In most circles, this would constitute some serious plagiarism charges and would make most people really mad.

But not me, and it shouldn’t really bother you, as long as you’re taking the right steps to combat the content scraping menace.

Why, o fearless reader, do I not fret when someone reuses my content on their own blogs, surrounding said content with Adsense ads and affiliate links?

Because I’ve got my own links in my feed.

Suddenly, it’s no longer an issue of content scraping. Now, I have someone else providing links back to my blog, or a product, or one of my own affiliate links.

Do you think I really care that they are reusing my content without my permission?

Nope. Nada. Zilch.

They’re promoting whatever I’m promoting and I’m not having to lift a finger to do it. It’s just like having a great bio box in an article that you submit to any of the major article directories. If people want to use the article, they have to include the bio box.

If people want to scrape my RSS feeds, then they’re going to have to take all the links to the best computer podcast and my Internet Marketing and Podcasting blog, which you just happen to be reading right now.

So go ahead, all you content scrapers and swindlers. Reuse my content. Give me some more links back to my stuff. I don’t care.

We’ll both get some benefit out of the deal. I’ll just be the one that sleeps better at night.

But if no one sees all of your great content, does it really matter?

If you have no traffic to your website, is your content really that great?

Yes, your content is that great, but the Internet is not a “build it and they will come” type of environment. If it were, we all would have gotten very rich a long time ago and I probably wouldn’t have to sit down and write out this article for you.

But, since we have to drive traffic to our sites and since “drive” is one of those terrible, horrible words we affectionately refer to as “verbs” (you know, the ones that generally indicate that you have to do something), we’ve got to get off our rear ends and do something to get more traffic.

Otherwise, you can take that great content and stick it in a barrel, no one will ever know it exists.

5 Ways to Get Traffic to your Website

At this point, there’s only about 365 million ways that you can get traffic to your site, but I’m only going to cover five with you right now. All of these methods have a proven track record and are completely free. Well, they don’t cost any money, just some of your time and hard work.

(Yes, you still have to work to make money online, contrary to what the last five messages in your inbox just told you.)

1. Optimize Your Website for Search Engines. I’m no SEO expert and please don’t take this short little blurb as the definitve guide to SEO. There’s many more people far better able to tell you the ins and outs of SEO, but let’s just get some of the basics down. You want your site optimized for the search engines because search engine traffic is always and forever FREE. Give your web pages or blog posts descriptive titles that contain the keywords you want to target. If you want people to find your page when they search for “New York City defense attorney”, make sure those words are in your page title. Include those keywords throughout your article, but don’t make it sound silly. And make sure that when someone links to your site that they use your keywords in their link to your site. That one tip will help you get better search engine results and more free traffic.

To get more in-depth knowledge on search engine optimization, stop what you’re doing right now and go pick up a copy of Aaron Wall’s SEO Book. Aaron is a great copywriter and knows his stuff about SEO. The best part is, you get updates for life when you buy the book as SEO techniques change all the time. Go now and get your copy, then come back here and finish reading. I promise I’ll still be here when you come back.

2. Exchange links with other websites. Now, before you get all goofy, don’t go and get yourself wrapped up in one of those “link farms” that charge you a fee to link back to your site. Not good and you’ll get penalized for it. Find some other websites that are similar to yours or are related and ask for a link exchange. Just make sure you follow through on your end and put a link back to their site.
You also need to work on getting backlinks to your site from other sites.  The more sites you have linking to you, the better your search engine rankings will be.  Again, stay away from the “link farms” and get some help from Michelle MacPhearson and her 30 Minute Backlinks video tutorials.

3. Look for Joint Ventures. Joint ventures can be very powerful if done in the right way. Give your partners some really good reasons why they should promote your site. By providing them with the right promotional tools such as e-mails, signatures, articles, etc., he/she would no doubt accept your request. To ensure that your website gets better results, look for website owners that have the capability of sending a lot of traffic to you.

4. Join online groups, forums, etc. that could help you with promoting your website. For example, you may post your sites URL in your signature file for the users to see. So you can be a known member by the discussion groups you join, simply participate in discussions that interest you and contribute your knowledge and expertise to the rest of the members.

5. Get a free blog. Blogging is another free method that generates traffic to your website. Post some high-quality information regularly and don’t forget to ping all your posts as it can help in driving traffic to your website. You can sign up for a free blog at Wordpress.com or Blogger.com.

Now, this list is not exhaustive by any means. But it’s something to get you started. Whether you’re wanting to drive traffic to your personal site or your business site, these tips will get you on the right track. But they will don nothing for you if you don’t take action! Get started today and start seeing more traffic come to your website, see more clicks, and see more money coming to you!

The great thing is, you can do the same thing.  Anyone can create a search page on Mahalo.

I’m definitely going to make use of this more often.

Some folks are saying that what Apple is doing with this latest software update borders on spyware-like infiltration.  Others say it’s just plain wrong.

I disagree.  Apple has to do something to get more Windows users to switch.  They first gave them the majesty of Quicktime.  Apparently, that wasn’t enough.  Then, along came iTunes.  With this little piece of wonderment (and a little help from the iPod), some more folks crossed over into the promised land and bought a Mac.  Thankfully by this time OS X was there to greet them and a fun time was had by all that joined.

But there’s still a few of you Windows knuckleheads that haven’t figured it out yet.  Apple probably thought that Vista would be enough of a disaster to make you switch without having to put forth any extra effort, but no.  You refuse to see the truth that lies before you.

You still want to stick with Windows. So, Apple has no choice.  They have to shove one more piece of software down your throat to make you see the error of your ways and show you the light.

I only have one question…

Why the hell did they choose Safari to be said piece of software?  I mean, C’mon!  Why couldn’t they have ported Keynote or Pages over to Windows?  Did it really have to be Safari?  The crappiest web browser on the planet?

Sorry, Windows peasants.  The overlords have chosen poorly with this one.  Next time we decide to install software on your computers without really telling you what we’re doing, we’ll try to make it something worthwhile. My apologies from everyone here in magic Apple Land for trying to deceive you.  We’ll do better next time.

Or, we could just give you TextEdit.

1. Hop on over to the PikeMall Tech fan page at Facebook

2. Follow me on Twitter and now on FriendFeed.  You’ll get all kinds of stuff here, including website updates and what music I’m listening to as I’m working.

3. Join the PikeMall Tech community at MyBlogLog or the neighborhood at BlogCatalog.

I’ll update this list periodically to give everyone more options to join our community.

I’ve always been concerned about the quality of the voice being produced by the reader.  I know that a computer is going to be generating the voice, which is pretty much always a detriment to the audio quality.  It’s very hard to produce an audio from a text reader that someone can’t just listen to and say, "Yep, that was a computer."

After just spending a few minutes over at the ReadTheWords website, I’m pretty impressed with the voices that they’ve put together.  There’s a fairly wide variety, with several US male and female voices, along with some international flavor including French and Spanish speakers.

ReadTheWords is primarily designed for people with disablilties, providing a way that they can have access to information that at this point is better than any service I’ve heard before.  And it’s free.

The service is easy enough to use.  After signing up for a free account, you can create your first reading.  You select what type of input you want to record, be it a text file, document, web page, or RSS feed.  Choose your voice from the available list, decide whether or not you want the recording to be public, and click "Read".

I tried the service out using the RSS feed from this site (which you might want to subscribe to yourself) and overall, I was impressed.  I don’t really recommend that you use a RSS feed as the input unless you really have to.  The reader doesn’t just read the post, but all the information in the feed.  Things like blog title, links at the top of the page, and any other text information in the RSS feed are automatically converted.  And some words are not in the vocabulary of our new found speaking friends, like "iPhone".

Try out some of your documents or a web page with ReadTheWords.com and let me know how your experience was. 

That ends today.

Apparently, Mr. Rose is quite the fan of his gadgets.  That wonderfully large black eye and bandaged head are compliments of a meetup between poor Charlie and a stretch of pavement.  Mr. Rose decided to sacrifice his mug in order to spare his MacBook Air from smashing into the pavement after taking a misstep through a pothole in Manhattan.

Apparently, his face didn’t fare nearly as well as the MacBook Air.

That’s some serious gadget love right there, people.  2 points for Charlie Rose in my book.  Gotta start watching more of that show.

Tags: charlie rose, macbook air, black eye

AOL, the online arm of mighty Time Warner, has paid a little more than $20 per user (Bebo has roughly 40 million) for the right to throw some more advertising in their faces.  Randy Falco, AOL CEO says,

What drew us to Bebo was its substantial and fast-growing worldwide user-base, its vision of a truly social web, and the monetization opportunities that leverage Platform-A across our combined global audience. This positions us to offer advertisers even greater reach and marketers significant insights into the desires and needs of consumers.

OK, cool.  I understand the raw power of having access to over 40 million people that spend around 40 minutes of their day at Bebo.  That’s really a staggering number and shows the sticking power of a good social networking site.  Just how many hours a day do you spend watching videos on YouTube or playing some silly quiz on Facebook? I will only admit to 15 minutes, although it’s much more than that.

So how will this affect Bebo?  I’m not sure as I can’t make a judgement call on a site that I’ve never really spent much time at.  But folks in Europe will soon be able to tell us how AOL is screwing up this company like they have so many others.  Bebo is very popular on the other side of the pond and I’m fairly sure that if the suckage level gets too high, we’ll hear the shouts here on the Western hemisphere.

Photo credit:  Business Wire

Hang on to your pants, this might get good…

Amazing.

And at first glance, it seems that gaming companies are going to comprise the bulk of the first apps available in the App Store for the iPhone.  We’ve already seen companies like Sega and Electronic Arts showing off their wares at the SDK announcement event last Tuesday, but now some other folks have announced their initial offerings.

Namco states that they are working on iPhone versions of Pac-Man and Galaga. (Yes, I’m already drooling over Galaga, quite possibly the greatest video game ever invented.  If I can have it on my iPhone, I won’t have to buy the full-size arcade game.  My fiancee will be happy to know this.)

Not to be left out in the cold, PopCap has announced that they’re working on iPhone versions of Zuma and the immensely popular Bejeweled.  Now if we can get someone to get Tetris on the iPhone…

I’m wondering if any of the WordPress folks were paying attention when Six Apart announced that they will have a native iPhone interface for TypePad users.  My first blog was hosted on TypePad, but I’ve since moved on to WordPress on all my sites.  I’d love to see someone create a useful interface for WordPress on the iPhone, true blogging on the go.  Sure would make my time much more productive.

Best of luck to everyone working on apps for the iPhone and sending in applications to the iFund.  If you’re a new company and you want to talk about what you’re working one, we’d love to have you on iPhone Developer Radio when we launch.  We’ll be taking interviews soon for a launch in early May.  Might even have a few “beta” episodes out before then.  If you’d like to be on, head over to our contact page and drop me a line.  We’re building up a list of interviews and sponsors as we speak.  Check back at iPhone Developer Radio soon for our launch.

With possibly 100,000 developers already onboard, Apple has definitely made a great start at turning the iPhone into a platform and not just a product.  Are we seeing the beginning of the end for the notebook computer?  Not sure, but we’ll have to wait and see.

(End of rant, post continues as normal…)

At this point, cash is still cash and can be used to purchase anything in a physical environment, such as a retail store, grocery, mall, or even a cell phone store.  Cash is legal tender and not subject to the whims of some corporate entity that is crying over some problems with their product.

Someone needs to remind Apple of this…

I’m sitting around trying to relax today (I’m in the middle of a short vacation) and I read about some garbage that Apple won’t let you pay cash for an iPhone now.  How stupid is this.  I mean, come on guys!  Do you really think that by making people purchase an iPhone with a credit card that you are going to curb sales made by unauthorized resellers?  Are you really that concerned that people will not want to sign up for an AT&T account that you are going this far to protect your partnership with them?

I realize and understand that there is an obligation to AT&T with the iPhone.  I understand having to protect your business and your business relationships, contractual agreements, and protect your own bottom line.  Fair enough.  You guys just keep on sending down updates that don’t allow people to use the iPhone with another network.  That’s fine by me and I’m pretty sure it’s fine by the vast majority of iPhone owners.  We wanted an iPhone, so we had to move to AT&T.  No big deal.  If you want an iPhone to work on another network, that’s silly.  That’s like saying you want to buy a Mustang but you don’t want it to be a Ford, so I should be able to buy a Chevy Mustang.  ‘Scuse my English but, it ain’t gonna happen.

But not allowing people to use good, hard cash money to buy an iPhone?  Ridiculous.  There are going to be a great many more people ticked off about this than are going to be happy about it.  And I don’t think it will affect unauthorized sales all that much either.

Rethink this, please.  Cash is cash.  People work hard for it.  Let them buy what they want with it.

I didn’t pre-order.  I didn’t run to the new Apple Store in Louisville to pick up a copy, even though I still have that bright shiny $100 rebate to use, you know, the one that Apple handed to all of us early iPhone adopters to quell our searing hatred after the price drop heard round the world.  Yeah, that $100 rebate.

I haven’t done what I know that most of you other Mac crazies have already done.  I’m sitting here still running OS X 10.4 "Tiger" while you are knee-deep in the 300+ new features in OS X 10.5 "Leopard".

Call me crazy, but I’m gonna wait a little bit. 

I know there won’t be a price drop like the iPhone debacle, but I’m just going to wait a few days, or weeks, to see how things go with the new OS as it is released on a large scale basis.  Reviews can be all rosy and warm, but how well will the upgrades go when there are people like me that have never upgraded an OS on the Mac.  And you know that there are quite a few of us out there now.  More new Macs are being sold to switchers than ever before and the vast majority of those have never done an OS upgrade on a Mac.  I’m not even sure how many have done a Windows OS upgrade.

So, my question is this, how long are you waiting before you upgrade to Leopard?  Have you taken the plunge already?  If so, how is the experience?  Remember, I’m still pretty new to the Mac world, so let me know how things go!

We get taxed on plenty of things already, Internet access doesn’t need to be one of them.  And I’m not saying that because I’m against any kind of taxes or something crazy like that.  I happen to like having police and fire departments, clean water and all those other great benefits that paying at least some taxes affords us.  I just don’t see the need in taxing someone’s Internet access.

Let me tell you why.

For those of you that don’t know, the Internet was originally conceived as a communication tool between scientists located in different parts of the world.  Not to create some ghastly looking MySpace.com page that shows off your latest high school pranks and pictures of your cat.  That’s what we’ve come to, but that’s not where we started.

Keeping the lines of access free and clear of any taxes has enable Internet usage to grow at an incredible rate, at least since the advent of the World Wide Web that made the Internet really accessible to anyone that cared.

The Internet has always been about delivering information to anyone with the access and there’s never been a time more important that people need access to any and all information that affects their world.  From kids completing those ridiculously complex research papers, to the college professor doing some research on some new vaccine that will rid the world of acne, information is the backbone of the Internet.

And you shouldn’t have to tax to get access to information.  I’m not saying that information should be free, not by any stretch of the imagination.  But why tax the access?  Are we trying to pay for the Internet?  Who does that bill belong to? Not the people that are accessing the Internet, that’s for sure.

I’m just hoping that before the bill is actually signed into law that our beloved Congress has the sense to just make this ban permanent so that this issue doesn’t raise its ugly head again.  Ban the internet access tax for good and move on to more important matters.

–Sign up for an autoresponder
–Create a squeeze page
–Create a series of emails
–Rinse and repeat

You can make a LOT of money doing this…don’t
get me wrong.

But you can make a lot more if you start
harnessing offline marketing in your business.

You see, online marketing is preached as the
"holy grail" of marketing.

But ask the big information marketing
powerhouses like Agora, Boardroom, and Weiss
where the REAL money is made. They absolutely
clean house offline…humiliating any online
marketer who comes in their path. 

Here’s the deal: Millionaire internet marketer
Russell Brunson has just released a special
offline report: "The IM Myth" where he shatters
the myth that internet marketing is the "be
all-end all" of marketing.

You can check it out here:

The  "IM Myth"

Believe me, this stuff is the real deal. The
marketers who absolutely annihilate their
competition are the ones that incorporate offline
marketing into the mix.

So check out Russell’s report today before you’re
competition discovers it.

Thanks,

Michael

P.S. One of Russell’s tips he reveals is how he
moved his offline list online. This absolutely
blew me away, and is something I’m going to
implement in my own business immediately.
So get it today, right now, while it’s still on
your mind.

The "IM Myth"

What I am seeing across the board is a dismal click-through rate.  Mine is currently sitting at 0.0019%.  Which is, to say the very least, beyond pathetic.

But, I’m not the only one in the crowd:

Darren Rowse is only seeing a 0.05% CTR, which is the highest I’ve seen so far.  And while that’s significantly more than my own bottom-of-the-barrel numbers, we’re still not doing very good.

Why is this?

I think I have an idea and it has nothing to do with titles of articles, widget positioning, or any other of the common excuses reasons given by people for BlogRush stats to this point.  I think what we’re seeing here is the fact that the majority of the people being exposed to BlogRush widgets at this point are other bloggers that are also using BlogRush.  We’re only a few days out from the release of the widget and the mad rush to get bloggers signed up for the service, so we’re not getting a lot of exposure to the general public right now.

But, as time progresses with the program, I think we’re all in for at least some moderate levels of traffic brought in by BlogRush.  It’s really far too early on to tell exactly where this is going to go, but I’m certainly going to stick around for the long haul.

If you haven’t signed up for BlogRush yet (have you been in a cave?), head on over and get your widget now, free.

Ask any blogger what they want more of and you’ll very likely get one answer that rises above all others - more traffic.

Traffic is the lifeblood of any website.  Whether you’re in business or not, you put up a website, blog, podcast or anything in between because you wanted people to hear what you had to say.  You think your voice is pretty important…and you’re right.

But if nobody is listening to you, are you really saying anything?

Before I get too much further along, let’s just go over some of the ways you can get traffic to your blog.  All of these methods are great, but none of them have the edge like the method I’m going to tell you about in just a minute.

• You can buy traffic
• You can borrow traffic
• You can create traffic
• You can beg and plead for traffic

All these are great, and all of them will work.  But they involve a cost, either monetary or time.  But now the rules have changed.

Enter BlogRush.

With BlogRush, you sign up, get some code, put it on your site and BOOM!  You’re on your way to more traffic. 

For every display of a page with your BlogRush code, you earn a credit to have your blog posts displayed on someone else’s BlogRush widget.  The more traffic you get, the more traffic you can get…Get it?

And, you earn credits for everyone that signs up through your link.  I know it sounds kind of pyramid schemey…but it’s not.  Because you don’t have to pay anything for this traffic.  And the time it takes to do this doesn’t really matter.  In less than 2 minutes, you’ll be up and running, earning credits and banking new readers to your blog.

Are you sick and tired of not having traffic to your blog?  Isn’t your voice important enough to be heard?  Then head on over to BlogRush, sign up and in less than 2 minutes you’ll be on your way.  Guaranteed.

I told you all about The Next Internet Millionaire a little over a week ago as we were heading into the home stretch before the premiere.

Episode 1 is up now for your viewing pleasure after a delay of a couple of days due to some computer issues.  Namely, US customs holding Joel and Eric’s two ultra sexy and powerful brand spanking Mac Pros at the dock.  (My thoughts are really that the customs guys are just jealous PC users that just had to get a taste of the good life while they had the chance…)

Overall, I really enjoyed the first show.  The concept is pretty straight-forward and any fan of reality TV should be very familiar with the format of the show.  Contestants work on projects related to Internet marketing and are then judged on their performance.  The winners get some nice goodies, the losers have to come back and face Joel at the CommPlex (I laughed out loud when I heard that) and face elimination.

My favorite "twist" of this show is the elimination.  It’s not your typical reality show elimination, but you’ll have to watch Episode 1 to see exactly what I mean.

Joel has brought in some of the best minds in Internet marketing to this competition and his first guest was none other than the creator of Simpleology, Mark Joyner.  Mark shared with the contestants the concept of the "straight line" and how that applies to your business.  Personally, just this one 5 minute stretch of the show has caused me to reevaluate my own business and think about how much time I really put forth on growing my business and how much time I put forth on growing absolutely nothing!

There are already a couple of the contestants that I like and a couple that I already despise.  So, reality TV at it’s best has made it to the Internet.  Episode 2 will be featuring Armand Morin, one of the most successful Internet businessmen and the creator of Big Seminar so make sure you watch the Next Internet Millionaire site to see the newest episode.

Until then, head on over and catch Episode 1 if you haven’t already.  You’ll be glad you did.

Wordpress offers that control.  The amount that you can customize Wordpress with the plugins and other options available (with more being produced every day) is absolutely mind-boggling some times.

In fact, there’s so much out there it’s sometimes hard to figure out which plugins you need and then exactly how to implement them to get the best results from your blog.

With that in mind, I’m working on a series of training videos highlighting some of the best plugins for Wordpress and how you can use them to drive traffic to your site, get better conversions, rank higher in the search engines, and become an overall better blogger.

Now, these videos will not be a highlight of some of the more, let’s say, “fun” plugins but will revolve around the plugins that will do the most for your blog.

Before I get started, I’d like to hear what your thoughts are on this subject?  Is anyone interested in such a program?  Would videos like these help to get your blog to perform better?  Are you ready to start ranking on the front page of Google for your target keywords?

Please post your comments below.  I’d love to hear what you guys think and if you have any suggestions, let me know about those as well.

Hold onto your hats, ladies and gentlemen, there’s about to be a whole other world of opportunity available to all of us.

Come August 15th, old media will begin to really shake in its boots thanks to The Next Internet Millionaire.

What?  You haven’t heard about it?

Hmm….

Let me give you the rundown…

Back in late 2006, Joel Comm and Eric Holmlund got this idea for a reality TV show.  The only catch was that it wouldn’t be on TV.  It’s going to be on your computer.  They would gather up 12 contestants and bring them all to Colorado to learn with some of the top names in the business of making money online.  Think "The Apprentice" for internet marketers.

This idea has become "The Next Internet Millionaire".  If you haven’t seen the teaser yet, I encourage you to head over and take a glimpse at the extremely high production values that Joel and his team are using.  It looks fantastic.

I had the chance to hear about this project before it was launched publicly back at Big Seminar in April (See what happens when you attend seminars and conferences?  That’s another post altogether…)

Even at that point, I knew this was going to be something huge.  Earth-shattering even.

I’m normally not one to promote a bunch of hype.  There’s way too much of that going on in our business today as it is.  But this is much too big.

If you’re a producer of any form of new media (for me, this includes any type of content that you yourself create; blogs, podcasts, video podcasts, eBooks, reports, etc.) you need to pay attention to what is going on here.

And not just because of the content of the show.  I have met several of the people that Joel has brought in as instructors for The Next Internet Millionaire, and I can tell you that the content will be top-notch.

What you should really be watching is the production of the show.  Take a close look and see what they are doing to create a quality program that will catch the attention of people not currently watching or listening to new media.

This is more than just your average YouTube video shot with a 10 year old camcorder.  This is state-of-the-art.  Watch and learn.

I’m not saying that all of us can produce this type of content.  But we can strive for it.  Quality content is absolutely the basis for any project on the Internet.  You can have all the flash and glitz that you want, but if your content sucks your audience won’t stay around for very long.

But, add some glitz and glam to great content and what do you get?  A program that breaks through to the next level.

I’ll be watching The Next Internet Millionaire.  You should too.

I’ve been very fortunate to have one of my recent posts on 5 Ways to Increase Your Blogging Productivity featured and plan to write up a few more posts for inclusion in the project.  If you haven’t gotten involved you really should think about it.  These group writing projects are a great way to get your voice heard by a number of different bloggers.  Head on over to the projects introductory post to find out how you can be involved.

I thought I’d give you a short list of some of my favorite posts so far in this project.  There’s a ton of great articles already, but these a just a few that stood out to me.  Get involved in the project and find your own favorites.  Who knows?  Maybe one of your posts will be someone else’s favorite!

• Creating Signature Content - Skellie
• 3 Top Tricks for Driving Readers to Your Blog - Craig Huggart
• First Impressions Lead to A Lasting Loyal Readership - Sly
• One Week to a Professional Blog - Simon
• 12 First Rules of Writing - Clean Cut Blog

I could go on to list many more, but I’ll save that for another time.  The project is continuing throughout the month of August, so get your blogging chops ready and get involved!

I’m sure you’ve heard all about bloggers that are making a great deal of money from their blogs just by spending a couple of hours a day writing posts or reviews about their favorite subjects, all while sitting around in their pajamas without a care in the world.

You’ve been painted this beautiful picture of having the luxury of being able to blog and not have to worry about time constraints.  You can blog and just take as much time as you like and be free to do what you please.

While it is true to some extent that you do have a lot more free time if you are able to become a professional blogger, it doesn’t mean that you have all the time in the world.

When you work from home or your favorite coffee shop, as many bloggers do, it can be very difficult to focus on your work.  That’s what your blog has become, your work. Albeit work that you absolutely love doing because you are your own boss and you do get to make your own schedule.

But, to be a great and productive blogger, you still have to make your own schedule, and stick to it.

I can’t tell you how many times I sit down to write a short article or a review and get distracted by one of a number of things, from emails to a short walk with my dog.  Suddenly, that article that was supposed to take me 30 minutes to write has now stretched into several hours.

Your level of frustration can rise very quickly when you don’t get a lot accomplished on your blog.  I’ve had it happen to me many times.

But, I’ve got 5 great tips for you that I’ve started to use in my own blogging to help me become more productive.  I know that you’ll benefit greatly from them, too.

1.    Make the decision that you can not accomplish everything that you want all at one time.  You need patience to be a successful time manager.  Once you start earning a decent income from your blog, you’ll want to do more with your site.  Whether it be adding video or audio or doing more posting, your expectations will increase.  Realize that you can’t do everything all at the same time.  Once you do, you’ll relieve a lot of the pressure you put on yourself.

2.    Relax your mind set.  You need to be able to focus on what you need to do and how to accomplish it.  When you can relax your mind from its frantic, overwhelmed state, you are better able to see just what it is that is the most important aspect of you time.  Make sure you are doing activities that cater to the highest, best use of your time.  Anything less and you cheat yourself and your readers.

3.    When it comes to deciding what is the most important thing to accomplish at this moment, go with what your senses and your gut tell you to.  The fact is that your body is working hard behind the scenes and while you may be overwhelmed, your body is still able to know what the best decisions are.  Go with that gut feeling!

4.    Make a list.  Those that are successful at planning their time are people that have a list of things that need to be done.  This way, you can see what is in front of you, make decisions about their importance and not feel like there is no end in sight.  Include everything you can on that list that you need to accomplish, small and big.  Then, invest the time in organizing it by the most important to the least important.

5.    Get a planner and plan your work day.  You don’t have to run out and buy the most expensive planner on the market.  Heck, you can use just a simple calendar you print from your computer!  Plan out what you need to accomplish in blocks of time.  You need to schedule time to accomplish your goals and your tasks.  When you do this, your mind is less overwhelmed and you are more likely to achieve the goals that you have, too.  This simple step will be the most important aspect to overcoming your frustrations and the overwhelmed feeling you have.

These five things are simple, right?  You can accomplish them right now in a matter of minutes in most cases.  Make yourself stick to a daily blogging routine. Do that and see what your first initial reaction is.  You may find yourself in the best position that you have been in over the last few weeks or months.

But, don’t stop there.  There is much more to learn and to implement into your daily life as you work to become a better blogger.

Not newspapers, TV shows, nightly news, commercial radio, and even basic and premium cable.

No, I’m talking about content created by you and I, the people.

And please don’t think that I am going to start spouting off about the people having the power to change things and taking control of the media spaces and driving out the "big guys" through our united, utopian, make-life-better-for-everyone media society where knowledge is free for the taking.

Sorry, I’m a capitalist.  I’m in this for the money, ’cause there’s a great deal of it to be made in the "new" media space.  Please don’t mistake my intentions.

Having said that, I really didn’t know what to make of the ADM and what exactly their goals are.  I can understand the need for having some sort of group that provides some sort of guidance to the new media industry, especially concerning the area of monetization.  There has been a great deal of discussion on this topic over the last couple of years, specifically the point about deciding just how much is your new media content worth.

I’ve seen what can be done with the traditional CPM model brought to us from old media.  You have a set fee paid to you by an advertiser for however many impressions that their ad gets.  The basis for this is a cost-per-1000 impressions, or CPM.

Fantastic model for someone like the New York Times or "Heroes" on NBC that receives hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of impressions.  Fine.

But what about Joe Podcaster that gets 300 downloads a month of his show?  That $15 CPM is pretty much useless.  And I’ve had those advertising deals on my podcasts before and can tell you that there is no greater disappointment than to put a great deal of work into a product and receive a check for $8.  Thanks for the tip, guys.

I believe we need someone that can fight on the side of every new media producer and see that they are receiving a fair rate for their ad pricing.  We can still use the CPM model, but the content we provide is so much more valuable.

Our target audience is much more "targeted" than those of old media.  If you have a product dealing with golf, wouldn’t you pay more to advertise to an audience of dedicated golfers than you would for an ad running during a Thursday night sitcom where you might only get a small percentage of dedicated golfers to see your ad?  I would.

I want to see an organization that looks out for the well-being of all new media producers.

I’m not sure the Association for Downloadable Media is that group.

Time will tell, but I’ve thrown my hat into the ring with Scott Bourne, Leo Laporte, and several others forming a group tentatively entitled the Association of Podcasters and Online Media Producers.  Call me crazy, but I think I like the openness of this group much more than the ADM.

Again, time will tell and who really knows what the future holds for new media, but we’ve got to work at maintaining what we’ve been able to accomplish so far.

Because, contrary to what I said earlier, we really can overthrow old media.  We’re already doing it.

But nowhere near the success I need to finally kick the day job to the curb.  And that’s something that is becoming quite a weight on my mind.  I’ve just about had enough of the old workplace and need to get out and be my own boss.  I’m just a little sick and tired of growing someone else’s business and basically getting nothing out of it.  Except for high blood pressure and really sore feet.

So, I’ve launched my first information product.  I’m already seeing some traffic to the sight but no sales as of yet.  I’m still in the very early phases of this whole adventure.  And I’m pretty much doing this all on my own as I have no JV partners or a list to speak of to promote the product to.

I’ll be doing a small podcast to promote the product, as well as article submissions, blog posting, and probably some AdWords or Yahoo! campaigns.  If I can get one under my belt, I know that the next product will come quickly and will be more profitable.

I keep hearing from many different people that your product doesn’t have to be perfect, it just needs to be out there.

So, finally, mine is out there.  If anyone is looking to plan a wedding on a budget (like I am), you really should check out my new book. 

I’ll be bringing you updates as things progress.  If you’ve ever wanted to watch from the sidelines as someone is beginning a new venture in the information marketing arena, here’s your chance.

Anybody else willing to share their experience of launching their first product?

Here’s why…

I’ve just found out about something so important to your business, that you could stand to lose a lot of mo~~ney if you don’t check it out.

Here’s what I mean…

A brand new seminar concept where you get to rub shoulders with 12 of the smartest internet marketers in the world is happening September 13-16 in San Francisco.

All are proven experts in their field. And they’re coming here to teach how they make thousands of dollars a day, so that you can model their success.

There are 7 key reasons why you should attend - one being that this is the only seminar in the world that creates a product and website LIVE on stage to show how it’s all done.

When you click on the link below you’ll find out who these experts are, how they can help you, and the 7 key reasons why you should consider attending:

World Internet Main Event

Big Seminar Interviews will feature past Big Seminar faculty dishing out tips and techniques that they are using online to grow their businesses.  Each Tuesday will feature 10 minutes of insider’s information from the Masters of Internet Marketing.

Plus, you’ll be able to sign up for the Premium version of Big Seminar Interviews that offers complete interviews, transcripts and more.

I was able to attend my first Big Seminar back in April and was absolutely overwhelmed.  I’m still trying to sort through some of the information shoved at me (in a nice way) so that I can begin to put it to good use.  Just having the chance to sit and meet with other people building their businesses online was a great part of the trip.  Not to mention the fact that you get to sit down with many of the leaders in this business without having to pay their rather hefty consulting fees!

If you’re doing business online or thinking about doing business online, I’d encourage you to check out Big Seminar Interviews.  You’ll get a small taste of what Big Seminar is all about and learn some great tips to get you on the right path to internet business success.

Big Seminar Interviews #1 will be up next Tuesday featuring some tips from the creator of Big Seminar, Armand Morin.

I do hope you’ll take the time to check it out.  Head on over now and subscribe to the feed.  We’ll be in iTunes soon, so look for that.  Also check out the Premium Version just to see the incredible offer you’ll be able to take advantage of.

Heck, just go ahead and sign up for the Premium Version.  You get to try it free for 7 days anyway.  And you get to keep your first audio interview, plus the other free gifts I’m offering.  Just click the button below to start your free trial.

Powered By www.PremiumCast.com

(Did I also mention you can be an affiliate for the Premium Version?  It’s true!  Sign up 3 people and your subscription is paid for!)

I’m fairly new to the internet marketing business.  I’ve only been seriously working hard at starting an online business in the last year and I’ve picked up many tips and tricks along the way.  I’m glad that I’ve been able to glean some knowledge from those that have come before and have "laid the path" for others to follow behind.

For any of you that are doing any business online, I’m sure that you’ve come to the realization that there are many, many people telling you many, many ways that you can become wealthy.  But not very many are telling you the tools they use to run their business.  Yes, it’s all well and good that someone can show you how you can do a product release and make hundreds of thousands of dollars, but how do you get your money?  Especially when you have large sums coming in all at the same time?  Vast sums of money coming into an account can seem a tad bit suspicious.

And how do you set up all those wonderful little membership sites?  What software do you use to produce a video or screencast?

I’ve been able to get many of my questions answered thanks to Mike Filsaime.  Mike has released a free report entitled "The Resource Report" that gives you all the details of the tools he uses to run his business online.

Here’s a short  list and short explanation of the marketing necessities you want to have that Mike discusses in "The Resource Report":

For starters, most established markets will already be using this by default:

- A Domain: something specific to what you want to promote like (ex.www.mysite.com)

- Hosting: a place to put your site, if you’re planning on making money – find a paid solution so you look like a credible business and you cut back on high traffic crashes.

- A website: your image your presence and your marketing message, don’t get pulled into the trap I see everywhere of trying to put too many choices on your website. Maximize on the effectiveness by only giving one purpose to a page. For example if you want to build a list - focus all your efforts and copy on that singular focus, if you want your site to sell a product, then only put that focus on your site. You’ll also need a good editing program, and ftp software to get this up and moving.

- A merchant account: If you have something to sell, people will need a way to pay you. There are a ton of great providers out there, but there are a specific few that give your visitors the security to pull out a credit card with assurance.

- An Autoresponder: This is a real necessity if you want a business and not just a hobby. When you have a family to support this is a real no brainer. This is your email follow up service. You get a name added to your list and this is where they go. You will use this to stay in touch and build relationships with your customers and soon-to-be customers.

- A helpdesk: in the beginning when your business and sales are small you can handle all the little questions and emails yourself. One of the things that will keep a small business is small is thinking “I can do that myself” if you want to truly grow; you need to share the workload (petty tasks) and focus on what you truly want to do creatively for your business.

- Membership Site software: once you’re addicted to the internet marketing lifestyle, you will realize this oh-so-simple fact, it’s great to make a sale, but it’s even better to make a sale once and get paid for it every month. Continuity is king.

- Teleconferencing software: If you want an easy way to create and crank out high ticket products, audios and a transcript is an easy to make, high-value product.

Of course this short list only scratches the surface, but these are the necessities that not only get you started but will make you above average.

Mike covers resources that will help you stay organized and expand your business to make you truly prosperous such as:

-PDF creators and converters
- Mind mapping software
- Site tools to make your business a set and forget it – money magnet
- Internet video and audio creating software
- And the how-to’s of outsourcing

As I said, The Resource Report is absolutely free for you to pick up.  Before now, the only people who got access to it paid $5,000 to attend his 2007 Figure Business Workshop.  But you can get your hands on this incredible report… for free.  I truly believe it’s an indispensable tool that I’ll be referring back to over and over again.

To get more information or download your own copy of the Resource Report for free visit:
The Resource Report

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Coincidence?  I thought so at first, but in both cases the other person didn’t actually receive a call.  They both looked at their phones as we all do to see who is going to be nagging us this time and laid the phone back down.  Because as soon as I picked up my iPhone, their phones stopped ringing.

One of these people was my fiancee.  Her phone went off and she looked and saw no number in the caller ID.  The other unfortunate gentleman was sitting at the table next to me in McDonald’s yesterday.

Again, this might simply be a fluke, but I’m just wondering if anyone else out there is experiencing this strange phenomenon with their iPhones.

If you are, let me know.  Maybe we need to get our iPhones fixed.

At this moment, that’s the question that I’m asking AOL.  After four years, why?  Why are you restarting development of your client software?  Were you not happy enough with the infestation of people’s computers that AOL 9.0 provided?  Were you not happy with jamming your software into every nook and cranny you could possibly find?

The update comes as AOL is beginning a shift from Internet Service provider to web portal.  Gone are the days of having to log in (at least if you’re on broadband.  Sorry, dial-up folks.) as the software now acts as an interface to AOL’s web properties.

They’ve added an “Inbox” to AOL mail.  Wow.  What a concept.  That’s almost as earth-shattering as Microsoft pulling the “My” out of Vista.  It’s not “My Computer” anymore, but at least you have an inbox for AOL.

AOL is hoping to retain long standing customers that have used the AOL interface for years and have become comfortable using the software.  I hope that someone wakes all of you up.

Don’t download this crap.  It will surely send your system into some sort of hyper-chaotic state that no computer tech will ever be able to bring your computer back from.  Just avoid it all together.  Get a new email address from Google or Yahoo! and move on from AOL.  You’ll be glad you did.

Or you can stay with them and become part of Satan’s army.  It’s really your choice.  Let’s just hope you make the right one.

Read [BetaNews]

Technorati Tags: aol, aol software, satan, satan armies

There seems to be this little problem.  I’m finding that an A+ certification is simply and utterly useless at this point in time.  I’ve come to this conclusion after one recent event that blew me away and left me speechless for 10 minutes, then ranting and raving for the next 30.  Let me tell you my story…

I work for a large retail office supply chain.  Even though I’m the assistant store manager, I still get quite a few questions about tech items from both salespeople and customers.  Not that I am some guru that knows everything, but I do know more than the average joe and I like to share my knowledge with people.

I get a call from a customer the other day as she is having problems with a monitor she purchased for her dad on Father’s Day.  How sweet.  As we begin our phone conversation, she asks me if she needs to install the drivers for the monitor.  I said no, the monitor "should" just plug right in and work fine.

Then she tells me that there is no image on the screen and there is an error message stating "resolution not supported" or something along those lines.  Oh, I immediately think, the resolution is set either too high or too low for the monitor to display.  No big deal, just hook up the other monitor and change the resolution to something that the new monitor supports.  She told me that the computer was a little bit older so I thought the resolution might be set too low, something like 640×480 probably. (Now, if one of you guys knows a way to change the screen resolution without having a monitor hooked up, please let me know.  I don’t think there is, but I could be wrong.  She was wondering about that as well.)

To this point, the conversation had gone like most other technical questions I have from customers.  Then it happened…

She said, "I thought any monitor should work.  I just wasn’t sure.  I mean, I’m A+ certified and all, but I just wasn’t sure how to check to see if a monitor is working."

Wait a minute.  You’re A+ certified and you’re asking some dummy at a retail store that has no "certified" training at all your technical support questions?

And you’re A+ certified?

If you’re thinking about getting A+ certified, don’t waste your money.  Crack open a PC case, buy some books from Barnes and Noble and learn yourself.  You’ll be better off.

Don’t become an idiot that has to call the salesperson at the store to fix your computer.  He should be calling you.  Not the other way around.  You took the tests, you offer the help.

Forget A+ certification.  It’s a load of bull.

I’m done ranting now, thanks.