Cold Hard Truth QnA
Apologies. This was a record week of emails received in ol’ Craiggy’s world, and I didn’t get around to emailing everyone back or doing everything I had planned. So if you’re waiting to hear from me, please have patience…I’ll get to you ASAP.
That said, I just finished off this week’s “Cold Hard Truth” QnA and it’s awesome…our old friend Nicky Parsons even makes a guest appearance. (And I have an extra special mean ol’ Nicky Parsons issue coming out next week – a two parter.
Stay tuned…she reveals documents stolen from The Big G.)
In the meantime…
Question: Craig, you mentioned there was going to be a special ETR day at Yanik’s seminar. Where can I sign up for that? – Joel
Answer: Hi Joel, I just finished writing the copy for this…that was one of the big issues that set me back this week in addition to all of the emails. Details will be released shortly.
Really looking forward to our special Implementation day on Sunday, March 4th, called, “From Your 1st Sale to Your 1000th Sale”.
See you there.
Question: Hey Craig, I’m part of your Financial Independence Monthly Newsletter and was wondering if I could possibly get some advice on some SEO problems I’m having with my fitness blog.
Right now my blog is 7 months old and themajority of my keywords were ranking between pages 1- 5. But for the 6 weeks, over 75% of my keyword rankings just disappeared from Google. I can’t find them in the first 20 pages of Google but they’re still indexed according to the “site:” function.
My primary source of backlinks are coming from a blog network called 1 Way Links, but I’m pretty sure I didn’t violate any SEO rules. I try to vary the anchor text as much as possible, I spin my content properly, and I don’t spam links to my site. My rankings are not coming back and I don’t know what to do.
Bad News and the “Cold Hard Truth” Answer from Nicky Parsons: Easy answer – 1 way links is horrible for building quality links.
They fill a page with a bunch of links so your link just becomes 1 of many rather than a solid contextual link in an individual blog network. I wouldn’t even consider 1 way links a blog network, I would just call it a link network.
It gave you some initial rankings but then you lost them all. You get a bunch of links once in the network and you receive link velocity, and then you don’t really receive anymore links. If someone is going to use 1 way links they really need to supplement it with other forms of link building.
Sorry.
Question: Craig, we are entering the golf niche and are ready to get affiliates on board. What’s the best way to contact them? – Rick
Answer: Hi Rick, here are a couple of articles that will help you…I go into more detail in the FIM Fast Start Online Webinar Coaching program as well.
Question: I know you have written on time management in the past and was wondering if you could point me to an article that will help me as I am getting behind in my work. – Linda
Answer: Hi Linda, thank you for your email. We have written extensively on time management and you can go to www.earlytorise.com or www.internetindepdence.com and type in “Time Management” in the search box. Make sure to use quotes.
The “Cold Hard Truth” answer is to find your magic time – the time of day when you get more done than you would at any other time of day – and protect that time for working on your most important activities. This may mean getting up earlier, but it’s a sacrifice worth the effort.
Question: Hi Craig, much like you I have ordered way more books from Amazon than I’ll ever read. But you finished many more books than I have in 2011. What is your secret? Do you read them thoroughly or skim? Do you speed read? I’ve tried speed reading but I find I don’t retain much. Just wondering what your secret is. – Matt
Answer: Hi Matt, great question. I just read short books, like Seth Godin’s stuff.
Just kidding.
I don’t ‘speed read’, but I did improve my reading speed with this book, very helpful: “10 days to faster reading” by Abby Marks-Beale
Question: Hey Craig, A quick thanks to you. Loved internet independence. Really loving ETR and FIM. Tired of sitting on the sidelines so I entered the FIM Transformation Contest. I’m using your 30 Day Fast Start Guide to a Product Launch. I am very grateful for your guidance.
I’m selling an ebook “Learn to ___ in FIVE MINUTES!” I researched Clickbank Marketplace and there wasn’t much there. Is this telling me to either stay away from this niche, go ahead full steam, or refine my search? – Mike
Answer: Hi Mike, I don’t think you’ve chosen a bad topic…provided you are passionate about it. Using the Google External Keyword Tool, it shows 18,000 searches for “learn how to ____”. That’s not a bad number.
Granted, it’s not the world’s biggest niche market, but if you are passionate about it, I believe you could create a 6-figure business (although it would require having high end seminars and videos).
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Alright, good times with another rapid-fire QnA session.
Heck, I still have five minutes where I can learn how to _____. You should send me your product, Mike.
I could be a ____ing machine in no time.
Off to meet up with Nicky Parsons and see her secret documents,
Craig Ballantyne
When I was younger I hated living in a world where I dreaded waking up and going to work. So I designed my life to have the opposite. Now I hate that every day ends.