I’ve run this blog since January of 2006 and one thing I’ve become very familiar with is comment spam. Comment spam is bogus comment text, stuffed with promotional links that gets sent by auto submission programs. I’ve seen plenty of hyped up ads for “Blog Marketing Software” whose sole purpose is to generate this blog clogging mess. Web newbies and sleazy individuals, with dollar signs in their eyes, buy this stuff and unleash waves of spam to the blogosphere.

I personally have several barriers in place to block this junk and keep my site pollution free. The only ads are the ones I put there.

A new service called PayPerPost.com allows people an honest way to advertise on blogs. Bloggers, like me, can sign up with the service and earn money by blogging. Advertisers place offers for bloggers to write about specific topics and mention their products or websites. Bloggers can scan the available offers to find something that they are interested in writing about. The offer tells you how much you will earn and what type of post you will have to write.

It works (at least from the blogger’s end of things.) I know because I received my first payment today for an article I wrote a while back. It sure beats counting pennies from Adsense. The advertisers get a custom written article with a link back to their site. It’s a fair trade in my book.

If you are looking for ways to earn some money with your blog, give it a look. If you are a marketer wanting to leverage the power of blogs in your advertising, please do this and don’t try comment spam. Everyone will be a lot happier.
The Go-To Guy!

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I have a friend who is a fiction writer. We were talking today about ideas for promoting a book she is writing. She writes in a variety of genres, but the book in question is in the ‘chick-lit’ category - at least that’s what she calls it. I came up with these suggestions:

Blog - This one is pretty obvious. She already bought her name as a domain and I’m setting her up with a WordPress blog. The focus of her blog will be on the world of a fiction writer, with news about her projects and signings, etc. I recommend she actively write about the book and drop hints and teasers about the story to build interest.
Book Website - She is also buying the name of her main character as a domain. These types of books tend to result in a series of novels, with fans of the character becoming built-in audiences. For starters I recommended she make this a sales site and offer free advance chapters to people who sign-up for her mailing list. Later she can make it more of a fan site with a discussion forum and ancillary products and content.
Forum and Group Recruiting - I recommended that she start looking for forums and discussion groups with fans of this genre as well as fans of similar books. I told her to offer a sample chapter for people who join her mailing list and to mine that list for possible advance readers who would help generate buzz for the official release.

Blog Recruiting - My suggestion here is to find a number of bloggers who write about the genre (or even specific book series that have a similar tone) and recruit them to become advance readers. Feeding them advance copies of chapters and checking out how often (and what) they write about the book. Following up with those who are vocal fans will help with generating buzz for the release.

Those were some strategies that came to me today. If you have done this type of marketing before, leave a comment and tell me what’s wrong or missing from my list.

The Go-To Guy!

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Do you know a lot of information but can’t seem to get focussed enough to write a book? This is one of my biggest problems. I start trying to write down everything that I think is important and before long I’m looking at pages of information that are as overwhelming as what is in my head.

This problem never gets in the way when someone comes up and asks me for help! When that happens, I can zero in on my audience and give the information that is necessary to answer their questions.

A visitor to this website recently asked me a few simple questions and I ended up writing a 780 word mini-article in response (rendered in 12 point Arial type on a 5.5″ x 8.5″ page - that’s 4 solid pages of text!) This lead me to my ‘ah ha!’ moment. (I’m sure I didn’t invent this, it just finally occurred to me.)

The 20 Questions Book Writing System

This idea couldn’t be any simpler. Recruit one or more people who would benefit from the book you want to write. Ask them to provide you with 20 questions on your topic that they have always wanted answered. Steer them to ask big picture questions rather than detailed ones.

When you get the questions back, sort them into a sequence that makes sense to you. If a question is too narrow, try to make it more general and group together related topics into sections. This list is the chapter structure of your book. Now it is time to get to work.

Answer each question with a 5 or 6 page response that is directed toward your audience. You are on your way to a first draft of your book. I recommend creating your document in the same physical format as you envision for the final format. I have a 5×8_book_template in Microsoft Word format that you can download and use as a basis for your project.
Give your answers back to the people who provided the questions and have them review your responses. Ask them to give notes about anything that is unclear or extraneous.

Revise your first draft using the notes you get back from your question team and then start looking for experts in your field to submit chapters to for professional feedback. (Do not send them the whole text, just the chapters that are focussed on their specific expertise.) These are also the people you will want to approach for promotional blurbs for your book cover, front matter, and promotional materials. (Thanks go to Dan Poynter for this strategy.)

Revise your book using the notes provided by your subject matter experts. This draft should be a fairly well developed manuscript. At this stage it is a good idea to hire a professional editor to edit your book for spelling, grammer, consistency, and style. You may chose to go it alone, but a good editor will give your work a level of polish that is hard to do by yourself. If you don’t know any editors, a service like OnlineProofReaders.com can help you locate one.

Next Stop, The Printing Press

Once you have your manuscript is done, it is time to decide how to publish your book. You can create an e-book, submit it to publishing houses and agents, or go the self-publishing route. (If you want to pursue a traditional publisher, you should consider submitting your chapter outline - the list of 20 questions - and a sample chapter earlier in the process. If they want the book, this may be enough to get a contract.)

There are lots of layout and design issues to consider before your work is complete, but you have a book now!

I have been wanting to write a book on video lighting for independant movies for a while now. I asked a good friend, who is planning his own movie project right now, to help me with my 20 questions. I’m also soliciting questions on my indie film blog too! I expect this to be a useful strategy in my writing endeavors.

The Go-To Guy

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It’s not hard to imagine one’s life experiences flowing like a stream. People you meet, conversations you have, flashes of insight, emotions - these things and more wash steadily past. The essence of one’s life is dispersed in this river.

You cannot hold onto a river. Grasp at it and you get nothing more than an empty wet hand that will dry soon enough. But, no matter how clear the water appears, it carries with it artifacts of where it has been. Don’t believe me? Put a rock in the stream and wait.

The rock interrupts the flow. Water swirls around it leaving small pools of calmer water behind the rock. As the water slows, a magical thing happens. Those artifacts become too heavy for the current to carry and they settle to the bottom.

Put a rock in your life and the same thing happens. A house is like a rock in most people’s lives. You settle into one, and in 10 or 20 years, its nooks and crannies become filled with the artifacts of your life. Books, photographes, the car seat you bought for the child you just sent off to college. But rocks can do more than just collect your old stuff.

The Power Of Rocks

I have a wide range of interests. Often, a new momentary passion rises up while I’m exploring another. I also tend to keep coming back to old favorites, but with a new perspective.

The result of my particular pattern of curiosity is that I know a fair amount about a wide range of topics, but never seem to get enough momentum going in any one direction to make much out of it. It is a reality I decided to change.

How can a person like me get enough material together to write a book, create a business, or shoot a movie? My mind and body seem to race along from one thing to the next so quickly that good ideas and best intentions get swept away too soon.

One answer is to begin placing some rocks in my life - carefully placed obstacles designed to slow me down a little and let those good ideas have a chance to settle out of the stream.

Placing The First Stone

This website was created to be a rock. Every week it seems that someone comes to me for some kind of help or advice. It might be damaged drywall needing a repair or, like today, a friend who needed help writing up a quote for a video production project.

When you’ve worked as a house painter, media producer, hotel night auditor, home theater installer, automotive assembly line worker, website designer, director of photographer, carpet cleaner, furniture salesman, building superintendant, set designer, director, and more, the experience builds up. When you add in hobbies, a love of reading, and the random bits of other things that get picked up along the way, it’s no wonder people think I might know something helpful.

In January of 2006, I decided that I would write about my projects, hobbies, and the answers a gave people to the questions they asked. I installed blogging software on my server (another set of skills) and began writing. Now, instead of my advice fading into silence after the words are spoke, I slow down and let them settle onto this website.

So far I’ve written more than 56 posts. The majority are longer pieces, like this one. Printed out at the font sizes and page dimensions of a typical book, that amounts to more than 100 pages. That is a success by my accounting.

Adding More Rocks To My Stream

Just creating the blog site was not enough. I needed a few other rocks placed around me to ensure that I would generate the habits required to easily capture the bits of knowledge and experience I wanted to write about. I bought a small audio recorder to carry with me so I can dictate notes when I’m working on something worth writing about. I’ve also begun carrying notebooks and a camera.

Each one of these things causes tiny pieces of my experiences to settle into a growing mound of resources that I can use and share. It is exciting to see how people from all over the world have found my article on bookbinding. It is even more exciting that people are starting to ask me questions through my website. The very fact of this website’s existence is helping to inspire new articles and connect me to new people and opportunities.

Try putting a few rocks in your stream. Who knows, you may just have a book in you, or the idea for then next big business breakthrough. Whatever it is, you will find great satisfaction in being able to share it with other people.

The Go-To Guy

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I’ll bet you understand my frustrations with online advertising. When writing advertising copy for the web you have to address the same concerns that a salesperson deals with face-to-face, but without the direct feedback or ability to adapt your words to new questions or objections. You have to anticipate everything before you start writing your advertising copy.

Master copywriter and direct marketing entrepreneur Joseph Sugarman, in his 1999 book Triggers, discussed and illustrated 30 different ways to motivate, influence, and persuade people when writing. It was an inspiring read. But, I had trouble getting all of those great ideas into my copy. Whenever I started getting traffic to a salespage I wrote, my results were zero. I couldn’t translate my knowledge into effect sales copy.

I felt like all of my promotional efforts were wasted because I couldn’t write copy that people responded to. I was stuck. I needed some framework to build on that would get me consistent results. Then, I discovered the 3 F’s of Advertising Copywriting.

Feel, Felt, Found (Discover)

While reading an e-book on email ad campaigns, I discovered the 3 F’s. I had found the structure I needed to build effective sales copy for my web pages. Once I learned to recognize this pattern I began to see it everywhere.

The 3 F’s are feel, felt, and found (or discover.)

You start off by letting your reader know that you understand how they feel - you’ve felt it yourself! Then you let them know that you felt the same way until you found whatever secret, product, or service you are trying to persuade them to accept. What you found changed everything and now you want to share it with the whole world.

You understand how they feel, because you felt the same way until you found the thing that changed everything.

This is a very powerful technique you can use to gain the trust of your audience and lead them to your product or service. Look for it on other websites you visit and work it into your writing.

The Go-To Guy

P.S. I hope it was pretty obvious that I was trying to use the 3 F pattern to structure this article. It was a fun excercise. Let me know how well I did and share your results using the 3 F’s in your copywriting.

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Over the years I’ve come across any number of e-Books for free and for sale. Some are good, some are junk, and some give permission to sell or give to others. Below are a few that give permission to pass along.

These are provided for entertainment purposes only. I do not endorse any of them, and (*unless otherwise indicated) don’t stand to profit in any way if you follow the links embedded in them. I’ve read most of them (or at least skimmed them) and found them interesting and worthwhile.

Are you glad you found a great resource page like this? Did it save you time and/or money? Make a donation to the Tip Jar and help support this site.

Have fun,

The Go-To Guy

P.S. If you are like me, reading on-screen gets old fast. I wrote a tutorial that shows a cheap and easy way to print and bind your e-Books for offline reading. (Offline copies also let you take notes in the margins.)

Downloadable e-Books

Integration Marketing, by Mark Joyner
Mark Joyner is one of the pioneers of Internet marketing and his latest book covers a powerful marketing approach that can really boost you business. You have to sign up for a free account at his IntegrationMarketing.com website to get access to the book - but it is well worth the effort.

How I Made My First $100 Online, by Andrew Seltz - The Go-To Guy!
This free ebook and audio book package was created by yours truly (that’s even my voice on the audio version of the ebook!) This is a bonus product for joining my Internet Marketing Insights newsletter, so there is a signup box before you can download the product.

Quick Niche Product Create, by Duncan Chua
Learn the shortcuts to creating your own original content in no time at all.

Niche Marketing Riches in 30 Days, by Patric Chan
Patric lays out a detailed 30 day plan for earning money online.

Your First $1000 Week Online, by David Perdew
David tells the story of how two online marketers helped him get to this first big milestone in his business.

Real Life Marketing Interviews
A collection of interviews with some of the biggest and most well known names in the world of Internet marketing.

Confessions of an Adsense Girl, by Liz Tomey
Learn 60 cut-throat answers to questions about making money with Google Adsense.

An Insider’s Guide to Writing Articles, by John Colanzi
A straight-forward guide to writing articles for niche websites, blogs, or article marketing campaigns. Following this plan, anyone will be able to write an article quickly and easily.

Google Adsense Alternatives
Looking for other ways to make revenue with your website (or been banned from Google Adsense?) This 40 page report outlines the options available for those of you wanting an alternative approach.

Unlimited Traffic Secrets, by Gabor Olah
101 tips for improving the traffic to your website. Olah covers a wide range of techniques for building web traffic for a site.

Unleashing the Ideavirus, by Seth Godin
This classic book from the height of the Internet boom is still relevant today. Word-of-mouth marketing is everywhere today and this book will lay the foundation for understanding how it works.

Really Bad PowerPoint, by Seth Godin
If you ever have to make a presentation on behalf of your business, you will probably find yourself using PowerPoint. Take pity on your audience and read this book first.

SEO Made Easy, By Brad Callen
This book is an excellent guide to the world of search engine optimization. It is full of clear explanations of the basic concepts involved and specific strategies you can use with your sites.

How To Make a Six-Figure Income Online, by Jimmy D. Brown
A clear step-by-step blueprint for building and online business. There are even daily checklists of tasks to complete that will grow your business.

*The Butterfly Marketing Manuscript - The Leaked Chapter, by Mike Filsaime
This book is everywhere, so you might already have a copy. If you don’t, DOWNLOAD THIS NOW AND READ IT! I have been looking at several different online marketing resources and creating a strategy for a new project. I saw several viral marketing systems and made notes about the best features. I hunted for solutions to affiliate program managent and marketing. When I read this book I realized that the best solutions I had seen online were created by students of Mike Filsaime’s course - using programs and services he created for Butterfly Marketing. Read the book, you’ll realize that Mike really knows his stuff. (Now I just need to raise the money to buy the full program!)

The Instant Author, by Fabio Marciano
A solid step-by-step outline for planning, writing, and publishing your own non-fiction. Fabio did a good job designing the book, so it is easy to read (that can’t be said for many e-books.)

The Article Profit Formula, by Josh Jenkins
Writing short articles and posting them to online directories is a pretty good way to generate traffic for your site. This book (which seems more like a collection of articles - no table of contents!!!) does a straight-forward job of explaining the process.

*Article Writing Secrets, by Jeff Dedrick
Write articles to generate traffic and profits.

The Best Articles Ever Written, by Patrick Chan
16 articles by as many info marketers. You will recognize several of the names. You have the rights to reprint them as well.

*SEO Predictions, by Jeff Dedrick
See into the future of search engine optimization and keep your site on the leading edge.

How To Use Free Press Releases to Get Listed In Google, Fast!
A report from www.NicheJournal.com. The title explains it all.

52 Secrets My Mom Never Told Me About Internet Marketing, by James Maduk
I heard James interviewed on a podcast about creating and marketing informational products and really enjoyed what he had to say. So, I looked up some of his stuff. In addition to a lot of great text, this book contains videos that require purchasing a license to view.

Blogging Secrets, by James Maduk
Another e-Book I found after hearing James speak on a podcast. (I’ve got to get interviewed for one of those things!) In addition to a lot of great text, this book contains videos that require purchasing a license to view.

5 Quickest Ways To Massive Windfalls Of Cash Online
(The Special Report) By Ewen Chia
A Guy can dream, can’t he? I’m still waiting for my waves of cash, but there is some useful information in here.

Cash Stuffing Secrets of the Written Word, by Ewen Chia
Another special report filled with tips on writing ad copy that will part folks from their money. All kidding aside, the content is usefull for people learning about writing advertising copy.

63 Killer Marketing Strategies, by Dan S. Kennedy
A collection of interviews with succesfull business people discussing effective marketing strategies.

Adsense -vs- Affiliate Programs, by William Charlwood
In the death match for cash, who will come out on top? Read this report and find out!

The Adsense Mint, by James Fraser
By low, sell high and rake in the dough. (I haven’t managed to make this work yet either!!! I must be doing something wrong.) While I’m still not a millionaire, I found the methods described for evaluating niche markets and keyword values useful. A very interesting read.

Inside the Minds of Winners, by Charles Burke
I just love the title of this collection of profiles and essays of “Winners.”

The Greatest Money-Making Secret in History, by Joe Vitale
It is so much fun reading Joe’s books. What’s the secret… The best way to make money is to give it away! Karma, baby!

Free Hypnotic Sales-Letter Templates, by Joe Vitale and Larry Dotson
Just what the title says, a whole bunch of templates - just insert products and benefits.

Million Dollar Emails, by Yanik Silver
Internet marketer Yanik Silver shares sample marketing emails and explains why they work. Also includes lots of info about email marketing and mailing list development.

7 Hidden Psychological Secrets To Maximum Sales, by Yanik Silver
Learn the 7 ‘hidden’ secrets to persuading people to buy. Be warned, you must promise to only use this information for good - no evil allowed!

The Greatest Marketing Secrets of the Ages, by Yanik Silver
Human nature doesn’t really change. The same types of arguments that persuaded people a hundred years ago still work today. Yanik gives plenty of examples and explains why they work. You are not sworn to use this only for good, but it’s probably best to avoid using it for evil just on principle.

Scientific Advertising, by Claude Hopkins
Advertising does not have to be a gamble. Applying the scientific method to your advertising will help you improve your profitability online and off. This book is an advertising classic.

*The Affiliate Masters Course, by Ken Evoy
This 10 day course is designed to teach you how to become a high performing affiliate. Ken’s system breaks down to this: Content-> Traffic-> Pre-sell-> Monetization! This is a clear, well-written approach to making money on the web.

*Make Your Net Auction Sell, by Ken Evoy
Are your using auction sites like e-Bay to make money? This is an excellent guide to maximizing your profits from your online auctions.

*Net Writing Masters Course, by Ken Evoy
This work-at-your-own-pace course is focussed on helping you improve your online persuasion skills - and, by extension, making more profits online.

*The Service Sellers Master Course, by Ken Evoy
Do you run a service oriented business? This intesive 10 day course is focused on helping you use the Internet to find more clients and boost your business.

*The Webmaster Business Master Course, by Mark Frank
Running a Webmaster business? Do you dream of running your own webmaster business?This course will help you establish your business on solid footing and position yourself as a successful independent designer.

*WAHM-IT! The Master Course, by Elizabeth Martyn, Cate Brizzell, Jennifer McVey, Erin Nield
The work-at-home mother’s guide to building a successful business on the web. These women joined forces to document their experiences building their own web businesses.

*WAHM-IT! Get organized, by Elizabeth Martyn, Cate Brizzell, Jennifer McVey, Erin Nield
Tips and tricks to help work-at-home mothers get organized and run their own Internet-based business. A companion to the WAHM-IT! Master Course.

*WAHM-IT! Case Studies, by Elizabeth Martyn, Cate Brizzell, Jennifer McVey, Erin Nield
This companion to the WAHM-IT! Master Course examines 8 successful web businesses run by work-at-home mothers.

List Building Online, by David Pineda
A responsive opt-in mailing list is the foundation of a successful online business. David promises to show you how to build your own list by creating business systems that work.

AutoResponder Magic
Are you looking to put your website on autopilot? This claims to be the ultimate collection of autoresponder scripts available. 500+ pages of advice and sample scripts.

Personal Magnetism, by Theron Q. Dumont
Do you want to win friends and influence people? Then try this old school course on personal magnetism and get to work.

The Power of Concentration, by Theron Q. Dumont
This is one of those great old self help courses from the early 1900’s. He wrote several other books that I would love to get my hands on. If you have electronic copies of “Personal Magnetism”, “Practical Memory Training”, “Successful Salesmanship”, or “Master Mind”, please send them to me.

*These e-books DO contain affiliate links that will generate income for me if you click on them and purchase services or products. The e-books are listed here because I believe they contain excellent information that is useful whether you purchase anything from the embedded links or not.

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