Another Sunday, another list. I get that feeling of Déjà vu all over again. Except now it IS different. I am not waking up next to Slaad and Vieter (the techno twins) in a Hostel. I am back in New Jersey; the land of Milk and Honey and the home of the Jersey Devil. No, I am not talking tall red cloven-hooved monster that stalks the Pine Barrens. I am talking about the short red cloven-hooved monster who stalks closer to the area I live: The Jersey Shore. Eeeek!
Let’s make with the list!
The other day I spoke about how people can sometimes use the excuse that they do not have enough money as a reason to not start an online business. Jennifer’s article about Cars vs. Debt was one I liked for pair of reasons. The first is that I am currently in the process of getting a car (along with a place to live) and the second goes back to the article I spoke of. How can people claim inability to afford the small costs of starting an online business when nothing constrains them from purchasing a brand new car and getting a crushing loan.
What can I say… I am a sucker for inspirational quotes. Onibalushi has some really great ones. 101 great quotes in fact. I noted quite a few to try to find one specific one that “spoke” to me today. I finally came to one from a guy who understood online Social Networking’s potential effect on business LONG before there was an “online”: Dale Carnegie.
“You can close more business in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get people interested in you.” Great words.
Niche Site Challenge
If you are interested in Niche Websites (which I am) then you may well be interesting in a challenge going on between two friends of the Steve Scott Site. Yes, in case you didn’t know, Alex called Moon out for a Niche site duel. They are both currently busy on what I think is THE MOST ESSENTIAL part of making a niche site: Research.
Here is Alex laying out the Niche Site he is building and his thinking on the topic. In reply, here is Moon getting down and dirty with Keyphrase Research.
Speaking of Moon; don’t forget that tomorrow she releases her first FREE!! eBook.
I was lucky enough to get an advance copy that I read yesterday. It covers a lot of the things she has learned in the past few months. From making a blog work to all sorts of goodies on things NOT to do for a niche site.
Anyone new and starting out must get a copy of this to save you from making some mistakes that will just cost time and energy.
Since there is no active link yet. Go to http://experimentsinpassiveincome.com/ Monday morning and I am sure it won’t be hard to find.
Blogging/Writing
Tristan has a really good in depth review on the power of analogies. He shows how to make and use some great ones and the way that this can be used to make some really excellent ones. How about these analogies Tristan?
“She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just
before it throws up.”
“Her artistic sense was exquisitely refined, like someone who can tell
Butter from I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter”
“He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she
were a garbage truck backing up.”
“She walked into my office like a centipede with 98 missing legs.”
“He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but a
real duck that was actually lame. Maybe from stepping on a land mine or
something.”
Seriously, though, Tristan’s analogies are good ones. He also shows the way to MAKE good ones. Unlike the above that are so BAD they are GOOD.
Article Directories
Most people know about and utilize article marketing for some backlinks to their blog. A lot fewer people take the time to submit their blog to directories. I will admit that I have been a little bit lax on doing this myself.
These directories are really a great way to build some more links. Mike has made a really epic post that it just about the final word on article directories.
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Adam: Minimalism.
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Making money
Murray should call his monthly post over Big Red Tomato Company. “All you need to know, but were afraid to ask” Once again he delivers a mammoth post that cover every aspect. I had to count: 3,675 words. Basically it is a short info product. Just as packed with information too. Not full of fluff and filler like you often find but very specific and actionable steps.
If you ever had/have or even foresee a day in the murky future where you might ever think about doing ANYTHING with eCommerce, it is just about imperative that you head on over and check out this guest post on eCommerce.
A Passive Income is a goal for many people, as I discussed earlier this week. Well of course since this is such an important topic, I was not the only one discussing it this week. Bryan also has really good article on methods of Passive Income Generation that everyone should really check out.
Twitter Success
I have talked extensively in the past about how to get a lot of daily visitors from Twitter. I stand by those methods and I still see a daily increase in my followers (over 10k now). But it is a “brute force” method, and I will admit that many of those 10k are not worth nearly as much as the 100+ that are really active and engaged.
As most of you probably know building an engaged following is just as important as building a “Large” following. Over the next few months I desire to raise my engaged followers the same way I have my “numbers”. How do you do this, well getting on Twitter and socializing more is the best. Which I will attempt to do more of; but these Twitter Strategies by Dino also show some great ways to find and recruit more followers who are likely to be “engaged”.
Success Mindset
Most successful people have to overcome a lot of opposition to “make it”. This is true in business and it is true in many other forms of careers. Certainly one of the single most successful comedians of the past 20 years has been Jerry Seinfeld. Ryan discusses some things you may not know about Seinfeld That link directly to the subject of success.
Take Action. Get Results.
I’ve been trying to be more engaged on Twitter lately too. It’s been working out well so far! I get more followers more quickly now because those who I interact with are more likely to retweet what I say.
Yup active followers on Twitter are worth a heck of a lot more than any old numbers, that is for sure. It is just a matter of getting out there and being active while not spending hours upon hours on twitter.
Hi Steve:
A great Sunday in New Jersey for you. Your Sunday’s post is full of information, Well Niche contest seems to be the topic everywhere. As far as Moon and Alex are concerned, Moon is experienced and diversified Internet Marketer. Her book is expected to be good.
Aex’s hands have not been wet with a full business for sometime on the Internet. (this is as far as I know may be it is different)
However, Alex’s hard work on keywords is conclusive and admirable.
I do not know moon directly but I know Alex from 100 comments challenge.
So, I am eager and waiting to see it. Sounds like you are too. It will take some time.
Make it a great Sunday back home.
fran A
Thanks for the well wishes,
Niche sites certainly do seem to be a hot topic. Maybe because it is one of the easier ways to actually begin to turn a decent profit online. I am definitely looking forward to both Moon and Alex in this challenge. Will be a lot of fun.
Definitely will be a great Sunday! Giants are playing Dallas soon, I always look forward to that game.
Steve! Thanks for the support here! Yes, more niche duel stuff coming up, after I release this baby (my first ebook), that is!
Oh and Murray’s post is looooooong but useful. Great read!
Moon,
Lots of good stuff coming up. Looks like you should be really excited. I know I am excited to see it all!
Wow, Steve, you have a real gift for crafting analogies 🙂
Thanks for linking to my post! And thanks for pointing me in the direction of these other posts. There are some great ones in there that I hadn’t seen before.
Oh, and I love the Jersey Shore Devil pic!
Glad you liked those horrible analogies. Of course they were too bad to have made them all myself. Just found some really funny bad ones online.
Glad you liked the picture of the horrible Snooki that roams the Jersey Shore, feasting on the flesh of unwary travelers.
Hi Steve,
It is great to read another Sunday Selections by you! I am starting to look forward to this almost as much as I look forward to reading Naruto and Bleach every week. That says a lot! Haha!
I really like Tristan’s post on analogies, it will be a great help to my writing. And I also like Mike’s post on article directories, always good to have more backlinks.
Thanks for writing and sharing these ideas! 🙂
Glad you liked it! 🙂 It is exciting to me that you look forward to the sunday selections. I try to be a little bit original and still find some pretty kick-ass content to link to. I agree both Tristan and Mikes pieces were truly excellent and were very easy to add to the list as “must have” links for this weekend.
Thanks for a great comment!
Steve love the picture of Jersey shore devil.
Awesome compilations again. Thanks for including my post on minimalism. Fixing to check out the posts I haven’t read yet.
How is your apartment hunting going Steve?
Later..
It is going… A little slower than I wanted to, but it is going.
I thought I was making a really subtle joke with your post. (Minimalism and an extremely Minimalist linking of it.) I laughed at my own “humor” for a while on that. I don’t think it was “obvious” enough though.
Just letting you know i wasn’t short changing you on a write up…I thought I was being clever.
Yeah! Steve that was pretty clever. I laughed too but I totally forgot to mention it in my comments above.
Anyways, good luck with the apartments.
Later on brother..
Hey Steve,
Got a great idea for a high value post, not sure if I have to email you for your letters to Steve, but this way is easier anyway.
I would really like an exhaustive list of the mistakes to avoid as an internet marketer/online business owner. The don’ts of IM to help everyone here to not end up like 95% of the people attempting to create a profitable online business.
However, I am also talking about more than just mistakes to avoid as we progress to build businesses, but also the necessary things to ensure we build a lasting profitable business. The kind of things that are MUSTS when in the starting stages of an online business to ensure a solid infrastructure and to ensure it does not consume us and allows us to “remove” ourselves to enjoy life outside of the business while still growing it and managing it of course.
To kind of lead your thoughts on the post for these two things that I am looking to know ALL about, here are some examples: not understanding your TARGET audience and speaking TO them, failing to keeping track of revenue, profit/loss, for financial management/tax purposes, constantly analyzing/testing and tweaking, and creating automated systems. These seem pretty basic as I am not experienced, but I am sure your experience gives you way more insight and understanding.
In your reply comment, could you also give me your insight into choosing a business structure and answer a few related questions? I am low on funds and I am thinking about starting out with a sole proprietorship then scaling to an LLC. Am I committing suicide by not starting with the LLC? Is it a must to be secure in relieving liability? Are there ways to do it as a sole prop? And do believe in avoiding taxes by forming your LLC in a tax friendly state like Wyoming or Nevada and then avoiding paying your own state’s income tax or is that illegal? I know I could ask a lawyer this, but I can save money if you already know or if you have a friend who could tell you.
Peace!
William
Hey William,
That’s a lot of questions! Here’s what I’ll do…
1) You have a great idea for a blog post about mistakes to avoid. I could have given you a short answer here, but I think there would be more value in creating a 2,000+ word post on some of the things I’ve learned and what NOT to do with an Internet business
Expect this post on this coming Monday (the 22nd)
2) To answer your second question. I do have an LLC, and that’s why I started with my first online business. Besides that, I don’t really feel comfortable dispensing any advice about incorporation and setting up a legal business. Way back when, I hired a guy to do this for me. You might be best served getting a few books on the subject AND talking to a lawyer. This is one of those areas that can’t be done on your own.
Anyway, I hope this resolves both questions…again, look for the post on Monday because I’ll cover all of what you’ve just asked about.
Hey Steve,
Thx for including my post on your sunday selection list!
Hmm, I’ve been seeing a lot of niche site duels going on around. Alex’s post is an interesting read. Love to see how different people use different ideas for their niche sites. Tristan’s post on analogy is really interesting. Would be interesting to see a duel going on between you and him on the use of analogy 😀
Byran,
Yeah, Tis’ not the season to be jolly but tis the season to be niche site dueling!
Big Red Tomato Company – great post! Love the idea of ‘simple navigation’ – doing lots about that meself these past few days. Redesign, redesign, love redesigns….
At *some* point I am going to do some site redesign too. I keep bumping it to the right a little bit, though
Hi Steve, thanks for including me! I’m glad you liked the post. I totally agree that people will buy a car impulsively without thinking about it much, while stating they can’t afford a couple hundred dollars to start a business.
I’ve found when you line your life and budget up with your values, it’s amazing what you can do. You were able to fund several months of travel which many people wrongly believe is for the very wealthy only.
I enjoyed Adam’s post and the analogy thing (yours were funny BTW). Dealing with article directories seems like a great thing to outsource. I’ve been growing my Twitter followers organically and that’s been going well, but Dino has a few tips I hadn’t thought of.
Jennifer. I am glad you liked the articles and got some enjoyment/use out of them. Submitting to directories is someting that might be a good outsource. It is not an every post thing though and the time to make explicet instructions for an outsourcer wouldn’t m,ake it worthwhile. But if you got one who was “knowledgeable” on the system it could be a great idea.
Let the games begin! (there, now you know the first sites URL 😉 )
First off, thanks for the awesome link love Steve. I say awesome because you are a true wordsmith, or to keep with the post: you weave words like rapunzel, turning these threads into gold. (the last few comments you have left on my blog have been righteous!)
Awesome post from Tristan! I think a blog without an analogy is like a cowboy without his hat. … No, like Jersey without the shore. Yeah that works! (the devil made me do it 😉 )
Now as you know, I’ve been busier than a one armed brick layer in Baghdad! Besides, I got a niche site duel to win…
Ok that link was a FAIL
how about now?
Great post Steve, love the niche duel going on between the Son and the Moon (I assume he has a dad – see, I can be clever in your threads too – and no, I don’t mean taking your underpants off without removing your trousers’ kind of clever in the threads either)
For some reason the name is not being hyperlinked? Oh well, at least there is commentluv still.
PS: When are you going to announce the winner of your name an eBook competition?
PPS: Loved the lame donkey analogy LOL!
Worked like a champ the last try, “claire”
you should throw a “tweet” button on for shits-n-grins. I woulda given you an RT on one of the pages when i checked em out. Oh well, at least you got a couple low authority pr2 BL’s
Scott, are you ready to take off again?