve, ask your questions here.

He really is offering some discounts on his products that are just… well… crazy. But hey, don’t let that stop you from taking advantage of him.

]]> http://rayedwards.com/stu-mclarens-pre-wedding-video/feed/ 4 http://rayedwards.com/first-get-their-attention/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=first-get-their-attention http://rayedwards.com/first-get-their-attention/#comments Tue, 02 Oct 2007 09:12:37 +0000 Ray Edwards http://rayedwards.com/blogging/first-get-their-attention/ The Story: If your copy can’t cut through the clutter, you never be able to make the sale.

The Point: The reason the old formulae are less effective is: it’s harder to get people’s attention these days. Time to step up your game.

The Resource: Attention Age Doctrine

3 Keys To Grabbing Their Attention:

1. Change Their State.
2. Stop Their Inner Chatter.
3. Appeal To Their Greed, Lust, Or Moving-Away Values.

Click for the Podcast Audio:

Click Here

The Point: It’s not your website. It’s theirs (if you want to succeed).

The Resource: YouTube

How To Make It About The User:

1. Know your users.
2. Know your users.
3. Know your users.

Click for the Podcast Audio:

Click Here

The Point: While there’s a lot of debate about Britney’s musical talent, career choices, and parenting potential, nobody can argue that she doesn’t know how to get our attention.

You can learn a lot from a diva.

The Resource: Attention Age Doctrine

Keys To Capturing Your Prospect’s Attention:

1. Be relevant to their lives.
2. Give them more of what they want.
3. Don’t betray their expectations.

Click for the Podcast Audio:

Click Here

The Point: Sometimes it’s more important to emulate what people do than to listen to what they say. Study what Tony does to drive the revenue stream at his company.

The Resource: Tony Robbins

3 Simple Selling Tips From Tony Robbins:

1. Sell people what they want; give them what they need.
2. Create a subculture with its own language.
3. Engage the power of commitment and consistency.

Click for the Podcast Audio:

Click Here

The Point: To dramatically increase your sales, offer a preponderance of proof.

You should use several different types of proof in your selling process.

The Resource: Answers

3 Quick Ways to Prove Your Marketing Claims:

1. Customer testimonials.
2. Third-party endorsements.
3. Case Studies.

Click for the Podcast Audio:

Click Here

The Point: Learn to repurpose your products as well as those of others for maximum profit.

The Resource: Apple

3 Ways To Repurpose Your Content or Products:

1. Change print to text.
2. Change audio to text.
3. Change text to articles, blog posts, press releases, and emails.

Click for the Podcast Audio:

Click Here

Here’s the answer…

Watch the Video – Click Here.

Stories are attention magnets.

The Point: Too many online marketers adhere to the “just the facts” approach — or worse, they engage in “hype”.

This costs these unfortunate marketers sales and profits.

Integrate a powerful story into your copy and test the results.

The Resource: All Marketers Are Liars, by Seth Godin

3 Ways To Use Stories In Your Marketing:

1. Attention grabbers that draw people into the copy.
2. Rapport builders that mirror your reader’s dominant emotion.
3. Proof elements that create mental images of your product working for the reader.
Click for the Podcast Audio:

Click Here

You can’t “manage” time.

The Point: To get past the feeling of overwhelm, you need to overcome procrastination and manage your activities.

Doing so will clear up “space” in your day to get things done.

The Resource: Sedona Method

5 Ways To Feel More In Control Of Your World:

1. Let go of needing to control everything, do everything, know everything.
2. Check email only twice daily.
3. Check voicemail (or return calls) only once daily.
4. Have a Sabbath (day off) each week.
5. Focus on the 20% of activities that yield 80% of your results.

Click for the Podcast Audio:

Click Here

The Point: To break through the clutter of online marketing, use a technology everyone is familiar with – the phone. It’s easier and more effective than you think!

The Resource: VoiceShot

3 Ways To Use the Phone to Grow Online Business:

1. Call potential Joint Venture Partners or Affiliates.
2. Call your previous customers to follow up.
3. Use voice broadcasting for mass communication.

Click for the Podcast Audio:

Click Here

Just in case you need something to do over the weekend, here’s a selection of fine, hand-picked links for your surfing enjoyment.

Is there money in blogging? Depends on how you intend to make that money.

How to write better titles. Worth your time, trust me.

Is advertising on its way out? Or is it just changing?

The best bloggers are connectors. So says my buddy Ryan Healy, and I agree. Subscribe to Ryan’s feed.

Great “swipe file” material. And while you’re at it, subscribe to Ben’s feed too.

Not for the easily offended. But filled with great information.

Enjoy the links… and consider subscribing to this blog in your RSS reader.

New podcast on Monday… have a great holiday weekend (US readers)!

The Point: Use these tested methods to dissolve writer’s block instantly.

The Resource: The War of Art, Steven Pressfield

What we call “writer’s block” is merely resistance to writing. Three ways you can dissolve this resistance:

1. Sit down and write. Anything.
2. Use one of the 3 ways to change your state… focus, physiology, or language.
3. Write about why you’re not writing.

Click for the Podcast Audio:

Click Here

The Point: You can instantly increase your optins and sales by correcting these specific mistakes.

The Resource: www.WebCopyWritingExplained.com <– Copywriting Videos

What are the three most common mistakes made by copywriters? They’re not grammar or syntax errors. They are rather errors in approach or mindset. While these may seem to be “soft” topics, they directly affect your results. The mistakes are:

1. Not writing to the reader
2. Writing copy that sounds like copy
3. Not taking the time to know their product

Click for the Podcast Audio:

Click Here

To see a model that’s getting up to 80% opt-ins, take this quiz.

After you take the quiz, you’ll get a video that will show you how to build opt-in pages that average between 60-80% conversion from visitor to subscriber.

You’ll even get a download link to a free beta of the software that creates these opt-in pages for you. Seriously. No “upsell”. No “one time offer”.

I’m going to be testing the software on my own pages, and I will update you with the results.

For now, I recommend you give it a try yourself: get the software here.

I offer regular teleconferences where you can get some questions answered in a live call.

1. I’ll always email you ahead of time about the call details, so you don’t have to worry about that.

2. To make sure you get your questions answered, just input them at: http://www.AskRayEdwards.com .

We also do some Q&A on the calls, but it’s best if you can get your questions in early at the above address.

There are only a few simple things you need to get started making money with your own internet-based business.

It’s not complicated, really.

Let me break it down for you. I’ll tell you the basic items you need, and Google can tell you the rest (just search for information on the areas where your knowledge is weak or incomplete). Here’s what you need:

1. A Product. Obviously, you need something to sell. This could be software, or items you sell on eBay, or a service, or an information product. People get hung up on how to come up with a product — and the truth is that products are the easiest thing in the world to get. It’s taking action that’s tough.

2. A Domain Name. This seems obvious, but you need a name for your business. You can get one at http://NewHostingPlan.com.

3. A Web Page. I say “page” instead of “site” because a “site” seems complicated. A “page” seems easy, doesn’t it? You can get one through http://NewHostingPlan.com.

4. Web Page Software. You need to build a page with content on it. You can do it yourself with free software from http://nvu.com, or you can use a paid product like Dreamweaver (which is available at http://www.adobe.com/products/dreamweaver/). If you don’t want to do it you can get a designer at http://sitepoint.com.

5. Graphics. You need a logo and a “look and feel” for your products or services. Again, you can use free software (like that at http://www.gimp.org) or you can buy something like Photoshop (at http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/compare/). Or you can get someone to do it for you at http://sitepoint.com.

6. Autoresponder Account. This is an account that allows you to build a mailing list so that you can mail to your customers or prospects. It can also do this for you on an automated sequential basis, so once someone signs up they get an email from you on a regular basis (automatically). The service I use and recommend is http://RaysAutoResponder.com.

7. Shopping Cart Software. You need to be able to take payments somehow, right? My advice is to get a nice, proven, all-in-one solution. I use http://newmarketingautomation.com.

Now, each of these are somewhat complex discussions that we could probably spend a one-hour teleseminar talking about each of them. Do a quick search on Google – there are plenty of online resources that will teach you more about each of these subjects.

You now know the basic building blocks needed to build your online business.

Can you spend years learning to master it all? Yes. But is it simple enough to get the basics in just a few minutes (as you just did)? Yes.

Don’t let yourself get overwhelmed. Just remember these basics, figure out which pieces you already have… and figure out what the next logical step might be. Then just do it!

Seth Godin: “Often, more effort goes into circumventing a system then it would take to just do a great job in the first place…”. This makes me think about an experience I had at McDonald’s (yes, sometimes I eat there. I can’t be the only one.) Recently I noticed that the folks who run the drive thru window at my local McDonald’s have strategically placed a sign in the window so that, when they slide it open, it blocks the timer that shows how long you have been waiting. How’s that for circumventing the system? I never thought about that timer… until they tried to hide it from me.

Roberta Rosenberg: “After 25 years of writing copy, I must admit I get a little pissed-off (okay, maybe a lot) when my hard-learned, hard-earned craft gets lumped in and categorized as yet one more bogus ‘get-rich-quick, anyone-can-do-this’ enterprise…

1. It’s good for business. It wasn’t always this way. When I started blogging it was more about self-expression. It didn’t take long for me to realize blogging was building my business, too. I get a steady flow of new business from people who say something like, “Well, I started reading your blog and finally decided I would call you.”
2. Self-expression. Once upon a time, I was a radio DJ. Highly-rated, successful, and loving it. Being on the radio was my own personal megaphone. It was my way of being heard. Now I get that same satisfaction from blogging. You can too. Now everyone’s a DJ!
3. Building a relationship with my readers. There’s nothing like a blog to build a relationship with your readers. My blog is the source of most of the conversations I have with my readers. Why? I have some theories, but the fact is they don’t matter. It just works.
4. Marketing. I know there are many who say you can’t “monetize” a blog. Really? My own blog has brought me… well, let’s call it “a substantial amount” of revenue. And I don’t even use Adsense (as of this writing). One of the very best Internet Marketers is a guy name Dave Winer. And you’d never categorize him as a marketer… but last year he made over 7 figures using his blog as the primary marketing medium. Even as as I write this, he’s in the beginnings of a “product launch”, though most of his readers probably don’t realize it.
5. Research and testing. The quickest way I know to test a new idea, get some feedback, or get an answer is… make an appropriate post on my blog.

Okay, those are my 5 reasons for blogging. And now, I tag:

• Ben Settle
• JP Maroney
• Stu McLaren
• Jeff Mills
• Alice Seba

I don’t believe in “writer’s block”. You shouldn’t either. I think it’s a myth. Worse, I think it’s an excuse for just not doing your job.

I’m not saying that it isn’t sometimes difficult to sit down and start writing. It often is difficult, for one reason or another.

However, the same could be said of a plumber, a carpenter or even a doctor. Have you ever heard of a surgeon saying, “I just can’t do this surgery today. I’ve got surgeon’s block.”?

Of course not.

But there are undoubtedly days where even surgeons don’t feel like doing their job. Maybe they’re distracted, they’re tired, or they have other things on their minds. But there is no such thing as “surgeon’s block”… or “writer’s block”.

What should you do on days when you just don’t feel like writing anything?

I’ve found the quickest cure is to decide: there’s no such thing as writer’s block… and just start writing.

Write anything. Start with the easy stuff.

Write the contact information that’s going to go on your sales letter or website.

Write the copyright information.

Write filler text such as “Insert Brilliant Headline Goes Here”.

Write the details of what you’re offering. I’m talking about the simple stuff you don’t have to think in order to write.

What’s the price? What’s the address of your company? Where do customers send the checks?

Just start writing.

Once you’ve loosened up a bit, start writing some bullet points. Write as many bullets as you possibly can, remembering to keep each of them focused on benefits of the product (not just features of the product).

You can just write pages of bullets and eventually you’ll get into the flow of writing.

Most of the time, you’ll disover you can use a lot of the bullets you’ve written as thought starters for headlines, for sub-heads, for section heads, etc. Heck, maybe you’ll even use them as bullets.

And guess what?

Now you’ve “broken through your writer’s block”.

I agree with most of what Michel has to say in that report.

Want to see some very short sales copy for a $1,250 seminar that is converting like crazy? Then take a look at this. It breaks all the so-called rules. But don’t try this on your own, kids. There are some very important reasons why this is working, and they are not all obvious.

That being said…them that hath an eye, let them see.

Seth Godin was looking for someone to take over the Z List lens. I volunteered.

I want to do my best to make this lens as good as it can possibly be — so your input is valuable. Take a look, add your own site, vote. Thanks!

Click here to see The Z List on Squidoo.