A popular post from last year

Would you buy your own products?

I heard something yesterday that really got me thinking about this.

Someone called into A Way With Words–the National Public Radio show that discusses language, as in regional dialects, slang, word origins, grammar, and weird expressions–and asked about the use of “dog food” as a verb.

Apparently the term had its birth in the software/tech industry, and was used as a way of saying that software developers should actually use the products they were developing. Dog food (the verb) has evolved to mean “to use a product or service that was created by you.”

That made me think about all of us who are out here on the Internet, creating services and products for the consumer market – - and it forced me to ask the question of myself:  Do I dog food my own products and services? If I wasn’t writing my blog, or my books, or creating my videos, would I read me?

I don’t know why such a simple question has thrown me into such soul-searching because I work hard to create quality work. But it did . . . and I’m still pondering the question.

What do you think? Do you dog food your own products?  Leave a comment and let me know.

A year ago I wrote about Typealyzer, a service that would analyze the personality of your blog based on your posts.

At that time, my blog had only been running a couple of months, and its personality was assessed as ISTJ (introverted-sensing-thinking-judging) called The Duty Fulfiller. Sure, I like doing a good job, but I thought Typealyzer didn’t have enough data to be as accurate as possible.

*Link to the analyzer (along with a request from me) is at the bottom of the post.

So, last night, I ran my blog through the system again.  This time the analysis was more like it!  My blog is an ESTP (extroverted, sensing, thinking, perceiving), called The Doer.  (These personality types are based on Myers-Briggs personality types) According to Typealyzer:

The active and playful type. They are especially attuned to people and things around them and often full of energy, talking, joking and engaging in physical out-door activities.

The Doers are happiest with action-filled work which craves their full attention and focus. They might be very impulsive and more keen on starting something new than following it through. They might have a problem with sitting still or remaining inactive for any period of time.

Amen, brother.

I tracked down another page on the Internet that showed the careers suitable for ESTP and wouldn’t you know it – the careers are things  I already do (except the scientist – although two of my books were on astronomy).  Pretty dang amazing.

• Marketing specialist
• Scientist/biologist/physicist/chemist
• Project manager
• Consultant
• Business Analyst

Want to assess the personality of your blog? Typealyzer will be happy to analyze you!  All you have to do is enter the URL of your blog.  Once you ‘ve completed the assessment, leave a comment with your blog’s type and a link to your blog – and let me know if you think it’s accurate.

I received an e-mail yesterday that one of my Yahoo! answers was picked as "the best" answer to a question about posting book excerpts on a blog (asked by a non-published author).

You probably already know this, but answering Yahoo! questions is one of the easiest ways to 1) get your name out there; and 2) get a backlink to your site from Yahoo!

I’ve received several "your answer was the best" kudos over the past few months–not because I’m a super smarty pants, but because I take the time to actually answer the question, friend-to-friend, as though there was no business involved at all.

I don’t like to spend a lot of my marketing time answering Yahoo! questions, but if I find I have a spare 15 minutes, I’ll surf through and see if there are questions I can answer.

If you want to add Yahoo! answers to your marketing bag-of-tricks, make sure you use the "advanced search" and check the radio button next to: Open Questions – Best answer has not been chosen. 

Let me know if you already make Yahoo! answers part of your marketing routine – - I’m interested in your experience.

I saw a blog post today over at iReaderReview.com, asking if authors could make a decent living by Kindle publishing. The blog post author, switch11, said that “J. A. Konrath put up a post talking about how he’s making $1,250 a month off of his book’s sales – these are unpublished books that he’s giving away for free on his website and selling for $1.85 on the Kindle Store.”

One of the factors cited in how more Kindle authors can become “rich” is the (relatively) small number of Kindles currently on the market.  Although Amazon won’t release sales figures, it’s estimated there are about a half-million Kindles currently in use.

I totally disagree that the number of Kindles sold will impact the possibility for author success.   Why?  Because when Amazon made a Kindle app for the iPhone, they opened up the Kindle store to more than 20 million new readers.

It’s not the number of Kindles on the market, it’s how well you’re marketing to people who have access to the Kindle store.

What do you think?

When Darren Rowse of Problogger ran his (I hope annual) 31 Days to a Better Blog Challenge, I immediately jumped into the fun. Because Darren is one of the most financially successful bloggers on the ‘net, I knew his advice was 1) valuable; and 2) valuable! I stayed with the challenge through the whole 31 days, even though there were days I had to play catch-up, and days I had to miss altogether. And even though I’ve been blogging for a long time, Darren had brilliant ideas that I wouldn’t have thought of–at least not in the near now. Because Darren received so many requests, he put the entire 31 Days to a Better Blog into a PDF workbook form, and is currently selling it for $19.95.  I bought a copy today, ran through the entire 94 pages, with these thoughts. (and if you’re asking why I would buy a workbook when I already have all the information, here’s why: I’m printing the workbook, then popping it into a three-ring binder with tabs for each of the 31 days – that way I can go through the workbook daily, checking off daily tasks, and at the end of each month, wash, rinse, repeat.

Review: 31 Days to a Better Blog Workbook

I like that Darren began by telling readers the purpose of the workbook (sold in PDF format): "The idea is simple. By the end of this challenge you’ll have learned 31 aspects of blogging and put them into practice. It is designed not only to fill your head with knowledge ABOUT blogging but also give you some concrete things to do to actually DO something with the knowledge." Each day consists of a blogging technique, examples, and a task. Some days the tasks will take you a couple of hours, other days only a few minutes. I like that Darren gives solid, concrete examples for each lesson.  For example, on day one (write an elevator pitch), he tells you the exact

short and long versions of his own elevator pitches. If, at the end of the 31 days, you want to continue the challenge with more advanced techniques, Darren has a link to a newsletter that has occasional updates on the most important developments in terms of tools and resources to help you improve your blogging. In addition to the lesson, samples and tasks, Darren also includes a Notes section; this section typically includes more tips, other examples – - generally a place for more detailed information about the day’s lesson. Would I recommend the 31 Days to a Better Blog Workbook? I found the daily lessons to be valuable resources for building my own blogs, improving my blog techniques, and crystalizing my brand. The Workbook closely followed the lessons, but in putting the Workbook together, Darren cleaned up the lessons, added new material (and bonus material) – - even adding 6,000 new words of content. I think the Workbook is well-worth the $19.95; if you have a blog and want more traffic, exposure, or readership, I believe the Workbook is invaluable. Darren is one of the most respected bloggers around, and when he tells you how to improve your traffic and readership, you know his advice is based on real-life experience, not theory. So, if driving traffic to your blog is your goal, pop over and pick up the Workbook today. I suggest printing it out, getting it bound, or putting it in a 3-ring binder.  But don’t stop there – - actually DO the tasks daily – - and I bet if you check your analytics on day 1 and your analytics on day 31 you’ll see an increase.  I’m tracking my own traffic through the month of June – and will post a report in 30 days.

I wrote a few days ago about the new program Amazon is offering to bloggers: Fill out a form, get approved, and sell your blog content on the Amazon Kindle platform.

(In brief, Amazon pays you 30-percent of the price THEY set for your blog, most starting in the $1.99 a month range.)

Now, two long-time literary bloggers who signed up for the program aren’t convinced of the merits of the program – but they’re taking a “wait and see” stance.

Lit blogger Maud Newton commenting on the GalleyCat blog wrote that “I don’t like the 70-30 revenue split. But I also can’t understand why people would pay for subscriptions when they can get the content for free online.” (Maybe because when you’re stuck in an airport, Maud, and don’t have a computer, you want to read blog posts on your Kindle!)

Levi Asher also had reservations, but he sees the Kindle as a machine that’s here to stay, so added his blog to the program.

I just added this blog to the program, so don’t have enough time on board to have an opinion.  However, I do own two Kindles (v1 and v2) and based on Amazon’s commitment to the machine, I don’t see it folding up and disappearing into the night.  Plus, as a Kindle reader myself, I’m often places without a computer, but I do have my Kindle in my bag – - so why NOT pay a buck 99 a month to read my favorite blog?  I’m all for the program.

If you’ve signed up for the Kindle Blog Program, leave a comment below – - would really like to hear your thoughts about the program.

Amazing, fantastic, fun, exciting . . . news from Amazon:  Bloggers can now (once approved) sell a subscription to their blogs on the Amazon Kindle platform.

You can now publish your blog (or any RSS feed) for sale on the Amazon Kindle store and Amazon will share revenue with you for every Kindle user who subscribes to your feed. And no, you don’t get to price your blog at a thousand bucks a pop, but Amazon will pay you a fixed 30-percent share of whatever your revenue your blog generates.

Here’s How to Publish Your Blog on Kindle

Fill out this form, add the RSS feed of your blog and submit.

Add as many blogs or news feeds to your account as you want.

Once Amazon approves your blog, it will be available to Kindle users on the Amazon Store and also Amazon Associates.

What else do you need to do?

Take an 800x 600 screenshot image of your Blog home page and 430×50 banner or logo of your blog.

Masthead/Banner: The masthead/banner image size should not exceed 430×50 pixels and should be in the file format, GIF, JPEG, TIFF or BMP. The file size of the image should be under 1 MB.

Screenshot: This is the image Amazon.com customers will see while viewing your blog on Amazon.com site. You need to provide a screenshot with a minimum size 800×600 pixels with a GIF, JPEG, TIFF, BMP are accepted image formats. Also make sure that the file size of the image is under 1 MB.

Kindle Blogs are auto-delivered wirelessly to the Kindle and updated throughout the day. Unlike RSS readers which sometimes only displays headlines, your blog on Kindle displays full text content and most images.

Get out there and start blogging!

I just purchased a new piece of software by Jonathan Leger called Answer Analyst.  What’s it do? The user enters a keyword or keyword phrase, and the software goes out on the Internet, searching for the most common questions “real people” are asking about the topic.   Can you imagine how much easier this is going to make writing relevant content on your site, blog, or in articles?

As a major article writer and article marketing geek, I plunked down my $77 as fast as I could, and then took this baby out for a spin.

Am I happy with it?  You bet.

First, let me tell you WHY you want this

It you need content of any kind (articles, blogs, site, sales page) Answer Analyst will tell you exactly what your client/customer/consumer wants to know about what you do. (and this works even if you have an offline business)

For example, pretend you own a bricks and mortar “pest control” business and want to beef up your website with more relevant information so 1) your site will be found; and 2) you’ll get more customers.

. . . and now how it works

I entered “pest control” as a keyword phrase and within 3 seconds Answer Analyst popped out a whole list of questions, such as “is the landlord responsible for pest control”, and “what is biological pest control”.

But, as the Ginzu knife guy said, but wait, there’s more!

Highlight any of the answers being asked, click “Get Answers” and Answer Analyst surfs the net and pulls back information from other Websites about your topic. You can then save that info as part of your research, then write an article about it. At this point, not only do you know what info your customer wants, you have plenty of research material to write about it!

To Buy or Not to Buy?

I don’t know about you, but I’m constantly creating new content . . . not only for my own sites but for my clients as well. Having instant access to the questions people want answered about ANY TOPIC . . . and then having access to instant research is a no-brainer for me. I bought it this morning and it’s already saved me $250 of my own time in researching keywords and then researching the topics I need to write about. Probably the best $77 bucks I’ve spent.

Guest Post (and not the opinion of this blog’s owner!) As a business owner, you know that you are constantly wondering how you can attract more clients. If you own an online business, the answer to your traffic problem is internet marketing. You need to remember that without marketing, you will never be able to get targeted traffic into your website. Today, any kind of business, whether online or offline are now using internet marketing in order to expand their reach for new customers. Facebook Marketing: Are You Using It in Your Business? Internet marketing is not quite as easy as it may sound. You have to consider the fact that you need to work hard in order for you to attract targeted traffic into your website. You need to make a lot of good articles to read that is related to the products or services that you are selling and you also need to join forums and the discussions in it. Also, you need to get your website to be attractive. Whatever you are selling, internet marketing is a hard task to do, but when it works, it is well worth the effort and money. However, thanks to social networking website, such as Facebook, you will see that internet marketing is a lot easier than ever before. First of all, in all social networking websites, Facebook is one of the most popular websites. Here, you will already have the numbers you need. This means that it already has traffic. With millions of subscribers logging and out each day and also millions more registering each day, you can be sure that you will be able to get your fair share of targeted traffic in this website. In Facebook, you will see that all kinds of people with different social backgrounds join. Also, the members themselves will try to separate themselves from distinct groups. The fact that Facebook will allow people to create and join groups you will be able to easily find your target customers. Whether the group is separated by age, school, gender or interests, you will see that you will find all sorts of groups here in Facebook. Another great thing about Facebook is that it will provide every member with the tools needed in order to communicate with their network. These tools can be considered to be great tools for you to use in order to advertise or market your products or services to other Facebook subscribers. From applications to news feeds and blogs, you will see that Facebook will be able to provide it all. More about Facebook Marketing.