JR's Marketing Insights

OK, it’s been over a month since I last wrote about my progress, and I think it’s a good time for an update.

I feel I’m continuing to make good progress, although perhaps a little slower than I was hoping for. There are a number of things I am happy about, but there are certainly things I can be doing better.

I have built my mailing list to 321 people

The majority of this growth has been from giveaway sites, which I have continued to participate in. I have also put all of my free products on a page in this blog, which has generated some sign-ups, and my Twitter messages have also sent a decent amount of traffic. I have participated in one Ad Swap so far, with my fellow Alex Jeffreys student David Walker. That appears to have been a great success, as I had at least double the number of sign-ups on the day of the ad swap over the usual daily numbers.

Incidentally, the email that I sent to my list for David was to promote his ebook, Stop Slogging Start Blogging. The unintended consequence of promoting his product to my list is that I read his ebook in order to write the email copy, and I learned a few things myself! This isn’t part of any ad swap, but I highly recommend everyone check out his ebook here: http://www.stopsloggingstartblogging.com/.

I have 5,943 Twitter Followers
This is in large part thanks to the Tweet Elite Pro software that I reviewed here. I have had a great time interacting with everyone on Twitter, and there is a noticeable surge of traffic every time I tweet about a page on my blog or one of my free products. I think I’m only just getting started on Twitter, and I hope to use it a great deal more in the coming months.

I have built this blog to an average of 20 visitors/day

Again, not a particularly impressive stat, but it’s double the number of visitors I had a month ago. If I can keep up that kind of growth, I think I can get to a respectable number of visitors fairly quickly.

I finished my first product

I’m particularly proud of this one. Productivity Power Plan has been released! I’m getting tons of great feedback about the book, and I have been encouraged to expand upon it into some additional great productivity materials. I’ll have more about this in a few weeks, but I hope I can continue to provide valuable productivity advice. If you haven’t downloaded it yet, there is a link on the right-hand side of the page at the top, or under the Free Products link.

I haven’t made any money yet
I have made $51.84 this month!

I have made two sales from the One Time Offer behind my free Twitter ebook, which is for a product I have Master Resale Rights to that I’m selling for $27. After PayPal fees that works out to $25.92 per sale. Again, I’m not quite ready to retire, but considering I’ve never made a cent from Internet Marketing prior to this, I think it’s a great start!

I’m getting more comments on my blog posts

I’m assuming this is due to increased traffic, but I’m seeing a few more comments on each of my blog posts. It’s still not quite where I’d like to be, but progress is a good thing.

The thing I feel I need to improve on is the frequency of my blog posts. For the first month, I was posting just about every day. Now I’ve dropped down to once or twice a week. I’m not looking to inundate you with a ridiculous amount of blog posts, and I’d rather have a few quality posts rather than a ton of junk. I do feel I can probably post closer to three times per week and still maintain the quality.

The other area I want to increase my efforts is in my videos. I have only created two so far, one a tutorial and the other a product review. I would like to do many more of each of these. I’m going to focus mostly on the tutorials because I have received more positive feedback on them, so I think they are what you want to see. Let me know in the comments if you feel differently.

Overall, I think things are going well. It’s slow going, which can be frustrating at times, but at least I’m moving in the right direction finally!

Hi there, I just wanted to put up a quick update about some of the changes I have made to my blog recently. I can’t seem to leave well enough alone, so I am constantly tweaking and adjusting the various pages and features to see if I can create something that is more valuable and interesting to my readers.

First up, I have added icons with links to my RSS feed and my accounts on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. You can find these links on the right-hand sidebar at the top. I know my YouTube channel only has one video so far, but I’m working on adding a few more this week.

Second, I have added a page for any giveaway events that I am aware of, so you can sign up as a contributor, or just as a regular member if you want to grab some cool free stuff! You can find this page under “Giveaway Events” in the menu bar near the top of the page, or by clicking here.

Lastly, I have added a page for the free products I am giving away, both to my blog readers and to the giveaway events. Since I have my own product now as well as a few resale rights products, I figured it would be good to have a page to keep track of them all. You can find this page under “Free Products” in the menu bar near the top of the page, or by clicking here.

Well, I’ve finally gone and done it! I’m releasing my very first ebook, Productivity Power Plan! After countless hours and many revisions, I think it’s ready. I could keep agonizing over it for a few more weeks, but at some point you have to stop delaying and get it out there.

I’d like to thank everyone for their encouraging comments and constructive advice while I’ve been working on this ebook. I seriously don’t think I could have kept up the momentum without the feedback I was receiving to keep going.

For those who are interested, Productivity Power Plan is my solution to the problem of too much to do, and no time to do it in! If you follow my four-step process, you will see massive gains in your productivity, whether you are using it for your business or your personal life. Best of all, I’m releasing it for free!

If you want a free copy of the ebook go here:

http://www.productivitypowerplan.com/

Please let me know what you think of the ebook. Also, I’m considering expanding it into a full-fledged productivity course. Would anyone be interested in that?

I finally did it! My ebook, Productivity Power Plan, has reached the final draft stage! While it was an interesting and rewarding experience, I’m glad it’s over for now. I will be releasing the ebook in the next few days as a free product, both here and on http://productivitypowerplan.com.

• Go grab this FREE list building blueprint: http://cli.gs/8dRq5b
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• "Try not to become a man of success but a man of value."
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• "Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp,
  or what's a heaven for?"
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• "A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds."
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• Go grab this FREE list building blueprint: http://cli.gs/8dRq5b
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• “Life is like a ten-speed bicycle. Most of us have gears we never use.”
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• RT @PerryBelcher How to Become a Better Entrepreneur in the Next 30 Minutes http://tinyurl.com/qhum23 via http://www.stufftotweet.com #
• "Any idea, plan, or purpose may be placed in the
  mind through repetition of thought.”
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• Go grab this FREE list building blueprint: http://cli.gs/8dRq5b
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• "Try not to become a man of success but a man of value."
  -Albert Einstein #
• RT @delta40 What a cry baby RT Google Voice app rejected by iPhone store. Google CEO Eric Schmidt quits Apple board. http://bit.ly/16J46H #
• RT @internetmoneyy Google adds AdWords Bid Simulator feature: …gives you the insight to make more informed bidding d.. http://bit.ly/bRcrG #
• There's a new massive List-Building event just announced and it's called Internet Marketing Downloads…

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• "Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp,
  or what's a heaven for?"
  -Robert Browning #
• "A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds."
  Francis Bacon #
• Go grab this FREE list building blueprint: http://cli.gs/8dRq5b
  Be sure to thank me later! #
• “Life is like a ten-speed bicycle. Most of us have gears we never use.”
  –Charles Schulz #
• "Any idea, plan, or purpose may be placed in the
  mind through repetition of thought.”
  -Napoleon Hill #
• Finalizing my productivity ebook, just added graphics! Help me finish by telling me your productivity tips here: http://bit.ly/wgMX0 #
• RT @DavidWalkerTV New Blog Post – 10 Steps to Creating an Authority Blog http://bit.ly/NMM9B Dominate any niche! #
• "Try not to become a man of success but a man of value."
  -Albert Einstein #
• Go grab this FREE list building blueprint: http://cli.gs/8dRq5b
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• RT @IainBuchanan: Don't stay in bed, unless you can make money in bed. -George Burns #quotes #
• "Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp,
  or what's a heaven for?"
  -Robert Browning #
• "A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds."
  Francis Bacon #
• “Life is like a ten-speed bicycle. Most of us have gears we never use.”
  –Charles Schulz #
• Go grab this FREE list building blueprint: http://cli.gs/8dRq5b
  Be sure to thank me later! #
• "Any idea, plan, or purpose may be placed in the
  mind through repetition of thought.”
  -Napoleon Hill #
• "Try not to become a man of success but a man of value."
  -Albert Einstein #
• Go grab this FREE list building blueprint: http://cli.gs/8dRq5b
  Be sure to thank me later! #
• "Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp,
  or what's a heaven for?"
  -Robert Browning #

I may be getting ahead of myself by writing this now, as I haven’t released my ebook yet, but I wanted to share with you my method of writing.  The hardest part of writing anything is getting started, so hopefully my methods will get things moving for you.

When I set out to write my productivity ebook, I had a thousand ideas running around my head, but no idea how to put them on paper.  I could see the general thoughts I wanted to convey, but I couldn’t organize them properly, which effectively had me paralyzed.  I realized that the key to good writing is organization.

I had teachers all through high school and college tell me that I must create an outline before I begin writing.  I always ignored them, because I typically don’t know exactly what I’m going to write until I actually start writing it.  My approach in school (shh, don’t tell any of my old teachers!) was to write the assignment out, and work out the outline after the fact.

But for this ebook, I knew I wanted to take a different approach.  Since this is for public consumption, and I am really trying to provide useful information that can actually help people, I wanted to make sure I stayed on track, touched on all the ideas I wanted to convey, and hopefully present the information in a clear and concise manner.

Since I have had so little success with outlines in the past, I knew creating an outline was not an option.  So I turned to mind mapping.  Alex Jeffreys has discussed mind-mapping in his coaching program, and while I am familiar with the term, I have never actually seen it in action until he taught about it.  I found this great mind-mapping software called FreeMind, which is even better because it is completely free.  I then proceeded to create a mind map on everything I could think of related to productivity.  This included things like avoiding distractions, staying motivated, and productivity tools.  I’ll share the mind map in the actual ebook, because I don’t want to ruin the experience of reading through it.

Once I had a brain dump of absolutely everything in my head related to productivity, I set about organizing the information into categories and subcategories.  This way I could see what topics were related and should be written about in the same chapter of the ebook.  Once that was complete, I went to Google to start filling in the blanks.  For example, I had a section of the mind map on productivity tools, but I only had one or two tools written down.  I went out and researched what other tools would be useful, and added the good ones to the mind map.  Once my research was complete, I had what I considered to be a complete mind map.

From there, writing the ebook was surprisingly easy.  I would simply pick a section of the mind map, and create a chapter based on the topics included in that section.  Once I had a road map, the writing just came easier, and I didn’t have to worry about getting off track.

My other worry was about my writing style.  I have a tendency to get overly formal when I write.  I think I have been successful on this blog at keeping my tone more informal and more “real,” meaning the way I speak in real life.  Since I have had some positive feedback on my writing style here, I tried to stay with the same style in my ebook.  A few times I drifted into a more formal “research report” style, which I then had to correct.  I believe I caught them all, but I’ll be releasing a few review copies of the ebook shortly, so hopefully I’ll get some constructive feedback.

Let me know your tips for writing.  I found mind mapping to be exceptionally powerful, especially with my aversion to standard outlines.  If you know of a better way, I’d be eager to hear it.

• "Any idea, plan, or purpose may be placed in the
  mind through repetition of thought.”
  -Napoleon Hill #
• The good thing about having a 3 month old is she makes me get out of bed early on a Sunday morning so i can get some work done! #
• RT @joshuabartlett New blog post video, how to easily create your own podcast in minutes! http://tx.ly/Sm Check it out #
• Go grab this FREE list building blueprint: http://cli.gs/8dRq5b
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• Yes, I'm a Lost fan: Watch the Entire Lost Panel at Comic-Con Without the Pesky Trip to San Diego! http://bit.ly/GKdMX #
• "Try not to become a man of success but a man of value."
  -Albert Einstein #
• "Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp,
  or what's a heaven for?"
  -Robert Browning #
• Great article about a new "Google Slap" for affiliate marketers: http://bit.ly/lSHMF #
• Go grab this FREE list building blueprint: http://cli.gs/8dRq5b
  Be sure to thank me later! #
• "A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds."
  Francis Bacon #
• “Life is like a ten-speed bicycle. Most of us have gears we never use.”
  –Charles Schulz #
• "Any idea, plan, or purpose may be placed in the
  mind through repetition of thought.”
  -Napoleon Hill #
• got a Google Voice number, redirected to my cell phone. I just got a voicemail that was transcribed into a text message! #
• RT @MasterMindCoach "Don't be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people's thinking." Steve Jobs #quote #
• Go grab this FREE list building blueprint: http://cli.gs/8dRq5b
  Be sure to thank me later! #
• RT @rogerloh "I believe in luck, and the harder I work the luckier I get." Stephen Leocock Pls RT #
• "Try not to become a man of success but a man of value."
  -Albert Einstein #
• "Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp,
  or what's a heaven for?"
  -Robert Browning #
• RT @quinncom This is BIG news for BING ! Yahoo Gives In to Microsoft http://bit.ly/Zyggj #
• Rough draft of my productivity ebook complete! Any questions or suggestions for reaching maximum productivity? http://bit.ly/wgMX0 #
• Go grab this FREE list building blueprint: http://cli.gs/8dRq5b
  Be sure to thank me later! #
• "A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds."
  Francis Bacon #
• “Life is like a ten-speed bicycle. Most of us have gears we never use.”
  –Charles Schulz #
• "Any idea, plan, or purpose may be placed in the
  mind through repetition of thought.”
  -Napoleon Hill #
• Finishing up my productivity ebook! Any questions or suggestions for reaching maximum productivity? http://bit.ly/wgMX0 #
• Go grab this FREE list building blueprint: http://cli.gs/8dRq5b
  Be sure to thank me later! #
• "Try not to become a man of success but a man of value."
  -Albert Einstein #
• "Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp,
  or what's a heaven for?"
  -Robert Browning #
• Finishing up my productivity ebook! Tell me your productivity tips here: http://bit.ly/wgMX0 #
• There's a new List-Building event just announced and it's called I Giveaway Free Gifts…

  Sign-up Here:
  http://is.gd/1NFv9 #

• Go grab this FREE list building blueprint: http://cli.gs/8dRq5b
  Be sure to thank me later! #
• "A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds."
  Francis Bacon #
• RT @JohnHalderman "Create the kind of self you will be happy to live with all your life". — – Foster C. McClellan #
• “Life is like a ten-speed bicycle. Most of us have gears we never use.”
  –Charles Schulz #
• "Any idea, plan, or purpose may be placed in the
  mind through repetition of thought.”
  -Napoleon Hill #

So far, I have avoided placing affiliate links on this blog.  My intention here is to provide value to my readers, not to make a quick buck.  I thought that if someone read one of my posts, and noticed an affiliate link, they would immediately assume that I was just talking up a product or service to make a sale, rather than speaking truthfully.  Therefore any link that was posted on this blog was a direct link that made me no money.

I have decided to reconsider this informal policy.  The main reason for doing so is that many of my fellow students in Alex Jeffreys coaching program have been using affiliate links within their blog posts, and appear to have suffered no negative reaction from their readers as a result.  In examining their results, I have come to the conclusion that as long as the information being provided is truly helpful, and not a sales pitch, readers will not be offended by affiliate links.

So here’s how I plan to proceed, faithful reader.  I will use affiliate links sparingly, where appropriate.  I will not be writing any posts specifically to drive traffic to an affiliate link, nor will I write about or link to products that I have not either personally used, or personally seen in use by my peers.  In other words, I’m not going to recommend a product unless I am certain it is useful and a good value.  I hope this arrangement will be acceptable to my readers.

Please let me know your opinions of affiliate links in blog posts in the comments.

• "Any idea, plan, or purpose may be placed in the
  mind through repetition of thought.”
  -Napoleon Hill #
• got a Google Voice number, redirected to my cell phone. I just got a voicemail that was transcribed into a text message! #
• RT @MasterMindCoach "Don't be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people's thinking." Steve Jobs #quote #
• Go grab this FREE list building blueprint: http://cli.gs/8dRq5b
  Be sure to thank me later! #
• RT @rogerloh "I believe in luck, and the harder I work the luckier I get." Stephen Leocock Pls RT #
• "Try not to become a man of success but a man of value."
  -Albert Einstein #

Staying motivated is an interesting problem.  Almost everyone has this problem from time to time, because it is impossible to be 100% driven all the time.  Eventually, your attention wanders, your priorities change, or you simply need a break to decompress.

For me, there are three aspects of staying motivated:

First you should build some downtime into your work schedule.  You need some time for yourself otherwise you will burn out quickly.  Even a 15 minute break can do wonders for your attention level and your productivity.  For me, I like to play computer or video games (see my previous post on World of Warcraft), but sometimes it’s better to get away from the computer screen and do something more active.  My kids and I have been into tennis of late, and that has been great fun as well as good exercise.

The second is to have a defined set of goals, and an actionable plan to reach those goals.  If your goal is “make lots of money,” that’s great, but without specific steps and milestones, you are going to find it hard to keep yourself motivated to do what needs to be done to get you there.  These goals can be flexible, because plans change, but you should at least have a framework for what you’re trying to accomplish.

Finally, and I believe most importantly, you need to have some specific rewards to go along with your goals.  If you have a goal to have 1500 members on your list, for example, your reward might be to buy a new computer.  Or maybe once you start making $100 per day, you take a vacation with your family.  Those happen to be two of my goals.  I am going to set up a page on this blog with my goals and my progress in reaching them, it’s on my “to do” list.  It is easier to stay motivated if you are working to get the things you want out of life rather than abstract concepts like list size.

If you have all of these things, you will find it much easier to stay motivated.  I should also mention that these steps are not something you should do once and never look at again, but something you should review on a daily or weekly basis and revise as your situation changes.