Tim Bossie.com

I received my copy of the newly published book by Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett yesterday afternoon. I must admit I have high expectations for this book. I have been following both of these high profile bloggers for some time and really appreciate, and respect, what they do. I believe their main goal is not the actual money that can be made with blogging, but in helping others do what they do.

With that premise in mind, and my expectations for the book, I opened up to the Introduction.

Initial Reaction

Here’s some initial thoughts as I began to read.

The book is written in much of a blogging style.

Very easy to read and easily “skimmable”.

Darren and Chris are regular guys.

Darren and Chris are opposite and distinct in writing styles, but both complement each other.

I am grateful for their respective “stories”.

Problogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income

As stated already, I have very high expectations for this book. Is that fair? Should I go into this with the high expectations that I have? Probably not. But, I do… so let’s move on.

Chapter 1 is titled “Blogging for Money” and is an overview of what blogging is and what you can learn about more of in the rest of the book. You’ll definitely see the blogging style of writing in this first chapter. Subheadings, bullets, and screenshots are all a blogging norm. This style helps me personally as I read several books every month and like to get through them fast. I frequently skim the material and this style very much helps with that.

Darren and Christ touch on a lot of stuff in this chapter. If you’re not a blogger, don’t know where to start, or never heard of it before this chapter spells it out pretty good. There are two main emphasis I picked up in this chapter.

1.) Blogging is a website but in order to profit from it there must be value. The authors write, “the key thing is that readers get value out of it. Anyone who has been reading blogs for a while, though, will know there is more to blogging than just publising any old website.” I think that’s a major emphasis that can’t be taken lightly, especially if you’re blogging for money.

2.) Blogging is not a get-rich-quick scheme. Darren and Chris really want to make this clear. I have read several posts on ProBlogger.net about this very topic. Again, the authors point out that, “You do not just become a professional blogger overnight any more than you just instantly become a professional golfer.”

Two very strong points that prove to me that this book isn’t just about selling books. It’s about getting real information out to those that are serious about blogging for money.

Blogging monetization and other methods explained

The rest of Chapter 1 touches on several topics surrounding how how monetize your blog, different definitions, RSS and email, and what blogging strategies are available. While I won’t go into them here in this review (you’ll have to buy the book), I will say that Darren and Chris did a great job giving clear and concise explanations.

All in all, a great chapter. One that beginner, and even veteran, bloggers will find good information in. So far, my expectations are being met. Not just in the information, but in the overall “heart” of the book. I hope it continues.

I just received my copy of the newly published book by Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett (I checked my spelling that time, Darren!), ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income! I don’t really know what took the mail so long to deliver it… but I’m excited just to crack it open!

My initial thoughts are that this is going to be a very good introduction to blogging and making money with blogging. Chapters like Blogging for Money, Setting Up Your Blog, and Blog Writing, are going to be good for people just entering blogging. Although, I am sure I will be picking up a lot of good things myself.

More advanced issues like, Blog Income and Earning Strategies, Buying and Selling Blogs, and Blog Networks are really going to get my mind churning.

I can’t wait to start… and I’ll be posting my thoughts, reactions, comments, and maybe even counter-points from the book.

Have you read it yet? Do you have a comment on it? I’d love to hear what your thoughts are.

I remember the first time I put code to server and my first website was born. My first steps into affiliate marketing.

It was on a free web host (I know, but this was 10 years ago!) and was basically an affiliate link mall. What that means is I signed up for a ton of different merchants through networks like Linkshare and CJ, then placed links to each merchant in their own category. I would have a ‘food’ store, an ‘electronics’ store, a ‘book’ store, ‘music’ store, and every other category I could imagine. I was open for business.

However, the first few months were pretty rough. Actually they pretty much sucked. No traffic. No sales. I thought this was the World Wide Web where people just found websites. I didn’t even begin to imagine I had to advertise my website. I really didn’t want to. To be honest… I didn’t know where to begin!

Internet Advertising according to school of hard knocks.

Yeah. I did it the hard way.

Back in 1998 there just wasn’t a very large support system for people venturing out into affiliate marketing. There were a few people that was releasing ebooks and membership sites but nothing really all that special. Anyway, after several months of losing a lot of money and not seeing any type of return, I was almost ready to quit. Plus the fact that my wife was extremely annoyed (that’s putting it nicely) at me for “wasting all our money” for nothing.

What did I do? I stuck it out. Actually I began to learn how to advertise my website. I began to sign up for ezines, read articles, and check out a few ebooks. Keep in mind I didn’t have any more money so I couldn’t pay for any of the “guru” material. I had a big decision to make.

Probably one that many of you readers have to make too. Do I quite this thing or figure it out?

I am a challenge freak. If something is challenging me I dig in and begin to solve the problems. That’s what I did. I dug in.

From internet marketing failure to advertising consultant?

How does that happen?

One word. Well, maybe two. Stubborn and Perseverance.

I hate to give up and when I get something in my head I don’t let it go. That’s both good and bad, and I’m thankful that in this instance it was a good thing. I began to realize that advertising my website was something I would have to learn. And in much the same way, you have to learn it also. That might sound strange coming from someone who makes a living doing the advertising for people, but I believe it’s vital to your success as an online business owner.

I decided the only way I was going to learn was to do it myself. I began to write, test, write, study people, and write some more. The result is for the last 10 years I’ve been able to learn how to not only help myself advertising but help others learn how also.

That’s what this series of posts is going to be about.

Internet Advertising 101 in Ten Days

During the next ten days I will be blogging a series of posts designed not only to help you with real, relevant information about advertising on the internet, but also show you how. My goal, by the time this short little “course” is over is for you to be able to begin seeing how you can create your own advertising and start to see some success from your website.

Sign up for the RSS Feed, or come back tomorrow, same time, for Part 1 of the series.

Copywriting is all about action.

The words you put on the webpage, sales letter, direct mail, even resume all have a goal. You want the person reading to be emotionally driven to do something. Preferably what you want them to do. On the web that could mean a variety of things.

You could want your website visitor to watch a video, click a link, sign up for your newsletter or autoresponder series, buy something, or even leave a comment. Whatever your angle is, that’s what you write for.

One of those things that we want online is to get people to sign up for your email list. It could be you want subscribers for a weekly ezine, an autoresponder series, or a special list for updates to your website. Your mailing list is a big part of your online business and you need subscribers. Active subscribers.

Copywriting Tips For More Subscribers

There are two schools of thought where subscribers are concerned. The first is that the more the better. The other is active subscribers is better. I like them both. I think a large list of active subscribers is what we should all be striving for. How do we do that?

Be intentional about it. Don’t beat around the bush. I often tell my clients that while they do want to sell products from their website, their main goal - especially where first time visitors is concerned - is to capture their email address. The usual way to do that is through a landing page, or a specific sign up page.

And don’t wait halfway through the page before asking them to sign up. Let the visitor know that you want them to sign up for your newsletter or email series.

Give a reason, or several reasons, to sign up. This is where a lot of people lose it. They might be upfront with wanting people to sign up, but they don’t tell them why. It’s usually something like, “Sign up for my weekly newsletter and you’ll receive a free ebook!”

While that might be an incentive it certainly doesn’t explain why. Treat your newsletter or email series like it’s a real, honest to goodness product. Because your list could make you more money than just your product alone. It’s important to give details of benefits of subscribing.

Provide short excerpts. This is something to both get the sign up and combat the ’sign up and never read it’ syndrome. Like I stated already, the combination of large and active list is what you want. To get that you have to provide some of what the subscriber will be receiving.

I tried this with a few new landing pages I wrote for a couple of clients. I put together a mammoth 20 part series for both of them and made it available on the landing page. The landing page was all about the autoresponder series. Nothing else. To sell people into signing up for another email list I provided short, relevant excerpts form the actual series. So far so good.

Always ask. Throughout the entire copy of the page continually ask the reader to subscribe. By the time they get to the end of the page, if they make it that far, they’ll do it just because it seems like they’ve seen it a hundred times.

I use to think that waiting to the end of the page was best. After all I just created a masterpiece of copywriting and I wanted them to read the whole thing. But, studies have shown that people are more likely to click on an action link near the beginning to the middle of the webpage. So, now I put an action link after every third paragraph.

Use bribes. I wholeheartedly endorse very liberal bribing. Providing one, or maybe two, ebooks, reports, mp3’s, videos, whatever… isn’t going to cut it anymore. Create an avalanche of stuff to give out. Combine all those things and more if you can. Bribe. Bribe. Bribe.

And while you’re listing all the goodies… tell the reader why they should want them!

I suggested that a client create a set of mp3’s, about 1 hour and 30 minutes total, to teach a few network marketing skills as a free incentive to subscribe to her email list. Not only that, but we provided transcripts, free report with more information, an interview with some of her downline, and a video showing about 20 minutes of her “working” at home. It was a great bundle that improved her conversion rate by 87%.

Get more subscribers

You need to constantly be growing your email list. I realize that RSS is up and coming but people really do prefer to stick with something they are comfortable with. For now that is email. Grow you list with great copywriting and you’ll see not only a large list but an active one.

There are several ways to make money online. You can be an affiliate marketer, network marketer, sell a product, or provide a service. In each case you need to have a website in order for people to see what you have to offer and get to know who you are. Once you have the website, though, then what?

Or more to the point… what do you want visitors to do while at your website? And to take that one step further; first time visitors.

Have you ever asked yourself that question? Do you know what you want first time visitors to do while at your site? This isn’t a question for newbie marketers either. It’s something that I continue to ask myself even after years of internet marketing.

This holds even more weight to it if you’re into affiliate marketing where your income is based upon commissions. The actions that a visitor will take, or doesn’t take, at your website, or landing page, will have significant impact on your income.

A web page, no matter what it is, should always have what is called a call to action. You want the person visiting to do something else to keep them on your site longer. The longer they are at your website the higher your chances are for earning a sale.

Five Things You Want First Time Visitors To Do

A website if your storefront. Think of it as a digital, maybe even virtual, marketplace. The webpage, or landing page, you decide to send traffic to is the place where they get to hang out, look around, and get a feel for the atmosphere of your store. You don’t want them to just walk out two minutes after they walk in. Here’s a few things you should be including on your webpage to keep the visitor engaged and doing something that will help them take the next step.

You want them to be drawn into the website by the copy While this isn’t a “physical” thing it is something you want to happen. I wrote a few solo email ads for a client a couple weeks ago. In looking at his landing page I told him I wouldn’t recommend sending traffic to what was there now. There was one video, which was ok, but nothing else. It was boring and dull. No excitement whatsoever.

After that, we talked, and worked on it and it is now a lot better and his conversions are much higher. All because the copy on the site helps people be drawn into the other parts of the site.

You want them to watch something. Online video is big. It’s popping up everywhere. Landing pages are quickly becoming video hotspots. There is a reason for this. The conversion rates are much higher when video is used.

When you use a video to show a testimonial, demonstrate a product, or provide information you are giving the visitor an almost “real life” experience. No longer are they just visiting a website. But, they are now seeing something happen. You want them to have that feeling. You want them to watch a video.

You want them to sign up for something. A major goal for your landing page, especially for your advertising campaign, is to grow a strong, vibrant mailing list. This is where you can stay in contact with the people who visited your website without actually advertising to them again. You have several more opportunities to turn them into a customer. Have a free report, ebook, special video package, conference call… anything as long as they sign up for it.

You want them to click to the sales page. As a result of the combination of your compelling copy and video you then want the visitor to click on thru to the other side. This could be either your own sales letter for your own product or the merchant site. The point is you want them to go there.

You want them to interact with you. Here’s the kicker. Most landing pages have the video, have a sign up form, and have a way for the visitor to click to another page. Very little have a way for real interaction between the visitor and the web owner.

Some people will try to do this with a form to fill out to ask a question or request a phone call. That’s ok but it isn’t immediate. What your webpage needs is something that is immediate. A way for visitors to contact you now and even talk with you for a few minutes.

There are several ways this can be done. Most of us online are already signed up for the IM tools out there. Put your screenname on the page and be available to talk. Skype is a great tool for this as you are provided a button to put on your site so people can see if you’re available or not.

The key is to be able to talk with people as they are at your webpage. This way you can speak to them and help them with their decision. A very powerful took that is very under used.

Keeping people active means more conversions

Affiliate marketing, or even running an online business, is made much easier if we remember that people at our webpages need something to do or they will go elsewhere. What can you use from this list to help people stay active on your page? What can you add to it?

I recently twittered that I had finished an article package of 500 different articles. Shortly after that I received a DM (direct message) asking me how I was able to write so many articles in a short period of time.

My answer was that it really wasn’t that short of a time period as I had a month to write them (the real test is going to be in my newest job… writing 1000 articles in a month!) and really took my time at it. But, it got me to thinking about what it is I actually do to write articles quickly.

Here’s a little sneak peak into my writing world.

I spend a day reading, researching, and prepping. A big mistake I see some people make is to sit in front of a computer screen and try to write something on the fly. It doesn’t work that way. Once I get an order to write a batch of articles I spend the first day, maybe two days, just reading on the topic. I try to learn as much as I can so that I can begin creating my own ideas and topics.

Personalize it… Make commitment to research before you write.

I get out a brand new legal pad to brainstorm topics. I’m still not totally immersed into all digital yet. I am a legal pad nut. I have tons of them around the house and they are all full of notes, writings, ideas, and whatever else I want to write down. For writing articles I get out a brand new pad and just begin writing down ideas for the topic I am writing about. I do this for about 30 minutes in a very quiet place. In my house, that’s hard to come by. Three homeschooled kids tend to be everywhere.

I will go outside, go to my church, go to a coffee shop, go to a room in the house and lock the door. My kids have gotten use to the idea so when I need my 30 minutes of focus time they are usually pretty good about it.

The point is I just write down ideas on the topic until the 30 minutes is up.

Personalize it… Find a quiet place and brainstorm ideas and topics. Don’t let up for 30 minutes.

I start writing. Once the preliminaries are done I pick the first idea and start writing about it. Then the next one. Then the next. As I am writing new ideas come to mind and I add them to my list. The actual writing process helps with the idea process.

Personalize it… Just start writing something and build from that.

I write in 3 hour intervals. This might go against the grain of thought for some people but I tried the 15 minute interval thing and it just didn’t work for me. I was all over the place and didn’t really accomplish much. When I switched to three hour work intervals with 30 minute breaks in between I saw an amazing difference in my productivity.

Personalize it… Decide a time interval for you that works and stick to it.

Music makes things go faster. For me, it’s gotta be the rock n roll. I fall asleep to easy listening or classical. Country makes me feel like crying. Pop music is too distracting. Rock, however, gets me to move a little faster. Kind of like the supermarket mentality. They play slow, easy listening music so you will spend more time shopping. I play rock music to keep me moving.

Personalize it…Choose whichever music that will help you continue writing, thinking, and working without distracting you.

I set Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals for each day. Early in my writing career I would just get up and write until I was tired, or I thought I had done enough. The sun was shining, the lake was calling, or I just wanted to do something else. I’ve learned that I won’t do anything productive unless I force myself to do it. So, I set big goals for each day. And I don’t stop until I hit them.

The 3 hour rule helps a lot in hitting this goal.

That doesn’t mean that everyday I set impossible goals. I look to see what my calendar is like for the day and plan accordingly. If I don’t have anything planned I set major goals. If I have several appointments, calls to make, places to go, then I don’t plan as big, but still stretch myself.

Personalize it…Set a bigger than usual goal. You don’t have to go over the top. Take a small step at first and then work yourself up to bigger productivity.

I keep a notebook with me always. You never know when an idea is going to hit you. I’ve been in the middle of the fireworks show during our Fourth of July carnival and have had to write down something. Keeping a notebook handy is invaluable.

But, the value isn’t just in keeping the notebook. It’s in acting on the idea as soon as you can. When I got home from the fireworks show, I immediately sat down and wrote the article (actually it was a blog post for a client).

Personalize it… Get yourself a small, pocket sized notebook. It doesn’t have to be as elaborate as a moleskin. Then jot down your ideas whenever they happen.

I have fun with it. Probably the most effective tips I can give you about my writing strategy is that I have a blast doing it. I’ve always loved writing and am thrilled that I can earn my living doing it. I also have fun learning new things. This helps me write about subjects I don’t currently hold an interest in. I try very hard not to look at my job as work. I know that people say that you must always have a professional outlook, but I’m just not made that way. I believe that when you truly have fun doing what you’re doing things are much easier to accomplish.

Personalize it… Lighten up and have fun!

That’s what works for me. I realize it won’t work for everyone, but I also think that if you put some of the “personalize it” to work for you, you’ll be a little more productive in your writing times.

ProBlogger Darren Rowse has recently published a book with fellow blogger Chris Garrett and it’s being shipped today. I can’t wait to get my copy as I have been following the ProBlogger website for quite some time now and think that Darren, and Chris, both have great grasp of blogging and how you can make it into a viable income source.

They don’t make huge promises and tell you exactly what you should be doing. The reason that I trust them so much is because I see them putting their own advice into practice every day with every post.

When I heard that the duo were going to be publishing a book on blogging I couldn’t wait for it to go live. Now I don’t have to wait anymore. Amazon.com has now begun to ship the book and I await with baited breath.

I believe that a major aspect of business success is to continue learning, mostly through reading, and that you put into practice what you have learned. I love to read so for me that isn’t a hard task. But, I do know there are those that aren’t all that happy about reading. Can I make a suggestion?

If you only read a few books a year then read make one of those “ProBlogger: Secrets to Blogging Your Way to a Six Figure Income.”

Watch for a full review coming up after I get my hands on it.

We’re now at the end of the road. Your very last question that you should be asking yourself about your internet advertising campaign. And it’s short and to the point.

What do I need to do right now!

Your goal, planning, and the process of getting to the answers of each of these questions will not mean anything at all unless you actually put it into action.

Action is the actual machine that moves the world. It’s what makes things happen. It’s the actual steps of completing something. I have a motto that I live by. “Those who do nothing, never achieve anything.”

Pretty simple I know. Probably not that profound. But, it’s what I’ve been basing my life on for quite awhile.

This holds true in your advertising campaign. You must do something. Knowing that, what are you going to do right now? What’s your first step? What action can you do immediately?

Don’t wait and put this off

You’ve gotten through your questions and have a great idea of what your advertising plan is going to look like. Now it’s time to put it into reality.

Don’t wait. Don’t take a lunch. Don’t get sidetracked on other websites. Decide what it is you have to do right now in order to get things moving along and then do it.

10 Questions to ask yourself about your advertising campaign

That’s all ten questions.

I hope you enjoyed the series and I also encourage you to begin putting each one into your weekly routine.

So far, you’ve asked yourself a lot. And it might seem like it’s overwhelming.

Rest assured, you are almost at the end of the line. We are now at question #9 in the 10 Questions to ask yourself about your internet advertising campaign series. There is one more left after this one, but I don’t want you to lose sight of where you are and looking ahead to where you want to be.

This question, much like all the others, is important. Each question in this series is designed, with a tremendous amount of trial, error, and experience, to be an integral part of your advertising campaign. Without asking yourself each of these questions you are actually spinning your wheels.

Question #9 is no different.

How does this week fit into my overall advertising goals?

Any advertising campaign, whether online or offline, needs to have goals. At the beginning of this series we talked about setting goals and how important they are. What this question does for you is help you evaluate if you’re on the right track or not.

As you put these questions into practice you’ll begin to formulate a plan with each step. You’ll begin seeing how you’re going to spend your advertising money, where you’ll be advertising, what methods you’ll be using, and who you’re going to enlist to help you. The question you have to ask yourself now is how is all this going to fit into your overall goals?

Please keep in mind that you need to be brutally honest with yourself in answering these questions. This one especially. If you get off track with your goals then you have a lot of work to do to get things back to where you need them to be. If you can find it now then you can fix it easily.

Keep a list of your goals with you. Measure them up against what you’re doing now. Do they match?

The last three questions are all about action.

I believe that asking yourself at the start of the week what you need to accomplish will help you a lot in making sure it gets done. With that said, today’s question is all about getting things done.

What advertising materials do I need this week?

You can’t advertise without the materials to do it. Every try to go flying without an airplane? Doesn’t work. Every try running a car without gas? That doesn’t work either. How about living without breathing?

Personally I’ve never tried it, but have heard that it doesn’t go so well.

In much the same way, you can’t advertise a website without the materials to do so. These materials can take several different forms. They can be ads, articles, blog posts, videos, viral products, Twitter, Facebook, other social web 2.0 websites, or even word of mouth.

Your task with this question is to figure out what you need and then make sure you have them.

Take time at the beginning of the week to make sure you have everything you need

Make this a habit. It is so much more productive, and effective, to have all your materials ready at the beginning of the week instead of waiting for when you need them.

Here’s what I do.

First, I write down what I’ll be needing. This goes for myself as well as for each of the advertising campaigns I am managing. I make a complete list of what needs to be written.

Second, I’ll prioritize that list. I’ll go through and put the writing projects in order. That way when I begin writing them I’ll get the materials finished that I need now.

Third, I set up folders for each type of material that needs to be written. For example, if I need to write ads that week, I’ll set up a folder. Likewise I’ll do the same for articles, reports, landing pages, PPC ads, or anything else that needs to be done. This way everything is organized and I just open the file and begin to write.

Lastly, I’ll start doing the research and outlines for the work ahead. I like to have a little bit of information to get me started before I write something. I’ll do some very quick research while putting together an also very quick outline. This way I can see something in front of me and hopefully get my creative juices flowing.

The point is to begin writing down what you need to accomplish.

Experts tell us that when you write down what you need to get done you’ll be more likely to do it. This question is a necessary step to putting your plan into action. Once you put it on paper, or digitally, you can begin taking one step at at time until you have everything you need.