5 Reasons To Write A 5 Reasons Post
It’s been almost one month since I wrote this post, about moving your business ( that is exactly what your blog is, by the way ) to the next level and beginning to create info-products in and around your niche.
Although we haven’t set the world on fire, James and I have gathered enough questions to hold a teleseminar around his niche, which is helping people create their cornerstone infoproduct.
Today, on Terry dean’s blog, I read two different posts that had 5 reasons for you to write a book and 5 reasons to create your own product.
For those of you who have never done so, let me tell you the difference between owning a product that affiliates promote and promoting products as an affiliate.
The difference is M-O-N-U-M-E-N-T-A-L !
Think of it this way. You can try 5 different ways to make money on your blog or you can get 5 affiliates who send their readers to your product.
Which do you think will be better ?
Now ramp that up to 100 blogs sending their readers to your product.
You cannot even begin to compare that with promoting affiliate products on your blog.
No way. No how.
Monday, July 2nd, we’re going to answer your questions on a teleseminar.Go here to ask any info-product question that you have and we’ll try to help you.
As the title of this post promised, I’ve got 5 reasons why you should write a 5 reasons post about your own product:
1) You’ll make more money.
2) You’ll make more money.
3) You’ll make more money
4) You’ll make more money.
5) You’ll make more money.
Blogger To Infoproduct Publisher: Are You Ready For The Next Step ?
Today, especially for us bloggers, I have two truths for all of us to learn, remember and profit from.
Truth #1 - Nothing in nature stays the same. If you are not getting better, you are surely getting worse.
I’m not sure who said it first, but it surley means more today than it did 2-3 weeks ago, to bloggers who want and need to profit.
Google is changing the way the search world works and is dropping sites/blogs from their AdSense program.I’m not opposed to either change, just for the record.
Truth #2 - No matter how good you are at what you do, there’s someone out there who can teach you something.
Again, I’m not sure who said it first, but the truth is still relevant to all of us. Blogs, pages of text, websites that don’t emply audio and/or video are slowly being phased to the bottom of the search results.
Don’t believe it ? Check this post done by Michael Gray. A video on How To Make Your WordPress Blog Search Engine Friendly.
No text, no tricks. Just good content that ranks well … in the form of a video, ahead of 887,000 other SERPS.
I’m sure he’s just as surprised as the rest of us.
What should you, as a blogger, do with this new info ?
First and foremost you need to add info-weapons to your marketing arsenal. You need to leverage your knowledge and expertise into infoproducts.
You need to add audio and video products to your content creation strategy.
I’ve lined up James Roche,The Infoproduct Guy, to help us all learn easy and quick new ways to create infoproducts.
We’re going to hold a teleseminar ( webcast ) and we’re going to allow you to control the agenda by asking questions.
I’ve set up a page that will allow you, as a blogger, to get answers from James that will help you get past any stumbling blocks you have that prevent you from creating a profitable infoproduct.
James will help us understand more about how to:
1) Make money with infoproducts
2) Select the right topic for our infoproduct
3) Develop content … fast
4) Avoid the mistakes that will doom our infoproduct to nowheresville
5) Put the actual product together
And much more. So click thru and ask James any question you have and as soon as we get it all assembled, we’ll show you where to sign up for the free, educational, informative teleseminar / webcast.
If you don’t have flat-fee phone service, my teleseminar service will allow you to listen over the web … at no charge to you.
Thanks for assisting us and asking questions.
Was Madonna The Original Linkbaiter ?
I was hurtling down the highway a couple of days ago, listening to my Sirius radio on the Big ’80’s channel and when Madonna came on to sing Like A Prayer.
Suddenly it hit me that she was the original linkbaiter and that video was the first linkbait.
I remember the buzz around it when it first aired.
Sexually suggestive movements … in a church.
Burning crosses.
Suggestions of inter-racial relations.
Yada-yada. Blah blah.
Churches upset. Mothers upset. Teachers upset. Her accountant was upset … with all the extra money he had to try to not pay taxes on.
She started linkbaiting way before blogs were around … in their current form.
Actually, she started linkbaiting before most of today’s bloggers were born, or at least out of school.
She made it into an artform … literally.
Was she the original linkbaiter … or just the best of our generation ?
The Viral Aspects Of Marketing Thru Thought Leadership
A post written by David Meerman Scott over at Web Ink Now remined me to check the stats that the coining of the term “link leak” bring about each month.
Out of the 1500-2000 people who came here every day last month, 33 came from a search for the term “link leak”.
Thanks !
Google still return over 19,300 items for a search for that term, in quotes, and I’m ranked 31 and have been since April 26th of 2006, when I firts used that term.
I have consistently received visitors for almost 1 full year now.
I always give credit where it’s due, so I’ll be the first to point out that without the efforts of Liz Strauss, who started The Link Leak Virus and a few others like Martin Neumann who joined in, it never would have gotten to that level of success.
Now all I have to do is find a way to do something even bigger for about 7 other blogs !
Thanks for reminding me David. I highly recommend that you read David’s post about viral thought leadership marketing and see his success with The Gobbledygook Manifesto.
Why You’ll Have To S.U.C.K. To Be Heard In 2007
For my last post of 2006, I’d like to give us all a piece of advice whose very idea was formed after reading the promo for a book I’m going out tonite to buy.
The Thursday edition of my USA Today newspaper, which I’m just getting to, had a promo written by Jacqueline Blais, about Made To Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive And Others Die, a new book along the lines of The Tipping Point, written by Chip and Dan Heath.
Chip’s a Stanford professor and I rarely read books written by those types, but I’ll give it a shot. I prefer to read material written by those that do and not by those whose sole claim to fame is as an educator.
Since I haven’t any info on either of these guys, I’ll go read the inside and outside covers and see if it looks to be worth my time. Who knows, maybe Chip’s a doer and not just a professor.
That paragraph above is a bonus tip for you. As a blogger, don’t be afraid to give a little credit where it’s due. A LOT (every) of bloggers get ideas from reading the works of others and are deathly afraid to give a little credit like I did above. It keeps you from making a new friend and it’s u-g-l-y.
There are no new ideas. The Egyptians and the Mayans used ‘em all up. Sorry.
Socrates, Shakespeare and Seth sucked all the remaining ideas out of the universe.
All of the ideas we have today are recycled and retreads. Sorry, it’s true.
We implement them a bit differently, which is where today’s genius comes into play, but the ideas themselves are old.
Glad you asked. I have a couple of suggestions and I’m sure all of you out there can add to the list. Feel free to, here in the comments or on your own blog, but Just Do It !
To get past the gatekeepers, to get scanners to really read, to get the listener to listen and to help others help themselves in 2007, you’re gonna have to S.U.C.K.
S is for simple. Yep, I really love simple and you knew that, but did you ever figure out why ?
Because simple gets heard. Analogies, stories and quick, witty paraphrasing will get to the heart of the matter before the listener moves on.
Today’s listener is suffering from A.D.D. Every man, woman and child is being bombarded from way too many angles and has no idea as to which one to turn off or which one they should listen to.
That’s old news, but what should you do ? As a blogger, quit writing those 10,000 word blog posts that would take me 18 minutes to read. Give me a 200 ( Good ) to 500 ( Less Good ) word post and a chance to download a longer version … if I care to. I’ll stick around and I’ll subscribe to your RSS feed, but if you abuse me with 5 posts a day and they’re all way too long, I’m gone.
As a salesperson, don’t waste the first few minutes apologizing for being there. Start with shock and awe, define the problem, tell ‘em how to fix it, then show ‘em how your product or service will do that. Then shut up and listen.
Sounds like a human white paper to me.
U is for unexpected. People will pay attention if you surprise them. But your headline better not be misleading.
As a salesperson, you need to come from an angle that your competition hasn’t used. Think about their business and not your sales. Where can they make noise and how can your product/service help them do just that.
As a blogger, if you take time to write 35 headlines, choose a killer one and then your post doesn’t really do what the headline promises, you’re toast. I’m gone and I’m unsubscribing.
You need to come up with an angle that’s not being played to death on every channel. If you can’t, don’t post, take the time you would have wasted and write something that will enlighten me, not waste my time and will make me think I need to read your every post.
As for headlines, who’s been the single most influential blogger/writer/teacher to all of us … uh, that would be the one and only Brian Clark over at Copyblogger.
Now that he’s edutained us into writing better headlines, we all have to get better with the actual content. All headline and no meat makes for a bad meal.
Come up with your own, unexpected, meaty content and you’ll be fine.
We need fewer blogs that restate and link back to what other blogs are saying and more that give us a different angle, from a unique viewpoint, from someone who’s been there and done that.
C is for credible. If you haven’t done it, don’t tell me you think that your idea is better than the one I tested against 9 other ideas before I found out which one made me money.
Prove it to me. Evidence speaks loudly, your opinion is worthless.
Credibility comes from experience. Tell me about yours. Every minute detail is data that I need … and you may not know which minute detail is the very one that makes the light go on for me.
As a salesperson, I know what works for me and I’ve tested that technique against 1 to 9 others to see which works the best. Split-testing is as effective for salespeople as it is for marketers.
K is for King. If you’re not the King ( or Queen ) of your niche/industry , do you have any idea why you aren’t ?
You’re either on the way up or way down. You’re either in control or being controlled.
As a blogger, if you aren’t in control of your niche, it’s because you don’t have enough experience, you aren’t actually practicing, trying to get better or you’re in the wrong niche writing about something you shouldn’t be writing about.
Or maybe your view is skewed. Maybe you’re writing about making money and you should be writing about your journey in learning how to make money.
I couldn’t write a blog about using Photoshop. But I could write a blog about learning to use Photoshop.
If you need career advice, seek professional help. If you want to know if you’re on the right path with your blog, shoot me an email and I’ll try to brainstorm with you as to what path you might take in 2007 to be a better blogger. I can always use more friends.
If you want sales advice, tips, stories and quick bits on using human nature to your advantage, stick with me in 2007 and you’ll be a better salesperson at the end of the year than you are now.
Guaranteed.
There you have it. You’re gonna have to S.U.C.K. to be heard in 2007.
Feel free to add to the conversation on your blog or here in the comments, as that’s what blogging’s all about.
EDIT - After having seen Brian’s name in my comments, my mind realized I hadn’t given credit to the blogger who’s been more helpful to the blogosphere than anyone in creating winning headlines.
I went back and re-wrote that part. Hopefully the link love will make it clearer.
New Debt Free Living Blog
Here’s your chance to help a fairly new blogger and learn about living debt free at the same time.
Debbi Bressler, who’s a great friend to me and my family, has just started a new blog about living debt free.
She’s going to be finding her style, voice and look over the next few weeks, but she already has several good posts up and it’s up to us, as bloggers and blog readers, to help her find her way as quickly as possible.
Take the short route over there and let her know you’re around and learn more about getting rid of your debt in the process.
How To Make Blog Posts And Sales Communication More Effective
I read a lot of old books. Very old. The writers in the ’20’s thru the ’50’s especially had to know what they were doing with regards to marketing and sales, because they didn’t have the ‘net to easily test theories and the cost of a campaign was much higer than it is today.
One old time business writer, Frank Meeks, discovered that he got a tremendous response from a flip little collection letter he wrote that left room for the reader to make a smartass reply.
Checks rolled in … with little smartass remarks !
That gave Mr. Meeks an idea. That idea made him famous and wealthy.
The idea ? When you write a letter, let the prospect get in a word edgewise. Leave ‘em room to make a wisecrack, smartass reply or clever retort of some type.
He proved, thru testing and tracking, that customers bought more just to make their remarks.
It works. And it’s been proven to work in in other areas of life. I found a reference to Madame Recamier, pictured above, who’s been called one of the most socially successful ladies who ever lived.
She had no money, no social status and lived in a modest 4 four-room flat in Paris. Yet, all of the famous men and women in Europe paid tribute to her.
Her secret of power ?
She made them feel clever. She was never the life of the party, she let others be the focal points.
She never made clever remarks, but she drew them out of others.
These actions made other want to be around her, to be near her.
I know of a salesman like this. He’s as dull as can be, but he he leaves room for the others to make the witty remarks in the conversation.
Customers pass by the better schooled, better looking salesmen to buy from him.
These methods seem to work for blog posts, too.
Think about it. Do you get more comments when you tell the whole story, or when you leave a little to be said ? Easy answer.
Do you get more interaction when you’re the expert-know-it-all, or when you ask leading questions that can be answered easily ?
Do blog posts that are a bit snide get more remarks that are, shall we say, tame ?
Do you get Tracbacks and links from those who you make feel clever or those whose views you trash ?
Do you get more page views when you keep the conversation going with a reply to a comment ?
Do you have an instance you can point us to where this worked for you ?
Is Product Placement The Next Blogging Frontier?
I was talking the other day with Chris Pearson about product placement. We spoke briefly about that being the next wave to hit blogs.
We already accept advertising. I do anyway, so if you’d like to advertise here, send me an email.
And unconsciously, we place products in our posts.
So if we’re going to do it, should we get compensated for it ?
I eat at Applebee’s a lot. If Applebee’s wants to compensate me for every mention of their name on this blog, within reason, is that so bad ?
I use Neutrogena shaving products. Would it hurt this blogs focus if they paid me for every time I mention them ?
I love my Dish Network satellite service. So how bad would it be to mention them every time I mention watching Monday Night Football or Survivor ?
Dockers are my favorite slacks. Yes, I’d take free slacks for mentioning them in a second.
Tommy Bahama silk shirts make me all wiggly. I’d love to get paid to have all my photos done with one of their shirts.
I play Ping I3 blade irons and have a Ping carry bag. Do you think I’d take some thank-you dollars for telling everybody about that on Travelling Golfer ? I sure would.
I drive a Toyota Camry made right here in Kentucky. I drive around 60,000 miles a year. What would it hurt for them to compensate me for every mention of that fact ?
I used a new search tool that I got today to search for info about product placement and I’ll let a little link leak tell the rest of the story.
Rexblog.com points out some product placement in the classroom - ” Yesterday, I had an experience that amused me as I imagined the meltdown it would have caused an anti-adveristing-in-the-classroom advocate. “
Over at Lymabean, Lindsey says - ” I don’t generally find time or the proclivity to turn on tv shows, but recently I have to say I have become hooked on Showtime’s Weeds. Besides enjoying the bright eyed, mellow character that Mary-Louise Parker plays, I am particularly interested in the amount of product placement on the show. “
At ITPro, they spoke about pointless product placement - ” Product placement can and does have its merits when companies are trying to subliminally persuade us to buy their wares. “
TV Squad blogs about product placement on 30 Rock - ” The Newark Star-Ledger’s Alan Sepinwall (actually his friend Phil Rosenthal) points out on his blog that last night’s pilot for 30 Rock had an interesting bit of product placement: “
Over at OnTheCommons.org, David Bollier says that product placement invasion is intensifying - ” … spending on product placement advertising is going to surge in 2006 by 25%. Global spending will go to $7.5 billion this year and to $14 billion by 2010. “
Cheryl Shuman says paid product placement outpaces traditional advertising - ” Product placement spending in TV, film and other media is expected to climb another 38.8% to $3.07 billion in 2006, driven by the continued shift toward a paid placement structure from a barter and added-value model. “
PVR Wire says that product placement is the answer to ad skipping PVR’s - ” Compared to the $50bn advertising industry, the $2bn spent on product placement is relatively small. But one of the ways that advertisers think they can get around the PVR ad-skipping problem is with product placement. “
Kick-Ass Poker talks about the world of poker and product placement joining forces - ” It was only a matter of time until the burgeoning poker world would see product placement as a means of attracting visibility… “
There’s enough fodder for us to chew on, now we have to decide if product placement is or will be invading the blogosphere.
Is it already here ? Do you get paid to mention a product on your blog ?
Will it hurt bloggers and blogging ? Has it already ?
Here’s my thought - No, it isn’t big as of now. Yes, it will be soon.
No, it won’t hurt bloggers or blogging. It’ll just make the most popular ( read as lots and lots of viewers ) blogs even more money.
Blogging’s just another form of visual media. Advertising has been and always will be a part of visual media.
You might as well get used to it and make the best of it.
Start now by tracking which products you often mention on your blog and find a way to convert that into dollars that can pay for bandwidth and/or hosting.
After that, do like I do, set up a revenue stream to pay for your monthly expenditures, smallest first and then next smallest and so on, until you have them all covered.
When you’ve covered all of your monthly expenditures, start saving for retirement and/or a lake house. Or a boat. Or new golf clubs. Or a BMW.
Somebody’s gonna take the money, it might as well be a blogger.
Your turn.
Is product placement good for blogging or the end of all that’s holy ?
The ABC’s of Blogging Redeux
My lovely wife has up and posted a great alphabetical ( Part 1, anyway ) ‘Guide to Blogging’ type of post over at Self Help Daily.
Do me a big favor and click thru and read it and if it’s not too far out of your realm of nicety, link to her post, leave a comment, do a Trackback or something nice.
She blogs her butt off on about 14 blogs, every day, for our network and doesn’t get a lot of publicity or acknowledgment from the blogosphere.
It’s a helluva post and when the two of them are done, they’ll be a tremendous help to some blogger somewhere.
Thanks in advance for making her day and mine.
I See Dead Blogs
Is there anything we might be able to do to convince all those would-be bloggers who wrote 4 or 5 posts and then gave up to crash their dead blogs ?
I hate following an organic search result, only to find a blog that has a grand total of 5 posts, the last of which was 7 months ago.
There are 2 gazillion blogs created every day, all but 3 of which are destined to go the way of the platypus and the loon.
How about a feature in Blogger and Word Press, where most of these are created, that detonates the blog and all archives after 60 days of inactivity.
Anybody else have the misfortune to see dead blogs ?
Got any ideas ?
