“Effective leaders have the courage to say what they’re thinking - and that usually turns out to be what everyone else is thinking.” - William Isaacs, author of Dialogue and the Art of Thinking Together
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed so you never miss the next great communication tip. Thanks for stopping by, I hope to see you often!
Trisha, @mayobrains on Twitter
by Patricia Mayo
It is possible to make money blogging - but it doesn’t happen the most obvious way.
Photo by Jay Lopez
I actually make a good chunk of my income blogging.
However, if you look in my sidebars, I don’t have ads. Not a single one. No sponsors, no donate buttons, no Entrecard. This site isn’t in any kind of traffic rotator schemes. I did an affiliate promotion once, but the results were so crappy you’re not going to see that again.
This is all very much on purpose - because the concept of “problogging” does not work if all you have to offer are your words on one blog.
by Patricia Mayo
A little while ago, I posted a little ditty on reading between the lines in Internet Marketing. One of the things I mentioned was to read the benefits and see if you could predict what they’re selling.
via Fail Blog
Well, I analyze a lot of lists from a lot of supposed top marketers to keep up to date. Today, one big name “guru” sent me a whopping sob story about getting slapped by Google and losing millions, and blah blah blah.
by Patricia Mayo
I’m breaking all the rules in my product launch - but I’m willing to bet my results will be better, and longer lasting, than anyone who does it the “traditional way.”
Photo by Maira Kouvara
The “things” traditional online marketers say you need, like a list and a website, are spot on, but the way they say you should build it is way off.
If you know anything about building a list, you know that at the beginning of it all is the “squeeze page.” I don’t use a squeeze page the way most people do. I let you see more information. I let you navigate through my site.
I am doing everything I can to be as transparent and available as possible. And I’m not just using my transparent squeeze page to draw in subscribers, either.
by Patricia Mayo
I don’t like link lists. In fact, I downright hate ‘em. Whenever I see “Del.icio.us Links for 4-19-08″ I just keep on scrolling. Why?
Original Photo by Daniel K. Gebhart
Don’t you feel like you’re being screamed at? “Look at me, look at me! I’m clickable, you should click! Yes, yes… click! Click now!” Yeah, big deal. Just because I can doesn’t mean I should.
The only reason I am productive - and stay productive - is being picky about what gets my attention. 80% of headlines don’t say enough, and 99% of blog titles don’t say enough. I need more.
Maki over at DoshDosh has the right idea and gives a bit of context. Call me anal retentive, but that’s what I like to see. What about you?
by Patricia Mayo
Believe it or not, there are actually quite a few truly useful things sold by those 10 mile long sales letters (with the distinct exception of “make money online” information products). Not all products promoted in such ways are crap - and thinking that way is just the coward’s way out.
Original Photo by Steve Woods
However, in order to fully understand whether you’re being sold a rip-off or a real resource, you need to know the full-on ins and outs of sales letter marketing.
It will take some practice before you’re good at reading between the lines, and I’m sure some deceitful marketer is going to read this and revise their marketing - but I’m going to have a go at making this as bullet-proof as I can.
by Patricia Mayo
Too many people just dive right into a project without first taking into account exactly what they hope to gain.
Not only should this be your every first step, but you must also assess whether the task at hand will actually move you toward your goals - or at least make you happy.
If you have struggled with half hatched ideas that never seem to go anywhere, you just might be the victim of your own misunderstanding.
Pandora Faves