Blogging for Fun and Profit
Issue #2028
- WEALTHY: Are you a business owner… or an overworked employee? (Charlie Byrne)
- HEALTHY: Help your heart, gums, and ears with this critical enzyme (Dr. Al Sears)
- WISE: Ben Franklin on… blogging?
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
- Is blogging a waste of time? (Will Bonner)
- How to organize a "million-dollar" wine collection (Michael Masterson)
- It’s Fun to Know… about extreme gas mileage
- Add "eremite" to your vocabulary
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ETR Insider Report: Build a Business That Doesn’t Need You
By Charlie Byrne
Michael Masterson stunned his audience yet again when he said:
"’It’s time to get over yourselves."
He had just insulted 28 hardworking and sharp-minded entrepreneurs, all with successful businesses - some very successful. There was a collective drawing-in of breath as the entrepreneurs wondered how to react.
But did he really insult them? Or did he actually save them?
Hello, again, from Michael’s exclusive Palm Beach Business-Building Retreat. The week has been full of surprises, breakthroughs, shocking revelations, and some extremely valuable contrarian advice. Yesterday’s afternoon session focused on a theme we’ve seen again and again throughout the Retreat…
Entrepreneur starts dream business in garage. Business takes off. Entrepreneur slowly becomes de facto head of marketing, sales, product development, customer service, shipping etc., etc. Business booms but then stalls. The problem? The founder no longer has time to be that original entrepreneur who had the great ideas and the energy that brought about the initial success.
That’s what Michael meant when told his Retreat attendees that they have to get over themselves in order for their business to grow to the next level. In other words, if you want your company to grow, it has to outgrow you. If your company’s survival is based on you, Michael explained, you don’t have a business, you have a self-employment job.
Doctors, lawyers, and other professionals often discover that their work owns them. Because, when you get right down to it, they are basically hourly employees. When they’re not working, they’re not making money.
Entrepreneurs fall into this trap, too. After initial success, they discover that they’ve dug themselves into a hole. They can’t take a vacation. They can’t take on any of the other projects they’re interested in because all their time is wrapped up in this one business. And one day they wake up and find out that they are the company. Without them, it will fall apart.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. Even though it’s tough - because you are financially and emotionally invested in your business - you need to get out of the way so your business can grow.
From day one, you should be planning to build a company that doesn’t need you. One of the first things you need to do is let go of your ego and find a superstar who can eventually run your company. Then you can focus on your big vision and more ideas.
And especially if your business is "personality based," you need to create other related "pods” that can generate income from sources other than "you."
Today’s the last day of the Retreat - and from everything I am seeing, it’s turning out to be a huge success.
We’re hearing attendees making comments like "It’s like a big light turned on yesterday," and "I can’t believe I was looking at things so totally wrong," and even "When can we get back together in the future to talk about our success?"
Right now, I need to head back for the next discussion. On Tuesday, I’ll let you know what business-building surprises Michael divulged on our final day.
[Ed. Note: Over two dozen smart entrepreneurs are taking their business profits to a much higher level at Michael Masterson’s exclusive Business-Building Retreat. If you missed your chance for a personal consultation with Michael, you can see him at this year’s Early to Rise Fall Bootcamp, where you’ll get proven strategies for dramatically powering up your marketing… growing your business to tens of millions and beyond… and breaking into one of the most profitable industries around. Sign up for Bootcamp TODAY (last year we completely sold out) and get $200 off.]
"If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are dead & rotten, either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing."
Benjamin Franklin
Blogging for Fun and Profit
By Will Bonner
I used to think that blogs were a big waste. A waste of time to write and a waste of time to read. I thought they were like personal diaries that are open to the public… passive little websites sitting out in cyber-space that people occasionally stumbled upon. That did not appeal to my direct-marketing-oriented business sensibilities.
Boy, was I wrong! A blog is like a book, a newsletter, an e-letter, or a website - just another medium for publishing your ideas, except that it’s easier to do it.
Until recently, blogs haven’t been embraced by businesses, but that’s going to change in a big way. Because blogs are effective relationship builders and they embrace a number of broadcast methods, ways for people to read what you have to say.
My experience in blogging comes from writing, almost every day, about living in South America in my "Discovering Buenos Aires" blog. It’s a little project I do in my spare time. And, as it turns out, what started as a mere exercise to keep me writing daily has become a fun and potentially valuable side business.
My total investment so far has been $19. $9 for the purchase of the domain name… and $10 for a year of hosting with Word Press. I found Word Press easy to use, and I have been pleased with the results. But there are many blogging platforms that work just fine. (Note: Word Press does not allow Google AdSense, whereas other platforms do.)
Because of my long history with Agora Publishing, I bet you think most of my readers are Agora subscribers. That is not the case. Most of my readers have been referred by expat blog directories and other expat blogs. These people are much more interested in what I’m writing about (being an expatriate in Buenos Aires) than your average Agora financial newsletter subscriber.
There’s an interesting interconnected web within the blogging world that links you to readers of other blogs fairly quickly.
When I started writing the blog, I registered it on some expat blog directories that I found by doing simple Google searches. I also mentioned some established Buenos Aires blogger websites on my homepage, which alerted those blog writers that I was linking to them. So they’d come by and look at my blog. If they liked it, they would mention me… and I would get new readers from them too.
Another thing you can do to get more readers is submit individual posts to user-generated content websites like Digg.com and Reddit.com. I get dozens of visits from readers of those websites every time I post one of my articles (especially when I have a good headline). I also put a link to my blog on CraigsList.org for Buenos Aires in the real estate section (because I write about real estate). I get around 100 visitors a day from CraigsList alone.
It turns out that blogging is not at all as passive as I thought it would be. There are tons of ways to actively market your blog at no cost. And as you establish a readership, you are building a valuable list of potential clients or customers. (You can easily capture e-mail addresses with Feed Burner or similar services, also for free.)
Blogging Is Copywriting
Blogging is a wonderful way to develop your copywriting skills. In fact, it’s exactly like copywriting in many ways. You’ve got a headline and a lead. Within the statistics of the blog’s control panel, you can see exactly how many people are reading which articles, how many are reading the blog overall, etc. This is useful data for understanding which ideas interest your readers and deciding what to write about.
I’d urge every ETR reader to start a blog and write in it daily. If you write good articles and do some simple marketing of your blog, you will be rewarded with an established daily readership that you can sell any number of things to: products, ad space, affiliate deals, consulting services… you name it.
Selling on a Blog
The biggest question businesspeople (direct marketers, in particular) have about blogging is "How do I make money with this?" Good question. - and the simple answer is that you do it the way you would with an e-letter: Use dedicated posts to promote products and services. And of course, you use the homepage of your blog for display ads.
A blog is great way to generate buzz for an upcoming product launch. Rich Schefren (strategicprofits.com) is a master at this. You’ll notice that his website is a blog. And you’ll also notice by the number of comments his posts get that he gets a ton of traffic to this website… including customers interested in his services.
It will take time, but there’s no reason you can’t do something similar.
You Don’t Have Time? That’s BS!
I don’t care what your schedule is like. You have the time to blog. Your posts should be quick and easy to read, anyway. There’s no need for long, drawn-out posts. (They won’t get read unless they’re exceptionally good.) If you have 10 minutes a day, you can have your own income-generating blog.
You Can Write About Anything
A final benefit of blogging is that it can push you to do things you wouldn’t normally do… just so you’ll have something to write about. Even if the end result of an experience is negative, it can be fodder for your blog.
For instance, after a grueling flight from Buenos Aires to Germany, German immigration apparently thought I was a drug dealer. I was pulled aside, interrogated, tested for drugs, and delayed for a half-hour. Then my bags were lost. Not the best time… but it all made for a really good blog post!
After just a couple of months, my blog is already making me some nice pocket money. And you can do the same thing I’m doing: Develop your business ideas and copywriting skills… and make a nice side-income too. What could be better?
[Ed. Note: Will Bonner is the executive publisher of Agora Publishing’s new Latin American office based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He has over 10 years of experience in direct marketing, having worked as a graphic designer, a mailing planner, an Internet marketer, an editorial writer, a copywriter, and a publisher. In his spare time, he blogs about his experiences living in the "Paris of South America" at: http://www.willbonner.com/]
“$50,000 in 90 Days or Alan Pays You…”
The nation’s #1 Private Money expert, Alan Cowgill, has helped his students across the country raise over $85 million for their real estate deals - without dealing with banks, mortgage brokers or credit reports. One student alone, Robert Anderson, recently raised $1.8 million and used it to bank a $1,315,000 profit. And Bob and Brenda McDowell of Scottsdale, Arizona , recently raised private money to fund their luxury condo conversion project, with projected profits of an astounding $16 million!
This system works for everything from small houses to duplexes to major commercial properties. It doesn’t matter what your current job or credit situation is. And it works fast. And Alan just doesn’t promise it, he guarantees it.
Follow his system and you’ll raise a minimum of $50,000 over the next 90 days, or he’ll pay you.
Justin Ford
Editor, Main Street Millionaire
Reader Feedback: "While ETR didn’t influence me until very recently, I can tell you that it did help jump-start my freelance writing career."
"I received Seven Years to Seven Figures from my dad for Christmas, and after reading that and signing up for ETR, I have a renewed passion for my business and making money.
"While ETR didn’t influence me until very recently, I can tell you that it did help jump-start my freelance writing career, and I’ve since started two blogs. In a month, I landed three freelance gigs, and I’m looking for more."
Mike Farley
Hermitage, TN
[Ed. Note: How has reading ETR helped you - maybe even changed your life? Send your comments to ReaderFeedback@gmail.com. Include your name and hometown… and we may print your e-mail in a future issue.]
Notes From Michael Masterson’s Blog: The Well-Stocked Wine Cellar
In ETR #1997, I explained the basics of starting a new wine collection. Then, in ETR #2001, #2002, #2006, #2007, and #2008, I gave you a crash course in how to buy specific types of wine.
Now you need to develop some practical knowledge by sampling a wide variety of wines. This will help you put together a well-stocked collection - one that will offer you and your guests plenty of choices, while favoring the wines you prefer to drink.
Before you can do that, you need to know that there are thousands of grape varieties but few that are used for producing fine wines. Of that group, there are six whites and eight reds that oenologists consider "noble."
The six noble white grapes are:
1. Chardonnay
2. Riesling
3. Sauvignon Blanc
4. Semillon
5. Chenin Blanc
6. Gewurztraminer
And the eight noble red grapes are:
1. Cabernet Sauvignon
2. Merlot
3. Pinot Noir
4. Nebbiolo
5. Sangiovese
6. Syrah
7. Gamay
8. Zinfandel
The quality and character of a particular wine depends on many factors: the variety of the grape, where it is grown, the growing conditions during any particular season (vintage), the way the grapes are fermented and combined with other grapes to achieve the taste that the wine producer is looking for.
Despite this complexity, it can be said that each of the 14 noble grape varieties has its own, individual personality. And to help you learn those characteristics quickly and easily, I’ll be writing a series of short articles for ETR to describe what flashes through my mind when I shop for or taste wines produced from the noble grapes.
Meanwhile, I expect that you’re already doing some buying for your start-up collection. So… what are you doing with that wine when you get it home? There’s some good advice on how to store wine in ETR #1904. But you need to do more than store it properly - you also need to arrange it properly. If you don’t, you will find that some bottles that should be drunk quickly never get drunk at all.
There are lots of ways to arrange a wine collection. Here’s how I group the bottles in my cellar.
1. Sparkling Wines
2. Fortified Wines (Ports, Sauternes, Cognacs)
3. Bordeaux
4. Cabernet Sauvignons
5. Merlots
6. Zinfandels
7. Chardonnays
8. German Whites
9. Lighter Whites (Chenin Blancs, Sauvignon Blancs)
10. Lighter Reds (Burgundies, Rhone Wines, Pinot Noirs)
11. Syrahs/Shirazs
12. Italian Wines
The way you organize your wine will depend, of course, on how you like to drink it - and it will almost certainly change over time. But this gives you something to start with.
- Michael Masterson
[Ed. Note: To read more of Michael’s unedited, uncensored (and sometimes unexpected) ruminations, check out his blog here.]
Help for Your Ringing Ears
By Al Sears, MD
Are your ears ringing? It’s a condition called tinnitus that affects millions of people. Mainstream medicine has no answer - but I have at least a partial solution for you: Boosting your blood levels of CoQ10 can lower the volume of the ringing. It’s not a cure, but it provides some relief for the majority of people who try it.
German researchers recently published a new study confirming that CoQ10 helps reduce the expression of tinnitus. This was especially true for those who had low levels of CoQ10 to begin with.
As I’ve explained before in ETR, CoQ10 is a critical co-enzyme that generates energy in the "powerhouse" or mitochondria of every cell in your body. It’s known for its role in maintaining heart health and preventing heart attacks and stokes. But its regenerative powers have been linked to many other health issues too, including gum disease and migraines.
CoQ10 is found naturally in red meat and the organ meat of wild animals. But to get relief from tinnitus, you may need a supplement. I recommend 200 mg of a high-potency, highly absorbable CoQ10 formula. Stay away from the "powder" or dry tablet forms. They’re ineffective and are not absorbed into your bloodstream.
[Ed. Note: To get the CoQ10 Dr. Sears gives his own patients, click HERE.]
It’s Fun to Know: About Extreme Gas Mileage
Want to save money by making your gas last as long as possible? Take your cue from"hypermilers," drivers who are obsessed with gas mileage.
Forget about boring techniques like keeping your tires inflated properly or using cruise control. Hypermilers get 50 miles per gallon and more in non-hybrid vehicles by doing unorthodox things like rolling down hills with the engine off.
(Source: Mother Jones)
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Word to the Wise: Eremite
An "eremite" (ER-uh-mite) - from the Greek for lonely/solitary/desolate - is a hermit, especially a religious recluse.
Example (as used by Cynthia Ozick in a New York Times article about writers): "He is in the private cave of his freedom, an eremite, a solitary; he orders his mind as he pleases."
[Ed. Note: Become a more persuasive writer and speaker … build your self-confidence and intellect … increase your attractiveness to others … just by spending 10 VERY enjoyable minutes a day with ETR’s new Words to the Wise CD Library.]
Michael Masterson
Copyright ETR, LLC, 2007