I am a big believer in Original Content.

This also relates to the Future Value of Links. I believe that as time goes on the websites that are easily automated to build links will continue to be devalued by the search engines. The thousands of article directories that have tons of duplicate content will just wither away. Many of the prolific junk publishing schemes are worthless right from the start.

However the Article directories and web 2.0 properties that only accept original content will continue to thrive. These are a lot of work to maintain and will become much more valueable over time.

The links in the Original content Directories are a lot more work to create and will continue to be valued.

There are several websites that only allow Original Content and that also allow you to post links. Ezine Articles, Xomba, Google Knol, most forums. I am working on this list to increase it.

Any website that only allows you to post original content will eventually rank fairly well and the link you are allowed to post on that site will rank well also.

The Future Value of Links and Original Content

I was reading this article over at Blog Salute. I liked the article and thought I would share it

What are you forgetting to do when you set up your Blog?

Do you also forget about small details? It is human nature that we often forget small details in midst of bigger ones. But these small things really matter an often, these matter a lot. In this post, I have discussed about 10 simple things that your blog should have:

1. Contact Form: Contact form is a must have for any blog. Without it, you will surely miss out some good feedback from your readers. Most of the platforms either have plugins or in built contact functionality. You can also use external service like Kontactr if your platform does not support it
2. About Page: You should have a word or two about you on a separate page. This gives the readers the opportunity to know you much better. And for God’s sake, don’t make your “About” page full with affiliate links! Remember, it’s about you, not money
3. Landing Page(s): For new visitors, you should have a landing page that lists your elevator pitch and some of the best posts of your blog. You can also throw in a RSS/newsletter subscription reminder
4. Archives: Archives let readers find your old posts. Preferably, archives should have options to let readers navigate category wise or date wise. You can also use Smart Archives Reloaded plugin for WordPress to generate a list of all posts.
5. Proper Navigation: Proper navigation structure is a must have for any blog. And navigation does not mean just the top menu. Footer links like Next/Previous post are also helpful. Similarly, you can also include a list of posts/pages in sidebar
6. Search: I simply find it irritating that many blogs often forget adding a search widget. If you are on a platform that supports javascript, try Google’s AdSense for search. It returns better results that the default searches and also lets you monetize your blog
7. A Writer(Name): Another thing that leaves me annoyed is the writer being mentioned as “admin” or a similar name. It takes less than a minute to change your name/nickname to something better and it adds a lot of personal touch
8. Comment Subscriptions: OK, so you have a comment form but do not have a “Subscribe to comments” option. Then you are making a big mistake. This simple option can increase the conversations a lot
9. Readable Fonts: Not everyone will get a magnifying glass just to read your blog. Content is the core of a blog and if it’s unreadable, you are bound to be doomed. Any font size less than 12 px can really kill your blog
10. Proper(Easy To Remember) Link Structure: Bad link structures are not good for both readers as well as SEO. A link like http://myblog.com/?p=10 is hard to remember. Now, compare this with http://myblog.com/my-post-title It’s easy to remember and also keyword rich.

These were 10 essential things your blog should have. Did I forget something? Remember to add your suggestions in comments.

This post was written by Ishan Sharma who blogs at Blogging With Success blog. If you liked this post, consider checking out his recent post, 50 Awesome Twitter Tools.

Editor’s Note: As we are already covering Beginner’s Blogging Guide, y

This was copied from http://frankkern.com/?p=31

I hope you like it, it really works for me.

You: The Best Guru EVER

View Comments 03 October 2010

A few weeks ago, I was on the porch knocking back a Modelo Especial working and I noticed one of my friends walking up to the front door.

So I eased on down the steps, let him in, and invited him to up to the porch to take in the scenery with me.

He readily agreed so I grabbed us both a couple of Mexico’s finest beers and we took our seats.

But something was wrong. My (normally laid back) buddy was all weirded out.

“Poor bastard’s probably suffering from a beer deficiency”, I thought as I went to grab us a few more.

They didn’t do the trick so I finally asked him what was wrong.

Turned out he’d been disappointed with a recent “Guru” experience. I’m not talking about spiritual guru stuff here …I mean “get-your-shit-together-in-business” stuff.

That type of Guru.

No, there’s no drama to report …nobody felt ripped off or hosed or anything. It’s just that the relationship didn’t work out as planned and my buddy was bummed.

“I really thought this was the guy who would take me where I want to go”, he said.

And There You Have It …The Root Of The Problem Revealed

See …here’s the deal (and this is what I tried to explain to my friend without sounding all high and mighty):

YOU are the only person who can take you where you want to go. There is no Guru, teacher, mentor, author, speaker, shaman, or whatever who can or will do that for you.

Ever.

Sure, they can show you cool stuff. They can show you what worked for them, they can give you encouragement and motivation …and they can help you keep your head on straight when the going gets weird.

But in the immortal words of Hunter S. Thompson,

“When The Going Gets Weird, The Weird Turn Pro”

And what that means in the context of this little rant is simple:

DON’T FUCK AROUND AND EXPECT SOMEONE ELSE TO SAVE THE DAY.

They won’t. Hell, they can’t! Not even if they want to. Only YOU can.

So whenever you’re considering buying advice, coaching, mentoring, seminar tickets, or whatever – understand this:

They Are All WORTHLESS

…Unless you’re bull-headed enough to immediately put what you learn into action. (And then get right back to work when your first attempts inevitably present some challenges).

And if you’re waiting until you get some big amazing revelation before you actually do something, you’re going to be waiting a long time. There ain’t one.

Well, that’s not entirely true. There is one …but it’s just kind of anti climatic. Here it is:

Some Stuff Works, Some Doesn’t.

And the stuff that’s worked for lots of other people will probably work for you too …if you put in the effort.

See …that’s the key word there.

Effort.

Let’s juice it up and add the word “educated” to it.

Now we have “educated effort”. And that’s a hell of a thing.

See, with “educated effort”, you can do anything you want.

Add in a little “determination” and you’re damn near unstoppable.

Then throw in a little bump of what my teacher Dan Kennedy calls “stick-to-it-iveness” and you WILL get to where you want to go.

Let’s take a look at the last part of that sentence.

YOU. Will. Get. To. Where. YOU. Want. To. Go.

We didn’t say “[INSERT GURU HERE] will get you where you want to go”, did we?

Nope.

YOU.

All a Guru can give you is education.

But the fact remains that’s only 25% of what you need.

You still need throw in 25% effort, 25% determination, and 25% sticktoitiveness.

…And that’s the 75% that YOU and ONLY YOU can provide!

So that’s why

YOU are really the only Guru who can EVER get you to where you want to go!

Hell, how much education do you need, anyway?

Imagine a guy wanting to lose weight (ahem). How many books does he need to buy? For the love of God, it’s easy! Put the fork down and walk around for a few hours a day.

Do that for a month or so and you’ll weigh less. (Duh!)

That’s been the winning formula forever, right?

But There’s A Gazillion Dollar Industry
Delivering “New” Weight Loss Stuff Every Day!

There’s a new diet book every 20 minutes or so it seems.

And the books aren’t the problem. I’m sure they all work if the reader takes the education they just got, adds in a lot of effort, determination, and sticktoitiveness.

But that clearly doesn’t happen. People just keep buying books and gizmos that go unused. Same thing happens in the marketing world. We buy courses and seminars and then jump to the next one …without implementing any of the stuff we just learned.

Why?

Because The Short-Term Pain Of Effort Is Often Perceived
To Be Worse Than The Long-Term Pain Of Failure

There it is. The ugly truth.

It’s hard to get out there …try …work like hell … probably hit a few road blocks …and then keep busting ass until you succeed.

It’s a LOT harder (and less fun) than buying the latest “shiny object” and enjoying that temporary mental “high” that comes from the false sense of productivity you get from making the purchase.

But the fact is, the ONLY way you’ll get anywhere is to realize that YOU ARE THE GURU and that ONLY YOU can make it happen.

So if you keep on buying advice without putting forth determined and consistent effort to implement what you’ve learned, you will NOT succeed.

But if you’re willing to endure the short-term discomfort that stems from stepping outside your comfort zone and actually working like crazy for a while, you’ll get to where you want to go.

All the “Gurus” can do for you is give you the car, so to speak. It’s still up to you to get gas and actually drive it.

My Challenge To You

1. Don’t buy any advice this month. Go back and re-read whatever you’ve bought in the past. It’s still good.

2. Turn off the damn computer and write down all the good stuff you learn. On a legal pad. (OLD SCHOOL!).

3. Review those notes and write down every possible action you could take to start making money immediately. Do whatever actions jump out at you. Don’t over think this. Just do it. Life is short.

4. Write a new offer for your products. You’ve probably bought a ton of stuff on writing offers and copy …so dig it out of the closet and put it to use. Nothing happens until something gets sold. So start selling (and quit buying).

5. Take the money you would have spent on whatever new marketing product you were thinking about buying this month (but didn’t) and use that money to drive traffic to your offer.

That’s right! Invest in business instead of buying more stuff about business. Revolutionary concept!

6. Measure the results of your activity (note the word ACTIVITY!) and tweak accordingly.

7. Repeat 1-6.

Oh – and if you’ve ever looked for a magic formula, that’s pretty much it.

I know because I’ve been at this now for 11 years and I’ve tried everything.

It’s simple:

1. See what worked for other people.

2. Try it for yourself.

3. Adjust according to results.

4. Repeat.

Now Let’s Kick Some Ass

We’re heading into the 4th quarter and ’tis the season to SELL THE HELL OUT OF YOUR STUFF.

This is the time of year when people love to buy things more than ever …and that means your odds of success are even greater!

So get to work and let me know how you’re doing with my challenge. Leave me updates in the comments below.

Aweber is the one of the top email marketing companies.  I have spent quite a bit of time trying to master Aweber.

Here is a link to Aweber.

I have read a lot of information online through the last few years.  I am really fond of getting free online information.  I thought I would make a list of the best Free online Books and information that I have used.

Ken Evoy

Number one in my list is by  Ken Evoy and it is called “Make Your Site Sell.”   I read this book several years ago and I just went back and read the first chapter.  I then read it again.  The 23 pages is the best boiled down advice on how to write about something.  How to get out of sell mode and into passing information and knowledge so your reader can learn and make their own decision.

Free Online Videos?
I have gone through the 26 free videos of Chris Farrell.  This is a course he has sold for $197 but here is a link to view all twenty six videos for free.  Chris Farrell Videos.

Where to find the best Free Internet Marketing Information?

Frank Kern

I really like Frank Kern’s free stuff.  He has taught me a lot and the only charge has been to listen to his sales pitches–which were hard to resist.  http://masscontrolsite.com/blog/?m=201003

Apparently Frank has retired from teaching publicly to work privately.

Eben Pagan

Eben Pagan and his Altitude blog have given me some great insights also.  http://www.altitudeblog.com/

I just bought this from Rob and I am impressed. He has a great moneyback guarantee, check it out if you don’t like it, you can easily get a refund.—-Rick

An Honest Review of Blogging To The Bank 2010

By now I think most people in the world know about blogs.

What most don’t know as there is a great income to be made as well for free.

Rob Benwell is only a mere 24 years old and has already made several million dollars. Early in 2006 he shared his secrets with the world in his highly successful Blogging To The Bank ebook and has made making money online a whole lot easier for everyone.

Just over two years after the success of his first book and over 20,000 copies sold of it and the 2007 2.0 update he is now releasing his third version of Blogging to the Bank helping to wet our appetites and keep the fat bucks rolling in.

I got this book as soon as I could and it covers quite a lot of new information and techniques to adapt your blog to the new demands of the major search engines. Many of the techniques in the old book are now dated and don’t work so well. This is why Blogging To The Bank 2010 is a godsend.

Also this guy doesn’t consider himself to be a “guru”, he’s just a normal guy who wants to help the little guys out. I find this a nice change as he doesn’t talk “down” to you like most of the other guys do. He explains everything in a nice simple manor so everyone can understand.

Saying that when he “goes off on one” it may take a few reads until you get it but when you do it’s just shear genius. Some of the topics in my opinion could have been covered a little more, then others went into great detail. You also get his 5 Blogging Commandments For 2010 that you must follow to give you blogs the greatest success in 2009 and keep them future proofed. This should be printed out and put on the wall of every online marketer without a doubt! His book starts off with market research (so that you are making the most of your time) to building your blogging empire. Everything is covered in this new outing that helps bloggers withtodays online issues regarding making the all mighty search engines happy.

Final Verdict: if you are out there in the blogging world and want to make money the easy way then I highly recommend Blogging To The Bank 2010.

Why work harder than you need to as the new techniques are there ready for you to simply implement.

One of my readers recently asked which is better Email Marketing or Pay per Click Marketing.

The two types of marketing do not have the same goal.  They are significantly different because of the difference in the goal.

Normally the goal of Email marketing is to build a relationship with your readers and to sell stuff.

The number one goal of  PPC advertising for most marketers is to get more people on your list so you can build a relationship with them and sell stuff.

Rick

Using  The Best Spinner by Jonathan Leger has grown to be a tool I utilize every day in my online marketing enterprise. This is a basic article on How to use “The Best Spinner” by Jonathan Leger.

Learn to use Jonathan Leger’s The Best Spinner

My Web site Building Business Goal

What I am seeking to accomplish is place as many articles as well as as many one way links as I possibly can in the time I am working on the internet. Pages, Links and Time is my personal Mantra. In my opinion what will be most effective for me to do is build and place as many good web pages of content in addition to as many anchor text links to those pages as I possibly can. In my opinion the most effective method to get pages to rank well in Google. Get a lot of posts in addition to have back links to those web pages.

The Time factor has two meanings. One I would like to accomplish as much as possible with the time I spend and also I would like the content on the internet for the maximum time as I can. The longer a site has been online the higher the website would seem to be ranked with Google Search .

Working with The Best Spinner

After i write and article I put that article in “The Best Spinner” program and spin it. This involves finding appropriate alternate phrases for the page I have written. This program is very very effective at helping me spin the article. When I am done spinning the article I save it so I can use it or part of it again. After that I push the spin button. The software randomly chooses from the alternative words and phrases I have picked and puts out a completed post.

How Good is “The Best Spinner” Output?

The end result will depend on how conscientious you are at writing and spinning your subject matter. I take my time while content spinning to make sure each replacement phrase fits properly. A few of the initial articles and reviews I authored and spun have been a little bit chopped up. I tried too hard to have a lot of replacement words for each word and sometimes they ended up a little choppy. With Practice I have become better and I really feel the majority of of my spun material is probably undetectable as having been spun.

Example of a Spun Sentence

This is my primary sentence:
I have taken this sentence and spun it in The Best Article Spinner by Jon Leger to show you what the output can look like.

• I have used this sentence as an example and spun the words using “The Best Spinner” to show you how completely different the sentence can look after spinning.
• I’ve utilized this phrase and spun it using “The Best Spinner” to show you how completely different the sentence can look after the spinning process.
• I’ve used this sentence as an example and spun it in The Best Spinner to show you how completely different the sentence can look after spinning.
• I’ve utilized this distinct sentence and spun it in “The Best Spinner” to show you how completely different the sentence can look after spinning.
• I’ve utilized this phrase and spun it in “The Best Spinner” to show you what the result may look like.
• I have used this particular phrase and spun the words using The Best Article Spinner by Jon Leger to show you what the output can look like.

While creating this article I took my original sentence and spun it. I put different results from the spin in each of the bullet points above.

My Steps to get Maximum Results from The Best Spinner Software

1. Produce one article a day.
   
2. Spin the article
   
3. it in lots of websites with a few links in each post

I typically have the the spinning software operating with more than one article on the spinning software. Push the spin key and “The Best Spinner” builds a couple of new pages at one time.
Next I separate the pages and add all of the recently built spun pages to the internet site or blog I am posting to with 4 links on each page you construct. As soon as you have the articles created and spun you may easily construct and publish a lot of pages and links in very little time.

Build a list of the pages you want to rank better. Add A couple of links to your money pages on every page you publish. If you have the option of putting more links on the squeeze page put the next three links toward the articles on the free (Web 2.0) sites that you are positing your artilces on.

You can build a lot of links quickly this way!

Rick

Mistakes I have made

Sometimes when I am writing I change from first person (I ) to second person (You) sometimes. After I had written this post I went back and made sure it was all in the first person before I ran it through the Spinning software. Also I always want to be certain I don’t change from single to multiple in one sentence.

I am more thorough with my spun articles. I go back and critically proof read them before I spin them because if you have a mistake and then spin it most of your output will have the mistake and it can be amplified by spinning.

I hope you enjoyed Using The Best Spinner by Jonathan Leger. It is an inexpensive yearly software program that I use daily. I love it.

Here is a link to an instructional video on how to use The Best Spinner.

It used to take a bit of work to make a Simple WordPress Static Home Page.

With the newer releases of WordPress it has become a simple couple of clicks in your Dashboard.

• Click on Dashboard
• Click on Settings
• Click on Reading
• on the line that reads “Blog pages show at most” change the 10 to one.
• Go back to your Dashboard and edit the post you want to be your home page. Open your desired page then edit “Visibility: Public” by clicking on the “Stick this post to the front page” box.
• Save the page

You now have a static home page website.  I like to change the 10 post to two or three instead of One which will show the last couple of articles you posted after the sticky page you set as your home page.

Here is another way to get a WordPress Static Home Page.

This is the Best Article Spinning Video by Jon (Jonathan) Leger.

Click Here to Check Out The Best Spinner
This is a Great Educational Video on  Article Spinning

Article Spinning Video

This Video covers

1. What is Article Spinning
2. What is the User Created Thesaurus?
3. One Click adding and deleting synonyms
4. How to Spin Sentences
5. How to rewrite individual sentences
6. How to add your own synonyms
7. How to use Favorites and Replace All
8. How to use Protected Terms

This Video is a great primer on how to use The Best Spinner.

I use this program daily.

Build more pages and links.

Rick