I wasn't planning on blogging on New Years Day (particularly since it's Saturday), but SEO Content Factory tempted me with an idea, and I couldn't resist.

I was glancing over a list of upcoming product launches from JV Notify Pro. I've seen these lists many times before, but it got me thinking about my "more...
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The only thing we know for sure about 2011 is that it'll begin with a "20" and end with an "11". Everything in between is educated guesses, wild speculation, and wishful thinking.

Some of the bloggers I follow have posted predictions ranging everywhere from increased adoption of cloud computing, to 2011 being the year when...
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Yesterday, at the end of my post about how to connect with other bloggers, I hinted that I'd been stewing over an idea to help bloggers connect with each other. After that, I thought about it some more, got motivated, and now it's ready to go.

It's called "Blog Riffers". It doesn't cost anything --...
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The blogosphere isn't supposed to be like the universe, where each blog is a star, twinkling at it's neighbors from several light years away. Instead, it should be interconnected like a group of islands with bridges between them. If you feel like you're sitting alone on your star, this post is for you.

When you're...
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My house turns 100 years old next year. With the weather turning cold again, the annual draft hunt is back in session.

Some of the draft sources drive me absolutely crazy -- like a storm window in the basement that had probably been left open for several years. Last winter, I taped over the edges...
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Business is a lot easier if you're not the only one who cares about your success. But in a "WIIFM" world (what's in it for me), how do you make that happen?

Here are a few approaches to consider:

Tie their success to yours

The secret of capitalism -- the key that makes it "the...
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I feel a rant coming on.

Have you ever had a high-priced product offered to you as an opportunity to make money using "other people's money"? The pitch goes something like this:

Pay for our $5,000 product with your credit card. Sure, you'll pay your credit card company X% interest. But once you're through with...
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How well do you know your prospects?

You may have heard that you need to create a "customer avatar" -- a concrete mental image of an ideal target customer -- someone you can imagine you're talking to as you create sales copy. Today, let's try a mental experiment to help you dive deeper into the...
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A few days ago, I shared a checklist for creating a marketing story that hooks readers and holds them long enough for you to show the benefits of your product. The first two points were that your story should be unique and interesting.

Today, Troy White posted an article over at The Makepeace Total Package...
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Yesterday, I posted a list of 12 blogs I follow and why I read and recommend them. The authors of 3 of them posted comments. If I were a "bootstrap guru" (someone who takes a small success, blows it out of proportion, sells it as a money-making system, and uses those sales as proof of...
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